Blockchain
Ethereum blockchain now houses $700 million worth of synthetic Bitcoin
The Ethereum blockchain is now home to more than $700 million worth of synthetic…
The post Ethereum blockchain now houses $700 million worth of synthetic Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Journal.


The Ethereum blockchain is now home to more than $700 million worth of synthetic bitcoin tokens, with Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) holding the lion share
Onchain data shows that there are roughly 69,836 synthetic bitcoin tokens, which are worth over $700 million circulating on the Ethereum network. The synthetic bitcoin (BTC) sector has grown massively in recent weeks, rising from 38,021 BTC to the current 70,000 BTC during that period. Amongst the six synthetic bitcoin token projects, wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) takes the lead as it currently accounts for over 63% of the market with 44,622 WBTC.
The rise in the number of synthetic bitcoins represents an 83% increase within a few weeks. According to Dune Analytics, there are seven synthetic BTC projects currently operational. However, TBTC (tBTC) has zero coins minted at the moment. Meanwhile, the other six synthetic bitcoin projects have between 45 BTC to over 40,000 BTC on the Ethereum blockchain.
WBTC leads the way
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) protocol is the leading project minting synthetic bitcoin at the moment, commanding around 44,622 BTC or 63% of the total market. It is followed by Ren Protocol’s renBTC, which controls 23% of the market, with 16,268 renBTC currently in circulation. The other four projects are; hBTC with 4,180, sBTC with 2,918, imBTC with 1,173 and pBTC with only 45 at the time of publication.
Industry leader WBTC has gained a lot of traction in recent weeks, with reports on Friday revealing that Alameda Research acquired 70% of the total WBTC minted last month.
Most of the synthetic bitcoin is spread amongst the holders while the rest are used on cryptocurrency platforms like Uniswap, Balancer, Aave and Compound. A few centralised exchanges like FTX are supporting synthetic bitcoin trades on their platforms, with Binance revealing late last month that it is listing WBTC on its platform. However, most of the synthetic bitcoin trading volumes are found on decentralised exchanges (dex). Uniswap, Balance, Curve, Synthetix, Bancor and 0x are the decentralised exchanges with the highest synthetic bitcoin trading volume.
The synthetic bitcoin industry is growing in volume and popularity. However, it hasn’t won over some of the leading figures in the cryptocurrency industry. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote on August 16 that he is worried about the synthetic bitcoin space. “I continue to be worried about the fact that these wrapped BTC bridges are trusted. I hope they can all *at least* move to a decently sized multi-sig,” the Ethereum developer added.
The tweet by Buterin sparked a debate within the cryptocurrency community, with members discussing a research paper published by the Wanchain project. The paper claims that the Ren Protocol store all their collateralised bitcoins in a single address. Despite the apparent trust issues, the Ethereum network continues to stand out as Bitcoin’s most dominant off-chain solution.
Blockchain
Ripple’s Garlinghouse to File Dismissal Motion Against the SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Sales

The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse is filing for a motion to dismiss the SEC lawsuit against himself and Ripple. This is according to a copy of a letter written by Garlinghouse’s lawyer stating that he intends to file a dismissal motion for the case.
The letter claims that the case was nothing but a regulatory overreach as the company’s sale of XRP did not involve any contract and the proceeds were not pooled with other buyers in a common enterprise. Its price also fluctuates in line with other digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“But Mr. Garlinghouse’s XRP sales involved no contract of any kind with the buyers, as his sales were done anonymously over an exchange. Nor were the proceeds of Mr. Garlinghouse’s sales pooled with other buyers in a common enterprise. And XRP’s value historically has not been correlated with Ripple’s actions, results, or public announcements, but instead with changes in the value of other digital assets, such as bitcoin and ether, that the SEC has publicly declared are not securities”, the letter read.
Ripple and its top executives have been in court since the SEC filed a lawsuit against them alleging that they illegally sold a security (XRP) and made profits of over $1 billion. Garlinghouse has however maintained his position that XRP is not a security.
This could be because other countries such as the UK hold XRP in high regard. Garlinghouse had last year indicated his intention to move Ripple headquarters over to the UK before the SEC lawsuit. In early February of this year, the company filed a defense for the suit which has led to a few more lawsuits.
In 2015 and 2020, both the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) declared XRP to be a “virtual currency”. The two departments even asked Ripple to implement anti-laundering in place, a requirement that Ripple claims securities are not expected to meet.
The outcome of Ripple’s case with the SEC could be a big determinant of future regulations in the cryptocurrency industry and the entire space awaits the outcome.
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The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.
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Source: https://zycrypto.com/ripples-garlinghouse-to-file-dismissal-motion-against-the-sec-lawsuit-over-xrp-sales/
Blockchain
Crypto fund KR1 makes investment in blockchain data protocol LazyLedger


KR1, a crypto & blockchain asset investment company, had announced that it has invested a total of USD $75,000 into Strange Loop Labs AG, doing business as LazyLedger Labs.
The investment company took part in LazyLedger’s seed funding round alongside Cosmos’ Interchain Foundation, Binance, Dokia Capital, Maven 11, and other investors.
LazyLedger is a pluggable consensus and data availability layer to enable anyone to quickly deploy a decentralized blockchain; without the overhead of bootstrapping a new consensus network.
“LazyLedger is a great project and an opportunity to bring better data availability to blockchains; which reduces bloat and increases performance. We believe that LazyLedger is going to play a big role in the next generation of scalable blockchain architectures.”
– Keld van Schreven, Managing Director and Co-Founder of KR1
LazyLedger’s founding team are highly respected decentralized systems engineers and researchers; who were part of the founding team of Chainspace, a blockchain project acquired by Facebook, as well as contributors to Ethereum 2.0 and Cosmos’ Tendermint.
“I’m excited about KR1 supporting LazyLedger as they have been around from day one and the experience they bring is invaluable as one of the oldest funds in the crypto space.”
– Mustafa Al-Bassam, Co-Founder of LazyLedger
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Source: https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2021/03/04/crypto-fund-kr1-makes-investment-in-blockchain-data-protocol-lazyledger/
Blockchain
DeFi yield optimization protocol ETHA Lend closes $1.6M funding round


ETHA Lend, a yield optimizer protocol for DeFi, today announced it has closed a $1.6 million initial funding round from lead investors Digital Finance Group (DFG), AU21 Capital, and Privcode Capital.
Other investors include: Vector Capital, Chain Capital, PNYX Venture, Lancer Capital, Oasis Capital, TRG Capital, Candaq Capital, Dealean Capital, Inclusion Capital, Origin Capital, ZB Capital, YBB Foundation, AC Capital, Hotbit.
Designed to provide automated yield allocation across Ethereum and Polkadot DeFi ecosystems; ETHA Lend will be governed by ETHA token holders. The protocol’s algorithm is constructed to understand the precise circumstances of a liquidity provider and supply events; protecting users from high transaction costs, market limitations, and asset volatility.
“We are excited to have some of the most reputable names in the crypto investment and DeFi funding market on board. Our protocol hosts unique integrations of the DeFi space that shall let users dabble with yield farming with unseen simplicity, cross-chain independence, and progressive yield optimization opportunities. You can look forward to a time when the sector shall be free of the haunting tribalism and intimidations both for new and expert users.”
– Chester Bella, Founder of ETHA LEND
The close of this funding round will enable ETHA Lend to accelerate development towards its mainnet launch, currently scheduled for Q2 2021. ETHA Lend’s smart contracts are being inspected by Certik; one of the most highly reputed blockchain security auditors.
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Source: https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2021/03/04/defi-yield-optimization-protocol-etha-lend-closes-1-6m-funding-round/
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