Categories
Forex Price Action

Weekly High/Low Breakout Trading: Importance of Candles’ Body before Making a Breakout

In today’s lesson, we are going to demonstrate an example of an H4 chart that seems promising to make a breakout at the last week’s low. It produces a strong bearish candle as well at last, but the price does not head towards the South. We try to find out the possible reason behind that.

It is an H4 chart. The chart shows that the price heads towards the South with good bearish momentum. The price bounces twice at a level of support. The pair closes its trading week by producing a bearish candle.

The pair starts its next week by producing a bullish engulfing candle. It means the breakout length gets bigger, which attracts the sellers more. The sellers are to wait for the price to make a bearish reversal candle followed by a breakout at the weekly low.

The price finds its resistance and produces two consecutive bearish candles. The sellers are to keep their eyes on the chart closely. It seems that the Bear is going to make a breakout soon. Let us proceed to the next chart to see what happens next.

The chart continues to produce bearish candles. However, it has not made a breakout at the weekly low yet. The last candle comes out as a spinning top closing within the weekly low.

The chart produces a spinning top followed by a bullish engulfing candle. The price then consolidates within the last week’s low and a new resistance. The last candle comes out as a bearish engulfing candle closing just below the weekly low. The question is whether it should be considered as a breakout. It is a breakout, but the H4 traders should skip taking entry on this chart based on a weekly high/low breakout. The reason behind that is the chart takes too long to make the breakout. Once the price starts trending, it must make a breakout without producing any reversal candle. It means if the chart produced the last candle right after the first spinning top; it would be a hunting ground for the sellers. Since it produces four bullish reversal candles before making the breakout, the chart does not belong to the H4 traders based on the weekly low anymore. We must not forget that it must consolidate after a breakout, though. It means it must produce bullish reversal candle/candles in case of a bearish breakout, but it must make a breakout only by producing bearish candles and vice versa.

Categories
Forex Elliott Wave Forex Market Analysis

Hang Seng Moves in an Incomplete Flat Pattern

Overview

The Hang Seng Index continues advancing mostly sideways in an incomplete bearish sequence, corresponding to a flat pattern sequence, still in progress. Once the current corrective formation ends, the Chinese benchmark will likely start developing a new long-term bullish cycle.

Market Sentiment Overview

The Chinese benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) shows a drop of over 12% (YTD). However, even when it has recovered 16 percent from the lows reached after the massive sell-off occurred during the first quarter of the year, the market sentiment of the Chinese benchmark index continues dominated by the bearish side. 

In the following Hang Seng’s daily chart, we can spot its 90-day high-low range. The figure exposes the index developing in a sideways movement happening since the second quarter of the year. On the other hand, the rejection of the 24,953.4 points suggests that the mid-term market sentiment is slightly bearish. 

Besides, considering that the Hang Seng Index moves on the 60-day weighted moving average, a short-term upward pressure is observed.

In conclusion, the Chinese benchmark’s market sentiment seems neutral, waiting for the price action to unveil the next trend’s direction.

Elliott Wave Outlook

Under an Elliott Wave perspective, Hang Seng’s big picture reveals the incomplete corrective movement from the end of a bullish cycle the Hang Seng Index initiated in mid-February 2016 from 18,278.8 pts. This bullish sequence ended its five-wave structural series when the Chinese benchmark reached its all-time high of 33,484.1 pts in late January 2018.

The next figure illustrates the HSI log chart on a 2-day timeframe. The price pattern reveals the Chinese benchmark moving mostly bearish on its wave (C) of intermediate degree labeled in blue, which seems incomplete. In this context, although HSI reached the minimum requirement for this movement: 100% of equal waves between waves A and C, the internal structure of its C wave is unfinished.

The following 4-hour chart exposes the internal structure of wave 4. We distinguish that the corrective structure has created two Minute degree segments, labeled in black on the figure. Considering that each leg follows an internal sequence subdivided into three waves, the Elliott Wave Theory leads us to expect its progression on a regular flat pattern.

On the other hand, short-term, the Hang Seng Index could develop a new upward movement subdivided into a five-wave sequence, which should complete the ((c)) wave of Minute degree labeled in black. Once this move ends, the Chinese benchmark could develop a new decline corresponding to a wave 5 of Minor degree, which should complete the (C) wave of Intermediate degree.

Finally, considering that the third wave of Minor degree labeled in green was the extended move, and considering the amplitude of wave 4, the fifth wave of Minor degree should not penetrate below the low of wave 3 located at 21,139.3 pts. In other words, the wave (C) of Intermediate degree identified in blue is likely not to end below 21,139.3 pts.

Categories
Forex Videos

Fundamental Analysis For Novices – Foreign Investment In Japanese Stocks

 

Fundamental analysis for novices: Foreign investment in Japanese stocks

 

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video. In this session, we will be looking at foreign investment in Japanese stocks.

If you are serious about trading, you must be responsible for knowing what factors are likely to influence the movements of exchange rates in the forex market. One of the biggest movers is the release of fundamental economic data, which is collated, released, and usually subject to an embargo by governments or professional economic statistician specialist firms.
Luckily for us traders, most of this information can be found on economic calendars, which are readily available by most brokers.

Keeping up to date with economic calendar events is just as important as placing the trades. Because if you are unaware of a high impact data release that might fall shortly after you place your trade, it could potentially have a negative impact and incur losses. Therefore, get into the habit of looking at your economic calendar every day and look out for what high impact data may be released in the following few days ahead. Most institutional traders will take a long-term approach based on data that may be released at these future times.
The most critical components of an economic calendar are the day and date, the time of the release, the type of event, the likely impact, which usually is measured as low, medium, and high impact, with the latter potentially causing extreme market volatility. The actual data will be populated on the calendar shortly after the embargoed release. And this can be compared to the previous data. Whether that is on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, and where typically there will be a consensus as to the actual data, which will have been put together by economic forecasters.

Here we can see that on Thursday, September 3rd, at 12:50 a.m. BST Japan issued its economic data release for investment in Japan stocks to August 28th and where this was a low impact event. There was no consensus, but we can see the actual and previous statistics based on yen amounts. The data was released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance. The data refers to the difference between investments in the Japanese stock market by foreign entities, and the ‘actual’ data on the calendar refers to the net difference between the inflow and outflow of those investments.
Although this is a low impact event, the balance between inflow and outflow of funds gives an indication of the strength of the economy and, more importantly, shows that overseas firms such as pension funds, government funds, hedge funds, and investors see value in investing.
Traders should be looking for a higher capital inflow if they want to be buying yen and a lower capital inflow to support trading setups for selling the yen against counterpart currencies, especially the US dollar.

Categories
Crypto Videos

BitMEX Lost Over 45k Bitcoin – Is BitMEX Going Down?

 

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
Forex Course Forex Daily Topic

160. What are Currency Crosses and Why Should You Trade Them?

Introduction

Currency crosses are currency pairs from major and commodity currencies eliminating the US Dollar. Trading cross currency pairs require knowledge of the two countries’ economic conditions, which is not related to the USA.

Major Vs. Cross Currencies

More than 80% of the forex market transactions happen through the US Dollar as it is the reserve currency in the world. Most of the commodities and agricultural products are valued in US dollars.

Therefore, if we want to buy something from a country, we should exchange the currency into the US Dollar to make the transaction. As a result, most of the countries keep the US Dollar as the reserve currency. In particular, China, Japan, and Australia are the largest importer of oil; therefore, they keep a vast number of US Dollars in their central banks.

Because of the massive demand for the US dollar, major currency pairs have a higher trading volume, allowing it to have a decent movement. On the other hand, if we eliminate the US dollar from the major currencies, we will find cross pairs, which is also profitable.

Why Trade Currency Crosses?

Instead of trading at major Dollar based currency pairs, we can profit from trading cross pairs. The most significant features of cross currency pairs are that they are not bound to US Dollars and can make a decent move without any intervention of the US economy.

As a result, many traders trade in currency crosses to diversify their portfolio. Cross pairs can make a decent movement, while dollar-based pairs remain corrective. At that time, it is better to go with the moving market than sit back and watch the corrective price.

Moreover, trading cross pairs might be profitable if the trading session is favorable. For example, we can profit from the GBPJPY pair at Asian and London sessions rather than trading in the US session.

Summary

Based on the above discussion, let’s point the core parts of cross-currency trading:

  • Cross currency trading is similar to major currency trading.
  • There is no US dollar in cross currency pairs.
  • Cross currencies are from major and commodity currencies.
  • Cross currency pair can make a decent move without US session.
[wp_quiz id=”86453″]
Categories
Crypto Guides

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

Introduction 

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

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

What is DeFi?

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

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

Advancements Made by DeFi

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

Creation of issuance and investing platform

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

Establishment of a decentralized prediction market

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

Growth of open lending protocols

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

Facilitated the issuance of stablecoins

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

Bottom Line

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

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

Everything You Should Know About ‘Job Cuts’ As A Forex Fundamental Indicator

Introduction

The labor market plays play a crucial role in determining the strength of the economy. Perhaps one of the most closely watched fundamental economic indicator is the unemployment rate since it is one of the leading indicators of demand. The growth of any economy is entirely dependent on the forces of demand and supply. Entire industries have been built by surging demand and crippled by lack of it.

Understanding Job Cuts

Job cuts represent the number of corporate employees who have been laid off over a given period. The job cuts report shows the national number of people who were laid off. This number is further broken down by industry, ranking those with the most job cuts to the least. The job cuts are compared monthly, quarter-on-quarter, yearly, and year-to-date. The report goes further to include the hiring plans announced by the various sectors, thus showing the potential number of job vacancies.

Therefore, we notice that the job cuts report serves to show job losses and future openings. Thus, it is a powerful indicator in the labor market and the economy since it can be used to predict whether recessions are coming, the state of economic recovery, and show the sentiment about the economy from employers’ perspective.

Using Job Cuts Report for Analysis

As an indicator of economic health, job cuts can signal the following.

An increasing number of job cuts is a precursor to higher unemployment levels and signals a shrinking economy. It is considered a leading indicator of unemployment. With more and more people losing their jobs, households’ disposable income will be on a decline. Consequently, the aggregate demand in the economy will decline, and with it, the aggregate supply. These declines imply that producers are scaling down their operations, matching the lowering demand to avoid market price distortion.

Source: St. Louis FRED

Since the job cuts report is categorized by industry, it serves to show which sectors of the economy are performing poorly. Job cuts are a result of the general challenging operating environment. It shows that companies are attempting to reduce operating costs as a result of a decline in demand. With this report, we can analyze which sectors are hard hit by tough economic times and which sectors are resilient. For investors, this analysis is instrumental in deciding which sector to invest in. the report can also be used to show which industries are worse affected by economic recessions.

It will be useful for policymakers to implement sector-specific policies to help cushion the labor market in the future. The job cuts report can be used to establish which economic sectors are susceptible to business cycles by analyzing which sectors have the most cuts in times of recessions. During a recession, the aggregate demand is falling, and when the economy is recovering, the aggregate demand increases. Thus, it is expected for job cuts to reduce in time of recovery and economic expansion.

Similarly, investors can use historical figures to help pinpoint the peak and trough levels of the business cycle. Typically, the economy has the most job cuts when the recession is at its worst. This point can be considered the trough – and it precedes a recovery. Here would be the optimal point of investing for investors who would want to capitalize on the effects of recovery. When the economic recovery is at its peak and unemployment levels are their lowest, it signifies that the economy might overheat.

Source: St. Louis FRED

Together with the analysis of business cycles, the job cuts report can provide a clear picture of the number of temporary workers in the labor market. It goes to reason that in times of recovery, businesses tend to hire more workers. However, businesses most impacted by the economic cycles would opt to engage temporary labor instead. In times of recession, most of these jobs are lost. Therefore, the job cuts report can be used to identify which industries hire the most temporary workers.

Job cuts could also be a result of automation, not entirely because of a decrease in the aggregate demand. It is worth noting that the automation of business processes results in improved efficiency, higher output, and possibly higher quality of goods and services. While all these might be good for the businesses and possibly the economy, the effects of the jobs lost will still be reflected in the economy.

Impact on Currency

When analyzing the labor market, most forex traders concentrate their attention on the employment report. However, job cuts report is released ahead of the employment situation report; it can provide leading insights. Here are some of the ways job cuts can impact the forex market. The job cuts are used to forestall recessions and recoveries.

When the job cuts are increasing, it signals that the aggregate demand in the economy will decline. Businesses scaling down operations implies low investor confidence in the economy, which could mean there is a net outflow of capital. Increasing unemployment levels, a shrinking economy, and more households relying on the government social security programs signal a recession. Expansionary fiscal and monetary policies will be implemented. One such policy includes lowering interest rates, which make the currency depreciate relative to others.

A reduction in the job cuts signals economic recovery, making the currency increase in value relative to others. When job cuts are steadily reducing, businesses are retaining more of their employees as time goes by. This retention is a sign of improving economic fundamentals.

Sources of Data

Challenger, Gray & Christmas publishes the US job cuts data. Challenger, Gray & Christmas is a global outplacement and career transitioning firm. Comprehensive historical coverage of the US job cuts is accessed at Trading Economics.

How Job Cuts Data Release Affects Forex Price Charts?

The most recent release of the US Challenger job cuts was on October 1, 2020, at 7.30 AM ET and accessed at Investing.com. The screengrab below is of the monthly Challenger job cuts.

Low volatility is to be expected when the job cuts report is released.

In September 2020, the number of US job cuts was 118.804K compared to 115.762K in August. In terms of the YoY change, the September job cuts represented a 185.9% change compared to a 116.5% change in August.

Now, let’s see how this release made an impact on the Forex price charts.

EUR/USD: Before the Challenger Job Cuts Release on October 1, 2020, 
Just Before 7.30 AM ET

Before the new release, the EUR/USD pair was trading in a general uptrend. As shown in the above 5-minute chart, the candles were forming above a rising 20-period MA.

EUR/USD: After the Challenger Job Cuts Release on October 1, 2020, 
at 7.30 AM ET

After the US job cuts report release, the pair formed a bullish 5-minute candle as expected, due to the weakening of the USD. Subsequently, the pair continued trading in a subdued uptrend with the 20-period MA flattening.

Bottom Line

The job cuts report plays a vital role in the economy, especially now, by showing the state of economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession. However, in the forex market, the job cuts report is a low-impact indicator since most traders and analysts pay the most attention to the employment situation report. The low impact nature can be seen as the release of the Challenger job cuts report failed to advance the bullish momentum of the EUR/USD pair.

Categories
Blockchain and DLT Cryptocurrencies

Introducing Fetch.AI (FET): What’s Is It

Blockchain has been touted as a solution to countless modern-day problems. But what if it could be seen as a catalyst for innovation? You know, innovation that brings us products and services that we simply hadn’t fathomed about before. 

Fetch.ai is an intelligence lab that wants to harness blockchain to power a decentralized digital economy. The platform will enable the sharing and connection of data globally and driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Fetch.ai will be open-source, allowing anyone from anywhere to connect to the network and carry out safe and secure tasks in a modern economy. 

This article explores the Fetch.ai network in-depth, from how it works to use cases, right down to its native token and where to purchase it. 

Understanding Fetch.ai

Fetch.ai is an artificial lab that wants to bring together tools and develop an infrastructure to power a decentralized digital economy. Based in Cambridge, Fetch.ai intends to create a distributed ledger platform to facilitate secure and safe sharing connection and data transfer on a global scale. 

Fetch wants to automate countless markets that currently require a lot of manual intervention. The goal is to have frictionless transactions at digital speeds. The Fetch.ai team imagines an evolved world where everybody has numerous economic agents on the platform, each operating to provide solutions for some of the most challenging today and tomorrow’s problems. 

Some of the highlights of the platform include: 

  • A near-autonomous integration for various components of complex systems
  • Frictionless integration and the deployment of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) in decision making without necessarily understanding how the two technologies work
  • Combining machine intelligence and human intelligence model to optimize decision-making processes

Key Features of Fetch.ai

Some of the notable features of Fetch.ai include: 

  • A digital infrastructure optimized for multi-agent systems.
  • A scalable ledger to power massive transaction volumes 
  • Synergetic computing to support ‘intelligent’ smart contract contracts 
  • An economic infrastructure to support dynamic market places
  • Navigation based on semantics and geography, and through which autonomous agents can oversee the smooth solving of problems

Key Products of Fetch.ai

#1. Consensus Mechanism:

Fetch.ai utilizes a combination of proof of stake consensus and other protocols that oversee the delivery of the consensus. New blocks are produced via the PoS protocol, with the transaction verified through the work put in between every two blocks. The work is then recorded on a directed acyclic graph (DAG) created between the two blocks. The DAG is ‘stamped’ by the blockchain, removing the need for a supervisor. 

#2. Fees and Rewards 

Fetch.ai runs a fees and rewards program, whereby processing nodes are incentivized with system incentives. Processing nodes are also in charge of data mining – the process through which transactions are produced and confirmed. 

Performance of the Fetch.ai Network

The Fetch.ai ledger is designed to scale, and its performance will differ depending on the current configured resources at the given moment. However, the network claims to have achieved speeds of up to 30,000+ transactions per second (TPS). The network is expected to increase configured resources as demand balloons. 

Open Economic Framework

The Open Economic Framework (OEF) is a second-layer protocol that provides services to participants (agents). Agents connect to the framework to connect with other agents to do business together. OEF is created to show the semantic, geographic, and economic views of that time to participants. 

Network nodes can either be just blockchain nodes or be both blockchain/OEF nodes. Initially, the OEF nodes will be either “trusted” or “trustless.” The “trustless” nodes can support the network anonymously, as can the pure blockchain nodes. However, the “trusted” nodes are eligible for access to agents’ information so they can render their intelligence and discovery capabilities to the network. Operators of trusted nodes must submit a legitimate public and legal identity and be accredited by the Fetch.ai Foundation.

Example Use Cases of Fetch.ai

Fetch.ai could potentially revolutionize a lot of industries, helping to improve efficiency and optimize processes. The project wants to increase efficiency and enhance solutions to daily problems via intelligent data sharing, ML, and AI. 

#1. Decentralized marketplace and decentralized finance

Fetch.ai will be used for decentralized commodity exchange, an innovative platform that will support improved liquidity in the trading of base metals and other commodities. Fetch.ai will assist market participants in circumventing barriers to entry via innovative technology. It will facilitate the digitalized trading of various materials, enabling market players to have at their disposal new risk management tools. 

#2. Transportation

Current transportation systems are mainly self-service, with commuters having to do so much just to move from one point to another. Fetch.ai will feature Autonomous Economic Agents who will do the heavy lifting on behalf of individuals. The Autonomous Economic Agents will be able to adjust to individuals’ preferences as they go, and they’ll be able to react in real-time to any unforeseen scenarios. 

#3. Smart parking and congestion solution

Fetch.ai’s autonomous agents can search and inform you about the available parking space and book it for you in advance. When you come back to your car, the system calculates the bill for you and completes the payment. This not only saves time, but it also removes the hassle of a manual process. And it can greatly help reduce congestion in cities. 

#4. Powering electric cars

Fetch.ai wants to be at the forefront of powering the next generation of cars, which are likely to take on in the near future like never before. For the technology to advance, major changes will have to be made. 

Fetch.ai’s intelligent ecosystem will enable the autonomous agent in your car to scour for the nearest charging system, book a space and direct you there, instead of having to go and wait at a filling station. As smart vehicles become more popular, more users will be flocking at recharge points. Smart optimization tech powered by Fetch.ai will ensure that increased demand is met by the nearest possible charging point. The system will also guide users to charging points near a coffee shop or playground, making their charging stop more enjoyable. 

#5. Supply chain 

Fetch.ai-powered supply chains will allow businesses to study future patterns, which will enable them to plan for potential disruptions for months while responding appropriately to changing customer behavior. 

Both AI and blockchain tech will assist companies in achieving more efficiency. For instance, AI can use real-time info to enable a company to choose the best trading partner for their current business situation.

The FET Token

FET tokens will be the native tokens of the Fetch.ai system and will play many roles, including the following: 

  • Connect participants and nodes to the Fetch.ai ecosystem: agents and network nodes will have to stake in FET to demonstrate their goodwill and intention to maintain good behavior. As the cost of joining the network escalates, it will be more difficult for undesirable elements to attempt to join the network. 
  • As a value exchange mechanism: FET tokens will be required to exchange value between and among agents, no matter their location. FET will be infinitely divisible, which means it can support very low-value transactions.
  • Facilitate access to the Fetch.ai search engine: Network users will have to stake in FET to assess search and discovery capabilities of the Fetch.ai perform. 
  • Facilitate access to Fetch.ai’s multi-dimensional space: Agents on Fetch.ai will need agents to interact with its digital world geographically, semantically, and economically. 

FET Token Allocation

As of October 15, 2020, Fetch.ai traded at $0.047499, with a market cap of $35,439,353, which placed it at #175 in the market. The token’s 24-hour volume was $4,706,418. It had a circulating supply of 746,113,681, a total and maximum supply of 1,152,997,575. FET had an all-time high of $0.0432695 (Mar 03, 2019) and an all-time high of $0.008270 (Mar 23, 2020), according to Coinmarketcap. 

Buying and Storing FET 

The FET token is currently listed on quite a variety of exchanges, including Binance, BitMax, MXC, HotBit, Bitfinex, Folgory, KuCoin, WazirX, BiKi, CoinDCX, Omgfin, IDEX, Bitsonic, Coinall, Fatbtc, Giotus, and Bitbns. 

FET tokens are compatible with the ERC-20 standard and hence can be kept in any wallet supporting Ethereum. Great options include Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Ledger, ethaddress, Parity, and more. Once Fetch.ai migrates to its mainnet, token users will be able to “easily convert ERC20 FET into native FET tokens and back again.” 

Categories
Forex Course

159. Understanding Forex Assets Classes

Introduction

The forex market is the world’s biggest financial market, where daily turnover is more than 6 trillion dollars. The most exciting feature of the forex market is that it has an enormous number of trading instruments that allow traders to diversify their portfolio. Besides significant currency pairs, cross pairs are very profitable as it can make e decent move.

What is the Currency Pair?

In the stock market, investors’ trade in a particular stock of a company. This is not similar to the currency market. In the forex market, traders usually trade on a currency pair instead of a single currency.

The combination of two currency indicates the economic condition of two separate countries. Therefore, if we want to trade on a currency pair, we should know at least two countries’ economic conditions. For example, if we want to buy EURJPY pair, our analysis should indicate that the European economy will be more durable than the Japanese economy.

Major vs. Cross Currency Pair

US Dollar is the most traded currency in the world. Therefore, any currency pair from the developed country with the US Dollars will represent the major currency pair.

A list of 6 major currency pairs are mentioned below:

  1. EURUSD
  2. GBPUSD
  3. USDJPY
  4. USDCAD
  5. USDCHF
  6. AUDUSD

If we eliminate the USD from these major pairs, we will find the cross currency pairs. Let’s say the value of EURUSD is 1.0850, and the value of AUDUSD is at 0.7150. Therefore, the value of EURAUD would be 1.39 (1/1.085X 1.085/0.7150).

Other examples of Cross currency pairs are EURGBP, EURCAD, GBPCHF, GBPAUD, CADJPY, EURJPY, etc.

The condition for cross currency pairs are-

  • The currency should be from the major pairs.
  • The cross pair should eliminate the US dollar.

Is Cross Currency Pair Trading Profitable?

Trading cross currency pairs is similar to trading major currency pairs as both technical and fundamental analysis work well in cross currency pairs.

For example, we can make a decent profit from the GBPJPY pair if we can evaluate the UK and Japan’s economic condition.

Conclusion

Trading in a currency pairs means to anticipate the price based on the technical or fundamental analysis. Therefore, if we know the two countries’ economic conditions, we can make a decent profit from cross-currency pairs.

[wp_quiz id=”86447″]
Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Archos Safe-T Mini wallet Review: Features, Security, Ease of Use, Pros, and Cons?

