Boxmining v2

Author: amri

  • Dot Finance: Polkadot’s Yield Aggregator & DeFi Hub

    Dot Finance: Polkadot’s Yield Aggregator & DeFi Hub

    Dot Finance is a new decentralized finance (DeFi) platform designed to incentivize the growth of the Polkadot ecosystem. Similar to other DeFi applications, Dot Finance uses smart contracts instead of third parties to provide financial services to users.

    By providing access to a variety of battle-tested high-performing financial instruments, Dot Finance is designed to bring DeFi to a wide range of users and will help increase user exposure to the many benefits of the Polkadot ecosystem. This will help grow the adoption of not just the Polkadot framework but the many new DeFi products and services that Dot Finance is building on top of Polkadot’s safe, secure, and resilient architecture.

    What is Yield Farming?

    Anybody that has been in DeFi long enough has heard about yield farming. At its core, yield farming is the practice of using DeFi protocols to make your money work for you. Instead of having funds stashed in a zero-interest account or a hardware wallet hidden under your mattress, you can use them to lend, borrow, trade, or provide liquidity. DeFi platforms incentivize user participation by rewarding them with native tokens and/or a portion of the transaction fees.

    Yield Farming Strategies

    Yield farming strategies are in constant flux as farmers must continuously adapt to protocol changes, market demands, and gas prices. That being said, the primary goal is to earn the highest rewards by locking up your funds. This is accomplished by supporting Automated Market Makers (AMMs) through addition of funds to Liquidity Pools (LPs).

    When liquidity is added to a pool, you receive LP tokens that represent the amount of your contribution to the pool. The LP tokens can entitle you to a portion of the swap fees from that pool, but you can also stake the LP tokens in different farms to earn rewards. The staking rewards come in the form of a new token, (e.g. PancakeSwap rewards LP token stakers with CAKE tokens) that can also be swapped or staked in different farms and pools. 

    The complexity of strategies increases quickly with all the different options and varying returns available.

    Yield Farming Optimization

    Keeping up with the fluctuating rates and ever-changing market conditions takes a lot of time and energy. If you make a mistake or miss the optimal compounding times, your APY drops significantly. If you farm on Ethereum, you also must worry about the crazy high gas fees eating into your yields with every transaction. Ethereum yield farming has become a space where only whales turn a profit.

    Dot Finance helps farmers avoid these issues and earn the highest returns possible with their yield aggregator. By working on the Polkadot and Kusama blockchains, the transactions are fast, and the gas fees remain low. 

    Dot Finance’s smart contracts automatically compound yields at the optimal frequency to increase your APY and the already low fees are shared across farms by batching the auto-compound transactions. Farmers also have access to automation and compounding at scale. It’s like farming with a tractor instead of pulling a yoke on your shoulders.

    How Dot Finance Maximizes Yields

    Normally, after providing liquidity to a pool and receiving LP tokens, you can stake those to earn new tokens. The rewards incentivize people to add liquidity to the pools but it takes a little more time and effort from the farmers because the funds have to be manually converted and restaked.

    Optimal compounding can be almost magical in how much it increases your returns. For example, if you were to auto-compound once a day for a year, a 40% APR becomes 49%. That’s almost a 25% increase in returns! 

    Dot Finance’s yield aggregator auto-compounds farming yields for you by converting them to LP tokens then staking them. Using their platform means the smart contracts will compound your yields at the optimal rate and entitle you to a share of their performance fee – the Pink Distribution.

    When you harvest your yields (collect rewards), Dot Finance gives you 70% of your earnings in LP tokens, and the other 30% will be issued in their native $PINK tokens. This is based only on your profits, your principal remains untouched. The 30% for which $PINK is minted is the performance fee that goes to the $PINK stakers.

    $PINK Token

    Governance

    Staking $PINK tokens will allow you to participate in DAO governance protocols. When future changes are proposed for the platform, you will be able to vote and help steer the protocols in a direction you think is best.

    Utility

    The native $PINK token is more than just a regular governance token. $PINK incentivizes liquidity provision and helps increase returns when using the platform. It can be staked to earn rewards and is used as an APR multiplier when claiming profits.

    The following shows the fee structure of $PINK:

    • 30% performance fee (the $PINK distribution) – This means 30% of profits will be converted and issued as $PINK tokens upon user withdrawal. The original profits are used to reward individuals that staked their $PINK tokens in the $PINK staking farm.
    • 0.5% withdrawal fee if the withdrawal happens within 72 hours of deposit.

    $PINK Staking

    There is a separate $PINK staking farm that will allow you to stake your tokens and receive a share of $PINK distribution profits. These profits come from the vault’s performance fee – the original 30% that were converted to newly minted $PINK tokens.

    This is an automatic process that happens with every withdrawal, e.g., a user takes profits, the smart contract executes and 30% of those profits are converted and given to everyone with staked $PINK tokens.

    Simply put, when you stake $PINK tokens in the $PINK farm, you receive a share of the $PINK distribution for the entire community.   

    Dot Finance prioritizes community and wants everyone to benefit from the growth and success of the protocol, therefore choosing this mechanism to share the earnings of the protocol with all the $PINK holders.

    Why Polkadot?

    Polkadot is a highly successful blockchain protocol that was designed to connect multiple specialized blockchains into a unified network. Isolated blockchains can only process a finite amount of traffic, and all blockchains make tradeoffs to support a variety of features and use cases. For example, one blockchain might optimize for security, while another might optimize for speed.

    These are the real-life challenges that Polkadot was designed to address. With a sharded multichain network, Polkadot can process many transactions on several chains in parallel. This eliminates bottlenecks. Also, the platform supports blockchains of different designs that are optimized for specific use cases. In this way, Polkadot overcomes the interoperability problem by uniting isolated blockchains, thereby enabling its user base to access and harness all of its advantages in one holistic protocol, making it a real contender for the next generation of blockchains.

    Because of these features, Polkadot has grown significantly over the last year and numerous projects have committed to building on it.

    What’s Next for Dot Finance?

    • Users can expect additional farms to be launched such as DAI-USDC & BUSD-USDC, and other projects in the Polkadot ecosystem.
    • Users will be able to deploy their vault strategy and integrate with Sushi decentralized exchange, enabling users to auto-compound gains and maximize returns on Sushi farms.
    • Plans to launch and support additional vault strategies to offer even higher yields for current farms.
    • Integration with Chainlink oracles to enhance vault’s security with additional price feeds.
    • Dot Finance will conduct additional audits for their smart contracts to ensure the security and safety of users’ funds.

    Check out Dot Finance’s official channels to learn more:

    Website – http://dot.finance/

    Twitter – https://twitter.com/dot_finance

    Telegram – https://t.me/Dot_Finance

    Medium – https://dot-finance.medium.com/

    Sources:

    https://docs.dot.finance/

    https://morioh.com/p/110b7f4a031a

    https://dot-finance.medium.com/hello-polkadot-we-are-live-eb40187c146a

    https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/04/dex-aggregator-dot-finance-migrates-to-polkadot-from-bsc/

  • Alium Finance: All-in-One DeFi & NFT Ecosystem

    Alium Finance: All-in-One DeFi & NFT Ecosystem

    Alium Finance is a multichain decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem with an ambitious roadmap of CrossChain DeFi and non-fungible token (NFT) products. Their aim is to offer its users a single interface multichain ecosystem so they can enjoy different DeFi and NFT products on different blockchains without having to hop from one platform to another.  

    Alium Swap AMM DEX

    Existing AMM DEXs (Automated Market Maker Decentralized Exchanges) have several limitations and disadvantages that prevent them from providing maximum profit and benefits for their users. Decentralized exchanges on different blockchains do not interact with each other and the transfer of assets between them creates serious difficulties for users.

    To enable users to extract the maximum profit and choose the blockchain that best suits their needs, Alium Finance has created an advanced multi-blockchain AMM MultiChain DEX called Alium Swap.

    It will allow users to safely trade assets and quickly transfer them between different blockchains. Implementing the best features from existing protocols, Alium Swap creates a complete ecosystem of DeFi products that meets a broad variety of customer demands.

    Token swap on Alium Swap is a very simple way to trade one token for another via automated liquidity pools. Currently, they have integrated Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Huobi ECO Chain networks. They have also launched a BSC-Polygon Bridge with plans for more bridges between chains to be released soon.

    The liquidity provided to the exchange comes from Liquidity Providers (LPs) who stake their tokens in liquidity pools. When users make a token swap (trade) on the exchange they will pay a 0.25% trading fee, which is broken down as follows:

    • 0.20% – Returned to liquidity pools in the form of a fee reward for liquidity providers.
    • 0.05% – Sent to the Alium Swap Treasury.

    For a smoother and mobile experience, Alium Swap also offers a mobile app available to users on Android and Apple devices.

    $ALM Token

    $ALM token is a utility token for the whole Alium ecosystem – it will be used on the DEX, NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace, in their NFT game, as well as for governance and staking.

    • DEX – Providing liquidity, profit sharing between $ALM holders, airdrops
    • NFT Marketplace – $ALM minting bonus and NFT auctions
    • Smart Farming – LP token $ALM farming and next gen $ALM farming
    • DAO – Voting with $ALM and proposals with $ALM
    • Staking – Dynamic $ALM staking pools

    $ALM is a BEP-20 token which means that any wallet supporting Binance Smart Chain can be used for storing $ALM. In the future, ETH-wrapped ALM will also be available.

    Liquidity Migration

    The Alium development team has introduced the ‘vampiring’ function now available on the platform. You can access it here: https://alium.finance/migrate

    Liquidity migration, or ‘vampiring’, is a process that allows users to transfer their liquidity from one exchange to another within the same chain, utilizing the most profitable rates on offer across various protocols and exchanges. 

    The introduction of the given function on the Alium exchange is needed to allow users to easily transfer their liquidity from other DEXs to Alium Finance for farming $ALM tokens with a greater degree of convenience and profitability. The BSC, Ethereum, and Polygon blockchains, as well as the exchanges they support, are available via the ‘vampiring’ function.

    Smart Farming & Strong Holders Pool

    Strong Holders Pool is a mechanic developed to incentivize holding $ALM, not selling. To prevent the Farm & Dump phenomenon, which many projects and communities suffer from after the Farming Campaigns, Alium decided to introduce the Smart Farming Pools to reward the Strong Holders at the expense of Flippers.

    Strong Holders Pools are available to both Farmers and $ALM holders who didn’t participate in Farming. After you harvest the Farmed ALMs, 90% of $ALM go straight into Strong Holders’ Pools of 100 participants each. When the pool is formed, the game begins. The first users withdraw some of their tokens, which will be rewarded to Diamond Hands, who withdraw last.

    The first 60 users who leave the pool will be at a loss while the last 40 users of the pool will be in profit. The amount of tokens lost/gained depends on the proportion between pool participants’ holdings.

    Apart from that, the last 8 users of every pool will be rewarded usable NFTs for Alium’s play-to-earn (P2E) game Cyber City Inc.

    Cyber City Inc NFT Game

    Cyber City is Alium’s first P2E NFT game with collectible drops set in a futuristic cyberpunk world. The play-to-earn (P2E) model is an explosive trend in the blockchain and gaming industry where players of NFT games get to collect lucrative rewards for playing. 

    In the not-so-distant future, Cyber City dominates the planet, and corporations run the world.

