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  • Highlights from Coinbase’s First Smart Contract Hack Days | by Coinbase | Apr, 2022

    Highlights from Coinbase’s First Smart Contract Hack Days | by Coinbase | Apr, 2022

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    By Michael Li, Vice President, Data at Coinbase

    Coinbase logo

    Hackathons have been a long-standing and important part of Coinbase culture, as they give our engineering teams the opportunity to collaborate with one another and experiment directly with the tools that are enabling a new era of open finance.

    At Coinbase, we acknowledge that Web3 unlocks a whole new realm of possibilities for developers that are largely yet to be explored. In order to pursue these possibilities confidently, engineers need to have a baseline knowledge of the ecosystem, the Web3 stack, and key smart contract concepts across different blockchain protocols.

    This year, we used the time set aside for the annual Coinbase hackathon to kick off Smart Contract Hack Days to give all of our engineers a crash course in Web3 development for real-world applications.

    Time to BUIDL

    In December, we assigned all participants to project pods of 5–10 individuals which were led by an experienced Coinbase team member that had been through in-depth blockchain engineering training. Following a day-long crash course in Solidity (developer tools and workflow), each pod had 48 hours to build a demo that would be judged on product, engineering, and design.

    Participating pods had a chance to score one of the eight awards and crypto-forward prizes. Award categories included People’s Choice (selected by the entire audience), Learning Showcase (the pod that demonstrated the most learning through working on their project), Judges Choice (overall judge favorites), Best Executed (evaluates quality, teamwork and overall execution), and Most Creative (the most exciting and creative take on hack day guidelines).

    Hack Day Showstoppers

    Among the 44 pods that presented on Smart Contract Hack Demo Day, the top 5 categories of project submissions spanned Web3 infrastructure, gaming, DAOs, NFTs, and event ticketing.

    While there were many strong ideas presented, some of the key ones to highlight (along with their taglines) include:

    • (Gas)tly: Complete gas transactions with confidence
    • Concert-AMWest-2: A NFT concert ticket and a marketplace contract that can transfer funds from the buyer to the marketplace and royalty to the musician
    • GenEd Labs: A charitable giving DAO that enables the ethical investor to leverage the blockchain to close the skill gap within underserved communities.
    • Real-Time Shibas: Capture the yield farms with your Shiba army
    • BridgeIt: Pooling deposits together for cost-efficient bridging
    • Not So Bored Apes: Decentralizing and revolutionizing the casino world one step at a time

    What We’ve Learned After Experiencing a Day in the Life of a Web3 Dev

    We were inspired by the number of creative product ideas that were presented during this time and took many important insights away to be applied for future training and hackathons.

    Some of these insights include:

    • Teams need more focus time to execute — many projects felt they lacked adequate time to execute due to competing priorities from day-to-day work. We will improve by providing full dedicated time for all participants in the future.
    • Participants would like more autonomy in team creation — team dynamics are important. Finding teammates who share a similar vision or vibe or may have complementary work styles and perspectives can go a long way, especially in high-pressure scenarios.
    • Save room for ideation — rather than being assigned to projects, participants may feel more engaged or motivated to take an idea over the finish line if they feel more passionate about what they’re building.

    What’s Next?

    One of the most exciting things about Web3 is its limitless potential. It is likely that it will touch every single industry — whether that be as the infrastructure that underpins a wave of new products or as the tool for interacting with brands and businesses in a more trustless and equitable way. This year’s hackathon, in many ways, is a testament to the efforts needed to onboard developers from the world of Web2 to Web3.

    At Coinbase, we remain optimistic about the future of the industry and are committed to spearheading new initiatives that will allow our teams to continue learning, creating and building together.

    We are always looking for top talent to join our ever-growing team and #LiveCrypto. Learn more about open positions on our website.

