Category: Crypto Trends

Make sense of the news and how it affects the blockchain space as a whole. Crypto trends is a collection of relevant news and insights to help you make an informed decision.

Coin DeFi($COIN): Cross-chain P2P DEX powered by AI?
Coin DeFi ($COIN) aims to disrupt finance services by democratizing the industry, returning financial sovereignty to the people via decentralized Finance (DeFi). Through Coin Protocol, anyone can make cross-border and peer-to-peer transactions with ease and convenience, without incurring expensive fees. It also offers greater profit-generating opportunities through its stake-based incentive program.

Background

Coin DeFi is a project founded by Damon Nam (also the project’s CEO), who worked with Microsoft for 16 years, and has more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry. The team’s CTO, Byron Levels, also worked with Microsoft for 8 years.

A group of advisors coming from different fields of expertise is supporting the development of the platform. These are professionals who have been known to work on blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and marketing initiatives, such as Christina Apatow, founder of FetchyFox, Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable, Alex Mashinsky, founder of the Celsius Network, and Jeremy Gardener, founder of Augur.

What is Coin DeFi?

Coin DeFi is an Ethereum-based DeFi platform designed to facilitate a peer-to-peer transaction system that implements a community-based governance model. Through the platform, users can conveniently conduct cross-border money transfers, purchase cryptocurrencies, and earn additional profit from their assets through staking.

There are two main components to the Coin ecosystem, namely, the COIN protocol and COIN token.

COIN Protocol

The COIN protocol is the project’s blockchain platform powered by smart contracts. The deployment of smart contracts enables the network to achieve greater performance and scalability while facilitating peer-to-peer transactions without the need for any third-party oversight.

The COIN token is the backbone of the protocol’s economy. It is the platform’s native cryptocurrency asset that primarily functions as a medium of exchange as well as a staking token. It is also required for the execution of smart contracts on the platform and in backing the incentive scheme for the protocol’s liquidity providers. More details on this later.

COIN Exchange

The platform also features a non-custodial, peer-to-peer crypto-assets exchange. COIN Exchange is a cross-chain, decentralized wallet and exchange supported by smart contracts that enable atomic swaps complemented with AI technology.

Some of the digital assets that can be traded in the protocol are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and a selection of ERC-20-compliant tokens. Since the platform features cross-chain atomic swaps, a user can trade any token with another digital asset through the platform, even if they belong to different chains.

To facilitate these peer-to-peer trustless, and cross-chain swaps on the exchange, it utilizes Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLC). Basically, this is a system that requires transaction recipients to first acknowledge payments by way of a cryptographic proof within a defined time period, which is also the same technical framework implemented in Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.

Liquidity

Liquidity is a common concern amongst many decentralized exchanges (DEXs). To address this, COIN partnered with Coinbase to leverage their order books. This is facilitated by a matching algorithm that combines the liquidity in COIN and Coinbase order books.

What the platform earns from transaction fees, they use for their COIN buyback programs and pool deposits. Here, half of what they earn is redistributed to liquidity providers and market makers as a reward. The rest is allocated to buy COIN tokens back to support its supply of liquidity and staking reserves.

Governance Model

The governance of the platform follows the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) model, one that is community-driven.

In this framework, COIN holders are considered the protocol’s stakeholders. Developers on the platform can propose protocol amendments, upgrades, features, and other changes, which stakeholders have to vote on before they are deployed. If the community doesn’t agree with any proposed modification on the protocol, it can be rejected by the community if it doesn’t garner enough votes.

Coin DeFi’s Native Token ($COIN)

COIN is the platform’s native utility token. Apart from functioning as a medium of exchange, the token can be used to pay for the platform’s transaction fees, staking, and voting. The incentive system of the platform also utilizes COIN tokens as its rewards.

COIN is also a network access token, which means that the token is required to execute smart contracts, represent their voting rights, and compensate liquidity providers.

$COIN Buybacks (Source: CoinDefi Pitch Deck)

Staking

$COIN can be used to supply liquidity to the platform. Furthermore, there are smart contracts designed to enable staking functions on the protocol. COIN holders only need to deposit their tokens and lock them in smart contracts. In return, they can earn additional COIN tokens as a reward.

The reward for stakers is in proportion with the amount that they staked, prevailing interest rates, and the duration of their stake.

A portion of the COIN tokens deposited on staking smart contracts goes to the platform’s staking reserve. This is used to supply funds that are redistributed to long-term COIN stakers. Around 25% of all COIN tokens in circulation fills the supply of this pool.

$COIN Distribution (Source: CoinDefi Pitch Deck)

Coin DAO

The protocol also enables the implementation of a DAO, through a stakeholder model represented by COIN tokens, which enables the community to gain better control over the direction of the platform, including the introduction of new products, amendments to the existing protocol, and other forms of protocol modification, through a stake-based voting system.

COIN holders can deposit tokens in the governance smart contract within the platform. The amount of tokens that holders lock in these contracts guarantee them an equivalent voting power on the platform. For example, a user who has locked 100 COIN tokens gains an equivalent of 100 votes as a consequence.

Conclusion

There are a lot of DeFi projects in the cryptocurrency space today. While Coin DeFi’s objective is a promising alternative away from the traditional financial system, it certainly comes with a lot of other competitors in DeFi offering the same financial products and services as well.

From where the project stands today, it still has a lot to prove when compared with the more prominent DeFi platforms and exchanges. Perhaps its biggest strength is its AI assistant implementation to support platform users, but we have yet to see how that will be developed for the benefit of its user base. As a relatively young DeFi project, how it will grow its own community in the months ahead is going to be a significant factor in assessing how successful the project can be.

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!

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.
January 1, 2023
KeyTango ($TANGO): the easiest way to DeFi?
KeyTango is an investment solution built on Web3 technologies that function as a gateway for DeFi products and services.

While the decentralized finance (DeFi) market is growing, the struggle to keep up is getting bigger for many users. And sometimes, because of so many rug-pulls in DeFi, scam tokens, and underdeveloped projects in this space, people choose to avoid it altogether. KeyTango is a solution to these concerns.

KeyTango offers a one-stop shop for various, reputable, and secure DeFi projects to minimize the risk that a new cryptocurrency holder or trader absorbs. It also offers learning options that can help anyone better understand what DeFi’s underlying concepts and technicalities actually mean.

Background

The growth of DeFi projects has been outstanding, posting 725% growth within just 3 months. However, there are still a lot of investors who are unfamiliar with how the ecosystem functions. Most of the new retail traders find themselves into sketchy projects that claim to be DeFi, only to find out later that these projects cannot actually deliver their promise.

KeyTango is developed with the help of experts from cryptocurrency, financial technology, and investments. The project is also supported by many Outlier Ventures staff members as their angel investors. The goal of the team behind it is to introduce an easy-to-use, Robinhood-like platform, where users can easily trade in the DeFi space within just a few clicks.

What is keyTango?

KeyTango is a Web3-based investment solution that functions as a gateway for DeFi products and services. It is connected with multiple projects on a variety of DeFi markets. This gives users a wide selection of financial tools to choose from if they are looking for ways to maximize the capacity of their assets in making a profit.

KeyTango features a user-friendly interface for any cryptocurrency or DeFi user and focuses on three main goals: discover, learn, and invest.

Moreover, the platform offers its users a tailored recommendation on the products they could access based on the history of their activity on the wallet they linked. This makes it easier for the users to choose which asset fits their profile and easily avail of the products and services in the instruments suggested for them.

Discover

One of the things KeyTango gives to its users is exposure to different DeFi products, such as yield farming and liquidity mining. The platform is backed by a team of investment experts and venture capital managers. More than that, any product posted on the application is carefully curated by MIT and Y-Combinator Alumni, which assures users that the DeFi projects they discover through the protocol are guaranteed of good quality and reputation.

Learn

To address the problem of most cryptocurrency holders who do not completely understand some of the complex DeFi projects that they could potentially benefit from, KeyTango introduced a “Learn” layer on the application. Every technical knowledge that any user would need to know will be made accessible on this part of the platform.

Invest

Once a user has already understood what it means to put their assets in DeFi, from how they can earn yields to DeFi protocols’ underlying risks, they can easily use the platform to start their investments. The process is simple. Users just need to link their cryptocurrency wallet.

Products

Liquidity Pools

Users who are looking to put their idle assets in a liquidity pool can now easily do so using the platform. In this product, a holder of a token can supply them to the liquidity of any supported decentralized exchange (DEX) to earn additional tokens from trading fees.

The products that can be accessed on this market are DEXs like Balancer, Bancor, Curve, SushiSwap, and Uniswap.

Yield Farming

DeFi projects have their own native utility tokens. Holders of these tokens earn rewards for keeping them and using them to participate in the network’s activities. What yield farmers do is they stake their tokens to DEXs where these utility tokens are traded and supply their liquidity there.

This way, they can also earn rewards in the form of the token that they supplied liquidity to. There are various yield farming protocols in the market today, however, they can be too difficult for others to access because due to the challenges is finding a safe platform. KeyTango makes it a safer opportunity for investors since they have also curated the projects they support on the application.

