Last Week in Crypto May 13-19 Top Crypto News You Might Have Missed
We could not have left a week passing without discussing the latest news in the crypto industry and how they might (or might not) affect the evolution of the crypto space and its main players.
While last week we talked about Ripple and the SEC, Binance, Nigeria, and many other such topics, this week, we are eager to introduce you in the crypto world with events involving the Philippines, dYdX, OKX, and many more. Stick with us to be up to date regarding what happened in the crypto industry between May 13 and May 19.
Table of contents
Top Crypto News
Last weeks top crypto news highlight big changes in the Philippines, a new milestone in the number of cryptocurrencies launched, and significant earnings for an anonymous crypto trader.
The Philippines Started Peso-Baked Stablecoin Sandbox Testing
Summary
The Philippines central bank is testing a new stablecoin, PHPC, pegged to the peso, to evaluate its potential for payments, trading, and DeFi applications.
Details
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has initiated a pilot program for a stablecoin called PHPC, which is backed 1:1 by the Philippine peso. This trial, conducted in partnership with crypto wallet provider Coins.ph, aims to discover the stablecoins real-world performance and its impact on the local fiat ecosystem. Potential uses for PHPC include domestic and cross-border payments, trading with other virtual assets, and providing liquidity in DeFi applications.
Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou noted that the company expects to meet key performance metrics within 2 to 3 months. The testing period can last between 3 months to 1 year, depending on project complexity, with a formal public deployment subject to finish central bank evaluations.
Source: Cointelegraph
Over 1 Million New Cryptos Launched Since April
Summary
Over 1 million new tokens have been launched since April, with Ethereum and Solana leading this surge, primarily driven by the rise of meme coins.
Details
Since April, the cryptocurrency market has seen an explosion of over 1 million new tokens, with Ethereum and Solana being the top players.
Ethereum has introduced over 370,000 new tokens, while Solana boasts around 640,000, many of which are meme coins.
This surge is mainly attributed to platforms like Coinbases layer-2 blockchain Base, which offers a low-cost environment for token creation. Despite the enthusiasm, the influx of meme coins has sparked concerns about scams and speculative behavior within the crypto community.
Coinbases Base has attracted the majority of these new tokens, with 88% launched on this platform due to its affordability for creating meme coins. Solana has also seen significant activity, particularly in the meme coin segment, which has led to mixed reactions.
While some view meme coins as profitable, others worry about the rise in scams and the diversion of funds from legitimate projects. The trend has also highlighted issues with spam and the use of bots, adding to the volatility and speculative nature of meme coins.
Source: Cryptonews
A Crypto Trader Made $46 Million with $3,000 PEPE Investment
Summary
A crypto trader turned a $3,000 investment in PEPE into $46 million within a month, highlighting the high-risk, high-reward nature of meme coin trading.
Details
An anonymous cryptocurrency trader made headlines by transforming a $3,000 investment in the meme coin PEPE into a $46 million profit within just one month. The trader initially purchased 4.9 trillion PEPE tokens on April 15 and later sold 1.41 trillion of them for $7.4 million, while the remaining holdings are valued at $38.9 million. PEPEs rapid price surge has contributed to its $4.5 billion market capitalization, making it the third-largest meme coin after Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
The remarkable gain reflects the speculative feeling surrounding meme coins, which are often seen as an unsafe or risky investment.
Source: Cointelegraph
Top Crypto News DeFi
The DeFi (Decentralized Finance) space is filled with new launches and changes that aim to improve the features offered to worldwide users and make things easier for all of them. Last week, the spotlight was on dYdX, Rain exchange, OKX, and Bitget wallet.
dYdX Was Left Without a CEO
Summary
Antonio Juliano, the founder of dYdX, is stepping down as CEO, with Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen set to take over the role.
Details
Antonio Juliano, the founder of the decentralized exchange dYdX, announced he will step down as CEO. He will transition to the role of chairman and president of dYdX Trading. Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen, the companys current COO, will take over as CEO, bringing his extensive experience in operations and strategic development to the position. This change is aimed at positioning dYdX for its next phase of growth and innovation in the decentralized finance sector.
Julianos move to a more strategic role as chairman and president is intended to focus on broader company vision and long-term goals, while Crnkovic-Rubsamen will handle the daily operations of dYdX. This transition comes as dYdX continues to expand its influence in the DeFi market, having recently surpassed significant milestones in trading volume and user adoption.
Source: CoinDesk
Rain Exchange Lost $14.1 Million in a Confirmed Exploit
Summary
Rain crypto exchange lost $14.1 million in a hacking incident on April 29, 2024, which was only disclosed publicly on May 13, with the exchange assuring users that all losses are covered.
