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Understanding Fungible and Non-Fungible Tokens

Today we are going to look into fungible vs Non-Fungible Tokens, aka NFTs, aka nifty. They burst into the mainstream with the sudden popularity of cryptokitties – a virtual cat collectible game. While the Ethereum-based ERC-721 remains the most popular NFT in the market, there are several projects out there, like RSK, that have produced their own collectible tokens. So, before we go into any of this, let’s do some background research.

What is A Token?

In real life, a token is a thing which serves as a visible or tangible representation of a fact, quality, feeling, etc. you can empty your pockets right now and the chances are that you will stumble across a lot of real-life tokens.

  • Your office ID card shows that a company gainfully employs you.
  • Your driving license is a token, representing the fact that you have taken the training required to drive in your country.
  • Your hotel key card shows that you have paid the hotel for your room.

Similarly, in the cryptoverse, a token is a representation of “something” in its particular ecosystem. It could value, stake, voting right, or anything. A token is not limited to one specific role; it can fulfill many roles in its native ecosystem. A token represents an asset or utility that a company has, and they usually give it away to their investors during a public sale.

Fungible vs Non-Fungible Tokens

Alright, we have gained some background info on how tokens work, let’s look at the difference between fungible and non-fungible tokens. According to Investopedia:

“Fungibility is a good or asset’s interchangeability with other individual goods or assets of the same type.”

Let’s understand this with an example.

Suppose you borrow a $100 note from a friend. To pay her back, do you really need to pay her back with the exact same note?

Absolutely not.

You can pay her back with another $100 note. In fact, you can give your friend 2 50-dollar notes or even 10 10-dollar notes. It will be perfectly fine because dollars (or paper currencies in general) are, for the most part, fungible.

Now, let’s suppose you borrow your friend’s car. Will she be ok with you returning some other car to her? What if you break up her car and return her the engine, wheels, doors, etc.? You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t file a complaint against you!

So, what happened here?

A car counts as a collectible, which is why it is non-fungible.

This is the fundamental difference between a fungible asset and a non-fungible asset.

Currencies gain more value by their fungibility. The more widely regarded and accepted a specific currency is, the more people will use it, and hence more it’s perceived value will be. So, if payment is one of the main utilities of the token that you are interested in, then you should check whether the token is fungible or not.

Non-fungibility is a desired asset when your token is a collectible and gains its value from its uniqueness.

Ethereum Token Standards: ERC-20 vs ERC-721

To create a healthy ecosystem, it is essential that the Dapps built on top of Ethereum can seamlessly interact with one another. However, what will happen if we have two tokens, say Token Alpha and Token Beta, and both of them have different smart contract structures?

For the two tokens to interact, the developers will need to carefully study both their contracts and map out exactly how these tokens will work with each other.

Now, this doesn’t really bode well for scalability, does it?

If there are 100 different tokens with 100 different contracts, then to narrow down on all the qualifications and conditions required to make sure that transfers can go through between all these tokens will need a humongous amount of complex calculations. This is not an ideal scenario at all.

This is why a decision was taken to standardize the rules that govern the token’s underlying architecture. These sets of rules are called ERC-20. The “ERC” stands for “Ethereum Request for Comment,” while the number ’20’ is assigned to this request.

Let’s look into what builds the foundations of ERC20:

  • totalSupply
  • balanceOf
  • transfer
  • transferFrom
  • approve
  • allowance

Now, these are the rules and functions that the ERC-20 tokens must mandatorily have. However, they can also have the following 3 optional characteristics.

  • Token Name
  • Symbol
  • Decimal (up to 18)

These rules define the ERC-20, fungible standard.

Properties of Fungible Tokens

  • Another token of the same type can replace one token.
  • The underlying rules that are governing the tokens are the same.
  • Fungible tokens are divisible, and various smaller fractions could be used to pay back a larger amount. E.g. 1 BTC can be paid back with 0.50 BTC, 0.30 BTC, and 0.20 BTC.

ERC-721 – The Non-Fungible Standard

The ERC-721 token standard helps create non-fungible tokens. In many ways, it is pretty similar to ERC-20 in functionality. This similarity exists for two reasons:

  • Firstly, it is easier for developers to make the transition. , they won’t have to learn a host of new things
  • It makes life much easier for users who can store these tokens in ordinary wallets and trade them on exchanges.

The interface for ERC-721 provides two methods:

  • ownerOf: to query a token’s owner
  • transferFrom: to transfer ownership of a token

ERC-721 Functions

The ERC-721 standard defines the following functions: name, symbol, totalSupply, balanceOf, ownerOf, approve, takeOwnership, transfer, tokenOfOwnerByIndex, and tokenMetadata. It also describes two events: Transfer and Approval.

Before we go into individual function discussions, you must know what we mean by the Token Ownership and Token Creation of the ERC-721 functions.

Pros and Cons of Non-fungible tokens

Pros

  • ERC-721 standard can be a way with which every significant asset could be tokenized on a public or hybrid blockchain with complete immutability and security.
  • Non-fungible tokens can be designed with way more resources than available to most during that time. Users can do this, adding extra context and information to the asset’s metadata.

Cons:

  • The ERC-721 token standard is still relatively new.
  • Fungible tokens are divisible upto a certain extent. ERC-721 simply can’t be divided and must be bought or sold whole.

As mentioned before, several projects have started issuing NFT tokens. One of those happens to be RSK.

What is RSK?

Rootstock (RSK) is a smart contract platform that is connected to the Bitcoin blockchain through sidechain technology. Rootstock was born to be compatible with Ethereum’s applications (the web3/EVM/Solidity model) . The idea behind the creation of RSK was to give the Bitcoin blockchain smart contract functionalities. At its very core, Rootstock is a combination of:

  • A Turing-complete resource-accounted deterministic virtual machine (for smart contracts) compatible with Ethereum’s EVM.
  • A two-way pegged Bitcoin sidechain (for BTC denominated trade) based on a strong federation.
  • A SHA256D merge-mining consensus protocol (for consensus security relying on Bitcoin’s miners) with 30-seconds block interval. (for fast payments).

RSK: NFT Use Cases

Its partnership with Watafan can perfectly describe RSK’s advances in the field of non-fungible tokens.

Watafan will allow celebrities to create their own digital trading cards, aka watacards.

  • Celebrities can give away the watacards to their fans as a gift or autograph.
  • They can use their personal wallet to sign these cards cryptographically.
  • Smart contracts protect the intellectual property of the idols.
  • Every time fans trade watacards in the secondary market among each other. The concerned celebrity will receive a chunk of the shares.
  • Watafan aims to propel digital property to the next level by leveraging smart contracts. Watafan idols can secure their copyright and digital identity with RSK smart contracts.
  • Long-term, watacards will cement themselves as a new kind of asset that can help preserve the intellectual copyrights of artists, athletes, musicians, actors, and others.
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Crypto Guides

Will Audius be the Next Spotify?

Introduction

Nowadays, advanced technology has made it possible for everyone to showcase their talent in front of the whole world without hassle. The Internet also provides you with a platform where you can gain fame and recognition within no time. For both these purposes, you just need three basic things: incomparable talent, correct stage, and proper strategy. While skill and strategy rely entirely on you, finding the right platform has become easy with Audius.

Don’t worry if you haven’t heard the name Audius before. We have collected all the information about this new title in the music industry. So you will be able to see how it can change your life. Let’s get into the details.

What Is Audius?

If you are aware of the concept of Ethereum, that runs the cryptocurrency Ether, it will be convenient for you to understand Audius. Ethereum has used its blockchain-based set up to provide this music streaming service to everyone in the world. Audius promotes its motto that states, “We give everyone the freedom to share and listen.”

Basically, Audius is a music streaming platform that runs on blockchain and provides ample opportunities to everyone who wishes to share their music with the world. This means it has eliminated the hassle and process of indulging with major labels and corporations for music production. Therefore, artists can share their music with their intended audience without any middlemen.

How Does Audius Work?

Audius seems to work the same way as Spotify or SoundCloud. A few steps involved in using this platform include:

Buying Tokens: There is a concept of Audius Tokens that both artists and listeners should be aware of. Being a user, you can either spend money to buy these tokens or earn them just by listening to the ads.

Spend and Listen: Once you have tokens in your wallet, you can use them to listen to your favorite music. For each song that you listen to, a fraction of a cent will get cut from the total amount.

That was from the perspective of the listeners. When we talk about the artists, they will get approximately 85% of the entire money earned on their music. This percentage is higher than almost all similar apps that offer a maximum of 70% cut.

The remaining 15% of the amount will be given to the following people:

  • Song host
  • Audius developers
  • Other associated people

What Is The Benefit Of Audius?

The primary benefit of Audius is that artists can conveniently showcase their talent to the world, while listeners can get a chance to explore more diverse music. However, this isn’t the only perk of this platform.

When we talk about the music industry, most artists often get stuck between corporations and big labels. Most of the earnings on music are taken by these middlemen, leaving a minimal cut for the artists. But with the help of Audius, they can get almost 85% of the total revenue generated by their song. Hence, they will get paid well for their efforts and talent.

All in all, Audius is an excellent initiative by Ethereum because it will be beneficial for both artists and listeners. So there won’t be any hassle or complications associated with producing some quality music.

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Crypto Guides

What Should You Know About Bitcoin Miner Capitulation?

Introduction

If you have dealt with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, you must know how uncertain they can be. While they can make you a millionaire within a day, they can also snatch away all your money in a short period. People who mine their money in Bitcoin have to keep a close eye on these fluctuations and ensure they take themselves out while there is still time. The same may be happening with Bitcoin.

You may have heard the experts talk about Bitcoin Miner Capitulation. Some of those also try to explain the concept in their own words. However, there is still a major confusion around the term “Miner Capitulation.” If you also want to learn more about the concept, you have come to the right place. We have collected all the crucial information on the topic to understand what exactly is happening with Bitcoin. So let’s begin.

What Is Bitcoin Miner Capitulation?

Bitcoin mining refers to the completion of verified transactions’ blocks that get appended to the blockchain. For these transactions, miners earn a reward in the form of cryptocurrency. If the miner isn’t able to manage to make out their operational costs from the Bitcoin mining process, they sell a significant amount of their mined Bitcoins. This leads to Bitcoin Miner Capitulation.

On the other hand, Miner Capitulation can also result from sudden drops in the Bitcoin market as this makes miners sell their coins. Hence, we can say that Bitcoin Miner Capitulation is when small miners can’t profit from their mining, and they back out. It creates selling stress in the market, leading to further drops in the price and a lack of buyers.

Is This First Bitcoin Miner Capitulation?

Many people dealing with Bitcoin assume this is the first time Bitcoin is experiencing a Miner Capitulation. But the facts state something different. Miner Capitulation has been seen twice in the history of Bitcoin:

  • 2016: When Bitcoin Halving took place this year, it was seen that miners began selling a significant amount of their Bitcoins.
  • 2018: Bitcoin again crashed by 50%, getting a value of $3,000 from $6,000. This led to low profits for small miners, and they again sold their Bitcoins in massive amounts.

Apart from these, the 2013 effect on Bitcoin’s price also brought in some Miner Capitulation. Therefore, this isn’t the first time Bitcoin is experiencing one such situation. It has happened whenever Bitcoin Halving takes place or the price drops down.

Is Bitcoin Miner Capitulation Something To Worry About?

It is usual for a big market like Bitcoin to host thousands or millions of transactions every day. So when some of the miners sell their coins, how does that make any difference? The answer to this question is simple, i.e., the tension of sale in the market.

With these small miners selling their coins, many other people also begin considering selling their coins. This stress rises with more sales. Moreover, it causes a lack of buyers in the market, and Bitcoin’s price falls further.

People are relating Bitcoin Miner Capitulation to more significant problems that may be seen in the upcoming times. That is why you must learn more about the current situation and take action while there is still time to save yourself from any bigger trouble.

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Crypto Guides

Heard of Suterusu? One of the most interesting cryptocurrency!

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies have come into the limelight even since Bitcoin hyped in the market. As the demand for cryptocurrency increased, a few new names also joined the list. One of the well-known titles from those is Suterusu. It is a bit different from the usual cryptocurrencies, which makes it more exciting and beneficial for people.

You may or may not have earlier heard about Suterusu. Either way, we are here to help you out. Here, we have brought all the crucial information about Suterusu to help you learn more about it, making the concept clearer to you. So without further ado, let’s begin with the details.

What Is Suterusu?

Security and anonymity is a big concern for almost all blockchain platforms. In order to resolve this, Suterusu has brought in a new concept. It allows these blockchain developers to implement an additional layer of zk-SNARK-based privacy without any hassle. That is why its motto of “launchpad for privacy-preserving interoperable blockchain” gets appropriately fulfilled.

In other words, Suterusu helps bring new privacy to blockchain platforms or apps that match the ZCash level. Moreover, they need not implement this security layer to their protocol level. Therefore, even mainstream blockchains like Ether, Bitcoin, and Decentralized Finance can benefit from this new concept.

How Is Suterusu Different From Other zk-SNARK Implementations?

The other applications of zk-SNARK called for the need for one of the following:

  • Logarithmic proof sizes
  • Trusted setup: Under this, a set of original parameters are created. These are further used to generate a key, which makes and verifies the proofs of future transactions within the network.

These two factors contradict the anonymous cryptocurrency’s transparent and decentralized nature.

On the other hand, Suterusu undertakes zk-SNARK’s updated version to get rid of both of these concerns. This version is called zk-ConSNARK. So, basically, there is no trust set up promoted by Suterusu that destroys the trusted set up entirely and keeps the proof size low. It not only amplifies the throughput but also maintains security and privacy by keeping the transaction participants anonymous.

What Is Suterusu’s Cryptocurrency?

Suterusu runs its own cryptocurrency named the SUTER Token, which has a total of 10 billion supply. It is further divided into percentages made for different sections:

  • Suterusu’s team has over 4.8% of the tokens.
  • 2% of the tokes are specified for the foundation.
  • 16% of the total tokens are for participants of a private sale.
  • Stake miners can go up to 76% tokens.

Like any other cryptocurrency, SUTER is also subjected to an annual supply halve seen every couple of years. Moreover, these tokens have the lowest inflation rate as compared to other anonymous coins in the market.

In case you want to run a validator node for Suterusu, you will need to deposit at least 1 million SUTER Tokens. Based on your mortgage token and voting token, your mining power will be determined. Further, this will decide the total reward you can receive as a validator node.

Conclusion

By maintaining the anonymity factor, Suterusu has a high chance of becoming the next big thing in the cryptocurrency market. Now that you have learned its basics, we recommend you to get into more details and see how to benefit from this rising concept.

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What Should You Know About Non-Fungible Tokens?

Introduction 

The word tokens mostly bring the concept of currency in our minds, i.e., something that we can exchange for something else. However, this isn’t entirely correct. Rather than just being a currency, a token represents any fact, feeling, quality, etc. visibly and tangibly. A few common examples of a token can be:

Voters ID: It is a token of the fact that you are eligible to vote.

Driving License: It is a token that shows you have undergone the process of proving that you can dive responsibly.

Coins: These are the tokens that show the value of something like a pair of glasses is $10 worth.

There can be several such things that can be considered as tokens. Now, these tokens can be divided into two categories: Fungible and Non-Fungible. You must be aware of the concept of fungible tokens that can be exchanged for something. Let’s now learn what Non-Fungible Tokens are.

What Are Non-Fungible Tokens?

If we dive into the cryptocurrency market, you will see that the most prominent tokens are fungible. For instance, you can exchange a Bitcoin for another Bitcoin without affecting its price. On the other hand, Non-Fungible Tokens are the ones that don’t hold this property of being exchangeable. Each of them has its own value, like your car and watch has its own.

In simple words, fungible tokens can be replaced by something identical to it, while Non-Fungible Tokens can’t be. Another difference between the two is divisibility. Like you can divide a Bitcoin into two parts, you can’t split a non-fungible token due to its uniqueness.

Where Did The Concept Of Non-Fungible Tokens Arise?

Many people still don’t know how Non-Fungible Tokens came into the market. If you are one of them, then it is time to get aware of this factor. Non-Fungible Tokens’ concept came into notice when a blockchain-based platform, CryptoKitties, made $12 million worth of transactions of virtual kittens. As each cat has its own features and traits, it was sold and bought at different prices.

Therefore, these kittens followed with the two essential qualities of Non-Fungible Tokens:

  • One kitten can’t get exchanged with another one as their price differs.
  • One kitten can’t get divided into two or more parts.

And all these transactions took place in Ethereum. After CryptoKitten came into the limelight, several gaming platforms seem to opt for this method of transaction.

What Is The Future Of Non-Fungible Tokens?

Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs hold a significant market in the gaming industry. Plus, more and more gaming platforms are now incorporating cryptocurrencies, giving more space for the use of NFTs. Players can make in-game purchases conveniently with the help of these NFTs, just like the kittens were sold on CrytoKitten. For example, buying and selling game skins, armours, and other similar assets will become even more accessible. But this isn’t the only use case of NFTs. With their advancements, they indeed will find a place of their own in the world.

We hope all this information will make the Non-Fungible Token’s concept clear to you. So now you can see how you can benefit from them and use them wherever possible.

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Brief Introduction To Flexa And SPEDN Crypto Payment Apps

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies are becoming bigger and bigger with each passing year. While they were an unknown topic a decade back, they have now become a prominent income source for many. But have you imagined if these cryptocurrencies overtake the physical currencies entirely? Well, Flexa has made this possible by bringing in the use of crypto payments in the retail world.

This means the cryptocurrency usage won’t be limited to investment purposes, and retailers will benefit from it. Flex has now begun its work with a mobile application named SPEDN. There is nothing to worry about if you haven’t heard about Flex and SPEDN before because we will provide you with all the necessary details on these two.

