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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 10 – Bitcoin Miners Migrated: BTC Hash Rate Up 42%

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the day mostly consolidating and preparing for the next move and setting up technical formations. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,288, representing a decrease of 1.14% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.70% on the day, while XRP lost 0.8%.

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the day mostly consolidating and preparing for the next move and setting up technical formations. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,288, representing a decrease of 1.14% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.70% on the day, while XRP lost 0.8%.

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the day mostly consolidating and preparing for the next move and setting up technical formations. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,288, representing a decrease of 1.14% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.70% on the day, while XRP lost 0.8%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

Civic gained an astonishing 101.35% in the past 24 hours, making it the most prominent daily gainer out of the top100 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. It is closely followed by Golem’s gain of 29.25% and Decentraland’s 22.26% gain. On the other hand, Loopring lost 9.76%, making it the most prominent daily loser. Synthetix lost 7.39% while Energy Web Token lost 7.35%, making them the 2nd and 3rd most prominent daily losers.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance has decreased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 64.2%. This value represents a 0.1% difference to the downside compared to the value it had yesterday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has gone down slightly over the course of the day. Its current value is $441.50 billion, representing a $4.29 billion decrease compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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The past 24 hours were characterized by a slow price movement of the crypto sector. However, a lot of important news reached the public’s eye. Bitcoin Miners finished up on Sichuan’s migration, triggering a hash rate spike of 42% in the past 2 days. Ethereum has been performing great, and news of its 2.0 version is all over the place, with the most recent one being that the number of addresses surpassing 32 ETH (the amount required to be a validator) is at an all-time high. On the other hand, Bitcoin SV brought bad news to the sector, as its multi-sig feature got compromised, causing enormous losses for its users.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading in a very uncertain zone at the moment. Its price has most likely created a double top formation, indicating a possible pullback in the short-term. This prediction is even more convincing as we can see that Bitcoin can’t get past the $15,480 resistance after trying for over 12 hours. However, the overall sentiment around the cryptocurrency is extremely bullish, and its downside is protected by the ascending (yellow) line.

With that being said, traders should wait for Bitcoin to choose its direction and trade only if Bitcoin spikes above $15,480 or below $15,420 with significant volume.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals are bullish on all time-frames. The only difference compared to yesterday was that every single time-frame is completely bullish and with almost no neutrality present (as opposed to yesterday, when neutral sentiment could be seen on some overviews).

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is above its 50-period EMA and right at its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (53.60)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $16,400                                 1: $15,480

2: $16,665                                 2: $14,640

3: $17,260                                  3: $14,100

Ethereum

Ethereum has been playing around the upper line of the ascending channel (yellow dotted line) and constantly going above and under it. At the moment, its price is under the line, and any attempts of getting past it have been extinguished quickly. This most likely means that Ethereum failed to establish itself above the $451 level, which could trigger a correction towards the 50-period moving average, and ultimately the bottom channel line.

Traders should pay close attention to volume, as they will not have a lot of time to join in on the trade towards the downside. Placing a stop-loss right above the ascending channel top line should be a “safe bet.”

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals are tilted heavily towards the buy-side on its 4-hour and monthly overview, while the neutral sentiment is heavily present on its daily and weekly charts.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is above its 50-period and slightly above its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (55.58)
  • Volume is slightly elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $451                                     1: $445

2: $470                                     2: $420 

3: $490                                      3: $415

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap continued its consolidation phase right above the $0.2454 level, which is considered a major pivot point in XRP’s trading in the recent past. XRP created a double bottom at this level, possibly indicating a push towards the $0.26 in the short term.

Traders should still be safe to assume that XRP will trade within the range and that they can trade the sideways action. However, if the volume increases drastically, a move towards the upside is much more likely (if not fueled by Bitcoin’s move).

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals on the 4-hour, daily, and weekly time-frame are all tilted towards the buy-side. However, neutral sentiment can be seen in all of them. On the other hand, its monthly overview also has the same neutrality amount but is tilted towards the sell-side.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price slightly above its 50-period EMA and at its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly below its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (49.69)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                     1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                   2: $0.235

3: $0.27                                    3: $0.227

 

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Cryptocurrencies

Luno Wallet Review: Here Is Everything You Need To Know About The Multi-Asset Wallet?

Luno Wallet is a fast-growing crypto storage vault created by Timothy Stranex, an ex-Google engineer. The wallet seeks to provide its users with a balance between security and ease of use. It is the official crypto wallet for the Luno crypto exchange that started in 2013 as BitX before rebranding to Luno in 2016. Both the Luno exchange wallet and exchange are headquartered in London but maintain satellite offices in South Africa and Singapore.

Luno Wallet is a fast-growing crypto storage vault created by Timothy Stranex, an ex-Google engineer. The wallet seeks to provide its users with a balance between security and ease of use. It is the official crypto wallet for the Luno crypto exchange that started in 2013 as BitX before rebranding to Luno in 2016. Both the Luno exchange wallet and exchange are headquartered in London but maintain satellite offices in South Africa and Singapore.

Luno Wallet is a fast-growing crypto storage vault created by Timothy Stranex, an ex-Google engineer. The wallet seeks to provide its users with a balance between security and ease of use. It is the official crypto wallet for the Luno crypto exchange that started in 2013 as BitX before rebranding to Luno in 2016. Both the Luno exchange wallet and exchange are headquartered in London but maintain satellite offices in South Africa and Singapore.

Luno started as a Bitcoin-only wallet. Over time, however, it has incorporated Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrencies as well as a few more Fiat currencies like the Indian Rupee, Nigerian Naira, and the European Pound.

In this Luno wallet review, we want to ascertain if Luno is indeed safe and easy to use as advertised. We will be looking at the security and operational features put in place by the company while providing you with a step-by-step guide on how to activate and use the wallet.

Luno Wallet key features:

Cross-platform: Luno is a cross-platform crypto wallet available for iOS and Android devices and a web wallet.

Inbuilt exchange: Luno integrates a built-in crypto exchange to buy, sell, and exchange different cryptocurrencies. It is fully-fledged and fitted with basic and advanced crypto investing tools like the real-time order book and risk management tools such as Limit and stop-limit orders.

Buy crypto with fiat: Luno wallets makes it possible for users to buy crypto with fiat via debit/credit cards, direct wire transfers, or e-wallets like PayStack.

Portfolio trackers: On the Luno wallet user interface is the crypto history and balance tabs that let you monitor your crypto transactions and portfolio values in real-time. And in addition to the two is the chart that shows you the price performance of each of the supported cryptocurrencies and value changes per day, week, month, and year. You are also free to set automated price alerts for this crypto.

Block explorer: The wallet also integrates a blockchain explorer that users rely on to get crypto news and events and expert analysis on how either is expected to disrupt the crypto industry.

Trading insights and market reports: Luno has partnered with a crypto-focused Intelligence Company – IntoTheBlock – and launched a series of premium indicators and market analysis tools that they believe will be instrumental in helping users make informed crypto trading decisions. This is then complimented with the Daily Market Update blog that analyses and predicts the price performance of featured cryptos.

Savings wallet: Luno recently introduced the BTC Savings Wallet that earns you a 4% annual interest for saving your BTC in the account. There are no fixed terms, and you are free to withdraw either the profit or clear the wallet at any time.

Luno Wallet security features:

Password: Like any other cryptocurrency wallet, Luno is password secured. You get to set the password when creating a user account, and it doubles as the encryption tool.

Two factors authentication: When creating your Luno wallet user account, the wallet will ask for such personal information as your email and phone number. You will need either of these or the Google Authenticator tool to activate two-factor authentication.

Non-custodial: Luno wallet doesn’t store the private keys for the digital assets on your behalf. Rather, it encrypts them and stores them within your device, giving you absolute control over their use.

Monitor active devices: In the settings section of your Luno wallet’s user interface, you will see all the devices currently connected to your wallet in real-time. You can use this tab to log out, block, or disassociate the wallet from certain devices.

How to activate/setup the Luno Wallet

Step 1: Download the Luno wallet app from either the wallet website, Google Play Store or Apple App Store

Step 2: After launching the app, click the “Create a new wallet” tab

Step 3: Fill the registration form by entering your email, creating a unique wallet password, and selecting your country of residence

Step 4: Confirm that you are not a robot via the reCAPTCHA button that also doubles as agreeing to the wallet’s terms of use and privacy policy.

Step 5: Verify your identity by furnishing the Luno Wallet team with a copy of your ID and proof of address

Step 6: You will receive a confirmation email informing you that your account is now active and ready to use

Step 7: Log in to your Luno wallet and use the settings button to personalize the vault by activating two-factor authentication and depositing cryptos.

How to add/receive Crypto into Luno Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Luno wallet account and tap the “Buy” or “Receive” tabs, depending on how you want to fund your account.

Step 2: If you chose to buy, you will be redirected to the crypto purchasing page that requires you to enter the amount of USD you would like to deposit, select the preferred payment method, and initiate the purchase

Step 3: If you choose to receive crypto, the Luno wallet will display your address and QR code that you can send to the individual sending you coins or have them scan your QR code

How to send crypto from Luno Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Luno wallet, and on the user dashboard, tap “send.”

Step 2: If you have multiple wallets, select the wallet from whence to draw crypto

Step 3: Select the crypto you wish to send

Step 4: Enter the crypto recipient’s wallet address and the amount you would like to send

Step 5: Confirm the transaction details and hit send.

Luno Wallet ease of use and customer support

Luno wallet embraces a minimalistic user interface design that is easy to interact with for both crypto-investing veterans and beginners. The Luno development team also maintained a regularly updated blog and a learning portal that you can use to better understand how the site works. You will even find some how-to and troubleshooting guides in here. Plus, both the wallet and website are multilingual – available in English, Italian, Indonesian, and French.

Technical queries can be forwarded to Luno Wallet’s customer support team via the website’s help center page or by direct messaging them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Luno Wallet supported currencies:

Luno Wallet currently supports 5 cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum.

Wallet services are available in 50+ countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Luno Wallet cost and fees:

Downloading Luno Wallet and creating a user account here is free. You will, however, need to factor in the transaction fee charged on crypto transfers in and out of your Luno wallet. Bank and debit card transfers attract an average 1.58% fee, while credit cards attract a 5% deposit fee. Withdrawals and outbound transfer fees are highly variable and are largely dependent on the type of currency preferred and the amounts involved.

What are the pros and cons of using the Luno Wallet?

Pros:

  • It is highly versatile and accepts multiple funding options (both Fiat and crypto)
  • Luno wallet is hosted on an advanced and feature-rich trading platform.
  • It integrates effective security features.
  • Luno wallet’s transaction fees are quite competitive.

Cons:

  • It has a complicated fee structure.
  • It will only host a limited number of cryptocurrencies.

Comparing and contrasting Luno Wallet with other Multi-Asset wallets:

Luno Wallet vs. eToro wallet

The primary similarity between Luno Wallet and eToro is that both are offshoots of online trading multi-asset trading platforms. They also maintain highly advanced and feature-rich yet beginner-friendly user interfaces. More importantly, they both support the purchase of crypto with fiat while charging competitive rates.

But while the eToro wallet supports 15+ cryptocurrencies and a host of fiat currencies, Luno Wallet will only support five cryptocurrencies. Additionally, eToro hosts such advanced trading/investment tools as copy trader, auto-trader, and demo accounts. Nevertheless, we appreciate Luno’s wallet commitment to reach out to crypto enthusiasts in developing countries, who have been neglected by the larger crypto exchanges and wallets for the longest time.

Verdict: Is Luno Wallet safe?

Key security and privacy measures that Luno Wallet has embraced in safeguarding your crypto wallets’ integrity include activating two-factor authentication and blocking IP addresses. It also secures the wallet with a password, encrypts user’s data, and gives you absolute control over your digital assets. It can thus be said to have met the unofficial industry standard for wallet apps and web wallets. However, the fact that it is a hot wallet means that the wallet is constantly exposed to the inherent threats facing online crypto wallets like phishing attacks.

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Crypto Videos

Microstrategy Will Hold $250 Million Worth Of Bitcoin For 100 Years!

https://youtu.be/upjPzFUWBCM

https://youtu.be/upjPzFUWBCM

 

This company will hold $250 million worth of Bitcoin for 100 years!

Microstrategy has announced that it has purchased a whopping 21,454 Bitcoin (worth $250 million) on Aug 11. The company’s CEO, Michael Saylor, announced publically that he will hold his company’s Bitcoin for 100 years, and that he has no intention of selling it.
This investment is now worth more than $290 million, representing a 16% increase in just over two months. On top of that, Microstrategy has purchased even more Bitcoin since.
In an interview with Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, Saylor stated that the investment was not speculation, nor a hedge, but rather a deliberate corporate strategy with the goal of adopting the Bitcoin standard. The decision to invest over $250 million was discussed between its board of directors and the firm’s investors, as well as auditors.

Microstrategy decided to restructure its investment strategy in response to recent global economic uncertainty. The company is looking to explore assets better-suited to providing a long-term store of value, and they stated that Bitcoin is one of them.
After considering a variety of options and looking at it from a 100-year investment perspective, Saylor decided that Bitcoin was the only option. Taxes and fees kill almost all other assets, he concluded, and those that remain are instead severely crippled because they are controlled by either a CEO, government, or country.

Bitcoin, however, is evolving and gets harder, stronger, and faster over time, Saylor concluded. He described Bitcoin as a “hive of cybernetic hornets that are protected by a wall of encrypted energy.”
When asked about Ethereum as an alternative to Bitcoin, Saylor told Pal that it didn’t compare, as Ethereum is “still chasing after functionality.” He added that “it still has to be proven, as there are centralized competitors to it.”
Saylor’s bullishness on Bitcoin is clear, especially when he said that the fact that Bitcoin is so big when compared to all other cryptocurrencies, literally, “the market is screaming to you that this is a winner and that it’s eating the world.”

Saylor asserted that Bitcoin is the world’s best collateral and that it doesn’t even compare to gold or any other commodities in the long run. He said that if you hold $100 million in fiat currency for 100 years, you will lose 99% of it. If you held gold, you would still lose 85% at best.
Saylor described Bitcoin as an asset that is performing similar monetary utilities as gold, except better and without the fear of dilution.
Among many things he likes about Bitcoin, Saylor said that he thinks it’s important that anybody can inspect the fact that he owns the Bitcoin in one second and that it can be sent anywhere in the world for not even $5. He added that he could if he wanted, liquidate $100 million Bitcoin on “a Saturday afternoon.”

His thoughts about the crypto community were that many people believe he has weak hands, as they were saying that he will dump it very soon. However, Saylor added that the people calling him out don’t understand the mindset of long.
Saylor finished the two-hour-long interview by stating that his executives are paying close attention to developers in the crypto space and that any further opportunities will be exploited by him and his team.

Categories
Crypto Videos

The UK Bans Retail Investors From Using Crypto Derivatives!

https://youtu.be/uM5UC93NUsI

https://youtu.be/uM5UC93NUsI

The UK Bans Retail Investors From Using Crypto Derivatives Starting January 2021

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has banned the sale of cryptocurrency derivative products to retail investors. This move was followed by the statement that the ban will save its targeted customers £53 million (or $68.9 million) of losses each year. The ban will be in effect starting Jan 6, 2021.
In a statement that came out on October 6, the FCA declared that the sale, marketing, as well as distribution of any derivatives by any local or foreign company operating in the UK is banned. This includes contracts for difference, futures, options, and exchange-traded notes.
The Authority said that derivatives based on digital assets such as Bitcoin or Ethereum are “ill-suited for retail consumers due to the risk they pose.” The FCA outlined numerous risks that it considers are originating from trading such products, including a lack of “reliable basis for valuation,” possible market manipulation, as well as “extreme” price volatility.

It stated that retail clients generally lacked a “legitimate investment need to invest in these products,” as well as that the average retail investor did not fully understand derivatives trading. The ban was first proposed in July 2019, and it doesn’t affect the trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which are not FCA regulated, but only the derivatives of such assets.
Retail investors currently holding crypto derivatives will be allowed to keep them for as long as they want. Sheldon Mills, FCA’s interim executive director of strategy and competition, said that the significant price volatility, combined with the difficulties of valuing crypto assets reliably place retail consumers at a high risk of suffering major losses from trading crypto derivatives.

Shares of companies that offer the banned derivatives plummeted in London trading on Tuesday, Oct 20. CMC Markets dropped 2.8%, Plus500 fell 2.1%, while IG Group Holdings slid as much as 3.3%. An executive at Coinshares, a UK-based exchange that offers a variety of crypto derivatives, criticized the FCA’s decision. They also stated that the ban “will not result in more savings and benefits, but it will rather simply drive UK retail investors to unregulated crypto exchanges.”

The FCA ban can be seen as further evidence of the UK turning its back on innovation and on regulatory coordination with other jurisdictions,” said the aforementioned executive.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Muun Wallet Review:  How Safe Is Muun Bitcoin And Lightning Wallet?

Muun is a bitcoin and Lightning wallet that strives to presents its users with a balance between usability and security. It integrates highly intuitive usability features with advanced security features to achieve this. The wallet was developed and maintained by a team of 15 highly experienced blockchain technology and crypto security experts based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some of their strengths include maintaining the most responsive customer support team and their commitment to transparency.

Muun is a bitcoin and Lightning wallet that strives to presents its users with a balance between usability and security. It integrates highly intuitive usability features with advanced security features to achieve this. The wallet was developed and maintained by a team of 15 highly experienced blockchain technology and crypto security experts based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some of their strengths include maintaining the most responsive customer support team and their commitment to transparency.

Muun is a bitcoin and Lightning wallet that strives to presents its users with a balance between usability and security. It integrates highly intuitive usability features with advanced security features to achieve this. The wallet was developed and maintained by a team of 15 highly experienced blockchain technology and crypto security experts based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some of their strengths include maintaining the most responsive customer support team and their commitment to transparency.

According to the wallet’s development team, the Muun project started in 2013 as a ”commitment to building the most secure and easy-to-use mobile wallet” in the world. Seven years on, and though Muun is still a work in progress, the team has made significant strides towards accomplishing this goal.

In this review, we will be vetting this progress by looking at the quality of the integrated features and determining if Muun is indeed the safest and easiest to use Bitcoin and lightning wallet.

Munn Wallet key features:

Mobile wallet: Muun wallet launched as a crypto app for both android and iOS devices. And even though the same team developed both iOS and Android Muun wallets, we couldn’t help but notice a difference in the number of integrated features.

Transaction tracking: Muun wallet’s user dashboard features the transactions history tab that outlines all your recent crypto inflows and outflows. This, plus the balance tab, play a crucial role in helping you track your expenditure and portfolio.

Address book: Muun wallet also features an address book that integrates your phone’s contact list, effectively making it possible for you to send Bitcoins to another mobile number while avoiding pastejacking. The feature is, however, native to the android app.

Off-chain payments: The wallet is compatible with the lightning network and makes it possible for users to make instant payments and pay off-chain invoices with zero-channel configuration by leveraging submarine swaps. The wallet is, however, yet to allow users to create lightning invoices.

Segwit enabled: Muun integrates the Segwit bitcoin wallet technology that makes it possible for users to send Bitcoins to Bench32 addresses and saves them on the transaction costs.

Munn Wallet security features:

Password + Biometrics: Munn wallet requires that you set a highly unique password for your wallet when creating a user account. Plus, you can always boost the wallet’s safety by integrating Face and Fingerprint I.Ds on compatible devices.

Two-factor authentication: One of the personal details Muun wallets asks for when creating a user account is the email address. You can use it to activate two-factor authentication or simply integrate the Google authenticator app.

Backup and recovery: Unlike most other Bitcoin or lightning apps that provide you with a recovery seed for the wallet, Muun backs up the wallet to your email with a special recovery password. You will need these two to restore lost private keys or login to your Muun wallet on a different phone.

Multi-signature: Muun wallet is a multi-signature Bitcoin and lightning wallet that requires two signatories for transaction confirmation. One is created by your phone while the other is provided by Muun. Both are highly encrypted and stored within your device to ensure that you never get locked out of your wallet, even if the Muun servers were compromised.

Open sourced: Muun Bitcoin wallet is designed using a fully open-sourced technology. Anyone can view and audit their source code by clicking on the “Audit Us” icon on the top right corner of the Muun wallet website that directs you to Muun’s repository on GitHub.

Non-custodial: Muun Bitcoin and Lightning wallet won’t store private keys on your behalf. Rather, all the wallet data, especially the private keys and passwords, are highly encrypted and stored on your phone.

Hierarchically deterministic: Every time you initiate a crypto transaction, Muun Wallet will open a new hierarchically deterministic wallet address. This masks your real wallet address and makes it possible for crypto trackers to monitor your crypto activity.

Secure enclave: When using a Muun wallet, your private keys will always be stored in a secure enclave. You will need to enter the wallet password or use the Fingerprint to view this key.

How to activate/setup the Munn Wallet

Step 1: Start by downloading the Muun Wallet app on Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Step 2: Install and launch the app. Muun wallet will now ask to create and confirm the PIN code for the wallet.

Step 3: A new window will pop up, displaying a congratulatory message informing you that your Muun wallet has been successfully created.

Step 4: You will now want to backup your wallet. Provide the Muun Wallet app with a valid email address and follow the link sent to the mail to verify it.

Step 5: Proceed to create a strong and unique backup password.

Step 6: On the next page, read and agree to Muun wallet’s terms of use and the privacy policy

Step 7: Your wallet is now active and ready to use

How to add/receive Crypto into Muun Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Muun wallet and click the “Receive” tab on the user dashboard.

Step 2: Decide if you want to load funds to the Bench32 Native Segwit or legacy wallet.

Step 3: Copy the wallets address or its QR code and send either to the party sending you Bitcoins

Step 4: Wait for the funds to reflect in your Muun wallet.

How to send crypto from Munn Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to the Muun wallet and on the user dashboard, click the “Send” icon

Step 2: Decide if you want to pay a lightning wallet through the Segwit wallet or transfer funds from the legacy wallet.

Step 3: On the transfer window, enter the recipient’s wallet address, the amount you want to transfer, and select the transaction fee

Step 4: Alternatively, use the drop-down menu on the “send to” section to choose the recipient’s phone number from your phone’s contact list

Step 5: Check the transaction details and confirm that they are correct before hitting send

Munn Wallet ease of use:

Muun wallet has one of the straightforward app activation and account creation process. You also don’t need an expert to teach you how to interact with some of the wallet’s key features. We especially appreciate the integration of an address book and ability to send Bitcoins to a phone number. Similarly, we like the fact that one can pay Lightning wallet invoices using onchainBTC through the Submarine swap transaction technology.

Munn Wallet supported currencies:

Muun is a Bitcoin-only wallet. You are, however, able to send and receive different Bitcoin denominations, including Millbitcoins, Microbitcoins, and Satoshis.

Munn Wallet cost and fees:

Muun wallet is free to download and install. You will nevertheless pay the highly variable transaction fee every time you send cryptos out. The fee is also dynamic and allows you to decide how much you want to pay for a transaction depending on urgency. In such a case, priority transactions attract higher pay and have faster confirmation speeds than regular transactions.

Muun Wallet customer support:

Muun wallet has one of the most responsive customer support team. Write them an email or direct message them on Twitter or better still, address your concerns on the comment section of their wallet’s page on google play store.

What are the pros and cons of using the Muun Wallet?

Pros:

  • Customer queries are addressed fast and satisfactorily.
  • It hosts both Segwit and legacy wallet addresses with automated payment conversion.
  • Transaction processing fees on Muun wallets are incredibly low and dynamic.
  • It embraces highly effective security features like biometric support and multi-signature functionality.

Cons:

  • It is a hot wallet and, therefore, exposed to the inherent threats facing hot wallets.
  • It will only support Bitcoin cryptocurrencies.

Comparing Munn Wallet with other Bitcoin-only wallets

Munn Wallet vs. Mycelium wallet

Muun and Mycelium are both Bitcoin-only wallets. Other similarities between the cryptocurrency wallet apps include the fact that they both have host Legacy and Sewit addresses. They are highly transparent as they have open-sourced their code. And they are non-custodial.

However, they differ significantly when it comes to wallet backup and recovery strategy whereby, Muun Wallet uses an email address and password while Mycelium provides users with a recovery seed. Muun Wallet, nevertheless, carries the day when it comes to responsiveness to customer queries and transparency on the features supported by the different phone operating systems.

Verdict: Is Munn Wallet safe and easy to use?

Yes, Muun wallet has a very intuitive and beginner-friendly user interface. Most app users have reported having an easy time interacting with the wallet’s key features, especially when sending funds to the native bench32 Segwit address. However, while the wallet developers have integrated some highly advanced security features around, two flaws about the wallet stand out; its insistence on backing up the Muun wallet with an email and password and the fact that it is online based and, therefore, exposed to such online threats as phishing and malware.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 9 – Bitcoin at $15,500; What Will Biden’s Win Bring to the Crypto Sector?

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the weekend trying to recover and regain previous highs after most cryptocurrencies briefly dropped in price due to the election uncertainty. The most recent spike was triggered by the end of the US presidential elections, which caused mass uncertainty in the markets, as well as by now-President Biden hiring pro-crypto Gary Gensler as a member of his team. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,433, representing an increase of 2.73% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.94% on the day, while XRP gained 0.34%.

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the weekend trying to recover and regain previous highs after most cryptocurrencies briefly dropped in price due to the election uncertainty. The most recent spike was triggered by the end of the US presidential elections, which caused mass uncertainty in the markets, as well as by now-President Biden hiring pro-crypto Gary Gensler as a member of his team. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,433, representing an increase of 2.73% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.94% on the day, while XRP gained 0.34%.

The cryptocurrency sector has spent the weekend trying to recover and regain previous highs after most cryptocurrencies briefly dropped in price due to the election uncertainty. The most recent spike was triggered by the end of the US presidential elections, which caused mass uncertainty in the markets, as well as by now-President Biden hiring pro-crypto Gary Gensler as a member of his team. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15,433, representing an increase of 2.73% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.94% on the day, while XRP gained 0.34%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

Aave gained 20.05% in the past 24 hours, making it the most prominent daily gainer out of the top100 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. It is closely followed by THORChain’s gain of 17.75% and NEAR Protocol’s 17.57% gain. On the other hand, Celo lost 7.03%, making it the most prominent daily loser. The rest of the cryptocurrencies barely suffered any losses in the past 24 hours.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance has decreased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 64.3%. This value represents a 1% difference to the downside compared to the value it had on Friday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has gone up slightly over the weekend. Its current value is $446.21 billion, representing a $4.85 billion increase compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has entered a state of uncertainty due to how close the US presidential election process was, and even had a brief drop due to less crypto-friendly Joe Biden winning. However, a new announcement regarding Biden hiring crypto-friendly advisors, as well as general stabilization of the political sphere, has triggered a spike in both stocks and Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has, after a brief drop below the yellow ascending line, come back above it, but only slightly as the move to the upside was stopped by the $15,420-$15,480 level.

Traders should wait for Bitcoin to “decide” whether it will go above $15,480 or below $15,420 and trade off of that.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals are bullish on all time-frames, with smaller time-frames showing a bit of neutrality and longer time-frames being completely bullish.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is above both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (60.66)
  • Volume is slightly elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $15,480                                 1: $14,640

2: $16,665                                 2: $14,100

3: $17,260                                  3: $13,900

Ethereum

Ethereum has had an amazing weekend, with its price skyrocketing past the top line of the ascending channel. While most analysts thought that the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap couldn’t get back above this line after the Nov 7 drop, Ethereum has proven them wrong and went above $450.

However, the immediate area above $450 is a zone of strong resistance, and Ethereum traders have to watch out how they enter trades here. The safest pick when it comes to trading Ethereum right now would be “riding the wave” towards the upside when ETH decides to spike.


ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals are almost completely neutral on the 4-hour and daily time-frames, while its longer time-frames are heavily tilted towards the buy-side.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is above both its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price slightly above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (62.07)
  • Volume is elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $451                                     1: $445

2: $470                                     2: $420 

3: $490                                      3: $415

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap had ended its ascension on Nov 7, when most cryptocurrencies dropped heavily in price. However, while most cryptos managed to get back near its previous highs, XRP failed to do so. It is currently trading in a wide range between $0.2454 and $0.26, after stopping its upward move at the ~$0.256 level.

Traders can consider trading XRP’s sideways movement as the volume is now reduced, and the possibility of a strong move is low. However, if such a move does happen, it could be easily predicted due to XRP’s current position.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals on the 4-hour, daily, and weekly slightly bullish, with some hints of neutrality. Its monthly overview, however, is still tilted towards the sell-side.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price slightly above its 50-period EMA and at its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly below its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (53.59)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                     1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                   2: $0.235

3: $0.27                                    3: $0.227

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Counter Wallet Review 2020: Is It Safe? Is It Easy To Use? Here Is What We Found Out

CounterWallet is the official crypto wallet for Counterparty – a peer-to-peer financial services provider launched in January 2014. It is highly innovative and seeks to revolutionize how we store and interact with crypto wallets and private keys by providing an alternative to standard backup or recovery options. It is built on the bitcoin blockchain and is one of the few crypto wallets, and protocols by extension, that provides users with the tools required to create Bitcoin network tokens.