Safe T Mini is an offline hardware wallet developed by Archos – the French Multinational electronics manufacturer – and introduced to the market in July 2018. It is an ultra-safe secure element hosted on a small circular device made of polycarbonate material. It is an off-shoot and the more affordable alternative of Archos flagship – Safe T Touch hardware wallet. But apart from the visual difference between the two Archos hardware devices, they share a similar commitment to maintaining user funds safe.

In this Safe T Mini hardware wallet review, we will be detailing some of the operational and security features embraced by the wallet. We will also look at how they have impacted Safe T’s ease of use, the number of supported cryptos and compare it to similar hardware wallets. More importantly, we will tell you if Safe T Mini is indeed a safe crypto hardware wallet.

Archos Safe T key features

On-device screen: Archos Safe T Mini hardware wallet features a small OLED screen that you can use to check your crypto balance offline and authenticating transaction details for outbound transfers.

Navigation buttons: Below the screen of the Safe T hardware device are two big navigation buttons. Their key role in helping you navigate the hardware device, especially when checking and confirming outbound crypto transfers.

Web Extension controlled: Given the relatively small screen of the hardware device, most of the Safe T Mini operations like initiating crypto transfers and tracking your portfolio are executed via the Safe T web extension. But unlike most other wallets that will connect to virtually any web browser, you will need a special software bridge (compatible with Windows, Linux, or macOS) to connect the hardware device and the extension.

Compatible with software wallets: Safe T Mini hardware wallet is also compatible with several other software wallets, including Electrum, MyEtherWallet, and MyCrypto. Linking the hardware wallet with either of these software wallets helps boost the wallet’s efficiency and increases the number of supported currencies.

Security features

Passcode: When setting up the Safe T Mini hardware wallet, you will be required to set up a six-digit passcode that serves as its primary security feature. You are also advised to support this with a multi-character password when you link it to either of the supported software wallets.

Recovery seed: Safe T Mini allows for the recovery of private keys should you lose access to the hardware device. That’s why you will be provided with a 24-word backup seed that you can use to restore wallets and recover private keys. For added security, these are generated by the hardware device offline and not by the web extension.

Two-factor authentication: Even though most Safe T wallet transactions are initiated via the web extension, they must be signed and verified by the hardware device.

Open source: Safe T mini hardware wallet is also built on an open-sourced technology. Its source code is available for viewing and auditing by its users and blockchain/crypto security experts. You can access this code on the Safe T Mini hardware’s page on GitHub.

Secure element: Safe T Mini hardware features a hack/tamper-proof secure element that stores your private keys. It is a combination of the ultra-safe and highly encrypted chipset memory as well as a Secured Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory.

Cold storage: Safe T Mini stores all your private keys and any other sensitive data in the hardware device 100% offline. None of this information is recorded or stored in Archos servers.

Key deletion tool: If you enter the hardware device’s PIN code incorrectly four consecutive times, you will trigger the key erasure protocol to delete all the wallet content and lock the devices.

How to set and activate the Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet

Step 1: After purchasing the Safe T Mini hardware device, download the software bridge that’s compatible with your computer device from the Archos.com website

Step 2: Install the software and connect the device to the computer using its USB cable.

Step 3: The hardware device is pre-loaded with a firmware that will automatically initiate the wallet activation process

Step 4: On the activation popup window, click “Install Firmware.”

Step 5: After successful installation, unplug and then reconnect the hardware device.

Step 6: The wallet has been successfully connected to the computer

Step 7: Now use the device to generate the 24-words recovery seed and write it down

Step 8: Choose a Username for your wallet

Step 9: Create a unique 6-digit passcode for the hardware device

Step 10: The wallet is now active and ready for use. Now you can start generating wallet addresses for the cryptos and tokens you want to store here.

How to add/receive Crypto into your Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Safe T Mini wallet web extension page and click on “Receive.”

Step 2: Copy the wallet address or the QR code

Step 3: Send them to the individual or exchange sending you Crypto

Step 4: Wait for funds to reflect on your app.

How to send Crypto from your Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Safe T Mini wallet web extension and click ‘Send’ on the user dashboard.

Step 2: From the list of cryptos and tokens hosted on the wallet, select the coin you want to transfer

Step 3: On the transfer window, enter the recipient’s wallet address

Step 4: Enter the number of coins you wish to send and hit send.

Step 5: Connect the Safe T hardware device to the computer and sign in to authorize the transaction.

Alternatively:

Link the hardware wallet with such software wallets as Electrum or MyCrypto that have an easier sending and receiving Crypto process.

Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet ease of use

Safe T Mini is relatively easy to use. It features an on-device screen that is complimented by a clean and easily navigable user interface for the Safe T web extension. And though one may consider its onboarding process to be complex and too laborious for a beginner crypto trader/investor, it is quite straightforward. Moreover, one can link the Safe T hardware wallet with the more convenient and easier to use software wallets.

Most importantly, the multilingual Archos website (available in 5 languages) contains numerous videos and explanatory guides that you can use to guide your interaction with the wallet.

Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet supported currencies.

Archos Safe T Mini is a multicurrency hardware wallet. And though its website claims that the wallet supports over 75% of all cryptocurrencies and tokens, we found it interesting that you can’t store some hugely popular cryptos like Ripple (XRP).

Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet cost and fees

Safe T Mini hardware wallet has its retail price capped at $59.99 or €49.99.

Storing coins and interacting with most other aspects of the wallet is free, but you will have to pay blockchain network fees every time your send cryptos and tokens to other wallets and exchanges. This fee is collected by blockchain miners or network administrators and not Archos.

Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet customer support

Archos has a highly responsive customer support team. Safe T Mini wallet users can contact this team via phone for after-sales services, email, or direct message them on such social media platforms as Twitter and Telegram.

What are the pros and cons of using the Archos Safe-T Mini Wallet?

Pros:

  • Safe T Mini wallet has embraced a host of highly effective security measures, including 2FA and data encryption.
  • It is relatively inexpensive when compared to other hardware wallets like Safe T Touch.
  • It is hugely transparent and is built on an open-sourced technology.
  • Safe T Mini is ultra-light (12g) and thus highly portable.

Cons:

  • The wallet doesn’t support some leading cryptocurrencies like Ripple.
  • It is not beginner-friendly

Comparing Archos Safe-T Mini wallet with other hardware wallets

Archos Safe-T Mini wallet vs. Ledger Nano S wallet

Safe T Mini and Ledger Nano are both highly secure and transparent hardware wallets. They both support a wide range of cryptocurrencies and tokens and embrace a multi-layered security protocol around. For instance, they both have the two-factor authentication functionality enabled, they are built on an open-sourced technology, and store client private keys and personal data in 100% offline vaults.

However, some of the differences between the two include the fact that Ledger has a more solid reputation. It supports a larger number of coins and cryptos (including all the popular cryptocurrencies) and can be considered more beginner-friendly. Safe T Mini wallet, on the other hand, has a more responsive customer support system.

Verdict: Is the Archos Safe-T Mini hardware wallet safe?

Safe T Mini hardware wallet is a safe wallet and has reliable and highly effective security measures. These include two-factor authentication, storing client funds in 100% offline storage, key erasure tool, military-grade encryption of user data/private keys, and providing wallet users with a recovery seed. You only have to part with the $59.99 acquisition cost.

Categories
Crypto Videos

The Only Sustainable Way To Make Money Mining – 76% of Crypto Miners Use Renewable Energy!

76% of Crypto Miners use Renewable Energy

 

Green planet earth with solar energy batteries installed on it

The rising energy demand to operate proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining, especially for Bitcoin, has been a hotly debated topic in the most recent months. However, interesting and unexpected news came from the research of the 3rd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study performed by the University of Cambridge. This study shows that 76% of crypto miners actually use electricity from renewable energy sources as a part of their energy consumption mix.

The study found that more than 39% of the total energy consumed by proof-of-work cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and others comes from renewable energy sources.
This finding contrasts with a previous study regarding proof-of-work crypto mining done by the same university, which found that only 28% of the total energy consumed for crypto mining came from renewable resources. Taking a look at the data from 2018, 60% of the miners used renewable energy sources as a part of their energy mix.
According to the latest study, the most common energy source for miners is hydroelectric power, with almost 62% of miners reporting that they are using hydroelectricity. Hydroelectric power is followed by coal and natural gas sources that take the second and third spots at 38% and 36%, respectively.

Crypto miners also reported that they use wind, oil, and solar energy, which are common but to a lesser degree than the aforementioned three sources.

The report also worked on dividing miner energy consumption by region, noticing that miners from Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, as well as North America use close to an equal percentage of hydroelectric power when compared to electricity from other sources, such as natural gas, coal, wind, and oil.
Using coal as an energy source is most common in the APAC region, where it contributes almost an equal amount of electricity to crypto miners as hydroelectric sources. Miners from Latin America, on the other hand, reported that they do not use coal-fired electricity to mine cryptos at all.

The study also notes that miners from the APAC region contribute almost 77% of the Bitcoin hash power, all while using the lowest amounts of renewable energy sources. On the other hand, while North America adds only 8%of the total Bitcoin hash power, 63% of the energy consumed in mining Bitcoin in that region came from renewable sources. Europe is a bit behind North America, with close to 30% of its crypto mining powered using renewable energy. Europe contributes nearly 10% of the worldwide Bitcoin hash power.

While using renewable energy as a main or only source of energy for mining is still far away, more and more miners are starting to use alternative sources in search of cleaner and better ways to make a profit.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Forex Fundamental Analysis for Novices – Trading The UK Claimant Count!

 

Fundamental Analysis for Novices: The UK Claimant Count

 

Thank you for joining this oryx academy educational video for novices. In this session, we will be looking at with claimant count and studying an example from Great Britain to try and establish what it might mean for trading the British pound.

If this is the first time you have viewed one of our fundamental analysis videos and you happen to be a new trader, we recommend that you use a financial calendar every day in order to plan your trading activities around the fundamental economic releases which governments statistics departments and other economic specialist firms release on behalf of governments. These are usually released on a weekly, monthly quarterly, and annual basis. The majority are subject to a time embargo.
This is typically what you might expect to see on an economic calendar, and these are available by most broking firms.

The most critical components of an economic calendar are the day and date, the time of the economic statistical release, the type of event, and the likely impact that this release could have on the market, which typically has 3 levels, low, medium, and high. High impact economic data releases can cause significant volatility in the market post-release, and it is essential that you are not caught offside because you didn’t know it was happening. This could cause significant losses for you and therefore adds weight to the fact that you must use an economic calendar every day. The other information that the economic calendar will provide you with is the previous data release, a general consensus, which will have been put together by leading economists. The actual figure will be quickly populated on to the calendar shortly after its release. This information can then be compared to the consensus and the previous data release in order to try and establish if the information is better, worse, or the same for the particular country’s economy.

Here we can see that on Tuesday, September 15th at 7 a.m. BST, the Great Britain claimant count rate for August is expected, along with the claimant count change for August. These are both predicted to have a medium impact on the market. We can also see the previous figures for July. However, there is no consensus. Please note that this information will also be simultaneously released with unemployment and average earnings, and where traders will take all of the released information into consideration before trading in accordance with the data. Because the unemployment rate is a high impact event, we must take this into consideration even though the claimant count is set as a medium.

So, what is the claimant count? This statistic is released by the National Statistics body, and it is a monthly measurement of unemployment within the United Kingdom. It is essentially a barometer for the health of the UK Labour market. Traders will be looking for higher rates of employment because this means that the economy is expanding. In this circumstance, it means the UK is bouncing back from the covered pandemic and indicates that the UK economy is expanding. Therefore, traders will be looking for a lower number in the claimant count than the previous month, which is seen as bullish or good for the Pound, while an increase in the number of claimants is seen as negative and both bad for the UK economy and the Pound, which might fall against its counterparts.

Categories
Forex Price Action

Disobeying the Breakout

In today’s lesson, we will demonstrate an example of a chart that makes a breakout, consolidates, and produces a reversal candle. However, it does not make a breakout at consolidation support. Thus, it does not offer an entry. Nevertheless, it makes a move towards the breakout direction later. We try to find out whether breakout traders find an entry from that move or not.

The chart shows that the price makes a long bearish move. It finds its support where it bounces twice. The chart ends its trading week by producing a Doji candle. The next week should be interesting.

The chart produces a bullish engulfing candle. The buyers may wait for the price to make a breakout at the last swing high. On the other hand, the sellers are to wait for the price to make a breakout at the last week’s low.

The chart produces a spinning top, and the price heads towards the South. It makes a breakout at the last week’s low. Thus, the sellers may keep an eye on this chart for the price to consolidate and produces a bearish reversal candle to offer them a short entry.

It produces a bullish engulfing candle. It is a strong bullish candle. However, the breakout level is still intact. If the level produces a bearish reversal candle followed by a breakout at consolidation support, the Bear may keep dominating in the pair.

The chart produces a Doji candle followed by a spinning top right at the breakout level. The sellers may go short below consolidation support. It looks it is a matter of time for the Bear to make a long move towards the South.

The chart produces a bullish candle breaching the breakout level. It spoils the sellers’ party. The weekly low is disobeyed by the H4 chart. Thus, the H4 sellers may skip taking entry on this chart. The chart becomes no hunting zone for both the buyers and the sellers as far as the H4 chart is concerned. Let us proceed and find out what happens next.

The price makes a bearish move. The pair is trading below the last week’s low. Look at the momentum. The price has been rather sluggish to head towards the South. It is because the pair is traded on other minor charts. As mentioned, if the price disobeys breakout on a chart, it is better not to trade based on that chart. The price may go either way, which makes things difficult for the traders to trade.

Categories
Forex Course

158. Where to Find Authentic Forex News and Market Data?

Introduction

Fundamental analysis is an integrated part of forex trading. It provides an exact logic and reason behind the movement of a currency pair. However, the fundamental analysis depends on several fundamental releases and news. Therefore, it is evident for a trader to know the source of this news.

What is Forex News and Market Data?

Forex news is economic, geopolitical, and financial news that may directly affect the price of a currency pair. Moreover, fundamental data are economic releases that show the current and upcoming economic conditions of a country.

The price of currency pairs depends on many factors, and traders evaluate it to anticipate the market movement. For example, if a country achieved its targeted inflation rate, and the central bank raised the interest rate, it will indicate stronger economic conditions that may influence traders to take traders in a specific direction.

However, it is essential to find the source where the forex news and market data are available.

Where to Find Forex News and Market Data

Forex trading becomes very easy nowadays as most economic news and market data are available on the internet as soon as it releases. Therefore, forex trading becomes very attractive to retail traders as they can operate all their activities from home with a computer and a stable internet connection.

Let’s have a look where we can find this information:

Forex Brokers

Many forex brokers provide integrated market news and an economic calendar where the upcoming economic releases and events are scheduled. It will update as soon as the news comes and will provide historical data. Some brokers provide exclusive technical and fundamental analysis based on forex news and market data, which is also helpful for traders.

News Portal

Besides the forex broker, there are many websites where forex economic calendar and events are released. It also provides technical and fundamental analysis based on the available information. However, some trading portals offer live charts with economic data.

Image Source: www.forexfactory.com

Forex Indicator

Besides the MT4 and MT5 trading platform’s stock indicator, several custom-based indicators show the upcoming news in a box within the price chart. When the news comes, it shows the result immediately on the chart. On the other hand, MT4 and MT5 have a built-in economic and fundamental news service, which is very useful.

Conclusion

It is not very hard to find forex news and market data as it is available publicly, and anyone can access it. However, the challenging part is getting the news immediately after release. The news’s timing may differ based on the quality of the internet connection and execution speed of the news providing website.

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Categories
Forex Assets

Analysing The CAD/HUF Forex Currency Pair & Determining The Costs Involved

Introduction

The CAD/HUF is an exotic currency pair where CAD represents the Canadian Dollar, and HUF – the Hungarian Forint. In this article, let’s understand some of the basic concepts you should familiarise with before trading the CAD/HUF pair.

For this currency pair, the CAD is the base currency and the HUF the quote currency. In this case, the price associated with the CAD/HUF pair shows the amount of HUF that 1 CAD can buy. For example, if the price of CAD/HUF is 232.97, it means that 1 CAD can buy 232.97 HUF.

Spread

Spread in the forex market is the difference between buying price, i.e. ‘bid’ and the selling price, i.e. ‘ask.’ The spread for the CAD/HUF is – ECN: 50 pips | STP: 55 pips

Fees

The trading fees you are charged depends on the type of forex account you have. STP accounts carry no trading fee, while for the ECN accounts, the trading fees are determined by your forex broker.

Slippage

In highly volatile trading sessions, sometimes the price at which you trade is different than the price at which that trade will be executed. This difference is called slippage and is usually determined by your broker’s speed of execution.

Trading Range in the CAD/HUF Pair

In the forex market, a currency pair will fluctuate differently across different timeframes. Trading range helps a forex trader analyze how a given pair moves (in terms of pips) over a given timeframe, which is an important risk management tool.

For example, let’s say that during a 1-hour timeframe, the CAD/HUF pair has a trading range of 10 pips. A forex trader trading this pair can expect to gain or lose $43 since the value of 1 pip is $4.3

The table below shows the minimum, average, and maximum volatility of CAD/HUF across different timeframes.

The Procedure to assess Pip Ranges

  1. Add the ATR indicator to your chart.
  2. Set the period to 1
  3. Add a 200-period SMA to this indicator.
  4. Shrink the chart so you can determine a larger period
  5. Select your desired timeframe
  6. Measure the floor level and set this value as the min
  7. Measure the level of the 200-period SMA and set this as the average
  8. Measure the peak levels and set this as Max.

CAD/HUF Cost as a Percentage of the Trading Range

Trading costs that can be expected in forex include slippage, spread, and brokers’ fees. Thus, Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading Fee.

Forex traders should learn how these costs change across different timeframes as the currency pair price fluctuates. The tables below show the percentage costs (in pips) that can be expected when trading the CAD/HUF pair.

ECN Model Account

Spread = 50 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 1

Total cost = 53

STP Model Account

Spread = 55 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 0

Total cost = 57

The Ideal Timeframe to Trade CAD/HUF

With both the ECN and the STP forex trading accounts, the 1-hour timeframes have the highest costs. Therefore, for short-term traders, using the timeframes with minimum volatilities increases the trading costs they will incur. For the 1H, 2H, 4H, and the 1D timeframes, you will incur lower trading costs by trading the CAD/HUF pair when the volatility is above average.

For both types of trading accounts, longer time frames, i.e., the weekly and the 1-month, offer lesser trading costs for the pair. It is worth noting that forex traders can minimize their costs by using limit order types, which eradicate the risks of slippage. Here’s an example with the ECN account.

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading fee

= 0 + 50 + 1 =51

You can notice that when the cost associated with slippage is removed, the overall costs for trading the CAD/HUF pair significantly drops. The highest cost reduces from 898.31% to 864.41%.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s NKN All About?

When the internet came, the idea was to have a reliable, safe, and diverse web where people from anywhere could visit and gain knowledge and information. But decades down the line, we have an internet that’s increasingly censored, user data is insecure, and is vulnerable to more inefficiencies. 

With the promise of blockchain, we have the opportunity to make the internet a safer, more secure, and reliable place. 

NKN – ‘a new kind of network’ is a blockchain-based platform that wants to change the internet’s trajectory by powering a decentralized, more anonymous and peer-to-peer online ecosystem. Hopefully, this will steer the internet into more efficiency, sustainability, and safety for users. In this article, we delve deeper into the NKN ecosystem and its native token, NKN. 

What’s NKN?

The New Kind of Network is a peer-to-peer internet protocol powered by a new kind of blockchain. It uses incentives to attract users who share their idle bandwidth and connectivity to keep the network going. The end goal is to create an open, efficient, and decentralized internet so developers can create a low-cost and more accessible internet for everyone. At the time of writing, NKN has about 28183 full nodes. 

The Problem with Today’s Internet 

The internet’s original idea was to democratize information, making it accessible to everyone everywhere at little to no cost. However, that idea is getting more endangered every day. For instance, we have net neutrality, which is being threatened. Information, which is supposed to be free, is usually under the threat of censorship in some jurisdictions, and user privacy is not guaranteed. All this points to the fact that the internet, as we know it, requires a reform. 

Limitations of Peer-to-peer Networks

Peer-to-peer networks have been proposed to solve this issue. However, they face certain challenges that hold them back. These include but are not limited to vulnerability to malicious attacks, no economic incentivization, and scalability is often sacrificed. 

NKN wants to help solve these problems with the following solutions: 

  • Any node can connect to the network remotely
  • Supporting network sharing
  • Promoting net neutrality
  • Support an open and scalable network
  • Support efficient routing
  • Tokenize the connectivity of networks and reward active nodes with incentives
  • Design a more secure, economically viable, and scalable blockchain network

Core Components of NKN

NKN is built on several core components that keep it running. 

#1. Decentralized Data Transmission Network (DDTN) Scheme

This is an attempt at ‘blockchainizing’ the building blocks of the NKN infrastructure. The goal is to support network connectivity and data transmission efficiency by using independent relay nodes to keep the network lean at all times. 

#2. Cellular Automata powered DDTN: This is a tool that reimagines the blockchain. It supports concepts like peer equivalence and concurrency. 

#3. Cellular Automata Driven Consensus: The NKN network can achieve consensus in a high fault-tolerant manner, thanks to Cellular Automata.

#4. Proof of Relay: NKN will implement Proof of Relay (PoR). This mechanism will incentivize participants to contribute to the network by sharing their connectivity and bandwidth and getting token rewards in return.

#5. Tokenization: NKN will implement the tokenization of data and its transmission to incentivize participants to share bandwidth resources and get rewards in return.

#6. Toolkit for DApp development: NKN provides a toolkit for developers to build DApps quickly and painlessly. Because these tools are already provided, developers can concentrate on creativity, satisfactory user experiences, and economic viability.

Proof of Relay 

NKN reaches network consensus through Proof of Relay (PoR), a ‘useful’ Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, where a participating node is rewarded based on their network connectivity and how fast they can transmit data. Nodes prove their contribution by adding digital signatures on data before transferring it. 

The power expended by PoR is used by the whole network. Also, ‘mining’ involves providing transmission power to the system. 

Current DApps Powered by NKN

#1. nMobile

This is a mobile app supporting the NKN wallet, a chat tool known as D-Chat, news, and IOT capabilities.

#2. D-Chat

This is a serverless chat tool for both open and private chatting, depending on the participating parties.

#3. nFTP

This is a secure, peer-to-peer, and serverless file transfer service.

#3. NShell

This is a remote shell that’s safer than Secure Shell.

Why NKN?

NKN proposes these advantages over other blockchain networks: 

#1. A large number of nodes

The NKN mainnet currently features up to 25,000 full nodes, making it highly scalable.

#2. High speed

NKN supports the ‘aggregated speed’ of various routes. With more nodes, the throughput of the whole network can be scaled. 

#3. Zero server

The NKN network is fully serverless, operating in a fully decentralized and peer-to-peer fashion. This significantly cuts on maintenance costs as well as complexity. It also removes a single point of failure that would attract malicious attacks. 

#4. Unique and global ID 

NKN supports unique ID addresses to facilitate services from anywhere around the world and so that more people can engage with the platform

#5. Extra security

NKN supports cryptographic, end-to-end, and hop-by-hop encryption, protecting users’ data and info from third-party prying eyes. 

#6. Low latency

NKN can support a broad range of applications such as 3D gaming, augmented and virtual reality, edge computing, as well as IOT. 

NKN Community Strategy and Overview

NKN’s community growth strategies are as follows: 

  • Working with various players in the crypto and blockchain community to host activities such as conferences, hackathons, and so on
  • Attracting non-crypto users to the fold via its mobile app, which has an in-built private messaging and wallet
  • Publish content to make DApp development easier for developers
  • Incentivize mining nodes in developing countries with extra token rewards 

Key Tokenomics

As of Oct 13, 2020, NKN traded at $0.018891, with a market cap of 11 million, which placed it at #455. The token’s 24-hour volume was $1,102,790 and a circulating, total, and maximum supply of 583,666,666, 700 million, and 1 billion, respectively. The token has an all-time high of $0.545913 (June 02, 2018), an all-time low of $0.006411 (Mar 13, 2020). 

