Coinspeaker Japanese Metaplanet’s Purchase of Bitcoin Worth $6.25M Signals Growing Corporate Adoption

Metaplanet, a Japanese company that deals in Web3 consulting, real estate development, and other services, recently announced its purchase of ¥1 billion worth of Bitcoin, which is approximately $6.25 million.

Earlier this month, Metaplanet released a post on their X page stating that there will be a shift in their business strategy as they are ready to adopt BTC as the core treasury asset of the company. They further revealed that the web3 consulting company will deposit an initial JPY 1 billion in the digital asset. This decision, according to the company, is part of their goal of leading a future where finance meets innovation.

The plan has therefore been brought to reality, as it was stated in a follow-up post that it has successfully purchased the said amount of digital assets. The tweet revealed:

“On April 22, 2024, Metaplanet completed its initial purchase of 97.85 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of JPY 1 billion.”

A Confidence Boost for Investors

This substantial investment in the digital asset is about 30% of the company’s current market capitalization. More so, their interest in digital assets has been a major boost to their stock price, as it spiked by almost 90% after the announcement was made, which further reveals investors’ trust and confidence in the company’s new initiative. This surge in stock price echoes Metaplanet’s goals of leading digital finance in Japan, as stated:

“Our transition to Bitcoin is a significant milestone in our mission to lead in the digital finance era and positions Metaplanet as a pioneer in the adoption of digital assets in Japan.”

Leveraging on Bitcoin as Store of Value

This transition into cryptocurrency further showcases the reputation of Bitcoin as a store of value and hedge over inflation. The move by Metaplanet also highlights the growing corporate trust in digital assets, as many other companies have also purchased BTC. Nexon, a fellow Asian company, bought $100 million (¥11.1 billion) in 2021 at an average price of approximately $58,226 (¥6,446,183).

Not only that, MicroStrategy, a US-based company, has been accumulating Bitcoin since 2020. They even recently acquired $2 billion in BTC within six months, which moved JPMorgan to warn that the buying spree of the firm could cause a possible downturn, and pose a risk to the stability of the crypto market. Moreover, the company has amassed more than 214,000 BTC after their first investment, which is about 1% of the Bitcoin supply in circulation.

The move into digital assets by corporate institutions could fuel wider acceptance of digital assets. Aside from this, Metaplanet’s venture into Bitcoin also signals a vote of confidence in the long-term potential of the coin and even the entire cryptocurrency market. Despite the regulation battle that digital assets are still encountering, a huge investment by an established company like this can further boost the confidence and trust of large investors and mainstream institutions to purchase more of the coin, which could eventually lead to the growth and global acceptance of the cryptocurrency industry.

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Japanese Metaplanet’s Purchase of Bitcoin Worth $6.25M Signals Growing Corporate Adoption

Coinspeaker Here Are 3 Major Recent Cardano (ADA) Upgrades to Know

Cardano (ADA), one of the leading blockchain projects known for its focus on sustainability, security, and scalability, has recently undergone several significant upgrades. As per its weekly community updates, these developments highlight Cardano’s commitment to innovation and its pursuit of becoming a robust platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. 

Cardano (ADA) Upgrades Offers Unique Features

The Mithril and Hydra team collaborated on enhancing scalability through the latest upgrade. This upgrade involved compressing transactions using sub-Merkle trees based on transaction block ranges. The team also worked on scaling the signature and proof generation for the mainnet. Meanwhile, the team discovered the source of a problem causing improper memory release while signing large transactions, and they proceeded to develop a solution for it.

Secondly, the team developed a prototype for decentralized signer registration using a relay and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. Noteworthy, the ledger team has worked on updates to PlutusV3 to allow for CostModel specification. This is needed for guardrail scripts during the Conway era. Cardano has made strides in enhancing the governance and sustainability model.

Lastly, Voltaire implementation, Cardano’s governance system, enables ADA holders to participate in the decision-making process regarding protocol upgrades and treasury funding. As such, the Catalyst team has physically launched the 12th round of funding, led by the community, and the worldwide Catalyst working group effort.

However, the successful implementation of these upgrades positions Cardano as a formidable contender in the competitive cryptocurrency landscape, offering unique features that differentiate it from other blockchain projects.

Cardano’s Blockchain Technology Targets Global Industries

Cardano went from obscurity to extreme popularity during the 2021 bull run when the native ADA coin saw a 1000% rise in value over a few weeks. Everyone knows Cardano due to the massively popular and valuable token, however, it is much more than that. Built by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) was designed on the principles of security, sustainability, and interoperability.

Since its launch in 2017, the blockchain has been following a 5 phase development plan, with each phase named after famous mathematicians, making its academic-centric approach much clearer. Notably, the blockchain has completed 4 out of 5 phases with the Voltaire phase set to begin this year, after which the network will be completely governed by the community and the constitution they draft.

Several industries have benefitted from Cardano’s blockchain. Cardano’s robust smart contracts and ample data storage capacity provide an efficient supply chain tracking solution, enhancement, visibility, transparency, and accountability. Also, smart contracts on Cardano allow transparency in crowdfunding, with companies only receiving their funds when they meet the conditions set by the backers.

Furthermore, Cardano’s smart contracts facilitate smoother international transactions, improving financial efficiency and liquidity without the complexities of multiple banks and wire transfer fees. It also simplifies the mortgage process, automating agreements and creating a seamless experience for buyers and owners.

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Here Are 3 Major Recent Cardano (ADA) Upgrades to Know

Coinspeaker UK Expands Crypto Asset Seizure Powers to Tackle Criminal Activity

The UK government is intensifying the crackdown on crypto-re­lated criminal activities. Effective April 26, 2024, law enforce­ment agencies like­ the National Crime Agency (NCA) and police­ will employ an enhanced authority to seize, free­ze, or even de­stroy crypto assets used by criminals. 

Cryptocurrencie­s’ anonymous nature raises worries about misuse­. Estimates show criminals conducted £1.2 billion in illicit crypto deals in 2021. Criminals e­xploit some cryptocurrencies’ anonymity and e­asy transfers for drug smuggling, fraud, and terrorist financing. Authorities aim to restrict this conce­rning trend of using crypto assets for ille­gal activities.

UK’s New Powers to Seize Illegal Crypto Asset

The updated legislation on illegal gains and te­rrorist activities empowers UK authorities to combat this e­merging danger effe­ctively. The primary changes enable­ law enforcement to se­ize suspected criminal crypto asse­ts, even before­ arresting the suspe­ct. The authorities will tackle the challe­nge of sophisticated criminals hiding the­ir identities or operating from fore­ign locations.

