Category: Decentralised Finance (DeFi)

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a sector within the cryptocurrency and blockchain space which aims to provide a decentralized version of the products available in traditional finance- without central control and at a lower cost with potentially higher returns. These products include loans, interest-bearing deposits and borrowing services.

The advantages of decentralized finance are that it addresses the problems we have with the traditional banking system. For example, decentralized finance protocols are controlled by multiple people, and all participants are required to abide by the rules written into the smart contracts underlying the protocols.

Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

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

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

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

What Are NFT Games?

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

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

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

What Are the Top NFT Games in 2021?

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

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

1. Axie Infinity

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

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

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

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

2. MetaWars

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

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

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

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

3. Splinterlands

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

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

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

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

4. The Three Kingdoms

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

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

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

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

5. Gods Unchained

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

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

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

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

6. The Sandbox 3D

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

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

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

7. Battle Racers

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

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

8. Cryptosnake

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

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

9. Gold Fever

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

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

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

10. Neon District

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

October 20, 2021
Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain
Fantom (FTM) is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that provides a robust environment for dApp (decentralized application) development.

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

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

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

The Blockchain Trilemma: What is it?

blockchain trilemma

The blockchain trilemma is a concept coined by Vitalik Buterin that proposes a set of three main issues that developers encounter when building blockchains. More often than not, creators are forced to sacrifice one aspect for the sake of the other two.
- Decentralization – creating a blockchain system that does not rely on a central point of control
- Scalability – the ability for a blockchain system to handle an increasingly growing amount of transactions
- Security – the ability of the blockchain system to operate as expected, defend itself from attacks, bugs, and other unforeseen issues
For some in the industry, achieving all three aspects is an impossible feat that will never be done, at least in the near future.

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

Fantom Overview

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

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

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

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

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

Fantom Technology

Fantom features two core technologies:
1. Lachesis protocol – the core consensus layer
2. Opera – an application development layer
Lachesis uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) based algorithm to achieve asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (aBFT). Lachesis has four key qualities:
- Asynchronous: Participants have the freedom to process commands at different times
- Leaderless: No participant plays a “special” role in block production
- Byzantine Fault-Tolerant: Supports one-third of faulty nodes
- Near-Instant Finality: Transactions are confirmed in 1-2 seconds.
Fantom has implemented Lachesis as a consensus layer that can extend to additional layers within the system.

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

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

Fantom DeFi and FTM Token

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

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

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

Fantom partnerships

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

FAQ

What is Fantom?

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

What does Fantom do?

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

How does Fantom work?

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

What is Lachesis?

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

Has Fantom been adopted?

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

Sources:

https://medium.com/certik/the-blockchain-trilemma-decentralized-scalable-and-secure-e9d8c41a87b3 https://fantom.foundation/lachesis-consensus-algorithm/ https://fantom.foundation/what-is-fantom-opera/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/fantom-wallet-fantom-crypto-ftm-token https://messari.io/asset/fantom/profile/technology https://medium.com/geekculture/what-is-fantom-ftm-token-why-it-is-the-potential-hidden-gem-67be22a51254
https://www.coinbureau.com/review/fantom-ftm/ https://fantom.foundation/partners/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_qs_MOAP6cGW1uLpLEUYyT98dB0iKkE4DXjCrhQSs3Ps-1632701162-0-gqNtZGzNAdCjcnBszQo9
October 9, 2021
Cardano Enters Goguen Era of Smart Contracts: The Alonzo Hard Fork

This is an update of our previous article on Cardano.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cardano Announces Collaboration with Chainlink

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

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

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

Hydra: Cardano’s Layer 2 Scalability Solution

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

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

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

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

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

Cardano Introduces the Plutus dAppStore

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

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

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

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

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

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

Climate Restoration Partnership with Veritree

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

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

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

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

Partnership with COTI to Issue Djed Stablecoin

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

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

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

Telecom Integration with Dish Network

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

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

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

NFT Marketplace with eSports Platform Rival

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

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

Cardano Summit 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s next for Cardano?

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

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

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

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

FAQ

What is the Alonzo hard fork?

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

What is Hydra?

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

What is the Cardano Summit?

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

What happened during the Cardano Summit 2021?

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 8, 2021
Solana Updates And Why Its Price Is Rallying

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

Solana Rises 800% in Price Rally

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

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

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

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

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

Mango Markets raised a cool $70M in 24 hours

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

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

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

Solana Unveils Wormhole

Wormhole allowed tokenized assets to be moved across blockchains

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

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

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

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

Launch of SOLSEA and Degenerate Ape Academy NFTs

Solsea is the first NFT marketplace on Solana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Solana’s Partnership with Chainlink to Offer Crypto Price Feeds

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

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

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

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

Solend Goes Live on the Solana Mainnet

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

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

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

Launch of Galactic Marketplace on Solana

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

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

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

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

Solana Announces Breakpoint Conference

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

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

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

Saber partners with Marinade Finance to Make Staking Liquid

Saber has established itself as a stablecoin exchange on the Solana network

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

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

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

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

Sunny Aggregator Launches on Solana

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

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

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

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

Soldex to Offer AI-Powered Trading Algorithms

Soldex aims to use AI to make crypto trading more accessible

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

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

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

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

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

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

DeFi Land raised $4.1 million to gamify the DeFi landscape

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 16, 2021
HUMAN Protocol: A New Way for Humans and Machines to Interact

HUMAN Protocol is an infrastructure that aims to redefine how humans work by supporting distributed job markets.

The Protocol provides tools for labor requesters to crowdsource people to perform tasks that help bolster machine-learning networks.

HUMAN’s vision is to create a more human world: decentralized yet connected, with every viewpoint and background accounted for and represented, in which all value produced is rewarded. The Protocol facilitates direct, globally-mapped connections that bring workers closer to the rewards of their work, organizations to workforces, and machines to understanding.

Distributed Job Markets

To improve a digital world, we must look to its foundations: the mechanisms and systems through which people connect, interact, and collaborate.

HUMAN enables distributed job markets, but it is not the job market itself. Rather, it provides the tools, infrastructure, plugins, and APIs to support broad-scale data markets – which in time, will become markets to support any type of work.