Buying and Storing NKN

NKN is being offered on various exchanges, including Binance, Bilaxy, LATOKEN, MXC, Huobi, VCC Exchange, CoinDXC, Gate.io, IDEX, Huobi, Upbit, Bittrex, and Uniswap. The token is listed as a market pair of BTC, USDT, BNB, HT, WETH, ETH.

For storage, NKN offers official wallets, including nMobile, nStatus, and Vault by NKNx. 

Final Words

NKN provides a safe and scalable platform for DApp developers to create secure and low-cost apps for users everywhere. Thanks to an accessible DApp creation toolkit, they can focus on creativity, user experience, and business logic. And NKN’s incentive model encourages people to join and support the network. Will NKN succeed in providing better connectivity to people and revolutionizing the internet? We’ll be watching.

Categories
Forex Education Forex System Design

How to Determine the Size on a Historical Simulation

The simulation of a trading strategy requires a historical data series to assess the stability of the strategy’s results over time. Likewise, the strategist must consider the strategy before determining the window’s size before starting the historical simulation.

This educational article presents the concepts that will allow developers to estimate the data requirements to assess a trading strategy’s stability through a historical simulation process.

Setting the Requirements of Historical Data

As said, the strategy’s simulation process requires historical price data. Of this data, the developer must select a test window to perform the evaluation.

In this regard, in deciding the size of the historical data window, the strategy developer should consider both the statistical robustness and the relevance of the data for the trading system and the market.

However, these requirements will not accurately determine the test window’s size, either in hours, days, or even months. Instead, they provide a guideline for selecting a range of data suitable for developing the historical simulation process.

Suffice to say that the data window selection will have a significant influence on the results of a historical simulation.

Statistical Requirements

In statistical terms, the data window’s length must be large enough for the trading strategy to develop a sufficiently large number of trades to allow the strategy developer to reach meaningful conclusions about its performance. 

On the other hand, the data window should be large enough to allow sufficient degrees of freedom for the number of variables used in the trading strategy.

The standard error is a measure used in statistical analysis. The strategist can use this value as a measurement of the sample size impact in the historical simulation.

A high standard error suggests that each trade’s result is far from the strategy’s average profit. On the contrary, a low reading would indicate that the variation in an individual trade result will be closer to the average of the strategy’s benefits.

In other words, the standard error provides the strategy developer with a measure of the reliability of the average win based on the number of winning trades.

Quantifying the Required Amount of Trades 

According to the statistical theory, the larger the sample size is, the more reliable the trading strategy’s historical simulation results will be. However, several technical factors, such as data availability, avoids getting as many trades as the developer would like. 

The number of required trades increases in long-term systems, which tend to trade less frequently. In this case, the best option is to search for a sufficient amount of trades; another option is to make the data window wider.

In this regard, the statistical theory asks for a minimum sample size of 30 observations to be statistically acceptable. However, the strategy developer must aim for a much larger number of trades because the minimum of 30 samples requires the phenomenon under observation to follow a gaussian distribution, with is unlikely the financial markets would do.

Stability and Frequency of trades

The stability of a trading strategy corresponds to its results’ overall consistency during the strategy’s execution. In this way, as the strategy becomes more stable, it will tend to be more reliable over time.

The developer can distinguish the trading strategy’s stability by verifying whether the trades are distributed uniformly within the test window. Likewise, the strategist can confirm that the strategy is more stable as the standard deviation of the size and duration of the profits/losses shortens.

The frequency of trades will influence the length of the trading window. Thus, the higher the trading frequency, the shorter the historical data needed for historical simulation. 

In other words, a fast trading strategy running in markets with high volatility will require a small data window, which could reach up to three years. By contrast, a slower trading strategy, such as daily trend following, will require a larger data window, exceeding five years. 

One rule of thumb is: The strategist should make sure the trading system be tested under all market conditions, Bull, bear, sideways markets – under high, medium, and low volatility.

Conclusions

The execution of a trading strategy’s historical simulation requires a data size enough for the developer to evaluate its profitability and stability.

A high-frequency trading strategy will require less data than a long-term strategy, which will require a significant quantity of data, which could exceed three years of data.

The standard error can be used to evaluate the simulation’s results and determine the historical data window’s validity.

The strategist should ensure the trading system is tested under all market conditions: Bull, Bear, Sideways, and under all volatility types in which it is supposed will be used live.

Suggested Readings

  • Jaekle, U., Tomasini, E.; Trading Systems: A New Approach to System Development and Portfolio Optimisation; Harriman House Ltd.; 1st Edition (2009).
  • Pardo, R.; The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies; John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition (2008).
Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Button wallet Review: How Safe The Telegram Messenger Linked wallet?

Button Wallet can be best described as a messenger-linked and multicurrency crypto vault. Unlike most other software wallets available in mobile and desktop apps or web extensions, Button Wallet is housed by the telegram app. It is more of an expertly crafted and feature-rich telegram bot created by ten highly experienced blockchain and programming experts who are currently based in San Francisco, California.

According to the Button Wallet development team, they set out to design an all-in-one platform that addresses all the challenges faced by the ordinary crypto wallet. And by integrating their system with the most popular app in the crypto circles, they hoped to leverage more than its large following (of approximately 200 million users). They were also looking for a platform that would help address the ease of use, speed, security, and customer support challenges rocking the crypto industry.

In this review, we analyze the Button Wallet and the steps taken by its developers towards achieving this enviable vision. We detail its key operational and security features, vet its ease of use, provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to use the Button Wallet, and list its pros and cons.

Button wallet key features

Telegram linked wallet: Button wallet is not a software of firmware but a telegram bot. It is embedded into the popular app implying that you first need to download the telegram app before using the crypto wallet-cum-exchange.

Cross-platform: Button wallet can be used on both mobile and desktop apps. The fact that it is a bot means that you don’t have to worry about finding the version of the app that is compatible with your phone or computer’s operating system.

Send to name: Button wallet has also made it possible for its users to send cryptos to a recipient’s user handle regardless of whether they have installed Button Wallet or not. This goes a long way in helping Button wallet users avoid the often-costly mistakes associated with getting the recipient’s wallet address wrong.

Inbuilt exchange: In addition to storing cryptocurrencies and tokens, Button wallet integrates Changelly – a crypto-to-crypto exchange services provider. This lets you buy or exchange cryptos and tokens with over 80,000 Button wallet peers and the crypto community at large.

Portfolio tracker: The button wallet bot features several tabs that let you track your crypto portfolio in real-time. These include the balance, token balance, and payment history tabs.

Automate notifications: Button wallet lets you automate most of the wallet functions and customize notifications that reflect on your phone’s display in real-time. Note that you can also automate notifications for exchange rates and transactions for your wallet.

Purchase crypto with card: You can also buy cryptocurrencies or tokens and pay virtually using any credit/debit card. To achieve this, Button Wallet has collaborated with Wyre and Moonpay – two fiat-to-crypto exchanges that process credit and debit card payments.

Develop Dapps: Button wallet recently collaborated with Ethereum Classic Labs – an accelerator program that funds innovative blockchain systems – to design and develop LightySig. This highly innovative project created a single programming library that is compatible with multiple blockchains. The project is best known for its ability to create a Dapp environment that allows blockchain technology experts to develop decentralized apps.

Button wallet security features

Password encryption: When creating a user account for the Button bot wallet, you will be asked to create a password that protects your digital assets and serves as the primary encryption tool.

Leverage Telegram security measures: Telegram is considered one of the most secure social messaging apps. Communications between users are highly encrypted, and it also claims to be free of any government influence or censorship – two factors that make it a darling for most crypto investors. Button wallet seeks to take advantage of all these security and privacy measures put in place by Telegram.

Non-custodial + QR code: Button wallet is a non-custodial wallet that doesn’t store your private keys in Button company or Telegram servers. Additionally, unlike most other hardware and software wallets that provide you with seed for backing up and recovering your digital assets, Button wallet provides you with a QR code.

Integrate Telegram Passport: When interacting with Button wallet services like buying a card that requires KYC/AML verification, Button accepts the identification documents that have been verified by Telegram Passport.

How to set and activate the Button wallet

Step 1: Start by searching for Button Wallet bot in your Telegram app. Alternatively, open the Button wallet website and click the “Use Telegram” icon on the site’s homepage.

Step 2: Click Start

Step 3: Chose the preferred bot language.

Step 4: Since you are just starting, tap on the ‘Create account.’

Step 5: The wallet will now direct you to the account creation page of the Button website. It asks for your email and asks you to create a password.

Step 6: Agree to the terms and conditions and terms of use and click confirm

Step 7: The website will send you a QR code and also present you with the downloadable version of your QR code

Step 8: The bot wallets is now active and ready for use

How to add/receive crypto into your Button wallet

Step 1: Log in to telegram and open the Button wallet channel

Step 2: Click on the “Deposit” icon.

Step 3: Select the coin you wish to deposit

Step 4: Copy the wallet address provided and forward it to the individual or exchange sending you coins

Alternatively:

Step 1: Log in to your Telegram channel and open the Button wallet channel.

Step 2: Click on the “Buy Cryptocurrency” tab.

Step 3: Select the Currency or token you wish to buy and click on the ‘Buy’ tab.

Step 4: It will redirect you to the MoonPay exchange that is integrated into your website.

Step 5: Follow the prompts to complete the transaction.

How to send crypto from your Button wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Telegram and open the Button Wallet bot channel

Step 2: Select the currency you wish to send

Step 3: Enter the number of coins to send

Step 4: Enter the receiver’s wallet address or their Telegram username.

Step 5: Confirm that the transaction details are okay and send

Button wallet ease of use

Button wallet is one of the easiest to use and most beginner-friendly crypto storage vaults we have come across. There is no onboarding process as you only need to search for Button Wallet bot in Telegram and create a password on their website via the redirect link. Buying, receiving, and sending cryptos in and out of the wallet is very straightforward and requires no previous experience.

Button wallet supported currencies and countries.

Button wallet bot currently supports seven major cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dai, Stellar, Waves) and 800+ ERC-20 tokens.

It is also available in 200+ countries and territories.

Button wallet cost and fees

Using and storing your cryptos in a Button wallet is free. You only have to pay the variable transaction fee charged by the crypto exchange or the blockchain network fee charged by miners and administrators when you send cryptos from one wallet to another.

Button wallet customer support

To access support, click on the three bars at the Button wallet channel’s top-right corner and select help. This will direct you to the bot support channel where the technical support bot will address simple challenges while complicated challenges will be forwarded to the wallet developers.

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

Pros:

  • Button operates in the ultra-safe environment created by Telegram.
  • The wallet is easy to use and beginner-friendly.
  • It doesn’t require you to download another app or software.
  • Button wallet simplifies the process of backing your private keys by providing you with a QR Code in place of a recovery seed.
  • It has one of the most responsive customer support team.

Cons:

  • It is not immune to threats facing hot wallets.
  • The wallet will only support a limited number of cryptocurrencies.

Comparing Button wallet with other multicurrency wallets

Button wallet vs. eToro

Button Wallet and eToro are similar – they are both hot wallets. They are multicurrency wallets that support a limited number of coins and are also considered safe.

But unlike eToro that stores cryptocurrencies on behalf of its clients and maintain its own crypto exchange, Button wallet is a non-custodial crypto vault that integrates third-party crypto to crypto and fiat to crypto exchanges.

Verdict: Is Button Wallet bot safe?

Well, it has the backing of the safest social messaging app. Further, the telegram app is tied to your phone and requires two-factor authentication when logging in to another device. You also get to create a password when creating a user account. Our reservations with the wallet relying heavily on Telegram security features is that the app isn’t immune to hacks and such other threats as malicious viruses. Plus, the two-factor authentication only applies to Telegram when signing in, not when sending cryptocurrencies from the wallet.

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Cryptocurrencies

Introducing Loopring: A Step By Step Guide

The idea of blockchain was to empower people to have real ownership and control over their finances. However, that’s not what we have today – at least when you consider a powerful player in the crypto space – exchanges. 

The biggest crypto exchanges in the space are centralized – which means users do not have explicit ownership of their funds, and they have to rely on intermediaries such as banks to exchange, transfer and send crypto. 

But centralized exchanges (CEXs) are beset with security and lack of transparency – factors that result in the loss of users’ funds. On the other hand, we have decentralized exchanges (DEXs), which are not perfect either. From scalability problems to liquidity issues, they also come up short. 

Loopring is an exchange protocol that seeks to unite exchanges in a way that people can make trades in a secure, scalable, and decentralized environment. Trades on Loopring happen off-chain, meaning they are not affected by shortcoming for the blockchain, such as low scalability. 

This article takes a closer look at how the Loopring network works. We’ll also check how the Loopring token (LRC) is doing in the market. 

Understanding Loopring

Loopring is a decentralized exchange protocol based on Ethereum that allows traders to transfer crypto-assets across different exchanges. Loopring is not an exchange per se but rather a protocol that facilitates the decentralized exchange of cryptocurrencies. 

At its core, Loopring works this way: the protocol pools all orders sent through it and then matches these orders through the order box of other multiple decentralized exchanges. Loopring supports both decentralized and centralized exchanges, and it’s also blockchain-agnostic, meaning it can be deployed on any blockchain that supports smart contracts. That means blockchains like Ethereum, Qtum, Neo, and others are in play. 

The Qtum team believes that “crypto-assets trading should be and will be risk-free and worry-free in terms of custody. Traders should have strong cryptographic guarantees that the assets cannot be wrongfully taken from the platforms where they trade – not by hackers, not by exchange owners, and not even by state-level adversaries.” 

The Problem with Centralized Exchanges

Centralized exchanges are one of the biggest gaps in the race to full decentralization. The primary risks of CEXes are lack of guaranteed security, lack of transparency, and lack of liquidity. 

#1. Lack of security

Lack of security is underscored by the fact that users typically surrender control of their private keys – and hence funds – to the exchange. This exposes users to potential security breaches – and there have been many – which could cause loss of funds. There’s also the issue of honest mistakes, whereby CEX developers make accidental, loss-causing errors in the protocol. 

#2. Lack of transparency 

Users can simply not explicitly trust exchange operators’ intentions. This means they cannot know whether the entity is acting unfairly or dishonestly for whatever reason. Exchanges can be compelled by authorities to shut down or freeze your account. They can also go bankrupt or pull an exit scam

#3. Lack of liquidity

The CEXs landscape is characterized by fragmented liquidity. It’s usually a winner-take-all scenario, where the exchange with the biggest volume or most trading pairs wins as most users prefer to use one exchange. This creates a barrier for new exchanges, which find it difficult to build up liquidity. The result is an unfair and fragmented landscape where the big exchanges have all the power, a situation that resembles the legacy financial system. 

The Problem With Decentralized Exchanges

Decentralized exchanges mainly differ from centralized ones in that in the former, users have complete control over their private keys and can perform peer-to-peer exchanges. 

However, DEXs grapple with the problem of low performance, liquidity issues, and infrastructural limitations. Low performance is a result of low scalability, which in turn is caused by structural constraints such as caps on the number of transactions that can be held in one block at a time. Liquidity issues arise when users have to search across disparate blockchains for matching orders. 

How Loopring Works

On Loopring, users do not deposit funds into an exchange to start trading. The trader’s funds remain in their wallet throughout. This affords them complete autonomy over their money during the whole process – meaning they can modify the order at any point if necessary. 

Placing an Order

Placing an order happens entirely on the loopring.io wallet. After you clear the order to go through (via your private key), it is relayed to smart contracts on the Loopring network and a series of relay nodes outside the blockchain. Smart contracts facilitate the exchange of the money for the desired currency, while the relay nodes maintain order books and broadcast trade requests to ring-miners. 

Ring Miners

Ring mining is a feature of relay nodes. Relay nodes with this feature are known as ‘ring-miners,’ and they create order-rings by stringing together orders from disparate blockchains. This happens until all orders are filled. In return, ring-miners are compensated with Loopring (LRC) tokens. Relay nodes can communicate with each other, build order books, and mine order-rings the way they choose. 

Settling Trades 

When an order passes through, smart contracts evaluate them to verify their authenticity. If everything is in order, the desired currency is transferred to the right recipient. This procedure happens on a wallet-to-wallet basis.

Participants in the Loopring Ecosystem

The Loopring ecosystem is kept alive by a number of participants who jointly contribute to its running. Let’s get a look at them: 

#1. Wallets 

This is a common wallet interface through which users can access tokens and relay orders to Loopring. The network incentivizes wallet owners to create orders by rewarding them with LRC, just like with ring-miners. 

#2. Consortium Liquidity Sharing Blockchain

This is a network that facilitates the sharing of orders and liquidity. Nodes can join an existing network through the relay software, creating a system for order and liquidity sharing. This all happens on a consortium blockchain designed for near real-time ordering and getting rid of old history to keep the network light and scalable. Relays do not have to join a network; they can work alone or create their own sharing network. 

#3. Relays/Ring-miners

Relays are nodes in charge of broadcasting orders to the network, as well as maintaining order books. They also stitch together orders from different blockchains so that they can be filled.

 #4. Loopring Protocol Smart Contracts (LPSC)

These are public and free smart contracts that receive and evaluate orders, transfer and settle them in a trustless manner, and incentivize ring-miners and wallets with Loopring token rewards. 

#5. Asset Tokenization Services (ATS) 

This is a bridge that connects assets that cannot be exchanged via Loopring. ATS is run by centralized companies that have been vetted by the Loopring team. 

Why Loopring? 

The Loopring team argues for a case of security, scalability, and low costs as to why users should adopt it. According to the website, the Loopring network is: 

  • Secure – Loopring is an open-source and decentralized exchange protocol – meaning users do not have to trust each other. It’s also noncustodial, meaning users have complete control over their money.
  • High throughput – Loopring can support highly scalable DEXs by processing massive volumes of orders off-chain. The problems of the underlying blockchain network are no longer a concern.
  • Low cost – Since the majority of operations are conducted off-chain, gas fees are dramatically reduced.

Key Metrics of Loopring 

As of Oct 10, 2020, the Loopring token traded at $0.207983, with a market cap of $237,920,359 and a market rank of #59. The 24-hour volume of the token was $79,890,576, while it had a circulating and total supply of 1,143,941,524 and 1,374,513,897, respectively. The atoken has an all-time high of $2.59 (Jan 09, 2018), and an all-time low was $0.019861 (Dec 18, 2019). 

Where to Buy and Store LRC

LRC is currently listed on a handful of exchanges. You’ll find the token on Coinbase Pro, Binance, Bilaxy, OKEx, MXC, HBTC, BitHumb, Coinsbit, Hoo, Bitvavo, ProBit Exchange, Gate.io, Huobi Global, Folgory, KuCoin, 1inch Exchange, and of course the Loopring exchange. 

Closing Thoughts 

Loopring distinguishes itself from other exchanges, both centralized and decentralized – by not being a competitor but bringing them together. If the network succeeds, it has the potential to increase liquidity across markets and help push cryptocurrency closer to the mainstream.

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Cryptocurrencies

BitFi Wallet Review: Is BitFi The Ford Knox Of Hardware Wallets?

BitFi is a smartphone-like hardware wallet designed and developed by John McAfee – the techpreneur behind McAfee Antivirus software. It is a highly intuitive crypto vault that integrates both industry standard and some innovative operational and security features. For instance, unlike most software and hardware crypto wallets that have a backup seed and store private keys offline, BitFi doesn’t provide you with a recovery seed, and neither does it integrate the cold storage feature.

BitFi became hugely popular because of McAfee’s bold claim that the wallet is “unhackable” and even referring to it as the ‘Fort Knox’ of crypto hardware wallets. A security audit of its source code, however, revealed numerous bugs and vulnerabilities. The wallet was then hacked. This saw McAfee drop the ”Unhackable” tab, agree that no wallet or computer system is unhackable, and defend BitFi by arguing that it was all a marketing stunt.

In this BitFi hardware wallet review, we outline and explain all the security and operational features that first convinced John McAfee that this Crypto vault is unhackable. We will also vet its ease of use, its pros, and cons, and provide you with a step by step guide on how to activate and use BitFi.

Key features

Large screen: BitFi hardware resembles an ordinary smartphone and has a full OLED screen. The on-device screen is large enough to fit the entire wallet address and plays a crucial role in making BitFi as intuitive as possible.

Native interface: You don’t need to download a desktop or mobile app wallet companion for the BitFi hardware wallet. The hardware device features a native user interface that you can use to navigate and interact with the wallet and your private keys.

Multi-wallet hardware vault: BitFi is a multi-wallet hardware vault because there is no limit to the number of wallet addresses you can hold on the device.

Security features

Passcode + SALT: Like any other wallet, BitFi requires you to set up a 6-digit passcode to protect your BitFi account. But unlike any other wallet, it requires you to create “SALT,” a passphrase that you will need to login to the BitFi hardware device.

Open sourced: BitFi is a fully open-sourced hardware wallet whose source code is available on both the official BitFi wallet website and its GitHub page.

Secret phrase: In the place of the near-traditional recovery/backup seed generated by most hardware/software wallets, BitFi lets you create a secret phrase that you can use alongside ‘SALT’ to calculate your private keys.

No storing private keys: Though it is a hardware wallet, BitFi doesn’t store your private keys in cold offline storage. Instead, it uses Salt and your secret phrase to calculate your crypto wallet balances every time you log in. This technically means that you can log in and access your digital portfolio using any hardware BitFi device.

Locked Bootloader: BitFi derives its claim of tamper-proof hardware wallets from the fact that it has a locked bootloader. This means that BitFi’s firmware is locked and will not allow the injection of any foreign programs or instructions.

No counterfeits: BitFi official website claims that the hardware wallet cannot be counterfeited. This argument is based on the fact that the wallet’s firmware uses a specially packaged and unique fingerprint – the Trusted Execution Environment – that cannot be replicated.

How to set and activate the BitFi wallet

Step 1: Start by making your purchase of the Bitfi Knox crypto hardware wallet.

Step 2: Create a user account on Bitfi official website. This step requires you to create a password and verify your email address.

Step 3: After email confirmation, the website will ask for the 6-digit code on your hardware wallet

Step 4:  It will now require you to create a SALT. Think of it as a username that should be unique but easy to remember

Step 5: Create the secret phrase of a minimum of 7 words if they are multi-character or 9words with no special characters. However, you are free to push this to 10, 12, or even 15 words for improved security. You can use the BitFi randomizing system by rolling the dice that accompanies the hardware device and their online word list.

Step 6: Turn on BitFi hardware wallet and connect to the same Wi-Fi as the computer or phone you are using to create a user account.

Step 7: Hit the Sync button on the online wallet user dashboard to connect the website account with the hardware device

Step 8: Enter the SALT and secret phrase to login to the hardware device and access your wallet address and QR code.

Step 9:  Your Bitfi wallet is now active and ready for use

How to add/receive crypto into your BitFi wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Bitfie wallet

Step 2: Copy the wallet address and send it to the person sending you cryptos or have them scan your wallet’s QR code.

Step 3: Wait for the funds to reflect on your wallet.

How to send crypto from your BitFi wallet

Step 1: Log in to your BitFi online wallet and hit the send button on the user dashboard.

Step 2: Select the coin or crypto asset you want to send

Step 3: Enter the recipient’s wallet address and the number of cryptos you want them to receive

Step 4: Log in to your Bitfi hardware wallet and synchronize it with the online user dashboard.

Step 5: Confirm that the transaction details and correct and authorize the transfer via the hardware device.

BitFi wallet ease of use

Bitfi is a very intuitive and beginner-friendly hardware wallet. The setup process is relatively easy and straightforward. The fact that you can access your digital assets even on a (trusted) friend’s BitFi hardware wallet solidifies this ease of use claim.

Additionally, you don’t need to worry about losing/misplacing the paper/card that holds your recovery seed. You do not need it. You only need Salt and the easy to remember Secret phrase to access your digital assets.

