Author: Edith M.

Edith is an investment writer, trader, and personal finance coach specializing in investments advice around the fintech niche. Her fields of expertise include stocks, commodities, forex, indices, bonds, and cryptocurrency investments.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Verge Tor QT Wallet (Verge QT)

Verge QT can be described as a full-featured, full-node Verge wallet. A full-node wallet requires you to download the entire blockchain. But, don’t let that discourage you, Verge QT easily compensates this with its range of features and attractive interface that will encourage you to play around with its capabilities.

Verge QT can be described as a full-featured, full-node Verge wallet. A full-node wallet requires you to download the entire blockchain. But, don’t let that discourage you, Verge QT easily compensates this with its range of features and attractive interface that will encourage you to play around with its capabilities.

Verge QT can be described as a full-featured, full-node Verge wallet. A full-node wallet requires you to download the entire blockchain. But, don’t let that discourage you, Verge QT easily compensates this with its range of features and attractive interface that will encourage you to play around with its capabilities.

This is also not your usual wallet – it boasts of SSL encryption, Tor network encryption, and a host of other security features. It supports the Verge currency and is available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, Android, iOS, and a paper wallet.

In this review, we will look at the key features of the wallet, its security, how to set it up and transact, and its pros and cons. Happy reading!

Key Features

Verge QT has most of the basic features you will expect to find in a cryptocurrency wallet – the ability to store coins, sending and receiving coins, configuring your wallet to your liking, and so on. 

However, the following aspects seem to stand out:

  • Simple and beautiful interface that will encourage you to explore the application’s features
  • Secure – Verge QT benefits from SSL encryption that secures its communication with the Verge network. Additionally, it encrypts IP addresses using the Tor network so that transactions remain truly anonymous
  • Full-node wallet – The entire blockchain is downloaded onto your local machine. This means you can say goodbye to invalid transactions
  • Supports remote procedure call (RPC) commands. If you are an advanced user, you can use this feature to achieve fine control over the Verge blockchain and any activity thereon
  • It has multi-platform support. You can run the wallet on Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X. 

Security

The security of your Verge QT wallet is guaranteed in many ways. Let’s start with the most outstanding.

Tor Network

Communication from the wallet travels through the Tor network – a network built for privacy and anonymity. The use of Tor in Verge QT ensures that your IP address is never revealed to the Verge network. This is especially important for users who price anonymity over every other aspect. 

SSL encryption

Verge QT also implements SSL encryption. Since it’s a hot wallet, the encryption comes in handy during transaction signing. Transaction signing is a delicate process. Private key data can leak out of the network and into the hands of crypto cyberpunks, who can then use this information to generate a user’s private key and possibly hack their wallet. 

Open-source code

Lastly, the wallet runs open-source code. Well, this is controversial, but open-source software is, in many ways, more trustworthy than proprietary software. It’s developed by the community for the community. Being open-source also means it’s subjected to scrutiny by different parties and that reduces the chance of security bugs breeding in the application.

Setting up an Account

Before we set up an account, let’s first see how to download the application. Are you using an iPhone, or MacBook, or Windows PC? Or perhaps you are the advanced user running a Linux machine? It really doesn’t matter because Verge QT is available on all these platforms and more. 

On the iOS AppStore or the Android PlayStore, Verge QT should be downloaded like any other app. However, setup varies slightly between these two platforms.

iOS Setup

  • After installation, open the app and select “Create a new wallet”
  • Set up your PIN. Fancy a long PIN? No problem. You can configure your desired PIN length, between 4 and 8 digits, from the settings button at the top right corner of the screen
  • After setting the PIN, you will be prompted to write down your paper key. Do it. Verge QT will need this information to generate your public and private keys later on
  • Next, set up your passphrase, and you’re pretty much done.

The wallet is ready. You can use it as it is at this point. However, if you desire the anonymity provided by Tor, select “Proceed with Tor” in the window that will follow. 

Android Setup

The setup process in Android is a bit lengthier particularly for those who want to use the app with Tor capabilities. The following general guideline should be sufficient:

  • Install Orbot – the Android Tor client – from PlayStore.
  • Install Verge Tor Wallet for Android, that’s how the name appears on PlayStore, but don’t open it yet
  • Open Orbot and turn on “VPN” mode
  • Next, go to  “Tor enabled apps” settings on Orbot and select Verge. In the future, this will channel all of Verge’s traffic through the Tor network
  • Go to “Bridges” setting on Orbot and select “Connect directly to Tor network”
  • Now, you can go to Verge and set up your account. You can either create a new wallet or restore an existing one. If creating a new wallet, you will be presented with a random set of words, which you should hide away somewhere safe
  • Next, Verge will allow you to create a passphrase, PIN code, and fingerprint access 
  • Your account is ready and you can use any of the factors above to access your wallet or send funds

Mac OS X Setup

Many will find the process of getting the Verge QT wallet to run on Mac OS quite challenging. However, the following general guide should be useful (Steps are customized for Mac High Sierra).

Python can be fussy if it’s not your area of strength. If you’ve never used it before, you’d be better off using the other versions of the wallet. 

Still, you might be determined to make it work on your MacBook, the risk of getting frustrated, achieving nothing at the end of the day, and feeling like a loser notwithstanding. This detailed guide might be your consolation in that endeavor https://verge.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007364291-Verge-Qt-Wallet-Installation-Guide-for-Mac 

Windows Setup

Installing and configuring this wallet on Windows is a little less challenging, but still not a task you’ll want to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

  • On your favorite web browser, go to https://github.com/vergecurrency/VERGE/releases
  • You will see a link to “release_windows.zip,” that’s the one you’ll be looking for. Open it and download VERGE-qt.exe and VERGEd.exe. Then save these two in a convenient directory anywhere on your hard drive.
  • The next step is dreadful – downloading the entire Verge blockchain! Luckily, this download completes faster than for other major blockchains. Also, you can skip this download for now.
  • To run the wallet, no fancy command-line tricks are necessary, simply run verge_qt.exe, the one you downloaded earlier. On average, it takes half an hour to load the block index
  • Finally, and after a long wait, your hard work and patience pay off – you meet the beautiful dashboard of your wallet, but it says “out of sync!” If you successfully downloaded the Verge blockchain earlier, it’s just a matter of unzipping the files and copying them to c:\users\%currentuser%\AppData\Roaming\Verge. Verge created this directory during the infamous half-hour wait. 

Paper Wallet Setup

Setting up the paper wallet is a truly unique experience. It is recommended to generate the wallet offline for security reasons. So, you need to download the generator here https://github.com/vergecurrency/vergecurrency.com/raw/master/pages/paper-wallet/xvg-paperwallet.zip. You also need a printer for this exercise. Once you are ready, proceed as follows:

  • Calibrate the printer using the zoom and horizontal shift adjustments. This step ensures your printer and browser work in harmony 
  • Print the front of your wallet. You can either supply your key by rolling a dice or let Verge create the keys for you
  • Print the back of the wallet. You should do this on the flip side of the paper. The backside encodes some tamper-resistant information
  • Cut, fold and seal the paper with opaque tape, and the wallet is ready!

Whichever platform you were configuring your account, all is set and you can start transacting as soon as immediately. So, go ahead and send some funds!

Sending Funds

To send funds, you must have some, go to the “Send” window. The wallet’s interface is very intuitive. Regardless of the platform you are using, you will see a box for inputting the destination address and amount. Provide this information and the application will give you a chance to confirm if everything looks good before you send the coins. If you are satisfied with the summary, press the colorful “Send XVG” button and the funds should be on their way to the recipient.

Receiving Funds

You need to share your wallet’s address to receive funds. To do this, go to the “Receive” window. This will generate an address that you can share with the sender.  Double-tap on the address to copy it. You can also share the QR code generated instead of the address.

Supported Currencies

Verge QT supports only the Verge currency. 

Customer Care

The Verge QT wallet does not have dedicated customer support. However, technical help and general inquiries can be addressed through the various channels provided by the team.

Perhaps the best place to get support is on community forums. Verge has a Telegram channel where community members discuss various matters concerning Verge and crypto in general. It’s not moderated and, if you are easily annoyed, avoid the platform as you may get not-so-sensitive responses for asking awkward questions.

Their Twitter account @vergecurrency mostly posts news and notifications. Occasionally, you may get a direct response to your query. You need to get used to the modus operandi of open-source projects – the community is everything.

There are other forums including Reddit, Facebook, GitHub, Discord, and others, where you may find both technical and usage-related assistance. You might want to check them out.

Pros and Cons of Verge QT Wallet

Pros

  • It supports Face ID on iPhone which allows greater convenience, both in accessing your wallet and performing transactions
  • It supports fingerprint unlocking and transaction authorization in place of PINs, which means more convenience
  • It has a beautiful interface. Verge QT’s interface, across all platforms, is eye-catching on the mean-end and charming from a fair judgment 
  • Configurations are highly customizable – you can set your preferred PIN length, choose your preferred fiat currency and so on
  • The wallet is very stable, and you are less likely to experience technical issues while using it compored with most other wallets. However, Tor misconfiguration is a leading cause of frustration among Verge QT users. If your Tor network is not properly set up, wait for the “no connections” error
  • It is available on most platforms, including iOS! While most wallets shy away from iOS versions, Verge QT developers took this challenge head-on, and the outcome was impressive

Cons

One can be easily be tempted to think that this wallet is perfect, and that’s understandable. But, there are a few issues that could still bother some users. These include:

  • No dedicated customer support – if you experience issues and you can’t find solutions in the community forums, you are on your own
  • Supports only the Verge currency. Well, many wallets are built for a single currency, but that’s still no consolation 
  • It is a full node wallet which means you have to download the entire Verge blockchain

Final Remarks

The Verge QT wallet performs impressively on many factors. It is relatively easy to install and set up on most platforms, it gives a range of configuration options, it is stable, it is secure and looks good. The lack of customer support, inability to transact other currencies, and the need to download the whole Verge blockchain may set some back. But all in all, this wallet efficiently serves its purpose.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Enjin Wallet In-Depth Review: Key Features, Security, Pros andCons

Enjin smart wallet comes off as one of the safest and most convenient mobile-app based crypto wallet. It is easy to use on both Android and iOS devices and incorporates a wide range of operational and security features, including a secure keyboard, a built-in exchange, and two layers of cryptography (rule-of-two-encryption). What’s more, it supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Enjin smart wallet comes off as one of the safest and most convenient mobile-app based crypto wallet. It is easy to use on both Android and iOS devices and incorporates a wide range of operational and security features, including a secure keyboard, a built-in exchange, and two layers of cryptography (rule-of-two-encryption). What’s more, it supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Enjin smart wallet comes off as one of the safest and most convenient mobile-app based crypto wallet. It is easy to use on both Android and iOS devices and incorporates a wide range of operational and security features, including a secure keyboard, a built-in exchange, and two layers of cryptography (rule-of-two-encryption). What’s more, it supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens.

In this Enjin Smart wallet review, we detail everything you need to know about the mobile-based wallet. We highlight its most prominent operational features and look into details of the factors making it one of the most secure wallets. We’ll also tell you of the supported cryptocurrencies and tokens, its pros and cons, and provide you with a step by step guide on how it works.

We start by looking at its key features:

Key Features

Secure Keyboard:

Enjin Smart wallet features a proprietary keyboard that is specially designed to shield your data from sniffers and keyboard keyloggers. It has the key randomization option that provides you with the ultimate level of input protection.

QR Scanner:

In addition to the randomized and highly secure inbuilt keyboard, you can use the QR Scanner to communicate with different exchanges and wallets when sending and receiving digital assets.

Crypto wallet trackers:

The crypto wallet mobile app gives you the ability to monitor your Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin addresses. This allows you to monitor their transactions in real-time.

Add custom tokens:

Enjin smart wallet doesn’t just support the ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1125 tokens. It also gives you the ability to create and launch your custom tokens.

Create multiple wallet addresses:

There is no limit to the number of wallet addresses you can create on this platform, and neither is there a limit to the number of coins you can store in these wallets. The coin, therefore, gives you the ability to create multiple wallet addresses for different coins and tokens.

Budget for your crypto assets:

Unlike most crypto wallets that only have one vault for all your digital assets, Enjin Smart wallet lets you create multiple vaults. You can, for instance, create a Savings, Business, and Trading vault and split your crypto assets into these different allotments.

Samsung Blockchain Keystore support:

Enjin is specially designed to support the Samsung Blockchain feature for private keys protection.

Custom libraries:

Its libraries are designed with a feature that enables the removal of private keys from the device immediately after use. 

Enjin wallet security features:

i) One-touch fingerprint login: Enjin Smart Wallet can be secured by a unique multi-character password or a fingerprint. The fingerprint protection especially comes in handy in further eliminating possible password leaks and giving the wallet user absolute control over their wallet.

ii) Two-layer encryption: The mobile crypto wallet employs two layers of encryption in protecting the data stored within the wallet and keep your private keys confidential. 256 AES encryption covers the hardware while software encryption techniques are applied to the wallet’s application layer.

iii) Recovery phrase: When installing and activating the Enjin Smart wallet, it will provide you with a 12-word recovery seed. Record these phrases on a piece of paper and keep it safe. You will need it to regain access to your wallet should you forget the password and also recover private keys should you lose access to your mobile phone.

iv) RAM encryption: According to Enjin smart wallet developers, all of the important data is processed by and stored on a secure RAM. They further state that this RAM limits the amount of sensitive data stored in here and that this data is highly encrypted.

How to set up the Enjin crypto wallet app

Setting up your Enjin wallet on your mobile device is easy and straightforward. Here is a detailed insight on how to go about it:

Step 1: Download and install the Enjin Smart Wallet app: Depending on the type of operating system you are using, the first step is to search the Enjin wallet on Play Store or iTunes. Download the application and click on the “install” button. Once the installation is complete, click on the “open” button to launch the app.

Step 2: Create a new wallet: You will be provided with two options. You can either create a new wallet or restore your previously backed up wallet.

Since we are creating a new wallet, choose on the ‘Create New’ and click the “next step” button.

Step 3: Create and confirm password: Create a unique multi-character website for your wallet app.

Step 4: Recovery phrase backup: You will then be provided with a 12-word recovery phrase that will be used to restore your wallet when you lose or forget your password. The best way to backup these phrases is to write them on a piece of paper and keep them in a safe or any other highly secure environment.

Step 5: Create wallet addresses: The wallet is now set and you can proceed to create wallet addresses for the different crypto assets. You can also create different vaults and allocate them pieces of your digital assets for different purposes.

Step 6: Start trading: Your Enjin wallet is set and you can now start receiving, exchanging, and sending cryptocurrencies or customizing your own tokens.

How to send cash using an Enjin smart wallet

Step 1: Start by launching your Enjin crypto wallet

Step 2: Click on the cryptocurrency or token you wish to send. The app will display a wallet address input section as well as the option for scanning the receiver’s wallet QR Code. Chose one.

Step 3: Enter the amount of coins/tokens you wish to send

Step 4: Confirm that the details entered (wallet address and crypto amounts) are correct and hit send

How to receive funds into your Enjin smart wallet

Step 1: Start by launching the Enjin Smart crypto wallet app

Step 2: Tap on the ‘Receive’ icon and proceed to click on the cryptocurrency/token you wish to receive. The app will display the crypto’s wallet address as well as its QR code.

Step 3: Copy the wallet address and forward it to the parties from whom you wish to receive the coins or have them scan your QR Code.

Step 4: Wait for the cryptos to reflect on your wallet

Enjin wallet’s supported currencies

The Enjin smart crypto wallet is highly versatile and currently supports over 700 cryptocurrencies and tokens. These include the all-popular crypto coins like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and the Enjin Coin.

The wallet also holds multiple variations of the Ethereum based tokens including all the ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-233, and ERC-1155 tokens. Its also one of the few crypto wallets that lets you leverage their inbuilt-exchange and support for Ethereum based tokens to help you customize and launch your own token.

Enjin smart wallet cost and fees

Enjin smart crypto wallet doesn’t charge you when you download, install, or store cryptocurrencies/tokens on their wallet. You will, however, be charged variable transaction fees when you send/receive funds into your wallet. These charges are usually imposed by blockchain networks and are collected by miners and network administrators, not the Enjin wallet developers.

How much you pay per transaction is largely dependent on such factors as your preferred crypto as well as the number of coins transferred.

Enjin Crypto wallet ease of use

Enjin crypto wallet app features a smart user interface that makes it one of the most user-friendly wallet apps. According to Enjin, the smart UI features turns your phone into a hardware-like wallet by giving you full control over your private keys while offering a number of important security features.

Enjin smart wallet app customer support

Enjin wallet has an elaborative and readily available customer support team. Their multi-lingual website (currently available in four international languages) is, for instance, awash with different resource materials aimed at helping address common user concerns. The wallet maintains a regularly updated blog that not only covers hot financial and crypto industry news but also updates about the wallet.

This is, also the Enjin forum where wallet users get to interact with the developers and other users. Here they can have their challenges and queries addressed by either the Enjin wallet developers or expert wallet users.

More sensitive queries can be addressed directly to the Enjin customer support team by raising a support ticket on their ‘Contact Us’ page. You can also send them an email via [email protected] or engage them on their official social media handles on such platforms as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, and LinkedIn.

Comparing the Enjin crypto wallet app with other wallets

Compared to other crypto wallet apps like Mycelium, Enjin smart crypto wallet carries the day when it comes to the employed security measures. It, for instance, combines military-grade encryption with biometrics in further boosting the confidentiality of your private keys. It also has more operational features like the inbuilt exchange/marketplace, support for decentralized apps and browsers, and the integration of the ERC-1155 protocol that lets the user create and issue customized tokens.

Enjin smart wallet app security features, however, are pale in the face of the more secure hardware wallets. For instance, while the data contained therein may be highly encrypted, it still is a hot wallet and this exposes it to possible hacking and malicious malware threats. Unlike most hardware wallets that can hold thousands of cryptocurrencies and tokens, Enjin can only hold a maximum of 700 cryptos. The only advantage Enjin crypto has over such hardware wallets Trezor or Ledger Nano is that it is free.

Everything else you need to know about Enjin smart crypto wallet

Enjin is also more than a wallet as it also features an easy to use inbuilt-exchange and a crypto marketplace. The wallet integrates the all-popular Enjin social gaming network and the Enjin marketplace where players can buy or exchange different video games and in-game items for crypto and tokens.

The Enjin wallet also features one of the most interesting and easy to use Decentralized App web browsers. It has a friendly and easy-to-interact-with user-interface. It allows you access to leading crypto exchanges, financial news, online games, and even social media.

In addition to supporting the popular ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, Enjin developers introduced the ERC-1155 protocol. This allows you to create highly customized tokens and token collectibles that you can trade on the Enjin exchange, store on the Enjin wallet, and exchange for online games or in-game items within the Enjin Marketplace.  All these are accessible via the Enjin smart wallet app.

Enjin does not store fiat currencies and neither does it support fiat-to-crypto conversions. The smart crypto wallet has, however, partnered with some of the most popular fiat-to-crypto conversion platforms like Changelly, Simplex, Bancor, and Kyber. These make it possible for you to swap cash for cryptocurrencies and tokens that you can then use to trade or exchange via the Enjin smart crypto wallet.

What are the pros and cons of the Enjin crypto wallet

Pros

  • Employs a wide range of security features – including encryption and Biometric access
  • Both the crypto wallet app and Enjin website are multi-lingual
  • High user ratings on both Android and iOS app stores
  • Supports a relatively wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens
  • The Enjin wallet app features a highly intuitive user interface

Cons

  • Mobile wallets are prone to online attacks as compared to hardware wallets
  • It is not open source and, therefore, not adequately vetted
  • Doesn’t support fiat-to-crypto conversions

Final Verdict: Is the Enjin wallet app safe?

Well, Enjin smart wallet app has embraced several security protocols that make it one of the safest crypto apps around. It, for instance, employs the two-layer encryption for the private keys and personal data stored within the app and uses a multi-character password and biometrics to secure the wallet.

Other factors that make Enjin smart wallet app the most effective mobile wallet include the fact that it integrates such features as an inbuilt-exchange and marketplace, decentralized apps, and browsers, supports 700+ cryptocoins and tokens and makes it possible for you to create and launch a custom ERC-1155 token.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

eToro Wallet Review: How It Works, Key Features, & Supported Currencies

eToro is one of the safest and most popular cryptocurrency wallets. It is availed freely to all eToro trading account holders and is specially designed to hold several crypto coins. It also facilitates the transfer or redemption of crypto coins on different crypto trading platforms and exchanges. Some of the key factors contributing to its rich reputation include its exceptional security, sophisticated design that supports multiple cryptocurrencies, its highly competitive charges, and the fact that that it has the backing of the most reputable online trading platform.

eToro is one of the safest and most popular cryptocurrency wallets. It is availed freely to all eToro trading account holders and is specially designed to hold several crypto coins. It also facilitates the transfer or redemption of crypto coins on different crypto trading platforms and exchanges. Some of the key factors contributing to its rich reputation include its exceptional security, sophisticated design that supports multiple cryptocurrencies, its highly competitive charges, and the fact that that it has the backing of the most reputable online trading platform.

eToro is one of the safest and most popular cryptocurrency wallets. It is availed freely to all eToro trading account holders and is specially designed to hold several crypto coins. It also facilitates the transfer or redemption of crypto coins on different crypto trading platforms and exchanges. Some of the key factors contributing to its rich reputation include its exceptional security, sophisticated design that supports multiple cryptocurrencies, its highly competitive charges, and the fact that that it has the backing of the most reputable online trading platform.

In this eToro wallet review, we will be detailing these factors and highlighting more that make this wallet unique. We will explore the security measures that the online crypto wallet has put in place, provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to interact with the wallet, and compare its efficiency with that of leading hardware and software wallets.

Here is everything you need to know about the eToro crypto wallet:

Key Features

OS compatibility: eToro mobile wallet is highly versatile and compatible with multiple operating systems including Android and iOS.

Multicurrency support: The eToro online wallet supports 100+ cryptocurrencies and tokens. These include the all-popular crypto coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BTCH), Litecoin (LTC), and the ERC-20 Tokens.

Multi-lingual support: eToro is a global brand and both their trading platforms and crypto wallets are available to individuals in 100+ countries across the world. Both the website and wallet are also available in over 20 international languages.

Inbuilt exchange: While the eToro wallet doesn’t let you send cryptocurrencies to the eToro trading platform, it features an inbuilt-exchange. This Allows any eToro wallet user to convert one crypto for another without going through the eToro trading platform. It also makes it possible for you to easily receive or send cryptocurrencies to other wallets and crypto exchanges.

Payment cards integration: You can also link the eToro wallet with either your debit or credit cards. This means that you can buy cryptos or withdraw earnings directly to your debit/credit card.

Easy to use wallet: eToro mobile is also easy to use. For instance, the wallet has a relatively straightforward onboarding process. The process of sending and receiving coins into the wallet is also easy.

A large number of trading pairs: In addition to the more than 120 cryptocurrencies and tokens supported by the eToro and its inbuilt exchange, the mobile wallet users are exposed to more than 500 crypto trading pairs.

eToro Security Features

Password: Like most crypto wallets, the eToro wallet app has a password as its primary security measure. You set this unique multi-character password when installing the mobile app.

Two-factor authentication: This security feature provides an added layer of safety by tying your crypto wallet to your phone number, effectively eliminating the possibility of remote hackers gaining access to your digital assets. The two-step verification becomes necessary when logging into the wallet and when transferring crypto to other wallets or exchanges.

High-grade encryption: eToro has introduced the high-grade encryption used on its trading platform to the eToro mobile wallets. Here, the crypto wallet employs different levels of encryption that cover every aspect of the mobile wallet, from the storage of private keys to the wallet’s communications with third parties service providers including payment processing platforms like debit card and credit card companies.

No access to your private keys: eToro doesn’t give you access to your private keys. Rather, it stores them in an encrypted format within the wallet addresses. This further minimizes the chances of unauthorized persona gaining access to your digital assets.

Password recovery: When installing and activating your eToro wallet, you will be provided with a unique and private recovery key. You will need it to recover your private keys should you forget your wallet password or lose the mobile device holding your wallet.

On-Chain address: In addition to keeping the private keys on your behalf, the eToro crypto wallet creates a unique and private on-chain address for you. This is unique, and allows you to send, receive, and store your digital assets anywhere on the blockchain.

Setup and Configuration

Setting up your eToro wallet account is easy and straightforward. And it starts with downloading the free mobile wallet app and registering a new account. We have broken down this registration process. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to go about it:

Step 1: Download and install the mobile wallet app

You can download the eToro mobile app for free from the official eToro website, Google Play Store (Android version), or App Store (iOS version).

Step 2: Create an account

Creating an account is quite easy. You only need to click on “join” at the top left-hand corner of the page and follow the prompts. Here, you will be required to enter a valid email address, password, and country of residence. Ensure you tick that you have read the terms and conditions before proceeding to the next step.

Step 3: Account verification

eToro clients are subjected to the standard KYC and AML protocols. First, the eToro Wallet team will send you a confirmation email where you need to verify your email. Next, you will be required to verify identity. It starts with an extended registration form that captures such personal details as your name, date of birth, physical address, and mobile phone number.

You then have to verify these details by providing the team with a photo of a government-issued identification document (ID/passport/driving license).

According to eToro, these are verified manually to ensure that only legitimate crypto traders have access to trading wallets, which goes a long way in curbing fraudulent crypto activities as well as eliminating cases of scams.

Step 4: Activate the app and start trading

Once verified, the app directs you to the user dashboard. Start depositing cash, buying, and selling crypto.

How to send cryptocurrencies to another wallet 

Step 1: Log into your eToro wallet via iOS or Android mobile application.

Step 2: Click on balance and select the cryptocurrency you wish to send.

Step 3: Select “Send” and enter the amount you would like to send as well as the recipient’s public address. Here, you have the option of keying in the wallet address or scanning their QR code.

Step 4: Confirm that the recipient’s address is correct and click “send.”

Step 5: You should receive an SMS with a verification code. Copy the code and click on “verify” to complete your transaction.

Step 6: You can check the status of your transaction by clicking on the “transactions” screen.

How to receive currencies from another wallet

Step 1: Start by logging into your eToro mobile wallet

Step 2: Head over to the “Balance” section and click on the digital currency you wish to receive.

Step 3: The app displays the wallet address corresponding to that coin. Copy and forward it to the parties from whom you wish to receive the cryptos.

Supported currencies

eToro operates in over 100 countries and supports over 120 different currencies and tokens. Some of the most popular ones include:

  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Stellar (XLM)
  • Tether (USDT)
  • Ox (ZRX)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

You can interact with the above currencies in crypto casinos such as Zet, True Flip, and CasinoFair.

eToro mobile wallet fees

eToro doesn’t charge you for downloading and installing their crypto mobile app. Neither do they charge subscription fees for using it. You will, however, be charged transaction fees every time you transfer cryptocurrencies out to other wallets and crypto exchanges.

This transaction fee varies based on such factors as the crypto coin involved and the amount of crypto transferred. Note that these blockchain fees aren’t imposed by eToro but by the individual cryptocurrency networks in which they are transfered, and collected by the blockchain miners responsible for verifying the different crypto transactions.

Your credit and debit card providers will also charge payment processing fees every time you buy crypto directly using a debit or credit card.

Additionally, eToro maintains Fiat-to-crypto conversion limits whereby a single transaction must have a minimum value of $125 and not exceeding $10,000. Further, verified retail crypto traders can only convert a maximum of $20,000 per day and a maximum of $50,000 per month. The crypto-to-crypto exchange limits, on the other hand, are set at $50,000 (crypto equivalent) per transaction and $200,000 (crypto equivalent) per day.

eToro wallet will also charge a 0.1% fee for in-app crypto-to-crypto conversions with the conversion rates set based on the market rates. Note also that the direct crypto purchase via debit/credit cards is yet to roll out worldwide and you might, therefore, (based on your country of residence) be forced to use third-party platforms like Simplex for your fiat-to-crypto conversions that charge a standard fee of 4% of the transaction amounts.

How does eToro compare with other wallets?

eToro wallet vs CoolWallet S

Besides the fact that both are mobile cryptocurrency wallets, CoolWallet S is a bit expensive. It retails at around $99. However, its high price might be because it is a mobile hardware wallet. And while they both are considered relatively safe, CoolWallet S boasts several premium security features – including the recovery seed. eToro on the other hand upbeats CoolWallet S in the number of supported currencies. eToro gives its wallet holders access to over 120 cryptocurrencies while CoolWallet Swallet only features 22 crypto coins.

eToro wallet vs. Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S is one of the most popular and one of the safest crypto hardware wallets. It can hold 1,000+ cryptocurrencies and tokens compared to the eToro wallet’s 120. It also features more security features including the storage of private keys in an offline environment. But while eToro mobile wallet is free, Ledger Nano S currently retails at $59 (exclusive of tax and shipping fees). Ledger Nano S also gives you absolute control over your coins. eToro’s inbuilt exchange and support for direct crypto purchases via debit and credit cards, however, make the crypto mobile app more versatile.

Customer Support

eToro mobile wallet’s customer supports start with their highly elaborative FAQs page on their website. It highlights and provides solutions to all the common challenges faced by different users when interacting with the crypto wallet app.

There are also several avenues through which eToro wallet users can request and access customer support. You can start by raising a support ticket on the website’s Help Center. Additionally, you may raise your queries by messaging eToro wallet support through such social media pages as Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram.

Pros and Cons of eToro Wallet

Pros

  • Easy-to-use and is suitable for new and expert traders
  • Has a trusted reputation for security and reliability
  • Supports fiat currencies and fiat-to-crypto conversions
  • Popular currencies include Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin
  • No need to memorize public and private keys

Cons

  • Can only be used on mobile devices
  • One may consider the number of cryptocurrencies and crypto pairs supported by eToro mobile wallet limited
  • eToro crypto wallet app is not available to US residents

Final Verdict: Is eToro Wallet safe?

eToro crypto wallet app has taken adequate security measures aimed at keeping their client’s digital assets safe. These include an optional 2-factor verification protocol, high-grade encryption of all the app’s communications with other wallets and third-party service providers as well as control over access to the private keys.

Other factors that may endear it to most users include the fact that it is free, allows for direct crypto purchases via credit/debit cards, and its ease of use. The only downside to the mobile crypto wallet is that the mobile wallet app has no desktop app alternatives.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Citowise Crypto Wallet Review: Features, Safety, Pros and Cons?

If you are looking for a free and secure cryptocurrency wallet/payment solution provider, consider Citowise. This multi-currency crypto wallet premiered as a free digital wallet software and supported various platforms that allow easy use of cryptocurrencies. Citowise is also regarded as very secure, providing a transparent payment method for e-commerce. Citowise crypto wallet is designed […]

Citowise crypto wallet

If you are looking for a free and secure cryptocurrency wallet/payment solution provider, consider Citowise. This multi-currency crypto wallet premiered as a free digital wallet software and supported various platforms that allow easy use of cryptocurrencies. Citowise is also regarded as very secure, providing a transparent payment method for e-commerce. Citowise crypto wallet is designed […]

If you are looking for a free and secure cryptocurrency wallet/payment solution provider, consider Citowise. This multi-currency crypto wallet premiered as a free digital wallet software and supported various platforms that allow easy use of cryptocurrencies. Citowise is also regarded as very secure, providing a transparent payment method for e-commerce.

Citowise crypto wallet is designed to offer private and business customers an easy way to empower the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. It is beginner-friendly and requires no technical knowledge to operate. Simply download your wallet, set up your account, and begin using existing platforms to sell and purchase supported cryptocurrencies.

The wallet was launched back in 2016 with one mission in mind: to create a secure blockchain infrastructure and ensure ordinary users understand the technology. One of the founders fell victim to a crypto hack while the other wasn’t awarded deserved coins after participating in an ICO. The third founder encountered problems sending crypto to a relative—the three set their sight on creating a solution that covered these and more challenges crypto users face daily.

Key Features:

Multiplatform:

Citowise provides free crypto wallets for both Android and iOS platforms, which are the most popular phones in the market. It is also compatible with Linux and Mac platforms and provides full support for Ledger cold storages and TREZOR.

Export/backup:

You can export or backup your digital wallet, which is recommended for security purposes. To do this, open your Citowise wallet through your phone or PC and navigate to the Wallet screen. Click on the wallet and select Export from the menu that comes up. Follow the remaining prompts to finish exporting your wallet.

Import wallet:

You can import your wallet back to Citowise and continue from where you left. Go to your Citowise wallet and navigate to the Wallet screen. Click on the button with a + sign appearing on the bottom right corner and follow the remaining prompts to import your wallet.

Integrated exchange:

Citowise provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to convert one crypto to another within the wallet. You get to pick your preferred integrated exchange, and the platform supports quite a number. Citowise can also transfer all your ERC20 tokens out-of-the-box.

Buy Cryptocurrency:

Within the Citowise simple user interface, there’s a feature for purchasing cryptos at the lowest market prices, directly from the wallet. This complements the integrated exchanges you pick for your crypto transactions. You don’t need any technical knowledge about blockchain networks to buy cryptocurrencies.

ICO:

This section offers a unique experience for users that want to claim coins from ICO campaigns. It comes with its set of features and possibilities.

Security features:

i) Password: Citowise requires each wallet owner to use a strong password that is hard to guess. Without a strong password, people with access to your devices can export the wallet and access the funds using another device. You can use the recommended Citowise password or create one with a variety of characters.

ii) Encrypted channels: Data processed by Citowise use encrypted channels to prevent external breaches. This ensures transactions are secure and accurate. The platform uses the latest cryptography technologies and security algorithms to keep hackers at bay. No history of a breach has been reported since launch. SSL certificates and regular scans also add a layer of security.

iii) Ad-Hoc payments: Citowise dispenses payments on a discretionary basis, ensuring investor and trader confidence. Ad-Hoc payments also guarantee privacy. However, users must ensure safe practices to prevent others from accessing their details and passwords.

iv) Instant notifications: Users will get timely information for any changes that occur in the network, so you can react quickly in case of anything. You can also request a report on your statement for personal audits.

v) Encrypted hardware: The Citowise hardware wallet features the latest encryption technology to keep hackers at bay. All you need to do is set up a strong password for your account.

Citowise user-friendly interface:

Citowise employs advanced technologies to provide a sleek, user-friendly interface with all the features you need within a click’s reach. The simple design appeals to both new users and older folks with little to no background in crypto wallets. Wallet users have total monetary control and can enjoy fast transactions and customer service. The site also includes links to various resources with more insights regarding the wallet. The hardware wallet is also secured using advanced encryption and very easy to use.

Supported currencies and countries

Citowise supports numerous cryptocurrencies and tokens than most crypto wallets. The platform accommodates all the 55,000+ tokens compatible with ERC20 standards. The most popular coins include BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, VEN, EOS, TRX, and OMG.

Citowise also supports more than 1000 ETC coins and is available as a mobile app. The platform has offered financial solutions for 23 million+ companies in over 200 countries. All countries in the Eurozone are supported, and the number of currencies keeps growing, so it is advisable to check the information on the official site.

Citowise cost and fees

Setting up your Citowise wallet won’t cost a cent as the platform is free. No fee is charged for installing the wallet or using any integrated feature. Citowise is generally considered one of the budget-friendly digital wallets and charge the lowest fees in the market. The platform also scans all exchanges to minimize transaction costs.

While Citowise is free to use, network miners that verify and confirm transactions have their fees based on the network, transaction volume, speed of confirmation, and other factors. For instance, if you want speedy transactions from a system known to provide swift confirmations, you may pay a higher fee. The networks also have other restrictions, including limits on maximum and minimum transactions.

Customer support

Citowise offers various customer support channels to assist users in navigating all challenges they encounter using the wallet. A resourceful FAQ section provides insights concerning common questions, and the contact tab allows you to send an email describing your issue. Response time is fast compared to other wallets, and you can also reach the support team via social networks.

Setting up the Citowise crypto wallet

Step 1: Download and Install the Citowise app

To use Citowise, you need to download and install the wallet on your device. Citowise comes as a mobile app you can install on Android and iOS platforms. Head to the respective stores (Google Play and App Store) to download the wallet. They are also available on the homepage.

Step 2: Set up the wallet

Once you have the app installed on your device, launch it to set up your wallet. Like most crypto wallets, Citowise will require a unique wallet name and password. Enter and follow the prompts to create a wallet. You will be asked to back up the wallet, but this is optional, and you can do it later. However, it takes less than a minute to complete the backup.

Step 3: Enjoy Citowise

Once created, your Citowise wallet is ready for use. You can buy/sell cryptocurrencies, send and receive funds, and enjoy all the functionalities provided in the app. Citowise gives you total monetary control, so there’s a lot you can do with your account.

How to send currencies with Citowise

Step 1: Launch your Citowise app and log in. Click on balance on the bottom of the screen to see how much crypto you have.

Step 2: Click on the crypto balance you have and then Send Payments. Clicking on the Send icon that’s beside the Balance icon will also take you to the same page.

Step 3: Choose the recipient of the funds you are sending. You can do this by clicking on a contact list, using a QR code, or typing the wallet URL. Click Proceed.

Step 4: Enter the amount you wish to transfer in the To Pay section and click Proceed.

Step 5: Check if everything is okay and click the blue Send Payment button to send cryptocurrency. If you entered the wrong amount or address, click the back arrow to correct before submitting it.

How to receive currencies with Citowise

Step 1: Launch your Citowise mobile app and log in. Click on the Request icon on the bottom of the screen.

Step 2: In the request payment window, enter the amount you want to receive. You can change the cryptocurrency by clicking on the small arrow beside the current crypto. Converter and Setup Hint buttons also offer extra functionality on the window. Fill the description section for the request and input the wallet URL (the wallet you are requesting payments from). You can also request using QR code or sharing your URL.

Step 3: Check if all details are correct and click on Request Payment to ask for funds. Once the request is sent, the recipient will get a prompt notification on their app, and funds are added automatically when they pay.

Citowise supported currencies

Citowise supports various cryptocurrencies, but you will only have a few options to choose from during the account setup. The popular currencies supported include:

  • Bitcoin
  • Litecoin
  • Ethereum Classic
  • Ether
  • Bitcoin Cash
  • POA
  • Citowise Token

The wallet also supported various fiat currencies, including the Dollar (Canadian, Australian, and the US), Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen, Indian Rupee, Korean Won, and Russian Ruble.

Buying and selling crypto with Citowise

Citowise allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, taking advantage of the best rates in the market. To buy and sell crypto, simply click on the three-row lines appearing on the top right corner and select Buy/Sell Crypto. This will open a service page where you can choose the preferred option. Some providers buy crypto while others sell, so choose accordingly. Specify the amount you want to buy or sell and trigger the request following the prompts given. Ensure you select the correct currency before buying or selling crypto.

How does Citowise compare with other wallets?

Citowise vs. eToro

Both Citowise and eToro are great crypto wallets you can use to accomplish various transactions. Citowise offers a simple interface and navigation. They also provide impressive ICO campaigns. Concerning features and functionality, Citowise and eToro don’t reflect much difference. However, eToro supports 120 different cryptos, which is way above the seven options available on Citowise. The wallets are both secure and relatively cheap, compared to other top-rated options.

Citowise vs CoolWallet S

CoolWallet S is a premium crypto wallet with advanced security features. Like Citowise, a hardware wallet is available for interested users. This obviously comes at a fee, but you get to enjoy top-notch security. CoolWallet S supports 22 cryptocurrencies, which is still above Citowise. However, this is nothing compared to wallets such as Ledger Nano S, which supports more than 1000 cryptos.

Pros and Cons of Citowise crypto wallet

Pros

  • Free secure crypto wallet available for mobile users
  • No transaction charges or subscriptions
  • Participate in ICO campaigns
  • Send, receive, buy or sell crypto easily
  • Choose from a wide variety of exchanges
  • Supports FIAT currency and in-app conversions
  • User-friendly interface appealing to both beginner and experienced crypto-traders

Cons

  • Supports fewer cryptocurrencies than most wallets
  • Very few service providers in the Buy/Sell Crypto section
  • Only available for mobile platforms

Final words

Citowise is an excellent mobile wallet you can use to facilitate various transactions. It allows you to exchange and convert cryptocurrencies and permits buying and selling of the same. You can also access popular FIAT currencies, pay for goods and services, or request invoice payments.

As a payment method, Citowise is safe and convenient to use, boasting a sleek interface with beginner-friendly navigation. Every important feature is within a click’s reach, and the mobile app is light on your device. If you are looking for a reliable, secure mobile crypto wallet, Citowise is worth a try. However, the platform could do better with support for more cryptocurrencies. Currently, users can only access a few popular options.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

BTC.Com Wallet Review: What Makes This Crypto Wallet App Unique?

Developed and maintained by Bitmain, BTC.com is a crypto wallet app and web wallet that seeks to provide users with the most secure yet easy to use crypto storage. This online wallet has made it relatively easy to earn, store, and spend your Bitcoin without having to worry about the insecurities that come with storing your crypto in an exchange or the complicated interfaces of the hardware wallets.

Developed and maintained by Bitmain, BTC.com is a crypto wallet app and web wallet that seeks to provide users with the most secure yet easy to use crypto storage. This online wallet has made it relatively easy to earn, store, and spend your Bitcoin without having to worry about the insecurities that come with storing your crypto in an exchange or the complicated interfaces of the hardware wallets.

Developed and maintained by Bitmain, BTC.com is a crypto wallet app and web wallet that seeks to provide users with the most secure yet easy to use crypto storage. This online wallet has made it relatively easy to earn, store, and spend your Bitcoin without having to worry about the insecurities that come with storing your crypto in an exchange or the complicated interfaces of the hardware wallets.

Unlike most of its competitors with shadowy reputations, BTC.com has the solid backing of Bitmain. This is a Bitcoin-focused technology company that’s best known for pioneering and popularizing antminer rigs, running two of the largest bitcoin mining pools, and developing other bitcoin-related products. The company introduced the BTC.com wallet to the crypto industry in 2016, and it has gone on to become the favorite wallet for most Bitcoin miners, traders, and investors.

In this BTC.com wallet review, we look at the factors that help the Bitmain-sponsored crypto wallet app stand out. We detail its key operational and security features, its ease of use and level of customer support, highlight its pros and cons, and compare its efficiency with that offered by similar crypto wallets.

Key features:

Highly reputable:

One of BTC.com wallet’s strengths and biggest selling point is that it is maintained by the highly reputable and security-conscious Bitmain company. This, plus the fact that it has never suffered a significant security breach, endears it to most users.

Multiplatform:

There are two primary versions of the BTC.com wallet – the mobile app and internet-based wallet. Both are versatile and work well with the two main mobile operating systems and popular internet browsers.

Straightforward setup:

We also like the BTC.com wallet’s user-friendliness highlighted by its quick and straightforward user account set up process. This aligns with BTC.com’s commitment to being the most secure yet highly secure crypto wallet.

Integration with mining pools:

The BTC.com wallet also gives you access to the mining pools operated by Bitmain. And if you contributed your RAM to either of the pools, your portion of earnings will be automatically deposited to the BTC.com wallet from which you can sell them at an exchange.

Hardware wallet integration:

In addition to the wallet’s close ties with Bitmain Bitcoin mining pools, BTC.com also integrates with some of the leading hardware wallets. This provides it with an added layer of security and makes it possible for you to hold more than just two (BTC + BCH) cryptocurrencies.

Phone contacts synchronization:

This revolutionary BTC.com feature ensures that you don’t always have to key in the complex wallet addresses when sending cryptos. You can give the wallet app permission to access your phone book and send cryptos to your contacts without necessarily having to copy or import their wallet address.

BTC.com wallet security features:

Password:

When installing the BTC.com wallet app and creating your user account, you will be required to set a highly unique password. This becomes the central-most form of protection for your crypto wallet and its contents.

Two-factor authentication:

You can reinforce the effectiveness of the wallet password in deterring illegal access to your private keys by activating two-factor authentication. You can activate this using your mobile phone number whereby you receive calls or SMS verification codes or via the Google authenticator app.

Non-custodial:

BTC.com wallet app is a non-custodial wallet – implying that the wallet developers don’t store your private keys in central servers. Rather, they are stored in your phone when using an app and on your computer if you are using the chrome browser extension. This essentially means that you have absolute control over your digital assets.

Hierarchically deterministic:

The BTC.com wallet will auto-generate a new wallet address every time you initiate a bitcoin/bitcoin cash transaction. This ensures that you rarely get to share your real wallet address with the public, which then minimizes the chances of third parties tracking your bitcoin expenditure or crypto activity.

Open-sourced code:

The BTC.com wallet is built on an open-sourced technology, effectively providing a guarantee of safety and transparency. The fact that it is open-sourced means that it has been subjected to a lot of scrutiny and vetting by experienced industry experts who have found it safe for public use.

Multi-signature:

The BTC.com wallet also supports multi-signature transactions that require the authorization of two or more third parties. This makes it ideal for copay and organizational use as it requires 2-of-3 signatures for a transaction to be validated.

Replay protection:

The replay protection feature that applies to Bitcoin and its forks are ideally meant to cushion you and your funds from the risk of double payments if you ever initiate a Bitcoin payment at a time when a Bitcoin hard fork is being generated. BTC.com wallet developers announced that they are taking measures to prevent this from happening.

How to set up the BTC.com crypto wallet app:

Step 1: Start by downloading the BTC.com mobile wallet app from Google play store or Apple’s app store. The app and the browser extension can also be downloaded from BTC.com official website.

Step 2: Install the crypto app and also key fill in the account registration form that captures your email address.

