Reef Finance has announced that its Substrate-based mainnet will see the light of day in May 2021. Called Reef Chain, it promises to “make DeFi easy” by enabling developers to use a highly scalable and fully EVM-compatible network that’s integrated into the Polkadot ecosystem.

Reef Chain Coming in May

Reef Finance is a cross-chain DeFi operating system allowing traders to access liquidity from centralized and decentralized exchanges through its smart liquidity aggregator and yield machine. The project outlined the date for its long-anticipated mainnet launch in a press release shared with CryptoPotato.

According to it, Reef Chain will be launched next month after finishing the final checks of the current Maldives testnet. The precise date will “depend on the result of the rigorous tests being conducted right now, though the team is confident that they will be completed soon.”

Upon its release, Reef Chain will enable DeFi developers to produce scalable and EVM-compatible systems integrated into the Polkadot ecosystem. Reef’s new product will be rolled out as a standalone blockchain based on the Substrate framework. This feature will simplify the integration to the Polkadot parachain network.

The mainnet’s compatibility with EVM, meaning developers can write contracts in Solidity or Vyper and deploy them on the chain, and its ability to bridge with other blockchains, including Ethereum, should enhance its interoperability features.

No Better Timing

Denko Mancheski, CEO of Reef Finance, outlined Reef Chain’s launch as perfect timing because of the “insatiable” demand for DeFi and the issues he sees with the current ecosystem. More specifically, those are the record-high transaction costs on the Ethereum network and even the struggling lately Binance Smart Chain.

Apart from promising scalability and deeper liquidity integration, Reef Chain is also “committed to helping out developers in their quest to bring their DeFi idea to life.” It plans to do so by enabling them access to Reef’s user base, network partners, investors, exchanges, and media.

“We know the struggles of up and coming developers all too well, and a lot of the time, technical skills are only a part of the equation. By tapping into Reef’s business network, DeFi builders will multiply their chances of success.” – concluded Mancheski.

Nearly 400,000 users of a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange were left out of their accounts without being able to withdraw their funds. The platform’s website has been down for several days, while reports suggest its CEO has already fled the country with up to $2 billion.

Turkish Exchange Does a Rug Pull?

Bloomberg reported yesterday that Thodex, a Turkey-based crypto exchange, has ceased trading, citing an “unspecified partnership transaction.” The founded in 2017 trading platform issued a statement explaining that all services will remain shut down for about five working days. However, the message reassured customers that they shouldn’t worry about their funds.

Approximately at the same time, though, users started to complain about their inability to access their own assets. Some took it to Twitter to exemplify the absurdity of the situation.

A local #Crypto exchange where I’d ~20% of my entire trading capital got rug pulled

-20 days no withdrawal (fiat & crypto)
-Then the website went offline
-Then the CEO run abroad

I’m not broke, but it hurts… Alot

It sucks, Even when u deal with regulated exchanges#Thodex

— Feras_Crypto (will Never DM you First) (@FeraSY1) April 21, 2021

More recent coverages asserted that the exchange’s chief executive officer and founder, Faruk Fatih Ozer, who refrained answering comments before, had fled the country.

Users Alleging of Fraud

Upon the news of Ozer’s alleged escape from Turkey, users of the local exchange hired a law firm to file a complaint against Thodex. Oguz Evren Kilic, representing an unspecified number of Thodex customers, confirmed the development, saying, “we have filed a legal complaint on Wednesday.”

He speculated that the funds on the Turkish exchange could be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars,” keeping in mind that the user base is just shy of 400,000. A prosecutor in Istanbul has reportedly launched an investigation.

According to another report, Thodex’s CEO and founder has run away in Thailand with an estimated amount of roughly $2 billion.

It’s worth noting that Turkish authorities have already taken a steep approach towards the cryptocurrency industry. CryptoPotato informed last week of the country’s latest rule on digital assets, banning users from using them as payment instruments from April 30th.

IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson has replied to critics calling Cardano a scam that has not been able to develop any smart contracts since its launch.

Baseless Allegations Drive Investors Away 

Responding to comments made by Bankless podcast co-owner David Hoffman, Hoskinson noted that over the years, podcasters had used their platform to level baseless allegations on Cardano, calling it a “scam.” 

“It is one thing to say you’re skeptical [about Cardano]. It’s another to call [its developers] criminals,” Hoskinson tweeted yesterday.

He implied that baseless accusations like Hoffman’s comments are one of the reasons why several potential investors have refused to join the cryptocurrency bandwagon. 

“This is crypto in 2021. Figure out why so many people want nothing to do with it?” he said. 

Competition Between Ethereum & Cardano Rekindled

Hoffman’s recent shade has rekindled the rivalry between Ethereum and Cardano, which has lingered for years. 

Cardano was launched in 2015 by Hoskinson, who is also a co-founder of Ethereum. Hoskinson noted at the time that the Cardano blockchain would outperform Ethereum by creating a better smart contract platform. 

Six years down the line, Cardano is yet to deploy a single smart contract. However, the blockchain project is currently preparing for its next major upgrade that will enable smart contract capabilities. Hoskinson also hinted last month that the Cardano ecosystem will support NFT marketplaces as his team is currently negotiating with some of the top NFT-related protocols.

Ethereum, on the other hand, has been the widely accepted blockchain for smart contracts in the industry, with top organizations utilizing the blockchain for several purposes. Those include decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Hoffman hopped on the debate, clearly advocating for Ethereum and stating its use cases in his podcast. 

While speaking in Ethereum’s favor, he talked about the upcoming EIP-1559 upgrade scheduled to launch later this year, which should provide fixes for some of the network problems, including high gas fees. 

As for Cardano, Hoffman said he is skeptical about the project because it has not lived up to expectations. He noted that all users can do on the Cardano network is to stake and send, adding that he would put on his skeptical hat and call the project “a blatant scam.”