CounterWallet is the official crypto wallet for Counterparty – a peer-to-peer financial services provider launched in January 2014. It is highly innovative and seeks to revolutionize how we store and interact with crypto wallets and private keys by providing an alternative to standard backup or recovery options. It is built on the bitcoin blockchain and is one of the few crypto wallets, and protocols by extension, that provides users with the tools required to create Bitcoin network tokens.

CounterWallet is the official crypto wallet for Counterparty – a peer-to-peer financial services provider launched in January 2014. It is highly innovative and seeks to revolutionize how we store and interact with crypto wallets and private keys by providing an alternative to standard backup or recovery options. It is built on the bitcoin blockchain and is one of the few crypto wallets, and protocols by extension, that provides users with the tools required to create Bitcoin network tokens.

In this Counterparty wallet review, we will be expounding on these features. We will also vet the safety measures put in place by Counter wallet and tell you everything else you need to know about the Bitcoin focused crypto-storage vault.

Counter Wallet key features:

Light node: Unlike most crypto wallets that require you to download apps or desktop clients to store private keys, Counterwallet is a light wallet. It is web-based and accessible via any browser. You are, however, free to create personalized servers for hosting your Counterwallet.

Built-in exchange: Counterwallet integrates a crypto exchange within its platform that allows for the purchase, sale, and exchange of bitcoins and tokens. Unlike most other wallets with proprietary exchanges, however, Counterwallet integrates ShapeShift – a third-party fiat-to-crypto exchange.

Buy crypto with fiat: Counterwallet users can leverage Shapeshift to buy cryptocurrencies and tokens using fiat currencies via card or bank transfers. And though it isn’t as liquid as most proprietary crypto exchanges like Binance, it is highly convenient.

Custom build tokens: Counterwallet is one of the few Bitcoin-focused crypto vaults that provide you with the necessary app builder tools to build tokens for the bitcoin network.

Counter Wallet security features:

Passphrase: The Counterwallet passphrase is the single most important security feature for your wallet. It does not store your private keys in any device. Rather it calculates them every time you log in to your wallet. Anyone who has the password can, therefore, access and interact with the private keys.

Open sourced: Counterparty has open-sourced the technology used to create the Counterwallet. Crypto security experts can view and audit this code for vulnerabilities, while wallet users can use it to create personalized servers for holding their private keys.

Hierarchically deterministic: Counterparty is hierarchically deterministic. It automatically generates a new wallet address for every crypto transaction. This masks your real wallet address and makes it hard for crypto trackers to monitor your crypto activity.

Multi-signature: You can create a multi-signature Counterwallet that requires signatures from several Bitcoin private keys to spend the wallet’s funds. This increased safety feature comes in handy when setting a multiuser and institutional wallets.

Client-side encryption: The wallet data and all communications with Counterparty foundation servers or other third party systems are highly encrypted. Client-side encryption implies that information is encrypted before it leaves your wallet.

Anonymous user registration: Counterwallet encourages anonymous user registration and bitcoin trading. It does not ask for your personal information when creating a user account.

Integrates Bitcoin Armory: Not satisfied with Counterwallet’s no backup policy or worry about forgetting the passphrase and losing your Bitcoins forever? Take advantage of their collaboration with Bitcoin Armory – a cold storage Bitcoin wallet – that stores your private keys in ultra-safe, air-gapped, and distributed cold storages.

How to activate/setup the Counter Wallet

Step 1: Open the Couterwallet.io website and choose between Official Counterparty or CoinDaddy Counterwallet servers.

Step 2: Since you are creating a new wallet, click on the “Create a new wallet” icon

Step 3: The wallet will now provide you with a PASSPHRASE required to access your wallet and calculate your digital asset balances

Step 4: The wallet will then provide you with a choice of creating a Quick Access Code. You don’t need to create one.

Step 5: The wallet is active and ready to use. Login using the Counterwallet’s keypad to fund the account and start interacting with some of its features

How to add a wallet address on Counterwallet

Your Counterwallet will have one Bitcoin wallet address automatically generated during account creation. Here is how to create a new wallet address for XCP altcoin and supported tokens:

Step 1: Log in to the wallet and click on the “My Balances” tab.

Step 2: Click on the “Create New Address” icon on the top left corner of the user dashboard.

Step 3: Select the type of wallet address you want to create from the drop-down menu.

Step 4: On the popup menu, enter the name of the new address on the “Description” section and click on “Create New Address” to finish

How to add/receive Crypto into Counter Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Counterwallet and click on the “My Balances” tab.

Step 2: From the list of wallet addresses, select the wallet to which you would like to deposit funds

Step 3: A popup window will provide you with an address and QR code for the wallet.

Step 4: Send either to the party/individual sending you bitcoins.

How to send crypto from Counter Wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Counterwallet and click on the “My Balances” tab.

Step 2: From the list of wallet addresses hosted on the wallet, select the crypto/token you want to send

Step 3: Click on the “Address Actions” tab on the far right of the wallet address section.

Step 4: From the drop-down menu, select send and both the wallet address and the number of cryptos to transfer

Step 5: Check the accuracy of the transaction details before hitting send

How to Backup and Restore Counterwallet

Step 1: Log in to your Counterwallet and click on the “My Balances” tab.

Step 2: Click on the “Address Actions” tab on the far right of the ‘My Address’ bar

Step 3: Select the “Show Private Key” option to reveal your wallet’s private key. Copy it and keep it safe offline

Step 4: To restore your digital assets, open a new account and click on the “Import Funds” tab on the user dashboard and select “From Old Wallet” on the drop-down menu

Step 5: Paste the private key.

Counter Wallet ease of use:

Cunterwallet is quite easy to use as it features one of the most intuitive user interfaces. Creating a user account on the Counterwallet and the processes of sending, receiving, and backing your account is straightforward.

Counter Wallet supported currencies:

Counterwallet supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency, Counterparty’s native token XCP, and 500+ tokens. You are also free to create customized Bitcoin network tokens and add them to the wallet.

Counter Wallet cost and fees:

Counterwallet is free to use. However, you will be charged the transaction processing fees that go to the Bitcoin network miners every time you send crypto from the crypto wallet to another wallet or exchange.

Counter Wallet customer support:

There are three primary ways of contacting Counterwallet’s customer support team. You can use the Live chat feature on the wallet and counterpart website, interact with both wallet developers and experienced users on the Counterparty Forums, or direct message them on such social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

What are the pros and cons of using Counter Wallet?

Pros:

  • It is highly intuitive and beginner-friendly
  • It is feature-rich and makes it possible for users to custom-build Bitcoin-based tokens.
  • Counterwallet is security-focused and integrates a wide range of advanced security features.
  • It integrates the Bitcoin Armor cold storage.

Cons:

  • It will only support Bitcoin-based cryptos and tokens.

Comparing Counter Wallet with other Bitcoin-only wallets

Counter Wallet vs. Mycelium wallet

Both Mycelium and Counterwallet are highly intuitive and beginner-friendly crypto wallets. They are Bitcoin focused, implying that they will only support cryptocurrencies and tokens built on the Bitcoin blockchain.

But while Mycelium will only support Bitcoin crypto, Counterwallet supports Bitcoin, XCP, and hundreds of tokens built on the Bitcoin network. Counterwallet also supports a wide range of features, including the custom token builder tools and the Bitcoin Armor cold storage integration.

Verdict: Is Counter Wallet safe?

Well, the open-sourced wallet embraces highly innovative privacy and security features. For instance, it doesn’t keep a copy of your private keys on either your device or the counterparty servers. Rather, it calculates the balances of your assets when entering the wallet passphrase. The process of generating crypto addresses is hierarchically deterministic and the Bitcoin armory cold storage.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

How Coti (COTI) can change Payments and Money Transfers

The traditional payment system is defined by long waiting periods, expensive fees, and error-prone transactions due to the single point of failure inherent in centralized systems. Blockchain was supposed to help with most of these problems, e.g., by facilitating peer-to-peer, fraud-free transactions. However, the first and second-generation blockchains, i.e., Ethereum and Bitcoin, face challenges like low scalability that prevent them from competing with the fastest traditional models such as Visa. 

The traditional payment system is defined by long waiting periods, expensive fees, and error-prone transactions due to the single point of failure inherent in centralized systems. Blockchain was supposed to help with most of these problems, e.g., by facilitating peer-to-peer, fraud-free transactions. However, the first and second-generation blockchains, i.e., Ethereum and Bitcoin, face challenges like low scalability that prevent them from competing with the fastest traditional models such as Visa. 

The traditional payment system is defined by long waiting periods, expensive fees, and error-prone transactions due to the single point of failure inherent in centralized systems. Blockchain was supposed to help with most of these problems, e.g., by facilitating peer-to-peer, fraud-free transactions. However, the first and second-generation blockchains, i.e., Ethereum and Bitcoin, face challenges like low scalability that prevent them from competing with the fastest traditional models such as Visa. 

However, it’s doubtless that blockchain tech offers the best possible alternative to the traditional payment models. For this reason, a litany of blockchain projects seeking to provide better scalability, security, etc. than Ethereum and Bitcoin’s blockchain has sprung up over the years. 

Coti is one of these. Formed in 2018, Coti wants to fix traditional finance issues such as high fees, low latency, and lack of inclusiveness. 

This article is a deep dive into the Coti ecosystem. 

Coti: Core Elements

COTI supports the following elements to realize a safe and cost-efficient payment structure:

  • Scalability: The COTI network can support up to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is incomparable with the 25,000 TPS managed by traditional payment systems and 20 TPS by most blockchain protocols
  • Simplicity: COTI has designed its user and merchant-facing tools to be friendly and very easy to use
  • Buyer-seller protections: COTI provides a dispute resolution system to act as a safeguard against fraud, errors, and so on
  • Cost-effectiveness: On the COTI platform, there’s no need for intermediaries or power-intensive mining, which drastically cuts costs.
  • Price stability: The COTI team is creating price stability technology, an indispensable factor for blockchain to realize wide adoption
  • Instantaneity: COTI’s architecture makes for fast transactions, payments, and remittances, as opposed to the hours or days common with the traditional system
  • Security

Thanks to its use of a distributed ledger, COTI eliminates the possibility of a single point of failure

COTI: Infrastructure

Below, we’ll be taking a look at some of the core technologies on the Coti platform.

#1. Trustchain

This is a consensus algorithm based on machine learning. Trustchain decreases transaction costs while increasing transaction processing speed. Trustchain utilizes a directed acyclic graph (DAG) data structure to maximize scalability, supporting up to 100,000 TPS. The Coti team wants to revolutionize crypto by having decentralized payment solutions built on Trustchain. The Trustchain will offer the following innovations: 

  • Single-click payment requests

Coti will use the Trustchain to realize one-click payments. Merchants will be able to embed the functionality on the websites for easy checkouts.

  • Buyer-seller protection

The Coti team has developed an arbitration service in readiness for potential disputes. The arbitration service is made of a decentralized collective of trusted network members.

  • Node manager

Through the node manager, anyone can join the network as a node operator and start running various types of nodes.

  • Privacy

Coti has enabled privacy specifications that prevent transactions from being tracked down to their originator. These specifications include implementing a multi-address for transactions through a one-way hash function.

  • Proof of Trust (PoT) consensus

Coti implements a DAG-based decentralized ledger that achieves scalability through the use of Trust Scores. The higher a user’s Trust Score, the faster the confirmation time.

  • Fees

Coti implements a transparent and equitable fee structure where all fees are distributed in a balanced manner amongst network participants.

  • Trust Score Update Algorithm (TSUA)

This tool is designed to collect data on user behavior and transfer the info to Trust Score Nodes. Trust Scores are used by Trustchain Algorithm to verify and confirm transactions quickly.

  • Smart contracts

Coti will introduce smart contracts for a DAG distributed pledger, the first-of-its-kind. Smart contracts are recorded in the MultiDaG Cluster and are verified severally before being confirmed. 

  • Stablecoin framework

COTI’s MultiDAG, coupled with Coti smart contracts and the infrastructure for genesis transactions, creates the possibility for high-performance stablecoins

#2. Loyalty Networks

Coti has developed an end-to-end solution on which businesses can build blockchain-enabled loyalty networks. Such networks allow businesses to retain customers and earn more revenue. 

Marketplaces are currently proliferated with loyalty programs, which lead to customers accumulating loads of loyalty cards, all with different terms and conditions. 

On their part, businesses have to manage their own loyalty programs, a task that’s often demanding in terms of money and time. And even those loyalty programs often never maximize their potential due to low account activity, low redemption rates, account maintenance costs, and time limitations.

Coti’s solution

Coti provides cheaper, time-saving, and more interactive solutions for loyalty programs. These solutions are as follows: 

  • Branded wallet and token

Coti will allow businesses to build a branded wallet complete with customized tokens. Users will be able to hold multiple loyalty tokens from different businesses.

  • Simple integration

Businesses will have the ability to create a loyalty program fast and easily. 

  • Tradability

Users will have the ability to trade their loyalty tokens. 

  • Earn tokens

Uses will be able to earn tokens as a reward for purchases, referrals, and engaging with businesses.

  • Global alliance

Businesses will be able to collaborate with other companies to exchange tokens and share ways to enhance customer loyalty and retention.

#3. Stablecoins

Coti also provides the first-ever blockchain-powered environment for creating stablecoins. Users can issue their own stablecoin that they can have total control over. Stablecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency that is not volatile. They cushion users against the potential losses that could happen overnight with a regular cryptocurrency. Coti enables companies to create their own stablecoins and apply a stability mechanism to any asset of their choice. The stablecoin feature will benefit users in the following ways: 

  • Higher profits

Businesses can dramatically increase revenues by not having to depend on external stablecoins

  • New markets

Businesses can reach entirely new markets by offering stablecoins as a means of payment.

#4. Community and Advanced Nodes 

These are a mainnet full nodes that utilize a delegated staking mechanism to verify and confirm real-world merchants’ transactions. These nodes are technically operated by a node operator who has the requisite skills for the task. To become a community node, you must first stake in 5,000,000 COTI. 

There are also advanced nodes, which are also mainnet nodes in how they function. However, advanced nodes will need to stake between 500,000 – 5, 000,000. 

#5. COTI Pay 

COTI Pay is a digital payment tool that can process online and offline payments, including crypto, stablecoins, businesses’ native coins, and credit cards. On the tool, users can also earn passive income through interest on deposits. 

Coti Pay seeks to solve the following problems with traditional finance payment models: 

  • Long settlement periods, sometimes taking even weeks
  • Costly processes
  • Cross-border transaction constraints
  • Involvement of costly third-parties
  • Error-prone transactions
  • Millions of people excluded from the global finance system

Community Growth Strategies of Coti

The Coti team plans to undertake several growth strategies to expand the growth of the community: 

  • Partner with similar projects such as Cardano, Chainlink, Celsius, and Fantom
  • Launch a Community Ambassador Program
  • Work with platforms like Xangle and Binance Info V-Label for data transparency partnerships
  • Carry out regular community updates via a bi-weekly newsletter, GitHub updates, etc
  • Conduct AMAs on platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook
  • Create and disseminate visual content such as tutorials, 3D videos, and more
  • Have Telegram groups hosted by community members in a variety of languages, including Korean, Vietnamese, and Brazilian

Future strategies include: 

  • Push the project to the global stage through global ambassador activity
  • Conduct joint AMAs with leading blockchain projects 
  • Conduct and participate in hackathons
  • Launch Coti Pay Business mobile app

COTI’s supply distribution was done this way: 

  • Seed sale tokens: 2.90%
  • Private sale tokens: 10.04%
  • IEO tokens: 2.31%
  • Team tokens: 15.00%
  • Advisors tokens: 10.00%
  • Ecosystem reserve tokens: 59.75%

Key Metrics

On October 20, 2020, COTI traded at $0.029472, placing it at #380 with a market cap of $16,740,885. The token had a 24-hour volume of $2,492, 122, with a circulating supply of 568, 032, 883, and a total and maximum supply of 2 billion. COTI has an all-time high of $0.127076 (July 02, 2019) and an all-time low of $0.006226 (Nov 09, 2019). 

Where to Buy and Store COTI

You’ll find COTI listed as a market pair of USDT, BTC, BNB on exchanges such as Binance, CoinDCX, KuCoin, BitMax, BitHumb Global, Bidesk, Coinbit, Gate.io, and Binance.DEX. 

Coti provides its official wallet known as the COTI Pay VIPER. See here. 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

BTC/USD Chart Overview + Possible Outcomes

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be taking a look at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be taking a look at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be taking a look at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

Overview

Bitcoin has spent the week vigorously pushing towards the upside. The move went parabolic as soon as BTC crossed the $13,900 mark and entered the $14,000 zone. While the surge got stopped just before it hit $16,000, there is a lot of potential upside as there is practically no resistance holding Bitcoin from reaching its all-time high. However, many traders are taking profits and playing it safe out of fear of ending up the same way they did in 2017/2018. This has caused BTC to lose momentum and, most likely, look for a pullback soon.

Technical factors


Bitcoin has conquered the ~15,000 level after a week of constant pressure to the upside. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently consolidating right above the $15,480 support level, which will act as a pivot point and a trading direction decider. The next day or two will be crucial for Bitcoin’s price movement in the short future.

While Bitcoin’s sentiment is extremely bullish at the moment, there is no denying that a pullback is quite possible (and maybe even optimal). As there are no set resistance levels to the upside (because Bitcoin only visited these price levels during the bull run of 2017), we are using Fib retracements as well as small consolidation points from that time to determine possible consolidation/direction change spots.

Another thing to note is that, as of Oct 29, the hash ribbons indicator is showing miner capitulation, sending out a major buy signal.

Likely Outcomes

Bitcoin has two main scenarios it can play out, and both end up with the price pulling back to stabilize and consolidate a bit. The possibility of these plays happening is slightly in favor of the second scenario, but it mainly depends only on where Bitcoin ends up (above or below its pivot point).

  1. If Bitcoin remains above $15,480, we may expect further attempts of conquering the upside. The next target to the upside are the $16,000 psychological resistance, 23.6% Fib retracement level (sitting at $16,570) and $16,665. If Bitcoin pushes towards the upside, we are almost certainly expecting strong resistance at these levels and an almost certain pullback in the short-term.
  2. The other scenario may be slightly more likely, and involves Bitcoin rejecting the current level and falling below its pivot point. In this case, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap will look for a support level, and will most likely find it at the $14,640 level or the 38.2% Fib retracement level (sitting at $14,380).

While moves which include Bitcoin moving straight up or down and ignoring these support/resistance levels are possible, they are far less likely and would have to be caused by some fundamental even rather than just price action and technicals.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

How Chainanalysis Helps Crack Down on Crypto Crime

Since the inception of cryptocurrency tech, cybercrime has spiked in the space tremendously. And with cybercriminals devising methods every day to obtain crypto illegally, companies and individuals are seeking solutions to protect themselves and their funds. Even governments are pumping a lot of resources into cracking down on such individuals. 

Since the inception of cryptocurrency tech, cybercrime has spiked in the space tremendously. And with cybercriminals devising methods every day to obtain crypto illegally, companies and individuals are seeking solutions to protect themselves and their funds. Even governments are pumping a lot of resources into cracking down on such individuals. 

Since the inception of cryptocurrency tech, cybercrime has spiked in the space tremendously. And with cybercriminals devising methods every day to obtain crypto illegally, companies and individuals are seeking solutions to protect themselves and their funds. Even governments are pumping a lot of resources into cracking down on such individuals. 

What’s Chainalysis? 

As the saying goes, there’s a reaction to every action. As crypto crime intensifies, other forces are working to counteract the trend. One of the most visible of these is Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company that harvests and analyzes crypto-related data by studying the history of blockchain transactions. 

The birth of Chainanalysis resulted from one of the biggest crypto hacks in history – Mt. Gox, which resulted in the loss of around 650,000 Bitcoins worth around $500 million then. 

Michael Gronager, CEO and founder of Chainanalysis, decided to create tools to prevent or mitigate such losses in the future. In 2017, Jonathan Levin – Chainanalysis co-founder, confirmed that Chainanalysis had tracked down 650,000 stolen Bitcoins to BTC-e. This successful case skyrocketed Chainanalysis’ reputation as more and more entities began approaching the company.

Chainanalysis received its first government contract in 2015 when the FBI paid $9000 for data software services from the company. The recent spike in criminal activities within the crypto world has prompted the federal agencies to invest more money in Chainanalysis. Today, Chainanalysis is receiving contracts from 10 U.S government agencies willing to pay millions of dollars for their assignments. According to CoinDesk, federal agencies have spent $10,690,760 in American tax dollars on Chainanalysis tools and training since 2015. 

Cryptocurrency Crime Rates and Activities

Criminals worldwide have taken advantage of crypto to engage in illegal activities. These criminal cases surged from 3.5% in 2016 to 7% in 2017. In 2018, according to Cointelegraph Group-IB, CipherTrace and Carbon Black reported that hackers had stolen cryptocurrencies amounting to $1.1 to $1.7 billion. Out of this amount, $960 million had been sourced from exchanges. 

In September last year, losses from cryptocurrency hit a whopping $4.4 billion,  per CipherTrace. This was a 150% increase from the year 2018. A report compiled by Chainanalysis indicated that cryptocurrency criminal activities spiked from 0.04% in 2018 to 0.08% in 2019. 

A more recent report presented in June by CipherTrace shows that crypto criminals are still finding new ways to accrue wealth illegally. In July, hackers posed as President Obama, Bill Gates, and Kanye West on Twitter and convinced followers to send $1000 in Bitcoin with a promise of accruing $2000 in return. They milked this scheme for a while before getting shut down, but not before accruing Bitcoins worth $100,000.

Pseudonymity of Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s pseudonymity makes it harder for stolen crypto to be tracked. Therefore, tracking these transactions is tedious and, at times, impossible. This fact makes Bitcoin more appealing to criminals. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation has flagged Bitcoin as the most popular cryptocurrency used for criminal activities.

While tracking the movement of thieves is fairly simple, tracking the money movement is not as easy. The criminals are usually aware that their movements can be traced.  To ensure the stolen money is not recovered, these criminals transact to the targets of hundreds and thousands within a short time. According to Chainanalysis, some criminals have a plethora of wallets that they use to move their illicit money back and forth. Some of them use the ‘mixer’- software that can break Bitcoin into smaller pieces and then ‘mixes’ it with other people’s transactions. In the end, the criminals acquire the same amount they put in but not the same Bitcoin.

How Chainanalysis Helps Track Down Crypto Thieves

When Gronager was starting Chainanalysis in the year 2014, his main idea surrounded the creation of a tool capable of combing through public blockchains to track down stolen money and suspicious transactions.

The blockchain records all the transactions made using crypto coins. The tools designed by Chainanalysis can go through these records and trace Illicitly acquired funds.  

More intricately, Chainanalysis identifies the flow of transactions of a known address to an exchange and then notifies the exchange that they have received illicit funds. In other instances, Chainanalysis can notify law enforcement when they identify a suspicious address transferring Bitcoin to another address. It gets easier to nab the thief if the recipient address happens to have posted their wallet address on any social media platform.  

The Kryptos tool invented by Chainanalysis is used by financial institutions to establish whether some cryptocurrency businesses are genuine or not. Another popular tool from Chainanalysis is the Know Your Transaction (KYT) software. This software is used by various entities such as law enforcement agencies and crypto exchanges to trace illicit cryptocurrency transactions. 

On the other hand, Reactor is the most widely used tool.  This tool, also by Chainanalysis, is used by agencies to trace cryptocurrency movements across a blockchain. Additionally, the Reactor also flag addresses that are involved in shady activities. 

The Downsides of Chainanalysis

Since the allure of privacy is what draws in most cryptocurrency investors, there has been concern over the close relationship between governments and Chainanalysis. Simply put, Chainanalysis undermines the privacy promise of cryptocurrency.

Final Thoughts

Crypto crime is dwindling with Chainanalysis tools, closely watching the movements of Illicitly acquired funds.  Chainanalysis estimates that the total fraction of cryptocurrency transactions heading to the dark web has significantly fallen since they started their company in 2015. Will this trend continue, or will we see crypto crime surge again? That seems unlikely. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Is Helium (HNT) the Future of Wireless?

The Internet of Things is already a billion-dollar industry, with billions of connected devices as of today. Also, IoT spending is on track to reach almost $1.4 trillion by 2021. While the IoT industry continues to grow, it needs a secure and readily available internet to flourish. However, the available solutions, i.e., cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth, are either too expensive, too energy-intensive, or too limited in range. 

The Internet of Things is already a billion-dollar industry, with billions of connected devices as of today. Also, IoT spending is on track to reach almost $1.4 trillion by 2021. While the IoT industry continues to grow, it needs a secure and readily available internet to flourish. However, the available solutions, i.e., cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth, are either too expensive, too energy-intensive, or too limited in range. 

The Internet of Things is already a billion-dollar industry, with billions of connected devices as of today. Also, IoT spending is on track to reach almost $1.4 trillion by 2021. While the IoT industry continues to grow, it needs a secure and readily available internet to flourish. However, the available solutions, i.e., cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth, are either too expensive, too energy-intensive, or too limited in range. 

The Helium network is a blockchain-powered wireless network that allows devices from anywhere in the globe to connect to the internet and establish their location without needing power-intensive satellite location hardware or costly network plans. Helium wants to utilize the blockchain to bring decentralization to an industry long dominated by powerful monopolies. The result is that an affordable wireless network becomes a commodity available to anyone. 

Helium’s secure and open-source network also allows developers to build energy-saving, internet-connected devices in a fast and low-cost manner. With this, the project wants to ‘Start a Wireless Revolution.’ 

At the time of writing, the network had 10,426 total hotspots, with close to 8 billion credits spent, per its website. 

Breaking Down Helium

Launched in 2013, Helium is a decentralized wireless network that seeks to offer a secure and cost-effective way for low-power devices to join the IoT industry. The Helium protocol runs on blockchain technology and uses the HoneyBadgerBFT consensus model. 

Helium has the following core features: 

  • Helium hotspot – A tool that’s both a miner and users’ pathway to the Helium blockchain
  • Proof of coverage – A novel mining mechanism that uses radio waves to verify the location of Hotspots
  • LongFi – a technology that combines the wireless protocol LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) with the Helium blockchain so compatible LoRaWAN devices can transfer data over the Helium network

Helium: Existing Products

#1. Helium Hotspot

The Helium Hotspot is a wireless router by Helium. Just like other LoRaWAN devices on Helium, the Hotspots support miles of wireless network for anyone to carry out mining and help maintain and support the network. 

#2. Helium Console 

This is an internet-based management tool through which developers can register, verify, and manage their devices in the network. The Helium Console is responsible for managing user-level permissions, registering devices IDs, onboarding new devices securely, and utilizing data credits. 

#3. LongFi

This tool combines LoRaWAN with the Helium blockchain, so any LoRaWAN device can plug in and start transferring data on the network. LongFi supports the following: 

  • Easy device onboarding: Users can onboard as many devices as possible without them having to undergo endless configurations or verification by third parties
  • Device roaming: Devices on the network have IDs that are stored on the blockchain, allowing them to transfer data to the network through any Hotspot 
  • Earning HNT tokens: Via LongFi, device owners can earn HNT tokens for transferring data over the network
  • LoRaWAN Support: Any LoRaWAN device can transfer data through the network with little configuration required
#4. Helium Tabs

These are location trackers enabled by Helium. They can track all sorts of things: from pets to luggage, to keys, and pretty much anything that’s covered by the Helium network.

Helium: Technical Infrastructure

Here, we look at the infrastructural highlights of Helium. 

#1. Proof of Coverage (PoC)

PoC is a variation of the Proof of Work consensus algorithm that utilizes radio waves to verify hotspots’ location on the Helium network. PoC constantly requires routers to prove their wireless coverage quality by decrypting and transferring LongFi data over the network. Helium Hotspots stand to earn HNT for submitting valid coverage proofs. 

#2. The Helium Consensus Model

Helium’s consensus mechanism involves 16 participants – who form the Consensus Group (CG) – elected once every epoch. Any active Helium Hotspot on the network is eligible for election to become part of the CG, although they’re more likely to be chosen if they pass the PoC challenge. 

For every election, 4 new CGs are added to 12 members from the previous election. A Hotspot can participate in no more than 4 consecutive CGs. If a CG member performs poorly, they’re likely to be removed before the 4 epoch limit. Mining rewards are distributed among participating members at the end of every epoch. 

Participants in the Helium Network

The participants of Helium can be thought of as these below: 

#1. WHIP

This is an open wireless protocol that is long-range, low-power, and most fitting for use with commodity open-standards hardware. Hardware that’s compatible with WHIP can communicate over many square miles, whether in dense urban settings or rural areas. Such hardware can also last for many years using standard batteries. WHIP utilizes public-key cryptography for security, with verification taking place on the Helium blockchain.

#2. Hotspots

These are physical network devices that transfer data back and forth between routers and various devices. Hotspots also generate proof of coverage, and they can also geolocate devices through the Helium network without any additional apparatus. 

#3 Devices

Devices are hardware products embedded with a WHIP-compatible radio transceiver and can interact with Hotspots on the network. Devices are powered by the typical battery and can last for several years with them. Devices can exist in many forms depending on their use case, and the performance and battery life can be optimized through a variety of transmission strategies.

