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  • Meme Coins 2023: How Smart People Get Rich Investing in Them

    Meme Coins 2023: How Smart People Get Rich Investing in Them

    2023 started off with the explosive rise of Bonk ($BONK), a Solana-based meme coin. In the process, some people made a lot of money, and some did not even have to invest a dime as they were eligible for $BONK airdrops as Solana users. It is important to remember that meme coins are purely speculative and extremely volatile, but smart traders are able to recognize patterns and trends, allowing them to capitalize on these opportunities.

    What are Meme Coins?

    Meme coins are cryptocurrencies that are created for the purpose of entertainment and humor. They are often based on popular internet memes. Dogecoin is the most famous example, a dog-themed token based on the viral Doge meme in 2013.

    What started as a joke quickly became a driving force in the crypto market. Thanks to Dogecoin’s success in 2021, the meme coin market rapidly expanded, and is now valued over $17 billion in total market capitalization.

    Why are Meme Coins So Popular?

    Investing in meme coins present a low-entry barrier. Since meme coins are typically valued at pennies per token, investors can acquire large amounts of tokens for a relatively small price. As a result, investors can gain significant profits if these tokens spike up in price. Many investors view meme coins as a way to make a quick profit, as they are often volatile and can be traded for a profit.

    In contrast to actual blockchain projects such as Ethereum or Aptos, meme coins have no utilities at all. They are less about technology and solutions, and more about fun and community engagement. Additionally, meme coins are often seen as a way to show support for a particular meme or cause, which can be a powerful motivator for investors. Instead of complex blockchain terminologies, meme coin communities focus on building on their biggest facility — humor. Because of this, meme coins are a good at exposing newcomers to the crypto space.

    The Psychology Behind Investing in Meme Coins

    The originator of the term “meme” is Richard Dawkins. In his book “The Selfish Gene”, he explains that when a cultural meme becomes viral and is attached to an exchangeable value, it can theoretically become an actual currency. With blockchain technology, memes can literally become cryptocurrencies.

    As such, they have become increasingly popular in the cryptocurrency space due to their ability to post rapid gains and reach incredible market capitalization and popularity levels in a very short period. This phenomenon can be attributed to two main factors: Social Media Hype and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

    Social Media Hype

    We are currently living in the Internet age, where our average attention span is short. As such, memes could prove to be a powerful marketing tool because they are simple, entertaining, and engaging. When used properly, memes are a low-effort marketing strategy that can drive organic engagement.

    Generating hype via social media channels has been a successful strategy for many meme coin projects. By creating shills and utilizing prominent influencers and mainstream celebrities, projects can generate excitement and attract potential investors, even if there is limited information available about the project. This growth, although organic, is based on “unverified beliefs” and inflated utility. Meme coins have been particularly successful in leveraging this strategy, leading to a surge in their token prices.

    Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

    The volatile nature of the crypto market is often driven by ambitious investors who jump into new projects with the hope of making a profit or not missing out on the project’s potential success. This fear of missing out on further profits has been a major factor in the success of meme coins.

    The price growth that follows the hype marketing is further augmented by FOMO and widespread hype. This trend has enabled meme coins to gain hundreds of thousands of followers, mainly due to their meme culture, before they adopted a reasonable utility. Additionally, as meme coins generally appeal to less experienced retail investors, they tend to jump on the bandwagon in hopes of making profit and being part of a large community.

    The Risk of Investing in Meme Coins

    While meme coins can be a great way to make a quick profit, they also come with a certain amount of risk. As with any investment, there is always the potential for losses. Additionally, because meme coins have no utilities, they are purely speculative assets. Therefore, they are often highly volatile, meaning that prices can change quickly and without warning. As such, it is important to do your research and understand the risks before investing in meme coins.

    Key Takeaway

    At its core, meme coins are purely speculative, and investing in them is somewhat of a gamble. However, smart traders are able to identify trends before they break out. Because meme coins typically rely on hype, they monitor activities on the niche market via social media channels or word-of-mouth. Because these tokens are usually valued at pennies per token, they are able to secure a position before any price surge or drop. But from that point on, it is really just a bet.

  • FTX Victims Must Read: US Government to Help Recover Lost Funds?

    FTX Victims Must Read: US Government to Help Recover Lost Funds?

    ​​U.S. Government Launches Website for Victims of FTX Collapse

    The U.S. government has launched a website for victims of the FTX collapse to communicate with law enforcement in regards to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s “alleged” fraud. In an order late Friday night, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan authorized federal prosecutors to use the website to speed up the process given the massive scale of the FTX collapse.

    FTX owes money to at least 1 million people including creditors and customers. This would help prosecutors with their case immensely as it is ‘”impractical” to contact each victim individually and get their testimony, the prosecutors remarked in the court filing.

    Federal Law Requires Prosecutors to Contact FTX Victims

    Federal law requires prosecutors to contact possible crime victims to inform them of their rights, including the rights to obtain restitution, be heard in court and be protected from defendants. “If you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud by Samuel Bankman-Fried, A/K/A/ ‘SBF,’ please contact the victim/witness coordinator at the United States Attorney’s office using the email address listed below for assistance in verifying whether you are a victim in this case,” stated in the website.

    In criminal cases, prosecutors are required to notify victims ahead of plea or sentencing proceedings and allow them enough time to give testimony if they want to be heard. Based on the number of victims who provide such notice, the court will rule on the manner in which victims will be heard at such proceedings,” Kaplan wrote in his court order.

    FTX Victim Testimonies Strengthen Arguments

    Recently, Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of wire fraud and conspiracy over the FTX collapse. Prosecutors have said he stole billions in customer deposits to pay debts for his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and lied to investors about the exchange’s financial condition.

    Though Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management shortcomings, he did not consider himself criminally liable. In such a case, the direct evidence regarding the case may not be enough, hence testimonies of the victims can greatly strengthen arguments. Moreover, for the many other victims who did not come forward to cite legal trouble or other factors, this website could help them take the first step to recover their funds, and build a stronger and more compelling case with their testimonies, given the massive scale of damage Bankman-Fried has done.

    FTX Owes Money to Over 1 Million People

    The US Attorney suggests more indictments to follow. According to FTX’s bankruptcy filing on November 11, it owes money to more than 100,000 creditors and at least 1 million affected FTX and FTX US users.

    John Ray, currently CEO of FTX, testified at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in December, asserting that his team is implementing a restructuring plan that will potentially help customers and creditors get their money back.

    One of the core objectives is asset protection and recovery. It involves extensive tracing of money flows and asset transfers from the time of FTX’s founding. Ray said that they are in the process of “collecting and reviewing dozens of terabytes of documents and data, including records of billions of individual transactions.”

    U.S. Customers Accounted for 2% of All FTX Traffic

    In an analysis of monthly active user data by CoinGecko, customers in the U.S. accounted for 2% of all traffic. Ray mentioned in his testimony that there were 2.7 million users in FTX US and 7.6 million users in FTX. But since “a small number of U.S. customers” were also among the FTX users, he overstates the actual customer relationships due to the possibility a customer may have more than one account.

    Therefore, Ray aims to get to the bottom of the actual customer numbers. And the website for FTX victims can help speed up the process by providing information and clarity, since it is unlikely that most customers will not be able to appear at the Manhattan court in person.

  • 2022 Crypto Recap: The Good, The Bad, and The Uglies

    2022 Crypto Recap: The Good, The Bad, and The Uglies

    The crypto industry had a tumultuous year in 2022, with coins tanking at the start of Q2 and never rallying, signalling the beginning of a crypto winter. To make matters worse, the collapse of Terra Luna and FTX led to a devastating contagion across the industry. Despite the challenges, we shouldn’t forget about the progress and achievements the industry has made. Here’s a brief recap of some of the biggest news in 2022.

    Crypto’s Role in the Russia-Ukraine War (February)

    During the Russia-Ukraine war, cryptocurrencies have been immensely valuable to Ukrainian refugees. Russian attacks have destroyed critical infrastructure, rendering many Ukrainians inaccessible to withdrawing money from ATM machines. Therefore, many Ukrainian refugees relied on digital currencies sent from relatives or donors abroad to purchase goods and services.

    All that is needed for them to access their cryptocurrency wallets is a mobile phone and internet access, which was being provided by the thousands of Starlink satellite internet dishes provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX at the time.

    Feds Interest Rate Hike (March)

    Despite Bitcoin reaching an all-time high of $69000+ in November 2021, what follows is a series of market decline. This is in part due to the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing its first interest rate hike in March to fight increasing inflation. As a result, the macro backdrop began to worsen, not only affecting crypto assets but also every other investment asset class. This also called into question Bitcoin’s reputation as an inflation hedge as Bitcoin itself started to trade in tandem with Nasdaq tech stocks, according to the New York Times.