It connects distributed workers with global opportunities to empower an already flourishing gig economy. This ensures it is the workers, not corporate authorities, that have control over the opportunities available to them, allowing the workers to receive more value for their contributions.

AI training

New technologies require new data. Data informs the capability of machines to accurately interpret the world.

If organizations can select who labels data, they can better assure the relevancy of the dataset produced. HUMAN Protocol provides the end-to-end infrastructure – the tools, plugins, integrations, and API – to hire, manage, validate, and compensate workers at any scale.

How Does It Work?

Three key entities within HUMAN Protocol are Requesters, Workers, and Exchanges.

The Requester submits work to the Exchange with a bounty attached to a smart contract. The bounty is a sum of Human Tokens (HMT) held in escrow until the Worker fulfils the specifications of the job.

The Workers perform the work as specified by the Requester. A Worker can be an individual, a website, or derive from labor pools.

The Exchange is the interface between Requesters and Workers. It monitors the blockchain for new jobs, manages bids for work, and serves the jobs to Workers.

The Technology

The Protocol enables Requesters of work to choose from job types supported by Exchanges, then create a job specification and set of tasks to complete. This is distributed by the Exchange to Workers.

Optimized execution of jobs by Exchanges is also possible. In this process, the Exchange can intelligently split jobs into smaller pieces. For example, when a Requester submits a medical document for labelling to a HUMAN Exchange, the Exchange can factor this into multiple sub-tasks: understanding where fields are on a page, what type of field each is, and what the contents of the field contain. Each sub-task can be represented by a standard job type.

The Exchange then distributes these sub-tasks to other Exchanges that support those job types, which make sure that each part reaches an appropriate worker, whether human or machine or both. For example, complicated medical terminology may need to go to an Exchange with qualified doctors. Simple tasks may have no such constraints.

As Workers submit their individual answers, the Exchange submits results to a Recording Oracle, which does an initial evaluation and aggregates the work into chunks. These chunks are then evaluated by a Reputation Oracle, which performs payouts and computes a final result for the Requester.

hCaptcha: The Anti-Bot Solution

The first application running on HUMAN Protocol is hCaptcha, an online security service that distinguishes humans from bots via simple questions, e.g. selecting all image squares containing a dog.

hCaptcha uses HUMAN Labs’s Proof-of-HUMANity tool to assist in the evaluation and compensation of the end users who get paid to solve the image-annotation challenges.

“Proof-of-HUMANity is a gamechanger for the blockchain industry, which has long been plagued by nefarious bot activity,” Alex Newman, hCaptcha co-founder, said in a statement.

With the boom in decentralized finance (DeFi), front-running bots have increasingly become an issue. The bots are known to cut in line in an execution queue, right before a known future transaction occurs, in order to capitalize on a price change.

By using hCaptcha, developers can ensure transactions on their networks are executed by humans, and this bot-buster is a more private alternative to Google’s reCAPTCHA. hCaptcha does not sell personal data and they collect only minimum necessary personal data. They are transparent in describing the information being collected, how the information will be used and/or disclosed, and they agree to only use such data to provide the hCaptcha service to Cloudflare.

Partnerships and Integrations with Chainlink, Solana and Polkadot

HUMAN Protocol has teamed up with Metamask and Chainlink to create on-chain proof-of-humanity, enabling ERC20 contract developers to verify that the actions in a smart contract are made by a human.

Chainlink will be used to launch decentralized Reputation Oracles for HUMAN Protocol. These Chainlink-powered Reputation Oracles will enable the autonomous distribution of tasks and payments for HUMAN-powered work pools across the Ethereum, Polkadot, and Solana blockchains. HUMAN Protocol also plans to use Chainlink Price Feeds for payment exchange rates.

Solana was selected by HUMAN Protocol Foundation as one of the leading choices to integrate with HUMAN Protocol. The integration is currently underway, with plans to launch new labor pools later this year.

Polkadot functions as the middle layer that translates the information between the different chains HUMAN Protocol is operating on. Parity and MoonBeam have been implemented.

HMT Token

HMT is the native token of HUMAN Protocol. It is the primary mechanism of value transfer within the network.

Because HUMAN Protocol is built on the blockchain, it can apply smart contracts to execute high-volume micropayments across the globe. The openly verifiable smart contracts hold all funds in escrow, so there is peace of mind for all parties involved.

The Requester spends HMT as they create a Smart Bounty for a job. The Requester prefunds the bounty, which is stored in escrow by smart contracts.

Workers earn HMT by completing work. They bid for work in HMT and are compensated for their work in HMT. If the job is complete, the prefunded bounty is released to the Worker. If the work does not fulfil the requirements, the job is aborted, and funds are returned to the Requester.

The Exchanges earn HMT for matching requested work with Workers. The Exchanges prioritise distribution of tasks based on the reputation, which is determined both by the quantity of HMT a Worker holds or has previously earned (Proof-of-Balance), taking into account both the total value of their past transactions as well as their balance.

The supply of the HMT token is fixed.

Human-Machine Collaboration

Today, HUMAN Protocol already offers unprecedented artificial intelligence training capabilities.

hCaptcha is interacted with by 15% of internet users, representing the world’s largest data-labeling workforce. This is only the beginning, however.

HUMAN and its partners are working to bring the Protocol to more applications, each functioning as an Exchange between Requesters and Workers, to realize new distributed markets and ways of working, and increase the points of human-to-machine interaction.

Not only does HUMAN offer access to the world’s largest labor pool, and the means to effectively manage such a distributed workforce, but it is enabling systems to revolutionize human-machine interaction within AI: a mechanism for machines themselves to understand the data they need to improve their algorithms, and to have a means of asking for that data across an automated, global marketplace, where the answers can be provided.

FAQ

What is HUMAN Protocol?

HUMAN Protocol is a broadly applicable technology to connect and validate human and machine workers.

What does it aim to achieve?

HUMAN is focused on creating the largest labor pool for humans to achieve greater potential, and machines to achieve greater understanding. They offer the ability to request work from other machines; repetitive tasks can be taken care of, and human workers can focus on more interesting, creative, or specialized tasks.

How does it work?

HUMAN Protocol creates a blockchain based, two-sided marketplace. On one side, it enables requests to label large volumes of data. On the other, it allows for the workers who complete this work to be evaluated and remunerated.