Step 3: Create a password for your wallet address and agree to the wallet app’s terms of service.

Step 4: Download the wallet’s recovery datasheet. This is availed in PDF Format and captures your wallet’s recovery seed.

Step 5: Access your user account dashboard and click on ‘Create New Wallet’ to generate your primary wallet address.

Step 6: You can start adding Bitcoin and bitcoin cash to your wallet, trading or investing

How to add/receive crypto into your BTC.com wallet

Step 1: Log in to your BTC.com bitcoin wallet

Step 2: On the MyWallet section, click on Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash to reveal the wallet address for the crypt you wish to receive

Step 3: Copy the wallet address or the QR code and send them to the party from who you wish to receive the coins.

Step 4: Wait for the cryptos to reflect in your BTC.com wallet.

How to send crypto into your BTC.com crypto wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your BTC.com Bitcoin wallet, and on My Wallet section, click ‘Send.’

Step 2: Click on the crypto you wish to send – Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash.

Step 3: On the popup window that appears, key in the recipient’s wallet address or scan their QR code. Alternatively, use the app’s contact connect feature to send cryptos to saved contacts on your phone.

Step 4: Confirm that the wallet address and amounts you wish to send are correct and click send.

BTC.com ease of use:

According to the BTC.com website, the Bitcoin wallet app has security and ease of use as its key driving pillars. Both the mobile crypto app and the web wallet feature decongested and highly intuitive interfaces. The app is also infused with a wide range of features that make it easy to use.

It, for instance, has the contacts-synchronization feature that gives the app permission to access your phone contacts, which eliminates the need to memorize the wallet address. Similarly, the downloadable recovery seed option minimizes the common errors most crypto users face when copying the backup phrases. Further, it gives you the option of saving the seed as an electronic copy, printing it, or both.

Unlike most other Bitcoin wallets that can be considered opaque, both the BTC.com mobile app and web wallet allow you to view your crypto transaction history.

BTC.com supported currencies

BTC.com is a Bitcoin-biased wallet and will only support the legacy crypto coin Bitcoin and its Bitcoin Cash hard fork.

The wallet app is nonetheless highly versatile and can easily integrate with some of the most popular hardware wallets like Ledger Nano S. Anyone looking to add a security layer to the app or increase their digital assets portfolio without losing access to the Bitcoin mining pools connected wallet, should consider integrating it with their hardware wallet.

BTC.com cost and fees:

The BTC.com wallet is free. You will not be charged to download or install the crypto app. Neither will you incur any fees for storing your Bitcoins or Bitcoin Cash.

When sending Bitcoins to other wallets or exchanges, however, the bitcoin blockchain network may impose transaction charges. These are highly variable and largely dependent on the Crypto transaction volume.

Additionally, the bitcoin trading platform further adopts a highly dynamic fee structure. This allows you to chose from a three-tier fee system where low-fees translate to low transaction processing, moderate charges equal medium transaction speeds, and high transaction fees result in near-instant transaction processing.

BTC.com customer support:

BTC.com features an extensively elaborated FAQ page as well as a highly informative Blog. They both address some of the common challenges you might face during installation and when using the app.

You are also advised to join the BTC.com online community forum. Here, you get to interact with numerous BTC.com users – both newbie and experienced BTC.com clients – as well as the crypto wallet developers. The forum allows anyone to contribute by way of asking questions and providing solutions to common challenges faced by wallet users. You get to learn the tips and tricks of using the app and get help from developers.

More personalized queries regarding the use of the app can be directed to BTC.com’s customer support team by raising a support ticket, email, or through a call. Alternatively, you can message them on their different social media pages that include Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook.

What are the pros and cons of the BTC.com crypto wallet app?

Pros:

  • The fact that the BTC.com wallet doesn’t store the entire blockchain on your device makes transaction processing relatively fast and doesn’t eat up your phone’s RAM.
  • The wallet features a highly responsive customer support team that is available via social media, community forums, and even on the phone.
  • The Bitcoin wallet has the backing of one of the most reputable crypto industry players.
  • The bitcoin wallet features a wide range of security features, including the fact that it is hierarchically deterministic, open-sourced, and supports two-factor authentication.
  • Installing and using the app is quite straightforward.
  • Your private keys are stored in your device, giving you absolute control of your funds.

Cons:

  • The crypto wallet will only support two cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash.
  • It doesn’t feature an in-built wallet, and neither does it allow for direct bitcoin purchases using fiat currencies.
  • While it has the backing of a reputable company, it still is an unregulated crypto wallet.
  • Its online nature exposes it to the inherent risks associated with online crypto-wallets.

Comparing BTC.com wallet with other crypto wallets

Comparing BTC.com to eToro

BTC.com can be said to have more security features than the eToro crypto wallet, including the fact it is developed on an open-sourced technology. eToro crypto can, on the other hand, be considered more convenient and easy to use. It, for instance, has an inbuilt exchange and supports both crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto conversions.

Unlike BTC.com that only supports two bitcoin-related cryptos, eToro supports 10+ cryptocurrencies and numerous fiat currencies. And while they both have the backing of highly popular technology companies, eToro is considered more reputable as it is also highly regulated.

Verdict? Is the BTC.com wallet safe?

Well, the BTC.com wallet has adopted some highly innovative security protocols that are aimed at keeping your private keys truly private. Its non-custodial nature, for instance, eliminates a possible central point of attack by storing your private keys in the device hoisting the wallet and not the company’s servers. Other features that endear BTC.com wallet to its users include its ease of use, compatibility with other wallets, and the fact that it is highly customizable.

We nevertheless believe that BTC.com could be even more popular within the crypto industry circles if it were regulated, supported more crypto coins and tokens, and featured an inbuilt crypto trading or exchange platform.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Stargazer – A Rookie-Friendly Crypto Wallet

Is Stargazer a good wallet? Is it secure? Is it easy to use? Well, read on to find out.

Is Stargazer a good wallet? Is it secure? Is it easy to use? Well, read on to find out.

Is Stargazer a good wallet? Is it secure? Is it easy to use? Well, read on to find out.

Stargazer is a wallet that you can use to store Stellar lumens. In case you are wondering what Stellar is, it is one of the several cryptocurrency networks available. Stargazer has features that some will find interesting while others will dislike. As a heads up, the wallet is simple to set up and operate but lacks advanced features. In this post, we will review the once-popular Stellar wallet and find out whether it is still worth considering when transacting lumens. 

Background

The Stargazer wallet project began in 2016 as a rookie-friendly crypto wallet. It is used to access the Stellar network, which allows you to send and receive lumens – another cryptocurrency just like Bitcoin. The wallet is an open-source project, meaning its application code is available to the public. The public is also free to contribute to the functioning of the application.  According to its GitHub page, it was last updated in April 2019 – does this tell you something about its maintenance and support? The project and the wallet are quite simple, and that should be enough introduction. There is a ton of both good and bad things to talk about this wallet, but, first, let’s focus on its positive side.

Key Features

  • Open-source
  • Support for both personal and shared accounts
  • Support for importing existing accounts

Support for redeeming, trading, sending and receiving coins

Security

The security of a crypto wallet is paramount. Imagine losing access to your hard-earned coins, wouldn’t that send you wishing you stuck to your traditional bank? As we will see later in the post, Stargazer’s users are complaining about everything except the wallet’s security, but we will not take their word for it. 

Beyond the security advantages provided by the blockchain technology, Stargazer benefits from the scrutiny of open source development. Some say being open source makes it more trustworthy but not more secure, but let’s not pursue that academic discourse.

Additionally, the wallet has a unique feature for retrieving your account should something go wrong. Remember the security verification check you complete during registration? Well, that is meant to assist you in retrieving your account if you mysteriously lose access. The check is basically a list of twenty-four words that are arranged in a fixed order. As long as you have this information written somewhere, you can always access your funds. For many wallets, if you forget your password or whatever you use to access your account, forget about your precious coins.

Setting up Stargazer

You can choose to install Stargazer on PC – be it Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X – or Android (no luck for iOS folks).

For the desktop versions, download the installation file from getstargazer.com. If you are an advanced user, you can download the sources from https://github.com/future-tense/stargazer and build it yourself.

For the Android app, search the “Stargazer Stellar Wallet.” Due to its low ratings on the PlayStore, it may not be the first result, and you get several similar recommendations. If you are confused over which one to choose, find the one authored by “Johan Stén.”

Setting up Stargazer is a breeze, and the setup process is similar on all platforms. After installation, you read the end-user license agreement, then proceed to create a personal account. You can also import from a secret key or seed phrase, but let’s say you choose to create an account because that’s what a beginner would do. All you will need to do to finish setting it up is to create your account name and complete a security verification check. Basically, the process is pretty straightforward.

By the way, if you already have a Stargazer account, setting up the desktop application is even easier – you can import that from a QR code generated from your other application.

Once the account is set up, you need to send it 1 XLM to make it active. This part might be a little tricky. You will need to find an exchange that can change dollars or another currency to lumens because that is what your Stargazer wallet will accept.

Once your account is up and running, you need to maintain a minimum balance of 20 XLM. This should not be a problem since you are allowed to withdraw up to a balance of 1 XLM. Nonetheless, if you are enthusiastic about transacting lumens and have a little determination, the Stargazer wallet will get you going in no time.

Sending and Receiving Coins

To send coins, you need to have them first, obviously. If your wallet is empty, the send button will be greyed out. However, some users have found this button greyed out, even with their wallets loaded with XLM. Assuming it works well for you, just click on this button and enter the address or QR code of the receiving wallet and the amount and press “Send.” A successful transfer is not guaranteed, but when it goes through without glitches, it’s pretty fast.

To receive funds, tap on “Receive” at the bottom right of the screen. You will see a QR code and a long string of characters titled “Account ID.” You can send either of these two to your sender. It’s worth noting that the sender can send you coins from any wallet connected to the Stellar network.

Supported Currencies

Stargazer is a lumens-exclusive wallet. Sad to say, but there are no plans to support other currencies in the future.

Customer Care

On a scale of 1 to 10, Stargazer’s customer support will effortlessly score 1 – the wallet has virtually no customer support. If you have a pressing issue, you might need to shoot an email directly to the author. 

This might discourage you even before you start. If you want to get a clearer picture of the state of Stargazer’s customer support, head to the comments section of the application’s page on PlayStore. As you will find out, this page has no shortage of ranting from frustrated users who have unsuccessfully tried to reach customer care. 

Pros and Cons

Pros

i) Support for lumens (XLM)

One of the learner-friendly features of this wallet is that it supports lumens. How is that an advantage to novices? Well, first, lumens have the lowest dollar-exchange rate among the top ten cryptocurrencies (https://www.cryptocompare.com). This means that those who are just starting out on crypto can trade without the fear of losing much. To activate your Stargazer wallet, you only need to send 1 XLM (equivalent to 0.1015 USD at the time of this writing) to your account. So, you see, there is virtually no risk in starting out with Stargazer!

Lumens also don’t seem to be as volatile as other currencies – cryptocurrencies are inherently volatile. However, if you look at the XLM’s value trend over the last few months, you might be tempted to think that it is a traditional currency.

ii) Available on multiple platforms.

On mobile, it is available on Android while on desktop, Linux and Mac OS X versions exist. Linux applications are notorious for lacking graphical user interfaces, but Stargazer’s Linux app has one! 

This might come as a disappointment to some, but the wallet is not available on iOS yet, and there is no indication that it will be available in the future as the project seems abandoned. iOS’s application development restrictions might be blamed for that. Nonetheless, we must admit that the device you don’t own cannot be an excuse for not trying out Stargazer. 

iii) Supports small payments

Looking to send 2 USD? That’s not a problem with Stargazer. The Stellar network was developed with financial inclusivity in mind. This explains why it supports bitcoins, dollars, euros, ethers, and most other currencies. The stargazer wallet extends this inclusivity by supporting low-value transactions. As mentioned earlier, lumens have the least dollar-exchange rate among the top ten currencies. This allows you to send or receive relatively small amounts that would probably not work with other wallets.

Other benefits include:

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Secure

Now, let’s look at some of the not-so-fascinating aspects of the wallet. 

i) Dull interface 

Without sounding mean, Stargazer’s mobile app design is rudimentary, at best. The user interface is particularly uninteresting – a few tiny buttons spread on the peripheries, a mono-color design, and a block layout. If the designer wanted to stay true to the wallet’s philosophy of simplicity, they probably overdid it. Nevertheless, the interface will allow you to access sending and receiving functions plus account overview. Beyond that, there is nothing else visible other than general account settings. 

The Windows desktop, Linux, and Mac OS X versions of the application are similar to their Android counterpart. Download and installation procedures may differ depending on the operating system. However, once you open the application, everything looks the same. 

It is not fair to dismiss the app’s design as dull without considering those who love simplicity or really don’t care about fancy interfaces. If you are one of those folks, chances are you will either like its interface or not be bothered by it.  

ii) Unreliability

The Stargazer wallet has also had a fair share of criticism related to bugs in the application. It is common for transactions to fail even when there is no apparent reason. An online search for Stargazer wallet reviews will lead you to the conclusion that this wallet is not the most reliable. There is also limited information available about the project and its owner, which may make users lack confidence in the project. At one point, the website www.getstargazer.com was offline, and someone, apparently its owner, explained that the domain had expired while they were on vacation. If you are not familiar with how crypto networks and the underlying blockchain work, that explanation can send you chills, although it is no cause for alarm. The good news is, although there are several complaints online regarding the reliability of the wallet, there are none about it being insecure. All in all, let’s just say, if you’re looking for a reliable wallet to use for your XLM transactions, then Stargazer may not be your best bet.

iii) Supports only one currency

Another downside of this wallet is that it supports only one currency. Well, many other wallets do the same, but that doesn’t make it convenient, anyway. Sticking to once currency might be good for a start, but you cannot be a beginner forever. Once you feel comfortable transacting crypto, you are likely to want to move up the currency ladder. Even if you don’t, you might be forced to, particularly if you find that the recipient of a transaction only accepts a certain currency. Considering that lumens are not among the top three most exchanged currencies, you are sooner or later likely to run into inconveniences. It is unclear whether the wallet’s author wanted to keep it simple by avoiding other currencies or support for other currencies would be added later. Whatever the case, it is worth noting that the Stellar network supports virtually all currencies, including pesos! Therefore, should support for other currencies be added to Stargazer, the upgrade is unlikely to disrupt your current activity on the network. 

Concluding Remarks 

We have looked at the main features of the Stargazer wallet – now it’s time to make a verdict. Undeniably, simplicity is the most outstanding feature of the wallet. The uncomplicated design and low minimum balance allow you to quickly set up the wallet and start transacting. The wallet is also secure and guarantees you access to your coins through an additional security verification check. The main challenges with the wallet are the dull user interface, lack of support for multiple currencies, and unreliability. The wallet also performs dismally on customer support. Overall, one would say it is a suitable option for beginners and anyone looking to perform low-value transactions, but when reliability and customer service are key concerns, steer clear of the wallet.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

CoinPayments Crypto Wallet Review: Features, Safety, Pros and Cons?

CoinPayments claims to be the best wallet cum payment gateway for cryptocurrencies and has integrated a wide range of both operational and security features that back up this claim. Whether you are looking to pay for goods and services using crypto, want to invest in digital assets, or simply exchange one crypto for another, CoinPayments is designed to meet these needs. It supports numerous cryptocurrencies, including all the ERC20 tokens.

CoinPayments claims to be the best wallet cum payment gateway for cryptocurrencies and has integrated a wide range of both operational and security features that back up this claim. Whether you are looking to pay for goods and services using crypto, want to invest in digital assets, or simply exchange one crypto for another, CoinPayments is designed to meet these needs. It supports numerous cryptocurrencies, including all the ERC20 tokens.

CoinPayments claims to be the best wallet cum payment gateway for cryptocurrencies and has integrated a wide range of both operational and security features that back up this claim. Whether you are looking to pay for goods and services using crypto, want to invest in digital assets, or simply exchange one crypto for another, CoinPayments is designed to meet these needs. It supports numerous cryptocurrencies, including all the ERC20 tokens.

As a fully-fledged cryptocurrency payment platform, CoinPayments is more than a wallet. It provides POS features, crypto conversions, mobile applications, and other functionalities that support the efficient use of cryptocurrencies. Plus, the site offers secure payment processing and swift confirmations.

CoinPayments was launched back in 2013, becoming one of the earliest cryptoprocessors to support altcoins. It is also one of the largest altcoin platforms and supports over 1925 coins and tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Note that, at the time of launch, all platforms only supported bitcoin. CoinPayments seized the opportunity to provide a secure processing platform that supports a broader collection of cryptocurrencies. It is one of the most reputable multi-currency wallets available for both PC and mobile users.

Key Features:

Multiplatform:

CoinPayments is available in the form of a desktop app and compatible with all popular operating systems like Linux, macOS, and Windows. The crypto wallet is also available as a mobile app for both Android and iOS devices. You can access your wallet any time, provided you have an internet connection.

Auto coin conversion:

CoinPayments offers auto conversions for some of their altcoins, where you can exchange one coin for another inexpensively and without leaving the site. This feature covers popular coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Impressive POS:

CoinPayments wallet app has a feature-rich and highly intuitive design. All the crucial features are within reach and require little to no help to use. The platform is beginner-friendly, and so are mobile apps. There’s also an option to store your coins in CoinPayments secure online wallets.

GAP600 integrated for Swift conversions:

Most wallets rely on third-party software for swift crypto payment processing and swaps. These service providers aren’t always safe or reliable and come at a steep cost. CoinPayments, on the other hand, integrates GAP600 technology that provides for instant Bitcoin payments and deposits as well as real-time crypto transfer to exchanges or other wallets.

Inbuilt exchange:

Coinpayments wallet app inbuilt exchange makes it possible for you to purchase various cryptocurrencies without leaving the wallet. Users can also accept payments in cryptocurrency, making the platform a complete payment processor for both personal and business use.

PayByName:

You can also give the Coinpayments wallet app access to your phone book and activate the PayByName feature. This allows you to send crypto to your phonebook contacts without necessarily copying or importing their wallet address. The feature further boosts the efficiency of the Coinpayments app by eliminating the need to memorize the wallet address.

Security features:

i) Password: Like most crypto wallets and processors, CoinPayments requires users to create a unique password for their accounts during registration. The password has to be at least ten characters and distributed between numbers, letters, and special characters. You can copy and use the recommended password, which is usually very strong and secure, or create one you can easily remember.

ii) Crypto vaults: CoinPayments cryptocurrency vaults are the highlight of the platform’s security. Users can lock cryptos in these vaults for a specified period within which no withdrawals will be permitted. If someone tries to access the vaults before the due date, the system will flag and review the activity, but all your crypto will remain safely locked.

iii) Data encryption: CoinPayments is protected by SSL certificates, regular scanning, and advanced security algorithms that ensure all the information stored within the crypto app – including your personal details and private keys are highly encrypted.

iv) Instant transaction notifications: Users will receive notifications for all activity in their wallet, including deposits, withdrawals, exchanges, and other transactions via email. If the action is suspicious, you can reach the customer support team directly to investigate or cancel.

CoinPayments ease of use:

Coinpayments wallet isn’t just one of the oldest crypto wallets in the market but also has one of the most user-friendly user interfaces. Their web wallet has a simple, yet charming blue and white theme with all the important features neatly arranged within the wallet’s dashboard. It employs a classic menu bar with all the essential tools you will use regularly.

You can also scroll down to find resourceful information about the platform and its features. Both the desktop app and mobile apps are user-friendly and suitable for everyone, including newbies. They load fast and are light, effectively providing you with a swift payment processing experience.

Supported currencies and countries

CoinPayments is one of the most inclusive cryptocurrency wallets in the market, with support for 1925 altcoins, including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Ether, Litecoin, POA Network Coins, Litecoin, and Ripple.

All the ERC20 token coins are also supported, and you can purchase different types of cryptos on this platform. CoinPayments currently has over 2.2 million users across 182 countries, making it one of the largest crypto wallets you will ever encounter.

CoinPayments cost and fees

If you plan to use CoinPayments for non-commercial applications, the platform is free. Simply sign up and proceed to swap cryptos for free. CoinPayments will prompt new users to create either a personal or business account.

If you create a business wallet, you will be subject to an incoming transaction fee of 0.5%, imposed on merchants using APIs and checkout systems. Users will also pay added fees imposed by network miners that offer transaction verification and confirmation when transferring cryptocurrencies out to exchanges and other wallets.

Customer support

CoinPayments customer support team can be accessed via several channels where you can seek solutions to common and technical issues regarding your account or transactions. If you are experiencing problems with your account, you can reach the support desk by training a support ticket on the company website.

Simply go to the Contact Us page and click on the support wizard link to create a unique code which you will then open in Fresh Desk. An online form is also available if you want to reach support via email. Alternatively, contact them via their different social media pages.

Setting up the CoinPayments crypto wallet

How to set the CoinPayments crypto wallet:

Step 1: Sign up or download the CoinPayments app

To use CoinPayments, you must create a user account. Simply click on the Sign-Up button on the top right of the site’s homepage to begin the registration process.

For mobile users, scroll to the bottom of the site and find respective links to the app in Google Play Store (Android) and App Store (iOS). Once downloaded, install the app and launch it. You can then access the Sign Up section for registration.

Step 2: Complete registration

On the registration window, you will be required to pick a personal or business account, input a username, first and second name, email address, password, country, and time zone. Make sure you provide accurate information and agree to the terms and conditions.

You will also be required to input a capture image text. Upon registration, a confirmation email will be sent, and you must verify ownership by clicking on the link in the email to start using the wallet.

Step 3: Process payments using CoinPayments

CoinPayments allows you to accept payments in cryptocurrency, purchase crypto, and process all kinds of crypto transactions once your account is verified. You can access your wallet using the PC website or mobile app as information is synced between the two. You can also purchase gift cards or integrate shopping cart plugins from popular vendors.

How to receive currencies with CoinPayments

Step 1: Log into your CoinPayments account. Navigate to Your Wallet on the dashboard and click on the respective cryptocurrency options in the command section. The process to this point is similar to sending payments.

Step 2: Click on Deposit/Receive to open a new window. You will be required to fill in your wallet address. Simply copy the address and paste it on the space provided. You can also accept cryptocurrency payments using the PayByName.

Step 3: Click on Deposit to add the crypto to your wallet. Deposits are processed within 1 to 2 hours. When other people send money to your wallet address, the amount is automatically added to your account.

How to send currencies with CoinPayments

Step 1: Log into your CoinPayments account. If you are a newly registered user, the dashboard will open to an account setup wizard. You can click on the wallet to send and receive payments or Merchant to receive payments for goods and services. However, it is important to finish configuring the merchant account if you plan to use CoinPayments as a payment method for your site.

Step 2: To send cryptocurrency, click on Your Wallet on the dashboard to open a window containing all your balances. Each currency is in a row, including the balance and command you wish to apply. Click on the respective crypto options button (like BTC Options for bitcoin) and select Send/Withdraw from the drop-down list.

Step 3: In the new window, input the amount you want to send and the recipient’s address. You can enter the amount in your preferred (supported) FIAT currency, and the system will automatically convert it to the crypto.

Step 4: Click on Request Withdrawal to send the crypto. CoinPayments will send you a confirmation email you must click on to confirm the withdrawal, so head to your email and finish the process.

CoinPayments supported currencies

CoinPayments has the largest support for altcoins and currently accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Velas, Apollo, and Badcoin.  The platform supports up to 1925+ altcoins, and the number continues to grow as merchants are allowed to add new coins.

You will also find support for several FIAT currencies, including the Dollar, Euro, Pound, Franc, and Yuan. Currently, the wallet supports 60+ FIAT currencies, which is above any other wallet.

Pros and Cons of CoinPayments crypto wallet

Pros

  • Safe and secure cryptocurrency transactions
  • Supports all popular coins and FIAT currencies
  • Buy, Send, receive, sell, convert cryptocurrency
  • Provides swift confirmations and instant withdrawals
  • Simple beginner-friendly navigation

Cons

  • Charges fee of 0.5% on incoming merchant transactions
  • Long registration process
  • Support tickets are time-consuming to generate

How does CoinPayments compare with other wallets?

CoinPayments vs. Citowise

CoinPayments is in a league of its own when it comes to cryptocurrency processing. The site supports numerous coins and offers on-site conversions and POS features you can integrate into your eCommerce. Unlike Citowise, which is fundamentally a crypto wallet for mobile users, CoinPayments is a crypto payment solution that includes a wallet for both desktop and mobile users. It has a lot more features for merchants and sits among the top crypto processing systems available online.

CoinPayments vs eToro

eToro is more like Citowise and supports a few cryptos for users seeking to transact popular coins. However, it is nothing compared to CoinPayments, which provides a comprehensive payment processing solution and wallet. The only downside is merchants are charged a 0.5% fee on incoming transactions. eToro is free for both personal and business applications, although the app is only available for mobile users.

Final words

CoinPayments is one of the best cryptocurrency processing platforms you will encounter. The payment processor was the first to support coins other than Bitcoin and currently has the largest coin support online. You can transact with all the popular options or even add a new currency. Concerning platform features, CoinPayments allows you to own a personal or business wallet with various functionalities.

You can send crypto, deposit funds to your account, receive crypto payments, and use the auto conversion feature to convert currencies in the middle of a transaction instantly. CoinPayments is available for both PC and mobile users, distinguishing itself from other app wallets. It is also very secure, boasting a growing reputation among users.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Copay Bitcoin Wallet Review: How Does It Work And Is It Secure?

Copay was developed by BitPay Inc. and introduced to the crypto industry in 2015. Its aim? To provide Bitcoin traders and enthusiasts with a single wallet that gives them absolute control over their funds. It is free and developed using open-sourced technology and is highly versatile. Key features that make this crypto wallet highly unique include its versatility and support for multiple operating systems, the fact that it is Bitcoin-specific, light, and highly transparent.

Copay was developed by BitPay Inc. and introduced to the crypto industry in 2015. Its aim? To provide Bitcoin traders and enthusiasts with a single wallet that gives them absolute control over their funds. It is free and developed using open-sourced technology and is highly versatile. Key features that make this crypto wallet highly unique include its versatility and support for multiple operating systems, the fact that it is Bitcoin-specific, light, and highly transparent.

Copay was developed by BitPay Inc. and introduced to the crypto industry in 2015. Its aim? To provide Bitcoin traders and enthusiasts with a single wallet that gives them absolute control over their funds. It is free and developed using open-sourced technology and is highly versatile. Key features that make this crypto wallet highly unique include its versatility and support for multiple operating systems, the fact that it is Bitcoin-specific, light, and highly transparent.

In this Copay Bitcoin wallet review, we will be explaining these features in detail, highlighting its security features, its pros and cons, and comparing it with equally popular wallets. We will also provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to install and activate the wallet, as well as how to send and receive Bitcoin.

Here is the detailed Copay wallet review:

Copay wallet key features

i) OS compatibility: Copay wallet is highly versatile and compatible with virtually any operating system. There is both a desktop and mobile app version of the wallet that is now compatible with all popular operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS.

ii) Bitcoin-specific: Unlike most other wallets that host hundreds of cryptocurrencies and altcoins, Copay is Bitcoin-specific. This implies that you can only deposit Bitcoin and its hard fork Bitcoin Cash into your Copay Wallet.

iii) Multiple accounts: There is no limit to the number of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash addresses you can host on the Copay wallet. This means that, unlike most other wallets that will only host one wallet address for each cryptocurrency or altcoin, you can hold as many private keys as you wish on the Copay Wallet.

iv) Compatible with hardware wallets: Copay bitcoin wallet is also compatible with several highly-secure crypto wallets, including Trezor and Ledger Nano S.. Such integration ensures that you get to enjoy the security aspects of an offline hardware wallet and the convenience of a mobile app wallet.

Security Features 

Password:

Like any other cryptocurrency wallet, Copay is secured with a multi-character password. You get to set this password when installing the wallet.

Recovery seed:

During the Copay wallet installation and activation process, you will be provided with a 12-word recovery seed. Record it on a piece of paper and store it in a secure environment. Note that the seed will be needed to reset the wallet password or recover your private keys should you lose the device holding the wallet.

Hierarchically deterministic:

The Copay Bitcoin wallet is hierarchically deterministic. This means that the wallet automatically generates new public and private addresses for every transaction, which makes it hard for hackers and other third parties to track your Bitcoin transactions.

Bitcoin Payment Protocol (BIP):

This feature is designed to guide users when making payments and prevent sending cryptocurrency to the wrong address. Technically, addresses are just a long line of numbers and letters, and often crypto users get them wrong.  BIP ensures you are sending it to the right address by helping you verify the wallet address before sending bitcoins.

Open source:

A Copay Bitcoin wallet is developed on an open-sourced technology. This guarantees its transparency as it is subjected to a lot of scrutiny and vetting by the crypto and blockchain industry experts. That further enhances its security.

Multi-signature:

Copay wallet allows multiple users to use one wallet. You can think of it as a joint account where 2 of 3 parties must sign to authorize the execution of a transaction.

Copay bitcoin wallet ease of use

Copay Bitcoin wallet has one of the friendliest user interfaces. The wallet is also highly customizable and allows you to tweak such aspects as the background themes and wallet name. Both the desktop and mobile wallet apps are also multi-lingual and currently supports seven of the world’s most popular languages, including English, French, Latin, Bahasa, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish.

In addition to the highly interactive user interface, the Copay Crypto wallet also keeps you up to date with your digital asset balances and spending. The wallet app will, for instance, send you push notifications about your crypto balances to your phone’s display. And every time you spend or transfer cryptocurrencies, the wallet automatically sends you transaction receipt on your email.

In the case of shared or group payments, Copay Bitcoin wallet will present you with an easy to understand proposal on how to split the pay.

The multi-wallet feature also comes in handy when budgeting as it lets you organize your crypto balances and allocate funds to different types of expenditures/savings. You can, for example, create a family savings wallet, personal expenses wallet, end-year vacation savings wallet, retirement savings wallet, or even the Birthday in Las Vegas wallet. This feature comes in handy for budget-conscious individuals looking to have better control over their financial life.

Supported currencies 

Interestingly, the Copay wallet is specially designed to only support Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. There, however, is no limit to the number of BTC or BCH private keys you can store in the wallet or the number of wallets (partitions) you can create on Copay.

If you wish to hold, trade, or invest in other Altcoins like Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Dogecoin without letting go of Copay Bitcoin wallet, we suggest that you acquire a Hardware wallet and integrate it with the Copay crypto mobile app.

Copay bitcoin wallet costs and fees

BCopay Bitcoin is free. You will not be charged when you download, install, or store coins into the crypto wallet app. You can download the app from both Android and iOS app stores, on the official BitPay website or GitHub.

You will nonetheless, be charged network transaction fees every time you transfer Bitcoins and Bitcoin Cash out. These charges will vary according to the transaction volume and are collected by network administrators and not Copay.

When transacting via the Copay Wallet, you also have the choice of determining the transaction fees charged per transaction. The wallet has the ‘Super Economy’ as well as the ‘Urgently’ payment options.

Like the name suggests, ‘Super Economy’ is denoted from friendly transaction fees for slow transactions while the ‘Urgently’ pay plan involves higher transaction fees for faster (near real-time) transaction processing.

Copay bitcoin wallet customer support

Copay Bitcoin Wallet’s customer supports starts with an elaborate explanation of everything you need to know about the wallet on GitHub. On this page, you will also have access to the wallet’s updated version of both desktop and mobile apps, guidance on how to use and interact with the wallet app, and also learn everything there is to know about Copay.

For more personalized assistance, contact the Copay Bitcoin wallet team through their official handles on the different social media platforms.

How to activate a Copay Wallet

Step 1: Go to the official website and click on “Get Copay.”

Depending on the platform you intend to use, the first step should be to register your details with the site.

Step 2: Choose the Copay App version.

After clicking on “Get Copay,” you will be automatically redirected to GitHub, where you can select your desired app to install. Select the most recent app that corresponds with your device (mobile or desktop OS) from the list and download it.

Step 3: Click “Get started” after the download process completes

This opens the “Copay Installers” that provide you with all the important information about your Copay Bitcoin Wallet. It also hosts the registration process that captures such basic data as your name and email address.

Step 4: Back up your 12-word seed phrase.

The installer will also provide you with 12 random phrases known as the recovery seed that backs up your wallet app. Write them down on a piece of paper and keep them safe. You will need them to reset the app password or recover your private keys.

Step 5: Verify that you have captured the seed words correctly.

Confirm that you have correctly captured the recovery seed phrases.

Step 6: Add Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash and start transacting

Your Copay Bitcoin wallet is now set. You can now add Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash crypto coins and start transacting.

How to add/receive Bitcoins to your Copay wallet

Step 1: Start by launching the app and clicking on the ‘Receive’ icon on the app dashboard. This will reveal your copay wallet address in the form of letters and a QR Code.

Step 2: Copy the wallet address and send it to the party from whom you wish to receive Bitcoins or have them scan your app’s QR code.

Step 3: Wait for the crypto to reflect on your wallet. How long the coins take to reflect largely depends on the state of the Bitcoin network.

How to send Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash via your Copay bitcoin wallet

Step 1: Start by launching your Copay wallet app. Click on the send icon and chose the crypto you wish to send. (Note that the send icon will only appear if you enough crypto to transfer)

Step 2: Enter the fund recipient’s wallet address or scan their QR Code.

Step 3: Enter the amounts of Bitcoins or Bitcoin Cash you wish to send

Step 4: Confirm that the number of Bitcoins or Bitcoin Cash and the recipient’s wallet address are okay before hitting send.

Copay Wallet Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It has a user-friendly interface with customizable background and wallet names
  • Features multi-signature settings and is hierarchically deterministic
  • It is built around an open-sourced and highly vetted blockchain technology
  • Copay wallet is highly versatile and compatible with different operating systems
  • The Copay wallet app can be linked to an external hardware wallet
  • Uses Bitcoin Payment Protocol (BIP) to protect users from sending funds to wrong addresses

Cons:

  • It uses third-party servers to access Bitcoin Network data
  • it only supports Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
  • The app doesn’t support more secure technologies like two-factor authentication

Copay Wallet vs. Other Wallets- How Does it Compare?

Copay wallet vs. eToro

When compared to such other online wallets as eToro, Copay carries the day because of its ease of use. The app is highly customizable and allows its users to create partitions (mini wallets) that promote budgeting. It also allows you to tweak the apps theme and background colors as well as change your wallet’s name.  Plus, while Copay will only support two crypto coins, there is no limit to the number of private keys or wallet addresses that Copay can hold.

However, unlike Copay, which only hosts two crypto assets, the eToro wallet app can hold up to 700 cryptocurrencies and tokens. One may also consider eToro relatively safer as it implements more security safeguards on the wallet like two-factor authentication or military-grade encryption. Moreover, the eToro wallet app has the backing of one of the most secure and most popular crypto trading platforms. The same cant be said of Copay’s backer – Bitpay.

Copay wallet vs. Ledger Nano S

Copay Wallet app boasts convenience, ease of use, and its free to acquire as its key strengths when compared to the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet. Unlike Ledger Nano that sells for around $60 and has a rather complicated installation process, Copay is free to download, install, and use. The fact that the app is installed on your phone and still accessible as a chrome browser extension makes it more convenient for regular transactions.

Unlike the Copay crypto app or software wallet, however, the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet is more secure and harder to breach. It stores your private keys offline and is, therefore, more secure against online hacks or viruses that wipe off phone or desktop data. Moreover, Ledger Nano supports more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies and tokens against the two hosted on Copay.

Final Verdict: Is Capay safe?

The Copay Bitcoin wallet is relatively safe and has instituted reasonable security safeguards against unauthorized access to your private keys. They have a password mechanism to prevent, encrypt all data held by the wallet, and provide you with a 12-word backup seed.

In addition to this level of security, we liked the convenience and the versatility of the wallet given that it is compatible with virtually all the popular operating systems and is available on the move via the Copay mobile app and online via the software wallet.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Zcash Wallet: Features, fees Security and more

Let’s be clear –  Zcash is both the name of a cryptocurrency (ZEC) and a wallet. This review is about the wallet.

Let’s be clear –  Zcash is both the name of a cryptocurrency (ZEC) and a wallet. This review is about the wallet.

Let’s be clear –  Zcash is both the name of a cryptocurrency (ZEC) and a wallet. This review is about the wallet.

Zcash Wallet was built to handle ZEC. ZEC was developed from Bitcoin but with the aim of improving the anonymity of users and their transactions.

Zcash Wallet is a free, secure, beginner-friendly mobile wallet for addressing all your ZEC needs. Yes! It can address all your ZEC needs because it even has an onboard cryptocurrency exchange – a rare phenomenon among cryptocurrency wallets.

This review is about the Zcash Wallet, and all that appertains to it. We will look at its security, highlight it’s ease of use, follow through the installation and setup processes, and look at its pros and cons. We’ll also explore tips on getting customer support and resolving common issues. Stay tuned!

Key Features

  • Integrated cryptocurrency converter (onboard cryptocurrency exchange) – You can fund your Zcash Wallet with almost any other cryptocurrency out there; the wallet will convert it to ZEC for you. You can also send your ZECs to almost any altcoin wallet address, and it will surely be converted to the appropriate currency before it’s sent out.
  • Enhanced security – Zcash Wallet integrates some of the most advanced security features available in a cryptocurrency wallet, as will be seen later in this post.
  • Easy to use – you can log in with Facebook, Google, or your mobile number. You can also share your wallet address through these social media platforms.
  • Friendly customer support – Zcash Wallet customer service representatives exhibit rare compassion when addressing users.
  • Available in multiple languages – While you will probably only need to use the app in one language, the availability of the app in multiple languages increases its user base, which means you have more Zcash Wallet users to make free transactions with.
  • Simple and intuitive user interface.

Security

Zcash Wallet’s developers invested some decent efforts into hardening it from actual and perceived crypto-wallet threats. The security of this wallet is best viewed from two dimensions: it’s architecture and configurable features.

Architectural features include the wallet’s use of the hierarchical deterministic (HD) algorithm for generating addresses. HD key generation dramatically simplifies the task of backing up a wallet since the user is not required to generate key backups manually.

Zcash also supports multi-signature (multi-sig) transaction signing.

Multi-sig allows you to sign a transaction by more than one device, thereby addressing the risk of unauthorized transactions in case the primary device is compromised.

In the traditional banking industry, corporate accounts often require more than one signatory to allow movement of funds out of the account. This is pretty close to what multi-sig does to crypto transactions.

Multi-factor Authentication

Perhaps the most outstanding security feature offered by Zcash Wallet is multifactor authentication, also known as MFA.

MFA has recently gained a lot of attention among cybersecurity communities. This technology enhances authentication and identity management by requiring you to provide additional verification after you log in.

It’s simple but super-effective. With Zcash, you need to provide a code sent to an authenticator app of your liking, for example, Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.

So, even if someone has your password, they need to access your authenticator app as well to log in to your account. You need to note that this is one of the very few wallets out there that implement multi-factor authentication.

Just a word of caution – if you choose to secure your wallet with MFA, proceed with care because if you lose your phone and don’t have the MFA key, there is no way you will access your wallet. This is precisely why the MFA option is not automatically activated when you set up your account.

Shielded Address support

You should also expect to find privacy in the goodies basket that comes with this wallet.

Zcash Wallet provides shielded address support which encrypts addresses and other transaction information such that this information becomes invisible to anyone on the network. This feature makes it more difficult to trace transactions to their origins and is one of the main advantages of ZEC over Bitcoin.

We can go on all day praising this app’s security, but, hey, it’s not an open-source project! There is a certain faith the crypto community places on open-source wallets. So goes their argument:

“Proprietary software is only secure as long as its code has not found its way to the public. But one day, one time, this code will be leaked into the public domain, and reverse engineers and hackers will begin flexing their skills – it will just be a matter of time before they hack their way into the system. But if it is an open-source wallet, this community of reverse engineers and hackers are part of the development team. You get the logic?”

It’s a bit controversial, but we’d rather go with the majority verdict that open-source wallets are more secure.

Even if Zcash has all these security features, you need to treat your wallet as your bank account, and its overall security is your responsibility.

Fees

Zcash brands itself as a secure and free wallet. Let’s focus on the free part of it.

Sending and receiving coins between Zcash wallets is free. However, network fees may creep in if you are sending coins to another ZEC wallet. Exchange fees will also apply if you are sending ZEC but want them to arrive like some other altcoin.

Downloading and Setting up an Account

Zcash Wallet is a mobile-only wallet available on both Android and iOS platforms. Downloading this app from either the Android PlayStore or the iOS AppStore is no different from downloading any other app.

Once downloaded, you can restore a previous account or create a new one. If it’s your first time interesting with ZEC, the easiest way to create a new wallet is by signing in with a social media account.

While setting up an account with other cryptocurrency wallets usually involves a lengthy process where you need to provide passphrases, PINs, and other authentication paraphernalia, this process has been simplified to a single button push, or a few taps at most, with the Zcash Wallet. This wallet gives you several convenient sign-in options, including signing in with Facebook, Google, or your mobile number. It’s incredibly easy to log in, and you need to install the wallet to believe it.

Once you log in, you should tune your preferences and security settings.

Sending Funds

Sending funds with Zcash Wallet is a no-brainer, but let’s look at it anyway.

  • The send button is found on the main screen of the application. Tap on it to initiate a funds transfer.
  • The next option is supplying destination information. The app provides two options: sending funds to other cryptocurrency addresses, or a Zcash Wallet address. We already saw that conversion to other currencies takes place automatically by the inbuilt exchange. They call this feature “Smart Pay.” If you are sending funds to another Zcash Wallet user, select the second option, and provide their User ID or email. If you provide an email, the app will check whether an account with such an email exists. In case it doesn’t, Zcash Wallet will create a new account and send a verification to that email. Next, you will see a summary of the transaction, including network fee and estimated arrival amount.

Receiving Funds

As earlier said, you can receive funds from any wallet, including those that hold other currencies. Receiving funds from another Zcash Wallet is free and instant. But if you are receiving them from a different network, expect the sent amount less than the exchange fees. To receive coins,

  • Tap on the receive icon on the main screen of the application.
  • You will immediately see a ZEC deposit address, a QR code, and your User ID.
  • If the source of the funds is another Zcash Wallet, tap the User ID to copy it. For faster and hassle-free sharing, tap the share button at the top right corner of the screen.
  • If you are receiving funds from another altcoin wallet, tap on the smart address tab to view the list of supported currencies. Since the list is long, you can search directly by typing the name of the currency. The search bar is a bit tiny but look for the magnifying glass icon. Next, select the currency of the sender. At this point, the app will automatically generate a wallet address, QR code, a memo, and any other information needed to receive funds. It will also tell you the minimum amount you can receive. How convenient! As usual, tap to copy or simply push the share button to share using the messaging apps on your phone.

Supported Cryptocurrencies

Since the wallet has an integrated exchange, it can support virtually any currency. However, it can only store ZEC. This is not a problem because if you want to send or receive funds in a different currency, you can always do it.

Customer Care

Zcash delivers customer support primarily through the email [email protected] although [email protected] appears more active.

There seems to be a lot of negative energy on the Interweb flying in the direction of Zcash’s customer support. To be fair, Zcash’s customer care can be described as responsive. Whether that solves your issues or not is beside the point. These folks always respond to individual complaints even on non-official support communication channels such as the app’s download page. So, an 8 out of 10 sounds fair.

Users seem to experience a variety of challenges with the app ranging from failed logins to transactions not reflecting in their accounts, but those are not customer support issues, they are probably technical challenges.

Wallet’s Pros and Cons

Pros

  • The wallet is remarkably easy to use. Right from installation to sending funds, everything is set to fulfill the desires of the lazy user.
  • User-friendly interface – the interface is not fancy, but it’s very functional. It only has two major parts: all the buttons you need at the top half of the screen, and all the news and tips you need in the remaining half. The news section is exceptionally succinct, and you won’t find irrelevant posts.
  • On-board cryptocurrency exchange – With this feature, you only need one wallet to do all your business in the crypto world.
  • Zcash boasts of some of the best security features in the market – multi-sig, multifactor authentication, HD key generation, and much more. Is there a wallet that can compete with this? One wonders.
  • Provides cold storage – Although cold storage is a security advantage, it’s worth mentioning it separately as some users give it primary consideration when selecting a wallet.
  • It’s easy to restore your wallet from any Android or iOS device if your phone gets lost. Please note that it may take some time before your funds reflect in the new wallet.
  • It provides email notifications for each transaction. So you’re always updated on your account activity. This feature increases your chances of recovering stolen funds.
  • The app is fast and pretty stable.

Cons

Nothing can be perfect, and the wallet isn’t an exception. Some of its outstanding shortcomings include:

  • It only has a mobile option. This might inconvenience some users.
  • It is not open source.

Final Remarks

The Zcash Wallet is a truly outstanding digital solution. From its ease-of-use to secure operation, it only gives you reasons to be loyal.

As we have seen in this review, the app has some of the best security features you can find in a cryptocurrency wallet. It is also among the few wallets that will allow you to send or receive funds from almost any network.

If you ever experience issues with your account and contact their customer care, you will be more than delighted with their hospitality.

Nevertheless, it’s narrow support for platforms, and the lack of open-source scrutiny might be a bother to some. All things considered, this wallet is one of the best ZEC wallets ever built.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Aave (LEND)? A Beginner Guide

With blockchain came the concept of finance that’s outside the control of the state and government. Cryptocurrencies have been the rage these past few years. But now a bolder and fresher idea is emerging, and it’s called decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi is the notion that the people have the power, and they don’t have to trust traditional finance systems to make the calls. 