BitFi wallet supported currencies.

BitFi is a multicurrency wallet that supports 12 cryptocurrencies and a host of ERC-20 tokens.

It is especially hailed as the first hardware wallet to support Monero crypto. Their official website also mentions that the development team is working towards incorporating more cryptos tokens in the near future.

BitFi wallet cost and fees

BitFi hardware wallet retails at $120.

The only other charge you might have to factor in when using the BitFi wallet is the transaction fee charged and collected by blockchain miners and network administrators to confirm and verify crypto transactions.

BitFi wallet customer support

BitFi has the technical and customer support team on standby 24/7 via phone, email, or live chat functionality on your hardware device.

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

Pros:

  • BitFi is an easy to use and beginner-friendly crypto hardware wallet.
  • The hardware wallet doesn’t store your private keys in a specific device.
  • It is a multi-wallet and multi-signature vault that you can share with family or friends with everyone creating wallet address-specific Salt and Security Phrase.
  • Your private keys never leave the wallet.

Cons:

  • It will only work if connected to the internet via Wi-Fi.
  • The $120 price tag is restrictive.
  • It doesn’t support anonymous user registration or trading.

Verdict: Is BitFi wallet safe?

Yes, Bitfi has embraced highly advanced security and privacy protocols that guarantee your private coins’ safety. For instance, their hardware wallet doesn’t hold any coins. Its specially designed firmware is also locked to eliminate counterfeiting and injection of malicious codes. And though its open-sourced nature helped many blockchain security experts uncover its vulnerabilities and soil its reputation as an ‘Unhackable’ wallet, it has helped identify many more bugs and their patches. Our only reservation with the use of the BitFi hardware wallet is its restrictive acquisition cost and the fact that it has already been hacked.

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Cryptocurrencies

What is Bella? Here’s All You Need to Know

It’s safe to say the future of finance is DeFi. DeFi, short for decentralized finance, is not only the idea of a democratized finance system but one with new and bold propositions for users. Blockchain-based finance will phase out intermediaries and inject transparency and fairness into the system. 

Bella is one of the projects in the middle of the DeFi action. It provides an array of DeFi products to benefit users and push DeFi into the mainstream. 

The Bella team believes “users deserve much better mobile products with elegant design and smooth user experience.” It aims to avail crypto to mobile – the gadgets we most interact with – like never before. 

Bella stands out as the first DeFi project hosted by Binance’s Launchpool platform – an initiative by the world’s largest crypto exchange to actualize the DeFi concept to Binance users. 

Breaking Down Bella

Bella Protocol is a suite of DeFi products such as yield farming, automated lending, one-click savings, a robot advisor, and more. The Bella team wants to make crypto investment more accessible for everyone with the aid of automated smart contracts and the security of the blockchain. 

The Bella team wants to correct the current situation in which users are barred from entering DeFi by high gas fees, slow speeds, and poor user experiences. On Bella, users can simply deposit crypto and gain back high returns. 

The Bella team comprises blockchain veterans with years of experience in finance, cryptography, and engineering. Bella has been imagined by the same team behind the ARPA project. 

Motivation Behind the Bella Protocol

The Bella team wants to address certain pain points that encumber the DeFi space right now. Thus, Bella protocol development is guided by the following: 

  • DeFi is a trillion-dollar market whose rise is much due to stablecoins
  • Despite all the hype and buzz, just 1% of crypto users are actively engaged in DeFi.
  • DeFi users still have to grapple with things like high gas fees, poor user experience, and the complexity of smart contracts. 
  • DeFi users are highly motivated by the promise of high yields through liquidity mining.
  • There’s a need for interoperability across various DeFi platforms for the best user experience.
  • The mobile phone will be the next big thing in both DeFi and CeFi (centralized finance)

Planned Products

#1. Liquidity mining: Users can stake in a variety of crypto tokens and gain BEL rewards. Currently, you can stake in Curve ARPA/USDC, BEL/USDC Liquidity Provider tokens.

#2. Flex savings: Bella supports optimized arbitrage yield farming strategies for both stablecoins and cryptocurrencies.

#3. One-Click Asset Deployment.

#4. Bella supports a smart portal for deploying popular DeFi products with minimal gas fees. 

#5. Lending: Bella supports flexible, secure, decentralized money markets where users can earn yields from staking, earn referral bonuses, and more.

#6. Robo-advisor 

This tool generates customized user risk profiles of indexes, stablecoins, and other crypto assets.

Main Features of Bella Protocol

#1. Automation

Bella plays heavily into automation. It enables a one-click investment process, where you can “sit back and watch your assets grow” while the code does all the work.

#2. Very Minimal to Zero Gas Fees

The Bella team believes everyone should have access to premium financial services. As such, you’ll encounter very minimal to zero gas fees while interacting with the platform.

#3. Best Yield 

Bella wants the particles to be a route for some of the best competitive returns in the market.

The BEL Token 

BEL is the native cryptocurrency of the Bella ecosystem, and it plays the following roles: 

  • Fee Collection: Part of transaction and service revenue from the ecosystem will be channeled towards BEL token stakers, referral channels, operations, and the risk reserve (an insurance resolve of salts to composite uses in the event of security breaches)
  • Discounts: BEL token holders get to enjoy discounts on services. For example, if you use the robo advisor and pay in BEL, you pay less.
  • Staking: Users will be able to earn staking rewards when they hold BEL tokens 
  • Voting and governance: Holding BEL tokens will entitle users to make their voice heard on major decisions such as product upgrades, new releases, partnering products, and so on 

Distribution of BEL

BEL tokens were distributed this way:

  • Binance launchpad tokens: : 5%
  • Private sale: 6%
  • Public auction tokens: 2%
  • Ecosystem tokens 18%
  • Project reserve tokens: 4%
  • User growth tokens: 40% 
  • Staking rewards tokens: 10%
  • Team tokens: 15%

Bella Community Growth Strategies 

The Bella team plans to implement several strategies in a bid to expand its community growth in the coming months and years. Current strategies include: 

  • Carrying out token auctions
  • Carrying out token airdrops to ARPA token holders
  • Actively engaging the community on social media platforms.
  • Launching the liquidity rewards program

Future strategies include the following: 

  • Partnering with other DeFi lending protocols to push BEL usage 
  • Partnering with decentralized exchanges (DEXes) so they can list BEL.
  • Collaborating with other DeFi platforms for BEL to be accepted as part of incentivized staking pools
  • Launching the Flex Savings and One-Click Portal to push the referral program
  • Enabling Fiat gateways to cater to a wider user base 

Tokenomics of BEL

As of October 8, 2020, BEL is trading at $1.08, with a market cap of $15,648,898, which places it at #381 in the crypto market. The token has a 24-hour volume of $3,960,114, a circulating supply of 14,500,500, and a total and maximum supply of 100 million. BEL’s all-time high was $10.03 (Sep 15, 2020), while its all-time low was $1.20 (Oct 03, 2020). 

Buying and Storing BEL

Currently, BEL is listed in Binance, Binance.KR, MXC, and Bilaxy, BKEX, HotBit, BitAsset, and Fatbtc. You’ll find the token paired against either USDC, BTC, BNB, BUSD, USDT, and more. 

You can store BEL tokens in either of several great wallets, including Ledger, Trezor, Atomic Wallet, Trust, and more. 

Closing Thoughts 

Bella is a DeFi lending protocol that seeks to differentiate itself by offering services for very little to no fees, a robo advisor to help users make the best out of their portfolio, and by targeting mobile users. And while other DeFi projects seek to avoid the CeFi space as much as possible, Bella works with it to provide a hybrid experience to users. Will these factors propel the protocol ahead or not? That remains to be seen. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Multis Wallet Review: How Is This Wallet Different From The Others?

Multis is a crypto bank for corporates. The crypto bank is a new, evolving class of financial institutions (also known as neo banks) that offer a lot of the services proffered by traditional banks, but with a few key differences. For starters, crypto banks deal primarily with cryptocurrencies. Secondly, unlike traditional banks, crypto banks are decentralized in nature.

This means that the bulk of their services run on your device, as opposed to a remote server. In doing so, they eliminate the possibility of there being a single point of failure. The third and probably most glaring difference is that this new breed of financial institutions does not hold your funds; they merely allow you to securely access them.

Multis Wallet Key Features

As already established, Multis primarily targets companies. It is the first bank of its kind and allows companies and organizations to, among other things, buy and store cryptocurrency, manage their team’s access to the funds, accrue interest from idle assets, make payments in crypto (yes, including recurring ones such as electricity bills), get paid in crypto, and natively exchange crypto tokens.

Team/Multi-Access Features

You can interact with your company’s Multis wallet via a beautiful dashboard. The layout is logically arranged, with clearly defined roles for all team members.

You can easily authorize different members of your team to access funds, make payments, or perform transactions on behalf of the organization. In the same manner, you can deny certain members access if, for instance, you’d like only admins to be able to initiate transactions.

Secure Storage of Funds

As mentioned above, Multis does not store your funds but rather relies on the underlying Ethereum network to handle this function. Because of this, every user is assured of the full suite of security features offered by the Ethereum Network and its supportive tools. Much like traditional accounts, idle funds in Multis wallets accrue interest.

Multis leverages the compound protocol to allow for interest. The compound protocol also makes it easy for Multis users to act as lenders. You can lend crypto to almost anyone, and the interest accrued will be calculated in the same fashion and will be withdrawable at any time.

Native exchange of Tokens

Multis allows you to easily exchange one cryptocurrency for another. It supports more than 70 cryptocurrencies and, incredibly, also allows you to exchange crypto for USD or EUR. Multis leverages the Kyber protocol for this, which is a blockchain-based protocol that allows for instant and secure crypto token exchange in decentralized apps and wallets.

Transaction History and Exports

All Multis users have access to records of every transaction that they’ve engaged in. You can easily see the value of the transaction, the balance as of that transaction, the other party (their wallet addresses rather since we’re dealing with crypto), and the date of the transaction. It is worth noting that these crypto transactions cannot be canceled, reversed, altered, or intercepted in any way after confirmation.

Security and Privacy Features

On its own, Blockchain is renowned for its pseudonymous nature, and it’s being a ‘giant, public ledger.’ These two features are some of blockchain’s greatest strengths, lending it its security and the ability to reject any falsified transactions. Multis builds on this security and has already earned smart contract security certification.

Non-Custodial

There are two main ways of keeping your cryptocurrency safe; keeping it in a custodial wallet or using a non-custodial wallet. Most coin brokerages, exchanges, and crypto platforms are custodial, which means that they, to a large degree, control the access to your wallet and the funds within. Non-custodial wallets, on the other hand, gives you full access and control of your funds by way of private keys.

In the cryptocurrency community, it is commonly said that if you do not have access to your private keys, you don’t own the crypto. Multis, being non-custodial, not only gives you access to your private keys but, as mentioned above, do not have access to your funds. Multis allows you to store your private keys, making you wholly accountable for every single action performed on your account.

Lightweight

Regular apps rely on a database to store data. To access, update, and store new data, the app needs to request the server to perform the required action and return a response. All these layers (the server, database, and request layers) could potentially have security vulnerabilities that malicious parties could exploit.

Multis, being reliant on blockchain-based tools and services and being a dApp (decentralized app), deploys only a simple static page, drastically reducing the attack surface available to malicious parties. Additionally, Multis runs on a serverless platform. Servers are still used, but code is run in response to events, and the vendor maintains the underlying infrastructure (and its security).

Battle Tested

Multis builds on the lauded Gnosis multi-signature wallet protocol. The Gnosis protocol is a permission-less, fully decentralized exchange that allows for peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange without the need for users to transfer their assets to the exchange. This drastically reduces the risk of asset loss through hacking of the exchange.

Multis has further improved upon the Gnosis platform, and has, as mentioned above, had its modifications thoroughly audited. It has consequently acquired the Quanstamp smart contract security certification.

How to Set Up and Activate the Multis Wallet

Getting started with Multis is fairly straightforward. Here are the six main steps you need to follow

Step 1: Sign in to Multis

Visit app.multis.co. If you aren’t already signed in to a Multis account on that browser, you’ll be prompted to enter your email address. Multis will then send you an email with a verification link. Verify your email address, and you’ll be signed in. You will then be required to key in your company name and select the type of account you’d like. There are three types to choose from.

The first is ‘account with no fees.’ As the name implies, all fees are covered by Multis. The second is ‘account with fees’, where you go old school and directly use Gnosis multisig (multi-signature). The third is ‘import existing account,’ which you should only use if you already have a multisig wallet created elsewhere. You’ll notice the dearth of password fields in this sign-up sheet- it’s because of Multis’ blockchain roots.

Step 2: Connect with Portis

To proceed, hit ‘connect with portis.’ Portis is a non-custodial blockchain wallet that runs on your browser. It lets you store your private keys on your device and connect to the Ethereum blockchain network using your email address. You cannot skip this step as Multis never holds your keys for you.

Step 3: Open Account

Once you have received an email confirmation of the connection to Portis, log back into Multis. Hit the ‘request access’ button, and you’ll immediately be requested to connect and sign the transaction. Upon confirmation, this transaction will create your smart wallet.

Step 4: Invite Owners

You’ve successfully created an account and wallet. On dApps that serve individuals, you’d be done with the setup. Since Multis focuses on teams, however, you still need to invite your team members. Doing this also helps further secure your transactions, as your co-owners will need to confirm transactions. Go to the ‘company settings’ section, choose the user, and you’ll see the option to send email invites.

The users you invite will need to follow the above three steps, namely creating a Multis account, connecting with Portis, and instead of opening an account, joining yours. Additionally, you will need to appoint them as owners after joining them to get the same account access privileges as you. It is recommended that you invite two owners (in addition to yourself) to maximize security.

Step 5: Set up Permissions and Limits

Under company settings, go to the ‘policies’ section and choose how many owners need to confirm a transaction before it is executed. If, for example, your account has a total of three owners, ideally, two should confirm the transaction for it to be executed.

You can also set a daily transaction limit. The limit is set in ETH, but a convenient USD /EUR field shows you the amount in the respective fiat currency. It is important to note that all sensitive operations, such as adding owners, making payments, and changing account policy, will require co-owner confirmation.

How to Send and Receive Coins using the Multis Wallet

After the initial set up process, sending and receiving funds on your Multis account is very easy. You just need to go to your company account dashboard, initiate a transaction to another entity (usually identified by their wallet address) and await your co-owners to confirm the transaction.

Better still, Multis leverages the ENS (Ethereum Name Service), so you don’t have to use long, random, unmemorable strings of text to identify other entities or their wallets. The ENS assigns a short name to represent wallets, much like a DNS (Domain Name Server) assigns websites memorable names in place of complex IP addresses.

Multis Wallet Ease of Use

Multis is extremely easy to use. It abstracts away the complex, fragmented aspects of crypto banking (Gnosis, Ethereum, Kyber, Compound, ENS, and Portis) behind a responsive, great looking interface. Multis also builds upon these powerful technologies, in the process of exposing all the functionality you’d expect of a banking app, such as deposits, payments, interest, and currency conversion.

Multis Wallet Supported Currencies

Multis supports over 70 ERC20 cryptocurrencies. The ERC20 standard applies to ETH currencies that are fungible; that is, currencies whose tokens each have the same value. Additionally, Multis also supports conversions to USD and EUR.

Verdict

Multis builds upon the blockchain network, integrating many different services into a single useable product. It is also non-custodial, meaning that you are in full control of your funds. It is an extremely secure way of transacting and is a very good option for organizations seeking to go bankless.

Categories
Crypto Videos

RUON AI Digital Currency – Crypto In Space!

RUON AI digital currency certainly isn’t lost in space

 

Thank you for joining this Forex Academy educational video. In this session, we will be looking at the RUON AI digital coin and how the concept is helping people in need all over the planet.

SovereignSky, RUON AI, and Sovereignaid bring together space-based technology and blockchain in an AI app, which provides banking, chat in a social mobile application that will allow RUON AI to help disadvantaged people from all over the world; the aim is to eradicate extreme world poverty.

The concept is to run the technology from space, which really does take decentralized finance to a new level. Two microsatellites were launched from Vandenberg Air Force base on December 3rd, 2018, by Space Quest, their satellite strategic partner.

One of the principles is Tim Burke. Tim is a movie producer and has a love of Si-fi, so he is bringing his love for this into the real world. Tim used to be a producer on MTV and personally interviewed more A list of celebrities than anyone else. He counts many of them as his friends.

So, what is it? 

RUON AI is pronounced Are You On, and is a social app which is available on Android and IOS and received $20M Round A closing investment and expects to launch in Q4 2020 and are planning an IPO in 3 years.

It allows users to post on certain social media platforms using patented technology and where the user is paid in RUON coins. Users can also get paid in this way by selling products on social media hubs such as TikTok and Instagram, plus Amazon and Alibaba. The money can then be spent via a RUON debit card. Users get the option to divert a portion of their income to charity, and where they claim that at least 97% of that will go directly to the people who need it.

RUON AI has partnered with RUONwallet,  Open Transactions, and Zapple to provide a crypto-friendly bank with sort code connected smart card allowing users to spend Fiat currency digital assets and cryptocurrencies wherever MasterCard is accepted.

The Social Media platform is designed to make money for users while offering full privacy, encryption, transparency, and control over users’ data. RUON AI gives its users the choice to earn revenue using data points and splits the revenue 60/40 in favor of the user.
In December 2018, Sovereignsky launched the first of eight satellites to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to the third world. In December 2019, it was one of the first companies to successfully process a blockchain transaction in space for its mission to eradicate extreme poverty.

Other Partners in the venture include Stan Larimer, founder of Bitshares, Larry Castro founder and CEO of Stealthgrid, who has an awful lot of experience in quantum cyber security Technologies, JC Oliver, and Michael Taggart.

We look forward to bringing you more details about this exciting new digital coin in the future.

Categories
Crypto Videos

WARNING! Crypto Exchanges Are NOT Safe!

WARNING: Crypto Exchanges Are NOT Safe!

 

More than half of all the crypto exchanges worldwide have weak or even no KYC identification protocols — with exchanges in Europe, the US, and the UK being some of the worst offenders, according to a new study done by blockchain analysis firm CipherTrace.
CipherTrace conducted an analysis on more than 800 decentralized, centralized, as well as automated market maker exchanges, and concluded that 56% of them did not follow KYC guidelines at all, despite the anti-money laundering regulations. The highest number of exchanges that don’t adhere to the regulations are in Europe — a region known for stricter regulations. Also, 60% of European Virtual Asset Service Providers do not have sufficient KYC practices.

The US, UK, and Russia are the three countries that host the highest numbers of exchanges with weak KYC procedures. Singapore is also at the top of the list, both when it comes to weak and porous VASPs.


CipherTrace study also found that many exchanges do not even bother to mention the country of its origin on its website or in its terms and conditions. This lack of transparency appears to be deliberate, as 85% of these exchanges had a frail KYC procedure framework. This implies that some exchanges are purposefully hiding their jurisdictions to avoid registering or complying with any form of AML regulation.
The report notes that 70% of crypto exchanges registered in Seychelles have poor-to-none KYC norms, making the small island country a potential base for money launderers.

The study also examined 21 decentralized exchanges and found that a whopping 81% had either weak or no KYC practices. However, looking at the bright side, DEXs aren’t necessarily good venues for money laundering due to how they operate. CipherTrace noted that although $7.9 million of crypto stolen in the KuCoin hack was sold on the decentralized exchange Uniswap, it wasn’t actually laundered there.


Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson said that “The hacker isn’t using DEXs to hide their tracks, but rather so they can sell their stolen tokens.”
DeFi projects offer a variety of traditional financial activities such as lending, borrowing, and earning interest. This means they could fall under the same regulatory framework as banks and other regulated financial institutions.
“DEXs offer financial activities, and are, by doing so, likely subject to various laws already, including securities law, and potentially banking and lending laws, and most definitely AML laws,” said SEC Crypto Czar Valerie Szczepanik in early October.

Dave Jevans, CipherTrace’s CEO, said he didn’t believe that DeFi protocols would accept regulations easily, but that he doesn’t think that DeFi can escape regulations for long.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

BTC/USD Chart Overview + Possible Outcomes

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

Overview

Bitcoin has had another week of explosive gains, mostly due to its fundamentals. This week’s spike can’t go without mentioning PayPal’s announcement that it will enable its users to buy, sell and hold crypto, as well as that it will not be just a gimmick but rather a crucial factor in PayPal’s future business development (PayPal will offer crypto payments to its 26 million merchants, as well as enable the usage of crypto on its payment processing app Venmo). This news, alongside other news of large corporations investing tens of millions in Bitcoin and crypto, sparked the push past $12,000 and up to $13,235.

Technical factors



Bitcoin has abruptly left its triangle formation last week, pushing a little above $11,700 before consolidating and pulling back. After being pressed between $11,300 and $11,500 for some time, the PayPal news broke out, and Bitcoin surged, reaching as far as $13,235 before the move stopped.
Bitcoin is now in a consolidation phase, creating a triangle formation on the smaller time-frames. The formation is accompanied by descending volume, indicating that the move that will follow will be quite strong. Its RSI is overbought on all time-frames above 4 hours, while its moving averages are at play only at the 1-hour chart, where the current price is supported by the 21-period moving average.
Sentiment built around Bitcoin is certainly bullish at the moment, and any serious downturns are very unlikely. However, a slight pullback before the next push is likely.
Another thing to add is that Bitcoin is one step away from moving into the “fresh air” territory (after the 2019 high of $13,900) where there is no technical or historical volume ahead, meaning that this territory will be full of new people entering the market to chase profits as well as smart money taking profits.

Likely Outcomes

Bitcoin currently has two main scenarios it can play out. Both of these scenarios are bullish, where one breaks out above the current 1h time-frame triangle formation to the upside and past the $13,200 area, while the other one involves a pullback before the spike.
1: As shown in the chart, Bitcoin will most likely have to retrace slightly and reset its RSI level. While the bull sentiment is prevailing, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap should establish and confirm its support at the ~$12,500 level (which it breezed through) before going further up.
2: The other scenario is slightly less likely, and involves a simple breakout scenario of the current triangle formation to the upside and a push towards (ultimately) $13,900. This level will certainly be contested as it is the last frontier before the all-time high territory. On top of that, many investors will most likely take profit at this level.

The scenario in which Bitcoin suddenly down sharply and swiftly is incredibly unlikely. While a strong move in this direction is possible only if it’s backed by some bearish news/events, the bull phase Bitcoin is in at the moment is highly resistant to bad news.

Categories
Forex Videos

Forex & The Recent Market Drivers – What You Need To Know Trading The Next Few Weeks!

Recent market drivers

 

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video. In this session, we will be taking a snapshot of the recent market drivers, which might explain the moves in bitcoin, the Dow Jones, and a couple of major currency pairs.

Festival we have the dollar index charts also known as the DXY, and where the dollar is measured against a basket of 6 major currencies, including the yen, the pound, the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Swiss franc, the euro, and the Canadian dollar, and where the dollar index reached and high of 103.00 at position A, during the middle of March when Europe was in the grip of the pandemic and where the United States was not yet at its peak. We then see a low at position B, of 92.00, and where there is the dollar strength subsequently began to return, and now we can have a look at the possible reasons why.

Firstly we should take a look at the Dow Jones industrial average index whereby around the middle of February this year, Dow Jones hit an all-time record at 29,500 points, before crashing all the way down to 18,400 as the pandemic started to grip the United States. Although circumstances remain bad with the United States economy, the Dow Jones has rallied all the way up to a recent high above 29,000, almost approaching the previous record high, but where the fundamental economics do not match the previous rise from February. This may well have been a tipping point for traders who were already expecting a reversal in price action, and potentially we and see profit-taking at these levels.

Now let’s take a look at the GBPUSD pair, AKA Cable. In December, when Britain voted to leave the European Union, the pair was on a high at 1,3350 at position A. Still, when the pandemic hit, Cable went down to just above 1.1400, again we have seen an incredible rally all the way back up to a high at position B of 1.3380. And then a pull lower to the current level of 1.2950 at the time of writing. The shift higher can only be attributed to dollar weakness because the United Kingdom is still suffering from the pandemic’s fallout and where no agreement has yet been reached regarding a future trading relationship with Europe. The pair will likely find further weakness the closer the UK gets to a no-deal arrangement with Europe.