Is the technology already available?

Yes, the most widely used service by HUMAN Protocol is hCaptcha, a tool to distinguish humans from bots. HUMAN has also partnered with multiple networks to make their technology available on a global scale.

Sources:
Click to access 60511d72db8c7eb0b9799526_Human-litepaper.pdf
https://www.coindesk.com/human-protocol-expands-hcaptcha-tool-launches-wallet-to-make-ai-smarter
https://news.bitcoin.com/introducing-human-protocol-a-new-way-for-humans-and-machines-to-securely-connect-and-collaborate/
https://www.humanprotocol.org/blog/introduction-to-the-human-token-hmt?lng=en-US
https://www.humanprotocol.org/blog/development-update-collaborations-and-integrations?lng=en-US
https://blog.cloudflare.com/moving-from-recaptcha-to-hcaptcha/

September 4, 2021
Why PAX Gold Is A Hot Topic In The Crypto Market
Introduction

PAX Gold (PAXG) is a digital asset. Unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies in the market, each PAXG token is backed by one fine troy ounce (t oz) of a 400 oz London Good Delivery gold bar. The gold bars are safely and securely kept in Brink’s vaults.

If you invest in PAXG, it means that you own the underlying physical gold which is kept in custody by Paxos Trust Company.

Compared to the other cryptocurrencies in the market, PAXG is more stable as it is commodity-backed, which means investors take possession of real assets – gold. This kind of stablecoin might take over the bandwagon other cryptocurrencies have created. Let’s find out more about it to see whether PAX Gold will steal away the crypto’s spotlight or not.

Background of PAX Gold

PAX Gold (PAXG) is a commodity-backed, gold stablecoin issued by Paxos. Paxos is the first blockchain infrastructure platform that has regulated PAXG. Its products serve as the foundation for a new, open financial system that is more efficient and quicker. Other than Paxos website, PAX Gold is traded at Binance US, Uniswap and Kraken. It can be bought at any broker account that supports PAXG trading like Crypto.com.

Currently, trillions of money are locked up in inefficient, out-of-date financial infrastructure that millions of people cannot access. Paxos is developing a revolutionary technology that will enable assets to travel instantly anywhere on the planet.

For corporate clients, Paxos utilises technology to tokenize, custody, trade, and settle assets. Its Paxos Crypto Brokerage and Stablecoin as a Service solutions allow Fintechs and financial institutions to provide crypto capabilities to their customers. It also provides securities and commodity settlement services. PayPal, Credit Suisse, Societe Generale, StoneX, and Revolut are among Paxos’ clients.

Stablecoin vs Cryptocurrency

First, we should look into the distinguishing characteristics of Stablecoin that set it apart from cryptocurrency but interlink in some ways too.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another cryptocurrency, fiat currency, or exchange-traded commodities (such as gold, silver and some precious metals).

Asset-backed cryptocurrencies like PAXG have the advantage of being stabilized by assets that vary outside of the cryptocurrency market. For example, the underlying asset is uncorrelated which lowers the financial risk.

Since Bitcoin and altcoins are strongly linked, cryptocurrency investors cannot avoid broad price drops without quitting the market or switching to asset-backed stablecoins. Furthermore, owing to arbitrage, Stablecoins are unlikely to fall below the value of the underlying physical commodity, provided they are administered in good faith and include a method for redeeming the asset backing them.

Stablecoins that are backed are still subjected to the same volatility and risk as the underlying asset.

Why is PAX Gold the trend now?

Stablecoins are a new type of digital currency that is backed by stable real-world assets such as fiat currency. The US dollar’s stability is combined with the efficiency of blockchain technology in PAX Gold.

This is why many investors are jumping from the “cryptocurrency boat” into “digital versions of traditional asset boats” like PAXG.

As of May 19, 2021, the flagship cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – hit more than three-month lows, falling to around $30,000 at one point. The latest decline followed a significant surge that began in the second part of the previous year.

Part of Bitcoin’s decline appears to be a temporary reversal in broader acceptability, as well as regulatory worries and weakening in more speculative sections of financial markets.

These investors are choosing PAX Gold (PAXG) as an alternative to the more volatile cryptocurrencies in order to escape the US dollar’s inflation.

PAX Gold combines the advantages of physical gold bar ownership with the speed and liquidity of a digital asset, fractional ownership, and none of the security risks associated with the physical gold bars stored in your house safe or paying for vault storage.

5 Benefits of PAX Gold

Actual gold on the blockchain provides the benefit of reflecting legal ownership of physical allotted gold while avoiding the disadvantages of limited transportability and expensive storage costs. It has the divisibility, fungibility, and tradability of any digital asset, such as Bitcoin. To put it another way, you get the finest of both tangible and digital assets at once!

Here are 5 more detailed reasons why PAXG should be in your next investment portfolio:
1. Safety and security
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) regulates Paxos as a trusted business and custodian of PAXG, which is completely backed by allotted gold kept in the world’s most secure vaults. So if you’re wondering if PAXG is safe, rest assured. Every month, a nationally recognised auditor will testify to the matching supply of PAXG tokens and the underlying gold.
1. Backed by gold and other stable currencies
  The only gold token that can be exchanged for LBMA-accredited Good Delivery gold bullion bars is the redeemable PAX Gold. Smaller quantities can be redeemed at a network of actual gold dealers for added convenience. Unallocated Loco London Gold is also available to institutional customers. Customers of Paxos can always redeem their funds for USD at current gold market rates. PAXG wallet has the same function like other cryptocurrency wallets, but what’s more special is that it can be redeemable for actual gold, if the need arises.
2. Competitive fee structure
  Fee structure for PAXG token generation and redemption in the Paxos wallet is extremely competitive (0.03-1 percent depending on volume tiers), with minimal on-chain Ethereum transaction fees (0.02 percent) and no storage fees. For on-chain transactions, minimal Ethereum gas fees apply, as they do for all ERC-20 tokens.
3. Highly accessible
PAXG is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token that may be transferred and exchanged anywhere in the globe at any time. Anyone may now buy a fraction of an LBMA-accredited London Good Delivery gold bar with minimal investment.
1. Flexible
Using the Paxos platform, you can easily exchange or redeem PAXG for fiat, physical, or unallocated gold. On major crypto exchanges, you may trade PAXG for other digital currencies. PAXG can be used everywhere that ERC-20 tokens are accepted.

