The European Central Bank says that despite the risks, European investors' use and demand for cryptocurrencies has been on the rise. This and more news is in this handy daily roundup so you're always up to date with the latest developments in the crypto world.
Bitcoin and Blockchain Adoption
📍‌10% of Europeans own cryptocurrencies, according to the European Central Bank. In a recent report, the European Central Bank, the highest financial authority in the Eurozone, noted that despite the risks posed by cryptocurrencies and digital assets, their demand and adoption in the region has been increasing.
According to the central banking entity, Nearly 10% of European households own cryptocurrencies or have had access to these digital assets at some point. The entity also noted that Retail investors, with less than 5.000 euros, dominate the cryptoasset investor base in the region. The 6% of cryptocurrency investors own more than €30.000 in crypto assets, the bank said in its report.
The European Central Bank also attributed the current demand for cryptocurrencies mainly to the profit-generating opportunities they offer their holders and the ability they allow investors to diversify their portfolios with alternative assets. In addition, the bank pointed to the ability of cryptocurrencies to facilitate immediate and cross-border payments as another feature that has driven their adoption in the Eurozone.
However, despite recognising their use, the ECB considers that cryptocurrencies lack intrinsic economic value and points out that they can be used to finance illicit activities. All of this makes cryptoassets considered high-risk instruments, it said.
📍‌The city of Cuenca, Ecuador, launches a cryptocurrency ATM. The adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Latin American countries continues to increase. Now the city of Cuenca, located in southern Ecuador, is launching one of its first cryptocurrency ATMs, which aims to facilitate its residents' access to this important technological and financial innovation.
The new crypto ATM in Ecuador was installed over the weekend in the La Cigale commercial space. From this ATM, residents of the city can access bitcoin and other crypto assets, such as litecoin, dogecoin and dash.
Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins
📍‌Do Kwon warns against “desperate” burning of LUNA tokens. Terra blockchain creator Do Kwon warns LUNA holders that the current token burn is a bad idea as it is being done in a desperate manner.
According to Kwon, sending LUNA to the current burning address in a desperate manner is not a good idea. “Nothing happens except you lose your tokens,” the blockchain founder noted on his Twitter account.
Miners and Node Validators
📍‌Ethereum 2.0 staking surpasses 13 million ETH. Ether stakes on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain have surpassed 13 million ETH at the time of writing, representing a value of over $26.150 billion.
The Ethereum 2.0 launchpad, Ethereum Launchpad, shows that the total ETH staked to date has reached 13.053.304 ETH, with a total of 389.297 active validators on the network.
Innovation, Development and Technology
📍‌Uniswap, the leading DEX in the crypto industry, is coming to the Gnosis and Moonbeam blockchains. Decentralized exchange (DEX) and automated market maker (AMM) protocol Uniswap will be deployed on two new blockchains as part of its expansion and growth strategy.
From the official Uniswap Labs account, the protocol developers reported on the expansion plan, indicating that the implementation of Uniswap on the Gnosis and Moonbeam blockchains was the proposal voted for by governance of the protocol and that it will be deployed by developers in the corresponding networks.
With these two new implementations, Uniswap seeks to become a leading multi-chain protocol in the blockchain world.
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