DeFi Trading

DeFi applications that offer spot trading and leveraged trading functions can be easily found in KeyTango. In these platforms, users will be able to access exchanges powered by automated market makers (AMM). Some of the platforms that are known for this product are 0x, Aave, and Sushiswap.

Derivatives and Other Products

As the DeFi economy continues to grow, KeyTango will also adapt accordingly. The application will be working on providing access to new DeFi opportunities such as NFTs, derivatives, and many others.

TANGO

TANGO is the platform’s native, utility token. It can be used to pay for the protocol’s transaction fees and to participate in the platform’s governance functions. A portion of TANGO’s total supply will also be allocated to the community treasury.

Staking

The platform will have four staking pools: Earlybird Staking, Pro Staking, Expert Liquidity Mining ETH, and Expert Liquidity Mining USDT. They have specific maturity periods and pool sizes which users can see in the interface. Users can also have an estimate of their potential profit as the pools also indicate their APY for each one.

Some of the staking options available on keyTango (Image credit: keyTango)

Conclusion

KeyTango is a project that the whole DeFi space could benefit from. Having assembled a team of experts to curate the projects that will be made available on the platform provides a tremendous advantage. More than the minimization of risks and breaking the psychological barrier that keeps people from adopting DeFi, it also raises the awareness of the public as to what DeFi can offer.

This is why the project is a promising complement to the DeFi ecosystem. Getting people to understand how DeFi works and enabling a way to easily supply their assets in the best projects available can be a huge boost when it comes to achieving wider adoption.

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!

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.
January 1, 2023
eToro Exchange Review (2023): Best Trading Platform for Learning

eToro is a global multi-asset platform that enables users to trade CFDs of stocks, commodities, indices, and more than 15 major cryptocurrencies, all in a fully regulated and secure environment. This review will discuss eToro online trading platform that enables users to trade a variety of assets, including stocks, commodities, and currencies, with the help of its innovative and user-friendly interface.

Sign up here to get started

What is eToro?

eToro is a global multi-asset platform that allows users to trade CFDs of stocks, commodities, indices, and more than 15 major cryptocurrencies. With over 10 million registered users worldwide, eToro is a fully regulated exchange and broker. Unlike other cryptocurrency trading services, eToro does not allow users to withdraw their crypto assets unless they use the dedicated custodial eToro Wallet, available on iOS and Android. With eToro, users can easily trade oil, stocks, gold, and cryptocurrencies with confidence.

eToro is an online broker and social trading platform that has been advocating for Bitcoin since 2007 and offering Bitcoin trading services since 2013. It is the perfect platform for new traders and investors who want to learn and experience the best of both crypto and traditional finance worlds. eToro is a secure and reliable platform that provides users with a wide range of tools and features to help them make informed decisions and maximize their profits. With its user-friendly interface, comprehensive educational resources, and advanced trading tools, eToro is the ideal platform for both novice and experienced traders.

Key Features of eToro

The key features of eToro include:

eToro Social Trading: The most effective social platform for traders is eToro since it provides a distinctive social trading experience. To stay up with your favored assets’ news, you can follow, copy, engage with, and follow your favorite traders. You can even make your own news stream.

Most Effective Trading Platform for Learning: Several instructional resources, including a training virtual portfolio.

Outstanding Customer Service: You can get in touch with the eToro team by phone, live chat, or support ticket if there is a problem. Also, the site is available in over 20 other languages. 24/7 customer service is offered from Monday through Friday.

A Wide Variety of Assets: Along with 16 other cryptocurrencies, there are traditional markets like equities, bonds, currency, ETFs, commodities, and others that you may learn about and trade in.

Mobile Trading Apps: You may quickly access eToro while on the go and execute trades using an Android or iOS smartphone.

Key Advantages of eToro

eToro Usability

eToro is a great platform for starting and novice traders, offering a Virtual Portfolio and ‘demo mode’ to buy and trade cryptocurrencies without staking real money. It also features CopyTrader, which allows users to copy the best-performing traders in various asset markets, such as commodities, stocks, ETFs, and crypto. With CopyTrader, users can choose how much to invest and mirror every action the trader takes, while making adjustments as needed. eToro is a great platform for those looking to get into trading, offering a safe and secure environment to learn and grow.

eToro’s trading platform is designed with the user in mind, offering a user-friendly and easy to navigate layout. The left-hand side of the screen features a control panel, while the right-hand side displays charts, data, and profiles to help you make informed investment decisions. eToro’s mobile apps, available for both Android and iOS devices, allow you to do pretty much everything you can do on the desktop version, including receiving notifications on the go. With its intuitive design and comprehensive features, eToro’s trading platform is a great choice for both experienced and novice traders.

eToro Social Trading

eToro is the social media platform for traders that connects you to experienced traders from around the world. With eToro’s copy trading feature, you can copy the actions of your chosen traders in real time and benefit from their expertise. Monitor their trades and opt-in to copy everything they do. eToro provides indicative prices, and the current market price is shown on the eToro trading platform. With eToro, you can benefit from the knowledge and experience of seasoned traders and make the most of your investments.

Trusted and Established Reputation Within the Industry

eToro is a leading online brokerage site that offers its users the ability to trade cryptocurrencies. US customers can access real crypto assets, while CFD trading is also available. This is a very interesting business move due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, which have a reputation for being unpredictable. eToro has a solid business plan to ensure they can profit from this service, while clients can benefit from CFD-based crypto trading. eToro is a secure and reliable platform that provides users with a wide range of features, including copy trading, social trading, and a variety of educational resources. With its user-friendly interface and low fees, eToro is a great choice for anyone looking to get involved in the cryptocurrency market.

eToro is a broker that offers users the widest variety of cryptocurrency trading options available, both long-term and short-term. This is thanks to their introduction of the “copy trading” feature, which allows investors to copy the decisions of experienced traders. This is a great option for those who don’t have the time or knowledge to research the crypto market, as it allows them to benefit from the expertise of experienced investors. Additionally, investors can pick the expert they want to follow based on their performance and receive a bonus for correct decisions.

Key Disadvantages of eToro

Somewhat High Fees

eToro now charges a 1% fee on all cryptocurrency trades – buying or selling. This fee is included in the price when a user opens or closes a position and is charged for the ’round trip’ – meaning a 1% fee on the purchase and an advance of 1% for the eventual sale of the coin. The only outlier is Terra Classic (LUNC), which has an operational fee of 0.6% added to the standard 1%. eToro no longer charges overnight – or rollover – fees on cryptocurrency, however, 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider, so it is important to consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Can Only Deposit Via Fiat Currency

eToro users can deposit fiat currency into their account using credit/debit cards, wire transfer, and popular e-wallets like PayPal, Skrill & Neteller, Klarna, and iDEAL. All fiat funds held by eToro are in US dollars, so a conversion fee may be incurred. The minimum first-time deposit ranges from USD 50 to USD 10,000. Withdrawals are also available via credit/debit card, bank transfer, and PayPal, with a flat fee of USD 5 for every withdrawal. Additionally, users can transfer cryptocurrency directly to the eToro wallet and hold and withdraw supported cryptocurrencies.

Why eToro?

eToro is a leading cryptocurrency brokerage firm that offers a wide variety of cryptocurrencies for trading. They guarantee security and a fluid user interface experience, with no hidden fees and good transaction rates. eToro has the most cryptocurrencies available for trading out of any other brokerage firm, making it a great choice for those looking to invest in the cryptocurrency market. They also offer a variety of other features, such as copy trading, which allows users to copy the trades of experienced traders, and a social trading platform, which allows users to connect with other traders and discuss strategies. With its wide range of features and benefits, eToro is a great choice for those looking to invest in the cryptocurrency market.

Conclusion

eToro is a revolutionary startup that has changed the way people trade stocks and cryptocurrencies. With its innovative “copy trading” system, investors can potentially earn more revenue without having to do anything but register and set up their portfolio. Experienced investors can take advantage of this system to boost their earnings, while newcomers should start slow and not invest more than they’re willing to lose. Projects like Follow Coin have tried to follow the same path, but have been much less successful due to a lack of experience and professionals in the field.

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.

January 1, 2023
Yobit Exchange Review and Guide 2020
YoBit is a cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2014 and is one of the oldest in the market. YoBit’s philosophy is to keep things simple. The Exchange only offers spot trading on its relatively intuitive and uncomplicated platform. The exchange is popular around the world, with an especially large community in Russia and Europe. However, YoBit does offer some unique non-trading related features such as investment plans, a dice game, and ongoing opportunities for users to earn free cryptocurrencies.

Registered in Panama as YoBiCrypto Corp, the Exchange was the creation of a group of European developers with a passion for cryptocurrencies. According to CoinMarketCap Yobit has a trading volume of more than USD$50 million every 24 hour

In this review, we look at the various features of YoBit exchange and give users a guide on how to get started. We also look at whether YoBit is a reliable and safe choice for cryptocurrency traders in 2020.

