Boxmining v2

Author: benson

  • Ethernity Chain ($ERN): Authenticated NFTs for a good cause

    Ethernity Chain ($ERN): Authenticated NFTs for a good cause

    Ethernity Chain is a blockchain-based platform that deals with limited authenticated NFTs from top artists and with endorsements from popular figures in the sporting and entertainment scene.

    Although Bitcoin concentrated on hedging away from government-issued currencies, its blockchain technology opened a much bigger world of possibilities. For example, Ethereum tapped into the technology to build a decentralized computer and power decentralized applications (Dapps). Next came decentralized finance (DeFi). Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) then followed suit.

    However, most NFT projects concentrate on the broad digital artwork space. Consequently, they fail to address specific problems in any of the artwork subsections. This leaves room for platforms such as Ethernity Chain to take over. Below is a detailed overview of the platform and what it brings to the NFT ecosystem.


    Background

    Ethernity Chain is a community-focused project that banks on artworks from top artists and stars.  The project’s team is led by Nick Rose Ntertsas, the platform’s founder and chief executive officer.

    What is Ethernity Chain?

    Ethernity Chain deals with limited authenticated NFTs from top artists and with endorsements from popular figures in the sporting and entertainment scene.

    Its vision is to raise funds for charitable causes while at the same time keeping NFT creators motivated. The charity offerings ride on the project’s for-profit status that allows it to design services for more users compared to non-profit themed networks.

    Apart from charity, Ethernity Chain provides a crucial connection between non-fungible tokens and the wider DeFi industry. Consequently, it enables increased access to rare and collectible virtual artworks designed by reputable artists and features respected public figures. Notably, featured celebrities must approve the NFTs using a digital signature, known as aNFTs.

    What are aNFTs?

    aNFTs are authenticated non-fungible tokens- a unique creation of Ethernity Chain. These aNFTs are authenticated by the creator so that purchasers or traders know it is officially endorsed by them.

    Users can buy these aNFTs using Ethernity Chain’s native token, known as ERN. ERN can be purchased on the market or earned when users LP stake and earn ERN and use these rewards to purchase aNFTs.

    Pelé charity aNFT collection

    Ethernity Chain has recently released the officially licensed collection from renowned football legend Pelé. The collection will comprise authenticated non-fungible tokens (aNFTs), of which 3-6 pieces will drop on the Ethernity Chain platform on 2 May 2021.

    90% of the proceeds from the sale will go towards the Pelé Foundation, a charity that empowers and educates children battling poverty around the world.

    Major Ethereum Chain Products

    Ethernity Packs

    Here, NFTs have a community focus and employ a lottery model. Notably, these packs have a minimum and maximum price of $50 and $300, depending on rarity. The Ethernity Chain team curates all the collectibles in this category.

    To awaken collectors’ taste buds, the team hides rare NFTs inside random packs, and collectors won’t know what’s inside before purchase. Also, the packs are available at different times on the network. Interacting with this product requires the platform’s native asset, ERN. Note that Ethernity Packs have a connection to STONES.

    STONES

    STONES is a product earned through staking the native token. In other words, it’s a farm-only offering. The farming process involves interfacing your MetaMask wallet with Ethernity Chain using the Ethernity.io platform.

    Note that one ERN coin gives its holder 1000 STONES when locked in the farming contract for one day. Unfortunately, STONES are indivisible. As such, if you unlock your ERN tokens before the completion of the staking cycle, you end up with no rewards.

    Additionally, STONES cannot be transferred from the farming contract, have no monetary bearing, and can’t be swapped with ERN or Ethereum (ETH). This leaves them exclusively for exchanging with a select number of NFTs on the protocol.

    March 24, 2021, marks the first STONES farming spree, with the second slated for the end of April the same year.

    Ethernity Chain ($ERN) Staking and Rewards

    Ethernity Chain runs a staking program for liquidity providers. However, the rewards go to those who choose to interact with the ERN/ETH pair on Uniswap. Staking has a lockup period of 30 days, after which the pool is restarted. The annual percentage yield (APY) for staking fluctuates between 100 and 300% and has a monthly payment plan.

    How the ERN staking process works

    1. First, deposit tokens in Uniswap’s V2 ERN/ETH pair.
    2. In return, the decentralized exchange (DEX) issues LP tokens equivalent to your stake in the pool.
    3. Next, access the staking option on Ethernity and connect your wallet address that holds the assigned LP tokens. Then, approve and lock the tokens into the staking contract known as the Liquidity Reward Program.
    4. Note that Ethernity Chain ties the unstaking event with claiming ERN. As such, unstaking automatically claims the native asset.
    5. Staking rewards are calculated by dividing the amount of LP tokens a staker has in the contract with the total amount of LP tokens padlocked in the staking contract.

    Ethernity Chain ($ERN) Tokenomics

    The total ERN supply is 30 million tokens. Token distribution includes to team/advisors (20%), partnerships (8%), expansion (6%), staking/rewards (12%), and reserves (15%). Also, there’s a 30.6% allocation to private price sale, 3.33% to a public initial digital offering (IDO), and 5% to liquidity.

    However, some of the allocations have different freeze and unlock times. For example, the private sale has a two-month vesting period, while distribution to partnerships has 14 months vesting time.

    Ethernity Chain Strategic Partnerships and Investments

    Ethernity has its eyes set on interacting with the larger cryptocurrency industry. As such, it has inked notable partnerships with major firms building different products. For example, the protocol partnered with Kenetic, a reputable global blockchain-focused firm working to drive the adoption of decentralized protocols by offering investments, technology, tech, and advisory services. Kenetic’s managing partner, Jehan Chu, believes “NFTs are the true missing link between online and offline objects.”

    They have also partnered with Chainlink by integrating Chainlink’s oracle solution to secure the minting and pricing of aNFTs.

    Another notable partnership is with Terra Virtua, an inter-blockchain NFT protocol. Terra Virtua, through its Terra Virtua Kolect platform, provides a tailor-made marketplace for NFT collectors and creators on the web, mobile, and PC environments.

    Conclusion

    With a growing NFT ecosystem, Ethernity Chain provides a specific solution to the sector. For example, its focus on authenticated digital artworks gives collectors assurance of rarity, among other things.

    Notably, the works are authenticated by globally renowned individuals such as Tony Hawk, a skateboarding legend, and Fernando Tatis Jr., a high-profile baseball player. Also, partnering with major firms like Terra Virtua and Kenetic boosts its vision in the future of the non-fungible industry. (https://www.smallhandsbigart.com/)

    Also, other hidden gems inside Ethernity Chain Packs keep the collector’s hope alive. STONES add fun to the NFT farming while staking allows liquidity providers to earn rewards.

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Base Protocol ($BASE): a rebasing token to cover all cryptocurrencies?

    Base Protocol ($BASE): a rebasing token to cover all cryptocurrencies?

    Base Protocol ($BASE) created a token with a value pegged to the total market capitalization of every cryptocurrency available in the market. The purpose is to diversify a person’s investments and expand their exposure to a lot of cryptocurrencies that they would not have otherwise availed from existing traditional investment vehicles. 

    This has helped investors because trading on the cryptocurrency market has always been challenging. Especially when the performance of some coins varies a lot from each other. There are big gainers and big losers. In addition, choosing which digital currency to invest in can be truly difficult at times considering their inherent risks. Fortunately, Base Protocol’s token aims to solve this problem.


    Learn more about Base Protocol and how rebasing works in our debate with Nick Ravanbakhsh, co-founder of Base Protocol.

    EPIC Debate: Are “Rebases” Useful Financially? – With Base Protocol

    Background

    Nick Ravanbakhsh and Dylan Senter, founders of the Base Protocol, started the project to address the lack of a crypto index fund product for the cryptocurrency market. They came up with the idea to establish a basket of digital assets that track the market.

    Both of them are also co-founders of Spectiv, a digital token designed as a rewards system for content creators, aiming to do away with the advertising intermediaries like YouTube or Facebook.

    Base Protocol’s key team members also include Chris Peña (Head of Development), who has over 10 years of experience being a developer for systems that span multiple industries,and Based McGee (Head of Development — Solidity), who has 10 years of experience being a software engineer.

    What is Base Protocol?

    Base Protocol is an Ethereum-based synthetic token that has its price derived from the value of all digital assets in the cryptocurrency market. You can think of it like a stock index. It functions as a trading vehicle where the price is dependent on the movement of all other stocks held in its particular market.

    Through Base, investors can participate in the cryptocurrency market with the Base Protocol index mitigating risk.

    Rather than simply speculating on the numerous cryptocurrencies that pop up almost daily, investors can spread their risk by simply investing in Base Protocol. This means that they can have a stake in every successful coin, at the same time, have a more balanced risk exposure.