Other than Paxos website, PAX Gold is traded at Binance US, Uniswap and Kraken. It can be bought at any broker account that supports PAXG trading like Crypto.com.

Conclusion

With over 20 vaults, exchanges, wallets and lending platforms, PAX Gold is handled securely without the hassle of you hiding physical gold behind your painting or underneath your bed. They handle everything. The speed and liquidity of this digital asset still has a long way to go before finally hitting the common ground with cryptocurrencies. But, it’s coming out strong as most of the people still trust gold which is less volatile than the peer-to-peer ecosystem.

Take the advice here with a pinch of salt as every fluctuation in the market is unpredictable and risky.

FAQ

Is PAX Gold safe?

Yes. Paxos, the custodian behind PAX Gold, is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). The currency is also backed by gold that is kept behind the world’s most secure vaults. On top of that, monthly audits are done on the PAXG tokens by a nationally recognized auditor. The auditor will testify to the matching supply of PAXG tokens against the underlying asset which is gold.

Where can I trade for PAX Gold?

PAX Gold can be traded at PAXOS website, Binance US, and Kraken. It can also be bought at any other broker account that supports PAX trading such as Crypto.com.

What are the fees for PAX GOLD?

Fee structure for PAXG token generation and redemption in the Paxos wallet is extremely competitive (0.03-1 percent depending on volume tiers), with minimal on-chain Ethereum transaction fees (0.02 percent) and no storage fees. For on-chain transactions, minimal Ethereum gas fees apply, as they do for all ERC-20 tokens.
At 0.03-1%, Paxos wallet fees are among the cheapest in the market. There’s also on-chain Ethereum transaction fees of 0.02%, which is also minimal, and no storage fees. This makes it very cost effective to trade and hold PAX Gold.

What’s the main advantage of buying PAX Gold?

With the current uncertainties in the crypto markets, PAX Gold offers an in-between solution where you can invest in crypto that is also backed by real world currencies such as gold and fiat. This may help reduce the risk of an investor’s overall portfolio
July 12, 2021
KIRA Network ($KEX): What is it?
KIRA Network ($KEX) is an interchain exchange protocol that allows users to earn block and fee rewards while staking any digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Background

KIRA is developed by a strong team consisting of full-stack developers, blockchain engineers, back-end developers, and technical architects. The team is led by Milana Valmont (CEO) and Mateusz Grzelak (CTO).

In the past, Valmont had held different roles which include being a blockchain consultant at Adcoin, as well as a strategy advisor at KNOKS. Grzelak had also held prominent positions in firms such as Settle Finance, Barclays, and Bity.

KIRA Network’s strategic partners include AlphaBit, TRG Capital, Swingby, and Math Wallet. In addition, the team also includes Roger Lim from NGC Ventures and Alssio Treglia from Tendermint.

What is KIRA Network?

KIRA Network is a blockchain-based protocol that brings liquid staking into the DeFi market. It enables access to all virtual currencies, digital fiat, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) within a cross-chain ecosystem.

KIRA Network: Liquid Staking (Image credit: KIRA Network Whitepaper)

With liquid staking, liquidity providers can stake any digital asset. Consequently, they earn incentives emanating from new blocks and transaction fees.

The protocol’s idea of liquid staking stems from the current staking space. Here, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges provide crypto trading, acquisition, as well as act as a hub for a host of digital currencies.

Currently, a large number of those coins that are available for staking are found on centralized exchange platforms. For this reason, KIRA wants to change this by providing a decentralized platform that mirrors what traditional virtual currency exchanges offer.

As such, even small actors in the PoS ecosystem will have access to liquidity and evade security risks found on centralized platforms. Also, the protocol removes the cap on fee and block incentives for liquidity providers.

KIRA Network: 8 Key Pillars

To have a profound impact on the DeFi scene, KIRA Network is supported by eight pillars, which include:

Security

Using the Multi-Bonded PoS (MBPoS) consensus mechanism, the network can harness its security from staked assets. In addition, MBPoS helps remove the barrier as to which virtual assets can be staked and/or can attract rewards.

Utility

KIRA uses IXP (Interchain Exchange Protocol) to provide market access to the wide range of assets staked on the system.

Liquidity

KIRA supports liquidity provision through staking derivatives. The platform has a 1:1 ratio between staking derivatives and staked tokens.

Expansibility

The protocol uses validators to ensure the credibility of transactions. Also, the validators operate Initial Validator Offerings (IVOs) that allow investors to raise funds for new projects without affecting their liquidity.

KIRA Network: On-chain IVO (Image credit: KIRA Network Whitepaper)

Investors delegate their tokens to the validators while the validators mine new tokens. Correspondingly, the former earn block rewards.

Upgradeability

Upgrading the system relies on developers. Therefore, to drive development, the protocol uses an on-chain contracting system as an incentive scheme.

Sustainability

To ensure the platform has long term viability, it uses an on-chain governance structure. To elaborate, the governing body touches on the network’s economic aspects that include inflation and interest rates.

Scalability

KIRA tackles scalability by removing restrictions on the number of validators and the stake value. In turn, this makes it possible to introduce shards or zones.

KIRA Network: DeFi zones (Image credit: KIRA Network website)

Interoperability

The Network makes use of Polkadot, Cosmos, and other cross-chain systems to power liquid staking. Notably, this staking mechanism does not discriminate against cryptocurrency assets.

KIRA Token ($KEX)

KEX is KIRA Network’s native token. Apart from being used as a staking token on the network, KEX is also used as a base asset upon which other currencies are valued.

Additionally, KIRA’s native currency is a requirement when participating in the system’s governance issues. Moreover, it’s used to reward holders, delegators, and validators. Note that KEX holders are rewarded by being offered low transaction and exchange costs.

In contrast, delegators earn almost 99 percent of all block rewards and close to 50 percent of all network fees. Validators, on the other hand, earn a commission depending on their configuration and sit on the system’s governance table. Their earnings could go up to 50 percent network fees.

