Apr 30, 2023
Circle Launches Cross-Chain USDC Transfer Protocol
This week saw a number of developments in the world of web3, from Circle launching a cross-chain USDC transfer protocol to Visa announcing plans for a ‘ambitious’ crypto product. Read on to find out more about the top stories of the week and the winners and losers in the crypto markets.
Circle Launches Cross-Chain USDC Transfer Protocol
Circle has launched a cross-chain protocol that enables USDC transfers between the Ethereum and Avalanche blockchains. The protocol works by burning the selected amount of native USDC on the source chain, and minting an equivalent amount of new USDC on the intended destination chain. This makes USDC transfers between the two networks faster and more user-friendly, as prior to its launch, people had to use third-party bridges or a Circle partner to facilitate transfers between the two networks. Additional support for Solana and other blockchains is expected to be added later in 2023.
Visa Shares Plans for ‘Ambitious’ Crypto Product
Cuy Sheffield, the head of crypto at Visa, announced a new cryptocurrency-related project on April 24. Details are scarce at this stage; however, Sheffiled shared a job listing relating to the project, with the description noting that the “Visa Crypto Team is building the next generation of products to facilitate commerce in everyone’s digital and mobile lives.” The job listing is seeking candidates with a good understanding of layer-1 and layer-2 solutions, as well as experience with writing smart contracts using the programming language Solidity, among other things.
Kraken Asks San Francisco Court to Intervene Against IRS Demands
Crypto exchange Kraken has fought back against the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over what it feels is an “unjustified treasure hunt” for user’s trading info. According to court documents, the firm requested a federal court in San Francisco to intervene and ask the IRS to back off. The IRS issued a summons in February demanding additional information on Kraken users who traded $20,000 or more in any single year from 2016 to 2020.
Meta Reports $4 Billion Loss From Reality Labs
Meta disclosed in its Q1 earnings report that its metaverse unit, Reality Labs, posted a loss of around $4 billion during the quarter. This adds to the $14 billion Reality Labs loss over the entirety of 2022. Still, Meta posted a profit totalling roughly $5.7 billion in Q1 overall, with the firm’s work on artificial intelligence somewhat curbing the losses. Mark Zuckerberg was unfazed by the loss from Reality Labs, as he reiterated that “we continue to expect Reality Labs operating losses to increase year-over-year in 2023” as the firm eyes growth in the long term.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler Takes Contradictory Stance on Crypto
Viral clips of Securities and Exchange Commision chair Gary Gensler started circulating this week, showing him take a highly contradictory stance on crypto compared to what he holds now. As it stands, Gensler thinks almost every crypto asset apart from BTC is a security, and has pushed hard to regulate the crypto sector from that viewpoint. However, in a snippet from one of his “Blockchain and Money” lectures from 2018 — while he was working as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Gensler said, “Three quarters of the market is non-securities, it’s just a commodity, cash, crypto.” He even suggested Ether was not a security, despite repeatedly suggesting otherwise over the past couple years.
Market Roundup
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $29,275, Ether (ETH) at $1,900 and XRP at $0.47. The total market cap is at $1.2 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Render Token (RNDR) at 40.91%, Cronos (CRO) at 13.47% and Injective (INJ) at 10.49%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are PancakeSwap (CAKE) at 19.13%, Zilliqa (ZIL) at 12.41% and Optimism (OP) at 11.26%.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Notable Quotations
“It’s a critical moment here in the U.S. and, as I like to say, it’s really a moment for Congress to step up.”
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle
“I think it’s probably not a coincidence that you’re seeing all these concerns about de-dollarization at the same time they’re cracking down on crypto.”
David Sacks, co-host of the All-In podcast
“[Blockchain] is about helping different groups of people come together to be able to trust each other more, to collaborate across larger distances on many different kinds of projects.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
“The fights about mining aren’t really about mining. It’s not really about environmental concerns. What it’s really about is controlling energy use.”
Perianne Boring, CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce
“While DeFi has immense potential, more education is needed to quell the confusion and fear plaguing mainstream users.”
Julian Hosp, CEO and co-founder of Cake DeFi
Prediction of the Week
Analysts at odds over Fed, US debt ceiling impact on Bitcoin price
After the House Republicans barely passed their bill to increase the U.S. debt ceiling on April 26, market analysts promptly began to weigh up its potential impact on the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Analysts such as the chief operating officer of investment firm Onramp, Jesse Meyers, believe that raising the debt ceiling will likely prompt the Federal Reserve
Disclaimer: All investment or financial opinions expressed by MoonLanding Media are not recommendations and are intended for entertainment purposes only. Do your own research prior to making any kind of investment. This article has been generated based on trending topics, has not been fact checked and may contain incorrect information. Please verify all information before relying on it.