With blockchain came the concept of finance that’s outside the control of the state and government. Cryptocurrencies have been the rage these past few years. But now a bolder and fresher idea is emerging, and it’s called decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi is the notion that the people have the power, and they don’t have to trust traditional finance systems to make the calls. 

With blockchain came the concept of finance that’s outside the control of the state and government. Cryptocurrencies have been the rage these past few years. But now a bolder and fresher idea is emerging, and it’s called decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi is the notion that the people have the power, and they don’t have to trust traditional finance systems to make the calls. 

Aave is a DeFi project that allows users to borrow crypto without depositing collateral. Lenders can also deposit money and start earning interest right away without lifting a finger.

Describing itself as “an open-source and non-custodial protocol enabling the creation of money markets,” Aave introduced the idea of uncollateralized loans, carving out for itself an influential position in DeFi. 

With that, let’s find out more about the project!

What’s Aave?

Launched in 2018, London-based Aave is a DeFi platform running on the Ethereum blockchain that lets you lend and borrow a wide range of cryptocurrencies in a decentralized and peer-to-peer manner. Aave takes its name after the Finnish word for “ghost.” The team chose this name to reflect the constant evolvement and imaginative technology that intrigues users. 

The project brings distinguished features to the DeFi space, such as uncollateralized loans and “rate switching.” Aave utilizes the Aave Protocol to create various types of crypto markets where users can build an investment portfolio. 

Background of Aave

Aave was originally known as ETHLend, a crypto lending platform established in 2017 by Stani Kulechov. The company raised about $600,000 worth of Ether in exchange for 1 billion LEND tokens. 

ETHLend rebranded into 2018 in order to incorporate even more platform features, suiting the current cryptocurrency consumer.  

Aave’s Offerings

Aave offers quite an impressive range of unique collaterals for any DeFi lending protocol. 

#1. Flash Loans 

Flash loans are one of Aave’s biggest selling points, and that’s especially because you don’t need to deposit any collateral to use them. Instead of using collateral to ascertain payments, flash loans use the timing of the loan’s repayment. Flash loans were invented by Aave, and they work this way: 

  • Borrowed and repaid in the same transaction
  • No collateral needed
  • Borrow and return the borrowed amount plus a small interest
  • All this needs to happen at the same time, or the transaction will not be approved

Flash loans can be applied in the following kind of scenarios: 

  • To take advantage of crypto price differences in two or more exchanges without necessarily having the principal amount to do so
  • Debt refinancing, or swapping collateral long positions without having to pay the repay the debt of the loan position

#2. Flexible Rates 

Unlike most lending platforms that use either fixed or variable interest rates, Aave implements a “rate-switching” function that allows borrowers to switch between “stable” and “variable” rates, a very handy feature in the extremely volatile crypto market. For high-interest rates, a borrower can opt for the fixed-rate, but for volatile rates that might likely take a dip, they can go for the variable rate. 

Thanks to this new and exciting option, Aave has witnessed particularly strong growth for stable rates loans after their introduction in May 2020. Note that ‘stable’ here does not imply ‘fixed.’ Rather, Aave’s stable loans are more stable variable interest rates that are resilient against wild price swings. This ability to rate-switch gives users more control over their loans by allowing them to choose the best possible rates. 

How to Lend on Aave

Getting started on Save is fairly simple. Visit https://app.aave.com/ and connect using a web 3.0 wallet such as Walletconnect, Coinbase Wallet, or Fortmatic. You can also connect with the Ledger hardware wallet. 

Depositing is easy. Just select an asset and enter how much you wish to lend. Next, allow Aave to access the asset. Then, you’ll need to sign to approve the transaction. Your deposited funds will go to the lending pool, after which you start monitoring real-time how much interest you’re gaining on the Aave dashboard. 

Aave’s interest-earning tokens are known as aTokens, which are similar to Compound’s cTokens. However, unlike the cTokens, aTokens retain the value of the underlying asset and increase only in amount. On the other hand, cTokens appreciate in value with interest.

The LEND Token

LEND, an ERC20 standard token is the native token of the Aave ecosystem. LEND token holders get the right to make their voice heard on any proposals advanced by the Aave team. Such proposals include interest rates, the addition of new assets, liquid configurations, and so on. 

LEND also is burned so as to prevent inflation and increase its value over time. 80% of platform fees are regularly burned on the open market for this end. 

In the future, Aave plans to increase the staking ability of users who’ll then get to participate in protocol governance as well as have a claim in exchange fees in exchange for helping secure the Aave network against malicious borrowers. 

LEND’s distribution was as follows: 

  • 30% to core developers 
  • 20% reserved for user experience development
  • 20% reserved for management and legal
  • 20% reserved for promotions and marketing
  • 10% result for unexpected costs

Which Assets Does Aave Support?

Aave currently supports a variety of tokens, including but not limited to Basic Attention Token (BAT), Synthetix USD (SUSD), Chainlink (LINK), Synthetix (SNX), Decentraland (MANA), Kyber Network (KNC), Ethereum (ETH), Dai (DAI), Aave (LEND), TrueUSD (TUSD), Tether (USDT), Wrapped BTC (WBTC), 0x (ZRX), USD Coin (USDC), Maker (MKR) and Augur (REP).

Who is the Team Behind Aave?

Aave is the brainchild of CEO Stani Kulechov, who originally founded ETHLend. Jordan Lazaro Gustave is the COO, and Nolvia Serrano is the CMO. Both Gustave and Serrano bring over their experience from ETHLend. All in all, the team is made of 22 members with eclectic skills ranging from blockchain, fintech, Ethereum, smart contracts, lending, payments, custodial services, and gaming. 

Aave: Tokenomics 

As of July 30, 2020, Aave is trading at $0.0324118, and with a market cap of $421, 352, 978, it’s the 30th biggest cryptocurrency in the world. Aave has a 24-hour volume of $64, 663,115, and a circulating and total supply of 1, 299, 999, 942. The token’s all-time high was $0.442615 (Jan 07, 2018), and its all-time low was $0.003353 (Sep 06, 2019).

Where to Buy and Store LEND

You can grab some Aave from any of several exchanges, including Binance, MXC, Bilaxy, Bibox, Gate.io, Poloniex, Alterdice, Uniswap, dex.blue, Eterbase, Fatbtc, and Loopring. 

As an ERC20 token, LEND can be stored in any wallet that supports Ethereum. You will not go wrong with any of these choices: Atomic Wallet, Trust Wallet, and of course, the hardware wallets (and hence ultra-secure) Ledger and Trezor. 

Final Words

Given its constant re-invention, Aave’s ghost reference is fitting. Its uncollateralized loans and rate-switching features are two of its radical innovations to ever be seen in the world of finance. And that’s what DeFi is all about: disrupting norms to deliver real value. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Blockstream Green Wallet Review: What Makes This Crypto Wallet App Unique?

The Blockstream Green crypto wallet was developed by Lawrence Nahum and Jerzey Kozera of Green Address Inc. It was introduced to the crypto industry in 2013. But would, in 2016, be acquired by Blockstream, yet another blockchain technology company and renamed to Blockstream Green wallet.

The Blockstream Green crypto wallet was developed by Lawrence Nahum and Jerzey Kozera of Green Address Inc. It was introduced to the crypto industry in 2013. But would, in 2016, be acquired by Blockstream, yet another blockchain technology company and renamed to Blockstream Green wallet.

The Blockstream Green crypto wallet was developed by Lawrence Nahum and Jerzey Kozera of Green Address Inc. It was introduced to the crypto industry in 2013. But would, in 2016, be acquired by Blockstream, yet another blockchain technology company and renamed to Blockstream Green wallet.

Today, it is considered by far the most innovative and secure crypto wallet app, as well as the pioneer of multiple security features. The Blockstream Green wallet was, for instance, among the earliest to integrate multi-signature signing, allow two-factor authentication, introduce hierarchical deterministic wallets, and allow for dynamic Bitcoin processing fees.

In this review, we will be looking at all these features in detail and highlighting everything else you need to know about Blockstream green crypto wallet. We will be factoring in its operational and security features. We’ll also explore its pros and cons, cost and transaction fees and compare its efficiency with other crypto wallets.

We start by looking at its primary features:

Key features:

i) User-friendly: The Blockstream Green crypto wallet has one of the friendliest user interfaces. It features a simplistic design that makes in-app navigations seamless and eases interactions with the portfolio. It also features both basic and advanced settings that appeal to the beginner, intermediate, and experienced crypto enthusiasts.

i) Compatible with multiple OS: The Blockstream Green crypto wallet is also highly versatile and compatible with virtually all operating systems. The wallet desktop and mobile app version as well as a web version – available as a chrome extension.

iii) Hardware wallet integration: The crypto wallets versatility extends with its interactions with hardware crypto wallets. Blockstream Green wallet is, therefore, compatible with all the leading hardware crypto wallets, including Trezor and Ledger Nano models.

iv) Real-time account monitoring: The Blockstream Green crypto wallet allows you to monitor the value of your crypto balances in real-time via the apps and web version. It will also automatically email you a report of your transaction every time you send or receive your crypto.

v) Multiple accounts: While Blockstream Green is a specialist wallet that only supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency, it allows for the creation of multiple user accounts. You can, therefore, create an extra user account/wallet address for separating your digital assets. One wallet can, for instance, hold expense and savings accounts.

Security features:

Password:

Blockstream Green crypto wallet has a password as its primary security feature. You, therefore, will be required to set this 6-digit passcode when installing the crypto wallet app.

24-word recovery seed:

Additionally, the app or web wallet will also present you with 24 random phrases that represent its recovery seed. Write these down and store them in a safe place. They come in handy when recovering your private keys should you lose the wallet or forget the passcode.

Two-factor authentication:

This added layer of security eliminates the possibility of remote hacks. It demands that you attach a phone number to your wallet and receive login and crypto transfer verification codes via SMS or call. You can alternatively use ‘tether the app to your email’ and activate SFA via google authenticator.

Highly encrypted:

According to the Blockstream, Green wallets limit the amount perof sonal data collected of their clients while subjecting any data stored within the app – especially the private keys and passcodes – to strict encryption protocols.

Multi-signature wallet:

Blockstream green is a multi-signature wallet implying that two signatories must approve a transaction before it is executed. The first signatory is your password, and the other is the Blockstream servers.

Non-custodial:

All Blockstream green crypto and web wallets are non-custodial. Meaning that your private keys aren’t stored on the companies servers but on the individual device hosting the wallet. This gives near-absolute control of your digital assets while eliminating the possibility of a central point of attack for hackers.

Open-sourced technology:

The Blockstream Green wallet is also built on an open-sourced technology, which is, in itself, a guarantee of safety and transparency.

Hierarchically deterministic:

The wallet is hierarchically deterministic. That implies that it can automatically generate a wallet address for every new crypto transaction. This makes your crypto activity and transactions hard to track.

How to set up the Blockstream green crypto wallet app:

Step 1: Start by downloading and installing the Blockstream wallet app on your phone and desktop (download these apps from the official Blockstream website to get the most updated versions).

Step 2: Launch the app.

Step 3: Write down the 24-word recovery seed using the specific order in which they are presented by the app.

Step 4: Confirm your seed phrase and proceed to set the unique 6-digit passcode.

Step 5: You can now access your Blockstream green wallet dashboard and configure your desired transaction fees

Step 6: Create a Bitcoin wallet address

Step 7: Your wallet is now active, and you are now free to start adding Bitcoins.

How to add/receive crypto into your Blockstream Green wallet

Step 1: Start by launching your Blockstream green wallet app and clicking on the ‘Receive Money’ tab.

Step 2: This reveals your Bitcoin wallet address as well as the QR Code

Step 3: Copy the wallet address and send it to the exchange, wallet, or fiat-to-crypto conversion party from whom you wish to receive funds

Step 4: Wait for the Bitcoins to reflect on the wallet app.

How to send crypto into your Blockstream crypto wallet:

Step 1: Launch the crypto wallet app and click the ‘Send Money’ tab.

Step 2: In the pop-up window that appears, key in the recipient’s Bitcoin wallet address or simply scan their QR code if using a mobile crypto app.

Step 3: Enter the number of Bitcoins you wish to send

Step 4: Confirm that both the wallet address and the Bitcoin amounts are okay and click send.

Step 5: The transaction can take between a few minutes to several hours, depending on your preferred transaction fees.

Blockstream green ease of use:

One of the unique features of Blothe ckstream Green wallet is that it is highly customizable. It features both the basic and advanced app/web wallet settings for the intermediate and experienced bitcoin investor/trader. Some of the customizable features that experienced traders can take advantage of include transaction fees and auto-logout.

In addition to the four-tier transaction fee structure, experienced traders can decide to set a custom transaction fee to be paid in Bitcoin Satoshi. They can also add notes difto ferent Bitcoin transactions and set an automatic logout timer for their apps.

These and more add-ons like SPV synchronization and or PGP key have earned the crypto wallet app a nickname – ‘fancier wallet.’

Blockstream Green wallet supported currencies.

Despite all these operational and security features integrated into the Blockstream Green wallet, it will only support one cryptocurrency – Bitcoin. This sets it apart from its peers of equally advanced crypto wallet apps that support a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens. It also sets it apart from some Bitcoin-specific wallet apps that support both Bitcoin and its hard fork – Bitcoin Cash.

If you, however, wish to invest or interact with more crypto coins and tokens while enjoying the security and operational features of the Green wallet, consider integrating it with a hardware wallet.

Blockstream Green cost and fees:

Downloading and installing the Blockstream Green crypto wallet app is free, and so is using it to store your digital assets. You will, however, be charged a small transaction fee when you send Bitcoins from the app. But, you get to set the transaction fee when setting up the account.

Ideally, Blockstream Green crypto mobile and desktop app features five classes of Bitcoin transaction fees under the ‘Replace by fee protocol. The most pronounced are the low-fee transfer option that charges the lowest amounts but takes the longest to execute a transaction, the medium-fee transfer that charges moderate amounts for relatively faster transaction processing, and express-transaction fee that charges significantly higher fees for near-instant transaction processing.

You get to decide on your preferred transaction fee level when setting up your green wallet app. You, however, can always adjust this fee category at any time or shift to the other two pricing models – the customized Satoshi bitcoin payment plan or the economy-fee category. The later is only available on the desktop wallet app and only possible when sending Bitcoins to a wallet within 12 blocks from your physical location.

All of these fee categories are variable and dependent on the transaction volumes.

Blockstream green customer support:

Blockstream Green wallet’s customer supports starts with the FAQ page on the company website that guides you on how to interact with the app and provides solutions to common app challenges. The Blockstream website and both the desktop and mobile crypto wallet apps as well as its web wallet are multi-lingual and currently support over 12 of the most popular international languages.

We also found their customer support team quite friendly and highly responsive. And you can reach out to them by raising a support ticket on the company’s website or contacting them via email info@Blockstream Green.it. Alternatively, you can reach out to them through their different social media pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

What are the pros and cons of the Blockstream green crypto wallet app?

Pros:

  • The crypto wallet app is highly secure and has integrated such advanced security features as 2-factor authentication, HD and, Multi-sig wallets.
  • The wallet installation process, as well as its use, are relatively easy and highly straightforward.
  • The Bitcoin-specialist wallet is highly transparent as it is developed on an open-sourced technology.
  • Blockstream green crypto wallet is quite a user friendly and features highly customizable features like different fee categories.
  • The fact that the Blockstream green wallet integrates seamlessly with crypto hardware wallets further boosts its security and number of supported currencies.

Cons:

  • Blockstream Green crypto wallet app will only support the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
  • It has limited operational features. It doesn’t have such critical features as an inbuilt exchange.
  • Its online nature subjects it to several threats, include hacking and malicious malware.

Comparing Blockstream Green wallet with other crypto wallets

When compared to other hot wallets like Abra, Blockstream Green carries the day because of its security features and ease of use. Its key selling points include its highly innovative approach towards securing the wallet that has since been imitated by the entire industry, its highly customizable transaction fees, and intuitive user interface. But one can’t fail to notice that Abra supports way more cryptocurrencies, has more ways through which you can deposit crypto into the wallet, and active in-built exchange.

Save for the convenience that it offers frequent traders and the fact that it is free to acquire, Blockstream Green wallet’s features pale in the face of a hardware wallet like Trezor. The hardware wallet is considered more secure as it stores your private keys offline, supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens, and is more insulated from common threats dogging hot wallets like remote hacks.

Verdict? Is the Blockstream Green wallet safe?

Blockstream green wallet has a long history of keeping their client’s data and private keys safe. It was developed and is still maintained by some of the most experienced blockchain and crypto industry experts around. Since its inception, the wallet has led the industry by pioneering some of the most innovative security protocols that have since achieved global acceptance. Other factors that we believe endear this wallet app to most Bitcoin traders are the decongested and highly intuitive interface that makes it easy to use.

We, however, believe that the app would have an even larger following and user-base if it accepted more cryptocurrencies. Going forward, we would also like to see the bitcoin app integrating more features like an in-built exchange.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Crypto.com All About?

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are two emerging techs that can no longer be ignored. By enabling trustless, immutable, and decentralized financial solutions, blockchain is laying the foundation for a new generation of better and inclusive financial applications. 

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are two emerging techs that can no longer be ignored. By enabling trustless, immutable, and decentralized financial solutions, blockchain is laying the foundation for a new generation of better and inclusive financial applications. 

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are two emerging techs that can no longer be ignored. By enabling trustless, immutable, and decentralized financial solutions, blockchain is laying the foundation for a new generation of better and inclusive financial applications. 

Crypto.com is an effort to push the world’s adoption of cryptocurrency. The platform has a motto: “put currency in every wallet.” Its main offering and what majorly contributes to this effort is its Monaco (MCO) visa card. Through the Visa card, Crypto.com hopes to solve the issue of traditional systems not accepting payment in crypto. And those that do, they do so through slow and often expensive processes which bar many people from using cryptocurrency.

Crypto.com hopes to solve this by offering “the best way to pay and be paid in crypto, anywhere, any crypto, for free.” 

What’s Crypto.com?

Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency and payment platform whose goal is to advance the worldwide adoption of crypto. Founded in 2016, the platform houses a range of products – from an exchange to crypto Visa cards, to a wallet and a crypto investment platform. 

According to the team, “We strongly believe that decentralization is an important part of a better society for everyone, and by accelerating the world transition to cryptocurrency we are helping the world move in this direction. We will achieve this by building on one side, a network of cryptocurrency projects, and on the other side, focus on developing merchants’ ability to accept crypto as a form of payment.”

Crypto.com’s Go-to-Market Strategy

Crypto.com has a clear vision of how it wants to accomplish this. It has four “disruptive forces” to this end: 

  • Great offers for users to incentivize the usage of cryptocurrency
  • Zero transaction fees for merchants
  • A seamless experience for users
  • A decentralized and trustless protocol to process transactions

What Does Crypto.com Offer?

Why should you care about Crypto.com? Well, that’s because it offers several great financial benefits for users. Signing up for Crypto.com gives you access to the following features: 

  • MCO Visa card through which you can spend crypto anywhere in the world
  • Crypto.com app that allows you to buy, exchange, send and track crypto
  • Crypto Credit feature that enables you spent money on credit through your MCO Visa card
  • Crypto Earn that allows you to earn up to 20% interest by depositing crypto
  • Crypto.com Exchange, a crypto exchange that has deep liquidity, competitive fees, and favorable execution prices

Crypto.com’s Native Tokens: MCO and CEO

The Crypto.com ecosystem utilizes a dual-token system. The tokens in question are MCO and CEO.

The MCO Token

The MCO token plays the following roles in the ecosystem: 

  • Allows users to own visa cards by staking in the tokens
  • Allows users to get cashbacks (depending on the card tier) on spending
  • Allows users to earn extra rewards like Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon Prime and other benefits when they stake more tokens
  • Receive MCO at 6% p.a. for 500 and 8% p.a. for 5,000 and 50,000 amount in stake, respectively

The CRO Token  

The CRO token has the following utilities:

  • Facilitate cross-assets currency settlements on Crypto.com
  • Reward nodes for validating and processing transactions
  • As payment for transacting in CRO
  • As a 50% discount to users when they purchase crypto on the crypto.com exchange
  • Get users to access to Crypto.com’s Syndicate platform

Crypto.com Exchange

Crypto.com has an in-house exchange that was launched in November 2019. Let’s look at some of the features of the exchange:

  • The Vortex Liquidity System that allows users access to a global trading platform
  • A 100% trading fee discount depending on your trading volume for the last 30 days and the amount of staked CRO
  • 0% trading fee for the first 90 days
  • Earn up to 20% interest just by depositing crypto
  • A Matching Engine in an Order Management System that provides a fast and efficient trading environment
  • Intuitive and interactive environment powered by a unified REST and Websocket API

Crypto.com Fees

Crypto.com charges a maker and taker fee starting at 0.2% and a transparent, competitive fee structure. However, staking CRO tokens grants you cheaper fees a 20% ROI on the staked amount. 

Crypto.com’s MCO Visa cards

Crypto.com provides five tiers of Visa cards that you can choose depending on your budget and needs. Let’s go through each of them:

Midnight Blue: This card is beginner level. With the Midnight’ Blue card, you get 1% cashback. There is a withdrawal limit of $200, a withdrawal fee of 2%, and an interbank fee of 0.5%. You don’t need to own MCO tokens to own Midnight Blue.

Ruby Steel: With this card, you get a 2% cashback when you stake 50 MCO tokens and a 1% cashback when you don’t. Also, when you stake, you get a $4,000 interbank exchange rate limit and no limits on ATM withdrawal. 

Jade Green/Royal Indigo: This tier is unlocked by staking 500 MCO tokens. With either of these cards, you get a 3% cashback, and if you don’t stake an MCO, you get a 1.5% cashback. 

Icy White: When you stake 5,000 MCO tokens, you get a 4% cashback and stand a chance to earn bonus interest. This level has a $20,000 interbank exchange rate limit of $20,000 and an ATM withdrawal limit of $1,000. No-staking gains you a 1.75% cashback. 

Obsidian Black: This is the highest level available. Staking 50,000 MCO grants you 5% cashback and unlimited interbank exchange rates, and an ATM withdrawal limit of $1,000. Not staking gives you a 2% cashback. 

Depending on the tier, there are also various benefits ranging from free access to Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, airport lounge access, an exclusive merchandise welcome pack, and rebates on Airbnb and Expedia.

Tokenomics of Crypto.com

Now, let’s check in on how Crypto.com stacks up in the market. As of July 29, 2020, the cryptocurrency was the 9th largest in the world, with a market cap of 2.95 billion. Its 24-hour volume was $115, 652, 263, and it had a circulating supply of 18, 466, 210, 046, and a total supply of 100 billion. Crypto.com’s highest ever price was $0.168761, while its lowest ever was $0.011487 (Dec 17, 2018). 

Buying and Storing Crypto.com

You can purchase Crypto.com from several exchanges, including OKEx, Huobi Global, HitBTC, Bittrex, BitMart, DigiFinex, BitHumb, Gate.io, CoinDCX, Sistemcoin, CoinTiger, and KuCoin.

Crypto.com has provided its own wallet, the Crypto.com Wallet, which is “designed to give you full control and secured custody of your crypto.” If you’re using user-custodied wallets such as Ledger and MyEtherWallet, you can migrate your existing wallet to the Crypto.com wallet using a 12/2824 recovery phrase. Following the import, you can continue managing your crypto using the Crypto.com Wallet.

Closing Thoughts

In its small way, Crypto.com is doing its part in promoting the wide-scale use of crypto. With the MCO Visa card, say goodbye to not being able to spend crypto your funds. And the bonus is if you stake in the MCO token, you unlock loads of possibilities with what you can do with the card. Multiply your crypto holdings just by putting it to work for you. Build an investment portfolio without breaking a sweat. Get lots of benefits by using the native exchange platform. No matter your needs, there’s something for everyone on Crypto.com!

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Matic (MATIC) All About?

Blockchain tech has proven to the world that it’s a force to reckon with. It has powered thousands of cryptocurrencies that have shaken the finance world to the core. Multiple industries are scrambling to integrate the tech to benefit from the remarkable characteristics of decentralization, immutability, and radical transparency.

Blockchain tech has proven to the world that it’s a force to reckon with. It has powered thousands of cryptocurrencies that have shaken the finance world to the core. Multiple industries are scrambling to integrate the tech to benefit from the remarkable characteristics of decentralization, immutability, and radical transparency.

Blockchain tech has proven to the world that it’s a force to reckon with. It has powered thousands of cryptocurrencies that have shaken the finance world to the core. Multiple industries are scrambling to integrate the tech to benefit from the remarkable characteristics of decentralization, immutability, and radical transparency.

But despite the attention they have garnered, blockchain-based applications still haven’t gone mainstream. Even applications based on Ethereum, the most popular decentralized applications (DApps) platform, are yet to receive wide-scale recognition. Even in the case of the wildly popular CryptoKitties game, it was only a matter of time before the entire Ethereum network was almost crippled because it couldn’t handle the sheer volume of transactions. Scalability issues and not-so-friendly user experiences are partly to blame. 

The other problem is, for the few smart contract platforms that have managed to achieve high throughput levels, they tend to trade-off speed with decentralization. Also, most upcoming solutions create their own blockchains incognizant of the fact that platforms like Ethereum have already attracted a massive developer community. 

Matic is a Layer 2 solution that seeks to solve the problems facing blockchain-based applications through the use of sidechains. For now, Matic focuses on the Ethereum blockchain but plans to extend its offerings for other smart contracts platforms in the future. 

Let’s examine just how Matic intends to do this.

Understanding Matic

Matic is a platform that wants to solve the scalability and user experience issues of the blockchain, all while still letting decentralization thrive. Matic aims to achieve this through the following key features: 

  • Scalability: provide fast, secure, and minimal to low-cost transactions. 
  • High throughput: achieve up to 10,000 TPS enabled by multiple side chains for horizontal scaling
  • User experience: provide a smooth interface and provide native mobile apps
  • Security: Matic token stakers maintain and secure the network themselves
  • Public sidechains: Matic supports public and permissionless side chains (as opposed to individual DApp chains) that are capable of supporting multiple functionalities

Matic’s Value Proposition

Matic’s value proposition lies both in its technical approach and its variety of potential use cases. Let’s see how: 

#1. Matic utilizes a variant of MoreVP (More Viable Plasma). This framework facilitates protection for assets in the main chain, while generic transactions are secured by a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Matic sidechains can use the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and are thus capable of deploying solidity smart contracts, making it easy for Ethereum developers to use to scale their decentralized applications.

#2. Matic sidechains are capable of supporting the many decentralized finance (DeFi) applications running on top of Ethereum

#3. Matic’s core aim is to provide an enhanced user experience that’s unlike anything offered by today’s centralized applications

#4. Matic aims to support more base chains in the future, apart from Ethereum, as will be proposed by community members

Players of the Matic Ecosystem

The Matic ecosystem will comprise the following participants:

  • End Users 
  • DApps developers. These are the businesses that will take advantage of the Matic platform to offer a better user experience 
  • Stakers: Stakers maintain the security of the network through a proof of stake consensus mechanism with a two-thirds majority. Stakers will also elect block producers amongst themselves, according to certain criteria. Stakers must purchase Matic tokens to qualify for the role
  • Block producers: These are individuals who facilitate block generation. They are chosen by the stakers and have to purchase a significant stake to qualify for the role

The Matic Architecture

The Matic network features a three-tiered architecture that enables it to achieve its scalability and user scalability goals: 

  • The Staking and Plasma smart contracts on Ethereum
  • Heimdall (Proof of Stake Layer)
  • Bor (Block producer layer)

#1. Matic Smart Contracts

Matic runs a set of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. These smart contracts carry out the following responsibilities: 

  • Managing staking functions for the proof-of-stake layer
  • Delegating various management roles, including validator shares 
  • Managing plasma contracts for MoreVP, including checkpoints for sidechains

#2. Heimdall (proof-of-stake validator layer) 

This is the PoS validator node that works together with staking contracts on Ethereum to facilitate the PoS mechanism on Matic. The Heimdall nodes are built on Tendermint, and they validate blocks, select the block producer committee, and so on.

#3. Bor (Block Producer Layer)

Bor is the block producer layer for the Matic network. Block producers are not permanent, but rather shuffled periodically in durations known as ‘spans.’ 

Potential Use Cases

The Matic network, with its goal to provide a scalable and user-friendly environment for users, will support various uses cases, including the following: 

#1. Payments 

The Matic network will facilitate payments in crypto assets for users, payment APIs, merchants. The network will first support Ether, ERC20, and ERC721 tokens, with plans to add more cryptos in the future.

#2. Atomic swaps

Via Matic smart contracts, users will be able to pay and receive payments in their preferred crypto token.

#3. Liquidity providers

Individuals and entities will be able to use the Matic network to exchange a variety of tokens for others by utilizing Magic’s 0x liquidity pool. For Fiat, the Matic team it’s planning to onboard Fiat liquidity providers in major currencies.

#4. Decentralized exchange (DEX) 

The Matic network will support trustless, reliable, and fast crypto trades. The DEX offers better security and solvency as compared to centralized exchanges.

#5. Identity

The Matic network will support an Open-Identity system through which users can sign transactions without having to submit the private team for each single DApp. The system will provide users with control over their private keys. 

#6. Games

The Matic network will support the buying, selling, and trading of in-game assets on its multiple side chains. Developers will get access to a fast, efficient, and secure platform to experiment with various games. 

#7. Infrastructure

The Matic team believes in the mantra “simple and seamless.” For this reason, the network will offer a user-friendly app or structure with user-friendly crypto wallets for both users, user-friendly payroll dashboards, easy-to-use payment software development kits, and more.

Fraud Proofs

To enhance the security and integrity of the network, the Matic network implements Fraud Proofs on the mainchain. Using this mechanism, users can submit the details of any transaction that they suspect is fraudulent. If the transaction turns out to be indeed fraudulent, the stake of the transaction owner is slashed, and the user who submitted the proof is given the slashed funds as a reward. The Matic team considers this a sort of ‘perpetual’ bug bounty program that can help to incentivize good behavior among network participants.

How Does the Matic Token Fit In?

The MATIC token is the native utility token of the network. It plays the following roles in the ecosystem: 

  • Participation and proof of stake consensus. For network participants to be chosen as block producers, they must stake Matic tokens.
  • As a unit of payment by developers who wish to create DApps on the Matic ecosystem
  • As payment of staking rewards to PoS stakers 

The MATIC Token Distribution

The MATIC token was distributed as follows:

  • 3.80% went to the private sale
  • 19% went to the Launchpad token sales
  • 16% went to the team
  • 4% went to advisors
  • 12% was reserved for network operations
  • 21.86% went to the foundation
  • 23.33% was reserved for the running of the ecosystem

Tokenomics of MATIC token

As of July 28, MATIC traded at $. 0.020814. With a market cap of $77, 987, 502, it was the 97th largest cryptocurrency in the world. The token has a 24-hour volume of $27, 493, 973, a circulating supply of 3, 746, 869, 854, and a total supply of 10 billion. MATIC’s all-time high was $0.045017 (May 21, 2019), and its all-time low was $0.003012 (May 09, 2019). 

Where to Buy and Store Matic

You can purchase MATIC from any of several exchanges, including Binance, BitForex, BitMax, Poloniex, HitBTC CoinDCX, WhitBit, Folgory, Coinone, Omgfin, CEX.io, Cat.Ex and Oasis Exchange. 

For storage, the Matic team provides the Matic Wallet available for iOS and Android. Third-party options include Trust, MyEtherWallet, Atomic Wallet, Ledger, and Trezor. 

Final Thoughts

Matic wants to provide scaling solutions for smart-contract platforms through the innovative combination of sidechains, the Plasma Framework, and the PoS validation mechanism. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Matic focuses on already working solutions that will complement its approach. The large developer community on Ethereum will find the Matic solution quite useful and timely. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

What’s Yield Farming?

The newest and hottest DeFi trend in town is ‘yield farming.’ And no, it has nothing to do with rain and crops and granaries. Instead, ‘DeFiers’, or DeFi fans, have latched onto the metaphor to describe interest or ‘yield’ that’s achieved when they put to use crypto assets such as Dai, USDC, and USDT into DeFi platforms such as Compound. 

The newest and hottest DeFi trend in town is ‘yield farming.’ And no, it has nothing to do with rain and crops and granaries. Instead, ‘DeFiers’, or DeFi fans, have latched onto the metaphor to describe interest or ‘yield’ that’s achieved when they put to use crypto assets such as Dai, USDC, and USDT into DeFi platforms such as Compound. 

The newest and hottest DeFi trend in town is ‘yield farming.’ And no, it has nothing to do with rain and crops and granaries. Instead, ‘DeFiers’, or DeFi fans, have latched onto the metaphor to describe interest or ‘yield’ that’s achieved when they put to use crypto assets such as Dai, USDC, and USDT into DeFi platforms such as Compound. 

The DeFi scene had already exploded in 2020 before yield farming became the next big thing. But in June, things went notches higher after DeFi platform Compound started distributing its governance token, COMP, just this June. In other words, Compound started rewarding users with the COMP token. The platform has taken on a near-celebrity credential in the DeFi world, thanks to the distribution. Hordes of investors and traders have flocked to the network to “farm” COMP. 

So, how does yield farming work? Let’s demystify this trend as we explore any risks that you need to look out for. 

How Yield Farming Works

At its core, yield farming, a.ka liquidity harvesting, is when you lend cryptocurrency, such as USDC or Tether, using a platform such as Compound. Compound will, in return, lend the funds to borrowers who want to use them for speculating in the market. Interest rates will vary with market movements as well as demand. However, just by participating in the Compound platform, you start to earn COMP tokens and interest. Other miscellaneous fees may also make part of the final equation. If the COMP tokens increase in value, your returns will also see a massive jump. 

What kind of cryptocurrencies are involved? 

Currently, Compound, only launched in June, is the biggest such service. Other major coins include Balancer, Ren, Curve, and Synthetix. Synthetix is the one that came up with the idea. As we speak, these projects have $1 billion in user funds locked up for lending. Most of the users are speculators seeking to earn triple-digit returns.

What are the Risks? 

Well, for one, theft. The crypto scams and frauds you hear about are not far off just because this is a new type of investment. Remember, the funds you lend out are stored in software. And hackers always seem to have a knack of discovering new ways of compromising even the most seemingly foolproof code and stealing funds. 

There’s also the risk of deposited coins losing value – a phenomenon that could cause the entire system to crash and burn. Moreover, there’s the whale effect. This is when investors with significant holdings go short, a move that could potentially shake the market. 

On the whale point, still, there’s concern that they could manipulate prices. If a whale lends to a platform like Compound and then borrows the money back, it effectively creates artificial demand for the currency, creating inflation. Traders with modest holdings need to know that yield farming “has become a game for whales who are capturing the vast majority of rewards,” as pointed out by crypto research firm Messari. 

Why is Yield Farming Suddenly Hot? 

The reason is twofold. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, cryptocurrencies, generally viewed as independent of system controls, have witnessed a surge of interest as Fiat currencies experience volatility due to overall economic uncertainties. There’s also the fact that these yield-harvesting products only just recently debuted, and are backed by high-profile entities like Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain. 

What’s the Future of Yield Farming?

Jesse Walden, the founder of venture fund Variant, has said that while yield farming can promote growth for the sector right now, for it to succeed in the long-term, users have to have a reason to continue staying in the platforms. 

“Yield hacking in DeFi is a short-term incentive to drive user growth, but the bigger game is the long-term wealth creation that comes from building (and owning!) a piece of the products and services that billions of people will use every day.” 

Yield Farming Tips

Here’s how the most successful yield farmers are getting, well, profitable harvests. 

A DeFi investor by the name Degen Spartan says the strategy of investing stablecoins in the sUSD Curve pool and depositing  LinkPool tokens on the Synthetix forum has yielded him an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 20%  since he started investing this way in 2019. Spartan thinks that the increased investor interest in COMP  has allowed the less explored investing strategies to thrive, increasing the overall yield in the DeFi space.

CoinFund founder and managing director Jake Brukhman believes there’s a lot of potential in the niche. He says he has witnessed APYs of anything from a few points to several hundred points, but that this hinges a lot on what assets you hold and your risk tolerance. Brukhman believes this success is a result of either the overzealousness of these protocols (some are offering capital at incredibly low rates) or inefficiencies in their systems (still a young niche). 

Another investor going by the name SNX Professor recommends monitoring your trades daily, and only switch between lending protocols only when it makes sense. This is because yield farming, like any type of investment, takes time. Remember, you’ve invested in things such as transaction and slippage fees. As such, it’s better to wait it out in one platform until your investment can truly yield results. 

And lastly, 1kx founding partner Lasse Clausen believes investing in these up and coming protocols is way more promising than investing in platforms that are already highly valued.

Closing ThoughtsYield farming is disrupting the DeFi scene and capturing the attention of investors and traders. For fear of missing out (FOMO), it’s easy to jump in the bandwagon rather blindly. However, this new type of crypto investing might be flashy and promising, but that doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind. Take highly measured steps and don’t put in more money than you’re willing to lose. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Best Security Token Issuance Platforms 

Thanks to blockchain, asset tokenization is now a possibility. This is the process of converting the ownership rights of real-world assets into digital rights on the blockchain. Assets are tokenized to improve their market liquidity, and also to open up your asset to a global market through the power of blockchain. 

Thanks to blockchain, asset tokenization is now a possibility. This is the process of converting the ownership rights of real-world assets into digital rights on the blockchain. Assets are tokenized to improve their market liquidity, and also to open up your asset to a global market through the power of blockchain. 

Thanks to blockchain, asset tokenization is now a possibility. This is the process of converting the ownership rights of real-world assets into digital rights on the blockchain. Assets are tokenized to improve their market liquidity, and also to open up your asset to a global market through the power of blockchain. 

Several tokenization platforms are scrambling for the spotlight in a bid to become the go-to place for tokenizing assets. Let’s look at some that are hacking the game right now. 

#1. Securrency 

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in the US, Securrency is a one-stop token issuance platform. It supports token issuing, post-issuance support, and the interoperability of tokens across several blockchain networks.

The platform also came up with the CAT-20 and CAT-721 token standards. Tokens created with this standard can be transferred across blockchain networks (including Stellar, EOS, and Ethereum) and legacy financial systems. This interoperability with several blockchain platforms gives it an edge over other platforms that are only compatible with Ethereum. 

Securrency has also embedded customer management applications that customers can utilize to manage investors and token buyers without having to rely on external applications. 

The platform has entered into partnerships with fintech companies SharesPost, AX Trading, Entoro, Vertalo, OpenFinance, and SeriesOne.

#2. Securitize

Securitize is a token issuance platform founded in 2017 and based in Tel Aviv. The company raised $12.75 million from Blockchain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Xpring (Ripple), NXTP, and Global Brain Corporation. Securitize has also partnered with fintech companies Tzero, Blocktrade, OpenFinance, Airswap, ShareSpost, Hyperion, and Bnk to the Future. The platform offers the tokenization of equity, funds, and real estate, and plans to add debt in the future. 

The company created the DS Protocol, which generates “DS tokens” that can run on top of the ERC-20 token standard. This means the tokens are only compatible with Ethereum. There’s no mention of compatibility with other blockchain networks. 

Securitize tokens can be traded on crypto exchanges as well as be hosted on clientele systems. The platform has a record registry that supports KYC details, a regulations compliance layer, and a communication protocol that notifies investors of industry trends.

Some of Securitize’s clients have been Blockchain Capital, SpiceVC, Augmate, 22x Fund, and Science Blockchain. 

#3. TokenSoft 

TokenSoft is another trusted token issuance platform that features a ton of functionalities. It’s been funded by investors such as eVentures, Base10, Coinbase Ventures, and Fidelity Ventures. The company has partnered with several other platforms, both in blockchain and fintech, such as OpenFinance, Stellar, Hyperledger, R3 Corda, and Tierion, to enhance its service delivery capabilities to customers. 

Services offered include token issuance and distribution, payment of dividends, trading of issued tokens, post-token issuance support, and digital asset custody solutions. 

TokenSoft developed the ERC-104 standard that enables token issuers to manage investor whitelists and investor limits, and issue tokens globally. Some of the clients that have used TokenSoft for token issuance include Andra Capital, Hedera Hashgraph, and the Tezos Foundation. 

#5. Polymath 

Polymath is a security token issuance platform based out of Toronto and founded in 2017. The platform has partnered with various industry players in finance, legal, custody, and escrow such as SelfKey, IdentityMind, OpenFinance, Pegasus Fintech, Vertalo, Blocktrade, Prime Trust, Monarch Wallet, Netcoins, Genesis Block, Tokenizo, Athena Blockchain, Blocktrade, Prime Trust, Glyph, Cassels Brock, Aird & Berlis, and Messner Reeves LLP to provide the highest level of customer experience to users. 

Polymath features a token marketplace, a token studio for token creation and issuance, and token compatibility with the Ethereum network. On the Polymath Token Studio, token issuers can customize and launch their own security token offering (STOs), and still be able to select a Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) service provider of their choice.

Examples of companies that have issued security tokens via Polymath include Corl, 7PASS, MintHealth, IPwe, and BlockEstate. 

#6. Harbor 

Founded in 2017, Harbor is a tokenization platform based in San Francisco. The company is led by individuals with a ton of experience, including former PayPal COO David Sacks, who is also the founder of Yammer, Craft Ventures, and Zenefits. The company managed to raise over $38 million from VC firms Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Fifth Wall, Kindred Spirits, Andreessen Horowitz, Valor Capital Ventures, Future Perfect, and more. 

Through integration with BitGo, Harbor facilitates investor onboarding through KYC/AML procedures, accreditation, tax forms, e.t.c. 

Harbor supports an ERC-20 token known as R-Token that ensures supported ERC-20 wallets or exchanges are compatible with the necessary requirements for trading. It also uses an Oracle feature to act as the go-between for peer-to-peer token transfers and exchanges.

#7. Swarm 

Swarm is an ”open infrastructure for digital securities.” The company has partnered with several companies such as OpenFinance, Maker, Tron, Security Token Network, Jaxx, Mercury, Copper, MVP Workshop, Monarch, Standard Consensus, Glyph, Blockpass and STOCheck to avail the best services to clients and other platform users. 

It uses the SEC20 protocol that facilitates the creation and issuance of security tokens. Swarm allows users to tokenize all manner of assets, including real estate, renewable energy, agriculture, tech companies, cryptocurrency hedge funds, and so on. Swarm makes it easy to manage, transfer, and trade tokens. 

Other supported functions include STO fundraising and post-issuance and support such as token redemption and the issuing of dividends to clients. Swarm features the Market Access Protocol (MAP), a protocol that supports token interoperability between various players, including issuers, investors, exchanges, and qualification providers. 

Swarm allows users to purchase security tokens with either of several supported cryptocurrencies, which include a native token called Swarm (SWM), BTC, ETH, BNB, DAI, MKR, XLM, XRP, TRX, ADA and DASH. 

#8. Tokeny

Tokeny is a Europe-based tokenization platform founded in 2017. The company serves over 180 jurisdictions and has had $27 billion worth of assets tokenized so far. 

Tokeny allows for the issuance, management, and transfer of tokens. Properties such as individual, company and government assets, business equity, investment funds, and even goods and services can all be tokenized on the platform. 

The platform features a cloud-based T-REX (Tokens for Regulated Exchanges) that allows investors to manage securitized assets such as by paying and receiving dividends and carrying out audits. T-REX also offers interoperability with crypto wallets, exchanges, and identity providers. It also allows clients to issue and transfer assets globally. 

Some of Tokeny’s past clients include Black Manta, Property Token, Lition, Bakari, Mash, Vivo Play, Key Pasco, Neovate, Block Port, and b40Lux. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Most Important Cryptocurrencies Apart From Bitcoin Part 2

1. Tether (USDT)

1. Tether (USDT)

1. Tether (USDT)

Tether was one of the pioneers of a new class of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that avoid the legendary volatility of cryptocurrencies by being pegged to real-life assets. The cryptocurrency industry, including Bitcoin itself, is known for unpredictable price swings that can wash out gains in a matter of hours. This volatility is also the reason why cryptocurrencies have been slow at real-life adoption since users fear making losses. Stablecoins such as Tether exists to provide cryptocurrency users with both security and speed of cryptocurrencies with the stability of Fiat currency. 

Launched in 2014 by Tether Holdings, the project describes itself as a “blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of Fiat currencies in a digital manner.” What this means is that Tether users also get to sidestep the complexity sometimes associated with crypto. As of July 18, 2020, Tether’s per-token value is $0. 997473, with a market cap of 9.2 billion. It currently occupies the third spot right after Bitcoin and Ethereum.

2. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Created in August 2017, Bitcoin Cash is one of the most recognizable altcoins. This is because it was born of a contentious hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. At that time, the Bitcoin community was split into two. One faction was against the idea of splitting the chain, while the other argued that for Bitcoin to reach its potential, it had to be able to process more transactions at each time.

Be that as it may, it’s one of the most successful forks of the dominant currency. The source of that success is probably the currency’s compelling offering of a much faster Bitcoin network. This it does by increasing the size of blocks, and as a result, a number of transactions each can hold. 

Satoshi Nakamoto intended Bitcoin to be a peer-to-peer electronic currency that could be used for day-to-day purchases. However, as the coin gained mainstream traction, so did transactions increase on the network, and the network slowed down due to the limited 1MB block size. The block limitation meant that one block could only handle a limited number of transactions, causing transactions to queue up and clog the network. 

