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From a Bitcoin craze in Brazil to the strength of Stellar Lumens, here’s a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.

Bitcoin

Brazil now holds the Bitcoin trading record for Latin America, reaching more than 150,000 BTC worth roughly $800 million in the past 24 hours, according to the data tracker CoinTrader Monitor.

The new high comes just days after local crypto exchanges in Brazil broke through 100,000 BTC in 24 hours, which was also a record-breaker at the time, reports Crypto Facil.

Brazil’s struggle with rising inflation, currently at 4.58%, along with Bitcoin’s sudden rise in price in the beginning of April, appear to have triggered the recent surge in volume.

Spiraling inflation has also led to increasing adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Venezuela and Argentina, highlighting the strength of digital assets as a store of value and a means of moving capital across borders.

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Ethereum

Have a question for Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin? The ETHCapeTown hackathon, the first of its kind in Africa, has invited Buterin as the keynote speaker and is using Twitter to prompt discussion with users worldwide.

To ask a question, just send out a tweet with the hashtag #askVitalik.

How can we use blockchain tech to address challenges unique to the African continent? 🤔 We want to hear from you! Use the tag #askVitalik to have your questions answered! Live stream to follow! @VitalikButerin @ETHGlobal pic.twitter.com/UYYZsYtpPl — ETHCapeTown (@ETHCapeTown) April 19, 2019

Ripple and XRP

The founder of Ripple-backed XRPL Labs, Wietse Wind, is offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of his first creations: the XRP Tip Bot.

In an interview on the XRP Community Blog, Wind says the platform now serves as a fertile testing ground for things to come.

“We consider the XRP TipBot (platform/app) as a great experimental environment for things we want to use in production with XRPL Labs. Since we already have a great user base / fan base with over 7,500 installations of the application, it’s a really great mixed testing environment.

So take the Bluetooth feature: We’d be implementing things like that into the TipBot app and testing it with the community before we would use it in the XRPL Labs Signing App.”

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Litecoin

The Litecoin Foundation is going all out to raise funds.

The Foundation is selling a limited edition, sterling silver cufflink and tie bar gift set. The accessories feature the Litecoin emblem and include a certificate signed by founder Charlie Lee.

Stellar

The team at Stellar is touting a comment from Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith.

He recently recommended Stellar instead of Ethereum for fast crypto transfers, and said using the Ethereum platform just to move assets around is “overkill”.

"I actually advised someone a few months ago to actually go #Stellar instead of #Ethereum. […] If you only want to send tokens around, just fungible tokens […] really, really fast, you probably don't really need us." – Virgil Griffith, Ethereum https://t.co/kRpRCT0dJH — Stellar (@StellarOrg) April 19, 2019

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Tron

The US-based crypto exchange Poloniex says it will support the Tron-based version of Tether (USDT).

“We’ve opted to support this new chain because it is an upgrade to the USDT platform and gives customers added flexibility. This is one of multiple initiatives being taken to make Poloniex the best possible exchange for crypto traders and enthusiasts around the world.”

Poloniex will support USDT on the Tron network and extend the upcoming airdrop to customers @Tronfoundation https://t.co/DE1klTl1we — Poloniex Exchange (@Poloniex) April 19, 2019