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Guides & Tutorials

Top 3 Books you should read to become a millionaire

We all want to be millionaires one day, right? If you’re like most people, reading about becoming a millionaire on the internet is one of the first steps you take. But which books should you read to get there? In this article, we’ll outline three of the best books for becoming a millionaire. So whether you’re looking to become financially secure or just learn a bit more about how to make money, read on!

Top 3 Books you should read to become a millionaire

1. The Millionaire Fastlane

If you want to become a millionaire, you should read The Millionaire Fastlane. This book will teach you how to create a plan and follow it step by step. It also includes advice on how to market yourself and make money.

The Millionaire Fastlane is the best book on becoming a millionaire. It will teach you how to create a plan and follow it step by step. It also includes advice on how to market yourself and make money. If you are serious about becoming a millionaire, this is the book for you.

2. The 4-Hour Work Week

The 4-Hour Workweek explains how to reduce your work time and location, allowing you to be free with where you live and take mini-breaks when desired. You can also automate your revenue for continuous income.

A review of The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss

New additions to the second edition are a selection of the best articles published on Tim’s blog, an update of the tools and resources data, and 80 pages. If you have read the first edition, is it worth buying? Definitely.

3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad

One of the best books you can read to become a millionaire is “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Written by Robert Kiyosaki, this book provides a detailed look at the different ways that wealth can be created. Kiyosaki teaches readers how to create their own businesses and invest in them successfully.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is not only an excellent book for becoming a millionaire; it’s also an entertaining read. The author’s easy-to-read style makes it easy for even beginner investors to understand. In addition, the book provides helpful tips on how to save money, invest money, and deal with financial issues.

If you’re interested in becoming a millionaire, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is the book you need to read. It’ll guide you through the process step-by-step and provide you with all the information you need to succeed.

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People

Adolfo Verde the rising star in the digital entrepreneurial world at the age of 25

Adolfo Verde has been a rising star in the digital entrepreneurial world, having achieved a prestigious pedestal at the age of 25 and built an empire across multiple online platforms.

Adolfo, a Spanish citizen, was born in London and currently resides in Lisbon. He has over ten years of experience in digital evolution, investments, trading, and SEO. At just 15 years old, Adolfo had already started his digital empire. It is a testament to his drive and passion.

It is often said that success is the result of little efforts that are repeated daily. Adolfo has been walking the walk for ten years. He is an authority on digital tech and a respected resource person. This includes all types of mobile app implementation, including website-to-app conversions to original concept realizations; refactoring current code to blank slate app development.

Adolfo, a young, brilliant, and ambitious man, has built a lot of companies and platforms. He is also the founder of Coinposters news portal. The platform brings you the most up-to-date blockchain/crypto news from trusted sources. Investors must research each page of a document. Coinposters.com makes it easier by providing trusted resources from some of the most popular websites in blockchain technology.

Adolfo, who has more than 6 years of experience in Blockchain and Crypto, founded Blockchain Consulting. Glosfi is a web3 crypto agency. It offers services like crypto marketing, digital SEO and blockchain consulting.

Adolfo Verde created Lovau, a digital agency to help individuals and brands scale up their business. He’s worked with many big brands, including sellix, Sephora, and others.

Adolfo has started Glosfy, a start-up platform that helps people find the best places in the world to travel and search for events.

His knowledge of the digital world enabled him to build websites for people who wanted to learn more about digital finances, search engine optimization, and other tips for avoiding common business mistakes.

The rave reviews from clients are a sign of Adolfo Verde’s efficacy as well as efficiency. Adolfo gave us the information we needed and worked closely with us to meet our deadlines. The team offered many great suggestions regarding the development process structure and creating excellent proposals. They also worked with us to improve and refine our processes. Christopher de Lapuente stated that they were impressed by the quality and timeliness of the deliverables. Sephora Director of Marketing

Adolfo Verde excels in E-Commerce and Business Development. He is also adept at Team Leadership and Blockchain tech. With the success stories of his companies, Adolfo Verde should be considered a top name in the world of digital businesses.

Adolfo Verde enjoys a large social media following check his socials here:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adolfoverde/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adolfoverde_/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adolfoverde_/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/adolfoverde
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adolfoverde_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adolfoverdeofficial

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News NFT

Metaverse Platform SYN CITY Appoints Rapper Swae Lee as CEO

The Metaverse is heating up, and it’s never been more appealing than it is right now. Not only can you construct your own Mafia syndicates, but SYN CITY, the top Metaverse platform on the block(chain), has now onboarded Swae Lee, one of the most distinctive CEOs.

Swae Lee, a rapper and five-time Grammy Award nominee, was named Chief Executive Officer of Mafia Metaverse platform, Syn City, on Monday. The announcement comes amid the burgeoning convergence of metaverse gaming, digital art, and music, which has recently received a lot of attention from the mainstream media.

Syn City is funded by a number of venture capitalists, VC firms, and angel investors, including Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch and Goat Capital, who just founded Fractal, an NFT gaming platform.

Lee will be in charge of day-to-day operations in the entertainment marketing, music, NFTs, eSports, A-List KOLs, music tech software, and sports sector alliances.

“In a short time, we have onboarded dozens of key opinion leaders, partners, and innovators with an aggregated user base of over 160 million users across social platforms. We are only at the beginning. Our ambition was always to attract intellectual capital and talent to augment our constant, live feedback with our community via Twitter Spaces, TikTok, and more. We needed real expertise in these fields to help SYN CITY surpass the next level. Swae Lee checks all the right boxes across the board,” Roy Liu, SYN CITY Co-Founder, commented.

CEO Swae Lee remarked after his hiring that whatever he does, he does things that are intriguing to him and his millions of fans.

He states that: “The concept of SYN CITY struck a chord with me because it allows me to visualize some of my ideas and I get to be part of a new frontier in technology. It makes me optimistic for the future of our society.”

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Everything to Know About Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)

Wrapped cryptocurrencies like WBTC make it possible to use crypto assets like Bitcoin on different blockchains. Crypto asset holders can use this interoperability feature to engage in decentralized finance apps. As a result of increased involvement in decentralized apps, smart contract platforms’ liquidity will improve. Read on to know more about WBTC and other wrapped cryptocurrencies.

What is WBTC?

Wrapped Bitcoin is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token that symbolizes Bitcoin (BTC). WBTC’s connectivity with Ethereum wallets, dapps, and smart contracts is a significant benefit. 1 Bitcoin can be changed to 1 Wrapped Bitcoin through a WBTC partner, and vice versa. The wrapped token was created to allow Bitcoin users to engage in Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) apps.

The BTC that underpins WBTC is publicly verifiable thanks to a “proof of reserve” system that validates the 1:1 relationship between produced tokens and Bitcoin held by custodians. The WBTC DAO, which now has over 30 members, is responsible for the upkeep of WBTC. BitGo, Ren, and Kyber were the initial founders.

History

BitGo Inc, Kyber Network, and Renda were the first to design the wrapped bitcoin protocol (formerly Republic Protocol). The wBTC whitepaper was posted on January 24, 2019, and the token was launched on January 31, 2019, with eight businesses supporting bitcoin-to-wBTC transactions. Following that, more merchants joined.

A decentralized autonomous organization oversees the wBTC protocol (DAO). The wBTC DAO has 17 members as of this writing, representing interests from all throughout the DeFi ecosystem. Members of the Wrapped Bitcoin DAO each have a key to the system’s multi-signature wallet. Members may use these keys to vote on whether to add or delete members, as well as make modifications to the smart contracts that underpin the system.

On the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains, the public may watch the minting and burning of wBTC. BitGo analyzes the system on a regular basis and starts a proof of reserve transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain, which allows users to verify the validity of bitcoin reserves. The creation and deployment of wBTC shows that Bitcoin and Ethereum interoperability is facilitating DeFi’s growth and has the potential to bring value to consumers in the fast developing crypto ecosystem.

How it Works

Let’s assume you’re already familiar with Bitcoin and are eager to get started with DeFi apps. But there’s a snag! Between Bitcoin and Ethereum, there isn’t much of a cryptocurrency bridge. Wrapped BTC contributes to the solution of this problem by providing much-needed liquidity to DeFi protocols.
Wrapped Bitcoin is an ERC-20 token that is backed by Bitcoin in a 1:1 ratio. They might be compared to stablecoins in certain aspects, even if Bitcoin isn’t usually extremely stable.

When Bitcoin is wrapped, the BitGo Trust stores the cryptocurrency in a reserve. The quantity of WBTC in circulation has been made public, along with verification that Bitcoin, the underlying asset, is being securely held in custody, in order to be totally transparent (something that previous stablecoins have difficulty with).
WBTC may be stored (and unloaded) in wallets like those offered by CoinList.

Benefits

  • Traders: Transferring bitcoin in wBTC form between exchanges is substantially quicker than converting bitcoin to other DeFi-supported tokens. As a consequence, traders will find it simple to engage in DeFi protocols. As the types of collateral and trade volume rise, this also enhances liquidity in DeFi protocols.
  • Institutions: It might be difficult to manage several cryptocurrencies across different nodes and transaction types. So, using the ERC-20 token wBTC, just one Ethereum node is needed, streamlining transaction operations.
  • Decentralized Applications: DeFi applications may now use bitcoin payments via smart contracts for lending, fund management, prediction markets, and token sales, among other things.
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Guides & Tutorials

Best CeX to Buy Polkadot in the U.K.

Polkadot (DOT) is now one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. It is the ninth-largest cryptocurrency, according to coimarketcap. Polkadot, which was just created a year ago, has attracted a lot of attention from bulls, investors, and developers as one of the most inventive crypto efforts. In the United Kingdom, there are several exchanges where you may purchase Polkadot. The top ones are mentioned below, taking into account costs, ease of use, and speed.

1. Binance

Binance is currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume and liquidity. There are hundreds of tradable pairs on this marketplace, many of which feature Polkadot. Polkadot may be exchanged for Bitcoin, Binance Coin, Tether (USDT), and a variety of other cryptocurrencies. Trading costs are as low as 0.10 percent at this top-rated bitcoin exchange. You must first fill your Binance account with a cryptocurrency in order to take advantage of this reduced trading charge. If you do this, a £1 Polkadot transaction will cost you only £1 in fee.

However, the costs for purchasing Polkadot on Binance using a debit or credit card are much higher. It is now at a rate of 3%. This implies that a £1,000 Polkadot purchase will set you back £30 in fees. It had previously been fixed at 2%.

2. Uphold

Uphold is a leading exchange in the United Kingdom. It is a seasoned and forward-thinking cryptocurrency exchange platform that caters to all trading needs across a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Polkadot (DOT). Apart from the trading platform’s simplicity of use and creative features, the company’s reputation stands out. Uphold is a cryptocurrency exchange with a very user-friendly desktop and mobile software.

On both desktop and mobile, the exchange view is entirely customizable with the assets you trade the most, and it has an easy-to-navigate, modern feel. It is a popular and appropriate choice, particularly for beginners. The trading platform makes purchasing cryptocurrency extremely simple. You may purchase immediately from your deposit method with only a few clicks, without having to wait for cash to clear your account. This one-step ordering is another another innovation from a corporation that prides itself on its platform’s usability. In addition, they have also made it possible to execute limit orders.

3. eToro

eToro accepts a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Polkadot may be purchased and stored easily on this platform. The FCA backs eToro, which is a relatively secure exchange platform. You can invest in cryptocurrencies without having to pay any fees. Furthermore, when buying cryptocurrencies in the UK via debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers, or e-wallets like Paypal, Skrill, and Neteller, eToro costs only 0.5 percent. You may also invest in cryptocurrencies in tiny sums using eToro. This equates to a minimum order value of $25.

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Guides & Tutorials NFT

Top Three NFT Games to Get Into In 2022

The evolution of NFTs has a significant impact on the game economy, and gamers are rewarded accordingly. NFT games are all the rage right now.  There are a variety of blockchain-based games that allow users to earn NFTs and cryptocurrencies while playing These games allow users a lot of influence over native assets by giving them uncommon and unique in-game things, which raises the asset’s worth.

These assets can be obtained in three ways: Make your own NFTs using your characters, use cryptocurrencies to purchase digital products on a marketplace, or, my personal favorite, play and earn. Playing games and making money are two of my favorite things in the world at the same time. Little tip: At the beginning of the game, you may boost the worth of your NFTs by acquiring unusual and uncommon assets. There are many cool and promising NFT games out there. Read on to know the best ones you should be getting into in 2022.

1. Axie Infinity

One of the most popular, long-running, and well-known NFT games. It wouldn’t be a complete list without an honorable mention for Axie Infinity, and if you’re a Pokemon enthusiast like me, you’re going to love it. It’s a combat game in which you can capture, breed, grow, battle, and trade Axies, which are little virtual creatures that look like Pokemon. You can also earn Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies such as AXS (Axie Infinity Shards) and SLP (Smooth Love Potion), as well as NFTs, which can all be exchanged for fiat money. Little tip: When breeding your Axies, take into account the race and ranking of the pets to increase your chances of generating powerful offspring.

2. MetaWars

I’m a big lover of science fiction, so MetaWars is a game that I really admire. It’s a multiplayer future sci-fi loaded with action and role-playing that takes place in space and allows players to immerse themselves in one of the most realistic space voyages ever created. You can also bid on tasks, accomplish them, and then receive $WARS tokens as a reward (management and in-game token). You’ll have total control over how gadgets, modules, weaponry, and other in-game things are combined, as well as the ability to scale up your army using their remarkable optimization tools. These combos boost your character’s power in the game and allow you to buy unique prizes. MetaWars hopes to deploy limited characters and an online demo by the end of the year, with the final phase set for the second quarter of 2022.

