Tag: Gnosis

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Cryptocurrencies

Gnosis Safe Smart Wallet Review: Is Gnosis The Most Secure Smart Contract Wallet?

Gnosis safe is a cryptocurrency wallet specially designed for the Ethereum network to host eth-based cryptos and tokens. The wallet was developed by GNOSIS – an internet technology company in Gibraltar – and is among the first smart contract-based mobile apps. It is available as both a desktop/mobile app as well as a browser extension. This, according to its developers, doesn’t just ensure that the wallet is safer but also gives it the capability to handle a wider range of functions not offered by the traditional blockchain wallets.

Gnosis safe is a cryptocurrency wallet specially designed for the Ethereum network to host eth-based cryptos and tokens. The wallet was developed by GNOSIS – an internet technology company in Gibraltar – and is among the first smart contract-based mobile apps. It is available as both a desktop/mobile app as well as a browser extension. This, according to its developers, doesn’t just ensure that the wallet is safer but also gives it the capability to handle a wider range of functions not offered by the traditional blockchain wallets.

Gnosis safe is a cryptocurrency wallet specially designed for the Ethereum network to host eth-based cryptos and tokens. The wallet was developed by GNOSIS – an internet technology company in Gibraltar – and is among the first smart contract-based mobile apps. It is available as both a desktop/mobile app as well as a browser extension. This, according to its developers, doesn’t just ensure that the wallet is safer but also gives it the capability to handle a wider range of functions not offered by the traditional blockchain wallets.

The Gnosis safe website refers to the wallet app as “The most trusted platform to manage digital assets on Ethereum for companies/investors/developers/hodlers and DAOs.” It also refers to it as a “Safe Multisig mobile” wallet that helps users monitor their crypto portfolio on the go. It is further described as a transparency and security-focused eth-wallet that seeks to provide wallet users with a balance between safety and ease of use. In this Gnosis Safe smart wallet review, we look at everything you need to know about the eth-based crypto vault while helping you determine if it indeed is the most secure smart contract wallet.

Gnosis safe key features:

Cross-platform: Gnosis Safe is a cross-platform wallet. It is available as a mobile app (for both Android and iOS), desktop app (for both Windows, macOS, and Linux), and an in-browser extension. 

Multi-user: Gnosis Safe smart wallet is also a multi-user wallet that provides multiple safes within the wallet. They have separate login credentials and work best for family members, acquaintances, or companies that want to maintain all their crypto assets in one vault.

DeFi focused: Gnosis also integrates some of the most popular decentralized finance apps and protocols maintained on the Ethereum Network.

Address book: Gnosis wallet also features an address book that allows you to either integrate the wallet with your phone’s contact list or save the contact information such as the wallet addresses of individuals you engage regularly.

Integrate Dapps: The fact that Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is built on the Ethereum ecosystem makes it possible to explore the blockchain and interact with different Dapps maintained here.

Gnosis safe security features:

Password: Like most other wallets, Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is password-secured, and you get to set this unique key when creating a user account.

Two-factor authentication: You can always use the Gnosis Safe Authenticator or the Status Keycard to activate the wallet’s 2-factor authentication feature for all outbound transfers.

Recovery seed: During the wallet activation and account creation process, you will be presented with a backup/recovery seed for the wallet. Write it down and keep it safe offline.

Open source: Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is fully open-sourced and users, as well as crypto security experts, are free to view and audit source code for vulnerabilities. Gnosis Labs has also continuously run a bug bounty program for the wallet, and no critical bug or vulnerability has ever been discovered.

Multi-signature: Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is a multi-signature crypto vault. You can activate this feature for the entire wallet if you only run one safe or any number of safes hosted by the wallet.

How to activate/setup the Gnosis Safe Smart Wallet?

Step 1: Start by downloading the Gnosis Safe Smart wallet from either the website or the app store

Step 2: Install and launch the app. Click on the “Create a new wallet” icon

Step 3: Read through and agree to the Gnosis privacy policy and terms of use

Step 4: Create a unique password for the Gnosis Safe wallet

Step 5: Proceed to create the first safe for the wallet. This requires you to deposit Eth or any of the supported tokens, and you will be charged a small fee (about 0.005 ETH) as the cost of deploying the wallet

Step 6: Confirm that you are ready to create a wallet on the pop-up window

Step 7: You will be required to download the web extension that serves as your wallet’s two-factor authenticator. It is also referred to as a Safe Authenticator.

Step 8: Install the browser extension app and upon launching, create a user password. This has to be different from the mobile app password.

