Blockchain

Bitcoin-based DeFi protocol Sovryn raises $2.5 million in a token pre-sale

Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Sovryn announced Thursday that it has raised $2.5 million in a token pre-sale.

The post Bitcoin-based DeFi protocol Sovryn raises $2.5 million in a token pre-sale appeared first on The Block.

Published

4 weeks ago

January 28, 2021

Republished by Plato

Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Sovryn announced Thursday that it has raised $2.5 million in a token pre-sale.

Sovryn said the pre-sale was reserved for its community, which allowed participants to secure their right to purchase SOV, the protocol’s native token. SOV is launching next month, said Sovryn.

Participants, however, have the right to cancel the pre-reservation, Sovryn co-founder Edan Yago told The Block, adding that but “none have indicated to do so.”

Their funds will be locked up for ten months, as part of their “long-term commitment to the project,” said Sovryn.

The raised capital is primarily earmarked for further developing the Sovryn protocol, its security, and a bug bounty program, Yago told The Block. Still, the community governance would decide how to utilize it, he said.

Sovryn is a bitcoin-based smart contract protocol that offers swaps, lending, leveraged trading, and market-making. “The system runs on the Rootstock (RSK) sidechain, which is merge-mined with Bitcoin,” Yago explained. “This means that it is secured by Bitcoin proof-of-work and bitcoin is the native asset (the asset in which all fees are paid).”

Yago said transaction fees of the protocol are 30 to 100 times cheaper than Ethereum-based DeFi protocols. The current average cost per transaction on Ethereum is about $8.5, according to data from YCharts.

While Sovryn is a bitcoin-based DeFi protocol, it also supports Ethereum tokens, said Yago.

Sovryn’s token pre-sale comes a month after it raised $2.1 million from venture firms, including Collider Ventures and Monday Capital, in December.

As for whether Sovryn looks to raise more funds in the near future, Yago said it is yet to be determined. “All such raises are performed by the protocol, and require a community vote,” he said. “The voting system will be upgraded on February 5, after which a vote will be held on the next pre-sale.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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Blockchain

Here’s how IOHK’s glow will simplify smart contract writing for Cardano

Published

4 mins ago

February 26, 2021

Republished by Plato

Blockchain research firm IOHK recently announced the launch of Glow, an open-source programming language on the Cardano blockchain, which will allow anyone to write blockchain-based applications and deploy them on the network. IOHK has partnered with startup MuKn to introduce the domain-specific language.

The language will initially launch on Cardano’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) developer network (devnet) that currently allows developers to write in Solidity, the smart contract language used in Ethereum.

According to a release shared with AMBCrypto, Glow’s compatibility with EVM will allow developers to write applications with a “significantly smaller number of lines of code.” It will also “simplify and reduce” the cost of the development process. In technical terms, Glow aims to allow developers to write a 20-line application, which will perform similarly to a 100-line application written in other languages. The IOHK team further stated:

The language is said to be portable and once an app is built, Glow can be used on other platforms. Meaning developers will be able to choose a blockchain based on value proposition, rather than being limited by programming language

Aparna Jue, Product Director at IOHK, believed that “interoperability is a key focus for IOHK” and said:

We believe that mainstream blockchain adoption will be driven by the industry providing broad compatibility, breaking down barriers between individual blockchains and their native programming languages, allowing a broad range of developers to onboard. This is why languages like Glow are such an important piece of the Cardano puzzle.

She elaborated that Cardano’s devnet has allowed the testing of smart contract development, with a “variety of different languages” for developers to explore. So far, these include Plutus, and Marlowe, another domain-specific language.

In addition, Francois-Rene Rideau, Co-Founder of MuKn, noted the difficulty of writing a DApp “because you can’t afford any mistakes.” Such mistakes could even result in a significant loss of user funds, “with active adversaries looking for them,” he explained.

