JPEX made major announcements during the second week of April. Among others, the exchange announced that it has partnered with Global Ambassadors to promote the stray animal rescue program.
Aside from this, the JPEX Charity Foundation also revealed that they have allocated $3 million to a development fund that will support technology research and development (R&D), arts development, sports development, social assistance as well as youth development.
Moreover, the result of the citywide Hunt for YAMI Event was also announced while a new trailer was released that celebrated the winners of JP Planets (JPP) Earn rankings.
While JPEX communicated the vital milestones to customers, vital news made rounds about the progress of the blockchain-backed economy. Montenegro became the latest country to consider the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and they have tapped into Ripple’s technology to see this new development through.
Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset by market capitalization, rose to an eleven (11) – month high after its latest software upgrade while Sam Bankman-Fried’s attorneys revealed that FTX has recovered more than $7 billion in assets.
Elon Musk continues to trend online and his latest move for Twitter has seen the company integrate real-time stock information as well as the ability to trade cryptocurrency through a partnership with eToro.
Many people have questioned whether crypto could have the breakthrough several analysts continue to forecast and Solana has responded with the creation of a cryptocurrency-backed smartphone.
Solana’s crypto-powered smartphone to go on sale in May
Solana is one of the main drivers of the adoption of decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) due to the extensive role it plays in the crypto economy.
During the week, the company behind the project, Solana Labs announced the launch of a smartphone called Saga which will make it easy for people to engage with cryptocurrencies effortlessly.
Saga is expected to go on sale on May 8 and has its own store where decentralized applications (dApps) can be downloaded.
At $1,000, crypto enthusiasts interested in backing this project will receive a smartphone with a fingerprint scanner, a 6.67-inch OLED display, two (2) versatile back cameras, and a storage of more than 500 gigabytes (GB). Potential Saga users will also have access to the latest Android operating system.
The news was well-received by stakeholders of the DeFi economy and many analysts believe this could be the start of the global penetration of digital assets into the mainstream.
Montenegro taps Ripple’s technology for CBDC
Montenegro’s Central Bank announced that it has allied with Ripple, a blockchain solutions provider for the country’s CBDC.
Japan, India, Russia, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are countries that announced the testing of national digital currencies recently.
According to the country’s apex financial body, a digital currency will increase financial inclusion and help Montenegro maintain what he called an efficient financial system.
Ripple was chosen because of its advanced technological solutions. Despite its trials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it remains an industry-wide favorite due to its presence in the cross-border transactions sector.
Aside from Montenegro, the Kingdom of Bhutan partnered with Ripple in September 2021 to help pilot the development of a digital Ngultrum.
FTX has recovered more than $7 billion in assets
Andy Dietderich, the attorney of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX revealed during the week that the company has been able to recover more than $7 billion in liquid crypto and cash assets.
According to various news reports, this is about an $800 million increase since representatives of the company started disclosing the amount of money they have recovered within two (2) months of its bankruptcy filings.
Soaring crypto prices have boded well for FTXs assets and there are whispers that the exchange could restart soon so that customers that saw their funds locked in the platform will have a chance of getting their money back.
This is seen as a positive for stakeholders of the exchange due to FTXs standing in the sector and a potential settlement of all clients whose money is locked into the exchange could inject new liquidity into the crypto market.
Twitter to allow crypto trading via eToro integration
Twitter has been in the news in April due to issues around its blue ticker subscription. During the second week of April, the company announced that as a part of its Super App mission, it has partnered with eToro, one of the pioneer centralized exchanges to allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as well as stocks from the platform.
“There is very high-quality content, real-time content on financial analysis of companies and what’s happening around the world. We believe this partnership will enable us to reach those new audiences and better connect the brands of Twitter and eToro,” Yoni Assia, eToro CEO said.
eToro was solely into centralized assets from its inception in 2007 until it branched into crypto trading in 2014.
Ether soars to an 11-month high
Ether is the novel token of Ethereum, the most used smart contracts platform in the blockchain space.
ETH rose to a yearly high price of $2,126.32 on April 14 on the back of a network upgrade called Shapella (Ethereum Shanghai).
The latest upgrade emboldens Ethereum as a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network that has finally solved the problems associated with the use of blockchain in the form of scalability, decentralization, and security.
While ETH does not lead market gains this year, the cryptocurrency is up more than 70% in 2023.