    And for as long as the cryptocurrency market continues to grow, you cannot lose. Basically, this project is geared to those who believe in the nascent industry’s long-term potential.

    Features of Base Protocol

    Base Protocol as a Synthetic Asset

    A synthetic asset in finance is a tool designed to produce the same effects as investing in another asset (called the underlying asset). However, it also alters the key characteristics of the underlying asset.

    This is effectively the engineering mechanism behind the Base protocol, which is a synthetic asset that simulates the performance of the cryptocurrency market. To do this effectively, it is built with some important features in place.

    Elastic supply

    BASE’s value is designed to be the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in the market at a ratio of 1:1 trillion. Hence Base Protocol is built to always achieve equilibrium with the market cap of all cryptocurrencies (target price). This means that its supply could also change depending on the current state of the market. Through its rebasing method, BASE could ensure that it can reconcile the difference between the value of its coin and the total market cap for cryptocurrencies.

    Rebasing- how does it work?

    Rebasing is the term used for the process by which a synthetic asset’s price is restored in equilibrium to the underlying asset. BASE’s rebasing mechanism adjusts its total supply until the market price reaches the target price.

    While this protocol functions to ensure that the market price of BASE always correlates with the target price – it often only manages to influence the corrections. It is left to market actors to respond to rebases to correct prices.

    Rebase process
    Rebase process (Image credit: Base Protocol whitepaper)

    Example

    • t0 — An investor buys 1 BASE with a market price $1
    • t1— The market price of BASE goes up to $2 – out of sync with the target price of $1
    • t2 — To restore the market price’s equilibrium to target price, BASE’s total supply is adjusted in proportion to the difference. This is a “rebase”, and the process is called a “rebase event”.
    • t3 — Regardless of the rebase event, the investor’s net $ balance and his percent ownership of the total supply are always constant.

    BASE Token ($BASE)

    Base’s token ($BASE) is the token associated with the Base Protocol index and is both itself a cryptocurrency and a measure of the cryptocurrency market as a whole. It serves as a trading instrument that enables individuals to make investments based on the whole cryptocurrency market, instead of just a single or few digital asset selections.

    BASE’s value follows the ratio of 1:1 trillion, based on the whole market cap for cryptocurrencies. For example, if the market cap is at $800 billion, the value of one BASE is $0.80.

    The protocol is based on the Ethereum blockchain and can be bought on Uniswap. The price feed uses Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network.

    While BASE is becoming more popular as an investment instrument, it can serve other specific purposes too. Here are some of the other features that the $BASE token can be used for.

    Uses for $BASE token

    Price Reference

    Traders trying to analyze the potential movement of a particular coin could track its price with the value of BASE to determine how they fare against the whole crypto market. This can even be better than just comparing altcoins with BTC because it shows an overview of the whole crypto economy. 

    Hence $BASE is intended to be a single token that allows an investor to speculate on all crypto assets simultaneously. This way, they don’t have to buy any specific coin or invest in a select few and can spread their stake across the entire industry.

    As long as the investor is optimistic about the industry’s future, they can invest in the market as a whole.

    Safe Haven

    According to the Team, purchasing BASE allows holders to make safe investments, instead of just selecting a single digital asset.

    This is because cherry-picking cryptocurrencies into a portfolio opens the investor to the risk of loss — seeing how volatile the market can be. People might also miss out on the emergence of the rapid rise of any new currency.

    By investing in $BASE, however, the idea is that one can mitigate the risk of exposure of individual coins while enjoying the rest’s potential gains.

    Price Reference

    As a market tracker, BASE’s price is indicative of the total market cap of the crypto market. Crypto investors already track the performance of altcoins in relation to bitcoin instead of USD.

    The performance of any altcoin in relation to bitcoin is more a more important measure for the decentralized economy. But even better would be to use $BASE as the price reference. Instead of just BTC, the trader can see how well any altcoin performs against the entire crypto market.

    Lending Instrument

    BASE can be utilized as a hedge for leveraged crypto trading. It can be considered an alternative to borrowing in BTC since it is less volatile. For example, if the value of BASE drops and they have to repay the loan they made, they can suffer less in terms of losses since it depends on the overall drop in the market.

    Base Cascade

    BASE Cascade is a program on the platform designed to reward BASE holders. This is because it also serves as their contribution to the liquidity of Uniswap’s pool. In order to take part in the Cascade program, users have to lock their BASE and ETH on the Uniswap liquidity pool. They get a percentage of the transaction fees based on the volume of trading in the pool as a reward.

    After they have deposited their BASE and ETH on Uniswap, they are given LP tokens, which is the token that they can stake to claim their rewards on Cascade.

    At first, the rewards multiplier for Cascade participants is at 1x. 30 days after they are staked, it increase to 2x. 60 days after, the multiplier becomes 3x. The increase in the multiplier happens everyday until it reaches the ceiling point, which is at 3x.

    Participation in Cascade is merely optional. Only the user can decided how much liquidity they want to contribute. Furthermore, they can withdraw at any point in time.

    Conclusion

    Devising new ways to expand the investment opportunities for the cryptocurrency market serves the purposes of adoption and new use cases. Base Protocol’s initiative to create a product that expands the exposure of its users to the whole crypto market can be a convenient entry point for fresh investments.

    Some of the factors affecting the arrival of new entrants to the crypto space include the volatility of some coins and the difficulty in selecting the best-performing coin. With Base as one of their options, not only are investors given a much safer alternative to investing in single digital assets, they are also given the opportunity to speculate on the crypto market as a whole. Given that this project could potentially bring new interest to the space, we can expect a more vibrant community if the project becomes successful.

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Exeedme (XED): allowing every gamer to earn with blockchain and NFTs?

    Exeedme (XED): allowing every gamer to earn with blockchain and NFTs?

    Exeedme (XED) is a blockchain-powered gaming tournament platform designed to finally give professional gamers the income and recognition they deserve.

    There are over 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, making the gaming industry twice the size of the music and movie industries combined.

    But while producers and developers in the entertainment industry are able to rake in millions, the same cannot be said for gamers who find it almost impossible to earn a living playing video games.

    Although we do have cases of professional gamers generating substantial income through livestreaming, their numbers are considerably low as it requires a very high amount of creativity, skill, and time to build a big-enough audience and thrive. This challenge is what Exeedme is trying to solve.


    Background

    Francisco Varela and Nuno Fernandes teamed up to come up with this innovative idea of rewarding gamers for their devotion and skills to playing the game they love.

    To truly ensure the project caters to the professional gamer, their Head of Engineering- Arlindo Torres, is himself a game analyst and professional CS:GO player. Exeedme also has Ricardo “FOX” Pacheco Miguel, a professional CG:GO player and world champion as their Ambassador

    What is Exeedme?

    Exeedme is looking to revolutionize the gaming industry by providing Play2Earn platform for gamers, developers, and organizers a place to monetize their skills through blockchain-based gaming tournaments.

    The tournament platform is built on Polkadot, a next-generation multi-chain protocol that has grown exponentially in the last few months.

    Exeedme chose to build its system on top of Polkadot in order to benefit from its decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) innovations. This would allow it to move fungible and non-fungible assets across multiple chains seamlessly, which could expand its horizons to larger communities.

    The Exeedme team recognizes the fact that the current game monetization models leave a lot to be desired since current models favor a few privileged gamers but do not provide an avenue for an average player to earn an income through gaming.

    Hence, Exeedme has come to give gamers a place to exercise a real sense of ownership and earn money as they play.

    Exeedme Gaming Solutions

    The central idea behind Exeedme is to provide a platform where gamers can be able to earn money from doing what they love. The platform seeks to reward gamers of all skill levels without any discrimination, which means you don’t need to become a top professional gamer in order to earn an income.

    And in this ecosystem, the biggest winners would be the game developers, as well as players.

    Virtual Assets

    Many games today have systems where they allow gamers to earn or buy virtual assets. The downside to this is that these assets cannot be monetized or transferred outside of the gaming system.

    Exeedme is looking to change all that through its XED native token, plus the use of NFTs. Gamers would be allowed to transfer their game’s “virtual assets” to different game universes, even if they are on different blockchains, which would result in an interoperable digital multiverse.

    Since DeFi and NFTs would be pre-built into the gaming platform, peer-to-peer gaming economy platforms could readily grow. These growing economies would be geared towards rewarding gamers instead of the side chain advertising industries.

    How Gamers Earn on the Platform

    Gamers can earn on the Exeedme platform in 3 ways: winning, participating, and progressing.

