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Crypto Videos

Token Swap Explained Part 4 – How To Know If A Token Is Profitable

 

Token swap explained – part 4

This is the final part of the token swap series. For more explanation, check the previous parts.

Tier 3 Exchanges – explanation

We have analyzed the trading volumes of the 13 coins that were listed on Tier 3 exchanges. The graphs below show the data that focuses solely on the daily trading volume generated by the Tier 3 exchanges. The volume is clearly minuscule and has no impact on price discovery. If we take a look at the data, only EOS has respectable liquidity on these exchanges. Other projects have low volumes on these exchanges, which makes the listing on the exchange virtually worthless.


Exchanges VS. Token Swaps

This pie chart below highlights the category of exchanges each coin was listed on. The majority of the coins (84% to be precise) are listed on Tier 3 exchanges.

A few things can be concluded from the analysis:
Tier 1 exchanges are extremely picky when listing tokens. If a project is not following the ERC20 standard, they need to have a big brand name or to be ready to pay a hefty “fee” for listing their currency on the Tier 1 exchange.
84% of native tokens managed to list their tokens only on Tier 3 exchanges. Another 11% managed to list their tokens on Tier 2 exchanges.


Tier 1 VS. Tier 2 Exchanges

If we take a look at the average daily trading volume on the three exchange ranks, we can see that the:

• Average Daily Trading Volume of Tier 1 exchanges (6) = $129,342,307
• Average Daily Trading Volume of Tier 2 exchanges (12) = $22,659,579
• Average Daily Trading Volume of Tier 3 exchanges (92) = $2,495,216

Even though the average trading daily volume of Tier 3 exchanges is well over $2 million, this number is significantly lower as many of these exchanges are engaged in fake trading. We can also see that there is a massive difference in volume when we compare Tier 1 and Tier 2.
It is significantly cheaper and faster to list the token on Tier 2 exchanges, which can provide the necessary liquidity to the token. On top of that, having a decent daily trading volume in Tier 2 pushes Tier 1 exchanges to list the token much faster and cheaper.

Conclusion

Many projects launched their projects using the ERC20 standard as it provided the necessary speed as well as the ability to raise funds quickly. It also provided a more accessible pathway to list the token on exchanges as almost all exchanges support ERC20 tokens. The challenge comes when these projects want to launch their main-net and conduct a token swap, which transforms their ERC20 token into their native token.
This part of the article focused on one of the reasons why the native token price fades away, which is the inability to list their tokens on Tier 1 exchanges. Most of the native tokens could not get listed on Tier 2 exchanges. The data shows an immediate and long-term negative impact token liquidity and pricing after the token swap.

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Crypto Videos

Token Swap Explained Part 3 – How To Know If A Token Is Profitable

Token swap explained – part 3

Part 3 of this series is focused on the token price impact after their token swap.

A deep dive into the price analytics, both pre and post swap, shows that unless the token has incredibly strong brand recognition as well as a significant market cap, it will not attract investors’ and exchanges’ attention.

Out of the 15 projects that were reviewed, only one token improved in token price. The remaining 14 tokens lost their value from when they conducted their token swap.
There are several reasons that affected their price negatively. One of the major reasons was that almost none of them managed to list their native token on a Tier 1 exchange. Native tokens seem to be significantly more difficult to list on Tier 1 exchanges than what most projects thought.
We researched 13 tokens from the previous article, which include:
EOS;
Tron;
Icon;
Aion;
Binance Coin;
Augur
VeChain;
PundiX;
IOST;
Tomochain;
Mithril;
Zilliqa;

CyberMiles Token.
Only two of the tokens (WeOwn (CHX) and Matrix AI) have yet to list their native token on a new exchange since their token swap.
We tracked the exchanges that listed the tokens, which can be seen below.

In total, 110 exchanges agreed to list these 13 native tokens after their token swap. We managed to categorize these exchanges into three tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. This classification is made based on the average daily trading volume of each exchange.

Categorization:
Tier 1 Exchanges: Exchanges that exceed the daily trading volume of $70 Million;
This category includes only nine exchanges: Binance, Coinbase Pro, Huobi Global, UpBit, Kraken, Bitfinex, Bitsamp, Kucoin, and HitBTC.
Tier 2 Exchanges: Exchanges that range between $15–70 Million;
This category includes 31 exchanges such as Okex, Bithumb, Bitforex, Coinone, Bittrex, etc.
Tier 3 Exchanges: Exchanges which have their daily trading volume below 15 Million;
These exchanges include FCoin, BiBox, CoinBene, etc. Some of these exchanges reported their daily volume to be non-existent.

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Crypto Videos

Token Swap Explained Part 2 – How To Know If A Token Is Profitable

Token swap explained – part 2

Selling before or after the token swap
From the 20 projects that were included in the research, we compared the results:
Group 1: This group is comprised of the native tokens that were listed on exchanges as soon as the token swap happened.
Group 2: This group included the projects where there were, or still are, delayed by the exchanges as far as listing their native token goes.

For a token swap to be fruitful, exchanges that already list the ERC20 token needs to support the token swap. They also need to confirm the date of listing the native token. Group 1 and Group 2 differ in terms of how exchanges value them. It’s critical that the project management team has a good relationship with the exchanges as well as with their community.