KEX is allocated to developers/team (15%), advisors (7%), the KIRA Foundation (20%), as well as reserve and liquidity (26.6%)

$KEX Token Allocation (Image Credit: “KIRA Network Token Metrics” medium article)

KIRA Network ($KEX) – Public Sale

KEX token is not available to trade yet and the public sale is soon to be announced. KEX will be launching ERC-20 KEX token on Ethereum network before KIRA Network is launched with the initial supply of 300,000,000 KEX token. Users will be able to swap for the native KEX token with the equal amount of value once the mainnet is launched.

KIRA Network has raised 3.6M during the seed (priced at $0.025) and private sale rounds (priced at $0.05), with a vesting period of 18 months starting at mainnet launch. All seed and private round participants will receive approximately 2.5% of their token after finalization of all stages of the public round distribution.

Public round has a $400k cap, token price at $0.075. Find out more here.

Governance on KIRA Network

The protocol uses a governance structure that slowly hedges away from full dependency on stake and or wealth distribution. Governance is guided by rules that exclusively put whitelisted actors to execute on-chain actions that are cleared for execution.

KIRA Network: Governance Structure (Image credit: KIRA Network Whitepaper)

On top of these rules are parameters and individually assigned permissions. The network puts checks and balances on its governance model through operators, a voting council, an electorate council, and a proposal council.

Notable KIRA Network Partnerships

To drive the adoption and usability of the KIRA protocol, the platform has partnered with notable players in the DeFi Space. Some of the most conspicuous are:
- KIRA and Finance.vote – The partnership enabled KIRA to provide liquidity to Finance.vote’s social trading layer. For this reason, it opened a new revenue stream for Finance.vote users by allowing them to conduct yield farming using digital assets in their portfolios.
- KIRA Network and Math Foundation – Here, the Math Foundation benefited from staking KEX (KIRA’s native token) tokens and the interaction with KIRA’s MBPoS.
- KIRA Network and Swingby – The partnership brought staking functionalities to Skybridge users. Skybridge is a decentralized inter-chain asset bridge.
- KIRA and Blockparty – This partnership made Blockparty one of KIRA’s validators.
Conclusion

From crucial partnerships to using a new consensus mechanism, KIRA Network is keen on expanding the possibilities in the DeFi space for liquidity miners and yield farmers. Furthermore, the protocol’s eight pillars help it to enhance security, sustainability, utility, scalability, among other functionalities that are key in driving DeFi 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.
October 24, 2020
PlotX ($PLOT): Putting prediction markets on the blockchain
PlotX allows people to plot the next possible outcome and are rewarded for correct predictions. This whole concept originates from prediction markets. Prediction markets such as sports betting are expected to reach a valuation of $155.49 billion in the United States by 2024. The markets have also been supported by the uptake of online casinos and betting sites. In some cases, more than a few players have tapped into the power of blockchain technology to provide transparency in a market that has been kept in secrecy and under unfair setups.

With the growing popularity of open finance (OpFi), blockchain-based platforms are helping users to predict the direction of the market and, just like in the traditional prediction market, be rewarded if their prediction is correct. PlotX is one such platform.

Check out my interview with Ish Goel, Co-founder of PlotX:

Background: Who is behind PlotX?

The project lives by the popular mantra by Abraham Lincoln that the future can only be predicted by visualizing it in the present. PlotX has a dedicated team led by Ish Goel, Nitika Goel, Kartic Rakhra, and Satheesh A. Furthermore, the team’s vast experiences are spread across various sectors.

For example, Ish Goel has been involved with Ethereum since 2016 and won the London Blockchain Week Hackathon in 2017. Meanwhile, Nitika Goel led the development of Nexus Mutual and co-founded GovBlocks. PlotX’s key partners also include GovBlocks, Matic, and Venrai.

PlotX team

What is PlotX?

Built on the Ethereum blockchain, PlotX is a network that seeks to make trading in decentralized finance (DeFi) “simple and fun!” by powering a prediction market with cryptocurrency traders in mind.

At the heart of the platform is a decentralized application (Dapp) that enables virtual currency traders to forecast the future of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), among other cryptocurrencies in a weekly, daily, and hourly basis. The project also takes decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms such as Uniswap that use an automated market maker model into consideration.

Notably, the decision to provide market predictions stems from somewhere, i.e., the problems found in centralized platforms offering prediction services. The major problems include the high cost of using conventional systems, assuring fairness, and counterparty risks.

Tried but failed, time to do it again

Although the creation of cryptocurrency-centric prediction markets has been tried on decentralized systems, the time was not ripe. Therefore, it saw little, if any, adoption.

Being a DeFi-focused prediction platform, PlotX aims to power crypto-based predictions using distributed ledger technology. It enables on-chain market creation using smart contracts. PlotX enables participation mining via a gamified experience by drawing inspiration from yield farming or liquidity mining as used in DeFi protocols.

Additionally, PlotX seeks to provide instant rewards, short market cycles, and employ a mechanism that spreads the risks. Spreading risks enables a user to tailor his exposure to mitigate losses emanating from wrong predictions. With this option, users lose roughly 20% of their total prediction stake.

PlotX platform

However, the staked amount can be customized to mirror the users’ risk appetite starting from 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, and 5x. Note that the higher the risk, the higher the reward and potential loss.

Governance on PlotX

The protocol employs a community-based governance model through the use of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that votes and initiates proposals regarding changes to the system.

This approach plays a vital role in providing on-chain governance in a blockchain-based prediction market. However, for non-blockchain dispute resolution, the platform has an advisory board. The board does not have any rights to funds, and its roles grow weaker as the community grows stronger.

To power this model, the platform mirrors the approach used by Nexus Mutual. In addition, it incorporates smart contracts built on the GovBlocks network to strengthen community involvement.

The platform also uses smart contracts that allow decision points to be edited, token holders to raise issues, as well as enable the token holders to reach an agreement.

PlotX’s components of a healthy DeFi prediction protocol

How does PlotX create a healthy DeFi prediction protocol? This is through several features in the PlotX protocol as follows:

Market creation – This handles the network’s creation of different cryptocurrency pairs for prediction. A typical market on the platform can be, “What will be the price of ETH/BTC on October 17 at 1800hrs GMT.”

