Category: Latest News

  • MetaWars Launches With Successful Results, Discusses Future Plans

    MetaWars Launches With Successful Results, Discusses Future Plans

    MetaWars, the next-generation sci-fi strategy game, has officially launched the $WARS token. MetaWars successfully developed the best tokenomics for its ecosystem with the help of marketing partners that led to the release of the $WARS and $GAM tokens on the blockchain.

    A Quick Recap About MetaWars

    MetaWars is a sci-fi focused strategy game that enables players to earn through gameplay. Players can embark on their journey in a highly-realistic space environment during the game with the help of NFTs in the form of resources and mechas. The game’s play-to-earn feature enables players to fight, trade, and play while earning NFTs and additional rewards. For more information check out our full Metawars guide.


    The Legacy So Far

    MetaWars released their pre-launch NFT auction from the 21st to the 27th of October, which allowed buyers to purchase valuable in-game assets and supplies. The event garnered huge success, nearing a total of 1,000 bids by the end of the auction.

    The project continued their impressive feats on the day of their launch on the 27th of October, with an initial listing price of $0.008 on PancakeSwap skyrocketing over 100x.

    The staking pool and dapp also went live recently for the community to stake $WARS tokens. Players, in turn, earn $GAM tokens, an in-game utility token that will play a vital role in the MetaWars universe.

    Launch Highlights

    • The pre-launch NFT auction successfully obtained close to 1,000 bids and raised a total of 2,000 BNB.
    • MetaWars’ $WARS tokens were sold out in a flash on all three launchpads — Polylauncher, GameFi and Red Kite — within minutes.
    • The very first MetaWars game trailer and demo was released to the public in order to show a glimpse of the immersive gameplay — interested parties can view the clip here.
    • Staking of $WARS and $WARS-BUSD LP went live on MetaWars’ dapp, access it here.
    • MetaWars’ Discord server remains active with more than 22,000 members to date and an invitation contest is currently underway that will enable participants with the most invites to earn limited in-game asset NFTs.

    Future Plans 

    Following a hugely successful launch, MetaWars is currently working on its adventure game, with plans to release it later this month. The NFT staking feature is also currently in the works and will be announced to the public in the near future.

    More details about the game will be announced soon. To follow up with MetaWars’ updates and developments, follow their social media channels below.

    About MetaWars

    MetaWars is a play-to-earn next-generation blockchain gaming experience. Explore and battle throughout the universe. Fight, trade, and earn robots, ships, and planetary terrain backed by in-game NFTs. The $WARS token will become the anchor of an entire universe up for grabs.

    Website | Twitter | Telegram | Reddit | Discord

  • What Are NFTs?: Explained

    What Are NFTs?: Explained

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

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

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

    What is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

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

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

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

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

    How do NFTs Work?

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Examples of NFTs

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

    How and Where to Buy NFTs?

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

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

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

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

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

    Gaming Potential of NFTs

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

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

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

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

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

    Is it Profitable to Invest in NFTs?

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Controversies Surrounding NFTs: Are NFTs Bad For The Environment?

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

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

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

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

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

    Conclusion

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

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

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

    Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

    Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

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

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

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

    What Are NFT Games?

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

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

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

    What Are the Top NFT Games in 2021?

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

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

    1. Axie Infinity

    axie infinity

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

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

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

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

    2. MetaWars

    metawars

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

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

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

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

    3. Splinterlands

    splinterlands

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

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

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

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

    4. The Three Kingdoms

    the three kingdoms

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

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

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

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

    5. Gods Unchained

    gods unchained

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

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

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

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

    6. The Sandbox 3D

    the sandbox 3d

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

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

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

    7. Battle Racers

    battle racers

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

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

    8. Cryptosnake

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

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

    9. Gold Fever

    gold fever

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

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

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

     10. Neon District

    neon district

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

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

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

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

    Conclusion

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

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

  • The Three Kingdoms (TTK): Token Listing on PancakeSwap and Gate.io

    The Three Kingdoms (TTK): Token Listing on PancakeSwap and Gate.io

    The Three Kingdoms (TTK) will be listing their token, $TTK on PancakeSwap and Gate.io.

    About The Three Kingdoms

    The Three Kingdoms is a third-generation NFT (non-fungible token) Game based on historical figures from ancient China’s Three Kingdoms era. TTK Tokens can be earned in a variety of ways. Players can win NFT characters via raffles, completing tasks, and participating in siege games.

    What makes The Three Kingdoms truly unique is that it is the first game to use staking as a gameplay mechanic for attacking and capturing cities.