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  • ETC Group Expands Portfolio with XRP-Backed ETC on Xetra

    ETC Group Expands Portfolio with XRP-Backed ETC on Xetra

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    To enhance its digital assets portfolio of exchange-traded cryptocurrencies (ETCs) in Europe, ETC Group, one of the largest providers of institutional-grade digital asset-backed securities, has recently announced the listing of XRPetc (ETC Group physical XRP) on Xetra.

    The product is available under the ticker symbol GXRP. ETC Group already has a broad list of institutional-grade crypto exchange-traded products, including leading digital assets like BTC, ETH, Solana, and Cardano. With the launch of XRP-backed ETC on Xetra, the Group is planning to facilitate its clients in Europe.

    “Ripple is rapidly becoming a leader in global payment systems with hundreds of financial institutions choosing Ripple to provide better international payments experience for their customers, in real-time. By launching this latest ETC to our expanding portfolio of high quality, physically-backed digital assets, we’re continuing to grow our offering to investors, providing access to an increasingly wide range of digital currencies and assets – especially those amassing large market caps,” Bradley Duke, Founder and co-CEO at ETC Group, commented.

    XRP

    XRP is one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world. According to Coinmarketcap’s recent data, XRP is the 6th largest digital currency with a market cap of more than $35 billion.

    According to ETC Group, its newly launched XRP-backed ETC will be marketed and distributed by HANetf.

    “We are delighted to partner with ETC Group again to offer a new ETC backed by XRP. ETC Group, in partnership with HANetf, has established itself as a market leader in offering investment products focused on crypto assets. Interest in exchange-traded cryptocurrencies has been booming, providing investors with a safer and more liquid way to gain exposure to digital assets. Ripple is a growing blockchain-based digital payment network that is gaining traction thanks to its rapid speed and reliability,” Hector McNeil, co-Founder and co-CEO at HANetf, said.

    To enhance its digital assets portfolio of exchange-traded cryptocurrencies (ETCs) in Europe, ETC Group, one of the largest providers of institutional-grade digital asset-backed securities, has recently announced the listing of XRPetc (ETC Group physical XRP) on Xetra.

    The product is available under the ticker symbol GXRP. ETC Group already has a broad list of institutional-grade crypto exchange-traded products, including leading digital assets like BTC, ETH, Solana, and Cardano. With the launch of XRP-backed ETC on Xetra, the Group is planning to facilitate its clients in Europe.

    “Ripple is rapidly becoming a leader in global payment systems with hundreds of financial institutions choosing Ripple to provide better international payments experience for their customers, in real-time. By launching this latest ETC to our expanding portfolio of high quality, physically-backed digital assets, we’re continuing to grow our offering to investors, providing access to an increasingly wide range of digital currencies and assets – especially those amassing large market caps,” Bradley Duke, Founder and co-CEO at ETC Group, commented.

    XRP

    XRP is one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world. According to Coinmarketcap’s recent data, XRP is the 6th largest digital currency with a market cap of more than $35 billion.

    According to ETC Group, its newly launched XRP-backed ETC will be marketed and distributed by HANetf.

    “We are delighted to partner with ETC Group again to offer a new ETC backed by XRP. ETC Group, in partnership with HANetf, has established itself as a market leader in offering investment products focused on crypto assets. Interest in exchange-traded cryptocurrencies has been booming, providing investors with a safer and more liquid way to gain exposure to digital assets. Ripple is a growing blockchain-based digital payment network that is gaining traction thanks to its rapid speed and reliability,” Hector McNeil, co-Founder and co-CEO at HANetf, said.

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  • The Nightly Mint: Daily NFT Recap

    The Nightly Mint: Daily NFT Recap

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    It was a slow news day for all things NFT, but many of the concurrent stories that have dominated headlines throughout the week thus far have continued on their journeys, as we spectate the progression of MoonBirds, as well as the NBA’s struggling ‘The Association’ project, and more.

    Thank goodness it’s Thursday, headed into Friday, with another Nightly Mint.

