Ethereum dapps increase / Celo launches its "Alliance for Prosperity" / South Carolina's blockchain bill

Inside Cryptocurrency .

Subscribe | View in browser Dear subscribers, I hope you are all well. Yesterday, I informed our paid subscribers that Inside Bitcoin will be changing its name to reflect the fact that I cover a lot from the industry that isn't always Bitcoin-related. For that reason, you'll notice that today's newsletter has been changed to Inside Cryptocurrency. Last week, I sent a note out to our Inside Libra readers to inform them that from today they would no longer be receiving their Inside Libra newsletters...so welcome readers, and I hope you enjoy today's newsletter. Going forward, I'm keen to get more insight from industry professionals, whether that's in the form of interviews, Q&A's, or spotlights on founders and CEO. For those who haven't subscribed yet to my newsletter, you can do so here, where you can read these interviews and find out more about what's going on in the space. Rebecca Market Watch: Coin prices remain down again today following a drop in value earlier this week. Lesser-known altcoin Aave, however, is enjoying a surge in price, jumping nearly 50 percent in a 24-hour period. Bitcoin: $7,823 (⬇️ 1.12%) // $142.9 billion market cap. Ethereum: $190 (⬇️ 5.17%) // $20.9 billion market cap. XRP: $0.206 (⬇️ 2.23%) // $9.06 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $264 (⬇️ 2.04%) // $4.8 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Aave: $0.039 (⬆️ 47.69%) // $51 million market cap.  Top 100 Loser: THETA: $0.096 (⬇️ 13.16%) // $83 million market cap.  Prices are as of 2 p.m. ET. 1. Over the last year, Ethereum decentralized applications (dapps) have seen their use increase, which is partly down to a rise in the interest around decentralized finance (DeFi). Notably, though, the likes of EOS and Tron have seen their use decrease. According to DappRadar, latest figures show that the amount of Ethereum locked up in decentralized applications rose to $1.9 billion in February 2020, a rise of 27 percent month-on-month. Not only that but over the past year - February 2019 to February 2020 - the amount locked up in Ethereum dapps increased by 683 percent. The number of active daily wallets rose by 104 percent. DeFi apps are reported to be responsible for this growth, which have grown by 294 percent. -DECRYPT 2. Rival to the Libra Association, nonprofit The Celo Foundation's "Alliance for Prosperity" launched today with over 50 members, some of which are part of the Libra project. The aim of Celo is to enable developers to build decentralized mobile apps based on Celo's blockchain platform and USD stablecoin. According to reports, the open-source Celo platform is still in the testing stage but there are plans for it to launch its main net next month. Some of those that have joined include Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, Bison Trails, Anchorage, and Mercy Corps, all of whom are part of the Libra Association. The goal of the Alliance for Prosperity is to foster global financial inclusion who the billions of people worldwide who are disenfranchised from the traditional banking system, similar to what Libra is trying to achieve. -TECH CRUNCH 3. The state Senate of South Carolina has passed a bill that recognizes the benefits of the blockchain. The bill, "A Senate Resolution To Acknowledge The Importance Of Emerging Blockchain Technology And To Call Upon The Residents Of South Carolina To Join In Encouraging The Promotion Of Blockchain Technology In Our State," was passed yesterday. It highlights the need to adopt emerging technologies with the objective of becoming "the capital for the real-world application of the emerging technology of blockchain." The introduction of South Carolina's bill comes as Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) introduced the "Crypto-Currency Act of 2020" earlier this month. The aim of the bill is to help "provide not only clarity, but legitimacy to crypto assets in the United States." -COINTELEGRAPH 4. Two men have been arrested in Japan for allegedly obtaining crypto that is connected to the Coincheck exchange hack, which was targeted in 2018. The men are being held by the Metropolitan Police Department and have been accused of obtaining the NEM token. One of the accused is a doctor from Hokkaido, an island in Japan, and the other is a company executive from Japan's city of Osaka. The Tokyo-based crypto exchange suffered the biggest exchange hack in January 2018, resulting in the theft of around $530 million worth of the NEM token. According to a report, police believe that the two arrested individuals have been exchanging the stolen coins for other assets, which they have been doing since February. -JIJI PRESS 5. Decentralized finance project Paradigm Labs has announced that it is shutting down. The project, which is backed by venture capital investors Polychain Capital and Dragonfly Capital, to name a few, made the announcement yesterday. According to CEO