Table of Contents

Weekly Highlights

Maker Completes Final Step of Governance Transfer

On March 25th, the Maker Foundation announced that control of the MKR token has been successfully transferred from its core team to the MakerDAO community. MKR holders now have full control over the MKR smart contracts. This transfer marks Maker's official entry into a truly decentralized governance model.

Rune Christensen, Founder of Maker: Following the commitment to transfer MKR smart contracts to the MKR community, the Maker Foundation continues its path towards a fully self-sustaining MakerDAO. For instance, earlier this month, MKR holders voted to stabilize Dai's price through a debt auction.

Source: https://decrypt.co/23555/ethereum-based-makerdao-hands-power-community

Uniswap V2 Set to Launch in April

Decentralized exchange Uniswap announced on March 24th that a new version, Uniswap V2, will be launched in April. This upgrade introduces many anticipated features, including direct token-to-token swaps for ERC20 tokens, flash loans, and enhanced oracle functionality for increased security.

Previously, on Uniswap, exchanging ERC20 tokens like Dai for USDC required converting Dai to ETH first, resulting in additional slippage losses due to multiple pool conversions. With Uniswap V2, direct token-to-token swaps can be performed, reducing transaction costs for users.

With the introduction of on-chain price accumulation mechanisms, V2's oracle feed can prevent flash loan attacks by weighting prices over time. In simple terms, if an attacker attempts to manipulate Uniswap's pool prices significantly through flash loans, the historical price from a previous block still holds high weight, making the attack ineffective. Ethereum founder Vitalik also stated that V2 can resist recent flash loan attacks.

Source: https://decrypt.co/23465/uniswap-platform-new-flash-swaps

Coinbase Wallet App Integrates DeFi

Decentralized finance (DeFi) becomes more accessible to mobile users. Cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase announced on the 25th that it will integrate DeFi apps into its iOS and Android Coinbase Wallet. This integration allows Coinbase users to store cryptocurrency in DeFi contracts, lend out cryptocurrency, earn interest on loans, and withdraw to their wallets without leaving the app.

Source: https://decrypt.co/23584/coinbase-wallet-integrates-defi-directly-app

MAS Announces PSA License Exemption List, 200 Companies Including Coinbase and Binance Can Operate Crypto Payment Businesses During Exempt Period

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officially released the list of exempt companies for payment service operating licenses on the 27th. Companies on this list are granted licenses and operating rights for specific payment services or crypto-related payment services during the exemption period. The exemption for crypto-related payment services includes nearly 200 companies such as Binance, OKCoin, BitStamp, BHEX, Huobi, Coinbase, CoinCola, TenX, Upbit, ZB, HashKey, and Huobi's FEU, among others, to operate legally under exemption status until the formal licenses are issued. The exemption period for crypto payment services is until July 28th this year.

Source: https://www.chainnews.com/news/889124537752.htm?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

COVID-19 Boosts Stablecoin Development

With traditional markets in a slump and cryptocurrency prices stagnant, some investors turn their attention to stablecoins driven by liquidity. According to Coin Metrics data, stablecoin market capitalization increased by $1.5 billion in the past month. Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter mentioned that the recent rise in stablecoins may be related to concerns about "brrr."

However, Carter also noted that the growth of stablecoins could impact Ethereum. Compared to Bitcoin, there are more stablecoins tied to ETH. If blockchain users begin using stablecoins to settle transactions and pay fees, this could reduce the demand for ETH, potentially decreasing miner revenue and having a negative impact on the entire system.

Source: https://decrypt.co/23363/stablecoins-booming-during-coronavirus

Is an Economic Recession Looming? How Will it Affect Cryptocurrency?

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared on national broadcast on the 27th and indicated that the economy may be heading towards a recession. As the coronavirus hits the U.S., not only has the stock market taken a severe blow, but the cryptocurrency market has also suffered. BTC briefly dropped below $4,000, and ETH also hit a low point below $100.

Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, stated that the Bitcoin market is fundamentally healthy. "However, the key distinction of this crisis lies in the speed of price changes. Everything that happened in five months during the subprime mortgage crisis happened within five days in this coronavirus crisis. Therefore, the recovery should be much faster."

Although cryptocurrencies and global markets experienced a downturn earlier this month, Balani believes that as the market stabilizes, we will see assets diverge based on individual risks rather than systemic risks driving prices.

Source: https://decrypt.co/23698/how-would-a-us-recession-affect-bitcoin

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Two Data Indicators

DeFi Lending Platform Scale

Note: Data source DeFi Pulse does not record Compound TVL over the past seven days.

DEX Scale

Dai APR

Coin & Token Value

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Three Industry Leaders' Perspectives

Brian Armstrong: Insights from Coinbase's First Remote Meeting

Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong shared a video on his Twitter account showcasing Coinbase's first remote meeting, where he discussed the role Coinbase should play in the overall economy's future. He mentioned that with the U.S. printing money in large quantities while real-world output cannot increase synchronously due to factors like stay-at-home orders, this is good news for hedge assets like Bitcoin and real estate. With cryptocurrencies only being around for 8-10 years, Armstrong believes it is still early, and Coinbase's goal is to make financial services accessible to the majority of the world, creating an open economic system with cryptocurrencies for global economic freedom.

Vitalik Buterin: 2020's Innovations Absent in 2017 Ethereum

Ethereum co-founder, known as V God, Vitalik Buterin tweeted listing out protocols and platforms currently prominent on the Ethereum network such as Uniswap,