3. Illuvium

Illuvium is an upcoming NFT game based in an open-world RPG environment. It’ll be built on the Ethereum blockchain and aimed at a large community of NFT collectors and players. Players can fight and capture Illuvials, which arelittle  NFT monsters with a class and affinity that can be monetized. The option to gamble on fights to increase your revenue, the opportunity to monetize practically all in-game products (including weapons, Illuvials, skins, and farmed materials), and integration with Immutable X, which makes the game gas-free for peer-to-peer transactions, are just a few of the game’s features.

Final Words

With pricing and user numbers, NFTs and NFT games have become all the rage recently. It’s evident that they’re attempting to take over the cryptocurrency and gaming industries. It’s fair, because who doesn’t want to make money while having fun? GameFi, which is another name for NFT games, was born from the brilliant concept of combining video games with money. The games listed above are the finest ones to invest in for next year. They’re all a lot of fun and a lot of money. Hello, and welcome to the future.

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News

Shiba Inu Goes Up 8%

According to data given by Binance-owned data ranking site CoinMarketCap, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is currently surpassing practically all top 100 cryptocurrencies after abruptly soaring 8%. Shiba Inu is presently on the verge of passing Avalanche (AVAX) and reclaiming the 12th position. The price difference between the two cryptocurrencies is presently less than a billion dollars.

Bitcoin (BTC) has also reclaimed the $50,000 mark. The largest cryptocurrency has gained 2% in the last 24 hours. According to U.Today, Bitcoin temporarily returned to $50,000 on Friday in response to U.S. inflation data, but bulls were unable to hold the gains.

Within the top 10, Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT) are the highest performers. Both have gained approximately 5%.

After gaining ground against Bitcoin earlier this week, Ethereum (ETH) has remained flat. The popular meme coin, Dogecoin, is up 0.44 percent as well, struggling to get traction. The cryptocurrency is currently down 76.64 percent from its peak in May. Shiba Inu must recover 56.75 percent to reclaim its prior peak. Despite the price drop, the Japanese dog-based token remains in the headlines. Flexa and BitPay, two big cryptocurrency payment companies, both announced Shiba Inu compatibility earlier this week. SHIB is also being listed on new exchanges, with Bitstamp announcing earlier this week that it will allow its users to trade the meme coin.

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Bitcoin News

Shopify and GigLabs Team Together to Integrate NFTs With E-Commerce

After gaining traction in the crypto market by incorporating cryptocurrency payments (and asking about DeFi), Shopify has taken another step forward in its crypto journey, announcing that its platform is now NFT-enabled in a press release. On the site, users can now mint and trade items.

Tobias Lütke, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, announced the new service on Twitter. NFT Beta program will be the name of the initiative. Only merchants headquartered in the United States of America will be able to use it at first.

According to the statement, the collaboration with GigLabs allows NFT fans to buy digital memorabilia using a variety of payment options, including Shopify payments, Shop Pay, cryptocurrencies, and credit or debit cards.

According to the information available, GigLabs NFT had a key role in the development of this service, since Shopify teamed with the firm to use their NFT technological solution, which is built on the Flow blockchain. By collaborating with its partner apps, NFT-based on other blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Polygon, and others can be created.

“Our growing NFT app ecosystem reflects our dedication to give merchants an easy solution to selling digital assets directly through their Shopify stores,” says Robleh Jama, Shopify’s Product Director.

The GigLabs NFT Shopify integration is based on Flow, a fast, decentralized, and developer-friendly blockchain with a multi-role architecture. The Flow blockchain has no sharding scalability and trading environments that are ACID-compliant (ACID here stands for atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable). Over 17 million individual NFTs have been minted on the Flow blockchain alone, with over 10 million secondary market NFT sale transactions executed. The proof-of-stake Flow protocol now has over 2 million accounts.

The bullish journey of Shopify can be traced back to 2020, when it began taking Bitcoin through a collaboration with BTCPay. It also provided an open-source API that allowed Shopify stores to integrate multiple functions.

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Altcoins Blockchain Guides & Tutorials

Polygon (MATIC): Ethereum’s Internet of Blockchains

Newer coins are sometimes disregarded in a market with over 5,000 cryptocurrencies, each with its unique set of values and financial rules. However, Polygon’s MATIC stands out. MATIC, Polygon’s native currency, was launched in late 2017 and is currently among the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market value, with a gain of over 30% this week despite other crypto prices plunging in a market-wide decline.

In this article, we’ll take a look at what the MATIC is, how it works, and what makes it stand out among hundreds of other projects to better grasp Polygon’s vision and how it hopes to create the blockchain industry’s borderless future.

What is Polygon (MATIC)?

Polygon is a scalability platform and framework for connecting and developing Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Because one of Polygon’s key aims is to aggregate scalable solutions to enable a multichain Ethereum environment, the network also refers to itself as ‘Ethereum’s internet of blockchains’.

The Polygon network is Ethereum-native, oriented to be compatible with all of Ethereum’s current and future infrastructures while also providing a foundation for layer-2 solutions, sidechains, and sovereign blockchains.

History

Polygon began as Matic Network, but as the scope of their initiative evolved, they renamed as Polygon. Matic Network began as a Layer 2 scaling solution, but has now evolved into a self-sustaining, collaborative, and participatory Ethereum blockchain ecosystem.
Polygon was created by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun in October 2017. Polygon’s CEO, Jaynti Kanani, is a blockchain engineer and full-stack developer. He worked as a Data Scientist for Housing.com before launching Polygon. At Persistent Systems, he began his career as a Senior Software Engineer. Jaynti graduated from Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering in Information & Technology.
Polygon switched to its network later in 2019, however they were already operating on the Ethereum network.

How it Works

On a regular basis, polygon validators perform and process checkpoints against the Ethereum main chain. This approach uses cryptographic evidence to resolve any transaction conflicts that may emerge on the sidechain. This protocol also allows users to transfer tokens across MATIC without having to worry about third-party risks or market liquidity limits. Tokens that leave the Ethereum network are frozen and shown on the MATIC network in a one-to-one ratio as freshly minted pegged tokens. The pegged tokens are burned when the user returns to the Ethereum network.

Polygon’s functioning relies on the Ethereum network’s security, but it’s the ability to maintain security while allowing for scalability that makes it exciting. Polygon has already implemented and is running Ethereum 2.0’s proof-of-stake technology, which is expected to be released early next year. This is in contrast to Ethereum’s existing proof-of-work consensus method, which is both costly and inefficient in terms of processing resources.

Polygon uses the Heimdall architecture, which was popularized by Cosmos, in addition to the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Unlike traditional proof-of-work blockchains, which enable any participant (miner) to validate transactions and build blocks, Heimdall chooses block producers from the network’s proof-of-stake validators at random.

This dual-consensus technique encourages decentralization while yet allowing for high transaction throughput, leading in network scalability. Internal test networks have seen over 7,000 transactions per second (TPS) on a single sidechain, much above the Ethernet mainnet’s current capability of 14 TPS.

What Makes It Stand Out?

The Polygon project is one of the more recent attempts at blockchain interoperability and scalability, and it aims to alleviate some of the apparent constraints of projects like Polkadot and Cosmos. For starters, it’s compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, making it more accessible to individuals who are already familiar with Ethereum and Solidity programming; Cosmos, on the other hand, employs a WASM-based virtual machine.

Another special feature of Polygon is that its security protocol is optional, allowing blockchains to maintain their autonomy. As a result, without using Polygon’s security-as-a-service approach, linked blockchains can have complete compatibility with the Ethereum mainchain. Polygon’s versatility is critical for developers who want to create fully interoperable dApps that take advantage of the benefits of numerous linked blockchains.

Lastly, in these times of fast technological progress, Polygon’s well-rounded approach to scaling solutions helps future-proof the network. Polygon does not risk becoming outdated since it provides different scaling techniques. This ensures that they do not become obsolete if one solution becomes the industry standard in the future.

Bottomline

While the cryptocurrency markets are on the verge of becoming mainstream, there are still a number of recognized and unknown risks. Layer 2 technologies like Polygon, on the other hand, provide a tremendous opportunity to participate in the ever-expanding world of decentralized finance without having to pay excessive transaction fees to miners, even if layer 1 networks continue to suffer from network congestion. Polygoin may be a profitable investment in the near future, thanks to solid cooperation and significant upgrades to its methodology.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Dai (DAI): Everything You Need to Know

Dai is a stablecoin created by the Maker’s (MKR) Dai System, which adjusts to changing market conditions and maintains its value against major global currencies through margin trading. Dai is unique among popular USD-backed stablecoins in that it is backed by publicly viewable crypto collaterals on the Ethereum network. Here’s everything you need to know about the stablecoin and what sets it apart from the others.

What it is

Dai is a stablecoin whose value is determined by the value of the US dollar. DAI’s value is managed by MakerDAO, its decentralized governance community, in order to preserve price stability. While actual DAI stablecoins are created using the Maker Protocol platform, which accepts a variety of cryptocurrencies as collateral, the stablecoin may also be purchased using fiat money (such as the US dollar) on most regulated crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken. Dai is the first stable cryptocurrency that is decentralized and collateralized.

History

Rune Christensen, a developer, launched the Maker Foundation in 2014, which later became DAI. The Maker Protocol is an open-source project that was designed as a decentralized response to the time’s contentious centralized stablecoin systems. It was formally introduced on the Maker Protocol in 2017, created as a way to provide a non-volatile, reliable, and safe lending asset for enterprises and people alike, all while maintaining decentralization. Since launching the Maker Protocol, the Maker Foundation has handed over complete control to MakerDAO, a decentralized autonomous entity that currently oversees the entire Maker Protocol.

How it Works

Dai is a stablecoin that is collateralized by Ether, allowing Ether holders to produce the cryptocurrency using the MakerDAO DApp. To do so, you’ll need to send Ether to a collateralized debt position first (CDP). In exchange, you’ll get a piece of it. A CDP is a blockchain-based smart contract that governs Dai issuance and redemption. If you want to retrieve your Ether back after getting Dai for ETH, you must reimburse the one you borrowed.

As you can see, Dai is essentially a loan secured by Ethereum. MakerDAO allows ETH users to seek Dai loans. To begin, users must convert their ETH holdings to WETH (Wrapped Ethereum), an ERC-20 token. As a result, WETH joins the Ethereum pool, which serves as collateral for any tokens created. DAI is frequently over-collateralized to avoid liquidation because to the volatile nature of the assets being collateralized.

Users must deposit $200 in ETH to unlock $100 DAI, for example, providing a type of volatility cushion. This manner, even if the price of ETH falls by 25%, the $100 DAI loan will still be reimbursed by $150 in ETH. The user must refund the DAI that was lent together with an extra charge to regain their collateralized assets. Despite the fact that this description of Dai’s process appears oversimplified, 99 percent of users will not have to deal with the complexity of issuing the stablecoin and will be able to acquire it simply on an exchange.

Where to Buy

  • Atomars
  • BTC-Hit
  • Coinhub
  • Ethfinex, Bitfinex
  • Kyber Network, Coinsuper
  • Bancor
  • Relay of Radar
  • Exmo
  • Gate.io

Conclusion

DAI offers a great deal of flexibility and usefulness, as well as the price stability of the US dollar. If you acquire DAI, you may utilize it in a variety of ways on the Ethereum network, including:
-Interest is generated by staking idle coins.
-Using it to purchase other currencies
-Investing in it as a safe haven for earnings from other token sales
-Purchases made in-game
If you borrow the stablecoin via the Maker Protocol, one disadvantage is the risk of losing your overcollateralized asset. Otherwise, the benefit of this one-of-a-kind commodity gives it a simple way to get your feet wet in crypto by way of a feasible investment worth seriously considering.

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Bitcoin News

Justin Sun Leaves Tron For WTO

Justin Sun, the inventor of TRON and a crypto entrepreneur, said on Friday that he is stepping down as the blockchain network’s chief executive officer. Sun has entered the political arena. After observing El Salvador’s success in making bitcoin legal money, Sun said that he is shifting his emphasis to crypto legitimization in Latin American countries.

For the time being, that entails serving as a Grenada government ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In an open letter, Sun described his own career aspirations. They include transferring at least some of his authority to the Tron blockchain and promoting blockchain and cryptocurrency in nations such as Grenada. Sun stated to the community that he had begun on a new path that would enable him to encourage close collaboration between the blockchain sector and international organizations.

Dear #TRONICS, developers, and all my friends:

I am thrilled to share with everyone about the significant milestone of the #TRON protocol and my appointment as the Ambassador.

The #TRON blockchain protocol is now essentially decentralized. pic.twitter.com/g9xh9WW0iE— Justin Sun

–(@justinsuntron) December 17, 2021

Sun is particularly optimistic about Caribbean countries like Grenada and the Bahamas when it comes to crypto adoption.  Grenada provides various benefits for blockchain-related enterprises, according to Sun. The island country, which is geographically near to the United States, recognizes English as one of its official languages. It also boasts a solid educational system, including one of the region’s premier colleges, which Sun believes will be a breeding ground for future blockchain engineers. If the legitimacy of the blockchain business in nations like Grenada is successful, Sun believes it will encourage the United States and China to speed up or continue their blockchain activities.

