TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. US lawmakers propose $2,000/mo in response to coronavirus fallout. Facebook Libra to include several stablecoins. Grayscale registers record investment volumes during Q1. Robinhood seeking $250 million in new funding. ShapeShift acquires Portis, and Binance opens P2P trading in Venezuela.

US Lawmakers Propose $2,000/mo in Response to Coronavirus Fallout

US lawmakers offered a proposal seeking to secure funding to provide US citizens with a steady flow of income during the coronavirus fallout. It was introduced by House Democrats. “The Emergency Money for the People Act,” would provide a monthly income of $2,000 to every citizen earning under $130,000 yearly for over six months or until the economy reaches employment levels comparable to those before the virus struck. US lawmakers are attempting to add to the CARES Act, approved just last month.

Facebook Libra Shifts Strategy to Achieve Compliance

Most notable evolutions are:

a) the creation of single currency stablecoins, e.g. ≋USD, ≋EUR, ≋GBP, in addition to Libra Coin (≋LBR), which will now be a Move smart contract “stitching” together fixed nominal weights of underlying stablecoins. 3/8 — David Marcus (@davidmarcus) April 16, 2020

Libra, the cryptocurrency project spearheaded by Facebook, shifted its strategy to achieve approval from world regulators. Libra will now feature a series of stablecoins linked to the value of the main world currencies managed by smart contracts. Presented in a whitepaper, this new focus is directed to make it easier for the project to be accepted by world economies that deemed it as a danger for their local currencies in its previous form.

Grayscale Registers Record Investment Volumes During Q1

Q1 2020 marks Grayscale’s strongest quarter yet, with >$500 million raised … that’s 83% of total capital raised for ALL of 2019, in just ONE quarter! Read more about the demand trends we witnessed in the first quarter here:https://t.co/TFwqIcAQEA pic.twitter.com/gSUh0ACNkj — Grayscale (@GrayscaleInvest) April 16, 2020

Grayscale, a digital asset manager, registered record levels of investments in the first quarter of this year, managing to raise more than $500 million in all of its investment vehicles. Grayscale stated this amount was equivalent to 83% of the whole capital raised last year. New investors contributed with a healthy $160 million inflow, and the most popular investment vehicles were the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and the Grayscale Ethereum Trust, dominated by institutional and hedge fund investments.

Robinhood Seeking $250 Million in New Funding

Robinhood, the zero-fee cryptocurrency and stock exchange, reportedly entered into dealings to get $250 million in new funding for their platform, according to Bloomberg. The main investor behind this new injection of money to the company would be Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm with $1.4 trillion in stock market value. Robinhood faced tech issues during the last market drop, an event that impacted its public image, and it is now facing a class-action lawsuit from a disgruntled group of customers in Florida.

ShapeShift Acquires Portis for DeFi Integration

ShapeShift, a pioneering cryptocurrency exchange, acquired Portis, a wallet with decentralized finance functions, to make inroads in the DeFi market. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of ShapeShift, declared DeFi “is the most interesting, because of how quickly it’s moving, of how many tiny startups are emerging every day, and how each of them work together.” The wallet will be rebranded to ShapeShift and is meant to be another part of the new services ShapeShift will offer in order to remain competitive in the market.

Binance Opens P2P Market Platform in Venezuela

¡Comenzó el trading P2P en Bolívares Venezolanos🇻🇪 directamente en @Binance! Ahora puedes comprar y vender criptomonedas con Bolívares… ¡SIN COMISIÓN! Tienes todo en un solo lugar 😉 pic.twitter.com/TbGgkOlrfO — Binance Spanish (@Binance_Spanish) April 16, 2020

Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange, opened a new platform that allows customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency for bolivares, the fiat currency of Venezuela. The market already in operation will offer zero-fee trading for its users in order to confront the biggest market maker in the country, LocalBitcoins. Cryptocurrency trading in bolivares has skyrocketed lately due to the big levels of devaluation the bolivar has faced as a result of several government economic policies.

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