Crypto && Coffee 021
- 6 minsTechnology Recap:
Bitcoin:
- We are now 19 days away from the block reward halving!
- Bitcoin Core v0.20.0 release candidate is now available for testing.
Ethereum:
- Ethereum released Geth v1.9.13. This release ships with a new snapshot format, raises transaction limits to 128KB, can run HTTP and WebSocket on the same port and supports keeping the ethash caches and DAG in RAM.
- The Prysmatic Labs Topaz testnet for ETH2.0 launched on April 17th, 2020. Join the testnet here!
- Jump right into learning all about ERC-20 tokens in this straightforward guide.
Other Chains:
- The imBTC Tokenlon DEX pool on Uniswap was attacked and drained. The vulnerability has previously been described by ConsenSys here.
- Multicoin Capital-backed DeFi protocol dForce loses ~$25M total locked value in an exploit. The Lendf.me attack has the same roots as the imBTC/ETH pool attack on Uniswap above. It leveraged the reentrancy surface provided by the imBTC implementation of the ERC-777 standards. The code that allows for the reentrancy is via ERC-1820 pseudo-introspection registry contract. The hacker recently returned 57,992 ETH back to Lendf.me.
- MobileCoin, a fast, private, and easy-to-use cryptocurrency that is centered around a target user experience for integrating into mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp and/or Signal has become open-source.
- David Marcus, Libra co-creator and board member of Calibra, posted a thread outlining the current progress over the last 9 months.
- Dystopia Labs announced the DeFi Discussion Virtual Summit that will be held May 1st through 4th. View all the details here.
- Mai Protocol, which was created by the Monte Carlo Decentralized Exchange, is using Chainlink for its perpetual contracts.
- Dxdao announced the launch of mesa.eth, a next generation DEX built with the Gnosis Protocol.
- TezosKit, which is a Swift SDK that enables Tezos applications to be developed on Apple products, has a new update. This update allows developers to take advantage of the Secure Enclave and Keychain to securely store keys and sign transactions on iOS and macOS devices. Full details here.
- Solana, regarded as a high performance blockchain - has partnered with payments network, Terra, to build a low-latency Token Bridge, bringing stablecoins to the Solana ecosystem.
- In March 2020, a high-severity security vulnerability impacting all versions of Tendermint Core was reported through the Tendermint Bug Bounty program. On April 9, 2020, Tendermint Core version 0.33.3, 0.32.10, and 0.31.12 were released with patches for this vulnerability. Full retrospective of the vulnerabilities can be found here.
- Nethermind releases v1.8.1 which comes with a rewrite of the synchronization management so receipts, bodies and state can be synced in parallel.
- BTCPay Server suite has implemented support for Pay to Endpoint (P2EP), an alternative to CoinJoin which aims to bring enhanced privacy to Bitcoin transactions to thousands of merchants worldwide. BTCPay Server is a result from a workshop Blockstream organized in 2018. Full report here.
- DEX aggregator ParaSwap is using Chainlink’s Price Reference Contracts to provide more accurate and timely price feeds for Ether and ERC-20 tokens.
- Compound Governance is now live! From this point forward, all changes will originate from COMP token-holders.
- The Maker Foundation Interim Governance Facilitator placed an Executive Vote proposal into the voting system on April 17th, 2020. This aims to: lower the USDC Stability Fee to 8%, raise the Sai Stability Fee to 8.5%, and lower the Dai Stability fee to 0%.
- The first of two public testnet launches of the AVA blockchain platform have been released. This first release enables participants to connect to the global network of validators and participate in transactions. The blockchain aims to provide high-velocity transactions with enabling thousands of transactions per second and payment finality of under two seconds.
- Maker releases a guide to the Single-Collateral Dai (Sai) shutdown.
- Read the full report on the flight of stablecoins in 2020 from Coinbase here.
- The Monero Dandelion++ integration has been merged!
- Futureswap, a decentralized futures exchange with 20x leverage - governed by the community has launched on Ethereum mainnet.
- Bloom, a blockchain solution for secure identity and credit scoring, has integrated with Chainlink to bridge the gap between traditional and decentralized finance.
- The next network upgrade for Zcash, Heartwood, will give miners and mining pools the option to mine directly to a shielded coinbase. Full details here.
- Zecwallet Lite v1.1.7 can now connect to your own LightwalletD node. Alternatively, one can pick a server run by the Zcash community.
- Oasis Lab’s features, Dead Man’s Switch, a decentralized and censorship-resistant tool for whistleblowers built on the Oasis Network and IPFS.
Mainstream Recap:
- Recently restored anonymous news hub, Zboard, intends to integrate Zcash as the main mechanism to post articles via a sequence of transactions to shielded addresses. The ZFGrant can be viewed here.
- Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Pramila Jayapal introduced a new proposal, the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act (ABC Act) which touches on the idea of a digital dollar.
- Coinbase Custody rolls out support for Compound Governance.
- Coinbase releases an update on Coinbase Earn where users of the Coinbase mobile app can earn crypto via a rewards section.
- BitGo acquires Lumina, an institutional-grade financial platform for managing digital assets. With the acquisition, BitGo welcome’s BitGo Portfolio and BitGo Tax.
- Libra initiated the formal payment system licensing process with FINMA and updated their white paper to reflect key design changes to the Libra payment system.
- As of last Wednesday, the number of futures contracts outstanding on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) was $181M. This is a 70% increase from $106M recorded on March 22, 2020. Full article here.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged a Florida man and his companies in a fraudulent forex and digital asset scheme. Full details here.
- Binance unveils a white paper detailing the Binance Smart Chain. This new chain brings EVM-compatible programmability and native cross-chain communication with Binance Chain.
- Consulting firm Advantage Blockchain is teaming up with Vertalo and alternative trading system tZERO to tokenize roughly $300M for the portfolio Class A properties owned by Pennsylvania-based Real Estate Capital Management. Full article here.
- The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) now accepts Bitcoin donations through Payjoin via the BTCPay Server.
- Token Daily Research posts the state and progress of Layer-2 investments.
- Venture Smart Asia Ltd. has launched Hong Kong’s first approved cryptocurrency fund with a target first-year size of $100M. Full article here.
- The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) is testing a new blockchain system with IOV Labs aiming to speed fiat payments. Full article here.
- Gemini Custody and Exchange completes SOC 1 Type 1 examination.
- The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) released a 45 page CBDC report with a focus on programmable features such as smart contracts.
- P2P Validator has acquired Corestar aiming to strengthen their development team and benefit the Cosmos ecosystem.
- Status, a messenger, crypto wallet and Web3 browser releases a new post examining Telegram, Signal, and Status itself.
This Week’s Cup of Coffee:
This week, we are jumping across the pond for a House Blend roast from the hip and vintage Grind Coffee in London, UK. This sleek roastery brings out this smooth blend with notes of chocolate, hazelnut and cream. This provides the proper punch of bliss to get you in the perfect spring mood. Cheers!
Jake Tarnow
Not Your Average Engineer