    These Corporations control all the wealth and resources, leaving the inhabitants of the City in a dire existence. Cyber City Streets are ugly, cruel and dangerous. A perfect environment for the strongest and most cunning to claw their way to the top. The game features Tokenized Assets and NFT Characters set in the futuristic metaverse called Endless Megapolis.

    The Cyber City Genesis Wave NFTs is currently available for purchase through partners such as NFTb, Hyperjump, and Niftify among others. The Genesis Wave will have 6,000 NFT boxes that will contain 10,000 characters, 10,000 city blocks, and 450,000 in-game resources. The game is set to release its beta version in July 2022. (morganstern.com)

    Alium.Art NFT Marketplace

    One of the main goals of the project is to attract attention to new and promising technologies with a special focus on NFTs. The project development team believes in the integration and use of advanced solutions based on NFTs and has announced the launch of an NFT marketplace called Alium.Art with the implementation of a cross-play NFT asset protocol for blockchain-based games. 

    Allium.Art is being developed using a design philosophy that is artist-centered with a high degree of customization. Some key features in development:

    • Multi-Blockchain
    • Private Collections
    • Collections Customization
    • Easy Onboarding
    • Customizable Galleries
    • Charity Auctions
    • VR/AR Galleries
    • Categories Search
    • Easy Onboarding

    The platform aims to empower artists to sell their art on their terms, represent it in a digital environment using AR and VR technologies, and benefit from selling their art in the form of NFTs. For buyers, it will be a way to acquire unique digital artwork and enter the modern crypto art market. Easy onboarding will ensure anyone can become part of the thriving community, no matter artist, collector, or crypto enthusiast.

    Tokenomics via NFTs

    The Alium token economic model strives to make it resilient to fluctuations using a distribution model called Initial NFT Offering (INO). The Alium team is confident that this will provide an opportunity to reduce the volatility of the $ALM token value, despite potential high demand for the token.

    NFTs are a new milestone in the development of DeFi and the blockchain in general, so the team paid great attention to the development of this direction. The main feature of their approach is the so-called NFT 2.0, which not only acts as collectible cards or tokens but can also be used in various applications as an object of interaction.

    All the Smart Farming Pools are built on this principle and users with NFT cards will have the opportunity to increase their profit in farming through NFT cards.

    Roadmap for 2022

    • Synthetic ALM Token (BSC <> ETH)
    • Tron Integration
    • Avalanche Integration
    • CYBR Token Launch
    • Cyber City Inc NFT Marketplace
    • Cyber City Inc Clan NFT Drops
    • ALM Staking – CYBR Farming
    • External Liquidity Pools
    • Staking Platform
    • Super ALM (Governance Token / DAO / Burn)
    • Cyber City Inc Light Game Launch
    • Cyber City Inc full release

    For more information, check out their official channels below:

    Website – https://alium.finance

    Twitter – https://twitter.com/AliumSwap

    Telegram – https://t.me/aliumswap_official

    Medium – https://aliumswap.medium.com/

    Sources:

    https://docs.alium.finance/

    https://aliumswap.medium.com/introducing-alium-finance-b228d570c6fa

    https://morioh.com/p/54ff6ae9837e

    https://techbullion.com/alium-finance-year-in-review-and-plans-for-2022/

    https://blog.nftb.io/nftb-announced-strategic-partnership-with-alium-finance-to-expand-multi-chain-nft-adoption-2cb6638928ae

  • Ethereum Savings Wallet

    Ethereum Savings Wallet

    Holding Ethereum has been very profitable for many crypto enthusiasts. But did you know that you can also multiply your holdings by earning interest on your Ethereum deposits through an Ethereum savings wallet? 

    When you open an Ethereum savings wallet, you can deposit your Ethereum holdings into the savings wallet. The savings wallet provider will then loan out your ETH to borrowers, providing you with a percentage of interest in exchange. It is more profitable than only relying on the price appreciation of Ethereum. You can earn interest as high as 8% for your holdings, which is far higher than what many traditional banks and other financial institutions offer on fiat currencies. 

    Thanks to the efficiencies of blockchain technology and lending markets, cryptocurrency users are able to earn high interest rates on their digital assets. And thanks to platforms like FTX Exchange, Nexo and BlockFi, it’s easier than ever to earn passive income from your cryptocurrencies. If you are interested in long-term investing, an Ethereum savings wallet can help you accrue interest while keeping your Ethereum safe.

    Why Earn Interest Using An Ethereum Savings Wallet?

    Easy Process

    You can start earning interest on your Ethereum deposits after completing a few easy steps. All you need to do is sign up for an Ethereum savings wallet, complete the KYC process, and deposit Ethereum to your savings account. That’s it! Your interest accruals will begin automatically as soon as your savings account receives Ethereum deposits. Some savings wallet providers even provide you bonuses for signing up. 

    Low Risk

    Compared to the products offering similar high interest rates, earning on your Ethereum deposits is a low-risk option. Such high returns are possible as savings wallet holders lend cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies to borrowers at very high-interest rates and share their earnings with other savings wallet holders in the form of interest. Most savings wallet providers manage the risk by making over-collateralization mandatory to borrow from them.

    Passive Income

    Passive income is income that requires minimal labor to earn and maintain. Automatic payouts by savings wallet providers means your earnings are paid directly into your savings wallet. You can either choose to withdraw them straight away, or leave your earnings in your savings wallet to compound and grow exponentially. Who doesn’t want to earn money for their Ethereum holdings even while asleep?

    24/7 Access to Funds

    Unlike traditional banks, your Ethereum savings wallet will be open 24/7. You will always have complete access to ETH in your savings wallet. Some providers even allow you to buy and sell Ethereum instantly from your savings wallet.

    Which Ethereum Savings Wallet Should I Choose?

    When it comes to Ethereum savings wallet providers, there is no shortage of options available for you to choose from. Let’s explore some of the best Ethereum savings wallets.

    FTX Earn

    ethereum savings wallet

    FTX Exchange is a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform built by professional traders Alameda Research. FTX will deposit interest earnings calculated hourly. Interest will be compounded on principal and yield you have already earned. It is really easy to get started and you can earn interest immediately after you have opted into the program.

    The FTX Earn interest rate for Ethereum is 5 – 8% APY. 

    FTX Earn tiers their interest rate differently than any other platform, in which the first $10,000 USD of deposited funds earns 8% APY regardless of coin/token. All funds beyond that earn 5% APY. There are no lockup terms for your deposits but it is worth noting that withdrawal fees do apply for ETH.

    Nexo

    earn interest from ethereum savings

    Nexo is a unique lending platform based in Switzerland. It allows you to take out loans based on the amount of cryptocurrency in your account without selling your coins and buying them back. Though you cannot currently buy or sell Ethereum through the Nexo platform, the Nexo savings wallet offers a high-yield method for investors to earn money on idle ETH.

    With Nexo, you can earn up to 8% APR for your Ethereum savings.

    Opting for the Nexo FLEX offering will give you an additional 1% interest on your ETH, as well as compounded daily payouts. Nexo also offers zero fees and top-tier security and insurance to protect your funds.

    BlockFi

    blockfi crypto savings

    BlockFi is one of the most competitive and well-known cryptocurrency savings account providers for a reason. BlockFi was founded in 2017 and is a fully regulated and licensed bank-like provider of cryptocurrency savings wallets, loans, and exchange services.

    BlockFi uses a tiered interest structure that can go up to 5% APY for Ethereum holders.

    The BlockFi platform is easy to use and gives you full transparency and control of your assets. They even have a mobile app so you can manage your savings wallet from any smart device. BlockFi is also one of the safest savings wallet providers with trusted crypto asset manager, Gemini as its custodian.

    YouHodler

    youhodler crypto savings

    Launched in 2019, YouHodler is an EU and Swiss-based cryptocurrency platform with both a web interface and mobile app. Ilya Volkov, the CEO and co-founder of YouHodler, has more than 15 years of experience in the FinTech industry, making the platform a serious competitor among savings wallet providers.

    Ethereum holders can earn 5.5% APR plus daily compounding interest on YouHodler.

    Payouts are made every week and you can start earning interest immediately after depositing ETH into your savings wallet. There is, however, a minimum deposit of $500 worth of ETH at market price to begin. Some fees may also apply.

    Celsius Network

    celcius crypto savings

    Celsius Network adopts a strategy based on the mobile market. As a result, they offer a great mobile-based solution for earning interest on your Ethereum. Built on the belief that financial services should only do what is in the best interests of the community, Celsius is a modern platform that aims to empower the unbanked. 

    Celsius offers 5.35% APY for holdings up to 100 ETH and 3.52% APY for holding above 100 ETH.

    Celsius is secured with multi-factor authentication, private key double vaults, encryption, and third-party solutions. Their assets are distributed amongst cold wallets and exchanges for additional security.

    Conclusion

    They say nothing in life is free, but clearly these people are wrong. By putting your idle ETH to work, you can significantly grow your holdings over time. With an ever-increasing number of savings wallet providers, Ethereum holders now have many different options and flexibilities to earn interest for their Ethereum. These platforms provide a great investment opportunity to generate passive income while providing holders peace of mind over the safety of their holdings.

    If the crypto economy continues to go mainstream at its current rate, it is not too far-fetched to envision more and more individuals around the globe choosing crypto savings wallets over traditional savings accounts from banks. It will definitely be exciting to see what crypto banking can accomplish next.

  • How Do Crypto Savings Accounts Work

    How Do Crypto Savings Accounts Work

    Lending and borrowing cryptocurrencies is becoming an increasingly important sub-sector of the crypto industry, one that may end up shaping how the underlying assets themselves are valued and priced in markets. Since many crypto enthusiasts invest in crypto with a long-term mindset anyway, the idea of letting assets generate a return regardless of the price appreciation of the underlying asset is an appealing one to many. (www.voiceoverherald.com)  

    With the rise of crypto savings accounts that promise high annual percentage yields (APYs), investors now have the potential to boost their earnings for crypto deposits. 

    What is a Crypto Savings Account

    The concept behind crypto savings accounts is similar to that of traditional savings accounts. You as a crypto owner can deposit your assets into a crypto savings account, which are then lent out on your behalf by a third party provider, earning you interest for your deposits. 

    The key difference when it comes to crypto savings accounts is that instead of depositing fiat currency, you will instead keep your funds in the cryptocurrency of your preference. Your funds may also be exposed to the volatility and price fluctuations of the crypto market.

    A crypto wallet is not the same as a crypto savings account, with the main difference being that the latter accrues interest whereas a crypto wallet does not. If you just keep your coins in a wallet where you own the private keys or in an exchange wallet, your investment will not earn any interest. To earn money for your crypto, you will need to open an account with a provider and deposit funds into your crypto savings account.

    For a comparison between providers, check out our guide to the Best Crypto Savings Accounts 2022.

    How Does It Work

    Before you open a crypto savings account, it is probably a good idea to fully understand what these products are and how exactly they differ from traditional savings accounts. 

    In the case of a traditional savings account, when you deposit money, you give permission to the bank to loan out the money to third parties. And in return, you earn interest from the bank.

    Similarly, when your money is invested in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, the cryptocurrency savings account provider will loan out the crypto to borrowers, and provide you a certain pre-arranged rate of interest on your crypto. The interest rates depend on many factors such as the current market rate.

    You can also earn interest on stablecoins, which are fixed to the value of the US dollar if you don’t want to be exposed to cryptocurrency price fluctuations. Because the crypto market is speculative, these accounts should be viewed as investments rather than savings accounts, because that is really what they are at their core.

    Crypto Savings VS Traditional Savings

    Despite sounding similar, crypto savings accounts have some very distinct differences from traditional savings accounts.  

