The Weekly Wrap-Up - 18th March 2022

BAYC Releases Fungible ApeCoin Token

ERC-20 Token will Represent BAYC and MAYC Collections 

The most highly valued NFT collection - BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) has announced the release of a new fungible ERC-20 token called ApeCoin. The token was launched by ApeCoin DAO, which will use the token for voting. Creators of BAYC, Yuga Labs also announced that they had acquired the popular CryptoPunk and Meetbits NFT collections. 

47% of total ApeCoin token supply is being reserved for development of the BAYC ecosystem and token airdrops have been made available to owners of BAYC and MAYC NFTs. The $APE token is available for trading on several centralised exchanges including Coinbase, FTX and Binance. 

Zelensky Signs Bill to Fully Legalise Crypto in Ukraine

Legal Status of Digital Currencies Established

On Wednesday, President Vlodomyr Zelensky signed a bill clarifying the Ukrainian government’s stance on ownership of digital currencies. The law aims to foster “further formation” of the country’s crypto sector and allow crypto to be more freely traded and held. However the country is still expected to regulate the sector to some extent.

Ukraine has received over 1M dollars worth of cryptocurrency donated to support the nation’s war effort against Russia. The bill is expected to allow crypto donations to be more easily accepted.

Aave Launches Version 3  

Layer 2 Support Amongst New Features 

Ethereum-based lending protocol Aave has launched ‘version 3’ of its platform. The long awaited update’s features include cross-chain swapping and support for more layer 2 chains. The feature also makes onboarding collateral much easier by creating ‘isolated markets’ which have their supply caps controlled by DAOs (decentralised autonomous organisations).  

Perhaps the most significant new feature is ‘high efficiency mode’, which allows users to leverage high LTV (loan to value) ratios on the condition that loans are taken in the same asset that collateral is deposited in.

Binance App Set to Integrate PancakeSwap

DEX Functionality Added to Popular Exchange App

Centralised exchange Binance has announced that decentralised exchange PancakeSwap will be added to the platform’s mobile app. The DEX, which runs on BSC (Binance Smart Chain) is the most popular dApp running on the chain. Binance is also believed to be in the process of integrating other decentralised applications to the app as well.  

The project, dubbed the ‘PancakeSwap Mini-Program’ will be gradually rolled out over the next few days and will likely introduce many Binance users to DeFi functionality for the first time.