What Are Flexa And SPEDN?

As stated above, Flexa is a mobile payment startup that has been working to develop a unique cryptocurrency payment network for retailers. Its primary motive includes the following factors:

  • Reduce frauds
  • Eliminate processing costs
  • Build better relationships between buyers and sellers
  • Preserve privacy

Flexa offers one of its kind platform for payments that is entirely decentralized, making commerce more efficient and accessible. In straightforward terms, it can be stated that Flexa works to cut out the unnecessary hassle that is often incorporated into the payment processes of retailers. Thus, reducing the overall complexity and costs of conventional payment systems.

The startup is doing so with its first app called SPEDN. The application will be available for both Android and iOS platforms. It will serve as a digital wallet that uses cryptocurrency as the payment method. So you can use it for direct payments in retail stores.

Which Cryptocurrencies Are Supported By SPEDN?

The very first factor people notice in a digital wallet is the type of currencies supported by it. And it is the same for SPEDN. It is vital to know whether this platform provides you with the flexibility to use your preferred cryptocurrency for the purpose.

Currently, it supports the following cryptocurrencies:

  • Bitcoin
  • Bitcoin Cash
  • Ethereum
  • Gemini

However, Flexa has assured the users that they will soon be able to use a variety of coins on SPEDN as they are working towards the development.

How To Use The SPEDN App?

Using the SPEDN application is as simple as using any other digital wallet. You just have to follow four simple steps:

  • Deposit Money: You first need to have enough cryptocurrency in the app to function further. For this, you can choose the amount that has to be deposited, and SPEDN will provide you with a deposit address.
  • Shop: Once you have enough cryptocurrency in the wallet, you can shop for whatever you want from any specific retail store.
  • Get Barcode: You will then have to select the store name from the app, and you will receive a unique barcode.
  • Scan: The shop’s cashier will then scan the code, and the payment will get debited automatically.

Currently, it may be challenging for you to spot retail stores that accept cryptocurrency payments. But once this platform becomes popular and people become aware of its benefits, you will be able to use it like any other digital wallet.

Conclusion

Flexa is working to change the entire retail shopping experience for you. Plus, they are making the transactions more beneficial for the shopkeepers. SPEDN is its first app to fulfill the initiative. However, this is just the beginning, and people expect Flexa to bring up more ideas to make the platform even more convenient.

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Crypto Guides

What Should You Know About The ‘Concordium’ Blockchain Platform

Introduction

Business payments have to be made secure and transparent. It is true that blockchain and its products have always helped businesses in providing the right efficiency. Yet again, a blockchain-powered product has made its inception into the industry, offering better privacy and accountability of the payments. Concordium platform is a reformed open-source and permissionless blockchain product made with business applications. In this article, we are going to talk about the Concordium articles and everything you need to know about it.

What is Concordium?

It is a proof-of-stake blockchain that has been created with business applications. Concordium is also the first blockchain that comes with identification embedded in the protocol that helps in meeting the requirements facilitating a user-friendly platform. It is primarily designed to be cost-effective, secure, and fast. The identity layer offers on-chain identity compliance centric payments and better privacy for the users.

What About Its Structure?

The two-layer consensus protocol comprises Nakamoto-style blockchain, and the finality layer is meant for faster transaction confirmation. The sharing design facilitates high transaction throughput and enhanced privacy for the business’s sensitive data. Another feather in the cap is designing two new languages for the smart contract code, making the development much easier. The platform also has a transparent incentive structure with predictable fees and cost-effective transactions.

What Are The Best Features of Concordium?

Now that you have understood the platform, let’s take a peek into the feature that will give you a better understanding.

Regulatory Compliance By Design: It is primarily designed to make business transactions faster, secure, and cost-effective. Concordium is designed in a way to integrate the financial system with the user’s identity. It helps the developers, businesses, and individuals to build blockchain products that comply with regulations.

Privacy and Verification of Users: The identity layer of Concordium offers a compliance-centric balance in accountability and anonymity. The user’s identity will remain anonymous, but it can be revoked against a valid request from the government or legal channels.

Fast Transactions: The most important takeaway of this platform is its fast transactions. It has set a benchmark by making the transactions fast enough in accordance with transactions per second. Concordium is made to meet the ever-evolving needs of businesses on a global scale. The platform has taken a major leap compared to other blockchain technology.

Consistent Uptime: The platform is designed for dynamic business use cases with a focus on the uptime requirements. The two-layer consensus is designed to ensure that the platform is secure and available for the changing conditions. So far, the platform has achieved speedups and efficiency.

The Bottom Line

Concordium is created to bring innovation and efficiency to the business transaction. The platform vision to unlock blockchain’s potential and put it to best use for the future economy. The community of Concordium currently involves developers, investors, business leaders, and technologists who are advocating it throughout the world. If you are also willing to enter the arena, you can connect via attending the event, joining the online communities, or entering the ambassador program.

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An Introductory Guide To NEAR Protocol

Introduction

NEAR Protocol is a smart contract compatible cryptocurrency, a highly scalable and low-cost platform for developers, allowing them to create dApps or decentralized apps for various purposes. In the cryptocurrency space, the competition can turn out to be vicious. Nevertheless, cooperation is also widespread in the crypto space, particularly because it is a new asset class.

Crypto creators and experts have understood that it is highly beneficial to cooperate rather than to compete for the time being. And you will struggle to find any crypto project better than NEAR Protocol when it comes to cooperation in the cryptocurrency space. If you are interested in understanding what NEAR Protocol actually is, including its elements and features, this post will explain everything you need to know about it. Let’s get started.

What is NEAR Protocol?

NEAR or NEAR Protocol is a cryptocurrency blockchain that features smart contract functionality. NEAR Protocol is designed and developed to facilitate the creation of decentralized applications. It is also developer-friendly and is interoperable with Ethereum as well.

Coming down to its functionality, NEAR Protocol uses a block generation mechanism known as ‘Doomslug’ that processes over 100,000 transactions per second and a Sharding mechanism known as ‘Nightshade’ that splits the entire cryptocurrency network into multiple portions. The transaction fees on NEAR Protocol are so low that it requires a special unit of measurement for quantification called ‘yocto.’

Furthermore, the developers at NEAR Protocol are working to make the platform secure enough to handle valuable assets like identity or money. And with the likes of proof of stake, combined with sharding, the platform can prove useful for everyday customers.

How does it work?

NEAR Protocol is a dedicated proof of stake blockchain, which, to optimize performance, uses sharding. Sharding is quite different in NEAR Protocol as compared to other cryptocurrencies. That is, all shards on NEAR Protocol are considered a part of the same network. Using Nightshade, the cryptocurrency is interoperable with ETH using Rainbow Bridge. The Nightshade works to add a single snapshot of each shard’s existing state on the NEAR Protocol blockchain. Each shard has its own set of validator nodes that broadcast the shard’s existing state each time a block is produced.

Elements and Features of NEAR Protocol

NEAR Protocol comes with numerous functionalities that cater to the validators, end-users, and developers differently.

  • NEAR Protocol allows the developers to prepay and sign the transactions in the end-users’ best interest, significantly reducing the need for the users to know about how the decentralized application works and other technical anomalies.
  • It boasts a ‘Progressive UX,’ which is specifically designed for users so that they can use the platform without requiring to use tokens or wallets.
  • When we talk about the validators, NEAR Protocol allows them to create an assortment of offerings for the users.

Conclusion

It is still too early to say whether people will accept NEAR Protocol or will it dethrone Ethereum. But it is certainly not impossible. Given the features and functionalities of the cryptocurrency, it can be said that NEAR Protocol is the future of the cryptocurrency market, especially because it can help create state-of-the-art decentralized applications.

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Looking For Easy Crypto Payment? Switch To NOWPayments!

Introduction

Digital payment has undoubtedly blessed the financial industry by offering a seamless transaction mode. With the inclusion of blockchain, things have become even more efficient. More and more blockchain platforms have been introducing their tokens and coins to facilitate blockchain-based transactions. Crypto holders are making use of their crypto coins to conduct everyday financial transactions.

Owing to the increasing demand for crypto payments, blockchain platforms are designing their currency. ChangNow has also been working to introduce NOWPayments to offer a convenient blockchain payment service that will accept crypto coins all over the globe. In this article, we are going to talk about NOWPayment and everything that has to be discovered regarding this revolutionized payment service.

What is NOWPayments?

NOWPayments is powered by ChangeNOW and has been operating in the industry since 2019. It is also tied up worth Ledger, Binance, and Atomic Wallet to increase its services’ efficiency. NOWPayments has been designed to primarily offer a crypto payment gateway for both customers and merchants and make transactions seamless. It allows merchants to accept crypto payment on their online stores, social media accounts, and website. Being a non-custodial service, NOWPayments will not store funds in any means. It supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies and facilitates transactions at lower fees.

What Are The Benefits of Choosing NOWPayments?

As online/offline merchants and crypto coin holders are increasing at a staggering rate, it has become essential to introduce a hassle-free payment gateway. NOWPayment is that one-stop destination where you can conduct crypto transactions without any hassle. It has partnered with all the popular crypto exchanges to strengthen its potential and meet customers’ needs. Here are a few crucial benefits of using NOWPayments-:

Faster Payments: NOWPayments is known for its lightning-fast payments. Unlike other gateways, NOWPayments will complete the transaction within minutes.

Non-Custodial Services: There are no intermediaries involved in the transactions except holding the fees. So, the payments are directly forwarded to the merchants.

Comprehensive Support: Complete guidance and inclusive support is another major takeaway of this payment gateway. From installing plugins to integrating API, you can get all answers to your queries via a 24/7 support team.

Transparency Compliance: NOWPayment prioritizes the safety of the clients and partners. The legal team dedicatedly works to ensure compliance. It secures all the transactions and safeguards it from illegal acts, and protects the users’ rights.

How To Integrate NOWPayments?

NOWPayment claims to be the easiest and best way to accept crypto payments. The easy-to-use interface makes NOWPayments offers hassle-free, secure, and simple API that you can integrate into any platform. Follow the below steps-:

  • Sign up for NOWPayment with email and set up your account
  • Access the Dashboard after signing up
  • Go to Add New Key and save the API
  • Visit the Outcome Wallet page to access your digital wallet
  • Use the API to send and accept crypto payments

The Bottom Line

NOWPayments has established a safer, reliable, and faster crypto payment gateway that everyone needed. It can be embedded in online stores and websites to make payment easier for customers and merchants. The above mentioned were all the vital information you need to know about this amazing payment gateway.

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Secure Trades using Safex- A Decentralised, Open-Source Crypto Marketplace

Introduction

If you are frequently updated with the blockchain trend, then you must have come across Safex. Unlike most blockchain technologies used for security and transactional purposes, Safex is focused on e-commerce. Even since Bitcoin emerged as a P2P electronic cash system (peer-to-peer), the idea of a decentralized system on which people could easily trade with each other without requiring a centralized governing body has been at the forefront of every technological leap in the blockchain industry.

Living up to crypto enthusiasts and professionals’ expectations of wanting a truly borderless and open P2P trading system that helps both sellers and buyers. Safex is a community and a decentralized protocol built and designed on the original concepts of the individual rights to control, security, and privacy over transactions.

Let’s understand why Safex is the real attraction for crypto investors all across the globe.

What is Safex?

Safex is a privacy-based, decentralized, and open-source e-commerce marketplace designed to help both sellers and buyers and make transactions hassle-free. It allows you to create powerful web stores that are powered by blockchain. Safex has been using the heavily modified blockchain technology called cryptonote that leads to a world-class marketplace. What’s interesting about Safex is that the platform boasts a unique type of commerce-focused smart contract function.

Since data breach is the major vulnerability suffered by most centralized commerce platforms, Safex primarily focuses on privacy, addressing issues like opaque and unfair system for visibility of listings and trades, snooping on online behavior, unwarranted collection of personal data, and arbitrarily large and non-transparent commissions.

Industry experts claim that Safex has revolutionized the e-commerce sector by streamlining the processes and providing the e-commerce ecosystem with sheer privacy, which was previously not there.

More than 10,000 individuals have already invested in Safex Token and Cash after recognizing the project’s potential.

Why Safex?

Credit card fraud, privacy issues, and unfairness to small to medium-scale sellers are a few of the many problems affecting everyday users. With Safex, users get a solution in the form of secure online payment, an embedded privacy coin for free, and a marketplace on a blockchain. Safex combines Shopify, Upwork, and Amazon’s functionalities into a single platform, creating a new future for online shopping that eliminates the difficulties and challenges that users have to deal with every day.

Safex Features and Functionalities

With Safex, small sellers from across the world will have access to a global client base.

Engine for E-Commerce – Safex offers a decentralized database and an integrated global payment engine, which adds security and a privacy layer to online stores.

Safex Marketplace – Safex is a decentralized marketplace on a privacy blockchain, allowing sellers to gain exposure to the wide network of Safex users.

Privacy Blockchain -Safex uses functionalities like One-Time Address and Ring Signatures to maintain the senders’ anonymity and recipients of transactions.

Conclusion

Safex has already developed a strong community of users who believe in the project. Since blockchain is the future of online payment, Safex can prove to be a game-changer in how people carry out online transactions.

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Crypto Guides

An Introductory Guide To ‘Yield Farming’ In The World of Cryptocurrencies

Introduction

Lately, the topic of Decentralized Finance or DeFi in the cryptocurrency space has been the most talked-about concept among crypto enthusiasts. While the general populous has been hunkering down on the economic uncertainty, people in the field of cryptocurrency have been excited about decentralized finance’s one of the latest, riskiest, and dynamic investment strategies – Yield Farming.

The concept is quite new, even for the crypto nerds. But it has the potential to change the dynamics of how people deal with cryptocurrencies. Some people may confuse it with liquidity farming, but Yield Farming is a different concept. Simply put, it is the process of finding the best returns (yields) that the cryptocurrency world has to offer.

One of the great things about Decentralised Finance is that they are permissionless. That is, anyone with an internet connection and a supported crypto wallet can interact with them, even a smart contract. This has given rise to Yield Farming. So, what is it? How does it work? Who can use it? We will answer all these questions and more in this post. Keep on reading.

What is Yield Farming?

Yield Farming is a process of generating rewards with crypto holdings using permissionless liquidity protocols. Simply put, Yield Farming means holding and locking cryptocurrencies and getting rewards. According to experts, Yield Farming bears a resemblance to staking. Nevertheless, it is a lot more sophisticated than you can think. In most cases, Yield Farming works with users known as liquidity providers (LP) who add capital to liquidity pools.

A liquidity pool is a smart contract containing funds; when liquidity providers provide liquidity to the pool, they get a reward. The reward received by the liquidity provider will be either generated from the fees of the underlying Decentralized Finance platform or some other sources. In some cases, liquidity pools use multiple tokens to pay their rewards. These tokens can be deposited to other liquidity pools to earn more rewards. This means that as a liquidity provider, you will contribute to the liquidity pools and earn rewards in return.

Yield Farming is done using Ethereum (ERC-20 tokens), and the reward generated is also some kind of ERC-20 token. Yield farmers move their funds quite often between different protocols, looking for higher yields. Experts believe that Decentralized Finance platforms may provide providers with other economic incentives to attract more capital.

How Does it Work?

Yield Farming is based on the Automated Marker Maker (AMM) principle that includes liquidity pools and liquidity providers. Suppose you are a liquidity provider. You deposit funds into a liquidity pool. This liquidity pool of yours is a whole marketplace where users can exchange, borrow, or lend tokens. As the user uses these tokens, they will have to pay a certain fee to the liquidity provider, that is, to you. This is how AMM works.

Conclusion

As simple as it sounds, Yield Farming is a complex phenomenon. The strategies involved are highly complex and are suitable for only advanced users. Also, experts suggest that it should be deployed by those who have a lot of capital.

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Crypto Guides

How DeFi Is Solving The Problem That Bitcoin Always Wanted To?

Introduction 

When you hear the word ‘cryptocurrency,’ Bitcoin is the first thing that pops into your mind. For the longest time, bitcoin has been synonymous with cryptocurrency and regarded as the future currency. In the recent past, bitcoin’s monopoly has been diluted by the entrance of thousands of other cryptocurrencies.

The cryptocurrencies’ primary objective was to serve as an alternative, and down the line, a replacement to the global fiat financial system. This objective has failed to take off. This failure can be attributed to the skepticism cryptocurrencies have faced, which has slowed their role as a legitimate alternative to fiat currencies. DeFi has helped address some of these challenges and help make cryptocurrencies mainstream.

What is DeFi?

DeFi is the short form for Decentralised Finance.  At its core, decentralized finance is the provision of conventional financial services on platforms built on the public blockchain. Specifically, DeFi is based on the Ethereum blockchain platform.

DeFi is heralded as the most suitable alternative to the global financial system. This new enthusiasm about the decentralization of finance is owed to the fact that DeFi is seen as being able to solve the problems that bitcoin failed to solve.

Advancements Made by DeFi

Here are some of the advancements made DeFi, which bitcoin failed to achieve.

Creation of issuance and investing platform

These platforms operate like an ordinary stock exchange. DeFi has made it possible so that cryptocurrencies can be issued and traded like conventional financial securities. The platform brings together broker-dealers, legal advisors, and custodians, who will advise issuers through the process. Furthermore, the platform also makes it possible for asset and investment managers’ proliferation for crypto-based financial assets.

Establishment of a decentralized prediction market

A prediction market is one where individuals can bet on any future occurrences. With decentralized prediction markets, there is no form of censorship whatsoever. Therefore, it offers an incredible opportunity to hedge against future risks financially and speculate on all forms of social events globally.