    Collapse of Terra Luna (May-July)

    The collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem in May 2022 was one of the most devastating black swan events in crypto history, wiping at least $60 billion off the market which triggered a dangerous domino effect across the industry such as the fall of several high-profile crypto firms, namely Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital, and Celsius Network.

    Amid the crash, the UST algorithmic stablecoin, which was supposed to maintain a $1 peg via on-chain mechanisms with Terra’s native token LUNA, depegged, bottoming out at $0.006. This was caused by a massive continuous selloff on both UST and LUNA, resulting in a death spiral. Terraform Labs (TFL) developers and founder Do Kwon are facing multiple investigations as well as lawsuits into its collapse. (Canadian Pharmacy) As of now, South Korean authorities and Interpol have issued a warrant for the search and arrest of Do Kwon and his accomplices.

    Recovery Plan of Terra Luna Classic (August)

    As of now, the Luna Classic blockchain is managed and governed by the community after Terraform Labs (TFL) developers abandoned the chain in support of Luna 2.0. On August 26th 2022, governance was restored as citizens of Luna Classic could delegate, stake, and vote for the future of the ecosystem. Proposals and the associated implementations are being passed by the Terra Classic Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

    Feds Sanction Tornado Cash (August)

    On 8th August 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused Ethereum mixing service that obscures the trail back to the fund’s original source. They claimed that Lazarus Group, a cybercrime group run by the North Korean government, has been using Tornado Cash to launder illicit funds.

    Moreover, one of the developers for Tornado Cash was arrested in the Netherlands. The crypto community and privacy advocates bashed Netherlands authorities as the developer was simply writing code and had nothing to do with illicit activities. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also criticized the move as he himself used Tornado Cash to make donations to Ukraine’s cause.

    Ethereum Merge (September)

    On 15th September 2022 at 06:42:42 UTC at block 15537393, the Ethereum Merge was completed. This meant a merger of the Ethereum mainnet execution layer and the Beacon Chain’s consensus layer, transitioning from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake. This landmark update brings major changes to the network, including a 99.95% reduction in energy consumption and a 90% cut in ETH issuance.

    This is a significant achievement in the history of blockchain, allowing the Ethereum network to scale effectively as demand for Web3 and DeFi increase. Since Ethereum is the mother of all smart contract platforms, this could put Ethereum in a position to rival Bitcoin in adoption and even value.

    Downfall of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (November)

    On 11th November 2022, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) filed FTX, FTX US, and Alameda Research for bankruptcy in the U.S. Once hailed as one of the top crypto exchanges, the sudden collapse of FTX came as a shocking blow to the entire crypto industry, setting off yet another contagion across the space. This affected 130 affiliated companies including several high-profile firms such as BlockFi, Genesis Trading, Grayscale, KuCoin, Gemini, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Sequoia Capital, and Galaxy Digital.

    Apparently, SBF was misappropriating customer funds for his own benefits without customers’ consent and knowledge, conducting unethical flywheel schemes with Alameda Research. As a result, SBF had been arrested in the Bahamas, facing many criminal charges including securities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance law violations. However, on 22nd Decemeber 2022, the disgraced FTX founder was released on a $250 million bail.

  • My Neighbor Alice ($ALICE): merging NFT and gaming？

    My Neighbor Alice ($ALICE): merging NFT and gaming？

    My Neighbor Alice is one of the new blockchain-based applications that benefited greatly from the ongoing Non-fungible tokens (NFT) hype.

    Basically, My Neighbor Alice is a game that utilizes blockchain technology and NFTs as a backbone for their mechanics. It has two main target markets: those who are looking to play new multiplayer games and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. By meshing the world of game and crypto together, ALICE has become an interesting development in the use cases for NFTs.

    Background

    There are a lot of blockchain-based games already launched in the space. They come in many themes, but most often, their aim is to create an online community where people can interact with each other and be introduced to crypto at the same time.

    One of the most popular NFT-based games right now is Decentraland. This game allows you to purchase a virtual land in a digital world which you can customize according to your own plan. You can also interact with other players and exchange in-game items with the support of the NFT technology.

    Today, the newest NFT-based game that gained widespread popularity is My Neighbor Alice. It was launched in Binance in March 2021 and had over 220% increase in token value within its first 24 hours since listing. The game, however, isn’t just for the blockchain aficionados. It is for everyone, no matter how new they are to crypto. It’s also worth mentioning that the game was purposefully created to cater to crypto’s underserved market — women.

    What is My Neighbor Alice?

    My Neighbor Alice is a blockchain-based, multiplayer builder game built on top of the Chromia network. The mechanics are simple. In the game, you can purchase virtual islands, collect in-game items, and interact with other players in its digital world. You can also pursue your tasks or help out your neighbor, called “Alice,” to earn rewards. You can use these rewards to purchase other in-game assets, which you can also sell later in its supported NFT marketplaces.

    These NFTs can be anything you’d find in the game. These may be houses, animals, plants, or any other decorative item that players put in their virtual land. Users may trade these items if they want to but they also have the option to rent them to others.

    What are the main features of My Neighbor Alice?

    • Marketplace – This is where users can buy, sell, or trade their in-game assets, which are represented by NFTs.
    • Virtual Islands – This is a parcel of land that users have to purchase to participate in the game. These islands can be bought from the ALICE app or the marketplace. Like in-game items, they are represented by NFTs and can be decorated however the user wants to.
    • Avatars – The users are given a character, called avatar, to interact with other players. These can also be modified however the user wishes to.
    • In-game Assets – All items that can be found in the game are in-game assets which users can purchase or sell on the marketplace. But beyond that, users are free to create new assets with the help of ALICE’s NFT creator.
    • Reputation System – The game implements a reputation system where players who do good as a “citizen” in ALICE’s virtual world are rewarded. This can also be improved by users purchasing more virtual islands or NFTs. There is also a tier reputation system that grants users with access to different items or rare NFTs according to their status.
    • Shared Quests and Community Events – To foster a gaming environment that showcases cooperation and friendship, the game has tasks that put people on a shared goal. The players can also launch their own events to gather and interact with others.
    • On-chain Forum – There will be a forum where users can discuss game activities and talk about other topics related to the roadmap of the game development.

    Why Build it on Chromia?

    There are multiple other blockchain platforms today that aim to enable decentralization. Perhaps the most popular is Ethereum, the second-biggest blockchain network today. However, it is difficult to build and scale new decentralized applications (dApps) there due to network congestion issues and extremely expensive gas fees. To address these concerns on the network, the developers built the game on the Chromia platform.

    Chromia Network is a blockchain platform on top of Ethereum that aims to address the scalability issue found in the implementation and development of dApps. One of its biggest use cases is it allows dApp developers to issue CHR-backed tokens. Today, Chromia has projects supporting real estate, finance, and gaming initiatives. One of them is ALICE.

    ALICE Token

    $ALICE is the native utility token for the game. It is an ERC-20 token that users can utilize to participate in the game or collected as a store of value. ALICE is the currency used by users as a medium of exchange, as well as to purchase NFTs represented as in-game assets.

    Staking

    The platform will soon enable the possibility for users to stake their tokens to earn additional ALICE as a reward. For now, there are platforms like Binance that allow staking of tokens, such as CHR, USDT, and BNB, to earn ALICE.

    Governance

    The game will have a community council that decides how the game ecosystem moves forward. This follows the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) model where ALICE token holders vote on important protocol proposals.

    Conclusion

    ALICE had the tremendous backing of investors in the cryptocurrency space when it first came to the market. This can also be because the project’s aims are beneficial for the whole network. Introducing blockchain technology to a whole new group of people who might have never heard of it is a promising initiative in achieving greater adoption.

    The first step in pushing for adoption is to make people understand that crypto and NFTs aren’t too complicated after all and that blockchain isn’t just about Bitcoin, DeFi, or payments.

    Alice has it all. The game mechanics are simple, the developers are preparing DeFi opportunities for token holders, and the whole platform is decentralized. It is also launched via Steam, one of the biggest gaming platforms today.

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

  • Popular Cryptocurrency Terms Every Crypto Enthusiast Should Know

    Popular Cryptocurrency Terms Every Crypto Enthusiast Should Know

    Cryptocurrencies have exceedingly grown in popularity among investors, customers, developers, and regulators. However, a significant barrier to novice participants are the various terms floating around the industry. Many terms come from computer programming while other more recent terms originate from slang words or phrases. This post will go through some of the most common cryptocurrency terms, offering a solid basis for interested individuals.