If an exchange does enable trading of a native token after the token swap, the token holders are effectively holding a non-tradable token. This situation is further exacerbated when a larger percentage of tokens did not participate in the token swap and continues to trade on the exchange.

Side-by-Side Comparison

We have compared 15 projects as well as their token price over four time-frames: 24 hours, three days, seven days, and 30 days after the token swap date. The projects that were included in the comparison were as follows

The two most successful token swaps so far were EOS and VeChain. EOS, which is currently the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, increased its price by 26.4% in the first 24 hours, 17.5% after three days, and 12.7% after seven days of its token swap.

VeChain was almost as successful, recording a 23% gain in the first 24 hours, 22.6% gain in the first three days, and 3.4% in the first seven days following its token swap.
Both of the projects had their native token immediately listed on an exchange. On the other hand, the success level of these two projects was also determined by the marketing hype surrounding them. EOS’s ICO was the biggest in the history of the cryptocurrency space. As an ERC20 token, EOS got listed on 34 cryptocurrency exchanges. The token swap was immediate, and the tokens were frozen as soon as the main-net launched.

Vechain’s intention of boosting transparency and product management in the supply chain sector generated a lot of interest from shipping companies as well as other businesses in the industry. The token swap was allowed for six weeks. Vechain got listed on 26 exchanges prior to its token swap. On top of that, 19 of them participated in the token swap process.
Some of the tokens performed negatively, as well. These projects are Cybermiles and Mithril. They are less popular in the crypto space, which undoubtedly contributed to their lack of success. EOS, as an example, plunged by 28% 30 days after its token swap. This result implies that the positive impact of the token swap wore off, and the general market conditions affected the price performance.

EOS, Tron, Icon, Vechain, AION, CHX, as well as Pundi X, went through a token swap in 2018. During 2018, the most prominent names are Binance, Zilliqa, and IOST.

Conclusion

The stated purpose of this research was to identify if investors should sell before or after the token swap. The research showed that the tokens returned to their regular price after some time, which means that any potential price benefit should be looked at from a shorter time-frame.

Token price 3 Days after the token swap 

Looking at EOS and VeChain, one can note that they both had considerable brand recognition at the time of the token swap. After removing both EOS and VeChain from the 3-day results above, the calculations show that the potential gain of a few percents is undoubtedly not worth the risk of engaging in a token swap.

 

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Forex Videos

Token Swap Explained Part 1 – How To Know If A Token Is Profitable

Token swap explained – part 1

Many projects launched on the Ethereum network using its ERC20 protocol in 2017 and 2018. Some of the projects that did subsequently scheduled token swaps into their native tokens as their blockchain got ready for the market. These tokens started using ERC20 for several reasons:
Ease of use as well as the speed to launch;
Access to investors’ funds during the ICO bull market; Exchange Listings: All of the exchanges could instantly list the token without any trouble;
ERC20 tokenization is far less risky for everyone involved as the tokens are following the same standard.


ERC Tokens

Besides the famous ERC20 tokens, the Ethereum network also offers other types of tokens, such as:
ERC223: This network protocol allows its users to send tokens to either their wallet or contract using the same transfer option. This eliminates the potential for confusion as well as lost tokens. Examples of projects that use ERC223 include ChainLink (LINK) and ShineCoin (SHC);
ERC721: This standard is usually used for non-fungible tokens such as Decentraland (MANA) and 0X Protocol (ZRC);
ERC621: This token standard extends the ERC20 function and allows projects to modify the total supply of the created tokens;
ERC 1155: This standard enables developers to issue multiple types of tokens. They can be fungible, non-fungible as well as semi-fungible.
Other token standards include ERC735, ERC865, ERC725, ERC1400, etc. (They all serve a different purpose but extend the use of ERC20 and ERC721 tokens)


What is a token swap?

A token swap represents a process where a cryptocurrency transfers to another blockchain at a set rate. These token swaps usually occur when a cryptocurrency project launches its own blockchain and wishes to transfer its tokens from another blockchain (like Ethereum) to its new one. Some blockchains don’t have their own platform but instead decide to move their tokens to another platform. One example of such a coin is Mithril (MiTH), which moved from Ethereum to Binance Chain. After the token swap, the ETH, which was used to pair the tokens, is usually removed from exchanges.


Token Price Influences

This guide tried to show when is the best time to buy or sell these tokens during their timeline.
It’s also important to note that external forces do have a significant impact on the outcomes of a token swap. These factors include bull and bear market stages, the quality of the project’s marketing and communication, its duration, budget as well as success at attracting enthusiasts. These factors can also include the number as well as the relative quality of the exchanges that agreed to list the ERC20 token. If and how these exchanges support the token swap, and the enabled native token trading plays a significant role in the token’s life. On top of that, the token’s liquidity, market cap, and more factors influence the outcome of the token swap.
The primary driver that dictates the token price success seems to be:
Will the exchange support the token swap;
Will the exchange list the new native token;
The time of listing the native token.
Other factors certainly influence projects positively or negatively. However, that is left to the trader to decide.