Authorities can now posse­ss legal power to seize­ cryptocurrencies and associated tools pote­ntially useful for investigations, including physical wallets, written passwords, or me­mory sticks containing private keys. Furthermore­, law enforcement can transfe­r seized cryptocurrencies into se­cure digital wallets under the­ir control. 

In cases where crypto poses risks like anonymity or mone­y laundering, authorities can destroy it. For instance­, with privacy coins are known for hiding identities and enabling ille­gal activities, officials have the authority to e­liminate them. Additionally, crime victims will find it e­asier to recover stole­n crypto held in seized accounts.

UK Balances Security with Crypto’s Legitimate Use

The new regulations ensure people­ are safe from crimes linked to crypto assets but also allow these digital assets to grow the economy. These­ updated guidelines promote valid usage of cryptocurrencie­s as a potential financial catalyst.

Home Secretary James Cleverly stated:

“Criminals should never be able to benefit from breaking the law…These reforms will also enhance our national security.”

In January 2024, authoritie­s seized approximately £120 million in cash and cryptocurre­ncy from a large drug operation. This successful joint inve­stigation involved the National Crime Age­ncy and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, highlighting the­ir collaborative efforts to disrupt major criminal ente­rprises.

Additionally, illegal crypto assets were seized in a case involving drug sales in the dark web, where­ criminals took crypto payments and collected £750,000 be­fore receiving ove­r 20 years in prison. Similarly, HMRC (Her Majesty’s Reve­nue and Customs) seized non-fungible toke­ns (NFTs) during a VAT fraud investigation, resulting in three­ suspects’ arrests.

The Unite­d Kingdom’s proactive approach paves the way for secure crypto environments. By giving police more power and promoting collaboration between agencies, the goal is to tackle crimes that use­ crypto worldwide. The UK move is se­tting an example for other nations to cre­ate a secure crypto e­nvironment.

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UK Expands Crypto Asset Seizure Powers to Tackle Criminal Activity

Coinspeaker Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital to Double Its Mining Capacity in 2024

Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital recently shared its goals for the hash rate that it seeks to achieve this year in 2024. This is the first major update from the company after the Bitcoin halving event last week, which reduced miner rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

Taking an ambitious goal Marathon has revised its 2024 hash rate goal from 35-37 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 50 EH/s. This comes on the backdrop of the company’s recent acquisitions which helped it expand its overall capacity.

In his statement on Thursday, Marathon CEO Fred Thiel said that the company is planning to double its mining scale this year in 2024, owing to this added capacity. Thiel said that the company wouldn’t need to raise capital in order to achieve these targets and that it would be “fully funded”. Thiel added:

“With our current liquidity position, this growth target is also fully funded and there is no need for us to raise additional capital to achieve our objective. By deploying state of the art equipment and our own proprietary technology, we also believe that we can improve our fleet efficiency and approach 21 joules per terahash as we grow to 50 exahash.”

Last month in March, Marathon Digital acquired a 200-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility for $87.3 million, from Digital Applied. Furthermore, it has acquired an additional two mining sites from Generate Capital for $179 million with a combined capacity of ~400 megawatts.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) stock price has surged by over 25% following the fourth Bitcoin halving event, which occurred at block 840,000 on April 20, a trend observed across other miners in the industry. The surge in demand at block 840,000 was largely fueled by enthusiasts of memecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), who competed to create and embed “rare satoshis” using the Runes protocol.

Bitcoin Hashprice on Downfall

Within a week of the fourth Bitcoin halving event, the Bitcoin “hashprice” has dropped considerably. As per the Hashrate data Index, the Bitcoin “hashprice” has dropped to $57. This figure indicates the earnings potential for a miner utilizing one petahash per second of computing power per day. It reached its lowest point at $55 shortly after the collapse of FTX in November 2022.

Following the halving event, the hashprice surged to $139 momentarily as transaction fees escalated due to heightened activity associated with the Rune protocol, enabling the creation of nonfungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. However, this surge swiftly reversed as fees retreated to pre-halving levels and mining difficulty surged, as indicated by CryptoQuant data.

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Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital to Double Its Mining Capacity in 2024

Coinspeaker Solana’s Chapter 2 Mobile Airdrops Temporarily Exceed Pre-Order Cost

Crypto traders who pre-ordered the Solana Mobile Web3 phone Chapter 2 received a surprising windfall as the total value of the airdrop they received briefly surpassed the actual cost of the phone.

According to data from airdrop tracker twoloot.com, the value of the digital assets distributed freely to buyers reached $480 on Thursday when the price of the tokens peaked. The mobile phone was originally sold to users for $450, meaning those who received the airdrop allocations and subsequently sold their holdings during the price peak made a profit of $30 despite not yet receiving the physical device.

Solana Chapter 2 Phone Accompanied with Airdrop

The phone was rolled out this year in January after the first Solana-based mobile device Saga sold out in the United States and Europe. However, unlike the Saga phone, which had a slow demand in the beginning before demand skyrocketed, Chapter 2 sold out within 24 hours of launch.

Solana co-founder Raj Gokal said the protocol reached its seven-day sales goal for the phone in just one day. The Android phone is still under development, and the first batch is scheduled to reach the owners by the first half of 2024.

During pre-orders, users were requested to link a Solana address to qualify for any potential airdrops that may come with the phone, just like in the case of Saga.

In April, the airdrops started rolling in. Two Solana meme coin projects, Cats in a Dogs World (MEW) and Maneki (MANEKI), blessed the buyers with their airdrops.  MEW distributed 37,600 of its tokens to all pre-ordered phones, while MANEKI shared approximately 5,200 tokens.

According to data from CoinGecko, the price of the tokens reached $0.0089 and $0.269 at their peak on April 24 and 25, respectively. During this period, each buyer’s worth of MEW was valued at $334 and $129, with both amounting to $463.

Solana Meme Coins Hit with Market Volatility

Other Solana-based meme projects, such as Wuffi (WUFFI), also blessed the buyers with an airdrop. The project distributed 114,000 tokens to mobile devices. These airdrops combined reached above the phone cost with an added profit on Thursday.

However, at the time of writing on Friday, the meme coins have dropped significantly in price due to the current volatility in the market.

MEW, which was previously worth above $300, now stands at $220 while MANEKI dropped to $124.

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Solana’s Chapter 2 Mobile Airdrops Temporarily Exceed Pre-Order Cost

Coinspeaker Banksters Launching Native Token for Web3 EduTech Platform on 3 Leading Crypto Launchpads

Banksters, an EduTech platform, will launch its cryptocurrency, $BARS, on April 24th through a token sale. BullPerks, Games Pad, and StormGain are the three main cryptocurrency launchpads where this event will occur.