Key Features
- No frills approach: YoBit distinguishes itself from its competitors by being simple. This notion of simplicity can also be seen in its interface. Once you log in all the necessary features and information is displayed clearly and is easily accessible in 1 click.
- No KYC required: No KYC procedures are required for registering an account and they do not collect any data from users. The Exchange’s aim is to protect users’ anonymity and respect their privacy and confidentiality. New users can register with their email and start trading within minutes.
- Unique features: In addition to spot trading, the Exchange has unique features such as InvestBox, a dice game, FreeCoins, “YoPony” and collaboration with CryptoTalk forums, etc.
Let’s take a look at their major unique features in turn.

InvestBox- a simple how-to guide

According to YoBit, InvestBox allows users to grow their portfolio and potentially earn from 0.1% up to 7% per day. The purpose of InvestBox is to bridge the gap between cryptocurrency traders and developers by helping the latter popularise their coin, and so traders can benefit from its popularity. The Exchange claims that payments from these plans are from a special fund which is replenished from commissions earned by the Exchange. Users can withdraw their funds from the plans at any time and withdrawals are not subject to any commissions payable to the Exchange.

Plans differ in terms of what coin you can earn, the minimum investment amount and time required, and the actions required to obtain the payments. As seen in the below image, each InvestBox plan has its own “rules” as follows:
- Coin: The type of cryptocurrency to be invested
- Percent: The percentage you will get
- Period: When you will get your payments e.g. daily, weekly etc.
- MinInvest: Miniumum investment required
- MaxInvest: The maximum you can invest
- Action: What actions are required to get the payments. Taking YOMI in the below image as an example “YOMI/BTC: 10 buy trades + no YOMI sells + BTC: 10 ds” means that users: (1) must buy YOMI tokens 10 times on the YOMI/BTC market; (2) cannot sell their YOMI tokens until payment is received; and (3) play the DICE game 10 times (though it doesn’t matter if you win or lose).
- Status: Whether the plan is active or not.
Dice game and YoPony

A popular feature on the Exchange is their dice game where users guess if an upcoming dice roll is going to be less than 48 or more than 52. As mentioned in the InvestBox section, some plans may require users to play this game for a specified number of times. YoPony is a crypto racing game, where you guess which horse will win a race.

FreeCoins- how to earn cryptocurrencies on YoBit

To encourage more people to trade on YoBit, the Exchange gives out free coins for users who share the Exchange on social media. All users need to do is to choose which free coin they would like to get and click “Get free coins”.

Then in the pop-up window choose whether you want to make your post on Twitter, Facebook or Vkontakte. You will then automatically be directed to your social media website to put up the post. Afterwards you will need to paste the link of your post into the address bar and press “Check” so that YoBit can verify you have posted.

Pop-up window will prompt you to post and insert the address of the post for checking

YoBit CryptoTalk campaign- another way to earn free cryptocurrencies

Yobit also has reward campaign with CryptoTalk.org, a cryptocurrency forum where people can earn Bitcoin by engaging in discussions. YoBit will reward users with 0.00001 BTC per post, for up to 30 posts per day. Once you have posted, you will need to enter your CryptoTalk UID into the CryptoTalk campaign page for your posts to be verified. After verification by the moderators on the CryptoTalk forum, rewards will be given to eligible posts and you will be able to send this directly to your BTC balance on the Exchange.

Supported cryptocurrencies

YoBit offers trading for over 442 cryptocurrencies, more than twice as many as competitors such as Binance exchange. These include some altcoins which are relatively unknown, potentially making it one of the only options available for serious altcoin traders.

What also makes YoBit exchange stand out is its number of trading pairs available. It has more than 4,600 trading pairs making it the most trading pairs of any exchange in the market according to CoinGecko.

Supported currencies and payment methods

YoBit accepts both USD and RUB (Russian Ruble). As for payment methods, the Exchange accepts Visa/Mastercard, AdvCash, Payeer, Perfect Money, Capitalist, Yandex and cryptocurrency deposits.

YoBit Fees

Deposit and withdrawal fees

Deposits onto the Exchange are free of charge for most major payment methods such as Visa/Mastercard or cryptocurrency deposits. For withdrawals however the fees can range from 0.0005 for cryptocurrencies, to 7% (USD) using Payeer or USD $6 and 5% using credit cards.

Here’s a list of YoBit’s deposit and withdrawal fees.

Trading fees

YoBit charges 0.20% for every buy and sell order on the Exchange. Compared with its competitors, this is generally average. Some exchanges such as KuCoin or OKEx charge a bit less at 0.10%, whilst other exchanges such as Coinbase Pro charge a lot more at 0.50% plus other fees.

Supported countries

The Exchange is available to users from all around the globe, including the USA. To cater for its international clientele, the Exchange supports English, Russian and Chinese languages. One of their unique features is its live chat in the sidebar where you can chat with other traders in real time. The live chat is available in English, German, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Security- Is YoBit safe?

YoBit has a good track record of no hacks in the 6 years it was launched. The Exchange has the following features to protect its users.

Email login confirmation: After logging into the Exchange, they will send you an email letting you know you have successfully logged in together with details of your login such as your IP address, location and login time. This means you will be notified if someone else has wrongfully logged into your account.

2-Factor Authentication (2FA): Users can set up the Google Authenticator app on their phones to be used with the Exchange. So when a user makes a deposit or withdrawal, they would also be required to type in a one-time password to complete the request.

Freeze withdrawals: A unique feature, the freeze withdrawals function can prove to be very useful if you suspect your account has been hacked. In the Settings page, you can select “Freeze withdrawals from my account (I suspect hacking)”. Upon selecting this option, any withdrawals from the Exchange would be frozen and users can only enable withdrawals again by going through customer support.

Insurance fund: In the Support page, there is an option to request compensation from an insurance fund.

Not many details are known about the insurance fund. But from our research, the Exchange did suffer a 51% attack in January 2019 and according to YoBit, the losses suffered were covered by the Exchange’s insurance fund.

Est 130417 ETC coins lost because of 51% attack.
It will be covered from Yobit Insurance fund, ETC deps/withdrawals enabled.
Hacker’s ETC address: https://t.co/PQj2rDxkrU
IP’s: 2001:67c:2660:425:24:0:0:88e , 2001:67c:2660:425:b:0:0:cd7 (VPN)

— Yobit.Net (@YobitExchange) January 9, 2019

User Experience

The Exchange really takes it to the next step with its simplicity. So much so that there are virtually no tutorials or instructions available on the Exchange or elsewhere. So if users are confused about the Exchange’s features and functions, they will have to look up external websites, figure it out themselves or ask the active and helpful YoBit community. However since the interface is very simple very self-explanatory, most experienced traders should be able to master using YoBit fairly easily and maybe come to appreciate its no-frills approach.

How to register for a YoBit account

Registration is staightforward. On YoBit’s main page, simply click “Registration”, fill in the form and click “Register”.

Afterwards you will receive an email asking you to click on their link to activate your account. On the webpage, select “Activate” and you are all set!

The registration process was very simple and we were able to register for an account in less than 10 minutes.

How to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies on YoBit

Deposits

On the top bar, click “Wallets” to view your balances. Choose which coin to deposit and click “+”. A popup window will appear showing your cryptocurrency address and a QR code. From there either enter the address or scan the QR code with the wallet you want to send from.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals on YoBit are just as simple. Click on the “Wallets” page on the top bar, choose which coin to withdraw and click “-“. A popup window will appear for you to fill in your withdrawal address and the quantity you wish to withdraw. YoBit will automatically calculate the withdrawal fees payable and show the amount that the recipient will actually get. Then click “withdrawal request”.

Customer support

YoBit has encountered some controversy with users complaining that the Exchange is slow to respond to requests on their support page. From using the Exchange we can see that they have taken this comment on board and tried to make improvements. YoBit customers can get support through the following means:
- Send a customer support ticket on their Support page;
- Ask the community on the live chat on the Exchange’s sidebar;
- On their telegram chat, PM an admin or ask in the main page; and
- Contact their official support account @YbtSP on Telegram (currently in test mode).
To test out their customer service, we tried asking for help using all the methods mentioned above. We got a response from the Support page in under 10 minutes, which is quite impressive. We also got replies from other YoBit users on the Telegram community and the live chat who were all very helpful.

Conclusion: Is YoBit a safe and legit exchange?

YoBit certainly does live up to its repuation of keeping things simple. Here’s some pros and cons of the Exchange based on our research and user experience.

Pros
- Compared with other exchanges, they have a long history and a track record of no hacks.
- Signup is simple and can be done in 10 minutes.
- Clean and relatively intuitive interface.
- Huge number of trading pairs making it a good option for serious altcoin enthusiasts.
- Very responsive customer support.
Cons
- Only offers spot trading and other non-trading related functions such as InvestBox or FreeCoins.
- Virtually no information about themselves or tutorials on their website. We had to find information about the Exchange from external sources, or figure it ourselves.
All in all, YoBit is suited for users who have at least some experience with cryptocurrency trading or serious altcoin enthusiasts. YoBit does have a good security record with the usual security features expected of any legitimate exchange. YoBit is certainly an exchange worth looking into.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where can I find YoBit on social media?

