Crypto Flipsider News – Markets Recover, But Stablecoins Soar In Value, BTC Donations To The Ukrainian Military, Block BTC Revenue Hit 2 Billion In Q4, Eth zkSync Testnet Deployed, 15.43 Million SHIB Burned As Token Plunges 12%

Read in the digest

• Cryptocurrency Markets Recover After Russia’s Scare but Stablecoins are the Biggest Winners.

• Donations Pour in for the Ukrainian Military but Russia Could also Turn to Crypto.

• Jack Dorsey’s Block hits unprecedented Revenue Levels Thanks to Bitcoin.

• Eth zkSync Testnet Offers a Ray of Hope For Users With Cheaper Transaction Fees.

• Despite over 15 million SHIB Burned, the Token Slides by over 12% in 24 Hours.

Markets Recover, But Stablecoins Soar In Value

After the start of the Russian invasion on Ukraine, the global cryptocurrency lost over $400 billion as prices dipped. Barely 24 hours later, the markets are in recovery mode but stablecoins are headed for the moon with their combined market capitalization standing at $180 billion.

One year ago, the number stood at just $34 billion, making the leap of stablecoins nothing short of remarkable even in the midst of a brewing global conflict. The reason for the growth has been attributed to the volatility faced in the cryptocurrency markets with traders converting their assets to “stablecoins” to wait out the volatility without taking out funds from the ecosystem.

USDT remains the leading stablecoin with a market capitalization of $80 billion while USDC and BUSD have $53 billion and $6 billion respectively. According to a hypothesis by Arcane Research, if USDC and USDT continue their present trajectory, USDC will flip USDT before the end of June.

Flipsider:

• There are only two stablecoins in the top ten largest cryptocurrencies despite their soaring growth.
• Binance USD stands at 11th and has to stave off for a spot in the top 10.

Why You Should Care

Stablecoins are beginning to find increasing adoption from use in settling payments to navigating the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets.

BTC Donations To The Ukrainian Military

Bitcoin is showing the multiplicity of its usage even in the face of multinational armed conflict. Reports indicate Come Back Alive; a Ukrainian NGO has raised over $400,000 worth of cryptocurrencies for the Ukrainian army.

According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the average amount donated to the cause hovers between $1000 and $2000 from over 300 individuals. Elliptic notes that there has been a steady rise in Ukrainian NGO and volunteer groups using cryptocurrencies to raise donations with the current amount raised by these organizations exceeding $500,000.

The use of cryptocurrency funding allows “international donors to bypass financial institutions that are blocking payments to these groups,” noted Elliptic. Bitcoin took a hit at the start of the conflict and it is interesting to see if the asset holds up its value amid the raging chaos.

Flipsider:

• While Ukrainians are turning to Bitcoin to raise funds, Russia could turn to cryptocurrencies as a way to circumnavigate the incoming sanctions that the US and other countries will impose.

Why You Should Care

The use of cryptocurrency donations has spiked in recent weeks as traditional platforms like GoFundMe impose certain restrictions on some causes.

Block BTC Revenue Hit 2 Billion In Q4

Block, formerly known as Square has released its 2021 Q4 earning report, showing a 4.08 billion in net revenue. Almost half of this sum comes from Bitcoin revenue with the figure pegged at $1.96 billion.

Jack Dorsey’s Cash App has become one of the major vehicles for the purchase of Bitcoin, contributing a large chunk of the revenue. The company notes that the rise in the asset price in 2021 had a role to play in the spike of revenue by over 124%.

Only 2% of the revenue will be calculated as profits for Block which is around the percentage charged for transaction fees. According to the earning report, Block netted a profit of $46 million but the glut in Bitcoin prices could mean a bleak Q1 for the company.

Flipsider:

• Jack Dorsey’s firm stance of Bitcoin has brought him in direct conflict with proponents of other blockchains like Ethereum and .
• Cash App does not allow the purchase of other cryptocurrencies on the platform.

Why You Should Care

Block changed its name from Square in a bid to reflect its interests in Bitcoin and analysts are keeping a close watch to see if rebrand would impact its profitability.

Eth zkSync Testnet Deployed

Ethereum’s zkSync testnet has been launched to experiment a way around soaring costs of transaction fees. The zero-knowledge rollup is designed to operate without human for validating transactions and would allow the deployment of dApps in Layer 2 without the traditional challenges of scalability.

Developers believed that the deployment of these rollups were light years ahead but this testnet offers a ray of hope for the Ethereum community that the days of expensive transaction fees were over. It is believed that the bulk of developers are lining up to begin deployment on zkSync 2.0.

This small win has had a positive mark on Ethereum’s valuation as the asset climbed by a staggering 12% to trade at $2,672. Seller exhaustion and the recovery from the shock of Russia’s invasion has contributed to the recent increase in value.

Flipsider:

• Ethereum’s struggles with its transaction cost have seen it lose some of its market share to blockchains like and .

Why You Should Care

Ethereum plays a significant role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, housing a large number of dApps, NFTs and DeFi projects.

15.43 Million SHIB Burned As Token Plunges 12%

SHIB spiralled by over 12% in the wake of the brutal onslaught on the cryptocurrency markets. The memecoin also burned a staggering 15.43 million tokens by transferring them to addresses where they cannot be spent or utilized.

Source: Coinmarketcap

The report of the burn was disclosed by Shibburn via Twitter (NYSE:), an account that tracks the token burns in the Shib ecosystem. Token burns are used to reduce the overall supply of an asset for deflationary purposes.

After the burn, there are 549 trillion SHIB in circulation. Although trading volumes are on the assent, the asset’s price is a staggering 72% from its all-time highs that it set in 2021.

Flipsider:

• Despite the increasing frequency of the burns, SHIB has fallen down the leaderboard, ranking at 14th two spots below its fellow meme coin rival, Dogecoin.

Why You Should Care

A deflationary event of a burn often has the capacity to increase the value of the assets in circulation.

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