    1. Interest Yields – Crypto savings accounts offer much higher rates of return than traditional banks, reaching as high as 8% to 12% APY. To put this in perspective, the average savings account yield sits at just 0.06% APY according to recent data by the FDIC.
    1. FDIC Insurance – Major banks have insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This insurance guarantees that, even if your bank loans out the money you deposit into your account, your funds are protected. You won’t lose money when you put it into a traditional savings account because the FDIC backs your account. Crypto savings accounts do not have FDIC insurance.
    1. Access to Funds – In a traditional savings account, you are free to withdraw your money at any time with no fees or restrictions. Crypto savings accounts may limit access to your coins for a set period of time after you deposit them into your account. They may also charge you a fee for withdrawing your funds before a select date. However, many platforms do not have minimum lockup periods, allowing you to take out your investment at any time. These platforms are also open 24/7, unlike traditional banks.

    Benefits of Crypto Savings Accounts

    Crypto savings accounts have several positive impacts both to the individual investor as well as to the overall cryptocurrency economy.

    1. Passive Income – Crypto savings accounts provide an automated method to grow crypto portfolios over time. For someone already fully invested in bitcoin, they simply need to deposit that bitcoin into a crypto savings account and can immediately earn additional interest paid in bitcoin.
    1. Greater Liquidity – Crypto savings accounts provide an incentive to convert fiat currency into cryptocurrency. By drawing in more participants to the crypto economy, greater liquidity can be attained leading to eventual price stability for the asset.
    1. Increased Adoption – Long time holders of crypto are incentivized to move their crypto out of storage and into the markets, facilitating adoption and helping innovate new use cases for crypto.
    1. Higher Demand – Interest rates are important in financial markets because they fill the gap between people with a surplus of assets and the people who need the assets because they have a use for them. High interest rates being offered can be seen as high demand for the underlying crypto assets.

    Risks of Crypto Savings Accounts

    While the prospect of earning 8% or more in a savings account seems attractive, investors should know that there are also risks involved. Cryptocurrency in general comes with risk and one should only invest once they are fully aware of the risks associated with these investments.

    1. Price Volatility – The value of cryptocurrencies are volatile and can easily lose their value. Cryptocurrency is not backed by the government so if something happens to cause it to lose its underlying value, then investors would lose their principal invested amount.
    1. Lock Up Risk – Some crypto savings accounts are very flexible, allowing investors to withdraw at any time. Others may have lock up periods or additional fees for excessive withdrawal activity. Generally speaking, the more restrictive accounts will offer the higher interest rate while the more flexible accounts tend to offer the lower interest rates. Make sure to do some research before committing to a provider.
    1. Pledge Risk – When you deposit your assets into a crypto savings account, you no longer control the crypto and are pledging it as collateral. For example, when you deposit at a bank you are staking a claim to a bank’s liability. It is a similar situation with the crypto savings account. If the crypto provider goes under due to a mismanagement of their business or an adverse market event, you will not be able to get your assets back.
    1. Smart Contract Risk – Decentralized finance (Defi) lenders use automated coding called smart contracts to loan and allocate capital. This coding is viewable by everyone so it is quite transparent. Everyone is incentivized to make sure the coding is solid.  However, a previously undiscovered error in a smart contract may open the door for a hacker to find their way in. Though not exempt from the risk, lenders who have been around longer and whose products have stood the test of time are generally less likely to be exposed.

    Things to Consider Before Getting Started

    Thanks to the rising popularity of crypto savings accounts, there has also been an increase in the number of providers. But how do you know which platform is the best choice for your investment needs? Here are some of the things you should research before selecting a crypto savings account:

    • Compound interest
    • Crypto market availability
    • Security
    • Supported coins
    • Withdrawal restrictions
    • Private key access policy
    • Loan-to-value (LTV) rates

    Compound Interest

    Compound interest is calculated based on both the initial deposit and the accumulated interest. It will make a sum grow at a faster rate than simple interest, which is calculated only on the principal amount. Not all providers offer compound interest so before deciding, it is recommended to inquire whether or not they apply compound interest to their savings accounts.

    Crypto Market Availability

    It is preferable to choose a savings account that has crypto market access. This will help you buy crypto through the platform and set up your account. Having access to the market also saves a lot of time and documentation.

    Security

    One of the most important aspects of choosing a crypto savings account is its security measures. Every company has its own security policies to safeguard the assets you save, so it is recommended to look for savings account providers who offer two-factor authentication (2FA). 

    Apart from 2FA, many companies also provide cold storage as an additional layer of security.

    Supported Coins

    Thousands of cryptocurrencies are available in today’s market, and there is nothing worse than selecting an account provider that does not support the coins you are holding. Before you deposit your crypto into an account, be sure to verify that the provider supports that crypto.

    Withdrawal Restrictions

    Some crypto savings accounts have withdrawal limits that cap the amount you can take from your account over a specific period of time. These withdrawal limits can put your money out of reach when you need it most, like during a financial emergency. Not only that, but you may also have to pay fees to withdraw your money. These fees can add up if you are an active crypto trader who makes a lot of transfers in and out of your account, in which case it would be more beneficial to find a provider that offers unlimited free withdrawals.

    Private Key Access Policy

    Unlike traditional savings accounts that allow you control over your money, not all crypto savings accounts allow you to keep control over the keys to your crypto. Noncustodial wallets like Coinbase leave you in control of the private keys to your crypto. You are the sole owner of your digital assets across transactions on the platform. Custodial accounts like Nexo require you to hand over your private keys, trusting the platform to manage it on your behalf. Thus, it is recommended to always verify the company policy related to crypto key access and understand ownership swapping.

    Loan-To-Value (LTV) Rates

    Another important point to research is the loan-to-value rates or the LTV rates. The LTV rates represent what the platform is ready to risk. It must be noted that the more robust LTV a platform has, the better it is for you.

    Bottom Line: Should You Open A Crypto Savings Account?

    While a crypto savings account can produce exceptionally lucrative returns for long-term investors, it is important to remember that the cryptocurrency market is known for its volatility. Crypto savings accounts might accrue interest like a traditional savings account, but they do not have the same financial protections that are awarded to traditional banking institutions.

    If you do decide to open a crypto savings account, treat it as an investment account instead of a separate checking account. Keep your emergency funds somewhere safe, and never invest more money than you can afford to lose in cryptocurrency. 

    FAQ

    What is a crypto savings account?

    Crypto savings accounts work in a similar way to traditional bank savings accounts. In a nutshell, you lend money to an institution which lends your assets to borrowers in need of liquidity. Except, crypto savings accounts deal exclusively in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

    Are crypto savings accounts safe?

    Yes. Every crypto savings account provider has its own security policies to safeguard your assets. It is recommended to look for account providers who offer two-factor authentication (2FA) and/or cold storage.

    How much interest can I earn for my crypto deposits?

    That depends on the platform you use and the type of cryptocurrency you deposit. As an example, FTX lets account holders earn up to 8% APY on all crypto deposits, while BlockFi offers up to 9.5% APY on stablecoins.

    Are crypto savings accounts a reliable retirement investment strategy?

    No. Considering the volatility of the crypto market, there are a lot of risks associated with crypto savings accounts. These accounts should be viewed as investments rather than savings accounts.

    Sources:

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2021/05/17/what-are-the-risks-of-crypto-savings-accounts/?sh=61b866591417

    https://apyguy.com/best-crypto-savings-accounts/#What_are_Crypto-Based_Savings_Accounts

    https://www.coinratecap.com/en/blogDetail/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-crypto-savings-account

    https://financeplusinsurance.com/risks-associated-crypto-savings-accounts/

  • Keep3rb BSC Network ($KP3RB): The First Keeper Network on Binance Smart Chain

    Keep3rb BSC Network ($KP3RB): The First Keeper Network on Binance Smart Chain

    keep3r bsc network

    Keep3rb Network is a decentralized keeper network built on Binance Smart Chain for projects that require external DevOps and external teams to find keeper jobs.

    DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the systems development life cycle (SDLC) and provide continuous delivery with high software quality.

    Keep3rb network provides a seamless platform to connect DevOps teams (Keepers) with project teams that require DevOps tasks (Jobs).

    This project is not to be confused with Andre Conje’s Keep3r Network ($KP3R).

    What is a Keeper

    A keeper is the term used to refer to an external person or team that executes a job. Keepers can also be bots, scripts, other contracts, or simply EOA accounts that trigger events. 

    The job can be as simple as submitting a signed TX on behalf of a third party, calling a transaction at a specific time, or more complex functionality that requires extensive off-chain logic. Each time a keeper executes a job, they are rewarded with $BNB, tokens, or the system’s native token $KP3RB.

    Jobs might require keepers that have a minimum amount of bonded tokens, have earned a minimum amount of fees, or have been in the system longer than a certain period of time.

    At the most simple level, they simply require a keeper to be registered in the system.

    With the keeper network being decentralized, It is up to the keepers to set up their DevOps and infrastructure and create their own rules based on what transactions they deem profitable.

    What is a Job

    A job is the term used to refer to a smart contract that requires external DevOps or a team to perform an action. The action needs to be performed in goodwill and not as a malicious act to harm the project. For this reason they register as a job, and keepers can then execute on their contract.

    Becoming a Keeper

    how to use keep3r bsc network

    To join as a keeper, you need to connect a wallet and register a bond. You do not need to have $KPR3B tokens to participate as a keeper, you can join as long as you have a wallet to hold your tokens. 

    There is a 3-day activation period before you can activate as a keeper. Once the three days have passed, you will be able to activate your bond. 

    Once activated, you are officially a keeper on the network and will be able to select jobs from the Keep3rb network jobs list.

    Registering a Job

    Keep in mind that the Keep3rb network does not get in the way of the job. They do not define nor restrict the action taken, hence its decentralized nature. Incentive mechanisms are available for all parties involved to ensure tasks are carried out efficiently. There are 2 core ways to create a job:

    • Registering a job via Governance – you can register a job simply by creating a new proposal via governance. If governance approves, no further steps are required.
    • Registering a job via Adding Liquidity – you will need to provide liquidity to one of the approved liquidity pairs (for example KP3RB-BNB). You put your LP tokens in escrow and receive credit. When the credit is used up, you can simply withdraw the LP tokens. You will receive 100% of the LP tokens back that you deposited.

    Job Credits

    Each job has a set amount of credit they can award keepers. You do not need to purchase KP3RB tokens to receive credits. Instead you are required to provide liquidity in Keep3rb network’s job liquidity pools.

    kp3rb job liquidity pool list

    You can remove your liquidity at any time, so you do not have to keep buying new credits. Your liquidity provided is never reduced and as such you can remove it whenever you no longer would like a job to be executed.

    There are 3 primary payment mechanisms to pay keepers and these are based on the credit provided:

    • Pay via liquidity provided tokens (based on ‘ addLiquidityToJob ‘)
    • Pay in direct BNB (based on ‘ addCreditETH ‘)
    • Pay in direct token (based on ‘ addCredit ‘)

    Governance

    Keep3rb governance by design has a low overhead, it is not meant to be protocol intensive. The focus is simply on reviewing and approving jobs, and if absolutely required mitigate disputes or blacklist keepers.

    Only bonded keepers may participate in governance. To participate in governance a keeper must first bond $KP3RB, once bonded they can delegate voting rights to either themselves or another party.