Bitcoin Cash’s solution was to increase the block size to 8 MB, thus permitting more transactions to be held in one block. While one block on Bitcoin can hold between 1000 and 1500 transactions, one block on Bitcoin Cash can handle tens of thousands. As of July 2018, BCH’s price was $225.36. It occupied the 5th position in the market with a market cap of 4.2 billion.

3. Libra (LIBRA)

The decision to add Libra to this list can certainly raise eyebrows but bear with us. Important here can mean the scale and magnitude of a cryptocurrency’s potential disruption or simply the power of the outfit behind it. And going by those two yardsticks, Libra is, to put it mildly, important. 

The currency is set to be launched by Facebook. When Facebook broke out the news last year, it said the currency would launch in 2020, but at the time writing, we’re yet to see that happen. 

As would be expected, the news was met with mixed reactions. Some people were excited about the potential of a powerful entity such as Facebook, helping to push the concept of crypto into the mainstream. Others, especially regulators, met the news with indignation. The reason for this was twofold. 

One was Facebook’s unflattering history with how it has dealt with users’ data and privacy. Regulators submitted that Facebook would sell user data to advertisers, and then we’d have a repeat of the Cambridge Analytica debacle. The other reason was due to Facebook’s massive worldwide reach – we’re talking about billions of users – which regulators argued would undermine the global financial system. 

The reason for the cryptocurrency’s launch delay is probably its going back to the drawing board to create a cryptocurrency that can appease regulators. In July last year, David Marcus, the project’s head, in remarks prepared for US lawmakers said that Libra would be “the broadest, most expensive, and most careful pre-launch oversight by regulators and central banks in fintech’s history,” and that Facebook wouldn’t launch the crypto until it had “fully addressed regulatory concerns.” Upon launch, the project will be overseen by Switzerland-based Facebook’s subsidiary, Calibra.

4. Monero (XMR)

Monero is one of the cryptocurrencies that have been created to make up for Bitcoin’s less than satisfactory privacy approach. While the Bitcoin blockchain does not reveal a user’s identity, all its transaction history is out there for the whole world to see. With enough resources and dedication, an entity can trace down the real-life owner of a transaction. 

Created as a fork of Bytecoin in April of 2014, Monero is a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency whose development was completely donation-dependent and driven solely by the community. It utilizes “ring signatures” to anonymize transactions. A ring signature is a cryptographic signature in which several signatures are merged together, with all of them appearing valid, while in actuality, only one is. This makes it impossible to single out the real signature.

This level of privacy for Monero has caused it to become the go-to currency for clandestine dealings and criminal activities. No matter the reputation it has acquired, though, Monero has enormously contributed to the crypto space in its offerings. So, let’s see how Monero is doing in the market. At the time of writing, Monero has a per-token value of $68.63, with a market rank of #15 and a market cap of $2.1 billion.

5. Cardano (ADA)

Created by Charles Hoskinson and launched in September 2017, Cardano is a cryptocurrency platform on which people can send and receive value in a decentralized, peer-to-peer, and safe manner. Through this, Cardano wants to make the world “work better for all.” The cryptocurrency has been nicknamed the Ethereum killer, and given its rapid rise to the coveted top 10, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this prophecy came true in a few years.

Cardano has taken a unique and intriguing approach to its development process. Apart from being originally peer-reviewed by blockchain experts, academics, and researchers from various universities, protocol updates have to undergo the same round of evaluation by experts. Cardano’s rationale for this rigorous process is to ensure that the platform meets the highest standards for security, scalability, and efficiency, ultimately granting users a quality experience. 

Cardano is one among many third-generation cryptocurrencies, which is a term used to describe cryptocurrencies that seek to improve upon the deficiencies of the first generation (Bitcoin) and second-generation blockchains (Ethereum). As of July 19, 2020, Cardano has a per-token value of $.0123970 and is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of 3.2 billion.

6. EOS (EOS)

EOS is one interesting cryptocurrency in part because no one knows what ‘EOS’ stands for and because it rose to the high sanctums of cryptocurrency riding on a wildly successful ICO that raised $4 billion. The crypto was created by Dan Larimer, who is also the founder and co-founder of successful crypto projects BitShares and Steemit, respectively.

Just like Ethereum, EOS seeks to provide a platform for developers to create decentralized applications. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum that use the power-hungry proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, EOS uses a delegated proof-of-stake mechanism that is not only energy-efficient but also allows it to achieve an impressive TPS (transactions per second) capability of 1000+. As of July 19, 2019, EOS traded at $2.50 had a market cap of $2.3 billion that positioned it at #12 in the market. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

BC Vault Hardware Wallet In-Depth Review: Is It The Most Secure Hardware Wallet Yet?

Designed by Real Security, a Slovenia-based firm, BC Vault (short for Bitcoin Vault) is a relatively new hardware wallet that provides you with a safe way to store your cryptocurrencies. It is one of the most unique and most innovative hardware wallets we have come across. It seeks to replace some of the most common aspects of a hardware wallet with more secure and highly innovative features.

Designed by Real Security, a Slovenia-based firm, BC Vault (short for Bitcoin Vault) is a relatively new hardware wallet that provides you with a safe way to store your cryptocurrencies. It is one of the most unique and most innovative hardware wallets we have come across. It seeks to replace some of the most common aspects of a hardware wallet with more secure and highly innovative features.

Designed by Real Security, a Slovenia-based firm, BC Vault (short for Bitcoin Vault) is a relatively new hardware wallet that provides you with a safe way to store your cryptocurrencies. It is one of the most unique and most innovative hardware wallets we have come across. It seeks to replace some of the most common aspects of a hardware wallet with more secure and highly innovative features.

For instance, instead of recovery seeds, the wallet presents its users with 4-layer security passwords. Similarly, instead of relying on the hierarchical deterministic protocol used in generating new secure wallet addresses, BC Vault adopts the non-deterministic security protocol.

In this BC Vault review, we will be exploring the different operational and security features that help BC Vault stand out of the crowd. We will look at its key features, security features, ease of use, customer support, compare it to other hardware/software wallets and everything else you need to know about the Bitcoin wallet.

We start with key operational features:

BC Vault key features

Large D-pad and display:

The hardware is specially designed with a 2.42-inch OLED that features a 128×64-pixel white-on-black display. The screen is large enough to fit all details of a crypto transaction, including the recipient’s addresses, fees, crypto amount, and the wallet name.

Supports 2000+ wallets:

BC Vault is the truest form of a multi-signature hardware wallet as it allows you to create 2000+ individual wallets. Additionally, the wallet makes it possible for you to create highly unique multi-character passwords for each of these wallets, making it possible to share the device between two or more persons.

Compatible with multiple operating systems:

Like most other hardware wallets, BC Vault has to be paired with a desktop app or browser extension. But unlike most other wallets that will only support a limited number of browsers or operating systems. BC Vault is highly versatile.

Multi-currency support:

According to the BC Vault website, the company currently supports up to 30 cryptocurrencies and tokens. These include all the popular cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethreum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Bitcoin Gold, Ethreum Classic, all ERC-20 tokens. And with every successive upgrade, the wallet developers promise to add even more coins and tokens.

Native ERC20 token and multi-crypto support

The hardware wallet enables the use of cryptocurrencies in multiple wallets all in a single app. It supports native storage of ERC-20 tokens and does not rely on websites or third-party applications. Users can comfortably manage BCH, LTC, BNB, DASH, and many more supported currencies.

BC Vault security features

Multiple passwords:

Unlike most other crypto hardware wallets that only have one password unlocking the application, device, and individual wallets, BC Vault is fortified with four passwords for both the wallet device and application. The Global Password is used to unlock the BC Vault application and is entered on the application. The Global PIN is, on the other hand, used to unlock the wallet device. The two give you access to both the app and the wallet device.

There’s also the Wallet password that’s used to unlock the wallet on the application. The wallet PIN, on the other hand, is used to unlock a wallet and initiate a transaction and is entered on the wallet device.

Note that the wallet password and pin can be different for each wallet, especially if it is a shared wallet. Plus, it isn’t mandatory that you set the wallet password and PIN if it isn’t shared (not recommended).

Two-factor authentication:

The BC Vault user has the option of activating the two-factor authentication that comes in handy when unlocking the wallet and accessing the wallet content. You can use any of the common two-factor authentication apps /tools like Google Authenticator.

Independently generated keys:

BC Vault uses a Random Number Generator (RNG) to create more than 2000 independent and non-deterministic crypto wallets. What’s more, each key is generated independently, which also means that keys are not mathematically linked.

Secure storage:

All its private keys are stored in specialized storage known as FRAM. They are 1000x faster and consume 250x less power. Apart from that, the hardware is designed with a security chip to prevent the exposure of users’ wallets to hackers or malicious malware.

High anonymity:

The fact that wallets on the hardware device are generated independently enhances its anonymity. Additionally, BC Vault does not have a serial number to ensure complete anonymity of its users’ wallets.

Secure encryption:

Also known as the bounty wallet, this hardware integrates quite a strong encryption. Private keys correspond to a specific public address in each BC Vault.

Industry-standard encryption:

In addition to the passwords, every aspect of the BC Vault hardware wallet is highly encrypted, especially the private keys, your personal data, and the wallet addresses.

SD Card and paper QR backup:

While most crypto hardware wallets available today have recovery seed that one can use to recover private keys if their device is compromised, BC Vault presents you with a 1GB SD Card. It is highly encrypted and provides you with more than enough room for backing up your private keys.

Guaranteed security:

BC Vault touts its wallet as being the most secure cryptocurrency hardware wallet. As a guarantee, the wallet developers have placed a 1BTC price for anyone who will be able to crack the wallet’s encryption.

Tamper proof:

The compact design of the wallet’s hardware ensures that the user will always know when their device has been opened up. Additionally, the software/firmware technology applied in proprietary and not open-sourced, which means a hacker would have to undertake the painstakingly long and tedious process of reverse-engineering the system if they were to carry out a successful hack.

How to set up and activate the BC Vault wallet

Step 1: Plug in the device to your laptop or desktop

For the device to be operational, you have to plug it to a desktop or computer. It has a long connectional cable, which means that you can use it while still connected to the laptop.

Step 2: Shake the device to generate a random number

To generate a wallet address, you are required to shake the device for about two minutes. This is a security safeguard and the non-deterministic form of generating wallet addresses.

Step 3: Download and install the app

After generating the wallet, open the BC Vault official website and download the BC Vault app and link it to your device and the newly-created address. The app is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux Operating systems.

Step 4: Set a Global password or PIN

After going through all the above steps, you will be required to set a unique 8-character global password or PIN before you can be allowed to use your BC Vault. It is a fundamental security feature that will be used every time you need to access your BC Vault or application.

Step 5: Create a wallet and transfer funds

Now that you have set your PIN, you need to create a wallet and transfer some crypto funds. You can deposit into your new wallet from another wallet, from an exchange, or by converting your fiat currency via such third party fiat-to-crypto conversion sites like Simplex or Changelly.

Step 6: Use your BC Vault

Now your BC Vault crypto hardware wallet is all set and ready for use.

How to add/receive into your BC vault hardware wallet

Step 1: Start by logging into your wallet device and application, and clicking on the ‘Add New Currency’ tab.

 Step 2: Click on the wallet address for the crypto you wish to receive. If it is a new wallet, you will first need to create a new wallet address for the cryptos by simply clicking on ‘New Wallet’ and selecting the crypto you wish to add from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Copy the wallet address and send it to the party from whom you wish to receive the cryptos or have them scan your address QR Code.

Step 4: Wait for the coins/tokens to reflect in your wallet.

Step 5: Back up your wallet using the SD Card as soon as you add these cryptos into the wallet. Keep in mind that the wallet does not have a cloud backup, and you, therefore, need to backup your wallet on to the SD card every time you load new crypto.

How to Send Funds with Your BC Hardware Wallet

Step 1: Start by launching the BC Vault app and connecting the hardware device

Step 2: Tap on the ‘Send’ icon and click on the cryptocurrency you wish to send.

Step 3: In the pop-up window that appears, key in the recipient’s wallet address and the amount of crypto you wish to send

Step 4: Confirm that the crypto amounts and the wallet address are safe and hit send.

BC Vault wallet costs and fees:

There are currently three models of the BC Vault hardware wallet. The Legendary BC Vault One costs $155, the limited edition of both BC Vault Quicksilver, and BC Vault Gunmetal vaults cost $260. They all have similar specifications safe for Quicksilver and Gunmetal wallets whose casings are made from brushed aluminum and aircraft-grade aluminum, respectively.

Storing your digital assets in the sturdy hardware wallet is free. But you will have to part with variable transaction fees every time you send cryptocurrencies to another wallet or exchange. The amounts charged will depend on the transaction volume and the type of crypto and will go to blockchain miners.

BC Vault wallet customer support:

BC Vault has one of the most elaborate FAQ pages. This section of their website addresses all of the most common challenges by the hardware wallet users. It features both quick-start guides and video tutorials on how to interact with the hardware device. For more personalized queries, however, you may contact the BC Vault hardware wallet developers via email: [email protected]  or on their different social media pages.

What are the Pros and Cons of BC Vault Hardware Wallet

Pros:

  • It’s a true multi-signature wallet that supports 2000+ individual wallets with unique passwords.
  • The wallet integrates some of the most innovative security features that include four sets of passwords and an SD card backup.
  • BC Vault wallet has a straightforward activation process and elaborate FAQ Section that make it beginner-friendly
  • All aspects of the wallet are highly encrypted to guarantee maximum security.

Cons:

  • One may consider BC Vault’s acquisition cost of $155-$260 exorbitant.
  • One may question the transparency and security of the wallet, given that their technology isn’t open sourced.
  • Doesn’t have a mobile app and doesn’t support Bluetooth/wifi connectivity

How Does Bitcoin Hardware Wallet Compare with Other Wallets?

Unlike Ledger Nano S or Trezor, BC Vault utilizes an encrypted backup and a global password or PIN instead of an unencrypted BIP39/44 seed phrase in its security. Users can also back up their funds externally on a wallet data on an SD.

Further, they can also use an encrypted wallet data to print out a series of QR codes. The majority of their competitors use hierarchical deterministic wallets, which also means that addresses used can be traced back to the seed.

Verdict: Is Bitcoin Vault Worth Your Money? 

Based on the security incorporated in these devices, there is no doubt Bitcoin Vault is worth every penny. The device is specially designed to provide users with a sophisticated method to store funds and other digital assets over a long period. Some of the factors that make BC Vault stand out are its adoption of highly unconventional operational and security features.

It, for instance, is the first hardware wallet to forego the recovery seed in favor of an SD card backup. There also aren’t many hardware or software wallets that have as much as four passwords. And while most multisig wallets support multiple wallets, only a few support individualized passwords for each wallet.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

A Guide to DeFi Investing

DeFi. The newest buzzword in blockchain and crypto. What is it, and why should you pay attention? You should because it’s an exciting new way to interact with and make money out of crypto if you play your cards right.  The crypto world has been taken by DeFi because it represents a bold new departure […]

DeFi. The newest buzzword in blockchain and crypto. What is it, and why should you pay attention? You should because it’s an exciting new way to interact with and make money out of crypto if you play your cards right.  The crypto world has been taken by DeFi because it represents a bold new departure […]

DeFi. The newest buzzword in blockchain and crypto. What is it, and why should you pay attention? You should because it’s an exciting new way to interact with and make money out of crypto if you play your cards right. 

The crypto world has been taken by DeFi because it represents a bold new departure from the world of centralized finance. It also has perks, like instantaneous transactions and anonymity. Bain Capital Ventures partner Salil Deshpande believes DeFi has caught on fire because people have in them “a libertarian streak.” 

But what does DeFi investing entail and what should you know before you join the bandwagon? 

What Does it Mean to Invest in DeFi?

Still an entirely new field, many people may be at a loss at what it actually means to invest in DeFi. You probably hear terms like ‘staking’ and ‘decentralized lending’ being thrown around, or wonder what type cryptocurrencies make the rounds in the world of DeFi. If that’s you, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ll cover the basics of investing in DeFi and then examine the do’s and don’t’s of the same. Remember DeFi is based on crypto, and so the inherent risks haven’t gone anywhere. 

DeFi Investment Opportunities

Now, investment in DeFi isn’t a lot different from traditional investment, but a few unique aspects make it stand out. 

For instance, traditional lending involves the lender giving money to the borrower – with them (the borrower) making the promise to return the money with interest.  

This is how decentralized lending works as well, except this time, blockchain-based smart contracts lock in collateral from the borrower and automatically delivers interest to the lender periodically according to the terms of the contract. 

Then there’s staking. In traditional finance, individuals usually deposit money to institutions such as banks and credit unions and these institutions use this money to maintain liquidity and sufficient cash reserves. In DeFi, this process of buying and depositing digital assets into a platform’s account is known as staking. Such platforms need the funds to lend out to other users (borrowers), and to help maintain and secure the network.

The Do’s of Depositing in DeFi

DeFi Investing can be incredibly lucrative, but you can also potentially lose everything especially if you go in blindly. Here’s what you should definitely do before putting your money up.

#1. Do Your Own Research (DYOR)

The decentralized finance world is rife with scams and frauds. Scammers usually take advantage of the novelty of the tech to rip off unsuspecting investors. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way you can identify a scam. 

The quickest way to do so is to type the name of the project on Google along with the word ‘scam.’ The reason for this? If the project is a scam, chances are other people have already pointed that out. Whether it’s on cryptocurrency forums, Reddit, Twitter, or even Quora, it’s most likely certain the thought has been floated. And often in crypto, if it walks like a duck…

Also, DeFi protocols are based on open-source code. That means anyone can check ‘under the hood’ and identify anything that’s off. If you’re a programmer who’s familiar with smart contracts, then you can definitely examine the assemblage of what’s underneath. 

#2. Look at Reviews 

This is another way to establish the credibility of a DeFi project, and it involves looking at what other people are saying. This starts by looking at audit reports. Any DeFi project worth its salt will invite industry auditors such as ChainSecurity, Quantstamp, Trail of Bits OpenZeppelin, e.t.c. to conduct a manual audit of the project. 

The next thing to check out is what everyone else is saying, including the developers themselves, on their website and other forums. Look at the project’s social media handles and see the comments on posts. And if a project is lacking a social media presence, that right there is a big flashing red sign. 

Other helpful places to look at websites that cover the world of DeFi: DeFi Prime, DeFi Pulse, and DeFi Market Cap. These websites can provide valuable insight into a project’s cred. The key here is to rely more on independent sources, rather than on info touted by the project’s team. 

#3. Check Etherscan

EtherScan is a blockchain explorer that allows you to explore Ethereum blockchain and ‘scan’ for transactions, prices, tokens, and pretty much all activity happening on Ethereum. Remember that just because a smart contract/token is verified by Etherscan doesn’t mean it has no vulnerabilities or is not a scam. It means that the contract is available for public evaluation and is not in danger of being dishonestly altered. In other words, the code that you see (and have examined) is the code that you get when using the smart contract. 

Besides, Etherscan has recently implemented Every Transaction Hash Protect (ETHProtect), a service through which users can report any suspicious or fraudulent activity on Ethereum. Through ETHProtect, it’s easier for users to recognize tainted incoming funds, and the system can usually trace such funds to the origin. Usually, tainted funds would originate from phishing, hacks, scams, exploits and suspicions, and fraudulent activities. 

Such reports will be analyzed by the in-built Taint Inference Analysis Engine, and if confirmed to be indeed fraudulent, the address page will receive a flashing ‘Red Shield’ icon that allows users to avoid the sources of such funds. 

If you start coming across tainted addresses when investigating a smart contract, then you know there’s a problem. As such, avoid going to the project’s website or interacting with their products. 

#4. Look out For Fakes 

The majority of DeFi tokens use Ethereum-based tokens to carry out their operations. However, an unsuspecting newcomer might not be able to check the difference between a legit token and a fake one. Scammers will usually create a project with a genuine-sounding name such as DeFi token or DeFi coin. A name like that would likely raise eyebrows in an experienced investor, since ‘DeFi’ is a general word, and it’s unlikely for any project to brand themselves as such. But what would a newcomer know? 

A few simple steps may be all it takes to establish whether it’s a legit thing or not. Search the project on GitHub and see whether there are any meaningful discussions surrounding the project. Also, where do the project’s links lead to? If it’s a dead link, then that should have you scurrying in the opposite direction. Another way to tell a token’s standing is to check the kind of exchanges it’s listed on. If a token is listed on a few nondescript exchanges, that’s a red alert. Also, fake tokens will usually be listed on decentralized exchanges because there’s no regulation going on there. Stay on the lookout for these kinds of things. 

The Don’t’s

Now that we have examined what you should definitely do, let’s take a look at what you shouldn’t. 

#1. Don’t Invest Money that You Can’t Afford to Lose

This is the number one commandment of crypto and DeFi investing. The ‘why’ is obvious: crypto markets are highly volatile. You can gain or lose massively within an hour. The hype and allure surrounding DeFi protocols can trick you into thinking it’s all rains of cash, rainbows, and unicorns. 

This isn’t to scare you off from investing in DeFi. DeFi can be a great way to multiply your portfolio and secure your financial future. But you need to proceed with caution, that’s all. 

#2. Don’t Be Careless

Decentralized finance is all about being your own bank. This has several implications. One of these? The security and safety of your funds are solely on you. And since you are in total control of your assets, you need to protect them every way you can. 

This starts with choosing the wallet carefully where to store your funds. Choose a reputable wallet. Reputable wallets are those with good reviews on crypto and social forums. Also, check what reputable review sites (even YouTube videos) have said about the wallet. 

It also helps to know the types of wallets. There are two main types of wallets: software and hardware wallets. Software wallets are exclusively based online. Due to this, they are highly susceptible to online vulnerabilities such as hacking, phishing, social engineering, and malware. Hardware wallets are offline-based and constitute what’s known as cold storage. Without question, hardware wallets are safer since they can’t be hacked. Some great options include KeepKey, Ledger Nano, and Trezor. 

Also, where you buy your wallet matters. Always buy your wallet directly from the manufacturer’s web page. Wallets listed on online stores such as Amazon could very likely be fake. 

Final Thoughts

So, there. Welcome to the exciting world of DeFi. Following these guidelines could make the difference between you profiting from the field, as it should be, and you falling for a scam. Always do your due diligence before you put your money somewhere. Good luck! 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Cobo Vault Review: Is It The Safest Hardware Crypto Wallet Ever Designed?

Cobo Vault is arguably one of the most secure hardware wallets currently available. Created by blockchain expert Lixin Liu, Cobo Vault features a host of premium security features that give it an edge over the competition. These include open sourcing its software, disabling wireless connections to the wallet, and enclosing it in a military-grade casing that’s both water and shock-proof. According to Liu, the device that’s dedicated to the Western Markets was designed with the aim of providing the safest, yet easy to use, hardware wallet.

Cobo Vault is arguably one of the most secure hardware wallets currently available. Created by blockchain expert Lixin Liu, Cobo Vault features a host of premium security features that give it an edge over the competition. These include open sourcing its software, disabling wireless connections to the wallet, and enclosing it in a military-grade casing that’s both water and shock-proof. According to Liu, the device that’s dedicated to the Western Markets was designed with the aim of providing the safest, yet easy to use, hardware wallet.

Cobo Vault is arguably one of the most secure hardware wallets currently available. Created by blockchain expert Lixin Liu, Cobo Vault features a host of premium security features that give it an edge over the competition. These include open sourcing its software, disabling wireless connections to the wallet, and enclosing it in a military-grade casing that’s both water and shock-proof. According to Liu, the device that’s dedicated to the Western Markets was designed with the aim of providing the safest, yet easy to use, hardware wallet.

It is one of the most transparent hardware wallets ever introduced to the public. Virtually, all its aspects are open-sourced. In this guide, we explore this in detail. We’ll highlight its key features, explaining its security features, providing you with a step by step on how it works, and going over its pros and cons.

Cobo Vault Key Features:

i) 4-inch touchscreen with a fingerprint sensor: Cobo Vault hardware wallet is relatively bulky and features one of the widest screens ever fitted on a hardware wallet. The wallet’s interactive interface is a 4-inch touchscreen with a fingerprint sensor and capable of fitting a full keyboard. The Cobo vault wallet also features a button and a camera that facilitate the wallet’s communications.

ii) Water and shock resistant: Both the metallic and glass casings of the Cobo Vault hardware wallet are made of aerospace aluminum. The military-grade casing is waterproof, impact-resistant, and fulfills the MLD-STD-810G standards set by the US Military.

iii) Rechargeable and removable battery: Cobo Vault hardware wallet features a rechargeable and removable battery. Additionally, instead of relying on the more expensive Li-Ion batteries, the wallet uses the readily available and inexpensive AAA batteries. Most importantly, these batteries have to be detached and charged on a charging dock as a further safety guide.

iv) Multi-coin and tokens support: The Cobo Vault hardware wallet currently supports up to 10 cryptocurrencies and the ERC-20 tokens. Its providers have, nevertheless, hinted on the possibility of expanding this number of supported cryptos during the upcoming firmware updates.

Cobo Vault security features:

Multi-character password:

Like any other hardware or software wallet, Cobo vault has a password as its first protection measure. You get to set this password during wallet installation and activation. Unlike most other crypto wallets, however, Cobo Vault allows you to set up a 30-character long password. Plus, you also have the option of using a pattern password.

Communication via QR Codes:

Unlike most other hardware wallets that use both wired and wireless connections like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to connect to their crypto apps, Cobo vault uses QR codes. It does not have a USB port, and neither does it support Bluetooth nor Wi-Fi connections. To send/receive cryptos in/out of the wallet, you have to use its camera on the wallet device to scan the receiver’s QR code.

Open-sourced software:

Like most other hardware and software crypto wallets, Cobo vault has outsourced the technology used in coming up with the wallet. This has exposed it to scrutiny and auditing by crypto and blockchain industry experts who affirm its security.

Cobo vault has gone ahead and open-sourced its wallets secure element – often considered the most opaque part of the hardware – making it the first hardware wallet to expose this sensitive aspect of its wallet’s operations.

Firmware Upgrade through SD Card:

In light of the fact that the Cobo vault hardware wallet doesn’t have a USB port and doesn’t support wireless connections, it can only be updated via an SD card.

12-24 word recovery seed:

When installing the Cobo vault hardware wallet, you will also be furnished with a 24-word recovery seed that you can use to recover your private keys if you ever forget your password or lose the device. The Cobo Vault package will also feature a Cobo tablet – a stainless metallic wallet that you will use to store this recovery seed.

Increasing lockout period:

Cobo Vault further protects your wallet against brute force attacks by incrementally pushing up the lockout time between two subsequent password input attempts.

Self-destruct security feature:

In addition to the increased lockout period for failed password input, the Cobo vault hardware wallet has a self destruct feature. The wallet will delete any form of data stored within the wallet’s secure element should anyone try to open the body of the device.

Hidden vaults:

You get to create a vault/ wallet address for every crypto stored in your Cobo vault. But you also have the option of creating multiple hidden wallet addresses with individual passcodes for these cryptocurrencies and tokens.

No physical attack points:

The Cobo Vault Hardware wallet is completely air-gapped with no physical points of attack, safe for the SD card used during the firmware update. By disabling Wi-Fi, USB cable, and Bluetooth connections, Cobo Vault effectively eliminates the possibility of a man-in-the-middle attack.

Encryption chip:

The device features an encrypted chip that integrates BIP32, 39, and 44 security protocols. The Chip is proprietary and bank-grade, and it works by auto-generating truly random numbers for your private keys.

Setting up Cobo Vault hardware wallet

Step 1: Power on your device

Press and hold the power button for 3 seconds to boot the Cobo Vault wallet and proceed to choose your desired language.

Step 2: Visit Cobo official website

Using your desktop, laptop, or mobile phone, open Cobo Vault’s official website and click on start to display the web authentication QR code. The size of this code can be adjusted inwards or outwards.

Step 3: Scan the QR code using your Cobo Vault device

Use the camera on your Cobo vault device to scan the QR code displayed on the Cobo vault.

Step 4: Input the 8-digit code shown on your device

For the Cobo vault device verification, scan the 8-digit code on the website. If it succeeds, the website will display the “Authenticated” message while the device displays a “Success” note. But if your hardware and the website don’t pair, and the authentication process fails, it is possible that the device might have been tampered with.

Step 5: Set a strong password

Proceed to set a strong, memorable, and highly unique password. An ideal password is ten characters long. But, the Cobo Vault wallet makes it possible for you to create a 30-character password with a mix of symbols, numbers, and letters. Plus, you have the option of choosing to set up a pattern as your password.

Step 6: Create your vault

Proceed to create a new vault for storing your digital assets. To get started, tap on the ‘Create vault’ icon, click ‘Next,’ and then “Understand” to complete the process.

Step 7: Back up or record the recovery phrase

After creating the first vault, the device will display a set of 24-words known as the seed that is used in recovering your private keys should you forget the password for the device. Record these on the indestructible metal tablet shipped alongside the device. The device will ask you to confirm that you correctly recorded the seed.

Step 8: Start loading cryptocurrencies and tokens

Your wallet is now active and ready for use. You can start moving your cryptocurrencies from exchanges and other wallets into the Cobo Vault Wallet.

Step 9: Synchronize with Cobo Vault Mobile App

Accessing your vault from your mobile phone is quite easy. All you are required to do is synchronize your Cobo vault mobile app with your device. Start by downloading the app from Google Play or iOS. Open the app and click on “Bind” from the “Add wallet” option. Agree to their terms and conditions and click “confirm” to begin scanning the QR code.

If the code doesn’t scan currently on the first trial, click on “difficulty scanning” and retry.

Supported Crypto Assets and countries

Unlike most other hardware crypto wallets that support hundreds – sometimes thousands – of cryptocurrencies and tokens, you can only store a maximum of 11 cryptocurrencies and ERC-20 tokens on the Cobo Vault hardware wallet. These include:

  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Dash
  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • BitcoinCash (BCH)
  • Ethereum Classic (ETC)
  • EOS
  • XRP
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Zcoin (XZC)
  • Tron (TRX)
  • Decred (DCR)
  • ERC- 20 tokens

The Cobo wallet developers argue that there is no limit to the number of cryptos you can store within your Cobo crypto wallet. They are also regularly releasing firmware updates for the wallet that involves increasing the number of supported cryptocurrencies.

Virtually any crypto trader/investor looking for a safe storage unit for their digital assets can purchase the Cobo Vault hardware wallet form their official website and have it shipped to any part of the world.

Cobo Vault hardware wallet ease of use:

The fact that the Cobo Vault wallet will only use the QR code scanner for communications with the company’s website and mobile apps complicate its use – especially the initial activation and verification process. The processes of sending and receiving coins into the wallet are, however, quite straightforward as the wallet eliminates the need to type in the lengthy wallet addresses. You only need to scan the other party’s QR code.

Thanks to its relatively large touch screen and fingerprint sensor, interacting with the wallet when checking crypto balances, creating additional vaults, or setting passwords for hidden vaults is relatively simple.

Cobo Vault hardware wallet customer support:

Cobo vault’s website is multilingual and available in both English and Mandarin. Its developers have also availed both written and video tutorials on their website aimed at helping address some of the most common challenges faced by Cobo Vault users.

You can also contact the Cobo Vault customer support team by raising a ticket on their website, via email, or reaching out through the official Cobo Vault social media pages (Facebook, Weibo, Twitter, or LinkedIn).

Cobo wallet fees and charges:

The unlimited number of premium security features integrated into the Cobo Vault hardware wallet explains the relatively high price of the different Cobo Vault wallet models. Ideally, there are three models of the Cobo Vault Wallet: Cobo Vault Essential costs $99, Cobo Vault Pro costs $149, while Cobo Vault Ultimate costs $479.

You, however, won’t be charged to download and install the Cobo Vault mobile app or for the continued use of the Cobo wallet. The blockchain network operators will nevertheless institute transaction fees that vary based on the amounts transferred and type of coin. These fees go to blockchain miners and not Cobo Vault.

Pros and Cons of Cobo Vault hardware wallet

Pros 

  • The contactless nature of the hardware wallet goes a long way in eliminating the man-in-the-middle hacks.
  • It’s the first truly open-sourced hardware wallet – given that this open-sourced nature extends to its secure element.
  • Its large display allows users to use a full keyboard and eases interactions with the wallet.
  • The increased lockout period and self-destruct features pay a critical role in preventing such physical intrusions as the brute force attack.
  • Cobo Vault wallet employs a combination of several security features, all aimed at keeping your private keys private.

Cons

  • One may consider the wallet too complicated and not user-friendly.
  • The different models of the Cobo Vault wallet are a bit expensive.
  • The wallet supports less than a dozen cryptocurrencies.

How Does Combo Vault wallet Compare to other Wallets in the Market? 

Cobo Vault differs significantly, with some of the most common hardware wallets available today. For instance, in addition to the common security features employed by such hardware wallets as Trezor and Ledger Nano, Cobo Vault introduces the self-destruct mode. It also limits the device’s wireless connectivity and embraces a military-grade casing. That is, fire, water, and impact-proof. The likes of Trezor and Ledger Nano may, however, be considered more user-friendly, support a wide range of crypto assets, and are also less costly.

Final Verdict: Is Cobo Vault the safest hardware wallet?

Thanks to its tamper-proof design, open-sourced secure element, self-destruct feature, and limited connectivity, Cobo Vault makes it on the list of the most secure hardware wallets available today. We consider it ideal for long-time crypto investors specializing in popular cryptos. Its security and cool design notwithstanding, we take offense with its steep cost $479 cost, especially considering that it only supports 11 cryptocoins.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Why the United States Senate is Mulling over Digitizing the Dollar

About two years ago, the concept of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), particularly in the United States, seemed far away in the future. Sure, there have been several studies exploring the implementation and use cases of CBDCs, but to the average person, the concept was still unclear. Fast forward two years, the Senate Banking Committee tabled a bill known as “Banking For all Act” that seeks to digitize the U.S.U.S. dollar. 

About two years ago, the concept of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), particularly in the United States, seemed far away in the future. Sure, there have been several studies exploring the implementation and use cases of CBDCs, but to the average person, the concept was still unclear. Fast forward two years, the Senate Banking Committee tabled a bill known as “Banking For all Act” that seeks to digitize the U.S.U.S. dollar. 

About two years ago, the concept of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), particularly in the United States, seemed far away in the future. Sure, there have been several studies exploring the implementation and use cases of CBDCs, but to the average person, the concept was still unclear. Fast forward two years, the Senate Banking Committee tabled a bill known as “Banking For all Act” that seeks to digitize the U.S.U.S. dollar. 

Led by Senator Sherrod Brown, the bill came at the height of a global pandemic – the Coronavirus outbreak – which has prompted the U.S.U.S. government to offer taxpayers a stimulus check to help them weather the economic recession caused by the epidemic. In a press release, Senator Brown laid out the details of this bill by saying that if implemented, the legislation would allow Americans to access their stimulus funds without relying on expensive check cashers. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation didn’t make the final draft of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As a result, the distribution of the first $1200 stimulus check was riddled with issuance glitches since the existing infrastructure doesn’t support the nationwide disbursement of funds. In fact, it is reported that more than 35 million Americans are yet to receive their first stimulus check. 

The digital dollar debate Gets a second chance.

Under the current system, Americans have to wait for direct cash deposits or physical checks from the U.S. Treasury Department. As such, those without a bank account filed with the Internet Revenue Service (IRS) cannot receive the stimulus check. At the same time, with respect to the spread of Coronavirus, physical cash/checks can increase the spread of the disease, countering the government’s efforts of flattening the curve. This created a new momentum for the reintroduction of the digital dollar proposal as an efficient way of distributing funds. 

Building on this momentum, congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) introduced a proposal to have the federal government issue a $2,000 stimulus check through the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act (ABC Act). Under this act, Congress will authorize the Federal Reserve to create ‘FedsAccounts,’ which are, basically, digital dollar account wallets. This way, U.S. residents and businesses will be able to access funds through an app on their phone. 

Following up on ABC Act, the Senate Banking Committee recently held a virtual meeting to discuss the digitization of the dollar, chaired by Senator Mike Crapo. In attendance were four ‘witnesses,’ among them being the former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Christopher Giancarlo. He is also the brainchild of a non-profit think tank known as the Digital Dollar Foundation (DDF), which seeks to advance the cause of government-issued digital currency. Recently, the foundation partnered with Accenture – a global leader in CBDC advancement – to form the Digital Dollar Project. Under this merger, a whitepaper was released explaining a “Champion Model” for what should be the essential technical designs of a digital dollar. 

The Champion Model 

As outlined in the whitepaper, the digital dollar doesn’t seek to replace its fiat counterpart, but rather act as a third form of the national currency. As such, the Federal Reserve will maintain its control over the monetary policy and distribution of the digital dollar. 

The only difference between the proposed digital dollar and the fiat currency is that the former will be distributed in the form of tokens instead of an account-based model used by the latter. Through tokenization, all transactions will be managed by a digital ledger that records and authenticates digital dollar tokens to ensure that they are genuine and not double spent. 

To kick-start, the distribution of the digital dollar, commercial banks, and payment processors will exchange their fiat currency reserves for digital dollars, and subsequently distribute them to customers via apps or debit cards. 

Pros and cons of a digital dollar 

The main advantage of a federal issued digital dollar is that it will enhance financial inclusion. This is especially important with the ongoing issuance of stimulus checks whereby the unbanked population missed out on the first disbursement due to a lack of access to financial services. Even for the banked population, the current payment processors are inherently slow and costly to send money. However, the blockchain architecture supporting the digital dollar can facilitate efficient transactions at a more affordable rate than the existing infrastructure. 

Besides the advantages, there are various concerns about the use of tokenized dollars. Most of these concerns are centered around the privacy and centralization of users’ data. The CBDC will be issued by the Federal Reserve, meaning that the government will gain absolute control of users’ financial data. Also, with the government’s reputation for running mass surveillance programs, the incoming digital dollar may be a new system of monitoring the masses. 

Beyond payments

The digital dollar proposal is yet to get a green light from Congress. But, having sparked the attention of legislators, it conveys an overwhelming sense of urgency that the government should work on a CBDC sooner than later. Moreover, the Digital Dollar Project whitepaper emphasizes the need for digitizing the dollar by laying out that other national governments have already started pilot programs for their native CBDC. 

China, in particular, is testing its native digital currency, which will be included in payment systems of various multinational companies such as Starbucks and McDonald. Of particular concern is China’s potential to push its digital Yuan in emerging markets and international trade. If successful, the digital Yuan has the potential to unseat the U.S. dollar as the ideal reserve currency. 

Facebook’s plan to launch its digital currency – Libra – has also had a hand in spiking the government’s interest in designing a digital dollar. Even more recently, the Libra association modified its whitepaper to include a series of fiat-pegged stablecoins rather than just one multi-currency backed token as initially planned. 

Conclusion 

It remains unclear how soon the digital dollar will come into existence. However, given the economic pressure from the Coronavirus outbreak as well as competition from China’s digital Yuan, the digital dollar debate will continue to linger in the minds of policymakers for long. Ultimately, it is great to see legislative attention on digitizing the dollar using blockchain technology, as this promotes the acceptance of cryptocurrencies. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Bitcoin Gold? 

One of the bargaining points for Bitcoin is its decentralization. Which means it’s not controlled by a central authority such as a bank or government. On that front, Bitcoin has it covered. However, there’s another entirely different front that the cryptocurrency has in recent years struggled with. Powerful mining machines and entities have taken over mining in the Bitcoin network, effectively locking out miners of more modest means. This is hardly what Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind when he created the peer-to-peer, electronic, and decentralized currency system. 

One of the bargaining points for Bitcoin is its decentralization. Which means it’s not controlled by a central authority such as a bank or government. On that front, Bitcoin has it covered. However, there’s another entirely different front that the cryptocurrency has in recent years struggled with. Powerful mining machines and entities have taken over mining in the Bitcoin network, effectively locking out miners of more modest means. This is hardly what Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind when he created the peer-to-peer, electronic, and decentralized currency system. 

One of the bargaining points for Bitcoin is its decentralization. Which means it’s not controlled by a central authority such as a bank or government. On that front, Bitcoin has it covered. However, there’s another entirely different front that the cryptocurrency has in recent years struggled with. Powerful mining machines and entities have taken over mining in the Bitcoin network, effectively locking out miners of more modest means. This is hardly what Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind when he created the peer-to-peer, electronic, and decentralized currency system. 

Decentralized and peer-to-peer. It’s all in those two words. The ability for ordinary people to transact with each other, directly, on the Bitcoin blockchain. The ability for anyone to participate in maintaining and securing the network. But the current picture in which a few powerful companies dominate this function diminishes the decentralization principle of the network. 

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is a Bitcoin fork that seeks to remedy this problem. The currency hard-forked from the Bitcoin blockchain on October 24, 2017, at block height 491407. Let’s find out what Bitcoin Gold has in store.

Understanding Bitcoin Gold

Bitcoin Gold is a cryptocurrency that forked off of the Bitcoin blockchain. The currency hopes to make Bitcoin mining truly decentralized, as was the original vision by Satoshi Nakamoto. The team behind Bitcoin Gold envisions a cryptocurrency that everyone gets to participate in, as opposed to that ability being concentrated in the hands of a few powerful companies. 

In Bitcoin Gold’s own words: “Bitcoin Gold is a community-led project to create an experimental hard fork of bitcoin to a new proof of work algorithm. Bitcoin Gold will provide an opportunity for countless new people around the world to participate in a mining process with widely-available consumer hardware that is manufactured and distributed by reputable mainstream corporations. A more decentralized, democratic mining infrastructure is more resilient and more in line with Satoshi’s original vision.” 

Bitcoin Gold: Decentralizing Bitcoin

In Bitcoin’s early days, the ordinary computer could perform the work needed to verify and add transactions on the blockchain (in a process called mining). But in recent years, mining difficulty has increased, leading to the advent of more powerful and effective mining equipment known as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). ASICs today perform nearly all the mining on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

ASICs are designed for the sole purpose of Bitcoin mining – a factor that makes them incredibly fast and effective for the task. The problem is, buying and operating an ASIC machine involves a large amount of money (with the average ASIC miner going for $1,000 or more). 

This is something that locks out the average user from participating in the Bitcoin network. It also leaves Bitcoin mining in the hands of the few with the financial wherewithal to afford to purchase, install, and run ASIC machines. The result? Bitcoin becomes more centralized. And that’s not the end. The huge majority of Bitcoin mining takes place in actual warehouses equipped with hundreds/thousands ASICs that run 24/7. In this kind of setup, even if you can afford an ASIC machine, you cannot possibly compete with an entire warehouse. 

Bitcoin Gold wants to change this. The end goal is to make Bitcoin mining attainable for the average person, making it a much more decentralized process. Or, as the project’s slogan goes – “Make Bitcoin decentralized again” – a tongue-in-cheek play on Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign slogan. Of course, the underlying message is much soberer: make Bitcoin mining a more inclusive and equitable process. And to achieve this, Bitcoin Gold has to make major decisions, such as changing a Bitcoin mining algorithm to no longer support ASIC mining.

SHA-256 vs. Equihash

To stop Bitcoin mining’s dependence on ASICs, Bitcoin Gold has to make it difficult for the machines to perform the proof of work involved in transactions’ verification and addition to the public ledger. In view of this, the BTG blockchain employs a memory-hard (meaning dependent on RAM) hashing algorithm known as Equihash. By contrast, the ASIC-dependent Bitcoin blockchain uses the SHA-256. The requirement for more memory renders it more complicated for the processing power-focused ASICs. This means small-time GPU miners can get in the groove once again.

Replay Protection

The Bitcoin Gold blockchain has integrated ‘replay protection’ as a means to protect users from potential hacks and other malicious activity. Replay protection is a feature that prevents users from sending both Bitcoin Gold (BTG) and Bitcoin (BTC) during a transaction. This protection is meant to cushion against a replay attack, which is an attack that can occur in the context of two forked cryptocurrencies that share the same code. In the absence of replay protection, users might accidentally send funds via the wrong blockchain, losing them entirely. 

As explained by the developers in a blog: “In order to ensure the safety of the Bitcoin ecosystem, Bitcoin Gold has implemented full replay protection – an essential feature that protects users coins from being spent unintentionally.” 

Mining Bitcoin Gold

With Bitcoin Gold being a more attainable Bitcoin, so to speak, how do you get to mining? All you need is a GPU – as opposed to the expensive and complex setup of an ASIC machine. Next, you should join a mining pool. A mining pool allows miners to come together and combine processing power so as to mine blocks faster. At the successful mining of a block, full participants share the reward according to each miner’s contribution to their processing power. You’ve got several choices, including pool.gold, 2Miners, Minergare, BTGPool Pro. Next, you need to download the mining software for the pool you’ve joined. 

You’ll then need to have a BTG wallet. You’ve got options like BTGWallet.online, Bitcoin Gold Core, Ledger S, Freewallet, and so on. Every Polo has its own set of procedures, including integrating your wallet.

Controversy Surrounding Bitcoin Gold’s Launch

Like almost any prominent crypto hard fork, Bitcoin Gold’s launch was not short of controversy. The first controversy was the developer’s decision to conduct a “postmine” of 100, 000 coins after the launch. About 8000 blocks were mined in quick succession, with 5% of these going to the core developing team.

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in America and one of the largest in the world, was particularly skeptical of the crypto, stating that they “cannot support Bitcoin Gold because its developers have not made the code available to the public for review. This is a major security risk.” 

Also, just five days after launch, miners accused one of the developers of adding a 0.5% mining fee that had not been made transparent previously.

