News Roundup - Ethereum Set for Boost as Dencun Upgrade Gets a Date

Major news stories this week;

1. Ethereum Set for Boost as Dencun Upgrade Gets a Date
2. Stablecoin giant Tether leads $25 million Series A for Oobit
3. Abu Dhabi financial center partners with Solana to expand DLT projects
4. Ethereum achieves staking milestone with 25% of circulating supply now staked
5. New ADGM entity Bridgetower M.E. launches to help UAE enterprises on digital, crypto assets

Story Summaries;

1. After successfully performing a suite of test runs, Ethereum’s core developers announced Thursday that they plan to deploy the network’s landmark Dencun upgrade on or around March 13—finally ushering in a set of tools that could dramatically increase the speed and affordability of Ethereum transactions.
2. Mobile payment app Oobit raised $25 million in Series A funding led by stablecoin giant Tether. Oobit launched in June 2017 to make paying for things with crypto easier. Its mobile app contains a tap-to-pay feature, allowing people to pay with funds from their digital wallet at stores that accept Visa or MasterCard. "Tether's strategic investment in Oobit underscores our unwavering dedication to welcoming new users into the cryptocurrency ecosystem," Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in a statement.
3. Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to advance the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The partners did not announce any specific measures but will explore opportunities for development within ADGM’s DLT Foundations Regulations.
4. On Feb. 8, Lido, a leading liquid staking platform, announced that over 30 million ETH, representing a quarter of Ethereum’s circulating supply, has been staked. Nansen, another blockchain analytics firm, confirms the 30 million ETH staked figure and notes the virtually empty unstaking queue. This suggests a strong holding sentiment, with only 176,686 ETH, less than 0.6% of the total staked, waiting to be withdrawn.
5. A $250 million funding platform focused on digital assets and blockchain infrastructure has come into being at ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market), even as UAE and Gulf enterprises sign up to the full possibilities of going digital. Called ‘Bridgetower Middle East’, the platform will offer turnkey institutional ‘staking’; access to data center capabilities; as well as private equity or venture capital support.

‍

And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

‍