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Altcoins Bitcoin

SHIB Accepted By America’s Largest Virtual Reality Club VR World

Shiba Inu has accomplished yet another feat. The cryptocurrency is  spreading to new places as more establishments agree to accept the meme-currency as payment. Virtual Reality World is the newest addition to the list, having stated that Shiba Inu would be accepted as legal payment. VR World, North and South America’s largest virtual reality experience facility, now supports the meme cryptocurrency as a payment method on its platform. This is another another major victory for the SHIBArmy.

In conjunction with payment processor BitPay, VR World will accept Shiba Inu and other cryptocurrencies. This implies SHIB may be used to make purchases at retailers who accept BitPay or where digital gift cards can be purchased using its wallet app.

“After VR World hosted the official afterparty for NFT NYC conference last month, it became clear to us – cryptocurrency has entered everyday life,” said the CEO of VR World Leo Tsimmer.

“@vrworldnyc , the largest virtual reality club in America, now accepts #cryptocurrency for payment for goods and services through BitPay,” tweeted the official handle of BitPay.

.@vrworldnyc, the largest virtual reality club in America, now accepts #cryptocurrency for payment for goods and services through BitPay. Read more: https://t.co/Le3zYioi86 #bitpay #vr #virtualreality pic.twitter.com/jBJwSL6BDj— BitPay (@BitPay) December 15, 2021

Since its debut in 2011, BitPay has grown to become one of the largest bitcoin payment service providers in the world. BitPay has been integrated by a number of companies to take Bitcoin and other crypto-assets as payment. The company just recently began supporting Shiba Inu for retailers. VR World is a major participant in the non-fungible token (NFT) space, having even hosted the NFT.NYC conference’s after-party last month. According to Leo Tsimmer, CEO of VR World, the firm realized after this event that bitcoin had invaded ordinary life.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

FTX Token (FTT): Why You Should Care About It

Because of how FTX’s value has surged in such a short amount of time, more people are starting to pay attention to it. One FTT is currently trading at around $45, up from less than $4 in December 2020. The market capitalization of FTX jumped from $400 million to more than $6 billion during the same period.

The growth of FTX isn’t coincidental. Analysts believe that greater public awareness, excellent collaborations, and new protocol launches on the FTX exchange have contributed to the success of the FTX token, and that the price of FTX will continue to rise. This is a quick rundown of FTX and its token, FTT.

What is FTT?

FTT is a cryptocurrency that is traded on FTX, a global crypto derivatives exchange. FTT, dubbed the “backbone” of the FTX exchange, offers its holders a variety of advantages. FTT is one of the numerous cutting-edge products available on the FTX exchange, and it may be the most essential. FTT, like other well-known instruments like Bitcoin, has a monetary value, can be traded, and is used to conduct financial transactions.

How it Works

Users who trade on the platform can use FTX to get trading fee savings. This results in lower FTX futures trading fees and tighter OTC spreads. This token can also be used as a collateral for future positions, thereby increasing FTT’s utility and demand. During major market moves, instead of having clawbacks, FTX’s insurance fund will offer a net gain and this percentage of gain will be distributed among its holders.

Moreover, for those desiring to build leveraged tokens, they can use FTX’s token to accomplish so. Crypto institutions interested in purchasing a white label version of the OTC gateway and futures market can do so through FTT. FTT, as the FTX ecosystem’s backbone, will become increasingly helpful as more derivative products are introduced.

Team

Jane Street, Optiver, Susquehanna, Facebook, and Google are among the top quant funds and tech corporations on Wall Street. They are well-versed in traditional secondary markets. They have experience trading equities derivatives and understand both how derivatives are usually created and what derivatives are in demand in the market.

Alameda Research is a supporter of FTX. If you don’t know who they are, they are a quantitative bitcoin trading firm with a $100 million AUM. Alameda Research became the largest liquidity provider and market maker in the cryptocurrency world inside a year. Alameda trades $600 million to $1 billion each day, accounting for about 5% of worldwide turnover, and is the third largest BitMEX exchange.

Pros

  • The platform is essentially a crypto derivatives marketplace with unique derivatives instruments. It sets itself apart from competitors by providing a diverse choice of derivatives and trading conditions, some of which are not available anywhere else.
  • FTX is a user-friendly UI that, unlike other big crypto platforms, has no learning curve. New traders will feel right at home with their easy-to-understand features.
  • Global reach: Anyone with access to the internet may quickly open an account with FTX and begin trading within minutes.

Cons

  • Limited services: U.S. residents are unable to trade on FTX.com due to local rules. On its FTX.us platform, FTX compensates for this loss by offering a limited variety of derivatives. The company is already collaborating with LedgerX to provide new chances to traders in the United States.
  • High withdrawal fees: Despite the cheap trading fees, each withdrawal under $10,000 will cost you an extra $75 in withdrawal fees. In comparison to other crypto trading platforms of comparable size, this is a costly operation.
  • Incomplete range: If you want to trade popular cryptos like Polkadot, Stellar, or Cardano, you’ll have to seek elsewhere or trade one of the more than 130 cryptocurrencies available.
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Bitcoin News

Jack Dorsey Appoints Bitcoin Trust Fund Leaders

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has selected some people as the Bitcoin fund’s board of directors (BTrust). On Wednesday, December 16, 2021, Dorsey made the announcement in a statement on his Twitter page. Three Nigerians and one South African have been selected to the board of his Bitcoin Trust (BTrust) fund, which will be used for development in Africa and India.

Abubakar Nur Khalil, Obi Nwosu, Ojoma Ochai, and Carla Kirk-Cohen, all Nigerians, have been selected to the Bitcoin trust fund.

“I’m so grateful for you all and very inspired,” Dorsey, a crypto supporter, tweeted as he announced the leaders of the Bitcoin trust fund. They’ll now focus on defining the operating principles while considering how best to distribute the 500 bitcoin to development activities.”

From a pool of 7,000 candidates, Dorsey, who just quit as Twitter CEO, said a committee picked the four developers who previously worked to boost bitcoin development initiatives across Africa.

Abubakar Nur Khalil is a bitcoin core developer who got $50,000 in bitcoin from the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) in May 2021 for his work on Bitcoin wallet software. Khalil is also the CTO of Recursive Capital, a crypto venture capital firm that helps companies create crucial web 3.0 infrastructure.

Carla Kirk-Cohen works for Lightning Labs as a software engineer. She formerly worked on the crypto-ops team at Luno, a South African cryptocurrency exchange and wallet company.

The recruitment of the Nigerians comes in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ban on official cryptocurrency transactions.

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Bitcoin NFT

Melania Trump Launches NFT Series of Her Eyes

Melania Trump, the former first lady, is selling a non-fungible token (NFT) representing her cobalt blue eyes dubbed “Melania’s Vision,” according to a tweet. Fashion artist Marc-Antoine Coulon’s watercolor painting of Trump’s eyes, “Melania’s Vision,” will cost 1 Solana, a cryptocurrency valued about $180 as of Thursday morning. While former President Donald Trump famously has stated that he is not a fan of bitcoin, his wife is a crypto enthusiast.

The NFTs will be stored on the Solana blockchain, however a Solana Labs spokeswoman stated the company was not engaged in the sale and only learnt about it on Thursday. Mrs. Trump stated that a percentage of the revenues from the first sales will be used to assist youngsters who have aged out of the foster care system.

“I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative. Through this new technology-based platform, we will provide children computer science skills, including programming and software development, to thrive after they age out of the foster community.”

–Melania Trump.

In January, the former first lady wants to organize another NFT auction, featuring digital and physical artwork as well as a “one-of-a-kind” tangible item. Melania Trump’s first public project since leaving government a year ago is this. NFTs turn anything from artwork to jokes into virtual collectors’ goods that can’t be replicated, thanks to the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies. This year, NFTs exploded into the mainstream, and they are now traded at large auction houses, producing hundreds of millions of dollars in monthly transactions.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

What is BitTorrent (BTT)? Here’s Everything You Need To Know

What is BitTorrent?

The BitTorrent token is a TRC-10 token with the ticker symbol BTT that was issued on Binance Launchpad. BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing system. Only when Tron Foundation acquired BitTorrent Foundation did the BTT token become a component of the BitTorrent network. Project Atlas was the initiative that resulted in the introduction of BTT tokens into the BitTorrent network.
So, how well has the BitTorrent network performed? The BitTorrent Foundation stated via its white paper that it had 100 million active users. It also claimed to be the world’s largest decentralized protocol, exceeding Bitcoin in size.

History

BitTorrent, which was first introduced in July 2001, was bought by the blockchain platform TRON in July 2018. This took BitTorrent out of the hands of its original founder, Bram Cohen, and into Justin Sun’s. This acquisition was part of Sun’s plan to expand the TRON platform’s decentralized capabilities. BitTorrent created a native cryptocurrency token called BTT after the takeover. BTT was launched in February 2019 and is based on the TRON blockchain. Throughout its early years, BitTorrent has been involved in a number of legal battles over claimed copyright violations.

How it Works

Let’s take a look at some of the technical jargon and procedures involved in the BitTorrent system before we get into how it works. Seeding is the process of exchanging files with strangers on the BitTorrent Network, whereas Torrent is the file that a user shares. The swarm is the collective name for all the machines that host sections of a single file.

Anyone who exits the system after downloading but does not participate in the seeding process is engaging in leeching, which is regarded as a selfish conduct on the BitTorrent network.
With the launch of BitTorrent Speed in 2019, users were rewarded for seeding. BTT tokens are awarded to users that participate in seeding. Because users are rewarded for seeding and storing their files on the BitTorrent network, a network effect occurs, with more users seeding and storing files on the BitTorrent network.

As a result, the BitTorrent community can swiftly download big files. Users receive a market value for the BTT token they receive from BitTorrent, and anybody who wishes to obtain fiat cash for seeding may trade BTT tokens on a crypto exchange like Binance.
For example, if a video production company wishes to utilize BitTorrent to disseminate their videos, they will create a torrent file on their computer. Because the file is originally saved on the computer of the creative agency, the machine will be referred to as the seed, along with the undivided file.

The file will now be distributed in little sections or fragments. Anyone who wants to download the material can do so using a BitTorrent client. Users must request the file using the BitTorrent software in order to download it. Users will receive the remaining files saved on other computers over a set period of time. Depending on the popularity of the content, downloading might take minutes or hours to complete.

Where to Buy BTT

The following exchanges support Bittorrent (BTT):

  • Binance offers a 10% refund on all trading expenses when you use the code EE59L0QP. For Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the rest of the world, this is the best option. BTT is not available for purchase in the United States.
  • BitPanda is the greatest alternative for European residents; however, they do not accept clients from other countries.
  • Gate.io, which was founded in 2013, is one of the most respected BTT exchanges. The best option for inhabitants of the United States.

Tokenomics

The total supply of BitTorrent tokens is 990 billion. BTT tokens have a circulation supply of 659,952,625,000 at the time of writing. TRON Foundation will receive 20% of BTT supply, with the BitTorrent Foundation and its staff receiving 19%. The BitTorrent ecosystem has received 19.9% of the BTT supply. Tron’s airdrop campaign distributed 10.1 percent of BitTorrent tokens, whereas BitTorrent’s airdrop program distributed 10 percent. The public sale accounts for 17% of the total, with 4% of BitTorrent tokens remaining as partnership tokens.

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Bitcoin News

Crypto Ads Censored By UK Watchdog For Deceit

According to a BBC report, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a warning to a number of crypto exchanges and trading platforms over crypto ads that it views reckless and misleading.
Coinbase Europe, eToro, Luno Money, Coinburp, Exmo Exchange, Payward, and Papa John’s are among the brands targeted by the ASA for their marketing. The ads were prohibited because they irresponsibly took advantage of consumers’ inexperience and failed to highlight the danger of the investment, according to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The ads were banned for recklessly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience and for neglecting to communicate the risk of the investment. Papa John’s, a prominent pizza company, advertised “free Bitcoin worth £10” and told customers that if they purchased £30 ($39) or more on pizza, they would save £15 ($19).
The pizza restaurant also tied their Bitcoin campaign to “Bitcoin pizza day,” which commemorates the first time Bitcoin was used in a transaction, which was to purchase a pizza in May 2010.
This marketing, according to the ASA, trivialized what was a serious and possibly costly financial choice, especially in the context of the intended audience, who are likely to have minimal to no awareness of bitcoin.
Despite the fact that the Payward ad included a disclaimer, the warnings were vague. The ASA thinks that the consumers would not have had the time to perceive the important information in the disclaimer, if noticed at all.

The ASA has attacked the industry before. In May this year, the ASA targeted a Luno ad that stated, “If you’re seeing Bitcoin on the Underground, it’s time to buy.” That prohibition was deemed reckless by the ASA. Ads for Floki Inu (the cryptocurrency named after Elon Musk’s dog) have also been targeted by the watchdog on the London Underground. The advertising watchdog began looking into these ads in November. “I don’t think cryptocurrency ads should be on the transportation network,” an ASA spokesman stated. “They’re unethical.”

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Bitcoin News

Crypto Prices Glitch Makes A Lot of People Wealthy

You aren’t a multibillionaire. However, if you’ve happened to check the price of your favorite crypto assets on Tuesday afternoon, you’d be excused for soiling your trousers. Unfortunately, the price increase was not genuine. Instead, the crypto surge appears to be the result of a malfunction at Coinbase and CoinMarketCap, shattering the dreams of many cryptocurrency investors.
The bug pushed the value of a single Bitcoin to almost $878 billion at one time. As a result, the value of cryptocurrency investors’ wallets skyrocketed from millions to billions of dollars.