Tokenomics of Bitcoin Gold

As of 13th July 2020, BTG was trading at $9.75, while ranking at #57 in the market. It has a market cap of $170, 763, 243, 24-hour volume of $39, 395, 586, a circulating and total supply of 17, 513, 924, and a maximum supply of 21 million. In addition, the coin’s all-time high was $53 9.72 (Oct 23, 2017), while it’s all-time low was $4.31 (March 13, 2020). 

Buying and storing BTG

BTG is one of the popular cryptocurrencies, so you should have no trouble finding an exchange listing it. Options include big hitters like Binance, Bitfinex, Huobi, Livecoin, Gate.io, OKEx, P2PB2B, BitHumb, EXMO, Folgory, YoBit, and Coinone. 

When it comes to the coin’s storage, you have several options, including Trezor, Bitcoin Gold Core, Ledger Nano, Exodus, Coinomi, Bitpie, and Freewallet.

Conclusion

The idea of cryptocurrency is to hand back the power of finance to the people. The ordinary person gets to participate in the “minting” of new coins, as well as securing the source network. But this grand promise for the first-ever cryptocurrency got subdued along the way, with powerful specialized machines taking the whole stage. Bitcoin Gold is out there trying to steer things back to how they’re supposed to be. 

Right now, the currency is performing modestly in the market. It’s hard to tell, just like with any cryptocurrency, the prospects of the coin. But as the crypto industry becomes more inclined towards true decentralization, it’s not hard to fathom BTG climbing to the top of the ranks. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Gold Vs Bitcoin: Which one is a Better Long-term Investment?

The most striking difference between gold and Bitcoin is that the former is a tangible asset. At the same time, the latter is an intangible digital asset that is created by computers crunching complex equations. From an investment perspective, gold is regarded as a ‘safe haven’ asset given its long history as an alternative investment […]

The most striking difference between gold and Bitcoin is that the former is a tangible asset. At the same time, the latter is an intangible digital asset that is created by computers crunching complex equations. From an investment perspective, gold is regarded as a ‘safe haven’ asset given its long history as an alternative investment […]

The most striking difference between gold and Bitcoin is that the former is a tangible asset. At the same time, the latter is an intangible digital asset that is created by computers crunching complex equations. From an investment perspective, gold is regarded as a ‘safe haven’ asset given its long history as an alternative investment for hedging against stock market volatility. Also, the increasing ownership of gold by central banks and governments further validates its ‘safe haven’ status as a reliable store of value. 

Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a new entry into the asset market. It made headlines in 2017 when it traded at an all-time high price of $20,000. Since then, it’s the market price has been swinging violently, which explains why it’s considered a speculative investment. Although Bitcoin’s outsized volatility usually scares off investors, it has contributed to the increase in the value of the digital asset in the long haul. 

That said, in a digital economy, hoarding piles of gold bars as a store of value can be overly cumbersome. As such, many investors are concerned about their long-term wealth and are mulling over investing in Bitcoin – a virtual currency whose future looks promising in the era of the digital economy. 

Fundamental differences between Gold and Bitcoin 

Besides the physical-digital difference, other key distinguishing features need to be examined before investing in either gold or Bitcoin. These include: 

i) Supply and demand

As with most assets, the value of gold and Bitcoin is tied to their supply and demand. The higher the supply, the lower the demand, leading to lower market prices/value. 

For starters, it’s hard to know the exact supply of all the gold in the world. However, if one were to draw a graphical representation of gold’s supply, one would notice a gradual increase in gold’s market supply over the years. With this in mind, we can deduce that gold’s price will decline at some point due to low demand. Also, owing to its unknown supply, the price of gold is prone to sneaky inflations. With Bitcoin, it’s a different case. 

A well-known characteristic of Bitcoin is that its supply is capped at a known value – 21 million Bitcoins. So far, there are about 17 million Bitcoins in the market. This is to say that its supply will decrease over time, driving up its demand. Consequently, Bitcoin’s price will increase. Also, a fixed supply means that Bitcoin can’t bend to inflationary pressures associated with overproduction. Additionally, as modern commerce becomes more digitized, Bitcoin users will increase in equal measure, further increasing its value.

ii) Liquidity

When investing in an asset for the long-term, it implies that you won’t liquidate it anytime soon. However, it would be best if you considered the asset’s market liquidity. This is especially true when you need to raise a high amount of cash, and the only way is to sell part of your entire investment. 

For gold, it’s easy to exchange it for fiat cash by selling it to a local buyer. How fast and easy you exchange it depends on the amount of gold you have. Liquidating a few gold bars/jewelry is easier compared to liquidating a sizeable amount of gold, not to mention the risk of theft.  

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a relatively high liquid market, making it easier to exchange any amount of Bitcoin for cash. The high liquidity is due to an increased number of exchanges with high trading volumes, in addition to other intermediary solutions such as Bitcoin ATMs and stablecoins. What’s better, Bitcoin can be liquidated in smaller amounts, of up to 8th decimal place, making it easy to liquidate just the right amount. Unfortunately, gold isn’t divisible into smaller amounts as those of Bitcoin’s magnitude. 

iii) Reliability

Suppose there’s one area that gold triumphs over Bitcoin, is in reliability. For more 2,000+ years, gold was used as a medium of exchange. Even after the advent of money, it has managed to maintain a relatively stable value.

At one point in the long history of gold, the US government, under President Franklin Roosevelt, implemented measures to prohibit and criminalize the possession of gold. Even though the gold prices plunged following these drastic measures, trading and possession of gold increased significantly in subsequent years. If the same crackdown were placed on Bitcoin usage, it would put the digital currency at the end of the bench. Even worse, a change in consumer preferences or the advent of a new technological disruption has the potential to stunt the growth of Bitcoin ultimately. As such, gold being a natural resource will consistently hold its value for more years compared to Bitcoin, which is a dynamic human-made system. 

Additionally, gold investment has proper regulation, while investment in Bitcoin is not regulated. This gives gold added legitimacy making it a preferred investment option. 

iv) Utility 

Gold has several uses besides being a store of value. It can be used on luxury items like jewelry and even in electronic devices where it acts as a conductor. In some cases, gold coins are also used in place of fiat cash. Due to these real-world use cases, it has a more readily available market, which adds to its liquidity. 

Bitcoin, having been in the market for just 11 years, is making quite plausible efforts to gain real-world use cases besides its position as a speculative investment. Infrastructures such as Merklized Abstract Syntax Trees ( MASTs), Taproot, and Schnoor signatures are pushing Bitcoin in the direction of real-world functionality in which it’ll contribute to the development of smart contracts. Moreover, it is anticipated that as Bitcoin usage increases in the incoming digital economy, its demand will rise relative to its mathematically metered supply. This will increase Bitcoin’s price and liquidity. 

Conclusion: which one is Better? 

Gold has been around for quite a long time and doesn’t show any clear sign of fading away from the market anytime soon. Its value will likely increase as various governments use it as a monetary reserve. The same can’t be said about Bitcoin since it’s still in its infancy stages. As we approach the digital economy, Bitcoin investors are bound to reap hugely. So, asking whether Bitcoin is a better long-term investment compared to gold isn’t entirely appropriate, as it is possible that the two can, and will, exist as complementary assets. As such, both Bitcoin and gold can fit in an investor’s long-term portfolio for diversification purposes. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s EOS? A Beginner’s Guide

The first (Bitcoin) and second (Ethereum) generation blockchains each brought groundbreaking innovations in the blockchain space. Bitcoin pioneered the concept of blockchain and cryptocurrency – completely changing the face of finance. Ethereum took the idea of blockchain and expanded it to include smart contracts and decentralized applications. 

The first (Bitcoin) and second (Ethereum) generation blockchains each brought groundbreaking innovations in the blockchain space. Bitcoin pioneered the concept of blockchain and cryptocurrency – completely changing the face of finance. Ethereum took the idea of blockchain and expanded it to include smart contracts and decentralized applications. 

The first (Bitcoin) and second (Ethereum) generation blockchains each brought groundbreaking innovations in the blockchain space. Bitcoin pioneered the concept of blockchain and cryptocurrency – completely changing the face of finance. Ethereum took the idea of blockchain and expanded it to include smart contracts and decentralized applications. 

But even with those contributions, the two blockchains somehow couldn’t hack the test of scalability. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum’s transactions per second (at 7 and 15 respectively) pale in comparison with real-world systems that can handle millions of daily active users. 

EOS, a blockchain project by Chinese company Block.One wants to solve these problems. It aims at supporting thousands of transactions per second, as well as providing a free interactive environment for developers from all over the world to experiment with and create decentralized applications. Ambitious goals notwithstanding, EOS has not made it unscathed by a controversy or two.

Let’s dig into what EOS is all about.

Understanding EOS

EOS is a blockchain and cryptocurrency project that supports the creation of decentralized applications (DApps). The EOS team also wants to solve some of the problems burdening blockchains such as low transaction speeds and complexity of use that would lock out many developers. The EOS platform claims to support 1000+ transactions per second. For these reasons, it has been dubbed the ‘Ethereum Killer.’

EOS is the brainchild of Dan Larimer, a well-known figure in the crypto space and creator of successful blockchain platforms, Steemit and BitShares. EOS is known as just that: EOS. There doesn’t exist a full form of the name, and neither have the creators offered any. 

Block.one, the company behind EOS, raised a record-setting $4.1 billion in a year-long initial coin offering (ICO) that ran up until July 2017. This represents the biggest ICO to ever happen in the blockchain space to date. 

EOS’s Approach to Blockchain Applications

EOS believes in and seeks to achieve these requirements for blockchain: 

#1. Support Millions of Users 

If blockchain applications are to compete with businesses such as eBay, Amazon, Uber, and Facebook, blockchain tech would need to support tens of millions of users at any time. 

#2. Free Usage

If blockchain is to realize greater adoption, it needs to be free for users. Developers and businesses using the platform can then explore and implement other monetization strategies. 

#3. Flexibility and Bug Recovery

A blockchain platform should be flexible to allow businesses to upgrade their applications if and when needed. The platform should also be able to identify and root out bugs when they occur.

#4. Low Latency

Blockchain applications should relay high volumes of data with minimal delay (latency). Low latency would ideally be near real-time access to data. Anything less would frustrate users and render blockchain uncompetitive against legacy systems.

#5. Support Sequential Performance

Not all applications can be implemented with parallel algorithms. Applications like, let’s say, crypto exchanges require sufficient sequential performance to deal with high volumes. 

How Does EOS Work?

EOS’s product is essentially like that of Ethereum – offering a conducive environment for developers to create DApps. But EOS wants to focus on the most critical problems currently facing blockchain, such as high latency, scalability, flexibility, that have held back blockchain from achieving its full potential.

EOS endeavors to address these issues by supporting more scalability, flexibility, and ease of use. The developing team claims the network can support thousands of industrial-scale DApps without suffering performance bottlenecks by the use of sequential performance and “asynchronous communication” of data. 

Additionally, EOS achieves scalability by employing certain features. First, it’s ownership model promotes free usage for clients, and significantly reduces or eliminates transaction fees. Developers can also utilize various on-platform resources based on their stake in EOS. This means app developers are in a better position to predict their hosting costs, as well as design the best monetization strategies for their respective products. 

EOS: Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)

Dan Larimer conceptualized the delegated proof-of-stake of consensus mechanism. In DPoS, network delegates vote for a few representatives, who are then tasked with securing the network. These chosen delegates will also oversee the generation and verification of new blocks as well as their addiction to the blockchain.

In the context of EOS, 21 delegates (supernodes) are chosen from a pool of potential block producer candidates. Block producers are rewarded for their role in maintaining and securing the network. Rewards are granted on a per-block-basis and the block rewards system bankrolled by a 1% annual token inflation. 

Controversies Surrounding EOS

EOS has not been without a few controversies. It all started with the year-long ICO that raked in $4.1 billion. Some members of the community felt this was irresponsible, greedy, and shady. 

There have also been concerns that its delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, in which there are only 21 producers, is too centralized. Blockchain testing company Whiteblock has also come out to say that the project is not genuinely censorship-resistant, saying “the foundation of the EOS system is built on a flawed model that is not truly decentralized.” 

The EOS network was also rigged with bug after bug, especially leading up to the main net release. This was very bewildering for many people who couldn’t fathom how this was possible with all that money collected. This led to the company establishing a bug bounty system that rewarded benevolent hackers who identified bugs in the system. Even after the project went live, bugs were still reported.

EOS.IO and EOS Tokens

The EOS network houses two tokens: EOS and EOS.IO. The role of EOS.IO is to manage functions in the ecosystem. It facilitates the vertical and horizontal scaling on the network. 

The EOS token allows developers to purchase a stake and obtain access to various natural processes to create and run DApps. Token holders who are not running DApps can rent their bandwidth to others who need it. And lastly, the EOS token can be used as a speculative investment and is available for purchase/trading on various exchanges. 

Economics of EOS

An inflation rate of 1% of EOS is used as block producer rewards. The inflation rate was adjusted from 5% in February 2020. As of Jul 25, 2020, EOS’s per-token value is $2.62, and it has a market cap of 2.4 billion, which makes it the 12th biggest cryptocurrency in the world. EOS’s 24-hour volume is $1, 294, 563, 760, its circulating supply is 934, 603, 711, and its total supply is 1, 021, 303, 722. EOS’s all-time high was $22.89 (Apr 29, 2018), while its all-time low was $. 0.480196 (Oct 23, 2017). 

Buying and Storing EOS

You can purchase EOS from a variety of exchanges, including Binance, OKEx, Huobi, HitBTC, DigiFinex, Bitrue, ConBene, Gate.io, Upbit, LATOKEN, and BitMex.

As for which wallets support EOS, you have several great options such as Ledger Nano, Guarda Wallet, Atomic Wallet, Trezor, Jaxx Liberty, and Infinito.

Final Thoughts

EOS proposes a brave new world of free blockchain transactions. If it can indeed support a TPS of 1000+, it will be a far cry from the single and double-digit TPS offered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively. Could this combination of capabilities bury Ethereum? That remains to be seen.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

 Who is Vitalik Buterin?

The name Vitalik Buterin is perhaps the most recognized in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world, after Bitcoin’s pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. Buterin, 26, is one of the people who has made groundbreaking contributions to this space. He pretty much changed the face of cryptocurrency and blockchain by introducing Ethereum – a tour de force that unleashed the true power of blockchain. 

The name Vitalik Buterin is perhaps the most recognized in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world, after Bitcoin’s pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. Buterin, 26, is one of the people who has made groundbreaking contributions to this space. He pretty much changed the face of cryptocurrency and blockchain by introducing Ethereum – a tour de force that unleashed the true power of blockchain. 

The name Vitalik Buterin is perhaps the most recognized in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world, after Bitcoin’s pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. Buterin, 26, is one of the people who has made groundbreaking contributions to this space. He pretty much changed the face of cryptocurrency and blockchain by introducing Ethereum – a tour de force that unleashed the true power of blockchain. 

Countless revolutionary projects now run on top of Ethereum, ranging from identity to entertainment to cryptocurrency wallets to crowdfunding. Vitalik first described Ethereum  in November 2013, calling it “a culmination of months of thought and often frustrating work into…” cryptocurrency 2.0″ – in short, using the Bitcoin blockchain for more than just money.” 

So, what’s the story of Buterin? Let’s explore his journey through childhood, through Ethereum’s creation, and now. 

A Background

Vitalik Buterin is known to the tech world as the crypto wunderkind who created the blockbuster blockchain and cryptocurrency project Ethereum at only 21 years old. A Russian-Canadian programmer, Vitalik has been active in the Bitcoin and crypto community since 2011. His involvement began as a writer for Bitcoin Magazine, which he co-founded. 

At the time of writing, Vitalik’s Ethereum is the world’s second most successful and recognized cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. It has a market cap of 35.6 billion – which makes up more than 90% of the altcoin market. 

Vitalik’s Early Life

Vitalik was born on Jan 31, 1994, in the small town of Kolomna, Russia. He lived in Russia until age 6 when his parents moved to Canada in search of better work opportunities. By the time he was in third grade, his teachers had noticed that he possessed some remarkable talents. He was then quickly moved to the program of gifted kids. 

Once in the program, Vitalik began to realize that his particular sets of talents made him a bit of an oddity among his peers. These talents included a natural predisposition for math and programming, an early interest in economics, and the uncanny ability to add three-digit numbers in his head twice as fast as the average person. 

As he told Wired, “I remember knowing, for a while, for a long time, that I was kind of abnormal in some sense,” adding “When I was in grade five or six, I just remember quite a lot of people were always talking about me like I was some kind of math genius. And there were just so many moments when I realized, like okay, why can’t I just be like some normal person and go have a 75% average like everyone else.” 

Cryptocurrency Beginnings

Vitalik’s involvement in cryptocurrency can be pointed to two events: his being introduced to Bitcoin by his father and his own realization that centralized systems were plain horrible. He was a longtime fan of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, until, he says, the company “removed the damage component from my beloved warlock’s Siphon Life spell. I cried myself to sleep, and on that day, I realized what horrors centralized services can bring.” Even as a kid, Vitalik always had a ‘cartoon mentality’ of centralized institutions ‘just being plain evil.’ 

But Vitalik didn’t take up Bitcoin immediately. After hearing about it from his father, he first dismissed it was a fad with no intrinsic value. But he chanced upon it a second time, after which he began to develop more interest. After reading up about it, he wanted to grab some so that he could participate in this experimental currency. But he neither had the money to buy it nor the computing power to mine it himself. So he scoured online Bitcoin forums and found someone willing to pay him 5 Bitcoins for contributing to a blog. 

This work caught the attention of Romania-based Bitcoin enthusiast Mihai Alisie, whom he would later co-found Bitcoin Magazine with. Vitalik would soon be juggling the role of head writer at the magazine, his computer science lessons at Waterloo University, and as a research assistant for cryptographer Ian Goldberg.

As he continued researching Bitcoin, he decided to attend related real-world events. In May of 2013, Vitalik traveled to San Jose for a Bitcoin conference that completely changed his view on crypto. There were attendees from every corner of the globe, booths everywhere showcasing hardware wallets, payment gateways, Bitcoin ATMs, and so on. Being present in this living, breathing moment impressed on him that the Bitcoin and crypto movement, in general, was real after all. “That moment really crystallized it for me. it really convinced me that, hey, this thing’s real and it’s worth taking a risk and jumping into.” 

That very semester, he ended his classes at Waterloo. Instead, he hunkered down to look for a substantial way to contribute to this burgeoning, exciting movement. After further research, he realized that many people were going about “Cryptocurrency 2.0”, or the next stage for blockchain tech, the wrong way. All projects were trying to improve on Bitcoin by adding new layers of application. “I discovered that they were doing this sort of Swiss army knife approach of supporting 15 different features and doing it in a very limited way,” he told Wired. 

How Ethereum Came to Be

Vitalik soon discovered that the blockchain could be designed to support every kind of imaginable digital service. On the blockchain, these services would interact with each other frictionlessly. This is how the idea of Ethereum was born. As for why the name Ethereum, Vitalik explains, “I was browsing a list of elements from science fiction on Wikipedia when I came across the name. I immediately realized that I liked it better than all of the alternatives that I had seen; I suppose it was the fact that it sounded nice and it had the word “ether” referring to the hypothetical invisible medium that permeates the universe and allows light to travel.” 

Vitalik would go on to sketch his idea out into a whitepaper, which he then sent to several of his friends. Those friends then sent it to their friends, and soon, many people reached out to him with unexpectedly positive reviews of the idea. “When I came up with Ethereum, my first thought was, okay, this thing is too good to be true and I’m going to have five professional cryptographers raining down on me telling me how stupid I am for not seeing how stupid I am for not seeing a bunch of very obvious flaws,” he narrated. As it turned out, however, his idea was perfectly sound. 

Two months later, he attended another Bitcoin conference in Miami, where he met some of the people who really liked the idea. (Some of these were crypto enthusiast Stephan Tual, entrepreneur Anthony Di Iorio, Bitcoin investor Joseph Lubin, and programmers Gavin Wood and Charles Hoskinson). There, he described Ethereum to the conference, receiving a standing ovation and having a horde of investors lining up to talk to him after the speech. Around the same time, Vitalik received a Thiel Fellowship grant of $100,000. 

In the following months, Vitalik and his group of friends decided to raise money for the projects via a crowd sale of Ether, from which they managed to raise 31,000+ Bitcoins (worth around $18 million at the time). (However, the team made the mistake of storing the money in Bitcoin. Soon after, the price of Bitcoin tumbled, causing the team to lose a lot of money). Still, they had enough money to set up the Ethereum Foundation, which up to today oversees the development of Ethereum. 

Ethereum Comes to Being

The foundation then got busy working on Ethereum. Before the official launch of the network, the team test ran several prototypes of the network, the last of these being ‘Olympic.’ Multiple bug tests were also run to help identify any vulnerabilities in the system. In July of 2015, Ethereum went live. 

Vitalik’s Other Blockchain Ventures

Vitalik has also been involved in a few other crypto-related ventures such as pybitcointools, multisig.info, Dark Wallet and KryptoKit, and Egora. 

Awards and Recognition

Buterin is the recipient of several high-profile awards, including Forbes’ 2018 30 under 30, Fortune’s 40 under 40, World Technology Award in the IT Software Category, 2014. 

Quotes By Vitalik on Ethereum and Blockchain

“The concept of smart contracts is so complex, that understanding how to make them safer comes only with experience…We can only wait and allow people to do projects, some of which succeed. The same as cars and airplanes were becoming safer with time, through experience we will be also realizing how to make smart contracts with an acceptable level of risk.” Source

“The thing that I often ask startups on top of Ethereum is, ‘Can you please tell me why using the Ethereum blockchain is better than using Excel?’ And if they can come up with a good answer, that’s when you know you’ve got something really interesting.” Source

“The main advantage of blockchain technology is supposed to be that it’s more secure, but new technologies are generally hard for people to trust, and this paradox can’t really be avoided.” Source

“The idea that we can separate this economy where we micro-tokenize and let people have their own micro-ownership, I think that is definitely a very interesting and promising idea.” Source 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Chainlink (LINK) All About? 

Today’s blockchains exist in isolation from each other and the outside world. This significantly limits their potential to achieve mainstream adoption. For blockchain to reach maximum potential, it needs to be able to interact with the outside world. 

Today’s blockchains exist in isolation from each other and the outside world. This significantly limits their potential to achieve mainstream adoption. For blockchain to reach maximum potential, it needs to be able to interact with the outside world. 

Today’s blockchains exist in isolation from each other and the outside world. This significantly limits their potential to achieve mainstream adoption. For blockchain to reach maximum potential, it needs to be able to interact with the outside world. 

Oracles, which are third-party services that provide smart contracts with real-world connectivity, have been proposed to stand in this gap. But therein lies the problem. These third-party services are centralized. That means they have a single point of failure, making them no safer than any legacy digital system. 

What if there could be a decentralized oracle system? Now that would be something. Chainlink is a project that provides a decentralized network of oracles to offer smart contracts with real-world data and info. The first and only one of its kind, the project has attained impressive success just three years into its launch. 

Breaking Down Chainlink

Launched in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain effort to connect external data with smart contracts on the blockchain. The Chainlink consists of a network of nodes that facilitate the introduction of smart contracts with real-world happenings and info that’s outside the chain. With this, Chainlink supports a variety of applications, including supplying smart contracts with all kinds of information ranging from bank interest rates to weather forecasts, election results, and sports scores. 

On its website, the project describes itself as: “The Chainlink network provides reliable tamper-proof inputs and outputs for complex smart contracts on any blockchain.” 

How Does Chainlink Work? 

Chainlink’s main plan is to create a bridge between on-chain smart contracts and the off-chain. For this to happen, the network has an on-chain mechanism that interacts with an off-chain mechanism. 

On-chain Architecture

Chainlink’s on-chain architecture comprises smart contracts and oracles that transmit data from external sources to the chain. Oracles take user requests for outside data and submit it to the network via a requesting contract. 

The Chainlink protocol responds by creating a corresponding smart contract (Chainlink Service Level Agreement (SLA Contract) to acquire this off-chain data. The Chainlink SLA Contract then creates three sub-contracts: a reputation contract, an order-matching contract, and an aggregating contract. 

The reputation contract ensures that an oracle provider is authentic and reliable, getting rid of disreputable ones. An order-matching contract passes the requesting contract’s request to the appropriate Oracle according to the level and type of request. Finally, the aggregating contract takes all the data from the selected oracle and reconciles it for the best results and then delivers it to the requesting contract.

Off-chain Architecture

Off-chain, Chainlink comprises a network of oracle nodes that connect to the Ethereum network. Chainlink plans to add support for other smart contract platforms in the future. Let’s look at the off-chain architecture.

#1.Chainlink Core.

This is a software whose work is to interface with the blockchain. It schedules and distributes tasks across the various off-chain services. Work executed via Chainlink nodes is registered as assignments. Each assignment comprises ‘subtasks,’ that are processed as a pipeline. Each subtask has a particular activity it carries out before passing its results on to the next subtask, and on and on until the final result is reached.

#2. External Adapters

Apart from the built-in subtasks, Chainlink’s network also supports customs subtasks that can be created via ‘adapters.’ Adapters here mean external services with minimal representational state transfer API.

#3. Subtask Schemas

These are pieces of software that ensure compatibility between adapters since these adapters are of different types and created by different developers. 

Chainlink’s Reputation System

Chainlink utilizes a Reputation System that records the user ratings of oracle providers. Via the Reputation System, prospective users can evaluate the reliability and trustworthiness of an oracle provider beforehand. The Reputation System is based on the following metrics: 

  • The total number of assigned requests. This includes all the requests that an oracle has previously taken on, whether complete or incomplete
  • Completion rate. This is the total number of requests that an oracle has completed. Completion rate is calculated by averaging the number of requests assigned with those that have been completed
  • The total number of accepted requests. This is the number of requests that are seen as acceptable.
  • Average response time. This is calculated by measuring the timeliness of responses to past requests.

The Reputation System incentivizes oracle providers to act honestly since a bad rating would potentially ruin a brand’s value. The Chainlink team hopes the system will create a virtuous circle in which well-behaved oracles acquire a good reputation, and the good reputations will feed into the incentive for a continued collaborative and high-performance environment. 

The LINK Token

The LINK token is the native token of the Chainlink network. It’s an ERC20 compliant token, meaning it’s based on the Ethereum blockchain. The network uses the token to pay nodes who retrieve data from external sources and convert it to blockchain readable formats. Smart contracts on, let’s say, Ethereum, have to pay their chosen Chainlink node operator with LINK tokens. 

The Chainlink whitepaper describes LINK as an “ERC20 token, with the additional ERC223 “transfer and call” functionality of transfer (address,uint256, bytes), allowing tokens to be received and processed by contracts within a single transaction.”

LINK also derives value from increased use cases of the network. As the use of cases of the Chainlink platform increase, so does the value of the token. 

Economics of LINK 

As of July 25, 2020, Chainlink is trading at $7.70. has a market cap of 2.7 billion that places it at #11 in the market. LINK has a 24-hour volume of $563, 161, 674, a circulating supply of 350, 000, 000 and a total supply of 1 billion. LINK’s all-time high was $8.80 (Jul 16, 2020), while its all-time low was $0.126297 (Sep 23, 2017).

Buying and Storing LINK

You can find LINK at any of several exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase Pro, Kraken, BKEX, BitHumb, LATOKEN, Bitrue, DragonEX, and Gemini. 

Being an ERC20 token, LINK can be stored on any wallet that supports Ethereum. Options include Atomic Wallet, Guarda Wallet, MyEtherWallet, Trezor, and Ledger. 

Final Thoughts

Chainlink is a real solution to a real problem. By providing a decentralized oracle solution to blockchains, it gives them the chance to interact with the outside world safely and securely. The blockchain ecosystem stands to benefit massively from that and similar ideas. So far, Chainlink has done extremely well, and it will likely go nowhere but up. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Ren (REN)? Here Is a comprehensive Guide

A few years ago, cryptocurrencies were derided as a fad, and Bitcoin was called a bubble that would burst sooner or later. Those predictions couldn’t have been more wrong. As we speak, cryptocurrencies are so successful that they were the most traded assets last year, and Bitcoin was crowned the most successful asset in the […]

A few years ago, cryptocurrencies were derided as a fad, and Bitcoin was called a bubble that would burst sooner or later. Those predictions couldn’t have been more wrong. As we speak, cryptocurrencies are so successful that they were the most traded assets last year, and Bitcoin was crowned the most successful asset in the […]

A few years ago, cryptocurrencies were derided as a fad, and Bitcoin was called a bubble that would burst sooner or later. Those predictions couldn’t have been more wrong. As we speak, cryptocurrencies are so successful that they were the most traded assets last year, and Bitcoin was crowned the most successful asset in the past decade. What this signals to is increased consumer interest in this emerging (or firmly established depending on who you ask) asset class. 

The only problem is, each cryptocurrency currently exists in its own universe. Why is this not ideal? Because it creates a fragmented marketplace that partly impedes cryptocurrencies from going mainstream. It also confuses users. With the thousands of cryptocurrencies available today, how will users keep up with each, separately? 

In light of this, it’s clear that the current blockchain infrastructure needs changing. Ren is a cryptocurrency and blockchain project that wants to facilitate interoperability between blockchains. The Ren team hopes that with this, blockchains can interact with each other for the good of both the industry and users. 

What’s Ren? 

Formerly known as Republic Protocol, Ren is a blockchain-enabled protocol that aims to provide liquidity and interoperability (through cross atomic swaps) for cryptocurrencies. The Ren protocol relies on a decentralized network of Darknodes to provide the highest level of security for transactions and network participants. Ren allows anyone anywhere to “transfer any token between any blockchain.” That’s the long-term goal, at least. For now, only four cryptocurrencies are currently supported: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and ZCash. 

Ren says: “We facilitate cross-chain trains through atomic swaps and implement proper economic incentives to ensure these trades are executed thoroughly. Compared to a centralized dark pool or exchange, the Republic Protocol removes the risk of asset theft confiscation or the possibility of interference from a malicious exchange operator. The Republic protocol is available universally and is highly transparent with regards to how the underlying protocol operates.” 

Why is Interoperability Important?

While cryptocurrency was invented for the noblest of reasons, it’s hard to achieve those goals if every blockchain operates on its own, like some island. Instead, if blockchains could work together, it could provide better liquidity for traders and a more seamless, intuitive experience for users.

Ren elaborates this, saying: “Without interoperability, it is impossible to connect different boxes together in a way that the decentralized applications can benefit from each other’s liquidity and provide a simple and complete experience for their users.”

Interoperability would also help to eliminate barriers to access to decentralized finance products, enhancing financial inclusivity. 

Ren’s Darkpool and Secure Multi-party Computation (SMPC)

Ren uses a ‘secure multi-party computation’ (SMPC) to protect users’ and funds’ privacy. At its core, SMPC facilitates the matching of orders while keeping the price and the volume under wraps. The idea is to facilitate large-volume trades with as little price slippage as possible, while still playing by the rules of the dark pool. 

Ren has the following features that support that make up a dark pool: 

  • RenEx dark pool: a decentralized exchange whose price, volume and transacting parties are hidden
  • Hidden order book: a book where orders are kept private until they executed
  • Cross-train asset trading: a functionality that allows the exchange of digital assets across chains
  • Large orders infrastructure: a functionality that allows traders to place rust raids with little or no price slippage
  • Darknodes: network participants who match orders and collect trading fees

The Ren Virtual Machine (RenVM) 

RenVM is a decentralized and permissionless virtual machine that powers the Ren platform. The machine contacts operations in secret using zero-knowledge proofs (protocols are methods that allow for data to be verified without revealing that data). All info fed and put out by the RenVM is completely hidden such that not even the dark nodes can access it. This enables the machine to secure private keys across different blockchains, facilitating the travelers and decentralized exchange of tokens across those chains. 

RenVM has four core characteristics: 

  • Shamir’s Secret Sharing: a cryptographic algorithm that’s a form of secret sharing in which a secret is distributed equally in a network. To reconstruct the secret, a minimum number of parts must be used. 
  • Secure Multi-party Computation(SMPC): a mechanism that allows the exchange of inputs and inputs to be run without revealing the content
  • Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) algorithm: a feature that allows a distributed network to reach consensus even if some nodes act maliciously
  • Hyperdrive: modification of the tournament call algorithm that supports SMPC

The Ren Token 

REN is the native token of the Ren network. It powers transactions by being used as payment for trading fees. It’s also used as a staking bond that both traders and Darknodes have to submit before participating in the dark pool exchange.

This is how REN is currently performing in the crypto market. It has a per-token value of $0.187840 and a market cap of $162, 747, 417, which makes it the 58th biggest cryptocurrency. The coin has a 24-hour volume of $10, 995, 073, a circulating supply of 866, 416, 516, and a total supply of 999,999, 633. REN’s all-time high was $0. 199440 (July 08, 2020), while its all-time low was $0.015394 (Nov 27, 2018). 

Buying and Storing REN

REN can be purchased at a variety of exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, Bilaxy, MXC, Hoo, HitBTC, Poloniex, IDEX, Uniswap, Fatbtc, Kyber Network, and Omgfin. 

For storage, you’ve got several options, including user favorites Trezor and Ledger Nano, as well as Atomic Wallet, MyEtherWallet, and Trust Wallet. 

Final Thoughts

Ren’s proposition for interoperable blockchains is not a novel one in cryptoverse. However, there’s something to be said about its pioneering secure multi-party computation, Darkpool and Dark nodes technologies that hide everything regarding trades and transacting individuals, guaranteeing complete and utter security and privacy. The Ren project is one to watch. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Dogecoin (DOGE) Exactly?

The cryptocurrency space is filled with ambitious projects, each posing as the next big thing after Bitcoin. But once in a while, the community is blessed with a simple cryptocurrency that turns out to be what parts of it truly craves. And if it’s one based on a wildly popular meme, the better. Dogecoin, which […]

The cryptocurrency space is filled with ambitious projects, each posing as the next big thing after Bitcoin. But once in a while, the community is blessed with a simple cryptocurrency that turns out to be what parts of it truly craves. And if it’s one based on a wildly popular meme, the better. Dogecoin, which […]

The cryptocurrency space is filled with ambitious projects, each posing as the next big thing after Bitcoin. But once in a while, the community is blessed with a simple cryptocurrency that turns out to be what parts of it truly craves. And if it’s one based on a wildly popular meme, the better.

Dogecoin, which calls itself “The fun and friendly internet currency,” is one such cryptocurrency. Starting as a joke in 2013, the currency, based on its massive success, is the furthest thing from a joke these days. Buoyed by an extremely passionate community – the self-appointed ‘Shibes,’ Dogecoin is now spotting a massive fan base of 163k on Reddit and 150k on Twitter. 

So, what is Dogecoin? How did it become a ‘mainstream’ coin despite its tongue-in-cheek beginnings? We unpack all that in this article. 

Fun fact: Famous techpreneur Elon Musk is a huge fan of Dogecoin. In fact, the crypto community voted him as the CEO of Dogecoin – a position he held for one day. (All in jest, obviously!)

Understanding Dogecoin

Dogecoin is an open-source and peer-to-peer digital currency that was launched in December 2013. It’s based on the famous internet meme Doge: which is a picture of a Shiba Inu dog usually accompanied by text in multi-colored Comic Sans font in the background. The bits of text – often in broken English – “wow,” “what r you doing,” “so amaze,” “much wow,” e.t.c – depict the dog’s imagined internal monologue. 

Dogecoin started as a cheeky riposte to Bitcoin but went on to quickly garner a very loyal following after its release. So much so that it was part of the 2017 crypto bubble of 2017 that saw many altcoins dramatically increase in value. Just like many other cryptos, Dogecoin lost much of its value after the bubble burst in 2018. 

However, its hugely loyal fanbase still uses and trades the currency. Indeed, its loyal users, the Shibes, use the phrase ‘1 DOGE = 1 DOGE,’ – meaning they believe Dogecoin should be used for daily transactions and not solely as a store of value or a speculative asset. 

Dogecoin’s supply is 100 billion DOGE, a far cry from Bitcoin’s 21 million. Despite its joke status, Dogecoin is just like the next cryptocurrency. You can mine it, purchase it from exchanges, and trade it for other coins. 

Dogecoin: A History: Beginnings of Dogecoin 

In late November 2013, Jackson Palmer, a product manager of Adobe Inc. in Australia, said in a now-deleted tweet: “Investing in Dogecoin, pretty sure it’s the next big thing.” 

Palmer had been a skeptic of the whole idea of cryptocurrency, and his tweet was a satirical take of the sheer number of altcoins flooding the market, with each promising to be the “next big thing.” However, after receiving positive feedback, he bought the domain name dogecoin.com. 

Meanwhile, in Oregon, there was a software engineer called Billy Markus, who was interested in creating a cryptocurrency but was not lucky with his marketing efforts. However, he stumbled on the Dogecoin buzz and reached out to Palmer for permission to work on an actual cryptocurrency called Dogecoin. 

Palmer gave Markus the node, and he began work on Dogecoin. He based the code on Luckycoin, which is in itself derived from Litecoin. Dogecoin employs a proof of work consensus mechanism and uses Litecoin’s Scrypt algorithm.

The duo went on to launch the coin in December 2013. The rest is history. 

Rise of Dogecoin

Two weeks after launch, Dogecoin’s price saw a 300% increase, going from $0.00026 to $0.00095 in 72 hours. From then on, it continued growing, reaching a market cap of $2 billion in January 2018.

Dogecoin’s success can be attributed to its presentation as a “fun” version of Bitcoin. It also arrived at a time when online memes were all the buzz, and its lighthearted take meshed well with the burgeoning cryptocurrency community. 

With its use of Scrypt and supply of 100 billion, Dogecoin hopes to be faster and more user-friendly than Bitcoin. Unlike many deflationary cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin is inflationary – meaning it has an almost endless supply. This gives miners an incentive to continue mining and securing the network.

The Dogecoin community is known to be friendly and more welcoming of new users than other crypto communities. It’s also known for its charitable deeds. The same month it was created, the online wallet Dogewallet was hacked, leading to the loss of millions of coins. In response, the community rallied together and started the initiative, ‘SaveDogemas’ to donate coins to those who had lost funds in the attack. In about a month, enough DOGE had been donated to cover the attack. Both the hack and the initiative granted Dogecoin relentless coverage, further helping seal its place in cryptoverse.

In more charitable efforts, the community came together to donate around $30,000 worth of DOGE to the Jamaican Bobsled team, which had qualified for but could not afford to participate in the Sochi Winter Olympic games. The community also raised money for Shiva Keshavan, a Sochi Athlete. In March 2014, the community came together again to raise around $55,000 worth of DOGE to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise. Around the same time, the community once again donated $11,000 to a campaign for building water wells in parts of Kenya. 

How Does Dogecoin work? 

One of the major highlights of Dogecoin is its inflationary nature, a significant departure from the majority of cryptocurrencies’ deflationary policy. Deflationary currencies feature a hard-capped supply. The main contention with deflationary coins is they encourage hoarding, as investors cling to them in the hope that the value will increase in the future. Also, once the supply runs out, miners have no incentive to continue sustaining the system.

Dogecoin’s inflationary approach is so designed so that miners can continue profiting from the network and hence sustaining it. Also, it ensures that lost coins will always be replaced. Dogecoin has a maximum production rate of 10,000 coins per minute.

Palmer said in 2014: “The goal for the currency is to keep approximately 100 billion coins in circulation – thus, after 100 billion Dogecoins are created, rewards will continue at 10k each block. This will help maintain mining and stabilize the number of coins in circulation (considering lost wallets and various other ways coins may be destroyed) at 100 billion.”

Dogecoin’s use as a transaction currency rather than just a speculative asset has also contributed to its success.

DogeCoin Controversies

Its glowing reputation notwithstanding, Dogecoin has dealt with its fair share of controversies. It all began when Palmer took an ‘extended leave’ from what he decried as a “toxic community” that, according to him, had begun to develop in the crypto community in general. 

According to Palmer, the cryptocurrency community was not only noninclusive; it was attracting people whose ideologies deviated from what cryptocurrency is all about. Speaking to CoinDesk, he opined that “the cryptocurrency space increasingly feels like a bunch of white libertarian bros sitting around hoping to get rich and coming up with half-baked, buzzword-filled business ideas which often fail in an effort to try and do so.” 

The next blow came after a community member, Alex Green, a.k.a. Ryan Kennedy, a British national, created a Dogecoin exchange called Moolah. He convinced community members to contribute to the creation of the exchange. Still, he was exposed for a scammer when it emerged that he’d used the money to purchase over $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin through which he was now living lavishly. In unrelated events, Kennedy was convicted and sent to 11 years in prison for multiple counts of sexual assault.

Tokenomics of Dogecoin

So, what’s Dogecoin’s market standing today? Well, as of July 25, 2020, the coin was trading at $0.003222, with a market cap of $404, 523, 934 that placed it at #31 in market rank. The coin has a 24-hour volume of $49, 428, 177, a circulating supply of 125, 555,697,764. DOGE’s all-time high was 0.018773 (Jan 07, 2018), while its all-time low was $0.000085 (May 07, 2015). 

Where to Buy and Store DOGE

You’ll find DOGE as a pair with USDT, BTC, BCH, and USD in several popular exchanges that include Binance, OKEx, ZB.com, HitBTC, Huobi Global, Hoo, Gate.io, Kraken, Poloniex, YoBit, and P2PB2B. 

You can store DOGE at Jazz Liberty, Coinomi, Freewallet, Guarda Wallet, and Atomic Wallet. If you prefer the best security, you should go for hardware wallets, and the user faves Ledger and Trezor, both of which support the coin.

Final Words 

Despite starting as a lighthearted joke that poked fun at cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin has witnessed unprecedented success. One of the lessons to draw from the Dogecoin story is the importance of a strong community around a project. Dogecoin never pretended to be something it’s not. Instead, it was merely a cryptocurrency for peer-to-peer digital payments. Among a sea of white papers and complicated hypotheses of the crypto world, Dogecoin is a refreshingly simple take – and the community loves it. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

How to Invest in Bitcoin

Everyone has heard of folks that became millionaires from Bitcoin trading. Of course, trading Bitcoin is no guarantee that you’re going to wake up super rich. It takes smart calculation and healthy doses of patience to realize a tangible ROI. 

Everyone has heard of folks that became millionaires from Bitcoin trading. Of course, trading Bitcoin is no guarantee that you’re going to wake up super rich. It takes smart calculation and healthy doses of patience to realize a tangible ROI. 

Everyone has heard of folks that became millionaires from Bitcoin trading. Of course, trading Bitcoin is no guarantee that you’re going to wake up super rich. It takes smart calculation and healthy doses of patience to realize a tangible ROI. 

Now, despite Bitcoin investing being a potentially lucrative venture, many people either still don’t have the faintest idea of what it is and how to go about it, or they think it’s something beyond their reach. 

We hope to change that in this article. You’ll realize that getting started in Bitcoin is easier than you think. 

So, we’ll break down the steps towards owning Bitcoin, right after we understand what Bitcoin is and some important caveats that you need to be aware of before hopping on the train. 

What’s Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin is the pioneer and the most successful of what’s known as cryptocurrencies. It has no physical presence – only digital, and it can be transferred electronically from one person to another, irrespective of their locations around the globe. 

One of the most defining factors of Bitcoin is decentralization, which means that it’s not controlled or run by any single individual or entity. Rather, it’s maintained and secured by thousands of computers (known as nodes) all over the world. These computers are run by regular people like you and me, just like anyone can contribute to Wikipedia. 

Bitcoin has a finite coin supply of 21 million, meaning once that supply is reached, normal coins will be released. The rate at which new coins are released is reduced by half at approximately every four years. The first halving was in 2012, the next in 2016, and the latest one happened in May 2020.

Despite having no physical proof of existence, Bitcoin has proven to be a very attractive financial instrument to investors. This is partly because unlike Fiat currency that is issued and controlled by governments, Bitcoin is self issuing, and its value as a currency is fully determined by people’s perception/acceptance. It’s the same thing when it comes to exchanging with other users. Users can transfer Bitcoin among themselves on a purely peer-to-peer (P2P) basis. 

When Bitcoin was only starting out, anyone with a regular computer could ‘mine‘ and own the currency. But after the currency gained traction, the mining difficulty increased, rendering regular computers ineffective and necessitating the invention of more powerful computers known as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

The problem is, ASICs cost a neat penny. Not just that, Bitcoin mining is now mostly done by entire mining ‘farms’ who more or less control the whole Bitcoin mining endeavor. With these odds stacked against them, the average aspiring Bitcoin investor has no choice but to purchase the currency. 

What you Need to Know Before You Begin

Bitcoin is a purely internet-based currency. That, therefore, calls for entirely different approaches to security and storage. That means there are a few things that you need to know before you even dive into handling Bitcoin.

If you want to invest in Bitcoin, you’re going to need a crypto wallet, your ID credentials, a secure internet connection, and a method of payment. After assembling those things, you need to sign up at a cryptocurrency exchange of your choice. A method of payment can either be bank wire, debit card, or credit card. These are the requirements for purchasing Bitcoin from a cryptocurrency exchange, which is one of several ways of obtaining Bitcoin. Purchasing bitcoin from an exchange is one of the safest sources and because there’s virtually no chance of fraud. 

Something else you should look out for is privacy and security. Privacy here means that, let it be only you that knows how much Bitcoin you own. Bragging about the size of your holdings is a bad idea. That’s because when you let the world know that you own Bitcoin, you could very well be attacked – and that means both digitally and physically. 