Growth of open lending protocols

Decentralized open lending championed by DeFi involves the following: collateralization of cryptocurrencies; elimination of credit checks among borrowers; lending and borrowing of cryptocurrencies for trading purposes; and real-time settlement of transactions. The financial inclusion resulting from open lending is unparalleled.

Facilitated the issuance of stablecoins

DeFi made it possible for the issuance of stablecoins by facilitating the auditing of crypto reserves and ensuring manageable volatility of such cryptocurrencies. With DeFi, stablecoins can be pegged on another asset. Categories of stable coins that have been spurred by DeFi include crypto-collateralized stablecoins, fiat-collateralized stable coins, and non-collateralized stablecoins whose stability depends on an algorithm controlling the expansion and contraction of its supply.

Bottom Line

DeFi undoubtedly offers a higher potential for financial inclusion, censorship-free transactions, and improved privacy. Although DeFi is offered as an alternative to the centralized financial system, it is almost impossible to envision an economy where the centralized financial system ceases to exist. Thus, it is prudent to co-mingle the two systems to ensure complementarity, which will tone down the inherent risks associated with either system.

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Crypto Guides

Is Tezos The Most Robust Cryptocurrency?

Introduction

Tezos is a decentralized, highly secure, transparent, and smart contract enabled blockchain governed by itself. It is a blockchain network associated with a digital token known as Tez or Tezzie (XTZ). Tezos doesn’t mine Tez. Instead, the token holder is rewarded under the consensus mechanism for participating in the proof-of-stake system.

A digital commonwealth group, sharing common interests and goals, is linked together to govern the Tezos platform. Tezos aims to become the most robust cryptocurrency blockchain by working together with its token holders to build more democratic protocol with the time. 

What is Tezos Attempting to Achieve? 

Tezos team wants to develop the most adaptable cryptocurrency project. It provides a token holder with equal governing power and is trying to avoid a hard fork situation. In which a community splits and starts competing with each other like in Bitcoin cash and Ethereum DAO. Tezos is implementing soft forks in which the community regularly updates the blockchain for constant growth. They are using (DAO) Decentralised Autonomous Organization system where every decision is taken after community discussion. This will make this more self amendable and upgradeable system.  

How Tezos Works? 

Tezos uses a proof of stake algorithm, and it can support 40 transactions/second on the network. It uses the Michelson coding language, which proceeds with formal verification to avoid any bugs in the network. To create error fee smart contracts, they use a mathematically provable code. In this network, the stakers are known as bakers.

To make delegate changes, you need to have 10,000 Tezos tokens and a bond. Most probably to make the system more democratic, Tezos has removed the miners to reduce their control power in the network. It is absorbing good elements from different blockchains to make it self-governing, self-evolving, and adaptable. If you notice anything appealing in any other blockchain, you can propose it to the community that approves the change for the Tezos network. 

Tezos Architecture

The protocol is divided into layers:

Network Protocol  – Here, the peer-to-peer communication is done to broadcast the decisions between the nodes.

Transaction Protocol – Here, the blockchain accounting model is implemented. 

Consensus Protocol – This consensus protocol verifies the agreement to confirm transactions. 

The Tezos Accounts

Implicit Account – It’s the most commonly used account. It has a public key and private key held by the account owner to secure the account balance. 

Originated Account – The formally verified smart contract account with the implicit account is known as an originated account.

Tezos Unique Capabilities

  • Self-amending and on-chain governance
  • Formal verification of smart contracts
  • Liquid proof of stake system 

Is Tezos a Good Investment?

Tezos is the youngest of all existing cryptocurrencies and focused upon the chain governance system. They claim to become a future-proof platform through on-chain governance that attracts a huge number of investors. Thus, Tezos seems to be a good investment. The good news is that most of the popular cryptocurrency investors are getting involved in Tezos. We should also consider that they don’t have a clear road map for the future, but the other dominating cryptocurrencies community is working in a specific direction. To conclude, despite Tezos being one of the most robust cryptos out there, its success or failure depends on active community decisions. 

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Crypto Guides

Understanding Crypto Trading Bots & The Pros/Cons of Using Them

Introduction

Crypto trading bots are gaining popularity with rapid digitalization happening all across the globe. The automated trading programs built and designed for trading different cryptocurrencies are called trading bots. They have gained popularity because cryptocurrency trading has been expanding like never before.

Trading bots are very useful and can serve ample benefits because they are programmed to study and analyze complex data, including prices, market volume, trends, and trades. Also, a trading bot is employed 24*7, and the user will not have to worry about the holdings all the time. Crypto trading bots are generally used by users who do not have the physical time to analyze the market all the time. 

One should also remember that not all the cryptocurrency trading bots available in the markets are the same. There are only a few features that are found common in all of them. The crypto trading bots implement four aspects when they work i.e.

  • Backtesting
  • Strategy implementation
  • Execution
  • Job scheduler

Backtesting collects different market data, like slippage and fees, for analysis purposes. During strategy implementation, different strategies are implemented for generating returns. Execution allows users to test their ideas and strategies in real-time. Once the execution is done, then its time for the automation of the entire process and set-up a job scheduler.

Why can Crypto Trading Bots be the best decision? 

A Crypto trading bot brings a plethora of benefits to help a user. Apart from 24*7 monitoring of market data, these bots can analyze pre-defined criteria as well as complex metrics in a short period of time. A bot is responsible for conducting a lot of multi-tasking, but the best thing is that this multi-tasking is super-efficient. Another reason why crypto trading bots can be the best decision is the fact that they are immune to the emotional side of trading and human errors. Hence, a bot will never trade out of greed or disappointment. 

Why can Crypto Trading Bots be the worst decision? 

There are a lot of advantages that have been discussed until now, but sometimes, a crypto trading bot can become the worst decision of a user. To start with, they are extremely expensive. Hence, before choosing a crypto trading bot, it is necessary to conduct proper research and ensure that the bot they intend to use is reliable and profitable. There are a lot of developers who provide dodgy bots that cannot be trusted.

If a user is not experienced with trading in cryptocurrency, then it is not advisable to use a bot because it requires ace level skills to do configuration and monitoring. Also, if there is a failure to set stop-loss limits, then it can cause a lot of troubles for the inexperienced users. There are also some security concerns in the past associated with cryptocurrency trading bot. For example, Bitconnect has been labeled as one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams, and it was claimed that a trading bot was in use. 

Conclusion

Trading bots have different advantages as well as disadvantages. Going with a bot can either be your best decision or the worst decision. However, if a user has professional experience and expertise in configuration and monitoring, then he or she can use a trading bot to gain maximum benefits. Doing the proper research before selecting a bot is also important. 

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Crypto Guides

A Brief Guide to PancakeSwap – A Food Themed DeFi Protocol

Introduction

PancakeSwap is a food-themed new DeFi protocol. It is a cryptocurrency platform for direct exchange under the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It has introduced many food-based farming associates in the crypto industry. Pancake allows community governance and investors to earn tokens by serving as a liquidity provider under the staking mechanism.

The whole protocol is executed on the Ethereum blockchain because it supports blockchain smart contracts, and it has huge community support who are continuously putting efforts to build decentralized applications. Pancake DeFi exchange allows swapping of BEP20 tokens. If you are familiar with SushiSwap, then you can easily grasp the PancakeSwap concept because both of them have the same incredible design. 

The PancakeSwap Exchange

The exchange platform works on an Automated Market Maker Model(AMM). In this model, the investor can trade with his digital assets and can invest in the liquidity pool. In these pools, users deposit funds and, in return, get Liquidity Provider tokens. With these earned tokens, they can reclaim their share from the trading commission. In PancakeSwap, the LP tokens are known as FLIP tokens. 

Staking Chain

In PancakeSwap, you are allowed to trade with a secondary token known as CAKE. On the farm, if you stake your LP tokens and lock them for the further process, then you will get CAKE in reward. You can deposit these different LP tokens listed below:

  1. CAKE-BNB FLIP
  2. BUSD-BNB FLIP
  3. ADA-BNB FLIP
  4. BAND_BNB FLIP
  5. DOT-BNB FLIP
  6. EOS-BNB FLIP
  7. LINK-BNB FLIP
  8. BAKE-BNB Bakery LP
  9. BURGER-BNB FLIP

There is one more token in this protocol known as SYRUP. If you have deposited funds to get LP tokens and have used these tokens to receive CAKE. Further, you can stake this CAKE token to earn a SYRUP token, which would provide you with governance functionality. 

Adding Liquidity

To access all the features of PancakeSwap, you need to unlock your crypto wallet. With this wallet, you can interact Binance smart chain based on Ethereum web applications. 

The BEP20 tokens movement will require your approval. You simply have to fix the amount you want to keep on stake, and you need to confirm the transaction. Then you can check the CAKE you have earned, and you can withdraw the amount anytime you want with the harvest option. To earn SYRUP, you have to keep your CAKE on the stake with the ‘Approve Cake’ option. Once you have staked your CAKE, you will get back an equal amount of SYRUP and can earn CAKE passively. 

Conclusion 

The Google of crypto – Binance jumped in Defi by introducing a new food protocol – PancakeSwap. PancakeSwap is launched by BSC, which is supported by a centralized exchange. It includes AMM, DEX, farms, and native token-CAKE. There are nine liquidity pools where you can deposit your funds. 25% of CAKE commission share is distributed to the SYRUP token holders. The anonymous developer team behind the PancakeSwap has warned that the smart contract is still unaudited and has high inherent risk. The fund invested in smart contracts always has a risk of bugs so, never deposit the amount if you can’t afford its loss. 

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Crypto Guides

Is EOS A Better Investment Than Ethereum Right Now?

Introduction

EOS and Ethereum both are popular blockchain smart contract platforms. To know whether EOS is a better investment or Ethereum, we will need to compare the two technologies by exploring basic concepts and comparing their mechanisms to draw out the necessary conclusions. After Ethereum was introduced in the crypto industry, two years later, EOS was launched and claimed to fix the flaws in Ethereum. EOS is a strong, scalable contender and might outperform Ethereum. The battle of EOS vs. Ethereum is the most interesting and happening space in the crypto industry. 

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a blockchain platform launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin. It allows users to send and receive funds independently without the assistance of any third party. It was the first blockchain project to install the smart technology contract. In this technology, some predefined conditions are applied, and users are needed to justify the conditions to proceed with transactions without the need for an intermediate body. This decentralized blockchain has its own cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH), which is tradable in most of the crypto exchanges. 

What is EOS?

EOS is a new blockchain platform that can also manage smart contracts. The Block.one company launched this project in 2017. It has created history by raising the highest Initial Coin Offering(ICO), worth more than $2.5 billion. It has its own EOS coin, which can be transferred from wallet to wallet. EOS aims to become the most scalable, cheapest, and fastest blockchain platform. 

Scalability

Presently Ethereum can support 15 transactions per second, whereas EOS can serve up to at least 10,000 transactions/second. EOS using IoT provides for inter-blockchain communication, which creates blockchains to allow more transactions. Ethereum is working on two protocols called “Plasma” and “Sharding” to increase transaction numbers per second. 

Transaction Cost

On Ethereum, users need to pay gas for each transaction, but EOS works completely in a different way. EOS blockchain users deposit their token to cover the bandwidth required for the transaction. 

Consensus Mechanism

Ethereum is based upon the proof-of-work model, and EOS follows the proof-of-stake model. The transactions are verified without the support of any intermediate system. Ethereum generates random puzzles at every node before confirming the transactions. These puzzles are so difficult to solve that you need to take the help of experts called “Miners.” While EOS offers to stake your coins to verify transactions, the stakers have a chance to earn the rewards. 

EOS Vs. Ethereum: Who holds the future?

Ethereum, just after Bitcoin, is the most popular cryptocurrency across the world. EOS, right from its initial days, is performing exceptionally well. EOS is yet to achieve growth that Ethereum has already achieved, but EOS is significantly better than Ethereum. EOS is a more user-friendly cryptocurrency than ETH. It’s still too early to think about how far EOS will go because the blockchain ecosystem is highly unpredictable. 

Conclusion 

EOS is younger than Ethereum and has improved scalability and transaction fees as compared to Ethereum, but still, it’s under so much controversy because of its more centralized layout. If Ethereum successfully implements the proof-of-stake mechanism, then EOS might not be able to outperform it. On the other hand, if Ethereum doesn’t reduce it’s transaction costs, then EOS will easily overtake Ethereum soon is what crypto experts believe. Cheers! 

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Crypto Guides

Is Investing In Binance Coin a Good Decision In 2020?

Introduction

Binance coin is a widely known cryptocurrency made by the Binance exchange. It is by far the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and offers a wide range of crypto-to-crypto pairs. This cryptocurrency runs on the Ethereum blockchain with ERC 20 standard. Binance coin is also responsible for expanding the scope of the operation of the Binance exchange because the currency supports various utilities on the platform like paying for exchange fees, trading fees, listing fees, and other fees that are payable on the Binance exchange. 

It was made available to the users for the first time during an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on July 25, 2017. Angel investors were offered 10% of the BNB tokens, the founding team was offered 40% of the tokens, and the various other participants were offered the remaining 50% of the tokens through the ICO process. The funds raised through the ICO process were planned to be allocated for various purposes like: 

  • Branding and marketing of Binance
  • Development of the Binance platform.
  • Upgradation of the Binance ecosystem. 

During April 2018, the market cap of the Binance coin was $1.4 billion.

The Binance coin has also collected support with the help of partnerships that have helped the usage period of the coins. One such partnership was done with Uplive, a premier live-video streaming platform of Asia that sells virtual gifts to the users in exchange for BNB tokens to an extensive user base of 20 million on Uplive. 

Is Binance Coin a Good investment or not?

There are a lot of factors that help to determine whether an asset will be a good investment or not. Market structure, daily trade volume, and USPs (Unique Selling Points) are some of the most relevant factors to make this judgment. Market structure can be defined as the macro price activity of an underlying asset. In the case of BNB, the market structure seems promising.

The currency took off in the year 2019 at an approximate price of $6 and climbed its all-time high price of $38.54 as of June 21, 2019. After that, the price has been significantly retraced along with the rest of the cryptocurrency market and has maintained a good price. Also, at any point in time, the price action of BNB coin remains above the key price levels as well as market structure. 

The daily trading volume of BNB is also impressive. At the time of writing this article, the last 24-hour trading volume $2,193,941,846. Apart from the market structure and daily volume, there is an important factor, i.e. tokenomics, that can help to determine whether an asset will be a good investment or not.

Tokenomics means the design of the cryptocurrency and its characteristics that impact its value. These characteristics include game theory, economic incentives, computer science, and cryptography. The tokenomics of Binance coin are very strong. It has been designed in a way that allows easy adoption and utilization, which increases the price of the coin even more. 

Conclusion

Binance Coin (BNB) is a popular cryptocurrency and can always be found ranked on the top 10 spots of the CoinMarketCap platform. It is a leading token in the crypto exchange ecosystem and is utilized on a large scale on the Binance platform. If Binance will continue to invest efforts in expanding the products, it has to offer and onboards new users. Then there won’t be any reason to classify Binance coin under the ‘not a good investment’ category.

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Crypto Guides

Introduction To ‘Cryptohopper’ – A Reliable Crypto Trading Expert Advisor

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies are intensively volatile. The volatility of the currency is a matter of concern, but in the case of trading with cryptocurrency, it’s quite advantageous. In the crypto trade, you can invest when the market value is declining, and you can retrieve your amount when prices are on hike.

However, it requires experience to become an expert in reading and analyzing this market’s up-down trends, so that you can invest at the perfect time to expect maximum returns. To predict this market flow for investors, trading bots are introduced with automated algorithms in the industry. Today in this article, we will be discussing one such trading bot- Cryptohopper.

Understanding Crypto Trading Bot

Crypto bots are cloud-based computer programs to host cryptocurrency trading. It provides idle tools to beginner and advanced traders. At the right time, it can automatically buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Users can simply connect the bot with their cryptocurrency exchange, and then it can smoothly trade on their behalf. For successful trading, it is necessary to rely upon complicated probability estimation for predicting the market trends, and a bot can calculate this much faster than a human brain. 

What is Cryptohopper?

The cryptocurrency industry is offering various services and tools to traders to elevate their success rate. Cryptohopper is one such tool that can simplify the crypto-trading ecosystem. It’s a trading bot that has been customized as per the requirements of users and can also provide market technical detail.

Earlier, a user would have to spend a lot of time in front of the computer screen to trace market flow all day, but now the fully automated bot can monitor the trade 24/7 on behalf of the users. To ensure high output, it can perform backtest for each iteration and can optimize decisions based on the current situation. 

Why do you need a bot like Cryptohopper?

In the cryptocurrency trading world, every second matters a lot. So, to make life easy and to earn more, traders can make use of a crypto trading bot like Cryptohopper to make every second count. Let’s have a look at how Cryptohopper can help in various domains of crypto-trading.

Objective trading 

The trade will be executed entirely based upon the data analysis. You don’t need to panic about the buying or selling process because the trade activities shall be evidenced without any involvement of stress or emotion.

Social trading 

Cryptohopper directly subscribes to market signalers who analyze the trade and suggest how to raise the value of your coin. As a result, you can get appropriate information for trade optimization.

Simultaneous trading 

It operates and manages all your coins simultaneously. It can keep track of all price details and sell your coin exactly at the target profit scale that you have set.

Intuitive tools 

This bot has the potential to keep the users at the top market position. It notifies with alert in advance about the trade opportunity to sell the declining coins and to repurchase the coins at a lower price.

Cloud-based platform 

It remains 24/7 online in the cloud. It means you don’t need to keep your device ‘on’ always to track your coins. You can log in to your bot account anytime, and you will get a notification about the latest market updates. 