The problem has been rectified, according to CoinMarketCap. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, made the same statement on Twitter, adding that trade remained unaffected. Coinbase stated that it’s still looking into asset pricing and trade challenges in Coinbase Wallet, which allows clients to manage their crypto assets, a few minutes later. Neither firm offered an explanation for what went wrong.

Countless crypto bros saw their net worth skyrocket into Elon Musk territory between the time the issue first appeared the time it was fixed—which was a couple of hours, according to CoinMarketCap and social media activity. This comes only a week after some Coinbase users began a campaign demanding that the company pay refunds after a system glitch in mid-November reportedly locked some clients out of their accounts, stopping them from trading for weeks.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Uniswap: The Largest Decentralized Exchange

The majority of cryptocurrency trading occurs on centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Binance. These platforms are administered by a single authority (the company that controls the exchange), require users to deposit funds under their custody, and permit trading through the use of a traditional order book system. These exchanges have their faults and the goal of Uniswap (UNI) is to solve them all. Read on to know everything about the nineteenth-largest cryptocurrency.

What is Uniswap?

Uniswap is an Ethereum-based decentralized exchange protocol. To be more specific, it is a liquidity protocol that is automated. There is no need for an order book or a centralized entity to make transactions. Uniswap enables users to trade without the need of middlemen, resulting in a high degree of decentralization and censorship resistance. It operates with the assistance of unicorns (as shown in their logo).
Traders can trade Ethereum tokens on Uniswap without having to entrust their money to anybody, anyone can lend their cryptocurrency to special reserves known as liquidity pools. They get fees in exchange for contributing money to these pools. The Uniswap’s primary token is UNI.

History

The origin of Uniswap (UNI) can be traced back to 2016. At the time, Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, introduced the idea of a decentralized automated market maker. It took only a year for another well-known cryptocurrency developer to take on the project. With the aid of the ETH community, Hayden Adams made the notion a reality. He earned many grants, including a $100,000 grant from the Ethereum Foundation. Uniswap now plays an important function in the market. The current expansion of DeFi platforms has increased the value of Uniswap even further. These new projects rely on Uniswap to reach the market smoothly. As a result, Uniswap serves as a critical launching pad for the whole DeFi industry.

What Problems Does It Solve Specifically?

The main issue with centralized exchanges that Uniswap fixes is liquidity. Uniswap may be used to seed a liquidity pool for any project. To begin the pool, all a developer needs to do is supply their project token and a comparable amount of ETH. This open strategy allows start ups to immediately distribute their tokens to the market, attracting the attention of a larger audience. The increased liquidity also aids in resolving the issue of large spreads for illiquid assets on order-book exchanges. New projects can help to establish liquidity pools and boost investor confidence while also creating ROI potential through arbitrage transactions.

Uniswap is also completely open source, which means that anyone can copy the code and use it to build their own decentralized exchanges. It also allows users to list tokens for free on the market. Normal centralized exchanges are profit-driven and demand exorbitant fees to list new currencies, thus this is a significant distinction.

Because Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX), users have complete control over their funds at all times, as opposed to a centralized exchange, which requires traders to hand over control of their private keys so that orders can be logged on an internal database rather than executed on a blockchain, which is more time consuming and expensive. It reduces the danger of losing assets if the exchange is ever hacked by maintaining custody of private keys.

How it Works

Uniswap is powered by two smart contracts: “Exchange” and “Factory.” These are computer programs that are built to conduct specific tasks when certain criteria are satisfied. The factory smart contract is used in this case to add new tokens to the platform, while the exchange contract handles all token exchanges, or “trades.” On the improved Uniswap v.2 platform, any ERC20-based token may be swapped for another. When additional ETH/ERC20 tokens are added to a Uniswap liquidity pool, the donor is awarded a “pool token,” which is also an ERC20 token. Pool tokens are generated when funds are placed into the pool, and like an ERC20 token, they may be freely swapped, transferred, and utilized in other dapps. The pool tokens are burnt or destroyed when funds are retrieved. Each pool token reflects a user’s part of the pool’s total assets as well as their 0.3 percent trading fee stake in the pool.

Conclusion

Uniswap is a cutting-edge Ethereum-based trading mechanism. It allows anybody with an Ethereum wallet to trade tokens without the need for a third-party intermediary.
While it has its drawbacks, this technology has the potential for significant ramifications for the future of trustless token swapping. Uniswap might benefit from Ethereum 2.0 scaling improvements if they go live on the network.

Categories
Bitcoin NFT Press Release

Solana Ventures, Forte, Griffin Invest $150m in Blockchain Games

Solana Ventures, Forte, and Griffin Gaming Partners have officially announced a $150 million investment in blockchain gaming. The goal is to invest in Web 3 game developers that are developing decentralized games on the Solana blockchain. Such games frequently employ nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which harness the transparency and security of blockchain’s digital record to authenticate unique digital goods.

Matthew Beck, a partner at Solana Ventures, which finances projects for the Solana blockchain said:  “The ecosystem is still defining what the intersection of blockchain and gaming looks like.”

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the worldwide gaming industry was valued at US$173.7 billion in 2020 and is predicted to reach US$314.40 billion by 2026. The increase can be attributed in part to worldwide lockdowns during the epidemic, when people were forced to stay at home and turned to gaming platforms to pass the time.

In a press release, Pierre Planche, partner at Griffin Gaming Partners, stated that gaming and interactive media would not be a cornerstone of blockchain today if the community had not made several technical advancements over the last decade. Solana is a prime example, having paved the way in terms of scalability and user experience suitability to match these demanding experiences.

NFTs have gained massive popularity in the last year, and crypto-focused gaming companies have enjoyed huge success with NFT games like Axie Infinity. Now, established game developers are taking notice and entering the NFT games market in search of new ways to monetize digital items.

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Altcoins Bitcoin

Elon Musk Tesla Will Accept DOGE for Merchandise

Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated on Twitter that the company would begin taking Dogecoin as payment for merchandise. Some of Tesla’s merchandise, such the $150 Giga Texas belt buckle with the carmaker’s emblem, will be available for purchase using the digital token, according to the company’s CEO on Tuesday. The tech mogul has long been a supporter of the meme-based cryptocurrency, and he has personally invested in it. In May, he asked his Twitter followers if Tesla should accept dogecoin payments, and more than three-quarters said yes.

Earlier this week, Musk stated that dogecoin was a superior payment option than bitcoin since it could manage larger transaction volumes and did not have a limited supply.
“Even though it was created as a ridiculous joke, dogecoin is really better suited for transactions,” he told Time magazine on Monday, after being chosen Person of the Year 2021. “It’s slightly inflationary… but that’s a good thing because it encourages people to spend rather than keep it as a store of wealth.”

He referred to dogecoin, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency, as a “hustle” during a guest appearance on the comedy sketch TV show, Saturday Night Live, in May, sending its prices plummeting. Although Musk is undeniably bullish on cryptocurrencies, he is skeptical that it will replace traditional currency. “I’m not a huge hater of fiat cash like many others in the crypto space are,” Musk told Time.
However, according to him, crypto has benefits over fiat currency in that the latter is diluted by whichever government it is issued by. It ends up being a devastating tax on individuals, particularly those with cash holdings, because it dilutes the money supply.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Tron (TRX): Everything to Know

TRON (TRX) has had one of the most active followings in the crypto industry since its launch in 2017. This coin used community support and its unique technological features to become the twenty-first biggest cryptocurrency in the world in terms of market capitalization. Even more astounding is the fact that Tron achieved this in under two years.

Here is everything you need to know about Tron and what makes it special.

What is Tron (TRX)?

The Tron Foundation created the Tron coin and blockchain. Tron software enables smart contracts and decentralized programs (known as Apps in the crypto world), making it a perfect platform for other cryptocurrencies aside from the Tron token, which is crucial to the blockchain’s operation.

History

Justin Sun established the Tron network in 2017. Justin is a serial entrepreneur who served as CEO of the world’s most popular P2P communication technology, BitTorrent, from 2018 to 2021. He is one of the most powerful KOLs in the blockchain business. Peiwo, one of China’s most popular voice streaming social Apps, was also established by him. Tron is one of the fastest growing DeFi ecosystems on the market, having more over 56 million global user accounts and over 2 billion total transactions.

Sun is no stranger to the FinTech industry. For starters, he is a protégé of Alibaba CEO Jack Ma. He graduated from Ma’s Hupan University and, within a few months, and was listed in Forbes’ list of China 30 under 30 and Asia 30 under 30. Sun had already built a name for himself in the blockchain area previous to the release of Tron.

Sun was also Ripple’s top representative in Greater China. This role introduced him to the network of individuals he would need to one day make the Tron concept a reality. Even more amazing is Sun’s integration of Tron into Peiwo barely a few months after the acquisition. Tron’s position in the region was strengthened as a result of this merger. Furthermore, the technique considerably increased Tron’s active user base.

How it Works

To secure the blockchain, the Tron network employs a Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus process. A DPoS, like a proof-of-stake consensus method, enables users to generate passive income by staking their assets in a network wallet. Tron’s architecture enables the Tron network to process significantly more transactions at once than proof-of-work systems like Bitcoin, which rely on a vast network of cryptocurrency miners. The increased throughput is not only a minor enhancement over older, bigger networks. Tron promises to be able to process 10,000 transactions per second while charging no transaction fees. Tron stated in its 2018 white paper that its delegated proof-of-work method could handle 2,000 transactions per second, compared to three for Bitcoin and 15 for Ethereum.

Where to Buy Tron

Binance – Best for Australia, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the majority of the globe. TRX cannot be purchased by residents of the United States.

BitPanda – This is best for Europeans. They do not accept clients from outside of Europe.

Uphold – This is one of the most popular exchanges for citizens of the United States. You can apply for a debit card that earns rewards and cryptocurrency. TRX cannot be purchased by residents of the United Kingdom or Europe.

Pros

  • Tron can support a huge number of applications concurrently. Currently, the network can handle 2000 transactions per second.
  • TRX was developed by a professional development team, making it a legitimate and popular alternative for investors and consumers.
  • Tron intends to build the market for entertainment material, which has promising future potential.

Cons

  • Tron is frequently accused of centralized control, owing to the fact that only 50% of all TRX coins are kept at multiple addresses.
  • Only 15% of the tokens that have been issued are available for private investment.
  • Tron is currently in its early stages of development, with considerable expansion expected over the next few years.
Categories
Bitcoin News

Bank of England Want The World to Get Stricter With Crypto

To counteract the fast-moving market, the Bank of England (BOE) warned on Monday that regulatory and legal frameworks for crypto assets would need to be strengthened both locally and worldwide. The bank stated in its December financial stability report and financial policy committee (FPC) meeting minutes, both of which were taken on November 29 and December 9, that the changes would manage risks, encourage sustainable innovation, and maintain broader trust and integrity in the financial system.

The bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, is warning banks and other regulated financial organizations to be very careful about owning volatile crypto assets. Bailey added that future laws for crypto assets will combine risk management with the need to foster innovation and competition.

While acknowledging the benefits of innovation, the Bank of England stated that these changes would only be sustained if strong public policy frameworks were in place. The FPC also expressed support for the UK Treasury’s proposal earlier this year for a legal framework controlling the use of stablecoins as a form of payment. This included proposals for putting systemic stablecoins under the regulatory purview of the bank.

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Bitcoin News

$140 Million Stolen From Crypto Platform

The third crypto fraud of the month just happened as investors lost $140 million to hackers in Vulcan Forged. Vulcan Forged is a company that provides a wide range of crypto-related services. It is primarily a gaming company, with six distinct blockchain-based games available. It does, however, have an NFT marketplace and its own decentralized exchange where users may trade its currency PYR. When a user opens an account with Vulcan Forged, the platform generates a set of blockchain wallets on the Ethereum, Polygon, and VeChain blockchains for them. Instead of requiring the user to manage their own private keys, the platform does it on their behalf.

The hackers acquired the private keys to 96 wallets, siphoning out 4.5 million PYR, VulcanForge’s token that can be used across its ecosystem, according to a series of tweets from the firm on Sunday and Monday. VulcanForge’s major business is generating games like VulcanVerse, which it defines as a “MMORPG,” and Berserk, a card game. Both titles, like nearly other blockchain games, appear to be primarily built as platforms for buying and selling in-game products tied to NFTs utilizing PYR.

The company wrote on their official Discord channel: “Over 4m PYR has been stolen from users’ wallets. It was premature to say this is [wallet management service] Venly’s end: we simply don’t know the cause. All funds stolen will be replaced once we’ve understood what’s happened.”

The company asked users to quickly move their funds to Metamusk, a popular crypto wallet. The total amount of cryptocurrency stolen in the three thefts that happened this month is around $404 million. PYR, like many new coins, trades on decentralized exchanges, making the VulcanForge hack noteworthy.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Avalanche (AVAX) Explained

Because of Bitcoin, blockchain has evolved in an unusual way. Because Bitcoin was the first blockchain, the design of future chains, such as Ethereum, was inspired by it. This is currently problematic for a number of reasons. Because there were so few individuals using Bitcoin when it first began in 2009, the technological restrictions were less important.

The developers of Avalanche, Ava Labs, say they have created the quickest smart contract blockchain platform to ever exist. Avalanche runs at internet-scale thanks to the use of three separate blockchains beneath the hood, paving the way for a future in which crypto is a global backbone technology.

This tutorial will teach you all you need to know about Avalanche, the twelfth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap at the moment, including how it operates and what the AVAX token is used for. Let’s get started!

What is Avanlache?

