PwC Says 80% of Central Banks Are Considering CBDCs, Bitcoin Lightning Network Raises $70 Million

Daily Market Wrap

• Crypto market cap: 2.09 trillion, down 3.40%

• BTC price stands at USD 45,355, down 2.91%

• ETH price stands at USD 3,355, down 4.90%

• Top gainer: STEPN (GMT), up 9.28%

• Top loser: Waves (WAVES), down 15.12%

News of the Day

PwC analysts say that 80% of central banks are investigating central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to improve cross-border transactions.

Why it matters:

• CBDCs would allow for cost-effective, 24/7/365 cross-border transactions

• In 2020, China became the first major economy to pilot a CBDC project for public use via the digital yuan

• On the other hand, wholesale projects, which include digital currencies used by financial institutions that have accounts with central banks, are also being piloted; however, CBDC projects are maturing at a much faster rate

Crypto daily spotlight

Lightning Labs’ Taro protocol has raised $70 million to bring low-fee stablecoin and asset transfers to the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Brief introduction: Taro, more formally known as Taproot Asset Representation Overlay, is an open-source protocol powered by the Lightning Network. Lightning is a Layer-2 payment protocol built on top of Bitcoin. Taro improves Bitcoin’s scripts and consequently, the network’s scalability, security and privacy. The improvements made by Taro are possible because of Taproot, a soft fork that allows for Bitcoin upgrades and was implemented in November 2021.

Why it matters:

• Taproot’s upgrade includes main features: Schnorr signatures, Tapscript and Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees (MAST)

• The $70 million Series B funding round was led by Valor Equity Partners and global asset manager, Baillie Gifford

• Taro’s security is based on embedded consensus, which means that transactions must be validated on the Bitcoin blockchain

Daily sector tracker

Daily News Roundup

1. Overseas Singaporean Crypto Firms Must Be Licensed Under New Law https://bit.ly/3O2SH8b

2. GameFi Platform and Play-to-Earn Guild Polemos Raises $14 Million in Seed Round at $100 Million Valuation https://bit.ly/3DI8owG

3. Ledger Buys Virtual Land in The Sandbox https://bit.ly/3JiYdQ5

4. Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Mined 511 BTC in March https://bit.ly/35Kjjtd

5. Layer-2 Ethereum Scaling Solution Boba Network Secures $45 Million in Funding https://bit.ly/35KpnSl

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