    To earn through winning, a gamer has to pick his favorite game to play, then stake it via funding with crypto assets. The player then selects his opponent or lets the system match him with similarly skilled players. The gamer could bet on himself to win and if he succeeds, he can take his earnings.

    Gamers can also win simply by participating and progressing in any game or tournament they play.

    In addition to the 3 methods mentioned above, Exeedme also allows players to earn NFTs when they progress such as trophies, collectibles and in-game assets. These an be used across different games, traded or monetized.

    Advantages of Exeedme

    Exeedme holds a number of advantages over the old gaming models, some of them are:

    • Exeedme’s XED tokens are far better than participation trophies that some of the other games reward. Regardless of the outcome of a game, a gamer can be assured of earning a token that can be spent. This is because every time there is a bet on the gamer winning, XED tokens are being mined.
    • Newly-minted XED and crafted NFTs can also be earned just by progressing in a game’s tournament or winning it. They are also won when a gamer reaches a milestone, completes a new mission, or achieves a higher ranking.
    • Earned XED and NFT tokens can be traded or monetized, making it a very fun way of earning.

    XED Token

    Exeedme’s $XED is their native token. Players are rewarded with XED tokens through winning or progressing in a game.

    The project has designed its platform in such a way that its governance system is led by gamers who would also be major participants on the blockchain. Accordingly, the best way to help improve the platform and push it into success would be to stake XED tokens.

    Gamers who stake the token would enjoy certain privileges like lower fees, a cut of the match fees, access to free and special tournaments, access to exclusive NFT launches, exclusive badges, and other perks.

    Exeedme would also be deploying community pools in its bid to fund general improvements to the protocol. Developers can also obtain funding through various methods depending on their project.

    XED token metrics and tokenomics

    The XED token was listed on Uniswap and released as a Polkastater Initial DEX Offering on 30th December 2020. Details on the XED token are as follows.

    Total Circulating Supply: 100,000,000 $XED

    Initial Market Cap: $875,000 USD

    Seed/Private/Pre-Public Sale Fundraising: $900,000 USD

    Distribution and release

    Seed: $0.0125 USD, 20% released on TGE, then 10% monthly over 8 months

    Private sale price: $0.025 USD, 25% relased on TGE, then 25% monthly over 3 months

    Pre-Public: $0.03 USD, 25% released on TGE, then 25% monthly over 3 months

    Uniswap listing price: $0.05 USD

    XED token distribution
    XED token distribution (Image credit: Exeedme)

    Exeedme Use of Funds Raised

    • 45% of the funds raised will help support the product development team;
    • 30% will be for growing the ecosystem;
    • 15% will be for providing liquidity to Uniswap and other exchanges;
    • 5% will be for Legal, Regulatory and Security; and
    • 5% will be for general and administrative expenses.

    Exeedme Staking Pool

    The gaming platform would deploy community pools to fund general improvements to the protocol. Developers on the protocol would have access to various funding methods which would be determined by their project.

    For instance, XED rewards and NFT rewards pools would have access to fees garnered from tournaments. They would also be able to receive mints and melts of NFTs and fungible tokens.

    Conclusion

    Exeedme is a uniqueue blockchain gaming platform designed in a way to create a playing field for any skill leveled gamera chance to earn from doing what they love. And despite having other gaming-based blockchain protocols in the space, Exeedme is quite unique in its approach.

    While the previous gaming models do not give adequate room for gamers to earn from their skill, the innovative platform looks to correct that by providing an ample opportunity for gamers to earn from whatever skill levels they have.

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • WAX ($WAXP): The King of NFTs?

    WAX ($WAXP): The King of NFTs?

    WAX Protocol ($WAXP) stands for Worldwide Asset eXchange. They are one of the safest and most convenient ways to create, buy, sell and trade virtual items i.e. non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through an integrated DPoS blockchain platform designed to work hand-in-hand with a microservice layer to improve the digital goods market’s infrastructure. Obtaining WAX knowledge has enabled innovators to develop a highly-connected and sophisticated marketplace that has brought a lot of value in digital goods projects.

    This information here will help you learn how to incorporate the WAX Protocol within the WAX Platform and how the two tools complement each other. It’s worth noting that the WAX Platform is composed of the WAX Protocol and a microservice layer.

    Learn more about WAX with our interview with Evan Vandenberg, Director of Business Development at WAX.

    Profitable digital collectibles and blockchain gaming (with WAX blockchain)

    Background

    The WAX platform was founded by William Quigley and Jonathan Yantis, together they have vast experience in blockchain technology. Quigley is also the Managing Director of Cashel Enterprises, a cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicle which has incubated and invested in over 40 blockchain and cryptocurrency projects. Meanwhile, Yantis also works as WAX’s CEO.

    The global growth of the digital goods marketplace has experienced enormous challenges for the past decade, but WAX technology has helped in finding solutions that spur the development of the sector. Although some users think that the technology has arrived late when challenges are already overwhelming, it’s actually the perfect time since blockchain has matured enough to satisfy the requirements for the WAX system to succeed.

    As the digital goods market continues to expand, it’s essential to acknowledge that tokenized consumer products and virtual items have played an instrumental role in blockchain growth. Virtual items like in video games alone have generated more than USD$140 billion for the market. On the other hand, tokenized consumer products have realized over USD$1.8 trillion.

    Considering that WAX attempts to offer remedies for a marketplace with a combined market value of over USD$2 trillion, it’s easy to realize the magnitude of the problem. The first year of incorporating WAX Protocol operations on major players like VGO and dApps has realized over USD$150 million worth of trading volume.

    What is WAX?

    Wax is a marketplace for digital assets, serving more than 400 million online players that sell, buy, and collect in-game items. Their suite of blockchain-based tools allows people to trade digital or physical items instantly and securely to anyone in the world. WAX’s platform brings together a community of collectors and traders, buyers and sellers, creators and gamers, merchants, creators of dApps and even game developers.

    Examples of what WAX can do include buying and selling gift cards to people across the globe, or building your own online store using the B2B tools created by WAX. WAX also allows people to create NFTs and send them to others.

    WAX Blockchain

    The WAX network works on a consensus model that relies on various WAX Guilds to enhance blockchain production. WAX utilizes Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), which depends heavily on WAX Guilds to ensure success in blockchain generation.

    The WAX ecosystem has witnessed considerable growth due to the incorporation of the WAX Token Model, which is designed to ensure success in various aspects such as voting, staking, and rewards. The Wax Staking Reward is a feature that has encouraged community participation because it allows users to vote and access rewards.

    With WAX tokens, users have immense options to explore. For instance, if staked WAX tokens haven’t been placed, a token holder will require platforms such as Scatter and Lynx to automate the process.

    WAX Tokens ($WAXP)

    WAX tokens ($WAXP) power the entire WAX ecosystem. They are used to reward participants in the chain and enable contributors to receive ten times the number of tokens purchased. This strategy makes it easier to calculate all microtransactions on the platform.

    One benefit of owning WAX tokens is that you get to earn even more tokens by voting for WAX guilds. This is called the WAX staking reward. This process is hassle-free and takes just a minute or two to join. Furthermore, you can unstake your tokens at any time.

    WAX and DeFi? WAX’s new tokenomic model explained

    In a recent announcement, WAX mentioned they will have a new tokenomic model hoping to capitalise on the rapid growth and popularity of NFTs and decentralised finance (DeFi). Their plan is to link the value generated from creating, selling and trading NFTs to Ethereum. WAX considers it different from other DeFi platforms because they consider these activities to be able to provide a sustainable source of value to stakers.

    How the new WAX inter-blockchain tokenomic model would work is that the operational functions of NFTs would still be done on the WAX blockchain, whilst Ethereum will become, “…the capital vault of the WAX NFT empire”. There are 4 components to this new tokenomic model, namely:

    • WAXP to Ethereum bridge: this new bridge will enable WAXP token holders to convert their tokens into WAXE.
    • WAXE: WAXE is a new Ethereum ERC20 utility token. Participants of the WAX tokenomics will need to burn their WAXP tokens to get WAXE tokens via the Ethereum bridge. They would then stake the WAXE in the Ethereum Distribution Contract.
    • WAXG: WAXG is a new Ethereum ERC20 governance token which will be distributed to WAXE stakers based on a set timetable and proportionate to their percentage of the WAX Economic Activity Pool. Token holders will be able to govern the allocation and distribution of economic value on the platform.
    • WAX Economic Activity Pool: This is a smart contract which will accumulate a percentage of generated WAX fees to be converted to ETH for distribution to WAXE stakers or given to WAXG token holders that decide to burn their tokens.
    WAX tokenomic process
    WAX tokenomic process (Image credit: Medium)

    For full details of WAX’s new tokenomic model, check out their article on Medium.