Avalanche (AVAX) is a blockchain platform with smart contracts that focuses on transaction speed, cheap costs, and environmental friendliness. Avalanche allows you to create speedy and low-cost dApps that are Solidity-compatible. You can deploy blockchains, both private and public, to meet the specific requirements of your application.

$AVAX is Avalanche’s native coin; you can stake it to process transactions and secure the network, above the customary 51 percent threshold. Furthermore, the hardware requirements are minimal. Avalanche’s ultimate goal is to create a highly scalable blockchain that does not compromise decentralization or security.

History

Dr. Emin Gun Sirer founded Avalanche in 2019, but the Ava Labs team launched it in 2020. Avalanche quickly rose the cryptocurrency rankings and now lies just outside the top ten as the twelfth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. Similarly, Avalanche TVL (Total Value Locked in the Protocol) is soaring, reaching $3 billion across Avalanche dApps.

Avalanche is a genuine contender in a heated arms race to develop the world’s fastest blockchain, with a remarkable team, enthusiastic community, and loyal backers. Since its founding, it has strived to achieve the shortest completion time for blockchain transactions. The time it takes for a crypto transaction to process and be regarded permanent and irreversible is referred to as finality. Once a transaction has reached finality, it is irrevocable — it cannot be reversed or altered.

How it Works

The Avalanche ecosystem is home to a variety of projects related to decentralized finance (DeFi), digital securities, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), nodes, stablecoins, trading bots, wallets, and many more. The Avalanche wallet provides safe, non-custodial storage for Avalanche assets. The network is where you can view network statistics such as transaction volume, network activity, the list of top assets, and latest transaction updates for the P-chain, X-chain, and C-chain. Finally, to use the Avalanche Bridge, you can connect using your browser wallet (e.g., MetaMask) or the Coinbase wallet.

Exchange Chain (X-Chain)

The Exchange Chain (X-Chain) is the blockchain in charge of producing and transferring Avalanche assets. The platform’s native token AVAX is now the most popular cryptocurrency, although decentralized exchange tokens JOE and PNG aren’t far behind. Transaction fees on the X-Chain are paid in AVAX. This is comparable to how Ethereum gas fees are paid in ETH. As a result, even if you’re exchanging JOE tokens, fees are always settled in AVAX.

Platform Chain (P-Chain)

Anyone can use Avalanche’s P-Chain to create an L1 or L2 blockchain. You can even make an entire group of them. These blockchains are referred to as subnets in the network, with the P-Chain serving as the default subnet shared by everybody. The P-Chain administers the Avalanche subnet landscape by keeping track of validators, but subnets are also in charge of verifying the P-Chain.

Contract Chain (C-Chain)

Avalanche’s defining feature are smart contracts. This feature allows developers to create decentralized applications on Avalanche while benefiting from the platform’s security and scalability. The C-Chain is EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) compatible and runs smart contracts for the platform. Because Avalanche is EVM compatible, anyone can deploy Ethereum smart contracts. What’s the big deal about that? Because current Ethereum programs, such as DeFi titans Aave, can quickly release an Avalanche version of their product.

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Bitcoin

Ripple Co-Founder Has a Solution to Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption

One of the most common causes of criticism among Bitcoin critics is the network’s energy consumption, however according to Chris Larsen, there may be a solution. Chris Larsen, a Ripple co-founder, has offered an inventive approach for Bitcoin to drastically lower its energy use. He points out that the only way to go from a high-energy consensus to low-energy is to alter the network’s architecture. It is generally known that such a modification would have a substantial impact on the Bitcoin network’s nature.

“The least disruptive code proposal would simply take a snapshot of the current hash rate of existing miners and then reward miners on a pro-rata hash power basis through 2140. Existing miners would simply have the rights to future bitcoin rewards without the need to expend additional investments in mining rigs.”

Chris Larsen

Larsen believes his approach is fair because it compensates miners for their efforts in safeguarding the Bitcoin network over time with lower operational expenses. Larsen says that the plan might be altered to adhere to staking rules for stronger network security. While miners may see the shift away from Proof-of-Work detrimental to their interests, Larsen’s technique implies that they may still reap their profits without having to spend a fortune on energy. His concept entails tokenizing a new asset class that can be acquired by individuals, mining pools, and funds looking to earn BTC.

Larsen’s Analogy Meets Some Arguments

Larsen’s plan has been met with a slew of complaints since he made it public. The most vocal contention is that Proof-of-Work is what distinguishes Bitcoin and makes it safe, with maximalists stating that PoS cannot provide comparable security protections. Mining hardware has a 5-year lifetime, and some community members believe that rewarding miners until 2140 for a decade of labour is inappropriate. Larsen’s idea is unlikely to be adopted due to Bitcoin’s intrinsic rigidity, as the network has only seen a few updates since its inception. The most recent were the SegWit and Taproot Upgrades, which occurred in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

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NFT

NFT Series Launched By Pepsi

Pepsi just announced the launch of its first NFT series in its NFTs collection Mic Drop. The NFTs are inspired by Pepsi flavors like classic blue Pepsi, silver Diet Pepsi, red Pepsi Wild Cherry, black Pepsi Zero Sugar, and Crystal Pepsi, and depict a variety of microphone-like characters.

Pepsi’s iconic collection was designed and built by VaynerNFT, an NFT consultant who helps organizations maximize brand development and construct long-term NFT projects. VaynerNFT previously worked with Budweiser to help the Budweiser community extend into the Metaverse.

The music industry played a critical role in helping Pepsi become a part of pop culture through a number of clever efforts. Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kanye West, David Bowie, and other industry legends have all signed deals with Pepsi. Since 2013, it has been the primary sponsor and organizer of Pepsi’s halftime Super Bowl performance, albeit the deal is likely to end.

On December 10th, the Pepsi Mic Drop wallet backlog will open, and users who have been approved will be able to mint it on December 14th. Once the NFT has been coined, it will be authenticated and transferred to the consumer’s wallet instantly. The Pepsi NFT can then be used as the customer wants, including being sold on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace.

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Bitcoin News

Nigeria Top Minister Urges the Government to Embrace Crypto

The crypto industry and the Nigerian government aren’t exactly best friends as the officials have been strict with their views on the digital assets industry. It is famously known that Nigeria, the largest African country, doesn’t accept the virtual currencies. However, not all of them see eye-to-eye on the situation.

Prince Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning seems to believe that the anti-crypto regulation in the country could have grim consequences in the future. His comments appear in a recent report by Bloomberg. 

The minister noted that “uncertainty in regulating cryptocurrencies risks denying government and citizens the chance to maximize opportunities from the technology,” the report said

The statement comes amidst the country’s rising financial issues. Nigeria is suffering from a currency devaluation and double-digit inflation as millions of households are seeking alternatives to get them out of the rut. The country’s youths turned to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as alternatives, leading adoption rates in the entire continent. Nigeria ranked second place after the US on Paxful’s crypto adoption list.

After the forceful crypto ban and blockage of accounts associated with cryptocurrency trading, the country went ahead to launch its own CBDC called the eNaira with the intention to replace cryptocurrencies by improving financial inclusion and digitizing payments. The CBDC imitate cryptocurrencies as it is also built using blockchain technology, stored in a digital wallet, and can be transferred at zero cost.

It has been noticed, however, that it lacks the decentralization cryptocurrencies have since it is under the direct control of CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). eNaira also has daily transaction limits and other layers that are dependent on citizens possessing certain means of identifications.

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Bitcoin News

Singapore Becomes the Crypto Capital of the World

The United States just got knocked off its pedestal by Singapore as the crypto capital of the world.

This year has been a significant one for the crypto industry. Unexpected events are coins rally-ups that changed how so many countries view and approach the world of virtual currency. Now the latest crypto ranking shows which country leads the world for crypto adoption.

Ireland-based tech company, Coincub, has released a Global Crypto Ranking list for Q4 2021. The ranks are based on parameters like government policy, tax laws, regulations, financial sector acceptance and other legalities. It also takes quantitative daga like crypto ownership, Bitcoin ATMs and spending opportunities into account.

Singapore ranks #1 in this quarter’s ranking of the world’s most dynamic crypto countries for 2021/Q4. It used to be in third place. Singapore’s rank comes from its booming crypto economy, its large crypto-owning population and its positive legislation. The country has a clear government strategy and regulations to provide reassurance to crypto-shy investors.

Coincub

The U.S., which used to be number one, now ranks at number three in the list with 1,821 Bitcoin nodes, 25,956 crypto ATMs, and has the only crypto exchange platform, Coinbase, listed on the stock market. The US lost its number one spot due to uncertain legislation around the currency.

“Events are moving at breakneck speed in the crypto economy. In the last few months alone, bitcoin hit new price highs, driving renewed demand worldwide; El Salvador declared bitcoin as legal currency, and China banned it altogether.”

——Sergiu Hamsa, CEO of Coincub

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

What is Terra (LUNA)?

Stablecoins are gaining attention as they now have multiple options you can pick from when choosing where to invest. Terra is a unique project that develops a smart approach to stablecoins and the tools developers can use to create their very own pegged token. It is the tenth-biggest cryptocurrency at the moment with a market cap of $22,361,934,486. Here is everything you need to know.

What is Terra?

Terra is a growing network for financial applications. It is an open-source blockchain payment network for algorithmic stablecoins. It enables users to spend, save, trade, or exchange Terra stablecoins instantly. Basically, users can create stablecoins backed by fiat currencies. These coins primarily use the network’s seigniorage mechanism. It is both a blockchain network and a cryptocurrency. It has two cryptocurrency tokens under this protocol; the other one is Luna.

History

Terra (LUNA) was founded by Do Kwon and Daniel Shim of Terraform labs in January 2018 who sought to create a new type of smart money that’ll reflect the flexible nature of virtual assets. The network uses TendermintDelegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) as its consensus mechanism. The network also provides the capability of smart contract for the creation of a wide range of different stablecoins.

How Terra Works

The Terra protocol maintains the price of the Terra’s stablecoin by ensuring that supply and demand are always balanced. Luna is the variable counterweight to the Terra stablecoin that absorbs its volatility. To do this, the network relies on an elastic supply mechanism. Let’s say the network consists of a Terra and Luna supply pool. To maintain its price, Luna’s pool adds or removes from Terra’s pool, meaning users burn Luna to mint Terra and burn Terra to mint Luna. Get it? This process is achieved by the network’s algorithmic protocol, which stimulates the minting and burning of Terra through commercialized opportunities.

Basically, the network utilizes a programmable infrastructure to provide the market with self-stabilizing stablecoins and other unique features. To accomplish this task, the network relies on an elastic monetary supply mechanism. The platform automatically adjusts the supply of its stablecoins to ensure that their values remained pegged to their underlying assets.

When Terra is trading at a price that is relatively higher than its peg, it implies that the demand for the stablecoin is higher than supply meaning that supply needs to be increased so it can match the demand. The reverse situation occurs when Terra is trading at a price that is relatively lower than its peg, the implication is that there is more supply for the stablecoin than demand. This makes it necessary to reduce the supply until it matches demand. The network then motivates users to burn Terra and mint Luna, which has the effect of boosting Terra’s price by reducing the supply, and lower Luna’s price by increasing the supply. This process is kept ongoing by users until Terra trades at its target price.

Pros

  • Variety of wallets accept and support LUNA
  • Terra is one of the best decentralized stablecoins, and its USDT is a great alternative to Tether’s USDT
  • It has a user-friendly desktop and mobile app
  • It can be easily transferred from one blockchain to another since its tokens functions across multiple blockchains
  • It solves a variety of issues faced with scalability and centralization

Cons

  • Validators and delegators are subjected to slashings
  • It has limited nodes
  • Although fees are low, several types of fees need to be paid
  • Terra’s stablecoins are at a risk of getting hit if the stringent laws negating stablecoins are incorporated as various governments all over the world have started preparing for CBDCs

Categories
Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

SHIBA INU: The Dogecoin Killer

Meme coins have become a thing now, and Shiba Inu is the latest addition. The dog-inspired coin is the thirteenth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap and has seen significant growth this year more than most crypto. Its price soared in 2021, multiplying many times over, but still, it trades for tiny fractions of a cent. The coin is one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies at the moment, with people terming it “the Dogecoin killer” by its army of supporters known as the SHIBArmy.

Here’s everything you need to know about the rallying crypto and why it is taking the market by a storm.

What is Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency that features the Japanese hunting dog Shiba Inu as its mascot. It is created on and hosted by the Ethereum blockchain, rather than its own. This blockchain tracks and manages the crypto coin, verifies and records every transaction that occurs within it. The database is then kept as a long-running record of the movement of the cryptocurrency.

History

The cryptocurrency was created in August 2020 by an individual or group called Ryoshi. It was created as a direct competition to Dogecoin. But unlike the first meme cryptocurrency, the mysterious creator(s) made some design changes that have set the token apart, like the ability to outpace the value of dogecoin, exponentially, without ever crossing the $0.01 mark. SHIB was trading at $0.00002831 during press time, which is a long way from $0.01. Yet, its market cap has already reached a third of Dogecoin’s market cap.

How Shiba Inu Works

Since Shiba Inu is an Ethereum-based token, this means that it is compatible with the Ethereum’s ecosystem. According Ryoshi, the Ethereum blockchain was the perfect host for Shiba Inu because it was already secured and well-established, allowing the project to stay fully decentralized.

