The Ethereum Report #5
Price Action
The overall cryptocurrency market cap is down 0.39% in a one-week period starting on February 9 and ending on February 16 at around 2:30 PM UTC.
The top 5 gainers in the top 100 were as follows:
MCO (MCO)— 23.54%
Holo (HOT)— 20.04%
Maker (MKR) — 19.18%
Theta Token (THETA) — 16.83%
Mixin (XIN) — 16.78%
The top 5 cryptocurrencies to lose market cap while remaining in the top 100 are as follows:
Aurora (AOA) — 17.06%
Veritaseum (VERI) — 13.71%
Metaverse ETP (ETP) — 12.30%
Tron (TRX) — 12.23%
Project PAI (PAI) — 10.55%
Product Launches
MyEtherWallert Version 5: This upgrade includes a lot of new features. For instance, users can check wallet balances automatically (without the need for third-party apps) as well as compare with market prices on Kyber, Changelly, and Bity.
Another innovative addition is the ability to send outgoing payments with SendSafe, which uses smart contracts to better prevent cases of fraud and sending funds to the incorrect ETH address. Here’s an article with complete details.
Status Keycard Beta: Originally launched as Hardwallet in 2017, Status (SNT) is relaunching a new type of hardware wallet with a lot of new features. Keycard will begin shipping in early March 2019.
According to the official release article, one major feature includes “an open API that enables developers to integrate with wallets or hardware and even build their own smartcards. It enables end users to safely send, store, and receive cryptocurrencies in a seamless, contactless experience.”
The announcement also goes on to say that “Unlike most hardware wallets in the market today, keycard relies on NFC technology instead of a connected USB port to unlock private keys. This enables users to sign and verify transactions on the go with the touch of a card on their mobile phone.” For more info on the Status mobile app and SNT use cases, check out our guide.
SKALE Labs Launches SKALE DevNet: This is a production quality sidechain testnet. Developers at this week’s ETHDenver Hackathon will be able to run Ethereum dApps on the SKALE DevNet in a fully integrated manner with Ethereum and other related Web3 infrastructure and tooling.
Any dApp developer familiar with Amazon EC2 or Google Cloud can seamlessly access fast, secure, and cost-effective smart contract execution. The mainnet launch is expected to take place sometime in Q3 2019.
Development News
Create2 Function: According to a post/discussion on Ethereum Magicians, Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new smart contract creation function called Create2. Supposedly, “Create2” would be the same as the current “Create” function. The main difference would be the added ability to create a contract at an address that can be determined beforehand by various parties. There is currently a big debate going on as to how this might impact blockchain security.
Google Play Hosts Crypto Malware: Once again, Android users have to be aware of cryptocurrency malware on Google Play. This time, a fake MetaMask Android app is the culprit. For most users, this is an obvious case due to the fact that MetaMask doesn’t have a mobile app and only serves as a Google Chrome extension. However, for many newer users, this presents a major problem. Falling for this might result in the potential loss of funds.
Former Snap Employees Building Ethereum Dev Tools: During the day for the past few years, Chris Lorenz, Geoffrey Anderson, and James Borow worked at Snap. At night, they have been working on an Ethereum project called Forge Platform.
The ultimate goal of the company is to launch an entire suite of tools for Ethereum developers. For now, though, the focus is set on a tool called Forge Aware, which gives a detailed analysis (real-time and historical) of how dApps are performing across a variety of smart contracts. During the open beta phase that is currently going on, Forge Aware is free to use. In the coming months, Forge Platform plans to expand its development team and launch an SDK.
Developer Spotlight: Christine Perry
In honor of the SKALE Labs sidechain testnet announcement, we would like to highlight a member of the technical team: Christine Perry. Since graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in 2008, Perry has worked with a number of companies like Oracle and Optimizely.
Her roles have generally focused on development or solutions engineering. At SKALE Labs, Perry works as the Director of Global Solutions Engineering as part of a team is solving Ethereum blockchain scalability challenges via a Layer 2 solution. In a recent article, Perry explains how to deploy an existing dApp to a SKALE Chain.
DApp of the Week: AppCoins
AppCoins is an open and distributed protocol for App Stores. By utilizing blockchain technology and smart contracts, it improves the efficiency of advertising, in-app billing and app approvals. One integration and one APK works with all distribution channels outside Google Play (third-party and OEM app stores, APK sites, and direct download from your own site).
As of February 14, the AppCoins dApp has had 939 transactions in the past 30 days. The number of users in a 24-hour timespan (also on February 14) has increased to 59, marking a 391.67% increase. Looking at the Ethereum dApp rankings on State of the DApps, Appcoins has recently climbed 41 sports.
