Photo credit: Wachsman/Token2049

In this Byteline Rewind, the Byteline’s weekly blitz of stories you may have missed over the weekend, we delve into Tron’s plans for a gasless stablecoin solution and Valora’s mobile Web3 launchpad “Mobile Stack.” Bitcoin also saw wins in BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) inflows and mining difficulty hitting its lowest level since four months ago. Over in North Carolina, the governor has vetoed a bill that would have banned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Tron to launch ‘gas-free’ stablecoin solution for Tron, Ethereum

Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain, said his team is building a new solution enabling gasless stablecoin transfers on chain.

With the new solution, “transfers can be made without paying any gas tokens, with the fees being entirely covered by the stablecoins themselves,” Sun said in a July 6 X post, without explaining how the mechanism would work.

Sun, who also serves as an advisor to cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly Huobi, revealed that they plan to roll out the solution in the fourth quarter of 2024, starting with the Tron blockchain and later with Ethereum and other Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible public chains.

“I believe that similar services will greatly facilitate large companies in deploying stablecoin services on the blockchain, elevating blockchain mass adoption to a new level,” he concluded.

a16z-backed Valora launches Web3 launchpad for iOS, Android

Valora, a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments platform backed by Andreessen Horowitz, launched “Mobile Stack,” described as a decentralized, permissionless, and open protocol launchpad for Web3 decentralized applications (dApps) on iOS and Android devices, the company announced on July 5.

Through the new service, the company will attempt to expand Web3 beyond its current crypto-native user base by prioritizing mobile-first development and improving the accessibility of dApps. Troopo, a savings and earnings app from Stake Capital, and artificial intelligence startup Vana’s The ChatGPT DataDAO will be the first ecosystem partners to utilize Mobile Stack.

Valora said Mobile Stack would enable a wide range of use cases, including borderless P2P payments, streamlined onboarding for decentralized finance services, universal basic income programs in emerging markets, and “learn-to-earn” campaigns with partners like cryptocurrency exchanges.

Read more: UAE developer MAG, Mantra to tokenize $500M real estate assets

US spot Bitcoin ETFs see record net inflows in 30 days

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States recorded their highest net inflows in a month, posting $143.1 million in positive flows on July 5.

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) led the one-day net inflow, with $117.38 million, followed by The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), which saw $30.19 million in positive flows, data from SoSoValue shows. VanEck’s HODL and Ark Invest and 21Shares’s ARKB also recorded net inflows on the day, with $12.79 million and $11.3 million, respectively.

The record comes after two trading days of net outflows, which saw a total net outflows of approximately $37.07 million.

The latest net inflow value is the highest single-day sum since June 6, with $217.78 million in net inflows. Meanwhile, between June 4 and June 7, Bitcoin ETFs saw a total of $1.7 billion in inflows. This culminated in a record-breaking 18-day streak of net inflows, ending on June 10 with a $64.93 million outflow.

Bitcoin mining difficulty hits lowest since March

Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped by over 5% on July 5, reaching a quarterly low of 79.50 terahashes per second (TH/s). This was the most significant reduction since March when difficulty briefly fell below 80 TH/s.

Following a spike between March and May, peaking at an all-time high of 88.10 TH/s, the difficulty has gradually decreased.

Mining difficulty, a measure of the computational power required to mine a Bitcoin block, is typically expressed in hash rate. The hash rate represents the number of guesses a mining machine is expected to make before solving the cryptographic puzzle necessary to unlock a Bitcoin. It is adjusted every 2,016 blocks, roughly every two weeks. Historically, Bitcoin’s hash rate has generally increased month-to-month, with few exceptions.

Read more: German politician urges to halt ‘counterproductive’ Bitcoin sell-off

North Carolina governor vetoes anti-CBDC bill

Democratic Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina vetoed a bill prohibiting the state from implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the United States Federal Reserve.

The veto comes despite significant support from both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly, with the proposed legislation receiving a 109-4 majority vote in the House and 39-5 in the Senate.

“This legislation is premature, vague, and reactionary and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven’t even been made yet,” Cooper said in a June 5 statement.

He added that federal efforts are underway to establish regulations and safeguards for consumers involved with digital assets. The politician also suggested that the state “should wait to see how they work before taking action.”

Read more: Bahamas to regulate banks to distribute CBDC amid low usage: Reuters