and co-founder Liam Kovatch, the closure is down to the fact that it failed "to carve a viable niche in the DEX [decentralized exchange] marketplace." He went on to note that since its introduction in 2018, the company has been focused on "building liquidity solutions for decentralized finance"; however, in that time "the landscape of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has evolved considerably." Yet, while it has been "exciting and positive" with the introduction of the DeFi movement, among other factors, Kovatch said that it has made it "challenging for an organization like ours to navigate." -PARADIGM LABS/MEDIUM 6. Australian crypto investors are set to receive a warning from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in the coming weeks to "remind them" of their tax obligations. The ATO is in the process of contacting 350,000 individuals, either by letter or email. According to an unnamed ATO representative, investors in crypto should ensure that they have kept good records when they buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies to make it easier at tax time. In 2019, the ATO published its guidance on the taxation of crypto, defining them as taxable forms of property. In April, it published its Data Matching Protocol for cryptocurrency, which according to the spokesperson, enables the ATO to "obtain cryptocurrency transaction data from currency exchanges on taxpayers who have bought and sold cryptocurrency." -NEWS.COM.AU 7. A report by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has found that crypto scams were the second riskiest in 2019 for North Americans. The report, which was published earlier this month, found that on average, scams amounted to around $3,000 in losses for companies and charities in Canada and the U.S. This is an increase from 2018's figures, which put losses down to around $900. According to the company, it puts cryptocurrencies down as risky assets because transactions can't be reversed in the event of a hack or theft. -BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU 8. Huobi Group has announced the launch of its new mobile application, Huobi Lite, available on iOS and Android. As per an announcement from the company, the new application will enable users to trade crypto with fiat such as the U.S. Dollar, the Vietnamese Dong, the Malaysian Ringgit, the Hong Kong Dollar, and the Chinese Yuan (RMB) via various payment methods, including credit cards. The app currently supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Huobi Token, EOS, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Litecoin, and HUSD; however, it plans to add more in the future. Ciara Sun, vice-president of global business at Huobi, said: "By reducing the barrier to entry and catering to both beginners and veteran traders, we're vying for mainstream adoption across the globe, especially in underserved markets like Southeast Asia." -HUOBI BLOG 9. YouTube has reportedly deleted two videos from two crypto channels. Ivan on Tech, a crypto programmer, is one such person who has said that the platform took down one of his videos on March 9. The Moon, a technical analyst, is another. Taking to Twitter, the user said YouTube had threatened them with a strike, adding: "The crypto purge is still happening, & this is the second time I have to deal with this." Late December, YouTube responded to The Moon by saying that the ban was a mistake. Many crypto YouTubers have suffered from the platform's strikes, including Chris Dunn and Altcoin Daily. -CRYPTO POTATO 10. Bitcoin can still be a safe haven, according to analysts. Following the outbreak of coronavirus, global markets have taken a plunge amid fears of a worldwide recession since the 2008 financial crisis. Saudi Arabia's decision to increase oil production to push Russia and the U.S. out of the market hasn't helped matters either. Yet, while Bitcoin has often been seen as a safe haven in times of economic stress, over the weekend prices across the crypto market dropped in line with traditional markets. Despite this, though, analysts believe this was to be expected and that safe havens are something investors go to after a storm, not during it. According to Matthew Graham, CEO of investment firm Sino Global Capital, "in times of extreme stress markets go haywire, models break, and traders are left with their instincts." Highlighting the stockpiling people in the U.K. are doing in response to the coronavirus, digital economist Paolo Tasca, founder and executive director of the University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies, said: "People don't know what to do and they panic and draw liquidity from the market. [Bitcoin is] anti-cyclical so it should behave like a safe haven," adding that during this "short period of hysteria, it's likely that we'll see a lot of volatility." -DECRYPT This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter. Edited by Beth Duckett, staff writer at Inside.

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