    The core function of governance is to approve and include jobs, when liquidity is provided for a job, a proposal is automatically created to include them for review. Bonded keepers will review the contracts and decide if they should be included. It is important that jobs code defensively, assume keepers will only include your job to maximize their returns, as such maximum payment thresholds have been implemented.

    As a last resort, governance has certain rights over managing keepers, these include lodging disputes, slashing, revoking access, and resolving disputes.

    Job Interface

    Some contracts require external event execution, an example for this is the ‘ harvest() ‘ function in the yearn ecosystem or the ‘ update(address, address) ‘ function in the uniquote ecosystem. These usually require a restricted access control list. However, these can be difficult for fully decentralized projects to manage, as they lack DevOps infrastructure.

    These job interfaces can be broken down into 2 types, no risk delta and harvest. No risk delta is similar to an ‘ update(address, address) ‘ in uniquote, which has no risk to execution. ‘ harvest() ‘, as seen in yearn, can be exploited by malicious actors using front-running deposits. 

    For complete information on how these codes are executed, you can refer to the official Medium post by Keep3rb network.

    $KP3RB Token

    According to Coinmarketcap, the platform’s native token $KP3RB stands at a token supply of 211,450. No further details about token supply and distribution are provided at present.

    Conclusion

    Keep3rb network aims to facilitate DevOps projects in a decentralized environment. The scope of the Keep3rb network is not to manage these jobs themselves but to allow contracts to register as jobs for keepers, and to allow keepers to register themselves to perform jobs. Due to its decentralized nature, both the keeper and job can define and set their own parameters and rules as they choose. 

    It will be interesting to see how BSC’s first keeper network performs and how it will change the DevOps market and its practices. 

    keep3rb network

    To learn more about Keep3rb network and the project’s future developments, check out their official channels listed below:

    Website – https://keep3rb.network/

    Twitter – https://twitter.com/keep3rb

    Telegram – https://t.me/keep3rb

    News –  https://t.me/kp3rbnews

    Medium – https://keep3rb.medium.com/

    GitHub – https://github.com/keep3rb-network

    Sources:

    https://docs.keep3rb.network/docs/keepers

    https://keep3rb.medium.com/introduction-to-keep3rb-network-f116f94ede79

    https://www.bsc.news/post/keep3rb-first-keeper-network-on-binance-smart-chain

    https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/keep3r-bsc-network/

  • What Are NFTs?: Explained

    What Are NFTs?: Explained

    Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are taking the art and gaming worlds by storm. Digital artists and gamers are seeing their lives change thanks to new communities and methods of earning and selling. Celebrities are joining in as well as they recognize a new opportunity to connect with fans. 

    From fine art and music to cats and rocks, these digital assets have exploded within blockchain news, some selling for millions of dollars. Some experts claim that NFTs are changing the landscape of investing forever, while others are convinced they’re a bubble poised to pop any day now.

    NFTs have certainly been causing a splash and controversial debates – but what are they exactly?

    What is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

    NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate. 

    In economics, a fungible asset is something that can be readily interchanged – like money. They can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties. For example, you can swap a $100 note for five $20 notes and it will have the same value.

    If something is non-fungible, it means it has unique properties so it can’t be interchanged with something else or divided into smaller units. It could be a house, or a painting such as the Mona Lisa, which is one of a kind. You can take a photo of the painting or buy a print, but there will only ever be one original painting.

    In the same way, NFTs are scarce digital assets with distinctive characteristics, making them difficult to swap for another similar asset because it will likely not have the same value. Therefore, digital tokens can be thought of as certificates of ownership for virtual or physical assets.

    How do NFTs Work?

    NFTs exist on a blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger that records transactions and is maintained by thousands of interconnected computers around the world. The blockchain’s advanced encryption and peer-to-peer network secures the proof of ownership of NFTs, ensuring that no one can modify the record of ownership or copy and paste a new NFT into existence.

    To create an NFT, it has to be “minted” from digital objects that can represent both tangible and intangible items, including:

    • Art
    • GIFs
    • Videos
    • Collectibles
    • Music
    • Virtual avatars and video game skins
    • Designer sneakers
    • Tickets to a real world event
    • Deeds to a car
    • Legal documents

    Even tweets can be an NFT. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sold his first ever tweet as an NFT for more than $2.9 million.

    Ownership is managed through the uniqueID and metadata that no other token can replicate. NFTs are minted through smart contracts that assign ownership and manage the transferability of the NFTs. When someone creates or mints an NFT, they execute code stored in smart contracts that conform to different standards from regular tokens.

    The owner or creator can also store specific information inside them. For instance, artists can sign their artwork by including their signature in an NFT’s metadata. NFTs can also contain smart contracts that may give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.

    Examples of NFTs

    The NFT world is relatively new. In theory, the scope for NFTs could be anything that is unique or requires proof of ownership. Here are some examples of NFTs that exist today:

    How and Where to Buy NFTs?

    If you are keen to start your own NFT collection, you will need to acquire some key items. First, you will need to get a digital wallet that allows you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies. 

    You will likely need to purchase some cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Binance Coin (BNB), depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can buy crypto using exchange platforms and then you will be able to move the funds to your wallet of choice.

    You will want to keep fees in mind as you research options. Most exchanges charge at least a percentage of your transaction when you buy crypto. Different NFT providers also have different gas fees which are fees you need to pay when you make an NFT purchase. 

    Once you’ve got your wallet set up and funded, there’s no shortage of NFT sites to shop. Currently, the largest NFT marketplaces are:

    • OpenSea – the original peer-to-peer NFT marketplace, and the largest. Offers NFTs of everything from in-game items and collectibles, to artwork, music, GIFs, and more. To get started, all you need to do is create an account to browse NFT collections. You can also sort pieces by sales volume to discover new artists.
    • Rarible – one of the leading NFT marketplaces on Ethereum, Rarible is a community-owned platform that showcases a wide range of digital art and collectibles. Similar to OpenSea, you can buy and sell all sorts of media. Sellers also have the option to create more than one NFT for a single image, selling it more than once.
    • Axie Marketplace – NFT-powered video game Axie Infinity plays host to the second-largest NFT marketplace. It trades exclusively in Axies, which are cute, Pokémon-like digital pets which players can buy and trade on the Axie Marketplace. Unlike art NFTs, which are collected for collecting’s sake, Axie Infinity’s NFTs have a purpose: you can use them in-game to battle against monsters and other players, earning tokens that can be put towards breeding new creatures.
    • CryptoPunks/Larva Labs – One of the most popular NFT collectibles on the Ethereum network, CryptoPunks is a series of 10,000 randomly generated characters with a pixel art aesthetic and unique attributes. CryptoPunks can be purchased at creator Larva Labs’ marketplace, where the majority of sales take place.
    • BakerySwap – BakerySwap is one of the first to be launched on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). The NFT marketplace makes up one section of the platform, which also allows users to trade and swap liquidity assets directly with each other. 
    • Enjin Marketplace is the ideal choice for Enjin-based NFTs. The Enjin Wallet can help in listing and purchasing gaming collectibles and items easily. The marketplace offers game item collections, community-backed collectibles, and gamified reward programs.
    • Foundation – Foundation bills itself as a “creative playground” for artists. It’s played host to a number of notable sales, including the NFT of iconic Internet meme Nyan Cat, Edward Snowden’s first NFT and an audiovisual digital collectible created by producer Richard D. James, better known as Aphex Twin. Foundation’s marketplace is simple to operate, letting you place bids on timed auctions just like you would with a regular auction site.
    • KnownOrigin – KnownOrigin has a much smaller all-time trading volume because it aims to provide a more curated, gallery-like experience for the discerning NFT connoisseur. All of its artwork files are held on IPFS, which provides a measure of protection for the underlying assets. With a strong focus on digital art, this is a marketplace that shuns the crazier aspects of the NFT world, so you’ll find no wacky avatars or cute monsters here. 

    Gaming Potential of NFTs

    NFTs have seen a lot of interest from game developers. NFTs can provide records of ownership for in-game items, fuel in-game economies, and bring a host of benefits to the players.

    In a lot of regular games you can buy items for you to use in your game. But if that item was an NFT you could recoup your money by selling it on when you’re done with the game. You might even make a profit if that item becomes more desirable. 

    For game developers – as issuers of the NFT – they could earn a royalty every time an item is resold in the open marketplace. This creates a more mutually-beneficial business model where both players and developers earn from the secondary NFT market. 

    NFTs also make it possible so that if a game is no longer maintained by the developers, the items you’ve collected remain yours. In-game items can outlive the games themselves so even if a game is no longer maintained, your items will always be under your control. This means in-game items become digital memorabilia and have a value outside of the game.

    Decentraland, a virtual reality game, even lets you buy NFTs representing virtual parcels of land that you can use as you see fit.

    Is it Profitable to Invest in NFTs?

    NFTs are speculative assets. Because they are new and have limited historical performance that you can use to judge them, they are a risky investment. However, you can’t dismiss them either because you can purchase them in small amounts.

    Investing in NFT assets is purely a personal decision. One person might choose to buy NFTs because they have money to spare. Another one may buy a piece because it holds meaning for them. The value for NFT assets is not fixed or driven by technical, fundamental or economic indicators that usually influence the stock prices; instead, it is determined by what buyers are willing to pay for it. As a result, an NFT holder might be forced to resell it at a lower price than what they paid for it.

    However, NFT assets also have the potential for mind-boggling gains depending on the traction and value the asset is able to obtain over time. When the collectible series CryptoPunks were initially released, you could obtain one for free. Today, one CryptoPunk can sell for millions of dollars.

    NFTs also seem to be here to stay, as traditional industries are starting to appreciate the value of NFTs. For example, renowned auction house Sotheby’s has created their Sotheby’s Metaverse where NFT artwork is being auctioned- with bidding on some items exceeding 1 million USD for some works. 

    CryptoPunks, created by Larvalabs is also seen by many in the NFT space as a “sure win”. Top CryptoPunks NFTs have been sold for nearly US$8mil, and 1000s of CryptoPunks are still being offered for sale.

    top CryptoPunks NFTs sold
    Top CryptoPunks NFTs sold (Image credit: Larvalabs)

    Controversies Surrounding NFTs: Are NFTs Bad For The Environment?

    While a lot of money is circulating in the NFT market, there is some controversy linked to these trendy digital collectibles especially pertaining to the environment – particularly in terms of contributing to climate change.

    Making NFTs requires a significant amount of energy, and protesters are extremely worried about the huge effects of this craze on the environment. The creation of some of these NFTs is consuming as high as 192 kWh.

    While artists have promised to make carbon-neutral artwork, the cryptocurrency systems will not allow the verification of such promises. For instance, Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are founded on a proof-of-work system that makes the users’ financial records secure, which still consumes a lot of energy as well.

    The impact on the climate is actually what is holding back many brands from joining the NFT bandwagon. However, companies and individuals are expanding their revenue streams, so these NFT controversies will not last forever. Also, the art and design community is hungry for NFTs that are changing hands at astronomical amounts of money. The initial intent for creating NFTs was to give artists the opportunity to assert digital ownership of their art; however, the fact they are becoming more elitist is creating tension.

    The buy-in fees for NFTs are prohibitive for many people, and the price of a single art piece is extremely high, causing the public to rate the marketplace as a playground for the superrich investors. It also makes the majority of the artists feel disadvantaged, yet this sphere was created for them to have more control of their work.