The project is part of Banksters’ larger plan to use non-fungible token (NFT) technology in a teaching model that turns different parts of daily life into games, making them fun and educational at the same time.

Adding $BARS is likely to be very important to Banksters’ ecosystem. The token will be used in several ways, improving the user experience by making the game more useful.

People will use $BARS to pay to join exclusive “investment runs,” improve their mining rigs, level up their Bankster NFTs, and create new “child” Bankster figures. The token can also be used to buy Bankster NFTs immediately, making it more valuable and useful.

Alexandru Carbunariu, CEO and CMO of Banksters discussed the token’s importance, saying:

“We are thrilled to finally launch our token, which marks a major milestone for Banksters and the team that has worked diligently to bring us to this point.”

“The launch of our native token not only gives members of our community an opportunity to deepen their engagement with our platform, but it also paves the way for expanding our ecosystem. The $BARS token is integral to our model of gamifying financial education and trading, and we are completely convinced that it will empower users to maximize their experience within the immersive Banksters world,” he continued.

Pre-launch Activities and Getting the Community Involved

Before the token sale, Banksters ran an airdrop campaign that rewarded the site’s most active users for two weeks. The campaign finished on April 17. The top 1,000 players each got a range of NFTs worth 100,000 USDT.

These NFTs, which had different difficulty levels and properties, were part of a plan to get people excited about and involved with the $BARS launch. Following that, 2,000 Minting Scroll NFTs were made available for buy on Magic Eden, which is a well-known NFT store.

Also, the site launched the BARS Token Leaderboard Contest. The goal was to get users more involved by giving at least $5,000 in $BARS tokens to the top 50 players. The game ends on May 20 and offers double prizes to people who own Minting Scrolls, encouraging more people to participate.

The event is only open to certain people called “Traders (Reptilians)”. This shows that Banksters is targeting the community regarding rewards and ways to get involved.

The launch of $BARS is noteworthy for several reasons. First, it’s a new way to use blockchain technology in educational technology. This could change how educational material and experiences are provided and paid for in the future. When an EduTech platform uses a native token, it adds a new level of interaction and economy, which could make users more interested and keep them around longer.

Adding games to financial education with NFTs and a using native coin could also make learning about money easier and bring more fun. This method makes difficult ideas easier to understand and allows students to learn by doing, which may be more effective than more standard methods.

It could also affect the EduTech and crypto industries. As sites like Banksters combine these technologies, more people may use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

This is especially true for younger people, who may be more open to learning through games. If these projects are successful, other educational platforms might consider adding similar features. This could lead to a more broad use of blockchain in educational apps.

As the launch date for the $BARS token gets closer, people in the crypto and educational technology groups are getting more and more excited. Banksters’ smart use of NFTs to turn educational material into games is a new development in both areas.

Adding a native token to this model makes it even more useful by giving users new ways to interact with the platform and learn about money in the real world. The launch could have long-lasting effects on how educational material is organized, given, and valued in the digital age, leading to more interactive and interesting learning settings in many areas.

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Banksters Launching Native Token for Web3 EduTech Platform on 3 Leading Crypto Launchpads

Coinspeaker Data Protocol Syntropy Rebrands to Synternet to Enhance Web 3.0 Interoperability

The future of Web 3.0 is about to face a revolution as Syntropy announced its rebranding to Synternet. Markedly, the Web 3.0 data layer protocol made the announcement on Wednesday, stating that the rebrand would involve some visual alterations to the platform’s logo, colour, and website design. Syntropy undergoes this process as it seeks to improve the movement of data across blockchains.

Apart from the black and white color code, other advanced features that can bring novel technological advancements to Syntropy, will be added to the ecosystem. According to Daniel Haudenschild, the CEO of Synternet, the move is more than a rebrand.

“It’s a declaration of our bold vision for the future of blockchain. By providing the data infrastructure for Web3, we’re laying the foundation for a more open, interoperable, and innovative decentralized web,” the CEO said.

Synternet Focuses on Data Interoperability across Blockchains 

The launch of the platform is aimed at transforming the movement of data across the internet using blockchain. Over the years, the evolution of the Web 3.0 ecosystem has necessitated the need for interconnectedness and interoperability across several blockchains. Therefore, many protocols have been building projects that can cater to this evolving need.

Last week, Web 3.0 project Union Labs, announced plans to integrate with Polygon Labs-backed aggregation layer alias AggLayer. This move was focused on improving Web3.0 interoperability and liquidity between Polygon-based chains and Cosmos-centered chains.

Similarly, Synternet aims to remove the barriers facing the accessibility of data across blockchains while also eliminating the need for centralized data sources. These centralized data sources oftentimes slow down the development of blockchain as well as its adoption by users.

For Synternet, its goal of becoming a platform that connects isolated chains to interoperable blockchains seems to be reaching fruition.

Synternet Established as True L1

Explicitly, the rebrand to Synternet appears to align with the firm’s goals. The platform believes that the synchrony of its external appearance with its technological progress and vision is crucial to establishing Synternet as a true Layer-1 blockchain.

Synternet claims that the rebrand gives it the capacity to contribute to powering data infrastructure that is important for creating a unified, composable Web 3.0 landscape. In the coming months, several key developments are expected from Synternet, as promised by the firm.

The launch of the Synternet blockchain on mainnet to facilitate real-time, cross-chain data streams and the debut of a fully operational token bridge between Ethereum and Cosmos are a few of the expected developments coming to the Web 3.0 data layer. These potential advancements are part of the Monaco phase of Synternet’s 2024 Q2 roadmap.

It is worth noting that NOIA, the native token of Syntropy held by users, will not be impacted by the rebrand. In the meantime, no action is required from holders of the NOIA token, particularly as it would remain operational on the Ethereum blockchain.

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Data Protocol Syntropy Rebrands to Synternet to Enhance Web 3.0 Interoperability

Coinspeaker Deciphering Bitcoin’s Halving Impact: Navigating New Market Realities

Bitcoin halving occurs approximately every four years. This happens because the cryptocurrency’s protocol is programmed to inevitably lead to the halving of the miner’s rewards for adding new blocks to the blockchain.

While halving’s significance, whether it is beneficial or disadvantageous, can always be debated, there is no denying that it has an enormous impact on the economy built around the crypto world’s most well-known and representative asset – Bitcoin.

Experts Warn against Quick, Oversimplified Understanding

Experts, industry analysts, and crypto product developers hold varied opinions on how this event might impact the industry. Herbert Sim, the COO of Websea, one of the finest gateways to Web3 investing in the digital age, believes the impact of halving this time will be unlike the previous three. “This is the first time a Bitcoin halving is occurring since the ETF approval in the United States,” Herbert reminds us.