Step 9: In the next window, click on the ‘Show QR Code’ icon and scan the QR code with your phone to connect the Safe Authenticator with Gnosis Safe Smart wallet

Step 10: Write down the recovery phrase provided and store it in a safe offline environment. Verify that you have copied it correctly.

Step 11: Pay the wallet deployment fees

Step 12: You will receive a notification via the in-browser app, informing you that the safe wallet has been successfully created and deployed.

Step 13: Your Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is now active and ready to use

How to add/ receive Crypto into Gnosis safe smart wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Gnosis safe mobile app wallet and click on the ‘Receive” icon

Step 2:  If you have multiple safes created, select the safe into which you want to receive the crypto

Step 3:  Copy the wallet address or the QR code for the safe and forward it to parties ending you crypto

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

How to send crypto from Gnosis safe wallet:

Step 1: Log in to your Gnosis safe Mobile wallet app and click on the “Send” icon

Step 2: Select the safe from which you want to send crypto

Step 3: Select the digital asset you want to send

Step 4: Enter the recipient’s address and the number of coins you wish to send in the transfer window

Step 5: Check that the details of the transaction are correct and click the send button

Step 6: Log in to the Safe Authenticator (in-app browser) to review and authorize the transaction. Click the ‘Submit’ button if satisfied with the accuracy of the transaction details

Step 7: Return to the Gnosis safe smart mobile wallet to initiate the transfer.

Gnosis Safe smart wallet ease of use:

Though one may consider the setup and activation process for the Gnosis Safe Smart wallet app to be too lengthy, it is still quite straightforward. The setup guide is easy to follow, and you do not even need expert help to set up the mobile wallet or link it with the Safe authenticator. The Gnosis Safe wallet website features a wide range of guides that explain how to activate and interact with the Ethereum wallet.

Gnosis Safe smart wallet supported currencies:

Gnosis Safe is an Eth-focused wallet. It will, therefore, only feature Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, ERC-20 tokens, and such collectibles as the ERC-721 tokens.

Gnosis Safe smart wallet cost and fees:

Gnosis Safe wallet is free to download and install. However, you will be required to pay a small wallet deployment fee of ETH 0.005 when creating a wallet. Other fees include the transaction fees charged by the Ethereum network when you send cryptos/tokens to other wallets or exchanges.

What are the pros and cons of using Gnosis Safe smart wallet?

Pros:

  • It embraces highly advanced security features
  • It makes it possible for you to invest and earn digital assets
  • Gnosis wallet has a highly responsive customer support team
  • The wallet provides you with a demo version that you can use to test the vault

Cons:

  • It will only support Eth based cryptos and tokens
  • The wallet is exposed to inherent threats facing hot wallets
  • It imposes a ‘wallet deployment’ fee

Verdict: Is Gnosis Safe Wallet secure?

Well, Gnosis Safe Smart wallet embraces several highly effective security measures that its developers believe will play a key role in boosting the wallet’s safety and privacy. The wallet is password secured, outbound transfers from the Gnosis Safe smart wallet must be subjected to two-factor authentication, it is a multi-signature vault, and has also been formally verified by the Ethereum network. Our only concern with the Gnosis Safe Smart wallet is that both the Gnosis safe mobile app and Gnosis Safe Authenticator are online-based and, therefore, exposed to the inherent threats facing hot wallets. 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What’s Gnosis: The Complete Guide

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

Prediction markets have existed since the early 90s. Now, they’re poised to become the next disruptor in the information revolution. However, the current prediction markets exist in centralized platforms where the owners regulate information and have the power to censor participants’ contributions. Moreover, centralized prediction markets have a single point of attack. 

With the invention of blockchain, the world can shift to universal, decentralized, peer-to-peer, and cryptographically secured prediction market platforms. This can allow information aggregation to be more reliable and efficient, even scale to levels previously thought impossible. 

Gnosis is a blockchain-based prediction market platform that wants to make this a reality. It provides a decentralized, permissionless, and trustless marketplace where users can trade their opinions on various outcomes, providing a thriving information aggregation pool.

What’s Gnosis? 

Gnosis is an Ethereum-based prediction market platform. A prediction market is a type of marketplace where people speculate and trade the outcomes of events. With Gnosis, the team wants to establish a “global, open prediction market platform” and to “set a standard for predictive assets, creating a norm for information exchange.” Ultimately, Gnosis hopes to create a platform “that enables automated information trading, not only between humans but also between AIs, sensors, bots, and companies.”

How Does Gnosis Work?