    WAX Guilds and Rewards

    A WAX blockchain contains 21 WAX Guilds that qualify to earn a reward. Remember, blocks can only be produced after the chain meets the threshold to earn rewards. The rewards are awarded depending on the number of blocks that every WAX Guild can produce. Standby Guilds are considered as backup operators that help to generate a chain on request.

    WAX Performance Metrics

    WAX has been configured in such a way that it releases two blocks per second. It’s worth noting that each WAX Guild can only produce one block at a time. If a block fails to come out at a specific time, other blocks will jump the queue to ensure a continuous process.

    A block that has been skipped will contend for a space in the memory pool to compete for guilds’ inclusion in the next turn. More than 3000 blockchains are usually transacted each second in the WAX system. The transaction rate is two times swifter than the VISA system can procure in the same period.

    The Future of WAX technology

    WAX Platform doesn’t only work to offer remedy for the current problems but also offers a roadmap for future operations. WAX Developer Hive is tasked with the duty of technical service provision, tutorials, and other simulations. Besides, WAX developers equally provide vital resources that make implementations successful.

    The technology has also incorporated features that will make it convenient to evaluate whether the system passes the transparency test among communities.

    Also, there’s room to allow interoperation with other chains to enhance performance. NFTs are among the candidates that need microservices and can thrive with the WAX Platform.

    Conclusion

    Gamers from across the world can substantially benefit from its secure and decentralized digital items marketplace. As WAX Platform continues to provide more improvements, developers will find several ways to create features that would better serve gamers in terms of digital goods trading.

    The platform is also expected to play an instrumental role with digital media and is set to welcome over three billion users in the coming five years.  

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Wootrade ($WOO): Boosting the power of cryptocurrency trading?

    Wootrade ($WOO): Boosting the power of cryptocurrency trading?

    Wootrade ($WOO) is a digital asset liquidity pool that partners with cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and over the counter trading desks (OTCs). They also have a darkpool trading platform which claims to offer zero (or even negative) trading fees and above average liquidity for spot and futures trading.


    Check out our interview with Jack Tan, CEO of Wootrade!

    Better trading (no strings attached)?-Wootrade

    Background

    While both automated market makers (AMMs) and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) belong to the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, they are quite distinct from each other.

    There is no limit order functionality for AMM providers such as Uniswap, whilest the trading role of DEXs is more complete and closer to that of a common cryptocurrency exchange. At present, AMMs are extremely popular. They draw more consumers and have rates of exchange that outweigh those of DEXs. 

    Wootrade collaborates with DEXs as they solve their liquidity challenges using Wootrade. Exchanges would find it easy to draw even more customers by providing more liquidity and delivering more full features. In DeFi cryptocurrencies, standard exchanges have smaller trading rates than Uniswap, and even losing customers, owing to the popularity of the DeFi sector.

    Although supporting both centralized and decentralized exchanges to improve their AMM competition, Wootrade has already listed DeFi coins and intends to consistently list more.

    Team

    It is worth noting that Mark Pimentel, Wootrade’s Co-founder, worked at Citadel and Knight Capital (acquired by Virtu in 2017), respectively. Pimentel initially operated in the high-frequency trading department at Citadel, and then went to Knight Capital’s electronic marketing group in the United States. There, he was in charge of operating the substantial dark pool.

    When Pimentel stepped into the crypto ecosystem, he came across a common problem between quantitative funds and exchanges i.e. the market liquidity is fragmented. He aimed to add his trading skills and familiarity with the dark pool to Wootrade. The inclusion of Wootrade’s token economy was intended to make this model more robust, fairer, and more efficient.

    What is Wootrade?

    Built by industry-leading proprietary trading company Kronos Research, Wootrade provides dramatically enhanced liquidity, spreads, and fees. Wootrade is regarded as the next evolution of crypto trading.

    Wootrade features specialized market-making skills based on alpha through collaborations with the world’s top proprietary trading teams. A self-reinforcing and mutually-advantageous dynamic between traders, exchanges, market-makers, and investors all connected by the WOO token has been created by this innovative framework.

    Mark Pimentel and Jack Tan, Founders of Kronos Research, had invented the Wootrade concept to address the big pain points for more challenging crypto traders. Kronos Research has evolved from a team of 2 to more than 60 persons now and trades over a billion dollars on a daily basis.

    How does Wootrade achieve high liquidity and zero fees?

    Wootrade claims to have above average liquidity and zero trading fees, but how do they achieve this?

    Taking BTC as an example, at a depth of 100 BTC, Wootrade will sustain a spread of 0.2%. In addition, it does not charge any handling costs or operating costs to users. Kronos Research, a quantitative market research institution, has incubated Wootrade. The fact that Kronos excels in a number of trading techniques is popularly known.

    In various market conditions, Kronos has a daily trading volume of more than $1 billion and can guarantee substantial returns. Although Wootrade implements zero-fee trading, retail-oriented exchanges do not generally compete with it. In fact, exchanges or DEXs, wallets, brokers, and trading institutions are mostly Wootrade customers.

    Currently, over 10 exchanges and institutional customers are linked to the platform. In addition, through the exchanges that collaborate with Wootrade, a total of more than 65,000 end users have used their trading profile. New exchanges were queuing up for entry after releasing Wootrade 1.0, as market demand surpassed the expectations of the team.

    Open governance on Wootrade

    The aim is for the group to have more and more autonomy to grow the project as it sees fit. Voting power grows exponentially in relation to the amount of time involved, but anyone who buys tokens only to vote would not have any control over decisions.

    Instead, those who have carried for the right length of time will be able to control with the greater weight the choices made. Additionally, the incentive scheme is aimed to enable those with the right combination of talent and expertise to engage more effectively in the governance and decision-making process.

    The aim of Wootrade is to reach 40% of the cryptocurrency market’s liquidity. This includes a significant number of exchange customers and market makers to be on board. There is a big market for wealth management businesses on both exchange investors and AMMs on the platform.

    Since it’s not easy to check and trust the trading staff, investors sometimes skip good opportunities. Wootrade can, therefore, be fitted with an oracle computer to solve this. This helps market makers to submit their NAVs and results to the blockchain. For its retail customers, exchanges may then verify and pick outstanding items.

    WOO token ($WOO)

    Wootrade has its own native token that will act as a value and rewards carrier generated by the system. The WOO token will be used to vote on governance decisions concerning the platform. WOO can also be used in staking/mining reward systems, retail users can stake WOO and ETH or USDT into an asset managment product and receive rewards.

    For those who are interested in spot/futures trading, WOO can be used as collateral on the Wootrade platform.

    Customers can also get a discount when using WOO to pay for say management fees for asset management items. For Wootrade’s clients or partners that do not have their native token, they can also choose to adopt WOO as their platform token. Thereby giving consumers another place to use WOO.

    Prime Nodes on Wootrade

    For B2B clients they are different tiers to stake the WOO tokens on the exchange or platform for eligibility to become a Prime node. In addition to the staking requirement, they also need to demonstrate a unique marketing plan and business proposition.

    Once they become a Prime node, every dollar of flow they route to the network gives them a reward of a certain number of WOO tokens. The concept behind this is that after a while of doing this, they would not need to charge their users and fees and simply scale off the rebates provided by Wootrade.

    Essentially, Wootrade’s rationale is that they do not think businesses would try and rely on market makers (which require a huge fee for their services). Especially when the alternative provided by Woodtrade is that they would get access to a zero fee trading network with proven liquidity, AND get paid to trade there.

    WOO tokenomics

    • Ticker: WOO
    • ICO Token Price: 1 WOO = 0.03 USD
    • Fundraising Goal: $650,000
    • Total Tokens: 3,000,000,000

    WOO is available for spot trading on Uniswap, Huobi, MXC and Gate.io

    Conclusion

    Wootrade sees the potential for conventional and decentralized finance to incorporate concepts. The crypto industry will increasingly be affected by this new technology. The conventional business of asset management will now pay attention to the optimized use of blockchain technologies and token architecture.

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • LABS Group ($LABS): bringing real estate investments to the masses?

    LABS Group ($LABS): bringing real estate investments to the masses?

    LABS Group aims to realise everyone’s dream of real estate ownership through fractionalising real estate investments.

    Traditionally, entry into the real estate industry requires a substantial investment due to the indivisibility of assets. Consequently, small investors find this asset class completely out of their reach.

    Among the few platforms trying a stab at bringing real estate to the masses is LABS Group. Through its ecosystem token and utilising decentralised finance (DeFi) and governance, its mission is to intelligently blend the centralized and the decentralized worlds of real estate to improve its liquidity.

    Check out our interview with Chairman Mahesh Harilela (or listen to the podcast).