Conclusion

The ability of Cryptohopper to provide users with high returns in cryptocurrency trading is something to look at. The traders won’t feel the need to rely on a computer screen as this bot can automatically trace the trends and take the necessary steps that have been fed. It can be easily used without any coding background and can also be connected to any global crypto exchange without incurring any trading fees.

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What Should You Know About BitDegree & Its Usage?

Introduction

Cryptocurrency projects mostly start with Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Through ICOs, companies in the cryptocurrency industry raise funds to launch new coins or services in the industry. The trio of Arnas Stuopelis, Andrius Putna, and Roberto Santana was previously serving web hosting company “Hostinger” presented BitDegree ICO to the world. This ICO managed to convince over 12 thousand contributors and raised 32 thousand ETH. In this system, students are offered with the study course and paid with a BitDegree token in return for studying. 

What is BitDegree?

BitDegree is the world’s first e-learning platform powered by Ethereum blockchain. The goal of BitDegree is to gamify the learning process with fun and rewards. Here, gamification in academics means students will be awarded cryptocurrency for completing any study course. Every academic activity performed by the student will be saved in their BDG account and can be accessed anytime and anywhere.

The BitDegree platform not only gives incentives but also provides study material for easy understanding. The official portal is available in English, Russian, and Portuguese language. Is there any other better platform for study, where you are paid with cryptocurrency tokens for studying? No, It’s only possible with the BitDegree platform.  

You can also earn tokens by referring BitDegree to your friends. At every level, you need to qualify an online test to enter the next stage, and qualifying students are rewarded with “BitDegree” tradable tokens. To offer merit students with employment opportunities, BitDegree recently collaborated with companies like Huffpost, Marketwatch, Mogul, etc. After you complete your studies, you can trade with the currency earned, or you can also ask for a cash-out.  

How to Use BitDegree?

BitDegree is a utility token, which means the holder can use it for payments but doesn’t have any voting rights in the company. All community members like teachers, learners, and employers work together and pay each other with BDG token for their efforts. BitDegree accounts can be operated on mobile and desktop as well. Almost all courses are free except for a few professional courses which are available at a subsidized fee. 

Some of the important highlights of the BitDegree portal are: 

  • Learners will be rewarded with tokens for course completion.
  • Learners will pay teachers and for courses via BDG tokens.
  • Donors and employers will issue a token to learners for specific courses.

The payment system is handled through a smart contract system. Once a specific task is completed automatically without any error or delay, the reward is delivered through a smart contract. In computer, conditions are entered in the code like:

IF John completes 6 lessons THEN send John 300 BDG Tokens

BitDegree is classified as an ERC-20 token, and you don’t need an ETH wallet to store your earned token as it will be stored in your BitDegree account itself. To earn from BDG, you can convert it to blockchain for cryptocurrency trading and get them stored in an Ethereum wallet. 

Conclusion

Bitdegree brought huge transparency to the education system and is the first e-learning platform integrated with blockchain technology. It has introduced innovations and developments in the landscape of education. BitDegree’s global education revolution is offering everyone a common platform to learn and share skills to grow together.

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Crypto Guides

A Brief Introduction To SushiSwap – An Evolution DeFi Project of UniSwap

Introduction

SushiSwap copied the mechanics of the most popular DeFi protocol known as “Uniswap” and challenged it, openly with new cryptocurrency trading features. We can consider SushiSwap as a Uniswap rivalry. The SUSHI token holders are provided with a share of the SushiSwap trading commission, and incentives are given to the liquidity providers.

It’s a community governed crypto trading platform as the SUSHI holders have the power to make governance decisions. SushiSwap made a strong strategy to give tough competition to Uniswap by paying temporarily extra-large SUSHI rewards to the first two-week liquidity providers. 

What is SushiSwap, and how does it work?

Before you start understanding SushiSwap, you must know about Uniswap. Uniswap is an exchange protocol of DeFi which executes operations without any order book. It follows a model known as automated market-making (AMM), where funds are released by liquidity providers in the pools. 

SushiSwap is a similar copy of Uniswap with few differences mainly – the SUSHI token. These tokens majorly have two functions at the time of launch: authorize the holder with administration rights, and a share of fees is paid to them from the protocol commission. In simple words, SUSHI token holders have “ownership” of the protocol. The community accepted SushiSwap at a large scale because tokens distributed by this provide liquidity incentives that grant the holders with governance rights. In addition, the SUSHI holders are also rewarded with a share of fees paid by traders in the protocol. 

With these governance rights, the token holders can vote for any suggested SushiSwap Improvement Proposal (PIP). Therefore, they play a great role in bringing any minor or major changes in the protocol. So, the whole development and execution process of SushiSwap depends on SUSHI holders, and for any successful token projects, a strong community is always a true asset. 

How are SUSHI rewards distributed?

‘Liquidity mining’ is the mode through which Sushi is distributed. SUSHI is given to those liquidity providers who specifically invest in 13 Uniswap pools. Later on, the Uniswap LP tokens can be deposited by such liquidity providers to SushiSwap staking contracts for earning SUSHI. 

Initially, the 13 Uniswap pools were as follows:

USDT-ETH, USDC-ETH, DAI-ETH, USD-ETH, COMP-ETH, LEND-ETH, SNX-ETH, UMA-ETH, 
LINK-ETH, BAND-ETH, AMPL-ETH, YFI-ETH, SUSHI-ETH
The SUSHI-ETH pool provides the investors with double rewards in return. According to the protocol, a new token will be punched each time a block is extracted on Ethereum’s network, and the distribution is initialized with Ethereum block 10,750,000. The target is to stamp out 100 new SUSHI tokens for each block, but for the starting 100000 blocks, 1000 SUSHI tokens will be created per block, and after that, the rewards will be reduced. This procedure is adopted to provide incentives to early investors in the protocol in order to encourage them for Liquidity Migration. 

Once 100000 Ethereum blocks are extracted and the tokens generated will be migrated for liquidity into the SushiSwap contract. In the process, all the Uniswap tokens staked on will be reclaimed to initialize a new pool of tokens. Once the liquidity migration is over to fuel the first SushiSwap pools, then immediate operations will be activated in the protocol. The investors, without any extra effort, will receive SUSHI token share for providing liquidity for further processing. 

Conclusion

SushiSwap challenged the current most successful DeFi protocol called Uniswap. This company is providing high returns to token holders and governance rights to its community. Irrespective of the SushiSwap’s success, it has proved that no protocol in DeFi is accurate.

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Crypto Guides

Could Bitcoin Ever Beat Gold & Get The Safe-Haven Status?

Introduction

The traditional investors from the last few months are trying to understand the unprecedented financial system. The world is suffering from economic uncertainties, where 20% of the US workforce lost their jobs due to the COVID pandemic situation. At the same time, the precious metal “gold” hit an all-time high in this 2020 summer and stayed on a hike for a long time ever since.

The gold rush in the market might be due to various reasons – US dollar fall, US-China deteriorating relations, and general global economic crisis. Also, cryptocurrency investors advocated that Bitcoin perhaps can beat gold as the safe-haven, but researchers pointed out the fact that BTC is not so performing. As with the stock market fall, the market worth of Bitcoin was also down – which means that BTC can’t be classed as a safe-haven asset.

Bitcoin and Gold Market Risk

Bitcoin and gold have emerged as a leading investment unit to stabilize the economic downfall. In the finance industry, there is no guarantee for returns on investment, so there is always high risk. It’s not true that the value of gold will always rise because, in 2012-2015, it was dropped by $20,000 per ounce. Similarly, BTC value bounces up and down. Gold is not so volatile as Bitcoin currency. Gold is acting as a safe-haven from the last 100 years, and bitcoin is in the market from the last decade.

Can Bitcoin be called a Safe-Haven Asset?

Amid all economic crises, bitcoin price hardly reached $9,011, and that too, with a high risk. So, it can’t be considered as a safe-haven asset due to the following two reasons:

Reason 1

The Bitcoin volume in the market is so small to validate the concept of the safe-haven asset. A safe-haven in the traditional market is the asset whose price rises typically. When there is any risk, the investors simply shift their money from risky assets to a safe one to avoid the loss and to retain their investment value.

In the traditional market, Bitcoin’s share is less than $200 billion US dollar, which is not enough to perform as a safe-haven asset. It lacks federal regulations for transactions, and there is a high risk of scams in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency industry. That’s why the Securities and Exchange Commission also rejected the Bitcoin ETF proposal.

Reason 2

Bitcoin can’t be accessed or used in the environment, having no internet connection. In extreme places, you may be cut-off from the cryptocurrency exchange and Bitcoin traders due to limited internet connectivity. For example, due to any major strikes, most of the time, the government shut down the internet accessibility to slow down the protests and all.

In the meantime, due to no internet connection bitcoin wallet and exchange system get hampered instantly. Therefore, bitcoin can’t be used in the emergency situation, so it can’t be considered as an alternative currency or safe-haven asset.

Conclusion

Gold is a risky asset because of sharp falls, and bitcoin, too, has speculative risk factors. In the case of the safe-haven concept, gold is already declared as a safe-haven asset in the traditional market, while Bitcoin is battling for the title. A wide range of economic forces across the world doesn’t impact its value, as BTC trade executes independently. Despite the global recession and high unemployment, BTC is doing great in the market. But for now, we believe that this is not enough to qualify as a safe-haven asset.

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What Should You Know About ‘Automated DeFi-Styled Market Pool’ Launched By Binance

Introduction

The leading global cryptocurrency exchange “Binance” launched an automated DeFi-styled market pool for cryptocurrency investors to offer them with instant token swapping functionality. Binance officially brought this new trading platform from the decentralized finance (DeFi).

The platform will allow the money maker to deal with smart contracts. The cryptocurrency exchange system announced that it is an automated market maker (AMM) pool. The users are not only allowed to trade with funds but can also host liquidity pools. For the first time, an AMM pool is attached to the centralized trading exchange system. 

Binance Liquid Swap Product

The AMM pool product called “Binance Liquid Swap” will allow the users to keep their crypto funds in the pools for providing liquidity to the market. In return, they will earn the interest and share from the pool trading commission. They implemented an AMM model for pricing to provide users with stable pricing and low fees.

The AMM exchange model uses a predefined algorithm for pool liquidity to make markets. The exchanges provide liquidity to the pools regardless of the user’s token prior order size. The reward system and trading fee are yet to be disclosed. 

To start, the AMM pool provides the following trading pairs :

  • USDT/BUSD
  • USDT/DAI
  • BUSD/DAI

The security of the product is strengthened due to the Binance platform and also because of its move into the DeFi space with the launch of Binance Smart Chain. The smart chain is a highly performing Ethereum virtual machine. It is compatible with blockchain and works in parallel with the Binance chain. It offers users with smart contracts and allows them to stake a Binance coin. 

Binance Jump in DeFi 

In Binance, the liquid swap transaction fees and prices on AMM depend upon the asset number in each liquidity pool. The prices vary when currencies are added, removed, or swapped in the pool. The trader’s share in the pool will be collected every 7-day as an annual percentage yield (APY). The profit generated will be turned into assets for the respective pools. Binance introduced AMM pools to centralized exchange systems for more safety, security, and credibility.

As the decentralized Ethereum pool is highly risky due to huge market price fluctuations; hence, Binance went for the centralized approach, which would most probably minimize the big margin loss. The Binance is working to deliver instant swap liquidity in order to attract more participants and to incentivize the pool contributors for the community benefit. 

Conclusion

Binance designed this new DeFi “Binance Liquid Swap” having different liquidity pools so that users can earn income instantly and easily without much effort. The centralized AMM pool offers users to buy, stake, and trade their crypto assets. The instant swapping functionality will be executed via a centralized platform.

The users will be able to earn through interest and trading commission from the shares. This centralized platform is able to provide stable transaction prices and lower fees. The DeFi products perform better in the market if more investors are involved in providing liquidity to trade. Hence, to attract more liquidity providers, Binance is providing rewards in return. 

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Tokenized Bitcoin on Ethereum – Explained

Introduction

Bitcoin owns a stable use case and plays an active role in the industry as a public good. Although, it has limited features, leaving almost a very little space for future innovations encouraging Bitcoiners to explore what else can be done with Bitcoin. From this, an idea evolved that Bitcoin can be used on other blockchains. This is how we reached to tokenized Bitcoin on Ethereum. As the name suggests, Bitcoin is tokenized so that it can be used on other blockchains.   

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a reserved asset in the cryptocurrency world. It has the highest adoption rate, highest trading volume, best liquidity, and holding a superior position in the crypto capitalization market. In fact, entrepreneurs believe that Bitcoin can serve all required purposes in the market, so there is no need for any other cryptocurrency. Bitcoin with an uppercase b is a network whereas with a lowercase b is a unit of account. 

What is Bitcoin Tokenization?

The tokenization of Bitcoin means processing it to deliver a blockchain security token, specifically having real tradable value. Security tokens can refer to company shares, real estate ownership, or investment fund. These can be used as exchange units for trade in a secondary market. 

Why tokenize Bitcoin on Ethereum?

Bitcoin is designed to deal with a few things only and has inherent limitations, but we know that it is the most valuable crypto out there. Technically, we can execute smart contracts using Bitcoin, but it has limited opportunities as compared to Ethereum. Bitcoin is an amount we are holding, while Ethereum provides us with an opportunity to build something with it. 

Tokenising bitcoin in other networks can improve its utility. It can enable various functionality that the native Bitcoin doesn’t support. The security model and core functionalities of Bitcoin remain constant, with other advantages like the increased speed of transactions, high privacy, and tangibility.

DeFi was raised with a potential composability idea, which means the same public is executing the applications. It is an open-source platform with a permissionless base layer so that all the users can work together seamlessly. The composable layer of Bitcoin has introduced a new form of financial framework blocks that could enable is to implement Bitcoin in various types of applications.

You can tokenize Bitcoin on various blockchains like Ethereum. All are having different degrees of decentralization, various assumptions regarding risk factors, and trust issues. Transactions with the launch of Ethereum become cheaper and faster. But it’s quite dangerous also if the holder loses bitcoin due to any contract bug as there will be no alternative way to unlock those bitcoins on the blockchain. 

Conclusion

The prime reason behind tokenizing bitcoin on Ethereum is to enhance bitcoin’s utility. Ethereum has captured significant share in bitcoin transactions; there is an increase in the involvement of Ethereum in the global network for value transactions. Blockchain industries are developing to bridge the gap between the cryptocurrency networks.

The tokenization of bitcoin created a new financial scheme that is more efficient, vast, and democratic. Through tokenization, players in the traditional market are growing rapidly, and new contenders are showing interest in adopting the technology. 

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OneCoin Scam – What Should You Know?

Introduction

OneCoin was promoted as a blockchain-based cryptocurrency through an offshore company OneCoin Ltd. registered in Dubai and founded by Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian national. According to the claims made by the company, OneCoin is a cryptocurrency that works like any other digital currency system whose coins can be made through a mining process, and the coins can be used for making payments anywhere in the world.

But there is no specific clarity of the working blockchain model of OneCoin. OneCoin is also known for selling educational materials and courses for cryptocurrencies, investments, trading, and other subjects related to financial analysis. However, OneCoin has been labelled as a global Ponzi Scheme and the biggest cryptocurrency scam ever. Let’s navigate the details.

What is a Ponzi Scheme?

A Ponzi scheme is a type of financial fraud or investment scam where the investors are promised high rates of returns and profits with minimum risk. The scheme traps the investors into a false belief that the returns are generating from the sales of a product or any other means; however, they remain unaware of the fact that the source of funds is other investors. The returns for the early investors are generated by collecting the funds from the new investors. 

OneCoin: A Cryptocurrency Scam

OneCoin is an international Ponzi scheme and was created as a fake online cryptocurrency by its founders to deceive the investors. The company used the terminologies of real digital currencies to reflect a genuine and authentic impression of its business model. The target audience of OneCoin included all those people who were not aware of the cryptocurrency and technology mechanism. Even the education material and packages sold were plagiarized. 

The worst part of the entire scam is the company never had a blockchain, to begin with. The concept of ‘mining’ was fake, and the new miners were told to wait for at least three to six months before their currency can be mined. The transactions were observed without the use of blockchain technology. It was believed that they were using a centralized database to run OneCoin. Eventually, the company also revealed that the SQL database that was put into use was not capable of operating a blockchain.

OneCoin had an organizational structure similar to a pyramid scheme where everybody was actually paying to the individual above. So, there were two sections of the company. The first section was OneCoin itself responsible for marketing and spreading the platform.

In contrast, the other section of the company was composed of affiliates who were bringing in people for earning a commission. Local promoters would organize meetups to spread OneCoin, and even the webinars were also hosted. They had gathered maximum growth in Asia, particularly China, and that’s why the country was hit the hardest. OneCoin was successful in running a $2 billion cryptocurrency pyramid scheme in China. 

Conclusion

The founders of OneCoin and many other associated executives were formally charged, and the US Authorities had declared OneCoin to be a fraud. It is crucial for us to know the basics and fundamental concepts of crypto and blockchain to avoid getting affected by such scams. We should be able to identify the scams by analyzing and understanding the platforms properly before investing our money. 

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What Should You Know About ERC-20 Tokens?

Introduction

ERC-20 tokens are dedicatedly used on the Ethereum platform. These tokens represent a wide range of digital assets and feature value and can be used as a mode of transaction. Presently, there are over 200,000 ERC-20 tokens available on the Ethereum blockchain. It is an official protocol, which extends advancements in the Ethereum network. ERC is an abbreviation for Ethereum Request for Comment, and the 20 is referred to as the proposal identifier. 

The Core ERC-20 Standard

Creating a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain is quite simple. This allows users to create different forms of tokens. The standard basically offers core functionality to transfer and allow tokens to be authenticated so that other on-chain third parties can use them. The standard interface enables tokens on this platform to be used again by other applications.

