Bridging the Gap 31/03
Welcome to another series of Bridging the Gap. Get ready to dive into the latest updates and developments in the crypto space, let's begin!
Market
The overall value of the global cryptocurrency market has decreased by 1.47% in the past day and is now at $1.17 trillion.
The total trading volume for all cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours is $43.94 billion, which is a 12.41% decrease.
Among this volume, $4.74 billion is attributed to decentralized finance (DeFi), accounting for 10.80% of the total volume.
Stable coins represent $38.62 billion of the total trading volume, which is 87.90% of the total cryptocurrency market volume.
The dominance of Bitcoin currently stands at 46.23%, indicating a 0.35% decrease from the previous day.
Top News
Aave set to launch on Polygon zkEVM
The Aave decentralized lending protocol, which currently has a TVL of around $8 billion, has plans to launch on the new zkEVM Layer 2 network of Polygon. A preliminary poll was conducted to gauge support for the deployment, and it received almost unanimous backing. The proposal will now proceed to a formal on-chain vote.
Staked ETH Withdrawals Activation scheduled on April 12.
The deployment of Ethereum's highly anticipated Shanghai and Capella (Shapella) upgrades on the mainnet is scheduled for April 12, enabling ETH stakers to withdraw their coins for the first time. The news of Shapella's release caused Ether's price to surge by 5%, as reported by The Defiant Terminal.
Magic Eden's Bitcoin NFT marketplace is now the leader in the NFT market.
Ordinals has created a buzz around trading digital collectibles with Bitcoin as the new frontier. As the landscape evolves, Magic Eden's Solana-based NFT marketplace has emerged as a leader. Ordinals is a protocol that allows art and text to be inscribed on individual satoshis, the smallest Bitcoin unit. It has gained immense popularity since its launch in January, as traders and developers have become familiar with its NFT-like assets.
Kava Buys Solana As New Lending Protocol Increases TVL
Over the past month, new DeFi applications on Kava, a blockchain compatible with Ethereum in the Cosmos ecosystem, have caused user deposits to surge. As of March 1, the total value locked (TVL) on Kava has increased by almost 80% to $350 million, surpassing popular Layer 1 blockchain Solana, according to Defi Llama. The spike is attributed to two new applications, Mare Finance, a lending protocol, and to a lesser extent Équilibre, a decentralized exchange. The KAVA token on the network has risen by 60% since the start of the year.
Argentinian airline ticket is issued as an NFT.
Flybondi has announced the integration of Ticket 3.0, an expansion of its existing partnership with NFT ticketing firm TravelX, which was launched in September 2022. Built on the Algorand blockchain, the NFT ticketing technology, known as "NFTickets," enables travelers to alter their name and transfer or sell their tickets independently. According to Flybondi, this technology provides a more flexible travel experience that enables passengers to purchase tickets in advance without specifying travel plans or who the travelers will be. The airline can reduce customer service costs and increase revenue from trading fees as a result of this offering.
Cross-Chain Corner
Tanken
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DeFi Spotlight
Cardano users will soon be able to access Ethereum dApps directly from their ADA wallets.
Cardano users will soon be able to access Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contracts through any Cardano (ADA) wallet, increasing the network's usefulness for developers and users. This is due to a forthcoming feature on Milkomeda, a network that links blockchains like Cardano and Algorand to EVM contracts. "Milkomeda (Cardano's EVM layer) is launching a feature that will allow EVERY Cardano user to use EVM contracts directly from ANY Cardano wallet," said Milkomeda CEO Sebastien Guillemot late Thursday.
Ecosystem
ConsenSys Launches 'Linea' zkEVM Public Testnet
ConsenSys, the blockchain software firm behind MetaMask crypto wallet, has opened its zero-knowledge rollup testnet to users and developers. Linea, one of several new zkEVM solutions aiming to combine Ethereum compatibility with the security and performance of zero-knowledge proofs, is accessible via the MetaMask wallet. It also features built-in integrations with ConsenSys's infrastructure and development tools. The private testnet for Linea was launched in January and handled 1.5 million transactions in its first few weeks, according to the project.
Learning Bridge
This newsletter section will focus on providing guidance and assistance to newcomers in the crypto industry. You are welcome to share our Substack with anyone who may find it useful!
What is a Crypto Wallet?
We will start with understanding what a Crypto Wallet is. A crypto wallet is a software or hardware tool that allows users to store, access, and interact with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
While hardware wallets are independent devices for storing digital assets, software wallets are installed on a user's device, whether desktop or mobile. Both types of wallets hold private keys, which are sensitive passwords made up of strings of letters and numbers. Private keys grant users access to send crypto assets from a particular public address, making it crucial to manage them properly.
What’s the difference between Custodial and Non-Custodial Wallet?
Custodial wallets are managed by a third-party service provider, who holds the private keys and manages the security of the user's assets. Users have to trust the custodian to keep their assets safe and secure, and they do not have full control over their private keys.
Non-custodial wallets, on the other hand, allow users to have full control over their private keys and therefore their assets. They are responsible for their own security, and there is no third-party service provider involved in managing their assets. Non-custodial wallets can be either hardware or software-based and are generally considered to be more secure but require more technical expertise to use.
Of course there are pros and cons and the good thing about this is that it is up to you to decide.