    Tokenizing Real Estate Assets-LABS Group with Mahesh Harilela

    Background

    Mahesh Harilela, is the Company’s Chairman. Mahesh comes from one of the most prominent families in Hong Kong, which owns 19 hotel properties worldwide through the Harilela Group. Mahesh himself has certainly inherited the family’s entrepreneurial spirit and is involved in Trading, Brand Development, Renewable Energy Infrastructure, Agriculture and Education. He is also Chairman of the Board and CEO of M. Harilela Global Investments Ltd and Asia CBD Pte Ltd.

    What is Labs?

    LABS is a leading blockchain-based ecosystem for real estate investments. The platform seeks to bring more people into the space by fractionalizing investments. Compared with other legacy modes of investing in the real estate space like private equity funds, REITs, and direct investment, LABS emerges as the winner.

    For instance, it ticks crucial boxes such as low fees, governance, ownership, staking for profit, tradable, among others.

    Critical issues the protocol is trying to solve include:

    1. Costly entry and exit prices – Currently, the median entry price into the ecosystem is high. The cost rises as you enter into big cities. Apart from entry points, exit costs are driven through the roof by third parties such as agencies.
    2. Eradicate reliance on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) – Although they allow pooled investments, they are majorly open to deep-pocketed individuals.
    3. Complicated access to a global network – International property ownership is a nightmare in the current state of the real estate industry.
    4. Low Liquidity – The traditional real estate market restricts investors from selling to the local market due to low liquidity.
    5. High fees – The fees range from taxes, agent fees, and transaction fees that introduce inefficiencies in the conventional market.

    How Labs Tackles the Above Problems

    Labs uses different approaches to solve key issues plaguing the traditional real estate industry permanently. These are:

    Crowdfunding

    The project believes in fractionalizing real estate assets, making it possible for multiple investors to put their money in the same assets by reducing the entry costs. Additionally, it minimizes the need for investors to stretch their cash reserves unnecessarily. In doing so, it reduces the risks of losing a lot of money.

    Powering a Global Portfolio

    With digitization, the project removes the global barrier. Consequently, it provides investors with a chance to have a global portfolio of real estate assets. (contentbeta) This lowers the risks for investors. Apart from enabling them to build a global portfolio, the digitization process enables investors to mimic traditional asset features like a store of value.

    Caters to Investors Diverse Appetites

    Labs enables investors to choose between different types of assets in the industry. For example, they can select residential, commercial, industrial, or hybrid and still choose their preferred location, risk levels, and ROI.

    It Brings Blockchain and Digitization Together

    By digitizing real-world assets, the project opens them up to trading on virtual exchanges that have no geographical limitations nor opening/closing times.

    Extra benefits

    Other benefits birthed by the project are:

    1. Interaction with the DeFi scene and enabling decentralized governance.
    2. Ability to trade real estate securities.
    3. Faster and direct dividends payments
    4. Reduced and enhanced transactions.

    Liquidity Provision On the Labs Network

    1. Tokenization – This helps power an asset-backed token ecosystem that lives on the blockchain enabling other activities such as over-the-counter trading and token swapping.
    2. Trading on the secondary market – Trading of Labs’ securities leverages recognized exchanges. Note that when shares are tokenized, they are traded on a securities exchange. Such asset trading platforms enable enhanced non-stop trading, positively impacting investors’ entry and exit points.
    3. Lending – Labs facilitates lending activities on the platform using two native assets; the Labs stable token, the Labs security token (more on these later). The protocol uses these tokens to address the liquidity problem by allowing their holders to engage in collateralized lending.

    Conclusion

    By fractionalizing real estate assets, Labs eases the entry of retail investors into the industry. Consequently, it increases liquidity. Another critical Labs undertaking is digitizing these assets, effectively connecting the real estate market to the DeFi world.

    In return, it opens up the space to more possibilities such as collateralized lending, over-the-counter trading, and swapping. Additionally, the inclusion of the LABS token drives community governance that is a crucial pillar in DeFi-focused protocols.

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Understanding Layer 2 & Scaling Solutions: Arbitrum, Boba, Optimism, Polygon, Ethereum 2.0

    Understanding Layer 2 & Scaling Solutions: Arbitrum, Boba, Optimism, Polygon, Ethereum 2.0

    One of the core problems with the Ethereum network today is scalability. As more and more decentralized apps (dApps) are built on the network, the number of users and transactions increases. This has slowed down the speed of transactions and driven up the cost of using the network, creating the need for scaling solutions.

    At its full capacity, the Ethereum network is only able to process 15 transactions per second. To put Ethereum’s scaling limits into perspective, consider that Visa handles around 1,700 transactions per second on average. Therefore, increasing the network capacity in terms of speed and throughput is fundamental to the meaningful and mass adoption of Ethereum.

    There are multiple solutions being researched, tested and implemented that take different approaches to achieve similar goals. Two solutions that we will explore in this article are known as sidechains and optimistic rollups.

    Check out our explainer video on layer 2 solutions such as Arbitrum, Boba, Optimism, and Ethereum 2.0

    Layer 2 solutions explained (Arbitrum, Boba, Optimism, Ethereum 2.0)

    What is Layer 2 and How Does it Work?

    The Ethereum main chain is known as Layer 1. Layer 1 applications and smart contracts interact directly with the native chain. Layer 2 refers to a series of different protocols that facilitate the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) on top of the core Ethereum blockchain.

    Operating on Layer 2 frees up Layer 1 by taking transactions off the main chain, offloading it to Layer 2, enabling them to interact, and then recording the remainder of the whole transactions back to Layer 1. Due to transactions being processed off-chain on Layer 2, Ethereum benefits from higher transaction processing capacity, faster confirmation times, and lower gas fees. 

    In fact, many believe that Layer 2 solutions will be how Ethereum wins over mainstream users. It is estimated that 2,000 – 4,000 transactions per second can be processed in Layer 2, which is already in line with Visa’s processing capabilities. By combining the scaling of Layer 1 with Ethereum 2.0 and Layer 2, Ethereum is set to obtain a powerful economic bandwidth.

    Sidechains: Polygon Network

    Sidechains are a Layer 2 solution utilizing separate blockchains that run in parallel to the Ethereum main chain but operate independently, hence increasing its scalability. 

    Polygon is the most popular sidechain that aims to scale Ethereum by building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Polygon operates on its own consensus mechanism and also has its own native token known as $MATIC.

    Because sidechains run on a separate blockchain, they do not inherit the security of Layer 1. If a sidechain is hacked or compromised, the damage will be contained within that chain and will not affect the main chain. Conversely, should the main chain become compromised, the sidechain can still operate.

    Sidechains also provide room for a lot of flexibility, allowing developers to experiment with new features or software updates before pushing them onto the main chain.

    Rollups Explained: Optimistic Rollups & Zero Knowledge Rollups

    Rollups are another Layer 2 solution intended to solve Ethereum’s scalability and complement the network. Rollups interact with the main chain, therefore inheriting Layer 1’s security features as well as its secure consensus mechanism. The term ‘rollup’ refers to the way that the chain bundles many transactions to be submitted to the main chain.

    Because rollups use smart contracts that reside within Ethereum, they do not require a native token like Polygon, but instead use $ETH as their currency. Rollups seem to be the most sound scaling solution for Ethereum as it does not compromise the security and sovereignty of Layer 1.

    There are basically two types of rollups: Optimistic Rollups and Zero Knowledge Rollups (ZK Rollups). Both aim to scale Ethereum by processing transactions on Layer 2 before submitting the results back to Ethereum. However, the difference is in how they validate transactions. 

    In simple terms, Optimistic Rollups assume that transactions are valid — hence an optimistic outlook. However, it also allows what are called “watchers” to call out fraudulent transactions since blockchain is transparent and public. If a watcher proves instances of fraud, the transaction is reverted, the bad actor penalized, and the watcher rewarded to incentivize them.

    On the other hand, Zero Knowledge Rollups attempt to prove that transactions are valid. They do so by submitting validity proof to an Ethereum smart contract along with the bundled transactions.

    Optimistic Rollups are currently the more popular option, so let us look at some projects that have adopted this mechanism. These projects are Arbitrum, Boba, and Optimism.

    Optimistic Rollups: Arbitrum, Boba & Optimism

    Arbitrum, Boba and Optimism are 3 projects which have the same goals of scaling Ethereum and reducing gas fees. All of these Layer 2 projects are competing with one another to be the best network. Therefore, each project offers different features to stand out from the others.