Helium: Community Growth Strategies

The Helium team is currently undertaking several strategies to advance the growth of the project. These strategies are as follows: 

  • Rewarding network participants who deployed more than 15 Hotspots
  • Educating IoT developers on how to use the Helium platform
  • Hosting Helium Hacks, a weekly video chat session by the Helium team
  • Carrying out local and online meetups
  • Engaging with the community via social media channels

Future strategies include: 

  • Releasing blockchain and IoT-related content via podcasts, videos, blogs, and interviews with industry experts
  • Providing the community with sponsorships to empower them to build apps on the Helium network

Who’s on the Helium Team? 

Helium is the brainchild of Amir Haleem, Shawn Fanning, and Sean Carrey. The trio began working on the idea in 2013. 

Haleem has a strong background in game development. Fanning is known for creating the popular music sharing platform Napster, one of the first of such platforms to employ a peer-to-peer approach. Carry has several years of development experience, including Where, an advertising platform since acquired by PayPal. 

The product team comprises members with combined experience in “radio and hardware, manufacturing, distributed systems, peer-to-peer and blockchain technologies.” 

Future of Helium

The Helium team considers where they are to be just the beginning. They view decentralized wireless networks as a still novel concept that needs more research so it can meet the demands of the modern-day internet. Given this, the team has or intends to undertake the following initiatives: 

  • Identify whether it’s possible to apply blockchain and the decentralized wireless service idea to WiFi Bluetooth and cellular networks
  • Add the possibility for more proofs of coverage to strengthen the Helium network as it grows
  • Formally illustrate the algorithm behind Proof of Coverage
  • Investigate the possibility of deploying smart contracts beyond their current limitations

The Helium Token

HNT is the native cryptocurrency of the Helium network. The token has several uses, including the two most important ones: 

  • Mining rewards: Hotspots earn HNT for contributing to the running and security of the network by transferring data
  • Payment: HNT is used by users to generate data credits with which to pay for network services

HNT: Tokenomics 

On October 20, 2020, HNT traded at $1.12, with a market cap of $57,123,035 and a market rank of #131. HNT’s 24-hour volume was $1,848,021, and it had a circulating and total supply of 51,005,233 and a total supply of 55,960,199. And finally, the token had an all-time high of $4.03 (Sep 24, 2020) and an all-time low of $0.0253391 (June 10, 2020). 

Where to Buy HNT 

HNT is listed as a market pair with USDC, USDT, PERP, and USD in exchanges like Bilaxy, Binance, Binance.US, Hoo, FTX, and Serum DEX. 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 6 – Bitcoin Zooming Past $15,000: How Far Can it Go Before Pulling Back?

The cryptocurrency sector has exploded to the upside as Bitcoin keeps paving the path towards highs only seen during the bull run of 2017/2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15.632, representing an increase of 10.1% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 7.74% on the day, while XRP gained 4.5%.

The cryptocurrency sector has exploded to the upside as Bitcoin keeps paving the path towards highs only seen during the bull run of 2017/2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15.632, representing an increase of 10.1% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 7.74% on the day, while XRP gained 4.5%.

The cryptocurrency sector has exploded to the upside as Bitcoin keeps paving the path towards highs only seen during the bull run of 2017/2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $15.632, representing an increase of 10.1% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 7.74% on the day, while XRP gained 4.5%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

Uniswap gained 28.39% in the past 24 hours, making it the most prominent daily gainer out of the top100 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. It is closely followed by Aave’s gain of 25.21% and NEAR Protocol’s 23.87% gain. On the other hand, The Midas Touch Gold lost 6.16%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by Numeraire’s loss of 5.03% and Celo’s loss of 3.94%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level has increased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 65.3%. This value represents a 0.4% difference to the upside when compared to the value it had yesterday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has skyrocketed in the past 24 hours. Its current value is $440.94 billion, representing a $28.77 billion increase compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surged past the $15,000 psychological resistance and entered the zone last seen in Jan 2018, right before the BTC crash. Bitcoin scored double-digit gains on the day and destroyed the $14,640 resistance on the way, turning it into support. While it is currently slowing down as it is approaching $16,000, many analysts call for $17,000 before a pullback.

Traders should wait for Bitcoin to start pulling back if they want a safer trade, or they can ride the wave whenever Bitcoin’s price spikes if they are quick on their feet to enter and leave the trade.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals are extremely bullish on all time-frames, and no time-frame is showing any signs of bearishness or neutrality.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is well above both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is heavily in the overbought zone (79.75)
  • Volume is elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $15,420                                 1: $14,640

2: $16,665                                 2: $14,100

3: $17,260                                  3: $13,900

Ethereum

Ethereum has, due to Bitcoin pulling it up as well as due to the hype created around its 2.0 version coming out, surged and almost scored a double-digit gain on the day. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has established itself back in the ascending channel after briefly dropping out of it. However, that wasn’t enough for the Ethereum bulls as they tried to push its price above the channel completely.

As the upper channel line held amazingly and stopped Ethereum’s rise, we can conclude that (unless Bitcoin doesn’t have any extreme surges), Ethereum traders can safely trade within a range bound by the ascending channel.


ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals are somewhat neutral on the 4-hour and daily time-frames, while its longer time-frames show a heavy tilt towards the buy-side.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is well above both its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is extremely overbought (78.03)
  • Volume is elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $445                                     1: $420

2: $451                                     2: $415 

3: $490                                      3: $400

Ripple

As we predicted in our previous article, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has broken the triangle formation that was forming from Nov 3. The price has sparked up by Bitcoin’s push towards the upside, moved to the upside as well, reaching past the $0.2454 resistance level and up towards $0.25.

One thing to note is that, while XRP has managed to break $0.2454, it needs to confirm its position above it in order to be safe in the short-term.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals on the 4-hour, daily, and weekly chart are slightly tilted towards the buy-side but are not completely bullish. Its monthly overview, however, is tilted towards the sell-side.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is well above its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price at its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is on the verge of being overbought (68.49)
  • Volume is elevated
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                 1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                     2: $0.235

3: $0.27                                  3: $0.227

 

Categories
Crypto

What The Experts Aren’t Saying About Forex Vs Crypto Trading

While brokers have always offered the ability to trade in most major and minor currency pairs, the cryptocurrency boom that occurred in 2010 caused many brokers to make the decision to add the most popular currency pairs like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Ripple to their offerings. This opens up a world of opportunities to traders […]

While brokers have always offered the ability to trade in most major and minor currency pairs, the cryptocurrency boom that occurred in 2010 caused many brokers to make the decision to add the most popular currency pairs like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Ripple to their offerings. This opens up a world of opportunities to traders […]

While brokers have always offered the ability to trade in most major and minor currency pairs, the cryptocurrency boom that occurred in 2010 caused many brokers to make the decision to add the most popular currency pairs like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Ripple to their offerings. This opens up a world of opportunities to traders that want to invest in both while remaining convenient where you can open one trading account and access both options through most brokers. However, some traders may not completely understand the difference between currency pairs and the somewhat newly introduced cryptocurrency options. Online myths even suggest that cryptocurrency has no real value, which causes some traders to stay away. Regardless of what you’ve heard, you might be wondering which is better to invest in for the year 2021 – the timeless forex pairs, or the newer cryptocurrency options.

What is Forex?

The forex market is a global online foreign exchange market where the exchange rate of two different currencies is quoted and traded against each other. Major currencies include options like the US dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen, and the British Pound. When the US dollar is crossed with the Japanese Yen, it is written as USDJPY, while the US dollar crossed with the Euro is written as EURUSD, and so on. You can also trade minor currency pairs, which include any major pair that is not paired with the US dollar, along with exotic pairs from less established countries. Here are a few examples of exotic currencies:

  • The Norwegian Krone
  • The Hungarian Forint
  • The Russian Ruble
  • The South African Rand

When it comes to trading forex, there are pros and cons to think about. Forex involves fiat currencies that are managed by central banks, which typically aim to keep stable exchange rates for their currencies where possible. This makes the forex market less volatile, but traders also need to remember that prices are highly affected by global events. Elections, economic data releases, changes to central bank policy, and macroeconomic events can cause the market to become more volatile. While the forex market is more stable than the cryptocurrency market, it is still unpredictable at times.

Forex trading is also considered to be attractive because brokers are able to offer their services for a relatively low trading cost. Typically, brokers make their profits by charging spread and/or commission on a round trip trade. The average cost of trading the benchmark pair EURUSD is usually around 1 to 1.5 pips, making the cost to trade around 0.08% of the value of the asset being traded. This is significantly lower than the cost of trading cryptocurrency. 

The forex market is also widely available for trading, as market sessions generally go from Monday morning until Friday evening. This is divided into three major sessions: 

  • American
  • European
  • Asian

The wide market hours offer traders greater flexibility when it comes to trading opportunities, although it’s important to remember that the sessions dominated by New York, Tokyo, and London are considered to present the greatest opportunities to trade.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency includes online digital currencies that work differently than real money does. While you can’t exchange cryptocurrency for goods or services the way that you can with cash, the digital currency holds value and can be exchanged for real money that can then be used to purchase those goods and services. Some examples of the most popular cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Ripple. Some of these are created by private individuals, while we can thank banks and other companies for the creation of some cryptocurrency as well. Satoshi Nakamoto created the most well-known cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 2009 to provide a decentralized payment network that could offer peer to peer payments without relying on central banks. While there is still some speculation about whether cryptocurrency is a good investment, it’s important to know that the crypto market is approximately two-thirds the size of the forex market and growing. As we head towards the future, more individuals and banks will likely invest in it.

When it comes to investing in cryptocurrency, you have two options: you can use a major cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase to buy a real cryptocurrency and hold onto it, or you can invest in cryptocurrency through most major brokers. If you purchase the cryptocurrency through an exchange, you’ll probably wind up paying commissions and fees, while you’ll have to worry about swap fees for holding crypto positions overnight if you choose to invest through your broker. If you want to make a long-term investment, it would be better to do so through an exchange.

Wondering if there are any major downsides to investing in cryptocurrency? Unfortunately, it does cost more to trade cryptocurrency as opposed to forex. Remember when we talked about the average price of trading the pair EURUSD? It costs about five times as much to trade the major cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which has an average exchange rate of 0.40% versus the 0.08% we mentioned earlier. 

Cryptocurrency can also be more susceptible to volatility in the market. In addition to being affected by global events, they are also at high risk of volatility from events that occur in their own market. For example, the Bitcoin halving effect had a major impact on the market. These wide price fluctuations can work for you or against you – as they offer an opportunity to make a large profit, but the risk can be dangerous.  Many brokers limit the leverage that can be used when trading crypto pairs to 1:2 because of the high risk associated with trading them. Another plus to trading cryptocurrency comes in the form of more flexible market hours, with trading opportunities on the weekend as opposed to typical weekdays. 

The Bottom Line: Which is Better?

Above, we explained the most important points for forex and cryptocurrency. Below, we will break it all down into categories so that you can personally decide which is better to trade. 

  • When it comes to the cost of trading, forex wins by a landslide. While it costs about 0.08% of the value of EURUSD to trade, you’ll pay approximately 5 times as much to trade Bitcoin.
  • Bitcoin offers more flexible market hours, including weekdays and weekends, while forex traders can’t trade on the weekend. It’s also better to trade forex during certain market sessions.
  • Most brokers offer all major currency pairs, along with a good selection of minors and sometimes exotics. Lately, more brokers have added cryptocurrencies to their offers, but you may be limited to the most popular options. 
  • Both forex and crypto have prices that are driven by microeconomic factors, but crypto is far more volatile because it is also affected by issues within its own market.
  • Forex traders can access much higher leverage than crypto traders because brokers consider forex pairs to be much more stable. Some brokers offer leverage as high as 1:1000 or more, while crypto traders are often limited to a 1:2 leverage.
Categories
Crypto Videos

Why Bitcoin Is suddenly Exploding – Investors HODLing Bitcoin For 2021 Bull Run!

 

 

 

Investors HODLing Bitcoin More in Anticipation of 2021 Bull Market

bitcoins upward trend growth chart vector

New data shows that Bitcoin’s current price action shows much higher levels of ‘hodling’  activity than the levels during previous bull cycles.
According to Willy Woo, a well-known on-chain analyst, an indicator called “reflexivity” has been on the rise in recent months. Woo explained that the reflexivity indicator measures Bitcoin investors’ tendency to hold their BTC as its price rises. This is essentially an alternative way to estimate the hodling activity of retail investors.


The next bull run may lead BTC above $20,000
Several reasons caused retail investors to hold onto their Bitcoin even more so than during previous bull cycles.
If Bitcoin manages to rally in 2021, most investors would see the event as a post-halving bull run. Historically, Bitcoin has rallied 12 to 15 months after each halving and managed to record a new all-time high each time. Based on Bitcoin’s tendency to rally after a halving, many retail investors might be holding it to avoid being priced out in case of a strong sustained rally.

Also, Bitcoin has shown a surprising level of resilience throughout several potential black swan events. After its initial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced crash in March, its price has stayed above $10,000 despite numerous negative events.
Looking at the most recent example, Bitcoin’s price went down slightly after the US CFTC charged the crypto trading platform BitMEX with violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
After CFTC’s announcement, BTC price instantly fell below $10,500 but quickly recovered to the $10,700 support level. According to Willy Woo, this is most likely due to the confluence of the two key factors. He then explained:

“Reflexivity represents the HODLers’ tendency to hold onto their crypto harder as price increases. While I had expected reflexivity to increase during the craze of bull markets, it looks quite constant from the last two cycles… However, this cycle is interesting, as reflexivity increases rather than static compared to the last cycles. Even though we now need more capital invested to get a similar % gain in price, more and more HODLers are holding even tighter than before.”

The US presidential election may push Bitcoin price higher


Industry executives and prominent investors in the crypto space foresee the upcoming US presidential election in November benefiting Bitcoin.
CEO of Three Arrows Capital Su Zhu said a Democratic sweep would almost certainly catalyze Bitcoin due to various macro factors. He also suggested that a Trump’s second term could also benefit Bitcoin. He wrote:
“Biden is extremely bullish for Bitcoin because the democrat blue wave will most likely usher in the unprecedented installation of MMT agenda with the corresponding dollar weakness and deficits. That being said, Trump is also bullish for Bitcoin, though to a lesser extent.”

As it stands now, Bitcoin is less affected by the negative news than by the positive ones, which is one of the main indicators for identifying a bull market. While we are not there yet completely, most analysts believe that 2021 will be a great year for Bitcoin, regardless of what happens around the world.

Categories
Crypto Guides

What Should You Know About The ‘Concordium’ Blockchain Platform

Introduction

Introduction

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.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Is Bitcoin Cash a Good Investment?

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency created in 2017 as a result of attempts to improve the performance of Bitcoin. BCH was spun off from Bitcoin (BTC) – the original cryptocurrency. 

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency created in 2017 as a result of attempts to improve the performance of Bitcoin. BCH was spun off from Bitcoin (BTC) – the original cryptocurrency. 

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency created in 2017 as a result of attempts to improve the performance of Bitcoin. BCH was spun off from Bitcoin (BTC) – the original cryptocurrency. 

The idea of forking one crypto from another is not strange. However, what makes the BCH spin-off noteworthy is that the fork involved an update to Bitcoin Core. Whereas some nodes accepted the update, others declined. Those that accepted the update formed the BCH network. The number of Bitcoins that each node had in their Bitcoin wallet at the time of the fork was duplicated on their BCH wallet.

The main motivation for starting the Bitcoin Cash project was to make Bitcoin more transactional-friendly. In other words, the pioneers of Bitcoin Cash were of the opinion that Bitcoin transactions took too long to settle; hence, it was better suited as an investment tool than a transactional currency. That was a good observation, but stakeholders widely disagreed on how to make these enhancements on the original Bitcoin, and that’s how Bitcoin Cash came to life.

This article explains what Bitcoin Cash is and evaluates whether it is worth investing in it.

How Is BCH Different from Bitcoin?

Considering that Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin, one would expect striking similarity between the two. In fact, many crypto enthusiasts have described the former as nothing more than a newer version of the latter. So, are they one and the same thing? Well, not quite.

As earlier mentioned, the pioneers of Bitcoin Cash wanted Bitcoin transactions to be settled as fast as possible – just like traditional payment methods. The solution to this problem was to increase block sizes so that each block could accommodate more transactions. So, fundamentally, the difference is the block sizes. 

Nevertheless, the following are the notable differences between the two. Some came about as a result of increasing the block sizes and the sequence of events that were set in motion. 

  • Block size: This is the fundamental difference. The maximum block size of Bitcoin is 1 MB, while Bitcoin Cash blocks can grow up to 8 MB. Larger block sizes mean increased capacity to handle more transactions per second
  • Value: BCH has a lower dollar exchange rate than BTC. For comparison, at the time of writing, BCH was worth $269, while BTC was valued at $12,850.
  • Transaction processing time: Bitcoin transactions typically reflect after at least 10 minutes. For BCH, you can expect far shorter times.
  • Cheaper transaction fees: Crypto networks usually deduct a small percentage of the transaction value as network fees. While a network fee of $0.20 is common for BCH transactions, BTC transfers charge an average of $1.

BCH proponents believe that these differences give Bitcoin Cash an edge over Bitcoin.

Disadvantages of BCH

BCH seems to address most of Bitcoin’s challenges, making it seem more appealing. However, it is not without fault. The following are some of its notable disadvantages:

  • Less trading pairs – Since BCH is relatively new, you might find it a little cumbersome to get an exchange pair for your BCH. In comparison, you can exchange BTC or Ethereum with almost any other coin.
  • Less appeal among investor circles – BCH has not yet won investors’ confidence because it is relatively new in the market.
  • Lower mining profits – Mining BCH takes almost the same effort as mining BTC, but the network fees are much lower, thereby making the venture less profitable.

Investing in BCH

Bitcoin faces scalability challenges, and investors are increasingly showing optimism that BCH will save the day. But before investing in Bitcoin Cash, you need to find an exchange where you can buy and sell BCH and a secure wallet to keep your crypto. These two quick tips below will help you get started:

  • Finding an exchange: There are many crypto exchanges, but not all will work for you. You need to consider their exchange rates, supported payment methods, reputation, how fast they send the crypto to your wallet, and so on. Coinsutra has summarized the best exchanges for BCH here.
  • Getting a good wallet: Getting a secure and reliable wallet is a key pillar in your investment journey. You can find a comprehensive summary of the best BCH wallets on Wallets.com.

Now that you know where to buy your BCH and where to keep them safe, you can confidently join the club of BCH investors. 

Remember that BCH was created purposely as a transactional currency and not for long-term storage of value like stocks. This means that hoarding a large volume of BCH waiting for its value to grow might not be a wise thought. Nevertheless, you can still make some profit through buying and selling BCH. The idea is simple – you buy at a low price and sell when the price goes up. However, you will realize that this is a double-edged sword when you buy at a low price, and the price continues to drop even further. 

Coinbase is one of the best exchanges to buy and sell BCH since it offers a wide variety of exchange pairs. eToro is also worth considering as it facilitates social trading. Social trading allows you to learn trading from experts who are currently trading on the platform. So, you have a chance at trading profitably even if you have no experience. 

There is no magic formula for getting this right. However, you might want to play around with exchange pairs to find the best margins. For instance, if BCH/USD has low margins, you could try exchanging your BCH with BTC instead. 

Mining Bitcoin Cash

Mining cryptocurrencies is one of the ways one can generate revenue. It is, however, not for the faint-hearted. Just as is the case with Bitcoin, mining Bitcoin Cash requires mining rigs, which are special computers designed specifically for that purpose. You can get an Antminer R4, which is among the most powerful, at about $1,000. Antminer has a processing power of roughly 8.6TH/s (trillion calculations per second). You also need to prepare for huge power costs as this machine is rated at 845W. 

According to Bitinfocharts.com, mining Bitcoin Cash at 1TH/s earns an average of $1.35 per day. So, you’re looking at returns of $10.8 per day for the sort of investment above.

Overall, mining Bitcoin Cash is not the most lucrative of all alternatives, but at least you are guaranteed some returns. 

Final Remarks 

Bitcoin Cash is among the new cryptocurrencies. It is fast gaining popularity, making it worth considering for investment. It is cheaper than Bitcoin and allows faster transaction settlement. On the flip side, BCH is not yet widely accepted by investors. This makes it harder to find convenient trading pairs. 

Also, if you’re looking to invest in mining Bitcoin Cash, it isn’t as profitable as mining Bitcoin. If you’re considering investing in BCH for the long term, please understand that you will only make a profit if people want to buy BCH, more than they want to sell. So, if you are optimistic about this crypto’s steady growth, go forth in confidence and join the club of BCH investors.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 5 – Bitcoin Finally Above $14,000 as the Bull Run Continues; Ethereum 2.0 Contract Release Live

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin broke the $14,316 and entered the territory explored only during the 2017/2018 bull run and last seen in July 2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $14,316, representing an increase of 5.54% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 4.78% on the day, while XRP gained 0.67%.

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin broke the $14,316 and entered the territory explored only during the 2017/2018 bull run and last seen in July 2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $14,316, representing an increase of 5.54% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 4.78% on the day, while XRP gained 0.67%.

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin broke the $14,316 and entered the territory explored only during the 2017/2018 bull run and last seen in July 2018. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $14,316, representing an increase of 5.54% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 4.78% on the day, while XRP gained 0.67%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

HedgeTrade gained 38.24% in the past 24 hours, making it the most prominent daily gainer out of the top100 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. It is closely followed by Celsius’ gain of 9.37% and CyberVain’s 7.78% gain. On the other hand, Uniswap lost 16.95%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by yearn.finance’s loss of 16.73% and ABBC Coin’s loss of 9.35%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level has increased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 64.9%. This value represents a 0.6% difference to the upside when compared to the value it had yesterday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has increased over the course of the day. Its current value is $412.17 billion, representing a $7.35 billion increase when compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had finally broken the $13,900 resistance with confidence and confirmed its position above it. Not only that, but it has entered the price level last seen in July 2018. This means that there will be a lot of uncertainty and unset support and resistance levels, and also a lot of random volatility due to various entities taking profit and new investors FOMOing in.

However, a couple of potential resistance levels have formed, one of them being at $14,640. Traders should pay close attention to this level as well as use Fib retracements to create possible targets when trading.

BTC/USD 1-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals on showing a strong buy at all time-frames. No neutrality is being shown as Bitcoin is currently in an extremely favorable place price-wise.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is above both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly below its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is coming out of the overbought zone (69.10)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $14,640                                 1: $14,100

2: $16,665                                 2: $13,900

3: $17,260                                  3: $13,570

Ethereum

Bitcoin’s push towards the upside has fueled Ethereum, and the hype surrounding its version 2.0 launch, managed to surge above the ascending channel bottom line and re-enter the channel once again. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap reached as high as $409 before pulling back. It is now consolidating at slightly below $400.

If we don’t see any explosive moves from BTC and ETH in the short term, we can expect Ethereum to pull back slightly more and test the ascending channel’s bottom line as support. Traders can wait for the results of the “test” and trade off of that.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals on all time-frames are tilted towards the buy-side. However, its shorter time-frames (4-hour and daily) are showing hints of neutrality, while its longer time-frames are completely bullish.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is above both its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is between its middle and top Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (57.63)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $400                                     1: $378

2: $415                                     2: $371

3: $420                                      3: $361

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap hardly even moved in the past 24 hours despite the rest of the crypto market booming. As we mentioned in our previous article, if Bitcoin’s next explosive move doesn’t fuel XRP, it will move within a range bound by $0.235 and $0.2454, exactly what happened.

XRP seems to be creating a triangle formation on its 4-hour chart. If that is the case, it is bound to move above or below it extremely soon. However, the move will most likely be stopped at its immediate support or resistance level.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals have improved slightly, as they were extremely bearish the last time we reported. While its daily overview is still heavily tilted towards the sell-side, its weekly and monthly overviews are almost neutral (though still slightly tilted towards the bear side), and its 4-hour time-frame is even showing some bullishness.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is below its 50-period EMA and at its 21-period EMA
  • Price at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (48.73)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                 1: $0.235

2: $0.26                                     2: $0.227

3: $0.266                                  3: $0.221

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What Ankr Network (ANKR) can do for Cloud Computing? 

Businesses worldwide are using cloud computing to reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and increase deployment. Cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and others have been providing online storage services to companies worldwide for years. 

Businesses worldwide are using cloud computing to reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and increase deployment. Cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and others have been providing online storage services to companies worldwide for years. 

Businesses worldwide are using cloud computing to reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and increase deployment. Cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and others have been providing online storage services to companies worldwide for years. 

But even as these big companies dominate the industry, the potential of data centers remains vastly underutilized. There remains so much idle computing power around the globe that could be harnessed to provide cheaper and more efficient cloud computing services. 

What is Ankr?

Ankr is a cloud computing platform backed by the power of the blockchain. With blockchain comes increased speeds, transparency, and more inclusivity. The Ankr team believes idle computing power needn’t go to waste and that it can actually replace the need for CSP’s altogether. 

In view of this, they want to create a system where people from everywhere can utilize others’ idle computing power. And it’s not just setting its sights on repurposing idle computing resources: Ankr wants to go beyond and provide an infrastructure to power the Internet of Things (IoT) and other emerging economies.

Suppliers of idle computing power will be able to make money off it, whether they’re using a mobile phone, an on-premise data center, a private cloud, etc. Ankr wants to help companies create a production environment where they can leverage people and the latest technology independent of a centralized entity and vendor contracts. 

As of the time of writing, Ankr has over 8,000 nodes deployed all over the world. 

Breaking Down Ankr

Ankr is a decentralized cloud computing platform supporting all manner of players in an industry that includes resource providers, end-users, app developers, and more. The Ankr team believes that cloud computing is the best way of the future, and that should be avoidable for everyone instead of being monopolized by tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Alibaba Cloud, and Amazon AWS. 

Ankr will give developers the ability to deploy more than 100 types of blockchain nodes. The idea is to offer a pragmatic business model where data owners monetize their idle cloud resources, and developers can utilize them to run various services more effectively. 

Some of the highlights of Ankr include: 

  • Single-click node deployment
  • Truly decentralized infrastructure
  • Automated management based on cloud-native tech and Kubernetes

Ankr: Architecture

The Ankr blockchain runs on four core layers:

#1. Core Layer

The core layer supports the network’s full nodes. It uses the Proof of Service Level and Stake Byzantine Fault Tolerance (SLSBFT) consensus mechanism. SLSBFT ensures that bandwidth, computation, and distributed storage maintains the highest quality standards. 

On this layer, blocks are generated until the block producers reach consensus. Users interact with this layer in either of two ways: as validator nodes or regular nodes. Validator nodes are approved by the network’s DCCN (Distributed Cloud Computing Network), while the regular nodes are open to everyone. 

#2. Relay Layer

This layer supports fast network routing. All nodes on the relay layer support full nodes, except these full nodes will not produce blocks or participate in the consensus. Users have the option to add more efficient networks on top of this layer. They also stand to earn ANKR coin rewards for Proof of Network Contribution (PNC). The amount of rewards will depend on a node’s relayed packet number, network bandwidth steadiness, and service quality. 

#3. Access Layer

This layer supports data center nodes, mining nodes, and edge computing nodes. All these contribute to the safety of the network by preventing illegal node access. 

#4. Micro-node layer

This layer supports device nodes and transaction hashes. Smaller nodes, such as phone-based ones, are the ones referred to as micro-nodes. 

Ankr’s DCCN System 

Ankr’s DCCN system is deployed across various computing resources over varied geographic locations. The Kubernetes system manages these resources, arranging them in clusters through the Ankr Hub. The Hub is responsible for relaying and dispatching tasks to working clusters. 

The Ankr team wants to utilize DCCN to offer an experience like that of centralized computing platforms. Through its Graphic User Interface and Command Line Interface, users can deploy apps, services, or even infrastructure for supporting such. 

Resource Scheduler (and Fairness Algorithms)

A Resource Scheduler on Ankr selects and assigns tasks to nodes, who will then run them in the desired state. The scheduler will utilize the Weighted Dominant Resource Fairness Algorithm (WDRF), which evenly distributes the available resources to nodes depending on availability and the degree of urgency. 

SLSBFT Consensus

Ankr utilizes the Proof of Service Level and Stake Byzantine Fault Tolerance (SLSBFT) consensus mechanism. It verifies transactions through these three phases: 

  1. Propose
  2. Prevote
  3. Pre-commit

The SLSBFT and the standard BFT differ in that the former features Block Producer ‘BP’ nodes. BP nodes are selected based on their contribution to the network as well as their stake. This promotes decentralization and fairness in that not just large token holders can participate in the network, but any node that contributes positively. To protect the network against attacks, validator nodes are chosen in a random fashion. 