    Conclusion

    It’s difficult for some to wrap their minds around the concept of NFTs, but that’s understandable. Why would someone spend millions of dollars on something they can’t even touch? Well, think of it this way: The same way art collectors wouldn’t mind giving up an arm and a leg for a one-of-a-kind Picasso painting, there are virtual art lovers who see the true value in owning the original source of a scarce, culturally-relevant digital asset. 

    Whether or not NFTs are here to stay, they have certainly become a new plaything for art and crypto enthusiasts alike, and there is real money to be made if you can make it happen. NFTs gives new meaning to digital art and blockchain adoption, and the prices seen at sale indicate it is a real part of the future of art, and collectibles in general.

    That said, approach NFTs just like you would any investment: Do your research, understand the risks—including that you might lose all of your investing dollars—and if you decide to take the plunge, proceed with a healthy dose of caution.

    Sources:

    https://ethereum.org/en/nft/

    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56371912

    https://www.creativebloq.com/features/what-are-nfts

    https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/nft-non-fungible-token/

    https://decrypt.co/80595/best-nft-marketplaces

    https://www.one37pm.com/nft/finance/best-nft-marketplace

    https://www.laptopmag.com/features/what-are-nfts

    https://startup.info/everything-you-need-to-know-about-nft-assets/

  • Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

    Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

    The introduction of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) has continued to prove time and time again that they have the ability to transform the gaming industry as we know it. The emergence of NFTs brings about a new and exciting era in which gamers take on even more critical roles in the gaming economy and receive lucrative rewards in the process.

    This gaming paradigm is beginning to take shape as game developers are progressively adopting blockchain technology to produce more immersive gaming experiences. In this guide, we will go through some of the top NFT games introduced this year.

    But before diving in, let’s first discuss the basics of an NFT-based game.

    What Are NFT Games?

    NFT games combine conventional gaming features with novel gameplay mechanisms to provide players more control over in-game assets such as skins, characters, weapons, virtual lands, and much more. This is made possible by launching games on blockchains and anchoring them in economies powered by digital assets. These digital assets are often NFTs so that they are distinctive and tamper-proof. 

    The adoption of NFT token standards have allowed game developers to preserve the rarity and uniqueness of some of these in-game items. This is why some blockchain game assets are considered more expensive than others. 

    With the NFT system in place, the players can claim ownership of game assets through 3 main strategies. They can create or breed new characters, purchase digital items on native or third-party marketplaces, or unlock and earn new items. Regardless of how the player chooses to access these game assets, they have exclusive ownership rights over them. The player may then distribute or sell these assets and keep all the profits.

    What Are the Top NFT Games in 2021?

    Like all emerging and established sectors, certain platforms have positioned themselves at the top of the NFT gaming world. These games are at the forefront of the current NFT craze because they have successfully integrated NFTs with popular game themes. As a result, players get to enjoy some of their favourite game genres and at the same time engage with a profitable NFT market. 

    Without further ado, here are some of the top NFT games in 2021.

    1. Axie Infinity

    axie infinity

    Axie Infinity takes inspiration from the Pokemon game franchise and adds a blockchain twist to make the final product even more interesting. Players breed and gather NFT-based digital creatures called Axies in this Ethereum-based game with the primary goal of combating other players. 

    Each Axie has its own unique genetic fingerprint. As a result, the strengths and shortcomings of Axies are handed down to their descendants. These digital creatures can be traded on Ethereum NFT markets, with prices varying depending on their rarity and distinctive characteristics. To begin playing the game, players have to purchase 3 Axies. 

    Smooth Love Potion ($SLP) — the platform’s native ERC-20 utility token – is awarded for each mission, player-versus-player (PvP) fight, and adventure mode that the player completes. Players pay a certain amount of $SLP for each attempt to breed a new Axie. $SLP can also be bought through exchanges. 

    Another ERC-20 token native to Axie Infinity is Axis Infinity Shard ($AXS), which functions as the platform’s governance token. It will anchor the game’s staking service scheduled to go live at some point in 2021.

    2. MetaWars

    metawars

    MetaWars is a futuristic sci-fi multiplayer strategy and roleplaying game in space that allows players to monetize and earn from the game’s war economy. Players can immerse themselves in realistic space exploration through the vast MetaWars galaxy that is constantly evolving and shifting from the collective actions of every player. 

    MetaWars enables cooperation with other players to discover and revolutionize different galaxies through missions while earning NFTs and collecting limited edition robots through various auctions. Players can stake and complete challenges to earn $WARS tokens, the in-game and governance token.

    The gameplay also allows players to widen their army with unique ships, classes, and various optimization options. Players can combine modules, weapons, devices and equip perks, helping their characters level up their strength, rank up and receive amazing rewards across the metaverse.

    Learn more about MetaWars in our article MetaWars ($WARS, $GAM): NFT Gaming in Space.

    3. Splinterlands

    splinterlands

    Splinterlands is a tradable card game that lets users earn as they play, similar to Gods Unchained. Players can earn rewards when they win card matches. 

    To begin playing Splinterlands, you must first purchase a starting pack of cards, create a Steem account, and then reveal the purchased cards in the game. 

    You could be lucky and get rare cards in your first set of bought cards in some situations. You could also come across multiples of the same sort of card. If that’s the case, you can combine identical cards to increase their strength or sell one of them in exchange for cryptocurrency.

    After you’ve become comfortable with the cards, you may go on to combat other players or take part in missions. The outcome of these actions will influence whether or not you earn more cards.

    4. The Three Kingdoms

    the three kingdoms

    The Three Kingdoms is a strategic third-generation NFT game that is based on the historical characters of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The play-to-earn game is the first to incorporate the idea of battling and besieging cities through staking, complete with a deep and engaging storyline, providing a breath of fresh air to the blockchain gaming landscape.

    The team behind The Three Kingdoms set out to build an NFT game that features multiple methods never seen before in the blockchain gaming market to earn tokens. $TTK is the game’s native token, used to purchase new characters in the NFT marketplace, upgrade armies, and invest in land. It can also be staked to farm more valuable NFTs.

    $TTK will also be needed to acquire $CHI, the secondary in-game token. Inspired by the actual use of Chi in Chinese history as the energy that runs through all living things, players will be able to convert $TTK to $CHI through the mastering of energy. Some future uses of $CHI include the ability to besiege cities, battle other players and even fuse new heroes.

    Read more about it in our article The Three Kingdoms: The New Era of GameFi.

    5. Gods Unchained

    gods unchained

    Gods Unchained is a free-to-play game designed to infuse elements of NFT into a familiar card trading gaming genre. Players accumulate cards by purchasing them from other players or winning PvP matchups where the quality of cards and the gaming skill of players often determine the winner. Notably, more emphasis is being placed on skills and strategy. This is because the game utilizes a ranked game mode where players with the same ratings are matched.

    You win matches when your gameplay causes your opponent’s life to drop to zero before yours. For every win, you receive experience points. As soon as the experience bar is filled up, you will move to the next rating or level and receive a new pack of cards to add to your collection.

    Note that each card is backed by an ERC-721 token. Therefore, you can trade them on the platform’s native marketplace or the open market. Those opting to sell cards within the game ecosystem will receive the platform’s native token, $GODS, as payment. 

    It is worth noting that the $GODS token has not been officially launched at the time of writing. Be sure to confirm that the development team has released GODS tokens to the crypto market before proceeding to purchase or receive any token marketed as GODS tokens.

    6. The Sandbox 3D

    the sandbox 3d

    The Sandbox is a voxel-based game metaverse and one of the most popular NFT gaming platforms for creating and trading virtual assets. Players may modify and monetize voxel objects in this game. 

    Consider it a blockchain-based version of popular games like Minecraft and Roblox. The platforms provide tools for creating and animating objects, which can then be sold on markets. On the platform, users can also develop and play their own games.

    $SAND, an ERC-20 coin, has been presented as the metaverse’s native token by Sandbox 3D. Players may use this to buy in-game products from the platform’s marketplace. There are also $LAND tokens, which are NFT tokens that are among the most valuable and sought-after assets in the Sandbox game.

    7. Battle Racers

    battle racers

    Battle Racers is inspired by popular games such as Super Mario Kart and F-Zero, as its name suggests. The goal of the game is to mix various weaponry and equipment to build the most powerful vehicles possible. Players may mix and match various components and weaponry to get an edge on the arcade-style circuits. You may register your treasured or winning automobiles as NFTs on the blockchain and then sell them for cryptocurrency on OpenSea.

    Each player aims to build the ultimate automobile by prioritizing various talents and attributes. You could choose handling over speed or defense over firepower, all in the hopes of emerging victorious.

    8. Cryptosnake

    The gameplay of Cryptosnake is really easy. It’s based on the old-school snake game. Cryptocurrencies on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain provide food for your snake. The more you consume, the higher your pet’s stats will be. You may also use fiat to level up your snake, which will allow you to earn even more money in the future.

    If the snake doesn’t make you nostalgic, the gameplay may appear monotonous. On the other hand, you spend less time on in-game activities that aren’t essential and instead earn more consistently.

    9. Gold Fever

    gold fever

    Gold Fever is a jungle-themed role-playing game where players choose a character and try to outplay other players for a chance of mining gold in the form of the game’s native token, $NGL. Players also go about collecting limited NFT-based items like clothes, weapons and other supplies. 

    Similar to the workings of most NFT games, Gold Fever tries to enable blockchain-initiated scarcity for its in-game assets. You can pick any of the main characters of the game and play your part in the formation of a fiercely contested gold economy. 

    Note that the in-app game items are tradable on marketplaces. Therefore, you can exchange $NGL earned for fiat or cryptocurrencies on exchanges or earn by trading collectibles on NFT marketplaces.

     10. Neon District

    neon district

    Neon District is a cyberpunk role-playing game (RPG) that allows users to collect characters, gears and crafts. All of the game objects are blockchain components and almost everything may be purchased or sold. As is usually the case, the price is determined by supply and demand.

    The goal is to build a team and compete against other players in missions or real-time combats. One multiplayer competitive game mode, called Neon Pizza, in particular, pitches players against each other for the chance of earning the platform’s native token – $Neon, as well as gears, parts and so on. 

    All you need to do is send your characters on pizza delivery runs to feed hungry citizens. You can also take up a more villainous strategy by ambushing the pizza delivery team of other players and stealing their earnings. 

    $Neon earnings can be used to purchase characters, weapons, parts, armors, juice, and other in-game items required to upgrade characters. The tokens are now NFTs that are linked to the blockchain, but they cannot yet be traded on a genuine cryptocurrency exchange.

    Conclusion

    NFT games are not tough to master as they make use of popular gaming genres, with the added combination of blockchain features that are ideal for establishing rarity and uniqueness. With the raging popularity of NFT games, more and more people are starting to realize that it is possible to make a decent profit from these games. 

    These games are also highly entertaining and have made great strides for the understanding and adoption of blockchain. It is exciting to see the next big game that will emerge and where the industry will go from here. 

  • Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain

    Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain

    Fantom (FTM) is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that provides a robust environment for dApp (decentralized application) development. 

    Using advanced Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology, this project aims to provide near-infinite scalability and instant transactions at nearly zero cost. They are also working on a high-performance virtual machine with safe, secure smart contract execution.

    Check out our explainer video on Fantom (FTM) will it be the next hotbed for DeFi?

    Fantom (FTM) explained: Will it be the next hotbed for DeFi?

    The Blockchain Trilemma: What is it?

    blockchain trilemma
    blockchain trilemma

    The blockchain trilemma is a concept coined by Vitalik Buterin that proposes a set of three main issues that developers encounter when building blockchains. More often than not, creators are forced to sacrifice one aspect for the sake of the other two.

