Ethereum and Cardano record highest level of developer activity in 2022
Ethereum and Cardano became the blockchains with the most active developers in 2022, with 223 and 151 average daily devs throughout the year.
As explained by DappRadar, the metric gives an insight into the level of interest and engagement by devs, which is crucial “for the development of new features, increased security, network effects, innovation, and thus, adoption.”
Circle co-founder says a cross-chain protocol for USDC is getting closer to launch
Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder and CEO of Circle, has notified the crypto community that the launch of their Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) is getting closer.
The CCTP plays a role in achieving Circle’s multichain goals. It is a smart contracts-guided infrastructure allowing users to move value in USDC across supported chains.
$4.6 billion in Ethereum up in flames since EIP-1559
In just the last seven days, the Ethereum protocol has destroyed more than 16,364 ETH at an estimated rate of 1.62 ETH per minute, according to Ultrasound Money.
Since EIP-1559 was implemented, a grand total of 2.8 million ETH has been removed from circulation or roughly $4.6 billion at today’s prices.
China’s digital yuan gets smart contract functionality alongside new use cases
China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the digital yuan, or eCNY — has received upgrades giving it smart contract functionality alongside a series of newly unveiled use cases.
The smart contract function was launched on the Meituan app, a Chinese app offering retail and food delivery services, according to a Jan. 17 report by local cryptocurrency media outlet 8btc. When Meituan users place an order and pay with their e-CNY wallet, a smart contract triggers and searches for keywords and purchased items in their order.
UAE promises enhances role of the crypto industry in 2023
According to Thani Al-Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for international trade, cryptocurrencies will go on to play a “major role” in the worldwide trade of the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Zeyoudi said that as the UAE develops its cryptocurrency regulatory framework, the emphasis will be on turning the Gulf nation into a hub with crypto-friendly regulations and enough safeguards in place.
Number of ETH holders grew 3.6x to 87M in 2022
The number of Ethereum (ETH) holders grew 263% between January and December 2022, according to a research report by Crypto.com.
The number of ETH investors spiked to 87 million by the end of December from 27 million in January. Comparatively, Bitcoin (BTC) owners grew by only 20%, from 183 million in January to 219 million in December, as per the report.
Whale accumulated more than 1,000 BTC
According to Whale Alert, in the last 24 hours, 1,082 BTC was transferred from Coinbase to an unknown wallet. This amount of BTC is worth $24,504,016.
Highlights of the week
$1INCH launches proprietary hardware wallet
Binance reduced the total supply of $BNB by $617 million
$SHIB1000 devs to launch Shibarium L2 network beta
$STG partners with Metis for more efficient interoperability
$DOT enhances cross-chain abilities between its blockchains
Visa approved $ACH as an official service provider for cryptocurrency purchase in 173 countries
Bitcoin peaks in 4 months, altcoins surge
On the morning of January 21, Bitcoin hit the $22,792 mark, up nearly 7.5% in 24 hours. This is the highest price of BTC since September 13, 2022, when Bitcoin crashed sharply because of US CPI news.
The top altcoins also record a 6 to 17% recovery, following the market leader. Ethereum (ETH) increased by 6.5% to $1,676.
Fantom blockchain to fund ecosystem projects using portion of burnt FTM fees
Fantom has released a decentralized vaults product to fund projects and applications that are building on its blockchain, developers said Friday.
Called Ecosystem Vault, the project is an on-chain fund financed by 10% of the transaction fees on Fantom and controlled by the community. The initiative was made possible by decreasing the burn rate of FTM and redirecting the resulting 10% to the vault.