Cryptocurrency Prices Today on April 8: Bitcoin and Dogecoin inch up

The global crypto market cap is $2.03 trillion, a 1.73 percent increase over the last day. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $82.66 billion, which makes a 31.78 percent decrease. The volume of all stablecoins is now $67.85 billion, which is 82.08 percent of the total cryptocurrency market 24-hour volume. Bitcoin's price is currently $43,683.82. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 40.97 percent, a decrease of 0.43 percent over the day, as per CoinMarketCap data. Read more here.

CBDCs can replace cash transactions to some extent in India, says RBI Deputy Governor

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) can replace cash-based transactions to some extent in India, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor T. Rabi Shankar said in an ICRIER webinar on ‘Getting Central Bank Digital Currency Right for India: Lessons from G20 and the Rest of the World’ on April 7. Over the last five years, while digital payments have risen at an average annual growth rate of about 50 percent roughly in India, the supply of currency has also almost nearly doubled, Shankar said. The currency in circulation before demonetisation in 2016 was roughly about Rs 17 trillion and presently it is at about Rs 30 trillion. Shankar cited a 2018-2019 RBI survey that showed that cash accounts for roughly 50 percent of all transactions in India and for transactions below Rs 500, the percentage goes up to 70 percent. Thus, CBDCs have a scope to replace cash to some extent, Shankar said. Read more here.

Trading App eToro Announces $20 Million Creator Fund for NFTs

The financial trading platform announced today that it has set aside $20 million to create eToro.art, a new initiative to support upcoming NFT projects and creators—and buy some NFTs itself. NFTs are unique tokens that exist on a blockchain and signify ownership over an asset, often a piece of digital art. n a statement, eToro shared that it now holds Ethereum NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Crypto Punks, Doodles, and World of Women. The company is committing half of the $20 million to support new NFT creators. And anyone can apply to get funding and advising. The platform will offer an open application for any new and aspiring artists to pitch an NFT project. Read more here.