    About PancakeSwap

    PancakeSwap is a popular exchange on Binance Smart Chain that offers numerous support functions such as Swapping, Staking, and Bridging assets all in one easy-to-use platform.

    About Gate.io

    Gate.io is one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchanges with a stable trading environment with additional features such as Wallet.io, Gate Code, and anti-purchase solutions. The Gate.io platform is also innovating new technologies to protect assets.

    $TTK Token Listing Details

    DEX listing on PancakeSwap: 11:35 AM UTC on 13th October 2021

    CEX listing on Gate.io: 12:05 PM UTC on 13th October 2021

    Please refer to the official announcement for more details on the listing and the $TTK token.

    About The Three Kingdoms

    Collect ultra-rare characters, weapons and a land that you can truly own!

    The Three Kingdoms is a 3rd Generation NFT Game that adopts the three Kingdoms storyline. Prepare to immerse yourself in a gaming experience enriched with extensive history, multifaceted characters, progression gameplay and more. Prepare your heroes for battle, siege cities, and win battles to expand your own land.

    Be your own hero in the land of The Three Kingdoms!

    Follow The Three Kingdoms on social media to stay up to date with the latest news:

    Website — https://ttk.gg/
    Twitter — https://twitter.com/PlayTTK
    Telegram Announcements — https://t.me/TTK_Official
    Telegram Official Community — https://t.me/PlayTTK
    Discord — https://discord.com/invite/kg4SMdCCM5
    Reddit — https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayTTK
    Medium — https://medium.com/@PlayTTK

  • Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain

    Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain

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

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

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

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

    The Blockchain Trilemma: What is it?

    blockchain trilemma
    blockchain trilemma

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

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

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

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

    Fantom Overview

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

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

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

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

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

    Fantom Technology

    Fantom features two core technologies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Fantom DeFi and FTM Token

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

    Fantom currently supports the following:

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

    What is the FTM token?

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

    Fantom partnerships 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Conclusion

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

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

    FAQ

    What is Fantom?

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

    What does Fantom do?

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

    How does Fantom work?

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

    What is Lachesis?

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

    Has Fantom been adopted?

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

    Sources:

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

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

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

    This is an update of our previous article on Cardano.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Hydra: Cardano’s Layer 2 Scalability Solution

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

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

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

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

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

    Cardano Introduces the Plutus dAppStore

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Climate Restoration Partnership with Veritree

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

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

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

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

    Partnership with COTI to Issue Djed Stablecoin

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

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

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

    Telecom Integration with Dish Network

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

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

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

    NFT Marketplace with eSports Platform Rival

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

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

    Cardano Summit 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    cardano virtual summit

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

    What’s next for Cardano?

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

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

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

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

    FAQ

    What is the Alonzo hard fork?

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

    What is Hydra?

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

    What is the Cardano Summit?

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

    What happened during the Cardano Summit 2021?

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

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

    Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Solana Updates And Why Its Price Is Rallying

    Solana Updates And Why Its Price Is Rallying

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

    Solana Rises 800% in Price Rally

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Solana Unveils Wormhole

    Wormhole
    Wormhole allowed tokenized assets to be moved across blockchains

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

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

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

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

    Launch of SOLSEA and Degenerate Ape Academy NFTs

    Solsea NFT
    Solsea is the first NFT marketplace on Solana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Solana’s Partnership with Chainlink to Offer Crypto Price Feeds

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

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

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

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

    Solend Goes Live on the Solana Mainnet

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

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

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

    Launch of Galactic Marketplace on Solana

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

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

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

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

    Solana Announces Breakpoint Conference

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

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

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

    Saber partners with Marinade Finance to Make Staking Liquid

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

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

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

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

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

    Sunny Aggregator Launches on Solana

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

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

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

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

    Soldex to Offer AI-Powered Trading Algorithms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Ethereum 2.0 London Hard Fork Roll Out

    Ethereum 2.0 London Hard Fork Roll Out

    (as of August 24th, 2021)

    This is an update of an older article on Ethereum 2.0. Click here to read the previous version.

    London Hard Fork

    The highly anticipated Ethereum London Hard Fork upgrade went live on August 5th, 2021, which sent the price of ETH rallying to above $2,800 for the first time since June 7th on bullish sentiment. 

    The upgrade includes a fee reduction feature called EIP 1559, which burned more than 3,000 ETH in only a few hours since taking effect.

