Circle
Crypto Biz: Stablecoins are serious business, Feb. 17–24
Stablecoins used to be a sort of taboo subject in the crypto community after it became common practice to criticize Tether’s reserve backing. Are you really a seasoned crypto investor if you haven’t gone down the Tether (USDT) rabbit hole? Some of those concerns were finally quelled in May 2021 when Tether passed an assurance test by disclosing its reserves for the first time. For some onlookers, the reserve breakdown created more questions than answers due to the stablecoin issuer’s oversized exposure to commercial paper. The stablecoin market has grown leaps and bounds over the past four years. While Tether remains firmly in the lead, Circle Internet Financial has surged through the rankings with the success of USDC Coin (USDC). TerraUSD (UST) is also a top player, having just received s...
Circle’s valuation doubles to $9B following revised merger agreement with Concord
USD Coin (USDC) operator Circle has seen its valuation double to $9 billion after the company revised its merger agreement with Concord Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) founded in 2020. Circle announced Thursday that it had terminated its previous business combination terms with Concord and reached a new agreement that is expected to be finalized by December 8, 2022, with the possibility of it being extended to January 31, 2023. As Cointelegraph reported, Circle and Concord first announced their merger plans in July 2022. A Circle spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the new agreement reflects a commitment from both parties to move the deal forward after it became clear that the original closing date wouldn’t be met. They explained: “It was clear that the orig...
Circle’s USDC stablecoin gobbles Tether’s market share with 50B milestone
The world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization keeps on growing as it erodes the dominance of the current leader, Tether. The stablecoin landscape is a constantly-shifting dynamic but one trend has become clear over the past year or so — Tether’s dominance is diminishing. Its main rival, Circle, has just reached a milestone of 50 billion USDC in circulation according to CoinGecko and a Feb. 1 tweet by company co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Allaire. 50 BILLION USDC (w/ thread below) pic.twitter.com/5FEaPmXjup — Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) February 1, 2022 Allaire said that while this is a massive number, “it’s the massive growth and ecosystem around it that tells the broader story.” He added that USDC has seen 10,000% growth over the past two years. The total stablecoin s...
USDC flips Tether on the Ethereum network
Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) has reached a major milestone by surpassing Tether (USDT) in total supply on the Ethereum network. USDC’s current supply on Ethereum as of writing is 40.06 billion tokens, just ahead of USDT’s supply of 39.82 billion. Tether has been the most popular stablecoin since at least 2016, after originally sharing the market with BitUSD and NuBits (USNBT) stablecoins when it launched in late 2014. At that time, USDT ran on Omni. As the latter two fell into obscurity due to losing their dollar peg and shedding users, USDC emerged in 2018 as a more transparent and more regulated competitor to Tether, which has been under a cloud for years due to doubts over its backing. Although USDT is still the most popular stablecoin with a total supply of 78.5 billion, nearly 50% of the ...
Sequoia China leads $25M equity round for DeFi wallet DeBank
DeBank, a cryptocurrency wallet focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions, has closed new funding led by major venture capital firm Sequoia China. The firm announced Tuesday on Twitter that it raised $25 million, bringing DeBank’s total valuation to $200 million. Apart from Sequoia China, the funding round featured major crypto investment firms like Dragonfly, Hash Global and Youbi. The raise also included strategic funding from Coinbase Ventures, Crypto.com exchange, stablecoin provider Circle and hardware wallet maker Ledger. DeBank is a cryptocurrency wallet designed to track DeFi data, including decentralized applications or exchanges (DEX) and DeFi interest rates. It also lets users navigate and manage various DeFi assets and projects. The platform includes analytics for decen...