    • Arbitrum describes itself as a Layer 2 solution designed to improve the capabilities of Ethereum smart contracts — boosting their speed and scalability while adding additional privacy features to boot. Arbitrum is, according to the team, around 90-95% cheaper than Ethereum. And with their Nitro being launched soon, they expect costs to be cut even further.
    • Optimism is an EVM-compatible Optimistic Rollup chain designed to be fast, simple, and secure. Optimism pledges to uphold the values of Ethereum by producing infrastructure that promotes the growth and sustainability of public goods.
    • Boba Network is a next-generation Layer 2 scaling solution that reduces gas fees, improves transaction throughput, and extends the capabilities of smart contracts, shrinking the Optimistic Rollup exit period from seven days to only a few minutes, while giving liquidity pools (LPs) incentivized yield farming opportunities.

    Arbitrum’s fraud proofs seek to find the particular point of disagreement over transaction history. In contrast, Optimism’s tech looks at fraud a bit more holistically. And this means that Arbitrum has a higher transaction capacity equating to higher performance.

    Optimistic Rollups have a time period in which users can dispute transactions and call fraud. Both Arbitrum and Optimism allow one week for that dispute period, which means that transactions in a bundle under suspicion can be held in limbo for one week before they are verified and released. This is where Boba comes in as a serious player. 

    Instead of having funds locked for several days, Boba’s solution brings the dispute period down to only a few minutes. It also provides incentivized yield farming opportunities, both serving as very attractive features in comparison to its competitors. 

    Will Ethereum 2.0 Make Layer 2 Solutions Irrelevant?

    Ethereum 2.0 is regarded as the long-term solution that can bring speed, efficiency, and scalability to the Ethereum network. The long awaited upgrade will move the network from a Proof-of-Work consensus to a Proof-of-Stake consensus, a much more energy efficient method of maintaining the network that uses validators instead of miners.

    Ethereum 2.0 is currently slowly being released in different phases and will ultimately speed up transactions as well as drastically reduce the cost of gas fees. That brings up the question: Will Ethereum 2.0 make all these Layer 2 solutions irrelevant?

    While there are many different opinions and discussions surrounding this topic, however, we think that all of these solutions can coexist and benefit the network as well as its economy.

    This is because despite the upgrade, Ethereum 2.0 may still not be able to handle the amount of transactions per second required for widespread adoption. The impressive capabilities of Layer 2 solutions could eradicate Ethereum’s scalability issues for good, allowing the network to improve other aspects and prevent congestion on the main chain.

    Final Thoughts: Why Are So Many Solutions Needed?

    There is no debate that Ethereum has a stronghold over developer mindshare. It is the first network that enabled developers to build truly unstoppable decentralized applications with global distribution from day one. But competition is coming fast, and as it stands today, Ethereum will not be able to handle the scale necessary for millions of users. If the network wants to retain the same level of decentralization, it will have to look for new ways to structure use around the main blockchain. 

    As such, there are currently several Layer 2 solutions that aim to resolve Ethereum’s scaling issues. There are also some hybrid solutions which seek to improve the network’s scalability by combining the technologies. But is there really a need for so many solutions?

    We say yes, because multiple solutions can help reduce the overall traffic on any one part of the network, and also prevent single points of failure. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Different solutions can exist and work in harmony, allowing for an exponential effect on future transaction speed and throughput. Furthermore, not all solutions require utilizing the Ethereum consensus algorithm directly, and alternatives can offer benefits that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

    If Ethereum achieves its full potential of becoming a global trust layer, it is likely that these solutions and more will be required to scale the network in combination with Ethereum 2.0. In the future, the Ethereum ecosystem could see significant change as new projects assess the benefits and drawbacks of running on Layer 2. 

    If all of these solutions can come together in harmony, Ethereum will achieve a blockchain system that can match the speed and scale of programmatic advertising – one that can be used by industries with high data processing needs as well as users worldwide.

    Sources:

    https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/scaling/

    https://hackernoon.com/ethereums-layer-2-the-story-so-far-and-what-to-expect-next-kn41342c

    https://dappradar.com/blog/ethereum-rollups-a-simple-explanation

    https://medium.com/general_knowledge/rollup-rollup-top-layer-2-compared-arbitrum-vs-optimism-vs-polygon-4a469389faef
  • IAGON ($IAG) Token Utility Model

    IAGON ($IAG) Token Utility Model

    Everything you wanted to know about Iagon‘s IAG token and its usage IAGON’s Shared Storage Economy.

    Disclaimer: 

    The presented $IAG token utility model in this article is not finalized and may be subject to updates/changes. 

    $IAG basics 

    Currently, the $IAG token is an ERC-20 token only. It’s tradeable on Uniswap, Gate.io and Bitrue. $IAG can be stored on any ERC-20 token compatible wallet.


    As it moves to Cardano, IAGON plans to make its token usable and accessible on the Cardano blockchain. This will be done with the help of a two-way ERC20-CNT bridge.  The IAGON team is working on their very own bridge solution for IAG tokens.

    Remark: 

    Currently, there is no official Cardano ERC20-CNT bridge launched. Existing converters that are on the market are either wrappers or mint functions. At this moment and to our knowledge, none of the converters burn a supply from one chain and mint on the other chain.

    $IAG Token Utility Details

    The $IAG token represents a ´share´ in the IAGON ecosystem, providing holders with a portion of the revenue generated through the decentralised storage exchange.

    Additionally the $IAG token will be used as an additional reward for resource providers and for ADA holders delegating to our Cardano stake pool.

    Also, there will be an option for the iagon ecosystem fund to buy $IAG tokens from the open market with the aim to refill our ADAGIO reward pool for stakers and resource providers on a regular basis. 

    For $IAG Holders

    $IAG token holders can earn yield by providing liquidity in either Ethereum or Cardano liquidity pools.  

    There are 2 additional revenue streams that $IAG stakers can benefit from, on top of the yield from the liquidity pool:

    $IAG stakers can earn a portion of the transaction fees from the decentralized storage exchange, used by the customers and resource providers on the IAGON network. This reward will be based on the amount of $IAG tokens staked and  the trading volume in the storage exchange.

    When a resource provider commits to provide their resources to the network, their commitment is handled by our rewards DAO, ADAGIO, and their reward is locked until the end of the commitment period (at least 1 month). 


    During the period when the reward is locked, ADAGIO generates yield on it through providing liquidity. This yield is distributed among the resource providers, the $IAG stakers and IAGON.

    Usually, staking gives only a portion of the fee from the liquidity pool you’re staking in. However, the utility of the $IAG token ensures that stakers can earn yield from two other revenue streams as well as passive income for staking.

    For Resource Providers

    Once Iagon has launched their Storage Exchange Marketplace, anyone will be able to make a profit by committing resources [storage]. 

    The rewards for providing resources will be based on the supply and demand in the decentralised storage exchange. 

    • Anyone will be able to trade their resources for stable coins by committing their resource to ADAGIO, the resource provider rewards DAO
    • The rewards are locked until the end of the commitment period, and are subject to slashing in case of unwanted node behavior impacting the performance and health of the network (frequent disconnects, attempts at changing or deleting the stored data)
    • At the end of the commitment period, resource providers are able to claim their reward
    • While the rewards are locked, ADAGIO will allow the resource provider to earn yield on it, effectively increasing the reward over time
    • By leaving the reward locked with ADAGIO for a longer period of time, the rewards will accumulate over time, greatly increasing the earnings

    In addition to this, resource providers will occasionally earn $IAG tokens as a bonus incentive to commit storage.

    Iagon Ecosystem Fund

    A portion of both the transaction fees from the storage exchange and the yield provided by the locked rewards go back to Iagon. These funds will be used to fund further development of the Iagon products, cover operational costs, and buy back $IAG tokens for the Iagon treasury. 

    The tokens in the treasury will be used to provide community reward schemes, such as resource provider bonus incentives, additional stake pool rewards, early testing rewards etc.

    $IAG tokens give you access to a passive revenue stream and multiple utilities, which is why they can be potentially valuable. 

    IAGON token utility model (Source： Iagon)

    How the IAG token will work*

    In simple words, the whole process will look like this:

    1. Resource provider commits storage to ADAGIO [rewards DAO]
    2. ADAGIO sells the storage on the storage exchange
    3. The transaction fee is split among ADAGIO and IAG stakers
    4. The reward (payment for storage) is passed from the exchange back to ADAGIO
    5. The rewards are locked until at least the end of the commitment period (at least one month)
    6. While the rewards are locked, it earns a yield through ADAGIO (providing liquidity and other such mechanisms), increasing the reward.
    7. IAG stakers earn a portion of this yield as well
    8. After the lockup period, they can claim their reward + their portion of the yield.

    *Disclaimer: 

    The presented $IAG token utility model is not finalized and may be subject to updates/changes. 