He continues:

“Bitcoin ETFs have set new benchmarks for the currency’s demand. With the influx of billions of dollars that these ETFs have inspired, the reduction in supply would lead to never-seen-before interactions in the market, requiring a nuanced understanding. Jumping to conclusions too quickly could be counterproductive.”

Taking a cue from Herbert’s caution, it would be vital for the market participants to carefully track the post-halving events as they unfold with their complexities and contradictions.

Go-To-Market Strategies Become All the More Crucial

Gaurav Dubey’s comments on Bitcoin halving are almost an extension of Herbert Sim’s take on it. Gaurav is the CEO of TDeFi, a forerunner in incubating, consulting, and mentoring Web3 startups.

Gaurav says:

“With the altered dynamics in the Bitcoin economy, which drives sentiments for the entire crypto market, it becomes all the more important for new project developers to have their go-to-market strategy ready.”

He advocates for a wholesome strategy where developers go beyond product development, market identification, pricing strategy, messaging, and acquisition and look for enhanced community engagement.

According to Gaurav, “it is crucial to leverage influencer partnerships well, optimize your token incentivization program, build robust strategic alliances, and design knowledge management programs that are well-distributed throughout the year.”

New Entrants Need More Attention and Support

The altered dynamics, as many point out, to be caused by Bitcoin halving might introduce shifts that might be difficult for new crypto adopters to grasp and understand.

Emmanuel Quezada, the CEO and co-founder of the U-Topia ecosystem, says:

“Post-Bitcoin halving developments should not seem complex to navigate. We need easily comprehensible analyses that explain things in the simplest terms possible for users of all ages, irrespective of the stage of adoption they’re in.”

Indeed, Bitcoin ETFs have made Bitcoin more popular to a large segment of new users. These users are not as well-versed with crypto terminologies and syntaxes as the early adopters. These groups might feel left out if the talk around post-halving developments becomes too technical and jargon-heavy. The crypto space must promote effective communication channels that make these interactions accessible and inclusive for everyone.

More Efforts are Required to Make the Crypto Reward Economy Beneficial

Finally, one thing that Bitcoin halving will definitely impact is the notion of rewards. Bitcoin miners having their rewards cut in half would definitely translate into discussions around the reward economy in the crypto world.

HM Rawat, the CEO and co-founder of Lingo, an entity that has introduced an entirely new model of generating community rewards supported by RWAs, believes that crypto platforms that have a highly rewarding structure will witness greater adoption.

“It is high time for crypto-space participants to be more mindful about the reward structure projects offer their community. The crypto market was meant to be thoroughly decentralized and democratic so that each benefitted at similar levels. Discussions around miner rewards getting diminished must not discourage adoption,” explains he.

Since this time’s halving is unique, many new developments could be on the charts. Market participants must track these developments attentively. Anticipating too much based on predictions, projections, and estimates might be counterproductive.

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Deciphering Bitcoin’s Halving Impact: Navigating New Market Realities

Coinspeaker Tezos and Magic Partner to Revolutionize Web3 User Experience

Open-source blockchain platform Tezos has further established its partnership with Magic, a Web3 wallet solution provider. According to a recent announcement, the collaboration is aimed at enhancing the onboarding user experience in the Web3 space. It will further help in making the Web3 application easy to use.

Simplifying Web3 Wallet Creation

The integration by Magic will tackle Web3 challenges such as authentication and onboarding; it will also provide a solution that will enable users to create a wallet smoothly without the need for seed phrases, downloads, or plug-ins. This solution will therefore simplify the process and also create more opportunities for developers to build innovative, user-friendly solutions, which will propel decentralized technologies to become generally accepted.

This integration will give Tezos developers access to become more creative using Magic’s tools to develop secure, decentralized applications. Now, Tezos can boast of being one of the few blockchain networks featured on the Magic platform.

Empowering Web3: Broadening Access through Collaboration

According to the press release by Tezos, Sean Li, co-founder and CEO of Magic, revealed that the two firms share similarities, as Tezos is a company that is security-based and is onboarding the masses through high-profile brands such as Ubisoft. He further mentioned that Magic has always wanted to simplify the complexities surrounding wallets for multi-chain transactions. While speaking about his excitement about the partnership between the two firms, he said:

“Today, we are excited to deepen our integration with Tezos and bring our ecosystems together, offering the best possible user experience to onboard the next billion users to Web3.”

Echoing his statement were the words of Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman, who declared that the partnership will make decentralized applications available to more users. He stated:

 “By combining Tezos’ secure and scalable infrastructure with Magic’s intuitive authentication and wallet solutions, they are helping developers build decentralized applications that are accessible to a much wider audience.”

Based on similar news released by Tezos, they revealed that there will be a next stage for this integration, which will involve implementing well-known Web2 login flows to make the onboarding process for applications built on Tezos easier.

A Formidable Partnership

Based on the two blockchain firms’ collaboration and similar functionality, plus their importance to the Web3 space, Tezos has been included in the Magic blockchain platform, which includes other notable figures in the industry such as Solana, Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow.

More so, the integration has been able to amass important figures and data, as Magic has been able to secure over 1500 downloads of their Tezos extensions. Not that alone; within this year, thousands of wallets have been created by Magic on the Tezos blockchain.

Hence, this integration is a solution to ending the use of traditional passwords and reducing the complexities of wallet entry, thus providing easy access and a user-friendly onboarding experience.

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Tezos and Magic Partner to Revolutionize Web3 User Experience

Coinspeaker Pantera Capital Buys Another Bunch of Solana Tokens from FTX Auction

Distressed crypto exchange FTX and its sister investment firm Alameda Research have accelerated the auctioning and liquidation of their crypto holdings in the past few weeks. With former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried, alias SBF, currently serving a 25-year jail term, the repayment of the distressed creditors and customers is underway.

In the latest update, Bloomberg reported that about 2,000 SOL coins, worth about $288k based on the current price, were auctioned this week. According to people familiar with the matter, Pantera Capital was among the winning bids during the FTX auction.

Earlier this month, Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, among others, participated in an FTX auction where $2.6 billion worth of SOL were sold at a discount. Furthermore, the 41 million SOL coins being offloaded by FTX and Alameda Research are locked in smart contracts and will be available for trading over the next four years.

Reportedly, FTX estate sold the SOL coins to Pantera Capital at a higher price than $60, which was used in the prior auction.

The ongoing Solana liquidation is a huge relief to the affected FTX customers and creditors, who have waited for more than 15 months. Moreover, the restructuring of FTX through the court process has proved to be an expensive process, especially due to the legal fees.