    #A

    ATH

    “ATH” is an abbreviation for “All-Time High.” It is the highest price point that a cryptocurrency has been in its trading history.

    ATL

    “ATL” is an abbreviation for “All-Time Low.” It is the lowest price point that a cryptocurrency has been in its trading history.

    Address

    An address is a destination where a user sends and receives digital currency. Addresses are usually composed of a long series of letters and numbers. Without an address, the blockchain can’t confirm nor verify the existence of a coin, so, without a wallet address, you can’t own a cryptocurrency.

    Altcoins

    Altcoins, or Alternative Coins, refer to cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.

    Airdrop

    An airdrop is a distribution of a cryptocurrency token, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses. Airdrops are primarily implemented as a marketing campaign as a way of gaining attention and new followers.

    Arbitrage

    Arbitrage is the practice of simultaneously buying and selling the same asset in different markets to take advantage of price differences between the markets.

    Ashdraked

    Ashdraked is a term born from Crypto trading and conveys a situation of complete loss of a trader’s total invested capital.

    Atomic Swap

    An atomic swap is a smart contract technology that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without using centralized intermediaries, such as exchanges.

    AMM

    An automated market maker (AMM) is a type of decentralized exchange protocol that relies on a mathematical formula to price assets. Instead of using an order book like a traditional exchange, assets are priced according to a pricing algorithm.

    #B

    Blockchain

    The technology that underpins cryptocurrency is known as a blockchain. It is a distributed and immutable digital ledger composed of all the transactions ever made in a cryptocurrency. The name comes from its structure, in which individual records, called blocks, are linked together in single list, called a chain.

    Bull

    If a trader believes that an asset will rise in value, he or she is a “bull.” When an investor has this optimistic expectation of an asset’s future, the frame of mind is described as “bullish.”

    Bear

    Someone who believes that prices in each market will decline in future is a “bear”. Bearish traders might take a short position on an asset that will pay off should the asset in question fall in value.

    Byzantine Generals’ Problem

    The Byzantine Generals Problem describes a situation where communication that requires consensus on a single strategy from all members within a group or party cannot be trusted or verified. It is used to describe the difficulty decentralized systems have in agreeing on a single truth. The Byzantine Generals Problem plagued money for millennia, until the invention of Bitcoin which uses a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism and a blockchain to solve the Problem.

    Block

    A file containing information on transactions completed during a given time period. Blocks are the constituent parts of a blockchain.

    Block Explorer

    A block explorer is a blockchain search engine that enables a user to view details of blocks on a given blockchain.

    Block Height

    A value describing the number of blocks preceding a given block in the blockchain.

    Block Reward

    The coins awarded to a miner or group of miners for solving the cryptographic problem required to create a new block on a given blockchain.

    Block Size

    Block size refers to the amount of data about transactions a single block in the chain can carry.

    Block Time

    Block time refers to the approximate time it takes for a blockchain-based system to produce a new block.

    Bid-Ask Spread

    Bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price which a buyer is willing to pay for an asset as well as the lowest price that a seller is willing to accept.

    Bagholder

    An investor who continues to hold large amounts of a specific coin or token, regardless of its performance.

    Bart Simpson Pattern

    A chart pattern where price witnesses a sudden spike in one direction, followed by consolidation and a sudden spike to the opposite direction ending close to the base price. The pattern resembles the shape of the head of the iconic Simpsons character, Bart Simpson.

    BIP

    Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) is the standard format for documents proposing changes to the Bitcoin protocol.

    BEP-20

    BEP-20 is a Binance Smart Chain token standard, that extends ERC-20, the most common Ethereum token standard.

    BEP-2 (Binance Chain Tokenization Standard)

    BEP 2, or Binance Chain Evolution Proposal 2, is a technical standard used for the issuance and implementation of tokens on the Binance chain.

    BFA

    A Brute Force Attack (BFA), also known as an exhaustive search, is a cryptographic hack that relies on guessing possible combinations of a targeted password until the correct password is discovered.

    Burned

    Cryptocurrency tokens or coins are considered “burned” when they have been purposely and permanently removed from circulation.

    BFT

    Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) is the property of a system that can resist the class of failures derived from the Byzantine Generals’ Problem. This means that a BFT system can continue operating even if some of the nodes fail or act maliciously.

    #C

    Cryptocurrency / Crypto

    A cryptocurrency (crypto) is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptographic technologies to secure their operation. Most cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology and are not issued by the central bank of a country.

    Coin

    Coins are any cryptocurrency that has a standalone independent blockchain as opposed to tokens which live on another blockchain.

    Coinbase

    In mineable cryptocurrencies, a coinbase is the number of coins that are generated from scratch and awarded to miners for mining every new block.

    Cryptography

    In computer science, cryptography refers to is the practice and study of securing information and communication using mathematical concepts and algorithms, to transform messages in ways that are hard to decipher.

    Confirmation

    In cryptocurrency, a confirmation is a measure of how many blocks have passed since a transaction was added to a blockchain. Each new block is an additional confirmation for that transaction.

    Consensus Mechanism

    Consensus is achieved when all participants of the network agree on the order and content of the blocks in the blockchain. A consensus mechanism is an underlying technology behind the main functionalities of all blockchain technology, making them an essential operating feature for all cryptocurrencies.

    Circulating Supply

    The best approximation of the number of coins that are circulating in the market and in the hands of the general public.

    Cold Storage

    A cryptocurrency wallet is in cold storage when it’s not connected to the internet. This includes offline storage of cryptocurrencies, typically involving hardware non-custodial wallets, offline computers, or paper wallets.

    Core Wallet

    A core wallet contains the entire blockchain as opposed to a piece of it and allows users to not only receive, store and send crypto but also program on or with it.

    Centralized Exchange (CEX)

    Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are a type of cryptocurrency exchange that is operated by a company which owns and controls it.

    Censorship Resistance

    Censorship resistance refers to the idea that no party can prevent anyone from participating in a given platform or network.

    CeDeFi

    CeDeFi, or centralized decentralized finance, combines traditional centralized financial services with decentralized applications, merging conventional regulatory policies with modern financial products and infrastructure.

    CBDC

    A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is the digital form of a country’s fiat currency that is also a claim on the central bank. Instead of printing money, the central bank issues electronic coins or account backed by the full faith and credit of the government.

    Chain Split

    Chain split, which is another term used to describe a cryptocurrency fork, is the separation of a single original coin into two or more independently managed projects.

    Change

    Change is a concept relevant to cryptocurrencies that use the UTXO model like Bitcoin. It is the number of coins sent back to a user’s address after they use their unspent outputs to initiate a transaction.

    Coin Mixer

    Coin mixers allow users to mix up transactions between different cryptocurrency addresses, so they become untraceable and cannot be followed back to the initial sender or receiver of the assets.

    Cross-Chain

    Cross-chain is a technology that enhances the interconnection between blockchain networks by allowing the exchange of information and value.

    Cryptojacking

    Cryptojacking is malicious cryptomining that involves infecting third party computers with malwares to use them to mine cryptocurrencies usually without user’s knowledge. Cryptojacking malware can lead to slowdowns and crashes due to straining of computational resources.

    Cypherpunk

    A cypherpunk is any individual advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change.

    #D

    DLT

    Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is another term for blockchain technology. It is a database that is consensually shared and synchronized across multiple sites, institutions, or geographies, accessible by multiple people.

    DApps

    Decentralized applications (dApps) are digital applications or programs that exist and run on a blockchain instead of a single server and are outside the purview and control of any controlling authority.

    DAO

    A Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members and not influenced by a central authority.

    DCEP

    “Digital Currency Electronic Payment” (DCEP) is the national digital currency of China built using Blockchain and Cryptographic technology. DCEP is pegged 1:1 with the Chinese national currency.

    Derivatives trading

    A derivative is a contract or product that derives its value from an underlying asset. Depending upon the conditions of a contract, derivatives can be categorized as Futures, Forwards, Options and Swaps. By opening a demat account and a trading, you can get started with trading derivatives.

    DEX

    Decentralized Exchange or DEX is a peer-to-peer exchange allowing users to trade cryptocurrency without the need for an intermediary.

    Difficulty

    Difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to mine a block in a blockchain for a particular cryptocurrency. It is a parameter that cryptocurrencies use to keep the average time between blocks steady as the network’s hash power changes.

    Dominance

    Bitcoin Dominance is a measure of Bitcoin’s value in the context of the larger cryptocurrency market. It can help you understand if altcoins are in a downtrend or uptrend against BTC.

