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Bitcoin network surpasses 1 billion transactions

Bitcoin marks a historic achievement with over one billion transactions since 2009.

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AI-generated via DALL-E

The  Bitcoin network recorded its one billionth transaction, according to data from Clark Moody’s Bitcoin dashboard.

Bitcoin transactions and their corresponding fees have been a key discussion point among industry participants in recent weeks, in part, due to the introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes.

The latter, a fungible token protocol launched in tandem with the latest Bitcoin halving last month, raised transaction fees to an all-time record during its debut.

The halving reduces miners’ rewards by 50% roughly every four years, with the latest quadrennial event cutting them from 6.25 Bitcoins to 3.125.

Bitcoin is the world’s first blockchain-based cryptocurrency.

The network’s genesis block was mined by its founder Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009.

First introduced by the pseudonymous founder as a peer-to-peer payment system, Bitcoin has historically been an inefficient blockchain for tokenized assets such as non-fungible or fungible tokens when compared to other networks like Solana or Ethereum.

The introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals brought a new wave of tokenized assets onto the network by inscribing data onto satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, allowing a rendition of NFTs to exist on the network.

With the launch of Runes, primarily used for memecoins today, fungible tokens can potentially introduce new possibilities to the network, such as expanded applications for decentralized finance.

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Solana’s DogeZuki tops daily NFT market

DogeZuki tops daily NFT sales, followed by Solana Monkey Business and Bored Ape Yacht Club.

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Image: AI-generated via Midjourney

DogeZuki Collection emerged as the top-performing non-fungible token (NFT) collection on July 30, with sales reaching US$495,472, according to CryptoSlam data.

The collection witnessed a substantial influx of 11,422 unique buyers, surpassing the previous day’s figures and marking a significant uptick in market activity.

This surge propelled DogeZuki’s all-time sales to a US$50.25 million, which doesn’t quite place it in ranks of the market’s top dogs just yet.

The second-ranking collection for the day was Solana Monkey Business on the Solana blockchain along with Dogezuki, with sales totaling US$492,799.

Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club trailed at third with daily sales of US$467,856 and an average price per NFT of US$38,988.

Guild of Guardians Heroes on Immutable dropped to fourth after leading the market on Tuesday’s trading. It recorded US$447,445 in daily sales on Wednesday.

NodeMonkes, which is Bitcoin’s all-time sales leader, secured Wednesday’s fifth spot with US$358,829 in sales.

Bitcoin Puppets came in at sixth with US$328,377 in sales and CryptoPunks garnering US$213,654 for seventh.

Despite having two of the day’s top NFTs, Solana’s blockchain itself reported daily sales of US$2.45 million and was placed third among blockchains for the day. It was edged by Ethereum’s daily sales total of US$3.64 million and Polygon’s US$3.32 million.

Ethereum experienced a slight sales bump from the previous day’s US$3.42 million.

Bitcoin, and Immutable blockchains also reported significant sales, with US$1.99 million, and US$484,787, respectively.

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Tether’s USDT becomes the first stablecoin to US$100 bln

Tether’s USDT stablecoin reaches a market capitalization milestone.

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Image: Envato Elements

Tether’s USDT stablecoin has reached a significant milestone, with its market capitalization briefly surpassing US$100 billion on March 4.

The stablecoin, pegged to the US dollar, is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trailing only Bitcoin and Ether.

Tether’s USDT is available on 14 different blockchains and protocols, with over US$50 billion circulated on the Tron network, favored for its lower transaction fees.

Tether has become one of the world’s top purchasers of U.S. government debt and recently reported a quarterly profit of US $2.85 billion in Q4 2023.

Tether’s market cap growth follows the minting of a billion USDT by the Tether Treasury on March 3, as reported by Whale Alert, an X (formerly Twitter) account that tracks large cryptocurrency movements.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the newly minted USDT is intended to replenish inventory on the Ethereum network for future issuance requests and chain swaps, not for immediate market impact.

The stablecoin has seen a notable uptick in demand from developing nations, such as Nigeria, where it is used as a safeguard against national currency volatility.

Despite its success, Tether has faced controversy over the quality of assets backing USDT and the alleged preference of the stablecoin in cyber fraud and money laundering activities, as highlighted in a United Nations report. Tether has refuted these claims, emphasizing its collaboration with global law enforcement and the traceability of its token.

The company also argues that it has taken steps to reduce exposure to higher-risk assets and pledged to eliminate US$4.8 billion in loans from its reserves by the end of 2024.