If we now turn our attention to the EURUSD pair, we can see that at position A, at the height of the pandemic in Europe, the currency pair was trading at 1.0600, before moving to a recent high of 1.1936, before falling lower to its current level at 1.1760 at the time of writing.
The sharp reversal in the Cable’s high at 1.3380 and EURUSD pair at 1.1936 can be attributed to the DXY reversing from its fall and bouncing off from its low of 92.00
The reversal of the DXY from 92.00 to its current level of 93.50 at the time of writing can be attributed to the reversal in the Dow Jones from an almost double top formation of a previous record-breaking high. The economic fundamentals are not working as in a normal stable market.

Let’s take a look at the bitcoin to the US dollar, which is currently trading at 10,230 but found resistance at 12,000 recently, and whereby this is no coincidence that this price rejection coincided with the DXY bouncing off of the key 92.00 level.

While some analysts will argue that the markets that we have looked at today are not correlated, either positively or negatively, the numbers and charts speak for themselves.
When trading, always try and factor in as many assets as possible to try and established which might be affecting the other and how that might, in turn, might affect the asset that you are trading.

 

Categories
Crypto Videos

Crypto Going Mainstream In 2021 As Paypal Adopts Bitcoin – Go Get Your Lambo!

Crypto Going Mainstream in 2021 – MAJOR Adoption by PayPal and Venmo


PayPal has officially confirmed on Wednesday, October 22, that it is entering the cryptocurrency market. The payments provider giant, with over 346 million active accounts all around the world, has pledged to make cryptocurrency not only an optional feature but rather “a funding source for purchases at its 26 million merchants worldwide.” PayPal also plans to expand this service to its peer-to-peer payment app Venmo in the first half of 2021.

The public already knew that PayPal was planning on moving into crypto in June, but the information came from anonymous sources, and nothing was certain. A month later, the Paxos exchange had been selected to act as support in PayPal’s crypto endeavors.
In a blog post that came out on Wednesday, PayPal said that the current pandemic had made it clear that people need digital payments of all sorts.
Starting in early 2021, PayPal’s customers will be able to instantly convert one of the supported cryptocurrencies to fiat currency, with no added incremental fees, PayPal said. Merchants will have no additional fees or integrations as all transactions will not be settled in crypto but rather in fiat currency at their current PayPal rates.

“Cryptocurrency simply becomes another funding source in the PayPal digital wallet, adding more utility to cryptocurrency holders, while addressing concerns surrounding volatility, cost as well as the speed of cryptocurrency-based transactions,” PayPal announced.
PayPal will initially have a $10,000 weekly buying cap as well as a $50,000 limit per 12-month period. All trades must be executed in US dollars, PayPal stated.

Everything sounds good… But!

As bullish the Bitcoin market has proven to be about this news at the moment, an initial review of the crypto services PayPal offers has a couple of cons. First off, the company will take a go-slow mindset, which is the complete opposite of how the markets reacted to the most recent adoption news. Critical caps limit who the buyers are, how much they can actually buy, and what they can do with their PayPal- sourced crypto. While this is not necessarily bad, crypto enthusiasts should take everything slow and with a grain of salt rather than instantly calling for the moon and ordering their Lambos.

However, there is completely bad news, rather than just a slight setback. PayPal is refusing to hand its customers’ crypto keys over, meaning that you own the cryptocurrency you buy on PayPal. Still, just like on centralized exchanges, you will not be provided with a private key,” PayPal casts this restriction as a loss-prevention tactic.
Another bad thing is that the users will not be allowed to send their crypto around or even withdraw it. PayPal stated that “you can only hold the crypto that you buy on PayPal in your account. The cryptocurrency in your account cannot be sent to other accounts on PayPal or off it.” This brought a lot of questions on whether PayPal’s crypto feature will have “paper Bitcoin” or if it will be covered by real cryptocurrency.


However, PayPal’s partnership with Paxos should be good enough proof that the crypto held on the payment provider will be the real deal. The New York State Department of Financial Services announced that it had granted the “conditional BitLicense” to PayPal, the first of its kind. The BitLicense was granted for a partnership with the Paxos Trust Company, enabling PayPal customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Four DFS-approved digital assets that will be initially available are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, as well as Litecoin, according to the DFS statement.
The service rollout also faces quite a few real-world restrictions. Out of the 50 US states, only 49 have coverage at launch, as Hawaii is excluded from the list.


Conclusion

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rallied following this announcement, which is just one of several major recent mainstream corporate adoption signs in 2020. The PayPal event happened following Microstrategy’s $425 million Bitcoin investment, as well as a similar but more modest move by Square.

Categories
Forex Assets

Understanding The Costs Involved While Trading The CAD/ILS Forex Exotic Pair

Introduction

CAD/ILS is an exotic currency cross. Here, CAD is the Canadian Dollar, and ILS is the Israeli Shekel. The CAD is the base currency, and the ILS is the quote currency. Therefore, the price of the CAD/ILS pair represents the quantity of the ILS that  CAD can buy. If the price of the pair is 2.6004, it means that 1 CAD can buy 2.6004 ILS.

CAD/ILS Specification

Spread

The buying price and the selling price of a currency pair tend to be different in forex. The difference between these two prices is the spread. The spread for the CAD/ILS pair is: ECN: 22 pips | STP: 27 pips

Fees

Forex brokers charge a commission on every trade made with the ECN account. The commission varies depending on the broker and the type of trade. Trades on STP accounts do not attract a trading fee.

Slippage

It is rare for a trader to get the exact price they request for a trade. Usually, there is a difference between the price requested and the execution price. This difference is the slippage, and it depends on market volatility and the speed of trade execution.

Trading Range in the CAD/ILS Pair

The trading range is the analysis of how currency fluctuates across different timeframes in terms of pips. The trading range is used to analyze a currency pair’s volatility and expected profit. For example, if on the 2-hour timeframe the trading range of the CAD/ILS pair is 10 pips, then a trader can expect to either gain or lose $38.5

Here’s the trading range for the CAD/ILS pair.

The Procedure to assess Pip Ranges

  1. Add the ATR indicator to your chart
  2. Set the period to 1
  3. Add a 200-period SMA to this indicator
  4. Shrink the chart so you can determine a larger period
  5. Select your desired timeframe
  6. Measure the floor level and set this value as the min
  7. Measure the level of the 200-period SMA and set this as the average
  8. Measure the peak levels and set this as Max.

CAD/ILS Cost as a Percentage of the Trading Range

The cost of trading any currency involves the slippage, fees, and the spread. These costs vary across different timeframes under different volatility conditions. For a forex trader, analyzing the cost as a percentage of the trading range helps implement informed risk management techniques.

The tables below show the analyses of the trading costs for the CAD/ILS pair across different timeframes.

ECN Model Account

Spread = 22 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 1

Total cost = 25

STP Model Account

Spread = 27 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 0

Total cost = 29

The Ideal Timeframe to Trade CAD/ILS

We can see that the trading cost for the CAD/ILS pair is higher during shorter timeframes and low volatility in both the ECN and STP accounts. Longer-term traders trading on weekly and monthly timeframes enjoy relatively lesser trading costs than shorter timeframe traders.

It is worth noting that for every type of trader, initiating trades when volatility is above average reduces the trading costs. Furthermore, opting to use forex limit orders instead of market orders which are susceptible to slippage, can significantly reduce trading costs. With limit orders, the risk of slippage is removed hence lowering trading costs. Here are the trading costs when limit orders are used.

ECN Account Using Limit Model Account

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading fee

= 0 + 22 + 1 = 23

We can see that trading costs for the CAD/ILS have reduced across all timeframes, with the highest cost dropping from 491.53% to 372.88% of the trading range.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

How ‘Pending Home Sales’ Data Can Be Used For Analysing The Forex Market?

Introduction

For any economy, the real estate sector plays a significant role in signaling consumer demand, credit situation, and economic sentiment. For this reason, policymakers track real estate data that can be used to inform their monetary and fiscal policies. Furthermore, economists, financial analysts, and consumers use this data for their varying needs. It is essential for a forex trader to understand how the trends of pending home sales affect the forex market.

Understanding Pending Home Sales

Pending home sales is defined as homes that are yet to be sold. The contracts for sales have been signed, but the transaction has not been completed yet.

Note that the pending home sales can also be used as a leading indicator of existing home sales. It is leading the home sales because, generally, a real estate contract takes about a month or two to close. Thus, when the contracts are closed, pending home sales become existing home sales. It can be said to offer concrete data on future home sales and the trend in real estate. Broadly, it is a leading indicator for the real estate industry based on the fact that pending home sales data involves signed contracts in real estate.

Source: St, Louis FRED

The pending home sales data is calculated monthly. In the US, for example, pending home sales data is published by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR surveys about 100 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and large real estate brokers. The MLS is a database tracking property at different stages of the sales cycle. The sample size covers 20% of all transactions, covering up to 50% of the existing home sales. Thus, the pending home sales provide a highly accurate forecast of the existing home sales compared to other housing indicators with lower coverage.

It is important to note that not all pending home sales are closed. It is normal to have a few real estate contracts that fall through or get canceled. However, about 80% of all pending home sales are settled.

Pending home sales index (PHSI) is an index based on the pending home sales. This index is considered more accurate than the aggregate data of the pending home sales. It accounts for 20% of the home contracts that fall through. Its accuracy stems from the fact that it is based on aggregated trends in the pending home sales, thus not skewed by the fallout rate.

Using Pending Home Sales in Analysis

It is important to use the aggregate pending home sales data alongside the pending home sales index. In general, real estate data offers invaluable insight into economic growth. Let’s take an example of increasing the pending home sales index.

Since it typically takes about a month or two for the pending home sales to close, an increase in the numbers shows that households expect to have sufficient funds to complete the sale. An increasing PHSI shows that the number of sellers is increasing as well as the number of buyers. Buyers expect that in the coming months, they will be well-off enough financially to close. Similarly, sellers expecting the proceeds from the sale, are going to be better off financially. Furthermore, the process of selling a home involves realtors, lawyers, and financial advisors who get a commission on the sale for their professional services. Therefore, higher PHSI shows that the economy is expanding.

Home sales rarely involve an all-cash transaction. An increase in the pending home sales signals that households have access to cheaper financing. The cheaper home-purchase financing can only be made possible by the availability of lower interest rates. The presence of a lower interest rate in the economy generally means that more people can afford loans and lines of credit. For consumers, this increases the aggregate demand in the economy, which increases the aggregate demand. Overall, the availability of cheap loans results in economic expansion and the growth of consumer discretionary industries.

For those participating in real estate speculatively, buying and selling a property can be used as a gauge of their economic growth sentiment. When speculative buyers are increasing, they have a positive outlook for the economy and that their property’s value will increase thanks to a future increase in demand. Similarly, when a speculative seller is increasing, they can now fetch more in terms of the value of their property compared to when they bought them. Thus, the current economy is performing better than it was previously. Thus, the pending home sales data can be used to show economic prospects and compare the present economic conditions against the past.

Impact on Currency

As we have seen above, the pending home sales data and the pending home sales index can offer insights into the current economic climate compared to the past and give sentiment about the future. Although it is considered a leading indicator in the real estate sector, pending home sales is regarded as a medium-impact indicator in the forex market. Here are two ways this indicator can potentially impact the currency.

An increasing pending home sales show improving household welfare. It signals the presence of lower unemployment levels and increased aggregate demand in the economy. Furthermore, since people purchase property, expecting them to appreciate, increasing pending home sales gives a positive economic sentiment for the future, which makes the currency appreciate relative to others.

Conversely, it is negative for the currency when pending home sales are on a decline. The decline shows that macroeconomic fundamentals, such as employment, are declining. More so, it indicates a pessimistic economic outlook.

Sources of Data

In the US, the pending home sales data and the pending home sales index are published monthly by the National Association of Realtors. Trading Economics provides a detailed look into the historical pending home sales statistics in the US.

How Pending Home Sales Data Release Affects Forex Price Charts

The most recent data on pending home sales in the US was released on September 30, 2020, at 10.00 AM ET. The release can be accessed at Forex Factory. An in-depth look into the latest pending home sales and the PHSI can be accessed at the NAR website.

The screengrab below is of the monthly pending home sales from Forex Factory. To the right, is a legend that indicates the level of impact the fundamental indicator has on the USD.

As can be seen, the pending home sales data is expected to have a medium impact on the USD upon its release.

The screengrab below shows the most recent change in pending home sales. In August 2020, the US pending home sales increased by 8.8% compared to 5.9% in July. This change was better than the expected 3.1%.

Now, let’s see how this release made an impact on the Forex price charts.

EUR/USD: Before Pending Home Sales Release on September 30, 2020, 
Just Before 10.00 AM ET

The above 5-minute EUR/USD chart shows the pair mostly trading in a neutral pattern before the news release. Twenty minutes before the announcement, the pair adopted a sharp downtrend with candles crossing below a dropping 20-period MA.

EUR/USD: After Pending Home Sales Release on September 30, 2020, at 10.00 AM ET

After the news release, the pair formed a 5-minute ‘inverted hammer’ candle. Subsequently, the pair adopted a bullish stance as the candles crossed and formed further above the 20-period MA.

Bottom Line

As seen above, the US’s release pending home sales data did not have any impact on the USD. Therefore, we can conclude that as a fundamental indicator, pending home sales has a negligible impact on the forex market.

Categories
Forex Course

157. What Expectations Do Forex Market Have On The Financial News?

Introduction

Economic releases and news are essential for traders who make trading decisions based on fundamental analysis. Economic news is publicly available as soon as it releases. Therefore, traders can access it from any internet connection enabled device. As economic releases directly affect the currency market, traders must understand how to use it.

Types of Economic News

There are three types of economic news for the currency market- low impact, medium impact, and high impact. Among these types, the high impact news is essential as it immediately impacts a currency pair. Some example of high impact economic news is-

  • Interest rate decision
  • Inflation report
  • Retail Sales
  • PMI
  • GDP
  • Export and Import
  • Foreign Currency Reserve

Besides, the high impact news, medium, and low impact news often create a good movement in the market, which is not very frequent. Therefore, we should stick to high and medium impact news only.

How Economic News Affect the Currency Pair?

There are three significant elements of the economic news that a trader should consider while doing analysis. They are:

  • Previous Release- Previous data is the most recent release used to compare with the current data.
  • Expectation- Before releasing every news, analysts project the data. If the news comes better than expected, it will be shown in green and indicate a positive effect on the currency.
  • Current Release- It is the most important part as trading decisions depend on it. The current release is the data that usually release on a particular day.

Let’s have a look at how to read the news:

  • The current release is better than the Previous release- Good for the currency
  • The current release is better than the expectation- good for the currency
  • The current release is worse than the previous release- bad for the currency
  • The current release is worse than the expectation- bad for the currency.

Image Source: www.forexfactory.com

In the above image’s marked area, we can see that the US monthly retail sales came at 1.2%, where the previous data was 8.4%, and the expectation was 2%. As the news massively declined from 8.4% to 1.2%, the US Dollar became weaker than the Euro as indicated in the image below:

Conclusion

As of the above discussion, we can say that better than expected and previous data may positively impact the currency, and weaker than expected data will negatively impact a currency. However, we should consider the overall fundamental outlook of a country to take the ultimate trading decision.

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Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

What’s Sandbox (SAND): A Beginner Guide

Online gaming is a favorite pastime for millions of players around the world. However, the current structure is beset with problems such as fraud, lack of guaranteed security, and game creators not getting their fair share of the revenue. In an extremely skewed version of events, it’s powerful entities that own the rights to games and not the actual owners. 

What if this changed? What if game creators owned their content and could generate revenue from them in a decentralized, secure, and safe environment? What if players explored their favorite games in that environment and earned from simply participating? 

This is what Sandbox, a blockchain-powered gaming project, wants to achieve. This article explores the protocol as well as its native cryptocurrency, SAND. We’ll also look at the brilliant team behind the project. 

Understanding Sandbox 

Sandbox is a platform where players worldwide can experiment with games – including building, owning, and earning from them. The Sandbox team wants to disrupt the current centralized gaming environment and create one in which content creators can truly own their work. Ownership will be in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and participants will be rewarded in the network’s native SAND tokens. 

In the existing gaming environment, game developers’ give up nearly all control of their rights to ownership. This, in turn, means they don’t get the fair value of their creation. On top of that, it can be challenging to prove the original owner of a creation, especially after being modified, copied, or built upon. 

Sandbox says its vision is “to offer a deeply immersive metaverse in which players will create virtual worlds and games collaboratively and without a central authority.” 

It aims to do this by promoting the concept of blockchain in the gaming world in general and providing a voxel gaming platform for players to build, share, play, and trade in games without centralized control. Game creators will also have complete ownership of their content, and they also get to earn crypto tokens for simply participating. Copyright ownership will be accomplished through non-fungible tokens, with in-game items having a unique and fraud-prone identity on the blockchain. 

With that, let’s explore

How exactly the Sandbox environment works. 

A User-generated Content Ecosystem

The Sandbox environment comprises three core products that work together to provide a conducive environment for content creators and players. Let’s take a look at them: 

#1. VOXEDIT – This is a 3D voxel tool that allows users to create and animate objects such as animals, buildings, people, etc. and then relay them to the Sandbox marketplace as assets.

#2. MARKETPLACE – This is an internet-based marketplace where users can export, publish, and offer their creation (assets) for sale.

#3. GAME MAKER – This is a tool that asset owners – either by creating them in VOXEDIT or purchasing them, can place and use them in a ‘land’ in a virtual world.

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) in the Sandbox 

The Sandbox ecosystem utilizes blockchain tech and non-fungible tokens to provide an empowered gaming experience to participants. Each token is unique, indivisible, and not interchangeable. Through NFTs, Sandbox users will benefit in the following ways: 

#1. True Ownership of Creations – Developers and gamers are the true owners of gaming content. Sandbox will operate in a blockchain-powered environment where every digital item is tokenized in an immutable and fraud-free way. Game owners can then do with their game items as they wish – trade, sell, or gift people.

#2. Security and Immutability – On Sandbox, game owners can tokenize and trade/sell their creations in both primary and secondary markets. This would attract fraud and theft in a centralized environment, but such risks are stamped out thanks to the distributed and cryptographically secured nature of the blockchain. 

#3. Trading – Thanks to the blockchain-powered ecosystem, users can buy and sell game items in a secure way and without concern that they might be defrauded.

#4. Cross-application InteroperabilityBlockchain enables an app to share assets such as LANDS, avatars, and other game elements compatible with it. In short, game elements are not constrained in just one digital environment. 

What’s the SAND Token? 

SAND is the native cryptocurrency and an essential part of the Sandbox platform. The token is based on Ethereum, and it plays the following roles: 

  • Accessing the platform: To participate in the Sandbox platform, i.e., playing games, buying game tools, customizing their avatar, and so on, players must spend SAND tokens. Creators stake in SAND to acquire assets and LANDS, while artists spend SAND to upload export assets to the marketplace.
  • Governance: SAND token holders can take part in governance decisions by voting for proposals. Such proposals may include how the foundation grant will be allocated, how the roadmap will be prioritized, and so on. Token holders can vote themselves or for any other participant of their choice.
  • Staking: SAND token holders can stake in the crypto and get more revenue on LAND
  • As an incentive: A percentage of the total transaction fee shall be channeled to reward SAND token holders. Token holders contribute to the resilience of a blockchain network. 

SAND Stakeholders

The Sandbox team has come up with a stakeholders’ approach to work towards a model where the value of the ecosystem, in general, accrues value to the SAND token. Revenues generated will be distributed among four stakeholders. The goal is to support high-value gaming experiences and provide growth resources to expand Sandbox’s reach. 

The stakeholders will be as follows: 

#1. Foundation pool: for making sure revenue generated through the ecosystem accrues value to SAND

#2. Staking pool: for providing yield and value to participants who stake in SAND. Token holders who are also active gamers get to generate extra yield.

#3. Company treasury: these are tokens owned by the company and are proceeds from the sale of assets. Tokens generated this way will be sold back to the market to cater for operational expenses.

$4. Company reserve: this is the company reserve of 20% of the total token supply. It will be funded with the proceeds of the sale of assets with a six-month lock-up

The Sandbox Team 

Sandbox has assembled a team of 42 to execute its vision. 28 of these are in Argentina, while 11, 2, and 1 are in France, Korea, and Japan, respectively. That said, let’s look at the core team: 

Director Arthur Madrid is the co-founder and CEO of Pixowl and has years of experience in social gaming. He’s also an advisor to gaming and social media startups.

COO and Director Sebastian Borget is also the COO and co-founder of Animoca Brands. He’s very passionate about blockchain tech and is one of the most visible evangelists of non-fungible tokens’ potential. Borget is the president of the Blockchain Game Alliance as of 2020. 

CFO Marcelo Santurio is co-founder of the first-ever online payment company in Latin America and has over 20 years of finance, tech, and gaming experience. Santurio has an MBA with a focus on finance from the London School of Business. 

The inventor of the Sandbox idea, Pablo Iglesias, has 10+ years of research and development experience in emerging procedural systems.

CTO Lucas Shrewsbury is the ex-CTO of Gameloft, a gaming company, where he managed a team of 200 people and has 10+ years of experience in mobile gaming. 

SAND: Tokenomics

As of Oct 8, 2020, the SAND token is trading at $0.046725, with a market cap of $27,952,641, which puts it at #274. It has a 24-hour volume of $4,085,734, a circulating supply of 598,238,245, and has a total and maximum supply of 3 million. The token’s all-time high and all-time low was $0.086577 (Aug 14, 2020) and $0.033405 (Sep 06, 2020). 

Buying and Storing SAND 

SAND tokens can be exchanged for BTC, USDT, BNB, WETH, EUR, and HT on various exchanges, including Huobi, Binance, Upbit, CoinTiger, BKEX, 50x, Poloniex, BitAsset, Dcoin, WazirX, Binance.KR, and more. 

SAND tokens are Ethereum-based, meaning they can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Great choices include Trust Wallet, Atomic Wallet, MyEtherWallet, MetaMask, Guarda, Exodus, Mist, Exodus, Edge, Trezor, and Ledger Nano. 

Closing Thoughts 

Sandbox wants to change how things are done in the online gaming world by injecting more transparency, fairness, and creativity. Let’s see how the team continues to innovate in the future.

Categories
Forex Elliott Wave Forex Market Analysis

NZDUSD Short-Term Wave Analysis

Overview

The NZDUSD pair advances in a sideways corrective formation suggesting the progress in an incomplete short-term flat pattern. The completion of its move could give way to a new bearish movement of the upper degree; however, this incomplete correction could be temporary.

Market Sentiment Overview

The New Zealand Dollar moves slightly bullish this Thursday, 22nd advancing 0.13%, expecting the inflation data released by New Zealand’s Statistics, Stats NZ, in the upcoming overnight session. The data corresponds to the third quarter of 2020, and surveyed analysts expect an increase that could rise to 1.7% (YoY), being 0.2% more than the previous reading published in July.

The New Zealand Dollar futures market sentiment, presented in the following daily chart, unveils the price moving in the extreme bullish sentiment zone. In the chart, we can distinguish  0.6463 as support the level and 0.6797 as the resistance level. A level that corresponds to the 52-week high. 

On the other hand, the chart highlights the price action is moving mainly sideways, consolidating around the weighted moving average of 60 days. This context of price action suggests we can expect a corrective move before continuing its bullish trend.

Concerning the evolution of the Commitment of Traders Report, the previous chart exposes the institutional positioning on the bullish side. In consequence, although the current consolidation calls for a corrective move, the primary trend is bullish.

The next figure unveils that 73% of retail traders currently hold their positions on the bearish side, confirming a contrarian long-term upward bias to this pair.