Market positioning and pricing – A position can range from neutral, to bullish, to bearish and can only be influenced by a user’s experience on digital currency trading. A formula is used to calculate a position price on-chain. The odds are changed in regards to participation.

Position buying – Buying into a position requires a user to stake crypto such as ETH. A user can buy into more than one position depending on the amount of token’s staked, the amount required for each position, etc.

Positions trading – Here, users can trade positions in a decentralized way and exit positions before they expire.

Market settlement – Closing prices are calculated from data provided by distributed oracles such as Chainlink.

Market reward claims – Rewards are distributed once the market closes. However, the distribution of rewards is halted in case of a dispute until the dispute is resolved. However, a dispute can only be raised within the cooling period, given after the market closes.

PlotX Alpha and PlotX Token ($PLOT) use cases

Alpha is a version of PlotX existing on Ethereum’s Kovan testnet network. Although the system largely uses ETH when making predictions, it has a native token called PLOT. The token allows for:

·         P2P commissions.

·         Referral mining – Existing users can invite friends and family and be rewarded.

·         Community mining – Attracting more people into the platform using mineable airdrop rewards.

·         Play mining – Users are rewarded for staking PLOT before participating in market predictions.

·         Governance mining – The voting strength depends on the amount of PLOT staked.

·         Liquidity mining via staking.

PlotX ($PLOT) mainnet launch and listing

On 13th October 2020, PlotX will be launched on the Ethereum mainnet. Upon launch, BTC/USD and ETH/USD trading pairs will be available for users to predict on using PLOT and ETH.

On the same day at 1:00pm (UTC), its native token PLOT will be listed on Uniswap.

Conclusion

Being a non-custodial protocol, PlotX users access the platform using their MetaMask wallet or any of their mobile wallets. The network’s users can also sign in using their email addresses. However, they have to integrate centralized finance bridges to enjoy the benefits of a prediction market in the DeFi world.

The project’s reliance on the Ethereum blockchain and the ETH token allows its users to optimally interact with OpFi protocols since most of them are built on the same chain. With online prediction markets gaining traction in the centralized space, PlotX provides a superior service for those in the decentralized world.

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.
October 12, 2020
Flamingo Finance ($FLM): What is it?
Flamingo Finance aims to provide everything a DeFi user needs in one swipe. The project is also built on the NEO blockchain, enabling it to evade the high cost and congestion of Ethereum. Here, we take a deeper look at Flamingo, why it chose NEO, its native token, and what it has to offer to DeFi enthusiasts.
Table of Contents

Toggle
Background

What is Flamingo Finance

Flamingo’s 5 Key Components

Swap

Wrapper

Vault

Perp

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

Flamingo Finance Token (FLM) and Flamingo USD (FUSD)

Key strengths of Flamingo Finance

Interoperability

Capital Efficiency

Fair Launch

What is Flamincome?

Flamingo Swap: What is it?

How to add liquidity to Flamingo Swap and what are my rewards?

LATEST NEWS

Are you eligible for refund of Flamincome withdrawal fees?

Flamingo swap launch and change of $FLM distribution: 5th Oct 2020

SCAM ALERT: Flamingo airdrop

I have all this FLM? What happens next?

Conclusion

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

The protocol is a NEO Foundation project brought to life through the NEO Global Development (NGD) team and is meant to expand NEO’s vision of a smart economy. Flamingo offers an all-round service to its users by taking care of back end and front end issues under one platform.

What is Flamingo Finance

Flamingo is a full-stack DeFi protocol that is interoperable and powered by the NEO blockchain. Operations on the network are divided into distinct components to enable a smooth operation for the platform. (Modafinil) Currently, the system supports access using the NeoLine wallet for NEO assets, Metamask wallet for Ether (ETH) holders, and Cyano plugin wallet for ONT token holders.

Flamingo’s 5 Key Components

Flamingo ecosystem (Image credit: NeoNewsToday)

Swap

This handles automatic on-chain market making. The module interacts with wrapped tokens on the parent blockchain to provide liquidity. Uniswap, a leading DeFi platform, inspires its approach to automated market making. Liquidity Providers (LPs) converge on a pool by providing tokens with NEO’s standard, NEP-5.

Wrapper

Flamingo uses this component to power inter-chain interaction of blockchain assets. Wrapper works with Bitcoin, Ethereum, NEO, and Ontology, where tokens from these platforms can be ‘wrapped’ by being converted to NEP-5 tokens and used on the NEO network.

Vault

The Vault module provides an interface for managing, mining, and staking assets. Also, it handles the issuance of collateralized stablecoins. Vault stakers earn rewards in the form of the platform’s native token, FLM (more on the token later).

Vault is projected to go live anytime between September 25 and 29 in 2020.

Perp

Perp is derived from the word perpetual and is designed with perpetual contracts in mind. It uses automatic market-making to power a perpetual contract exchange that deals with a host of assets. The exchange has a leverage of up to 10X for both long and short positions.

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

In the decentralized world, everything should be distributed, including governance. Flamingo uses DAO to allow for optimum community involvement in the running of the platform. Issues that fall under DAO include token economics, functionality changes, and parameter configuration.

Generally, DAO has a say in things happening on the Wrapper, Swap, Perp, and Vault modules.

Flamingo Finance Token (FLM) and Flamingo USD (FUSD)

FLM is Flamingo’s native currency dedicated to governance. It’s built using NEO’s NEP-5 standard. Interestingly, the token does not have a cap on its maximum supply.

FLM coins are distributed to the community with regards to participation on the network. For example, the token will be given for staking cross-chain assets, staking LP tokens, minting FUSD, depositing stablecoins to provide a margin when interacting with perpetual contracts, and contributing to governance proposals.

Note that before DAO takes over the governance, the Flamingo team will address governance issues through proof-of-authority (POA). FLM can be held by anyone wishing to join the NEO DeFi ecosystem. Furthermore, FLM holders are entitled to submit proposals to the DAO and also be able to vote for submitted proposals.

Flamingo supports FIP and FCCP proposals.

Flamingo Improvement Proposal (FIP) involves anything related to system design features such as risk control, liquidation, and liquidity improvement. Flamingo Configuration Change Proposal (FCCP), on the other hand, contains proposals directed towards the FLM release schedule, staking, fee structure, FLM distribution mechanism on the Perp module, etc.

