Friday, July 21st. As the week comes to an end we can focus on the highlights of the crypto industry over the past few days.
Binance Integrates Bitcoin Lightning Network
The team at crypto exchange Binance has finalized the implementation of the Lightning Network (LN) bitcoin micropayment network for deposits and withdrawals.
Users can now select LN as an option when making deposits. In addition, other chains available for depositing or withdrawing first-ever crypto include BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), SEGWITBTC (SegWit) and Ethereum (ERC-20).
Other than Binance, the micropayment network has already been deployed by Bitfinex, Kraken, River Financial, OKX and CoinCorner.
In May, the company made its first announcement of integration plans following an internal failure due to bitcoin network meltdown. As a way to prevent such situations in the future, the exchange team has sprung into action to provide the support for the alpha cryptocurrency withdrawal through the Lightning Network.
Later on, the developers reported the launch of new LN nodes.
According to LookIntoBitcoin, micropayment network throughput has been growing over the last year, though has started to decline over the past week. As of writing, the figure stands at 4,864 BTC ($146.4 mln).
Earlier, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong vowed to integrate the Lightning Network “in some capacity.”
As we reported some time earlier, in June, the Binance mining pool introduced a Transaction Accelerator for VIP traders.
Cosmic Wire raises $30M from Solana and Polygon
Cosmic Wire, a Web3 infrastructure project, has closed a $30 million seed round led by Solana and Polygon foundations.
The startup provides AI-based developer tools (SDKs) for creating metaverses.
Cosmic Wire similarly features a range of blockchain solutions, including analytics services, digital identity, smart contract utilities and trading platforms.
The core infrastructure of the project will be built in the Solana ecosystem.
“Their metaverse SDK solutions significantly reduce development times of high-fidelity, 3D, browser-based metaverse experiences with e-commerce of both physical web3 digital products, content CDNs, payment solutions and avatar UGC all integrated,” said Johnny Lee, a general manager of Games, Entertainment, and Media at Solana.
Cosmic Wire utilizes funding to accelerate the development of a more decentralized, transparent and secure digital ecosystem centered on privacy.
The project was also selected as a participant in Google Cloud’s Web3 development program. The search giant’s initiative will assist Cosmic Wire in gaining “exclusive access to customized resources, including a substantial allocation of Google Cloud credits for a two-year period.”
To recap, in Q2 2023, the investment volume in Web3 startups shrank by 76% to $1.8 bln. The total number of deals also plummeted by 51%, from 659 to 322.
Tesla retains $184M BTC holdings in Q2 of 2023
The electric car maker Tesla maintained an unchanged position in digital gold for the fourth consecutive quarter. According to the April-June statements, the investment was estimated at $184 mln.
Net book value remained flat for the second quarter in a row.
Adjusted net income per share for the Q2 totaled $0.91, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82. Revenue, which came in at $24.9 billion, also beat economists’ expectations of $24.51 billion.
Tesla shares dropped 3.7% in the post-trading session as part of profit taking. Since the start of the year, the electric car maker’s securities have skyrocketed 136.5%.
Through 2022, the negative revaluation of Tesla’s 9,720 BTC held on its balance sheet amounted to $204 million.
As per Bitcoin Treasuries, the current loss on the position equals $44 million (13%).
OpenSea halts trading of staked-ether NFTs
The team behind the Ether.Fi platform informed that the OpenSea marketplace has banned sales of NFTs backed by Ethereum.
Ether.Fi allows you to create a non-fungible token for every validator generated when staking the second largest crypto in terms of market cap. Under the idea of the project, users who have locked ETH should receive royalties for each sale of NFT.
Mike Silagadze, the protocol’s CEO, said that 3,000 NFTs were issued overnight, all backed by 6,200 ETH. Afterwards, the tokens were put up on OpenSea.
However, a while later, listings on the marketplace “inexplicably vanished.” Ultimately, the trading platform responded in a “formal letter” stating that it does not authorize the posting of NFTs that “carry out any financial activities.”
Silagadze noted that the ether.fan collection is “just wrapped staked ETH with a PFP.”
“OpenSea has been running a de facto unlicensed casino where people engage in ruinous gambling and spend millions on pictures of monkeys and such […] This is all great and ok apparently, but listing a collection that actually has utility is disallowed because it has utility,” he added.