 

Elliott Wave Outlook

The NZDUSD short-term outlook under the Elliott Wave perspective unveiled in its 3-hour chart exposes the kiwi’s sideways advance since the oceanic currency topped at 0.67978 on September 18th, where the pair started to develop a corrective structure that remains in progress.

Considering that a corrective structure is subdivided into a three-wave sequence, we can notice in the previous figure that the NZDUAD action progresses in its second wave, identified as wave B of Minor degree, and labeled in green. This segment corresponds to a flat pattern (3-3-5), which currently develops its wave ((c)) of Minute degree identified in black.

At the same time, the internal structure of the wave ((c)) reveals that the price action could be advancing in its wave (v) of the Minuette degree labeled in blue. This market context suggests the possibility of a limited upside before start developing a downward sequence, corresponding to wave C of Minor degree. 

In summary, the short-term outlook for the NZDUSD pair, under the Elliott Wave perspective, foresees a downward move, which corresponds to a wave C of Minor degree. This potential next move may subdivide into a five-wave sequence. Once this corrective formation completes, the Kiwi should begin to develop a new upward impulsive sequence of upper degree coinciding with the long-term institutional bias.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet Review: What Sets This Wallet Apart?

The Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet is a wallet that stores Bitcoin Gold coins. Bitcoin Gold –like Bitcoin Cash- is a fork of the original Bitcoin currency. It aims to fix one of Bitcoin’s flaws; the increasing centralization of Bitcoin’s mining industry. The original creators of Bitcoin wanted anyone to be able to mine with their personal computer and earn some extra cash from their spare computing cycles.

As Bitcoin’s value grew, however, miners adopted extremely efficient (and expensive) custom-built application-specific integrated circuit (ASCI) mining rigs. This made Bitcoin mining a highly specialized industry since consumer PCs could not (and still can’t) compete with these custom rigs. Bitcoin Gold solves this while, at the same time, builds on Bitcoin’s tried and tested systems.

Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet Key Features

Bitcoin Gold adopts most of Bitcoins’ underlying infrastructure. However, it utilizes the Equihash proof of work algorithm, which cannot be sped up by custom hardware. This eliminates the disproportionate advantage that such rigs confer to their owners. It also utilizes a per-block difficulty adjustment algorithm, replay protection, and the Bitcoin Gold core wallet, which is built on the Bitcoin core.

ASCI Resistant

On average, every ten minutes, a computer on the Bitcoin blockchain network adds a block to the end of the blockchain and gets a crypto reward for that. Miners compete for the privilege of getting to add a block, primarily because of that reward. They do this by racing to solve a mathematical problem. Because Bitcoin uses an SHA-256 hash-based algorithm, the most computing power entity stands the highest chance of adding a block to the chain.

Bitcoin Gold, however, uses the Equihash memory intensive algorithm. For this reason, it is much harder – if not impossible – to game the system by having powerful rigs at your disposal. This bodes well for Bitcoin Gold Core wallet users since to use the wallet, you need to download the whole Bitcoin ledger onto your computer, which allows you to mine with your spare cycles if you want to.

Full Bitcoin Node

As mentioned above, you cannot use the Bitcoin Gold core wallet as a standalone wallet. You need to download the full node during the initial setup process. Despite weighing in at hundreds of gigabytes, having the full node on your computer offers a number of advantages.

Firstly, you do not require having your transactions validated by a third party; you can verify them yourself.

Additionally, since the node relays and validates your transactions on the Bitcoin network, you can choose the priority you want your transactions to be given, and by extension, the fees charged for each transaction. Further, you can validate and verify other people’s transactions, earning some extra coin.

Hot Wallet

The Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet requires an internet connection. This means your funds are easily transferrable. The name ‘wallet’ is, to some degree, misleading since the Gold Core wallet doesn’t store funds in the same way a physical wallet does. In contrast, it allows you to change the records stored on the blockchain ledger- a copy of which you’ll need to have on your computer, as explained above.

Security and Privacy Features

Purely by being based on blockchain technology, the Gold Core wallet is a very secure crypto storage option for Bitcoin Gold currency holders. Its creators didn’t stop there, however. They’ve built upon the Bitcoin network, leveraging its strengths and security features. Additionally, the Bitcoin Gold Core wallet is based on the Bitcoin Core wallet, making it one of the safest wallets available.

Compatible with Tor

As you well know, the Bitcoin blockchain is a publicly available ledger. Anyone can keep a copy of it if they wish and analyze it for their various ends. This makes it very difficult to introduce falsified transactions since all the other computers in the network will cross-check and reject it. The disadvantage of this, however, is that anyone can trace your identity if they are determined.

The Tor network is an encrypted web communication protocol that ensures the privacy and anonymity of its users. It does this by leveraging a series of nodes (read servers) that mask your IP address and any inadvertently revealed personal data. The Bitcoin Gold core wallet leverages the Tor network, routing all your transactions and traffic through its transport layer, effectively hiding your original IP address.

Hierarchically Deterministic

Since Bitcoin Gold is derived from Bitcoin, it inherits the Hierarchical deterministic nature of the Bitcoin core wallet. This means that after you use your receiving address, a new one is generated for you. These addresses are your public keys, as you share them publicly with anyone who you’d like to send you money. As all these keys are governed by a single key pair, called the extended public key (xpub), previous addresses remain completely usable.

To access the funds from each of your public addresses, you need to use its corresponding private key. These private keys are also governed by a single key pair, called the extended private key (xpriv). The xpriv is effectively the one key that rules all the others, while the xpub is the one key that brings together your addresses and binds them to your wallet.

Open Source

Much like the Bitcoin core wallet, the Bitcoin Gold core wallet is open source. Anyone can audit, make suggestions, and contribute to its codebase. This means that security loopholes are caught and fixed faster than on proprietary software since more people are on the lookout for bugs. Additionally, all processes are transparent since changes have to be publicly declared and vetted before they are committed to the wallet’s main branch.

How to Set Up and Activate the Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet

Before setting up and opening a Bitcoin Gold core wallet account, you should consider a few things.

Available Disk Space

As has already been established, you cannot run the Gold core wallet as a standalone wallet application. You need to download the full Bitcoin node, which at the time of this writing, is around 200GB. However, you cannot only have 200 gigabytes of storage available since this node grows in size as the number of transactions increases.

The application files will also occupy some space, so it’s probably best to have a few terabytes of spare storage. Additionally, you should set aside a few USB sticks or hard drives to backup your wallet. It is recommended that you regularly back up your wallet on at least two external drives. Do this before upgrading your wallet and after a series of transactions.

Device Security

Due to the sensitive nature of the data this software will store on your computer, you need to ensure that your computer is completely free from malware. Install anti-virus/ anti-malware software and run a full scan. Fix any problems the software identifies before installing the Gold core wallet.

Additionally, make sure you scan all the USB sticks you use to back up the wallet and take care not to install software from shady sites, as some of this software may have masked its malware well enough to escape the anti-virus radar.

Regularly (and promptly) install software and operating system updates, as they usually include security patches.

Internet Connection

During the initial set-up, you will need to download the full bitcoin node. This will require you to have a very reliable internet connection, one that’s fairly fast and that doesn’t impose strict limits. After the initial download, you will then need to maintain a good internet connection since your node needs to communicate with other nodes on the network as transactions happen.

After appropriately set up your device, you can then follow the steps outlined below to open and activate a Bitcoin Gold core wallet account.

Download the Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet

You can get the Gold core wallet from the official Bitcoin Gold website. The software is available for Windows (64 and 32 bit, Vista and later), Mac OS (v10.1 or higher), Linux (64 and 32 bit), and ARM Linux (64 and 32 bit). Installation instructions might vary depending on your platform, but the process should be fairly straightforward.

Start the Software

Launch the wallet. This will begin the node download. Your internet and PC speed will influence the amount of time this process takes, but you’ll likely need to be a little patient as this huge-volume data transfer takes time. You won’t have to repeat this, however, as it’s a one-time download.

Set Your Password

Once the node has been fully downloaded, go to the wallet settings, hit ‘encrypt wallet,’ and set your password.

Backup Your Wallet and Private key(s)

After logging in to your account, go to the file section and hit ‘backup wallet.’ Select the destination (this could be a USB drive, external hard drive, a mobile phone, or a CD) where you want the backup to be saved. It is recommended that you backup your wallet on more than one drive. To back up your private keys, go to the help section, hit ‘debug window’ then ‘console.’ Copy the key and store it well.

Congratulations, your wallet is now ready to use.

Bitcoin Gold Core Wallet Customer Support

This wallet is open-source, so you can raise issues and even fix them yourself if you’re skilled enough. However, for non-techies, the customer service can be contacted through the Bitcoin Gold website or via their various social media channels.

Verdict

The Bitcoin Gold core wallet is a secure solution for Bitcoin Gold holders. It is especially suited for those who’d like to mine and earn some extra crypto, and for those who have enough space and bandwidth to run a full bitcoin node.

Categories
Forex Assets

Analysing The Costs Involved While Trading The CAD/INR Exotic Currency Pair

Introduction

The CAD/INR pair is considered an exotic currency pair where CAD is the Canadian Dollar, while the INR is the Indian Rupee. This article will cover the basic elements of the CAD/INR pair that you should know before you start trading the pair.

In this pair, the CAD is the base currency, while the INR is the quote currency. Therefore, the price attached to the CAD/INR pair is the amount of INR that can be bought by 1 CAD. For example, if the price of CAD/INR is 55.059, it means that for every 1 CAD, you can get 55.059 INR.

CAD/INR Specification

Spread

The price at which you can buy a currency pair is different from the price at which you can sell the same pair. This difference is the spread. The spread is considered a source of revenue for brokers and a trading cost for forex traders. The spread for the CAD/INR pair is as follows.

ECN: 39 pips | STP: 44 pips

Fees

The trading fee is the commission you pay your forex broker for every trade you make. STP accounts usually have no trading fees, while the fees charged on ECN accounts vary from broker to broker.

Slippage

Slippage represents the difference between the price at which you place a trade and the price at which your broker will execute the trade. Market volatility and the broker’s efficiency determine the amount of slippage.

Trading Range in the CAD/INR Pair

The trading range in forex helps a trader analyze the extent of a currency pair’s fluctuation during a specific timeframe. As measured in pips, this fluctuation can help determine the volatility of the pair and the expected gains or losses. For example, if in the 4-hour timeframe the CAD/INR pair has a volatility of 30 pips, a trader can expect to either gain or lose $54 since the value of 1 pip is $1.8

The table below shows the minimum, average, and maximum volatility of CAD/INR across different timeframes.

The Procedure to assess Pip Ranges

  1. Add the ATR indicator to your chart
  2. Set the period to 1
  3. Add a 200-period SMA to this indicator
  4. Shrink the chart so you can determine a larger period
  5. Select your desired timeframe
  6. Measure the floor level and set this value as the min
  7. Measure the level of the 200-period SMA and set this as the average
  8. Measure the peak levels and set this as Max.

CAD/INR Cost as a Percentage of the Trading Range

The knowledge of the potential costs when trading helps determine the trading strategies to be used. Cost as a percentage of the trading range will help us understand how trading costs vary with volatility under different timeframes.

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading Fee

The tables below show the analyses of percentage costs in both ECN and STP accounts.

ECN Model Account

Spread = 39 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 1

Total cost = 42

STP Model Account

Spread = 44 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 0

Total cost = 46

The Ideal Timeframe to Trade CAD/INR

Depending on your forex trading style, you can use the above analysis to coincide with your trade of the CAD/INR pair with moments of lower trading costs. The 1-hour timeframe for the STP and the ECN accounts has the highest trading costs of 779.66% and 711.86% of the trading range, respectively. Also, notice that the highest costs coincide with the lowest volatility of 3.1 pips.

Trading longer timeframes like the 1-week and the 1-month timeframes are associated with lower costs. However, trading when the CAD/INR pair’s volatility is above average has a lower cost. Another way of reducing trading costs is by using the limit order types, which eliminates the slippage costs. Here’s how it works.

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading fee

= 0 + 39 + 1 = 40

When limit orders are used, the slippage cost becomes zero. Consequently, the trading costs are significantly reduced, with the highest trading cost dropping from 711.86% to 677.97% of the trading range.

Categories
Forex Videos

Forex Fundamental Analysis For Novices – How To Trade Mortgage approvals!

 

Fundamental analysis for novices: Mortgage approvals

 

Thank you for joining this Forex academy educational video for novices. In this series, we will be looking at economic data releases by governments around the world, but specifically focusing on Western democracies and whereby this data acts as a barometer of the health of a country’s economy. In this session, we will be looking at mortgage approvals and focusing specifically on the United Kingdom.

If you are new to trading, one of the main reasons that new traders fail is because they are unaware of economic data releases, where governments release information in the form of statistics, which market analysts and traders use to value the health of a country’s economy. Such data causes various levels of impact on the financial markets, which is typically low, medium, or high, and where high impact data can cause a currency pair’s exchange rate to stop in its tracks and reverse, which is often detrimental to a trend and therefore may cause losses. By using an economic calendar, which is offered by most brokers, you will learn to use the data releases to your advantage and know when to trade and when to avoid the markets, especially at such time as high impact data is being released.

The critical components of an economic calendar are the time of the release, the type of event, the day and date, the likely impact that such data will have on the market, which is measured in 3 values, low medium, and high. The actual data will be populated on to the calendar very shortly after the data release and is typically subject to an embargo. The consensus, which is a value of the expected data release, is usually fairly accurate as put together by economists and analysts. And the previous data release which should also be used in conjunction with the consensus as a gauge. The larger the deviation between the actual release and that of the consensus will likely cause more volatility in the market, depending on the expected impact level.

Here we can see that’s on Tuesday the 1st of September 2020 at 9:30 AM BST, Great Britain will release data statistics for mortgage approvals for July, where the impact level is low, and where the consensus is 33.9 k and where the information that was released for June came in at 40.01 k. The data will be simultaneously released with market manufacturing PMI, net lending to individuals and consumer credit, plus M4 money supply.
Therefore, this information will be looked at holistically by traders, and because the manufacturing PMI is a medium impact, potentially there is room for greater volatility than just the information pertaining to mortgage approvals.

Mortgage approval statistics are released by the Bank of England each month and show the number of mortgages approved for July. This acts as a leading indicator for the housing market within the United Kingdom. Higher mortgage approvals mean that the economy is healthier and recovering from the pandemic. The higher the reading, the more positive for the pound, while a low reading is negative and shows that people are not confident with the economy and are therefore not buying homes. As such, this is bad for the pound and could see weakening against other currencies. As mentioned, always look at the whole basket of data releases rather than one single component.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

Everything About ‘Durable Goods Orders’ Macro Economic Indicator

Introduction

Industrial production contributes to over 62% of the jobs in the goods production industry. Therefore, any changes in this sector’s production activity bring forth ripple effects into the overall economy. Owing to the significant role that industrial production plays in the economy, the investment goods bought for use in the industrial sector offer invaluable insights into the changes in the sector. Thus, durable goods orders as an economic indicator can be used to signal economic growth and businesses’ and consumers’ sentiment.

Understanding Durable Goods Orders

Durable goods are expensive and long-lasting items that have a lifespan of at least three years. These goods do not depreciate quickly. They include; heavy-duty machinery used for industrial purposes, computers and telecommunication equipment, raw steel, and transport equipment.

Core durable goods are the totality of durable goods, excluding data from transportation and military orders. The transportation equipment is excluded to ensure smoothening out the effects it would have on the durable goods data as a result of one-time large orders of new vehicles.

Durable goods orders data is, therefore, a monthly survey that tracks the purchase of durable goods. This data is used to assess the prevailing trend in industrial activity.

How to use Durable Goods Orders in Analysis

Since durable goods are expensive and long-lasting, their purchase is made on an occasional basis. For analysis reasons, the durable goods orders are treated as capital expenditure. The durable goods orders are used to signal near-term and future economic prospects. Let’s see what this data tells us about the economy.

Firstly, durable goods are heavy-duty machinery whose assembly and manufacture takes a long time. Therefore, the duration from when the assembly line of these goods begins to the time they are delivered to the buyers shows a period of sustained economic activity.

Capital expenditure in the industrial sector has a multiplier effect. The data on durable goods orders implicitly shows the level of activity in the industries along the supply chain of making and delivering these goods. Higher durable goods orders imply higher commercial activities in the relevant industries, while lower durable goods orders show reduced activities. So, what does this data tell us about the economy? Let’s take the example of increasing durable goods orders.

Higher durable goods orders imply that more jobs are created in the assembly lines, manufacturing, and mining. The resultant increase in employment levels leads to improved living standards and an increase in aggregate demand for consumer products in the economy. The increased aggregate demand for discretionary consumer products will force producers in these sectors to scale up their production, leading to more job creation and economic growth. Thus, the increase in durable goods orders can have both a direct and indirect impact on economic growth and the growth of other consumer industries.

Durable goods are used to further the process of production or service delivery. Therefore, the data on durable goods orders can gauge the sentiment of businesses and consumers. It is fair to say that businesses and consumers purchase durable goods when they are convinced that the economy is on an uptrend. Durable goods orders can thus be used as a testament to improving economic conditions and living standards. It follows the logic that businesses would not be scaling their productions or engaging in capital expenditure if they did not firmly believe that the economy is growing and a future increase in their products’ demand.

Due to their expensive nature, the purchase of durable goods heavily relies on credit financing. Thus, an increase in durable goods orders can be used to show that lending conditions are favorable. This willingness of lenders can be taken as a sign of improved liquidity in the banking sector, which in itself shows that the economy is performing well.

When capital expenditures are made, it is to replace the existing technology with a better one. Therefore, an increase in durable goods orders can be seen as businesses upgrading their current production means. Consequently, improved technology leads to efficiency in the production process and service delivery. This efficiency not only applies to improved quality and quantity of output but also in the allocation of factors of production.

Impact on Currency

In the forex market, the central banks’ perceived monetary policy is the primary mover of exchange rates. Forex traders pay close attention to economic indicators to gauge the health of the economy and speculate on the central banks’ policy decisions. Here’s how the durable goods orders can be used to this end.

Higher durable goods orders are associated with higher employment levels, increased wage growth, and steady growth in the aggregate demand and supply in the economy. When this trend is sustained for an extended period, governments and central banks may have to step in with contractionary monetary and fiscal policies to avoid an overly high inflation rate and an overheating economy. Therefore, sustained growth in the durable goods orders can be seen as a precursor to higher interest rates, which leads to the appreciation of the currency.

Conversely, a continuous decline in durable goods orders is an indication that businesses and consumers have a negative sentiment about the future. This sentiment could result from higher levels of unemployment, dropping levels of aggregate demand, or a stagnating economy. To spur economic growth, expansionary fiscal or monetary policies will be adopted. One such policy is lowering interest rates to encourage borrowing by making the cost of money cheap. Thus, a continuous drop in the durable goods orders can be seen to forestall a drop in the interest rates, which depreciates the currency relative to others.

Source of Information related to Durable Goods Orders

The US Census Bureau collates and publishes the data on the US durable goods orders. An in-depth and historical review of the US’s durable goods orders is found at St. Louis FREDTrading Economics publishes global data on durable goods orders.

We hope you got an understanding of what this Fundamental Indicator is all about. Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. Cheers!

Categories
Crypto Videos

Uniswap Monthly Volume Surpasses Coinbase!

Uniswap Monthly Volume Surpasses Coinbase; The DeFi Craze Continues


Data coming from Dune Analytics shows that Uniswap DEX has processed over $15.3 billion in volume in September only. In the same period, reports show that the centralized exchange giant Coinbase processed only $13.6 billion.

The significant spike in volume Uniswap had can be attributed to two major factors:
First, the explosive growth of the decentralized finance sector and yield farming of various governance tokens caused decentralized exchanges to thrive. Second, the launch of Uniswap’s own governance token has led to a frenzy on the platform.

The month of June marked the start of a DeFi governance token frenzy, with Compound’s COMP token being at the forefront of it. The process is relatively simple: DeFi users stake various cryptocurrencies and “farm” new governance tokens by doing that. The DeFi protocols that release the underlying governance tokens in a decentralized manner distribute them to the users who are staking funds. Once users successfully obtain the new tokens, they typically hold them until they are listed on a centralized exchange, where it could be easily sold.

Top cryptocurrency exchanges have to take various factors into consideration before listing tokens. The criteria for listing coins can include liquidity, developer activity, and track record. For new governance tokens and DeFi-related cryptocurrencies, it has proven to be a nearly impossible feat to meet those requirements.
Uniswap has, mostly for the aforementioned reasons, eventually evolved into the go-to platform when it comes to trading DeFi tokens, and the surge in total value locked in DeFi translated into intensified growth of Uniswap’s volume as well.

DEX Volume VS. Yield Farming

Uniswap’s volume has first surpassed Coinbase Pro in daily volume on August 30. Ever since then, it has continuously remained very competitive with the top US exchange. Uniswap creator Hayden Adams said in late August:
Wow, Uniswap’s daily trading volume is higher than Coinbase for the first time ever. Uniswap: $426M, Coinbase: $348M. It’s hard to express how crazy this is.” The consistently high performance coming from Uniswap occurred despite a very considerable slowdown in the yield farming craze. This suggests that, while the yield farming craze has been tamed, the uptrend of decentralized exchanges is sustainable over the long term.

The last couple of weeks brought a slight price drop of DeFi tokens, which also caused a drop in user activity in the yield farming space. The researchers at Dune Analytics are, however, not interpreting this as a bearish signal. Instead, they said:

“Despite the yield farming craze calming down, decentralized exchange volumes crushed old records in September, with $24 billion traded, up 100% from August. While the last few weeks were down when compared to the beginning of the month, all weeks in September were well-above the peak week from August.”

Ethereum analysts Anthony Sassano said that it also reflects the overwhelmingly positive sentiment that investors have for Ethereum. He said: “They told you that the decentralized exchanges on Ethereum were a fad – but they were so incredibly wrong. DEXs did $23.5 billion in volume in September alone! Betting against Ethereum has, is, and always will be a bad move.”

Categories
Forex Course

156. Why Interest Rates Matter While Trading Forex Currency Pairs

Introduction

The interest rate is one of the major fundamental indicators of a currency pair. Any increase in interest rate is a positive sign for an economy. However, there are some other factors that a trader should know.

What is the Interest Rate?

The interest rate is the charge that the Central Bank takes on loans and advances to control the money supply. The interest rate is usually revised quarterly based on the economic condition of a country.

The main aim of changing the interest rate is to control inflation and stabilize the country’s currency exchange rate. The interest rate is one of the most significant fundamental indicators for a country that directly affects the country’s economy both inside and outside.

Image Source: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/

When the country’s economic condition is excellent, and the targeted inflation is achieved, the central bank tries to discourage people from taking loans from the Central by increasing the interest rate.

On the other hand, when the economic condition is not right, Central Bank tries to expand the country’s economic activity by attracting people to take more money from the bank with a cheaper interest rate.

How interest Rate Impact on a Currency Pair?

In the forex market, traders usually trade in currency pairs instead of a single currency. Therefore, they should evaluate two separate countries’ economic conditions to determine which country is more reliable. Based on this knowledge, we can say that increasing the country’s interest rate will influence the currency to be strong against other currencies.

For example, we want to take a trade in the USDCHF pair, and we are waiting for the USD’s interest rate decision. When the news came, we saw that the Federal Reserve increased the interest rate from 2% to 2.5%. As a result, the USD became stronger immediately against the CHF, and the USDCHF goes up.

This is how the interest rate impacts on a currency. However, the opposite reaction might happen when the Federal Reserve decreases the interest rate from 2 % to 1.5% instead of increasing. In that case, the EURUSD might be stronger and move higher.

How to Make a Profit from the Interest Rate Change?

Making money from interest rates is an effective and solid way to trade based on the fundamental analysis. However, as a trader, we should focus on other fundamental releases and events to understand a currency pair’s overall structure. The significant economic releases of a country are interrelated. For example, if the inflation and GDP are good, an increase in interest rate is evident for the central bank.

