China's Digital Currency Is Here
Plus a massive class action lawsuit against the Maker Foundation
Happy Tuesday, Blockfolians
The Lede
Many wondered whether the shutdowns in January and February would create delays for China’s much-discussed DCEP digital currency project. Those questions were answered today when a Chinese state-owned bank released a test app for the central bank digital currency.
The conversation about CBDCs has only increased in the last few months. For a moment, one of the major US COVID-19 Stimulus proposals included a design for a digital dollar. Other nations have increased their research as well.
At this point, the question of central bank digital currencies isn’t “if” but “when.”
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Highly Relevant Reading
Coinbase Custody users are now able to delegate their Polkadot DOTs for staking via a partnership with Bison Trails
Shapeshift has acquired the non-custodial crypto wallet Portis in what promises to be a growing M&A season
The economic plight from the COVID-19 shutdowns finally has an official name: The Great Lockdown
Atomic Loans raises nearly $2.5m from Initialized, Morgan Creek and more for decentralized bitcoin lending
Community Commentary
Lawyer (and Libertarian) Preston Byrne and Human Rights Foundation’s Alex Gladstein have a great discussion about contact tracing - an issue that has been all over crypto Twitter recently
According to The Block, Andreessen Horowitz is raising up to $450m for a new crypto fund
A Really Big Number We Should Be Paying Attention To
$28,000,000
That’s the size of the the class action lawsuit hitting the Maker Foundation in the wake of Black Thursday. Yeeps.
Final Thought
Perfect.