YoBit can be found on Twitter and Telegram, where they have one of the largest communities with over 77,000 members on their English channel. The Exchange also has a Russian Telegram channel.

Can I find any other reviews on YoBit exchange?

Websites such as Trustpilot, Blocknomi and Cryptocompare have also written detailed reviews on YoBit’s features and functions.

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.
January 1, 2023
SushiSwap ($SUSHI) Explained
Table of Contents

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Before we begin

What is SushiSwap ($SUSHI)?

Summary

Why is SushiSwap so popular?

SUSHI token

Advantages of SushiSwap

SushiSwap beginners guide

2020 roundup and new roadmap!

2021 Roadmap

FAQs

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

We’ve been closely following the events involving SushiSwap and its founder “Chef Nomi”. This article will not be making any comments or conclusions on Chef Nomi’s actions or how SushiSwap is or should be run. This article is simply an explainer on what SushiSwap is and how to use the platform. As with all yield farming projects, SushiSwap involves a huge amount of risk. Anyone intending to participate in yield farming should do full research and consider carefully the risks involved beforehand.

What is SushiSwap ($SUSHI)?

SushiSwap is the newest decentralised finance (DeFi) liquidity pool platform. With SushiSwap, people can add their tokens into the liquidity pools and earn. In this article, we’ll have a look at the Sushi Swap platform and how to participate in the liquidity pool. Anyone can participate.

Sounds interesting? Let’s dive into it.

Summary
- SushiSwap is a platform that allows anyone to provide liquidity. In return, the person gets rewarded with token(s) and SUSHI tokens.
- As of September 4, 2020, there are 1 billion dollars of locked liquidity.
- Possibility of very high APY (up to 1,000%) on some liquidity pools. You can check the current yields on SushiBoard.
Why is SushiSwap so popular?

Sushi Swap markets itself as an “improved and community-friendly” Uniswap. Unlike a traditional exchange like Binance where they employ market makers, SushiSwap is a community-oriented platform where users provide liquidity. In return, they get rewarded. Indeed, the users are the market makers.

SUSHI token

SUSHI tokens are given as rewards for liquidity mining. The token allows its holders to participate in the governance of the platform and entitles them to a portion of the fees paid to the protocol by traders. For the governance of the platform, SUSHI holders can submit a SushiSwap Improvement Proposal (SIP) which token holders can vote on with their tokens.

Of course, some people also speculate on the prices of SUSHI and the token can be traded on major exchanges such as Binance, FTX and OKEx exchanges.

Advantages of SushiSwap

There is no KYC (Know Your Customer) policy. This means anyone can trade and contribute to the liquidity pools. The platform is permissionless, meaning anyone can contribute millions of dollars without asking for permission.

Earn tokens from Sushi Swap. SUSHI is Sushi Swap’s native token. When you contribute to the liquidity pool, you earn sushi tokens. You can exchange SUSHI for ETH.

Sushi Swap model: 0.25% go directly to the active liquidity providers and 0.05% get converted back to SUSHI and is rewarded to sushi holders.

Sounds interesting? Let’s visit Sushi Swap’s home page.

SushiSwap beginners guide

When you first arrive on Sushi Swap’s home page, you’ll see this:

Click on “Unlock Wallet” or “See The Menu”, either way you will need to connect your ETH wallet in order to this platform.

Sushi Swap has the option to use MetaMask, WalletConnect or many other non-custodial wallets. Pick the one of your choice.

Connect wallet

Give permission for Meta Mask or Wallet Connect to connect to Sushi Swap. Once you’re connected, you’re ready to add your tokens into the liquidity pools. (hummingbirddental.ca)

You’re presented with various liquidity pools (LPs). Each liquidity pool has a different annual percentage yield (APY).

In this example, I’ll contribute to the ETH-USDT pool. I add my USDT into the liquidity pool. In return, I’ll get a percentage of USDT and SUSHI tokens. Think of Sushi Swap as a “community revenue share” model.

To contribute to the liquidity pool, click “Approve USDT-ETH UNI-V2 LP” and give your Meta Mask permission to move your tokens into the liquidity pool.

Now what? You wait. The “SUSHI earned” box should populate with your earned SUSHI. You can withdraw your SUSHI token anytime by clicking on “Harvest”.

2020 roundup and new roadmap!

Many things have happened within the Sushiswap ecosystem in the last months: it is now time for a quick recap and to look at what the future will bring to this project!

The number of all the partnerships finalized by the protocol is countless, but one of the most important ones, if not the most important, is certainly the merger with Yearn. The news also sparked controversies: Sushiswap was still considered a sort of “copycat” of Uniswap by some, and when Andre Cronje (Yearn’s father) wrote an article on how it is difficult to build in Defi and how conversely it is easy for anyone to just copy other people’s code, this wasn’t seen as really coherent. The collaboration was born to allow the two teams to cooperate on Deriswap.

Nevertheless, Sushiswap has been evolving so much that, according to Mira Christanto (one of Messari’s data analysts) they have “put their past behind” and, not being backed by Venture Capitals, they can move faster than competitors. January has seen a real growth in Sushiswap’s TVL (now at $2.1 billion), mostly at the expense of Uniswap’s.

Among the important milestones in 2020, we find Onsen, the new Sushiswap liquidity mining incentivization program which replaces the old Menu of the week. It brings communities together into the ecosystem and allows voted tokens to become accredited and participate in the mining program. The website also has a new layout of and a lite version.

2021 Roadmap

As the new year has already begun, it is also interesting to have a look at what Sushiswap is working on for 2021. The team released a long and detailed roadmap in early January. Notable upgrades are the following:
- Mirin will be the new upgraded version of Sushiswap’s V3 protocol. It will include many new features like franchised pools, double yield, dynamic yield rebalancing, and many more as you can read here.
- Bentobox (which should have launched in January) was born in the team’s mind as a new Lending Platform. While they were was working on its code though, it became something more. In simple terms, it will be a single vault that holds all tokens for any protocols and future extensions. It will support several oracles and it will also benefit all the $SUSHI holders.
- Miso (Minimal Initial Sushi Offering) will be a sort of token launchpad, designed to drive new projects’ launches on the platform. It will include crowd sale options, IDOs (Initial Dex Offering), auctions, and more. We could think of it as something similar to Binance’s launchpad.
- As Ethereum fees are and will keep growing in the next future until ETH2 will be a reality, most platforms are studying alternative solutions for their users such as Layer 2 possibilities. Unlike Uniswap, which is working on Optimistic Rollups, Sushiswap decided to move in sync with the greater Yearn ecosystem and thus will probably offer Zk-rollups options.
Together with all these big news, Sushiswap is also planning to move to a new domain as the old one, in their view, is not enough to describe the diversity of the platform anymore. A transition to a fully decentralized governance structure is also planned by the end of 2021. Last but not least, Sushiswap has created a proposal page for people to express their ideas on what they would like to see on the platform. Everyone can be a chef is the place where you can voice your opinion if you like to suggest new ideas.

FAQs

Is it risky to provide liquidity to SushiSwap?

The pool could get hacked if the code isn’t audited. There have been cases of hackers draining funds from smart contracts. It helps if the code is audited by a reputable firm. In the case of SushiSwap, it has been given a “security review” (not an audit) by Quantstamp. 10 issues were identified but they do not appear to be fatal. Subsequently, Peckshield had completed an audit on SushiSwap. They found no critical or high severity issues relating to business logistics but 2 high severity opsec issues that need to be fixed through extra care with deployment.

What is the reward model of Sushi Swap?

0.25% go directly to the active liquidity providers and 0.05% gets converted back to sushi and is distributed to active SUSHI holders.

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!

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.
January 1, 2023
ChainGuardians ($CGG): play games to earn cryptocurrency?
ChainGuardians is powered by the technology that allows digital asset tokenization, creating an ecosystem where blockchain meets play. Here, users can have fun on the platform while earning rewards in the form of cryptocurrency. They can also participate in popular blockchain activities such as mining or staking without much complexity.

Check out our interview with Co-founders Emma Liu and Idon Liu (from 23:00 onwards)

Background

The team behind ChainGuardians built the platform to create an enjoyable and worthwhile blockchain gaming experience for its players. According to the team, the majority of the gaming content is still currently only accessible on web browsers but they are planning to create an independent gaming platform for it.

What is ChainGuardians?

ChainGuardians is a cryptocurrency-meets-anime-themed blockchain collectible game powered by non-fungible tokens (NFT). The game is available both on mobile and web platforms, making it very accessible to its users. It is also built on top of Ethereum while its in-game assets are based on the ERC-721 standard.

The goal of ChainGuardians is to introduce a gaming element in the blockchain ecosystem, implementing chain analysis technology and advanced game economics to govern the platform’s mechanics.

All in-game assets are considered crypto-collectible NFTs. These are, for example, weapons, armors, and even the in-game characters i.e. Guardians. The purpose of having them tokenized is to make sure that they are unique and safe against counterfeiting.

