The Lightning Network has recorded its fastest 100 BTC capacity growth to date in only five days, with its capacity increasing by 20% to 1,821.29 BTC this month. In April, it reached the 10,000 node milestone, and it has since doubled to have over 22,000 nodes and 56,100 payment channels.

Square CEO Jack Dorsey has revealed in a Twitter thread that the firm is planning on creating a “new business” with the “goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralised financial services.

The price of AXS has been exploding as the game they are used on is seeing its popularity skyrocket, partly because users in developing countries are seeing it as a reliable income source.

Join our latest Virtual Event: Rising Tide: Challenges and Opportunities for Regulated Decentralized Finance

Sponsored: OUD Token tries to mitigate the consequences of illicit Aquilaria trading. The token serves as a proof-of-origin and traces all steps in trees` lifespan. Blockchain technology streamlines data transactions. RFID chips and scanners, in turn, transfer data from each tree, enabling traceability for future planning. Additional planned investments by OUD Token will help diminish fossil fuels usage over the long run. 

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Node Count Doubled in 3 Months
• Coin of the Week: Axie Infinity Shards (AXS)
• Square Creates New Division to Bring DeFi To Bitcoin
• Join our latest Virtual Event: Rising Tide: Challenges and Opportunities for Regulated Decentralized Finance
• Sponsored: Combating Climate Change Via Blockchain and Bio-Asset Management

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Node Count Doubled in 3 Months

The Lightning Network has recorded its fastest 100 BTC capacity growth to date in only five days, with its capacity increased by 20% to 1,821.29 BTC this month. In April it reached the 10,000 node milestone, and it has since doubled to have over 22,000 nodes and 56,100 payment channels.

It took nearly a year for the number of Lightning Network nodes to move from 5,000 to 10,000. The growth can partly be attributed to El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender, as the network allows for faster and simpler transactions that would benefit Salvadorans.

Another factor that could be motivating users is the ability to earn yield by contributing liquidity to the network. Lightning Labs’ liquidity marketplace Lightning Pool, launched in 2020, lets users lease liquidity on payment channels.

This liquidity is used to open new channels to users who do not have any connections to the network to begin with at a lower cost. Volunteers earn BTC rewards in return.

The Lightning Network is estimated to be able to handle up to 25 million transactions per second

Square Creates New Division to Bring DeFi To Bitcoin

Square CEO Jack Dorsey has revealed in a Twitter thread that the firm is planning on creating a “new business” with the “goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralised financial services.”

Dorsey, who is also the CEO of Twitter, added that Square had “some ideas around the initial platform primitives we want to build.” The new business is called TBD for now, and will be “completely in the open” with an “open road map, open development, and open source.”

Mike Brock, an engineer who previously led the development team working on integrating Bitcoin features in Square’s Cash app, will be heading the division.

Most DeFi projects are built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, as Bitcoin currently does not have smart contract capabilities. These smart contracts are essentially code that automatically executes when specific criteria are met.

Coin of the Week: Axie Infinity Shards (AXS)

Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) are the governance token of the popular blockchain-based game Axie Infinity. The game was created by SkyMavis and allows players to earn income through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), by breeding, battling, and trading digital pets called Axies.

Players need AXS tokens to trade Axies and can stake their coins to earn weekly rewards and participate in the protocol’s governance. New players have to buy at least three tokens, priced in ether, to truly participate in the game.

Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) has moved from around $13 to over $27 this week, with over $1 billion of the cryptocurrency being traded in the last 24 hours. In that period, the price of AXS moved up over 23%. Its market capitalization is now at $7.6 billion based on a circulating supply of 60.9 million AXS out of a maximum supply of 270 million.

The price of AXS has been exploding as the game they are used on is seeing its popularity skyrocket, partly because users in developing countries are seeing it as a reliable income source.

Join our latest Virtual Event: Rising Tide: Challenges and Opportunities for Regulated Decentralized Finance

Crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) introduce a plethora of opportunities to transform financial services, making them more accessible, transparent and efficient. At the same time, they also introduce a new world of risks and uncertainties, which regulators, financial institutions and investors worldwide are just beginning to grapple with.

As blockchain-based finance continues to tap value locked within legacy infrastructures and decades-old business practices, the crypto and DeFi space will need to continually find ways to bridge finance and finance 2.0.

Please join Securrency, Solidus Labs, CryptoCompare, Global Digital Currency Association and hundreds of industry leaders and regulators for a series of thought-provoking discussions covering the tremendous potential and possible pitfalls of modernizing our financial services ecosystem.

You can learn more about the event and register for it here.

Combating Climate Change Via Blockchain and Bio-Asset Management

Global warming is an increasingly alarming issue. Thousands of trees are cut down every day, and a large portion of the deforestation happens without permission and traceability, which damages the climate.

Many of the plant species, like Aquilaria for instance, are already on the critically endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Aquilaria is praised for its precious oils and cleansing abilities of CO2 and is known as “liquid gold” due to only 2% of all Aquilaria oud being suitable for usage in the perfume industry.

This is where OUD Token tries to mitigate the consequences of illicit Aquilaria trading. The token serves as a proof-of-origin and traces all steps in trees` lifespan. Blockchain technology streamlines data transactions. RFID chips and scanners, in turn, transfer data from each tree, enabling traceability for future planning. Additional planned investments by OUD Token will help diminish fossil fuels usage over the long run.  

OUD Token

Running on both BSC & ETH networks, OUD token can help those who seek to reach Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. OUD is also in line with G20’s Paris Agreement, aiming to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

In addition, token holders can participate in exclusive voting events, leaving the decision-making to all investors which helps the company with the direction of the project.

PreSale/Public Sale

Presale (29th Jul - 4th Aug 2021): A total of 120 million tokens will be available, selling at $0.06 per token.

Public Sale (6th Aug - 8th Aug 2021): 580 million tokens up for grabs, priced at $0.07 per token.

There will be a lockup period pre-ICO & ICO tokens with 25% released upon listing. After 2 months from the listing, each month another 25% would be released until 100% of the funds are made available for trading.

Whitelisting is now open to everyone - visit OUD Token website and join the revolution now. 

Important: You should always combine multiple sources of information and analysis before making an investment and seek independent expert financial advice.

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