Smart Contracts 

The Ankr network supports smart contracts. The smart contract system has the following characteristics:

  • Support for multiple programming languages including C/C++, JavaScript, Rust, Python, and more
  • A virtual machine compatible with WebAssembly 1.0
  • When smart contracts are being executed, the Ankr protocol is capable of invoking the contracts’ application programming interface tools via a service bus
  • Ankr charges transaction fees according to the smart contract instructions
  • Support for smart contracts’ interaction with the Ankr blockchain
  • Support for smart contracts’ interactions with the off-chain system

Incorporation with DCCN 

The DCCN blockchain supports the functions of Ankr’s communication in several ways, which include:

  • Providing the payment interface for cloud service providers and users
  • Rewarding users with returns upon their completion of computing tasks
  • Rewarding validators for their formation in the maintenance of the blockchain and processing transactions
  • Facilitating communication between the DCCN hub and DCCN daemon

Ankr: Incentive Mechanism

Ankr utilizes an incentive mechanism to promote healthy development of the platform and provide users with high-level services. The rewards are measured based on several yardsticks, including: 

  • Rewards for ANKR staking
  • Rewards for utilizing the ANKR stake  
  • Rewards for producing and offering services
  • Rewards for node reputation

The ANKR Token

ANKR is the native cryptocurrency of the Ankr platform. It’s the mechanism through which network users pay fees. Enterprise clients can pay for hosting fees via the token. Such enterprises could be crypto exchanges, staking platforms, fund management companies, etc. Individuals can also use the ANKR token to donate to non-profit Cloud computing platforms such as BOINC. And lastly, cloud service users can use ANKR to pay for the service. 

Supply Distribution of ANKR

The ANKR token was distributed in the following fashion: 

  • Public sale tokens:5%
  • Private sale 1 tokens: 3% 
  • Private sale 2 tokens: 12%
  • Private sale 3 tokens: 15% 
  • Team tokens: 17%
  • Advisor tokens: 1.5%
  • Marketing tokens: 5%
  • Mining rewards: 40%

Key Metrics

On October 20, 2020, the ANKR token traded at $0.007870, with a market cap of $45,876,543 that placed it at #156 in the market. The token has a 24-hour volume of $9,728,854, a circulating supply of 5,829,566,044, and a total supply of 10 billion. ANKR’s all-time high was $0.018332 (August 10, 2020), and its all-time low was $0.000711 (Mar 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store ANKR

You’ll find ANKR listed as a pair with BTC, ETH, USDT, KRW, BNB, BTC, TWD, HT, on either of these exchanges: Binance, Upbit, MXC, CoinDCX, Huobi Global, HotBit, BitMax, WazirX, CoinTiger, Gate.io, Coinone, BiKi, Sistemkoin, BitAsset, BinanceDEX, BurgerSwap, and ViteX. 

Once you grab some ANKR, you can store it in any of several wallet options, including Trust Wallet, Atomic Wallet, MyEtherWallet, Trezor, and Ledger.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Best Free Bitcoin Indicator Ever Gaining Over 5000% Returns! Free Indicator In The Description!

https://youtu.be/HUwTDvz5xt0

https://youtu.be/HUwTDvz5xt0

 

Best Bitcoin Indicator Ever? 5000% Returns

Bitcoin’s mining is adjusted for difficulty every 2016 blocks, which translates to roughly every two weeks.
However, Bitcoin’s effective Hash Rate is being calculated daily and is based on the number of blocks found by the miners each day. Because when the hash rate and mining difficulty are calculated, the difficulty effectively may lag behind the hash rate by a maximum of two weeks. The difficulty is, therefore, a somewhat lagging indicator for miner capitulation.

When looking at how ribbons work, we can notice the green and blue simple moving average lines of the difficulty and hash rate on the ribbon indicator. When they cross each other, miners are considered to be “capitulating.” On top of that, most times, the chart will show that there is roughly a two-week lag from the hash rate identifying miner capitulation to the difficulty identifying capitulation. The simple moving average periods chosen are not that important, and the same effect can be seen regardless of the periods used.
However, miner capitulation periods can last for weeks. As a result, the lag between mining difficulty and hash rates doesn’t have such a huge impact on the Bitcoin investor, but rather just on traders.

The hash ribbon indicator

Because of the effect of negative sentiment as well as price action during bear markets and times where miners reach capitulation, the best time to buy Bitcoin is somewhere in the middle of the “miner capitulation” period. However, this cannot be fully known until after the fact.
A simple 1- and 2-month period simple moving average of Bitcoin’s Hash Rate can be used to, with great accuracy, identify market bottoms, miner capitulation, and even great times to buy Bitcoin. The moment when the 1-month hash rate SMA crosses over the 2-month hash rate SMA, the worst of the miner capitulation is over most of the time, and the recovery has begun. Initiating a buy at these points in time yields incredible results so far.

Of the 9 historic buy signals in the table shown, the average gain to the next market cycle peak, which was historically less than 3 years away, is over a whopping 5000%. Returns are even greater than shown in the table for positions held indefinitely.
What is interesting is the drawdown through all time. The average maximum drawdown for each of these entries is a mere 11%. These results are achieved without considering anything else but this indicator. No indicators, metrics, or intelligence, rather just two simple moving averages on Bitcoin’s hash rate.
We have to note that there is one “bad” purchase, which dates to January 2015, where a maximum drawdown of 42% occurred. However, this is still considerably less than half of Bitcoin’s various 80%+ drawdowns. Nonetheless, the majority of drawdowns can be eliminated by simply adding a price action indicator. This indicator could include the famous Bitcoin 10-day and 20-day SMA cross over, for example.

Purchasing Bitcoin during miner capitulation, as the hash rates are starting to “recover” combined with buying only once price momentum has gone positive, yields insanely good results.
As shown, the maximum drawdown is reduced significantly, while the returns have stayed relatively the same. The difference between the first and second table is made possible with the simple addition of the price momentum indicator and using these two indicators as a signal to purchase Bitcoin.

This brings us to the question of can you use this indicator often. Miner Capitulation doesn’t happen that often: in fact, it happens only once per year on average. However, it has started to occur a bit more often in 2020, which may be a great thing for Bitcoin investors.

This indicator has proven itself a great tool for finding Bitcoin bottoms, while it does need help when it comes to timing the sale of the previously bought coins. Hash ribbons should be one of the key components of every Bitcoin trader’s tool belt, simply due to its amazing track record.

Categories
Crypto Guides

An Introductory Guide To NEAR Protocol

Introduction

Introduction

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.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Investing in ICOs – What You Need to Know

An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a strategy startups use to raise capital to fund a project by selling digital tokens. The project’s nature could vary from building an app to creating a new service to developing a new cryptocurrency. It is a similar concept to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the sale of shares by corporations to raise lump sum capital. 

An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a strategy startups use to raise capital to fund a project by selling digital tokens. The project’s nature could vary from building an app to creating a new service to developing a new cryptocurrency. It is a similar concept to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the sale of shares by corporations to raise lump sum capital. 

An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a strategy startups use to raise capital to fund a project by selling digital tokens. The project’s nature could vary from building an app to creating a new service to developing a new cryptocurrency. It is a similar concept to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the sale of shares by corporations to raise lump sum capital. 

ICOs, just like IPOs, often excite investors, which is why: at the launch of an ICO, tokens are usually sold at an outrageously discounted price. If the project goes well, the startup will become attractive to investors, and so will be the tokens. At this point, early-bird investors can sell their tokens at much higher prices and walk away with their newly-acquired wealth. This is the same thinking IPO investors have.

Despite the potential to gain massively from these investments, the risk of losing everything always lingers. If the project is a false start, the startup behind the ICO will fail to attract investors, and the tokens will be, at best, a little more than useless.

This article explains ICOs in detail, the benefits of investing, and the risks involved. Read on to know if they are a worthy venture.

How ICOs Work

First, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrency startups typically offer iCOs. Startups have limited access to funding. To make it worse, crypto startups lack the assets to back up liabilities such as credit, and this fact makes them particularly unattractive to creditors. 

When such organizations want to raise capital, ICOs come to their rescue. It all starts with publishing a technical paper detailing their idea. The whitepaper will explain the capital requirements, what the project will achieve at the end, how many tokens investors will keep, how the tokens can be redeemed, and so on. An elaborate paper is crucial in convincing investors to jump aboard. 

During the offering, those who have read the paper and see potential in the idea will buy the tokens using fiat money or crypto. In the future, issued tokens can be redeemed for cash. However, there are cases where the tokens only represent a stake in the organization and only entitle the holders to dividends. 

If the ICO fails to raise the amount needed to pursue the project, the startup may refund investors. Otherwise, it will use the funds collected to implement the proposed project. It is important to note that ICO activities are not regulated – and that’s a huge risk. Luckily, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can intervene if it believes the ICO is illegal and may harm investors, as was the case with Telegram’s 2018 ICO. Nonetheless, the SEC’s jurisdiction is limited to the United States, something that you need to keep in mind. 

Comparison with IPOs/ Stocks 

ICOs and IPOs have a lot in common, especially in terms of how they work. Below are some of how the two compare:

  • Both are used to raise funds from the public 
  • Investors receive a token that represents their contribution. In ICOs, digital tokens are issued while IPOs feature shares
  • Both are supposed to be tradeable or redeemable 

Despite the similarities, there are notable differences between the two. For instance: 

  • ICOs are not regulated, while stocks are regulated by government agencies (SEC does this in the US)
  • Returns on IPOs are straightforward – stockholders reap annual dividends. On the other hand, ICO tokens do not grant investors ownership of the project. Still, they can be redeemed at a fixed rate, grant buyers access to the startup’s offices, entitle them to a share of the company’s profits, or whatever the whitepaper says – it’s usually all in the whitepaper.
  • IPOs are restricted to specific stock markets, while ICOs can be purchased anywhere the internet has reached.
  • IPOs usually have a high minimum amount of shares that one can purchase. ICOs, on the other hand, offer more flexibility when it comes to the minimum number of tokens that can be purchased.

How to Participate in an ICO

There is no specific process for venturing into ICOs. However, the general guide below can help you get started.

  1. Search online for upcoming ICOs. Using Google search terms like “upcoming ICOs” should be sufficient. You can also check out icodrops.com. The website provides a summary of active, upcoming, and concluded ICOs. When contemplating which ICO to settle for, take your time to read and understand the whitepaper. If you can, consult an investment expert for advice.
  2. Once you have made a comparison and settled on an ICO of your liking, register with an exchange. Since you are likely to purchase the tokens using crypto, you will need to exchange your fiat money for the said crypto. Most ICOs can be paid for using Bitcoin or Ether – that’s if they are not accepting fiat money.
  3. Buy crypto from the exchange and transfer that to your private wallet. 
  4. Go to the ICO’s official website and follow the participation guide. Most of them have simple well-explained guides. That’s it.

Pump-and-Dump ICO Schemes

Not all ICOs are established with genuine intentions. Like it is the case with any other investment alternative, you should be extra-careful when approaching an ICO investment. Pump-and-dump schemes involve overly hyping an idea to mislead investors into thinking that the proposed project will be super successful. In a typical pump-and-dump scheme, ICO owners will make outrageous claims about the potential of their idea. Then, clueless investors will buy the tokens in large quantities. Naturally, the project will fail after the capital collected has been spent, meaning the startup will have no money to pay investors.

It might be difficult to read the intentions of ICO owners from the start. However, if you see an influencer promoting a certain ICO, you should be vigilant. Using authoritative figures to market ICOs is among the best-known tactics pump-and-dump schemers use.

The ICO Bubble

ICO critics have long speculated that the concept is just a fanfare whose curtains are due to close. In 2017, Wired predicted that the ICO bubble was about to burst, but obviously, it didn’t. In 2018, cryptocurrencies saw an all-time decline in market capitalization, with Bitcoin losing over 70% of its value. The thing is, cryptocurrencies ride on speculation, and speculation cannot be predicted. Therefore, we cannot validate claims of a looming ICO bubble burst. What’s more important is to do your due diligence before diving into this unpredictable business.

Final Thoughts

ICOs present an exciting investment alternative to crypto enthusiasts. They offer many benefits that traditional IPOs lack. For instance, you can invest for as low as a few dollars. You are also not restricted to any country – provided you can access the ICO’s website, you can participate. Generally, ICOs have opened up investment opportunities to more people. However, it would help if you exercise caution when dealing with them. Their unregulated nature means if anything goes wrong, legal redress might be impossible. But since all investments are risky anyway, you might want to give it a try regardless.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What Venus (XVS) can do for DeFi? 

Project after project is now rushing to cash in on the DeFi wave as the new blockchain-powered industry takes over the space. One of the latest DeFi projects to enter the scene is Venus Protocol, a liquidity pool and money market based on the Binance Smart Chain. 

Project after project is now rushing to cash in on the DeFi wave as the new blockchain-powered industry takes over the space. One of the latest DeFi projects to enter the scene is Venus Protocol, a liquidity pool and money market based on the Binance Smart Chain. 

Project after project is now rushing to cash in on the DeFi wave as the new blockchain-powered industry takes over the space. One of the latest DeFi projects to enter the scene is Venus Protocol, a liquidity pool and money market based on the Binance Smart Chain. 

What’s Venus all about, and what innovations does it bring to DeFi? Let’s dive in. 

Understanding Venus 

Venus is a DeFi protocol on the Binance Chain that supports digital asset lending, borrowing, and generation of synthetic assets. Venus wants to provide a much better financial ecosystem than both centralized and current decentralized platforms.

The Problem with Today’s Finance Protocols

In the traditional finance system, users have to go through a multitude of steps just to get a loan from KYC processes to a credit history check to days or weeks of awaiting confirmation. Also, the centralized lender can decide to deny you a loan arbitrarily. And let’s not forget about centralized platforms’ security concerns, thanks to their single point of attack. 

For its part, DeFi has revolutionized the crypto space by introducing blockchain-based products and services that are transparent, cryptographically secure, and not controlled by third-party authorities/decision-makers. But there’s a problem with DeFi: most of these platforms are built on Ethereum, which has faced scalability challenges since the beginning. Lack of scalability means slow, costly transactions and a poor user experience.

Again, these protocols lack the high market cap that could attract more users or put them at the top of the chain. There’s also the less-than-obvious issue of some of these platforms being not fully decentralized – mostly at the beginning. Such a platform will have equity investors controlling the platform, not users, and the community. 

Venus’s Solution

Venus seeks to address these problems by providing an environment where a traditional approach is woven into a synthetic stablecoin generation process. Users will be able to enjoy high-speed transactions with low minimal transaction costs on the Binance Smart Chain. The possibilities are many: deposit collateral, earn interest on the collateral, borrow against the collateral, and mint stablecoins in seconds. 

Venus: Highlights

  • Ability to borrow cryptocurrencies without intrusive KYC and credit checks
  • Ability to deposit crypto and stablecoins as collateral and earn good annual percentage yield returns 
  • Mint stablecoins from your collateral, with the collateral having the ability to be used more than 60 million places in the globe.
  • Governed by the Venus token for fair and transparent coin launch and distribution 

How Can You Use the Venus Protocol? 

You can take advantage of the Venus platform in several ways. From depositing assets and earning from them to borrowing crypto at competitive rates. 

#1. Depositing Assets

Venus users can deposit any of several supported digital assets in the protocol. Borrowers will take out these funds and use them to speculate in the market. In return, suppliers of the funds – or stakers, will earn interest on their deposit. 

When users supply collateral, they participate as lenders while contributing to the security of the protocol. All deposited assets are put together in a pool so that users can take out part of/the whole of their supply at any time, provided the protocol balance is positive.

Supplying crypto to the protocol will get you a vToken (vETH, vBTC, vUSDC, etc.) Only vTokens can be used to redeem the underlying deposited crypto. Redeeming the crypto will allow you to hedge against other assets in the market or move them to offline wallets that support Binance Smart Chain.

#2. Borrowing Assets

To borrow assets from the platform, you need to stake in collateral. The collateralized assets should be over-collateralized, making for at least 75% of the amount to be borrowed. The community will determine the collateral ratio through a governance process. Once you deposit the collateral, you can proceed to borrow an amount based on the collateral ratio of the particular asset. 

Usually, collateral ratios are anything between 40% to 75%. For instance, if ETH has a collateral ratio of 75%, it means you can borrow up to 75% of the value of your ETH. But if your collateral value drops below 75%, it could cause your assets to be liquidated. To return the collateral, a borrower must pay the borrowed amount together with the compounded interest.

Protocol Architecture

Venus’s code is forked off both the MakerDao and Compound protocols. The architecture is made of these elements: 

#1. Controller Smart Contract

Binance Smart Chain’s controller contract is much like a 

decentralized processor, facilitating the interactions between all other smart contracts on the platform. The Venus protocol does not automatically support tokens. Rather, it will support specific markets that are whitelisted by the Controller contract. The controller contract accesses whitelist markets by deploying the support Market admin function on the protocol. Every interaction and function on the protocol must be verified on the controller contract before it’s executed. 

#2. Collateral value

When a user deposits, borrows, or mints from the protocol, they’re usually using the underlying asset, usually held as collateral. The underlying assets are held as collateral and have dollar values that are also tied to the vTokens. For this to work accurately, these collateral values are taken from prevailing market rates. 

Governance Approach of Venus

The Venus team takes community governance very seriously. There were no pre-mined tokens for the team, foundation, and developers. As such, users who mine the Venus Token will get to control how the network runs. 

Governance features include, but are not limited to: 

  • The introduction of new assets on the protocol
  • Adjustment of market rates
  • Fixing interest rates for synthetic assets
  • Voting on protocol upgrade proposals

Venus Token

Venus is governed by the platform’s native token, the Venus Token (XVS). The token was designed to be “fair launch,” meaning there were no pre-mined tokens for the team, advisors, or the Foundation. You can only earn tokens through the Binance Launchpool project or by injecting liquidity into the protocol.

Initially, 20% (6,000,000) of the total supply will go to the Binance Launchpool project. The remaining amount will be dedicated to the protocol, with 23,700 000 XVS being mined in the next four years at 18,493 per day. 35% of the award will go to borrowers, 35% to suppliers, and 30% to stablecoin minters. XVS will officially become the governance mechanism of the protocol after 10 million tokens have been mined. In the meantime, an interim token, ‘Swipe Token’ (SXP), is being used to fulfill this purpose. 

Community Growth Strategies

The Venus team is going to implement various strategies in a bid to expand the community. 

  • Conducting Ask Me Anything (AMAs) to shed more light on the project to the community.
  • Regularly publishing DeFi-related news.
  • Hosting/co-hosting DeFi and blockchain events
  • Putting out weekly updates on Medium
  • Engaging with the community and the public via social media
  • Coming up with governance protocols

Future strategies include the following: 

  • Launching a governance protocol
  • Launching an incentive campaign to attract liquidity investors
  • Increasing the number of supported tokens

Tokenomics of Venus

At the time of writing, the Venus token’s market performance was as follows: its price was $3, and its market cap was $12,696,581, which placed it at #453. XVS had a 24-hour volume of $6,606,914, with a circulating supply of 4,227,273 and a total and maximum supply of 30 million. Finally, the token’s highest price ever was $4.77 (Oct 17, 2020), while its lowest ever was $2.22 (Oct 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store XVS

XVS is currently listed on the Binance exchange. 

As a Binance chain token, the XVS token can be stored in Ledger Nano S, Guarda Wallet, Enjin Wallet, Atomic Wallet, Trust Wallet, Edge Wallet, and Coinomi Wallet.

Closing Thoughts 

On the Venus Protocol, users from everywhere can supply crypto and earn returns, take loans, and mint synthetic assets. Since it runs on the Binance Smart Chain, its transactions are fast, low-cost, and transcend the native blockchain. Active participants will get to contribute to the future direction of the protocol in a truly decentralized fashion. Venus joins multiple protocols offering the same product – will it stay ahead of the curve? We’ll be watching to see how it evolves.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 4 – Bitcoin Contesting $14,000; Crypto Sector in the Green

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin is contesting the $14,000 level yet again. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,863, representing an increase of 3.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.93% on the day, while XRP gained 3.67%.

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin is contesting the $14,000 level yet again. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,863, representing an increase of 3.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.93% on the day, while XRP gained 3.67%.

The cryptocurrency sector has explosively pushed towards the upside as Bitcoin is contesting the $14,000 level yet again. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,863, representing an increase of 3.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.93% on the day, while XRP gained 3.67%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

The Midas Touch Gold gained 13.90% in the past 24 hours, making it the most prominent daily gainer out of the top100 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. It is closely followed by ABBC Coin’s gain of 11.68% and Ampleforth’s 9.31% gain. On the other hand, CyberVain lost 9.64%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by NEAR Protocol’s loss of 9.57% and VeChain’s loss of 8.87%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level has increased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 64.3%. This value represents a 0.3% difference to the upside when compared to the value it had yesterday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has increased over the course of the day. Its current value is $399.05 404.52 billion, representing a $10.79million increase when compared to our previous report.

_______________________________________________________________________

What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had a great day as its price moved above the $13,900 mark. While the move got stopped out near $14,000, its price is still above the level it just passed.

Due to no strong pullbacks happening at the moment and Bitcoin staying within a very narrow range ($13,000-$14,100), we can expect a strong move to either side very soon. Traders should pay attention to any attempt to break its support/resistance levels Bitcoin makes.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals on all time-frames are bullish, with the weekly overview being the only one with a considerable amount of neutrality.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is above both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (58.89)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,900                                 1: $13,570

2: $14,000                                 2: $13,180

3: $14,100                                  3: $13,000

Ethereum

Ethereum has bounced off of its $371 support level and started moving back towards its ascending channel. However, the channel bottom line was too strong to pass, and Ethereum ended up consolidating slightly below it. As time passes, the possibility of Ethereum breaking the level will be diminished due to the constant increase in the line’s price position.

Ethereum is now trading in a range between $378 and the ascending channel bottom line, which can be taken advantage of. However, Bitcoin is preparing a move, and Ethereum will most likely respond to it by following its direction and intensity, which can be used by the traders.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s short-term technicals are unclear (4-hour overview being slightly bearish while daily overview is slightly bullish), while its longer-term technicals are heavily tilted towards the buy-side.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is below its 50-period and at its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (49.02)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $400                                     1: $378

2: $415                                     2: $371

3: $420                                      3: $361

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap took the day to push back above $0.235 and consolidate above it. This returned XRP back within a range bound by $0.235 to the downside and $0.2454 to the upside.

As we mentioned in our previous articles, if the next Bitcoin’s explosive move does not fuel XRP, traders can comfortably trade sideways action within this range. If, however, Bitcoin’s price moves to either side and XRP follows the direction, traders can use this event to trade alongside the direction XRP is moving in.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals on all time-frames are heavily tilted towards the sell-side. However, the longer the time-frame, the more neutral the technicals are, with the monthly indicator being very close to being completely neutral.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price below its 50-period EMA and above its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is close to the oversold territory (50.52)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                 1: $0.235

2: $0.26                                     2: $0.227

3: $0.266                                  3: $0.221

 

Categories
Crypto Guides

Looking For Easy Crypto Payment? Switch To NOWPayments!

Introduction

Introduction

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.

Categories
Crypto Videos

The Amazing Chainlink – Solving Real-World Problems!

 

 

 

Chainlink – Beginners Guide

During the long and hard crypto winter of late 2018, many projects failed to stay afloat, but during all this, Chainlink managed to actually keep growing and defied the bearish market. At the moment, Chainlink is one of the leading cryptocurrencies in the DeFi sector. How did it manage to grow as consistently, and what sets is apart?

Problem

Blockchains use math–cryptography and practically guarantee security, trust, and decentralization. However, the problem is that each blockchain is its own universe, which means that getting information from and to another blockchain would require a trusted source. To retrieve information about event outcomes or even something as simple as Bitcoin’s price meant that you are required to trust a source to tell the truth.

What is Chainlink?


Chainlink figured out how to get any type of information in and out of a blockchain while remaining secure and decentralized, but also trustless. Sources of data between the blockchain and the “outside” world, known as oracles, are no longer a single point of failure for a smart contract. Chainlink created a network of nodes that can provide information to and from the blockchain, which created a vital part of smart contract infrastructure as a result. This “blockchain middleware” meant that Chainlink oracles could provide essential information without sacrificing on decentralization or security.
Chainlink essentially created a secure bridge to the “outside” world.
To minimize the potential failure of the aforementioned oracles, Chainlink focused on the distribution of data sources, distribution of oracles, as well as the use of trusted hardware.

Origins of Chainlink

Chainlink was founded by the current CEO Sergey Nazarov and the current CTO Steve Ellis. The project started in Sept 2017, when the project raised $32 million in an ICO, thus creating 1 billion LINK tokens. In May 2019, Chainlink launched on the Ethereum mainnet. At the moment, Chainlink is the 7th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as well as the largest DeFi cryptocurrency by market cap, and is very close to the $4 billion dollar mark.

Use Cases

Chainlink is different from most projects in terms of having real use cases, as it is demonstrated by its list of partners, with most notable being Polkadot and Synthetix from the crypto sector and SWIFT and Google coming from the traditional business world.
As an example, Chainlink could be used to send a real-world money transfer from SWIFT and via Chainlink. The proof the payment could then be sent back via Chainlink to SWIFT. This use of Chainlink by SWIFT has created a seamless interaction between the traditional world and the crypto world, all while minimizing the potential points of failure.

So how does it all work?

Chainlink can be defined as a decentralized oracle network that consists of purchasers and data providers. Purchasers request data, while providers return it in a secure way.
Purchasers select the data they want to obtain, while providers bid to provide that data. Providers have to commit a stake of LINK tokens when making a bid, which serves as proof that they are honest. Once providers are selected, their job is to bring the correct answers on the chain.

Chainlink uses something called “oracle reputation system” to aggregate as well as weigh the data provided. If everything goes well, providers get paid, and everyone is happy, but if the providers misbehave, they lose their stake.

How do you get Link tokens?

The Chainlink network uses an Ethereum-based ERC-677 token that inherits the ERC-20 token standard’s functionality while allowing token transfers to contain a data payload. This token protocol is also used for payment of data providers who are bringing and translating data into the blockchain.
Besides earning LINK tokens by being a provider, you can also buy LINK tokens on various exchanges, such as Coinbase, Binance, and Huobi.

The Future of Chainlink

Two of the key objectives Chainlink focused on to ensure the security of its network are the distribution of data sources and the distribution of oracles. Like all networks, Chainlink’s main goal is to add more people and operators to become more robust and valuable.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Why Bitcoin is Here To Stay

Let’s face it – at some point, we all thought that Bitcoin was going to collapse, but it didn’t. Since its inception in 2009, this cryptocurrency has shown tremendous resilience throughout its lifetime. Bitcoin has had meteoric rises and falls, having gone to the highs of $20,000 at some point and plunged as low as $5,000 within months. PayCoin, SpaceBit, and many other digital currencies have collapsed, and so, the idea of a cryptocurrency failing is not foreign after all. So what makes Bitcoin special? Does this pioneer crypto really have nine lives, or is it a matter of time before it vanishes into the nether world? 

Let’s face it – at some point, we all thought that Bitcoin was going to collapse, but it didn’t. Since its inception in 2009, this cryptocurrency has shown tremendous resilience throughout its lifetime. Bitcoin has had meteoric rises and falls, having gone to the highs of $20,000 at some point and plunged as low as $5,000 within months. PayCoin, SpaceBit, and many other digital currencies have collapsed, and so, the idea of a cryptocurrency failing is not foreign after all. So what makes Bitcoin special? Does this pioneer crypto really have nine lives, or is it a matter of time before it vanishes into the nether world? 

Let’s face it – at some point, we all thought that Bitcoin was going to collapse, but it didn’t. Since its inception in 2009, this cryptocurrency has shown tremendous resilience throughout its lifetime. Bitcoin has had meteoric rises and falls, having gone to the highs of $20,000 at some point and plunged as low as $5,000 within months. PayCoin, SpaceBit, and many other digital currencies have collapsed, and so, the idea of a cryptocurrency failing is not foreign after all. So what makes Bitcoin special? Does this pioneer crypto really have nine lives, or is it a matter of time before it vanishes into the nether world? 

Critics say it shall end in tears; analysts say Bitcoin is here to stay. But let’s settle this debate by looking at the factors that give Bitcoin its resilience and evaluating whether they are solid enough to see it through crypto’s uncertainties. 

This article presents Bitcoin’s history of fluctuations and reasons it is likely to survive the test of time.

The 2018 Bitcoin Crash

If there’s a time Bitcoin’s doomsayers were almost right in their predictions, it must have been 2018. After reaching almost $20,000 in December 2017, Bitcoin crashed to just $5,000 in December 2018. Cryptocurrencies were undergoing a rough time. During this period, a series of events led to widespread speculation about the fate of digital currencies.

  • In January 2018, it was rumored that South Korea was planning to ban cryptocurrencies in the country. As a direct consequence, Bitcoin lost 12 percent of its value.
  • Exactly 2 weeks later, Coincheck, then Japan’s largest crypto exchange, was hacked, and the cyberpunk made away with NEM equivalent to USD 530 million. Crypto enthusiasts across the globe momentarily lost trust in the security of digital currencies. Within a couple of days after this news broke, Bitcoin lost 50% of its value.
  • In March of the same year, someone stole Binance’s API keys and attempted to make fraudulent transfers. Binance detected the unusual activity and immediately suspended withdrawals. Panic had already spread.
  • In the same month, Facebook, Twitter, and Google banned all ICOs and token sales ads. This was the final piece of evidence doomsayers needed to prove their case.

For the remainder of the year, cryptocurrencies struggled to remain afloat. Some exchanges suspended trading, and some currencies collapsed. By November 2018, Bitcoin was exchanging at $5,500.

The Comeback

From the beginning of 2019, Bitcoin started to show signs of recovery. In fits and bursts, the currency rose in both trade volume and price. By June 2019, it had already reached $10,000. Between June 2019 and October 2020, the coin has fluctuated between $14,000 and $5,000. The comeback was not the strongest. However, it brought hope that Bitcoin was permanently poised for recovery and stabilization. 