How can you be attacked digitally? This could be a ransomware attack, a SIM swap attack, hacking, phishing attacks, and so on. As for physical attacks, there’s no shortage of stories of people that have been kidnapped and forced to give up their Bitcoin private key. A private key is like your bank account PIN. When you give up your private key, you’ve given up control and access to your funds. 

Your private key should be guarded at all costs. You need to know that anytime you make a transaction, the person at the other end can see your account balance because it’s publicly available in your public address. It’s not a good idea for someone to know your account balance. So, if possible, keep any large holdings in different public addresses from the ones that you use for regular transactions. 

And finally, be aware that all the history of transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain is transparent for everyone to see. What’s available, though, is public addresses. Your personal identifying information is not. Bitcoin transactions are private, but not anonymous. Indeed, Bitcoin transactions are best described as pseudonymous. Here’s the thing: anyone with enough resources and determination can, by using blockchain analysis, track down the real-life identity of the individual behind a transaction. 

To counter this, various technologies have been invented to achieve complete anonymity for Bitcoin transactions. These include Bitcoin mixers. 

Getting Started 

Now that you know what you need to know, let’s go through the steps of acquiring Bitcoin. 

#1. Get a Bitcoin Wallet

Unlike Fiat currency that’s stored in the bank, Bitcoin has to be stored in a cryptocurrency wallet. That will allow you to receive, send, and transfer Bitcoin. There are two main types of crypto wallets: software and hardware. Software wallets are based on the internet (including wallets provided by crypto exchanges), while hardware wallets are kept offline.

Software wallets are not ideal because they are subject to online vulnerabilities. Hardware wallets, which are devices typically resembling a flash drive, provide much more protection since they can’t be hacked. Some of the best hardware wallets in the market include Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano X, Trezor Model One, Trezor Model T, and KeepKey. 

#2. Connect a Bank Account

The next thing you need to do is connect your wallet to a bank account, debit, or credit card. Be aware that each of these methods has its own fees. If you use a bank account, expect to wait for at least four to five days for transactions to go through. With a bank account, you can buy and sell Bitcoin and get money deposited directly into your account. A bank account is better, security-wise, if you’re dealing with huge sums of money. 

With credit and debit cards, you can buy Bitcoin almost instantly. However, most exchanges only allow you to buy crypto, and even then, there’s a limit to how much you can buy. You cannot sell Bitcoin or deposit money into your bank account if you’re using a debit or credit card. 

#3. Sign up on a Bitcoin Exchange

A Bitcoin exchange is an online-based marketplace where you can buy, sell, or exchange Bitcoin. Just like there are many online markets for regular products – Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba, you’ll also find a variety of Bitcoin exchanges. 

Different exchanges have different reputation, reliability, user experience, pay structure, exchange rates, and the available cryptocurrencies for trading. Before you stick with one, look around. Here are some of our recommendations. 

Coinbase: This is US-based crypto and one of the ‘mainstream’ exchanges. It supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tezos, Ripple, EOS, cryptocurrencies. 

Binance: At the time of writing, Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume. It also supports the majority of the major cryptocurrencies. Unlike many exchanges, Binance charges a 0.1% fee for all trades.

Square Cash: This is an app exchange by online payments company Square. The app is mighty convenient for users of the Square platform. The app aims to enable users to buy and sell Bitcoin as quickly and as frictionlessly as possible.

#4. Place an order

After signing up at your preferred exchange, you’re now set to purchase Bitcoin. Congratulations. Even if you can’t afford one Bitcoin, which goes for several thousand dollars, thou shalt not fret. You can still purchase Bitcoin in its small, infinitesimal divisions called Satoshis. 

Other ways to Acquire or Invest in Bitcoin

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the other ways apart from exchanges through which you can acquire Bitcoin. Some of these include: 

Bitcoin ATMs: These are kiosks that allow you to buy or sell Bitcoin. As of July 25, 2020, Coin ATM radar indicates that there are currently 8805 Bitcoin ATMs in 73 countries.

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin sites: These are platforms that allow you to purchase Bitcoin directly from other owners. Examples include Bisq, Remitano, and LocalBitcoins.com. Always exercise extra caution when purchasing Bitcoin directly from individuals. 

Bitcoin Futures: For the more experienced investors, Bitcoin futures are another way to get involved in Bitcoin. 

Mining: If you can afford ASICs, then you can absolutely join a mining pool and start earning Bitcoin. 

Final Thought

Now that you have a grasp of how to own Bitcoin, you’re better prepared to start investing. Remember to do thorough research on any crypto exchange before you sign on. Read reviews, look at the supported currencies, and so on. Also, remember Bitcoin’s price is uber unpredictable, so only invest money that you can afford to lose. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Ravencoin (RVN) All About? 

Blockchain opens up a ton of possibilities for the world. One of them is creating a token for any purpose, and having the ability to transfer it to other users in a safe, peer-to-peer, and decentralized fashion. 

Blockchain opens up a ton of possibilities for the world. One of them is creating a token for any purpose, and having the ability to transfer it to other users in a safe, peer-to-peer, and decentralized fashion. 

Blockchain opens up a ton of possibilities for the world. One of them is creating a token for any purpose, and having the ability to transfer it to other users in a safe, peer-to-peer, and decentralized fashion. 

Ravencoin is a blockchain effort optimized for this role. Because creating and transferring assets is its only function, it fulfills it pretty well. Ravencoin derives its name from the raven – the bird the Westeros people use to send messages in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire.” 

The Raven reference reads:” In the fictional world of Westeros, ravens are used as messengers who carry statements of truth. Ravencoin is a use-case focused blockchain designed to carry statements of truth about who owns what assets.” 

In this article, we’ll take a peek into the world of Ravencoin. 

Breaking Down Ravencoin

Ravencoin is a free and open-source blockchain and cryptocurrency platform explicitly designed for the creation and transfer of assets. Ravencoin is built off of a fork of the Bitcoin code; hence, it follows its unspent transaction output (UTXO) model. However, to optimize it for its main function, Ravencoin has implemented a few changes, including a block reward time of 1 minute, more coins – hence supply. 

Ravencoin’s goal while handling user assets is to prioritize “security, user control, privacy, and censorship resistance.” Anyone from anywhere can utilize the Ravencoin platform to create and transfer almost any asset of their choice. As we’ll see below, Ravencoin differs from other cryptocurrencies in some quite interesting ways. 

How is Ravencoin Unique? 

To begin with, the Ravencoin idea is sustained by a large network of volunteers, nodes, and devs from all over the world. Ravencoin has no official staff or headquarters or budgets. 

Again, Ravencoin is ASIC-resistant, ensuring powerful ASIC miners and farms do not edge out the average user from the network. This cements its inclusive policy and prevents the network from becoming too centralized. To accomplish this, Ravencoin deploys its X16R hashing algorithm – which was created, to lock out ASIC equipment. 

Also, everybody has a chance to earn Ravencoin either through mining or buying. There was no pre-mining or allocations for any private, public founder or developer. 

What’s the Difference between Ravencoin and Bitcoin? 

As we saw before, Ravencoin is based on the Bitcoin code. For this reason, it’s important to highlight the differences between the two.

  • Issuance: The Ravencoin mining reward was initially 5000 RVN, while Bitcoin’s was 50 BTC
  • Block time: Ravencoin’s block time is 1 minute, while Bitcoin’s is 10 minutes
  • Coin supply: Ravencoin has a total supply of 21 billion, while Bitcoin’s is 21 million
  • Hash algorithm: Ravencoin implements the X16R algorithm while Bitcoin utilizes SHA-256

Ravencoin’s Asset Creation and Transfer Process

#1. Creating Tokens

Ravencoin supports the creation and transfer of almost all manner of assets. Creating your own token has never been simpler. To create one, you need to burn some RVN and then provide a unique name for your token. Then, proceed to indicate the quantity of the tokens, any decimal places, and whether or not more tokens will be issued in the future. 

#2. Creating Rewards 

Token creators can also distribute RVN to token holders with a single click. These rewards can be for anything that the token creator wishes. For example, you can create tokens and sell them to people. With the money raised, you can start a business. When the business takes off, you can send profits – denominated in RVN, to the people who believed in and contributed to your venture. This extremely easy built-in function allows anyone, anywhere to do this on their mobile phones, on Windows, Mac or Linux. 

#3. Creating Unique Tokens 

Ravencoin allows you to create unique tokens – the only ones guaranteed to be existing and cannot be replicated. Unique tokens are non-fungible and are proof of authenticity. Below are some use cases for unique assets: 

  • Software licensing
  • In-game assets
  • Automobile registration
  • Fine art collecting
  • Proof of authenticity tokens to accompany items that are prone to be counterfeited
  • Messaging tokens on communication channels

Use Cases for Assets

You can create a set of tokens for pretty much anything your imagination can conjure. The following are examples of such use cases. 

Representing Real-world Assets

  • Gold bars
  • Fiat money
  • Property deeds
  • Energy ( e.g., electricity, water, oil, wood)
  • Silver 

Representing a Project’s Shares

  • Stocks and shares being in tokens instead of a physical certificate
  • Issuance of dividends in RVN
  • Tokens representing partnerships and royalty rights 

Representing Virtual Items

  • Tickets to events, with the ability to transfer or resell
  • Access tokens to allow individuals to receive a service
  • In-game currencies and other items

Representing a Credit

  • Gift cards
  • Airline miles
  • Loyalty points

Who is Behind Raven? 

Ravencoin was conceptualized by blockchain adviser Bruce Fenton and Tron Black. Fenton has previously worked as an adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and former Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation. Tron Black is the software developer lead for Medici Ventures. 

Raven Tokenomics

At the time of writing, Ravencoin (RVN) is the 67th largest cryptocurrency. It’s trading at $0.020481, with a market cap of $136, 888, 279, and it has a 24-hour volume of $12, 871, 915. RVN’s circulating and a total supply of 6, 683, 800, 000. According to Coinmarketcap, the currency’s all-time low was $0.080258 (June 03, 2019), and its all-time high low was $0.08794 (Mar12, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store RVN

You can grab some RVN through either of two ways: mining or purchasing from an exchange. If you’d prefer to mine, check out these pools listed on RVN’s website. If you prefer buying, then you’ll find the coin listed on several exchanges, including Binance, BKEX, DigiFinex, Huobi Global, OKEx, Gate.io, Bitrue, Bitvavo, and LATOKEN. 

Ravencoin is complete with its own wallet for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Third-party wallets recommended by the team include DCENT, Dove, Edge, Flare, and Guarda. Check out more here.

Final Thoughts

Raven coin is another blockchain project that doesn’t try to promise the world. Instead, it focuses on getting one thing right: the creation and transfer of assets. We’re also witnessing the unstoppable shift towards tokenized assets. With Ravencoin in the middle, it’s certainly bound to see its usability; hence its value will go up. Of course, this will depend on the community’s continued innovation in the face of a fast-changing crypto landscape. Let’s wait and see how the project holds up in the future. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

A Look at Bitcoin Derivatives – Futures, Perpetual Swaps and Options

The key to Bitcoin’s allure as an investment is its price fluctuations. The fluctuations give investors the choice to buy when the price is bearish and sell when the price is bullish.  But after the 2017 incredible bull run, Bitcoin seems to have adopted a more predictable price action. While the coin experiences volatility, it’s […]

The key to Bitcoin’s allure as an investment is its price fluctuations. The fluctuations give investors the choice to buy when the price is bearish and sell when the price is bullish.  But after the 2017 incredible bull run, Bitcoin seems to have adopted a more predictable price action. While the coin experiences volatility, it’s […]

The key to Bitcoin’s allure as an investment is its price fluctuations. The fluctuations give investors the choice to buy when the price is bearish and sell when the price is bullish. 

But after the 2017 incredible bull run, Bitcoin seems to have adopted a more predictable price action. While the coin experiences volatility, it’s not up to the level where many investors would consider “exciting.”  

For this reason, speculators looking for, well, more exciting trades are flocking to Bitcoin derivatives. Global trading of these products already even surpassed Bitcoin. 

So what are derivatives exactly? Read on. 

What are Derivatives? 

A derivative is a tradable security whose value is derived from or relies on an underlying asset. Derivatives are not a modern phenomenon. Indeed, they go as far back as medieval times when merchants all over Europe would use them to facilitate trades and take part in periodical fairs. 

Today, derivatives have become an integral part of everyday trading. Generally, they belong to the more sophisticated and high-risk realm of trading. Examples of derivatives include swaps, futures, options, swaps, and warrants. 

With that,

Let’s explore Bitcoin derivatives

#1. Bitcoin Futures

Bitcoin futures are an agreement or contract to sell or buy Bitcoin at a predetermined price at a predetermined date in the future. Bitcoin futures give investors the opportunity to participate in the Bitcoin market without having to purchase the underlying currency. 

By trading in Bitcoin futures, investors get certain benefits as opposed to if they were trading in Bitcoin directly. First, trades take place on an exchange regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which would give investors who are risk-averse more confidence to participate. Second, futures are settled in Fiat, which means investors do not need to sign up for or invest in a Bitcoin wallet. 

Of all Bitcoin derivatives, futures were the first to really explode into the market, and they remain the most actively traded today. Before they caught on, BTC futures were trading in lesser-known platforms. It’s only in 2014 when increased demand prompted major exchanges such as CME Group Inc and Cboe Global Markets to start offering the service. Bitcoin futures today lead other Bitcoin derivatives in terms of adoption and market activity. 

#2. Bitcoin Perpetual Futures (Swaps)

The Bitcoin market also supports derivatives known as perpetual futures or swaps, which are a lot like the standard futures discussed above, except they do not have an expiry date, a predetermined date on which they are to be settled. 

Since the contract will never expire, both the parties can hold the position indefinitely, as long as their BTC count holds enough funds to cover them. 

Perpetual futures use a mechanism called funding rate, which is a small fee that keeps the price of a contract near the underlying spot price index to cushion against major deviations. Funding rates usually correlate with market sentiment. When the market is bullish, funding rates will be positive, and when the market is bearish, funding rates will tend to be negative. 

The funding rates are exchanged between the two participants in a contract (long and short parties) – it’s not a fee collected by the exchange. 

Note: Both perpetual features and the funding rate phenomenons were invented by crypto exchange Bitmex. 

#3. Bitcoin Options

Bitcoin options are derivatives that track the Bitcoin market over time. A trader invests in an option by buying the “option” or right (but not obligation) to sell or buy the asset at a set price (known as the strike price) in the future.

Options contracts can either be of two types: call and put. Call options give you the right to purchase underlying assets before or on a specific date. Put options give you the right to sell it. 

Options contracts can also be either European or American. An American option allows you to exercise options rights at any time during the life of a contract (before and on the date of expiration), while the European option can only be executed on the day of expiration.

Owning the rights to an option means that you reserve the right to buy or sell on the expiry date. If you don’t, the contract simply lapses. However, you lose the money you paid for the contract. 

Just like futures, options are settled in cash but bear very little risk compared to futures. With futures, both parties (buyer and seller) have unlimited risk and reward (since the price of Bitcoin can go any direction before the settlement). For options, however, only buyers have an unlimited reward for a limited risk, while sellers have unlimited risk and very limited reward.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Top 5 Anonymous Cryptocurrency Wallets

Did you know that Bitcoin is not anonymous? Yes, your public address can be used to link your transactions with your real identity. This is obviously,  not ideal because if it happens, an attacker will stop at nothing to hack your account. And at this point, you already know that crypto is the target of all manner of scams, fraud, and theft attempts. What this means is you cannot leave any stone unturned when it comes to protecting your crypto funds. 

Did you know that Bitcoin is not anonymous? Yes, your public address can be used to link your transactions with your real identity. This is obviously,  not ideal because if it happens, an attacker will stop at nothing to hack your account. And at this point, you already know that crypto is the target of all manner of scams, fraud, and theft attempts. What this means is you cannot leave any stone unturned when it comes to protecting your crypto funds. 

Did you know that Bitcoin is not anonymous? Yes, your public address can be used to link your transactions with your real identity. This is obviously,  not ideal because if it happens, an attacker will stop at nothing to hack your account. And at this point, you already know that crypto is the target of all manner of scams, fraud, and theft attempts. What this means is you cannot leave any stone unturned when it comes to protecting your crypto funds. 

One of the best ways to do that is to use an anonymous wallet. Anonymous wallets keep your info away from your transactions. They also obscure the movement of your money, so snooping parties are thrown off. 

That said, which anonymous wallets are out there? We did a breakdown of five of the best, so you know which option is best for you. 

#1. Samourai Wallet (Mobile, Bitcoin-only)

Samourai is a wallet that keeps your transactions private, your identity under wraps, and your crypto secure. And if the statement on their website is anything to go by, the team behind the wallet is pretty serious about what they’re doing. The group introduces themselves as: “…privacy activists who have dedicated their lives to creating the software that Silicon Valley will never build, the regulators will never allow, and VC’s will never invest in. We build the software that Bitcoin deserves.” 

Samourai utilizes the following features to keep you off the trail:

Stonewall: A feature that thwarts address clustering efforts that would  deanonymize you

PayNym: Having your public address online makes you vulnerable to tracking attempts. PayNyms prevent this from ever happening by keeping the public address between just the two involved parties (sender and receiver)

Scrambled PIN: PIN access is randomized every time you’re accessing the wallet. Also, the PIN is never visually presented. This way, screen recording spyware, and similar attempts are effectively thwarted.

Stealth Mode: A cool feature that removes the Samourai Wallet from your phone’s launcher, home screen, and app list. Instead, to reveal the wallet, you need to dial a secret PIN code. 

#2. Wasabi Wallet (Desktop, Bitcoin-only)

Wasabi is a BTC wallet that is ‘unfairly private.’ The wallet implements CoinJoin and Tor to protect your privacy and anonymize your transactions.

Conjoin is an anonymization strategy that ‘mixes’ multiple users’ transactions so that it’s hard for third parties to identify which transaction belongs to which user. It’s impossible, even for the CoinJoin coordinator, to track each transaction.

All transactions go through Tor, providing an extra layer of privacy and anonymity. Currently, Wasabi is only available for desktop macOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and Linux systems. 

#3. Unstoppable (Android and iOS, Multiple currencies)

Unstoppable is a mobile wallet that enables you to interact with local currencies in a safe, independent, and private manner. You don’t need an account, email, phone number, KYC, or third-party service to start using Unstoppable. It also utilizes ‘input/output randomize’ so no one can track incoming and outgoing transactions. This throws off any third party monitoring your transactions either when you’re transacting or in the future. Unstoppable also employs ‘no address reuse’ so that there’s no single trail of your transaction history.

The wallet currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), all ERC20 tokens, Binance Chain (BNB), and BEP2 tokens, Dash (DASH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

An Unstoppable wallet also educates users on crypto essentials so that users can get acquainted with the basics of the industry. On the app, users also get daily insights into what’s happening in the crypto market. You can also trade/exchange Ethereum and  ERC20 tokens right on the app.

Unstoppable also uses secure storage mechanisms provided by Android so that no one can access your funds should your phone get stolen or lost.

#4. Electrum on Tails OS

Electrum is one of the most trusted crypto wallets. Using Electrum integrated with the Tails operating system can guarantee users full anonymity. The Tails OS runs your activity through Tor, making it impossible for third parties to track your transactions. 

If you’re wondering what Tails is, it’s a software explicitly designed to anonymize user online presence. “Tails is a live system that aims to preserve your privacy and anonymity. It helps you to use the internet anonymously and circumvent censorship almost anywhere you go and on any computer but leaving no trace unless you ask it explicitly. It is a complete operating system designed to be used from a USB stick or a DVD independently of the computer’s original operating system. It is a free software and based on Debian GNU/Linux.” 

Like many other anonymity wallets, you don’t need to enter any personal information during setup. Electrum also supports a ‘no address reuse’ feature so that no one can track your transaction history by using just one address. The wallet also supports plugins for third-party wallets and multi-signature services. 

If you plan to or are using a hardware wallet, you can use it in conjunction with Electrum. The wallet supports third-party plugins for popular hardware wallets as well as multi-signature services. This wallet is best suited for the more tech-savvy users who have no difficulty using alternative operating systems. If I would rather stick to a wallet with everything in-house, then you might need to skip this option.

#5. BitLox (Hardware, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold)

BitLox is a hardware wallet that, on top of anonymization, comes with a host of features that users will find highly desirable. The wallet supports hidden wallets – which is hidden wallet data that is indistinguishable from random bytes in such a way that only you know that data is there. 

Bitcoin comes in three sets: BitLox Advanced, BitLox Ultimate, and BitLox Extreme Privacy. BitLox Advanced, made from aerospace alloys, is the simplest of them all. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple when it comes to ensuring user funds’ security. The option comes with 100 different wallets, with each capable creating an infinite number of addresses. 

The  Ultimate option only differs from the Advanced option in the material that makes it: titanium. The Extreme Privacy option is fortified with military-grade USB fault and comes with the Tails OS so that your activity it’s completely anonymous. 

Other amazing features of BitLox include multi-language support, several layers of PIN protection when you’re logging in and for every single transaction, and the deletion of all user data in case the emergency PIN is required. This means even if your wallet lands in the wrong hands, they can’t use your PIN, mnemonic phrase, and so on to access your funds.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Request(REQ) All About?

When you think of what blockchain can do for payments today, you can’t help but notice the flaws inherent in current payment models, from data breaches to fraud and error-prone transactions, to incredibly high fees, especially for cross-border transactions. Blockchain, aided by its decentralized and immutable features, can help dramatically improve how things are done in the payments industry. 

When you think of what blockchain can do for payments today, you can’t help but notice the flaws inherent in current payment models, from data breaches to fraud and error-prone transactions, to incredibly high fees, especially for cross-border transactions. Blockchain, aided by its decentralized and immutable features, can help dramatically improve how things are done in the payments industry. 

When you think of what blockchain can do for payments today, you can’t help but notice the flaws inherent in current payment models, from data breaches to fraud and error-prone transactions, to incredibly high fees, especially for cross-border transactions. Blockchain, aided by its decentralized and immutable features, can help dramatically improve how things are done in the payments industry. 

Request is a blockchain-powered platform that aims to help businesses globally tap into the potential of blockchain. The Request team believes payment processes should be seamless and more intuitive for users and has created an infrastructure to help businesses offer this to customers. 

So, what’s Request all about? This article is a deep-dive into the Request ecosystem, as well as a close look at its native token, REQ. 

Breaking Down Request

Request is an Ethereum-based effort at making payments easier to manage than ever. On the Request network, anyone can request payment and get paid via just a few clicks and in a secure way, without the need for intermediaries. All the sections are stored in a decentralized ledger, where every party can click to view at any time. Request wants to become the backbone of the world’s trade, and to achieve that it makes use of a ledger that is: 

  • Universal – designed to support transactions around the globe regardless of currency, legislation or language
  • Smart – because it integrates a computerized trade code that can handle a myriad of payment terms

How Does the Request Network Work? 

The process of requesting and receiving payments over the Request network is pretty simple. 

  • Bob creates a request invoice and relays it to Alice via the blockchain.
  • Alice’s wallet detects the Request and makes the payment in one click.
  • Bob gets his payment.

This is the basic formula of payments on the request platform. Request payments can also be made for online purchases, B2B invoices, and payments across IoT devices. 

Request offers the following benefits over the current payment systems:  

  • Security, since you don’t need to share banking information.
  • Simplicity, since Request and payments are made in single clicks.
  • Savings, since transactions are not dependent on third party processors (e.g., PayPal)

The Request Network Ecosystem

The Request Network is supported by 3-tiered architecture comprising the Core Layer, the Extensions Layer, and the Applications layer. Let’s examine more closely what role each plays in the ecosystem. 

#1. The Core Layer 

The Core is the bottom layer of the Request network. It handles consensus and state transitions. It comprises basic smart contracts that facilitate the creation of requests for payments and records when payments have been made. The layer is immutable, meaning no one can change records once they’re updated. It’s also completely transparent (anyone can log in and view any information that is relevant to them), it’s intelligent (which allows it to detect when an invoice has been completed per the conditions set in the invoice). 

#2. The Extensions Layer 

This is the second layer, and it handles more complex transactions than the ones in the Core Layer. One such transaction is one coming from an organization – and it might include complex calculations including taxes, escrows, advance payments, and so on. All of these conditions exist in the form of ‘extensions’ that the user can tailor or make into a request. 

This layer will also, in the future, support “continuous bills.” For example, a tenant can choose this module to make automatic payments via their bank account to their landlord. The Request network will always deduct the exact amount every month, and the tenants only have to worry about making sure there is enough money in the account. Request will handle any taxes and any charges related to the transaction. Individuals using this layer will be charged a fee, which will be partially burned and partially paid to the extension developers (outside developers, apart from the Request team who have contributed to the network). 

#3. Applications Layer

This is the topmost layer, and it takes place off-chain. Companies can plug into this layer and create various requests, including accounting, auditing, payment systems, debt collection, e.t.c. When a payment system plugs into Request, it will access the invoice of the user and be able to respond instantly. 

This layer is also equipped with the Reputation Application, a system that protects against phishing attempts and other malicious activity. All companies/entities in the network have a reputation system. If, for example, they attempt phishing or ignore submitted invoices, they will be penalized through their reputation taking a hit. The Reputation System also has other purposes, such as being used to reward cooperative and honest members. Members with the highest reputation ranking can receive perks such as reduced fees and access to customized extensions. 

Use Cases of the Request Network

As a decentralized payments network, Request could help businesses in ways traditional payment models cannot. Let’s get a closer look.

#1. Invoicing

Request facilitates automated payment functions, which are also transparent, and with almost zero downtime. Its reputation feature also incentivizes honest behavior amongst transacting parties, reducing instances of fraud.

#2. Online Payments

Online shopping has become a necessity of modern life. However, online shopping is mostly done by e-commerce giants such as Amazon and eBay, which require users to submit KYC information. The downside of this is that information could fall into the hands of malicious parties. 

Request keeps user info cryptographically secured – not even companies get access to it. Additionally, there’s a very minimal fee for transactions. Smart contracts also automate everything, saving time and money. Also, they remove the need for time-consuming and error-prone paper trails as everything is digitized. 

#3. Accounting 

Request will improve accounting processes in so many ways. No more manual confirmation of records, invoice fraud, and irregularities as information is input in an immutable and transparent system. The Request whitepaper calls these possibilities “smart audits.”  

Uses of the Request Token (REQ)

REQ is the native token of the Request network. It has various uses in that ecosystem, including the following. 

  • As an incentive for various parties to participate and help build the Request ecosystem
  • As a voting mechanism for members of the Request community to make their voice heard on the future direction of the project
  • As an incentive for good behavior, and to promote the health and technical independence of the network, as stakers in the coin would be wary of engaging in activities that would devalue the token

Tokenomics of REQ

Let’s look at REQ’s market position as of July 21, 2020. To begin with, the coin is trading at $0.041768 and ranking at #157 with a market cap of $32, 762, 973. The token has a 24-hour volume of $868, 218, a circulating supply of 784, 401, 135, a total supply of 999, 966, 002, and a maximum supply of 999, 983, 984. REQ has an all-time high of $1.18 (Jan 06, 2018) and an all-time low of $0.004651 (Mar 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store REQ

The REQ token is available on several exchanges, including Binance, IDEX, Huobi, KuCoin, BitVavo, Gate.io, Bitfinex, Bancor, Kyber Network, Radar Relay, Fatbtc, WazirX, Mercatox, and Uniswap. 

Being an Ethereum-based token, REQ can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Popular options include MyEtherWallet, MetaMask, Guarda, Trust, Parity, Ledger Nano, and Trezor. 

Closing Thoughts 

Request is attempting to make the everyday function of making payments cheaper, quicker, and more intuitive. More than a payment platform, Request also allows developers to create payment solutions on its platform and charge for them. If Request can remain consistent with their goal, then they have a real chance at dethroning legacy payment systems. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Nimiq (NIM)? Here Is Your Guide

Cryptocurrency’s original idea was a peer-to-peer currency that individuals could interact with without the need for third parties. But evidently, that hasn’t quite worked out, putting in mind the proliferation of third-party players in blockchain today. Whether it’s exchanges or cryptocurrency payment gateways, there are just too many go-betweens. And these go-betweens, in turn, create […]

Cryptocurrency’s original idea was a peer-to-peer currency that individuals could interact with without the need for third parties. But evidently, that hasn’t quite worked out, putting in mind the proliferation of third-party players in blockchain today. Whether it’s exchanges or cryptocurrency payment gateways, there are just too many go-betweens. And these go-betweens, in turn, create […]

Cryptocurrency’s original idea was a peer-to-peer currency that individuals could interact with without the need for third parties. But evidently, that hasn’t quite worked out, putting in mind the proliferation of third-party players in blockchain today. Whether it’s exchanges or cryptocurrency payment gateways, there are just too many go-betweens. And these go-betweens, in turn, create a complex system that prevents millions of users from participating in the blockchain revolution. 

Nimiq is a blockchain platform that wants to inject more simplicity into crypto. Indeed, with just your browser – including your phone’s browser, you have a direct pass to the Nimiq ecosystem. No complicated KYC procedures, no taking up precious space in your device, no expensive middlemen. With this, Nimiq hopes to be an ‘it just works’ blockchain and crypto solution. 

So, does Nimiq really offer an ‘it just works’ solution? We’re about to find out!  

What’s Nimiq? 

Nimiq is an effort to help propel blockchain into the mainstream. It wants to achieve this by deploying a blockchain payment protocol that’s easier to use than the current blockchain platforms. The Nimiq team has written the code in JavaScript, so users can plug right in without having to sync to a node. 

Individuals can interact with NIM tokens using a browser across multiple devices. Nimiq’s main point is simplicity. So much so, that even the biggest crypto novice can get up and running – in a matter of seconds. You can even mine NIM tokens using only your browser without having to set up special software. 

Nimiq is derived from the Inuit language, and it means “an object or a force which binds things together.” This reflects in Nimiq’s mission of bringing blockchain closer to people. At the time of writing, Nimiq has 406k accounts and16k active members. 

How Does Nimiq Work? 

As we’ll discover down below, everything Nimiq is browser-focused. You simply need to go to the Nimiq website and create an account that will allow you to start sending or receiving NIM. 

Browser-First Blockchain

As we’ve previously mentioned, Nimiq’s goal is to make it easier than ever for everyone to interact with the blockchain. People today already use crypto to pay for things, usually through intermediaries. But the spirit of crypto is to be as independent as possible from central entities and third parties. The original goal of cryptocurrency was to have transactions in a decentralized and peer-to-peer manner. 

Nimiq’s simplicity-focused approach means bringing blockchain solutions to where the user is: online. Thus, Nimiq wants to offer the ability to conduct blockchain payments in a manner that’s as simple as interacting with any web app like let’s say, Twitter. The only requirement is to have your device connected to the web. No more downloading apps, plug-is, installations, and so on. 

Nimiq’s Design Approach

Nimiq wants to make blockchain payments as easy as browsing a web page. Apps have become the standard of how users interact with various web-based products. From Wikipedia to Microsoft Office to Google Docs, web apps are increasingly the go-to medium for users due to the following reasons: 

#1. Installation-free: With web-based applications, there’s no installation needed. Users can quickly open a website and get to using an application right away. 

#2. Compatibility across devices: By focusing on the browser rather than a specific downloadable application, users can get a more seamless and consistent experience across devices.

#3. Security and privacy: Browsers are traditionally fortified with layers of security. Thus, interactions with a browser are usually inherently secure, provided the user adheres to all security protocols

#4. Intuitive: Most users already established a familiarity with their everyday browser. Nimiq taps on this to design a smooth user experience that ‘just works.’

#5. Future-proof: Web apps have carved out a long-lasting place for themselves in the blockchain space. There’s no threat of web app software being overtaken by the winds of time.

Nimiq Use Cases

The Nimiq token is up for several uses cases as laid out on its website. Some of these include: 

  • Making and receiving payments
  • Store of value
  • As donations for content creators and charities, eliminating intermediaries
  • Claiming cash rewards in the form of Nimiq Cashlinks
  • Facilitating in-game purchases
  • Sending money cheaply across borders
  • As a reward for maintaining the network
  • Facilitating tamper-proof voting

How to Mine Nimiq 

Nimiq is one of the very few cryptocurrencies that can be mined with only a CPU. Anyone, ranging from the complete novice to the dilettante to the expert can quickly log in and start browser-based mining. The process is refreshingly simple, really. All you need to do is to create an account, log in, and connect a wallet. 

You can either choose to go solo or join a mining pool. However, it’s important to know that joining a mining pool is always the most lucrative option. This is because several participants combine their computing power to discover blocks faster. Some pool options include Nimpool.io, siriuspool.net, drawpad.org, balkanminingpool.com, nimiq.watch, and more.

The Nimiq Team

Nimiq is the brainchild of Robin Linus and Philip von Styp-Rekowsky. Currently, there are several team members listed on the website with expertise in various specialties such as communication and research, front end engineering, blockchain core development, and law. 

Around Jan of 2019, major cracks within the team became apparent when Linus returned from an extended leave and publicly posted (in a since deleted post) his grievances with the project on Reddit.  

In response, the Nimiq team hit back in a Medium post, addressing the concerns raised by Linus and effectively announcing his discontinuation with the project. 

Nimiq’s Supply, Distribution, and Current Tokenomics

NIM is the native token of the Nimiq network. The token has a total supply of 21 billion. The minimum unit of NIM is called Luna. 100’000 Luna makes 1 NIM, which makes a total supply of 21e14 Luna, which matches the total supply of Bitcoin’s 21e14 Satoshis. 

NIM is distributed as follows: 

  • 88% will go to validators rewards (throughout a mining period of 100 years)
  • 5% went to the token sale 
  • 2.5% will go to Long-term Project Endowment Foundation (10-year vesting)
  • 2% will go to Good Cause Partnerships and Sponsorships (10-year vesting)
  • 1.5% went to early contributors 6-month vesting)
  • 1% went to the creators (3-year vesting)

With that, let’s look at NIM’s current market performance. On July 20, 2020, the current traded at $.008583, ranking at #125 with a market cap of 53.6 million. It has a 24-hour volume of 6, 248, 420, 704, and a total supply of 7, 074, 420, 704. The coin’s all-time high was $0.013658 (July 19, 2020), and its first all-time low was $0.000283 (Jan 02, 2020).

Buying and Storing NIM

If you’d rather save yourself time and purchase NIM directly, you’re in luck because several popular exchanges support the coin. Some of them include KuCoin, HitBTC, Changelly, Changehero, BTC-Alpha, Coinswitch, and CoinDCX. 

Regarding wallet support, Nimiq provides the Nimiq Keyguard, which is an online wallet to get users started right away. Other options include Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano X, and Trust Wallet. 

Final Thoughts

There’s no denying that Nimiq’s solution is fresh. Its simple proposition might be what crypto really needs. Just the ability for people to derive value from cryptocurrency in the simplest way possible. Crypto adoption has been partly set back by its complexity, and Nimiq is helping to break down that barrier. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Why Does Bitcoin Value Have such High Fluctuations?

Why Does Bitcoin Value Have such High Fluctuations?

Why Does Bitcoin Value Have such High Fluctuations?

Why Does Bitcoin Value Have such High Fluctuations?

The number of people using Bitcoin is steadily increasing as more excitement builds around the possibility that the currency’s value will soar in the coming years. The enthusiasm surrounding Bitcoin’s adoption is due to the hope that as a store of value, it will yield handsome returns sometime in the future. The other reason is Bitcoin’s novel features that set it apart from traditional currencies – features such as decentralization, peer-to-peer nature, and transparency of transactions. 

Bitcoin is also seen as trustworthy, something that cannot be said of Fiat currency, which is released and controlled by governments and central banks. This is why it has become the go-to currency for citizens living in nations whose currencies have been rendered useless by hyperinflation. Bitcoin also provides a faster and cheaper option to send money overseas. 

But Bitcoin has its shortcomings too. A persistent one is its volatility or pretty unpredictable price fluctuations. What this means is that these fluctuations can bring pretty handsome payoffs or wipe away your investment in one swoop. 

At the core of all this is the question: what causes this volatility? What factors conspire to make Bitcoin’s price so slippery? This article dives into the whys and whats of this phenomenon. But first, let’s get a refresher of what volatility in Bitcoin is. 

What’s Volatility in Relation to Bitcoin? 

First, let’s define volatility. In finance, we say an asset is volatile if its price is often difficult to foresee – meaning it fluctuates a lot in a relatively short time. Such an asset may move up or down in pretty significant variations within that time. However, there’s no definition for what constitutes a ‘significant variation,’ it’s subjective. However, industry experts and investors can agree that if an investment is particularly risky, then that asset is volatile. Going by this definition, then Bitcoin is undoubtedly volatile. Its price undergoes massive swings within a few days, hours, and sometimes even minutes. 

With that, let’s examine why.

#1. Market Manipulation

The Bitcoin market is prone to manipulation courtesy of lack of regulation of the market that’s caused the decentralized nature of the currency. Indeed, there are well-documented incidents of the coin’s manipulation in the past. 

Since buying and selling of Bitcoin is largely unregulated, it provides fertile ground for bad actors to manipulate the price and cash out rich long before other market players can catch on. This sort of thing contributes to Bitcoin’s volatility. 

#2. News Events

Good news or bad news can significantly contribute to the movement of Bitcoin’s price. When news surrounding Bitcoin is positive, it can increase investor confidence and lead to more market participants purchasing the coin, bumping its price higher. 

By contrast, bad news concerning Bitcoin can sink the coin’s price. For instance, $72 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex in August 2016. The same day, the price of Bitcoin took a 20% dive. 

Other types of news items likely to affect bitcoin’s price include state or government’s new regulation plans, statements by influential figures in the finance and investment worlds, security breaches, rumors, and misinformation. 

#3. Changing Sentiment

Another driver of Bitcoin’s volatility is a change in sentiment concerning the currency. Positive news events can cause market participants to be optimistic or pessimistic about the coin and its future prospects. 

General positive sentiment in Bitcoin would prompt increased demand and an upswing in price. Other factors like price gains, combined with the media coverage surrounding those gains, can trigger more price appreciation and hence buying, causing the price to go up. 

Similarly, negative sentiments would have the exact opposite effect on the price direction. For instance, a price fall would trigger an unfavorable news cycle, causing individuals to offload their holdings or keep away from the market altogether. 

#4. Uncertainty over Bitcoin’s Future Value

This is another major factor driving the volatility of Bitcoin. Uncertainty in the currency’s future is caused by the differing views on the intrinsic value of Bitcoin. From the very beginning, questions have been raised about the fundamental value of the currency. It not being a tangible currency, and having no issuing authority makes it look like a joke to some people. 

There’s also the regulatory aspect of the market. As more governments and states move to crack down on cryptocurrency, it can cause many to question how long the coin will hold as an attractive investment that cannot be touched. In such instances, Bitcoin might lose its appeal, and more market participants would be uncertain of its future value.

#5. Forks 

It’s easy to forget sometimes that Bitcoin is just code – open source code for that matter. This means that developers can modify the code at any time to suit a particular end. When the Bitcoin community irreconcilably disagrees on something, it can lead to the blockchain being split into two, with one faction going one way and the other faction the other. 

When forks happen, the new direction of each new blockchain is uncertain at best. As a result, forks, and the emotions surrounding them, can cause volatility as investors rush to reassess their position in the face of a permanent change. For instance, when Bitcoin Cash forked from Bitcoin, Bitcoin dropped from $2800 to $2700 (July 23, 2017). 

#6. Inequality in the Coin’s Distribution

Bitcoin is extremely unevenly distributed, another factor that could fuel its volatility on occasion. Former managing director and head of financial markets research for AQR Capital Management Aaron Brown estimated in 2017 that only 1000 individuals owned approximately 40% of all bitcoins in circulation then. 

Other sources have arrived at varying figures, but they all point to the same extremity in which the small minority of the coin’s holders own the largest share. If a single individual/entity possesses a substantial amount of Bitcoin, they can trigger a major fluctuation by offloading even a small portion of that amount. The effect would even be greater if such entities were to liaise to cause significant shifts in the price. 

#7. The Tech is Still Young

The underlying technology of Bitcoin is still relatively young – just slightly over a decade old. For this reason, it will be a while before it fully matures and overcomes some of its most persistent challenges, such as scalability. 

When Bitcoin was breaking out and gaining traction, it gained more users – but it soon became evident that the network could not support a large volume of users at once. These days, it’s possible for a Bitcoin transaction to take even days before it’s completed. Situations like these could discourage users from joining the network, causing a slump in the currency’s price. 

 #8. Taxation

The IRS considers Bitcoin a taxable asset. This has affected Bitcoin’s price in more ways than one. First, it has added a whole complexity for users who want to have it as a store of value, a means of getting paid, and so on. The tax law requires users to record the market value of the coin at the time of the transaction, and enter taxes in Fiat form. This need to enter tax records every time can prove to be more trouble than worth for current and would-be users of Bitcoin. 

Also, the decision by tax authorities to tax Bitcoin can signal to potential users that stronger regulation policies are in the cards, and this can send many scurrying in the opposite direction. Extremely strong regulations would stifle the growth of the currency, preventing it from ever achieving mass adoption. This could cause many users to lose faith in the future of the currency, causing a slump in price. Also, the communication surrounding the taxation of the currency can be confusing to many users. The unenthusiasm stemming from this could contribute to Bitcoin’s volatility. 

#9. Emotions and Investing

Investing in Bitcoin can often have so many emotions involved, and this is only exacerbated by its already volatile reputation. When the currency’s price drops, investors will panic and experience fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). They fear the price will only drop further. They are uncertain if it will ever recover. They doubt their investing acumen. So what do they do? They sell their holdings. This won’t have been triggered by an actual change in the coin’s value, but rather by emotions. The effect is that Bitcoin will experience a tumble. 

Another scenario is when the price of Bitcoin is on an upward trend. Individuals will get excited and experience the fear of missing out (FOMO). They fear that if they don’t buy now, they may miss out on getting rich. So they rush and purchase Bitcoin, and the overall market effect of all this buying is increased demand and price. Naturally, the price will shoot up. 

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Knowing the triggers of Bitcoin’s volatility will help you be more aware of the events surrounding it, and this helps you make wiser decisions as far as speculating in the currency is concerned.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Blockstack (STX)?

The internet has proved to be something of a necessary evil. Thanks to the world wide web, we can now have interactions with other people from all corners of the globe and get information right on our fingertips about events unfolding in the world. All this is enabled by remote servers. Cloud computing, which offers on-demand computing resources, is an evolution of the basic internet model. Today, cloud computing allows users to store private data, run applications, manage applications’ access control, and a lot more.

The internet has proved to be something of a necessary evil. Thanks to the world wide web, we can now have interactions with other people from all corners of the globe and get information right on our fingertips about events unfolding in the world. All this is enabled by remote servers. Cloud computing, which offers on-demand computing resources, is an evolution of the basic internet model. Today, cloud computing allows users to store private data, run applications, manage applications’ access control, and a lot more.

The internet has proved to be something of a necessary evil. Thanks to the world wide web, we can now have interactions with other people from all corners of the globe and get information right on our fingertips about events unfolding in the world. All this is enabled by remote servers. Cloud computing, which offers on-demand computing resources, is an evolution of the basic internet model. Today, cloud computing allows users to store private data, run applications, manage applications’ access control, and a lot more.

But currently, we’re contending with the negative implications of cloud computing. Mass data and privacy breaches, users having little to no say over their own data, lack of trust in tech giants, etc.

Even with that, computing is indispensable in our lives at this point. But that doesn’t imply we have to stick with the highly flawed current computing model. We’re already seeing an evolution of cloud computing into decentralized models. Decentralized computing gives the power to users, not tech giants like Facebook and Google. It gives developers tools to develop decentralized applications that are third-party manipulation-proof. It facilitates a more satisfying consumer-software relationship. Most of all, it prioritizes users’ safety above everything else. 

Blockstack is an open-source platform that’s at the forefront in trying to achieve this. The Blockstack team believes that the new web frontier is a user-owned internet powered by the innovative blockchain. The project made headlines for being the first token sale in the history of the US to be cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

So, what’s Blockstack, and what’s it all about? Let’s dive in already. 

Understanding Blockstack

Blockstack is a blockchain-enabled project that wants to offer a “fair and open internet that puts users in control of their data.” The big idea is to accord data users complete control over their data and identity as opposed to the current situation where individuals have little to no control over how big companies do with their data. The Blockstack team is accomplishing this goal through a suite of very affordable and easy-to-use developer tools that developers of all over the world can use to create decentralized applications (DApps). 

According to the Blockstack white paper, “Blockstack is an open-source effort to design, develop and grow a decentralized computer network that provides a full-stack alternative to traditional cloud computing. Blockstack is reimagining the application layer of the traditional internet and provides a new network for decentralized applications; applications built on Blockstack enable users to own and control their data directly.” 

Blockstack’s Design Goals

Before we do a deep dive into the inner workings of Blockstack, let’s first see the design goals it envisions for DApps: 

#1. Ease of Use. Blockstack wants its decentralized applications to be as easy to use as conventional internet applications, such as Facebook, are. In the same vein, they should be as easy to develop as it is on cloud computing today. 

#2. Scalability. Blockstack intends for DApps built on it to be able to support millions to billions of users. For this to be possible, the Blockstack blockchain should be able to scale with an ever-growing number of users.

#3. User Control. Ultimate user control is very important to the Blockstack team. DApps running on the Blockstack network must put users in complete control over their data and identifying information by default. 

How Does Blockstack Work? 