    • Decentralization – creating a blockchain system that does not rely on a central point of control
    • Scalability – the ability for a blockchain system to handle an increasingly growing amount of transactions
    • Security – the ability of the blockchain system to operate as expected, defend itself from attacks, bugs, and other unforeseen issues

    For some in the industry, achieving all three aspects is an impossible feat that will never be done, at least in the near future. 

    Fantom is designed to overcome these limitations of old-generation blockchain platforms by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.

    Fantom Overview

    Fantom operates atop a bespoke “leaderless” PoS consensus mechanism dubbed Lachesis that secures the Fantom network and ensures both transactional speed and security. Lachesis is an aBFT consensus mechanism, which means that network data can be processed at different times, and the network can tolerate up to one third of participants engaging in faulty or malicious behavior without causing undue harm to network processes.

    Lachesis also boasts near-instant finality. This means that transactions are confirmed and finalized in an average of one second, without the need to wait for laborious block confirmation as experienced in Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks. By avoiding the relatively lengthy block confirmation process, this aBFT system is much faster and more scalable than many of its Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) counterparts.

    The Fantom Foundation has turned its focus towards decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases with the help of Yearn Finance founder Andre Cronje, who serves as a technical advisor to Fantom. Andre has advised and helped promote Fantom’s multi-chain efforts, such as the launch of Fantom’s bridge to Ethereum.

    As an ultra-high speed and high-performance platform, Fantom believes it can become the IT infrastructure backbone for the emerging smart cities. With a goal of executing 300,000 transactions per second, and the ability to communicate across multiple service providers, Fantom believes it is the solution to storing vast amounts of data securely.

    It hopes to achieve this by being accessible to stakeholders for smart city data-driven smart contracts and dApp adoption. The Fantom team envisions the platform being used across a wide variety of sectors, including public utilities, smart home systems, healthcare, education, traffic management, resource management, and environmental sustainability projects.

    Fantom Technology

    Fantom features two core technologies:

    1. Lachesis protocol – the core consensus layer
    2. Opera – an application development layer

    Lachesis uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) based algorithm to achieve asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (aBFT). Lachesis has four key qualities:

    • Asynchronous: Participants have the freedom to process commands at different times
    • Leaderless: No participant plays a “special” role in block production
    • Byzantine Fault-Tolerant: Supports one-third of faulty nodes
    • Near-Instant Finality: Transactions are confirmed in 1-2 seconds.

    Fantom has implemented Lachesis as a consensus layer that can extend to additional layers within the system.

    Opera is a permissionless and open-source environment for development. It boasts the full range of smart contract capability that Ethereum has due to its support of the Solidity programming language and integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Applications built on Fantom can be designed to be interoperable with platforms built on Ethereum, while still maintaining the transactional efficiency of the Fantom network.

    A proprietary software development kit (SDK) known as the Fantom Virtual Machine will eventually be released for native Fantom-based development alongside continued support for the EVM — a strategy meant to entice Ethereum-based dApp developers to make an easy transition over to building applications on Fantom.

    Fantom DeFi and FTM Token

    Fantom promises to be the all-in-one DeFi (decentralized finance) suite for users. Fantom’s EVM-compatible blockchain gives users the ability to mint, trade, lend and borrow digital assets directly from their wallets. And all of this comes with near zero fees and instant transactions, making DeFi ideal on Fantom.

    Fantom currently supports the following:

    • Liquid staking – using staked FTM tokens as collateral for DeFi applications. All FTM delegations are liquid within the Fantom ecosystem.
    • fMint – users can mint dozens of synthetic assets on Fantom, including cryptocurrencies, national currencies, and commodities.
    • fLend – lending and borrowing digital assets to trade and to earn interests without losing exposure to held FTM.
    • fTrade – trading Fantom-based digital assets without leaving the wallet. This makes for a fully non-custodial and decentralized AMM exchange.

    What is the FTM token?

    FTM is the primary token on the Fantom network. FTM tokens and sFTM tokens can be used as collateral to mint fUSD, which can then be used to trade and swap for synthetic tokens and fiat, and much more. All of this is accomplished through the progressive web app Fantom fWallet, where users can store, send, receive, and stake FTM tokens.

    Fantom partnerships 

    Fantom is working together with Chainlink to build secure and scalable DeFi products like decentralized stablecoins, lending protocols, and synthetic assets. All developers building on Fantom can access Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure. The integration enables the whole Fantom ecosystem to combine tamper-proof real-time data for on-chain and off-chain assets from trusted sources.

    Travala, a blockchain-based travel booking platform, is leveraging Fantom to help users book over 3,000,000 travel products worldwide, including hotels, homes, flights, tours, and activities. This will be a huge boost to Fantom’s adoption.

    SuperFarm, a growing NFT ecosystem, simplifies the process for builders on projects like Fantom to set up NFT farms and expand use cases for their tokens. In addition to launching exclusive NFT drops for Fantom users, SuperFarm offers Fantom builders new ways to engage their communities. By setting up NFT farms via the SuperFarm platform’s intuitive and simple interface, builders can incentivize community members to stake their tokens, earn rewards, and interact with each other.

    DABS is Afghanistan’s national and fastest-growing electricity company. It manages electricity production, import, transmission, and distribution across the country. Fantom has signed an MoU with DABS where they have agreed to cooperate on the digitalization and implementation of advanced audit software within DABS’s operations. This a huge partnership to support smart energy in Afghanistan, which can help more adoption & validation of the Fantom platform.

    Fantom has secured many partnerships and integrations in its quest to become the “nervous system for smart cities.” 

    More details about these partnerships can be found on their official website: https://fantom.foundation/partners/

    Conclusion

    Fantom’s approach to the DeFi and dApp landscape is innovative — as is its staking reward program structure. Further proposed use cases for Fantom’s highly scalable smart contract platform are dApps related to supply chain management, payments, and smart city programs, some of which are already being piloted around the world.

    As the first of its kind with its complex and unique infrastructure, Fantom’s approach to fast, scalable dApp development is still establishing its place in the wider blockchain ecosystem. Although there is already much competition in the burgeoning dApp sector, the speed and benefits that Fantom offers dApp developers are notable, and the platform is poised to gain further traction.

    FAQ

    What is Fantom?

    Fantom is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that provides a robust environment for dApp development.

    What does Fantom do?

    The Fantom network architecture intends to provide a viable solution to the blockchain trilemma by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.

    How does Fantom work?

    Fantom’s fast, scalable platform for decentralized applications (dApps) draws its speed from a unique consensus mechanism called Lachesis. Fantom also offers tools that make it easy to integrate existing dApps, a nuanced system of staking rewards, and a suite of built-in decentralized finance (DeFi) tools.

    What is Lachesis?

    Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a single consensus layer to support the creation of multiple execution chains. The network’s independent consensus layer called Lachesis, featuring a novel consensus mechanism developed by the Fantom Foundation dubbed the “Lachesis Protocol.” Lachesis can provide security to multiple other layers, the first of which is Fantom’s EVM-compatible smart contract chain called Opera.

    Has Fantom been adopted?

    Yes. Fantom is an ambitious project that has already partnered with numerous blockchain projects, as well as governments and enterprises.

    Sources:

    https://medium.com/certik/the-blockchain-trilemma-decentralized-scalable-and-secure-e9d8c41a87b3 https://fantom.foundation/lachesis-consensus-algorithm/ https://fantom.foundation/what-is-fantom-opera/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/fantom-wallet-fantom-crypto-ftm-token https://messari.io/asset/fantom/profile/technology https://medium.com/geekculture/what-is-fantom-ftm-token-why-it-is-the-potential-hidden-gem-67be22a51254
    https://www.coinbureau.com/review/fantom-ftm/ https://fantom.foundation/partners/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_qs_MOAP6cGW1uLpLEUYyT98dB0iKkE4DXjCrhQSs3Ps-1632701162-0-gqNtZGzNAdCjcnBszQo9

  • Cardano Enters Goguen Era of Smart Contracts: The Alonzo Hard Fork

    Cardano Enters Goguen Era of Smart Contracts: The Alonzo Hard Fork

    This is an update of our previous article on Cardano.

    On September 12th, 2021, Cardano’s Alonzo hard fork upgrade went live on the mainnet. As a result, users can now create and deploy smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain.

    For an overview of what is Cardano, its features, and advantages and disadvantages, check out our video below:

    In an official blog post by the development company behind Cardano, IOHK disclosed that the Alonzo hard fork would enable new capabilities through the integration of Plutus scripts on the blockchain. Plutus is a purpose-built smart contract development language and execution platform using the functional programming language Haskell.

    The integration of Plutus will enable a host of new use cases for decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized apps (dApps) on the Cardano network. Interestingly, during my research on blockchain advancements, I came across a guide on 온라인 슬롯, which detailed the benefits of integrating blockchain technology into online gambling. This integration will also allow dApps to be built within the ecosystem and facilitate more complex computational programs. This is expected to bring Cardano to the same level as other smart contract-enabled blockchains such as Ethereum, while facilitating energy and cost-effective blockchain operations.

    The update is an important development in Cardano’s roadmap, which is divided into five stages — Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire. The Byron era focused on development, while the Shelley era introduced staking and helped Cardano transition from a centralized federated system to a fully delegated proof-of-stake system. Cardano’s entry into the Goguen era is marked by the launch of its smart contracts. 

    The official website of Cardano states that the Goguen era will also feature the addition of a multi-currency ledger, enabling users to create new native tokens. This will lead to the creation of fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as the creation of new cryptocurrencies on Cardano and tokenization of many types of digital and physical assets.

    Cardano creator Charles Hoskinson described the Alonzo upgrade as a game-changing moment for the platform. “This upgrade is the culmination of six years of incredibly hard work with some of the brightest minds in blockchain and beyond,” he said. “The focus is now on improving the platform further, and ensuring that Cardano is adopted by corporations and governments. With this launch, commercialisation is as much in the hands of the community as it is the system architects, and they are already delivering – in less than 24 hours, over 100 smart contracts have already been run on the network.”

    Cardano hosted a hybrid-virtual summit across all continents on September 25th & 26th, 2021. During the 2-day event, IOHK announced their plans to integrate with Chainlink Labs to obtain real-time market data that will help developers build smart contracts for DeFi applications on the network.

    Access to real-world databases will be supplied through Chainlink’s decentralized ‘oracle’ networks which provide tamper-proof, high-quality external data to blockchains. This collaboration between IOHK and Chainlink Labs will give access to a wealth of secure data, helping DeFi achieve its promise of building a less costly and more inclusive global economic system. 

    Initially, information feeds for real-time market prices will be linked to Cardano. Over time, additional data feeds on sports and weather will follow, for use with insurance, gaming, and NFTs.

    Hydra: Cardano’s Layer 2 Scalability Solution

    During the Cardano Summit 2021, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson revealed that a new venture called “Hydra” is in development on the new Alonzo hard fork to improve aspects of scalability and storage.

    David Orr of IOHK explained that although there are plans to improve Cardano fees in order to balance user costs, stake pool operator rewards and network security, the fees likely won’t be low enough for “real world use cases,” which is what Hydra intends to address.

    Hydra is a layer-2 scalability solution that seeks to address these concerns by providing more efficient means of processing transaction off-chain for a set of users while using the main chain as a secure settlement layer. Orr also says that Hydra can lower the barrier to entry for customers wanting to build things on the Cardano network like wallets or applications.