    Double Spending

    Double Spending is the potential for a cryptocurrency to be spent twice. It occurs when a blockchain network is disrupted and cryptocurrency is essentially stolen.

    Dusting Attack

    A dusting attack is an attack in which a trace amount of crypto, called dust, is sent to several wallet addresses. This attack is deployed in order to track these addresses with the hope of “un-masking” or de-anonymizing them.

    Dump

    A sudden drop in the price of an asset.

    DYOR

    DYOR is an acronym for Do Your Own Research, encouraging investors to complete due diligence into a project before investing.

    DeFi

    DeFi or Decentralized Finance is a blanket term for decentralized alternatives to traditional (centralized) finance. It is a blockchain-based form of finance that does not rely on central financial intermediaries, making them open for anyone to use, rather than going through middlemen like banks or brokerages.

    DeFi Degens

    Degens is shorthand for Degenerate. Degen trading or Degen mode is when a trader invests without proper due diligence and research into a project and speculate on the price swings.

    Dead Cat Bounce

    A dead cat bounce is a trading jargon meaning a temporary, short-lived recovery of asset prices from a prolonged decline or a bear market that is followed by the continuation of the downtrend.

    DPoS

    Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is a popular evolution of the PoS concept, whereby users of the network vote and elect delegates to validate the next block.

    Dip

    A dip is when markets experience a short or protracted downturn in prices.

    DDoS attack

    DDoS stands for ‘distributed denial of service’. Such attacks attempt to render a site to a halt by overloading it with traffic.

    #E

    EEA

    Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is a group of organizations and companies working together to further develop the Ethereum network.

    EIP

    Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) describe standards for the Ethereum platform, including core protocol specifications, client APIs, and contract standards.

    Ethereum

    Ethereum is a decentralized, open source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. After Bitcoin, it is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and is the most actively used blockchain.

    ERC-20

    ERC20 is a token standard used for creating and issuing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC stands for “Ethereum Request for Comment,” and it enables smart contracts to operate as tradeable tokens.

    ERC-721

    ERC 721 is a token standard that describes how to build non-fungible (unique tokens) on the Ethereum blockchain.

    ERC-1155

    ERC-1155 is a digital token standard created by Enjin that can be used to create both fungible (currencies) and non-fungible (digital cards, pets and in-game skins) assets on the Ethereum Network.

    EVM

    Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a Turing-complete virtual machine that enables execution of code as intended on the Ethereum network. It is the runtime environment for every smart contract and every Ethereum node runs on the EVM to maintain consensus across the blockchain.

    ELI5

    ELI5 is short for “Explain Like I’m Five” is a plea for simplicity when crypto concepts are being explained.

    Exchange

    Cryptocurrency exchanges are a marketplace where users can trade cryptocurrencies for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies.

    Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

    A security that tracks a basket of assets such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies but can be traded like a single stock.

    #F

    51% attack

    A theoretical attack where if an entity gains 51% of the hashing power, they can perform double-spends and other malicious activities on a cryptocurrency.

    Fiat

    Fiat money is government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity, such as gold or silver, but rather by the government that issued it. It can take the form of physical cash, or it can be represented electronically, such as with bank credit.

    FOMO

    An acronym that stands for “Fear of Missing Out” and in the context of investing, refers to the feeling of apprehension for missing out on a potentially profitable investment opportunity and regretting it later.

    FUD

    An acronym that stands for “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.” It is a strategy to influence perception of certain cryptocurrencies or the market as a whole in general by spreading negative, misleading or false information.

    Flash Crash

    A flash crash is a market condition where an asset’s price falls very rapidly within a very brief time interval.

    Flash Loans

    Flash loans are a new type of uncollateralized loans enforced by smart contracts. They enable you to borrow instantly without collateral, provided that liquidity is returned to the pool within one transaction.

    Flippening

    A hypothetical situation whereby the total market cap of Ethereum surpasses the total market cap of Bitcoin.

    Full Node

    Nodes that download and maintain a blockchain’s entire history in order to observe and enforce its rules.

    Funding rates

    All cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges use funding rates for perpetual contracts. Funding rates are periodic payments to long or short traders based on the difference between the perpetual contract market and the spot price. Depending on open positions, traders will either pay or receive funding.

    Fungible

    In cryptocurrency, fungibility is when a coin or token have identical characteristics and can therefore be interchanged easily.

    Futures

    A futures contract is a standardized legal agreement to buy or sell a particular asset at a predetermined quantity, price and at a specified time in the future.

    #G

    Gas

    Gas refers to a unit of measuring the computational effort of conducting transactions or smart contracts on the Ethereum network. It is the price you are willing to pay to miners for a transaction.

    Genesis Block

    Genesis Block is the first block of data that is processed and validated to form a new blockchain, often referred to as block 0 or block 1.

    GitHub

    GitHub is one of the most popular code hosting platforms, allowing developers to collaborate on various projects.

    Governance

    In the world of cryptocurrencies, governance is defined as the people or organizations that have decision-making powers regarding the project.

    Governance Token

    Governance tokens are tokens that developers create to allow token holders to help shape the future of a protocol. Governance token holders can influence decisions concerning the project such as proposing or deciding on new feature proposals and even changing the governance system itself.

    Gwei

    Gwei is short for gigawei, or 1,000,000,000 wei. Wei, as the smallest (base) unit of ether, similar to a satoshi in bitcoin. Gwei is used in defining the cost of gas in transactions involving Ether.

    Goxxed

    Goxxed comes from the infamous MtGox hack and refers to a situation when someone leaves their cryptocurrency in an exchange which gets hacked resulting in the loss of funds for the investor.

    #H

    HODL

    “HODL,” which stands for “Hold On for Dear Life” is a term used by members in the crypto industry to express the will to wait and hold a cryptocurrency for a long period of time, regardless of any changes in the price or markets. The acronym originally came from a misspelling of the world “hold”.

    Halving

    An event in which the total rewards, in the form of newly generated crypto, awarded to miners to mine blocks is halved.

    Hard Cap

    A hard cap is the absolute maximum supply of a digital asset.

    Hard fork

    A hard fork is a radical update to the blockchain that creates a permanent change to a digital currency’s protocol. They result in a whole new blockchain, which does not accept any blocks mined using the old rules, leading to a scenario where both the old and the new blockchains exist simultaneously.

    Hardware Wallet

    A hardware wallet is a physical wallet for cryptocurrencies that usually resemble a USB stick. They are one of the safest ways to store your cryptocurrencies since they are not connected to the internet.

    Hot Storage

    Hot storage refers to any crypto wallet that is run through an internet connected system. Hot wallets can be run on the cloud, a mobile device, or a desktop allowing for quicker access to the cryptocurrency.

    Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet (HD Wallet)

    A Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallet generates a new key pair from a master key pair for each crypto transaction to enhance privacy and security. Its hierarchical structure resembles that of a tree, with the master key “determining” the key pairs that follow it in the hierarchy.

    Hash Function

    A hash function is a mathematical function that converts an input of an arbitrary length into an encrypted output of a fixed length. This means regardless of the original amount of data or file size involved, its unique hash will always be the same size. Bitcoin uses the SHA256 hashing algorithm.

    Hash Rate

    Hash Rate refers to the total combined computational power that is being used to mine and process transactions on a Proof-of-Work blockchain.

    Honeyminer

    Honeyminer is a cryptocurrency mining app available for download on multiple devices. It allows users to participate in a dynamic mining pool by running the app when the computer’s GPU isn’t in use.

    #I

    ICO

    Comparable to the traditional Initial Public Offering (IPO), an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a type of crowdfunding using cryptocurrency tokens as a means of raising capital for early-stage companies.

    IDO

    An initial DEX offering or IDO refers to the launching of a cryptocurrency on a decentralized exchange (DEX) in order to raise funding from retail investors.

    IEO

    Initial exchange offering (IEO) is a variant of initial coin offerings, operated directly by cryptocurrency exchanges. It is a type of crowdfunding where crypto start-ups generate capital by listing through a centralized crypto exchange.

    IBO

    An Initial Bounty Offering or IBO is a novel way of launching a project with tokens distributed to individuals who contribute time and skills to a platform, rather than their money.

    Impermanent Loss

    Impermanent loss describes the temporary loss of funds experienced by liquidity providers because of volatility in a trading pair. It occurs when you provide liquidity to a liquidity pool, and the price of your deposited assets changes compared to when you deposited them.

    Infinite Approval

    Infinite approval is a smart contract programming practice, giving a smart contract authorization to access unlimited number of tokens from the user’s wallet.

