In this crypto digest, we will take a look at some of the most important news from crypto exchanges that came out during last month.
Amid the global pandemic, the cryptocurrency industry is working as hard or maybe even harder than before while the attention of the world is turned to the digital spheres. The majority of the population is self-isolating which gives them time to find out more about digital finance, which has led to the crypto industry also drawing more attention from newcomers.
This is why major cryptocurrency exchanges continue to release new features and implement updates to their platforms.
Exchanges and Their Own Blockchains
On April 17, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, released a whitepaper where the team described their work on a new smart contract blockchain. This happened a year after the Binance native blockchain dubbed as Binance Chain (BC) was released.
The new blockchain will work as a smart contract layer parallel to the existing chain, the company said. According to the company’s blog post, this innovative solution brings the interoperability and programmability of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to Binance Chain. Both Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain will allow transfers and other communication thanks to the native support of interoperability.
Binance is not the first crypto exchange to announce plans to utilize its own blockchain. Other exchanges have also previously disclosed the development of their own blockchains including OKEx which has been testing its own OKChain since February, Huobi which announced its plans to develop its own blockchain almost two years ago and Bithumb which announced in November that it was developing its own chains. However, none of the competitors have presented their blockchains yet so we will see which horse wins the race.
Aiding in Ending the COVID-19 Crisis
Many exchanges have joined the fight against the global pandemic by providing monetary and informational support to the health organizations that are studying the virus and searching for a vaccine. The HitBTC exchange has announced an initiative to integrate projects that are involved in the research of COVID-19.
As a result of this initiative, CureCoin has been added to the HitBTC ecosystem. CureCoin is an offshoot of Folding@home, a non-profit project that simulates protein behavior with users’ computing power. The project has incentivized the process of protein simulation, hoping to thereby draw in more users and boost the research process.
Two in-depth interviews were conducted by the HitBTC team discussing the potential of Folding@home and CureCoin’s work in the search of the vaccine. In an interview with a bioinformatics contributor for CureCoin, the scientist explains the specifics of COVID-19 and how protein folding can be analyzed using the computing powers of users across the globe. In a conversation with CureCoin’s CEO, Josh Smith described how the project came to life, the ideas behind it, and what are the priorities of this research at the moment.
Interestingly enough, during this month, Folding@home had its network reach an astounding 2.4 exaFLOPs of processing power, making it faster than the top 500 supercomputers in the world combined. It is safe to say their efforts in spreading the word and involving the crypto community have paid off.
German Exchange Adds Stop Orders
Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange (BSDEX) is a Germany-based exchange that provides regulated access for both institutional and retail investors to a bitcoin-euro trading pair.
The exchange has started offering a stop order to its users which is an order to buy or sell an asset once its price has passed a predefined point. It is aimed to help customers in volatile market conditions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the approaching halving event. This feature allows traders to automate aspects of their strategy and let them choose points at which they want to buy or sell instead of having to watch the market at all times.
While it’s a well-established feature in traditional markets, stop orders are becoming increasingly common in crypto as well: Binance, Kraken, and Huobi have all already added them to their exchanges.
Adding Social Media to the Exchange
One of the leading crypto exchanges, Bitfinex, has launched its own social networking platform called Pulse. The platform brands itself as “the next generation of social trading.” The platform will enable users to exchange ideas, interact with each other, and feel the pulse of the exchange’s growing community. It integrated Whale Alert live transactions service which will provide real-time updates on the platform.
Also, Bitfinex Pulse will let verified customers interact with each other while also letting a user decide whether his or her pulses are posted publicly. Both verified and unverified Bitfinex customers will be able to publish private pulses.
Japanese Exchanges and Regulations
Japanese exchange, Coincheck, listed seven altcoins on its fiat exchange, Coincheck Tsumitate, on April 23. The exchange’s fiat branch that only hosted Bitcoin (BTC) when it opened in 2019 now offers Ethereum (ETH), Ripple’s XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Stellar (XLM) and Lisk (LSK).
Another exchange FXCoin will open its platform to physical crypto trading in May, launching support for Bitcoin, with its sights set on XRP remittance in the future.
In the latest development, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has recognized the Japan STO Association and the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Business Association (JVCEA) as self-regulatory groups for derivative transactions and security token offerings of crypto assets. JVCEA was named the “Japan Crypto Asset Trading Business Association” on May 1.
Standing Tall in the Face of Adversity
Overall, this month proved to be productive for the exchanges even though the conditions are not ideal at the moment. However, in a time of crisis, crypto is proving to be a financial bastion of hope for many people who have been disappointed in fiat as it descends lower and lower due to the oil prices plummeting.
This is why many major updates listed in this article will not only help to rebound from the crisis but also elevate the crypto industry as a whole and build a strong fundament for future developments.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by Coinspeaker. We recommend you conduct the necessary research on your own before any investment and trading move.
Adam Stieb, crypto enthusiast and professional trader. Adam received an education in IT and communications and got into cryptocurrency as a result of his trust in its ability to restructure the global financial market and replace fiat money. Adam’s goal is to spread knowledge about the cryptocurrency market, trading and investing.