    Meantime, the IAGON team is open for discussion and encourages their community to input and share ideas about token utility. 

    About IAGON

    IAGON aims to revolutionize the cloud by developing a storage platform and a processing platform where anyone can profit from shared resources. The whole value proposition circles back to the potential of blockchain technology by letting device owners join the storage and processing power grids to create a completely decentralized data cloud and supercomputer.

    Website | Twitter | Telegram | Blog | CoinGecko | CoinMarketCap 

  • Bonfida ($FIDA), the leading Serum DEX

    Bonfida ($FIDA), the leading Serum DEX

    Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in the cryptocurrency space are faced with problems concerning increasing gas fees and low transaction throughput. This is common especially for platforms that are built on top of Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. To establish a platform that won’t suffer from those issues, the Bonfida Foundation decided to build on top of Serum Project, which runs on Solana.

    As it turns out, Solana is one of the fastest blockchains in the space at present. With the capacity of processing over 50,000 tps, users can enjoy faster transaction settlements without having huge gas fees.


    What is Bonfida?

    Bonfida is a decentralized and non-custodial exchange on top of the Serum trading protocol on the Solana blockchain. It has a wide array of trading products powered by Solana’s on-chain order book. They facilitate faster transactions speed without the expensive gas fees experienced by users on other networks.

    Bonfida can be a useful trading platform for both beginner and advanced users. It integrates various handy features, such as trading charts and TradingView data in its interface. This helps users gather important analytics information on the exchange’s activity, including data on Serum DEX and Swap’s volumes, spread percentage, and total value locked.

    Background

    Bonfida is Project Serum’s flagship interface; currently, over 60% of the users that interact with Serum use Bonfida’s GUI. Serum was built to connect users within the Serum/Solana ecosystem and it is the first amongst exchanges to take advantage of Solana blockchain’s data to power its decentralized platform.

    The Bonfida API has been used by a lot of market makers in the industry and the number of requests are increasing 25% week over week. During December 2020, before the launch, Bonfida has raised over $4.5 million. The seed round was led by CMS Holdings with the participation of big firms like Genesis Block Ventures, Sino Global, Spartan Group, and Three Arrows Capital.

    Why build on Serum?

    An order-book DEX has to be fast. To have a responsive platform, the underlying blockchain has to meet certain requirements. There are the reasons why the Bonfida team has chosen Solana and its DEX Serum as a foundation for their project.

    • High transaction throughput – Solana has the ability to facilitate more than 50,000 transactions per second. This will increase further as the chain grows
    • Lower gas costs – Gas costs on averages less than $0.001 per transaction
    • Composability – Given that the Serum protocol is open-source, anyone in the community can work on developments that could add value to the ecosystem
    • Decentralization – Transactions and storage of crypto holdings are entirely free from any third-party control

    Users will have to set-up a compatible wallet to connect to the platform, which requires SPL (Solana Program Library) tokens. The three options are bonfida.com/wallet, solongwallet.com, sollet.io. Don’t forget to keep some spare $SOL tokens to pay for fees! You can follow this complete guide to set everything up.

    Here you can find our interview with Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, which is behind the development of Project Serum.

    Interview eith Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO at FTX, the team behind Serum Project

    The FIDA Token

    $FIDA is Bonfida’s native utility token. It is mainly used to pay for gas fees on the platform but it can also be used for the following purposes.

    • Access to VIP API
    • Bot payments
    • Consulting services (for people who want to get started on Serum)

    The maximum supply is 1 billion and 95.4% of all tokens are locked for four years; the vesting will start 12 months after the launch. The team decided to keep the circulatin supply very low during the first year. In this way they also hope that the project and the community will grow in a healthy way, with no big holders ready to dump their bags.

    $FIDA, when staked, will also enable more features for its holders like exclusive API endpoints, access to rare Solible (see after) markets and advanced analytics. In the future, the Bonfida’s Governance model will also require $FIDA tokens to grant its users voting abilities on certain protocol parameters.

    For updated and full tokenomics please refer to the white-paper.

    Bonfida’s features

    The team, with vast expertise in “creating seamless frontend experience combined with backend API’s and on-chain analytics”, has spotted an opportunity to be an early participant in the new Solana ecosystem. They evaluated the possible upside as huge, so they couldn’t pass up the chance. Among the platform’s features we find:

    • Exclusive markets and listing

    Bonfida has access to exclusive markets on Serum. $FIDA holders (more on $FIDA token later) can vote on which listings will be available on the platform. Market makers ensure liquidity through the help of partnerships with organizations like Alameda Research.

    • On-chain advanced order types

    Both Limit and Market orders are already available on Serum while others like take-profit and stop-loss are currently being developed on by Bonfida. However, advanced on/off chain order types will require users to keep their $FIDA staked.

    • Order Placement through TradingView Charts

    Bonfida is the first to have TradingView charts linked to on-chain data; users will be able to place orders through them.

    • Advanced UI and Basic UI

    To accommodate both basic and advanced traders, Bonfida will have two trading modes for Serum. The advanced mode will have features like ‘Bonfida Bots’ and the aforementioned advanced order types.

    On top, Bonfida offers now leveraged tokens such as BULL/BEAR pairs like those you can find on FTX, an Ecosystem Pool with indexes and AMM swaps.

    Serum API

    Bonfida has built a backend infrastructure where all the on-chain transactions information can be stored for Serum. Through a “REST API”, other platforms like Coingecko can request data whenever they need it (more than 6 million requests per day as of now). Given that the official Serum GUI uses it to load historical trades, users who connect with the standard Serum code are using Bonfida’s data in the background. This is the reason why they can provide on-chain TradingView charts, a feature unique to Bonfida. This feature continue to be developed in order to deliver important information to users while improving the UX and UI of the platform.

    Bonfida Bots

    To make it easier for traders to manage their positions on the platform, Bonfida is working on a ‘bot’ that users can customize accordingly to their targeted technical indicators. The customization can be referred to as ‘Rules,’ which a person can freely design on his own and use to earn $FIDA. There are three possibilities.

    • People can pay to utilize existing trading rules. Using $FIDA, users can pay who owns the rules they utilize in the trading bots. The creator decides the costs.
    • Pledge assets to other rule owners. Rules’ owners can determine how much they wish to charge, whether a share of the daily percentage fees or a portion of the profits.
    • Tokenize rules. Owners can tokenize their strategy as a SPL token which can then be bought/burned.

    Solible

    Solible is an exchange for non-fungible tokens (NFT) featured on top of the Bonfida platform. It supports all the features that are usually available on most NFT exchanges, without the classic Ethereum network costs. The aim of the platform, which also serves as a bridge for connecting NFTs with other blockchains, is to establish an e-commerce store. People will purchase collectible items which can also be redeemed in real life.

    First Serum ICO

    Bonfida has been the first project built on Serum to have an initial coin offering (ICO). The initial offering was conducted in three parts for a total of 6 million $FIDA tokens on auction.

    The two IEOs (Initial Exchange Offering) took place on FTX and Bitmax, while the third part was a ISO (Initial Serum Offering) on Serum. All of them had a maximum price offer of $0.1 per token and a max allocation of 4000 $FIDA per person. For the few lucky ones who managed to get in at this price, it resulted in an incredible 7x on listing day. The token is currently at $0.37.

    Conclusion

    Most DEXs find it difficult to meet the needs of their traders, both beginners and advanced alike. High-frequency traders are always on the lookout for platforms where it wouldn’t cost huge gas fees to have their transactions processed quickly. This is why it is ideal for developers to look for a network that enables such a feature if they wish to go above and beyond the existing DeFi-based exchanges out there.

    Serum Project’s Bonfida was a successful venture into creating an exchange that is not only capable of fast transactions but also of fully-automated and decentralized trading. With Bonfida, users can customize their own trading strategies and set their goals with sophisticated trading indicators, all without the hassle of their transactions getting stuck in a congested blockchain.

    Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more

    With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces

    The DeFi series on this website also covers topics not explored on YouTube. For an introduction on what is DeFi, check out Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Overview: A guide to the HOTTEST trend in cryptocurrency

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

    More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!

    The information provided in this article is intended for general guidance and information purposes only. Contents of this article are under no circumstances intended to be considered as investment, business, legal or tax advice. We do not accept any responsibility for individual decisions made based on this article and we strongly encourage you to do your own research before taking any action. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information provided herein is accurate and up to date, omissions, errors, or mistakes may occur.

  • Newsletter #18: Bitcoin prices reach all-time highs

    Newsletter #18: Bitcoin prices reach all-time highs

    As we near the holiday season we would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holidays! Here’s hoping for gifts of Bitcoin and altcoin pumps!