    According to a blog post by IOHK, Hydra could make transactions on Cardano’s blockchain take less than one second to complete.

    “Terms like ‘one million TPS (transactions per second)’ have been used before. It is a bold number, and while this remains as an aspirational target, the ultimate goal of any system is the flexibility to grow capability with demand,” says Orr. “ In principle, by adding increasing numbers of Hydra heads to the system, arbitrarily high throughput can be achieved by the system as a whole.”

    Cardano Introduces the Plutus dAppStore

    Cardano has revealed that it’s building a storefront for certified decentralized applications (dApps).

    In a blog post, IOHK published a preview of its new “integrated approach” to the development of the Cardano ecosystem ahead of Cardano Summit 2021. The centerpiece of the announcement is the upcoming launch of the Plutus dAppStore, a storefront where developers can upload their decentralized applications running on Cardano and make them easier for discovery.

    According to Shruti Appiah, head of product and smart contracts at Cardano, the dAppStore addresses two barriers to entry. The first is that there is currently no formal discovery process for dApps running on the network, and the second is that there is no consolidated view of all dApps available in a given ecosystem for end-users.

    The Plutus dAppStore will allow Cardano users to explore the entire ecosystem of dApps running on the protocol through a single “storefront” or web page. 

    In addition to the dAppStore, IOHK is also launching a formal certification program for third-party decentralized applications on Cardano. The program’s goal is to give users assurance about the integrity of the dApps they use through automated logic checks, manual smart contract auditing, and formal verification.

    According to Appiah, the dAppStore will provide a “democratized environment for developers to publish their dApps without facing censorship,” meaning both certified and uncertified applications will be listed on the storefront, as the site intends not to act as a gatekeeper but rather provide “a platform for transparent user assessment.”

    Climate Restoration Partnership with Veritree

    Cardano has teamed up with global land restoration and tree planting verification company Veritree to store reforestation verification records on Cardano’s blockchain. 

    Going forward, organizations using Veritree’s platform will be provided with an immutable, transparent and auditable blockchain based report on all of Veritree’s afforestation and reforestation efforts – using a fraction of the carbon footprint of other blockchains. 

    To celebrate this, Cardano and Veritree launched The First Global Cardano Impact Challenge, inviting its global community to make donations to Veritree using Cardano’s native token ADA. Every ADA donated equals one tree planted and these donations will be used to plant the world’s first Cardano Forest. Once at least 15 ADA have been pledged to the campaign, donors will receive 15 Veritree tokens or more in return for their donations. These tokens are redeemable for a tree planting certificate with details of all actual trees once these have been planted next year.

    Within 24 hours of the announcement, the Initial Tree Offering (ITO) has already collected enough donations to plant more than 150,000 trees.

    Partnership with COTI to Issue Djed Stablecoin

    A new stablecoin is arriving on the Cardano blockchain as Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson announced fintech company, COTI as its partner to be the official issuer of Djed, a new DeFi-focused stablecoin for the Cardano network. The announcement was made at the 2021 Cardano summit event alongside COTI CEO, Shahaf Bar-Geffen. 

    Djed will be used on the Cardano blockchain as a tool for decentralized finance (DeFi) operations and avoid transaction fees. It will be based on an algorithmic design using smart contracts to ensure price stability and providing an instrument for DeFi transactions. The stablecoin is designed for paying transaction fees on the Cardano network in order to avoid “volatile and exorbitant gas fees” and make transaction costs “more predictable.” 

    According to Djed’s research paper, its stablecoin protocol will behave like an “autonomous bank that buys and sells stablecoins for a price in a range that is pegged to a target price.” The stablecoin will operate by maintaining a reserve of base coins while minting and burning various other stable assets and reserve coins. 

    Telecom Integration with Dish Network

    Cardano has announced that it is partnering with a Fortune 250 company, Dish Network, a major American satellite TV and wireless service provider. The announcement was made by Chris Ergen, the head of Innovation at Dish. 

    Chris Ergen made this announcement at the Cardano Summit 2021 with Charles Hoskinson. Hoskinson stated that the partnership will help integrate Dish’s telecom business into the Cardano blockchain so as to help provide digital identity services to Dish customers. He further stated, “Ultimately, the collaboration is going to be both innovative, safe and suitable for the customers and regulators of this industry.” 

    The partnership aims at bringing the telecoms industry to the blockchain space. It’s the first collaboration of its kind, unlocking significant value for Dish’s customers while growing adoption for Cardano.

    NFT Marketplace with eSports Platform Rival

    Cardano has partnered with leading esports and gaming platform Rival to develop agnostic NFT marketplaces, fan rewards, and more for Rival and their partners. The partnership will see Cardano facilitate the ability to create and distribute NFTs, the redemption of NFTs for physical goods, and marketplace-based royalties within the Rival platform, whose clients include the National Football League’s (NFL) Seattle Seahawks, National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Detroit Pistons, and Aston Villa and Watford of the English Premier League (EPL). 

    Matt Virtue, CEO of Rival, said, “Our partnership with Cardano marks Rival’s entry into blockchain and is a significant step in our evolution as an enterprise platform solution to unlock the unlimited potential in gaming and esports. Rival’s integration with Cardano will help us maximize and personalize the entire Rival experience – for both gamers and partners.”

    Cardano Summit 2021

    Cardano announced several other strategic partnerships and development plans during the Cardano Summit 2021.

    Cardano confirmed support for AID:tech, which provides identity based solutions for finance, payments and insurance through blockchain. The collaboration aims to develop verifiable credentials for trusted identity management and ownership; enable customers and consumers to quickly process payments and disbursements; and reliably process vast volumes of transactions.

    Cardano also announced their emergence into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) through Grace, a robot designed for the healthcare industry. The AI robot is developed by Awakening Health, a joint venture between Hanson Robotics and SingularityNET. They have chosen Cardano to ensure that Grace meets the stringent guidelines set out by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework. Grace has been designed to interact with the elderly and others who have been isolated.

    In addition to these partnerships, Cardano took strides to increase on-chain DeFi activity through a strategic collaboration with UBX. UBX, the fintech venture studio and fund spun out of UnionBank, has launched its own public stake pool featuring Cardano. UBX stakers are now able to earn rewards on their ada for helping to secure and operate the Cardano blockchain. 

    Cardano also announced the ‘lightwallet’, which will enable users to interact with Cardano without internet access. The wallet will be the first ever blockchain wallet able to carry out transactions, hold NFTs, make purchases and more all in one mobile application.

    EMURGO, the global blockchain solution provider, will allocate $100 million in the Cardano ecosystem to hasten DeFi and NFT education in the space. DeFi and DEXs are already being developed and perfected on Cardano as new development and updates are rolled out on the ecosystem.

    The summit took place in six locations around the world between the 25th and 26th of September, 2021. It was also held in a virtual world, where bobbing avatars representing ADA fans from across the world huddled together to watch Charles Hoskinson and other keynote speakers explain the future of Cardano.

    cardano virtual summit

    The summit served to showcase the new Cardano smart contract capabilities and to give a small precedent for where Cardano wants to focus its resources.

    What’s next for Cardano?

    After the Goguen era, Cardano will move into Basho. Cardano Basho will focus on optimizing and scaling the Cardano network to improve its performance. 

    To implement this scaling, Basho will add sidechains to the Cardano blockchain, using these new chains to take the pressure off Cardano’s main chain. These sidechains may also be used to test features, without affecting the security of the main chain.

    Basho will also give users the option to use an account model for transactions. Currently, Cardano only uses UTXO (unspent transaction output), but in the Basho era, users will be able to switch between UTXO and account-based models. The Basho era will see Cardano become one of the most high performance, resilient, and flexible blockchain platforms in the industry. 

    Given the Goguen era is still in its early stages, Cardano Basho does not currently have an official release date. However, we do know that work on Cardano scaling has already started, enabled by the Alonzo hard fork.

    FAQ

    What is the Alonzo hard fork?

    The Alonzo hard fork is an upgrade that introduced smart contract capabilities to the Cardano network, marking its transition into the Goguen era.

    What is Hydra?

    The Alonzo hard fork is an upgrade that introduced smart contract capabilities to the Cardano network, marking its transition into the Goguen era.

    What is the Cardano Summit?

    The Cardano Summit is a mix of virtual and live events that brought together blockchain enthusiasts, industry experts, and special guests to reflect on Cardano’s progress and discuss its future. The most recent summit took place on September 25th and 26th, 2021.

    What happened during the Cardano Summit 2021?

    Cardano unveiled multiple strategic announcements with blockchain projects, governments, and enterprises. These partnerships include Chainlink for real-time market data, Veritree for climate restoration, COTI to issue a new stablecoin, Dish for digital identity services in telecoms, and Rival for a new esports NFT marketplace.

    Cardano also revealed upcoming developments such as a new app store for decentralized apps, a venture into artificial intelligence in healthcare, and a ‘lightwallet’ that can carry out transactions without internet access.

    Sources:

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/12/today-will-feel-like-a-destination-yet-a-new-exciting-journey-begins/

    https://www.cityam.com/cardano-alonzo-upgrade-sees-100-smart-contracts-in-first-24-hours/

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/25/cardano-to-integrate-chainlink-oracles-for-real-time-market-data/

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/17/hydra-cardano-s-solution-for-ultimate-scalability/

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/22/bringing-certified-dapps-to-cardano/

    https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/how-green-can-the-cardano-community-make-cardanos-blockchain/

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/26/coti-to-issue-djed-stablecoin-on-cardano/

    https://nairametrics.com/2021/09/26/cardano-partners-with-fortune-250-company-dish-network/

    https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/cardano-unveils-multiple-strategic-partnerships-at-the-cardano-summit-2021/

    https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/09/26/cardano-enters-the-age-of-ai-as-it-welcomes-grace-the-ai-robot-designed-to-revolutionize-global-healthcare/

    https://roadmap.cardano.org/en/basho/

  • Solana Updates And Why Its Price Is Rallying

    Solana Updates And Why Its Price Is Rallying

    This article is an update of our previous Solana article to reflect the recent changes in the technology.

    Solana Rises 800% in Price Rally

    The price of Solana (SOL) saw an incredible surge from August 2021 to September 2021, breaking all time high after all time high, even surpassing the critical $200 barrier. 

    At the time of writing, Solana is the sixth largest cryptocurrency according to Coinmarketcap, amassing more than $50 billion in market value, surpassing Dogecoin and Ripple’s XRP. Solana has climbed a staggering 6,800% this year and the price of cryptocurrency has grown more than 800% in just less than two months.

    The stunning rally is attributed to numerous project developments and announcements from the Solana ecosystem, as well as growing interest from institutional investors.

    Learn more about Solana in our article What is Solana (SOL token): explained

    Solana’s DEX – Mango Markets Raises $70M in Token Sale

    Mango Markets
    Mango Markets raised a cool $70M in 24 hours

    In August 2021, Mango Markets, a high-speed decentralized exchange (DEX) powered by Solana, announced a successful $70 million crowdfunding in a 24-hour token sale. Investors at some point invested more than $500 million in USDC into the trading platform’s 24-hour sale. Most of the funds were extracted after the grace period of a day, but the project still managed to hold onto $70.5 million in locked value.

    The funding is aimed at providing an insurance fund to ensure the protocol is protected in case of a breach. U.S. investors were excluded from the sale, mostly to avoid any regulatory issues. Nonetheless, the token sale still turned out to be one of the largest seed-fundings in DeFi history.