The Blockstack network relies on numerous components that work with each other to provide an environment creating and implementing DApps. Let’s examine some of the key ones. 

i) The Stacks Blockchain. 

This is the foundation of the Blockstack network. The Stacks blockchain enables users to register and control digital assets such as usernames – which in turn allows them to control how the data is stored. The blockchain also allows users to register and execute smart contracts. Stacks has two kinds of participants: miners and stackers. 

Miners on the Stacks blockchain need to post Bitcoin to mine a block. The BTC will then be distributed across a network of nodes (stackers), maintaining the blockchain. The Stacks blockchain uses a proof-of-transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism. According to the whitepaper of Blockstack’s version 2 blockchain, “PoX can help to solve a bootstrapping problem for new blockchains. Participation rewards in a separate, more stable base cryptocurrency can be a better incentive for encouraging initial participation than offering participation rewards in a new cryptocurrency.” 

ii) Gaia Storage System. 

The Blockstack white paper describes Gaia as a “user-controlled storage system that enables applications to interact with private data lockers.” Users, and not the Stacks blockchain, get to host these data lockers. This can be either on a cloud provider, local disk, or remote storage. Users also choose the storage provider. Users can discover data lockers by looking up on the Stacks blockchain. As with any centralized data storage, Gaia removes the need for third-party storage solutions such as Google and Amazon. 

iii) Blockstack Authentication

Blockstack has a feature known as the Blockstack Authentication protocol that facilitates decentralized authentication on the platform. With the feature, users can establish their identity and provide information on which Gaia location should be used for that user’s data storage. Instead of commonplace passwords, Gaia utilizes public key cryptography to secure user data. Authentication happens entirely on the Blockstack blockchain and is maintained by the Blockstack Naming System. 

iv) Blockstack Libraries and SDKs

Blockstack provides a host of libraries and software development kits (SDKs) for developers to build DApps as easily as it would be for traditional internet applications. Blockstack provides SDKs for Android, iOS, JavaScript, and Facebook’s mobile application framework React Native. For new developers, Blockstack provides a tutorial that can get them started in an hour. Also, the libraries and SDKs help users to interact with the Blockstack network, e.g., creating and managing their own identities.

v) Clarity Smart Contracts

Blockstack implements a programming language for what it calls ‘predictable smart contracts.’ Clarity-based smart contracts unlock interesting use cases for DApps. Some potential use cases include: 

  • Access control (e.g., pay to play)
  • Creation of both non-fungible and fungible tokens 
  • Business model templates (e.g., financial projections and sales strategies)
  • Application-specific blockchains
  • Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) 
  • Language design

Charity differs from the majority of smart contract languages in two key ways: it is interpreted (not compiled), and it’s decidable (not Turing complete). Interpreted means the contract source code is published and executed by nodes on the network. This removes the need for compiled representation (as with the Ethereum Virtual Machine bytecode for Ethereum’s smart contract language Solidity, for instance), which minimizes the possibility for bugs occurring. 

Clarity is also decidable. Decidability helps to determine exactly when a code is going to be executed and what exactly it will do in certain situations. The intention of using a decidable language is to avoid incidents like the DAO attack. Because Solidity is an undecidable language, it’s impossible to know how a contract will behave in specific circumstances without actually executing in those circumstances. 

Token Overview and Use Cases

Stack (STX) is the native token of the Blockstack blockchain. Use cases for Stack include, but are not limited to: 

  • Payment for registering blockchain-based identities which include usernames, domains and so on 
  • Payment for publishing and executing Clarity smart contracts
  • Rewards to miners for hosting nodes and securing the network

Tokenomics of Stack

Let’s take a look at how Stack is, well, stacking up in the crypto market. As of Jul 21, Stack is trading at $0.158618, and it ranks at position #93 with a market cap of $84 million. It has a 24-hour volume of 3.4 million, and a circulating supply of 530, 526, 315. STX has a total supply of 764, 449, 681, and a maximum supply of 2, 048, 913, 488. The token has an all-time high of $0.258708 (Feb 12, 2020) and an all-time low of $0.045008 (Mar 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store STX

You can purchase STX tokens at a variety of exchanges, including Huobi, IDEX, HashKey Pro, and Binance. However, US residents cannot buy STX tokens from these exchanges – at least not yet. 

For storage, Blockstack has provided an official wallet available on Mac and Windows. If you prefer a more secure solution, consider a hardware wallet such as the Trezor One, Trezor Model T, Ledger Nano S, and Ledger Blue wallets. 

Final Thoughts

The Blockstack team wants to turn the tables on how the internet operates. It envisions a web where users have agency – not one where their privacy and data is controlled by powerful corporates. This is certainly a timely idea. The blockchain community and people who care about privacy are keeping their eyes peeled on this one.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

What Would a Cryptocurrency Takeover Look Like?

Cryptocurrency started out on a limp. The first-ever – Bitcoin, only became a hit in the legendary 2017 bull run – 8 years after its launch. But even in the leadup to and after 2017, several cryptocurrencies were introduced that proposed entirely new ways of doing both finance and completely unrelated fields. Think Ethereum and smart contracts, or Monero and ZCash, for unprecedented privacy. These are examples of compelling products for cryptocurrency, which are above and beyond the original idea of a decentralized/peer-to-peer currency. 

Cryptocurrency started out on a limp. The first-ever – Bitcoin, only became a hit in the legendary 2017 bull run – 8 years after its launch. But even in the leadup to and after 2017, several cryptocurrencies were introduced that proposed entirely new ways of doing both finance and completely unrelated fields. Think Ethereum and smart contracts, or Monero and ZCash, for unprecedented privacy. These are examples of compelling products for cryptocurrency, which are above and beyond the original idea of a decentralized/peer-to-peer currency. 

Cryptocurrency started out on a limp. The first-ever – Bitcoin, only became a hit in the legendary 2017 bull run – 8 years after its launch. But even in the leadup to and after 2017, several cryptocurrencies were introduced that proposed entirely new ways of doing both finance and completely unrelated fields. Think Ethereum and smart contracts, or Monero and ZCash, for unprecedented privacy. These are examples of compelling products for cryptocurrency, which are above and beyond the original idea of a decentralized/peer-to-peer currency. 

Bitcoin started it all in 2009. Eleven years on, it has rallied the cryptocurrency industry to the forefront of finance. Crypto has been wildly successful – defying predictions of imminent collapse or bubble bursts. So much that it’s not a stretch to actually imagine a future takeover of the finance space by the industry. 

But how would such a takeover look like? Wait – how would it begin? And what would it mean for people, governments, and the global financial system? Let’s explore these scenarios in depth. 

The Making of a Crypto Takeover

Let’s begin by seeing the steps that would lead up to a complete crypto takeover. 

#1. Growing Public Interest

If there were ever to be a crypto takeover, it would start with a major increase in interest from the public. For instance, in 2017, the massive crypto rally led by Bitcoin was mostly fuelled by a surge in user interest: millions of people interacting with the new kind of currency one way or another – be it trading, selling, buying. This interest helped push crypto into the forefront of finance. A currency has only as much value as we ascribe to it – so for crypto to be accepted to the point of taking over the scene, it would first need to see unprecedented levels of interest and adoption. 

#2. Industry Impact and Response

As more people adopt cryptocurrencies, industries will be left with little or no choice to adapt. An increased prevalence of the currencies would force both physical and digital retail stores to embrace it. On its part, the financial industry has no choice but to design crypto-oriented services – a factor that will bounce back to create more demand among consumers. 

#3. Governmental Response 

Naturally, governments would not be quick to embrace cryptocurrency, given the decentralized nature that renders it immune to any centralized/regulatory control. As you can imagine, governments would rather deal with Fiat currency, which they have direct control over. However, as more people start embracing cryptocurrencies, governments will have no choice other than to acknowledge them and probably impose stricter regulations on how they are exchanged, traded, and transferred. 

#4. National adoption

After the government acknowledges crypto, the possibility of national adoption would not be too far off. At this point, the majority of the population would be using crypto for everyday transactions, trades, and so on. The government will have instituted crypto-friendly policies to facilitate a healthy environment for this to thrive. Governments will have reconciled themselves to the inevitability of an all-crypto finance model.

#5. International adoption

As more countries enact crypto-friendly policies, this could likely be replicated in more and more countries, and before you know it, a crypto era could be ushered in before our very eyes. 

The Benefits of an All-crypto Model

The question arises: why would a crypto takeover matter? Why are we considering this at all? Let’s see the advantages of an all-crypto system. 

#1. Decentralized 

One of the biggest selling points of cryptocurrency is the decentralized nature that protects it from any kind of regulatory control or state interference. Instead, crypto relies on a cryptographically secured, distributed network of users who maintain and secure the system. As such, no single player would be able to influence it one way or another. 

#2. Free from manipulation

Unlike Fiat currency, which is controlled and released by central banks and hence easy to manipulate, cryptocurrency is self-issuing. The control or manipulation of a currency can lead to hyperinflation. This is what happened with Zimbabwe’s currency. The government’s overprinting of new currency to combat widespread poverty only led to a valueless currency – which led the country to resort to the US dollar. 

#3. Minting costs

It costs money to make money. Think of the American penny, or cent, which costs 1.99 cents to make. Printing, minting, and circulating Fiat currency cost a lot of resources. Cryptocurrency exists only in the digital space, and these costs would be eliminated entirely. 

#4. Security 

Cryptocurrencies run atop the blockchain – which is secured with modern cryptography and is distributed across a network of thousands of users (nodes). A distributed network removes a single point of attack and ensures that even if a few nodes go down, the rest will continue protecting the network. These factors make crypto secure in a way that cash is not. 

#5. Getting rid of intermediaries

Cryptocurrency is a peer-to-peer currency, which means an all-crypto model would remove the fees and bloat associated with intermediaries. This also means lower transaction costs and fees when purchasing things online as well as when sending money across borders. 

The Downsides of an All-crypto Future

While an all-crypto model sounds ideal, there are disadvantages to it. 

#1. Fiat losses

Let’s begin with the immediate after waves of an all-crypto transition. If it were to happen, the value of Fiat would take a beating, leading to a large section of the population enduring major losses. 

#2. Uncertainty and costs

An all-crypto transition would not be cheap – in terms of the effort needed and a crypto-friendly infrastructure. This would involve grand plans, talent, and a careful, methodical approach, probably taking several years. This would cause an unstable financial climate and likely trigger consumer uncertainty. 

#3. No oversight 

Decentralization, which renders manipulation of a currency impossible, is one of the endearing qualities of cryptocurrency. But sometimes, a bit of manipulation can be valuable, especially when it comes to controlling inflation, curbing crime, and so on. 

#5. Possible confusion

At the time of writing, we have over 5,000 cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap. This is already confusing to investors and traders. If a country were to adopt crypto as the main model, which crypto would they offer and why? If it’s many coins being used at the same time, wouldn’t that cause confusion? How would users keep track of exchange rates? 

Final thoughts

So there. A crypto takeover would likely be like crypto’s growth itself. Slow, organic, and sure. In this case, though, that would be years, or simply never. However, if we were to reach that stage, it means cryptocurrency would first need to achieve wider levels of adoption and acceptance than now. But what’s clear is that the financial industry would drastically change – whether for the better or not.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Crypto Synthetic Assets Explained 

Generally, synthetic assets, also known as derivatives, refers to a mixture of assets that reflect the value of another asset. In a traditional market, synthetic assets consist of various financial products such as futures, options, and swaps whose value is tied to an underlying asset – either stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, or interest rates.

Generally, synthetic assets, also known as derivatives, refers to a mixture of assets that reflect the value of another asset. In a traditional market, synthetic assets consist of various financial products such as futures, options, and swaps whose value is tied to an underlying asset – either stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, or interest rates.

Generally, synthetic assets, also known as derivatives, refers to a mixture of assets that reflect the value of another asset. In a traditional market, synthetic assets consist of various financial products such as futures, options, and swaps whose value is tied to an underlying asset – either stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, or interest rates.

As such, instead of directly buying an asset, say; stocks, an investor can decide to enter into a futures contract of the same stock. This way, the investor will enjoy unique benefits offered by synthetic assets such as high leverage and liquidity, which aren’t provided by a traditional asset alone. Also, trading synthetics means that you are essentially mimicking the returns of an underlying asset without necessarily owning the asset itself. This is safer and can be used to hedge against risk as opposed to directly buying and selling the underlying asset.

What are Crypto Synthetic Assets? 

In a similar vein, crypto-based synthetic assets strive to give investors exposure to various assets without physical attachment to the underlying asset. In this case, an investor is protected from transfer risks, price fluctuations, and arbitrage trades.

From the term ‘crypto synthetic assets,’ you may be tempted to think that the assets in question are primarily digital currencies. Although this idea isn’t entirely wrong, it is essential to note that this derivatives product isn’t made up of digital assets alone. It also consists of fiat currencies such as the US dollar or the Japanese Yen, commodities such as gold and silver, and index funds, as well.

What separates synthetic crypto assets from the traditional derivatives is that investors get to hold tokens that track the value of the underlying asset. Thanks to these tokens, the decentralized nature of the crypto ecosystem is maintained, which also makes it possible to deploy smart contracts.

Advantages of Synthetic crypto assets 

There are several reasons as to why crypto-based synthetic assets are becoming popular. These include:

1. Decentralizes conventional assets

Primarily, synthetic crypto assets work by tokenizing conventional assets, such as stocks and forex, thus bringing them in the larger decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. As such, trading transactions are recorded in a distributed ledger, which guarantees security and transparency. Additionally, the decentralization of conventional assets grants investors open access to global derivatives that were only open to a few institutional investors.

2. Improves liquidity

The DeFi space lacks liquidity since it has a limited number of investment vehicles, unlike the traditional financial market that is populated by a wide range of investment tools. The idea here is that the more the investment vehicles, the higher the trading volume, which then translates to higher liquidity. So, by using tokens to collateralize conventional assets, the crypto synthetic model brings in more assets into the DeFi space, thereby increasing liquidity.

3. Diversification

For crypto market investors, their investment options are limited to digital currencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). However, these investment vehicles do not offer enough diversification opportunities to hedge against risks. The Crypto-synthetic assets model, therefore, allows investors to diversify their portfolio by allowing them to invest in conventional assets in a decentralized marketplace.

Popular crypto synthetic assets

i) Abra

Abra is a decentralized investment platform that allows investors to use their cryptocurrencies as collateral to create synthetic assets. The platform’s model leverages smart contracts enabled by Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).

To use Abra, all you have to do is download the app and take a short position on BTC or LTC, which means the platform gets to be in a long position. As with many traditional synthetic products, Abra then hedges the risk of price movement by borrowing an equal amount of crypto assets from a broker. For example, say, you want to buy XY stocks worth $500. You’ll be required to collateralize your cryptocurrency, say BTC, worth the same amount as the stocks you intend to buy. The platform will then peg your BTC against the XY stock price. If the price goes up/down, an equivalent amount of BTC will be added or subtracted from your account.

iii) Synthetix

Synthetix is an Ethereum-based platform that allows users to mint and also trade synthetic cryptos on its peer-to-peer platform. In this model, investors gain access to synthetic assets that concurrently give them exposure to non-crypto assets such as gold, USD, and securities. For example, a user can set up a crypto synthetic product using an underlying asset, say Ethereum. So, the user will mint the sEth token, which adjusts according to the price of Ethereum crypto. Currently, the platform has more than $69 million locked-in synthetic derivative contracts.

To make it easy for users to invest, Synthetix has three decentralized apps. They include;

  • The Synthetix exchange – allows users to exchange minted synthetic assets (Synths) without counterparties directly.
  • Mintr – enable users to stake the platform’s native SNX token. In turn, the users earn fees and can mint synthetic assets using cryptocurrencies.
  • Dashboard – offers an overview of the entire Synthetix network.

iii) Universal Market Access (UMA)

UMA is a decentralized platform for financial contracts. It uses self-executing smart contracts and a “provably honest oracle” mechanism to enable users to create financial products using ERC20 tokens and other protocols. In essence, the platform can be used by two counterparties to create unique financial products that give them exposure to real-world assets in a similar format as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

What’s unique about UMA is that their contracts are secured by economic incentives alone. This aspect works in perfect collaboration with the platform’s self-executing smart contracts that automate trades.

Conclusion

Crypto synthetic assets are here to change the derivative market by opening it up to retail investors through decentralization. This way, cry investors can trade traditional assets by collateralizing their holdings while remaining in the crypto-market space the whole time. Most importantly, the decentralization brought by the crypto synthetic assets platforms will open up the global derivative market to all classes of investors. In the long run, this will have a ripple effect on the traditional financial market as more investors trade crypto derivative products.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Benefits and Drawbacks of Blockchain in Philanthropy

Donating to charity brings a heartwarming experience in knowing that you’ve helped improve someone else’s life. It could be a fundraiser to help settle a hospital bill, feed the homeless, or even raise money for environmental causes. But, have you ever stopped and considered where your donations end up?

Donating to charity brings a heartwarming experience in knowing that you’ve helped improve someone else’s life. It could be a fundraiser to help settle a hospital bill, feed the homeless, or even raise money for environmental causes. But, have you ever stopped and considered where your donations end up?

Donating to charity brings a heartwarming experience in knowing that you’ve helped improve someone else’s life. It could be a fundraiser to help settle a hospital bill, feed the homeless, or even raise money for environmental causes. But, have you ever stopped and considered where your donations end up?

Unfortunately, charitable giving is not as charitable as one would wish. A good number of fundraising organizations are overwhelmed with mismanagement and bad records, which results in lost funds. Others are outrightly fraudsters whose intentions are to siphon funds from unsuspecting donors. 

In a report from UK’s The Guardian news outlet, global development workers admitted that 2 to 5% of funds raised in charities are lost to fraud. This translates to losses of $276 million from a total of 7.46 billion intended for humanitarian aid in a single year. Some organizations have even agreed to dissolve after being found guilty of embezzlement of donors’ funds. 

As the public’s trust in charities declines due to numerous scandals, there’s a new player on the scene poised to change the face of charitable donations forever. This is blockchain technology. 

Where Blockchain can make a difference

Blockchain, a distributed ledger system, can resurrect the image of charities in the following ways: 

1. Promote transparency and accountability

One of the most attractive features of Blockchain for philanthropists is that it makes it possible to trace all the donated funds. All the donated funds are recorded in a distributed ledger, making it possible for donors to monitor the entire sequence of transactions. As such, a donor can be sure the funds will reach the intended recipient, which in turn promotes accountability from the organizations. 

Also, every transaction in the blockchain network is cryptographically encrypted, rendering it immutable. This means that entries cannot be modified but can only be updated by adding new transactions. Not only does this offers unparalleled transparency, but it also minimizes the wastage of funds, thereby building trust between donors and an organization.

An excellent example of a blockchain-based donation system is Charities on the Chain, designed by China’s e-commerce giant – Alibaba. The system accepts donations from customers and allows auditors, the media, and the donors themselves to track information on how the donations are used. 

2. Reduce administrative costs

Besides fraud, charities grapple with expensive administration costs that eventually eat into the total amount for money raised. Sure, some of these overhead costs are unavoidable, such as office supplies and employee salaries. However, expenses such as those incurred when transacting with financial intermediaries can be brought down. Through smart contracts, the intermediaries involved can be reduced, in turn lowering the administration costs. For example, when donating, funds are often sent to a financial institution, which later sends them to the charity organization after taking a cut off the raised amount. Smart contracts can facilitate direct transfer of funds from donors to an organization while also ensuring that the charity receives the funds once certain objectives have been achieved. 

3. Facilitate fast and affordable transactions

Sending donations via traditional banking channels is usually expensive, especially for cross-border transactions. Also, during the transaction, the funds are subjected to taxes in addition to other deductible expenses. However, Blockchain can be used to facilitate the transfer of funds from the donor to an organization at a reduced cost with minimal red tape delays. Moreover, every transaction is recorded on a public ledger in real-time. This, in turn, helps decrease the cost of annual reporting on a charitable organization’s budget, while increasing its overall transparency. 

The donation process becomes even more efficient if an organization uses a native cryptocurrency/token to raise funds. Cross-border transactions will be efficient without a minimal daily limit, as it is the case with conventional money transfers. On the downside, using cryptos to raise funds means that charity organizations will be subjected to capital tax gains. This is especially true in countries such as the United States, where they are treated as assets. Also, digital currencies are usually volatile, which can lead to loss of value. To mitigate this risk, charities can consider accepting stablecoins that are less volatile. 

Potential Risks of using Blockchain in philanthropy 

Despite the advantages, there are few concerns to be considered when adopting blockchain technology in charity organizations.  

i) Regulatory pressure

Although blockchain technology has been around for more than a decade, policymakers are still trying to understand the long-term implications of this technology. So, it’s uncertain how they’ll choose to regulate it. Additionally, for organizations looking to accept cryptocurrencies as donations, they’ll have to bear with unfair tax laws imposed on digital assets. 

ii) Ease of use

Blockchain solutions work differently from traditional systems and are more complex than the latter. As a result, charity organizations face an inevitable learning curve when exploring Blockchain’s potential. As such, besides the high cost of application of blockchain solutions, organizations will also have to spend more resources on training their staff on how to use these solutions. 

iii) Security

While blockchain technology is inherently secure, smart contracts are prone to bugs, which can create security loopholes. Hackers, therefore, can exploit bugs on the code resulting in loss of funds. 

Also, the loss of private keys can as well lead to the permanent loss of funds. Not to mention that the same keys could land in the wrong hands.

Conclusion

It is beyond doubt that blockchain technology has the potential to redefine philanthropy and bring in the much-needed transparency and accountability. But before implementing this technology, charities will need to evaluate the cost of implementation, in terms of finance and management, and then weigh these costs against their charitable objectives. It is crucial to note blockchain technology is not necessarily appropriate for all operations in an organization. There already exist traditional infrastructures that can process transactions efficiently or even better than blockchain solutions. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Why the Blockchain Hype Should End

In the last few years, blockchain technology has been marketed as a game-changing innovation that could change traditional payment and information-recording systems. Indeed, blockchain technology offers tremendous promise to become a key driver of the digital economy. Still, over-the-top marketing of its capabilities is killing it even before any of its solutions materialize.  The best-known […]

In the last few years, blockchain technology has been marketed as a game-changing innovation that could change traditional payment and information-recording systems. Indeed, blockchain technology offers tremendous promise to become a key driver of the digital economy. Still, over-the-top marketing of its capabilities is killing it even before any of its solutions materialize.  The best-known […]

In the last few years, blockchain technology has been marketed as a game-changing innovation that could change traditional payment and information-recording systems. Indeed, blockchain technology offers tremendous promise to become a key driver of the digital economy. Still, over-the-top marketing of its capabilities is killing it even before any of its solutions materialize. 

The best-known example of blockchain technology in action is in cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, which grabbed headlines for its rocketing prices and volatility. These price swings led to a bitcoin-buying frenzy and the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams, which resulted in the entire crypto-market losing almost 80% of its value in 2018. 

In 2019, as the crypto-craze subsidized, blockchain technology entered into what Gartner Inc. calls the ‘trough of disillusionment,’ meaning the technology is struggling to live up to its hype. Most industrial blockchain concepts are stuck in the experimental stages and may not become a business revolution as anticipated. If the hype dies down and interest in the technology wanes over time, it could perhaps be the best thing to happen to blockchain technology, as it will force people to focus on the value proposition blockchain brings to the table.

Examining The hype cycle 

The blockchain hype can be best described as a gimmick used by businesses looking to capture gullible investors. Although this is not to say blockchain lacks an inherent value, the technology’s oversold optimism is somewhat unwarranted. 

As a recent advertisement survey showed, the term “blockchain” was one of the most overrated words. The survey suggests that many companies abused the word ‘blockchain’ to get free media attention and perhaps attract investors/clients. This is hardly a surprise as a year before the survey, a NASDAQ listed company – Longfin Corp – saw it’s shares soar a whopping 2,000% after acquiring a blockchain-empowered microfinance provider. Sadly, even companies unrelated to the technology world have boarded the blockchain bandwagon without examining the business value it offers to their industry. Such unstructured experimentation of blockchain solutions with a minimal evaluation of value at stake means that enterprises will not see a return on their investment. 

According to Gartner’s hype cycle, blockchain is still a couple of years away from revolutionizing business ecosystems. This couldn’t be truer, considering that the technology is still immature with a nascent market that has not yet shown a clear recipe for success. In the meantime, there are gaps between blockchain opportunities, and it’s real-world use cases. These include: 

i) Energy inefficiency

One of the biggest stumbling blocks facing blockchain solutions is the sheer amount of computational power required to run these solutions. Recording data on blockchain involves solving complex cryptographical challenges, which ends up consuming a lot of electric power. This is evident from Bitcoin mining, which has been known to be resource-draining in terms of electricity cost and hardware.

Besides the high energy demand, blockchain solutions still require ample storage to keep all the data. This is a huge challenge to small enterprises that cannot afford enough computational storage for their data. 

ii) Speed and Efficiency 

Blockchain technology is inherently slower than some of the existing infrastructures that can handle more transactions within a shorter time. A classic comparison to ascertain this claim is between Ethereum and Visa systems. Ethereum blockchain can handle about 15 transactions per second, while Visa processes approximately 45,000 transactions per second. This means that it is wiser for enterprises to hold on to the existing infrastructure than jumping on the blockchain bandwagon; otherwise, they’ll have to deal with slowed business processes. 

iii) Interoperability

The rise of blockchain technology has inspired developers to develop various iterations of the same, in an attempt to design unique solutions that meet industry-specific needs. While this is a good thing by itself, it creates many networks that work in isolation. As such, lack of interoperability among various blockchain networks can force enterprises to operate independently, yet they belong in the same industry. For instance, a bank might be using one blockchain solution, while another microfinance institution uses a different solution. As a result, it is almost impossible for the two to efficiently collaborate, especially in transactions that require them to work together. 

Key Blockchain Takeaways

The challenges mentioned above notwithstanding, there are several core insights about blockchain’s value that businesses need to understand. 

The focus is on cost reduction 

What’s forcing most businesses to experiment with blockchain solutions is that they fear missing out, primarily if they operate in a competitive industry. Such an approach obscures the real enterprise value of blockchain technology, which is to increase operational efficiencies by removing intermediaries and administrative efforts of record keeping. This is why the financial industry is more primed for blockchain solutions than any other industry, as it is built on trust between intermediaries. 

The productivity paradox 

By eliminating intermediaries and increasing operational efficiencies, there is a common misconception that blockchain solutions will equally increase productivity. This idea can be likened to the time when computing was introduced into the business world. Although it helped improve business operations, productivity statistics didn’t increase in equal measure. Given the dynamic nature of the technology world, it is rare for a solution to mature to optimal efficiency since there will always be newer and more promising technologies emerging within a short period. 

Conclusion 

There is only a handful of successful blockchain solutions in the market, and this has aided in killing the blockchain hype. As the dust settles down on the broken dreams and the disillusionment fades away, blockchain technology will be weighed based on its value rather than the abstract ideology of what it can offer. Nonetheless, it’s not all doom and gloom, since it is likely that blockchain technology may have arrived ahead of its time. Such was the case with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms developed in the 50s, but have come to find their use in the 21st century.

Categories
Blockchain and DLT

Can GDPR and Blockchain Coexist? 

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect more than two years ago. The law gives residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), power over their personal data and how it is used by organizations. This includes the right to ask for its erasure, the mandate for informed consent, and right over whom that information is shared with. The law applies not just to organizations based in (EEA), but also those based in other countries while serving European residents. 

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect more than two years ago. The law gives residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), power over their personal data and how it is used by organizations. This includes the right to ask for its erasure, the mandate for informed consent, and right over whom that information is shared with. The law applies not just to organizations based in (EEA), but also those based in other countries while serving European residents. 

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect more than two years ago. The law gives residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), power over their personal data and how it is used by organizations. This includes the right to ask for its erasure, the mandate for informed consent, and right over whom that information is shared with. The law applies not just to organizations based in (EEA), but also those based in other countries while serving European residents. 

With this in mind, it is clear that there is a direct clash of intentions between the GDPR Law and Blockchain – an emerging technology that is increasingly winning the attention of many organizations across the world. At what point exactly do the two collide, you ask? 

Well, by definition, Blockchain is a distributed and immutable ledger. This means that once the data is recorded on the network, it is impossible to alter it, let alone delete it. But, with respect to the GDPR Law, individuals have the right to revoke consent or ask for their personal data to be deleted. This puts organizations at crossroads, especially if they are looking to use Blockchain in the future to serve European clients. Now let’s examine the incompatibilities of these two entities: 

Personal Data

Personal data is a broad term used to define any information that can be linked to an individual. The same definition is used in the context of GDPR, where data consist of a variety of personal details from email addresses, health details, IP addresses, to device identifiers. This extends even to pseudonymized data that can be attributed to a specific individual by the use of additional information.

In the case of Blockchain, the technology uses anonymized data to record events associated with an individual. This is made possible by the use of public cryptographic keys that link a participant to a particular transaction. Even so, the mere use of an identifier — in this case, cryptographic keys — doesn’t mean that the data on the Blockchain is outside the scope of personal data as defined by the GDPR Law. Moreover, if an organization was to use blockchain solutions to establish customers’ identity under Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) policies, it becomes even more subject to the GDPR Privacy Law. What causes even more friction between the two entities is that Blockchain is a permanent system of records. As such, the stored data, whether anonymized or not, can’t be erased even if the cryptographic key is destroyed. 

Data Controller and processor dilemma 

The GDP Law was first proposed by the European Commission long before blockchain technology was a trend. It is, therefore, not surprising that the law follows a centralized logic where the focus is entirely on data collectors who also play the role of processors. Articulating this logic in the case of Blockchain — a decentralized technology — definitely, there will be discrepancies. Here’s is why, in a decentralized system, anyone who joins the peer-to-peer network becomes what is called a ‘node.’ 

The nodes keep a local copy of the Blockchain and connect with others on the same network to verify each entry. Simply put, nodes take over the role of a data processor as defined by the GDPR Law. Yet, the nodes don’t have control over how the entire system works. In a similar fashion, the party that designed the blockchain network can’t really fit into the data controller description, since they are merely platform providers. Without a clear definition of who’s playing the controller’s role, the parties can’t enter into a ‘controller-processor’ agreement as mandated by the law. 

Additionally, the data on the network is made public for all nodes to see and verify. This goes against the principle of “data protection by default” under GDPR, which states that data shouldn’t be accessible to an indefinite number of persons without the subject’s intervention. Further, if the data is recorded in a public blockchain, it becomes even harder for data subjects (i.e., individuals) to exercise their right to revoke the consent of their data. 

Compliance with the privacy law can only be maintained in a private blockchain where the network is owned by one specific party. The party assumes the role of a data controller as the nodes take their place as processors. However, a private blockchain is less secure compared to its public counterpart, which, as a result, puts users’ data at risk. 

Storage limitation

Under the principle of storage limit, GDPR law stands for the proposition that personal data cannot be stored for an unlimited time. Therefore, a data retention period must be defined according to the purpose of data processing. In contrast, one of the core characteristics of Blockchain is that once the data is recorded on the network, it cannot be altered or deleted. As such, the data will be stored for an infinite period of time, which is clearly against the GDPR Law.

One of the viable solutions to this problem is to store data in an alternative database. Consequently, Blockchain will then be used to store data that doesn’t necessarily point to an individual e.g., the hash generated from a keyed hash function. Also, organizations can use permissioned Blockchain to store the data and later incentivize all the nodes to ‘delete’ it by forking the network. Admittedly, doing so will break the hash pointers between blocks. However, it is possible to re-harsh the blocks since permissioned blockchains do not need Proof-of-work, and thus the process wouldn’t require much computational power. 

Using Blockchain to ensure compliance with GDPR Law

In an ironic twist, blockchain technology can be used to maintain compliance with the GDPR Law. This can happen in two main instances: 

Data accuracy 

One of the principles of GDPR Law is the emphasis on data accuracy. All organizations operating or serving clients in EEA are required to maintain an accurate record of their clients’ data. They are also required to have sound procedures to check and verify the accuracy of the data. Blockchain technology, with its virtually incorruptible trail, can be used by these organizations to guarantee the accuracy of the recorded data.

Data integrity 

Under the principle of data protection by design and default, organizations are required to protect clients’ data from manipulation or unauthorized access. In this case, Blockchain is the perfect tool for safeguarding data from third-party party intrusion while ensuring no single node alters what is already recorded. 

Conclusion 

Clearly, there is a direct clash between the newly imposed GDPR Law and blockchain technology. But on ideological grounds, the two entities share the same goal, which is the protection of data. By virtue of sharing a common ground, Blockchain can be used to enhance compliance with the GDPR data law. This will help organizations within and outside EEA embrace this revolutionary technology while still respecting the privacy of their clients. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

The Race for Africa’s Crypto Market

Facebook’s digital currency, Libra, may have hit a wall, but at least it succeeded in bringing cryptocurrencies to the attention of entrepreneurs who work outside the digital asset market. This comes after Bitcoin had a rocky entry into the mainstream, where increased speculative investment led to a regulatory crackdown in 2018 on the back of various crypto scams. 

Facebook’s digital currency, Libra, may have hit a wall, but at least it succeeded in bringing cryptocurrencies to the attention of entrepreneurs who work outside the digital asset market. This comes after Bitcoin had a rocky entry into the mainstream, where increased speculative investment led to a regulatory crackdown in 2018 on the back of various crypto scams. 

Facebook’s digital currency, Libra, may have hit a wall, but at least it succeeded in bringing cryptocurrencies to the attention of entrepreneurs who work outside the digital asset market. This comes after Bitcoin had a rocky entry into the mainstream, where increased speculative investment led to a regulatory crackdown in 2018 on the back of various crypto scams. 

As the rest of the world continues to grapple with stringent government policies stifling the growth of the crypto market, African governments have had a rather welcoming approach to cryptocurrencies. Although they have not explicitly endorsed digital currencies, their relaxed laws have created a regulatory sandbox for crypto projects to experiment with the fertile African market. It remains uncertain whether these governments will still be lenient to cryptocurrencies years to come. However, at the moment, entrepreneurs are working hard to build a new financial framework in the continent using cryptocurrency. These crypto projects have a more realistic and practical approach to solving some of the financial problems ailing Africa as outlined below: 

i) Akoin

Akoin is a relatively new cryptocurrency that has managed to create enough buzz in the last two years of its existence. Formed by Senegalese-American rapper Akon, the Stellar-based crypto aims at becoming the primary payment solution in the Western and Eastern Africa. To achieve this, the rapper-cum-entrepreneur awarded an American engineering firm, KE International, a $6 billion contract to build a cryptocurrency city in Senegal. 

The first phase of this city is expected to be completed by 2023, while the final phase will be done by 2029, which will deliver a whole city running on the Akoin cryptocurrency. All utility bills within the proposed city from electricity, gas, water to sewer, and waste will be paid using Akoin. 

Similarly, the engineering firm is also managing the construction of a tech city in Western Kenya. The Akoin token will be used to pay for services and even pay workers in this city.

In each of these application cases, Akoin is banking its success in creating a new financial inclusion era. As such, the unbanked population in these jurisdictions will have access to a new form of the financial infrastructure that is more secure and affordable than the existing mobile payment networks. 

ii) Binance’s payment app

Binance, the global exchange platform, recently launched a social payment app in Nigeria known as Bundle. The app is the brainchild of Yele Bademosi, a Nigerian national, who once worked as an executive in the exchange. 

According to Binance’s press release, Bundle is designed to provide users across Africa with free means of transacting in cash and cryptocurrencies. Currently, the app is only available in Nigeria with support for its national currency, the Naira. However, there are plans to extend its market to 30 more countries by the end of 2020. In each of these countries, including Nigeria, users can use the app’s fiat on-ramp feature to buy and sell digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and Binance’s crypto – BNB. 

What separates Bundle from traditional digital wallets is that users can send funds to anyone on their contact list, even if that particular individual doesn’t have the app yet. Coupling this feature with the app’s ability to support digital and fiat currency, users across Africa will have an efficient way of sending remittances and a hedge against hyperinflation of their local currencies. 

iii) Wala

Wala is designed as the Binance Bundle app. But unlike the latter, which is yet to penetrate the market, Wala has had quite a smooth sailing in Africa until its recent collapse in early last year. 

Essentially, the payment app was founded by Tricia Martinez, who, being a daughter of a Mexican immigrant, was no stranger to income disparity. Armed with this knowledge, Tricia started on a poverty alleviation mission in Uganda by providing small scale farmers with access to financial services. This marked Wala’s birth, a micropayment processor that allows users to buy goods and pay bills at almost zero transaction cost. Much of Wala’s success can be attributed to its ability to process micro-transactions, which was impossible using traditional payment processors. As the platform grew in dominance, it created a small-scale circular economy where users can pay school fees, buy airtime, and pay utility bills across ten different markets. For instance, South Africa users can pay their family’s electricity bill in Uganda using the crypto-powered app. 

It’s not an easy fight

The race for the growing African crypto market is getting stiffer as entrepreneurs seek to establish themselves as continent’s crypto solutions providers. But there are significant challenges to overcome 

Poor infrastructure

In most of the African regions where crypto projects are launched, there is a lack of supportive infrastructures to guarantee these projects sustainability. Poor infrastructure in this context entails unreliable internet access as well as poor telecommunications services. Wala payment app, in particular, collapsed almost a year ago due to poor internet connection in Uganda, as CEO Tricia Martinez explained in her blog post.  

Lack of skilled developers

Deploying crypto solutions requires highly specialized skills and knowledge in blockchain technology. As the global demand for blockchain developers increases, the competition for top talent accelerates in equal measure. For a continent like Africa, where there is poor infrastructure, it becomes even harder to attract talented blockchain developers, which consequently slows down the development of crypto projects. 

Lack of funding

In developed countries, blockchain startups have access to funding from a wide pool of venture capitalists. On the other hand, few venture capital firms are willing to invest in African innovative crypto projects. Moreover, most investors in the continent tend to invest in companies that have a history of profitability. Blockchain startups being new in the market lack proof of profitability, which then scares away investors. 

Conclusion 

Africa is primed to become a crypto-hub owing to low financial inclusion witnessed in most of its countries. This has captured both local and international entrepreneurs who seek to fill the gap between the low-income population and financial services. However, as entrepreneurs bet on Africa crypto adoption, they should prepare themselves to mitigate the problems slowing down the development of crypto solutions in the region. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Sim Swapping and How Can You Protect Yourself

As technology advances, so do many things alongside it. Merely a decade ago, no one could have fathomed the possibility of an attacker robbing them of their money remotely, with little fuss – on account of your phone number. And yet, this is a threat that’s very real these days. Countless people have fallen victim […]

As technology advances, so do many things alongside it. Merely a decade ago, no one could have fathomed the possibility of an attacker robbing them of their money remotely, with little fuss – on account of your phone number. And yet, this is a threat that’s very real these days. Countless people have fallen victim […]

As technology advances, so do many things alongside it. Merely a decade ago, no one could have fathomed the possibility of an attacker robbing them of their money remotely, with little fuss – on account of your phone number. And yet, this is a threat that’s very real these days. Countless people have fallen victim to this fraud – known as SIM swapping – which a study says four out five are usually successful. And with the rise and allure of cryptocurrencies, SIM swap scammers are getting even bolder. 

What’s a SIM swap attack, and how can you protect yourself from one? This article unmasks into everything you need to know. 

What’s Sim Swapping? 

Sim swapping, a.k.a SIM splitting, simjacking and port-out scamming occur when a scammer dupes your cell service provider that they are you, and that you’re transferring your phone number into a new SIM. In actual sense, they’re stealing your phone number and your personal data. 

If the swap goes through, your phone will get activated, and all data related to your phone – calls, texts, and accounts number will now be in their hands. With access to that information, the scammer can now access all personal, contact, and financial information tied to your account. 

How a SIM Swap Works

Way before executing a SIM attack, the scammer will have already gathered as much info on you as possible. They will then contact your service provider posing as you, and then claim that they (you) have lost or damaged your SIM card. They will then request your carrier to activate a SIM card in their possession. When this action goes through, your phone number will be ported to the fraudster’s device. 

As we mentioned earlier, the scammer has already collected information on you. This will be through either phishing emails, malware, hacking or social media. When it comes to answering your security questions, it’s a breeze for the scammer since they already scoured for info from all of these places.

Once they’re in, they can do pretty much what they like – including resetting passwords for your bank account and other financial accounts. They can even set up parallel bank accounts and transfer money to them. Such an action would not necessarily raise eyebrows at your bank since you’re already a customer. If you have cryptocurrency funds, say, an account at a crypto exchange, they might cash out or transfer funds to their account. 

Why are SIM Swap Scammers Targeting Crypto Holders?

SIM swap crimes are nothing new, but they have become even more prevalent with the rise of crypto. That may be due to: 

  • The ease of cashing out on crypto
  • Crypto holders who store their funds in vulnerable mobile apps
  • Easy to access crypto holders’ social profiles – which makes it easy to gather info and increase their exposure to an attack

Do SIM Swap Scammers Always Get Away with It?

SIM swap scammers may think they’re getting away with it due to the pseudonymous/anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies. However, authorities have been able to hunt down several SIM swap fraudsters in the past – a fact that should send a warning to would-be scammers. 

One of these is Joel Ortiz – a former college student who had successfully carried out several SIM swap hacks totaling over $7.5 million involving more than 40 targets before being caught. 

In particular, Ortiz made certain to attend the 2018 Consensus cryptocurrency industry conference attended by thousands of prominent crypto holders. He took that opportunity to hack several people’s phones, robbing some of them of their life savings. 

After conducting the frauds, Ortiz spent the money living lavishly – hiring helicopters to take him and friends to music festivals, buying expensive watches, designer clothes, booking pricey Airbnb rentals, and so on. As it would be, the law finally caught up with him, upon which he entered a plea deal that saw him get ten years in prison. Authorities’ efforts to recover the lost money turned up only $400,000, with the rest squandered or hidden. 

Signs Your SIM Has Been Swapped 

Most people wouldn’t recognize a SIM swap scam even when it’s going on. The first step to protecting yourself is knowing how it unfolds. Here are signs that your SIM is being swapped: 

  • You can’t pick or place calls and texts. This is the first and biggest warning sign, and it likely means your SIM’s been deactivated
  • Your service carrier informs you that your SIM card or phone number has been activated on another phone
  • You can’t access your bank and/or credit card account because your logins are not working. When you notice this, contact your bank immediately

How to Protect Yourself from a SIM Swap Attack

With SIM swap attacks happening randomly and without warning, it can be daunting to even know where to begin cushioning yourself against one. With the tips below, you’re on your way to the first step to protecting yourself. 

i) Change your two-factor authentication method.

Most people rely on a two-factor security method that relies on messages via SMS. However, using an SMS-based authentication method is not safe, since, in the event of a SIM swap attack, your authentication texts will go to them directly. Instead, choose an authentication method that relies on the phone itself rather than an SMS-based one. Good choices include the authenticator app Authy or Google Authenticator.

ii) Remove Your Phone Number from Accounts

Nowadays, almost every app or account requests your phone number for authentication. Just like with the above scenario, if your SIM were to be swapped, the attacker would obtain total control of all your accounts. You can remove your phone number from any account that you’ve already signed on with. This will help ensure your phone number can never be used against you. 

iii) Create a PIN or Extra Password with Your Service Provider

This isn’t hard to do at all. All you need to do is call your phone service provider and ask to create an additional layer of protection in the form of a PIN code or a password on your account. 

iv) Create Hard-to-guess Passwords

Most people make the mistake of creating predictable passwords such as the date of birth, pet names, etc. This is a mistake. Remember, any random person can enter several birthdates repeatedly until they get the correct value. The same applies to pet names, which are very likely on your social media profiles. But if your passwords or entry codes are randomized, an attacker will have a harder time swapping your SIM. 

v) Don’t Use Your Social Media Accounts to Log into Other Services

Don’t sign up for services using Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This would give an attacker more access to even more of your digital life. And the more they know about you, the more they’re likely to gather more information about you that they can use to blackmail you, guess your account bank account info and other malicious activity.

Closing Thoughts

SIM swap attacks are as real as they are unpredictable. This means to protect yourself against one, you need to take measures as soon as possible. The good thing is you just need a few changes in your accounts’ security set up, and you’re good to go. These few changes will go a long way to protecting you and your money. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

The Smallest Unit of Argentina’s Currency is Now at Parity With One Satoshi

The smallest unit of the Argentinian Peso – Argentinian currency, is now at parity with one Satoshi (Sat) – the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 

The smallest unit of the Argentinian Peso – Argentinian currency, is now at parity with one Satoshi (Sat) – the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 

The smallest unit of the Argentinian Peso – Argentinian currency, is now at parity with one Satoshi (Sat) – the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 

Argentina is the latest country to witness this, well, unfortunate level of a currency slump. Taking to Reddit, an Argentinian citizen with the username OneMoreJuan brought this to the world’s attention: “I am from Argentina, and the smallest unit of our currency has reached the value of 1 Satoshi (1 Sat). Every FIAT currency in history has failed. Buy Bitcoin.” 

One Bitcoin has 100 million Sats. One Argentinian Peso (ARS) has 100 cents, which is now roughly equal to or less than 1 Sat. This illustrates the dramatic depths to which the currency has sunk. 

A Chain of Problems Each Triggered by the Last

Several factors have triggered this unfortunate turn of events for the currency. One is the central bank’s overzealous response to the economic crisis exacerbated by the current Corona pandemic. The bank has resorted to printing more money to meet shortages, which in turn has caused too much money to flood the economy, causing massive inflation. 