The ERC-20 standard is basically a list of events and functions that each contract needs to integrate to adhere to the standard. The name, behaviour, supply, and ticker of the contract can differ from one another, but they need to execute the core functions of ERC-20.

Smart Contract and Ethereum

Smart contracts are leveraged to generate ERC-20 tokens. They are also used to execute transactions of these tokens and record token balance information. These contracts are written in the programming language centring on the “If-This-Then-That” approach. Once the tokens have been created, they can be traded, spent, or offered to other parties. These tokens are basically universal languages that are used by all the tokens present in the Ethereum network. The unified approach allows trading of one token with another.

How to Send and Receive ERC-20 Tokens?

When sending an ERC-20 token, you are indicating the token contract to initiate a transfer operation. To execute a contract on Ethereum blockchain will need a fraction of Gas (Ether). Considering that Ether is used during the process, it is vital to ensure that the users have sufficient Ethereum Balance. 

Moreover, people can receive ERC-20 tokens by sending their wallet address. Considering that these tokens only exist in Ethereum blockchain, users can only use Ethereum addresses. 

Benefits of ERC-20 Tokens 

There are tons of benefits that ERC-20 offer that we would not find in any other tokens. It envisions to optimise the usage of the accounts by making transactions more efficient and convenient. By amalgamating different sources, these tokens create an ideal zone for constant token creation. And when it comes to efficiency and speed, ERC-20 stands at the forefront. And this is the reason why tokens hold such a massive adoption.

Efficiency and speed are two important facets of cryptocurrency trading, and ERC20 tokens do not disappoint in this regard. Its core structure offers unparalleled speed and efficiency. This easy to use token makes it easier for traders to leverage most of the blockchain technology.

It is not challenging to acquire ERC20 tokens these days; we can even develop it ourselves. It is considered one of the best payment methods for businesses, and its streamlined process makes the transactions easier for both sender and receiver. Cheers! 

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What Should You Know About Bitcoin Options?

Introduction

Investing and trading cryptos is not just about buying and selling these currencies, there are other alternatives as well. Bitcoin options trading is a lucrative alternative for the same. It offers more flexibility and extensive strategies in comparison to trading on cryptocurrency exchanges. However, trading Bitcoin options is not as easy as buying Bitcoins on exchanges. In this article, let’s understand some of the basics of trading Bitcoin options. 

Bitcoin Options – An Overview 

Options are a form of derivative, which implies that they are centered on an underlying asset like cryptocurrencies, stocks, or commodities. Depending on the contract type, buyers will be provided with the opportunity to purchase or sell the asset at a particular value called the strike price within a particular time period. 

We will come across two forms of Bitcoin options, just like while trading the traditional options. And they are, Call & Put Options. Call Option holders get the chance to purchase assets at a fixed price within a specific window of time. Put Options offers the chance to sell at a particular price in a specific time frame. 

When purchasing Bitcoin options, traders have to pay a specific premium for the chance to sell or buy Bitcoin at a price set in the future. This provides a smart way to go short or long BTC, allowing investors to gain even when the market is declining, and multiply their profits.  

How Do Bitcoin Options Trading Work?

If the underlying investment is trading more than the strike price, it is considered to be in the money for a call. Investors have the right to buy Bitcoin at the lower strike price. They can later sell the same at a higher price and keep the difference. If there is a price that goes under the strike price beyond the expiration date, it will not be worth anything. But the loss investors incur is limited to the premium they have paid. 

In case of a put, the price must be under the strike price to be “in the money.” Traders have the right to sell the Bitcoin at a higher value than the strike price. To leverage it, investors need to purchase the asset at market price. In the future, they can sell them at a value higher than the strike price and keep the profit. 

Where Can Traders Bitcoin Options?

Bitcoin options are not available on the crypto exchanges. Presently, the three primary Bitcoin option trading platforms that include: 

Quedex in Gibraltar | LedgerX in New York | Deribit in Amsterdam

Why Trade with Bitcoin Options? 

The following are the reasons to trade with Bitcoin Options: 

  • They are better in comparison to futures as their loss is limited to the premium paid. 
  • Bitcoin options are extremely flexible as they can be leveraged to reflect the future pattern and use different types of strategies. 
  • You can harness volatility without bearing a directional position via delta hedging. 

It is important to understand that not all Bitcoin options work similarly. While traders can exercise the American Bitcoin option anytime they want, European options can only be exercised upon the expiry. When it comes to buying Bitcoin options, traders should select a credible platform with a proven track record.

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Decentralized File Sharing – An Efficient Approach To File Transfers?

Introduction

An efficient file storage method, decentralized file-sharing uses multiple nodes to store files instead of using a single centralized server. With the growing complexities on the internet due to the increasing rate of web data and files communicating through HTTP, it has become highly essential to use an efficient method to store data. When the online traffic is increased, the volume of information to be transferred mounts up automatically. As a result, if we want to transfer large files, we will need more bandwidth.

What Are The Issues And How Decentralized File Sharing Helps?

Addressing all these issues, decentralized file sharing emerged as a robust solution. Torrenting was the best solution for sharing available to the general public. It is used to transfer larger audio or video files over the internet without getting hampered by the challenges of HTTP. However, there were some drawbacks to the file-sharing protocols wherein the volunteers can restrict the services and disable the nodes that can limit the transfer.

With the help of blockchain technology, the decentralized file-sharing networks can be made robust. With this file-sharing network, users are provided with incentives for their contribution. This helps in ensuring that there are enough nodes to fuel the network.

The Potentials of MultiChain File Sharing

Multichain refers to an open-source structure, which enables users to deploy private blockchain for any enterprise. MultiChain supports Mac, Linux, and Window servers and offers a streamlined API as well as Command Line Interface.

This framework addresses the issues of privacy, openness, and mining through integrated user permission management. MultiChain is essentially a permission-based private blockchain that allows nodes to join and form a network. By enabling teams to create a well-integrated and secure network, MultiChain facilitates an efficient way of file-sharing.

Security Levels of Blockchain File Sharing

In the blockchain, we get enhanced security in file sharing. This technology offers multiple levels of security, including:

  • AES key encryption with RSA enables file access to merely by the receiver. Even if the files are accessible at all blocks, only specific receivers will have access to the file.
  • Files of equal size are divided and encoded through Hex encoding, which proves to be a potential way of sending files in the streams (blocks).
  • This is the most vital, powerful, and the highest level of security. Blockchain network offers the highest level of security by ensuring the fact that a file transfer occurs when all the nodes approve it within the network.
  • All nodes can certainly see when a transaction is happening between the senders and receivers without interfering with the process. The security level offers a guarantee that merely legitimate files can be transferred via the network.

The Bottom Line

By harnessing the full potentials of decentralized file sharing, we can enjoy stress-less and efficient file transferring that is not dependent on the nodes. Blockchain technology is an emerging technology that can make the file sharing process streamlined and more efficient. The above mentioned were some key highlights of decentralized file-sharing that we need to understand.

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What Should You Know About Instant Crypto Exchanges?

Introduction

Whether we need to buy, sell, or trade crypto, exchanges are the most convenient way to do so. It provides us with several functions that make the work easy. But when we need the task to be done on an immediate basis, we can opt for instant crypto exchanges. With these options, we don’t have to go through the lengthy procedure of buying, selling, or trading crypto. Here are a few benefits that can be obtained from instant crypto exchanges over the traditional methods.

They Are Not-Custodial

In the traditional exchanges, our money will be held on the servers of the exchange. That means the exchange had our money’s custody for a while. This not only extends the transaction time but also put our money at risk. The year 2019 saw twelve crypto exchange hacks, which accounted for over $290 million of funds.

However, there are no such issues with the instant crypto exchanges. As soon as they receive the funds, these instant exchanges deposit the conversion in your wallet immediately. That means you don’t lose custody over your cryptocurrency, and there is no exchange theft associated with it.

They Are Quick

The custodial crypto exchanges require you weeks to get the account approved. By that time, you can’t buy, sell, or trade crypto. But you can do the work fast with the instant option. The name itself indicates that these are “instant” crypto exchanges. So you won’t have to waste much time in getting your currency exchanged. You will have to put only 5 to 60 minutes for each transaction to complete.

Price Aggregation

When you go for the traditional crypto exchanges, you will have to deal with an extensive interface. That is because the entire order book depth and price are shown to make the trade. However, it only includes orders from that particular exchange, and you will have to work accordingly. On the other hand, instant crypto exchanges aggregate multiple exchanges’ price. So you get access to deeper liquidity, and the risk of slippage lowers down.

Fixed/Floating Prices

While making a trade in the conventional exchange, you encounter a specific limit. The system executes a trade only when the prices are at or better than the specified limit. The feature was definitely beneficial, but the instant crypto exchanges have something better to offer. The two options available are:

Floating

When making a transaction, the floating rates get executed at the most excellent possible price. It can be either a little lower or higher than the quoted price.

Fixed

This fixes a specific rate for making the trade. That means, when that price is reached, the system automatically executes the transaction.

Ease Of Use

Last but not least, instant crypto exchanges are effortless to use. If you have already used traditional exchanges, you must be aware of their verification and registration formalities that you need to go through. When it comes to instant crypto exchanges, there are no such issues. You will get registered quickly with an email, and sometimes you can trade without any account or registration.

Examples of Instant Crypto Exchanges

As of today, there are only a few credible and reliable Instant Crypto Exchanges that we can rely on. One of the pioneers in this space would be a well-known exchange called Changelly. With this instant crypto exchange, we get to buy or exchange more than 150 cryptocurrencies. Some of the other popular instant exchanges include CoinSwitch, ChangeNow, FixedFloat, etc. All of these are instant and reliable, so you can confidently make your crypto trades with them.

Bottom line

Though it is quite clear that there are several benefits of opting for instant crypto exchanges, you still need to think twice before using them. This is because of their less sophisticated wallets and heftier exchange fees. You can look up to them and make your mind about whether you want to try them or not.

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What Is Crypto Arbitrage Trading?

Introduction

Arbitrage is known as ARB, and this trading technique is used to facilitate the purchase and sale of similar assets simultaneously. This offers traders the opportunity to gain profits from different price levels. This form of trade acquires profit by leverage market inefficiencies. So if there is a price difference between identical securities in various markets, we get winning opportunities. This is a great method to gain risk-free profit from discrepancies in prices. While this method comes to determining the ideal arbitrage opportunities and implementing it efficiently is quite challenging.

There are two types of crypto arbitrage:

Regular Arbitrage

It refers to purchasing and buying the same digital assets on various exchanges with considerable price differences.

Triangular Arbitrage

It encompasses price differences between three currencies on the same exchange. Traders to leverage the price difference through various conversions.

Although both approaches can be highly profitable, there are more challenges to identify opportunities for triangular arbitrage. Moreover, a large volume of trading on a similar exchange may qualify the trader for competitive fees, resulting in a positive impact on the profits.

Arbitrage Trading in the Crypto Market

While the concept remains the same, it involves different assets. There are hundreds of exchanges operating across the globe that allow people to purchase cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency prices are constantly changing across different exchanges. There are many social, political, and economic reasons that contribute to these changes. Arbitrage trading in this landscape is quite straightforward and depends on determining profitable paths.

Identifying the Right Path in Arbitrage Trading Paths

Arbitrage trading is extremely sensitive to time. Variations in the prices are temporary in nature. Potential trading profits generally stand between 1% and 6% per transaction. Therefore, traders need to leverage the right arbitrage software and tools to scan and monitor the market in real-time.

The opportunity for the cryptocurrency is calculated by determining the overlap between the lowest ask prices and the highest bid prices. So when the price of the bid is higher in one exchange than the asking price on another crypto exchange, this is designed as an arbitrage opportunity. Similar to any other method of crypto trading, there are certain risks associated with it. But people have created different strategies to mitigate the risks as much as possible.

Advantages of Crypto Arbitrage Trading

💰 With the right profit, it is a credible way to boost the capital. Similarly, it is all about speed, and you will make money quicker with regular trades.

💰 Most exchanges do not share and operate on their own. Typically, cryptocurrencies experience many rapid rises and sudden falls, resulting in price disparities and profitable arbitrage potentials.

💰 There are over 200 exchanges where you can purchase and sell cryptocurrencies. This means there are tons of profitable arbitrage opportunities.

Contrary to the market speculations, crypto arbitrage has witnessed massive success. It has proven a way to make some extra money without putting much effort. Considering that digital money is not subjected to social influences, and no-one controls them, people are highly inclined towards their potentials to increase in value in the near future.

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What should we know about DEXs & its benefits?

Introduction

A decentralized exchange or DEX is referred to as a platform that eliminates the middlemen and allows traders to trade with each other directly. This direct approach allows traders to control their funds instead of giving them to exchange providers where trades are performed via smart contracts.

These exchanges are hosted on a collected ecosystem of distributed nodes. This not only reduces the hacking risk but also addresses the problem of downtime that limits the trading ability. These exchanges are designed to extend an open, transparent network that makes crypto trading accessible to all.

What Makes DEX Different from Centralized Exchanges?

A Centralized exchange is also an online platform where people can buy and sell digital currency, but they use a third-party to authenticate and execute the transactions. This needs the buyers and sellers to entrust their funds to exchanges and allow them to safely complete the transactions.

These exchanges are known to be easy to use and enable traders to buy digital currencies with cryptocurrencies or fiat. They offer a streamlined entry point to the market and cover the majority of cryptocurrency trading.

Benefits of DEX

Following are the reasons we should think about trading in decentralized exchanges:

Control

In centralized exchanges, traders do not tend to have full control over their funds, limiting the trading potentials. Recently, the event known as Proof of Keys was run by centralized exchanges to ensure that exchanges could generate more profits on deposits, the same way a bank works.

This limited the users’ rights to withdraw all their funds in a single day.  The open nature of DEXs implies that our money remains in our control. Users get to withdraw their amount whenever they intend to.

Security

Centralized exchanges collect a massive amount of money from investors. This makes these exchanges the prime target of cybercriminals. Bitstamp and popular exchange based on Slovenia was hacked in 2015.

The hackers got access to the hot wallet and stole 19,000 Bitcoins, which was worth $5 million. And with the increasing number of trading in cryptocurrencies, centralized exchanges are becoming more vulnerable to hackers. Decentralized exchanges offer more security and, over the years, have become more common choices for crypto trading.

Privacy

Centralized exchanges are categorized as MSPs or Money Service Providers. This implies that users have to undergo certain anti-money laundering (AML) and Know-your-customer (KYC) processes. But people are often resistant to providing their personal information to third parties. This is because they end up having no control over what will happen to the data.

Decentralized exchanges, on the other hand, are not controlled by a central authority. Therefore, we do not need to register other than having a valid wallet address. Decentralized exchanges still remain a rather new concept in this ecosystem. But traders are rapidly comprehending its advantages over centralized exchanges.

Bottom line

Many new DEXs are coming in the market with better features, security options, and ease of use. When assessing these platforms, ensure to consider important factors such as security features, trading volume, currencies available, transaction fees, sign-up process, etc.

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The Basics of Cryptocurrency Lending And Staking

Introduction

Crypto trading has become one of the hot topics of the market. With the security of cryptography and interesting rates of the currency, everyone wants to get their share of the pie. That is why more people are looking for opportunities to generate some income with the help of cryptocurrency. Two best methods you can opt for making money through cryptocurrency are lending and staking. Let’s dive into the two techniques and see which one can be beneficial for you.

Crypto Lending

The concept of crypto lending can be understood as a simple cryptocurrency collateralized loan. A borrower can utilize their crypto assets for getting a stablecoin or fiat loan. In exchange for this, the lender gets a fixed (agreed-upon) interest rate. Alternatively, the borrower can also use their stablecoins as collateral for borrowing crypto assets.

The whole process raises the cryptocurrency’s productivity by reallocating it to people who are in immediate need (borrowers) from those who are not (lenders). That is why crypto lending proves to be a powerful financial primitive in the crypto market that traditionally had only two options: trade and HODL.

The only drawback to crypto lending is that you got to have some capital or assets at your disposal to get the loan. That means they are over collateralized and don’t offer all advantages of true credit.

Crypto Staking

You may find people talking about staking as just holding some crypto and earning rewards in exchange for it. However, there is more to this concept. Staking involves the Proof-of-Stake mechanism, where new blocks get produced and verified through staking.

So unlike mining, you don’t need special computers to solve problems here. But you do need to follow some conditions to become a new block validator, such as:

  • Your cryptocurrency wallet must hold a minimum amount.
  • Your wallet must remain online throughout the day and every day.
  • Your wallet should support crypto staking.

Other than these, different blockchains may apply different rules. So you need to check with the blockchain for how you can stake. Plus, staking is not supported by every cryptocurrency, and you have to choose only from the provided options.

In exchange for holding these staking processes, you get a fixed percentage of rewards per year. You can also opt for a pool, where multiple holders keep their coins together. This increases the overall chances of validating a block and getting higher revenues.

Lending vs. Staking: Which One To Opt?

It would be wrong to state that either of them is better than the other. They both have pros and cons. Your choice majorly depends on the type of investor you are. In case you need instant stable coins with the help of assets, lending would be more beneficial for you. On the other hand, you can opt for staking if you want to generate a significant amount of money by holding the crypto coins in your wallet.

The crucial point here is to keep an eye on the blockchain in which you are investing. You need to look through all the aspects before putting money in a particular investment method.

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Here’s What You Need To Know About ChainLink Cryptocurrency

Introduction

Blockchain has revolutionized the digital industry with its amazing benefits. It has secured the payment methods and has provided people with a brand-new way to trade digitally. There are plenty of crypto platforms that are working on blockchain right now. ChainLink is one such decentralized network that offers real-world data to smart contracts. Link is the cryptocurrency or the digital token of the ChainLink platform, which you can use to pay for the services they offer.