Why Bitcoin Is Likely to Survive the Test of Time

We have seen Bitcoin’s unpredictable fluctuations over the years. One question we need to answer is what makes it always recover even after an epic fail. Below are some of the reasons.

#1 – It solves real-world problems

This is arguably the main reason Bitcoin has survived for a decade. Bitcoin has real utility – you can use it to pay for goods and services, you can send it to another person, and you can invest in it as if it were an asset. While it was possible to achieve all this even before Bitcoin’s creation, its invention has made these transactions more versatile and cost-effective. 

It has also opened new use cases that were previously impossible. For instance, activists are increasingly relying on Bitcoin to bypass government restrictions and receive donations. Of course, criminals and terrorists are also abusing the network to raise funds for nefarious activities, but that does not negate the fact that Bitcoin comes in handy when an unrestricted movement of funds is desirable. 

#2 – It is (relatively) simple to understand and use

Compared to other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is relatively easy to understand and use. For comparison, Ethereum and Ripple, Bitcoin’s closest competitors, include complicated concepts (smart contracts and payment infrastructure, respectively) that confuse neophytes. Bitcoin is simply a currency. Even a person with modest internet skills can begin using it in a short time. 

Bitcoin’s simplicity is on the user front – the mechanisms behind how it works remain as complex as those for other cryptocurrencies. Thus, none of the security, decentralization, and network stability benefits are compromised.

#3 – It is highly consistent with our past payment experiences

Bitcoin’s compatibility means you can easily plug it into traditional financial systems, and it blends seamlessly. It is accessible from mobile apps and other platforms that we are all already used to. Its acquisition and usage are also consistent with our past experiences. For instance, when checking out on an eCommerce site, you can pay for your goods by simply selecting Bitcoin, if it is listed. This is what you’d normally do with your credit card, PayPal, and so on.

So how does compatibility make Bitcoin resilient? Glad you asked. After a crash in volume, Bitcoin users can easily pick up where they left and continue using the currency like it never crashed. For emphasis, just imagine if, after abandoning its usage, you have to re-register, get a new wallet, find another exchange because the other one collapsed, and so on before you start using the currency again. It might not sound like much, but such complexities can impede the recovery of a cryptocurrency.

#4 – The pioneer advantage

Having entered the cryptocurrency market before any other currency, Bitcoin enjoys the pioneer advantage. It has been and will always be the trendsetter for cryptocurrencies. For instance, when Bitcoin activity slows down due to Bitcoin-specific adverse events, the entire crypto world is shaken. But Bitcoin does not necessarily suffer such instabilities when other networks go down. 

The pioneer advantage creates the impression that Bitcoin can be trusted more than any other cryptocurrency. This makes it easier for Bitcoin to bounce back after a slump because crypto enthusiasts will likely continue to trust it even when cryptocurrencies are undergoing tumultuous times. It is a good thing anyway, as the lifeline of cryptocurrencies heavily relies on Bitcoin trends.

#5 – It is globally available 

Bitcoin’s global presence contributes a great deal to its resilience. Each world region is characterized by a different economic and regulatory environment. So, when Bitcoin activity slows down in the Eurozone due to Brexit (if there’s such a cause-effect relationship), it could be pretty much business as usual in the rest of the world. Of course, changes in Bitcoin activity in certain regions have a high likelihood of impacting the rest of the globe. Even so, we must agree that having Bitcoin everywhere spreads and thus mitigates its risk of collapsing.

Final Thoughts

Bitcoin was created over a decade ago, and despite multiple scares that it was collapsing, the cryptocurrency still stands tall. It experienced its worst slump in December 2018, but its resurgence thereafter was a clear demonstration of its resilience. For the critics out there, Bitcoin’s high volatility is not necessarily a symptom of extinction – as it has been shown time and again. Lastly, although Bitcoin has seen countless rises and falls in its lifetime, one thing remains clear: after a fall, it shall rise.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

GoChain (GO): Where Reputation Matters

Blockchain has so much potential to transform not just how we do business but society itself. Its qualities of decentralization, immutability, and distributedness make for transparent, trustless, and fraud-free interactions. 

Blockchain has so much potential to transform not just how we do business but society itself. Its qualities of decentralization, immutability, and distributedness make for transparent, trustless, and fraud-free interactions. 

Blockchain has so much potential to transform not just how we do business but society itself. Its qualities of decentralization, immutability, and distributedness make for transparent, trustless, and fraud-free interactions. 

And while this potential is huge, blockchain is currently hindered by issues like low scalability, lack of true decentralization, and excessive consumption of power. 

GoChain is a decentralized platform that wants to bring blockchain closer to businesses while solving the issues encumbering it. The platform is designed for its apps to be immediately integrable with Ethereum. 

Before we delve deeper into Gochain, let’s see why the current blockchain setup is problematic.

The Issues With Existing Blockchains

#1. Speed and Volume

Current blockchains suffer from slow transactions and low throughput. For instance, Bitcoin can process just 7 transactions per second, while Ethereum can process 15, at the time of writing. On top of that, it can take anything from minutes to hours to verify a transaction. This is a sharp contrast with Visa, which can process 1700 transactions per second. This demonstrates that the current blockchain setup is too slow for real-world and high volumes of transactions. 

#2. Power Consumption

As in proof of work (PoW consensus, the process of approving and verifying transactions gobbles up massive amounts of energy. The computational work that goes into the process is meant to protect the network against bad actors, but it comes at a cost. For instance, Bitcoin today uses the equivalent of the power that would run 3.5 million US households. This is just unsustainable in the long run.

#3. Questionable Decentralization

Decentralization is a central tenet of cryptocurrencies. Decentralization means any single company or government does not control a blockchain network. However, true decentralization remains a pipe dream. For example, the largest number of Bitcoin miners is situated in China, where electricity is cheap. In true decentralization, miners would be spread proportionately all over the world. 

#4. Rigid Contracts 

Ethereum supports smart contracts, which are contracts that are self-verifying and enforcing. Smart contracts operate so that all parties must commit to a set of rules before the contract is enforced. However, smart contracts are not that smart in some ways, especially when it comes to a fast-paced world. The parties to a smart contract cannot change the contract in any way, whether to upgrade the terms or fix a security bug. Smart contracts are also known to have been victims of attacks, meaning they’re not as safe as touted.

What’s GoChain?

GoChain is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network that uses Proof-of-Reputation consensus mechanism to power smart contracts and DApps. The network is 100% compatible with Ethereum wallets, and it had the mission of being “10x more decentralized, 100x faster and 1000x greener than Ethereum.” By greener, GoChain means utilizing a consensus model that does not consume as much power as PoW. 

Here are some of the main features of GoChain: 

  • GO-20 tokens, which are compatible with Ethereum
  • 1300 transactions per second with low to very minimal gas fees
  • A Proof of Reputation (PoR) consensus mechanism that relies on participants’ good reputation to secure the network
  • ‘Authorized Signers,’ who are 50 reputable companies picked from various industries and countries
  • Malicious nodes can be removed from the network

GoChain’s Fees and Rewards

Just like on Ethereum, GoChain users need to pay ‘gas’ to conduct transactions on the network. Authorized signers are in charge of creating, signing, and distributing blocks to nodes, for which they earn GO tokens in return. Reward tokens were 4.4% of the total supply, and they will decrease over time. 

The Voting Process 

GoChain will use a two-phase voting process. Initially, GoChain will have the first 50 signers enforcing decentralization and protecting the network against any outside interference. These signers will be picked from varying industries and jurisdictions. This is in line with the PoR consensus mechanism, in which a signer must already possess a reputation that’s too valuable to jeopardize/lose. When these signers are established, the network will hand complete control to them in a true self-governing version. 

GoChain will choose signers based on these credentials: 

  • Number of years in operation
  • Number of company employees
  • Annual revenue
  • Brand recognition
  • Company’s annual revenue

Proof of Reputation

GoChain uses a Proof of Reputation consensus mechanism to keep the network secure. A participant must already have a reputation that’s too prized to risk with any dishonest behavior. It’s why the PoR mechanism chooses larger companies – which have more to lose, over small companies. 

Once a company submits its reputation credentials, they may be voted in as an authoritative node, after which they can approve and verify blocks. GoChain is based on Ethereum’s network because the team believes that it’s “much more than just a store of value.” As well, Ethereum apps such as wallets and tools will be interoperable with GoChain. 

Why Reputation? 

GoChain relies on reputation because it’s one of the most crucial aspects of a business. For a company, acting unethically could bring consequences such as fines, a customers’ walkout, PR disaster, and so on. Trust is a key part of any business, and once that trust is lost, it can take years to repair. 

Hence, GoChain utilizes this model to keep companies in check and keep the network secure. PoR works for more risk-averse companies and wouldn’t be inclined to a PoW or Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus model. In PoR, everyone knows who the other is, and they know who they’re trusting with their data. 

GO Tokens 

GO is the native token of the GoChain ecosystem. The token’s distribution was done this way: 

  • Private and public sale: 51%
  • Team tokens: 10%
  • Advisor tokens: 6%
  • Token treasury: 10%
  • Marketing and legal expenses: 14%
  • GoChain fund: 10%

Key Metrics of GO Token 

Go token rounded up at these figures on October 14, 2020. Its price was $0.008448, with a market cap of $8,800,176, which placed it at #522. It had a 24-hour volume of $489,598 and a circulating supply of 1,041,653,540, and a total supply of 1,106,653,550. The token has an all-time high of $0.116462 (July 09, 2018) and an all-time low of $0.003994 (Mar 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store GO

You can find GO listed on several popular exchanges, including Binance, VCC Exchange, KuCoin, Bilaxy, Bittrex, CoinDCX, DragonEx, Beaxy, and Coinall. BTC, USDT, and ETH are some of the currencies it’s listed against. 

For storage, options include ZenGo, CoolWalletS, Coinomi, Trezor Model T, and Ledger Nano S. 

Final Thoughts

GoChain is a solution for the persistent issues in blockchain, and its ready-to-go approach makes it an immediate DApp and smart contracts solution for users across the globe. GoChain promises a faster, more scalable, and more decentralized blockchain. The only caveat is, it’s not the first or the last project to offer that promise. Will it stand the test of time in the competitive crypto space? Only time will tell. 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 3 – Crypto Sector in the Red; Altcoins Plummeting

The cryptocurrency sector experienced an overall price drop as Bitcoin pushed down towards sub-$13,500 levels. Most cryptocurrencies ended in the red as they lost quite a bit more than Bitcoin itself. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,411, representing a decrease of 1.88% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.68% on the day, while XRP lost 3.96%.

The cryptocurrency sector experienced an overall price drop as Bitcoin pushed down towards sub-$13,500 levels. Most cryptocurrencies ended in the red as they lost quite a bit more than Bitcoin itself. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,411, representing a decrease of 1.88% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.68% on the day, while XRP lost 3.96%.

The cryptocurrency sector experienced an overall price drop as Bitcoin pushed down towards sub-$13,500 levels. Most cryptocurrencies ended in the red as they lost quite a bit more than Bitcoin itself. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for $13,411, representing a decrease of 1.88% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.68% on the day, while XRP lost 3.96%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

The Midas Touch Gold gained 8.44% in the past 24 hours, making it the cryptocurrency to gain the most in a day (out of the top100 cryptos by market capitalization). The rest of the cryptocurrencies experienced close to no gains. On the other hand, Reserve Rights lost 17.14%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by SushiSwap’s loss of 14.07% and Compound’s loss of 12.86%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level has increased since we last reported, with its value is currently staying at 64%. This value represents a 0.9% difference to the upside when compared to the value it had yesterday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has decreased over the course of the day. Its current value is $388.84 404.52 billion, representing a $5.32 million decrease when compared to our previous report.

_______________________________________________________________________

What happened in the past 24 hours?

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_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has (as said in our previous article) moved away from the sideways trading as it could not stand trading in such a narrow range. Bitcoin pulled back below $13,570 and even went as low as ~13,200 before bouncing back to ~$13,400 (where it is currently consolidating).

The recent days have brought us a lot of support/resistance hopping, which is what we may expect in the near future as well. Traders should focus on capitalizing on these movements as they almost always overextend. The trades can be made both while Bitcoin is creating overextension (riskier but a bigger profit potential) or during the pullback (safer but less profit potential).

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s 4-hour technicals are showing a bear tilt, while its longer time-frames are tilted towards the buy-side (longer time-frames have less neutrality and more of a buy-tilt than the shorter ones).

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is far at its 50-period EMA and below its 21-period EMA
  • Price below its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (43.90)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,570                                 1: $13,180

2: $13,900                                 2: $13,000

3: $14,000                                  3: $12,870

Ethereum

Ethereum has plummeted after failing to break the $400 mark, and losing all the most recent gains in the process. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has left the ascending channel since the end of September. Its price drop was stopped at the $371 resistance level, which has held up quite well.

Ethereum is now trading in a narrow range bound by $371 to the downside and $378 to the upside. Traders should look for any breakouts to enter trades, while the ones that want to trade the sideways action should wait and see if Ethereum is likely to stay within this range.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s 4-hour and daily technicals are tilted towards the sell-side, while its weekly and monthly overviews remain bullish.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is far below both its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its bottom Bollinger band
  • RSI is close to being overbought (35.83)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $378                                     1: $371

2: $400                                     2: $361

3: $415                                      3: $358

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has had a red day as well, with its price falling through major support levels. A failed attempt to break the $0.2454 level has triggered a pullback, which pushed XRP’s price below $0.235 and even attempted to break $0.227. However, this support level held up, and XRP is now trading slightly above it.

If not fueled by Bitcoin’s explosive move towards either side, XRP will most likely trade sideways between $0.227 and $0.235. While traders could trade the sideways action without much problem, the lack of intra-range volatility is low, which brings the profit potential way down.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s daily, weekly, and monthly technicals are all showing a strong tilt towards the sell-side, while its 4-hour overview is slightly bullish with hints of neutrality.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price far below both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its bottom Bollinger band
  • RSI is close to the oversold territory (31.89)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.235                                   1: $0.227

2: $0.2454                                 2: $0.221

3: $0.26                                    3: $0.217

 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

What is Ripple, and Should You Buy It?

Introduced in 2012, Ripple aimed to facilitate seamless, fast, and cheap global money transfers. It is different from other cryptocurrencies in the way it works and what it aims to achieve. Bitcoin came as a digital currency and Ethereum as a smart contracts platform. But Ripple entered the scene as a payments infrastructure. Today, its digital currency is among the most popular – only surpassed by Bitcoin and Ethereum in market capitalization.

Introduced in 2012, Ripple aimed to facilitate seamless, fast, and cheap global money transfers. It is different from other cryptocurrencies in the way it works and what it aims to achieve. Bitcoin came as a digital currency and Ethereum as a smart contracts platform. But Ripple entered the scene as a payments infrastructure. Today, its digital currency is among the most popular – only surpassed by Bitcoin and Ethereum in market capitalization.

Introduced in 2012, Ripple aimed to facilitate seamless, fast, and cheap global money transfers. It is different from other cryptocurrencies in the way it works and what it aims to achieve. Bitcoin came as a digital currency and Ethereum as a smart contracts platform. But Ripple entered the scene as a payments infrastructure. Today, its digital currency is among the most popular – only surpassed by Bitcoin and Ethereum in market capitalization.

In this article, we take a deep dive into this fascinating cryptocurrency network. We will look at how Ripple works, its pros and cons, compare it with Bitcoin, and even look at how you can use it. Read on to find out more about Ripple.

Understanding Ripple

We’ve just said that Ripple is different because it is a payment infrastructure. But what exactly is a payments infrastructure? In the interest of simplicity, let’s say it is any platform that facilitates the transfer of funds between individuals. For Ripple, this transfer happens in real-time and on an individual order basis. In other words, this network is a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. 

The Ripple platform consists of the XCurrent messaging technology and the XRP currency. SWIFT is currently the most popular inter-bank funds transfer system. However, the recent adoption of the XCurrent messaging technology by some leading global banks has created uncertainty over SWIFT’s future. 

Ripple was created by Ripple Labs Inc. Unlike another crypto, which is usually generated through mining, Ripple Labs created the entire 100 billion XRP that circulates within the network. The company, strangely, holds 55 billion of these. 

While Ripple runs on open-source software, the network is not really decentralized – which the executives of Ripple Labs’ vehemently refute. The CTO is quoted saying that the XRP ledger existed even before Ripple Labs was founded, and that XRP will continue to circulate even if the company collapses. Cryptocurrencies are loved because they are decentralized. For Ripple, the company’s involvement in developing the network complicates the matter. Nevertheless, it remains the third most popular crypto going by total value of coins in circulation. 

Current Applications

Ripple’s utility extends beyond sending crypto from one person to another – the company’s recent partnership with Banco Santander demonstrated its potential in facilitating RTGS in mainstream banking. According to the Financial Times, this partnership allows the bank’s customers to send money across the globe in different currencies. That said, Ripple is mainly used for currency exchange and remittances. 

While the banking industry may be shy in adopting XRP because it’s volatile – like all other cryptos, it is likely to embrace Ripple’s payment infrastructure. Should that happen, Ripple will enable banks to make instant transfers and in different currencies while avoiding the high costs associated with SWIFT.

Ripple Versus Bitcoin

Ripple and Bitcoin are both blockchain-based technologies. This similarity should not make you think that Ripple is simply another cryptocurrency, just like Bitcoin. These two fundamentally differ in the following ways:

  • Mining: Bitcoin miners get rewarded with new coins. Ripple is not mined as all the coins were created when the network was built.
  • Underlying technology: Bitcoin transactions are verified using the proof-of-work concept (mining), while Ripple uses an iterative consensus.
  • Speed: Bitcoin takes an average of 10 minutes to commit transactions, while Ripple needs only 5 seconds. Ripple’s fast speed is what makes it suitable for RTGS.
  • Transaction cost: Bitcoin charges upwards of $2 per transaction, while Ripple costs about $0.004. The low transaction fees give Ripple an edge over SWIFT for remittances.
  • Supported currencies: The Bitcoin network supports only once currency while Ripple was built to support any currency.
  • Ownership: Bitcoin is decentralized, while Ripple is controlled by Ripple Labs Inc.

How to Use Ripple

Ripple can be used by both individuals and financial institutions. For individuals, it works like other cryptocurrencies – you can invest in it or use it to make payments. For banks, Ripple’s usefulness lies in its payment infrastructure technology. Let’s take a closer look at how the platform plays out in these two scenarios. 

For Individuals

As mentioned above, you can invest in Ripple (XRP) or use it for payments – just as you would with any other crypto. For this, you will need a digital wallet that supports XRP. There is a good review of XRP wallets on this page. Secondly, you need to identify a reliable exchange from where you can buy XRP; Bitstamp, Kraken, and GateHub are good options. Most of the exchanges offer XRP/USD, XRP/EUR, and XRP/BTC exchange pairs. Also, most of them will deposit the purchased XRP on your account on that website. Always ensure you move the funds to your private wallet soonest possible. 

For Banks/ Financial Institutions 

Ripple was developed with banks and other financial institutions in mind. The aim was to make cross-border fund transfers fast, cheap, and transparent, which banks have been unable to achieve for decades. 

Ever since, banks have been using SWIFT, an interbank telecommunication system, to send money across borders. SWIFT is expensive. Also, its transfers take about 1-4 business days to reflect. People seeking to make cross-border remittances have had to endure this reality for the last four decades. However, things are changing. Several major banks have seen the light and are now using Ripple’s messaging system to achieve the same function as SWIFT, but faster, more cheaply, and transparently. 

Just like SWIFT, Ripple’s payment infrastructure does not hold any funds – it is simply a messaging system. This means that banks do not have to overhaul the entire remittance process when adopting Ripple, and thus, the switch to Ripple should be swift (no pun intended).

Having cheap, instantaneous cross-border transfers is everyone’s wish, but until all banks adopt Ripple’s platform, such transfers will have to stay on the wishlist. 

Ripple’s Pros 

  • Fast transactions – Transactions on Ripple are among the fastest among cryptocurrency networks. Within 3-5 seconds, the transfer of funds from person A to person B can be complete.
  • Supported by a reliable technical team – Ripple is supported by a team of world-class engineers because the company can afford them.
  • Reliability – The platform has been tested by some of the world’s largest banks, meaning it is a reliable solution.
  • Low cost – Transaction fees on Ripple are very competitive.

Ripple’s Cons

  • Centralized – Ripple Labs owns 55% of the total coins in the network, which makes it too powerful. Decentralized governance is one of the characteristics that have made cryptocurrencies attractive. 
  • Focus on banks/ financial institutions – Ripple was largely designed to benefit banks and financial institutions. Individuals might be unable to leverage the platform’s full range of capabilities. 

Closing Remarks

Ripple is an original, fresh, and unique solution to the age-old problem of cross-border money transfers and, as a digital currency, an alternative to Bitcoin. We have seen that the crypto network is primarily focused on financial institutions. However, you can still use XRP to make payments or invest in it. So, if you are a crypto enthusiast, XRP is a good alternative to other altcoins. 

For financial institutions, Ripple introduces speed, low-costs, and transparency in international money transfers. Many of the world’s largest banks have already tested its payment infrastructure – giving it the seal of approval that other financial institutions can rely on. Ripple promises faster and cheaper money transfers. However, we might have to wait for long as banks consider its adoption. Until then, we will have to endure the slow and costly SWIFT transfers.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Introducing Electra (ECA)

Before blockchain, people had to contend with slow and expensive cross-border transactions, and merchants had to give up high percentages of their revenue in the payment process. Well, it’s still pretty much that way, but it doesn’t have to be any longer. The revolutionary features of blockchain, such as decentralization, high-level security, and transparency, should change the game. 

Before blockchain, people had to contend with slow and expensive cross-border transactions, and merchants had to give up high percentages of their revenue in the payment process. Well, it’s still pretty much that way, but it doesn’t have to be any longer. The revolutionary features of blockchain, such as decentralization, high-level security, and transparency, should change the game. 

Before blockchain, people had to contend with slow and expensive cross-border transactions, and merchants had to give up high percentages of their revenue in the payment process. Well, it’s still pretty much that way, but it doesn’t have to be any longer. The revolutionary features of blockchain, such as decentralization, high-level security, and transparency, should change the game. 

Electra (ECA) is a blockchain effort that seeks to revolutionize how the world views payments. Founded in 2017, Electra is a financial management system that will allow merchants everywhere to use an alternative payment method free from intermediaries or centralized control. The protocol will offer users what traditional systems have failed to do for ages: friendly fees, instant transactions, immediate access to funds, state-of-the-art security, and more. 

The Electra protocol is embedded with the Lightning Network, atomic swaps, and PoS 3.0e. In the future, it intends to integrate SegWit as well as smart contract functionalities. 

Understanding Electra

Electra (ECA) is an open-source crypto and blockchain project for facilitating peer-to-peer payments across the globe. The project wants to provide a secure, cost-effective, and more flexible alternative to the traditional payment model where merchants pay up to a 3% processing fee. 

Using Electra, merchants can pay for transactions at the negligible rate of 0.0001 ECA. This is compared with the flat merchant discount rate (MDR) rate that gives businesses, especially small businesses, the shorter end of the stick. And, they usually have to wait for days to receive payments. 

Electra seeks to facilitate micropayments. To achieve this, the Electra blockchain can process up to 800 transactions per second (TPS) with a confirmation time of 64 seconds. This allows merchants to receive payments in milliseconds. Just like on Bitcoin, merchants can ultimately decide their transactions’ finality based on how many blocks have passed. Electra also removes the need for intermediaries between merchants and customers, providing for a leaner and more cost-effective process. No intermediaries mean more secure transactions as well, since the possibility of fraud is vastly reduced. 

Electra: Existing Products

Over the years, Electra has rolled out various products to realize its mission of more affordable and secure payments. Let’s look at each one by one. 

#1. ElectraPay

This is a tool that allows merchants from anywhere in the world to register and accept e-commerce payments. When they sign up, they generate an API key – a unique identifier that authenticates payment and billing requests. Currently, Electra supports the WooCommerce plugin. The WooCommerce plugin can be used on WordPress sites. 

With the plugin, a merchant can track the status of every order via the portal. They can also track their account information and update it if necessary. Finally, they can see all changes made in the order records and by whom. Transactions via the Electra network can be seen by both the merchant and the customer in near real-time. 

#2. Point-of-Sale System

Electra also supports a Point-of-Sale solution that’s directly linked to the ElectraPay merchant account. This integration allows the merchant to plug in on both the online and physical environments. 

User Benefits

The Electra protocol provides multiple benefits for users – whether active users or just fans of the project: 

  • Ability to join the community and contribute to the monetary value and market standing of the project and coin
  • Seamless installation of ElectraPay complete with a plugin for both online and offline environments
  • Enjoy safe and secure payments based on the NIST5 algorithm.
  • Negligible transaction fees of 0.00001% – way lower than debit or credit card options
  • Near real-time transactions with a 64 seconds confirmation time
  • Worldwide ATMs for easy integration with the Electra debit card
  • Zero exchange fees
  • Rewards upon staking Electra coin

Key Metrics of Electra Coin (ECA)

ECA is the native cryptocurrency of Electra. It plays a pivotal role in the ecosystem, from facilitating payments to staking. Let’s see the coin’s current market standing: 

As of October 16, ECA traded at $0.000173, with a market cap of $4,954,908 that placed it at #713. The coin had a 24-hour volume of $383.80, a circulating and total supply of 28,712,458,937, and 29,579,615,490, respectively. The coin’s all-time high was $0.010651 (Jan 04, 2018), while its all-time low was $0.000001 (Dec 01, 2017). 

Where to Buy and Store ECA

ECA is listed on several legit exchanges, including CoinFalcon, Crex24, HitBTC, Coindeal, STEX, Fatbtc, Altilly, and Coinbene. 

The Electra team provides several official wallets, including a Windows Wallet (32 and 64 bit), MacOs wallet, Linux/RPi wallet, and wallets for Android and iOS. The team also recommends these third-party wallets: Magnum, My Staking Wallet, Ellipal and Secux. 

Closing Thoughts

Electra is one of several blockchain projects that are making things easier for merchants all over the world. With near real-time settlements, fast speeds, and incredibly cheap transactions, it helps bring blockchain benefits to real-life use. Hopefully, projects like these can push blockchain to wider use and acceptance.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 2 – Ethereum’s Price Explodes; Bitcoin’s Whitepaper Celebrates its 12th Birthday

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility over the weekend as Bitcoin tried to break the $14,000 mark. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,735, representing a decrease of 0.13% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.12% on the day, while XRP gained 1.31%.

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility over the weekend as Bitcoin tried to break the $14,000 mark. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,735, representing a decrease of 0.13% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.12% on the day, while XRP gained 1.31%.

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility over the weekend as Bitcoin tried to break the $14,000 mark. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,735, representing a decrease of 0.13% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.12% on the day, while XRP gained 1.31%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

Taking a look at the top 100 cryptocurrencies, Ocean Protocol gained 20.20% in the past 24 hours, making it the crypto to gain the most in a day. Aave (10.97%) and Ox (8.84%) also did great. On the other hand, ABBC Coin lost 10.72%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by CyberVain’s loss of 7.62% and Ren’s loss of 3.92%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level had stayed at the same place since we last reported, with its value is currently 63.1%. This value represents a 0% difference when compared to the value it had on Friday.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has increased slightly over the weekend. Its current value is $404.52 billion, representing a $4.91 million increase compared to our previous report.

_______________________________________________________________________

What happened in the past 24 hours?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market cap had quite a volatile weekend, with its price breaking the $13,900 mark at one point and even reaching as high as $14,100. However, this price didn’t hold up, and Bitcoin fell back below $13,900, where it is consolidating at the moment. Bitcoin is now trading within a tight range, bound by $13,570 to the downside and $13,900 to the upside. History has shown us that BTC doesn’t stay range-bound for long; thus, we may expect a large move soon.

Traders should look for a trade when Bitcoin breaks one of its immediate resistances.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s overview on all time-frames is slightly bullish, with hints of neutrality. The neutrality is more present on the shorter time-frames as opposed to less neutrality on longer time-frames.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is far above its 50-period EMA and above its 21-period EMA
  • Price slightly above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (53.43)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,900                                 1: $13,570

2: $14,000                                 2: $13,180

3: $14,660                                  3: $12,870

Ethereum

Ethereum had spent the weekend slowly following the ascending channel bottom line until Sunday when its price bounced off and pushed past $400. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap managed to reach as high as $405 before pulling back and consolidating. The fight for $400 will continue, and it will decide if Ethereum will push towards $415 and $420 in the near future or not.

Traders should look for Ethereum’s break (or the failure to break) the $400 level and trade off of that.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s 4-hour technicals have changed to a strong buy after Ether’s price spike, while its daily, weekly, and monthly time-frames are all slightly bullish with hints of neutrality.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is far above both its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is close to being overbought (64.51)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $400                                     1: $378

2: $415                                     2: $371

3: $420                                      3: $361

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap spent the weekend consolidating below the $0.2454 level, which it has dropped below just before the weekend started. XRP tested both the $0.235 downside and $0.2454 upside, and both have proven to be strong support/resistance levels, which has left XRP range-bound.