Therefore, before taking a trade based on the interest, we should focus on what the other fundamental releases are telling about the currency.

Conclusion

After the above discussion, we can say that the interest rate is the most significant fundamental indicator of a currency pair. However, as the forex market consists of several uncertainties, we should focus on money management strongly. We may face some market conditions where the price might react against our expectations. So, the only way to make a consistent growth of our trading balance is to follow strong trade management.

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Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s PerlinX (PERL) All About?

Following Blockchain’s birth, the financial landscape is changing very fast. Now we’re talking of decentralized finance (DeFi), synthetic assets, liquidity pools, and other concepts that simply didn’t exist before. And all these are to the benefit of millions of people across the globe who were previously excluded from the financial system. 

PerlinX is a DeFi project that wants to “democratize the trading of real-world assets through decentralized liquidity pools and synthetic asset generation.” 

It’s among the many DeFi projects that are recently catching on and providing unparalleled value to users. In the traditional finance system, you can put up your money to generate yield. And sure, it will, but meager yields which take forever to add up to anything substantial. 

With PerlinX, you can earn nice rewards for simply staking in the PERL token. Let’s dive into the protocol and see how it works. We’ll also see the platform’s major driver – the PERL token, and how exactly it keeps the ecosystem moving. 

Understanding PerlinX 

Perlin is a DeFi platform where users can create and trade assets through a synthetic liquidity pool. Perlin will initially be focusing on synthetic assets. Platform users will be able to stake PERL tokens and earn rewards. Rewards will be in the form of PERL, UMA, and BAL tokens. PerlinX will also utilize the UMA protocol for the generation of synthetic assets. 

On the PerlinX platform, each asset will have its own real-time price feed, supported by the Data Verification Mechanism (DVM) supported by UMA. The DVM is designed to provide accurate and incorruptible price feeds. 

Synthetic assets on PerlinX will begin with the prefix ‘px’, as in pxGold, pxETH, pxCarbon, and so on. Also, for users to create synthetic assets on PerlinX, they must first deposit PerlinX as collateral. For now, the PerlinX protocol will support five assets, namely TUSD, BUSD, USDC, BAL, and ETH. 

What Can You Do on PerlinX? 

Below is how you can interact with the PerlinX platform: 

#1. Deposit crypto and earn rewards 

Platform users can stake in PERL and earn incentives as a result. Staking provides liquidity to the platform for borrowers who pay back with interest. 

#2. Create synthetic assets 

Users can utilize the PerlinX platform to create network assets of any type. To create a synthetic asset, a user must first deposit PERL as collateral. 

Roadmap for PerlinX 

After enabling users to earn incentives for staking in PERL, the team plans to embark on the following steps immediately: 

  • Start minting pxTokens.
  • Identify potential security loopholes on the platform and fix them immediately.
  • Improve user experience to facilitate staking and things like liquidation procedures and settling disputes.
  • Come up with a long-term incentivization mechanism for liquidity providers and synthetic asset creators.

Future Roadmap

  • Work to narrow the gap between the existing financial system and DeFi, and rally for more support for digital assets and more emerging complex assets like regulated securities
  • Work to improve the underlying Automatic Market Maker and synthetic assets mining process to realize better efficiency.

The PERL Token

PERL is the native utility token of the PerlinX platform. It will play a central role in the running of the ecosystem – and the two key roles will include the following: 

  • As a staking mechanism to earn incentives 
  • As collateral to be able to create synthetic pxTokens

How PERL Tokens Were Distributed

The PerlinX team distributed PERL in the following fashion: 

  • Seed sale tokens: 20%
  • Strategic sale tokens: 19.49%
  • Private sale tokens: 8.36%
  • Public sale tokens: 8.38%
  • Team tokens: 15%
  • Advisors: 9.65%
  • Treasury tokens: 19.12%

Key Metrics of PERL

As of September 29, 2020, the PERL token traded for $0.026798, with a market cap of $12,947,152, which placed it at #436. PERL had a circulating supply of 483,139,908 and a total supply of 1, 033,200,000. The token’s all-time high was $0.132243 (Aug 26, 2019) and an all-time low of $0.010643 (March 28, 2020), per Coinmarketcap. 

Buying and Storing

Today, you’ll find PERL listed as a market pair of BTC, USDT, BNB, WETH, BUSD, PERL, TUSD, BTC, and BAL in either of these exchanges: Binance, Bilaxy, CoinDXC, HotBit, TOKOK, Balancer and Uniswap (V2). 

You can store PERL tokens in Ledger, Trezor, Trust, Atomic, and MyEtherWallet wallets. 

Closing Thoughts

PerlinX is one of the bold projects that we’re seeing emerging in the DeFi space. The more these projects are, the more choices for DeFi users.

Categories
Forex Daily Topic Forex System Design

Understanding Slippage Effect in a Trading Strategy

Introduction

Slippage is one of the hidden costs any trading strategy is exposed to. Usually, this type of cost tends to be overlooked from studies of historical simulation. However, a strategies’ developer must understand its nature and assess its impact on its performance.

Increasing Reality in the Historical Simulation

To properly create a historical simulation of a trading system, it needs to consider certain assumptions that, although they may seem insignificant, they are not inconsequential. Their omission could lead to the accuracy of the results obtained. The most critical assumptions that the strategy developer should consider are related to the trading strategy’s deviations.

Slippage in Price and Trade

Each executed trade has a cost that occurs when it is filled. This cost is made of two parts, one fixed and another one variable. The fixed cost is known as the commission, which corresponds to a broker’s fee when it places the order into the market.

The variable element corresponds to the slippage. Slippage can have a significant impact on the profitability of the strategy. The slippage’s origin and size depend on various factors, such as the order type, size, and market liquidity.

There exist three types of orders that the strategist can place into the market; these are as follows:

  • Market Order: this is an order to buy or sell an asset at a price quoted in the current market. This order is guaranteed, but not the level at which it is finally filled. Thus, slippage may be high.
  • Stop Order:  A Stop buy Order is placed above the current price, whereas a Stop Sell order is located below the market’s price. Stop orders can be employed to enter and exit the market. The problem with Stop orders is that they usually fill at a worse price than set by the stop level. This situation occurs because when the price touches the stop level, the order changes to a market order and is executed at the first available price.
  • Limit Order: A Limit Buy order is placed below the current price, whereas a Limit Sell order should be above the current price. Unlike stop orders, Limit orders are placed to get better fills than the current market’s price. But its execution is not guaranteed. However, when they are filled, they will at the same or better price than initially established.
  • Market If Touched (MIT) Order: this type of order is a combination of the limit with a stop order. In the case of a buy trade, an MIT order is placed at a price below the current level. In the case of a sell position, an MIT order is set above the current price. The MIT order seeks a desirable price by buying at declines and selling at rallies. In turn, MIT orders seek to ensure the order is filled at a price close to where the strategy identifies a desirable entry level. However, although MIT orders combine the best of both types, they are also subject to price slippage.

Opening Gap Slippage

Markets tend to have price gaps. Usually, a price gap happens from the current close to the next day’s opening. In most cases, this gap is not large enough to significantly impact the outcome of the strategy. However, there may be larger gaps caused by significant political or economic events, while markets are closed.

These high volatility situations can lead to large slippages, particularly on pending orders. Consequently, the strategist must consider the impact of this type of slippage on historical simulation results.

Slippage by Order Size

The size of the position has a proportional impact on the slippage. In other words, as the order size increases, the possibility of a higher slippage grows, since the order gets progressively filled at worse prices. In this case, the strategy developer should design a methodology to scale in and out trades to execute the desired total size with minimal slippage.

Conclusions

The slippage is a variable cost that cannot be avoided in the real market. It may not be significant in some cases, as on long-term strategies with fewer entry and exit orders.

However, it becomes more significant in high-frequency systems, characterized by being short-term and active. In this context, the developer must consider the effect of slippage and reflect it in the historical simulation process.

Finally, the strategist should not neglect the slippage impact since its presence can considerably reduce the profits a trading strategy can generate.

Suggested Readings

  • Jaekle, U., Tomasini, E.; Trading Systems: A New Approach to System Development and Portfolio Optimisation; Harriman House Ltd.; 1st Edition (2009).
  • Pardo, R.; The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies; John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition (2008).
Categories
Cryptocurrencies

XZEN Hardware Wallet Review: Security, Fees, Ease of Use, Pros, And Cons

XZEN website describes its hardware wallet as a “Hybrid cybersecurity system” that “Combines hardware, software, and services” in guaranteeing maximum security, transparency, and the highest levels of user experience. It was designed and developed by an Estonian Virtual currency wallet and exchange services provider, XZEN EST Ltd, and launched in 2018. It is the native wallet for the XZEN exchange and features a mobile app companion that hosts such interactive services as the crypto exchange and payment service processor.

According to XZEN founder Dmitry Laptev, this highly innovative and versatile Crypto was born of the need to change the security architecture around hardware wallets. It is especially aimed at eliminating the chances of losing your digital assets because of a forgotten PIN or lost backup seed. It is also one of the few hardware wallets that support fiat currencies.

This review will be vetting the hardware wallet to determine if it is as secure and easy to use as advertised. We will outline its key operational and security features, provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to set up and use XZEN wallet, check the number of supported currencies, and compare it with other hardware wallets.

XZEN Wallet key features

On-device screen: XZEN hardware wallet features a 2.4-inch high-resolution LCD screen that is large enough to fit the entire wallet address.

Mobile compatibility: The hardware wallet has a mobile (Android/iOS) and desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux) app companions that host most of XZEN’s interactive features such as the crypto exchange and portfolio tracking tools.

Inbuilt exchange: XZEN hardware wallet users also interact with the XZEN decentralized exchange hosted on the mobile and desktop apps. The wallet is hybrid and supports both crypto-to-crypto as well as fiat-to-crypto exchanges. Also, it allows you to buy Crypto virtually via any credit/debit card.

Instant transfers: Cryptocurrency transfers on the XZEN platform are instantaneous. Moreover, transfers within the wallet’s ecosystem (from one XZEN wallet to another) do not attract additional charges or commissions.

Contactless payments: Embedded in the XZEN hardware wallet device is an NFC chip that powers contactless payments. It allows you to pay for goods and services in millions of stores worldwide without necessarily connecting your device to the store’s hardware. The chip is also attributed to one of the wallet’s coolest features – wireless charging.

Wireless connections: Just like you don’t need to physically connect an XZEN hardware device to a store’s systems to pay for goods, you also don’t need to connect it to your computer or mobile phone to transfer coins. It is fitted with the Bluetooth 4.2 technology used to communicate with its app companion via a highly secure and AES encrypted channel.

Steel case: The XZEN wallet components are protected by an airtight steel casing that is both dust and waterproof.

Security features

PIN Code + Touch ID: XZEN hardware wallet embraces a multilayered security feature that constitutes both a PIN Code and Touch ID.

Encrypted CPU: The hardware wallet will also feature a highly encrypted CPYU/secure element on which your private keys are stored.

Cold storage: XZEN hardware wallet maintains that the private keys for digital assets are always kept in a 100% offline device and never leave the wallet.

Two-factor authentication: All transfers out of your XZEN wallet must be subjected to two-factor authentication. While you can initiate the outbound transaction via the mobile or desktop app, it must be authorized by the hardware device.

Licensed: XZEN EST Limited is a licensed virtual currency wallet and exchange services provider, authorized and regulated by Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

How to set and activate the XZEN wallet

Step 1: Start by ordering the XZEN hardware device from the XZEN wallet’s official website.

Step 2: Open the XZEN wallet official website. Click on the “APP” page. Download the wallet app that is compatible with your phone or computer.

Step 3: Install and launch the app.

Step 4: Choose a username and create a unique multi-character password for the wallet app.

Step 5: Turn on the XZEN hardware wallet and pair it to the phone app via Bluetooth or the USB cable.

Step 6: Once paired, the hardware wallet will request you to create a PIN code and set up the fingerprint ID.

Step 7: It will then provide you with a 12-word recovery seed

Step 8: The wallet will now generate a wallet address that you can use to add/receive funds

How to add/receive Crypto into your XZEN wallet

Step 1: Log into your XZEN crypto wallet app and click on the “Receive” button.

Step 2: Copy the wallet address or QR code provided and send them to the individual sending you coins.

Step 3: Wait for the funds to reflect on your wallet.

How to send Crypto from your XZEN wallet

Step 1: Log in to your XZEN crypto wallet app and hit the “Send” icon.

Step 2: Select the cryptocurrency or token you wish to transfer, especially if you have multiple wallet addresses

Step 3: Enter the recipient address and amounts you want to send

Step 4: Turn on and login to XZEN hardware wallet.

Step 5: Connect the phone or computer to the hardware device via the cable or Bluetooth

Step 6: Confirm that the transaction details are correct and authorize the transaction.

XZEN wallet ease of use

XZEN has one of the most intuitive interfaces – for both the hardware device and the mobile/desktop apps. They are both clean and easy to navigate with little to no help. Several text and video guides throughout the XZEN wallet website can help you master your way around the device and apps. These come in handy in teaching you how to send or receive cryptos via XZEN and in figuring out your way around the crypto exchange.

These, plus the relatively easy and straightforward onboarding process, make XZEN wallet one of the most intuitive hardware wallets.

XZEN wallet supported currencies

XZEN is a multicurrency hardware wallet that is yet to embrace multiple cryptos and tokens. Currently, you can only host Bitcoins, Ethereum, and ERC-20 tokens on the wallet, but the XZEN website hints about an upcoming upgrade that incorporates more popular cryptos.

XZEN wallet cost and fees

XZEN hardware wallet costs $120.

Crypto exchanges within the decentralized exchange and crypto transfers to other XZEN wallets are free. Nevertheless, you will pay a variable network fee every time you send cryptos and tokens to external wallets and exchanges.

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

Pros:

  • Crypto transfers from one XZEN wallet to another are free.
  • It integrates a hybrid exchange that allows you to pay for Crypto using a card.
  • Embraces a wide range of security and privacy features.
  • Supports anonymous user registration and trading.
  • Your private keys are held in offline cold storage and never leave the wallet.

Cons:

  • Supports a limited number of cryptocurrencies
  • Requires you to verify identity if you want to pay for Crypto via card

Comparing XZEN wallet with other hardware wallets

XZEN wallet vs. Ledger Nano S wallet

XZEN and Ledger Nano S are both multicurrency hardware wallets. Some of the key security measures they have both implemented include the generation of wallet addresses offline, cold storage for private keys, and two-factor authentication. They also have an on-device screen that one can use to check crypto balances while offline and verify transaction details for outbound transfers.

The two, however, have several operational differences. For instance, while XZEN will only support two major cryptocurrencies, Ledger Nano supports 1000+ cryptos and tokens. The on-device screen for the Ledger wallet is smaller than the large and high-resolution color screen on the XZEN hardware wallet. Moreover, XZEN can be more versatile as it is complemented by feature-rich mobile and desktop companion apps.

Verdict: Is XZEN wallet safe?

Yes. With fingerprint protection, offline cold storage, two-factor authentication, password-protected apps, and recovery seed in place, XZEN hardware wallet has put in place adequate security measures around your private keys. And in appreciation of XZEN wallet’s security-focused approach, storing and managing digital assets, the company was honored with the Excellence in Finance Award in 2019 during the global FiNext Conference in Singapore. Our only reservations with the hardware wallet are its relatively expensive price ($120) and its support for a limited number of coins.

Categories
Forex Assets

Asset Analysis – Trading The CAD/PHP Forex Currency Pair

Introduction

CAD/PHP is an exotic Forex currency pair where CAD is the Canadian Dollar while PHP is the Philippine Peso, the Philippines’ official currency. This article will cover fundamental aspects that you should know about CAD/PHP before you start trading the pair.

Understanding CAD/PHP

In this currency pair, the CAD is the base currency, and the PHP is the quote currency. The CAD/PHP pair price represents the quantity of the PHP that can be bought by 1 CAD. If the CAD/PHP price is 36.181, it means that for every 1 CAD you have, you can buy 36.181 PHP.

CAD/PHP Specification

Spread

In forex trading, the spread is the difference in the value at which a trader can buy a currency pair and the price at which they can sell it.

ECN: 10 pips | STP: 15 pips

Fees

There are no trading fees associated with STP accounts. However, for the ECN accounts, the trading fees that you will incur per transaction are determined by your forex broker.

Slippage

When trading forex, slippage occurs when there is a difference between the price at which you place your trade and the price at which your broker executes it. Slippage in forex frequently happens at times of higher volatility or when significantly larger orders are made.

Trading Range in the CAD/PHP Pair

Forex traders should know how a given currency pair changes within different timeframes. This change in terms of pips is referred to as the trading range. It is used to analyze the historical volatility of a given pair across different timeframes. Therefore, the trading range can be used to determine the amount of profit that a trader should expect to earn.

The Procedure to assess Pip Ranges

  1. Add the ATR indicator to your chart.
  2. Set the period to 1
  3. Add a 200-period SMA to this indicator.
  4. Shrink the chart so you can determine a larger period
  5. Select your desired timeframe
  6. Measure the floor level and set this value as the min
  7. Measure the level of the 200-period SMA and set this as the average
  8. Measure the peak levels and set this as Max.

CAD/PHP Cost as a Percentage of the Trading Range

Slippage, spread, and brokers’ fees amount to trading costs to a forex trader.

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading Fee

Therefore, forex traders should be aware of how these costs vary during different timeframes depending on the pip change of the currency they trade.

The tables below are of the percentage costs that can be expected when trading the CAD/PHP pair under the ECN and STP account types. The costs are expressed as pips.

ECN Model Account

Spread = 10 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 1

Total cost = 13

STP Model Account

Spread = 15 | Slippage = 2 | Trading fee = 0

Total cost = 17

The Ideal Timeframe to Trade CAD/PHP

From the above trading range cost analysis, the most cost is incurred at the 1H timeframe at 220.34% for the ECN account and 288.14% for the STP account. These costs imply that it is not ideal to trade during times of low volatility of about 2.3 pips. However, the trading costs associated with the 1H, 2H, 4H, and the 1D timeframes are lower when the market volatility is above average. Intraday traders can time their entry when the volatility of the CAD/PHP is above average.

The longer timeframes for both types of accounts have lower trading costs associated with them. Thus, longer-term traders can get to enjoy lower costs.

Forex traders can also significantly reduce their trading costs by employing limit order types to ensure they do not experience slippage costs. Let’s look at the total costs when slippage is zero with the ECN account.

Total cost = Slippage + Spread + Trading fee

= 0 + 10 + 1 =11

With the ECN account, the highest trading cost reduces from 220.334% to 169.49%, showing that using the limit order types significantly reduces the trading costs.

Categories
Forex Daily Topic Forex Price Action

Price Action Trading: Reasons to Skip Entries on Charts with Price Gap

Forex charts often have price gaps. It usually occurs in minor time frames. However, it sometimes occurs in time frames such as the H1, H4, daily chart as well. Since price movement is the key factor determining its next move for the price action traders, thus price gap creates confusion in price action trading. Thus, it is best to skip taking entries on charts with a price gap. Let us demonstrate an example and find out the reason behind it.

It is an H4 chart. The chart shows that the price produces a bullish engulfing candle right at a support level, where the price has several bounces. Thus, the H4-H1 combination traders may flip over to the H1 chart to go long in the pair.

The H1 chart shows that the price heads towards the North with good bullish momentum. The buyers are to wait for the price to consolidate and produce a bullish reversal candle to offer a long entry.

The chart produces a bearish engulfing candle. It is a strong bearish candle. However, the buyers may wait for the price to be held at a key level and produce a bullish reversal candle. Let us proceed to find out what happens next.

The chart produces a bullish reversal candle. It is an inverted hammer. Moreover, it is produced with a bullish price gap. Technically, the H4-H1 chart combination traders may trigger a long entry above the level of resistance. Here is an equation that must be considered if they are to determine risk-reward by using Fibonacci retracement. We find this out soon. Let us see how the price reacts now.

What a good bullish move it is! The price heads towards the North with very good momentum. The last candle comes out as a bearish candle. It suggests that the price may make a bearish correction. Let us now draw Fibonacci levels and explain the chart with some Fibonacci numbers.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Crypto – Dash Is NOT A Privacy Coin!

Dash is NOT a privacy coin.

Dash was once viewed as one of the crypto sector’s top privacy-focused projects. However, it no longer operates under that classification, according to the Dash Core Group, the group overseeing Dash and its development.
When asked if Dash should be considered a privacy asset, Fernando Gutierrez, Dash Core Group’s CMO, said:
“No, Dash is a payment operator cryptocurrency, with a strong focus on usability, which includes speed, ease of use, cost, and user protection through optional privacy.”

Dash started off as a fork of Bitcoin all the way back in 2014. It was originally called XCoin, only to change its name to Darkcoin, and ultimately Dash. The asset positioned itself on the market as a privacy-focused asset and competed with the likes of Monero and Zcash. Its whitepaper even said that “Dash is the first privacy-centric cryptographic currency that is based on the work of Satoshi Nakamoto [the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin].”
In addition to Dash, there were two of the market’s other main anonymity-based assets, Monero and Zcash, which came to life in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

As can be concluded from Gutierrez’s comment, Dash is no longer fully and mainly focused on privacy, but it rather only specifies that it has privacy as an optional feature. The asset’s optional privacy feature is called PrivateSend, giving its users the option of greater anonymity than they would have when transacting without it. The technology that Dash utilizes in its PrivateSend function is called CoinJoin, a technology that “complicates” transactions to the point of being extremely difficult for analytics firms to analyze the transactions.

The CoinJoin approach was introduced in 2013, essentially letting Bitcoin users mix their transactions into a group of transactions, therefore making any form of tracking difficult. Dash took this exact same approach and made it more convenient by making it a built-in option for Dash senders.


In recent days, privacy coins have faced significant scrutiny from governing bodies all around the world, as seen by the IRS’ bounty rewards of $625,000 for successfully cracking Monero. In order to mitigate the possible pressure from the government bodies, Dash Core Group pivoted from the privacy coin sector to the transaction sector, now stating that the privacy regulation doesn’t apply or threaten Dash in any way. Gutierrez added that Dash’s blockchain is public and that there is nothing to break or crack because Dash’s approach to privacy is fully probabilistic, not based on encryption like on projects like Monero.

Categories
Forex Course

155. Getting Started With Forex Fundamental Analysis

Introduction

Fundamental analysis and technical analysis are an essential part of Forex trading. A Forex trader cannot be a profitable trader unless he knows this analysis. Fundamental analysis provides a logical reason for the upcoming movement of a currency pair based on economic releases. Traders evaluate these releases to determine the exact movement of a currency pair.

What is Fundamental Analysis?

According to finance and accounting, Fundamental analysis is the process of analyzing the business’s financial statement, including the competitor and market analysis. Moreover, it considers the core feature of a country’s macroeconomic factor, including the interest rate, inflation, GDP, manufacturing index, export, import, etc.

However, in forex trading, the fundamental analysis focuses on macro-economic factors mostly. The currency pair in a forex market represents the economy of two separate countries. In fundamental analysis, traders usually focus on major economic events and releases and their impact on a currency pair. Moreover, most professional traders consider both technical and fundamental analysis to get the best output from the market.

Elements of Fundamental Analysis

The fundamental analysis has two major elements- the fundamental releases and the fundamental events.

The Fundamental Releases

Fundamental releases are economic news of releases of a country that is published at regular intervals. Among the fundamental releases, the primary 4 economic releases are most important as it creates an immediate impact on a currency pair. Let’s have a look at four major economic releases:

  • Interest rate: The interest rate is how much we have to pay to the central bank if we take any loan. Central banks raise the interest rate if the economic condition is excellent. On the other hand, the central bank reduces interest rates if the economic condition is terrible.

Image Source: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/

  • Inflation Rate: Inflation is the buying power of the money. The increase in inflation indicates a rise in the consumer product’s price that reduces the buying power of money. Any increase in the inflation rate is terrible for the economy.