The Shiba Inu ecosystem is made up of the three tokens below:

  • Shiba Inu (SHIB): This is the project’s main currency. It powers the entire Shiba Inu ecosystem and has a total supply of 1 quadrillion. Ryoshi then locked 50% of the supply in Uniswap for liquidity purposes while Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, was given the remaining 50%. Buterin sold some of it and donated the money to a Covid-19 relief fund in India, an act that further pushed SHIB’s price higher. Buterin burned 40% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply and reduced the possible amount available to users.
  • Leash (LEASH): This is the second token in Shiba Inu’s ecosystem. it represents the other side of the crypto. Its total supply is 107,646 tokens, far below the trillions of Shiba Inu tokens.
  • Bone (BONE): Bone fits in between the two; in terms of circulation supply. It has a total supply of 250,000,000 tokens. It is the governance token of the ecosystem that allows the ShibArmy to vote on upcoming proposals. It has a total supply of 250 million tokens.

Why Did it Gain So Much Attention in the Past Few Months?

It started in October when SHIB soared more than ten-fold and placed itself on the top ten cryptocurrencies list. This attracted attention from a lot of people and piqued the interest of investors. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, also added to it by tweeting a picture of his new Shiba Inu puppy, Floki, garnering the coin a lot of media attention and significant retail investment. Additionally, the launch of Shiba Inu NFTs arose interest from crypto investors everywhere. This, followed by the unconfirmed rumors that SHIB would be listed on popular stock and crypto trading app Robinhood have also contributed in making the cryptocurrency popular.

Categories
News

The Start of Elon Musk’s Sellout of Tesla Stocks

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and also the world’s richest person, was reported to have sold approximately $5 billion worth of Tesla shares in the first three days of the second week of November to cover his tax obligations after exercising options on a large tranche of stock.

On Monday, he exercised stock options and acquired more than 2 million shares. Those shares were worth $2.5 billion that day. He sold $1.1 billion out of it as part of what SEC filings said was a preplanned move to exercise his stock options. The sale of the additional shares on Tuesday and Wednesday was not preplanned, the filings added.

According to the same filings, the world’s richest person sold about 4.5 million shares between Monday and Wednesday. Tesla’s stock closed trading on Wednesday at more than $1 million, which would value the shares at worth almost $5 billion, but some were sold for slightly higher prices.

Elon Musk then went to Twitter on Saturday and asked his followers in a poll whether he should sell 10% of his shares in the electric car company and the poll which collected more than 3.5 million votes had 58% of them supporting the decision to sell. Elon’s 17% stake is worth $208 billion as of Friday’s market close and 10% of his stock is valued at about $20.8 billion, indicating that there was $15.8 billion more stock sales from Elon Musk in the coming days or weeks if he is to make good on his decision.

In total, Musk has sold about 4.5 million shares that week, separate from the 2.1 million that he gained from stock options. As of this winter, he owns more than 20% stake in the company. 

According to an SEC report, the Tesla CEO had originally filed to sell some of his stocks long before he even set up the Twitter poll. The regulatory body disclosed that at least $1.1 billion of the sales have been in motion since September, via an arrangement called the 10b5-1 plan.

The 10b5-1 plan is a rule established by the SEC that is often used by executives in order to desist from suspicions of insider trading and is usually used to spread sales over a certain period of time. Filings covering the remaining sales made on Tuesday and Wednesday did not specify whether they were made under this same arrangement or not.

Categories
News

WhatsApp Tests New Crypto Payment Feature

There’s a new way to try the @Novi digital wallet. Starting today, a limited number of people in the US will be able to send and receive money using Novi on @WhatsApp, making sending money to family and friends as easy as sending a message. pic.twitter.com/dGz3lejri7— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) December 8, 2021

Social media giant, WhatsApp, which is backed by Meta (formerly known as Facebook) just announced through Novi’s incoming head Stephane Kasriel and WhatsApp’s Will Cathcart, that it is launching a limited testing trial of a new feature that will allow users to make cryptocurrency payments without paying fees. The feature is sponsored by Novi, Meta’s digital wallet that was launched a couple six weeks ago, with payments made using Pax Dollars (USDP), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar issued by Paxos.

New in the US: use your @Novi digital wallet to send and receive money right within a @WhatsApp chat. People use WA to coordinate sending money to loved ones, and now Novi will help them do that securely, instantly and with no fees. https://t.co/4wG4t8zwKh

The USDP is designed as a stablecoin (linked to the value of USD) as a way to avoid the kind of price volatility associated with Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies. 1 USDP = 1 USD. Users can add money to their Novi account via the free app, which automatically converts them to Pax. 

“People use WhatsApp to coordinate sending money to loved ones and now Novi will help them do that securely, instantly and with no fees.”

–Cathcart.

Categories
Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Bitcoin Cash: What You Should Know

Bitcoin Cash comes from Bitcoin based on the same technology and it’s used the same way, but like Litecoin it’s a unique variation that is separate from the king crypto. Here’s what you should know about Bitcoin cash.

What is Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin Cash is the result of a Bitcoin hard fork that occurred in 2017. It was created to accommodate a larger block size, compared to Bitcoin, that allows more transactions into a single block. Bitcoin cash, like Bitcoin, is decentralized, processed, validated and logged on a blockchain, finite (just like Bitcoin, only 21 million will ever be made), and anonymous.

How it Works

Back in 2010, the average size of a block on Bitcoin’s blockchain was less than 100KB and the average fee for a transaction amounted to just a couple of cents. This caused the blockchain to be vulnerable to attacks, consisting of cheap transactions that could potentially impede the system. To prevent that from happening, the size of the blockchain had to be limited to 1MB. Each block is generated every 10 minutes, allowing for space and time between successive transactions. The limitation on size and time required to generate a block added another layer of security on bitcoin’s blockchain.

However, these safeguards proved to be an obstacle when Bitcoin started gaining popularity and adoption. The average size of a block increased to 600K by the beginning of 2015 and the number of Bitcoin transactions surged, causing a jam up of dubious transactions. The average time it takes to confirm a transactions also moved upwards. So did the fee for a transaction. This weakened the argument that Bitcoin is a competitor to expensive credit card processing systems.

Fees for transactions on bitcoin’s blockchain are specified by users. Miners typically push transactions with higher fees to the front of the queue in order to maximize profits.

What is it Used For?

BCH can be used as a long-term store of value or as a highly effective medium of exchange. These two use cases combine with the decentralized and open nature of the protocol to make Bitcoin Cash (the network) a method for supporting and enhancing global economic freedom.

What Problem Does it Solve?

Bitcoin’s blockchain had big problems; like signature data, block size, and segregated witness. Eventually, Bitcoin outgrew its blockchain, and as more people joined, the system became harder to scale, causing both transaction times and costs to grow so high that Bitcoin’s chief miners and producers worried about its viability.

Bitcoin Cash proposes to solve  the situation by increasing the size of blocks to between 8 MB and 32 MB, thereby processing more transactions per block. The average number of transactions per block on Bitcoin at the time Bitcoin Cash was created was between 1,000 to 1,500.4 The number of transactions on Bitcoin Cash’s blockchain during a stress test in Sep. 2018 surged to 25,000 per block.

Categories
News

Crypto Executives Appear Before Congress

Six major crypto executives arrive at Washington to attend a much-anticipated Congressional hearing to push back on looming regulations. The hearing took place on Wednesday, 8th December, and it revealed an emerging ideology over how the government and regulators see the industry. It lasted about five hours. The firms represented are Bitfury, Circle, Coinbase, FTX, Paxos and the Stellar Development Foundation

The executives tried to convince the congress that their technologies hold promise for the future amidst regulators and lawmakers trying to bring the over $2 trillion market under government scrutiny. Top Democrats showed a clear skepticism toward the financial risks associated with the crypto industry whilst Republicans largely called for a more cautious approach in enacting new laws.

One of the major concerns were regulatory regimes for stablecoins and trading platforms. Two companies involved with the two largest stablecoins, Paxos and Circle, were asked in one exchange by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez to verify that all their backings were cash or Treasury bills before they get support for federal standards. The two CEOs agreed to do so without hesitation.

The executives all agree that despite the fact that hundreds of millions of people all over the world have invested in virtual currencies, the asset class needs clearer rules of the road, which they believe Congress can provide. While cryptocurrencies are seen as volatile, opaque and full of risks, they make financial transactions faster, cheaper, and more accessible to everyone around the world.

FTX Trading Ltd. Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried told lawmakers: “The industry has the potential to improve a lot of people’s lives.”

Another major problem discussed was an overarching regulator for crypto exchange platforms. Bankman-Fried and Alesia Haas, Coinbase’s global CFO were somewhat in support. Haas stated, under oath, that the SEC provided no explanation before it shut down Coinbase’s Lend product.

The executives also tried to convince the lawmakers about the underlying blockchain technology being a revolutionary innovation in decentralization that would help take back control of the Internet from tech giants like Google. The Web 3.0 concept was a major part of the pitch. 

“The advocates of crypto represent the powers in our society. The powers in our society on Wall Street and in Washington have spent millions, and are trying to make billions or trillions in the crypto world.”

—Rep. Brad Sherman

All in all, the executives are saying they agree to regulation, but they want it done their way.

Categories
Bitcoin

CREATOR OF BITCOIN TO BE REVEALED AT FLORIDA TRIAL

An upcoming trial in Florida about the family of a deceased man suing his former business partner over control of their partnership’s assets is suspected to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto, the famous yet anonymous creator of Bitcoin.

The assets being referred to are a cache of about one million bitcoins, which are equivalent to $63 billion today, belonging to the creator of Bitcoin. The said deceased man has been reported by his family to be a business partner to Nakamoto which makes them entitled to half the fortune.

The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been a long mystery that remains unsolved. People have even speculated it to be more than one person and confusions are rising as to why he, she or they have not touched anything out of that money.

Bitcoin has become a trillion-dollar market with tens of millions of investors. The technology behind it is seen by some as a way to rewire the global financial system. Yet, the identity of its creator and why it was created has remained a mystery

 Vel Freedman, the family’s lawyer said:  “We believe the evidence will show there was a partnership to create and mine over one million bitcoin.”

The plaintiffs are to show evidence of the two working together and being involved in bitcoin since its inception. A lawyer observing the case thinks that it’s about two friends who maintained a partnership and one of them tried to take everything for themself after the other one’s death.

With all the speculations, there is only one one piece of evidence that could reveal who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and that is the private key that controls the account where the creator supposedly stored the one million bitcoins. If anyone claims to be Nakamoto should be able to prove that by moving even a tiny amount of the fortune from the account.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

What is Litecoin? Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Litecoin is the world’s first altcoin. If Bitcoin is the gold equivalent of the virtual currency world, then Litecoin is its silver counterpart due to their similarities. Matter fact, its inventor said that Litecoin was created in order to make a coin that is a silver to Bitcoin’s gold, but with the purpose of improving the king crypto. Litecoin was developed to improve on some of the shortcomings of the world’s first successful crypto, Bitcoin. At the moment, Litecoin is the eighteenth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap with a market cap of $11.37 billion. Here’s everything you need to know about the oldest altcoin. 

What is Litecoin?

Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was created two years after Bitcoin, by former Google engineer Charlie Lee, using an open-source global payment network that is not controlled by any central authority. Litecoin, however, differs from Bitcoin in aspects like faster block generation rate and use of Scrypt as a proof of work scheme. Like most cryptocurrencies, Litecoin utilizes blockchain technology to remain decentralized.

In its early years, the oldest altcoin was a strong competitor to Bitcoin, but as the crypto market is becoming more saturated and competitive, Litecoin’s power and popularity has somewhat faltered.

History of Litecoin

Litecoin rose to fame in October of 2011 after the publication of its whitepaper by Charlie Lee, who was a former engineer at Google and a old-time long-time Bitcoinist. Although Lee recognized and acknowledged the value of Bitcoin, he noticed that there were some areas that could help propel a larger blockchain adoption if improved, and he began to work on it. His improvements focused on reduced transaction times, fees, and the elimination of concentrated mining pools.

It took LTC only two years to achieve a $1 billion market capitalization and the coin only went further. It reached its official all-time high of $360.93 at the end of 2017, representing an 8,200% increase over its value a year prior when its value was only $4.40. In a twist no one expected, Lee sold all his Litecoin holdings at the same time the coin hit its all-time high, explaining via Reddit that he was having concerns over his growing influence on the platform. In his famous posts, Lee said that whenever he tweets about Litecoin’s price or even just good news/bad news, he gets accused of doing it for selfish reasons and personal benefits. Some people even thought he shorted LTC, and he felt that it was a conflict of interest for him to keep holding the coin and tweet about it because he has way too much influence. 

Satoshi Nakamoto does it better, no?

LTC hit a new all-time high of $410.26 on May 10th, 2021.

How it Works

As mentioned, Litecoin operates in a way that is very similar to Bitcoin. The two are almost identical, except for a few differences. Charlie Lee began the creation of Litecoin by borrowing the core code from Bitcoin, the. He made several changes to the protocol. One of the major upgrades he made was he reduced the block approval time to two and a half minutes instead of ten minutes. Just like with Bitcoin, these blocks contain the next batch of transactions awaiting approval. 

This time reduction gave LTC more scalability as it is now 4x faster than Bitcoin in terms of transactions per seconds as it only costs 1/1000 of a LTC to process a transaction. The founder also changed the transaction fee model within Litecoin, making it more appealing to people. LTC’s fee structure is 1/50 the size of Bitcoin’s.