Another trigger is the government’s own policies, which include limits on currency conversions, stifling regulations for finance players, and high fees -factors that have rendered it even impossible for the Peso to be tradable with the US Dollar. Instead, the country is now using an unofficial rate – the ‘blue dollar.’ At the time of writing, the blue dollar is sitting at 119 ARS to the US Dollar.

Using this rate, the price of one Bitcoin in the unofficial market is roughly $1,050,000 ARS, while the official going price is $650,000. Thus, 0.01 ARS is equal to around 1 Sat. 

Bad to Worse

The latest events are happening in the backdrop of a recession that began in 2018. Now, after the pandemic crisis, inflation has skyrocketed to 50%  – a factor that’s also pushing more Argentinians to purchase Bitcoin. 

A Pinch Felt by Many

Argentina isn’t the only country whose economy is fighting to stay above the water. The Lebanese Lira recently tumbled to new lows, with one Lira acquiring the value 1 Satoshi. The Vietnamese Dong had it even worse. One Dong has been less than the value of one-millionth of Bitcoin for a while now. Other national currencies whose value is below one Sat are the Sierra Leone Leone, Iranian Rial, the Lao Kip, and more. 

With this ominous trend, what’s the future of other somewhat unstable currencies, especially with a global pandemic that’s shown no sign of abating? This remains to be seen. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Gnosis: The Complete Guide

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

With the invention of blockchain, the world can shift to universal, decentralized, peer-to-peer, and cryptographically secured prediction market platforms. This can allow information aggregation to be more reliable and efficient, even scale to levels previously thought impossible. 

Gnosis is a blockchain-based prediction market platform that wants to make this a reality. It provides a decentralized, permissionless, and trustless marketplace where users can trade their opinions on various outcomes, providing a thriving information aggregation pool.

What’s Gnosis? 

Gnosis is an Ethereum-based prediction market platform. A prediction market is a type of marketplace where people speculate and trade the outcomes of events. With Gnosis, the team wants to establish a “global, open prediction market platform” and to “set a standard for predictive assets, creating a norm for information exchange.” Ultimately, Gnosis hopes to create a platform “that enables automated information trading, not only between humans but also between AIs, sensors, bots, and companies.”

How Does Gnosis Work?

To understand how Gnosis works, let’s look into how exactly prediction markets work. Prediction markets utilize predictions of participants to collect opinions about future events. Market participants trade tokens that represent the potential outcome of a particular event. Since some outcomes are more likely manifest than others, the traded tokens do not have equal value. Tokens that represent more likely outcomes have more value than tokens whose outcomes are far more unlikely to occur. When the event finally occurs, the tokens representing that outcome are accorded full value while the rest of the tokens receive no value. 

The Value of Prediction Markets

Prediction markets rely on the phenomenon of the “wisdom of the crowd” – the idea that a collective group of people is smarter than that of an individual expert. Prediction markets can be relied upon to forecast an endless array of outcomes – from football matches to an election, to climate change, to the financial events, to epidemics, and so on. 

The financial sector, in particular, heavily relies on prediction markets to predict the future prices of varying assets. Any participant can create their own event questions. 

For instance, a user can create the following event:” will Bitcoin hit $20, 000 one month after the halving?” Responses to this question will come down to two simple choices: “yes” and “no.” When the market for this event opens, both prediction variables may be even, but the position for each might start to shift dramatically as we near the actual event. 

If Bitcoin hits $20,000 one month after the halving, “yes” tokens will receive full value and then “no” tokens, and the reverse is true. A market participant has two ways to make money in a prediction market. One is to buy and hold the tokens in the anticipation that your prediction is right. The other is to trade the token in response to shifts in sentiments concerning the outcome.

The Gnosis Platform

The Gnosis network has three core platforms: 

  • Apollo – a prediction market where users can create events and their own tokens
  • DutchX – A decentralized crypto exchange where users can trade and auction their tokens
  • Gnosis Safe – a crypto wallet that allows users to interact with various decentralized apps on the Ethereum platform

Gnosis comprises three core layers in its architecture that unites these platforms: 

  • Core Layer – this is the foundation of the Gnosis network. It houses smart contracts, outcome tokens, settlements, and market mechanisms. 
  • Service Layer – this layer provides services like chatbots, payment processing, and stablecoins.this layer also manages the platform’s trading fee model. 
  • Applications Layer – this layer houses the prediction markets applications on Gnosis. While Gnosis builds some of the applications on its platform, the majority of the applications are built by third parties who charge users to use their services.

The Gnosis Team

Gnosis is the brainchild of Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George. Köppelmann is the CEO while George occupies the position of CTO. The team has also onboarded Dr Friederike Ernst as the COO. 

GNO and OWL Tokens 

The Gnosis platform has two types of tokens: Gnosis (GNO) and OWL. GNO is ERC20 compliant tokens that were sold during the ICO. GNO has a total supply of 10 million, and no additional tokens will be created. 

You can receive OWL tokens by staking GNO tokens. What you need to do is lock up your GNO in a smart contract. How many OWLS you receive will depend on how long you have staked GNO, plus the total supply of OWL tokens in the market. OWL tokens can be used for payments on the Gnosis ecosystem. 1 OWL = 1 USD.

Gnosis burns tokens received as fees, removing them from circulation. Users can also pay fees with any other ERC20 token. When a user pays for fees with such an option, the platform buys GNO with the other currency and burns the GNO. This burning mechanism is meant to discourage inflation of GNO, increasing its value. For its part, GNO continually readjusts the distribution of OWL to make sure it always equals $1.

Tokenomics of GNO

As of 30 July 2020, GNO is trading at $24.06, while ranking at #150 in the market. The coin has a market cap of $26, 573, 839, a 24-hour volume of $105, 158, a circulating supply of 1, 104, 590, and a total supply of 10 million. 

Buying and Storing GNO

You can purchase GNO from a variety of exchanges, including Kraken, Bitfinex, Livecoin, Kyber Network, HitBTC, Uniswap, Bancor Network, Fatbtc, VALR, and GOPAX. The token is available as a trading pair with BTC, ETH, BNT, USD, EUR, and KRW.

Being an ERC20 token, you can keep GNO in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Options include MyEtherWallet, ethaddress, Guarda, Trust Wallet, Parity, and hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano and Trezor. There’s also the option of Gnosis’s multi-signature, non-custodial, and wallet-agnostic (support for hardware, browser, or mobile) Gnosis Safe wallet.  

Final Words

Gnosis is seeking to transform how we know prediction markets. The team believes that for a prediction market to be truly disruptive, it should be free from the control of centralized entities and operate on a peer-to-peer basis. Platform users can quickly exchange tokens in the decentralized exchange DutchX, and they can store any Ethereum token on the Gnosis Safe proprietary wallet. The Gnosis network has several parts playing to the advantage of each other, and users will find it a fun, robust, and money-earning platform. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Most Important Cryptocurrencies Apart From Bitcoin

As the most popular and successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin enjoys most of the spotlight. For this reason, it’s easy for most people to think that cryptocurrency is synonymous with Bitcoin. Indeed, a YouGov study reported 75% of US adults knew about Bitcoin, while other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum were each known by less than 30% of the population. 

As the most popular and successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin enjoys most of the spotlight. For this reason, it’s easy for most people to think that cryptocurrency is synonymous with Bitcoin. Indeed, a YouGov study reported 75% of US adults knew about Bitcoin, while other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum were each known by less than 30% of the population. 

As the most popular and successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin enjoys most of the spotlight. For this reason, it’s easy for most people to think that cryptocurrency is synonymous with Bitcoin. Indeed, a YouGov study reported 75% of US adults knew about Bitcoin, while other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum were each known by less than 30% of the population. 

If you’re an aspiring user of cryptocurrencies, or simply interested in that world, it’s important to acquaint yourself with other forces in the space. This article takes a look at other cryptocurrencies that have proved themselves worthy of attention and, of course, investor money. But before we get into that, let’s do a refresher on this new and exciting asset class. 

What are Cryptocurrencies? 

It’s necessary to do a recap of what cryptocurrencies are because many people associate the word cryptocurrency with just Bitcoin. So, when we are talking about cryptocurrencies and altcoins, what do we mean? A cryptocurrency, at its most basic definition, is a purely digital and internet-based currency that’s secured with modern cryptography and utilizes a ledger that is distributed across network participants. The most common type of distributed ledger is a blockchain. The blockchain concept always existed in the computer space but was only actualized in 2009 by the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

The ‘crypto’ in cryptocurrency refers to the cryptography that is used to encrypt and hence secure cryptocurrencies and transactions. Cryptocurrencies subscribe to the tenet of decentralization, which means free from state manipulation or control and self-issuance. Cryptocurrencies are designed as code – almost always open source, with in-built mechanisms for issuance. These mechanisms vary from one cryptocurrency to another. 

As you probably already know, Bitcoin is the first-ever and most successful of cryptocurrencies. All other cryptocurrencies apart from bitcoin are collectively referred to as altcoins. Currently, there are more than 5,000 altcoins, according to Coinmarketcap. The total market valuation of cryptocurrencies is currently 269 billion, with Bitcoin taking the lion’s share with 62.3 billion in market valuation. Many of these coins have been designed to improve on Bitcoin in one way or another – either on security or speed or ease of storage (e.g., in terms of space). 

With that background, let’s look at some of the most important cryptocurrencies apart from Bitcoin.

1. Ethereum (ETH) 

Ethereum is a cryptocurrency and blockchain launched in 2015. The project is the brainchild of Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian programmer. Industry experts view Ethereum is the next most important crypto after Bitcoin. Let’s examine why. 

Ethereum is the next cryptocurrency that brought a ground-breaking product into the blockchain space. The project is more than a digital finance platform. Its main objective is to be a decentralized applications and smart contracts platform. Decentralized applications (DApps) are a new kind of application that can run without downtime and are free from control, manipulation, and censorship by a third party.

Smart contracts are a new kind of contract – not unlike the traditional contracts, but this time is purely digital, self-enforcing, unalterable, and completely transparent to all relevant parties. 

Applications on the Ethereum platform are powered by its native token called ether (ETH). Ether is the currency in which people using the Ethereum blockchain pay in transaction fees. As an investor, you can also use Ether as a store of value. Ether is the second most successful cryptocurrency after Bitcoin – even though it trails behind the dominant currency considerably.

In 2014, Ethereum launched a pre-sale (an initial coin offering ICO) to fund the project. The effort was incredibly successful and is credited with helping usher in the age of the ICO. Ethereum has also weathered one of the biggest security breaches in the history of cryptocurrency – the DAO attack in 2016. This attack led to the split of the Ethereum blockchain, birthing Ethereum (ETH) Ethereum Classic (ETC). As of July 18, 2020, ETH has a market capitalization of $26 billion, and one ETH is going for $232.93.

2. Ripple (XRP)

Launched in 2012, Ripple is a cryptocurrency and a real-time digital payments network. The project was created by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb.

Ripple’s protocol facilitates the global, peer-to-peer, decentralized, and real-time exchange and transfer of money in any currency, whether it’s the US dollar, Japanese Yen, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and so on. XRP can settle transactions within 3 to 5 seconds. 

XRP is the platform-specific asset of the Ripple network. Individuals can exchange XRP between each other without the need for an intermediary. It’s the go-between currency in any exchange that happens on the Ripple network. 

Ripple’s transaction confirmation mechanism differs from that of Bitcoin in that it does not utilize ‘mining.’ All XRP tokens were ‘pre-mined’ or ‘minted’ before launch, meaning there is no release of new coins over time. Indeed, Ripple ‘burns’ XRP tokens immediately after they facilitate a transaction, in a bid to avoid inflation. Ripple’s no-mining approach is a massive save on power, and it also considerably aids the network to achieve incomparably faster transactions. 

For a long time, XRP occupied the third spot in the crypto market. However, it has been knocked down to the fourth spot. As of July 18, 2020, XRP is trading at $0. 194295, with a market cap of $8.6 billion.

3. Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin is a cryptocurrency that is modeled after Bitcoin but aims to be more lightweight and scalable. It was launched in 2011 and is a brainchild of former MIT graduate and Google engineer Charlie Lee. 

Litecoin is often called the “silver to bitcoin’s gold.” It’s a “lite” version of Bitcoin only with more coins, faster transactions, and a different hashing algorithm. While Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm, Litecoin utilizes one known as “Scrypt.” 

Another difference is Bitcoin’s circulation can never exceed 21 million, while Litecoin is designed to help 84 million coins. This might not mean much for either currency in terms of real-world usage since both are divisible to very tiny amounts. Litecoin is also way faster in terms of transaction confirmation time. While Bitcoin’s transactions can take up to 10 minutes, Litecoin takes about 2.5 minutes. Litecoin is also one of the cryptocurrencies that have enjoyed significant merchant adoption. 

So how is Litecoin performing today? Well, as of July 18, 2020, Litecoin traded at $41.95, with a market cap and rank of 2.7 billion and #9 respectively.

4. Chainlink (LINK)

Launched in September 2017, Chainlink, a project by FinTech company SmartContract Chainlink Limited SEZC, has seen the success that few cryptocurrencies do within such a short period. Perhaps this is because of its unique proposition of providing an oracle system that allows on-chain contracts to utilize external data, greatly expanding the capability of smart contracts. 

Courtesy of this feature, Chainlink has deep-running relationships with a lot of other innovative blockchain projects, a factor that’s given it a leg-up in the space. Some of these partnerships include Synthetix, Loopring, Aave, Ampleforth, and Binance. The project has also managed to secure other significant partnerships out of the blockchain space, including Google, Oracle, Gartner, Brave New Coin, and Web3 Foundation. 

Thus far, Chainlink has no competitor, and this has given it the dominance as far as its selling point is concerned. As of July 19, 2018, Chainlink’s price was $7.96, and, with a market cap of 2.8 billion, it was the 8th largest cryptocurrency.

 

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Crypto Daily Topic

How to Set Up a Bitcoin Miner 

Bitcoin had come a long way from when it was worth less than a penny when Laslo Hanyecz bought pizza for 10,000 bitcoins. And although like any cryptocurrency bitcoin has seen its share of wild upsurges and dips, the crypto has since seen a massive rise in value, even hitting the remarkable height of $20,000 in December 2017. And stories are told of the millionaires who made their tidy sum via investing in Bitcoin in that year too. 

Bitcoin had come a long way from when it was worth less than a penny when Laslo Hanyecz bought pizza for 10,000 bitcoins. And although like any cryptocurrency bitcoin has seen its share of wild upsurges and dips, the crypto has since seen a massive rise in value, even hitting the remarkable height of $20,000 in December 2017. And stories are told of the millionaires who made their tidy sum via investing in Bitcoin in that year too. 

Bitcoin has come a long way from when it was worth less than a penny, when Laslo Hanyecz bought pizza for 10,000 bitcoins. And although like any cryptocurrency, bitcoin has seen its share of wild upsurges and dips. The crypto has since seen a massive rise in value, even hitting the remarkable height of $20,000 in December 2017. And stories are told of the millionaires who made their tidy sum via investing in Bitcoin in that year too. 

The point is, Bitcoin has proved to be quite profitable in recent years, and it has attracted more users as time goes by. One of the ways to acquire bitcoins is through mining. Of course, mining here is not in the traditional sense, but rather the use of specialized machines to release new currency. 

Mining itself is an entire industry on its own. Right now, we have mining farms set up in several parts of the world to mine Bitcoin. The motivation? Mining rewards, which come in the form of Bitcoins. 

With the prospect of earning free Bitcoin (though not entirely free, we suppose), many Bitcoin newcomers naturally wonder where to begin. This article is an in-depth guide into how to set up a Bitcoin miner, along with why you should join a mining pool when you’re all set. Let’s get to it, shall we?

What’s Bitcoin Mining? 

Bitcoin mining is the process through which transactions are verified and added into the immutable and public ledger known as the blockchain. Mining is also responsible for the introduction of new coins into the circulating supply. Individuals who take part in mining are known as “miners” and are compensated with block rewards and/or a fraction of the transaction fees. By mining, miners also protect the network against 51% attacks. 

By mining, miners usually make multiple random guesses until one of them finds the right cryptographic hash function that will unlock the next block of transactions. 

Setting Up a Bitcoin Miner 

Before you even begin thinking about purchasing or setting up a Bitcoin miner, there are two things you should first consider: hash rate and energy consumption of the hardware in question. 

#1. Hash Rate

Hash rate is the number of calculations (guesses) a mining machine can make per second. Hash rate is measured in megahashes per second (MH/sec), gigahashes per second (GH/sec), and terahashes per second (TH/sec). The hash rate is a very important parameter when choosing hardware since the higher your hash rate, the more likely you will guess the correct number faster than other miners and get the chance to confirm the next transaction block and earn a reward. 

#2. Energy Consumption 

Bitcoin mining is known to gobble up massive energy, which costs money. The more powerful the mining machine is, the more power it is going to consume. Before you purchase mining hardware, you need to calculate its electricity consumption in watts. You need to know how many hashes you are getting for every watt of electricity the machine is going to use. To calculate this, take the hash count and divide it by the number of watts. 

For example, if the device’s hash rate is 1000 GH/s, and it requires 500 watts of power, it means you’ll be getting 2GH/s per watt. Check your power bill or use an online electricity price calculator to know how much hard cash that translates into. Remember also that you might need to use your computer to run the mining device. Remember too that the computer spends its own electricity as well so you’ll also need to factor that in your calculations.

Mining Hardware

Bitcoin mining hardware falls into three main categories: CPU/GPUs, FPGAs, and ASICs. Let’s look at each at more depth below.

CPU/GPU

CPU stands for computer processing unit. A computer is the least powerful Bitcoin mining device. In the early days of Bitcoin, computers were pretty much the only way people mined the currency. But as more miners joined the network, computers were rendered almost useless in the face of more powerful innovations. You can try Bitcoin mining today using your CPU, and you can spend a decade at it without earning anything. 

Many miners integrated graphical processing units (GPUs) into their computers so as to enhance their hash rate. GPUs are a feature of graphics cards, which are designed for heavy mathematical lifting in video games – which makes them particularly great at carrying out the arduous task of making multiple random guesses per second to add blocks on the blockchain.

Graphics cards can be expensive – going for hundreds of dollars, but they have a significant advantage over CPUs. For instance, an ATI 5970 graphics card will give you over 800 MH/s, while CPUs will provide less than 10 MH/sec. 

One of the advantages of GPUs is they can be used to mine a variety of other cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Unlike ASICs, which we’ll be looking at later, GPUs are not specifically designed for any particular currency. However, just like CPUs, GPUs have long been phased out by more powerful mining machines. These machines have been created specifically with Bitcoin mining in mind, and as you can imagine, they represent quite formidable alternatives to GPUs, which can’t stand a chance. 

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)

An FPGA is an integrated circuit that’s configured after being built. This means a mining hardware manufacturer can buy a lot of chips and customize them for Bitcoin mining before arranging them into complete equipment. Since they are customized for mining, FPGA devices provide miners with better performance than CPUs and GPUs. While let’s say, a 600 MH/sec graphics card can consume up to 400 watts of energy, a typical FPGA mining device can use 80 watts and produce a hash rate of up to 826 MH/sec.

Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) 

ASICs are machines designed for one sole purpose: mining Bitcoin. ASICs offer 100 times more hashing power than previous technologies and with considerably less energy consumption. Some industry experts consider ASICs to be end-of-the-line technology, since they’re the most effective and powerful as yet, and there doesn’t look to be a replacement for them at least in the near future. Since these chips have been created for one purpose only, they are quite expensive and time-consuming to manufacture, but the speed is unmatched. Some ASICs can provide up to hundreds of gigahashes per sec. An ASIC can cost anything from $50 to thousands of dollars, depending on hashing power. 

Calculate Mining Profitability

Before settling for any mining device, it’s necessary to calculate its potential mining profitability. There are several online calculators that can help you do this. Some of the best options include one from The Genesis Block or the BTC Mining Profit Calculator. Factor in parameters such as the cost of equipment, hash rate, energy consumption as well as the prevailing Bitcoin price. This will help you figure out how long it will take for your investment to pay off.

Another thing to consider is network difficulty. The difficulty is a measure of how hard and time-consuming it is to find the right hash for a block. The difficulty is likely to increase as more ASICs join the market, so it’s important to increase this metric during your calculation and get a forecast of your ROI when more ASICs join the market. 

Once you’ve identified your hardware, there are a couple more things to do. 

#1. Download the Mining Software/Setting Up a Bitcoin Client

Depending on which equipment you purchase, you may need to install mining software in order to run it. If you’re using GPUs and FPGAs, you have to set up a host computer to run a standard Bitcoin client and mining software. The Bitcoin client plugs your computer to the Bitcoin network and relays information between the two ends. The Bitcoin mining software instructs the hardware on what to do, passing transaction blocks for it to solve. The software is usually configured to support Windows, Mac, OS, and others.

You will also need mining software for your ASIC miner, but some modern versions are being shipped with everything in place, including a BTC address so that all you need to do is plug it into an outlet and get to working.

#2. Join a Mining Pool

The next thing you’re going to want to do is to join a mining pool. Why? Because a mining pool gives you a better chance to cash out. Once you enter the world of crypto mining, you’re in competition with huge companies with entire mining farms. So, it’s more beneficial to join a mining pool than going solo. In a mining pool, multiple users contribute their hashing power towards the effort of generating a block. If the pool successfully mines a block, the rewards will be distributed to the participants in the proportion in which they contributed processing power. 

Final Words 

With this guide, the intricacies of setting up a Bitcoin miner and which miner to go for shouldn’t be a mystery anymore. Of course, as with anything with crypto, doing your own research before settling for anything is always recommended.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Introducing Beam (BEAM): What Is It All About

With widely touted claims of anonymity and privacy, many Bitcoin users believed the currency’s transactions to be anonymous. But in recent times, that belief is being shattered as more users realize that their transactions can be linked back to them. Anyone with enough resources and use blockchain analysis to track down who initiated what transaction and the end receiver of that transaction. 

With widely touted claims of anonymity and privacy, many Bitcoin users believed the currency’s transactions to be anonymous. But in recent times, that belief is being shattered as more users realize that their transactions can be linked back to them. Anyone with enough resources and use blockchain analysis to track down who initiated what transaction and the end receiver of that transaction. 

With widely touted claims of anonymity and privacy, many Bitcoin users believed the currency’s transactions to be anonymous. But in recent times, that belief is being shattered as more users realize that their transactions can be linked back to them. Anyone with enough resources and use blockchain analysis to track down who initiated what transaction and the end receiver of that transaction. 

Crypto exchanges, merchants, and over-the-counter deals all represent possible data leaks on transactions. Bitcoin’s public and transparent ledger doesn’t help either. Once a user’s identity is known, all their transactions’ history, as well as their balance, can be directly linked to them. 

When you think about how personal privacy is a big deal these days, it’s hard to reconcile with this situation. Anyone, organizations, and individuals alike, would prefer their transactions to remain confidential, with only they in control of who gets to see them. 

Beam is a cryptocurrency that goes all-in when it comes to user anonymity. Based on MimbleWimble, a privacy protocol with an elegant approach to the privacy of blockchain transactions, Beam takes no half measures with your privacy. 

What’s Beam? 

Founded in March 2018 and officially released in January 2019, Beam is a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency based on the MimbleWimble protocol. The MimbleWimble protocol enables the complete anonymity of transactions by default. With the protocol, Beam provides not only privacy but also reduces blockchain bloating that is prevalent in traditional blockchains and which slows down transactions. To date, only two cryptocurrencies have implemented MimbleWimble, and that is Beam and Grin.

What’s MimbleWimble? 

MimbleWimble is a blockchain privacy protocol that was proposed in 2016 by a pseudonymous developer named Tom Elvis Jedusor (the French name for Vodermort, a character on the series) on the #bitcoin-wizards IRC channel. It’s named after a spell the Tongue-Tying Curse that prevents enemies from spilling secrets in the wildly popular and fictional Harry Potter television series.

So, how does the MimbleWimble protocol work? To understand this, let’s first get a look at MimbleWimble transactions. Transactions are based on what’s known as ‘Confidential Transactions,’ developed by a Bitcoin developer Adam Back. Confidential transactions allow users to encrypt their transactions and transaction values using ‘blinding factors.’ A blinding factor is a string of numbers that encrypts the outputs and inputs of a Bitcoin transaction. 

MimbleWimble also leverages another anonymizing technology known as CoinJoin, a cryptographic innovation by Gregory Maxwell. CoinJoin obscures an individual’s transactions by mixing it with other transactions from multiple other users. The final output is a ‘pot’ of transactions whose individual origin is difficult to trace. 

Proof-of-work (PoW) with ASIC Resistance

For transactions’ consensus, Beam makes use of Beam Hash, which in turn is based on Equihash – memory-hard proof-of-work mechanism in which an individual’s mining is determined by how much RAM they have. In the first 18 months of Beam, the crypto stayed ASIC-resistant so as to promote decentralization. The network has since undergone a hard fork to adjust its PoW algorithm to ward off ASIC miners. 

Beam’s Personal Data Protection

Beam is seeking to overhaul the whole way in which a blockchain records transactions. On the Beam network, a transaction’s personal information is removed from the network. In addition, it implements the ‘Dandelion++ Protocol,’ which is a privacy protection that propagates transactions in a way that lowers the likelihood that a sender’s crypto address can be linked to their IP address. 

And finally, Beam utilizes the ‘Secure Bulletin Board System’ that allows wallets to exchange encrypted messages with each other even if they’re not connected to the internet at the same time.

Monetary Policy of Beam

Beam clearly states that it’s a store of value more than a transactional cryptocurrency. The Beam coin, known as BEAM, has a maximum supply of 263 million. The coin is deflationary, and block rewards are halved over time just as with Bitcoin.

Initially, block rewards were 80 BEAM, and this will be slashed in half every four years until it tapers to zero around 2152. After that, no more BEAM will be released. 

In addition, BEAM utilizes a model similar to the ZCash’s Founder’s reward in which a part of the block rewards goes into the Beam treasury. The funds are then given to the Beam Foundation every month. This is how the Foundation supports the ongoing development of the project.

The Beam Team

CEO Alexander Zaidelson is the founder of the P2P file-sharing company Narrow and desktop dictionary app Wikitup.

CTO Alex Romanov is also Research and Development lead, and he brings to the table years of technical and managerial experience. 

COO Amir Aaronson is co-founder of several tech startups with strong entrepreneurial and operation skills. 

The Beam Token

The BEAM token plays two roles: a fully anonymous transacting currency and a digital store of value. The token’s distribution was as follows: 

  • 2.40% went to the first private sale in May to June 2018
  • 1.20% went to the second private cell conducted between July to September 2018
  • 0.55% went to the 3rd private cell that took place between October to December 2018
  • 4.80% went to the team
  • 2. 40% went to the Beam Foundation
  • 0.65% went to advisors
  • 88% make up Beam’s mining rewards

As of July 30, 2020, BEAM is trading at $0.410838, with a market rank of #150. It has a market cap of $26, 670, 659, a 24-hour volume of $14, 390, 578, a circulating antidotal supply of 64, 917, 680, and a maximum supply of 263 million. The coin’s all-time high was $3.21 (January 28, 2019), at an all-time low of $0.148340 (March 13, 2020). 

Buying and Storing Beam

You can purchase BEAM from any of several popular exchanges, including Binance, HotBit, Gate.io, BitForex, BKEX, CoinEx, HBTC, Dragon Ex, CoinGecko, BiKi, altilly, bisq, BITFARE, BITRIBE TradeOgre, and Beaxy. In almost all exchanges, the crypto is available as a market pair with BTC, ETH, BNB, USDT.

For storing BEAM, the team provides a proprietary wallet available for both desktop and mobile, with support for Microsoft, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux.

Final Words 

Beam is one of the cryptos that have implemented the completely anonymous MimbleWimble protocol, affording users safe and untraceable transactions. For a crypto that was released only last year, Beam is doing pretty well. Its current market performance is a testament to how much crypto users value privacy, and it’s set to perform even better as more users become conscious of the need for total confidentiality. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Introducing AXIA: Here Is a Detailed Guide

These days, it’s almost impossible to go a day without seeing another blockchain headline. And that’s because it’s one of the hottest technologies of the moment. Envisioned more than 20 years ago and pioneered only 11 years ago by Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto, blockchain is a ledger technology that records information in an immutable, decentralized, and […]

These days, it’s almost impossible to go a day without seeing another blockchain headline. And that’s because it’s one of the hottest technologies of the moment. Envisioned more than 20 years ago and pioneered only 11 years ago by Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto, blockchain is a ledger technology that records information in an immutable, decentralized, and […]

These days, it’s almost impossible to go a day without seeing another blockchain headline. And that’s because it’s one of the hottest technologies of the moment. Envisioned more than 20 years ago and pioneered only 11 years ago by Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto, blockchain is a ledger technology that records information in an immutable, decentralized, and distributed manner.

These qualities make blockchain a technological force that can help reduce/eliminate fraud, democratize finance, and more. Since it came on the scene those years ago, blockchain has been leveraged for all manner of adoptions both in finance and in completely unrelated industries. And now, a new project wants to harness the technology to create a more participatory, inclusive, and fairer global economic paradigm. 

This is AXIA – a brand new decentralized finance project that goes by the tag “the new reserve currency of the world.” AXIA aims to achieve this grand promise through its network’s token –  the AXIA token. However, as of now, the project is yet to launch, and even its whitepaper is not released. 

In this guide, we look at this promising project and how exactly it hopes to achieve its grand plan.

What’s AXIA?

The name AXIA derives from an ancient Greek word – “αξία” which means ‘value,’ ‘merit,’ worth. AXIA wants to utilize blockchain technology to provide everyone with monetary value. It aims to do this by utilizing smart contracts to reduce fees and facilitate a more equitable, participatory, and fair global financial model. AXIA aims to use its native wallet – the AXIA Token Wallet to achieve this grand vision. 

How Does AXIA Distinguish Itself from Bitcoin? 

AXIA is different from Bitcoin in that AXIA is a stablecoin ( a cryptocurrency backed by real-life assets) while Bitcoin’s price is volatile. Bitcoin volatility is due to investor and user uncertainty of the coin’s value that makes it a speculative investment. Another distinguishing feature is that unlike Bitcoin, which is best a store of value and speculative investment, individuals can use AXIA for everyday purchases. 

AXIA’s Ecosystem

The AXIA ecosystem constitutes several features, including a wallet, a secure chat/messaging platform with a SIM card, and more. Let’s take a look at the wallet and SIM card. 

The AXIA Token Wallet

The AXIA wallet is the proprietary wallet of the AXIA platform. It offers the following features to users:

#1. Free to hold – Users of the wallet will get to do this for free

#2. Use anywhere – The AXIA Token Wallet to be used to send and receive AXIA tokens anywhere in the world and at any time. The same applies to make purchases

#3. Community-focused – The wallet integrates a chat, video and calling functionality that provides users around the world with a community to be part of 

#4. Low to no fees – The AXIA Token Wallet allows individuals to participate in “virtually limitless forms of connected and decentralized activity” with very minimal or no fees 

#5. Safe and secure – The wallet is fortified with high-level security featuring cryptographic encryption and multi-factor authentication

AXIA SIM Card

The AXIA ecosystem also features a SIM card that allows users from across continents to connect while saving on massive telephone data and SMS costs. Users even get rewarded for making calls, browsing the internet, and sending text messages with the AXIA SIM. Furthermore, the card features both GSM and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connectivity so you can make calls wherever you are at a very reasonable price. Also, there are very minimal to zero roaming charges. And unlike traditional SIM services, there’s no KYC procedures or contractual obligations. 

AXIA Token as a Store of Value 

Users will be able to use the AXIA token as a reliable store of value. This is unlike Fiat currency, which depreciates over time or cryptocurrencies, which are marked by market manipulation and unpredictable price swings that render cryptocurrencies less-than-ideal stores of value. The AXIA token is designed to preserve value and to resist devaluation. 

AXIA as a Medium of Exchange

The AXIA project plans to have the AXIA token as a medium of exchange available all over the world. While Fiat currencies are accepted for this purpose, there is no universal currency that can be accepted everywhere. This can make it difficult for, let’s say, the South African Rand to be accepted at a store in Australia, which is not true for AXIA. The currency is designed to be a global, borderless currency. What’s more, the system will reward you for the more transactions you make using the currency. 

AXIA as a Generator of Value

Again, AXIA is designed to be a creator of value. Network participants will be able to retain value for themselves as well as for others via the AXIA token. The AXIA ecosystem is designed to be participatory, as in, users can generate value in the system through simply interacting with the AXIA token in various ways like sending and receiving. Value created through such a simple act can generate value/rewards that will be viable for years to come. These benefits are meant to increase over time and are designed to throw back value in the system every time they’re generated. 

Final Thoughts

AXIA proposes a compelling product. By utilizing blockchain, the project hopes to create a fairer financial model that’s the opposite of today’s tightly controlled and centralized system. While the project is yet to materialize, it’s hard not to be enthusiastic about it. Let’s hope the team lives up to their promises.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s One (Harmony)? The Definitive Guide

Bitcoin, the first blockchain and cryptocurrency was designed to facilitate a peer-to-peer payment system that operates beyond the centralized control of governments and without intermediaries such as banks. But as the cryptocurrency has gained more popularity and more users crowd the network, so has the transaction speed slowed down, and transaction fees became prohibitively expensive. 

Bitcoin, the first blockchain and cryptocurrency was designed to facilitate a peer-to-peer payment system that operates beyond the centralized control of governments and without intermediaries such as banks. But as the cryptocurrency has gained more popularity and more users crowd the network, so has the transaction speed slowed down, and transaction fees became prohibitively expensive. 

Bitcoin, the first blockchain and cryptocurrency was designed to facilitate a peer-to-peer payment system that operates beyond the centralized control of governments and without intermediaries such as banks. But as the cryptocurrency has gained more popularity and more users crowd the network, so has the transaction speed slowed down, and transaction fees became prohibitively expensive. 

Succeeding blockchains have attempted to improve Bitcoin one way or another. One of these is Ethereum, which enables developers from all over the world to build ‘smart contracts.’ Smart contracts are a new kind of contract that is self-executing and self-enforcing. But even Ethereum failed to solve the scalability problem, averaging only 15 transactions per second.

Other projects like Zilliqa have sought to solve the scalability problem by implementing sharding – the technique of partitioning a database so as to enhance network speed. Still, this approach came short. First, it does not support state sharding, preventing nodes with limited computing power from participating in the network. Second, it uses a proof-of-work mechanism for the random generation of transaction validators. 

Harmony is a project that seeks to address the enduring issue of blockchain scalability by providing a fully scalable, secure, and environmentally friendly blockchain. 

Breaking Down Harmony

Harmony is a public blockchain network that aims to provide scalability for decentralized applications. It aims to do this by dividing the network states into shards, effectively “scaling linearly in all three aspects of machines, transactions and storage.” 

Harmony differentiates itself from other scaling blockchains in the following ways: 

  • Fully Scalable – Harmony divides up not only the network validation process but the blockchain state itself, making it a fully scalable blockchain
  • Secure Sharding – Harmony’s sharding process is secure thanks to its reliability on distributed random generation (DRG) protocol that is unpredictable, free from bias, and verifiable. 
  • Fast and Efficient Consensus – Unlike other scalability blockchains that rely on Proof-of-Work consensus, which gobbles up a lot of energy, Harmony is based on the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Also, network consensus is reached via the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) mechanism, which is faster than the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) mechanism. 
  • Adaptive Thresholded Proof of Stake – Harmony implements an ‘adaptive thresholded proof of stake,’ which adjusts the threshold of stakes needed for a node to qualify to join the network in such a manner that malicious nodes cannot take control of a single shard.
  • Scalable Networking Infrastructure – Harmony utilizes an ‘Adaptive Information Dispersal Algorithm’ to quickly assign transaction-containing blocks across shards on the network. 
  • Consistent Cross-Shard Transactions – this is a protocol that helps achieve the consistency of cross-shard transactions by enabling shards to interact one-on-one with each other.

How Harmony Works 

The Harmony platform runs on two major pieces of technology, namely:

  • PoS consensus based on BLS signature algorithm
  • Adaptive state sharding

#1. PoS Consensus and BLS Signature Algorithm

Harmony utilizes a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism based on what it calls (FBFT) to facilitate faster transactions. On top of that, it uses BLS (Boneh-Lynn-Shacham) signatures – a signature technology that verifies user authenticity. The BLS signature allows Harmony to scale faster than if it were using the traditional PBFT algorithm.

#2. Adaptive State Sharding

Harmony employs sharding, which involves partitioning network data into smaller and more manageable chunks. This is to achieve high-level scalability by facilitating faster confirmation of transactions. However, it goes further to incorporate ‘state sharding,’ also known as network sharding. State sharding involves splitting the entire network’s state across all the nodes and yet again across shards, paving the way for nodes to interact with each other without verification conflicts.

Who’s on The Harmony Team?

The Harmony team comprises experts who bring to the table experience in cryptocurrency and blockchain, coding, engineering, decentralized protocols, and business. The core team is made of Stephen Tse, Rongjian Lan, Nick White, and Sahil Dewan.

Stephen Tse is an experienced engineer and coder with more than 15 years of experience. He has a Ph.D. in security protocols and compiler verification from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rongjian Lan is a decentralized protocols enthusiast who was also a search infrastructure engineer at Google’s Play Store. Lan is the author of more than ten academic papers on Spatio-temporal and map-based visualization.

Nick White is an artificial intelligence and applied mathematics researcher who has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Sahil Dewan has a degree in business from the Harvard Business School, where he also served as president of the blockchain and cryptocurrency Club. He’s a former employee at the Draper Dragon Fund.

Harmony has also onboarded several advisors, namely Hakwan Lau (neuroscience and machine-learning professor at UCLA), Ka-yuet Liu (medical data and network analysis professor at UCLA) Zi Wang, who’s worked for nine years at Google, Bruce Huang, who’s worked for eight years at Microsoft and is a director at Alibaba. 

The Harmony Token (ONE)

Harmony has a utility token known as ONE, which runs atop the network’s mainnet since June 2019. The token plays the following roles in the Harmony ecosystem;

  • Staking – network participants must hold the talking in order to take part in the PoS consensus and earn block rewards
  • Payments – ONE is the medium through which individuals pay for storage and transaction fees
  • Voting – The token is used to purchase voting rights for members to participate in decision-making on the direction of the Harmony protocol

ONE’s Distribution

ONE’s distribution was as follows: 

  • 22.4% went to the seed sale conducted in May 2018
  • 12.5% went to the launchpad sale which took place in May 2019
  • 16.9% went to the team
  • 26.4% point to protocol development
  • 21.8% went to ecosystem development

The following is ONE’s market performance as of June 29, 2020. The cryptocurrency is trading at $0.004421 while ranking at #145. It has a market cap of $27, 653, 568, 24-hour volume of 4, 650, 278, a circulating supply of 6, 255, 461, 110, and a total and maximum supply of 12, 600, 000, 000. ONE has an all-time high of $0.030689 (June 06, 2019), and an all-time low of $0. 001257, (March 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store ONE

You can buy ONE tokens from a variety of exchanges, including Huobi, Binance, WazirX, KuCoin, BitMax, Gate.io, MXC, HitBTC, Bilaxy, and Bitsonic.  With storage, you also have a variety of options, including Trust, Ledger, Math Wallet, and Guarda Wallet. 

Final Words 

Harmony manages to solve the decade-old, thorny issue of blockchain’s lack of scalability. By its use of state sharding, and it’s a unique twist to the traditional practical Byzantine fault tolerance mechanism, the blockchain can scale faster than other existing blockchains. Harmony excels where other blockchains have fallen short, and perhaps we’ll see more blockchains adopting some of its techniques in a bid to attain increased scalability. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Is Blockchain the New Frontier in The Fight against Corruption? 

At its core, blockchain technology aims to resolve issues pertaining to the security and integrity of data. As such, the technology comes at a ripe time – when the general public is losing trust in governments and other central authorities that are entrusted with maintaining records. 

At its core, blockchain technology aims to resolve issues pertaining to the security and integrity of data. As such, the technology comes at a ripe time – when the general public is losing trust in governments and other central authorities that are entrusted with maintaining records. 

At its core, blockchain technology aims to resolve issues pertaining to the security and integrity of data. As such, the technology comes at a ripe time – when the general public is losing trust in governments and other central authorities that are entrusted with maintaining records. 

In line with the aforementioned solutions, the technology works by decentralizing and cryptographically encrypting the stored data, thereby promoting data transparency and traceability without the need for authentication by a central authority. Through decentralization, blockchain also makes it possible for parties to share records in a consensus database, which in turn renders it impossible for a single party to alter the data. By leveraging these properties, blockchain is positioned to lead the fight against corruption as it can verify records and protect them from being tampered with. 

Unlocking Blockchain’s Potential in Fighting against Corruption 

It seems counterintuitive to market blockchain as a tool for fighting against corruption, yet it’s the same technology that allows criminals to perpetrate crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion. In addition to supporting anonymous transactions, virtual currencies also lack a central regulatory authority, which further promotes financial crimes.

On the bright side, the technology can be used to curb these financial crimes and other corruption atrocities.

1. Registering Assets

For starters, the most obvious entry point of blockchain in the fight against corruption is in maintaining immutable public registries. These include property registry and land titling to ensure transparency between buyers and sellers. Essentially, it would work as a proof of identity/ ownership system. 

Registering assets ownership on the blockchain creates an immutable system that can help stamp out fraud, which results from forgeries and simple clerical errors. In fact, these forgeries are so severe that the United States has a massive title insurance industry to cover monetary losses associated with these frauds. As such, if implemented, the system would save taxpayers millions of dollars and incentivize banks to lend loans to property owners against their land – thanks to the transparency of the system. 

Sweden is leading the way in developing a blockchain-powered land registry system. The government has partnered with a telecommunication company, Telia, and two other Sweden banks in a bid to eliminate paperwork, reduce fraud, and speed up transactions. 

The system will run on a consortium blockchain that brings land authorities and banks – who hold copies of the land records – together. When a land title changes hands, each step of the process is verified and recorded on the network, with the help of smart contracts. 

Other countries working on developing a similar system include Georgia, Ukraine, and Ghana – where it is estimated that huge chunks of land are unregistered. 

2. Verifying Identity

As the world continues to embrace digital systems, identity theft becomes a more pronounced concern with people trying to cover their digital footprints. Corporations also aren’t spared from this menace as several of them have fallen victim to intimidating threats from hackers and online vigilantes who exploit loopholes in their public registries. 

A blockchain-powered database can be used to manage and authenticate the identity of individuals and corporations in a Know Your Customer (KYC) infrastructure. This would also make it easier to maintain anti-money laundering regulations. Such is the goal of the ambitious Dubai Blockchain Strategy, which seeks to digitize most government administration processes such as license renewals, visa application, and bill payments. When fully implemented, the system will not only reduce identity theft – especially in visa applications, but also save the government the expensive administration costs associated with physically running these procedures. 

Also, the Jamaican government is planning on establishing a national identity (NID) system, which is essentially an online database with a citizen’s personal details. This will help in streamlining identity verification and counter financial crimes in Jamaica. Although the government hasn’t shown any interest in blockchain, the NID system could benefit immensely if this disruptive technology was to be used. 

3. Tracking transactions

High-risk transactions such as cash transfers and public contracts are susceptible to third-party interception and even fraud by the involved parties. Currently, various solutions have been introduced to provide end-to-end transparency using advanced analytics to detect bid-rigging, price-fixing, phantom vendors, among other irregularities. Blockchain can still be deployed to further enhance transparency by recording vital information at every stage of the contract or procurement chain. 

In the same vein, government payment systems and cash transfers are vulnerable to fraud due to multiple points of human discretion. Limiting the physical interaction between citizens and government officials using smart contracts will reduce falsification/fraudulent transactions, in addition to cutting the red tape.

So far, there have been only a few programs experimenting on blockchain as a means of recording government transactions. Nonetheless, the United Nations, through the World Food Program, recently conducted cash transfers to Syrian refugees in Jordan. This pilot project was done using a blockchain system as a means of recording entitlements to ensure transparency, eliminate chances of falsified claims, and reduce transfer costs. The success of this project may perhaps inspire governments across the world to embrace blockchain as a means of fighting against corruption. 

In a humanitarian context, blockchain can also be used to curb slavery and civil wars experienced in resource-rich third world countries. A good example is in the case of ‘blood’ diamonds witnessed in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. ‘Blood’ diamonds, as defined by the United Nations, are gemstones mined by militia groups who, in turn, sell them to fund their military actions against the recognized government of that particular state. Often these militias exploit slaves and children to mine these gems and perpetuate state violence. 

Even though most consumers do not want to buy these diamonds, they have no practical way of ascertaining whether they were ethically sourced. However, blockchain as a data storage system can be used to record all diamond transactions throughout its supply chain, making it easy for anyone to access and verify the history of a diamond before purchasing. This would, in turn, discourage the sale of blood diamonds to unsuspecting customers, bringing an end to slavery, child labor, and perhaps, cripple the criminal activities of the militias.  

Conclusion 

Blockchain technology may not be the silver bullet it’s often touted to be, but its enormous potential to root out corruption can’t be ignored, especially in a world scarred by unending corruption scandals. Besides strengthening integrity, the technology can add an extra layer of security to records and transactions that are often exposed to high risks of corruption. Nonetheless, it’s anticipated that government-wide application of blockchain systems is yet to be realized as the technology is still in its early stages. For now, we can only rely on pilot programs to lead the exploration of blockchain as an anti-corruption tool.