Market Impact on Solana

The ongoing Solana auction by FTX and Alameda Research has significantly impacted the changes in SOL price. According to the latest market data, the SOL coin exchanged around $144, having slipped more than 23 percent in the last four weeks. The large-cap altcoin has, however, rallied more than 500 percent in the past year fueled by increased on-chain activity.

The Solana-based meme coins led by dogwifhat (WIF) and Bonk (BONK) have helped the blockchain become a major web3 hub. As of this report, the Solana network has facilitated more than $21 billion in bridged total value locked (TVL). Additionally, the Solana network had a daily average DeFi trading volume of over $1.2 billion and a stablecoins market cap of around $3.2 billion.

The acquisition of Solana coins from FTX by Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital is an indication the layer one network is well-positioned to grow further in the coming years.

SOL Price Expectations

Solana’s price is largely following the general altcoin outlook, which is heavily influenced by the Bitcoin price action. If Bitcoin price continues to fall towards the supper level around $61k in the coming days, there is a high chance the altcoin industry will follow suit.

On the other hand, if Bitcoin price rebounds beyond $70k in the coming days, the altcoin bulls will awaken immediately. Meanwhile, SOL bulls must protect the support level above $140 to invalidate the ongoing market correction.

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Pantera Capital Buys Another Bunch of Solana Tokens from FTX Auction

Coinspeaker Crypto Trader Paulo.sol Earns $23 Million from Solana Meme Coins

A crypto whale has cashed out massively while trading Solana-based meme coins like Dogwifhat (WIF), Joe Boden (BODEN), and Bonk (BONK). The trader, known by the pseudonym Paulo.sol, made approximately $23 million in pure profits from flipping the digital assets.

Lookonchain, a leading blockchain analytics company, shared the news on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, breaking down the trades. The whale made $9.51 million from WIF, $7.04 million from BODEN, and $6.28 million from BONK.

Mastering the Flip

Paulo.sol’s success story began in November last year when he noticed the rising value of BONK and decided to invest. He then started flipping the tokens after the first purchase, buying at a lower price and selling high. Through this method, the whale generated a total of $6.28 million in profits from BONK alone.

The following month, on December December 4, 2023, the trader identified another opportunity with WIF and made a successful investment. He found the token when it was freshly launched online and held it until it became profitable.

According to Lookonchain, his keen eye for promising assets led him to BODEN on March 6, 2023, where he once again capitalized on the coin’s upward trajectory.

Coincidentally, during this period, BODEN experienced a remarkable surge, increasing by 830% in just six hours and an astonishing 2431% in 24 hours.

Like BONK, Paulo.sol closely monitored the performance of both BODEN and WIF and cashed out when they experienced sharp price increases.

Crypto Whale Continues to Invest in Memes

As of now, the crypto whale still holds 12.87 million BODEN valued at $7.6 million and 1.87 million WIF valued at $5.7 million. In addition to his current holdings, Paulo.sol has recently shown interest in other memecoins within the Solana ecosystem.

Lookonchain said the trader purchased 4.3 million POPCAT tokens worth around $1.77 million at the market price of $0.42 each.

Earlier this month, he also invested $5.97 million to acquire 101,712 PUPS, a memecoin on Bitcoin (BTC) for $59 each since April 11. Lookonchain said the recent purchase has made him the largest holder of the digital asset on Solana.

Meanwhile, Paulo.sol is one of the many traders in the industry cashing out big on meme coins.

On April 16, Coinspeaker reported that an anonymous whale turned a $10,000 investment into $5 million by flipping memes on both Solana and the Ethereum scaling solution Base.

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Crypto Trader Paulo.sol Earns $23 Million from Solana Meme Coins

Coinspeaker China’s CBDC Mastermind Is Under Investigation

Yao Qian, the mastermind behind the development of China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), has found himself under the watchful eyes of the Chinese government, as reports reveal that he is under investigation. The investigation adds to ongoing probes on some key players in the crypto community and raises concerns about the potential adoption of CBDC in China.

Charges against Yao Qian 

According to reports, the Chinese anti-corruption authorities have accused Yao Qian of violating laws and regulations. At the moment, details about the investigation remain unknown. Born in 1970, Qian is a former director at the central bank’s digital currency research institute and currently serves as the Director of the Information Center of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Qian was appointed the first head of the central bank’s digital currency research institute in 2017. Subsequently, he moved from the central bank to the country’s securities regulator the following year. He actively supports blockchain technology and even published a book in 2022 covering topics such as NFT,  DeFi, DAO, and X-to-earn.

The Director boldly predicted that Web 3.0 will play a major role in China’s future internet infrastructure. He, therefore, advised that more attention and research must be placed on its development.

Qian criticized the limiting abilities of the Web 2.0 ecosystem. He emphasized that users are indulged to participate in social activities or on the internet by the large tech firms, of which access can still be revoked.

Qian is also an advocate of the Chinese CBDC known as digital yuan. Three years ago, the Chinese government was accused of using the digital yuan as a monitoring tool. In defense of the digital coin, Qian stated that it was created to compete with private-owned payment platforms such as Alipay. He added that central banks are under obligation to develop legalized fiat currency due to the growing digitization in the economy.

The Chinese CBDC has been under development for some time, with an intense attempt to establish its use. Similar to some other countries working on developing their digital currencies, China has conducted multiple tests of its CBDC in different parts of the country.

In 2021, the government banned citizens from engaging in crypto-related activities, including trading and mining of cryptocurrencies in the country. However, reports reveal that the Chinese government introduced about 200 CBDC activities across the country last year. The report highlights increased enthusiasm toward digital currency in China, noting that some local governments used the digital yuan to subsidize businesses to improve recovery.

Stablecoins as a Proposed Alternative to Chinese CBDC

Amid recent developments and tests on China’s CBDC, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of stablecoin issuer Circle Financial, has urged authorities to consider yuan-backed stablecoins as a viable alternative. 

Allaire claims stablecoins have more benefits for China’s international trade and commerce. He noted that if the Chinese government aims to see the yuan being widely used globally, stablecoins could be the path to achieve that goal.

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China’s CBDC Mastermind Is Under Investigation

Coinspeaker SEC Sues Bitcoin Miner Geosyn for Defrauding Several Customers

On Wednesday, April 24, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against crypto miner Geosyn Mining alleging them of defrauding more than 64 investors to the tune of $5.6 million. As per the SEC lawsuit, Geosyn and its founders lied about the crypto-mining rigs they operated and used the customers’ funds for personal expenses.

In the lawsuit in a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, the SEC named Geosyn, its CEO Caleb Joseph Ward, and former operating chief Jeremy George McNutt. If further accuses them of selling service agreements as securities from November 2021 to December 2022.