    INO

    An Initial NFT Offering (INO) refers to an initial offering of a limited set of NFTs for sale on a particular NFT marketplace. Projects do this as a form of crowdfunding.

    Instamine

    An instamine occurs when a large quantity of cryptocurrency tokens are brought into existence at once.

    #K

    KYC

    Short for Know Your Customer, KYC is a compliance term referred to checks that crypto exchanges and trading platforms must complete to verify the identity of their customers. They are imposed by regulators who require identity background checks to deter money laundering and terrorist funding.

    #L

    Long

    Going long or having a long position, means making a wager that an asset will rise in value. If a trader purchases a digital currency like bitcoin, they are making a bet that the cryptocurrency will appreciate.

    Limit Order

    A limit order is a type of exchange order that allows traders to purchase or sell a cryptocurrency at a specified price or better. It allows you to set your own price to buy or sell. If the market reaches your limit price, your order will be executed.

    Leverage

    Money that a trader can borrow from a brokerage, enabling them to gain a greater exposure to a position than what their capital allows.

    Liquidation

    The term liquidation simply means selling assets for fiat. Forced liquidation happens when the trader is unable to fulfill margin requirements for a leveraged position when the market goes against their trade.

    Liquidity

    liquidity refers to how easily a cryptocurrency can be bought and sold without greatly impacting the overall market price.

    Liquidity Pool

    Liquidity pools are pools of tokens locked in smart contracts that provide liquidity in decentralized exchanges to reduce the problems caused by the illiquidity typical of such systems.

    Liquidity Provider

    Liquidity providers are decentralized exchange users who fund a liquidity pool with tokens they own.

    LP Tokens

    Liquidity Provider tokens (LP tokens) are crypto tokens issued to liquidity providers on a decentralized exchange in return for providing liquidity. LP tokens represent a liquidity provider’s share of a pool.

    Layer 2

    Layer 2 refers to a secondary framework or protocol that is built on top of an existing blockchain system. The goal is to solve the transaction speed and scaling difficulties being faced by cryptocurrency networks in their base layer.

    Lightning Network

    A second-layer protocol that is designed to solve Bitcoin’s scalability problem by allowing transactions to be processed more quickly.

    Libra (Diem)

    Facebook unveiled the Libra project in 2019 with a vision of being a stablecoin backed by multiple fiat currencies. Due to international regulatory backlash, on April 2020 Libra rebranded to Diem with the team indicating it would launch an array of stablecoins, each backed by a single fiat currency.

    #M

    Moon

    A term often employed as a verb (mooning) to describe a cryptocurrency that is under a strong upward market trend. The phrase “to the moon,” refers to a belief that a cryptocurrency is going to rise significantly in price.

    Market Cap

    Market cap is short for market capitalization, which is the total market value of a cryptocurrency. It is calculated by multiplying the number coins outstanding by the price per coin.

    Max Supply

    The best approximation of the maximum amount of coins that will ever exist in the lifetime of the cryptocurrency.

    Mempool

    A mempool is the digital database maintained by miners, where all unconfirmed transactions generated on the blockchain network are parked before they are sequentially aggregated into blocks.

    Merkle Tree

    A Merkle tree, is a mathematical data structure composed of hashes of different blocks of data, and which serves as a summary of all the transactions in a block. It also allows for efficient and secure verification and helps to verify the consistency and content of the data in blockchain.

    Seed Phrase

    A mnemonic phrase (also known as mnemonic seed, or seed phrase) is a cryptographically derived security code composed of a list of random words in a specific order, typically ranging between 12 and 14, which is used to recover a cryptocurrency wallet.

    Multi-Sig Wallet

    Multi Signature (Multi-Sig) wallets, are cryptocurrency wallets that require two or more private keys to sign and send a transaction.

    Mineable

    Cryptocurrencies are said to be mineable when they have a system through which miners are rewarded with newly created coins for verifying unconfirmed transactions through contributing hash power.

    Mining

    Mining is the process of verifying new transactions on a blockchain by miners. This verification requires hardware and electricity, and miners are rewarded with newly minted crypto for performing this task.

    Miners

    Miners are individuals with computers and processors across the globe who verify transactions, bundle them in a block and add their block to the existing blockchain. They also maintain a copy of all the transaction ever made on a blockchain network.

    Mining Pool

    A setup where multiple miners combine their computing power to gain economies of scale and competitiveness in finding the next block on a blockchain, with rewards split among participants.

    Market Maker, Market Taker

    A Market maker places an order (to buy or sell at a quoted price), while a Market taker accepts that placed order (to execute the buy or sell at the quoted price).

    Market Order

    A market order is an instant buy or sell of a cryptocurrency for the best available price at that time, in contrast to limit orders where a cryptocurrency is bought or sold only at a specified price.

    Margin Trading

    A practice where a trader uses borrowed funds from a broker to trade a cryptocurrency, which forms the collateral for the loan from the broker. It can be relatively risky for inexperienced traders who may receive a margin call if the market moves in the opposite direction of their trades.

    Margin Call

    A margin call occurs when the value of an investor’s margin account falls below the broker’s required amount. When a margin call occurs, the investor must choose to either deposit more money in the account or sell some of the assets held in their account.

    Metaverse

    A virtual world which is created mostly for people to connect socially, play games, and interact using their digital avatars. They can also further enhance their experience in the metaverse with the use of virtual or augmented reality headsets. The recent popularity of metaverses have also resulted in many companies taking advantage of this trend by hosting concerts, NFT launches, and digital fashion experiences.

    #N

    Noob

    Newcomers are frequently described as “noobs” by industry insiders.

    Node

    A node is the most basic unit of a blockchain infrastructure. It is a computer connected to other computers which follows protocol rules, shares information and stores data. A full node is a computer which hosts and synchronizes a copy of the entire blockchain for a cryptocurrency.

    NFTs

    Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unique cryptographic tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. It is non-replicable, can’t be substituted, and can only have one official owner at a time.

    NGMI

    An abbreviation of “Not Gonna Make It”, it is the opposite of WAGMI (We Are Gonna Make It) and is often used when commenting on bad decisions by cryptocurrency traders or blockchain projects.

    Nonce

    Number only used once (Nonce) which, in the context of cryptocurrency mining, is a number which, when added to a hashed block, meets the difficulty level restrictions. When competing to mine a new block, the first miner to find the nonce is granted the right to add the next block into the blockchain.

    #O

    On-Chain

    Transactions that are recorded on the blockchain itself and can be viewed publicly.

    Open Source

    Open source is a philosophy, with participants believing in the free and open sharing of information in pursuit of the greater common good. In software development, the source code of an open source software is made available to developers and users to modify as they see fit.

    Orphaned Block / Stale Block

    An orphan block is a valid block that has been solved within the blockchain network but was not accepted to the main chain due to a lag within the network itself.

    Oracles

    Blockchain oracles are third-party services that provide smart contracts with external information. They serve as bridges between blockchains and the outside world.

    Order Book

    Order book is the list of all open orders that are currently available on an exchange for a specific trading pair, organized by price level.

    OTC

    Over the Counter (OTC) is defined as a transaction made outside of an exchange, often peer-to-peer through private trades.

    #P

    PAX Gold (PAXG)

    PAX Gold is the first gold-backed and fully regulated digital asset. It represents physical gold bars, with its value tied directly to the real-time market value of the physical gold it represents.

    Private Key

    A private key, made up of a series of alphanumeric characters, is the password that an investor needs to access their digital currency. While anyone can send transactions to the public key, you need the private key to “unlock” them and prove that you are the owner of the cryptocurrency received in the transaction.

    Public Key

    A public key, made up of a series of alphanumeric characters, is the address that you share with people so you can receive cryptocurrency.

    Public Address

    A public address is the cryptographic hash of a public key, allowing the user to use it as an address to request for payment.

    PoW

    Proof-of-Work (PoW) is a blockchain consensus mechanism involving solving of computationally intensive puzzles by miners to validate transactions and create new blocks in return for rewards in the form of newly minted coins.

    PoS

    Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is a blockchain consensus mechanism which allows a miner to validate transactions without spending much electricity, based on the number of coins they have staked in the network. The idea is that a miner will risk losing their stake if they act in a malicious manner.

    PoA

    Proof-of-Authority (PoA) is a blockchain consensus mechanism that uses identity as a stake. A few specific nodes are granted the authority to approve a miner’s ability to create a block. This is a faster alternative to the proof-of-work model, but more centralized.

    DPoS

    Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is a consensus algorithm which is an advancement of the fundamental concepts of PoS. Stakeholders vote for a few delegates that secure the network on their behalf who are then responsible for achieving consensus. The voting power is proportional to the number of coins each user holds.