XRP will take a lot of buying power to break above $0.2454 again, which means that the traders should consider trading sideways inside the range XRP is currently in.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s daily, weekly, and monthly technicals are all showing a strong tilt towards the sell-side, while its 4-hour overview is slightly bullish with hints of neutrality.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price below its 50-period EMA and above its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (50.10)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                     1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                   2: $0.235

3: $0.27                                    3: $0.227

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

BTC/USD Chart Overview + Possible Outcomes

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be looking at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be looking at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

In this weekly BTC /USD analysis, we will be looking at the most recent events, the current technical formations, as well as discussing possible outcomes.

Overview

Bitcoin has spent another week pushing towards the upside. This time, it has passed the resistance zone at ~13,200 and pushed further towards the 2019 yearly high of $13,900. Breaking this level signifies a crucial move towards reaching all-time highs as the zone between $13,900 and the $20,000 level has close to no volume, meaning that it is “air-filled.” The moves in this zone will include a lot of volatility due to people taking profits as well as FOMO-ing in.

Technical factors



Bitcoin has conquered the ~13,200 zone after a week of trading above it and a couple of retests. However, a new high is in sight, the 2019 yearly high of $13,900.

Bitcoin is booming with bullish indicators, with its downside being guarded by the 21-period moving average, as well as hash ribbons making a crossover into miner capitulation (a huge bullish signal).
Hash Ribbons are great for detecting market bottoms or preparations for another spike, and it is one of the indicators that has provided traders with the most stable and predictable returns (and with low drawdowns).

However, the technicals factors will have no effect on the strength of the move once it happens, and Bitcoin’s short-term direction will remain unclear until it confidently breaks or pulls back from the $13,900 level.

Likely Outcomes

Bitcoin has two main scenarios it can play out, which will depend on how the “fight” for $13,900 ends.
1: If it confirms its position above the level, we can expect the unexpected, as there is close to no sell pressure above. However, many will start taking profits so unexpected downswings might happen. With that being said, the most likely target after breaking $13,900 is $13,640, which is one of the small consolidation points which happened during the 2017/2018 spike.
2: The other scenario is just as likely, and involves Bitcoin rejecting $13,900, thus creating a double top and a short-term pullback. This pullback might end at the $13,200 zone, which historically has a lot of buy and sell pressure, or even further down towards $12,470.

We also have to note that, whichever of these scenarios play out, Bitcoin’s overall sentiment is extremely bullish and that investors that do not like trading should just stick with what they are comfortable with.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Alpha Finance Lab (ALPHA)?

DeFi is the hottest topic in the crypto and blockchain space now, and the reason it’s so popular is the countless benefits it affords users. Financial instruments have been a preserve of the top few elites for too long, and DeFi is set to change that. As of now, we have multiple DeFi projects aiming for the top spot in terms of offerings, user experience, and more. 

DeFi is the hottest topic in the crypto and blockchain space now, and the reason it’s so popular is the countless benefits it affords users. Financial instruments have been a preserve of the top few elites for too long, and DeFi is set to change that. As of now, we have multiple DeFi projects aiming for the top spot in terms of offerings, user experience, and more. 

DeFi is the hottest topic in the crypto and blockchain space now, and the reason it’s so popular is the countless benefits it affords users. Financial instruments have been a preserve of the top few elites for too long, and DeFi is set to change that. As of now, we have multiple DeFi projects aiming for the top spot in terms of offerings, user experience, and more. 

Less than a year old, Alpha Finance Lab is one of many DeFi contenders emerging. The Alpha tram wants to empower people to “reclaim control over their digital presence.” So what does it offer potential users? We answer that question in this article. 

Breaking Down Alpha Finance Lab 

Alpha Finance Lab is a DeFi ecosystem that will integrate various products and bring users the experience of different blockchains, starting with Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum. The Alpha team wants to “drive cross-chain DeFi and cross-chain liquidity through building interoperability among Alpha products and integrating with leading ecosystem partners to drive the next stage of DeFi.” 

The Alpha team wants to achieve the following: 

  • Sustainable yield generation upon users’ depositing of supported assets
  • Eliminate or reduce the risk if impermanent loss (IL)
  • Facilitate privacy-oriented asset exchange
  • Support lending with already-provisioned interest rates 

Alpha: Existing Products 

The Alpha platform is building a mix of products that will be interoperable across Binance Chain and Ethereum and will support more blockchain platforms in the future. With that, let’s look at the platform’s current offerings: 

#1. Lending

Alpha supports lending through its Alpha Lending protocol. On the protocol, users can earn interest by depositing supported assets. Deposited assets will be transferred into a smart contract that will allow users to borrow money for trading. When borrowers pay back interest, it will be pooled and proportionately awarded to liquidity providers depending on their contribution. 

If you want to be a lender, they can deposit any of the supported tokens, e.g., Ethereum, into the protocol. After this, you’ll receive aITokens (such as aIETH), which are interest-generating tokens that will represent your share of the deposited ETH. 

#2. Borrowing

If you wish to borrow from the Alpha protocol, you first have to deposit supported assets as collateral. After that, you’ll receive aITokens. Assets eligible for collateralization have been assigned a Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio. Let’s say the LTV for ETH is 70%. If you deposit ETH as collateral, you can borrow any asset in the pool and up to 70% of the value of the ETH you deposited. 

#3. Interest rate 

The interest rate will be determined by the asset’s utilization rate; in other words, the amount of deposited assets that have been borrowed. The bigger the utilization rate, the higher the interest rate. 

#4. Risk and Liquidation

Risk of liquidation is when the total value of the assets you borrow exceeds the maximum value you can take. Due to the volatility of cryptocurrencies, it’s recommended that you borrow at a lower value than the maximum value you can borrow. This will cushion you against the risk of liquidation. 

#5. Alpha Homora 

This is a protocol that allows users to leverage their position in liquidity mining pools. As a user, you can participate in the protocol as a yield farmer, lender, or liquidator. You can also participate by finding bugs in the protocol for which you’ll earn rewards. 

ALPHA Token 

ALPHA is the native cryptocurrency of the Alpha protocol, and it has the following current and planned roles: 

  • Liquidity mining: Users can earn ALPHA tokens for providing liquidity to the platform
  • Staking: Token holders can stake ALPHA tokens and get a share of the platform’s revenue
  • Governance: ALPHA token holders can participate in the governance of the platform by voting on project proposals

The Alpha token was distributed in the following manner: 

  • Binance launchpad sale tokens: 10%
  • Binance launchpool tokens: 5%
  • Private sale tokens: 13.33%
  • Liquidity mining tokens: 20%
  • Team and advisors’ tokens: 15%
  • Ecosystem tokens: 36.67%

Community Strategies of Alpha Finance Lab

The Alpha team intends to conduct several strategies to expand the growth of the project. 

These strategies include: 

  • Hosting and co-hosting DeFi conferences and related events to engage with potential users
  • Publishing blog posts every two weeks to update the community on technical updates
  • Engaging with the community via social media channels 

Future strategies include: 

  • Launching the Alpha Finance Lab Program to promote partnerships with similar projects
  • Launching yield farming programs 
  • Launching joint yield farming programs with other industry players

Key Metrics

The ALPHA token was trading at $0.034681 on October 16, 2020. It had a 24-hour volume of $2,489,546, an all-time high of $0.106884 (October 10, 2020), and an all-time low of $0.033573 (October 16, 2020) per Coinmarketcap. 

Where to Buy Alpha Tokens 

ALPHA has been listed on Coinone, Binance, and VCC Exchange. 

Closing Thoughts 

The Alpha team wants to push DeFi to the next level by focusing on cross-chain interoperability. Like many other DeFi protocols, Alpha provides an opportunity for people everywhere to make money by simply staking in crypto. The project is still young, so let’s see its future innovations. 

Categories
Crypto Guides

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

Introduction

Introduction

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.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

What’s PIVX All About?

Bitcoin has inspired thousands of cryptocurrencies. At the moment, there are 7,434 cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap. Each cryptocurrency comes with aspirations of being better than the last one in one way or another. Others want to solve the issues inherent with Bitcoin, such as lack of complete privacy, scalability issues, etc. 

Bitcoin has inspired thousands of cryptocurrencies. At the moment, there are 7,434 cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap. Each cryptocurrency comes with aspirations of being better than the last one in one way or another. Others want to solve the issues inherent with Bitcoin, such as lack of complete privacy, scalability issues, etc. 

Bitcoin has inspired thousands of cryptocurrencies. At the moment, there are 7,434 cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap. Each cryptocurrency comes with aspirations of being better than the last one in one way or another. Others want to solve the issues inherent with Bitcoin, such as lack of complete privacy, scalability issues, etc. 

PIVX is one of such cryptocurrencies. Launched in 2016, PIVX was the first to use a two-tier staking reward model and both cold and hot staking. 

This article explores the PIVX protocol and what innovations it brings to the space. We’ll also see its native token and how it fits in the puzzle.

Understanding PIVX

PIVX, Private Instant Verified Transaction (Tx), is a decentralized, Proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptocurrency dedicated to privacy, fungibility, community governance, and real-world utilization. PIVX wants to achieve this with the power of several key characteristics: 

#1. Dash/Bitcoin core source-code: The PIVX protocol is forked off of the source code for Dash, which in itself forked off Bitcoin’s source code. Dash’s code is fortified with a tailored PoS algorithm and an enhanced privacy protocol.

#2. Customized PoS algorithm: PIVX’s improved PoS is intended to achieve true decentralization while using as little energy as possible. This PoS also implements a community governance system to be “the ultimate people’s fungible cryptocurrency.” After transitioning from Proof of Work (PoW), PIVX has solely relied on PoS to generate new blocks. Block generation is done by holders of the PIVX token

#3. Masternode network: PIVX features a second-tier network of masternodes through which users can set up specialized full-node wallets if they stake in at least 10,000 of PIVX tokens. The masternodes are entitled to network governance, a role for which they are rewarded with more PIVX. All payouts are done in a completely decentralized manner.

How Does PIVX Differ From Other Blockchain Networks? 

PIVX distinguishes itself from other blockchain networks with the following characteristics: 

#1. Private and Public Staking:

PIVX utilizes a customized Proof of Stake model in which users can stake in PIVX using both hot and cold wallets. Through this, users can mint new tokens and get rewards. Masternodes are also rewarded for every new block that’s minted.

#2. Cold Staking: 

This feature allows users to store coins in one wallet, with the possibility of delegating those coins for staking by another node. This means a staker can have their wallets online and still stake without necessarily having spending access to the coins. Cold staking ensures security for coins and ensures the user can still stake and get rewards even if their coins are stored offline.

#3. Sapling

This is a faster and more efficient replacement for the Zerocoin protocol. 

#4. PIVX Foundation:

PIVX features its own legal footprint, which supports the project legally and financially. The foundation stepped in in 2019 as a subset of the Sustainable Development Goals Impact Fund (SDG) – a Public Charity Donor Advised Fund (DAF). This DAF is the only one in the US that’s not controlled by a bank, uses cryptocurrency, and is focused on helping advance the United Nations’ SDGs. 

How to Stake PIVX

There are two ways to stake PIVX (PIV). One is hot staking, which involves installing PIVX’s core desktop wallet and unlocking it in Staking Only mode. When you deposit coins, they’ll start when they gain 600 confirmations. Hot staking requires that the wallet be online for the process to take place. 

The other method is cold staking, which can be done by installing the core desktop wallet, depositing crypto, and delegating the staking of those coins via the Cold Staking tab to an offline staking address. That address could either be your own wallet or one belonging to a third-party cold staking service provider.

Specs of the PIVX Token 

  • Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm (both hot and cold staking)
  • Block size of 2 MB
  • Block time of 60 seconds (which re-targets after every block)
  • 173 transactions per second (TPS)
  • Stake-able, with rewards for ownership
  • Masternode support upon staking 10,000 PIV

Key Metrics 

As of October 16, the PIVX token traded at $0.368337, ata market cap of $20, 914, 580, placing it at #337. PIVX has a 24-hour volume of $705, 146, and a circulating and total supply of 56, 781,166. The token’s all-time high was $9.20 (Jan 23, 2018), while its all-time low was $0.000422 (Feb 16, 2016), per Coinmarketcap.

Where to Buy and Store PIV

Today, you can find PIV listed on a variety of exchanges as a market pair of BTC, KRW, ETH, EUR and USDT. Some of the exchanges include Binance, Finexbox, VCC Exchange, Bithumb, Bittrex, KuCoin, Graviex, YoBit, LiteBite.eu, Birake Network, HotBit, Txbit, and VALR. 

You can hold PIV tokens in the PIVX core wallet (Desktop), PIVX Light wallet (desktop), Ledger Nano S (hardware), PIVX Mobile, Coinomi (Mobile/Desktop), and Satowallet (Desktop/Mobile/Web). 

Final Thoughts

PIVX manages to provide something novel for the crypto space, whether its pioneering the Zerocoin protocol or supporting both cold and hot staking. However, its place in the market is not exactly enviable at this point, and if it means to stay relevant, it will need to up its game or risk being relegated to oblivion. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Secalot wallet Review: Is It The Safest Hardware Wallet Yet?

Secalot is an all-in-one, security-focused crypto hardware wallet developed and launched into the Crypto market in 2017. It takes the form of a USB dongle that packs a wide range of operational, security, and privacy features. Unlike most USB-like hardware wallets characterized by an OLED on-device screen, Secalot uses a remote screen. It nevertheless has two buttons for authentication of crypto transactions.

Secalot hardware crypto wallet

Secalot is an all-in-one, security-focused crypto hardware wallet developed and launched into the Crypto market in 2017. It takes the form of a USB dongle that packs a wide range of operational, security, and privacy features. Unlike most USB-like hardware wallets characterized by an OLED on-device screen, Secalot uses a remote screen. It nevertheless has two buttons for authentication of crypto transactions.

Secalot is an all-in-one, security-focused crypto hardware wallet developed and launched into the Crypto market in 2017. It takes the form of a USB dongle that packs a wide range of operational, security, and privacy features. Unlike most USB-like hardware wallets characterized by an OLED on-device screen, Secalot uses a remote screen. It nevertheless has two buttons for authentication of crypto transactions.

Most of Secalot hardware wallet features are spread between the USB dongle and its software/mobile app companions. We will detail them all in this Secalot hardware wallet review, outline the step-by-step guide on how to activate the crypto vault, vet its ease of use, and list its pros and cons.

Secalot wallet key features

Remote screen: Given that the Sacelot hardware device doesn’t have an on-screen device, it relies heavily on a remote screen hosted on the Sacelot mobile app. This lets you view and manage your digital assets, though the private keys never leave the hardware device.

OpenPGP smart card: Secalot’s unique design equips you with the capability to perform cryptographic actions using the OpenPGP smart card. These include file encryption and signing, logging into computers under Linux, signing and encrypting email,  as well as encrypting hard disks using TrueCrypt.

On-device buttons: The USB, like Secalot hardware wallet dongle, features two on-device buttons that are used to not only navigate the wallet but also authorize outbound crypto transfers.

Compatible with MyEtherWallet: Though the Secalot wallet is a multi-currency wallet, it is biased towards the Ethereum blockchain network, as evidenced by the fact that it is compatible with MyEtherWallet.

Portfolio tracker: The Secalot wallet app also features balance and transaction history tabs that let you monitor your digital assets portfolio in real-time.

Secalot wallet security features

PIN-protected: Secalot hardware wallet is secured and encrypted with a PIN code.

Recovery seed: When activating the wallet and creating a user account, you will be presented with a 24-word recovery seed to restore lost wallets and recover private keys.

U2F + OTP: The hardware wallet hosts the Universal Second Factor (U2F) feature that can be used to generate the one-time-passcode (OTP) for signing into sensitive websites like Google, GitHub, Facebook, NextCloud, and numerous other websites. This features compliments (and can be used alongside) Google’s Authenticator app.

Hierarchically deterministic: Secalot is a hierarchically deterministic hardware wallet that auto-generates a new wallet address for each transaction. This privacy feature helps throw crypto trackers off.

Open source: The Secalot hardware wallet, software, and app are all open-sourced. You can download to view, audit, or suggest improvement on this source code from the official Secalot wallet website or their GitHub page.

Non-Custodial + Cold storage: Secalot is a non-custodial wallet that stores your private keys and other personal data in the cold offline storage – the USB like dongle device. You have absolute control over these private keys.

Encrypted communication: All Secalot hardware wallet communications with third-party systems and Secalot wallet app/software are highly encrypted. They communicate via the ultra-safe SSL/TLS channel that eliminates the possibility of a man-in-the-middle hack.

How to set and activate the Secalot wallet (Bitcoin or Ethereum wallet)

How to activate a Secalot Bitcoin wallet

Step 1: Start by downloading the modified version of the Electrum wallet on Secalot’s official website.

Step 2: Install and launch the Electrum Wallet.

Step 3: On the initializing page, click on “Create New Wallet” and create a unique user name for your crypto wallet.

Step 4: Chose the type of wallet you want to create (between a standard wallet and a Multi-signature wallet)

Step 5: Connect the Secalot hardware device and copy the 24-word recovery seed generated.

Step 6: Create a PIN Code for your hardware wallet device

Step 7: The wallet is now active and ready to use

How to activate a Secalot Ethereum wallet

Step 1: After purchasing the Secalot hardware device, open their official website and download the modified MyEtherWallet

Step 2: Follow the installation prompts as dictated by the “Secalot Control Panel GUI.”

Step 3: Connect the hardware wallet device.

Step 4: Copy the 24-word recovery seed generated.

Step 5: Create a PIN code for the hardware wallet

Step 6: The Secalot Ethereum wallet is now active and ready to use

How to add/receive crypto into your Secalot wallet

Step 1: Log in to the modified Secalot account you want to use, Electrum for Bitcoin or MyEtherWallet for Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens

Step 2:  On the user dashboard, click on the receive button

Step 3:  Copy the wallet address or the QR code displayed by the deposit window and forward it to the party sending you coins.

Step 4: Wait for the coin to reflect on your account.

How to send crypto from your Secalot wallet

Step 1: Log in to the modified Secalot account you want to use, Electrum for Bitcoin or MyEtherWallet for Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens

Step 2: Click the “Send” icon on the user dashboard.

Step 3: Enter the wallet address for the recipient and the number of coins you want to send

Step 4: Confirm the transaction and hit send.

Step 5: Connect the Secalot hardware dongle into the computer and log in by keying in the PIN code.

Step 6: Authorize the transaction

Secalot wallet ease of use

Though Secalot hardware wallet stacks a ton of features and advanced security protocols, it isn’t user-friendly, especially to crypto beginners. We consider its onboarding process quite complicated, especially since it requires you to download, setup, and maintain two different online wallets to store two cryptocurrencies and a handful of Eth-tokens.

Further, the multilingual hardware wallet fails to integrate such basic features as a crypto exchange or swap platform.

Secalot wallet supported currencies.

Secalot hardware will only support Bitcoins, Ethereum, and ERC-20 token. Note that the two popular cryptos are also hosted on different Secalot wallets.

Secalot wallet cost and fees

You can order a Secalot hardware wallet from its official website. It currently retails at €50.

When sending Bitcoins or Ethereum and the ERC-20 tokens to another wallet or exchange, you will have to part with a variable transaction fee collected by blockchain miners and administrators.

Secalot wallet customer support

There are two primary ways of accessing the Secalot hardware wallet’s customer support team. You can choose to send them an email or direct message them on Facebook and Twitter.

What are the pros and cons of using the Secalot wallet?

Pros:

  • Secalot is highly secure as it embraces advanced security features.
  • Advanced features.
  • It is competitively priced.
  • The hardware wallet is highly transparent in that its source code is fully open-sourced.
  • Secalot is highly versatile and available as a hardware dongle and software wallet app.

Cons:

  • Secalot hardware wallet relies on third-party wallets like electrum and MyrEtherWallet.
  • It supports a limited number of coins.
  • The hardware wallet packaging doesn’t include a user manual/installation guide.

Comparing Secalot wallet with other hardware wallets

Secalot wallet vs. Trezor hardware wallet

Secalot and Trezor hardware wallets share more than a commitment to the safety and privacy, and integrity of their client funds. They both are also characterized by ultra-light hardware dongles and highly intuitive user interfaces. Moreover, they have embraced several high advanced operational and security protocols like the recovery seed, two-factor authentication, and maintaining offline cold storage for client private keys.

But while the Trezor Wallet has a relatively easy and straightforward setup process, Secalot Wallet’s activation process is rather complex. Furthermore, Trexor Wallet supports a broader range of cryptocurrencies and tokens (1000+), while Secalot will only support two digital currencies.

Verdict: Is Secalot Wallet safe?

Yes, Secalot is a considerably safe hardware wallet. Not just because your private keys and all other data stored never leaves their offline storage but also because of the numerous and highly advanced security and privacy measures the wallet developers have put in place. For instance, they ensured that the wallet is hierarchically deterministic and provided the option of setting up a multi-signature wallet. It serves as a U2F authenticator, and both its firmware and software are fully open-sourced.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Oct 30 – Bitcoin Bounces Back Above $13,500; XRP Breaks Crucial Support Level

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility today but ended the day with close to no gains. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,561, representing an increase of 2.50% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.01% on the day, while XRP lost 1.12%.

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility today but ended the day with close to no gains. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,561, representing an increase of 2.50% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.01% on the day, while XRP lost 1.12%.

The cryptocurrency sector was full of volatility today but ended the day with close to no gains. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,561, representing an increase of 2.50% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.01% on the day, while XRP lost 1.12%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

None of the top100 cryptocurrencies gained much over the course of the day. NEM gained 3.57% in the past 24 hours, making it the crypto to gain the most in a day. Celsius (2.68%) and FTX Token (2.63%) also did great. On the other hand, yearn.finance lost 16.68%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by Ocean Protocol’s loss of 16.06% and Reserve Rights’ loss of 15.74%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level had increased since we last reported, with its value is currently 63.1%. This value represents a 0.8% difference to the upside when compared to when we last reported.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has increased slightly in the past 24 hours. Its current value is $399.63 billion, representing a $6.58billion increase compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had quite a volatile day, with its price bouncing back from the $13,180 resistance and pushing up. While the price has reached ~$13,700 level, it has pulled back since, currently contesting the $13,570 resistance.

Traders should look at Bitcoin contesting the $13,570 level and trade in whichever direction the price confirms its move in.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s 4-hour and weekly overviews are neutral bullish, while its daily and monthly overviews are tilted towards the buy-side with close to no neutrality.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is far above its 50-period EMA and above its 21-period EMA
  • Price slightly above its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is ascending towards overbought (59.94)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,570                                 1: $13,180

2: $13,900                                 2: $12,870

3: $14,000                                  3: $12,500

Ethereum

Ethereum had, just like Bitcoin, quite a volatile day today. Its price first bounced off of the ascending channel bottom line, which prompted a push towards $395 before falling yet again. As things stand now, the leg down is still not over yet, and Ethereum is yet to decide whether it will change its course towards the upside or break the channel down.

Traders should look for Ethereum’s response to the bottom channel line and trade in continuation to where it chooses to go.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals on all time-frames except for the 4-hour one are tilted towards the buy-side, with hints of neutrality. On the other hand, its 4-hour time-frame is tilted towards the sell-side with slight hints of neutrality.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is below its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is between its middle and bottom Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (40.64)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $400                                     1: $378

2: $415                                     2: $371

3: $420                                      3: $361

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap had a bad day, as its price dropped below the crucial $0.2454 support level. XRP tried to recover and went above it at one point but failed to keep the price above the level, therefore triggering another push towards $0.24, where it is currently consolidating.

It is hard to say how traders should look at XRP, though the outlook is certainly bearish. Any push towards the upside will almost certainly result from Bitcoin making a large move towards the upside.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals are uniformed in its bearishness, with the 1-day and monthly overviews showing a bit more neutrality than the others.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price well below both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly above its bottom Bollinger band
  • RSI is near oversold (35.97)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                 1: $0.235

2: $0.26                                     2: $0.227

3: $0.266                                  3: $0.221

 

Categories
Crypto Videos

New Wave Of Crypto Banks Will Destroy Fiat Banks in 3 years!

https://youtu.be/YIhyb6yRInI

https://youtu.be/YIhyb6yRInI

“Crypto Banks Will Eat Fiat Banks in 3 years — or even less” – Opinions of a CEO


Mark Binns, the CEO of BIGG Digital Assets Inc., believes that the future of crypto will be a bit different than what most people think. He believes that the crypto sector will become a safe, compliant, and regulated environment. He voiced his opinions in an article published by Cointelegraph, where he spoke of the future of crypto he imagines.
Binns said that a future where customers are going to be able to walk into any bank and gain access to credit products, investments, and savings accounts that can host both crypto-assets and fiat assets.

Kraken, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange giant, has become the first-ever cryptocurrency business in the US to become a bank. At the moment, being an officially chartered bank would mean that Kraken will be able to offer even more banking and funding options to existing customers than it is offering now. It also means Kraken Financial will be able to operate in multiple jurisdictions without any fear of having to deal with state-by-state compliance.

Kraken is currently working with Silvergate Bank in hopes of offering its US customers SWIFT and FedWire funding options. More and more partnerships such as this one will become the status quo in the future. Binns is calling out traditional banks, saying that now is the time for the ones lagging behind to start paying attention to the market development.


Silvergate Bank is one step ahead of the rest at the moment, as it is currently having almost 900 digital asset companies as clients. Those clients have made deposits of over $1.5 billion with the bank. While this is still a small amount of money in relative terms, clients dipping their toes in the crypto sector will almost certainly choose this bank. Consumers will most likely define a “full service” bank as one that offers financial services in fiat as well as crypto.

Blockchain forensics tools

 

Just like crime scene investigators can use a black light or fingerprint powder to detect all kinds of evidence, blockchain forensics investigators can do similarly to Bitcoin and other blockchains. People claiming that Bitcoin is completely private has been dispelled again and again. In fact, blockchain-based cryptocurrencies are much more open to investigative methods than regular fiat currencies. Binns said that, as it is certainly possible to uncover blockchain transactions’ origins, blockchain will become a part of the traditional banking system rather than “putting banks out of business.”

Blockchain forensics tools already exist. They allow investigators to follow digital paper trails across multiple addresses, wallets, transactions, blockchains, and other digital entities, all by using clustering and heuristics techniques. Companies in the blockchain forensics space are developing proprietary searching algorithms designed specifically to detect concealed funds’ origins. On the other hand, traditional fiat is still the currency of choice for most money laundering professionals, simply because it is very hard to track.

DeFi is not for everyone


The decentralized finance sector has been the hot topic of the crypto sector for a while now, as it holds virtually endless promise. While yield farming may be all the rage, the DeFi sector is so much more than just that.
Some examples of DeFi usage are:
 Allowing you to take technical and fundamental trading advice from experienced traders and only pay a fee if the call is correct.
 You can put your capital into various digital investment portfolios without having to pay fees to mutual funds.
 Investors can hold derivatives of their desired cryptocurrencies without having to switch between blockchains.
These innovations are just some of the opportunities that DeFi provides. As the market continues to mature, more DeFi projects will allow us to do things that we aren’t even thinking about right now.

However, there is one fundamental problem with all the benefits decentralized finance provides: the average banking customer isn’t going to engage with DeFi protocols for decades. While the most avid crypto enthusiast knows how to dig up the contract address of an ERC-20 token, then trade it on decentralized exchanges, and then invest that token through lending platforms or liquidity pools, the average person will still likely want to talk to a banker from time to time. On top of that, governments around the world are already working on their own government-backed digital currencies, which the average consumer will go for instead of DeFi, at least at first, and simply due to the trust people have in the government.

What if banks don’t comply?

Binns said that any bank that is still approaching cryptocurrency with fear over the next 18 months is at great risk of finding itself dead in the water, while Kraken and other banks that enter the market will create a huge advantage for themselves.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Everything You Need to Know About RCHAIN (REV)

We always hear how blockchain is poised to change the world. But in reality, the technology hasn’t really penetrated the real world in any significant way. The reason for this is flaws within the original blockchain setup, such as low scalability.

We always hear how blockchain is poised to change the world. But in reality, the technology hasn’t really penetrated the real world in any significant way. The reason for this is flaws within the original blockchain setup, such as low scalability.

We always hear how blockchain is poised to change the world. But in reality, the technology hasn’t really penetrated the real world in any significant way. The reason for this is flaws within the original blockchain setup, such as low scalability.

RCHAIN is a project that wants to bring blockchain to real-life utilization. The RCHAIN team has big dreams, such as solving the unprecedented problems of our time. But how does it intend to do this? We’ll examine that in this article. 

Understanding RCHAIN

Launched in 2016, RCHAIN is a blockchain-based effort that wants to solve the problems of lack of scalability, low speeds, and safety in the current blockchain. The RCHAIN team believes that these and other shortcomings hinder the mainstream success of blockchain and that the blockchain concept needs to be rethought.

For that end, the RCHAIN team has imagined a better design for blockchain: 

#1. Speed 

RCHAIN can support the processing of up to tens of thousands of transactions per second (TPS). The initial goal was 40,000 transactions, and the ultimate goal is 100,000 TPS. 

#2. Developer Tools

The RCHAN team will avail developer tools unparalleled by any current offerings in the space. Developers of all backgrounds and coding languages will easily acclimatize to the platform.

#3. RCHAIN Cooperative

RCHAIN Cooperative is a public entity comprising RCHAIN developers, investors, and users. Through the outfit, members can access and interact with the open-source blockchain. The RCHAIN Cooperative offers a climate of community, giving members the ability to contribute to the platform’s future.

