Crypto Trends Weekly Apr. 2 – 8

Breaking crypto news from the last week (Apr. 2 – 8, 2022):

Apr. 2: Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is recruiting over 100 positions in the UAE and is helping to shape Dubai’s new virtual assets’ regulations, its MENA regional head said. Binance’s activity in the Gulf state has boosted in recent months as the UAE tries to style itself as the world’s crypto hub and develops regulations.

Apr. 3: American investment firm VanEck says Bitcoin appears to have a much higher upside potential than gold. If each of the assets becomes the only reserve asset globally, Bitcoin could top $1.3 million, while gold may reach a price of $31,000 per ounce, respectively. However, these extreme cases have a more likely contender in the Chinese yuan, analysts at VanEck think.

Apr. 4: According to the new Gemini study, one-third of Emiratis and Israelis own crypto. Meanwhile, globally crypto ownership is the highest in Brazil and Indonesia. Also, nearly 40% of global respondents first bought cryptocurrency last year.

Apr. 5: Lightning Labs announced that it is building infrastructure that would allow users to send money worldwide at a low cost and almost instantaneously through the Bitcoin network. Taro protocol, which will enable stablecoin transactions, is based on Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade launched in November 2021.

Apr. 6: The Luna Foundation Guard, a Singapore-based nonprofit building reserves for the stablecoin Terra (UST), announced that it would buy $200 million worth of AVAX tokens from the Avalanche Foundation to augment its UST reserves. This strategic move pushes forward Terra’s cross-chain development and diversification.

Apr. 7: Trading app Robinhood announced at the Bitcoin 2022 conference that it’s making plans to add the Bitcoin Lightning Network to its platform for speedier BTC transactions. It also shared that eligible users from its beta waitlist can now send and receive crypto through its crypto wallet feature.

Apr. 8: Сrypto exchange Bybit announced the launch of leveraged token products on its spot exchange, starting with two Bitcoin leveraged tokens, BTC3L and BTC3S.