Today in Crypto: USDC Released on Stellar Throughout Coinme, THORChain Halts & Resumes Network, EOS EVM Testnet Goes Live, OKX to Apply for Hong Kong License

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Payments news

• Crypto cash exchange Coinme and the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development of the Stellar network, today announced the release of the USDC stablecoin on Stellar throughout the Coinme wallet and Coinme’s global cash onramp and offramp ecosystem. “Coinme’s integration of USDC on Stellar promotes financial inclusion by enabling physical cash to become borderless digital cash accessible across thousands of locations nationwide, making it simple and affordable to cash in, cash out, send, and receive USDC on Stellar,” said the press release. The service is now live in the Coinme wallet accessible via web browser, and is coming soon to the Coinme mobile apps on iOS and Android, it added.

Security news

• Cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain paused and unpaused its network due to new claims of a potential network vulnerability. Per a Tuesday brief, the team “received credible reports of a potential vulnerability affecting THORChain” and halted it globally. Several hours later, they tweeted that they could “confidently assume [that] no nodes can exploit the current vulnerability and as such the network (trading) has been unhalted. LP actions are resumed. Churn will remain halted pending a coordinated root cause fix.”

Blockchain news

• A testnet for the EOS Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) feature went live this week ahead of the mainnet launch, which is slated for April 14. “This is an exciting milestone for the EOS community, with the pending security audit being the only major milestone left before the EOS EVM Mainnet Beta is launched,” the team said.
• Oasys, a blockchain optimized for the gaming community, announced that one of Japan’s largest telecommunications operators, KDDI Corporation, officially joined its network of blockchain node validators. KDDI is the second Japanese tech giant to join the network following SoftBank‘s move in February. KDDI and SoftBank will join 21 other initial validators, which comprise established brands from both traditional and blockchain gaming, including SEGA, Bandai Namco Research, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and Yield Guild Games.
• Router Protocol, an infrastructure enterprise enabling communication between blockchains, today announced “a first-of-its-kind cross-chain account abstraction model which makes it easier for users to interact with smart contracts across different blockchain networks.” Per the press release, without account abstraction, users would need to manage multiple accounts on different blockchain networks, each with their own set of technical requirements and specifications. Use cases include multichain dust collection, optimized cross-chain yield farming, and multichain Web 3 usernames.

Exchange news

• OKX said in a statement on Tuesday that it is applying for a virtual assets trading license in Hong Kong just two months before the city will officially make crypto trading fully legal, the South China Morning Post reported. Lennix Lai, the firm’s managing director of global institutional, said during a media briefing in Hong Kong that OKX sees “immense potential” in the city and is willing to invest in talent and work with regulators “over the next five years to continue building the local ecosystem.”

DeFi news

• MakerDAO, a DeFi lending protocol and creator of the DAI stablecoin, announced the approval of the Maker Constitution, which will gradually change the operations of MakerDAO, setting the conditions necessary for its roadmap, Endgame Era, to be implemented. Per the announcement, “Endgame will enable MakerDAO to expand its money market investments in the short term and increase protocol revenue. By utilizing this revenue, MakerDAO aims to implement a mechanism to buy decentralized collateral, such as ETH and staked ETH, to reinforce the DAI backing, ensure its stability and maximize its level of decentralization in the long term.”
• As Polygon announced its zkEVM Mainnet Beta, crypto startup Alchemy said that it was partnering with Polygon to equip EVM developers with the tools to start building Zero Knowledge applications. Alchemy’s infrastructure will be available for all builders on Polygon zkEVM Mainnet, it said, adding that “a few categories of applications that should be particularly excited include DEXs, Web3 games, and NFT marketplaces.”

Career news

• Asset management giant Fidelity is building out its crypto research development team. Job openings, per its website, include a Crypto and Token Research Development team lead, as well as a Crypto Trading Product Owner and a Principal Java Engineer on the Wallet Blockchain Foundations team.