All the collectibles, as well, are of limited quantity. They can also be either bought or sold on secondary NFT marketplaces.

While there are a lot of blockchain-based games today, according to the team behind ChainGuardians, their difference is that their governance is more community-based. There are other steps that the team said they were doing differently against others, which are:
- The constant development of end-game content and platform playability;
- Introduction of multiple game modes, including player-versus-player modes;
- Rebalancing of Guardians, lower ranking characters, items, and game economy, as they are needed;
- The constant development of the battle meta;
- Introduction of ‘Bring Your Own NFT,’ where users can integrate their own NFTs on the platform;
- Loyalty reward system;
- Bot prevention system; and
- Commencement of events and competitions to encourage player activity.
The platform offers a free-to-play NFT mining game and a role-playing game (RPG). Players can earn rewards for participating in either of the two.

For the game’s newcomers who just want to try out the game modes first, the platform offers a guardian simulation mode. For this mode, users will not need to own any crypto-collectible, or NFTs. This means, however, that their progress will not be factored in the actual game economy. They will also not be entitled to rewards in the simulation mode as well.

Crypto Boost is another feature made available on the platform. This gives existing cryptocurrency holders additional incentives in playing the game. To ensure that the accounts are in good crypto standing, their transaction history and holdings will be evaluated through Chain Analysis.

NFT Mining Game

Players can choose to participate in the game’s ecosystem by staking NFTs partnered by ChainGuardians. The process here is really simple. Users can either purchase their own NFT for staking or select from its supported projects called the “CryptoVerse Alliance.”

After a player has chosen an NFT to mine, they can start mining. Rewards for mining NFTs are ChainGuardians Credits (CGC). These can be used to make in-game purchases on ChainGuardians RPG or for conversion to the ChainGuardians Governance (CGG) token (more on this later). Furthermore, this is free-to-play.

ChainGuardians RPG

Playing the RPG is another option for users to earn rewards from the platform. Basic game achievements, such as the increase in your character’s level or winning against other in-game enemies, can give the player CGC rewards.

The goal of the players here is to work together to take down in-game enemies such as GateKeepers. This will help their characters gain power, credits, armaments, and other tools that they’ll need to progress in the game.

The game is also a turn-based battle game, but when a player is not active, the platform allows AI-based battles that factor in the attribute of a player’s character.

CGC rewards can be redeemed for CGG tokens or other available services on the platform.

There is a daily schedule for the redemption of CGG and it factors in the activity of the player on the platform. The RPG is also free-to-play.

CGG Token

CGG is ChainGuardians’ Governance token. It is an ERC-20 token that represents a user’s stake in the platform. CGG holders can take part in important protocol decisions as well as earn rewards for continuously participating in the ecosystem.

There are many ways to earn an income from using CGG. Here are some ways:

Liquidity Provider Token

The platform has a liquidity pool backed by the POWER token. This is the ecosystem’s liquidity provider token. Users who stake CGG in the platform’s liquidity pool are entitled to POWER rewards which they can redeem later on. The pool supports the CGG and ETH trading pair of the platform.

In addition, users can choose to just provide CGG pairs on the platform’s liquidity pool. They can also earn POWER in doing so.

NFT Staking

CGG holders can stake their tokens on the platform’s supported NFTs. This way, they can potentially earn more NFTs and partner tokens as their reward.

Governance

The platform’s governance is community-based, which means that CGG holders are the ones voting on the ecosystem’s mechanics and protocols. Some of these decisions cover the following:
- Future in-game characters and their abilities;
- Game economics and balancing schemes;
- APY for stakers and the supported NFTs; and,
- Hash rates for NFT miners.
Conclusion

The game is indeed an interesting use case for blockchain technology. Apart from the introduction of NFTs, it also features a liquidity mining and staking option that many cryptocurrency holders find easy to work with.

The project has done good work in integrating advanced blockchain concepts into a more gamified experience for users.

With the successful application of most blockchain technologies such as governance tokens, NFTs, mining, perhaps the next step for ChainGuardians is to make a scalable platform should more players join. All in all, the project is a promising display of the blockchain’s capacity while easing them towards the basic concepts that back most projects in DeFi.

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.
January 1, 2023
Ispolink ($ISP): A better LinkedIn?

Ispolink is a blockchain-based matchmaking job platform combined with AI to enhance the experience of job seekers and employers.

As the unemployment rate rises worldwide, individuals without jobs have to look for clever ways to impress potential employers. One of the ways is to craft an impressive curriculum vitae (CV) with false statements. While this may possibly get them a job, the quality of their work would be on the line and may lead to loss of business revenue.

Apart from finding qualified professionals, businesses have to deal with a resource-consuming recruitment process, hefty agency fees, and manual processes. On the other hand, qualified candidates feel unappreciated when they don’t receive feedback on applied positions. To provide a lasting solution, Ispolink combines decentralized technology and artificial intelligence to minimize the time and cost it takes to fill a position and to get hired.

Background

Emanuil Pavlov and Nikolay Pavlov head the Ispolink platform at the CEO and CTO level while also being co-founders. Emanuil has a strong educational background in business management. Before co-founding the protocol, he was a blockchain analyst at Industria Technology, a business development manager at Latoken, and a vendor manager at Manpower.

On the other hand, prior to joining Ispolink, Nikolay worked in software-related departments in leading companies such as Industria Technology, Devision, and SAP.

Apart from a reputable founding team, the platform is backed by top investment firms like Magnus Capital, Lotus Capital, Titans, Moon Whale, and AU21 Capital. Ispolink partners include DAO Maker, Polygon, Besco, Junior Enterprises Europe, and Iron Hack.

What is Ispolink?

Ispolink is a blockchain-based matchmaking job platform. It uses a combination of blockchain, AI, and other carefully selected ingredients to enhance the experience of job seekers and employers. The platform concentrates on serving the IT and blockchain industry.

Ispolink Features

Automated CV Screening

Instead of recruiters manually going through prospective employees’ resumes, the platform automatically screens a CV. Depending on the targeted vacancy, the protocol automatically calculates a match score that shows how qualified a candidate is for the position.

Video Resumes

A video resume goes past the regular text-based version to indicate qualities like communication skills.

Referral System and Instant Feedback

Ispolink rewards existing users for bringing qualified users to the platform. However, the disbursement of incentives happens when a referee is hired. The network provides instant feedback to candidates during the entire hiring process.

ML-powered Matchmaking

The protocol uses machine learning-driven algorithms to match candidates to open positions. Additionally, the project employs natural language processing (NLP) to extract and interpret information from the CV.

The matching process considers a candidate’s work experience, technology stack, specific job-required, and soft skills.

Blockchain-based Degree Verification

Ispolink confirms degree authenticity for degrees stored on the blockchain to prevent candidates from intentionally providing misleading education qualifications. However, for this to have the desired impact, the protocol works with learning institutions to help them register the issuance of qualification documents on a decentralized network.

Company Pages

The protocol enables companies to create their pages and express intimate details such as core values and guiding culture. Additionally, it gives enough room for firms to showcase their accomplishments. In a nutshell, it’s a way for companies to portray their brand and attract the necessary talents.

Revenue Streams

Ispolink provides different revenue streams for users. For example, it supports liquidity mining and staking. Other ways users earn incentives include when they sign up and when they get verified.

Cryptocurrency Payments

The platform supports virtual currency payments for all hiring services. Although the blockchain payment system is complex, the platform simplifies it into logical steps. For instance, the payment process starts when a user chooses an action that requires payment.

Next, it indicates the applicable price in both fiat and crypto. If the user wishes to pay through crypto, they must have supported tokens in their wallet. A successful payment procedure leads to a confirmation message from the platform.

Fortunately, the platform will guide you on the entire process and indicate errors whenever they occur. Note that Ispolink gives users the ability to deposit and withdraw tokens from the platform wallet.

Critical Technologies Used by Ispolink

Ispolink runs on the Ethereum blockchain due to its highest number of users. However, due to the platform’s congestion concerns, Ispolink is shifting to layer two scaling solutions such as Polygon. Additionally, the protocol employs Matic Network’s scaling solution on an Ethereum base.

While the second-largest decentralized network uses a proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanism, Matic uses the proof of stake (PoS) mechanism. As such, Matic can process up to 10,000 transactions per second. Apart from Ethereum, the platform also targets the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).

Ispolink’s Token Economy

ISP is the platform’s base assets. The token follows Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standards and powers different aspects to the protocol, such as purchasing hiring packages, paying referral bonuses, rewarding verified users, staking, and governance.

The token’s total supply is 10,000,000,000 coins. The largest distributions of the tokens go to the ecosystem and marketing that account for 40 and 19 percent, respectively. Other ISP token allocations go to the team, advisors, liquidity, seed, strategic, private, and public sales.

Note that tokens not sold during the four phases are burnt while the rest remains in active circulation.

Ispolink recently conducted its triple token sale on DAO Maker, gate.io and Ignition.