    Privacy coin

    A cryptocurrency that is completely anonymous and private as individual transactions cannot be tracked on the blockchain. Some of the most well-known privacy coins include Monero, Dash, and Zcash.

    P2P

    Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is the decentralized interactions between parties involving sharing transactions, files or other resources with no middleman in between.

    Paper Wallet

    A paper wallet is a form of cold storage where the private key or seed phrase is written or printed on a piece of paper which the user can then store.

    Pump and Dump

    A “pump and dump” is a type of securities fraud where a market participant, or several participants working together to falsely inflate the price of an asset in order to sell already established position when prices are artificially inflated.

    #R

    REKT

    REKT is a shorthand for the word “wrecked” describing a significant loss in a trade.

    ROI

    Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the profitability of an investment. It is calculated by dividing the profit (return) made on an investment by the initial cost of the investment.

    Replay Attack

    A replay attack, sometimes also called a playback attack, is a cyber-attack in which the malicious entity intercepts and then repeats a valid data transmission going through a network.

    Rug Pull

    A rug pull is a type of exit scam whereby malicious developers abandon a project and escape with investor funds by removing liquidity from a coin pair in a Decentralized Exchange thereby crashing its price.

    #S

    Satoshi Nakamoto

    Satoshi Nakamoto is the individual, or group of individuals, credited with founding the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has not yet been confirmed.

    Satoshi

    A Satoshi is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin and is equivalent to 100th billionth of one Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC). It was named after Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

    Stablecoin

    Stablecoin as the name suggests is a cryptocurrency that is tied to the value of something with extremely low volatility, such as the US dollar, to make it more stable and less volatile in price swings.

    SHA-256

    Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA) -256 is the hash function and mining algorithm of the Bitcoin protocol. It moderates the creation and management of addresses and is also used for transaction verification.

    Smart Contract

    Smart contracts are small pieces of code that runs on a Turing complete blockchain like Ethereum. They are typically used to automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be certain of the outcome, without the involvement of any intermediary.

    Smart Contract Audit

    A smart contract audit is an extensive methodical examination and analysis of a smart contract’s code by a leading security auditing company. This process is conducted to discover errors, issues and security vulnerabilities in the code in order to suggest improvements and ways to fix them.

    Soft Fork

    A soft fork is a backward-compatible protocol upgrade, meaning the upgraded nodes can communicate with the non-upgraded ones. The addition of a new rule that doesn’t clash with the older rules.

    SegWit

    Segregated Witness (SegWit) is a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) aimed to fix transaction malleability on Bitcoin. It refers to a soft fork that separated digital signature data from transaction data, allowing more transactions to fit on one block.

    Staking

    Staking is an activity where a user locks or holds his funds in a cryptocurrency wallet to participate in maintaining the operations of a proof-of-stake (PoS)-based blockchain system.

    Sharding

    Sharding is a scaling approach by splitting a blockchain network into separate shards (smaller pieces), each with its own data, separate from other shards, so as to support more users and increase transaction throughput than the base layer.

    Solidity

    Solidity is the programming language developed and used by Ethereum developers for writing smart contracts.

    Side Chain

    A blockchain ledger that runs in parallel to a primary blockchain, where there is a two-way link between the primary chain and sidechain.

    Security Token

    A security token is essentially a digital form of traditional securities and will therefore be subjected to securities registration requirement.

    STO

    A security token offering (STO) is a public offering where tokenized digital securities are sold to public.

    Slippage

    Slippage happens when traders must settle for a different price than what they initially requested due to a movement in price between the time the order enters the market and the execution of a trade.

    Short/Shorting

    Shorting an asset, also known as taking a short position, means making a bet that the asset will fall in value. It is the act of selling the cryptocurrency in the hope that it falls in value and you can buy it back at a lower price thereby profiting from the difference in market price.

    Shilling

    The act of enthusiastically promoting a cryptocurrency or blockchain project.

    Shitcoin

    A coin with no obvious potential value or usage.

    #T

    TA

    Technical Analysis (TA) attempts to understand the market sentiment behind price trends by looking for patterns and trends rather than analyzing an asset’s fundamental attributes. It is used to scrutinize the ways supply and demand for an asset affect changes in price, volume and volatility.

    Turing-Complete

    Turing Complete refers to a machine that, given enough time and memory along with the necessary instructions, can solve any computational problem, no matter how complex.

    Token

    Tokens are cryptocurrencies that do not have their own blockchain but live on another blockchain like Ethereum, as opposed to Coins which are any cryptocurrency that has a standalone independent blockchain.

    TPS

    Transactions per second (TPS) refers to the number of transactions that a network is capable of processing each second.

    TVL

    Total Value Locked (TVL) represents the number of assets that are currently being staked in a specific protocol.

    2FA

    Two-factor authentication (2FA), sometimes referred to as two-step verification or dual-factor authentication, is a security process in which users provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves to better protect both the user’s credentials and the resources the user can access.

    Testnet

    A testnet is an alternative blockchain used by developers for testing and experimentation without risk to real funds or the main chain.

    Timestamp

    A form of identification for when a certain transaction occurred, usually with date and time of day and accurate to fractions of a second.

    Taproot

    Taproot is an instantiation of a soft fork for Bitcoin, intended to both improve privacy and improve other aspects tied to more complex transactions.

    TLT

    Think Long Term (TLT) is a mindset where you have a longer-term investment horizon.

    #U

    UTXO

    An unspent transaction output (UTXO) refers to a transaction output that can be used as input in a new transaction. These are the transactions that are left unspent after completing a transaction, similar to the change someone receives after conducting a cash transaction at a store.

    Utility Token

    A cryptocurrency that can be used for purposes aside from transactions. When a project creates a utility token, it is essentially creating a form of a digital coupon that can be redeemed in the future for discounted fees or special access to a product or service.

    #V

    Vanity Address

    A cryptocurrency public address with custom letters and numbers, usually picked by its owner.

    Virgin Bitcoin

    A bitcoin that has never been spent.

    Validator

    A blockchain validator is someone who is responsible for verifying transactions on a blockchain.

    #W

    Whale

    A term used to describe investors who have uncommonly large amounts of crypto, especially those with enough funds to manipulate the market.

    WAGMI

    Short for “We All Gonna Make It”, this term is used amongst cryptocurrency traders to reassure each other when the market or a specific cryptocurrency is not performing well.

    Wallet

    A crypto wallet is the place where cryptocurrencies are stored and from where a user can send and receive digital assets. Wallets come in a variety of forms, including hardware and software.

    Whitepaper

    A white paper is a document released by a project that outlines what a cryptocurrency is created to do by providing technical information about its concept, and a roadmap for how it plans to grow and succeed.

    Whitelist

    The term whitelist refers to a list of allowed and identified individuals, institutions, computer programs, or even cryptocurrency addresses in an initial offering of tokens by a project.

    Weak Hands

    An investor prone to panic selling at the first sign of a price decline.

    When Lambo

    When Lambo is a slang referring to cryptocurrency holders hoping to become rich enough to afford the purchase of a Lamborghini, or any such expensive car, with the profits.

    When Moon

    A phrase used to ask when the price of cryptocurrencies will rise exponentially.

    Wyckoff Pattern

    The Wyckoff Pattern, developed by Richard Wyckoff, an early 20th-century, is a chart pattern which centered around the realization that price trends were driven primarily by institutional and other large operators who manipulate markets in their favor.

    #Y

    Yield Farming

    Yield farming involves earning interest by investing crypto in decentralized finance markets.

    #Z

    Zero-Knowledge Proof

    Zero-knowledge Proof is an encryption scheme in which one party (the Prover) can prove that a specific statement is true to the other party (the Verifier) without disclosing any additional information.

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

  • Risk Management Strategies in Crypto Derivatives Trading

    Risk Management Strategies in Crypto Derivatives Trading

    What is Derivatives Trading?

    A derivative is a contract based on an underlying financial asset such as a stock, bond, or currency. The value of the underlying asset is subject to changes according to market conditions. 

    Traders can use derivatives to earn profits by speculating future price movements of the underlying asset, a strategy becoming increasingly popular among cryptocurrency traders.

    Why the Need for Risk Management?

    The cryptocurrency market is volatile and speculative.

    Everyone will take losses, including the most experienced professional traders. That is the name of the game. 

    Without risk management, a trader could deplete their budget and the game is over. The most important goal is to stay in the game. By analyzing platforms like Online Casinos Schweiz, traders can gain insights into managing their funds wisely. As long as the trader is still playing, they can make up for losses. 