FUSD is a stablecoin on the platform that is pegged to the US dollar (USD). Staking LP tokens allows one to mint the stablecoin. However, to unlock their collaterals, the minted FUSD has to be burnt.

Key strengths of Flamingo Finance

Interoperability

Flamingo is part of an ecosystem made up of NEO and the Poly network. Poly is a protocol developed on NEO in conjunction with Switcheo Network and Ontology. The protocol connects to other blockchain platforms such as Cosmos, Bitcoin, Ontology, and Ethereum.

To bring the interoperability factor, Flamingo connects to NEO, NEO connects to Poly, and Poly connects to other decentralized networks.

Capital Efficiency

Popular decentralized exchanges (DEXs) using an automatic market maker model underutilize capital from LPs. Flamingo provides capital efficiency by clustering individual aspects such as a liquidity pool (LP) and a collateral pool.

For instance, Swap handles the LP while Vault provides the collateral pool. Therefore, LPs can provide liquidity in Swap and still stake their tokens in Vault.

Fair Launch

To enable a fair launch for all, the platform does not support a pre-mine. Neither does it allocate coins to its founding team. Instead, all FLM tokens are distributed to the community.

What is Flamincome?

Being a DeFi-focused platform, it has a dedicated platform for yield farming or liquidity mining; Flamincome. The system provides yield farming functionalities identical to those offered by Yearn.Finance (YFI).

Flamincome (Image credit: Medium)

Flamincome comprises an optimizer and a normalizer. An optimizer converts staked assets into interest-focused assets, while a normalizer changes interest-based assets into synthetic assets with a 1:1 peg ratio to the underlying asset. Synthetic assets can be transferred to other DeFi networks for additional liquidity mining.

Flamingo Swap: What is it?

Flamingo Swap is one of the modules on Flamingo Finance’s DeFi platform. It is an on-chain automated market maker powered exchange that allows users to swap one token from another. Similar to other swapping platforms, Flamingo Swap needs users to add token pairs into these pools which in turn creates a supply for traders to come in and exchange tokens. Users i.e. LPs who add tokens to specified pools are rewarded for their contribution as they receive a distribution of the trading fees (currently 0.3% per swap) and LP Tokens. The LPs can then stake these LP Tokens in the Vault and get FLM in return.

Note the below section titled “Flamingo swap launch and change of $FLM distribution: 5th Oct 2020” to see which Vaults are eligible for distribution of FLM rewards.

How to add liquidity to Flamingo Swap and what are my rewards?

By way of example, if you wanted to be a LP for the FLM/nNEO trading pair you would need to do the following steps:
1. Go to the “Pool” tab on the Swap page;
2. connect your NeoLine wallet;
3. click “Add Liquidity” and choose FLM and nNEO. Note the the amount deposited must be of equal value based on the market price of the tokens but this will be calculated for you;
4. check the respective exchange prices for the FLM and nNEO tokens and the share of the pool your liquidity will form after adding the same. If this is confirmed by you, click “Supply” and confirm; and
5. the NeoLine wallet will pop up and you will be asked to adjust and agree to the GAS fee to be paid for this transaction.
For a full walkthrough on how to provide liquidity to Swap and withdraw your liquidity from the same, click here.

LPs will be rewarded with LP Tokens, in this illustration, the LP would get FLP-FLM-nNEO tokens. They will also get a share of the fees collected from traders equal to the proportion of their liquidity in a pool. So for example, if their deposited liquidity forms 2% of the FLM/nNEO pool they would get 2% of all the trading fees paid by traders, which is 0.3% per swap.

LPs can then stake their LP Tokens in specified trading pairs to get FLM. For a walkthrough on how to stake assets, claim FLM and remove your staked assets from the Vault, check out the detailed guide from Flamingo here.

LATEST NEWS

Are you eligible for refund of Flamincome withdrawal fees?

Due to an issue with the Flamincome interface, some users who withdraw USDT before 5:00am (UTC) on 26th September 2020 were charged 0.5% withdrawal fees without their knowledge. Flamingcome will refund the withdrawal fees to these users, which Founder Da Hongfei said on Twitter he will “personally subsidize”.

There is also a proposal being put forward to extend this refund period to any deposits that were made before 5:00am (UTC) on 26th September 2020 but “…withdrawn before 3 hours after the MintRush Resume.” Which from our understanding would be 4:00pm (UTC) on 25th September 2020.

Flamingo swap launch and change of $FLM distribution: 5th Oct 2020

At the initial launch of Flamingo Swap, only 6 trading pairs will be supported i.e. FLM/nNEO, pnWBTC/nNEO, pnWETH/nNEO pONT/nNEO, nNEO/pnUSDT and pnWBTC/pnUSDT.

As Mint Rush 2 has finished distribution of rewards, FLM tokens will no longer be distributed to single-asset stakers. Instead, only users who stake LP Tokens from specified trading pairs in the Vault will continue receiving FLM. From 1:00pm (UTC) on 5th October 2020 to 1:00pm (UTC) on 7th October 2020, 2,857,143 FLM will be distributed per day to these trading pairs in the following proportions:
- FLP-FLM-nNEO 20%
- FLP-pnWBTC-nNEO 20%
- FLP-pnWETH-nNEO 10%
- FLP-pONT-nNEO 5%
- FLP-nNEO-pnUSDT 20%
- FLP-pnWBTC-pnUSDT 25%
From 1:00pm (UTC) on 7th October 2020 to 1:00pm (UTC) on 14th October 2020, 1,071,429 FLM will be distributed per day in the same proportion as above.

SCAM ALERT: Flamingo airdrop

There is currently a Flamingo airdrop scam which asks participants to send their NEO tokens to a “designated contribution address” where you can get FLM tokens at a rate of 1 NEO=1,000 FLM.

The @FlamingoAirdrop as well as the FlamingoFinanceAirdop Telegram Channels are FAKE. Be careful!

Fake Flamingo account

I have all this FLM? What happens next?

FLM is currently listed on the following exchanges: Binance, FTX (FLM-PERP)

Conclusion

A full-stack DeFi protocol, like Flamingo, presents numerous advantages to DeFi users. And among them is capital efficiency, where LPs can provide liquidity and collateral at the same time.