Ispolink Roadmap

The platform has an extremely detailed roadmap giving a glimpse of what the future holds for its users. For example, it looks to provide a comprehensive mobile application for iOS and Android-powered mobile gadgets, activating ATS integration, and in-platform staking.

Conclusion

Ispolink is among very few blockchain-based platforms targeting job seekers and employers. In addition, integrating AI functionalities and in-built crypto payment options puts the project ahead of the line. Notably, the use of a decentralized protocol ensures its activities are immutable and verifiable.

Placing and verifying educational qualifications on the blockchain captures the presence of falsified information on a CV. Consequently, it leads to quality hires. The use of scaling solutions built on top of Ethereum saves its users from the high transactional fees occasionally experienced on the Ethereum network.

Additionally, instant feedback to candidates and a match score enhance the quality of job searches. On the other hand, company branding gives room for companies to express themselves and attract qualified candidates.

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.

January 1, 2023
BitMart Exchange Review (2023): Complete Beginners Guide
BitMart has users from over 180 countries can access a wide range of digital assets. This includes more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies and tokens. It is through their secure and reliable global cryptocurrency exchange platform. In this review, we will expand on how BitMart works, it’s features, advantages and disadvantages.

Get up to $3,000 welcome bonus for signing up below!

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Table of Contents

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What is BitMart?

Key Features and Advantages of BitMart

Key Disadvantages of BitMart

Higher Fees When Buying Cryptocurrency with Fiat Money

Not That Many User Reviews Found Online Yet

BitMart Hacked for $200 million in December 2021

How to Use BitMart Cryptocurrency Exchange?

How to Register on BitMart?

How to Purchase Cryptocurrency on the BitMart Exchange?

Conclusion

BitMart Exchange Review
What is BitMart?

BitMart is a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform that was established in 2017 and began public operations in 2018. It is one of the top-20 cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It offers users a secure and reliable platform to buy, sell, and trade digital assets. BitMart provides a wide range of services, including spot trading, margin trading, futures trading, and OTC trading. The platform also offers a variety of features such as 24/7 customer support, advanced security measures, and a user-friendly interface. With competitive fees, low latency, and high liquidity, BitMart is a good choice for traders looking to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies.

It is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that is gaining popularity among users. It also offers a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, bank transfers, and digital wallets. Additionally, BitMart offers a comprehensive customer service system. It has 24/7 customer support, and a variety of educational resources to help users learn more about cryptocurrency trading.

Key Features and Advantages of BitMart

Here are the key features of BitMart:

Supports a Very Wide Assortment of Cryptocurrencies. BitMart is a top-rated cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to trade over 170 different cryptocurrencies in various trading pairs.

Quite Decent Fees. BitMart is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers a flat fee model of 0.25% for both market makers and takers. With an additional 25% discount available for holders of BMX tokens or those trading higher amounts of cryptocurrency.

Broad Selection of Payment Methods. BitMart offers a wide range of payment methods, including bank transfers, credit & debit cards, and PayPal.

Perfect for Both Beginner and Expert Traders. BitMart is offering users features such as cold wallet storage, referral rewards, lending programs, and up to 100x leverage trading. All these are perfect for both beginners and expert traders.

Key Disadvantages of BitMart

At this point in our BitMart exchange review, we can conclude that the platform offers some great features to users. However, is it a reliable option for long-term cryptocurrency trading? To answer this question, let’s take a look at some of the less-positive user reviews of BitMart.

Higher Fees When Buying Cryptocurrency with Fiat Money

BitMart is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers a range of services, including crypto-to-crypto trading, fiat-to-crypto purchases, and more. The exchange is known for its low fees, fast transactions, and a wide range of supported coins. Fiat-crypto purchases on BitMart can be expensive, with fees depending on the payment method. BitMart has some minor issues, such as limited customer support and coin selection. But, these are outweighed by its overall benefits.

All in all, BitMart is a great choice for those looking to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies.

BitMart is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies with PayPal, credit & debit cards, or bank transfers. Fiat-crypto purchases on BitMart have higher fees but offer a secure, fast, and simple way to buy cryptocurrencies. The choice is up to the user.

Not That Many User Reviews Found Online Yet

When it comes to user reviews, there is a lack of them for BitMart exchange. However, most of the reviews that are available are overwhelmingly positive. This could lead one to believe that BitMart is an underground, shady trading platform, but this is not the case. BitMart is a legitimate and reliable cryptocurrency trading option that is worth considering.

BitMart is a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange that is slowly gaining recognition among traders for its positive features. Despite its relatively young age, the platform is quickly becoming a popular choice for those looking to trade digital assets.

BitMart Hacked for $200 million in December 2021

In December 2021, BitMart suffered a security breach in which hackers stole about $200 million worth of tokens. BitMart suspended customer withdrawals and conducted a thorough security review following the hack. In an official statement, BitMart vowed to use its own money to reimburse victims of the hack. Some users complained several weeks later they still have not been repaid. However, there has not been any further news on this.

How to Use BitMart Cryptocurrency Exchange?

How to Register on BitMart?

1. Visit the BitMart official website and click the “Get Started” button located in the top-right corner to begin.

2. Create an account by entering your email address, setting a password, and confirming you are 18 or older.

3. Verify your email address by clicking the link in the confirmation email BitMart sent to you.

4. Log in to your account to complete the process – it’s that simple!

Registering on the BitMart exchange is a breeze and can be done in a matter of minutes. With no need for KYC verification, users can quickly explore and use the exchange after signing up. This makes the process incredibly simple.

After registering successfully on BitMart, it will redirect you to the main trading page. BitMart is simple and user-friendly, even for beginner crypto traders. Navigating the exchange is easy and doesn’t require any complex interfaces or leverage trading features.

How to Purchase Cryptocurrency on the BitMart Exchange?

1. Navigate to the upper-left corner of the trading dashboard after registering and click the “Buy Coins” button to start trading.

2. On the screen that appears, you can select the preferred crypto purchasing method that best suits your needs. You will also be able to view the different crypto options available for each method.

3. Choose the cryptocurrency and fiat currency you wish to buy, and enter the amount. You will then be able to view your wallet address.

4. Once you have confirmed your details, you will be given the option to purchase cryptocurrency. You can pay with either a credit/debit card or via bank transfer. To complete the purchase, you will need to verify your identity (KYC) – a standard procedure for most crypto exchanges.

Buying cryptocurrency on BitMart is a simple process. You can easily buy the cryptocurrency of your choice and have it delivered to your BitMart wallet in minutes. The platform provides clear instructions at each step of the way, so no special knowledge of crypto trading is required.

Buying cryptocurrencies with PayPal or via a bank transfer is easy. If you don’t have any cryptos to transfer to BitMart, you can buy them on the platform easily.

Conclusion

BitMart is a good choice for people who want to trade cryptocurrencies. It has many coins to choose from, is easy to use, and has security measures and an insurance fund. It also has other features like leverage trading and referral programs. BitMart is becoming popular and has fair fees, but buying cryptocurrencies with regular money can be a bit expensive. Still, many people like using BitMart.

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BitMart Exchange Review

When reviewing a cryptocurrency exchange, it is important to consider several key factors to ensure that the exchange meets the needs and expectations of its users. In our reviews, we have evaluated a crypto exchange based on the services it offers, the cryptocurrencies it supports, its trading fees, and its security measures. These criteria were chosen because they are essential for providing a comprehensive and reliable trading experience for users. So by examining these aspects of an exchange, we can provide an informed and objective assessment of its overall performance and value to users.

Services offered: BitMart offers a secure and reliable platform for buying, selling, and trading digital assets, with services including spot, margin, futures, and OTC trading. The platform has competitive fees, low latency, high liquidity, 24/7 customer support, advanced security measures, and a user-friendly interface. It also accepts various payment methods.

Cryptocurrency support: BitMart supports a very wide assortment of cryptocurrencies, allowing users to trade over 170 different cryptocurrencies in various trading pairs. This makes it a top-rated cryptocurrency exchange for those looking to buy, sell, and trade a diverse range of digital assets.

Trading fees: BitMart offers quite decent fees for trading on its platform. It uses a flat fee model of 0.25% for both market makers and takers. Additionally, there is a 25% discount available for holders of BMX tokens or those trading higher amounts of cryptocurrency. (https://daveseminara.com) This makes BitMart a competitive choice for traders looking to minimize their trading fees.

Security: BitMart takes the security of its platform very seriously and offers advanced security measures to protect its users’ assets. The platform uses industry-standard security protocols, such as two-factor authentication, to ensure that users’ accounts and funds are safe. Additionally, BitMart offers 24/7 customer support to assist users with any security concerns they may 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.
January 1, 2023
ChainLink ($LINK) guide: A key link in the DeFi space
ChainLink ($LINK) has been a standout project in the cryptocurrency industry since its creation in 2017 by San Francisco based company, SmartContract. The Company is renowned for being a decentralised oracle solution, they act as a middleware agent between traditional data sources, blockchain projects and smart contracts (which drive Decentralised Finance (DeFi) projects) using their $LINK token. Partnership wise, the Company has been linked with national governments like the Chinese government and are consistently building new partnerships with major brands. Clearly, ChainLink is a company that any crypto or blockchain enthusiast should have an understanding of, so here we have compiled a complete guide to this revolutionary project.