    Mango offers a platform for spot markets, lending, and perpetual futures. It sources liquidity from its native pools and Serum, another Solana DEX, which is backed by FTX. The working model is very similar to other successful Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap and Sushiswap.

    Solana Unveils Wormhole

    Wormhole
    Wormhole allowed tokenized assets to be moved across blockchains

    Solana has announced the launch of Wormhole, a bi-directional bridge that allows projects, platforms and communities to move tokenized assets across blockchains. The project also facilitates message exchange across blockchains, and more decentralized applications now benefit from Solana’s high speed and relatively low cost.

    Currently, Wormhole mainnet is live and supports the exchange of assets from the Ethereum blockchain. The Solana team has plans to expand the bridge and make it a three-way bridge. This implies that Wormhole will include Terra. 

    The community is awaiting further updates on the project, and it has garnered attention from traders and analysts. The 2.0 launch of the cross-network bridge is a trigger for SOL’s ongoing price rally. 

    As Solana gains popularity as a faster and cheaper “Ethereum alternative,” it has captivated institutional investors. Osprey Funds, a digital asset investment firm, has applied to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Solana trust, ahead of competitor Grayscale Investments, implying there is an increase in demand from institutions. 

    Launch of SOLSEA and Degenerate Ape Academy NFTs

    Solsea NFT
    Solsea is the first NFT marketplace on Solana

    SOLSEA is the first open non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on Solana. The marketplace was introduced by All-Art Protocol, a project that offers NFT liquidity pools.

    According to the protocol’s introduction, the Solana NFT marketplace was created in response to user demand. The project, called SOLSEA, would serve as a secondary market for all NFTs created in the Solana ecosystem.

    SOLSEA will possess unique features that will attract a wide audience of NFT lovers, where the NFT platform will be differentiated by its low transaction costs, an ultra-fast, cheap minting process, and a new licensing standard. In addition to adding licenses to minted NFTs, SOLSEA will allow users to mint individual NFTs where sellers will be able to list NFT on the new marketplace and having a comprehensive list of payment alternatives for the NFTs, among other fascinating features.

    Another factor behind SOL’s skyrocketing rally was the launch of Degenerate Ape Academy, an NFT project on Solanart, another NFT marketplace built on Solana. Degenerate Apes was Solana’s first big foray into NFTs. The collection of costumed apes features various traits with various degrees of rarity. The launch had some technical issues (the team tweeted that they’d been “overwhelmed” by the demand), but that didn’t matter. The collection of 10,000 apes sold out in less than 10 minutes. At the time of writing, the trading volume had reached over 800,000 SOL. On September 11th, 2021, Moonrock Capital, a blockchain advising business, bought one of the Degenerate Apes for 5,980 SOL ($1.1 million), making it Solana’s first million-dollar NFT sale.

    Solana-based Music Streaming Company Audius Surpasses 500,000 Tracks Downloaded

    Audius
    Audius will be running TikTok’s sounds on the blockchain, making it easier for creators to track their sounds on the app

    Audius, a Solana-based music streaming company that just joined TikTok has seen tremendous growth. Artists will be able to easily integrate their music into TikTok thanks to the collaboration, which makes Audius the first streaming platform to negotiate a contract with the app. In addition, Audius will run the “TikTok Sounds” collection, which will provide access to artist music to the app. Moreover, TikTok has revealed that it has surpassed half a million track uploads.

    Roneil Rumburg, co-founder and CEO of Audius, expressed his joy in the recent partnership in a statement, where the collaboration will make it easier for musicians to obtain their songs on TikTok, which had previously been tough.

    Solana’s Partnership with Chainlink to Offer Crypto Price Feeds

    Chainlink
    Chainlink and Solana team up to make it easier to use pricing feeds when developing on the Solana network

    In a significant boost for its ecosystem, Solana has collaborated with Chainlink to give developers access to decentralized pricing feeds. 

    Solana announced in a statement that developers on its platform may now use Chainlink pricing feeds, where Solana developers now have access to decentralized, high-quality, and frequently updated pricing reference data. Likewise, Chainlink’s price reference contracts currently provide safe and accurate market data. The newly integrated pricing feeds, on the other hand, will help developers construct a wide range of hybrid smart contract applications in DeFi.

    Solana’s creator and CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, expressed satisfaction with the new integration. According to him, the integration will greatly accelerate the rate at which Solana developers can create secure, rising DeFi apps. He goes on to add, “The combination of high-quality oracle infrastructure and Solana’s high-speed blockchain network can enable DeFi applications to scale to a global level.”

    Solend Goes Live on the Solana Mainnet

    Solend
    Solend allows investors to borrow assets against the tokens that they own

    Solend, a decentralized protocol for borrowing assets, went live on the Solana blockchain in August 2021. The protocol enables users to earn interest on deposits and borrow assets against their tokens on Solana. According to the announcement, Solend currently supports only four digital assets – BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC.

    Solend revealed that it chose to build on Solana because of its powerful blockchain that provides near-instant and cheap transactions. The protocol further expressed gratitude to Pyth Network, Switchboard, and Phantom for providing unique features on Solana that benefit the project. Additionally, Solend noted that there is an initial deposit limit of $1 million per market and $10,000 per user per market. This is explained as it will reduce the level of risk since the project is quite new.

    Launch of Galactic Marketplace on Solana

    The Galactic Marketplace is an NFT trading marketplace that was launched on Solana by Star Atlas, the blockchain-powered next-generation gaming metaverse.

    In the launch announcement, Star Atlas noted that the marketplace will enable its community to trade meta-posters, spaceships, and other assets. Owners of meta-posters and other in-game assets can also buy and sell NFTs directly within the marketplace.

    The Galactic Marketplace was launched as a result of the Star Atlas integration with Serum, which utilizes Solana’s cheap costs, fast processing capabilities, and other remarkable features.

    Michael Wagner, CEO of Star Atlas, expressed his excitement with the launch. According to him, the Serum integration paved the way to a blockchain-powered experience that gives power back to the people.

    Solana Announces Breakpoint Conference

    Solana announced its first-ever annual conference, known as Breakpoint, which is aimed at celebrating everything the ecosystem has achieved.

    The Breakpoint conference is scheduled to take place November 7th – 10th, 2021 in Lisbon. It will bring industry leaders, builders, and innovators across the globe together to celebrate Solana’s achievements.

    The conference will also attempt to solve challenges and create opportunities while building in a Web 3.0 space. Breakpoint will host over 100 panels and technical workshops. It will feature discussions from Meltem Demirors, Balaji S. Srinivasan, Kyle Samani, Sam Bankman-Fried, Jeremy Allaire, amongst others.

    Saber partners with Marinade Finance to Make Staking Liquid

    Saber is the leading cross-chain stablecoin exchange
    Saber has established itself as a stablecoin exchange on the Solana network

    Saber, the leading cross-chain stablecoin and wrapped assets exchange on Solana, has entered a strategic partnership with Marinade Finance to create a mSOL/SOL pool, making staking on Solana liquid and accessible to all.

    Marinade Finance is the first liquid staking protocol built on Solana allowing users to frictionlessly stake, trade, accrue rewards, and collateralize their staked SOL by tokenizing it in the form of mSOL.

    In the announcement, Saber stated that “Staking is the lifeblood of proof-of-stake blockchains like Solana. Democratizing access to staking is vital to ensuring the proper security, consensus, and decentralization of Solana itself.”

    The announcement also disclosed that the partnership will ensure liquid staking derivatives like mSOL are actually liquid. It further revealed that Saber’s stableswap AMM design will ensure low slippage, deep liquidity, and a rich trading experience.

    Sunny Aggregator Launches on Solana

    Sunny Aggregator
    Sunny Aggregator allows other developers to build on top of its core infrastructure

    Sunny Aggregator, a composable yield aggregator, has officially launched on Solana. The Sunny Protocol is designed with composability as a core feature, enabling other applications and protocols to easily build on top of it.

    Many DeFi projects provide token-based yield farming incentives as a mechanism for bootstrapping liquidity. With so many new Solana DeFi projects launching, it has become increasingly difficult for users to manage their yield farming positions across different interfaces.

    A yield aggregator simplifies this process by offering a streamlined solution for discovering and entering farms. The aggregator can then offer additional strategies, such as automatically compounding the farmed tokens. (https://bluejapan.org)

    Soldex to Offer AI-Powered Trading Algorithms

    Soldex exchange
    Soldex aims to use AI to make crypto trading more accessible

    The decentralized exchange, Soldex, is attempting to make the trading of crypto more accessible and straightforward with the use of artificial intelligence. Currently, new users must learn about markets and the assets they want to trade, adding to the barriers of getting started.

    Soldex is eliminating these barriers by offering traders the capabilities to use AI-powered trading algorithms developed by users.

    The objective of Soldex is to use a neural network algorithm to work on all market conditions. The algorithm will be able to analyze data about the market, make predictions about risks and buy and sell assets on the user’s behalf. As an automated trading suite, it will gather expert data and continue to develop its learning capabilities. 

    The CEO of Soldex, John Robertson, shares that the “AI will be so far advanced that users will be able to “create their own trading strategies and sell them on the marketplace.”

    Providing AI trading in a decentralized format can greatly impact the way people view cryptocurrencies. The platform is also completely permissionless, so anyone, regardless of location, can provide liquidity, trade or begin staking without a Know Your Client (KYC) requirement. 

    DeFi Land Raises $4.1M to launch DeFi Game on Solana

    Defi Land Gamified Decentralized Finance
    DeFi Land raised $4.1 million to gamify the DeFi landscape

    Blockchain gamification platform DeFi Land has secured $4.1 million in investments to launch a new decentralized finance game on Solana, further highlighting the growing ecosystem surrounding SOL. 

    The investment round had participation from over 40 investors, including some of the biggest names in blockchain venture capital. Animoca Brands, Alameda Research, Jump Capital, NGC Ventures, Solana Foundation and Gate.io were among the major investors involved.

    DeFi Land operates as an agriculture simulation game designed to gamify all aspects of decentralized finance. The goal is to create educational solutions for users looking to explore DeFi or other alternative finance solutions. The platform introduces a play-to-earn model that allows users to earn income for completing tasks or reaching milestones.

    Brian Lee, a senior executive at Alameda Research, said DeFi Land blends “two of the most interesting things happening in crypto right now – gaming and DeFi.” This increases the odds of casual gamers and crypto users entering the decentralized finance market for the first time.

    Sources:

    https://www.chron.com/business/article/Solana-rival-of-Ethereum-is-already-the-seventh-16442434.php

    https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/product-release/top-updates-from-the-solana-ecosystem-august-week-2/

    https://wormholecrypto.medium.com/introducing-wormhole-32b16d795c01

    https://allart.medium.com/solsea-the-first-open-nft-marketplace-on-solana-54c263cb864f

    https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/5-reasons-why-solana-sol-keeps-climbing-2021-08-31

    https://coinquora.com/first-million-dollar-nft-sale-for-solana-and-its-for-a-degenerate-ape/

    https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/product-release/avalanche-integrates-chainlink-price-feeds-and-sushiswap/

    https://solana.com/news/announcing-breakpoint-the-annual-solana-conference

    https://blog.saber.so/saber-partners-with-marinade-finance-to-make-staking-liquid-throughmsol-pool-1d5c75f63eb9

    https://cointelegraph.com/news/this-defi-platform-positions-itself-as-a-new-compound-built-on-solana

    https://cointelegraph.com/news/defi-land-raises-4-1m-to-launch-decentralized-finance-game-on-solana