What’s The Issue With Smart Contracts?

Smart contracts are indeed an integral part of the blockchain system, which are basically agreements to evaluate the information entered and execute the conditions. These Smart contracts help in establishing a sense of trust among the traders. The only limitation that smart contracts have right now is the ability to connect with blockchain in a language that both can easily understand. If that limitation has been addressed, the use of smart contracts can be widely enhanced.

Oracle As The Much Needed Solution

Oracle is the ideal solution to all these problems. It is basically a middle software that works as a translator for converting data from the real world to smart contracts and vice versa. Oracles are the recent additions into the blockchain and crypto ecosystem with an aim to bring together off-chain data and on-chain smart contracts. However, there is a loophole that makes oracles less efficient. Centralized oracles will decrease the efficiency of on-chain smart contracts due to the faulty and untrustworthy nature.

How ChainLink Makes a Difference?

ChainLink emerges as a savior in the situation. It is a decentralized oracle network that sources data and information off blockchain and transfers it to blockchain smart contracts. The primary purpose of ChainLink is to minimize the reliability issue with oracles. In a nutshell, ChainLink has found a reliable way to take the information from and for the blockchain in the safest manner.

How Does It Work To Provide More Security?

The ChainLink works by providing data to the purchase in return of the data in a secure way. Purchasers have to select the data, and the providers have to bid on that data. Providers will make a stake of LINK tokens during the bid.

With a view to improving the oracles and data security, ChainLink bought a startup, i.e., TownCrier. The technology of TownCrier helped ChainLink to enhance security with a trusted execution environment.

The Bottom Line

Blockchains are a popular way of securing digital transactions because it uses cryptography to establish security and trust. It is important to understand that each set of blockchain is a universe that needs to be explored. The information transfer in and out of the blockchain can make it vulnerable. To restrict the blockchain from compromising, ChainLink entered the crypto ecosystem as a decentralized oracle network.

Bridging the gap between real-world data and on-chain smart contracts, ChainLink was able to address the pain point. It acts as the middleware between off-chain data and an on-chain smart contract. Today, ChainLink is the most successful and powerful blockchain network that still has the potential to outgrow itself.

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Twitter Bitcoin Scams Calls For The Need Of ‘Crypto Scam Awareness’!

Introduction

Blockchain and cryptocurrency have changed the way people used to think about making a digital transaction. Blockchain uses cryptography to secure the digital payments made through cryptocurrencies. Over the years, there have been plenty of cryptocurrencies launched that are fueling the crypto world constantly. However, Bitcoin remains a prominent player that is continuously enhancing its growth.

With such huge popularity and wide approach comes the vulnerability to scams and fraudulent practices. That’s precisely what happened to Bitcoin traders this year when it fell prey to a humongous Twitter Scam.

An Overview of Twitter Bitcoin Scam

If you have been following the crypto news, you would have already heard and read about the Twitter Bitcoin scam that created a rage in the industry. It happened on 15th July 2020 somewhere around 22:00 UTC when approximately 130 high profile Twitter accounts majorly, including big corporate houses, manufacturing giants, and business persons, were hacked.

These Twitter accounts were compromised by the hackers to promote a Bitcoin scam wherein they asked the users to send Bitcoin to an anonymous crypto wallet as a part of a scam promotion.

What Havoc Did The Scam Tweet Make?

The scammers behind the scandalous Twitter Bitcoin scam first hacked the high-profile Twitter accounts to make people believe in the possible scam. They sent out a typical tweet where they asked the Twitter users to send Bitcoin to a specific wallet to get back their cryptocurrency doubled. Within a few minutes of the tweet, more than 300 transactions were made to the wallet, which equaled around USD 110,000 worth Bitcoin.

Though the scam tweets were removed from the account, it had already created the chaos by sourcing Bitcoin from the users. This recent Twitter Bitcoin scam is now being called as the biggest and the worst crypto hack on social media.

There have been many instances where social media was used to make financial scams, but it is for the first time that a Bitcoin scam of such a colossal scale took place on Twitter. Security experts say that this could have turned into a messy scam, but the scam was brought into light minutes after it was posted that allowed the official to take action at the right time.

How To Safeguard From The Social Media Scams?

Social media scams are considered the most severe ones as it can intensify the situation. Here are a few tips to stay protected from such scams.

  • Increase your awareness regarding social media scams.
  • Try to detect the imposter websites that can pave the way for financial fraud.
  • Fake mobile apps are popular tools for cryptocurrency scammers.
  • Stay away from fake tweets and other social media updates that ask you to make transactions.
  • Scamming emails are also a prominent source of crypto scams. Check the veracity of the email before investing in any cryptocurrency platform.

The Bottom Line

Cryptocurrency scams can be financially detrimental; hence, it is vital to take all the necessary precautions to safeguard your interests from such scams. Recently the Twitter Bitcoin scam created an alarming situation among the crypto traders. Make sure to check the credibility and authenticity of everything before dealing in cryptocurrency.

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Understanding The Topical Problems In The DeFi Ecosystem

Introduction

Decentralized finance or DeFi is a collective term given to a wide range of products and technologies that help manage the finances more innovatively without the interference of the central bank or any financial institution.

The decentralized applications that are generally are called DApps built on top blockchain like Ethereum and Bitcoin. The major highlight of DeFi is that they use smart contracts giving complete control over the finances. It helps in individual savings, payments, or investments, but it also facilitates better and efficient lending, margin trading, market predictions, etc.

With the help of DeFi tools, you can access the services that have any centralized authority. The significant idea behind launching DeFi is to make the entire process safer and more efficient than other traditional financial solutions. Though DeFi is efficient than other financial solutions, some roadblocks are preventing significant issues.

What Are The Major Problems Involved in Decentralized Finance?

Some of the major risks that revolve around DeFi are related to user errors, smart contracts, lack of insurance transparency, price mechanisms, etc. Irrespective of all the advantages DeFi holds, the initiative still remains an infant, making it vulnerable to risks.

Smart Contract Vulnerabilities

One of the significant issues that DeFi is going through is smart contract vulnerabilities. When a contract is released with a flawed code, it can result in fund losses. There have been instances where these particular issues with the smart contract have resulted in compromising blockchain.

User Error

The issue of smart contracts is also connected to an underlying problem of user error. Even if the code seems right, there can be some unexpected issues that can become a hindrance. Due to the user errors, millions of dollars have been lost in the name of DApps.

Internal Governance

Another crucial issue witnessed in DeFi is the internal governance and the external regulations of the assets. There are chances to control who can run and operate the platform. Along with that, the government can anytime issue regulations that can restrict the processes of DeFi.

Other Issues

Other common issues are related to the market unpredictability, lack of insurance, etc. that makes the individuals lose sums of money even if they haven’t made any mistake.

To realize the full potentials of DeFi, is essential to address the issue and find out how it can be managed. It is true that DeFi holds many advantages for the growth of the financial world. It depends on how well you utilize it by eliminating the issues.

The Future of DeFi

Addressing the current underlying issues of DeFi, there have been plenty of solutions that have emerged so far. For instance, Atomic Swaps and pTokens are likely to improve the DeFi and make it increasingly impressive for the finance industry.

The above mentioned were the major hindrances that are blocking the development of DeFi. Different types of solutions are being worked out to cater to the pain points of DeFi. With efficient use of bug bounties, audits, open-source commitments, etc., problems related to smart contracts and errors can become less frequent.

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Can ‘Discreet Log Contracts’ Potentially Gear Bitcoin for DeFi?

Introduction

The term “DeFi” has gained significant popularity in the cryptocurrency space since the beginning of 2020. Over hundreds of projects have already been implemented on Ethereum based on the intersection of blockchain and decentralized financial systems. The appealing ones being collateralized stablecoins and derivatives products.

Given that the ecosystem can be feasibly built on a smart contract using Ethereum, the concept of open finance cannot be excluded from Bitcoin. For instance, sidechains like RSK (rootstock) can upgrade their smart contract capabilities, enabling more advanced financial products to build on Bitcoin.

That said, there are some other enthralling ideas on extending the Bitcoin’s structure to more sophisticated financial applications. Out of which, one exciting proposal that is in the talks over a few years is the discreet log contracts.

Bitcoin for DeFi – A Sustainable Approach?

Developers are uncertain about bringing in DeFi applications on Bitcoin. People believe that the reason for its significant value to date is due to its simple, stripped-down reliable design.

Contrariwise, ideas such as the lightning network for Bitcoin has resulted in an entirely new design for it. With the feature of layered scaling, applications can be still be created without hindering the security model of bitcoin’s core protocol.

The success has hence opened doors for exploring applications that help leverage bitcoin without having to compromise on its existing design.

But limitations exist…

The most significant trade-off is the complexity of DeFi applications. RSK could no doubt prove to be a valuable sidechain for Bitcoin, but federated peg sidechain essentially requires trust in controlling the chain.

Additional improvements in the underlying technology can reduce trust even further. The compelling DeFi projects on the Ethereum protocol is not possible to incorporate on Bitcoin’s protocol without compromising trust.

Cutting through the interesting project ideas, let’s get our feet wet to understand and generalize the concept of Discreet Log Contracts.

What are Discreet Log Contracts?

Proposed by Thaddeus Dryja, discreet log contracts are an ecosystem for minimizing the trust in blockchain oracles – assimilating data from external sources to the blockchain. Discreet log contracts pivot using Schnorr signatures to disguise the agreed upon contract information from the oracles.

This creates a scenario where payouts on data (public) are possible between three parties. The advantages of it being better security and flexible contracts without having to compromise on the trust.

Useful Ecosystem?

When applied to DeFi, the two parties can maximize their discreet log contracts and unleash the potential of derivatives, futures, and several other financial instruments. More advanced financial products when knotted to bitcoin, institutional practices like hedging risk on assets can become viable through the Bitcoin’s network. With the reliance on oracle-sourced data for payouts, micro-insurance contracts are possible using the discreet log contracts.

Conclusion

The prevalence of DeFi systems built on the Ethereum is hindering the notion of open financial products for Bitcoin. But considering the robust security model and consensus rules, the Bitcoin network does put forth a captivating medium for decentralized finance. And discreet lot contracts are an appealing tool that can help developers develop a more advanced open finance ecosystem with Bitcoin.

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How Beneficial Are ‘Watchtowers’ In Diminishing Malicious Activity on Bitcoin LN?

Introduction

The concept of watchtowers was originated from the Lightning Network (LN) and has improved drastically since its launch as Bitcoin’s Lightning Network seems to be growing at a large scale in the P2P payments system.

What are Watchtowers?

Watchtowers are fundamentally an ecosystem of third parties employed by the users to outsource monitoring the on-chain transactions of their lighting channels.

Watchtowers can be related to “watchdogs” of the Bitcoin blockchain that play the role of identifying and penalizing malicious users for cheating other users within the channel. Precisely, they verify whether a participant in a channel has properly broadcasted a prior channel state. If they find it malicious, they can claim back the funds after closing the LN channel with an invalid state.

Since it is a third-party service, they receive funds from their clients. The clients sometimes outsource the channel monitoring to multiple watchtowers, in case of failure from one. The LN channel users must check the status of correlation between off-chain channels and on-chain activity occasionally. Watchtowers 24/7 keep an eye on the security risk posed by any invalid LN channel, however.

How Exactly do Watchtowers Work? 

In simple terms, watchtowers are third parties that monitor their clients’ Bitcoin blockchain all day long. They check for any ambiguity between on-chain and off-chain channels with invalid states.

Here is a basic flow of how watchtower mechanism functions between two users in a common payment channel.

  • Joe sends a few Bitcoins to Jeff and updates the state channel within their channel.
  • Additionally, Joe sends a hint of the transaction to a watchtower to keep an eye on the transaction without disclosing its contents.
  • Moreover, Joe sends her signature to the watchtower to pre-authorize the channel funds, allowing it to be sent back in case of a channel breach.
  • The watchtower then cross-verifies the hints received from the client (Joe) and the Bitcoin blockchain.
  • If the watchtower identifies a channel breach by Jeff through an invalid state broadcast, a penalty transaction is created using Joe’s signature and finally reverses the channel funds back to him.

Hence, Joe is protected from a channel breach without having to be online as it was taken care of by the watchtowers.

Development and Challenges

The watchtower market is still in the development stage and is yet to be accepted in the mainstream as the lighting network is gradually inching into a more extensive P2P payment system using Bitcoin.

That said, researchers and enthusiasts believe that this field will provide a compelling future for LN watchtowers. We are uncertain how much-biased will users be towards using the watchtower services, but for the security assurances they provide, it is worth to be considered.

The service enabled by watchtowers would undoubtedly take away the abstract of complexity in components from the users, but considerable progress in both time and developments is vital when aiming for high-end features in the lighting network.

In conclusion, the fact that watchtowers present a prospective thinking approach to security risks imposed by the evolving Bitcoin indicates a sustainable ecosystem in the future.

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Defining Callisto Network & Its Fascinating Features!

Introduction

Callisto Network is a blockchain-based Ethereum protocol developed by Ethereum Commonwealth, an ETH development team.

The Callisto Network is missioned towards boosting the Ethereum ecosystem by enhancing the methods of smart contract development and implement the experimental protocol. These implemented protocols are incorporated within smart contracts using merged protocol-level config.

The Callisto Network has been developed to use built-in mechanisms like smart contracts, which can be used to implement the vital features of the platform. The network wants to define and standardize the protocol with a governance system, cold staking, and a funding system for development. All these will be based on smart contracts.

In simple terms, the primary goal of the Callisto Network is to create an ecosystem that is self-funded, self-sustaining development, and self-governed. Note that, Callisto Network always creates new enhancements on the protocol level. This is because the ETC community typically has a conservative approach.

Quite some enhancements come from the CLO network when the other ETC development teams acknowledge them. Examples of the same include cold staking protocol and on-chain governance system.

How does Callisto Address Scalability?

A significant issue that Callisto addresses is the scalability of both ETC networks and CLO networks. The team developers realized that it would be time-consuming to discover their mechanism for implementing sidechains and relaying transactions. As an alternative, they are planning towards implementing the cross chain-relation mechanism.

This is a mechanism that can be spotted on third-generation blockchains like EOS and AION. In essence, Callisto will be improving the scalability of ETC and CLO with mechanics that already exist in the market and have proved their effectiveness.

Features on Callisto

Cold Staking

An issue encountered with Ethereum Classic is that the users receive no incentive for holding their coins. With the introduction of “Cold Staking” by Callisto Network, users will now be rewarded with interest in holding CLO tokens. This is possible when users add their tokens into a smart contract for over a month. Apart from that, there are no other requirements, unlike Masternode coins that require running a node.

CLO coin

The Callisto Network has its native currency – CLO token. It is currently listed on BiteBTC, Stocks. Exchange, SimpleSwap, EXRATES, OOOBTC. The list is expected to expand in the coming months.

Mining Pools

CLO tokens can be mined just like ETC is mined. Various pools support the mining of Callisto. The mining pools include clopool.pro, 2miners.com, coinfoundry.org, callisto-pool.com, epool.io, callistopool.org, callistopool.io, solopool.org, clopool.net, clona.ru, minerpool.net, comining.io, mole-pool.net, etc.

Callisto Network Wallets

As Callisto Network is growing at a good pace, presently, several wallets support Callisto. Some of them include Trust Wallet App, Classic Ether Wallet, Guarda Wallet, and coinomi Wallet. One can verify the compatibility of Callisto by checking if it allows exporting your account.

Conclusion

The Callisto Network developed by Ethereum Commonwealth is based on the Ethereum protocol. With this network, Ethereum Commonwealth addresses the issues relating to Ethereum Classic, specifically security and scalability of smart contract ecosystems. Besides, it has a Cold Staking feature, which is compelling to the platform as it encourages the holding of CLO tokens.

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Plasma – The Perfect Solution to Ethereum Congestion?

Introduction

Plasma is an ongoing development of the Ethereum second-layer scaling solutions. After state channels, Plasma will be the second completely deployed scaling solution on the Ethereum mainnet.

What is Plasma?

Plasma is a structure that facilitates the development of child blockchains using the main Ethereum as an arbitration and trust layer. Plasma is primarily being created to meet the demand for specific uses cases that are unavailable on the current Ethereum network.

Understanding Child Chains

The underlying goal of both plasma and state channels is the same, where they try to divert as much transaction bloat off away from the main Ethereum chain as possible.

In case of disagreements, the child chain state update can be reverted to the Ethereum network. The same applied to cases if a user wants to pause transacting on the child blockchains.

On the features front, child blockchains can digest on varying complexity. They are given the ability to have their consensus algorithms, their block sizes, and confirmation times. Their design is relatively flexible for each application. Moreover, some developers are researching the possibilities of child chains within a child chain, and so on.

How secure is Plasma?

As mentioned, Plasma maximizes the use of the Ethereum network as an arbitration layer. In suspect of a malicious part, users can always regress to the main Ethereum chain as a trusted source.

Another feature is that the main Ethereum blockchain and the child chains are connected via ‘root contracts.’ Root contacts are simply smart contracts on the Ethereum network containing the rules guiding each child chain.

Root Contracts and its Necessity

The most important component in the plasma network is the existence of root contracts. Root contracts as a bridge allow users to seamlessly move between the main Ethereum chain and the child chains. As a matter of fact, all assets must be created through the main Ethereum.

Thus, no malicious activity on the child chain can ever be reverted to the main Ethereum chain. For instance, if a user moves some crypto-collectible tokens onto a child chain, they can anytime withdraw from the child chain and the asset on the main chain, only if the user proves they didn’t spend them.