In the lawsuit, the SEC notes that Geosyn “falsely claimed” the agreements to buy and run crypto miners on behalf of its customers and that it had contracts with electricity providers to get cheap energy. However, the real costs were “as high as 40-50% above” the rates given to its customers.

Moreover, co-founders Warn and McNutt also lied to investors regarding Geosyn’s operations, claimed the SEC. The securities regulator stated that Geosyn first told its customers that they would buy 1,400 mining rigs, however, it failed to buy 400 of them, and “never brought most of the purchased mining machines online”.

Geosyn’s agreements also stated that customers would get the option to choose what crypto to mine, however, the firm later rejected to mine anything other than Bitcoin.

The SEC claimed that the crypto miner created “bogus documents” with “fabricated mining rates and profits”. It also made BTC payouts to investors making them “believe that their mining machines were operational and profitable when they were not”.  Although Geosyn earned only $320,000 from Bitcoin mining, it gave around $354,500 worth to investors.

Geosyn Founders Used Customers’ Funds for Personal Use

The SEC also alleges that Ward and McNutt misappropriated approximately $1.2 million in investor funds for personal expenses, including meals, nightclub outings, vacations, firearms, timepieces, and legal fees. This misuse of funds reportedly includes instances such as McNutt’s purported use of the company’s credit card for a $20,000 “Las Vegas nightclub wedding celebration” for Ward and a $49,000 family trip to Disney World.

Additionally, it is claimed that Ward and McNutt spent $22,000 of investor funds on a breathalyzer device and other expenses related to McNutt and a Geosyn employee’s separate arrests and convictions for driving under the influence during a crypto conference in June 2022.

Later in October 2022, McNutt left the firm while giving up his ownership. The SEC said that Ward reached out to the authorities to report McNutt for embezzlement “without disclosing his own misappropriations”.

After facing dire financial stress in 2023, Ward wrote to investors some “IOU” notes for their owned Bitcoins and said that Geosyn would file for bankruptcy which actually never happened.

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SEC Sues Bitcoin Miner Geosyn for Defrauding Several Customers

Coinspeaker Franklin Templeton Launches $380M Government Fund, Tokenizes It on Polygon, Stellar

Leading investment firm Franklin Templeton has announced a $380 million  United States Government Money Fund (FOBXX), tokenized as BENJI tokens. According to the firm, these tokens represent shares of the fund and can now be traded on both the Polygon and Stellar blockchains. The innovative move does not only promise to simplify transactions and enhance liquidity. It also aims to democratize access to asset management. That is by giving investors more flexibility to manage their assets through direct exchanges.

The BENJI Token

For Franklin Templeton, the BENJI token is primarily aimed at enabling peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers without intermediaries. However, on a broader note, it is more than just a digital representation of a share. It portrays the dynamic shift that is currently taking place in how investors interact with traditional financial structures.

For what it’s worth, the tokenization of government securities and other assets has recently become a trend. That i,  as financial institutions race to blend traditional financial structures with modern-day technological solutions.

So, Franklin Templeton may just be responding to this growing demand, hence its latest innovation.

With BENJI tokens, investors can directly exchange shares on public blockchains. No middlemen, no delays — just seamless P2P transactions. By eliminating intermediaries, Franklin Templeton reduces administrative costs, with the cost efficiency benefiting both the firm and its investors.

Furthermore, Franklin Templeton’s move aims to enhance liquidity. Investors can buy, sell, or transfer BENJI tokens swiftly, regardless of geographical boundaries.

Moreover, blockchain technology is known for ensuring transparency. Therefore, every BENJI token transaction will be recorded immutably, giving investors real-time updates regarding their holdings.

Competing with BlackRock’s BUIDL

Notably, the latest move by Franklin Templeton puts it in direct competition with BlackRock, another investment giant. As Coinspeaker earlier reported, BlackRock, in another tokenization effort, recently partnered with Securitize to launch its BUIDL fund on the Ethereum blockchain.

Although BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has already garnered significant attention, Franklin Templeton has done something different. The multi-blockchain compatibility of BENJI tokens means that investors can choose between Polygon and Stellar, expanding their options.

Franklin Templeton maintains a leading position in the tokenized US Treasuries sector with its 32% market share.

As blockchain technology continues to disrupt traditional finance, asset managers like Franklin Templeton are doing the utmost to adapt and position themselves at the center of innovation.

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Franklin Templeton Launches $380M Government Fund, Tokenizes It on Polygon, Stellar

Coinspeaker Institutional Investors Flock to Solana (SOL) Ahead of Anticipated Bull Run

Solana (SOL) is gaining traction among institutional investors looking to diversify their portfolios beyond Bitcoin (BTC) in anticipation of the upcoming bull run that is expected to accompany the Bitcoin halving event.

A recent survey led by James Butterfill, CoinShares head of research, indicates a significant rise in SOL allocations from wealth managers and hedge funds compared to other altcoins in recent months.

15% of Institutional Investors Invested in Solana (SOL)

The survey, which included 64 investors overseeing a total of $600 billion in assets under management (AUM), revealed a notable change in sentiment towards SOL.

According to CoinShares report, almost 15% of respondents have recently invested in SOL, a significant increase from the previous survey conducted in January, where none had exposure to the altcoin.

This surge in interest can be attributed to Solana’s unique value proposition and its potential to offer attractive returns to investors. The network’s appeal lies in its scalability, low transaction fees, and fast transaction speeds, making it an attractive option for institutional investors seeking efficient blockchain solutions.

Despite the growing interest in SOL, BTC remains the dominant force in the market. The report indicates that investor sentiment towards Bitcoin remains positive, with 41% of respondents recognizing its significant growth potential.

In comparison, Solana garnered less enthusiasm, with only 15% of respondents expressing optimism about its growth potential. However, this figure represents a notable increase from the January survey, where just over 10% of respondents viewed Solana favorably.

XRP Sees Decreased Institutional Interest

In terms of positive sentiment, Ethereum (Ether) ranked second after BTC, with 30% of respondents expressing confidence in its growth potential. However, the survey found that investor interest in Ether has significantly declined since the beginning of the year, with its score dropping from 35%.

The report also highlighted a decline in interest in altcoins like Ripple’s XRP. Unlike the January survey, which showed that a significant percentage of institutional investors held XRP, none of the 64 investors polled in the new survey currently own XRP.

Despite this decrease in direct holdings, investment products related to XRP saw significant allocations, with minor inflows of $1.3 million to XRP products for the week ending April 19.

The survey also revealed a significant change in investors’ asset allocations, with the percentage of digital assets in their portfolios increasing to 3% from 1.3% in January. CoinShares described this as the highest weighting since the survey began in 2021.

