As cryptocurrency prices keep dropping and volatility remains relatively low, spot trading volumes in the cryptocurrency space decreased by an immense 42.7% in June, while total derivative volumes dropped 40.7%.

Stablecoin issuer Circle is planning on going public later this year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and would value the firm at $4.5 billion.

Digital payments firm Square is building a Bitcoin hardware wallet with the goal of making Bitcoin custody more mainstream. According to hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker it will focus on Bitcoin first and then “multisig to achieve ‘assisted-self-custody,’ and prioritizing mobile use.”

Sponsored: Sonar is a dynamic, all-in-one crypto tracking platform aiming to simplify and accelerate online investments. The cryptocurrency analytical ecosystem provides a safe place for users to research, manage, and decide on their current and future crypto investments by providing complete transparency and traceability. 

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Cryptocurrency Trading Volumes Plunge as Prices and Volatility Stall
• Stablecoin Issuer Circle to Go Public via $4.5 Billion SPAC Deal
• Square to Make ‘Assisted Custody’ Bitcoin Hardware Wallet
• Daily Movers – ZRx, LUNA, ATOM
• Sponsored: Sonar Introduces a Next-Gen Tracking Dashboard for the BSC and ETH Networks

Cryptocurrency Trading Volumes Plunge as Prices and Volatility Stall

As cryptocurrency prices keep dropping and volatility remains relatively low, spot trading volumes in the cryptocurrency space decreased by an immense 42.7% in June, while total derivative volumes dropped 40.7%.

This was also the case for BTC and ETH futures open interest, which dropped 31.8% and 29.3% respectively. Top-Tier spot volume dominance has kept on moving upwards, following a trend that started in December 2019. These exchanges went from representing 47% of the trading volume to now stand at 88%.

As detailed in our Exchange Review report, Binance was the largest Top-Tier spot exchange by volume in June, despite enduring a 56% drop in volume. It was followed by Huobi Global, which saw its volume drop 40.2%, and by OKEx, which endured a 41.6% drop.

In our full report, we dig into derivatives regaining market volume share over spot volumes, futures open interest across all products, and more.

Stablecoin Issuer Circle to Go Public via $4.5 Billion SPAC Deal

Stablecoin issuer Circle is planning on going public later this year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and would value the firm at $4.5 billion.

The startup is best known for creating the U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin USDC and its announcement comes amid growing concerns by regulators that there should be more transparency in the movement of these stablecoins. Regulators have also looked into the reserves backing them and their use in the DeFi ecosystem.

The company has defended its belief the use case for USDC is the same as the use case for the U.S. dollar.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire commented on the SPAC deal, saying:

“We just see an incredible opportunity to grow rapidly and grow around the world, and we think that this set of transactions and becoming a public company really sets us up to be a trusted platform in this digital currency industry.”

Allaire added that the company’s business is “highly global” with more than 50% of its customers being outside of the U.S. The firm is also looking to expand its international digital currency payments and treasury services operations.

Square to Make ‘Assisted Custody’ Bitcoin Hardware Wallet

Digital payments firm Square is building a Bitcoin hardware wallet with the goal of making Bitcoin custody more mainstream. According to hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker, it will focus on Bitcoin first and then “multisig to achieve ‘assisted-self-custody,’ and prioritizing mobile use.”

The development of a hardware wallet was confirmed by Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey on the microblogging platform, where he also explained that the term “assisted-self-custody” is a way the firm is looking into providing a simplified experience managing a hardware wallet.

Per Dorsey, custody “doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing” and can be simplified through assisted self-custody. He added: “assisted requires great product design: minimal setup time, relying on existing devices, and end-to-end reliability.”

Daily Movers – THETA, SAND, STX

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 24-hour period. Some of these are well-known cryptocurrencies with more liquid trading pairs, so we’ll be focusing on these over low-cap cryptos that may have higher percentage changes.

0x (ZRX) - 0x is an open protocol that facilitates the decentralized exchange of Ethereum-based tokens and assets. Developers can use 0x to build their own custom exchange apps with a wide variety of user-facing applications i.e. 0x OTC, a decentralized application that facilitates trustless over-the-counter trading of Ethereum-based tokens.

Cosmos (ATOM) - Cosmos is a network of many independent blockchains, called zones. The zones are powered by Tendermint Core, which provides a high-performance, consistent, secure PBFT-like consensus engine, where strict fork-accountability guarantees hold over the behavior of malicious actors. Tendermint Core’s BFT consensus algorithm is well suited for scaling public proof-of-stake blockchains.

 Terra (LUNA) - Terra aims to build a new financial infrastructure that works better for everyone. The network is powered by a family of stablecoins, each pegged to major fiat currencies all algorithmically stabilized by Terra’s native token, Luna. Terra’s mission is to set money free by building open financial infrastructure.

Sonar Introduces a Next-Gen Tracking Dashboard for the BSC and ETH Networks

Sonar is a dynamic, all-in-one crypto tracking platform aiming to simplify and accelerate online investments. The cryptocurrency analytical ecosystem provides a safe place for users to research, manage, and decide on their current and future crypto investments by providing complete transparency and traceability. 

Sonar provides analytics data for both the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. The platform enables price and social analytics, as well as contract audits and trading notifications. 

$PING Token 

The PING token is a BEP20 utility token that is designed to provide stability and reward holders while sustaining the ecosystem development and growth. A 10% fixed transaction fee is applied, which guarantees a constant increase of holdings for investors, liquidity, and funding. The transaction tax is broken down into four categories:

• 2% tax is returned as a frictionless redistribution to all Sonar token holders
• 3% tax is returned to the liquidity pool to protect Sonar holders’ token value and support Sonar’s price stability
• 3% tax is distributed to the Sonar Marketing and Development wallet
• 2% tax is distributed to the Sonar Innovation Lab Wallet

PING token holders have access to the advanced tracking features and can take advantage of Sonar’s unique analytics platform.

Sonar Roadmap

Sonar’s roadmap includes the creation of a wrapped $PING, which bridges ERC20 and BEP20 standards and will become tradable on Uniswap. Also, Sonar plans to develop its custom wallet app, as well as listing on major tracking apps like Blockfolio, decentralized exchanges, and Tier 1 centralized exchanges.

Sonar is currently undergoing rigorous audits by Techrate and afterward will be audited by CertiK.

Press Release

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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