Pros

  • Has a long-standing reputation in the crypto market top coins
  • Explosive returns are possible during uptrends
  • Transactions confirm much faster than Bitcoin
  • Lower fees than other cryptocurrencies
  • Good performance

Cons

  • Recent sentiment has been turning slightly bearish
  • Litecoin’s popularity and power has been going down recently as it dropped from top ten crypto to the eighteenth biggest crypto by market cap
  • The asset’s halving doesn’t have the same impact as Bitcoin’s
  • The founder’s asset sale tarnished reputation with early investors
Categories
News

eNaira Lured Almost Half a Million Customers

18 days after its launch, 448,000 consumer wallets have been created on the CBDC platform known as the eNaira from over 160 countries across the globe. The Central Bank of Nigeria reported that about 78,000 merchant wallets have also been created on the platform.

Transactions on the eNaira are about 17,000 which is worth over N62 million. The platform recorded almost 200,000 wallets downloads less than 24 hours after the launch of eNaira. This is an indication of growing enthusiasm for Africa’s first virtual currency, which has been described as a game-changer.

“It is a direct liability of the bank, a legal tender and will form part of the currency-in-circulation and will be at par with the physical naira,” CBN said.

The eNaira was officially launched on October 25, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari who believes the digital asset would boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by $29 billion in the next decade. Nigeria is the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce its own digital currency.

The President said. “Indeed, some estimates indicate that the adoption of CBDC and its underlying technology, called blockchain, can increase Nigeria’s GDP by $29 billion over the next 10 years. CBDCs can also help increase remittances, foster cross border trade, improve financial inclusion, make monetary policy more effective, and enable the government to send direct payments to citizens eligible for specific welfare programmes.”

The president further assured his citizens of the safety and scalability of the CBDC, adding that the journey to create a digital currency for Nigeria began way back in 2017. The purpose of the research was to create a compelling case for the adoption of a virtual asset in the country to enable a more prosperous and inclusive economy for all Nigerians everywhere. CBN decided to implement its own CBDC and to name the digital currency, the eNaira, and the governor believes that this will make a significant positive difference to Nigeria and Nigerians.

Categories
News

Visa Launches A Crypto Advisory Service

Visa just announced that it is launching a crypto advisory service that will cater to banks aiding their plans for cryptocurrencies, using its crypto experience as the sector increasingly goes mainstream. According to a news release, the service, which is run by the company’s consulting and analytics division, will help assess the crypto opportunity, develop concrete strategies, and pilot new user experiences and innovations like crypto rewards programs and CBDC-integrated consumer wallets. 

The world’s largest payments provider has been pushing into the crypto industry for some time now. The payments processing giant processed more than $3 billion virtual currency transactions via its crypto-linked card schemes from October last year to September this year. The number of people working on cryptocurrency-related projects at the payments giant has jumped well into the hundreds just this year alone, according to Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield.

A recent survey of 6000 customers found that 94% of them were aware of crypto and one out of three even claimed that they own or have used the digital assets. Meanwhile, 62% of them said their usage has increased in the last year. Moreover, 40% of those who own crypto said that within the next 12 months they are most likely to change their primary bank to one that issues crypto-related products.

Sheffield said that they think there’s deep consumer demand for the space and that every financial institution should have a crypto strategy, and that’s why they’re setting up this advisory services team.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

All You Need To Know About BUSD

As people around the world are consistently becoming acquainted to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, other strong aspiring digital assets that use different technologies are making their way into the spotlight as well. One of the most notable ones used today are the stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies with a more stable value that uses other assets such as fiat currency, commodities, and other cryptocurrencies to back their value. The value of a stablecoin changes depending on its backed assets, which are usually fiat currencies at the moment. That means 1 BUSD = 1 USD. Three main stablecoins widely known and used are Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD).

What is BUSD?

Binance USD (BUSD) is a USD-denominated stablecoin approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services that was launched by Paxos and Binance. It is one of the few stablecoins that are highly regulated. In addition, it is very accessible and can be used for different trading and investing strategies.

History

The stablecoin was founded in 2019 through a partnership between Paxos and Binance in an effort to create a cryptocurrency that would be backed by the US dollar. Paxos holds an amount of US dollars that is equal to the total supply of BUSD to supply the USD value, and so the price of the stablecoin changes directly with the price of USD. BUSD provides a monthly audited report of reserves in compliance with stringent regulatory standards to ensure the security and safety of user assets. Because of its congenital properties as a stablecoin, BUSD has been performing exceptionally well and has managed to establish itself as a leader in the cryptocurrency space as it is the sixteenth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap at the moment. Since its launch, the stablecoin has performed so well that it is now–at time of writing–an asset with a $13.5 billion market cap.

Why All The Buzz?

With an exceptional increase in crypto adoption this year thanks to price explosions, BUSD was adopted at extraordinary rates due to its reliability. As crypto innovations like DeFi and NFTs start to get in the spotlight, so did BUSD. At the moment, more than 1.5 million people are already holding BUSD. BUSD acts as a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi, presenting a newfound level of monetary freedom that isn’t offered by traditional currencies or institutions.

How it Works

To ensure financial stability, Binance, the stablecoin’s parent company, has guaranteed a US dollar behind every BUSD in capital reserve, ensuring a 100% reserve ratio. 100% of BUSD in circulation has a corresponding US dollar asset in the custody of a third party financial trust, and customers can convert between BUSD and US dollars at any time. As soon as BUSD is issued, it can be used with the stablecoin’s wallets for a range of purposes, including transactions, payments, wiring and reserves, just like any other cryptocurrency.

Pros

  • Pegged to the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio
  • Fully collateralized and has audited reserves
  • It is the only crypto verified by financial institutions and audited by international accounting firms
  • Regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services
  • A low-volatility asset that traders can hold.

Cons

  • Not suited for trading as it is a stablecoin
  • It is only available on Binance and Paxos
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News

Elon Musk Sold Total of $7 Billion In Tesla Stock

Keeping to his word, billionaire Elon Musk has sold out his Tesla shares, putting more and more billions into his pocket.

As reported earlier, the richest person in the world took to Twitter to carry out a poll asking whether or not he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares. 58% voted yes which was considered a win and lo and behold, Musk began selling some of his stock not long after keeping his word.

The first sale made over $5 billion and the recent sale was worth $1.2 billion. Since the announcement of the poll and the sale of stocks, Tesla’s share price has been on a constant decline. The last 24 hours have seen the electric car company’s share slump by 3.31% to trade at $1,033.

With roughly $7 billion in his pocket, it’s left bulls wondering whether Elon Musk will turn his sights towards the cryptocurrency markets where he has maintained a keen interest. In July, he revealed that he owns Bitcoin and Ethereum and also has an affinity towards meme coins. What his next move will be is entirely unpredictable.

Musk’s long-standing passion towards Bitcoin resulted in Tesla buying $1.5 billion worth of the leading crypto earlier this year and the company to start accepting BTC as a payment method for its electric cars only for it to cut short s couple months after.

In October, Elon Musk posted a meme that forecasted Bitcoin’s price at $69,000 and Ethereum at $4,200. It’s being speculated that Tesla might be on its way to begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles again.

Categories
News

FTX U.S. Said That Daily Trading Has Volume Jumped 500%

FTX released its third-quarter reports which showed that its trading volume has jumped 500% in the last quarter alone. The company holds 4.5% of the U.S. crypto market at the end of the third-quarter, going up from 2% as of that period.

Average daily volume jumped more than 500% during the period, with 24-hour volume of around $807 million seen at the start of September. User count grew by more than 50% and headcount increased by 30%.

The results came during a period when crypto prices were just starting to recover from second-quarter declines when prices rallied rapidly following a more than 50% pullback. The cryptocurrency market is now worth more than $3 trillion.

Bitcoin rose to about 25% in the July-to-September period and Ethereum rose to 33%. The company’s trend contrasts with figures from Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., which reported a 75% drop in net income in the third quarter.

Brett Harrison, the President of FTX U.S. said that the company is benefiting from a marketing strategy, usually from affiliate FTX, that’s seen big outlays on high-profile sports sponsorships. The company sponsors Major League Baseball, and owns naming rights to the arena where the Miami Heat basketball team plays. It also entered a long-term partnership with celebrity couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, and has bought an ad in the upcoming Super Bowl, one of the most high-profile and expensive opportunities for publicity in sports broadcasting.

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Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

USDC: THE SECOND-LARGEST STABLECOIN

The US Dollar Coin, known USDC, is a stablecoin that was created by Centre, a organization sponsored exchange platform Coinbase and Fintech firm Circle. USDC has a set value of US$1 and each coin is backed by a US dollar in a separate bank account. This is why it is a popular choice for investors who want to avoid the volatility and price risk associated with big currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Here is everything you need to know about the stablecoin:

What is USDC?

USD Coin is a stablecoin with a fixed value of $1 per coin. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies with a more stable value that uses other assets such as fiat currency, commodities, and other cryptocurrencies to back their value. The value of a stablecoin changes depending on its backed assets, which are usually fiat currencies at the moment. USDC uses the US dollar as its backed asset in 1:1 ratio; meaning 1 USD = 1 USDC.

History

The stablecoin was first announced on 15th May 2018 by Circle, but was launched later in September of the same year with the partnership of Coinbase. On March 29, 2021, Visa announced that it would allow the use of USDC to settle transactions on its payment network. Earlier this year, Circle said that there are 24.1 billion coins in circulation.

What Problem Does USDC Solve?

USDC solves two major issues that exist in the industry, which are high volatility and convertibility between crypto and fiat currencies. The network was launched out of the insight that the crypto industry needed a fiat-collateralized stablecoin with strong governance and transparency, unlike USDT. The stablecoin solve these issues through publishing a monthly public attestation of 100% reserves of fiat currencies on CENTRE.io and issuing out rules and guidelines for CENTRE’s users regarding USDC issuance and redemption. Exchanges have been the primary users of USDC as an alternative to fiat currencies, outsourcing the need to maintain banking relationships. Moreover, it is one of the only fiat-collateralized stablecoins available for use in the proliferate DeFi ecosystem.

How it Works

USDC runs on Ethereum, a decentralized and programmable blockchain that developers use to create a huge range of apps and tokens. Every USD Coin is backed by a single US dollar in segregated accounts with US regulated financial institutions, according to Circle. Tokenization is the process of converting US cash into USDC tokens. The conversion of USD to USDC is a simple three-step procedure. First, the user sends USD to the bank account of the token issuer. Then the issuer creates an identical quantity of USDC using a USDC smart contract. Finally, the user will then receive the freshly issued USDC while the replaced US dollars are retained in reserve.

Uses

Stablecoins like USDC have a wide range of uses; which are:

  • Earn rewards on USDC held in a Coinbase account.
  • Earn even higher yields by lending your USDC via a variety of decentralized finance (or DeFi) applications.
  • Send money cheaply and near-instantly anywhere in the world without a traditional bank account (a huge improvement over wire transfers which can be expensive and take days).

Categories
News

Crypto Exchange BitMart Losses $196M To Hackers

A tweet from a security analysis firm, Peckshield, said on Saturday that $196 million worth of crypto has been stolen from exchange platform BitMart by hackers. Peckshield estimates the losses to be $100 million in various cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum blockchain and $96 million on Binance Smart Chain.

BitMart confirmed the hack last night in an official statement and called it a large-scale security breach, adding, however, that the loss was about $150 million in crypto. The company added that all withdrawals are temporarily suspended until further notice and a thorough security review is underway.

“At this moment we are still concluding the possible methods used. We are now conducting a thorough security review and we will post updates as we progress.”

At first, BitMart denied any breach of security and deemed the reports of the hack as fake news. Peckshield also shared that in a tweet. A few hours later, BitMart’s CEO, Sheldon Xia, confirmed the hack and admitted that it was indeed a result of a security breach.

The amount lost makes this one of the biggest and most devastating crypto hacks of all time. An update to this story will be reported as it is an ongoing report.

Categories
Guides & Tutorials

Best Ways to Analyze the Forex Markets

Forex analysis is the study of determining whether to buy, sell, or wait on trading a currency pair. Currencies trade in pairs, with the exchange rates based on the price of one currency relative to the other. It is used by forex traders who buy and sell currencies with the goal of making a profit. 

Forex analysis is the practice of determining which currency within a pair is likely to get stronger over a given period of time. Forex traders will study a range of sources to help them in making these predictions. These sources include fundamental factors, such as the state of the economy, the price of relevant commodities such as oil, or any major news events affecting international economics. Technical factors are also considered, such as the recent price history of the currency relative to its historical averages.

Types of Forex Market Analysis

There are generally three types of forex analysis traders use to anticipate market movements and analyse trends, and they are:

Fundamental Analysis:

Forex fundamentals center mostly around the currency’s interest rate. This is because the interest rates have a sizable effect on the forex market. Other fundamental factors are gross domestic product, inflation, manufacturing, economic growth activity. Although whether those other fundamental releases are good or bad is of less importance than how those releases affect the nation’s interest rate.

Traders reviewing the fundamental releases need to keep in mind how they might affect the future movement of interest rates. When investors are in a risk-seeking mode, money follows yield, and higher rates could mean more investment. When investors are in a risk averse mentality, then money leaves yield for safe-haven currencies.

Technical Analysis

Technical analysis is the study of a historical price action in order to identify patterns and determine probabilities of future movements in the market through the use of technical studies, indicators, and other analysis tools. Technical analysis boils down to two things: identifying trends. Forex technical analysis involves looking at patterns in price history to determine the higher probability, time, and place to enter a trade and exit a trade. This is why technical analysis in forex is one of the most widely used types of analysis.

Technical analysis can also be conducted through the use of indicators. Actually, many traders prefer using indicators because the signals are easy to read, and it makes forex trading simpler. Technical vs. fundamental analysis is a widely debated topic in Forex. There isn’t a right answer to which one of them is better. Traders tend to adopt one, or a combination of the two, in their analysis.