The report also attributed the rise to institutional investors’ increased ability to access Bitcoin through the US ETFs launched in January. Despite this increase in crypto allocation, equities (stocks) remained the most heavily weighted asset class, comprising over 55% of investors’ portfolios.

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Institutional Investors Flock to Solana (SOL) Ahead of Anticipated Bull Run

Coinspeaker Consensys Sues US SEC over Its Attempts to Label Ethereum Security

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would eventually be sued for attempting to classify Ethereum (ETH) as a security and not approving the trading of spot Ether ETFs. With the official deadline for the spot Ethereum ETF decision on the horizon, between May 23 and 24, experts have highlighted that the regulatory agency will likely reject the spot Ether ETF.

According to most experts, the US SEC will argue that Ether futures ETF has had limited data compared to its Bitcoin counterpart.

As Coinspeaker previously reported, the US SEC has already begun looking into Ethereum-based DeFi projects led by Wells notice to Uniswap (UNI).

Nonetheless, the Ethereum community believes Ethereum is a commodity and not a security, and the spot Ether ETF should be approved without hesitation.

Consensys Fights for Ethereum Community Against US SEC

In a bid to protect the future of web3 space, Consensys Software Inc., a veteran blockchain and software company, filed a lawsuit against the US SEC on Thursday, April 25 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. At the core of the Consensys litigation are three critical issues that are geared toward ensuring the Ethereum network remains a vibrant and indispensable blockchain.

According to Consensys, Ethereum is a global computing platform and not an investment scheme. As a result, Ethereum cannot be classified as a security but instead should be viewed as a commodity as reaffirmed by the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC).

We took this step for two very basic reasons:

(1) the SEC should not be allowed to arbitrarily expand its jurisdiction to include regulating the future of the internet by wrongly labeling ETH a security; and

(2) the SEC’s reckless approach is bringing chaos to developers,…

— Consensys (@Consensys) April 25, 2024

Consensys further highlighted that web3 platforms that allow people to transact on their own using Ethereum, like Uniswap, are not securities brokers. As such, the US SEC does not have jurisdiction over the Web3 platform by any means.

“The SEC’s unlawful power grab threatens to undermine America’s position as a leader of the next generation of the internet,” Consensys argued.

According to Consensys, 29 percent of the 190k direct employees in the cryptocurrency industry are based in the United States. With the US SEC having declared Etfee as not a security in 2018, as observed through Hinman’s statements, Consensys has urged the jury to weigh on its facts.

Market Picture

Ethereum network remains the undisputed leader in the web3 ecosystem, with a stablecoins market cap of about $83 billion and a total value locked of around $54 billion. With the emergence of new smart contract-based blockchains, the Ethereum network has facilitated more than $268 billion in bridged TVL over the past few years.

As of this writing, Ethereum’s price has exchanged around $3,142, down approximately 10 percent in the last two weeks. Ethereum bulls are eyeing to retest the ATH, which will be triggered by a reversal in Bitcoin dominance.

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Consensys Sues US SEC over Its Attempts to Label Ethereum Security

Coinspeaker Stripe to Allow Merchant Payments in USDC Stablecoin This Summer

After dropping its Bitcoin payments facility six years back in 2018, payments giant Stripe is once again coming with a crypto payment facility for merchant payments. Stripe has announced that starting this summer, it would support transactions in Circle’s native stablecoin USD Coin (USDC).

Stripe to Integrate USDC Payments

Thus, within several weeks, Stripe would integrate stablecoin payments into the servicer’s checkout suite. As announced by Stripe, the company would immediately settle the USDC transactions in fiat. All the USDC transactions shall happen initially through Ethereum, Solana, and the Polygon blockchain networks.

As said, Stripe has a long history of facilitating crypto payments. Back in 2014, the payment processor started offering Bitcoin payments to its customers. However, it discontinued its services in 2018 stating that Bitcoin was highly volatile and serves the purpose of an asset instead of being the medium of exchange. Besides, Stripe also criticized Bitcoin’s growing fees and lengthy transaction times.

In the subsequent year, the fintech giant made moves to re-enter the market by joining as a co-founder of Facebook’s Libra project. However, it withdrew its support later that year, and the Libra initiative failed to materialize. In 2022, Stripe launched a project aimed at facilitating fiat-to-crypto payments. Speaking on the current development, Stripe co-founder and President John Collison said:

“We’re excited to announce that we’re bringing back crypto as a way to accept payments, but this time with a much better experience. Crypto is finding real utility. With transaction speeds increasing and costs coming down, we’re seeing crypto finally making sense as a means of exchange.”

Stripe Expanding Its Global Reach

Stripe stated that it is excited to empower its users to accept stablecoin payments, which allows them to expand their global reach and offer convenient, swift, and reliable transactions to customers, even without a bank account or credit card.

Earlier this week on Wednesday, Stripe unveiled a long list of other launches. Another major update from Stripe is that, for the very first time, it would allow its customers to integrate competing payment providers and leverage Stripe’s other financial services tooling.

Remaining true to its disruptive origins in fintech, the company has aimed to play a central role in discussions concerning the impact of blockchain technologies on financial services. However, there’s a risk of undermining its core business and perception as a stable and prudent financial entity if it delves too deeply or extensively into periods of instability. Despite processing $1 trillion in transactions last year and continuing growth, its current valuation sits at $65 billion.

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Stripe to Allow Merchant Payments in USDC Stablecoin This Summer

Coinspeaker Shiba Inu Developers Set Shibarium Hard Fork for May 2: Here’s What You Need to Know

The development team of Shiba Inu, the popular meme-based cryptocurrency, has announced the date for the Shibarium hard fork. According to the announcement, which was shared via the official X account of the protocol, the significant network upgrade is scheduled to take place on May 2.

The team claims that the upgrade is poised to bring enhanced scalability and efficiency to the network. Thereby, improving overall user experience while also laying the groundwork for upcoming features and functionalities.

In a detailed X post, the team explained what the forthcoming changes also mean for Shibarium. While users will gain access to a suite of new features as a result of the upgrade, the hard fork is also expected to bring tangible growth to the network.

Shibarium Hard Fork Expectations

In blockchain technology, a hard fork describes major changes that occur within a protocol that necessitates all nodes or users to upgrade to the latest version of that protocol software. This migration usually comes along with new features and improvements.

Specifically, the Shibarium hard fork is expected to bring substantial changes to the Shibarium network in three major ways.

Firstly, the upgrade aims to improve scalability and efficiency. It hopes to address scalability issues by improving transaction throughput and reducing gas fees. The implication is that, with faster block processing times, Shiba Inu’s network will be better equipped to handle increased demand.