    The latest backward-incompatible upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain introduced five new Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), ushering in a new era for the transition to Ethereum 2.0. 

    EIP 1559, EIP 3554, EIP 3529, EIP 3198 and EIP 3541 are code upgrades that aim to improve the network’s user experience and value proposition.

    It is fair to say that the London upgrade received more media attention than previous upgrades, but rightfully so as this upgrade represents an important step forward for the cryptocurrency, proving that the Ethereum ecosystem is able to make significant changes. 

    That’s in stark contrast to Bitcoin, which is so decentralized that changes to its blockchain network are incredibly difficult.

    The Ethereum blockchain still has major changes ahead, most notably its transition to a proof-of-stake (POS) system from a proof-of-work (POW) system. One of the biggest criticisms faced by Ethereum is its heavy energy usage and carbon emissions released during ether mining through proof-of-work.

    A proof-of-work system relies on a network of computers around the world constantly running to solve complex problems to support and validate the blockchain. A proof-of-stake platform, which does not incentivize heavy energy consumption, allows users to put up their own tokens as collateral to support the blockchain network.

    According to its founder Vitalik Buterin in an interview with Bloomberg, the change to proof-of-stake will reduce carbon emissions related to the mining of ether by 99%. Buterin expects the merge to Ethereum 2.0 to take place in early 2022 but it could come as early as late 2021. 

    The London hard fork “definitely makes me feel more confident about the merge.” Buterin told Bloomberg, going on to add that the transition to a proof-of-stake system would eventually change the economics of ether, such as a supply cap similar to bitcoin’s 21 million coin limit.

    EIP 1559 – Making Ethereum less inflationary

    The EIP 1559 upgrade is the most discussed code change of the London hard fork, altering the transaction fee structure for the Ethereum network. Instead of fees going directly to the miners that process and validate transactions, a base fee would instead go to the miners and to the network before being burned and removed from circulation.

    EIP 1559 removed the first-price auction as the main gas fee calculation, where users typically bid a dedicated amount of money to pay for their transaction to be processed on the Ethereum blockchain. 

    Gas fees are fee payments required from users who create transfers or transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. Previously, users paid these fees without knowing the exact price to pay beforehand. In order to make sure the transaction gets processed, some users overpaid to ensure the transaction went ahead smoothly. Other users who paid less faced the uncertainty of whether the transaction will get processed in a timely manner.

    The EIP 1559 changed the method by which transactions are processed on the blockchain by enabling clear pricing on a base transaction fee paid to miners in ETH to validate the transfers. A small amount of the tokens will be burnt and taken out of the circulating supply permanently. Users may also choose to include an optional tip, a “priority fee,” along with their base fee to incentivize miners for a quicker process if desired. 

    As a result of its activation, EIP 1559 improved user experience by automating transaction prices and taking the guesswork out of an opaque auction process, while still allowing miners to earn from tips and block rewards.

    EIP 3554 – Defusing the difficulty bomb

    EIP 3554 delays the “difficulty bomb” that is coded to make mining more difficult, essentially “freezing” it in preparation for Ethereum’s transition away from a proof-of-work model. 

    Also called the “Ice Age,” the difficulty bomb is intended to disincentivize miners from using proof-of-work once Ethereum 2.0 is ready by making block rewards much harder to come by. EIP 3354 pushes the Ice Age back to December 1st, 2021, hinting that the merge with Ethereum 2.0 may happen at the end of the year. 

    This is the fourth time that the difficulty bomb has been delayed, and unless the network is finally ready to move to proof-of-stake by the end of the year, it’s likely to be delayed once again in yet another network upgrade.

    EIP 3529 – Reducing impact-less refunds

    EIP 3529 reduces gas refunds, which were typically used to incentivize developers to reduce or delete unused smart contracts and addresses on Ethereum. 

    “Gas tokens” like Chi and GST2 gamed the system by taking up space on the network when gas fees were low and reaping the benefits by deleting their data when gas fees were high. With the implementation of EIP 3529, these tokens will become obsolete.

    EIP 3198 – Improving smart contract UX

    EIP 3198 improves the user experience of smart contracts by adding an operation code (opcode) that gives the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) access to the block’s base fee.

    The base fee is a small amount of Ether paid for each block created which can help with gas efficiency and reduction in transaction costs. Some applications will be able to use this fee, and other applications may choose not to use this opcode in their smart contract code if they do not need it. 

    This improves the user experience of smart contracts by increasing the security for state channels, plasma, optimistic rollups and other solutions that prevent fraud. 