To understand how Gnosis works, let’s look into how exactly prediction markets work. Prediction markets utilize predictions of participants to collect opinions about future events. Market participants trade tokens that represent the potential outcome of a particular event. Since some outcomes are more likely manifest than others, the traded tokens do not have equal value. Tokens that represent more likely outcomes have more value than tokens whose outcomes are far more unlikely to occur. When the event finally occurs, the tokens representing that outcome are accorded full value while the rest of the tokens receive no value. 

The Value of Prediction Markets

Prediction markets rely on the phenomenon of the “wisdom of the crowd” – the idea that a collective group of people is smarter than that of an individual expert. Prediction markets can be relied upon to forecast an endless array of outcomes – from football matches to an election, to climate change, to the financial events, to epidemics, and so on. 

The financial sector, in particular, heavily relies on prediction markets to predict the future prices of varying assets. Any participant can create their own event questions. 

For instance, a user can create the following event:” will Bitcoin hit $20, 000 one month after the halving?” Responses to this question will come down to two simple choices: “yes” and “no.” When the market for this event opens, both prediction variables may be even, but the position for each might start to shift dramatically as we near the actual event. 

If Bitcoin hits $20,000 one month after the halving, “yes” tokens will receive full value and then “no” tokens, and the reverse is true. A market participant has two ways to make money in a prediction market. One is to buy and hold the tokens in the anticipation that your prediction is right. The other is to trade the token in response to shifts in sentiments concerning the outcome.

The Gnosis Platform

The Gnosis network has three core platforms: 

  • Apollo – a prediction market where users can create events and their own tokens
  • DutchX – A decentralized crypto exchange where users can trade and auction their tokens
  • Gnosis Safe – a crypto wallet that allows users to interact with various decentralized apps on the Ethereum platform

Gnosis comprises three core layers in its architecture that unites these platforms: 

  • Core Layer – this is the foundation of the Gnosis network. It houses smart contracts, outcome tokens, settlements, and market mechanisms. 
  • Service Layer – this layer provides services like chatbots, payment processing, and stablecoins.this layer also manages the platform’s trading fee model. 
  • Applications Layer – this layer houses the prediction markets applications on Gnosis. While Gnosis builds some of the applications on its platform, the majority of the applications are built by third parties who charge users to use their services.

The Gnosis Team

Gnosis is the brainchild of Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George. Köppelmann is the CEO while George occupies the position of CTO. The team has also onboarded Dr Friederike Ernst as the COO. 

GNO and OWL Tokens 

The Gnosis platform has two types of tokens: Gnosis (GNO) and OWL. GNO is ERC20 compliant tokens that were sold during the ICO. GNO has a total supply of 10 million, and no additional tokens will be created. 

You can receive OWL tokens by staking GNO tokens. What you need to do is lock up your GNO in a smart contract. How many OWLS you receive will depend on how long you have staked GNO, plus the total supply of OWL tokens in the market. OWL tokens can be used for payments on the Gnosis ecosystem. 1 OWL = 1 USD.

Gnosis burns tokens received as fees, removing them from circulation. Users can also pay fees with any other ERC20 token. When a user pays for fees with such an option, the platform buys GNO with the other currency and burns the GNO. This burning mechanism is meant to discourage inflation of GNO, increasing its value. For its part, GNO continually readjusts the distribution of OWL to make sure it always equals $1.

Tokenomics of GNO

As of 30 July 2020, GNO is trading at $24.06, while ranking at #150 in the market. The coin has a market cap of $26, 573, 839, a 24-hour volume of $105, 158, a circulating supply of 1, 104, 590, and a total supply of 10 million. 

Buying and Storing GNO

You can purchase GNO from a variety of exchanges, including Kraken, Bitfinex, Livecoin, Kyber Network, HitBTC, Uniswap, Bancor Network, Fatbtc, VALR, and GOPAX. The token is available as a trading pair with BTC, ETH, BNT, USD, EUR, and KRW.

Being an ERC20 token, you can keep GNO in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Options include MyEtherWallet, ethaddress, Guarda, Trust Wallet, Parity, and hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano and Trezor. There’s also the option of Gnosis’s multi-signature, non-custodial, and wallet-agnostic (support for hardware, browser, or mobile) Gnosis Safe wallet.  

Final Words

Gnosis is seeking to transform how we know prediction markets. The team believes that for a prediction market to be truly disruptive, it should be free from the control of centralized entities and operate on a peer-to-peer basis. Platform users can quickly exchange tokens in the decentralized exchange DutchX, and they can store any Ethereum token on the Gnosis Safe proprietary wallet. The Gnosis network has several parts playing to the advantage of each other, and users will find it a fun, robust, and money-earning platform.