What happened this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? The most relevant local and international events as well as appealing background reports in a concise and compact weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
Bitcoin represents a groundbreaking development in the financial world and is the first successful implementation of a decentralized digital currency. The distributed payment system enables the secure and direct transfer of digital money without the need for a third party. As part of this vision of an independent network, Bitcoin’s monetary policy is also programmatically predetermined. The inflation of digital gold decreases every four years. In just a few weeks, the fourth such halving of inflation will take place. In combination with considerable buying pressure from Bitcoin ETFs, this event could once again be reflected in the price.
In the next 24 hours, the bitcoin inflation rate will be reduced by another “halving” – all relevant information.
Solana: the Ethereum killer?
Ethereum was the first blockchain network to introduce smart contracts. These enable the decentralized execution of various applications (dApps). When the network is heavily utilized, transactions become prohibitively expensive. Solana Labs has been developing a competitor as an alternative since 2018. Thanks to the Proof of History (POH) consensus mechanism, Solana enables a much higher transaction throughput. This has helped the network develop a thriving ecosystem of DeFi apps, NFT collections and record trading activity.
The Proof of History blockchain Solana stands out with a few notable achievements, innovations, and future prospects as a network.
Digital currencies by central banks
A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital form of currency issued by a central bank. Unlike cryptocurrencies, CBDCs have the full backing of the government, which should make them a stable and more reliable form of digital money. CBDCs can be used like physical cash to pay for goods and services (retail CBDC) or for settlement among financial institutions (wholesale CBDC). An overview of the benefits and risks of these digital currencies.
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a digital form of fiat money issued and backed by the country’s central bank.
Is the crypto sector ESG-compliant?
ESG is a prominent topic in the world of finance. The acronym stands for “Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance” and sets framework conditions for sustainable corporate governance. The crypto sector in particular often comes in for criticism. However, a closer look reveals the true potential of the technology, which should also appeal to ESG advocates.
A thorough analysis of the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations within the crypto space.
Volatility is back
In addition: The volatility in the crypto markets has noticeably increased, manifested by at least two significant Bitcoin flash crashes in recent weeks. These sudden price drops are exacerbated by a combination of low liquidity, market fragmentation, and potential manipulation attempts. The analysis of these events suggests that during periods of low liquidity, large sell orders can cause significant price deviations. Moreover, price fluctuations tend to concentrate more during US trading hours.
A summarizing review of what has been happening at the crypto markets of the past week. A weekly report in cooperation with Kaiko.