    EIP 3541 – Making future updates easier

    EIP 3541 sets up future upgrades to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) by removing the ability to start new contracts with “0xEF or Executable Format.” 

    Although it won’t have an immediate effect on the network, it sets up future changes and restricts the EVM from consuming specific data types. 

    ETH 2.0 Becomes The Leading Holder of Ether

    At present, the staking contract of Ethereum 2.0 has become the largest holder of Ether (ETH).

    According to blockchain analytics provider Nansen, the ETH 2.0 staking contract has surpassed Wrapped Ethereum (wETH) to become the single largest holder of ETH. Unlike Ether, Wrapped Ether adheres to the ERC-20 standard, making it the favored representation of ETH among decentralized finance protocols that use ERC-20 tokens.

    Alex Svanevik, the CEO of Nansen, put up his findings on Twitter on August 16th, 2021. According to the available data, the Beacon Chain’s deposit contract holds 6.73 million ETH – worth roughly $21.5 billion at current prices.

    nansen analytics data Ethereum 2.0
    Nansen analytics data

    By contrast, Nansen’s data suggests the Wrapped Ethereum contract holds 6.7 million ETH ($21.4 billion), followed by Binance with 2.29 million ETH ($7.3 billion).

    The quantity of Ether locked and staked on ETH 2.0 currently represents 5.7% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to CoinMarketCap. There are now 210,000 validators for the ETH 2.0 network, according to Beaconcha.in.

    Currently, Ether staked on ETH 2.0 is locked up and cannot be withdrawn from the contract until Ethereum’s forthcoming chain merge, which will meld the Ethereum and ETH 2.0 networks.

    According to Staking Rewards, ETH 2.0 is currently the third-largest proof-of-stake network by staked capitalization, ranking behind Cardano’s $49 billion and Solana’s $27.5 billion.

    FAQ

    What is the London hard fork?

    Ethereum’s London hard fork is an irreversible network upgrade consisting of five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), all of which are code upgrades paving the way for the network’s transition in the future from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.

    What is EIP 1559?

    EIP 1559 changes how transaction fees work on the Ethereum blockchain in two ways. First, it adds a base fee to every transaction that takes place on Ethereum. This base fee aims to lower overall costs to the user, because it will improve gas fee estimations.

    Second, transaction fees will no longer go to miners, but to the Ethereum network itself, before being burned and taken out of circulation.
    These base fees are set using an algorithm and there will be an additional option to pay a tip to the miners to prioritize a transaction.

    Burning base fees could result in a decreased supply of Ethereum, making ETH a deflationary currency.

    What are the other key takeaways from the London hard fork?

    The upgrades will provide a better smart contract use experience. Future updates of the network will become easier with the new proposals.

    The network delayed the difficulty bomb to provide more time for the transition towards Ethereum 2.0.

    Did the London hard fork create another token?

    No. Often hard forks will lead to the creation of another token (such as the fork that created Ethereum Classic in 2016). However, in this case, the London hard fork can be considered as a network upgrade. Ethereum protocols will change, but it will still be the one and only Ethereum.

    When is the transition to Ethereum 2.0?

    The merge to Ethereum 2.0 is expected to take place in early 2022 or possibly in late 2021.

    Sources:

    https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/over-9-million-ether-burned-following-ethereum-london-hard-fork-as-network-gears-up-to-eth-20-202108060156

    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/ethereum-london-hard-fork-eip-1559-vitalik-buterin-carbon-emissions-2021-8

    https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-hotly-anticipated-london-hard-fork-is-now-live

    https://cointelegraph.com/news/eth2-staking-contract-ranks-as-single-largest-ether-hodler-with-21-5b

    https://www.coindesk.com/valid-points-eip-1559-hasnt-affected-miner-revenue

    https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/what-is-ethereum-eip-1559-and-how-will-it-affect-eth-price-202108030445

  • Why PAX Gold Is A Hot Topic In The Crypto Market

    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

  • Bonfida ($FIDA), the leading Serum DEX

    Bonfida ($FIDA), the leading Serum DEX

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

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


    What is Bonfida?

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

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

    Background

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

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

    Why build on Serum?

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

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

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

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

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

    The FIDA Token

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

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

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

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

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

    Bonfida’s features

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

    • Exclusive markets and listing

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

    • On-chain advanced order types

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

    • Order Placement through TradingView Charts

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

    • Advanced UI and Basic UI

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

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

    Serum API

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

    Bonfida Bots

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

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

    Solible

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

    First Serum ICO

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

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

    Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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