The Bitcoin blockchain underwent its third-ever block reward halving. Block rewards on it are now of 6.25 BTC per block, which means around 900 BTC are minted on a daily basis, down from 1,800 before the halving.

The block the immediately preceded the halving included a secret message reminding cryptocurrency users of Bitcoin’s origins. It was added by F2Pool in a template similar to that used by Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform ErisX has launched physically settled ether futures contracts.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin’s Third-Ever Block Reward Halving Has Been Completed
• BTC’s Halving Block Included a Secret Message Reminding Us of Its Origins
• Crypto Derivatives Exchange ErisX Launches Physically Settled Ether Futures Contracts

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $8,658.19 (-0.13%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $6.88 bn. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $188.11 (0.39%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $1.21 bn. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 2,824.94 (1.95%).

Bitcoin’s Third-Ever Block Reward Halving Has Been Completed

Bitcoin’s third-ever block reward halving has been completed, and the reward per block on the flagship cryptocurrency’s network has now dropped from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Cryptocurrency mining pool AntPool mined block 630,000, with a subsidy of 6.25 BTC already.

The block contained a total of 3,134 transactions and a reward of 0.909 BTC in transaction fees being added to the 6.25 BTC Coinbase reward. The halving event occurs roughly every four years, and is a part of Bitcoin’s scarcity model. Each halving sees the number of produced blocks get cut in half, up until all 21 million bitcoins are mined.

The halving is widely seen as a bullish event as a drop in supply should mean demand will force the cryptocurrency’s price to go up. Indeed, past halvings have seen BTC’s price surge to new heights, although some analysts argue the rise could be attributed to other factors, and the halving may already be priced in before it even occurs.

BTC’s Halving Block Included a Secret Message Reminding Us of Its Origins

F2Pool, the cryptocurrency mining pool that mined block 629,999 – the last one with a 12.5 BTC reward – included a secret message in it that reminds bitcoiners of the cryptocurrency’s origins, and of the message Satoshi Nakamoto left in the Genesis Block.

Using blockchain explorers, it’s possible to see F2Pool left the following message on the block:

“NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed's Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue”

The message references a New York Times article on the Federal Reserve’s response to the coronavirus-induced economic crisis. The template used by F2Pool alludes to a message left on Bitcoin’s genesis block in January 2009, by the cryptocurrency’s creator. The message read:

“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”

Bitcoin was created in response to the 2008 financial crisis an alternative to the current system. F2Pool’s message is essentially reminding us all of Bitcoin’s origins at a time in which the Federal Reserve has been keeping printers going to support the economy, with its balance sheet going over $6.5 trillion already.

Crypto Derivatives Exchange ErisX Launches Physically Settled Ether Futures Contracts

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform ErisX has announced the launch of physically settled ether (ETH) futures contracts, the first offered in the United States.

According to a press release, the Chicago-based exchange’s contracts are based on ETH-USD and have monthly and quarterly expirations. In the document Thomas Chippas, CEO of ErisX, was quoted as saying:

“We strongly believe that the Ethereum blockchain community and broader capital markets benefit from access to regulated products and we are pleased to be the first U.S. exchange to offer these futures contracts. Our contract sizes are accessible for any investor while our technology stack and regulatory framework meet institutional expectations.”

ErisX launched bitcoin futures contracts in December 2019. It received a BitLicesne from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) last week to serve customers in the state, and was also granted a money transmission license.

Zilliqa (ZIL) is the Daily Mover

This week’s Daily Mover featured asset is Zilliqa (ZILv), a Singapore-based blockchain platform launched in 2017. IT was the first to use sharding technology to solve blockchain scalability problems. Sharding is an efficiency-boosting technique that allows the network to grow while transactions are processed in parallel. Its native ZIL token is used for transactions.

ZIL’s FCAS score went up 35 points in the last 20 days thanks to an 11.04% rise in User Activity, coupled with a 1.46% rise in Developer Behavior and an 8.84% jump in Market Maturity. The FCAS growth comes after Zilliqa announced a partnership with Binance to reward users for learning about its token and platform.

In the “learn and earn” collaboration, a total of $10,000 in ZIL rewards are to be distributed. Earlier this month, the team behind Zilliqa went live with a similar campaign to reward social media engagement, distributing 500,000 ZIL in rewards. With most people locked at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team’s strategy proved popular.

ZIL token flows over the last month suggest wallets with more than 25,000 ZIL tokens, the “top holders,” are holding most of the token supply. Encouraging new users to earn ZIL is moving the project in the right direction, towards a safer ecosystem where top holders aren’t as easily able to impact liquidity and price. Unique active addresses are also growing.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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