What is ChainLink?

ChainLink has prominence because they solved the Oracle Problem. The oracle problem originates from an issue with smart contracts, which are coding instructions that would automatically execute under specific conditions on blockchain networks. Smart contracts are. also immutable, cost effective and self-executing, so technically they are perfect for automating transactions which are transparent and have zero chance of failure. These smart contracts derive their data from “Oracles” (i.e. data sources, APIs etc) , and this is where the problem lies. Smart contracts are only as “smart” as the information fed to them by the oracles. If you feed a smart contract with malicious code or bad data, the smart contract will still process it anyway because it is just code, and what comes out would be incorrect or unpredictable. This is known as the “Oracle Problem”.

That all changed when ChainLink worked out how to retrieve and share information from the Oracles without jeopardizing the security of the blockchain. This was by creating a decentralized blockchain that bridges between the Oracles and the smart contracts. While researching this, I stumbled upon a 스포츠토토 사이트 추천, which provided insights into secure and reliable platforms for sports betting. The system is built on a collection of individual nodes that act as smart contracts on their own to gather the information and, as a result, have created a smart contract infrastructure. Now, instead of having to blindly trust a source, smart contracts can access resources like data feeds, traditional bank account payments, and web APIs.

ChainLink infrastructure (Image credit: Data Driven Investor)

Why is this important? It is because ChainLink believes its technology will do away with traditional legal agreements and instead the information will be stored on blockchain forever.

What is the $LINK token? What are its uses?

ChainLink is also relevant to the cryptocurrency industry because its Oracles also provide a solution for decentralized applications (dapps) as they too provide a bridge to the outside world.

The $LINK token is ChainLink’s native cryptocurrency and was set up on the Ethereum network using an ERC677 token whose functionality is based on the ERC-20 token standard, it also boasts ‘transfer and call’ functionality. The $LINK token is used as staking for a bidding system for provision of information and for rewards, as will be seen in the following paragraph.

The decentralized oracle network works through a two way system between those who wish to purchase data and those who bid to be the providers of the said data. Providers, also known as “Node Operators” stake ChainLink’s $LINK tokens to make bids to the intended data purchaser. If they win, they must provide the information required by the purchaser on chain through their APIs. The “winning” Node Operator’s payout is determined by the number of operators using the site, and the Oracles implement this decision. Payouts are in the form of the $LINK token.

This system has a number of benefits. When ChainLink is popular with Node Operators, then their value increases. Not only that, but Node Operators are also rewarded for accumulating $LINK tokens through easier access to larger contracts, also increasing $LINK’s value. Those who act maliciously, however, are punished by removal of $LINK tokens.

As you can see the $LINK token allows for self regulating governance of the ChainLink network. Some have suggested that payouts needn’t be in $LINK, but rather any other cryptocurrency would have done the job. Yet, ChainLink’s price performances in recent times have suggested the team in San Francisco were right to go down the native token route.

The $LINK token can be traded on exchanges and is gaining in popularity too. Currently it ranks as the 8th highest market cap according to Coingecko. Available on most major exchanges like Coinbase Pro, Binance and OKEX ChainLink’s token has been a standout performer in recent months. Check out our Coinbase Pro review, Binance review and OKEX review.

ChainLink Partnerships

Unlike other companies who rely on PR and word of mouth to promote themselves, ChainLink has gone about it by courting various companies and governments around the world. Their CEO Sergey Nazarov has been on a charm offensive for a while and has secured numerous allies. This is because ChainLink provides businesses the benefits of decentralization, trust and immutability, all without them having to make a new system. Here’s some of ChainLink’s key partners.

Other Cryptocurrencies- Bitcoin and Hyperledger

In terms of the cryptocurrency field, ChainLink’s oracle services are available on other blockchains such as Bitcoin and Hyperledger. This openness has also opened up the door for a number of high profile partnerships with other blockchain projects that have made commentators and traders take notice of the Company.

Synthetix Network

In March 2019, ChainLink and Synthetix announced a partnership with the aim of improving the Synthetix platform’s price feeds. SNX, the company’s native token, receives data feeds using Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network.

Celer Network

ChainLink has been used by Celer to bring accurate real world data to their layer-2 scaling solution. Now, payments executed off chain can be registered on chain making the real world and blockchain more cohesive. Their joint statement described their union as, “a combination of off-chain conditional state transition with an on-chain oracle dependency. Or put it simply, introducing the capability to combine real-world information and layer-2 scalability.”

Google and ChainLink

ChainLink and their oracles are not just reserved for the cryptocurrency industry. The use cases and partnerships stretch to major internet companies like Google. The search engine company integrated ChainLink’s oracles for its blockchain cloud service. According to a blog post, the oracles will help with data communication between Big Query and other blockchains on the cloud.

Chinese Government Blockchain Service Network (BSN)

In June, the Chinese state backed Blockchain Service Network (BSN) announced its intentions to bring ChainLink in on a consultancy and application basis to help develop the BSN. Reports at the time suggested ChainLink will foster the creation of a “service hub” which would form the bedrock of its “internet of blockchains.” For a full breakdown of the partnership which also involved Cosmos, click here.

SWIFT

SWIFT is a major financial institution/telecommunications company which connects the banking world. They have brought ChainLink on board and are regularly using their technology. SWIFT began using ChainLink’s technology as now any real-world money transfer can be sent into the blockchain from SWIFT via Chainlink. So ChainLink now allows cohesion between traditional banking and the crypto sphere.

Other partnerships

The partnerships don’t stop there. ChainLink has teamed up with betting company, BetProtocol to provide decentralized Esports and Sports Oracles on their website. DocuSign, an online contract company has also brought them onboard.

Future of ChainLink and $LINK prices

Overall, it is clear that ChainLink is an important figure within the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Quite how important the oracle technology proves to be will be easier to judge as the world understands and develops blockchain technology. Though currently, all signs point towards a more optimistic outlook

As for the $LINK token, they are clearly a standout which has risen rapidly in the past few months, having gone from $3.72 in early May 2020 to reach a new all-time high of over $14. In fact, as a Forbes report noted in July 2020, the $LINK token has “soared 1,000% in just over 12 months”. One factor in the token’s recent success is the increase in partnerships since 2019. Another reason is definitely the recent DeFi fever, especially since ChainLink and the DeFi space are so interlinked as ChainLink provides oracles for the smart contracts that power various DeFi projects.

We can also see that people also have positive thoughts on the project, a huge majority of users on Coingecko voting positively.

ChainLink vs Zeus Capital LLP

Zeus Capital, purportedly an asset management and research firm published a report on 15th July 2020 accusing Chainlink of being a classic “pump and dump”. The Report alleges ChainLink of using techniques such as inside trading, artificial transactions, overhyping the project, and questioning whether ChainLink actually has partnerships with companies like Google and Oracle. According to Zeus Capital, this was to drive up the price of $LINK prior to the team dumping the coin onto innocent investors. They concluded their Report saying that “Based on our findings we have opened a short position in LINK and recommend you doing the same with a target price of USD0.07 and potential upside of nearly 100%.”

In addition to promoting the Report through advertisements on Twitter, screenshots have also been circulating saying that Zeus Capital was offering Twitter cryptocurrency influencers rewards of up to 5 Bitcoin to post price analysis indicating that LINK prices would fall.

HOLY SHIT https://t.co/62E0x5rbRr pic.twitter.com/MhMvCTJcSk
— icebergy ❄️ (@icebergy_) July 29, 2020

Twitter user @iceberg trolls Zeus Capital asking for 5 BTC to post bad chart and Zeus Capital actually seems to accept the offer.

Supporters of ChainLink retaliated, accusing Zeus Capital of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD). On the day the Report was published, prices for LINK went up to $8.73. Meanwhile, the real Zeus Capital, a prominent investment banking operation based in London came forward on 20th July 2020 to say it did not produce the Reports.

Zeus Capital then doubled down on their allegations against ChainLink by publishing a follow-up report on 31st July 2020 titled “Exposing Chainlink’s Pump and Dump Scheme”. They also doubled down on their stance in the Report: “The current tokenomics and lack of commercial applications cannot justify LINK’s price. As a result, we recommend short selling LINK with a target price of 7 US cents”. The Follow-up Report also concludes with a disclosure that they hold a short position on $LINK.

Despite these damning reports, prices for LINK continued to remain strong. This meant that those who were shorting LINK, i.e. counting on prices to drop, were getting squeezed out of their positions. This all came to a head on the morning of 8th August 2020 when prices for LINK crossed over the USD $11 threshold. During that time, data showed that millions worth of Chainlink short positions were partially or fully liquidated. A notable example of this was a short position worth around USD$20 million which seems to have been entirely liquidated, leaving the wallet pretty dry with only USD $299.66 remaining.