Drawbacks of Plasma

The only considerable drawback of Plasma is the duration taken for the withdrawal of funds. Plasma users must wait for a predetermined arbitration window that typically lasts 7-14 days, while state channel users can instantly withdraw their assets.

The Prospects

The growing congestion in the Ethereum network leads to the creation of frameworks such as state channels and Plasma, which drastically eased the overcrowding in the network. Plasma will allow users to transact with lower fees and higher throughput and help developers scale their dApps. This, hence, can be an excellent opportunity for Ethereum to reach the masses.

Furthermore, the combination of plasma and state channels can help produce a leveraged product. In fact, the developers are already working on building state channels within the child chains. With this implementation, users will incur significantly less or no fee while transacting in the network. Cheers!

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Universal Protocol – A Potential Platform to Connect Digital Assets

Introduction

The Bitcoin blockchain became a success as people realized the power of the decentralized technology. Then came Ethereum, offering many features and abilities in the existing technology. Given the enormous potential of this decentralized technology, it will take platforms like Universal Protocol for blockchain to be widely accepted in society.

The Universal Protocol offers various products and has partnered with well-known firms like Cred, Bitcoin.com, Blockchain at Berkeley, Uphold, and Brave.

The vision of the Universal Protocol

Universal Protocol was created with a vision to connect every possible financial market participant with Cryptocurrencies, be it publicly traded equities worth millions of dollars or merely buying anything from a local departmental store.

Precisely speaking, the Universal Protocol Platform is visioning to attract 100 million new users to the world of Cryptos and facilitate a company or group to make a seamless platform to create digital assets. The goal might seem far-fetched, but present stats show that it has made impressive progress.

Problem and Solution

The Universal Protocol addresses the non-existence of scaled interoperability. The platform allows users instant and seamless transfer of value across various decentralized networks. It mainly provides a common language via which incompatible protocols can ‘reason’ against one another, and at the same time, reduces the time, risk, and cost of exchanging digital assets.

With an advanced architecture for interoperability, the UP platform will allow users to interact with several cryptocurrencies on a single blockchain. The Universal Protocol combines the revolutionary smart contracts and reserve functionality to enable highly secure and convertible proxy tokens through its platform.

Applications and Benefits

As stated by the vision of Universal Protocol, we can affirm that everyone in the financial industry can make use of the platform. Below are some ecosystems where the platform can be employed to make digital assets a part of the everyday financial system.

Financial Institutions

The Universal Protocol tries to solve the custodial challenges that some major financial institutions have faced since the past. The model created by UPP provides single standard compatibility with the help of Proxy Token, which can be used for tokenizing any financial asset. Thus, it will remove the requirement for multiple types of custodial programs, and the institutions will have to print their business logic only once, on Ethereum.

Centralized Exchanges

The process of listing new coins on a centralized exchange is a complex, expensive, and time-consuming process that could take up to months of work. But with the help of the Universal Protocol Platform, centralized exchanges can dramatically streamline the process of listing new cryptocurrencies. With UPP, exchanges will have to add ERC-20 to list proxies representing any digitally tokenized asset.

Innovators

For developers as well, UPP is an excellent tool for innovation. The best part being, developers will only have to deal with one type of network, even if they’re looking to build their blockchain. The Universal Protocol model would ensure system-wide compatibility and also simplify the use of dApps and smart contracts.

Conclusion

The goal of the Universal Protocol is still intact, and apart from that, it has been working on other projects as well. This has hence led to the emergence of new opportunities in the world of blockchain. And we believe that it worth keeping an eye on the further developments on the Universal Protocol Platform.

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Introduction To LApps – The Revolutionary Second-layer Scaling Solutions

Introduction  

Second-layer scaling solutions such as Lightning Network have shown immense potential. One of the most underutilized abilities the second layer scaling solutions is the development of decentralized-like apps. However, Lightning Network Apps or LApps have leveraged this potential to the fullest and developed an extensive decentralized ecosystem that is scalable, versatile, and boasted with valuable features. The decentralized abilities of LApps will help in expanding the applications of cryptocurrencies and eliminate the many existing pitfalls that the landscape is dealing with.

What are LApps?

Lightning Network Apps (LApps) accessibility on the blockchain aims to address two critical points – lack of decentralized platforms and expansive transactions. The lack of decentralized apps is one of the biggest challenges that might impact the cryptocurrency’s future, and the core foundation of LApps is to eliminate this roadblock.

Secondly, LApps are built on the lightning network, which means that they are designed for micro-transactions. These significantly lower the entry barriers, increasing the potentials of LApps.

The existing use cases for Bitcoin are limited to financial activities. LN does not merely widen the application but also provide affordable experiences. Prior to LApps, a majority of cryptocurrency transactions needed to be executed through third-party cryptocurrency exchanges.

However, with LApps, peer-to-peer transactions can be performed efficiently on a large scale. LApps are currently in its early stages, and its capabilities are yet to be explored.

Types of Lightning Apps Available

As of now, there are five prominent types of LApps available including-

Wallets

While it is not ready to be used, HTC is gearing up to release the crypto phone – Exodus, which will be integrated with Lighting Network Hardware.

Integrations

LNCast is an excellent example that signifies Lightning Network capabilities with a specific product like a Lightning Network Podcast.

Bitrefill is another example of amalgamation between the Lightning Network and the retail landscape. LApps allows Bitrefill users to recharge their smartphones using Bitcoin or Litecoin.

CoinMall (now rebranded as Toffee) is another decentralized ecosystem for digital products that allow buyers and sellers to perform transactions through Zcash or Bitcoin. 

Tipping

The LApps have simplified the application of the Lightning network and allowed more people to adopt the same. For instance, Lightning Tip is an effective LApps that is currently in Beta. It basically enables users to create an easy platform for users to accept tips via the Lightning network. Additionally, Tippin.me is another popular tipping LApps that everyone loves to use.

Protocol Services

Protocol services assist innovators and developers in using Lightning Network. For instance, 1ML is a Lightning Network search and analysis engine.

Developer Tools

With the growing innovation, development tools are also becoming more robust. For instance, the WooCommerce plugin is a gateway that accepts lightning payments.

Moreover, Radar Ion also announced the launch of a series of developer tools based on the Lightning Network.

Conclusion

The landscape of cryptocurrency is growing at an exponential rate. But its mainstream adoption will pave the way for prolific opportunities. By facilitating a decentralized ecosystem LApps, is allowing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be more efficient. It allows users to leverage quick, cheap, and scalable transactions. By extending a seamless transaction experience, LApps holds the potential to expand the potentials of cryptocurrencies across different industries in the coming times.

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Different Facets Of The Blockchain Technology

Introduction

We have seen many topics related to blockchain explaining different facets of the technology. This article is an attempt to put together the main aspects of the technology and how it has shaped up so far from the invention of bitcoin as the first application of blockchain technology.

🔗 Cryptocurrencies

The blockchain journey starts with cryptocurrencies. The blockchain technology journey started with the bitcoin platform. The coin is the first cryptocurrency ever, and it changed the course of the finance industry for good. Cryptocurrencies include the properties of cryptography, which result in the property of immutability.

Peer-to-peer networks lead to decentralization, which has become the need of the hour with ever-growing frauds. The cryptocurrency platforms use different consensus algorithms like Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, Delegated Proof of Stake, Proof of Burn, etc., which overcome Byzantine Fault Tolerance issues. People who maintain the network and confirm the transactions are incentivized using the local currency of the platform.

🔗 Cryptocurrencies with enhanced privacy features

Blockchains being transparent, it is easy to find the transactions done by different users in the platform. Hence a few platforms have enhanced privacy features so that the transactions made are not traceable. Coins from the Cryptonote family are a good example. Monero is an excellent example from cryptonote, which uses ring signatures, which obscures the sender and receiver’s address. The amount is also restricted by default.

🔗 Different types of Blockchains

While cryptocurrency platforms have a protocol that they should be open and permissible, it is not a hard and fast rule for blockchain technology. We have permissioned ledgers, which are also called private blockchains. An excellent example of private blockchains is enterprise blockchains like hyperledger platforms.

We also have permissionless ledgers, which are public blockchains. Good examples of permissionless are cryptocurrency platforms. We have hybrid platforms as well, which are a mix of public and private, leveraging the properties of both the platforms wherever required.

🔗 Applications of blockchain other than cryptocurrency

Blockchain technology has made its way to almost all the fields. Healthcare, supply chain, agriculture, energy trading, valuable goods/diamond digitization, shipping industry, trade finance, music, publications, art, gaming, etc. Blockchain being a niche technology, the adoption is still low, but the recent surveys across the industries only prove that they have started implementing the technology or looking to implement at the moment.

🔗 Non-crypto applications on top of cryptocurrency platforms

Ethereum has many DAPPs developed and operating on its platform, but we cannot say that these applications run on cryptocurrency applications. Ethereum is a broad platform with a multitude of smart contracts operating on them serving different purposes. There are applications on the top of the bitcoin platform which convey messages. Protocols like Counterparty, Factum, Colored Coins allows the creation of tokens to denote something with a fraction of bitcoin value.

🔗 Projects to tackle scalability issues

The main drawback of blockchain platforms is scalability, and many projects have been developed to address the same. Segwit, segregation of witness aims to remove the signature from the main block and store it somewhere else to increase the block’s space for more transactions.

We have sidechains that intend to transfer some of the workloads to an adjacent chain, called sidechain, which may or may not run on the same consensus algorithm but are equally secured. The hacking of the main chain doesn’t affect the side chain and vice versa. The sidechains are used to test innovations and implement smart contracts if they are not feasible to run on the leading network.

Conclusion

These are some of the facets to show how blockchain as a technology has grown to address the drawbacks from one stage to another. Many have speculated that the technology is not very much useful and is overhyped. But with all the developments since its inception and all the money being poured into the technology, we can only say that it is here to stay and improve a lot and prove itself for time and again.

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‘Howey Test’ & The Role It Plays In The Token Ecosystem Of Blockchain?

Introduction

Blockchain has led to the emergence of the token economy and, thus, new business models. With the help of the token in the business, both the customers and the owners benefit immensely. We have seen two types of token so far, utility and security tokens.

Utility tokens can be compared to loyalty points up to a certain extent while they are much more in the designated environment. Security tokens allow them to own any material/securities in a digital format in a fungible manner. Security tokens allow people to own things in a never before way.

There is a deciding factor that differentiates between security and utility tokens called the Howey test. Utility tokens don’t need any regulatory requirements since it is intended for use in its designated environment only while security tokens represent a real asset in the real-world digitally. Hence security tokens are subject to regulations.

What is the Howey Test?

Howey test is a monumental case handled by the Supreme court of the USA in 1946, which laid foundations to determine whether a particular arrangement involves an investment contract or not. The case was between the SEC and Howey. Two Florida based corporate put up real estate contracts for tracts of land with citrus groves. The defendants came up with an offer where the buyers who bought the land can lease the land back to the defendants who can grow citrus, market them, and make money.

Most of the buyers did lease the land back to the defendants as they weren’t aware of the agriculture. This was deemed illegal by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and sued the defendants. The arrangement was considered illegal as the defendants broke the law by not filing a securities registration statement with SEC. The defendant’s leaseback was indeed determined as security, and this led to a landmark judgment. Hence this was determined as a test whether a particular transaction is an investment contract or not.

A particular investment can be deemed as an investment contract if it fulfills the below criteria.

  1. It a monetary investment
  2. The investment is made in a common enterprise.
  3. There is an expectation of profit from the work of the promoters or third parties.

Even though the original Howey test used the term money later, it has been broadly classified into other investments and assets other than money. One more criterion is considered in determining a particular investment as security. If or if not, an investor has any control over the profits that come from the investor? If not, then the investment is generally considered as a security.

How the law applies to tokens generated based on blockchain technology?

SES guides that if a token clears all the criteria mentioned above, it can be deemed a security token. If it doesn’t follow, then it can be deemed as a utility token. Security tokens usually derive their value from the external, tradable asset. Hence security tokens are subjected to federal rules and regulations.

If the ICO doesn’t follow all the rules and regulations as prescribed, they are subjected to penalties. If followed, they offer a multitude of investment opportunities that were not possible before. If SEC determines any cryptocurrency as a security token, the founders are deemed to register the coin with SEC, and also, the investors should register their holdings with SEC.

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‘Blockchain Coding’ – The Different Programming Languages That Are Being Used!

Introduction

In the nineties, when the internet was evolving, it sometimes used to take hours to connect to the internet. When the visionaries were betting on the internet that it would change the world, most of them wondered if it has that transforming effect? Now we cannot imagine a world without the internet. The same is going to happen with blockchain. Blockchain is going to create the internet of value. To build that work, we need developers in blockchain, and different languages used in developing the technology.

To understand which languages should be used in blockchain coding, let us see the challenges the tech offer to understand and select a language for development.

Security

If we talk about public blockchains, the code is open source and public. Anyone can check the code, find vulnerabilities, and take away millions in dollars. Hence the development is very slow in general.

Resource Management

Networks grow in size pretty soon, and hence the maintenance should be appropriate. Local queries should be addressed at the earliest.

✰ Performance

The language chosen should be extremely versatile. Blockchain has specific tasks that can be checked parallelly while some cannot. Signature verification can be checked parallelly, while transaction verification should be done to avoid double-spending.

Deterministic behavior

A smart contract should behave in the same way, no matter in which machine you run them. In the same way, a transaction should hold good at any point in time. Hence, they should operate in Isolation. Hence, we should isolate smart contracts and transactions from non-deterministic elements.

Let us see the languages which overcome these challenges below:

C++

The bitcoin blockchain is written in C++. C++ has been developed as an extension of the C language, and it is an object-oriented language (OOP). OOP means, when an object is created with functions and data, it can be called upon for use any number of times further, thus reducing coding time. Let see the features of C++ below, which aides in blockchain coding.

Memory

C++ takes complete control over CPU and memory usage. We have seen that blockchain requires effective resource management and the platform itself to integrate with lots of untrusted endpoints still giving quick service.

Threading

A thread is a set of instructions that can be executed simultaneously. C++ not only supports multithreading but also optimizes single-thread performance. As we discussed before, blockchain needs both parallel and non-parallel tasks to be performed; hence threading functionality helps in this requirement.

Move Semantics

Move Semantics helps in getting copies of particular data only when required. This reduces data redundancy and boosts performance.

Code Isolation

Code isolation is possible in C++ due to its usage of classes. The language itself is so mature that it is frequently updated, which helps use the latest features.

Solidity

The most common language used in Ethereum to write smart contracts is Solidity. Anyone interested in developing DAPPs or get into the ICO games, Solidity, is a must learn. Most of the Ethereum founders contributed to the development of Solidity. Solidity is a slimmed-down language explicitly designed to develop smart contracts with a syntax very similar to Javascript.

Python and Javascript are used as well in blockchain coding as they have the required properties as well. Go Lang, developed by Google, is used as well due to its faster speeds. The need for blockchain developers is very high, and going forward will only increase. Hence, for programmers, if they can learn what blockchain is, they have a high tide to ride and make their name in the blockchain world.

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Crypto Guides

Understanding The Concept Of Tokenomics

Introduction

In our previous articles, we have seen a lot about tokens, utility tokens versus security tokens, and how the tokenization has generated different blockchain, business models. As a quick recap, the token represents something in the crypto universe in its designated environment. A token has many roles, features, and purposes of fulfilling in its intended space.

What is Tokenomics?

Tokenomics is formed with two words, token and economics. Tokenomics is the quality of the coin, which influences the people to buy them and thereby shape up the platform accordingly. Any factor which affects the token’s value can be considered to be part of tokenomics. Let us see some of the most important ones below:

🔰 Team

The team behind the project is the first and foremost factor that affects the token in every way possible. It is quite natural for any sensible investor to check the team behind the concept. For any ICO to be successful, the teams play an essential role in the concept of the token and what the token tends to achieve.

🔰 Token Allocation

Token allocation post the ICO is an essential factor as well. Allocation amongst the team members and advisors is essential. The percentage of total coins that the leadership team has retained, how they will be spending those tokens for the project, and the duration they will lock the tokens. People who believe in their project tend to lock the coins for the long term showing their belief in the project.

🔰 Publicity and Branding

The project and token should have appropriate publicity. People should have an idea about what it is, and the closer it is to solving a real-world problem amongst other factors, the interest grows. Hence, the business model is essential too. The community, i.e., people who are already invested, shouldn’t be ignored; as they try to nurture the project in their way, they should be rewarded appropriately. Hence, they act as the brand ambassadors of the project.

🔰 Legal Structure

There have been many scams involved in the ICO’s of the 2017-18 period; they have come under the radar of intense scrutiny. Thus, the project should be under the local government’s rules and regulations wherever it is being developed.

🔰 Types of Tokens

There are different types of tokens to consider apart from security vs. utility tokens we have seen so far. The other necessary type is Layer1 vs. Layer2.

Layer1 generally refers to the platform on which the token is built upon. For example, if you are developing a DAPP in the Ethereum platform, Ethereum is the layer1 platform Ehter works as Layer1 token. The token that you intend to develop and the platform that you develop over the foundation platform is Layer2 and Layer2, accordingly. Though there are widespread attempts to make the two layers independent of each other, no matter how independent they are, they will be affected in case of any hacks on Layer1.

🔰 Token Flow

Token flow is another essential factor that determines the token’s value. Token flow in the Layer1 is determined by how the coins are generated and how the users are incentivized to maintain the platform. Secondly, the developments in the platform to strengthen the network itself. How the tokens are coming and going from the platform, is the environment sustainable or not, are some of the factors involving the token flow.

What makes up a token value?

