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Market Summary
Top Stories
Flashbots Reduces Ethereum Network Gas Fees
Gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain have recently dropped dramatically thanks to Flashbots, a research and development organization. Their tools help people manage arbitrage bot activities and lower gas fees. Cheaper transactions through lower gas fees has coincided with an increase in ETH’s price as more transactions are conducted, leading to an increase in demand for ETH.
Ethereum Berlin Upgrade
The Ethereum Network conducted the Berlin hard fork. This upgrade lays the groundwork for one more upgrade (“London”, anticipated in July) which taken together will overhaul the entire fee structure of the Ethereum blockchain
Charlie Munger Not a Crypto Fan
Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has a less than positive view of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies. When asked Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, he said, “I think I should say the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.” He thinks of it as only useful to criminals and as a poor medium of exchange due to its volatility.
Fidelity Launches Crypto Data Analytics Platform
Fidelity, one of the largest asset managers in the world, launched a digital asset data analytics platform for institutional investors. As more institutional investors get into the space, they are looking for tools to match what they’re used to in traditional finance. This launch shows that larger and larger companies continue to enter the crypto space and Fidelity is reacting to that new demand from their existing customers.
Uranium Finance Hacked for $50M
Uranium Finance, a Finance Smart Chain Uniswap clone, lost $50M in tokens when a hacker took advantage of a vulnerability that had been present in Uranium’s v2 contracts. The hacker managed to drain the liquidity pool of multiple token pairs due to a calculation error. This highlights the risks associated with community supported and run protocols.
Video of the Week
This video walks through the risks that come with Defi exchanges.
Chart of the Week
ICO Analytics charted out the crypto-focused investments of Andreesen Horowitz, one of the most respected VC Firms in Silicon Valley. Paired with the news that the firm is raising $1B for a third crypto fund, there is still plenty of room for the space to grow.
Top Podcasts of the Week
The Delphi Podcast: Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup Debate
Delphi Digital recently hosted an all star crew of leading Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup scaling projects for an in-depth debate.
Unchained Podcast: MetaMask Grew its Monthly Active Users by 5x (L6Mo)
The Uncomfirmed podcast hosted MetaMask co-founder, Dan Finlay, to discuss the wallets meteoric rise over the last 6 months.
And older, but if you missed it:
The Delphi Podcast: Mark Cuban - The Billionaire Crypto Degen
Great interview with Mark Cuban discussing his deep interest in all things crypto, blockchain and DeFi. And a bonus tweetstorm from today (CLICK to VIEW THREAD):