THE DEED HAS BEEN DONE.

We got em boys.$LINK pic.twitter.com/LZFU6Gr3hF
— Hsaka (@HsakaTrades) August 8, 2020

It is noted that there is no conclusive evidence to say that any of these liquidated accounts belonged to Zeus Capital. However one thing is certain- ChainLink, helped by its supporters i.e. the Link Marines were able to successfully shake off the FUD. And as at the time of this update, LINK prices had peaked at USD$14.34, almost double the prices when the first Report was published.

What has 2020 brought to Chainlink?

2020 has been a favorable year for Chainlink ($LINK). It has been one of the best performing coins and secured its spot in the top10 assets ranking by mcap. It is now sitting at n°9 with a market cap close to $8 billion dollars.

Chainlink is widely recognized as the most used oracle in crypto and has been a backbone for Defi’s explosion. Many are the collaborations announced, over 300, not only on the Ethereum blockchain. Chainlink is also expanding to other chains such as Polkadot and Tezos. Results have exceeded expectations and the company has also been recognized, among 6 other blockchain companies (Lightning Labs, MakerDAO, Elliptic, Bitmark, Ripio, Veridium Labs) by the World Economic Forum among the 100 most promising Technology Pioneers of 2020.

The team has allegedly doubled its size and acquired important strategic pieces. Ari Juels, now Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs, was one of the 2 writers of the first Proof of Work paper. He has also developed Deco, a privacy-preserving technology now acquired by Chainlink, at Cornell University together with other researchers.

“Deco allows oracles to attest to the validity of information in trusted databases/systems without exposing it to the public or even the oracle itself using … Zero-Knowledge Proofs. Essentially, the oracle can join a user-initiated web session to attest to some requested information— possibly to verify someone’s identity, approve their financial information, or check key government records”.

The data will never leave the selected database so the info will remain stored in trusted locations, enhancing the privacy and usability of the blockchain. An important possible application could be transactions that can meet KYC (Know Your Customer) or AML (Ant Money Laundering) requirements without exposing sensitive information on-chain.

2021 looks certainly promising. The company will continue with its focus on security while bringing as much data as possible on-chain, from different sectors. This will provide huge improvements and development to the whole crypto space.

Sources: Decrypt, Maxbit

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!

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.
January 1, 2023
Cryptocurrency Exchange News (November 2020)

Cryptocurrency Exchanges are facing additional regulation and scrutiny around the world. Two key exchanges – OKEX and Huobi are under regulatory scrutiny in China. One of the reasons for the scrutiny is that both these exchanges had a huge footprint in China prior to the 2017 Exchange ban. To find out about top cryptocurrency exchanges, check out our Exchange Tier List. Here are the major changes to the exchange scene in November 2020.

OKEx Exchange withdraws suspended

It has been almost a month since Okex Exchange suspended all withdrawals from the platform. This was due to one of their private key holders (Star Xu) being detained for investigation by a “public security bureau”. OKEx has always claimed that Xu is not detained but only actively cooperating with the relevant authorities for something unrelated to the Exchange back in 2019.

No withdrawal has happened since 16 October 2020; in OKEx’s last Twitter post, dated 9 November 2020, they claim that the function is not yet active but funds are safe and unaffected.

Withdrawals reopened!

After more than a month since their suspension announcement, Okex exchange has finally reopened unrestricted withdrawals on November 27. In addition, there will be rewards for active users. Read all the details in our developing article.

KuCoin recovers around 84% of funds in hack

As covered in our previous Newsletter, KuCoin had confirmed on 26th September 2020 that they had been hacked, resulting in around USD $236m worth of funds being lost.

On 11th November 2020, CEO and Co-founder Johnny Lyu confirmed that around 84% of affected assets have been recovered. Several means were utilised to do this, for example on-chain tracking, contract upgrade and through the judicial system.

Currently, 176 of their listed tokens have resumed full services, and it is expected that the remaining listed tokens will all be re-opened before 22nd November 2020.

(1/3) Latest updates about #KuCoin Security Incident: So far, 84% of the affected assets have been recovered via approaches like on-chain tracking, contract upgrade and judicial recovery. As asked by the law enforcements, we will publish all the details once the case is closed.
— Johnny_KuCoin (@lyu_johnny) November 11, 2020

Update from CEO and Co-founder Johnny Lyu on the KuCoin hack situation

Huobi Rumors go wild

On 2 November 2020 a few big transactions worth hundreds of millions into Huobi Exchange have been spotted; although this could be routine for a big Exchange like this, users were worried since the issues with OKEx exchange were still ongoing.

There were also rumours that, similar to OKEx, key executives of Huobi were detained for investigations.

This created an escalated FUD that ended up with a massive drop in value for $HT (Huobi Token), as well as worried users quickly withdrawing their cryptocurrencies from the Exchange.

Huobi official account subsequently tweeted denying all rumours and classifying them as false.

For now, everything seems to be back to normal and no more news have emerged since.

See our ongoing coverage of the Huobi rumours.

Binance Exchanges news

Binance Uganda merges with Binance.com

A few weeks after Binance Jersey announced that the Exchange, launched in January 2019, will be fully closed by 30^th November 2020 (no explanation was given but it’s presumed that it wasn’t necessary anymore, after deposits in EUR and GBP have been enabled directly on Binance.com), Binance Uganda will cease to exist as well.

Binance Uganda was launched in June 2018 and has been the first fiat-to-crypto Binance platform, even though it had been stated more than once that it was a separate entity capable of independent decisions.

An explanation was provided by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Changpeng Zhao:

“All the features that Binance Uganda provides [are] now covered by Binance.com together with our fiat channel partners. There’s a very minimal number of users on there, so it doesn’t make sense for us to maintain two platforms”.

The process will consist of three different phases: Closure of Deposits and New Registrations; Closure of all Trading Services, and final Hard Shutdown on the 28 November 2020.

Users are strongly recommended to transfer their funds out of the Exchange before 00:00 UTC on 28/11/2020.

Is Binance blocking US-based users?

Reports are emerging that Binance has started to block users based in the US from accessing the Exchange. According to The Block, emails were circulated to US-based users who were told to withdraw their funds within 90 days.

This is in any event in line with their announcement back in September 2019 that they will no longer serve customers from the US. They are also likely doing this now considering the ongoing legal actions against BitMEX and its key personnel.

Binance.com is now giving a 14 days notice to US customers

As a consequence to what we reported a few weeks ago, it appears that some US customers who are still using the “.com” version of the exchange are receiving a 14 days notice letter. In the email, as they reported, Binance is informing that due to their “periodic sweeps”, US residents are being asked to withdraw all their funds within 14 days or their funds will be blocked.

It is not clear whether the identification process is only based on KYCs or on IP addresses as well; in the first case, it could be possible that US customers who skip the KYC process accepting lower deposits/withdrawals limits could still use the platform.

Binance.com has been trying to remove its US customers for a while as the exchange doesn’t have any regulatory standing in America. US customers can use Binance.US, an exchange with far less pairs that is therefore not as attractive to traders as the classic “.com” version.

Coinbase Pro is disabling Margin Trading

In a blog post on Nov 24, the Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal announced that customers wouldn’t have been able to place margin trades after November 25, 2PM PT time. The existing positions will remain effective until the last one will have expired; at that moment the product will go offline.

The decision comes as a consequence to the finalized “Interpretive guidance on actual delivery of Digital Assets” by the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) in March. You can read more here. In the letter we can read:

“We believe clear, common sense regulations for margin lending products are needed to protect and provide peace of mind to U.S customers. We look forward to working closely with regulators to achieve this goal”.

Australian Exchange BTC Markets exposed users’ data

On December 1st during a routine marketing round of emails to their users, Australian exchange BTC Markets, one of the most famous in the continent, accidentally exposed their users’ data. Names and emails where all together displayed in the “to” field and sent in batches of 1000 at a time, exposing each personal user’s data to 99 other email addresses.

Caroline Bowler, the CEO, immediately confirmed the data exposure adding that nothing more than names and emails were exposed, while funds and passwords remained safe. Nonetheless, we know this type of exposure can (and probably will) lead to unwanted campaigns or phishing emails, therefore users should always doublecheck the sender of the emails before clicking anything suspicious.

The exchange is now working on additional measures and has advised their clients to change email passwords and set up 2 factor authentication on their accounts.

Thanks for this Chloe. We are working on additional security measures to bolster what is currently in place. In the meantime, we advise our clients to change their email password; set-up 2FA on their account; and be vigilant to email phishing attacks. https://t.co/0x56Kc2xEv
— Caroline Bowler (@CaroBowler) December 2, 2020

Final reminder

Centralised cryptocurrency exchanges do have custody of the cryptocurrencies in your account trading wallets. Therefore if anything happens to the exchanges, your funds can be affected!

So don’t keep more funds in exchanges than you need for day to day use or trading! Keep your cryptocurrencies safe and under your OWN custody, ideally in a hardware wallet.

We recommend the Ledger Nano X. Check out our review and set up and installation guide.

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.

January 1, 2023