The coin’s intrinsic value. Well, we consider its intrinsic value to the current value all the time while investing in something. If the intrinsic value is less than the current value, it is mostly advisable to invest. It’s the same with tokens as well. The intrinsic value depends on its credibility and utility of the project.

The second one is obvious, which is nothing, but speculation of the potential investors based on its history. Supply and demand, of course, plays a role as the number of tokens is always capped. Hence if the demand increases than the supply, the value tends to increase naturally.

Tokenomics is pretty vast, and we have covered significant parts involved. This concept is gaining momentum and space slowly; thus, knowing the above concepts before you take a plunge in the crypto investments is very useful in the long run.

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Crypto Guides

What Should You know About Web 3.0?

Introduction

World Wide Web, as we know, today has undergone a lot of changes. To dwell on Web 3.0, we need to understand what comprises Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Web 1.0 is the first integration of the internet in the nineties. The visionary Sir Tim Berners-Lee led us to web 1.0. He wanted to decentralize the information so that there wouldn’t be any third-party intervention to access the information. Let’s look at the previous two versions briefly below:

Web 1.0

Web 1.0 comprises of mostly static information. It can be termed as a worldwide explosion of information or read the only web. Many big companies have come up with read-only websites. Many E-Commerce websites can be termed as Web 1.0 version as an example today. User interaction is very minimalistic.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 can be termed as the web we know as of today. It is also said web of social media with many video streaming platforms. With the invention of Web 2.0, all of us got access to not only download available content but also to upload the content made by us. It has started becoming two ways, which started revolutionizing many business models. Let us look into Web 3.0 now.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is termed as the internet of value, and it has special significance in today’s world. We have already entered web 3.0, and it is not somewhere in the distant future. We consider it as the most advanced of all because it uses Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain technologies to offer us the best suit of experience.

One of the daily examples of Web 3.0 usage is when we shop on Amazon or any eCommerce website. Under a product we are looking to buy, there is another section which says people ‘who bought this has bought’ these items or what items people bought after buying this product. This is possible because of AI/ML. The user experience is maximized because of the suggestions.

Web 3.0 allows the acceleration of decentralized finance. We have business models available for many purposes rather than the one in the previous versions, where only big companies were used to make use of them for businesses. User privacy is hampered in a big way with the advent of so many apps and their usage.

Big multi corporations, even though they say that their laws pertaining to data privacy are simple, which prevents them from collecting data is not true in reality. With the advent of DAPPS with blockchain as the underlying technology, no user information can be collected and stored without users’ consent. Web 3.0 is a whole new experience without privacy concerns anymore.

The key technology in shaping up Web 3.0 is termed as blockchain. Blockchain provides the decentralized infrastructure for the internet, which fundamentally changes how the web operates. Blockchain allows a highly secure environment to exchange data generated by billions of IoT devices across the world. The decentralization of data allows users to control data rather than the big corporations controlling them single-handedly.

Conclusion

The big companies have treated us like products by collecting the information in the form of our tastes, need to target and sell their products in return to us. We lost control of our data privacy. Web 3.0 is essentially taking back the control from the corporations to our own hands using the decentralization of data using blockchain technology

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Crypto Guides

How to Audit a Smart Contract?

Introduction

Smart contracts are a self-executing piece of code, executable when certain predefined conditions are met. Ethereum enabled the birth of smart contracts. Since these contracts are based on blockchain technology, they cannot be changed once implemented.

Hence it is crucial to test them before deploying them accurately, and timely audits ensure the bug is fixed. In our previous articles, we have seen the DAO attack on the Ethereum platform due to which millions of dollars were lost. The Ethereum platform had to be hard forked to mitigate the loss henceforth.

Generally, audits are conducted to check for bug fixes. The audit is targeted in such a way to check for already known targets based on the experience of previous audits. Hence let us see below what kind of smart contract attacks there are.

Smart contract attacks

Race Conditions

Race conditions are a case where events don’t occur in an intended order. It is often required to call external contracts in smart contracts, and thus the possibility of race conditions is very high.

Reentrancy

This is a kind of race condition where one function is repeatedly called before the first function’s invocation is completed. This means making the first function recursive, the exact thing which happened in the DAO attack.

Transaction Ordering Dependence

This is yet another type of race condition where the manipulations can be done in terms of transaction orders. The transactions order can be manipulated and cheated at the expense of other users.

These are some of the types of smart contracts attacks. Let us see below the detailed step by step process of auditing a smart contract.

Steps to audit a smart contract

1️⃣ As in any audit process, the auditing company/group should clarify who they are and their authority to conduct the audit and procedures to be followed, if possible, from a legal perspective.

2️⃣ Audits are conducted on a deployed smart contract or a smart contract ready to be deployed in a blockchain. It is essential that a smart contract without any bugs is to be implemented.

3️⃣ A legal disclaimer, as such, the audit doesn’t provide any legal guarantee but fosters the discussion about the smart contracts bugs, if any, to fix them.

4️⃣ Attacks will be conducted as detailed above and see if they can be successfully implemented on the smart contract being audited.

5️⃣ Report the vulnerabilities and bugs if found any. Some may not seem like a potential threat right now, but they may turn out to be a serious flaw later; they have to be recognized and taken care of.

6️⃣ Contract complexity should be checked. Often complexity leads to mistakes, and the complex code should be thoroughly checked for any potential bugs.

7️⃣ Check how the contract responds to a bug or vulnerability. Contracts behavior in such times is essential to check if there will be any money loss, or the contract execution will stop showing potential issues is to be noted down.

8️⃣ All the security patches should be thoroughly updated so that all the libraries are up to date. The update should act like preventive maintenance.

The steps outlined above are very general in purpose in auditing a smart contract. Depending on the language we use for a smart contract, various steps can be followed. In any language used, these are the necessary steps one can follow before moving further with the in-depth analysis.

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What Are Security Tokens & What Is Their Importance?

Introduction

Security tokens provide the digital ownership of traditionally traded securities. The concept of security tokens is a genuinely revolutionary concept developed by the advent of blockchain. Tokens perform a wide variety of roles, depending on the ecosystem they are used in. Tokens may give voting rights, which may be used as a currency, to be used as a value exchange. The more roles the tokens have, the more useful it can be termed.

People often get confused with cryptocurrencies and tokens. Tokens and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally different. While cryptocurrencies can be used anywhere, I mean, depending on the people/business who accept them as a mode of payment. In contrast, tokens can only be used in the designated environment where they are intended to use. Tokenization, the issue of tokens, is a new concept that came up with the advent of blockchain and created new business models with security and utility tokens.

How are the Security tokens issued?

Security tokens are issued just like how cryptocurrencies are issued using ICO’s. ICO’s are Initial Coin Offerings offered by developers whenever a new DAPP is to be developed. The ICO will have a goal to aim for. Depending on the goal, if the people are interested, based on the platform, the DAPP is developed, they pay the local currency and take the ownership of the tokens. The token gains value depending on the functions, roles, and purposes.

Importance of Security tokens

Security tokens are essential because of the role they play in the securities. Utility tokens need not follow any rules and regulations of the real world since they are used in the intended environment only; everything works as per the rules and regulations formed by the creators. When it comes to security tokens, they are representing something that exists in the real-world in real.

The security tokens are a digital representation of real assets in blockchain so that the transfer of securities will be smooth, verifiable, and, most importantly, to eliminate paper documents. Hence Security tokens should follow all the rules and regulations even when the ICO is conducted, then only it is termed as a success. Therefore these tokens are essential in connecting the real-world assets to the blockchain. The impact of security tokens is as below:

🧾 Credibility

The ICO space is not credible enough at the moment, with a lot of failures. Since the ICO’s of security tokens follow all the existing rules and regulations, people are confident enough to invest in the ICO’s where they are interested instead of thinking about the credibility infrastructure and stuff.

🧾 Reducing the costs associated with traditional finance

In traditional finance, a lot of money is involved in the form of registration when you want to transfer money from one person to another. Lawyers are required, as well. In the case of security tokens, a lot of money can be saved. Smart contracts will even further reduce the complexity involved in the process.

🧾 Execution times

Since no third party is involved, execution times are very less compared to traditional finance.

🧾 Unlimited Market

People from different countries find it extremely difficult to invest in any foreign country. Security tokens ease out this difficult task. Because of this simple reason, investors across the globe can invest without worrying about paper documentation, rules, regulations, and stuff.

🧾 Easier Liquidation

With the available platforms, it will be easy to liquidate your token whenever and wherever required since only the internet is required to liquidate your funds.

Even though the security tokens are less popular than the utility tokens, people will start flocking towards security tokens due to its functionality. Most prominently, it follows all the rules and regulations of the governments; hence these adhere to the credibility of people which utility tokens lack in general.

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What Are The Different Business Models Based On Blockchain Technology?

Introduction

With the invention of bitcoin, Blockchain has become mainstream. Industry experts in almost all industries are exploring Blockchain to change their business models to make use of decentralization to achieve more transparency, thereby gaining more profits. The business model is nothing but how the business is operated to make money ultimately.

With features like immutability, transparency, and decentralization, Blockchain can create ripples in any industry that haven’t seen much change for some decades. Blockchain’s mainstream application has been in finance, which has seen rapid changes though Blockchain hasn’t been implemented to a considerable extent yet.

Implementing Blockchain isn’t an easy task. Hence, one should consider all the available technologies first and implement Blockchain only if any other current technology doesn’t make the same impact of Blockchain if implemented. The technology shouldn’t be useful not only for the business but for the end-users as well.

Let us look at some of the blockchain business models below:

Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)

The days are gone where the businesses try to host everything on their own. Investing in large servers, hiring staff to maintain them is a costly process, and no one wants to do it anymore unless they have large amounts of money to burn. Hence everyone wants to move to the cloud. When it comes to Blockchain, if one has to set up a blockchain network, they must search for blockchain experts who are rare and costly to obtain the talent, if any.

Train your existing staff, which is again time-consuming; hence BaaS plays a vital role in implementing Blockchain in any business. Blockchain as a Service is also provided by cloud providers where a lot of scary backend stuff can be set up and maintained by them while the business can only focus on their business. Large cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM, Oracle are already offering BaaS services.

Securities

Securities is one of the exact innovational models which didn’t exist before Blockchain. Security tokens offer ownership of an asset. A token can be classified as a security token if a profit is expected from the primary asset linked to the digital asset.

For example, a piece of gold bar say 1kg can be owned by multiple people in the form of security tokens as the price of the gold increases the value of the security token increases and vice versa. If the ICO of such tokens is adequately implemented with all the rules abided, the security tokens have immense opportunities.

Utility Tokens

Whenever we buy some material things, we look at the utility of the material to gauge our satisfaction. Utility tokens do the same thing in the businesses they use. Each utility tokens have a purpose, role, and features in the environment they are used to. In our articles, we have seen DAO’s, which can be accumulated to deserve the voting rights for the DAPPs to be developed.

DAO’s are a perfect example of Utility tokens. Ripple acts as a utility token in the banks involved with the Ripple ecosystem. The tokens can be used as a currency as well in the confined environment. The value of the utility tokens increases depending on the number of roles and purposes it has in the intended environment.

Development Platforms

Development platforms like Ethereum, Hyperledger, Tron play a vital role in the augmentation of blockchain technology. The development of DAPPs on these platforms is secure in implementing the technology as, by default, they offer Blockchain’s fundamental properties. The more DAPP’s in the network, the more influential the platform will be as more people will be using the same.

The deployment of DAPPs in the Ethereum platform needs the payment in terms of Gas, the platform’s local currency, which allows one to use it. In the same way, to use the Neo platform, users have to pay in Gas, the platform’s local currency. Even the DAPPs may collect a nominal fee in terms of Gas again to use the apps, thus improving the functionality continuously.

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Crypto Guides

‘Decred’ – The First Of Its Kind Autonomous Digital Currency

Introduction

Decred (DCR) stands for Decentralized Credit and it is an autonomous digital currency. As the name says, it brings decentralized decision-making and governance to the platform in the form of votes from both miners and holders of the coin. The value proposition of this coin is that it is secure, adaptable, and sustainable on its own.

The coin is secure since it uses the combination of proof of work (POW) and Proof of Stake (POS) hybrid consensus mechanism. Hence, it is more expensive in order of magnitude to attack a hybrid model. The adaptable part of the coin is because of the voting rights granted to its miners and holders, providing them their say in the project level decisions. This will prevent hard forks and help in developing technology as we go further.

Lastly, they are sustainable as 10% of each block reward goes to the treasury. This leads to a very flexible model to incentivize the miners/contractors for their work.

How does the hybrid POW/POS work?

🏳️ The first block is mined using standard Proof of Work mechanism.

🏳️ Randomly five validators with a stake in the system are chosen from the pool to validate the block.

🏳️ If three out of the five validators are in consent with the validity of the block, the block gets added to the blockchain.

🏳️ 60% of the reward goes to the block miners, 30% of the reward goes to the validators while 10% of the reward goes to the Decred project treasury.

While the POW mechanism is pretty the same, POS needs some explanation in the context of Decred.

🏳️ People with DCR should buy some tickets to be part of the validators pool in the system

🏳️ For each block, only 20 tickets are allowed, and hence you have to pay some fee if you have to be selected as a validator quicker

🏳️ Once you are selected as a validator, your ticket will be treated as immature until 256 blocks are mined, approximately equal to 20 hours.

🏳️ Once your ticket is entered into the lottery pool, five validators are chosen randomly, and hence one has to wait for their chance. The system is designed in such a way that the chance of a ticket being selected as a validator is 99.5% before its expiry, which is four months in general.

Security

It is estimated that it is nearly 22 times more expensive to hack a hybrid POW/POS consensus mechanism than a pure POW network. Hence the system is very secure.

Governance

As we have already said before, the project level decisions are taken in the form of voting by both miners and holders of the DCR. Decred has never done an ICO or take funds from any private organization. They have created their funds like Dash, with every 10% of block reward going to the treasury. This treasury is maintained via DAO’s, decentralized autonomous organizations, which run on their own. This is how it works.

  • Anyone in the community can propose an improvement proposal for a small fee to avoid any spam.
  • Stakeholders, miners/holders can vote on the projects that they would likely to be received funding
  • Once approved, the funds are released in the form of a decentralized autonomous entity (DAE’s).

Decred is an excellent project due to its governance system. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies, but it’s scarce that any one of them has a good governance mechanism. A suitable governance mechanism ensures the network’s credibility and also forking of any form is avoided. Decred is a highly underrated project which should be recognized for its innovation. Cheers!

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Some Of The High Profile Crypto Exchange Hacks You Must Know!

Introduction

Even though cryptocurrencies are secure, crypto exchanges are where hackers target to loot millions of dollars. No matter how big a cryptocurrency is with the hacks we have seen so far, the exchanges will inevitably be subject to hacks at some point in time. Even though it is 2020, almost ten years since the advent of bitcoin, the hacks have never been slowed down. This is why it is always advisable for the crypto investors to hold their assets in their personal wallets instead of storing them with the crypto exchange itself.

Let us look at some of the high-profile cryptocurrency hacks so far:

The Mt.Gox

Mt.Gox, a Japan-based cryptocurrency stock exchange, was the biggest and busiest of exchanges, with 70% of bitcoin transactions from all over the world was going in the platform back then in 2013-14. With cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency exchanges, there were no regulations. There were many loopholes in the company’s management, like there was no VCS, Version Control Software. The VCS mainly stores all the information of all the features, coding set up of a particular version of the software product.

Without proper VCS, we will not know what changes were made when and it would be practically impossible to go back to a particular version of the software if necessary. All the code changes were to be approved by the CEO himself, which is the biggest bottleneck. There was no testing policy; the developers develop code and deploy it without any particular testing, which is a disaster. All these underlying issues led to a massive hack amounting to $473 million worth of bitcoin in 2014, which eventually led to the closure of the exchange permanently.

The DAO Hack

Before the 2019 Hack of Ethereum classic, DAO hack was the major one in the Ethereum platform. DAO, Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is a smart contract that was supposed to revolutionize the platform. The DAO acts as a decentralized venture capital fund for all the future DAPPS getting developed in the platform. Anyone can buy DAO for some ether and gain voting rights for any proposed app developed in the platform.

If one doesn’t wish to vote any further or doesn’t want to contribute to an app they are not interested in, they can opt-out of DAO. The opting-out part is where the hackers aimed and hacked 50 million dollars in 2016. The opting-out function has been made recursive by hackers. Hence instead of returning the funds once, the system kept returning the funds until it was noticed and stopped. Due to this issue, Ethereum was hard forked into Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

The Bitfinex Hack

The Bitfinex exchange for increasing the security and ease the transactions for the users came up with multi-sig wallets with the collaboration of Bitgo. Multi-signature wallets are such wallets that have multiple keys. One key is owned and stored by the company.  While the owner of the wallet has two keys, he may give one key to his trustworthy friend/relative, so that even he loses his key, he has a backup. Generally, the multi-signature wallets need two keys to operate.

These wallets are hot, and this additional security feature ironically led to the hack. However, there are many theories on how and why the hack happened. Bitfinex rose to limelight and gained the credibility back. $72 million worth of bitcoin was hacked due to which 20% of the value of each bitcoin was eroded.

Later we saw many hacks in different exchanges like Bithumb where $30 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen. Coinrail was hacked for $37.2 million, BitGrail for $195 million, and Coincheck for $534 million.

Conclusion

While cryptocurrencies are no doubt safe, but one has to do their homework on the exchanges, they are transacting. Always store your cryptocurrency in your own hot/cold wallets. Crypto exchanges will always be targeted if they are doing business for very high value. They should voluntarily show the security measures they are taking to avoid any potential hack. No matter which cryptocurrencies one is trading with, due diligence on the exchange is first and foremost.