    For that reason, it’s important to know when to take losses, how to manage risk, and generally aim to make more good trades than bad ones. 

    Important Things to Consider Before Trading 

    First, a trader should determine their total budget. 

    It does not matter if it is $100 or $100,000,000. The essential point is to have a given budget freely available. Traders should not use loaned money, which has to be paid back at a deadline. Using retirement money is not encouraged either. 

    A trader’s budget should be considered as “play money”. If a trader is emotionally attached to that money, these emotions can affect their trading decisions. A trader should aim to be a calm and collected statistician, not a passionate and desperate gambler.

    Once a budget has been allocated, the next step is to look for a trade. There are tools available to find trades such as fundamental, sentiment, and technical analysis. But before entering a trade, a trader should determine the risk size, entry price, and stop loss.

    The general rule of thumb for new traders is to risk at most 1% of the budget per trade. 

    The entry price might be the current market price or the limit set for an order.

    Finally, it is essential to decide a stop loss before one enters a trade. How can a trader pick a stop loss? Technical analysis is the only available method, apart from randomly picking something. A trader can look at support and resistance levels, or trendlines.

    These are the four ingredients for risk management: Budget, risk size, entry price, and stop loss. Having these ingredients will make it easier to manage risks when trading.

    Transaction or Trade Volume

    The volume of a transaction or trade is also known as “position size”. The position size is defined in relation to a trader’s risk tolerance and the size of their budget. 

    What are some risk management formulas that traders can use to determine their position size?

    Here is one example:

    Position Size = (Risk x Budget) / (Entry Price – Stop Loss)

    Let’s say the trader has a budget of $10,000 and wants to buy Bitcoin for $30,000 with a stop loss at $29,500 and a risk of 1%.

    Their position size would be (1% x $10,000) / ($30,000 – $29,500) = $100 / $500 = 0.2. They can buy 0.2 Bitcoin for this trade to stay within their risk tolerance and budget.

    Some consider it advisable to make this calculation before every single trade. It can be tempting to take larger risks. (Zolpidem) However, this can be a recipe for disaster given the volatile crypto markets. 

    It’s always safer to stick to the math and be the calm statistician. 

    A trader can make a spreadsheet, where they can enter the parameters and it computes the position size or risk for them. This way it only takes a few seconds per trade and a trader can easily manage risks with every trade.

    Stop Loss Orders

    Stop loss (or just “stop”) is an order that traders can set to automatically close losing trades. It is the primary tool for risk management because traders can manage trades effectively during abrupt and unexpected market changes. 

    For instance, if there was some reported hacking, it could prompt a large price movement for the asset. If a trader has open trades and they happen to be in the opposite direction of the market movement, then they could be in danger of losing all their invested funds. A stop loss to sell will automatically prevent that from happening, which is why traders should always place a sell stop to avoid considerable losses.

    Traders can also use a buy stop to buy when a target price is hit. A buy stop can be useful for automatically buying into target entry points.

    Stick to the Trading Strategy

    A trading strategy is only effective when a trader sticks with it, in sickness and in wealth. 

    Trading is a matter of getting the law of averages to work in one’s favour, so maintaining discipline is vital for consistent and profitable trading. 

    That being said, a trader’s strategy should be developed to fit their own goals, risk tolerance, and lifestyle. It should be based on reality, not on hope. 

    If a trader tries to copy someone else’s trading strategy without truly understanding it, chances are they will be incompatible with the strategy and will have trouble following it.

    At the end of the day, each trader is accountable for their own trade decisions and therefore must be cautious when deciding on a trading strategy and seeking market opportunities. 

    Avoid Emotional Trading

    There are two main emotions that will try to sway a trader from their strategy: fear and greed. These emotions are the culprits behind FOMO.

    FOMO – the fear of missing out – is when a trader is afraid of missing out on a huge trading opportunity in the market. When FOMO happens, traders are susceptible to abandoning their strategy to chase the trading opportunity. 

    Greed can cause a trader to buy when prices are high because they are afraid of missing out on future gains, and fear can cause a trader to sell when prices are low because they are afraid of losing too much.

    Fear and greed are amplified when a trading decision is based on hype rather than research and calculated strategy.

    Understanding one’s emotions and keeping them under control will help traders avoid taking uncalculated risks caused by FOMO, and other emotional trading mistakes such as revenge trading.

    Revenge trading happens when a trader tries to force a trade to recover from a loss. It’s driven by anger suffered from the loss and lust to make it all back quickly. This type of trading can easily cause a trader to invest more than they can afford to lose.

    When a trader is overexposed in an asset, they aren’t trading or investing, they are gambling. When one gambles in general, things start going wrong, both logistically and psychologically.

    Final Words: Risk, Reward, and Statistics

    General wisdom says that it is best to invest and trade using small amounts of the total capital set aside for cryptocurrency.

    That wisdom is rooted in two general concepts: 

    1. Risk / Reward
    2. Statistics

    Statistically, the larger the bid size, the more potential risk / potential reward per position. 

    Reward is nice, but to ensure rewards over time it is vital to limit risk.

    The reality is that the risk of large bid sizes (relative to the total budget) outweigh the potential rewards statistically, over time, on average.

    Consider a budget of $100. Now consider using that entire budget and losing 50% twice in a row, as opposed to using half the budget and doubling it twice. One leaves you with $25 and the other gets you to $225.

    If $100 turns into $25, getting back to $100 will be a real challenge.

    But if 5% of $100 is risked, that’s a total of $5. Even if lost, getting back to $100 from $95 is much easier. Sure, it will take more time to get to $225 using smaller bets, but statistically there will be many more opportunities to make gains and avoid losses.

    There will be more room for skill, and less reliance on luck. Remember that anyone can get lucky, but luck can and usually will run out. Statistics are usually a safer bet.

    Sources:
    https://phemex.com/blogs/risk-management-in-cryptocurrency-derivatives-trading
    https://www.coininsider.com/risk-management-in-crypto-trading/
    https://learn.bybit.com/trading/crypto-trading-risk-management/
    https://www.axi.com/int/blog/education/5-effective-ways-to-fight-revenge-trading#:~:text=Step%20back%20temporarily&text=Take%20a%20day%20off%20or,consider%20revising%20your%20trading%20plan
    https://cryptocurrencyfacts.com/the-basics-of-risk-management-and-position-sizing-in-cryptocurrency

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

  • Plus Token (PLUS) Scam – Anatomy of a Ponzi

    Plus Token (PLUS) Scam – Anatomy of a Ponzi

    What is Plus Token?

    “Plus Token” was a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme disguised as a high-yield investment program. Platform administrators closed down the operation in June of 2019. Fraudsters abandoned the scheme by withdrawing over $3 Billion dollars in Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and EOS) and leaving the message “sorry we have run“. This has led to an international manhunt for the platform administrators and creators of Plus Token. Plus token has been blamed for causing Bitcoin prices to fall in 2019 as stolen funds were sold via Bitcoin OTCs.

    PlusToken had a major following in Korea and China – especially among investors not familiar with cryptocurrencies. Plus token was a High Yield investment program that offered massive rewards on “investment” to unsuspecting victims in China and Korea. The scheme offered 9% to 18% monthly returns on investment – with larger investments getting more rewards. This type is similar to other High Yield investment programs like “Bitconnect” which collapsed in January of 2018.

    [wp-compear id=”5217″]

    How did the Plus Token Ponzi Scheme Work?

    Plus Token is a classic Ponzi scheme it lures unsuspecting victims to invest with promises of high returns and low investments. Plus Token maintained an illusion of sustainable business by pretending the funds are used to develop cryptocurrency-related products such as the Plus Token Wallet and Exchange. However, returns are generated by dividing more recent investments to pay off older members. The illusion of a sustainable business is what classifies this as a Ponzi Scheme, as victims actually believe that they are investing in a business that generates high returns.

    Plus Token also had a strong referral element, which gave huge bonuses to any member who referred friends and family into the scheme. Investors were divided into 4 “tiers”, according to how much they invested and how many other referrals they can make. This meant the more a member referred, the exponentially higher the return. Members started to refer their friends and family to invest in large sums of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, and Litecoin.

    Plus Token relied heavily in conferences and meetups to promote the token. The following video is taken at a Plus token gathering.

    Payments stopped 30th June 2019

    Early signs of trouble started surfacing in June of 2019 as users started reporting delays in fund withdraws. Some took to complain on the Chinese social media site “Weibo” citing that they were unable to receive funds despite writing for 35 hours after submitting withdrawal requests (Source Blocktempo).