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Source: https://ambcrypto.com/heres-how-cardano-plans-to-simplify-smart-contract-writing

Blockchain

Bloomberg’s ETF whisperer says the SEC could approve a BTC ETF

The Block’s Frank Chaparro talks to Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

The post Bloomberg’s ETF whisperer says the SEC could approve a BTC ETF appeared first on The Block.

Published

11 mins ago

February 26, 2021

Republished by Plato

Episode 11 of Season 3 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Eric Balchunas.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to [email protected]

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Regulators in Canada approved two bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in recent days, marking the first approvals of their kind for North America.

Since launch, the products have seen considerable inflows. With the demand for a bitcoin ETF now proven, many wonder what a Canadian approval could mean for a U.S. offering.

The Scoop spoke with Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, about what an approved bitcoin ETF means for the landscape. During this week’s episode Balchunas broke down the winding road to approval and why Canada was always likely to be a first.

Now that Canada has its BTC ETFs, he argued that an approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is just around the corner.

“I think it’s just a matter of the SEC coming around, and then once they come around mentally, I imagine it will happen pretty quickly,” he said. “But again, I’m not in that bubble. I’m not a regulatory analyst. That’s just my sense from talking to people.”

How Canada has historically been a proving ground for novel financial products.
The differences and similarities in the Canadian and U.S. approval processes.
Why Balchunas thinks 2021 will be the year of a U.S. BTC ETF approval.
Why it’s only a matter of time before a meme ETF launches.

Bitcoin Bull Run is Far From Over as FOMO Hasn’t Set in Yet, Analysis Suggests

The price of bitcoin moved from little over $11,000 in October of last year to a new all-time high above $58,000 earlier this month. Despite the massive rise, analysis shows that bitcoin’s bull run likely isn’t over as fear of missing out (FOMO) hasn’t set in yet. According to researchers at on-chain analytics platform Whalemap, […]

Published

15 mins ago

February 26, 2021

Republished by Plato

According to researchers at on-chain analytics platform Whalemap, statistics covering bitcoin buys between $5 million and $7 million concluded that despite the recent highs bitcoin still hasn’t hit its “macro top,” as bull runs in 2017 and 2019 saw buys of a similar size, and only retraced after these investments hit a peak.

Previous macro tops have occurred when thousands of transactions worth 5 to 7 million dollars each were flooding the blockchain. True FOMO. Currently, no such FOMO in sight for $BTC. pic.twitter.com/s9Cbgn4n8Q

— whalemap (@whale_map) February 25, 2021

On social media, Whalemap shared a chart that shows these large BTC buys are far from the highs seen in 2017 and 2019, and have in fact not started receding yet, implying bitcoin’s recent correction is a healthy one before the cryptocurrency’s price moves up again.

CryptoCompare data shows that in the last 24-hour period, bitcoin moved from around $51,000 to a $44,600 low before it started recovering. As CryptoGlobe reported, multiple large transactions have been spotted leaving cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to custody wallets, implying institutional investors are still buying bitcoin.

The CEO of crypto data firm CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, recently pointed to a massive 13,000 BTC movement out of the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency trading platform and pointed out the funds “went to multiple Coinbase custody wallets.” Per his words, this is the “strongest bullish signal” he has ever seen.

Following up on his tweet, Ki Young Ju noted significant outflows from Coinbase at $48,000, which suggests large investors are accumulating BTC and that the major reason for the price drop is the 10-year Treasury note’s yield going up.

Another significant Coinbase outflows at 48k. US institutional investors are still buying $BTC.

I think the major reason for this drop is the jittering macro environment like the 10-year Treasury note, not whale deposits, miner selling, and lack of institutional demand. https://t.co/wzwkwMhJWx pic.twitter.com/1uEEF8SX5Q

— Ki Young Ju 주기영 (@ki_young_ju) February 26, 2021

An ongoing rally in U.S. bond yields has been putting pressure on tech stocks and the market itself. Popular analyst Alex Kruger noted that interest rates going up could have a negative effect on assets that benefitted from them dropping, including gold and bitcoin.

Featured image via Pixabay.