–Sentiment Analysis

Another widely-known type of forex analysis is Sentiment Analysis. Sentiment analysis is used to gauge how other traders feel, whether it’s about the overall currency market or about a particular currency pair. Whenever you see sentiment overwhelmingly positioned to one direction, this means the vast majority of traders are already committed to that position.

Applying Forex Market Analysis

To apply Forex Market Analysis, traders need to utilize all three types of Forex Market Analysis. This can be done by:

–Understanding and Identifying the Trends: Understanding a country’s GDP, interest rate and inflation rate provides insight on the strength of that country’s economy and by extension, their currency. For example, if the US begins an interest rate hiking cycle, the US dollar will look more appealing. If enough investors or traders buy the US dollars, this will prop up the value of the USD.

–Analyzing Ideal Entry Points: Using multiple time frame technical analysis and an indicator like the MACD or Relative Strength Index, traders can spot ideal entries into the market.

–Considering cient’s sentiment as the final check mark before entering a trade: Traders should analyze client sentiment either by observing the net number of traders long or short, or by trading the difference in net short/long movements. The main takeaway however, is that retail clients tend to trade against prevailing trends therefore, making client sentiment a contrarian indicator.

Acquiring Forex Trading Systems and Strategies

Forex trading requires putting together several characteristics to produce a trading strategy that works for you. There are countless strategies that can be followed, but understanding and being comfortable with the strategy is very important. Every trader has unique goals and resources, which must be taken into consideration when selecting the suitable strategy.

Measures that can be used to compare different strategies and their appropriateness include the frequency of trading opportunities, time and resource required, and the typical distance to target.

A day trader’s currency trading system may be manually applied, or the trader may make use of automated forex trading strategies that incorporate technical and fundamental analysis. These are available for free, for a fee, or can be developed by more tech-savvy traders.

Bottomline

Neither technical nor fundamental forex analysis is better than the other. The most feasible option for investors/traders will depend on their timeframe and access to information.

When considering a trading strategy to pursue, it can be useful to compare how much time investment is required behind the monitor, the risk-reward ratio and regularity of total trading opportunities. Each trading strategy will appeal to different traders depending on personal attributes. Matching trading personalities with the appropriate strategy is what will ultimately allow traders to take the first step in the right direction.

Categories
Altcoins Guides & Tutorials

Understanding Ripple (XRP)

Ripple is the eighth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ripple acts both as a cryptocurrency and a digital payment network for financial transactions. Here is everything you need to know about Ripple, its history, and why it is as big as it is.

What is Ripple?

Ripple is a blockchain-based digital payment network and protocol with its own cryptocurrency, XRP. XRP is designed to confirm transactions almost immediately at a far lower cost, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, known for being costly and slow. Ripple’s goal is to provide a more efficient means to send cross-border payments in the financial industry, particularly in the banking sector. It aims to do this by reducing costs and transaction times by removing the middleman. The idea is that Ripple serves as a trusted agent between two parties in a transaction as the network can quickly confirm that the exchange went through properly.

History

Ripple started by software developer Ryan Fugger in 2004 as RipplePay, a network that wanted to provide secure and fast financial transactions across the world at relatively lower costs than current payment networks. Initially, RipplePay only enabled individuals to extend credit lines to their friends and family, traditional online payments and payment of online currency. But in 2012, a technology company called RippleLabs took over RipplePay and restructured its entire protocol. This new system included features of a digital cash system through the integration of a new cryptocurrency, XRP.

XRP hit significant price highs of around $3 per coin in early 2018, going up from its value of $0.05 in early 2017. In 2019, $200 million was added to the company for its efforts by a Series C funding. In December of last year, however, Ripple started having regulatory issues as a complaint was filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which states that Ripple sold XRP to investors in the U.S. and the global public as part of an unregistered securities sale that garnered over $1.3 billion. The commission alleged XRP of being a security, which fell under the SEC’s jurisdiction. Ripple has argued that the SEC’s action came long after the creation of XRP and that other U.S. government agencies have given XRP a classification other than that of a security.

How it Works

Unlike some big names in the industry at the moment, Ripple doesn’t use PoW (proof of work), or PoS (proof of stake). Its transactions rely solely on a consensus protocol that validates account balances and transaction on the system. This improves its integrity by preventing double-spending. For example if a user initiates a transaction with multiple gateways, but wants to send the same $200 to the gateway systems, will have all but the first transaction deleted.

The first transaction is made is decided by individually distributed nodes, and the confirmations take less than five seconds. Since there’s no central authority that can decide who set up a node and confirm transactions, the Ripple network is described as decentralized. Ripple wallets are publicly available on the Ripple consensus ledger, but the data containing transaction history is not linked to the ID or account of any individual or business. Although, the public record of all dealings makes the information susceptible to de-anonymization measures.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Ripple helps reduce costs, as well as increase speed and efficiency
  • Transaction confirmations are incredibly fast
  • Versatility
  • Ripple is being used by large financial institutions

Cons

  • Ripple is considered to be somewhat centralized because of its default list of validators
  • Its long ongoing battle with the SEC
Categories
Guides & Tutorials

Everything You Need To Know About InvestVoyager

Overview

InvestVoyager, a leading name in the world of cryptocurrency investment, is a publicly-traded, licensed crypto-asset broker that provides retail investors with mobile and desktop solutions to trade and earn interest on a wide variety of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 by Stephen Ehrlich, Philip Eytan, Gaspard De Dreuzy, Oscar Salazar, and Serge Kreiker and its headquarters are in the GreaterNew York Area, East Coast, Northeastern US. InvestVoyager is a crypto asset broker that provides retail and institutional investors with a turnkey solution. The platform gives access to over 50 tokens and coins. You can buy, sell or swap assets using Voyager’s simple mobile application available to download for free on both iOS and Android phones.

InvestVoyager’s motto is “we believe that crypto assets are the future of finance and investing. Together, we are creating the broker that the crypto market deserves.” They are a team of finance and technology industry veterans dedicated to empowering and servicing investors in the most exciting asset class to date; which is crypto. The founders have combined their decades worth of experience from leading organizations like E*TRADE, Uber, TradeIt, Lightspeed Financial and more, to bring out Voyager.

The company’s mission is to provide every investor with a trusted and secure access point to crypto asset trading. We offer best-in-class customer service, incomparable access to the most popular assets and commission-free trading. When you invest through Voyager, you’ll pay nothing in commissions, which is a major benefit compared to other cryptocurrency brokers. Voyager is also one of the only brokers that allow users to earn interest on their crypto investments.

A number of decentralized exchanges already exist for the purpose of trading cryptocurrencies, so that’s really not new. However, the fact that crypto investors are able to earn a significant yield on their investments is something worth diving into. That’s why Voyager is one of the unique crypto investment platforms at the moment. The company’s growth over the years has to do with the creation of their incredible token, known as VGX. 

What’s most interesting about VGX is the unique utility it provides investors. Sure VGX is a digital token, just like its peers. However, VGX also provides investors with a unique benefit. By holding a given number of VGX Tokens, Voyager patrons can take advantage of the Voyager yield program, which rewards holders with additional yield on their holdings. Therefore, interest boosts of up to 1 percentage point on cryptocurrencies such as BTC are offered. The more VGX one holds, the higher the yield.

With a token as interesting as VGX, InvestVoyager has certainly been successful over the past few years since its founding, and has managed to make a pretty good name for themselves. According to a recent press release by the broker, their revenue exceeded US$8.5 million for the month of January 2021 and US$2.5 million for the period February 1 to February 4, 2021.Assets Under Management Surpass US$800 Million as of February 4, 2021. The value of customer trades for January increased over 5x to US$840 million up from US$150 million in December, 2020. The Company has executed over US$170 million of trades for the period February 1 through February 4, 2021.

That’s pretty darn impressive.

What are the main services offered by InvestVoyager?

Services offered by InvestVoyager include execution, data, wallet, and custody services through its institutional-grade open architecture platform.

How does InvestVoyager make money?

When Voyager finds you a more advantageous price, it extends the savings onto you and keeps a small percentage of the differentiation. In other words, Voyager’s exchange only makes money when it saves YOU money. They profit off the fall or rise of cryptocurrencies. Voyager also make money from the investments they make. Their latest investment was in Blockdaemon on Jun 8, 2021, which was valued at $28 million.

What are the fees on InvestVoyager?

Voyager Crypto is a 0 commission cryptocurrency trading platform. That means whether you’re buying or selling cryptocurrency, you’ll pay only the quoted price when you finish your order. Voyager uses a unique Smart Order Routing that takes advantage of the divergence between listed prices on cryptocurrency exchanges. You can also earn interest on your cryptocurrency investments as well, simply by leaving them in your Voyager wallet. Interest rates range from 1% to 8.5% APR, depending on the asset. You must meet a minimum number of coins or tokens in your wallet to qualify for Voyager’s interest program.

Is InvestVoyager a regulated financial institution?

InvestVoyager operates in various cities, each of which they have a proper license for. In Alaska, they have the Money Transmitter License (AKMT-013586) with licensing authority by the State of Alaska Division of Banking & Securities. In Arizona, they have the Money Transmitter License (386-594) with licensing authority from the Department of Financial Institutions. In Florida, it’s (FT230000259) with licensing authority from the Office of Financial Regulation. Same with Washington, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, South Dakota, Illinois. They all have proper authorized licenses to operate in all places.

Is InvestVoyager insured?

Cryptocurrency held on the Voyager Platform is not protected by FDIC insurance or any other government-backed or third party insurance. Technical and market factors outside of Voyager’s control may adversely affect the value of Cryptocurrencies. These factors include, without limitation, (i) technical defects, limitations or changes to a given Cryptocurrency; (ii) Forks (as discussed in the User Agreement); and (iii) the emergence of competing Cryptocurrencies. Your ability to purchase Cryptocurrencies through Voyager is contingent on Voyager’s ability to source such Cryptocurrencies from third party providers. Therefore, Voyager makes no promises regarding the timing or ability to purchase Cryptocurrencies using the Voyager Platform.

Is InvestVoyager safe? What sort of security features do they offer?

Voyager is one of the biggest crypto brokerages that gives an easy, user-friendly experience to users. Voyager’s record is clear of any major lawsuits or scandals. Invest Voyager is a very secure platform, although they’ve closed 50 complaints in the past 12 months. Voyager has a 2FA authenticator and you can enable it on the app in your settings under “Security”. 

How to open up an InvestVoyager account?

To open a Voyager account, download the app from either the Apple app store (iOS) or the Google Play Store (Android). Once the app has successfully downloaded to your phone or tablet, open the app and allow the app to send you notifications.

After you’ve allowed notifications, click on “Sign Up.”

Fill the fields required on the Sign Up Form, which are your first name, your last name, your email address, country of residence, and phone number, then click “Continue”

Create a pin to use whenever you open the app.

Click “Show my recovery phrase”. Copy the recovery paste and paste it somewhere like the notes app or write it down in a notepad and keep it safe. The Recovery Phase is important to have when you are logging in after changing your phone or when you’re unable to access your wallet. 

Next is to submit the documents required for verification and identification.

KYC Documents Requirements

Voyager is required by the USA Patriot Act,Know Your Customer (“KYC”) and Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) regulations to collect personally identifiable information (“PII”) to verify your identity and ensure your eligibility to open an account and trade with Voyager. Information we collect includes email address, full name, mobile phone number, home address, date of birth, and social security number. Please note, depending on the results of our initial review, you may be asked to submit additional documentation to support your account opening under these regulations. This documentation request may include, but is not limited to, a clear photo of yourself (“selfie”) holding your valid driver’s license, a passport or other government-issued photo ID, proof of your social security number and proof of your home address.

In what countries is InvestVoyager available in?

Trading on the Voyager App is currently available to residents in all U.S. states, excluding New York. Voyager is also available to residents of U.S. Territories including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Our team is working with regulators to obtain a BitLicense to offer trading to New York residents as soon as possible. Voyager is working to expand internationally into Canada and Europe later this year.

Categories
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Drops Below $50,000

Bitcoin lost almost $20,000 from it’s all-time high of above $69,000 just a few weeks ago, going as low as $49,482 today. The price drop has seen the king crypto drop 22% from November 10th. The drop has seen Bitcoin slice through the $60,000 psychological level time and time again, shedding $20,000 from the all-time high.

The second largest crypto, Ethereum dropped almost 8% to $4,209. If both coins keep up like this, it will be their biggest fall since September. So far, Bitcoin has more than doubled up its price this year, and Ethereum has gone up about six-fold its price. Both broke records last week amidst a fervor for cryptocurrencies caused by a conjectural demand and controversial arguments that they can increase inflation risks.

Some bulls seem to think that the dip is caused by the new tax-reporting requirements for digital assets that are a part of the $550 billion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed off on Monday. However, the reason isn’t quite clear.

Most bulls are expecting the leading crypto to remain between $50,000 to $75,000 in the next 12 months while some seem to believe that Bitcoin will only drop some more. It is still believed by some that it’ll reach the $100,000 mark before the year ends. The money that’s been spent on Bitcoin products and funds have hit a record $9 billion so far this year, and $151 million total last week in its 13th consecutive week of inflows.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is continuously testing the $49,000 support while hitting a new daily low of above $48,000. Initially, traders have been cautious about Bitcoin breaking the previously untouchable support of $60,000, and approximately $1 billion has been lost from highly leveraged positions that were liquidated.