The inclusion of a yield farming system gives DeFi enthusiasts a similar but improved network to YFI and SushiSwap.

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.
October 5, 2020
MEME ($MEME): A DeFi Joke?
MEME ($MEME) is a hybrid between decentralised finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs are tokens that represent unique digital items with verifiable scarcity. They can be used to represent digital ownership as with the case of rare cryptocurrency art. MEME allows users to stake tokens to farm limited edition NFT memes.
Table of Contents

Toggle
Background

What is MEME?

MEME’s Meteoric Rise

How to farm MEME?

MEME farming pools

Genesis pool

MEME Genesis LP pool

Governance

Conclusion
Background

MEME started out as a meme. Yes, it was a joke made by Jordan Lyall, the DeFi Product Lead at ConsenSys. Lyall’s Twitter post joked about an offering that could allow easy and fast (less than five minutes) creation of a DeFi platform.

A Twitter user took the joke seriously and created MEME coin. “I was commenting on the silliness of it all. But in doing that, I’ve created the very thing I sought to destroy,” Lyall commented after the coin went live.

The birth of memes dates back to 1976 when the word appeared on ‘The Selfish Gene’, a book by Richard Dawkins. In the book, memes are portrayed as ideas quickly spread from one person to another within a community. They have since found their way into our daily lives to refer to the viral spread of information on the internet.

What is MEME?

MEME is a decentralized project connecting the DeFi world with NFTs through yield farming or liquidity mining. The network stresses that it does not offer coins for sale but allows farming. The system was launched on August 14, 2020, and has since attracted a ton of attention from the crypto community.

MEME’s Meteoric Rise

The genesis of the project’s meteoric rise dates back to Lyall’s tweet, which garnered 1,200 likes and a high number of retweets within minutes. After its launch, it was listed on CoinGecko with a hard cap of 28,000 tokens.

It was followed by an exclusive Telegram airdrop that was done 30 minutes after launch. After launch, the protocol’s Telegram community grew to over 3,000 participants. In its first few days, MEME reached a 24-hour trading volume of $1.2 million with a single coin changing hands at $40.

MEME token (Image credit: Coingecko)

Roughly a month later, MEME was trading at $795, had a one-day trading volume of $8.8 million, and a market capitalization of $18.7 million. Also, the coin moved from position 610 in early September 2020, to 276 as of September 18, 2020, based on market cap.

By September 18, MEME token holders were roughly 1,400 while the NFT holders were about 700.

How to farm MEME?

Farming requires staking MEME and then receiving rare NFT versions. This increases liquidity mining opportunities for DeFi enthusiasts. As with other DeFi systems that support yield mining, farming MEME involves liquidity mining pools.

Note that the NFTs up for grabs are created by a select number of artists. The first digital artist listed is Sven Eberwein, a popular digital artist living in Los Angeles.

MEME Artist – Sven Eberwein (Image credit: dontbuymeme.com)

Eberwein combines internet culture with computer graphics. Sven “works of the internet, by the internet, for the internet.” The artist’s first MEME-themed collections are titled ‘Don’t buy MEME,’ ‘Volatile Pineapples,’ The MEME Shitcoin Cycle,’ and ‘Crashtest (Because it will).’

According to Eberwein, MEME’s uniqueness comes from being the first to capture the DeFi and meme worlds.

MEME farming pools

Genesis pool

MEME farming pool – Genesis (Image credit: dontbuymeme.com)

This accommodates the staking of MEME tokens.
- The first step is to access the pool from https://dontbuymeme.com/farms .
- Then the next step is to unlock your Web3 wallet. Note that Web3 wallets are just browser functionalities added to the standard self-custody wallets to allow access and usage of decentralized applications (Dapps). Wallets in the Web3 ecosystem include Metamask, imToken, Huobi, AlphaWallet, Enjin, infinito, Opera, Trust Wallet, Coinbase, Dexwallet, Ledger, exodus, Trezor, and Mist.
- Approve MEME
- Enter between a maximum of 5 and a minimum of 1 MEME token. Rewards from farming on the platform are called pineapples. For instance, staking 5 MEME results in five pineapples per 24 hours.
- Claim NFT. This can only be done when the required number of pineapples has been farmed.
MEME Genesis LP pool

MEME farming pool – Genesis LP (Image credit: dontbuymeme.com)

Here, Uniswap V2 liquidity pool (UNIV2-LP) tokens are staked to earn pineapples.
- To get the tokens, stake Ether (ETH) and MEME tokens on the Uniswap pool. However, to receive approximately 0.0002 UNIV2-LP tokens, one needs to stake roughly 50 MEME coins and ETH of equal value.
- Access https://dontbuymeme.com/farms to join the LP Genesis pool.
- Unlock your wallet.
- Approve the tokens from Uniswap and specify your stake amount. The pool supports a maximum of 0.0002 and a minimum of 0.00004 UNIV2-LP tokens. As with the previous pool, the minimum amount staked births one pineapple per day while the maximum stake results in five pineapples per 24 hours.
MEME Genesis Economics (Image credit: Don’t Buy $MEME Medium article)

A pineapple farmer can claim their NFT of choice when they have enough pineapples. Note that pineapples cannot be shared between pools and the amount staked must not exceed the set limits to avoid failed transactions.

NFTs earned from mining MEME can be sold on OpenSea, a marketplace for trading NFTs and virtual currency collectibles. OpenSea lists assets created using Ethereum’s ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards.

MEME at OpenSea (Image credit: OpenSea)

Governance

As with other non-custodial financial systems, MEME handles governance issues through a decentralized autonomous organization called MemeDAO. To be a member, you have to hold a minimum of 100 MEME tokens. Towards the end of August 2020, $1.7 million worth of capital was locked in the DAO.

Conclusion

In the cryptocurrency community, memes are used as a universal language and MEME joins others like Doge and CoronaCoin that started as a joke but attracted interest from the crypto community.

MEME’s uniqueness comes from its connection with the DeFi and NFT world, which adds a new reward stream for yield farmers. However, it’s yet to be seen how long ‘a joke’ can be taken seriously.

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. (https://colorreflections.com) 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.
October 5, 2020