Image Source: RBA

  • Gross Domestic Product: Gross Domestic Product or GDP refers to the country’s products and services’ total value. Any increase in GDP is positive for a particular currency.
  • Employment: The number of employed and unemployed persons for a country works as a crucial fundamental indicator. Any decrease in employment is bad for the economy, and any increase in employment is reasonable.

Image source: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/

Fundamental Events

Besides fundamental releases, some essential fundamental events put a significant impact on a currency pair as mentioned below:

  • Central Bank Meeting: Central of a country meets once a quarter and discusses its economic condition. Any dovish tone negatively impacts the currency, while a hawkish tone creates a positive impact.
  • Geopolitical Events: There is some condition when one country meets another country to discuss the trade deal or conflict. Any positive news from a country’s geopolitical event may create a bullish momentum of the country’s currency.

In fundamental analysis, traders usually evaluate these releases and events to measure the strength and weaknesses of a currency pair.

Conclusion 

Traders usually gather recent economic releases and compare the result with the previous result. Any better than expected result indicates a buying opportunity on a particular currency. On the other hand, traders often evaluate fundamental releases to measure the volatility of a currency pair.

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Categories
Crypto Videos

Forex & The Brexit Conundrum!

The Brexit Conundrum

 

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video.

In this session, we will be looking at the Brexit situation and how it is unfolding, and the disparity between the British pound and the FTSE 100 index.
Here is the FTSE 100 index and where we can see 3 peaks that are falling, from a high of 6,500 to the current level, at the time of writing, at 5,960: a gradual trend lower since June 2020

Here is a chart of the British pound against the United States dollar and where we can see during the same time period the pound has been extremely bullish against the dollar from 1.2200 to up to a peak of 1.3400 to its current trading range at 1,3284 at the time of writing.
This tells us a story that the pound is bullish, and this is largely due to US dollar weakness and where traders have been riding the wave upwards, following the trend, in a which has been fairly typical where US dollar weakness has been seen across the board and particularly with the other major currencies. So, we have bad continuing economics from the USA and bad US dollar sentiment.

However, if we revert back to our ftse100 chart, the same sentiments cannot be applied to the British economy, and this is typical because of one reason: fund managers do not act out of sentiment in the same way as currency traders so. Fund managers will typically take a more long-term view, and this, of course, must factor in the Brexit situation. And herein lies our conundrum: one set of traders is buying the pounds, and another set is selling UK equities, and mostly because of the risk of no trade agreement being reached between the European Union and British governments regarding a future trade deal. This has largely been put down to the European Union wanting more leeway regarding fisheries and European fishing vessels being allowed to fish in British waters and also so with regard to standards being maintained across the board between Britain and Europe within the financial services sector and other areas such as food. Both sides have red lines, which neither are prepared to budge from and where there seems to be a breakdown in the negotiations with Michel Barnier and his British government counterpart, David Frost.
Time is of the essence, and it is said that a deal must be reached by the end of October in order for the future trading relationships, including zero tariffs on either side, being implemented. Should an agreement not be reached, Britain will be left to trade outside of Europe on world trading organisation rules, which are not as favourable to Britain as they would be with no tariff arrangement with Europe.

Michel Barnier has made it clear that unless standards are unified across the board, and the UK are willing to move their red lines on fisheries, it could cause trading problems and frictions, even where buy British lorry drivers might not be allowed to pass through Europe.

So, where does this leave things? Pretty much hanging in the air. The strength of the pound belies the uncertainties regarding the future arrangements with the European Union. Both sides are up against it in terms of time, and if neither side will budge, there is a distinct possibility of a no-deal trade arrangement between the two nations.
And so what might we expect? If it comes down to the 11th hour, so to speak, and there is absolutely no trade agreement between Great Britain and the European, the party might be over for the British pound, which could suffer to the downside against counter currencies.
We might also see a further sell-off on the FTSE 100. AS time gets closer, it will be wise for traders to be extremely cautious while trading both of these assets. Incorporate tight stop losses and reduced leverage.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Wing (WING)? 

Blockchain opened the way for all kinds of imagination for finance. Thanks to the tech, we now have DeFi – short of decentralized finance – which is the idea that people can have total power and control over their financial lives. This contrasts with the current system where we lack autonomy over our own money, and we have to rely on centralized entities like banks to safeguard it. 

Of course, centralization means the banks can freeze our assets at will, in the case of real or imagined offenses against, say, the government. It also means if we’re sending money overseas, we have to rely on the long chain of approvals by third parties before it reaches the recipient. 

We’ve already said DeFi opens up so many opportunities for finance. One of these is the ability to loan cryptocurrency and reap big in returns. Another is the ability to lock down your crypto and earn rewards. 

Wing, a product by the team behind Ontology, is one of several DeFi projects that are emerging and offering users such revolutionary financial prospects. 

This article will delve deeper into the Wing platform, including the key highlights that distinguish it from similar protocols. We’ll also see how the WNG token is doing in the crypto market. 

Breaking Down Wing 

Wing is a blockchain-powered lending platform. The platform has a decentralized governance model designed to provide the maximum – and equal value to all participants, including borrowers, creditors, and guarantors. 

The WING team wants to support two types of lending: 

  • Over-collateralized lending – in which users deposit assets with at least 125% or higher than the borrowed assets 
  • Credit-based lending in which users who have an OScore can deposit assets with 80% or higher than that of the borrowed assets

Wing: Highlights 

#1. Flash Pool: this was the first Wing product, and it supports asset lending. Flash Pool also features an Insurance Pool to compensate lenders in the event of losses. Users can earn rewards through loaning, lending, or depositing crypto in the pool. It currently supports ONT, ETH, USDT, DAI, and wBTC.

#2. Credit-lending: Wing will support the IF Pool, a credit lending tool through which users with an OScore (credit-scoring system by Ontology) can deposit assets whose value is 80% or higher than that of the borrowed assets.

#3. Community proposals: Wing has a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where network participants can submit and approve proposals for the growth of the community. Such proposals may include the adjustment of the interest rate, the introduction of new products, and the termination of existing products. 

At the time of writing, Wing has $243,429,803.26 assets deposited. That’s incredible for a project that was only launched in August this year. 

Wing: Vision 

Wing wants to position itself as a strong contender in the DeFi space. It intends to differentiate itself in the following ways: 

#1. New types of collateral: Wing plans to roll out various types of collateral, and with that, expand the digitalized collateral ecosystem 

#2. Decentralized credit: Wing will integrate the element of self-sovereign, decentralized credit scores so that users’ data can play a part in bringing financial value to them 

#3. Enlarge Wing’s decentralized autonomous organization (Wing DAO): Wing plans to create a DAO for financial services. Platform users are encouraged to put forward proposals towards the direction of such services. The WING community will have the power to determine critical issues like which products are launched, which ones should be canceled, which platforms to integrate with, and so on. 

Why Base Wing on Ontology? 

Wing is based on the Ontology network for two key reasons. 

First, there’s the need to support a wide variety of collateral types. Ontology is scalable enough to support a collateral pool of multiple digital assets from multiple blockchains via cross-chain support. The Ontology network has collaborated with the Poly Network for this end. 

Ontology also supports centralized and self-sovereign and identity and data protocols that enable the digitization and authentication of new and existing digital asset types. New collateral types could be either simple non-fungible tokens or more complicated ones, unlike real-world assets such as real estate. 

Second, there’s a need for the platform chain to be supported by decentralized and smart contracts-based credit evaluation.

Ontology features decentralized identity and decentralized data protocols that enable self-sovereign identity and the management of identity data. These two protocols can also support smart contracts-based credit evaluation. 

Additionally, Ontology has created a credit-scoring system known as OScore, which considers users’ crypto-owning info and their lending and borrowing history. Users have self-sovereign ownership of their data, and they can generate their OScore count safely and privately. 

Community Strategy

The WING team plans to undertake several actions to expand the community. These actions will include the following: 

  • Publishing DeFi related content to become an authoritative source of the subject.
  • Hosting and co-hosting DeFi and blockchain-related events.
  • Conducting Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions on popular blockchain and DeFi communities.
  • Collaborating with existing DeFi platforms.
  • Updating the community on developments every fortnight.
  • Actively engaging the community on various social media channels.

Future growth strategies include the following: 

  • Conducting referrals for mining pools.
  • Overseeing promotional campaigns for liquidity mining pools.
  • Engaging in collaborative marketing efforts with partners across various industries.

The WING Token

WING tokens are the native cryptocurrency of the Wing platform, and they’ll play the following roles in the ecosystem: 

  • Governance – WING token holders can take part in the project’s governance by voting for products, allocation of funds, upgrades, and governance proposals.
  • Interest discounts – Wing tokens are used as payment interest on the platform.
  • As insurance payment – Platform users use Wing tokens to purchase insurance contracts to increase their platform exposure.

Token Distribution 

The WING token distribution was done in the following manner:

  • Binance launchpool: 6.5%
  • Community incentives 68.5%. The community incentives are divided as follows: 50% to the lending pool, 40% for the borrowing pool, and 10% for the margin pool.
  • Ecosystem development: 25%

Key Metrics 

As of September 29, 2020, the WING token traded at $20.50 with a market cap of $5,124,447 that placed it at #653 in the market. It has a 24-hour volume of $5,124,447, and a circulating supply of 250,000 total supply of 2 million. It has an all-time high of $140.81 (Sep 16, 2020) and an all-time low of $14.42 (Sep 30, 2020). 

Where to Buy WING 

You can find WING tokens listed as a market pair with USDT, BTC, BNB, BUSD in Binance, OKEx, MXC, and Binance.KR. 

Since they’re based on the Ontology blockchain, WING tokens can be supported by any wallet that supports Ontology. Great choices include Ledger, OWallet, ONTO Wallet, Exodus, Guarda, O3, Cyano, and Cobo wallets. 

Final Thoughts

Wing is doing remarkably well for a product that is not a day older than 3 months. It joins other trailblazing projects in DeFi, and it will be interesting to watch how it grows and competes with already established ones. It’s also yet another brilliant project by the Ontology team. Is this the last of them, or should we expect more innovations in the future? Keep it here for updates.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Walahala Hardware Wallet Review: Is Walahala A Safe Hardware Wallet or Scam?

On the Walahala website, the hardware wallet is described as a next-generation crypto vault. A hardware crypto vault specially designed to give you more control over your digital assets by allowing you to carry all your cryptocurrencies and tokens in one sleek and smart wallet. This hardware wallet takes the shape, size, and weight of a regular credit/debit card but connects directly to your phone or computer via the USB port. It was developed by Walahala – a blockchain technology company – and introduced to the crypto world in late 2019.

It features highly advanced operational and security features that its developers believe will be instrumental in making it one of the easiest to use and safest hardware wallets.

But how safe is the Walahala hardware wallet? Is it easy to use and as beginner-friendly as its developers want us to believe? How does it work, and how many coins and tokens and it support? We answer all these questions and tell you everything else you need to know in this Walahala hardware wallet review.

Walahala wallet key features

Compatible with software app: Unlike most other hardware wallets with on-device screens, Walahala hardware wallet uses a remote screen of the Walahala desktop or mobile app. Both apps are available for all the popular desktop and mobile apps and can be downloaded from the official walahala website.

Inbuilt exchange: Walahala wallet app features a live and ultra-fast decentralized crypto exchange. According to the Walahala website, this exchange can process over 1.5 million transactions per second. The exchange doubles up as a peer-to-peer network that facilitates faster and inexpensive crypto exchanges.

Portfolio tracker: The Walahala wallet app user dashboard has an “Overview” tab that lets you view and monitor your digital asset balances in real-time.

Exchange explorer: Walahala wallet claims to be the first hardware wallet to include the blockchain exchange explorer. This lets you monitor the crypto activity and trends for the different exchanges. Further, it uses Artificial Intelligent (AI)-powered order-matching algorithms to ensure that your buy or sell order is fulfilled at the most attractive market price.

Unlimited storage: There is no limit to the number of wallet addresses or private keys you can hold on your Walahala hardware wallet.

Plasma Core Technology: Walahala wallet has also embraced a blockchain technology similar to Bitcoin’s Lightning network – the Plasma Core Technology – to facilitate instantaneous transaction confirmation. According to the company’s website, the Plasma Core Engine is hosted in the “Quantum Space” and hence its ultrafast performance.

Security features

Password encryption: Your Walahala hardware wallet is secured with a password that doubles up as the wallet encryption tool. However, unlike other hardware wallets that only support alphanumeric passwords, Walahala allows its users to reinforce the password using the special characters when creating a passphrase.

2FA + questionnaire: Outbound transfers from the Walahala hardware wallet have to be subjected to two-factor authentication. You have the option of using the Google Authenticator app, a personalized questionnaire, or verifying your mobile number to receive OTP messages.

Recovery seed: Unlike most hardware and software wallets that provide you with the standard 12/24 recovery seed phrases, Walahala provides you with a 33-word recovery seed for added security.

No wire/wireless connection: The Walahala hardware wallet is immune to such threats as man-in-the-middle hacks as it connects directly to your phone or computer via the USB port and not via wired or wireless connections like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Non-custodial: Walahala is a non-custodial wallet that stores your private keys and all other personal data 100% offline in the credit card like a hardware device. Your keys never leave the wallet.

Offline wallet address generation: The wallet is hierarchically deterministic. Moreover, all the sensitive wallet information like wallet addresses and mnemonic phrases are generated offline by the hardware wallet device and not its software/crypto app companion.

Key erasure protocol: The key erasure protocol for the Walahala Wallet is triggered after ten consecutive but unsuccessful login attempts. It erases all the data held in the hardware wallet and blocks the card.

How to set and activate the Walahala wallet

Step 1: After buying your Walahala hardware wallet, download the Walahala mobile or desktop app companion

Step 2: Chose a username and create a strong password for the wallet app.

Step 3: Connect the hardware device to your computer or phone

Step 4: Create a name for your hardware device

Step 5: Copy the 33-word recovery seed displayed on the wallet app

Step 6: Create a multi-character password for the hardware wallet

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

How to add/receive crypto into your Walahala wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Walahala wallet account and tap the “Receive” button on the dashboard.

Step 2: Copy the Walahala Wallet address or QR code and forward it to the party sending you altcoins.

Step 3:  Wait for the coins to reflect in your wallet.

How to send crypto from your Walahala wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Walahala wallet account and click on the “Send” button.

Step 2: If you have multiple wallet addresses, select the coin you want to transfer

Step 3: On the transfer window, enter the recipient’s wallet address and the number of coins you wish to send

Step 4: Connect the Walahala hardware device to the computer and log in.

Step 5: Confirm that the transaction details are correct and hit send.

Step 6: You will receive an OTP code on your preferred two-factor verification device.

Step 7: Verify the code and confirm the transaction.

Walahala wallet ease of use

Walahala hardware wallet is an easy to use and beginner-friendly all-in-one crypto platform. The hardware device is sleek and portable, while its software companions have highly intuitive user interfaces. These are clean, in that they only feature the most important aspects of the wallet and easily navigable.

The onboarding process is also quick and relatively straightforward. And so are the processes of sending and receiving crypto in and out of the wallet.

New users can also rely on the multiple videos and explanatory guides on the Walahala website to learn how to use and interact with the hardware wallet. Plus, they can also download the Demo trader account to learn their way around the Walahala crypto exchange.

Walahala wallet supported currencies.

Walahala is a multi-currency hardware wallet that supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, Walahala Coin, and ERC-20 tokens. The developers have hinted at the possibility of incorporating more digital assets in upcoming wallet updates.

Walahala wallet cost and fees

Walahala hardware wallet retails at $149 (inclusive of free express shipping fees).

Additional costs include the fees charged by the Walahala exchange as well as the blockchain network fees charged by miners and administrators to verify a crypto transaction.

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

Pros:

  • Walahala embraces a number of highly advanced security features.
  • The wallet integrates a variety of highly effective operational features like the inbuilt exchange.
  • Walahala is highly intuitive and beginner-friendly
  • The Plasma Core Technology ensures Walahala has the fastest transaction processing speeds.

Cons:

  • The $149 price tag is quite restrictive.
  • Walahala is relatively new with no solid reputation.
  • The wallet demands KYC verification for 2FA and for using their exchange.

Comparing Walahala wallet with other Multicurrency hardware wallets

Walahala hardware wallet vs. Ledger Nano S

Walahala and Ledger Nano are both highly innovative hardware multi-currency wallets. They have also put in place highly effective security checks that include two-factor authentication and cold storage.

But while Walahala is relatively new and only supports a handful of cryptocurrencies and tokens, Ledger Nano S has a solid reputation of reliability and supports 1000+ cryptos and tokens. Walahala, however, outperforms Ledger Nano S when it comes to the effectiveness of the integrated operational features with their inbuilt exchange and support for the ultra-fast confirmation of crypto transactions.

Verdict: Is Walahala Wallet safe?

Yes, Walahala has embraced all the important security and privacy features. It helps safeguard the privacy of your crypto coins while the offline storage, password encryption, and direct connection to the computer protect your coins from falling into the wrong hands. Moreover, should you lose the wallet or it is compromised, you can always fall back to the 33-word recovery seed.

Our only reservation with this hardware wallet is the uncompetitive price for the hardware wallet, the fact that it is relatively new and with no reputation of reliability, and the negative criticism it has been receiving (and is yet to respond to) on different bitcoin and blockchain forums.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s V-ID (VIDT) All About?

Our lives are very much dependent on the internet these days. Whether it’s everyday work, or file storage, social media, it’s nearly impossible to imagine a non-digital life. 

The problem is, our digital lives are not so safe. Indeed, the occasional data breach has become almost an accepted part of it. But it doesn’t have to continue being this way, especially with blockchain’s introduction, a new tech that provides for immutable and transparent records. 

V-ID is a new project looking to change the way we interact with digital storage services. It aims to reduce fraud and increase transparency with the use of blockchain. 

Let’s explore more deeply what V-ID is about, as well as its native token – VIDT. 

Breaking Down V-ID 

V-ID is a blockchain-enabled network for data validation. The V-ID team wants to “safely certify and secure all digital assets, so fraud and errors no longer hold back society’s innovations in digitalization.” The platform works this way: anyone can register a file on the network, which will then be marked with a hash that corresponds to the file, upon which the hash will be stored on the blockchain. 

Now, any change made on the file will correspondingly reflect on the hash. This means any attempt at tampering with the file will be easily and quickly detected. 

Use Cases

The use cases for V-ID are many and varied, but the more readily identifiable ones include the following: 

  • Certificates of any nature, including diploma, inspection certificates, etc
  • Reports – whether it’s financial, medical, and so on
  • Due diligence trails and audit trails 
  • Tracking data
  • Supply chain and logistics documentation
  • Video footage 
  • Pictures

Blockchains supporting V-ID

File info is kept on the immutable and transparent blockchain. V-ID works with several blockchains for users to save this info. Let’s take a look at them: 

Ethereum – Ethereum has tens of thousands of nodes, which ensures security for the network

LTO Network – LTO is built for business – meaning it’s fast and is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant

Hyperledger – this blockchain has the advantage of privacy, and hence more control is exercised over the network.

DigiByte – DigiByte is a blockchain-focused on complete decentralization. It has a high node count, which means strong community support and security.

Bitcoin – BTC is the most popular blockchain, with hundreds of thousands of nodes, signifying high-level security.

Community Strategy of V-ID

The V-ID team wants to undertake several strategies in a view to expanding the community. Current strategies include: 

  • Liaising with Business-to-Customer service providers to integrate with V-ID
  • Updating the community on progress on various media channels

Future strategies will be: 

  • Co-hosting crypto and blockchain-related conferences with other partners in the space
  • Collaborating with thought leaders in the space to expand the integration of the platform

V-ID Token 

VIDT Datalink (VIDT) is the native cryptocurrency of V-ID. It pretty much powers the validation process. A VIDT transaction involves recording all the necessary file info of a data package – such as type of file, location, timestamp, and identity.

Distribution of V-ID tokens was done in the following manner: 

  • Public sale: 19.07%
  • Private sale: 10.08%
  • Team tokens: 3%
  • Advisor tokens: 2%
  • Validation pool tokens: 12%
  • Ecosystem development fund tokens: 10%
  • Bounty program tokens: 7.15%

Tokenomics of VIDT 

As of October 7, 2020, VIDT traded at $0.494948, with a $24.5 million market cap, which placed it at #300. The token’s 24-hour volume is $378,555, its circulating supply is 49,428,303, while it’s total and maximum supply is 57,386,799 and 58,501,137, respectively. VIDT’s all-time high is $1.22 (August 15, 2020), while its all-time low is $0.042714 (March 16, 2020). 

Buying and Storing VIDT 

Currently, VIDT is listed as a market pair with WETH, BTC, USDT, BNB, and ETH on several exchanges, including Bilaxy, KuCoin, HotBit, Uniswap, Hoo, IDEX, Binance DEX, Fatbtc, and Kyber Network. 

Being Ethereum-based, you have a wide range of options when it comes to which wallet to store VIDT. Trust Wallet, Atomic, MyEtherWallet, MetaMask, Guarda, Exodus, Mist, Ledger, and Trezor are some of the great options. 

Closing Thoughts

Blockchain can be used for so much good in society – not just finance. And if it can help reduce fraud in the digital storage world, why not? V-ID may prove to be a very timely project. 

Categories
Crypto Videos

Beware of God Mode Admin Keys! Avoid Crypto’s That Have Room For Corruption!

Beware of the “God Mode” Admin Keys – What are DeFi Projects Even Thinking?


Review platform DeFi Watch shows that twelve out of fifteen of the most popular decentralized finance projects still have access to a ‘God Mode’ admin key. These full-access control keys allow developers to modify or replace anything in the smart contracts underpinning their projects, and even make adjustments to user balances.
While admin keys are a common thing early in the project’s life, they are defeating the concept of decentralization and rendering the whole project unsafe. While the “God Mode” keys have been justified as the way to protect users’ funds, and are mostly used with security features such as timelocks and multi-sigs, many analysts argue the validity of the claims.

Author and educator Andreas Antonopolous has defined a truly decentralized project as one that has no custodial control over the funds, adding that “This is a very important criterion. I think that’s the foundational criterion of decentralization.”
By that standard, most DeFi protocols fall well short. Out of the fifteen projects reviewed on DeFi Watch, only Uniswap, Makerdao, and InstaDapp have no admin keys associated with their product, while the remaining projects — which include Compound, Aave, DDEX, Nexus Mutual, Yearn Finance, and Synthetix — all have admin keys that allow varying degrees of control.
Aave’s admin key, which consists of just five members, only requires three of the five members to vote “yes” in order to make sweeping protocol changes. Aave, as the third among all DeFi projects by total value locked, should not allow such a form of centralization.
However, several projects, such as Compound, have implemented security features that protect the integrity of the admin keys, with many more projects planning to migrate to fully decentralized governance systems in the future.


While many users did state that Aave and other projects have been somewhat upfront about their admin keys, DeFi Watch founder Chris Blec said that DeFi protocols need to be completely explicit if they retain the option to possess the God Mode feature. He also added that even when projects acknowledge admin keys’ existence, only a few clearly outline the ramifications. As an example, while Aave claimed that they have the “God Mode” keys, nowhere does it say that ‘Aave can change your account balance.’
Synthetix smart contracts are, similar to Aave, fully upgradeable via the admin key, with the core team possessing the “vast power to do just about anything, including adjusting user balances and draining funds” – as DeFi watch stated. Despite Synthetix’s core team acknowledging the project’s centralization, the protocol has attracted immense funds and numerous investors.

Unlike Aave, Uniswap does not have any admin keys. Still, a blockchain analytics firm Glassnode has suggested that the DeFi project has essentially created their own unique backdoor through the distribution of their UNI governance token, which is equally as daunting.

The team potentially has immediate access to close to 40% of the entire supply, which is, at the moment, over double the amount held by the rest of Uniswap’s community. This would put them firmly in control of the whole decentralized protocol.
Once again, while having “God Mode” keys is somewhat a standard for new and emerging projects, it is expected for them to get rid of it or suffer the consequences of being deemed as a centralized project.