Avalanche eyes 60% rally as AVAX price breaks out of bull flag
Avalanche (AVAX) strengthened its case for a potential upside run towards $160 in the coming sessions as it broke out of a classic bullish pattern earlier this week. Dubbed “bull flag,” the pattern emerges when the price consolidates lower/sideways between two parallel trendlines (flag) after undergoing a strong upside move (flagpole). Later, in theory, the price breaks out of the channel range to continue the uptrend and tends to rise by as much as the flagpole’s height. AVAX went through a similar price trajectory across the last 30 days, containing a roughly 100% flagpole rally to nearly $150, followed by over a 50% flag correction to $72, and a breakout move above the flag’s upper trendline (around $85) on Dec. 15. AVAX/USD daily price chart featuring Bull Flag ...
Circle and Endaoment to create USDC-based disaster relief fund for communities impacted by deadly tornado
Circle, the company that created the USDC stablecoin, announced a partnership with public charity Endaoment to create a disaster relief fund. The fund will help mid-western American communities impacted by last week’s deadly tornadoes. The two entities hope to raise $1 million in grants to support the American Red Cross and local non-profits. Via Endaoment, blockchain enthusiasts will be able to directly contribute USDC or other cryptos using connected wallets with a minimum donation of $20. The funds will be distributed in $20,000 intervals to seven participating charities, the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Team Rubicon, All Hands and Hearts, Midwest Food Bank NFP, American Red Cross, and Mutual Aid Relief. At the time of publication, t...
Dick van Burik: Kevin-Prince Boateng could have reached Lionel Messi’s level
Retired former Dutch professional footballer Dick van Burik believes Kevin-Prince Boateng had the potential to reach Lionel Messi’s level. The former centre-back captained Hertha Berlin and played with the Ghanaian in the same team between 2005 and 2007. The West African, recently, made a return to the team where he started his career and signed a one-year contract. The now 47-year-old Dutch concedes the qualities of the attacker in the German team were world-class and much was expected from him. “Even when Kevin came from the youth to the first team, his potential was immediately world-class,” Van Burik said as quoted by Ghanaweb. “He can do things that you go to the stadium for. Even then he had the… attitude and simply showed what he can do. “He has become a great player but I actually ...
Southeast Asian leaders discuss Myanmar crisis with junta chief
Southeast Asian leaders began a crisis meeting on Myanmar on Saturday aiming to persuade Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence. The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN. With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the “deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation”. It’s unusual for the leader o...
House to hold valedictory session for deceased member Ossy Prestige
Abia Facts The House of Representatives, will on April 15, hold a valedictory session for the late member representing Aba North /Aba South federal constituency of Abia State, Hon. Ossy Prestige. Younger brother to the late lawmaker, Rotarian Chuks Nnanna, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Aba, explained the event, would mark the beginning of activities for the burial of the late lawmaker. Prestige, who was serving his second term at the House on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, died on February 6 in Germany, after a brief illness. He further disclosed that there would be a walk as well as an interdenominational service in honour of the late lawmaker who would be buried on April 24 at Abiriba, in Ohafia council area. Meanwhile, a group, Old Bende Pro...
Anambra election: We shall move our members to the polling booth – PFN chair
File Photo Ahead of the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, the Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in the state, Bishop Moses Ezedebego, has declared that as part of efforts being made by PFN to make meaningful contributions to the development, peace and progress of the state, all eligible voters that worship in pentecostal churches across the 326 wards in the State would be at the polling booth to participate in electing the next governor of the State. Bishop Ezedebego made the declaration while addressing a press conference in respect of a 3-day camp meeting involving Christians leaders from across Nigeria and beyond organized by Maximum Impact Leadership Development Centre with a view to addressing the challenges facing Nigeria particularly poor leade...
Coronavirus: Nigeria now at tipping point – PTF
The Federal Government, yesterday, took stock of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic vis-a-vis the attitude of Nigerians to embracing safety precautions, and concluded that the country was now at a tipping point. This came as government announced its decision to establish oxygen plants in all states of the federation as part of measures to resolve the “oxygen crisis” that had engulfed some of the isolation and treatment centres in the country. Meanwhile, Edo State has recorded 28 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 270, as the state government cautions residents to abide by the precautionary health and safety guidelines. Vanguard, meanwhile, gathered that former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe and th...