#4. Trust

RCHAIN will empower developers from everywhere to create more secure, scalable, fast, and fraud-proof decentralized solutions.

RCHAIN: Goals

Aided by these functionalities, the RCHAIN team wants to achieve the following goals: 

  • Provide solutions for the most challenging global solutions and crises
  • Achieve unprecedented scalability and speed to solve the biggest issues of our time
  • Unlock blockchain solutions to empower people to work in a holistic fashion
  • Connect with thriving communities to unlock solutions for complex global challenges

How RCHAIN Works 

The RCHAIN network was built with scalability in mind. It can support multiple blockchains at once, secured through a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. RCHAIN provides support for both public and private blockchains. With that, let’s see some of the core features of the platform: 

#1. Rho Virtual Machine Environment

RCHAIN features the Rho Virtual Machine Execution Environment, which lends speed and scalability to the platform’s applications. The Execution Environment can run several Rho Virtual Machines simultaneously. The Rho Virtual Machines are also capable of creating replicas of themselves to handle extra loads. 

RCHAIN has a multi-chain architecture that enables its blockchain to operate in a coordinated and parallel manner. Each virtual machine can also execute an independent set of smart contracts on a yet independent set of blockchain networks. 

#2. Smart Contracts

The RCHAIN platform uses its proprietary smart contract language – Rholang, which is short for reflective higher-order language. Rholang supports internal concurrent programming and allows contracts to be fast and versatile. 

RCHAIN’s smart contracts have to go through a verification process to make them highly scalable before being compiled and executed by the Rho Virtual Machine.

#3. Namespaces

RCHAIN is different from other blockchains that use public keys to distinguish virtual identities. RCHAIN achieves this by dividing its virtual address space into namespaces. In very general terms, a namespace is a set of named channels that can report a particular network resource location.

Namespaces enable smart contracts on one blockchain to be visible by system contracts on other network parts. Namespaces also allow developers to come up with various security tools and protocols for the network.

The RCHAIN Cooperative

The RCHAIN Cooperative is a development and governance platform for the community. Members of the entity are fully responsible for the open-source platform, and they can offer and implement suggestions and updates for the platform. 

Anyone can join the Cooperative after paying a one-time membership fee of $20. This fair amount was chosen so that people of all financial backgrounds can join it and that in the spirit of decentralization, there’s not a barrier for joining. 

Joining the Cooperative gives you the following benefits: 

  • Ability to join and interact with other community members on RCHAIN’s Discord channels
  • Ability to participate in governance
  • Ability to vote on project proposals and budget allocations in a fair process of one vote per member, regardless of how many REV tokens they possess

The Cooperative has a Board of Directors, where different board seats have different term lengths of one, two, and three years. 

RChain Use Cases 

RCHAIN can support countless applications of many types, including but not limited to, the following: 

  • Wallets
  • Exchanges
  • Oracles and external adapters
  • Custom protocols
  • Smart contracts
  • Smart properties
  • Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)
  • Social forums
  • Marketplaces 

The RCHAIN Team

The RCHAIN team is composed of a team of diverse backgrounds. The core team members are:

Founder Greg Meredith, who is also co-founder, board member, and president of the Cooperative. Meredith has thirty-plus years of experience with thought-leading tech projects. He was also the leading architect behind key projects for Microsoft and AT&T. 

Eykhholt is a co-founder and board member of the Cooperative, having under his belt more than thirty years of experience in the tech industry. He has been the principal architect of multiple tech projects in various companies, including Microsoft and Alston Grid. Eykhholt is also the founder of LivelyGig.

Board member and CEO of the Cooperative Kenny Rowe has years of experience in blockchain governance community building. Rowe is also the head of operations at MakerDAO and is a senior consultant of Coin Fund. 

Secretary and General Council Evan Jensen has experience in crypto-related law. Jensen holds a J.D. and Master’s in law from Seattle University. 

CFO Lisa Rice has twenty-plus years of experience in finance, from planning to accounting to corporate treasury.

RHOC, REV, and RCHAIN’s Private Token Sale 

RCHAIN held a private token sale on August 29, 2017, hitting a high of $15 million in under two weeks. 

RHOC tokens were selling at $0.2. While the sale did not have a maximum purchase cap, it had a cap on the highest amount – $50,000. 

RHOC tokens were ERC20 tokens before the mainnet launch. After RCHAIN moved to its own mainnet, RCHAIN token holders had to convert them into REV at a rate of 1:1. 

REV tokens play several roles in the ecosystem, including:

  • Staking
  • As payment for transaction fees
  • Facilitate the deployment of smart contracts
  • As a governance mechanism for the DAO

Tokenomics of REV

As of October 15, 2020, the Rchain token traded at $0.020066, with a 24-hour high and low of $0.021509 and $0. 019151, with a 24-hour volume of $256,578, a market cap of $9,689,508, and a market rank of #496. REV has a circulating and total supply of 482,890,386 and 870,663,574, respectively. 

REV tokens can be bought at MXC, Uniswap, CryptalDash, HotBit, and many more exchanges. 

Closing Thoughts

RCHAIN wants to not only improve blockchain but also bring it to solve real-life issues. The project’s team seems to know their stuff, and they seem to have quite forward-looking features and ideas. If the project keeps innovating and succeeds, it will be good for the blockchain space and society. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Introducing Flamingo (FLM): A Beginner’s Guide

As DeFi becomes more and more of an indispensable idea, blockchain platforms are rushing to capitalize on the wave. DeFi provides endless opportunities for users: lucrative gains on staking, instant borrowing, fraud-proof transactions, and more. 

As DeFi becomes more and more of an indispensable idea, blockchain platforms are rushing to capitalize on the wave. DeFi provides endless opportunities for users: lucrative gains on staking, instant borrowing, fraud-proof transactions, and more. 

As DeFi becomes more and more of an indispensable idea, blockchain platforms are rushing to capitalize on the wave. DeFi provides endless opportunities for users: lucrative gains on staking, instant borrowing, fraud-proof transactions, and more. 

Blockchain platforms are now incorporating DeFi to not just accord users more value but also to remain relevant. Neo, the blockchain platform founded in China, is one of the latest to integrate DeFi in its offerings. 

Neo’s DeFi platform is known as Flamingo, and it stepped into the space just September this year. This article will bring into focus everything you need to know about the platform. 

Understanding Flamingo

Flamingo (flamingo.finance) is a decentralized finance protocol built atop the Neo blockchain. The platform integrates various modules to offer a comprehensive DeFi architecture, where users can take part as traders, stakers, borrowers, and liquidity providers. Flamingo is a pillar of the Neo DeFi’s ecosystem, and it comes with innovative solutions for the space such as the following:

#1. Friction and lack of cross-chain interoperability: Flamingo will be powered by the Poly Network to support cross-chain asset transfer, ensuring single market limitations are a thing of the past

#.2 Limited efficiency due to fragmented capital sources and overcollaterization: Flamingo will integrate the automated market maker (AMM) protocol and collateral asset pool, which will ensure capital is utilized to the maximum

#3. Short community participation periods: Flamingo will incentivize users with FLM tokens to reward them for their participation in the community

Project Features

The Flamingo platform will be guided by these three key elements: 

#1. Interoperability

Flamingo will heavily feature interoperability, a factor that lacks in most DeFi platforms. Through the Neo-owned interoperability protocol Poly Network, Flamingo will be collected with various blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Ontology, and Cosmos-SDK. Flamingo users can capitalize on this interoperability to access more assets within a broader DeFi ecosystem. 

#2. Capital Efficiency

Flamingo is designed to integrate its Swap feature’s liquidity pool with Vault’s collateral pool. In the existing AMM decentralized exchanges, capital efficiency is usually held back by Liquidity Provider (LP) tokens, which causes some AMMs to be provisioned way below the baseline. 

Flamingo will maximize capital efficiency by letting liquidity providers stake LP tokens in Vault while simultaneously minting Flamingo USD (FUSD).

#3. Fair Launch

Flamingo will distribute FLM tokens as transparently as possible, with no pre-mine launch or some reserved for the team. The community will decide the long-term distribution formula via voting.

Flamingo: Components

Flamingo is defined by several core features, which are: 

#1. Wrapper

This is a multi-chain asset gateway for blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Neo, Ontology, and Cosmos-SDK. You can wrap tokens like BTC, ETH, NEO, USDT, and ONT , upon which they’ll become NEP-5 tokens (nETH, nNEO, nUSDT, nONT, and so on.) You can also unwrap tokens back to their original form. 

#2. Swap

Swap is Flamingo’s automated market maker and makes wrapped assets, FLM, and NEP-5 tokens. The swap works much like Uniswap by adopting the Constant Product Market Maker (CPMM) model. On Swap, users can exchange tokens or provide liquidity to a quality pool of their choice by simply depositing tokens. 

#3.Vault

This an asset manager by the Flamingo team. On Vault, users can stake in NEP-5 assets and get FLM token rewards. 

#5. FUSD

This is a synthetic stablecoin mintable by users. FUSD is pegged to the price of the US dollar. Users will be offered FLM that’s in proportion to the amount of FUSD minted. 

#6. Perp

This is an AMM-based contract exchange. Just like on Swap, traders can exchange perpetual contracts using the CPMM model, this time with a ten times average. Stakers need to deposit FUSD, upon which they’ll receive FLM as rewards. 

#7. DAO

DAO is a protocol for governance on the Flamingo platform. The Flamingo team intends for decision-making to be taken over by the community. Cabinet members can contribute to the platform using Flamingo Improvement Proposals and Flamingo Configuration Change Proposals. On the DAO, FLM token holders can vote on critical decisions such as increasing/decreasing tokens, software upgrades, parameter configurations, etc. Voters who contribute to governance are awarded FLM tokens. 

What’s Flamincome?

Flamincome is Flamingo’s dedicated platform for the new trend in DeFi, known as liquidity mining. Flamincome provides pretty much the same services as in Yearn.Finance (YFI). The tool features both an optimizer and normalizer. An optimizer increases yield by converting original assets (USD, USDC, DAI, ETH, wBTC, wETH, etc) to interest-focused assets (fUSDT, fUSDC, fDAI, fwETH, fwBTC, etc). 

A normalizer changes back interest-bearing assets into original assets. Interest-bearing assets such as fUSDT, fUSDC, fDAI, fwETH, fwBTC, etc are changed into synthetic assets (nUSDT, nUSDC, nDAI, nwETH, nwBTC, etc). This conversion takes place on a 1:1 peg ratio to the underlying asset. The synthetic assets can be used in other DeFi platforms for more yield farming. 

Is Flamingo Audited?

Yes, the Flamingo platform is audited. Several independent auditing outfits have audited various stacks of the platform: 

  1. Normalizer contracts on Flamincome: PeckShield and Red4Sec
  2. Flamingo contracts: PeckShield
  3. Poly Network: Certik 
  4. Poly Network Neo contracts: PeckShield
What are the Risks of Interacting with the Flamingo Platform? 

While Flamingo is thoroughly audited, mistakes/bugs are bound to occur. While there’s no inherent risk in Vault’s staking process, using the Swap module can set you up for impermanent loss (IL). 

However, as Neo founder Da Hongfei noted, this risk is often overestimated: “Only by providing liquidity to Swap may you bear IL. After all, IL is not as terrible as many people think. To provide liquidity to a trading pair A/B, after a period of time if the price of A has fallen by 50% relative to B. How much do you estimate the impermanent loss to be? The answer is 5.72%. This means you would only lose 5.72% by providing liquidity compared to holding A/B in your wallet. That’s not as bad as most people’s intuition.”

How is the Flamingo Platform Secured? 

The Flamingo network is NEP-5-compliant. NEP-5 is Neo’s token compatibility standard, which means Flamingo is secured by the underlying Neo blockchain. Neo itself is secured by SHA-256 (the hash algorithm that secures Bitcoin) and RIPEMD-160 hash function. 

Community Growth Strategies of Flamingo

The Flamingo team intends to implement several strategies to expand the growth of the community. These strategies include the following: 

  • Conducting physical marketing events and meetups
  • Engaging with users via social media platforms
  • Conducting online Ask Me Anything (AMA) to engage with current and potential users 

Future Strategies include: 

  • Conducting daily weekly progress updates
  • Kicking off the Developer Grant program 
  • Initiating voting functionalities for the Flamingo decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)

Future of Flamingo

Flamingo wants to be the stepping stone for the acceleration of DeFi in the Neo ecosystem. The Neo team doesn’t plan to stop at Flamingo but intends to launch other products like lending, insurance, and asset management products. 

For now, the team is exploring ways to introduce more asset types, decide which oracle implementation to integrate, and examine how the governance mechanism will function in the future. The Flamingo team encourages input from the community. Users can submit proposals on how to optimize the platform and build a more robust protocol.

The FLM Token

The FLM token is the native token of Flamingo. Holders of the platform can participate in decision-making for things like new tokens issuance, platform parameters, etc.

Other uses include: 

  • Staking multi-chain assets 
  • Staking LP tokens, minting FUSD
  • Depositing FUSD to trade in perpetual contracts

The Flamingo token was distributed in the following fashion: 

  • Binance Launchpool tokens: 4.17%
  • Mint Rush tokens: 29.17%
  • LP Token Staking: 53.33%
  • FUSD Minting: 10%
  • Perp Margin Rewards: 3.33%

Flamingo: Key Metrics

The FLM token price was $0.254369 while ranking at #3587 on October 16, 2020. The token’s 24-hour volume was $7,296,347, with a total supply of 150 million. FLM had an all-time high of $0.307385 (Oct 9, 2020) while it’s all-time low was $0.249290 (Oct 11, 2020). 

Buying and Storing FLM

The FLM token is listed as a market pair of USDT, BTC, BNB, USDT, BUSD, NEO, and PERP in exchanges such as Binance, OKEx, MXC, HotBit, Binance, BitZ, LBank, Hubi, Switcheo Network, VCC Exchange, and FTX. 

FLM tokens can be stored in NeoLine (Chrome Extension), O3 desktop wallet (supports Ledger), MetaMask Chrome Extension, Cyano Chrome Extension, and ONTO mobile wallet. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

SafePal S1 Hardware wallet Review: How Safe Is Safepal T Hardware Wallet?

SafePal S1 hardware crypto wallet was introduced to the crypto community in 2019. And though it’s relatively new, SafePal is a highly innovative wallet that seeks to provide crypto users with a “Secure, Simple, and Enjoyable crypto management solution.” The wallet has the backing of prominent crypto industry players like Binance Exchange. It has also integrated a host of operational and security features to help it achieve this goal.

SafePal S1 hardware crypto wallet was introduced to the crypto community in 2019. And though it’s relatively new, SafePal is a highly innovative wallet that seeks to provide crypto users with a “Secure, Simple, and Enjoyable crypto management solution.” The wallet has the backing of prominent crypto industry players like Binance Exchange. It has also integrated a host of operational and security features to help it achieve this goal.

SafePal S1 hardware crypto wallet was introduced to the crypto community in 2019. And though it’s relatively new, SafePal is a highly innovative wallet that seeks to provide crypto users with a “Secure, Simple, and Enjoyable crypto management solution.” The wallet has the backing of prominent crypto industry players like Binance Exchange. It has also integrated a host of operational and security features to help it achieve this goal.

According to the SafePal S1 website, the wallet was developed by a group of software, cybersecurity, and hardware experts, with the blessings of Binance. And one of its approaches to solving the constant challenges faced by other crypto hardware wallets was making it a 100% cold storage wallet.

This review will detail its features, understand how it works, vet its ease of use and fees. We will also provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to use SafePal Hardware Wallet before telling you if SafePal S1 is indeed the safest hardware wallet yet.

Key features

High-resolution screen: SafePal S1 hardware wallet has a sleek design that takes the shape of an MP3 player. It features a relatively wide and high-resolution color screen and a D-pad controller that you use to navigate the wallet. It also features a camera whose key role is scanning QR codes for other wallets and exchanges.

Mobile app compatible: SafePal hardware wallet developers have also come up with the SafePal wallet app that you can use to manage your crypto balance and facilitate crypto exchanges.

Monitor crypto portfolio: The SafePal mobile wallet app features the balance and activity tabs that you can use to monitor your crypto portfolio in real-time. For instance, the activity tab outlines your crypto transaction history (inflows and outflows) and, in turn, helps shape your crypto budget.

Integrated exchange: One of SafePal’s key partners is Binance – the largest crypto exchange in the world. And this partly explains why SafePal Wallet mobile app features BinanceDEX that SafePal users can use to trade and exchange different cryptos and exchanges.

Send crypto via social media: SafePal’s innovativeness is best highlighted by the wallet user’s ability to send crypto via the different social media networks. A SafePal wallet user can, for instance, send altcoins and tokens to an individual (regardless of whether they have a SafePal wallet or not) via social media.

Security features

Pin code: SafePal hardware wallet is secured with a PIN code that you set when creating a user account. It is also fitted with the number randomization tool that helps you avoid key loggers and other spying tools.

Password + pattern for the app: The SafePal mobile wallet app, on the other hand, is secured with a password or a pattern.

Recovery seed: SafePal will also present you with a backup and recovery seed for your wallet and private keys. When creating a user account on the platform, you will be presented with either 12 or 24 random phrases that form your wallet’s recovery seed. Write them down and save them offline.

Secure element: The SafePal hardware wallet is also fitted with a hack-proof EAL5+ secure element. This is a global finance industry-grade crypto chip that stores your private keys.

Two-factor authentication: All crypto transactions initiated via the SafePal mobile app must be signed and authenticated using the hardware device.

Key-deletion tool: SafePal S1 wallet features a key deletion tool that allows you to add and delete cryptos and tokens with ease.

Tamper-proof: The hardware wallet’s package features two tamper-proof seals, and so does its secure element. In the case of a suspected cyber hack or if someone tried to tamper with its secure element, the key deletion and self-destruct features will be triggered.

Offline cold storage: SafePal S1 hardware device is a 100% offline vault that connects to your phone or computer via a USB cable. It doesn’t maintain wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or otherwise) connections with internet-connected devices.

How to set and activate the Safepal S1 Hardware wallet

Step 1: Download the SafePal S1 mobile app after purchasing the SafePal S1 hardware device

Step 2: Install and launch the app.

Step 3: Create a password and pattern for the mobile app

Step 4: Connect the SafePal S2 hardware device to the computer and choose your preferred language.

Step 5: Open the SafePal app and click on the ‘Add Wallet’ icon. Alternatively, tab the scan button on the top-right corner of the app.

Step 6: Follow the setup wizard prompts to create a user account.

Step 7: Chose a recovery seed (between 12-word seed and 24-word seed) and write it on the mnemonic cards that accompany the hardware wallet package.

Step 8: Verify that you’ve correctly copied this mnemonic phrase.

Step 9: Create and verify a PIN code for the mobile device

Step 10: Scan your wallet’s QR code using the mobile app to connect the two.

How to add/receive crypto into your SafePal S1 Hardware wallet

Step 1: Log in to your SafePal S1 wallet mobile app on click on the “Receive” icon

Step 2: Copy the wallet address and forward it to the party sending you crypto coins.

Alternatively:

Step 3: Have the party sending you cryptos/tokens scan your wallet’s QR code.

Step 4: Wait for the funds to reflect on the wallet.

How to send crypto from your SafePal S1 Hardware wallet

Step 1: Log in to the SafePal S1 mobile wallet app and click on the “Send” button.

Step 2: From the list of hosted cryptocurrencies and tokens, select the coin you want to send

Step 3: Enter the recipient’s wallet address or scan their QR code and the number of coins/tokens you wish to send

Step 4: Select the fee level.

Step 5: Confirm that the transaction details are correct and hit the send button. The app will then display a dynamic QR code specific to that transaction.

Step 6: Use the SafePal S1 hardware wallet to authorize the transfer. Simply use the hardware wallet’s camera to scan the app’s QR code and enter the PIN to sign and authorize the transaction.

Step 7: Confirm that the transaction has sailed through on the mobile app via the

SafePal S1 Hardware wallet ease of use

Though lengthy, SafePal S1 has a straightforward onboarding process. The wide display screen on the hardware wallet and easily navigable mobile wallet app interface has made interacting with the crypto vault, receiving, and sending cryptos relatively easy.

SafePal S1 hardware wallet is also available in over ten international languages.

SafePal S1 Hardware wallet supported currencies and countries.

According to the SafePal S1 website, the hardware wallet can support 1000+ cryptocurrencies and tokens. Wallet addresses are also generated offline by the hardware device.

SafePal S1 Hardware wallet cost and fees

SafePal S1 hardware wallet costs $59.99, but the company behind the brand is currently running a limited-time discount of $39.99.

The only other charge you will have to part with is the blockchain network’s network fees for transaction verification and confirmation.

What are the pros and cons of using the SafePal S1 Hardware Wallet?

Pros:

  • Very safe as it stores all your private keys offline in a tamper-proof secure element
  • SafePal S1 is cheaper than most other crypto hardware wallets
  • The hardware wallet supports a wide range of both cryptocurrencies and tokens
  • It features the largest and most liquid crypto exchange
  • The hardware is tamper-proof and embraces stringent security measures

Cons:

  • One may consider the wallet’s activation process quite laborious and not beginner-friendly
  • It maintains a rather complicated crypto transfer process

Comparing Safepal S1 Hardware wallet with other hardware wallets

Safepal S1 Hardware wallet vs. Ledger Nano S

SafePal S1 and Ledger Nano S are both highly advanced crypto hardware wallets. Their similarities include the fact that they both host 1000+ crypto coins and tokens. They store the client’s private keys offline and employ multi-layer protection tools around all the wallets, including two-factor authentication and offline wallet address generation. Both are also compatible with mobile apps and feature on-device screens that help ease navigation.

The two are also different in the pricing and mode of operation. For instance, while the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet costs around $60.00, SafePal S1 costs a paltry $39.99. Similarly, while the SafePal hardware device and its mobile app companion will only communicate through the hack-proof QR Codes, Ledger Nano S connects to its app companion via a wireless Bluetooth connection that is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks.

Verdict: Is Safepal S1 Hardware wallet safe?

SafePal S1 is a safe hardware wallet. It has embraced several highly effective security and privacy measures to safeguard the integrity of the device and private keys held therein. And it all starts with tamper-proof packaging with two proprietary seals. It has also employed multiple security features, including two-factor authentication, offline generation of wallet addresses, and a 6-digit passcode for the hardware device and password + pattern for the SafePal S1 mobile wallet app. You only have to part with the $39.99 wallet cost.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Oct 29 – Bitcoin Back At $13,000: What’s Next? Trading Ideas and Market Overview

The cryptocurrency sector quite a bad day, as Bitcoin led the rest of the sector down by dropping from $13,900 all the way to below $13,000. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,240, representing a decrease of 3.70% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.60% on the day, while XRP lost 2.93%.

The cryptocurrency sector quite a bad day, as Bitcoin led the rest of the sector down by dropping from $13,900 all the way to below $13,000. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,240, representing a decrease of 3.70% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.60% on the day, while XRP lost 2.93%.

The cryptocurrency sector quite a bad day, as Bitcoin led the rest of the sector down by dropping from $13,900 all the way to below $13,000. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13,240, representing a decrease of 3.70% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.60% on the day, while XRP lost 2.93%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

If we check out the top 100 cryptocurrencies, Ocean Protocol gained 11.69% in the past 24 hours, making it the crypto to gain the most in a day. Nexo (7.86%) and DigiByte (4.49%) also did great. On the other hand, ABBC Coin lost 12.3%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by Band Protocol’s loss of 11.46% and Quant’s loss of 11.36%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level had decreased slightly since we last reported, with its value is currently 62.3%. This value represents a 0.1% difference to the downside when compared to when we last reported.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. Its current value is $393.05 billion, representing a $15.07 billion decrease compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization pulled back as its price couldn’t pass the crucial resistance of $13,900. The move was strong and lasted three candles (around 12 hours), over which Bitcoin fell as low as $12,895, where it bounced off of its 50-period moving average. Bitcoin is now consolidating above the $13,180 level.

Traders should look at how Bitcoin trades within the range bound by $13,180 and $13,570 and trade off of that.

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s 4-hour, daily, and monthly technicals are looking almost identical, with all of them being tilted towards the buy-side, with a bit of neutrality sprinkled in. On the other hand, its weekly overview is a bit more bearish, with oscillators leaning towards the sell-side.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is above its 50-period EMA and at its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (52.27)
  • Volume is descending
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,570                                 1: $13,180

2: $13,900                                 2: $12,870

3: $14,000                                  3: $12,500

Ethereum

Ethereum has followed Bitcoin to the downside, ultimately following its own predicted path within an ascending channel and reaching the bottom of $380 (as predicted in our previous articles) before bouncing back. It is currently trading slightly below $400, with a good chance of retesting this level once again.

Traders should watch for how Ethereum looks to retest the $400 resistance level and trade the pullback or the spike after that.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s daily and monthly technicals are tilted towards the buy-side (with slight neutrality next to them). However, its shorter time-frame (the 4-hour overview) looks completely bearishness, while its weekly overview is completely neutral.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is below its 50-period and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly below its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (42.03)
  • Volume is slightly above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $400                                     1: $378

2: $415                                     2: $371

3: $420                                      3: $361

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap managed to push above the ascending dotted yellow line (as predicted in our previous articles) but quickly failed as Bitcoin was dragging the market down. XRP followed and fell to its $0.2454 support level, which is holding for now. However, XRP is still quite close to the support level, which might break at any moment.

Traders should look for an entry if XRP breaks $0.2454 to the downside. When looking at trades to the upside, traders can look at Bitcoin’s upside pushes and trade off of that.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals are almost uniformed in how bearish they are, with its 4-hour, daily, and monthly overviews showing a slight tilt towards the sell-side. Its weekly overview, however, is completely neutral.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price far below both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is slightly above its bottom Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (38.72)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                     1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                   2: $0.235

3: $0.2855                                3: $0.227

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

The Top 5 Cryptocurrencies for Trading

Cryptocurrencies present limitless opportunities for Forex traders. However, the prospect of trading with these non-traditional currencies can seem daunting, especially now that there are so many available. Here, we’ve outlined the top five cryptos for trading with this year and into the foreseeable future. Bitcoin Bitcoin is still the most famous cryptocurrency, largest,  and most […]

Cryptocurrencies present limitless opportunities for Forex traders. However, the prospect of trading with these non-traditional currencies can seem daunting, especially now that there are so many available. Here, we’ve outlined the top five cryptos for trading with this year and into the foreseeable future. Bitcoin Bitcoin is still the most famous cryptocurrency, largest,  and most […]

Cryptocurrencies present limitless opportunities for Forex traders. However, the prospect of trading with these non-traditional currencies can seem daunting, especially now that there are so many available. Here, we’ve outlined the top five cryptos for trading with this year and into the foreseeable future.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is still the most famous cryptocurrency, largest,  and most valuable. It was also the first to be launched by the still anonymous “Satoshi Nakamoto” in 2009. It is accepted at more points of sale than any other cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the first choice for most investors, traders, and speculators, as it is the most liquid cryptocurrency and can be sold, bought, or traded on all platforms, more than any alternative. Bitcoins are created in mining, which used to be inside the capacity of laptops and desktops but is no longer so easy to do. At current mining rates, 18 Bitcoins are manufactured approximately every 15 minutes.

This rate of creation will be gradually reduced until the total number of bitcoins in existence reaches a maximum of 21 million, which at this rate will occur approximately in the year 2140. All transactions, including the manufacture, by mining, of new bitcoins, the price of bitcoin, and all sales and transfers with bitcoins, are recorded in a ledger.

Transactions have to be accepted by most nodes in Bitcoin’s blockchain technology and, since Bitcoin is relatively widely owned, transactions take less than 1 minute to be fully verified. The bitcoin miners act as nodes within the blockchain, effectively managing the system and processing all transactions. Once the 21 million bitcoins have been extracted, miners will have a greater need to collect transaction fees to maintain profitability. For this reason, traders are concerned that cryptocurrency may face a major problem in the future.

It is worth noting, however, that the purchase of assets or even a currency exchange a transaction fee also takes place, for this reason, Bitcoin is not necessarily at a disadvantage compared to other marketable assets. Miners can now charge transaction fees if they wish and choose which outstanding transactions to prioritize if they generate a commission. This means that, if you are in trouble, you can pay a little more for your transaction to be processed faster.

The transactions and ownership of Bitcoins are effectively private, since, although the block chain’s general ledger is publicly accessible and has a record of every transaction that has been made, owners are registered by digital credentials (“keys”) and not by their name or other tax identifiers. Holders can store and protect their keys using a variety of methods, all of which will be treated in more detail later.

In addition to being the greatest and famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has a pioneering and rebellious image, not being backed by large corporations, and is seen as a bold intrusion. In other words, Bitcoin can be the Wikileaks of cryptocurrencies!

Ethereum

Ethereum is second by size compared to Bitcoin. It was released in 2015 and was developed by a Bitcoin programmer who was disenchanted with the functionality of Bitcoin. Stock market capitalization is slightly less than half that of Bitcoin and there are approximately 750,000 individual Ether owners (as the currency is technically known). As a means of payment, it is accepted by very few points of sale or any commercial organization.