    The Nightly Mint

    Latest Mint: MoonBird Criticism

    MoonBirds were criticized from the jump about their high mint price, and that isn’t slowing down one bit. There’s increased criticism over the last day regarding MoonBirds being gifted to celebrities and influencers. Nonetheless, price action around the project still remains strong, as the floor is now surged strongly above 30ETH, and volume within the project is still far above any other NFT collection currently. The floor over the past 24 hours (at time of publishing) has risen by over 35%, according to Nansen’s NFT data.

    Related Reading | Why A “Boring” Bitcoin Could Be A Good Thing

    The UFC's partnership with Dapper Labs runs on the Flow blockchain; UFC fighter Nate Diaz had some choice words surrounding the league's latest NFT release. | Source: FLOW-USD on TradingView.com

    Sports & NFT Update: UFC’s Nate Diaz & NBAxNFT’s Latest

    UFC fighter Nate Diaz has been making the rounds over the past day after tweets from Wednesday gained traction regarding the fighter’s disdain for the UFC’s latest NFT release via Dapper Labs. Diaz accuses the league of taking advantage of a situation for personal gain in releasing NFTs on 4/20 (widely considered a ‘cannabis holiday’) after suspending his brother from the league for several years for cannabis use.

    Meanwhile, the NBA continues to take a toll with it’s NBAxNFT project, dubbed ‘The Association.’ After major flaws were exposed in the project’s contract, the team released an update early on Thursday that resulted in an expansion of minting from the initial 18,000 to 30,000. If you’re familiar with NFTs, you can guess how the community reacted to that news.

    The ‘Minty Fresh’ Take

    Can Yuga Labs Otherside overpower the momentum of MoonBirds?

    Related Reading | The Top 5 Most Valuable NFT Collections And A Tool To Track Them Down

    Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com
    The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.



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  • Major exchange listings spark a 40% rally in Steem, TrustSwap and 0x

    Major exchange listings spark a 40% rally in Steem, TrustSwap and 0x

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    Sentiment in the cryptocurrency market is on the upswing after small gains from Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins hint that the market could be in the process of a bullish breakout.

    A handful of altcoins are also finding momentum and a round of fresh partnership announcements appear to back the 40% gains seen in select assets on April 21.

    Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

    Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Steem (STEEM), TrustSwap (SWAP) and 0x (ZRX).

    Binance lists STEEM

    The community-focused blockchain network Steem is the underling chain for the social media platform Steemit, which allows users to earn rewards for their posts and interactions within the community.

    Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows the price of STEEM hit a low of $0.344 on April 20 and then proceeded to surge 77.16% to hit a daily high at $0.61 on April 21 as its 24-hour trading volume exploded.

    STEEM/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

    The sudden burst in momentum and trading volume for STEEM follows an announcement from Binance exchange that it was adding support for the STEEM/USDT trading pair.

    TrustSwap trades at Bithumb

    TrustSwap is a decentralized finance protocol that specializes in the creation of multi-chain token swaps and offers a host of other features including staking, the ability to mint new tokens and an in-house launchpad.

    VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for SWAP on April 16, prior to the recent price rise.

    The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

    VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. SWAP price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

    As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for SWAP spiked into the green zone and hit a high of 75 on April 16, around 65 hours before the price surged 120.96% higher over the next three days.

    The rally in SWAP price follows a new listing on the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb and an increased effort to market the protocol’s minting module, which allows users to easily create a cryptocurrency and launch it on the BNB Smart Chain as well as the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.

    Related: Coinbase is planning to purchase crypto exchange BtcTurk in $3.2B deal: Report

    0x partners with Coinbase

    ZRX is a decentralized exchange infrastructure protocol that specializes in facilitating the trading of assets on the Ethereum blockchain without needing to rely on centralized intermediaries.

    VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for ZRX on April 19, prior to the recent price rise.

    VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. ZRX price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

    As shown above, the VORTECS™ Score for ZRX peaked at a high of 75 on April 19, just one hour before its price began to rally 71.56% higher over the next two days.

    The rapid spike in ZRX price came on the heels of an announcement that Coinbase had partnered with 0x to power their new social marketplace for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

    The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.94 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.3%.

    The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.