    Bitcoin reaches ATH of USD$24k!

    It has been awaited for a very long time, but after exactly 3 years the moment has arrived. Bitcoin has literally smashed through the previous high reaching the incredible price of $24,000!

    All the charts look stunning, whichever you look at: daily, weekly and monthly they all say the same thing: Bull Season is here!

    While nobody knows how exactly this will play out people believe that we are in a bull market now. Many actually believe it started right after last March’s Black Swan, where all markets (not only crypto) basically flash crashed within a day.

    If we take a look at the weekly chart, we are still far above the 21 EMA (Exponential Moving Average) and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 2017 peak levels. On the weekly chart it has only been decisively higher a couple of times in 2013. As we repeatedly said in previous issues of the newsletter, big retraces (around 30-40%) are to be expected in bull markets. Until now, the maximum negative “delta” in price we had since last March has been around 20%. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a massive dump is going to happen now though (could happen like not). (https://www.apolloclinic.com/)

    $BTC weekly chart, RSI at top 2017 levels
    $BTC weekly chart, RSI at top 2017 levels

    Bitcoin still not “hot” on Google Trends

    If we have a quick glance at Google Trends we can notice how the query “bitcoin” is still not very much searched worldwide, especially when compared to 2017’s peaks. This is a sign that even though mass media exposure has recently picked up the $BTC trend, the retail FOMO is probably still distant from where we are now. This could hopefully mean that the upside is still gigantic!

    Every $BTC holder is now in profit

    Thanks to the recent pump, Bitcoin is now #12 in assets’ ranking by Market Cap. Just behind Visa and ahead of Walmart! Moreover, the fact that we are beyond ATH, in unexplored price territory, automatically means that each person that has ever bought a fraction of the coin before last week, is now in profit!

    As a consequence, as Glassnode reported, the number of addresses holding more than $1 millions worth of $BTC has increased +150%, equal to 66,540 single wallets now!

    Ethereum follows Bitcoin’s upside while Grayscale continues to load up

    After “The King” moves, the rest usually tends to follow, starting with Ethereum. ETH prices have been going up reaching a new high of almost $680 this week. Differently from $BTC though, its ATH is still way higher than this level, at more than $1400. 2021 could look like the year price will finally reach unexplored territory.

    Meanwhile it doesn’t come as a surprise anymore that big investors continue to accumulate crypto, despite the continuous rise in price, spreading positivity about crypto’s future. According to a report, Grayscale keeps accumulating $ETH. Their Grayscale Ethereum Trust is still considered “the only SEC-registered way to invest in Ethereum.”

    Are you interested in staking on your Ethereum? Learn how to make passive income with ETH 2.0!

    The FinCEN is proposing new KYC reinforcements

    As anticipated in the last weeks, it is now official. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is “proposing a rule on certain digital currencies that will protect national security, assist law enforcement and increase transparency while minimizing the impact on responsible innovation”, said Steven Mnuchin, lead of the U.S. Treasury Department.

    The proposal will impose new regulations on transaction records including those to self-hosted wallets. Especially used in Defi where users prefer to keep their funds in decentralized manners, where they are the only ones responsible for what happens, these private wallets have not required KYCs until now. As a result of the changes (CVC stands for convertible virtual currency while LTDA for legal tender digital asset.):

    “The proposed rule complements existing BSA requirements applicable to banks and MSBs by proposing to add reporting requirements for CVC and LTDA transactions exceeding $10,000 in value. Pursuant to the proposed rule, banks and MSBs will have 15 days from the date on which a reportable transaction occurs to file a report with FinCEN. Further, this proposed rule would require banks and MSBs to keep records of a customer’s CVC or LTDA transactions and counterparties, including verifying the identity of their customers, if a counterparty uses an unhosted or otherwise covered wallet and the transaction is greater than $3,000.”

    This embitterment in regulations was firstly revealed by Brians Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, in a tweet at the end of November, where he expressed his doubts and concerning on the matter, together with many other public figures. Four U.S Congressmen wrote a public letter and Wyoming Senator-Elect Cynthia Lummis shared her concerns as well in a tweet. The major point of debate are the fact that the proposal could do more harm than good to investors and could leave the U.S. behind in blockchain technology, deviating principal investments outside the county.

    Coinbase IPO is getting closer

    Coinbase, the known U.S. exchange, has “submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC. The file is now being reviewed. If approved, its IPO will be one of the biggest and most awaited in crypto, considering that Coinbase is already the most valuable American crypto company.

    It is not actually easy to determine exactly how much the company is worth at the moment. The Last evaluation in a funding round in 2018, was of $8 billion, but Coinbase is certainly worth more now, especially considering what prices has Bitcoin arrived at in 2020.

    The Graph goes live on mainnet

    The Graph ($GRT), “the first global and easily searchable index of blockchain data”, has launched its mainnet after 3 years of development. The indexing protocol aims at making web3 accessible to everyone and helping create applications that require no servers.

    The listing was one of the most successful ones recently and the token is already tradable on many exchanges, including first tier ones like Binance and Coinbase. The price is now 24 times higher than that of the token sale which happened last October. At that time, it was offered at $0.03!

    The first phase after launch will be useful to stress and improve mainnet performances before the queries amount will increase exponentially. Following, in the next months, the team will be building a “production-ready Graph Explorer dApp and Gateway” to support all network contributors.

    Here’s everything you need to know about The Graph in our article.

    Red Flags

    Ledger Email Breach – 270,000 emails & addresses leaked publicly

    On July the 14th, Ledger’s database got breached when a hacker stole 1,075,382 email addresses and 272,853 hardware wallet orders. This meant that personal data such as emails, phone numbers and physical addresses (for people who actually bought a device) were probably available behind payment to the hacker himself. As a matter of fact, numerous have been the phishing attempts reported in the last months, usually via emails and/or text messages to their phones.

    Today, as if this wasn’t bad enough itself, the whole database has been dumped for free by an anonymous profile on Raidforum. While funds are still technically safe, users, at the very leas, should expect a new and massive wave of phishing tentatives.

    Check out our video where we explain everything on the Ledger data breach: what happened, who is affected and what NOT to do right now.

    URGENT: Ledger Email Breach – 270,000 emails & addresses leaked publicly

    The company commented on twitter confirming that “early signs” tell them this content is probably from their database.

    They also shared a page with phishing news and tips, like the classic “Never share the 24 words of your recovery phrase with anyone under any circumstances”. While this is certainly important, it is difficult to imagine that hardware wallets’ users still need to hear it. Considering that now anyone can see where the devices owners live, they would probably rather know that the company is actively doing things to prevent future breaches and more.

    Even though protecting funds with col wallets is not something for just rich crypto holders, this is what most people think, and we can all imagine what criminals can do with those addresses in their hands.

    Unfortunately, it appears that new phishing messages are already coming.

    You can use this website to check whether your personal data (and what) was compromised https://haveibeenpwned.com/

    Nexus Mutual’s CEO personal address got hacked

    Unfortunately, this week brought new red flags. The most prominent one involves a project whose mission is (almost ironically) that of protecting protocols’ users from malicious actors.

    Hugh Harp, founder of Nexus Mutual, has seen his personal wallet directly attacked. The hacker has mysteriously managed to install a malicious version of Metamask on his computer, misleading him into confirming a transaction to a different recipient address. The hacker himself. It is one of those cases where using a hardware wallet to sign transactions as second layer of security can’t help.

    The CEO, recognizing this hack was “next level stuff”, has offered a bounty of $300,000 to the hacker in case he decided to send everything back. The unknown figure answered via input data on a subsequent empty transaction.

    “Hello Hugh. I will not sell wNXM any more until wNXM recovers his value or you send me 4.5k ETH. If you need any negotiation with me, send msg to my eth address…..“

    The text end targeting other Hugh’s personal addresses, exposing Hugh’s private details even more.

    We will see how this story unfolds. Meanwhile, someone has started a gitcoin grant to directly compensate Karp for what happened. As a response, he has proposed that all the money raised would be used for improving smart contracts security.

    Boxmining happenings

    • Worried about your funds? Learn more about Cover Protocol ($COVER), one of the most successful platform where to buy coverages.

    Cover Protocol ($COVER): peer-to-peer coverage market for DeFi

    • Yearn Finance ($YFI) has recently partnered with many other top level protocols. Here’s our introduction to the Yearn extended family!

    Yearn.Finance merging the DeFi Ecosystem

    • Interested in lending-borrowing? Is a credit scoring system appealing to you? Listen to what is $WING and how can you profit off of it!
    • Wootrade ($WOO): Boosting the power of cryptocurrency trading?

    Wootrade ($WOO): Boosting the power of cryptocurrency trading?