We’re rounding up the latest news items most pertaining to DeFi and its implications on a twice-monthly basis. In order to help you better track the latest developments in the world of decentralized finance, here’s what’s been going on:

Libra rival Celo launches the Alliance For Prosperity

Boasting major names from the cryptocurrency world and its adjacent industries, some members of the Alliance For Prosperity joined after already joining the embattled Libra Association. Only time will tell how Celo’s platform fares, but with names like Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz throwing momentum into its crypto effort, it seems it has nowhere to go but up.

Read more here.

The entire crypto market faced a mostly unanticipated stress test.

On March 12 and 13, the crypto market generally followed the direction conventional financial markets: down. Coronavirus and market malaise took a big bite out of any positive price action traders might have otherwise expected to see.

Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital has written an awesome explanation on what exactly happened during this fated time period, as well as why it happened.

Read more here.

Crypto journalist Camilla Russo was featured as a DeFi mover and shaker.

From covering Argentine markets as a Bloomberg reporter to running a daily newsletter on decentralized finance to scoring a book deal to write about crypto, Camilla Russo is worth paying attention to.

Read more here

There’s a call for Bitcoin to be more DeFi-friendly.

Author Ruaridh O’Donnell has written an op-ed that calls for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency to start working on compatibility with other popular financial technology projects.

Read more here.

Zimbabwe’s central bank reverses course, decides to regulate crypto.

Undoing a 2018 decision that banned local banks from processing crypto transactions or having anything to do with cryptocurrency in general, the African nation of Zimbabwe has decided to regulate this stuff under new regulations.

Read more here.

Is Ethereum a living thing?

No, certainly not. But that doesn’t preclude the popular cryptocurrency network from exhibiting characteristics that might earn it comparisons to a growing, organic creature. The author seems to suggest that Ethereum’s interconnected parts work together in concert like different limbs on one body. Interesting analysis!

Read more here.

Tether starts a flash loan protocol called Aave.

Flash loans are a new type of lending product catching lots of attention in the cryptocurrency world. The financial mechanism gives users brief access to uncollateralized loans at virtually no risk.

Now crypto’s dominant stablecoin product, the USD-pegged Tether, is throwing its hat into the decentralized finance ring, unveiling a new tool that supports flash loans.

Read more here.

The Bank of England is considering electronic banknotes for use by consumers and businesses.

This isn’t about replacing cash — the Bank says it will support cash as long as there is demand for it — but the Bank of England isn’t content to sit by while a revolution in payments takes place around them.

The thinking is that the hypothetical digital currency would give way to “programmable money,” making it easier than ever to move money from place to place. British citizens could more easily route their tax payments, for example, and companies could automate the payment of dividends to their shareholders. But let’s see what kind of traction these “electronic banknotes” might get.

Read more here.

Our CEO wrote some analysis of the market crash and its implications for DeFi.

In an op-ed for Cointelegraph, Equilibrium CEO Alex Melikhov offered his thoughts on how the DeFi niche responded in the wake of true market turmoil. He offers valuable insight on the negative implications for MakerDAO, which ended up with a $5 million hole, and how EOS-based platforms are better positioned to survive it.

Read more here.

Google Pay kinda-sorta supports crypto payments.

If you add your Visa-supported Coinbase card to Google Pay, you can spend crypto rather conveniently on your mobile device.

Read more here.

Opera will now let users in the US buy Bitcoin and Ether via Apple Pay.

It’s getting simpler and simpler to acquire crypto!

Read more here.

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