The characteristic of the Ether is that it is a blockchain technology designed to perform “intelligent contracts”, which are computer protocols designed to facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. The way of thinking about Ethereum is like a currency for commercial contracts over the Internet, unlike Bitcoin, which pretends to be more a reserve of value and means of generalized exchange. The surprising thing about “smart contracts” is that they control themselves: contracts are automatically canceled when a party fails to fulfill its obligation.

In other respects, Ethereum is actually very similar to Bitcoin. It is also extracted, but the characteristics that govern its extraction in the future are less clear than the Bitcoin rules. Ethereum has a more corporate identity and was launched into the market by a Swiss company. Ethereum has suffered from some negative publicity such as its general ledger has been successfully hacked and has suffered several hard forks (Hard Forks), being the first destined to recover the stolen assets after the attack of the hackers. However, some cryptocurrency analysts see in Ethereum the potential to surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization at some point in the future. Even so, in recent months the capitalization of Bitcoin has grown proportionately faster than that of Ethereum.

Bitcoin In Cash (Bitcoin Cash)

Bitcoin Cash or Bitcoin Cash is a branch of Bitcoin, created on August 1, 2017, following a hard fork in the Bitcoin blockchain. This hard bifurcation was the result of differences between those who prioritized Bitcoin as a value reserve (i.e., an investment) over a medium of exchange (i.e., cash to make transactions). Some Bitcoin miners wanted the boundaries to be removed, which would speed up transaction times. The result was that Bitcoin split up to form a new cryptocurrency with a faster transaction time, called Bitcoin Cash. It is extracted and operated in the same way as Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash is generally more useful for people who need to derive their income streams from cryptocurrency or make many quick business transactions. It can be taken into account as an investment vehicle as it has a niche market and, since the fork, there is no doubt that its price has risen faster than that of Bitcoin.

Ripple

Ripple is the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world. It was created in 2012 but had been in development for approximately 8 years. Ripple is quite different from Bitcoin and Ethereum, as it has a more corporate image and backing, and is actually a decentralized, consensus-verified transaction network rather than a cryptocurrency. It was developed as a real-time gross settlement system, fast and inexpensive and can confirm transactions in a few seconds, faster than any other cryptocurrency. Already being used by several major banks for years, which consider it a safer system than Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Its native currency is Ripple, but it can support any unit of value, be it fiduciary currency like the US dollar or even flight miles and the like. This adaptability, as well as its use by banks, attracts some investors who are confident that Ripple’s technology will dominate the market and could eventually overtake Ethereum and Bitcoin in market capitalization. But it must be said that its value has increased more slowly in recent years than the value of other important cryptocurrencies.

Litecoin

Litecoin is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency. It was created in 2011 and was a Bitcoin fork, that is, a branch of Bitcoin. Its way of working is almost the same as Bitcoin in every way, except that has always proven to have a faster processing speed and is currently capable of processing transactions approximately four times faster than Bitcoin.

Overview of the 5 Main Cryptodivisas

From an investment or trading perspective, it is important to know the differences and similarities between each of the main cryptocurrencies as a starting point. This way, you can make sure you don’t buy too much of the same type of asset. So, let’s look at the characteristics of each of the cryptocurrency. The main elements that differentiate them and that are likely to influence their future perspectives are your market capitalization, functionality, popularity, image, security, and processing speed.

The notable atypical asset is Ripple: it is very corporate and a network rather than just a currency. In the future, it may become the matrix through which all, or almost all, crypto transactions are executed. In addition to Ripple, the main rivalry is between Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the latter hopes to soon overtake Bitcoin as a market capitalization leader. Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin can be grouped as currencies that are designed to be optimized for exchange rather than savings/investment.

For these fundamental reasons, it may make sense to divide the five crypts into 3 groups:

  • Ripple
  • Bitcoin and Ethereum
  • Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin

When we talk about technical analysis of market values, the story is more complicated. The price movements of the last 6 months seem to suggest that there is validity in our categorization by groups. Note also that cryptocurrencies with lower market capitalization appear to show stronger volatility, which is not surprising since illiquid assets are usually more volatile.

Cryptomonedas Menores

If you’re considering becoming a long-term cryptocurrency investor, it’s worth thinking about buying a number of lesser-known currencies that may become larger. By investing in very risky assets, the best returns are often made from spectacular gains on just one or two instruments. Therefore, a portfolio of small investments in smaller cryptocurrencies could have a high potential return.

If you decide to invest in lesser-known cryptocurrencies, it is very important that you do your own research. You can see a list of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by capitalization here. In the meantime, we’d like to list some of these smaller alternatives that we think might end up standing out in the crowd.

Golem, based on a network where anyone can earn money by renting their unused computing capacity in the cloud. It is now the twenty-seventh largest cryptocurrency by stock market capitalization.

Monero: announced as virtually nonpirateable and with an unprecedented level of security. It is now the fourteenth largest cryptocurrency by stock market capitalization.

Storj: the currency of a cloud storage system based on the blockchain system, where the currency is issued in exchange for a provision of storage space.

Categories
Crypto Guides

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

Introduction

Introduction

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.

Categories
Crypto Videos

OneCoin Scam Getting It’s Own Movie & TV Show!

https://youtu.be/RqYqCgVNu8M

https://youtu.be/RqYqCgVNu8M

 

Kate Winslet Starring in a Movie About OneCoin

HOLLYWOOD, CA/USA – JULY 9, 2016: Kate Winslet star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

Even though the well-known OneCoin Ponzi scheme is still being processed through the courts, a movie on how this project came to be is in development. Not only that, but its lead star is the lead from the movie Titanic.
As reported by Deadline, a famous Hollywood actress Kate Winslet has signed on to both star and produce Fake!, a movie based on the unpublished book written by Jen McAdam and Douglas Thompson. McAdam, as a writer of this book and a victim of the OneCoin scheme, will produce the film.

Fake! will be written as well as directed by Scott Z. Burns, the man who helmed The Report, a political drama that was based on the CIA’s report on torture after the 9/11 event. He is also known for writing the 2011 pandemic movie Contagion, also starred by Kate Winslet.

OneCoin was founded in 2014 during the expansion of the crypto industry. It was created by Ruja Ignatova in Bulgaria. The project followed the typical structure of a multilevel Ponzi marketing scheme but had a cryptocurrency twist. It was promised OneCoin is the next Bitcoin, even though it wasn’t backed by a blockchain or a decentralized network. Despite several warnings coming from the crypto industry insiders and government agencies, OneCoin became one of the most popular projects, fostering an ‘us vs. them’ mentality. Even after OneCoin failed, it left the market with several “clones” which did pretty much the same thing it did, but with a twist here or there.


McAdam, who started a support group for numerous OneCoin victims, said that both she and her friends and family invested and lost over 250,000 euros, equating to around $300,000, before she learned its server was not even a blockchain and that it was all a scam.
Ignatova was charged with multiple charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud, as well as money laundering, on May 7 of this year, but she has not been seen ever since 2017. Her brother Konstantin Ignatova, an ex-executive in OneCoin, was also charged with the same in March of this year. He has since agreed to testify against his sister on the matter. Defrauded investors have sued OneCoin, alleging losses of up to $5 billion.

The movie Fake! is not the first artwork inspired by the OneCoin Ponzi scheme. A TV show coming from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) about Ignatova and OneCoin is also in development.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Dusk (DUSK) All About?

Bitcoin actualized the idea of a decentralized currency, one that is beyond the control of any controlling authority and which lets users transact in a purely peer-to-peer fashion, removing the need for intermediaries. Built on top of the novel tech, ‘blockchain,’ Bitcoin inspired countless other cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications (DApps). 

Bitcoin actualized the idea of a decentralized currency, one that is beyond the control of any controlling authority and which lets users transact in a purely peer-to-peer fashion, removing the need for intermediaries. Built on top of the novel tech, ‘blockchain,’ Bitcoin inspired countless other cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications (DApps). 

Bitcoin actualized the idea of a decentralized currency, one that is beyond the control of any controlling authority and which lets users transact in a purely peer-to-peer fashion, removing the need for intermediaries. Built on top of the novel tech, ‘blockchain,’ Bitcoin inspired countless other cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications (DApps). 

However, Bitcoin’s creator did not envision some of the problems that impede it today, such as lack of anonymity – a highly prized factor in today’s world. There’s also the issue of extreme energy consumption that’s required to maintain and secure it. Then there’s the issue of not-so-guaranteed security, which has been another point of contention. The network’s 51% hypothetical attack hovers over it throughout. 

Throughout the years, the Bitcoin community has tried to come up with various solutions, but these either proved flawed or did not stand the dynamic nature of the blockchain space. Others presented with solutions but still missed the mark – e.g., by still lacking in robust security. 

Dusk is a blockchain and cryptocurrency protocol that attempts to meet the main challenges facing the space today, with the bonus of providing auditability of transactions. 

We’ll explore the Dusk protocol in detail while getting a closer look at its native token, DUSK, and how it fits in the puzzle. 

What’s Dusk? 

Launched in 2018, Dusk is a privacy-oriented blockchain protocol that wants to provide privacy, seamless programmability, and the ability to audit smart contracts. Based in Amsterdam, Dusk is the brainchild of a team that collectively has a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship, engineering, and blockchain, and have worked in some of the biggest companies in those fields, like Amazon, Mozilla, Reaktor, Zcash, NEO Research and so on. 

Dusk Network will be a blockchain protocol that will facilitate easy deployment of programmable DApps, hence becoming the backbone of a global and permissionless DApp ecosystem. The Dusk team hopes to eliminate the technical barriers that have held back crypto’s mainstream adoption. 

Some of the project’s highlights include: 

  • Private proof of stake consensus model through which block producers can stake in DUSK anonymously
  • Implementation of ZeroCaf, which allows it to achieve fast, safe, and elliptic curve-secured transactions
  • Built by a team of entrepreneurs, engineers, and blockchain experts with a work history at some of the most elite companies 

The Dusk team wants to guarantee on-chain privacy and programmability without compromising on scalability. The network can achieve this thanks to the following features: 

  • Private Proof-of-stake: The network implements a private version of the Proof-of-stake consensus protocol, a Segregated Byzantine Agreement (SBA) that runs on a ‘Proof of Blind Bid’ that enables block producers to stake in private
  • Decentralization: This means centralized staking pools do not apply in the staking process. Instead, participants are encouraged to do so autonomously.
  • Replaceability: Block generators are chosen in a random fashion without reference to earlier outcomes

For their part, these features are enabled by the following characteristics: 

  • A three-layered consensus model consisting of block generation, block reduction, and block agreement.
  • ZeroCaf for efficient, fast, and elliptic curve-secured operations 
  • Poseidon, a zero-knowledge hash function
  • Browser nodes that facilitate zero-knowledge verification and support Dusk’s virtual machine architecture
  • Instant Transaction Finality: On the Dusk protocol, transactions are final – as in they’re verified and recorded on the blockchain as soon as they’re produced

Value Proposition of Dusk

The Dusk team has designed Dusk to be an open-source network to become “the privacy infrastructure of choice for an entire ecosystem of solutions, whether in finance governance, cybersecurity, or something completely new.” With that, the value proposition of Dusk included the following: 

#1. Privacy: The Dusk network provides speed and decentralization without sacrificing on decentralization. DApp issuers on the platform can create zero-knowledge proofs, checks, and balances.

#2. Permissionless: The Dusk network is permissionless, meaning anyone from anywhere can join the network without requiring permission from any centralized party

#3. Public: Users do not need authorization from a trusted party to take part in the Dusk platform. They also need minimal processing power and inexpensive IT resources to join the network. Users that have staked in DUSK can participate in the network’s consensus.

#4. Compliance: By using zero-knowledge proofs, users can design real-life applications that adhere to legal requirements while simultaneously offering top security for them. And they vastly reduce costs by doing this on-chain. 

Compliance: through zero-Knowledge proofs, companies and projects can create real-world applications that can adhere to strict compliance requirements while still offering data privacy. This increases the ability to perform business processes on-chain, leading to significant cost reduction.

A Unique Consensus Model

Dusk implements a unique three-layered consensus mechanism to secure and maintain the network. 

These layers are as follows: 

Blind Bid Phase:

In this phase, network participants who wish to be block generators stake in DUSK tokens to get access to the block generation lottery. The staking process is known as a ‘blind bid’ because the amount staked and the staker’s identity are kept private and confidential. The blind bid is stamped with a secret number chosen by the block generating algorithm. This way, the stake owner can claim their transaction anytime while still preserving the privacy of their identity and the staked amount. 

Block Generation and Selection Phase:

For each round, block generators use their blind bid to enter the lottery. After that, they run a score, which is positively affected by the number of tokens staked. Since the protocol relies on zero-knowledge proof, the Blind Bid is significantly more secure than public Proof-of-stake systems while still exhibiting equal resilience to Sybil attacks. The candidate with the highest score is finally selected. 

Block Reduction Phase: 

After the block generators selection phase, a committee of participants known as ‘Provisioners’ conduct ‘Block Reduction,’ which is a process of gathering signatures and establishing the candidate block if the signatures pass a 75% threshold. The block reduction phase is also the Block Agreement phase, which is an additional phase designed to provide instant finality to the selected block and protect it against any attacks. 

The DUSK Token

  • DUSK is the native cryptocurrency of the Dusk network. It plays several roles, including the following: 
  • As a staking mechanism in order to participate in network consensus
  • As payment for on-chain transactions, deployment of DApps, and as gas fees
  • As an incentive/reward for consensus participants
  • As a governance mechanism, through which token holders can vote on critical decisions affecting the network

Key Metrics

The DUSK token posted the following metrics as of October 27, 2020. First off, it traded at $0. 039706, while ranking at #478. It had a market cap of $10,872,265, a 24-hour volume of $131,695, a circulating supply of 273,821,673, and a total supply of 500 million. DUSK had an all-time high of $0.614791 (July 22, 2019) and an all-time low of 0.011059 (March 13, 2020). 

Where to Buy and Store DUSK 

DUSK tokens are currently listed on a variety of legit exchanges, including Binance, HotBit, CoinDCX, Bittrex, Bitfinex, Binance DEX, Switcheo Network, and LiteBit.eu. In these exchanges, the token is listed against BTC, USD, BNB, ETH, EUR, and USDT.

The DUSK tokens can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet, with choices including MetaMask, Guarda, Atomic Wallet, Trust Wallet, Parity, Ledger Nano, and Trezor. The network also provides an official Command Line Interface (CLI) wallet for the more tech-savvy. 

Final Thoughts 

The Dusk network brings novel concepts to solve some of the most persistent issues in blockchain. Its zero-knowledge proof implementations assure users of high-level security, and its three-way block consensus protocol ensures the process is as unbiased, legit, and safe as possible. Dusk ushers a new era of auditable smart contracts, ensuring users can make necessary upgrades to them anytime. Here’s to hoping the Dusk team holds more surprises for the future. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Keevo Hardware Wallet Review: How Does Paperless Recovery Work & Is It Safe?

Keevo is a hardware crypto wallet developed by a San Francisco-based Fintech Company – BitKey Technologies Inc. And according to its developers, Keevo has its focus set on providing users with a hardware wallet that offers the right balance between security and usability. It is highly innovative and offers standard-setting solutions to some of the […]

Keevo is a hardware crypto wallet developed by a San Francisco-based Fintech Company – BitKey Technologies Inc. And according to its developers, Keevo has its focus set on providing users with a hardware wallet that offers the right balance between security and usability. It is highly innovative and offers standard-setting solutions to some of the […]

Keevo is a hardware crypto wallet developed by a San Francisco-based Fintech Company – BitKey Technologies Inc. And according to its developers, Keevo has its focus set on providing users with a hardware wallet that offers the right balance between security and usability. It is highly innovative and offers standard-setting solutions to some of the challenges facing the crypto industry like continuity after death and paperless crypto backup and recovery.

On their website, the Keevo hardware wallet is described as a “Swiss bank vault in your pocket, but without the bank,” as well as a simple, intuitive, and secure crypto wallet.

But how true are these bold claims? How secure is the Keevo hardware wallet? More importantly, how effective are such revolutionary features as paperless recovery and beneficiary service? We answer all these questions and tell you everything else you need to know about the crypto vault in this Keevo hardware wallet review.

Keevo wallet key features

On-device color screen: Keevo hardware wallet device has a large, high-resolution color display as its most prominent feature. This screen is large enough to fit a wallet address; it’s easily navigable and touch-sensitive.

Durable casing: Keevo hardware wallet’s casing is made from precision-cast zinc alloy and glass fiber, and reinforced steel for maximum durability. These also ensure that the wallet is protected from elements of nature like dust, temperature, and water.

Desktop app companion: Keevo hardware wallet is also compatible with the keevo desktop app that lets you view your crypto activity and your digital assets easily.

Multi-wallet vault: Keevo is a multi-wallet crypto vault in that there is no limit to the number of wallet addresses or private keys you can store in the wallet.

Beneficiary service: Keevo offers the revolutionary beneficiary service that allows your heir to inherit your digital assets when you pass. This solves the dead man’s conundrum that has seen an estimated 4 million Bitcoins lost forever since their holders didn’t leave clues about the wallet passwords or recovery seed before death. To achieve this, Keevo allows you to name a beneficiary and have them create a separate login option (PIN + Fingerprint) on your Keevo carbon key. Upon your passing, Keevo will verify your death before handing over the login credentials to your heir.

Keevo wallet security features

Passcode + Fingerprint sensor: Keevo hardware wallet is protected by a multi-layered security system. You start by creating a PIN code and reinforce it with a Fingerprint. This ensures that even if a hacker gained access to your PIN, they can’t transact without your Fingerprint.

Two-factor authentication: Every outbound crypto transfer initiated by Keevo hardware wallet must be subjected to two-factor verification. It takes the PIN and Touch ID to authorize crypto transfers to other wallets or exchanges.

Dual chip architecture: Keevo claims to use double CPUs that embrace the highest data encryption levels and segregation as used by leading banks and finance industry players.

No storing private keys: Regardless of all these safety and privacy measures employed by Keevo, the company claims that it does not store your private keys. Rather, it calculates the digital assets associated with the login credentials every time you log in.

Proprietary multi-signature system: Keevo wallet developers are in the final stages of patenting a multi-factor/multi-signature transaction authentication system that will then be integrated into the Keevo hardware wallet.

Carbon Key: This refers to a proprietary private keys recovery system designed and populated by the Keevo hardware wallet. It is a four-step and paperless authentication system that backs up your wallet and helps you recover private keys, effectively replacing the recovery seed system used by most wallets. The carbon key is a secondary hardware device that stores encrypted copies of your hardware wallet’s PIN code, Fingerprint, and wallet data. You start by sending this data to Keevo, and they will create a personalized Carbon key and ship to you or store it in one of the ultra-secure 1400+ vaults maintained by Iron Mountain data handlers for a small fee.

How to set and activate the Keevo Hardware wallet

Step 1: Order your Keevo hardware wallet

Step 2: Download and install the Keevo desktop wallet app.

Step 3: Complete registration by choosing a username and creating a password

Step 4: Turn on the Keevo hardware wallet device and connect to the computer via the provided USB cable.

Step 5: Once paired, create a PIN for the device and scan your Fingerprint.

Step 6: Keevo will now display your wallet address and QR code

Step 7: The wallet is now active and ready for use

Note: You will need to contact the Keevo wallet development team to activate the beneficiary service and subscribe to their service plans.

How to add/receive Crypto into your Keevo Hardware wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Keevo desktop app and click on the “Receive” icon.

Step 2: From the display window, copy the wallet address or its QR code and forward it to the person sending you altcoins

Step 3: Wait for your funds to reflect on your account.

How to send Crypto from your Keevo Hardware wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Keevo desktop wallet and click on the “Send” icon.

Step 2: Select the altcoin you wish to send

Step 3: Enter the recipient wallet address and the amount of funds to transfer in the transfer window

Step 4: Connect the hardware device to the wallet

Step 5: Log in to the hardware device and verify that the transaction details are correct.

Step 6: Hit send.

Keevo Hardware wallet ease of use

Despite playing host to several premium features, Keevo maintains one of the most interactive and easy to use user interfaces. Both the desktop wallet app and the hardware device feature a clean user and easily navigable user interface. And plastered throughout the website, especially on the FAQ page of the Keevo website and blog, is a host of explanatory guides teaching you how to interact with the wallet and most of its features.

Keevo Hardware wallet supported currencies and countries.

Keevo supports all the popular cryptocurrencies, and plans are underway to incorporate as many altcoins and tokens as possible.

The wallet is designed and assembled in the US but can be shipped to virtually any crypto-friendly country across the world.

Keevo Hardware wallet cost and fees

Keevo hardware wallet costs $299.

There are, however, two other charges associated with the use of the Keevo hardware wallet. First is the blockchain network fees you have to pay every time you send Crypto to other wallets or exchanges. It is mandatory and is collected by the respective blockchain miners or network administrators.

Second is the subscription cost for the service plans offered by Keevo that is paid monthly/annually. The fee is optional and only applies to individuals who wish to enjoy the beneficiary service and have their carbon key (wallet backup) stored in the ultra-secure Iron Mountain vaults.

Keevo Hardware wallet customer support

Keevo has an active and highly responsive customer support team that you can call, text via the Live chat feature on the website of and desktop app, email, or direct message via the different social media platforms.

The Keevo wallet developers also host regular Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions on their telegram channel, where you get to interact and engage both its developers and experienced Keevo Wallet users.

What are the pros and cons of using the Keevo Hardware wallet?

Pros:

  • Keevo wallet employs key security measures around the wallet, including storing your carbon key in Iron Mountain vaults.
  • The beneficiary system ensures that your digital assets aren’t lost when you die.
  • Its carbon key simplifies the backup and recovery process.
  • The wallet features advanced security and operational features.

Cons:

  • You have to verify your identity to access their beneficiary system.
  • One may consider Keevo wallet’s price restrictive.

Comparing Keevo Hardware wallet with other hardware wallets

Keevo Hardware wallet vs. Trezor Model T wallet

Keevo and Trezor Model T hardware wallets are highly innovative hardware wallets with a relatively large and high-resolution touch screen. Both feature an intuitive user interface and embrace such effective security and privacy measures like two-factor authentication and backup/recovery options. Further, swallets addresses are generated offline by a hierarchically deterministic system.

But while Trezor will only embrace the industry standard operational and security features, Keevo has introduced several innovative and proprietary security features. For instance, Trezor stores your private keys online and comes with a card for storing the recovery seed. Keevo, on the other hand, doesn’t store your private keys in its secure element. And in place of the backup and recovery seed, it introduces the revolutionary carbon key.

Verdict: Is the Keevo hardware wallet safe?

Yes. Keevo hardware wallet has employed highly effective safety and privacy measures around the wallet. Most of these are proprietary, highly innovative, and fit for eventual adoption as the new industry standard. These include the innovative paperless carbon key that serves as a wallet backup and recovery option, the patent-pending multi-factor authentication, the dual-chip architecture that does not store private keys in the wallet, and the revolutionary beneficiary system that ensures your cryptos don’t die with you upon your passing.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Oct 28 – Bitcoin Rushing Towards $14,000; Over 50% of US Investors Interested in Crypto

The cryptocurrency sector had a great day, with most cryptocurrencies ending up in the green due to Bitcoin pushing towards $13,900. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13.720, representing an increase of 4.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.63% on the day, while XRP gained 1.61%.

The cryptocurrency sector had a great day, with most cryptocurrencies ending up in the green due to Bitcoin pushing towards $13,900. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13.720, representing an increase of 4.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.63% on the day, while XRP gained 1.61%.

The cryptocurrency sector had a great day, with most cryptocurrencies ending up in the green due to Bitcoin pushing towards $13,900. Bitcoin is currently trading for $13.720, representing an increase of 4.81% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.63% on the day, while XRP gained 1.61%.

 Daily Crypto Sector Heat Map

If we check out the top 100 cryptocurrencies, Flexacoin had another amazing day, gaining an astonishing 332.35% in the past 24 hours, making it the crypto to gain the most in a day. Nexo (13.94%) and Compound (13.71%) also did great. On the other hand, ABBC Coin lost 13.58%, making it the most prominent daily loser. It is followed by Reserve CyberVein’s loss of 10.32% and Quant’s loss of 7.90%.

Top 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bottom 10 24-hour Performers (Click to enlarge)

Bitcoin’s market dominance level had increased quite a bit since we last reported, with its value is currently 62.4%. This value represents a 0.8% difference to the upside when compared to when we last reported.

Daily Crypto Market Cap Chart

The crypto sector capitalization has increased significantly since we last reported. Its current value is $408.12 billion, representing an increase of $13.35 billion compared to our previous report.

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What happened in the past 24 hours?

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization surprised the market once again by pushing even further up. Our weekly chart overview has listed a push towards $13,900 as one of the likely scenarios for this week, which is exactly what happened. Bitcoin has pushed past the descending (yellow dotted) line and above the $13,180 resistance level, all the way to $13,800.

Traders should look at how Bitcoin behaves around $13,900 and follow the next push (either a pullback below $13,570 or a break past $13,900).

BTC/USD 4-hour Chart

Bitcoin’s technicals have changed to extremely bullish on all time frames since yesterday, with only the 4-hour chart oscillators showing some signs of a tilt towards the sell-side.

BTC/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • Price is far above both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its top Bollinger band
  • RSI is overbought (74.76)
  • Volume is above average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $13,570                                 1: $13,200

2: $13,900                                 2: $12,870

3: $14,000                                  3: $12,500

Ethereum

Ethereum has spent the day bouncing off of the support level dating back from early September. While Ether had a slightly bigger chance of continuing its path down the projected path towards the bottom of the channel, Bitcoin’s rise sparked up Ether’s bounce. Its price is now hovering slightly above $400, with a solid chance of testing $415 again.

Traders should watch for how Ethereum plays out in the next few days to evaluate if it pushes towards $415-$420 or goes below $400.

ETH/USD 4-hour Chart

Ethereum’s technicals are tilted towards the buy-side on all time-frames, but only the daily time-frame is completely bullish. On the other hand, the 4-hour, weekly, and monthly overviews have signs of neutrality, mostly when it comes to oscillators.

ETH/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical Factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price is above its 50-period and slightly above its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (55.78)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $415                                     1: $400

2: $420                                     2: $378

3: $435                                      3: $371

Ripple

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has stayed at the same place over the course of the past 24 hours, possibly preparing itself for a move towards the yellow ascending line. Even if it keeps following it, XRP will gain a significant boost in price and an opportunity to test $0.26 once again.

Traders should look for a trade when XRP reaches $0.26, as they can enter a trade on either the pullback or the push above.

XRP/USD 4-hour Chart

XRP’s technicals are slightly tilted towards the buy-side, but the 1-day, as well as 4-hour and weekly technicals, show slight neutrality. On the other hand, its monthly overview is still bearish.

XRP/USD 1-day Technicals

Technical factors (4-hour Chart):
  • The price at both its 50-period EMA and its 21-period EMA
  • Price is at its middle Bollinger band
  • RSI is neutral (50.04)
  • Volume is average
Key levels to the upside          Key levels to the downside

1: $0.26                                     1: $0.2454

2: $0.266                                   2: $0.235

3: $0.2855                                3: $0.227

 

Categories
Crypto Videos

BitMEX Lost Over 45k Bitcoin – Is BitMEX Going Down?

https://youtu.be/L0QuYTGMJIg

https://youtu.be/L0QuYTGMJIg

 

BitMEX Lost Over 45k Bitcoin Since US Government Charges; Other Exchanges Are Taking Over

More than 45,000 Bitcoin has been withdrawn so far from the crypto trading platform BitMEX since the US government levied charges against the exchange as well as its leadership. October 1 brought two crushing blows to BitMEX. First, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice brought charges against the exchange and its practices. Shortly thereafter, its founders (including the CEO Arthur Hayes) were indicted by the US government. As expected, the market reacted to the breaking news with a sharp decline across many cryptocurrencies in the sector.

This isn’t even the first time in recent months that the trading platform giant has contributed to a downward turn in crypto sector prices. The exchange first began losing its users’ trust following a blackout on Black Thursday, which, for a short period, prevented users from trading or retrieving their own assets. While users slowly moved away from the platform and withdrew over 100,000 Bitcoin in the six months between that event and these most recent charges, the exodus that happened after October 1 appears to be unprecedented in scale.

The data coming from Crystal Blockchain shows that, in less than 48 hours, the net outflows from the BitMEX platform have exceeded 45,000 Bitcoin, by no means a small amount. However, traders are traders, and the Bitcoin withdrawn from BitMEX didn’t just vanish, but simply moved platforms. Gemini and Binance appear to be the most prominent beneficiaries of these outflows, closely trailed by OKEx and Huobi. More than 20,000 BTC has been transferred out of the BitMEX platform and into the latter four exchanges.

It is yet unclear whether BitMEX will just disappear into the abyss of time like many failed crypto exchanges before it, or if the company will manage to find a way to comply with the government body and survive to trade another day and. Lance Morginn, CEO of Blockchain Intelligence Group and an ex-supervisory special agent at the Department of Homeland Security, said that the most likely outcome would be that BitMEX will receive monetary penalties. On top of that, BitMEX will most likely have to make a promise on the part of its executives that it will not engage in unlawful activities in the future. However, he thinks that BitMEX is too big to fall at the moment and that it is less likely that the company will just vanish.

Categories
Crypto Guides

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

Introduction 

Introduction 

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.