Details
Rain, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange based in Bahrain, suffered a significant security breach on April 29, 2024, resulting in the loss of $14.1 million worth of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and RIpple (XRP).
The incident was revealed only on May 13. Following the hack, stolen Ethereum was quickly swapped via UniSwap, and Rain initially kept the incident under wraps until making an official statement on May 14. Rain confirmed the breach and assured users that all customer funds are secure, as the exchange covered the losses incurred.
Source: CryptoDaily
OKX Launched a Local Entity in Australia
Summary
OKX has launched spot and derivatives trading in Australia, providing local users with access to a wide range of crypto assets and services.
Details
OKX has officially launched its crypto exchange services in Australia, now offering both spot trading for all users and derivatives trading for verified clients. This move is part of OKXs strategy to expand its global presence, having established an office in Sydney and built a local team over the past year. Australian users can now deposit and withdraw AUD through most banks and buy crypto via third-party platforms like Simplex, MoonPay, and Banxa.
Source: OKX
Bitget Wallet Launched $10 Million Ecosystem Fund
Summary
Bitget Wallet launched the Bitget Onchain Layer and established a $10 million BWB Ecosystem Fund to support Web3 projects and improve its DeFi features.
Details
Bitget Wallet recently introduced the Bitget Onchain Layer, a new product integrating decentralized applications (DApps) to improve user experience and security within the Web3 space. The onchain layer aims to improve liquidity aggregation and streamline interactions, making Bitget Wallet a primary on-chain extension of Bitgets ecosystem.
The ecosystem fund will focus on incubating Web3 trading services such as Pre-Market, On-chain Derivatives Market, and Trading Bot, which will add up to the existing Swap trading service. The BWB token, the native token of the ecosystem, will be used for governance, staking rewards, and paying multichain gas fees.
Source: BSC News
Top Crypto News Altcoins
Altcoins make significant progress with each day that passes, and last week, PEPE is the one altcoin that might have had the most surprising milestone.
PEPE Exceeded Its All-Time High
Summary
Meme coins, including PEPE, reached new all-time highs after Keith Gill, famous for his role in the GameStop stock surge, returned to social media.
Details
The meme coin market and particularly the PEPE token, experienced a significant increase in price, market cap, and trading volume, with PEPEs price hitting an all-time high of $0.00001119.
This surge followed the return of Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, to social media after 3 years of inactivity. Gill, who became famous during the 2021 GameStop stock frenzy, posted an image on his account that sparked renewed interest and activity in meme coins.
This event led to substantial increases in trading volumes and market capitalization for PEPE and other meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, proving the influence of social media on cryptocurrency markets and especially meme-based cryptocurrencies.
Source: Cointelegraph
Top Crypto News ETFs
ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) have become surprisingly popular since January 2024, and last week, they were widely discussed in the State of Wisconsin.
The State of Wisconsin Reported $164 Million Investments in BTC ETFs
Summary
The State of Wisconsin reported investing $164 million in spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a significant move into the crypto space.
Details
The State of Wisconsin recently revealed its surprising entrance into the crypto space, with an investment of $164 million in spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).
This strategic move is living proof of the states growing interest in cryptocurrencies and their wide adoption. The decision to allocate such a significant amount into spot BTC ETFs is part of a broader trend among institutional investors who are increasingly recognizing the potential of digital assets within their portfolios.
Source: CryptoDaily
Top Crypto News Markets
Each change in the crypto market can affect the evolution of various projects, but lets see how last weeks new launch in the Robinhood ecosystem will contribute to the evolution of Solana.
Robinhood Introduced SOL Staking to European Markets
Summary
Robinhood expands its offerings to European markets by introducing Solana (SOL) staking services, allowing users to earn rewards through holding SOL tokens.
Details
Robinhood, one of the most popular trading platforms in the market, aims to extend its services to European users by introducing Solana (SOL) staking features.
This move allows users to earn rewards by holding SOL tokens, and this is a great advantage for those aiming to profit from the growing trend of earning passive income in the cryptocurrency space. Solanas innovative blockchain technology, renowned for its bright scalability and low transaction costs, makes it an attractive option for staking.
By facilitating SOL staking, Robinhood aims to broaden the services offered in Europe and grow its user base as much as possible in the area. This expansion is part of Robinhoods commitment to providing users with access to increasingly more investment opportunities and positions the crypto project as a key player in the world of digital asset services.
Source: Cointelegraph
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