Another key aspect of the Shibarium hard fork is that it will significantly reduce transaction costs. Users can expect lower transaction fees due to optimizations introduced in the hard fork. This move is crucial for enhancing Shiba Inu’s usability and attracting more users.

Lastly, the Shibarium upgrade is also an important preparation for future features. As earlier mentioned, it forms the basis upon which upcoming features and functionalities will be based. More so, the Shiba Inu team has shared in a blog post that the upgrade goes beyond immediate improvements. They claim that there is a strategic foresight behind the hard fork. That is as the Shibarium network prepares to scale significantly with hopes of onboarding the next billion users.

As May 2 approaches, the Shiba Inu community and stakeholders are encouraged to stay updated about the developments and prepare for the changes that will come with the hard fork. However, users can expect to see improved performance and cost-effectiveness from the upgrade.

As of publication, CoinMarketCap data shows SHIB trading at $0.00002552, up 1.84% in the last 24 hours.

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Shiba Inu Developers Set Shibarium Hard Fork for May 2: Here’s What You Need to Know

Coinspeaker Aligned Layer Successfully Raised $20M in Series A Funding Round Led by Hack VC

Aligned Layer, a universal verification layer for the Ethereum (ETH) network via the EigenLayer, has announced the closure of its Series A funding round with $20 million. According to the announcement, the company’s Series A funding round was led by Hack VC. The company also received tremendous support from DAO5, L2Iterative, FinalityCap, Symbolic VC, Theta Capital, J17, EVG Ventures, Decima fund, and Protagonist, among others.

The strategic funds will be used to further build the necessary infrastructure to enable Ethereum to become a scalable blockchain. Furthermore, the Ethereum network is the leading web3 ecosystem with a vast majority of its TVL already bridged to and from other smart contract-enabled chains through its EVM.

“We believe that by reducing barriers and friction for newcomers, decreasing the proving time, and lowering the costs of on-chain verification, we will unlock unprecedented levels of exploration and innovation within the space,” Aligned Layer noted.

The Aligned Layer team has been conducting a simple testnet working with Cosmos SDK. Furthermore, the Aligned Layer team has aspirations of expanding their services to other blockchains that require affordable validity and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs.

Having successfully raised more funds, the Aligned Layer team announced that it will be migrating to an EigenLayer testnet in the coming weeks. In the near future, the Aligned Layer team intends to provide a software development kit to aid web3 developers in verifying the results of proofs via any smart contract.

Aligned Layer and the Market Picture

The Aligned Layer’s verification software is built using the most popular smart contract programming languages including Rust and Go. Meanwhile, the company announced that it will share the strategic partnership engaged in the near future in addition to angel investors that have supported its mission.

🟩 A Fully Aligned Round: $20M Series A Round🟩

Aligned Layer is pleased to announce a $20M fundraise led by Hack @hack_vc, with support from @daofive, @l2iterative, @NomadCapital_io, @FinalityCap, @symbolicvc, @theta_bv, @J17Crypto, @EVG_Ventures, @decimafund, GM Ventures,… pic.twitter.com/nL2ykP8tF6

— Aligned Layer (@alignedlayer) April 25, 2024

The Aligned Layer team managed to raise crucial funds amid the ongoing mainstream adoption of Web3 projects to revolutionize the global financial landscape. Furthermore, blockchain technology is expected to tokenize almost all global assets including government bonds, real estate, stocks, and equity indexes among others.

As Coinspeaker previously explained, BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK), a global leader in fund management, collaborated with Securitize to launch the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on the Ethereum network.

Already, BUIDL has several participants including BitGo, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), and Fireblocks, among others.

The need for scalable web3 protocols on the Ethereum network is paramount to enable healthy competition with other blockchains including Solana (SOL), and Toncoin (TON). Furthermore, blockchain decentralization is a process that is achieved over time as more network participants are engaged via on-chain transactions.

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Aligned Layer Successfully Raised $20M in Series A Funding Round Led by Hack VC

Coinspeaker Avail Teams Up with Leading Blockchain Platforms for Data Integration

Avail, an innovative blockchain solution designed to help improve data availability for rollups, has partnered with five layer-2 protocols to boost scalability, cost-efficiency, and developer flexibility.  In an announcement on Thursday, the protocol said that Ethereum-based scaling solutions such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, StarkWare, and zkSync will integrate its Data Availability (DA) layer into their various platforms.

Avail to Debut DA Layer Soon

The integration aims to empower developers with scalable, cost-efficient, and composable chains capable of handling millions of users.

Once the incorporation is completed, the DA solution will form the foundation for a unified architecture, offering mathematical assurances of data availability and featuring a built-in validator ecosystem for the networks.

It will also bring more transparency to the chains, helping them combat fraud on individual platforms and enabling reliable operations outside the main Ethereum blockchain.

However, it is important to note that Avail’s DA is still in the testnet phase, and its mainnet launch is still underway. Anurag Arjun, the project’s co-founder, confirmed it will be going live soon, in a few weeks. The platform was among the newly launched protocols that joined the crypto ecosystem last year, alongside projects like Celestia, which launched in October, and Eigenlayer’s EigenDA, which went live earlier this month.

Mainnet Launch Preparations

On April 24, Avail rolled out Turing, its ultimate pre-mainnet testing environment, in preparation for its official debut. According to the platform, Turing is specifically designed for thorough deployment vetting, stress tests, and scalability assessments.

Earlier this year, Avail announced it would launch two core products: Nexus and Avail Fusion.

The blockchain unification protocol said Nexus will serve as a layer connecting various rollups within the Avail ecosystem. On the other hand, Avail Fusion will leverage the security of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ether) to bolster its overall security.

Empowering Blockchain Ecosystems

Despite being in the testnet phase, Avail is already collaborating with its new partners on the integration. The protocol is working closely with OP Labs, a significant contributor to Optimism, to ensure seamless integration within its ecosystem.

According to the announcement, Orbit chain builders on Optimism will now be able to opt for Avail DA after the integration instead of relying on AnyTrust’s external Data Availability Committee.

Avail DA is also set to integrate with the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), an essential part of Polygon’s AggLayer network. Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, said developers can create interconnected blockchain solutions once the integration is completed.

“It’s important to provide this type of optionality to developers when the ultimate goal is to enable a thriving and robust ecosystem of connected blockchains through the AggLayer,” Boiron said.

StarkWare and zkSync are not left behind. Integration with these platforms will help streamline the deployment of ZK-powered blockchains, enhancing throughput, scalability, and user experience across platforms.

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Avail Teams Up with Leading Blockchain Platforms for Data Integration