    Initially, Plus token blamed on “higher miner fees” for the withdrawal delays. They claimed the sent transactions with 1 sat /byte, leading to long delays on the Bitcoin Blockchain. Plus token supporters avidly as their followers to “believe” in the system and disregard the “false information”.

    Ring Leaders tried to convince the community that Plus Token will come back.

    Scammers: “Sorry We have run”

    As funds began moving, one of the transactions carried the note “Sorry, we have run” as a comment to the transaction. This really needs no explanation – organisers of the scam have initiated their exit strategy and fled the country.

    109 members of Plus Token scam have been arrested

    Reports from Chinese news outlet CLS on 30th July 2020 reported that 109 individuals have been arrested in connection with the PlusToken scheme by the Ministry of Public Security. These include all 27 primary suspects thought to be responsible for the scam and another 82 core members.

    Is Plus Token still scamming users?

    On 29th April 2020, there were screenshots of the PlusToken app circulating on Chinese social media of a supposed notice announcing that version 3.0 beta of the app is now online. Subsequently, on 4th May 2020, a further notice was issued by the PlusToken team saying that version 3.0 beta will undergo compatibility synchronization and will stop all transaction functions. The notice further added that once this version is live, some eligible users will receive a reward. However, it seems more like an effort by PlusToken’s ringleaders to placate those who have invested by giving them hope that the project may return.

    Tip of the Iceberg

    PlusToken can be seen as the tip of the Iceberg as there are many other very similar crypto Ponzi schemes and scams. These include Cloud Token, S Block, and other cloud “mining” tokens. At the end of the day, tokens that ‘guarantee’ high returns without a clear and audit-able business plan should generate red flags.

    Laundering stolen funds into exchanges

    Luckily research is being down to track wallets known to be associated with Plus Token (8btc.com, @doveywan, @PeckShield). Work done by @PeckShield has shown funds moving from large wallets (~5000+ Bitcoin) to smaller wallets, and eventually into cryptocurrency exchanges. Due to the large sums of cryptocurrencies moved and actively being sold off – Plus Token played a role in dropping the price of Bitcoin.

    Known amounts scammed – List sum of BTC from identified and tracked addresses. Reports have been circulating that up to ~1% of the entire Bitcoin supply is involved in the scam. Currently more wallets are being added to this list.

    • 70000 BTC ($700,840,000 USD)
    • 789511 ETH ($142,111,980 USD)
    • 26299109 EOS ($92,046,881 USD)

    Known Bitcoin Wallet addresses (Source 1):

    • 1MFgcyJ7ZNSknbTBRaih6zWDE6V1A64tRY (1865 BTC)
    • 3ETAVt2scYBFkBFksuNDk1i5tDLQ2c4zWR (4922 BTC)
    • 3EYsru4LUcN258sENYPu5Py3S5WnqxEcnE (3657 BTC)
    • 3HKs1g7u5a1uU4pC5HaNooYMbL1Lao4mv4 (3928 BTC)
    • 3ESakThMrdVVrbhhcpf9spicyjCg1Uk8Jm (3289 BTC)
    • 33LNws16Wfs12usWBNfa1MSX3YKY6Hdayf (3270 BTC)
    • 3HwY536CxznDxMjiRCFkpx5ykwJbJMZY4w (1725 BTC)
    • 35bCzX3RQEWdquqCPQkmdJdu2K4ut1roUZ (3676.86 BTC)
    • 31owhyALzzPEqUFwRbU5yQR4wNhYEjCiE5 (749.66 BTC)
    • 3PBN3MCpDcZKr7WdyY1ULq1NeGwLNjpkj7 (12000 BTC)
    • 14bwh6gmvol5ntwbvxqjkjdtzv4y5ebtvm (95228 BTC)
    • 33FKcwFhFBKWHh46Ksmxs3QBu8HV7h8QdF (37922 BTC)

    Known EOS Addresses of Plus Token

    • eospstotoken
    • jnhgvbkkfdjf

    Known Ethereum Addresses of Plus Token

    • 0xF4a2eFf88a408ff4c4550148151c33c93442619e
    • 0x997114ca0830e9bee7443368fa27f4af2d4e55a6
    • 0x0f953ef137ee0894cc06383ccb1ef77e76660b5a

    Plus Token Sell-offs Responsible for Bitcoin Price Drop?

    Since as early as August 2019, Chinese cryptocurrency trading groups have already been circulating that due to the sheer amount involved, the scammers trying to dispose of the ill-gotten Bitcoin are pushing prices downward. And this price dump halted on 15th August 2019, coincidentally when Binance was suspended for trading because of a system upgrade.

    In late November 2019, this issue was again brought to the forefront when Twitter user Ergo reported having traced 187,000 BTC of the approximately 200,000 BTC attributed to PlusToken’s investors. As to these funds, Ergo found they were “shuffled” (albeit badly, if at all) and gradually sent to various cryptocurrency exchanges and OTC brokers, primarily Huobi, for sale on the market.

    Ergo’s findings on the PlusToken funds

    Ergo predicts that if all the “mixed” funds were sold from August to November 2019, it would average out to be around 1,300 BTC sold per day. This could lead people to think it would have an effect on Bitcoin prices, which has fallen from USD $9,981.41 on 1st August 2019 to USD $7,182.89 on 4th December 2019.

    Based on Ergo’s estimates of the amounts sold daily, the sell-off of the remaining 58,000 BTC or so Plus Token funds would continue for another 1.5 to 2 months.

    In an apparent pattern, PlusToken scammers move their funds when BTC prices experience volatility. Such was the case on 11th February 2020, when Bitcoin trading at around USD $9,800, almost 12,000 BTC (worth around USD $118 million) from one of the addresses associated with the Plus Token funds were moved and split amongst various other wallets.

    On 7th March 2020, Bitcoin was again trading at over USD $9,000. Again, Plus Token funds were being funneled through mixing services. This time, Twitter user ErgoBTC noticed that a total of 13,000 BTC (worth around USD $210 million) was involved. Analysts such as Kevin Svenson believe the scammers were “slamming the market with sell orders” every time Bitcoin prices went up so as to unload the funds.

    Is there a pattern to the movement of funds associated with Plus Token?

    According to ErgoBTC, the movement of funds to exchanges took a bit of a break from mid-March to early May 2020. Movement to exchanges has since then resumed and around 300-500 BTC/day is being moved to exchanges.

    Last of PlusToken funds moved to exchanges

    On 22nd June 2020, Twitter user Whale Alert found over 26 million EOS (worth over USD$67mil) had been transferred from a wallet associated with PlusToken to an unknown wallet, prompting cryptocurrency traders to go on high alert for potential downward price movement for EOS.

    Indeed on 24th June 2020 we did see a marked dip in EOS prices, though it cannot be confirmed that this was due to a sale of the PlusToken funds.

    EOS prices from 22 to 26 Jun 2020
    EOS prices from 22 to 26 Jun 2020

    Only a matter of a few days later on 24th June 2020, Whale Alert found another huge chunk of PlusToken funds, this time over 789,000 ETH (worth over USD$187 million) had been transferred from a PlusToken wallet to a new address, and yet again to another unknown address.

    These funds were then further split into multiple unknown addresses of varying amounts.

    Twitter user ErgoBTC, who has been following the movement of the PlusToken funds observes that the ETH that was recently transferred is the remainder of PlusToken’s unmixed coins which are now being moved to mixers. The purpose of this is to cloud the movement history of the PlusToken funds, so that they can avoid being flagged by exchanges when they are eventually sold on the market.

    In addition to the movements of EOS and ETH, it’s been a very busy week for PlusToken. So far they have moved over USD$428 million worth of cryptocurrencies to new addresses and the following exchanges: Binance, Huobi, HBTC, OKEx, Gate.io and MXC Exchange.

    Are Exchanges doing anything to deter scammers?

    Those behind Plustoken rely on cryptocurrency Exchanges to dispose of their scammed funds. Cryptocurrency exchanges do have Know Your Customer (KYC) measures in place which should identify and report any such activity since it clearly constitutes money laundering. However previous massive sell-offs by PlusToken took place in Huobi and Okex, thus demonstrating that their KYC and AML measures were ineffective in stopping them in that instance.

    Since the previous selloff, exchanges have stepped up their standards. For example, in reaction to the selloff Huobi has launched Star Atlas, an on-chain analytics tool to identify problematic activities such as fraud and money laundering on their Exchange. Meanwhile, peer-to-peer exchange Paxful has partnered with Chainalysis so that the exchange’s transactions can be monitored in real time.

    In the latest sell off, it has already been found that substantial funds are being mixed and deposited into Binance, Huobi, HBTC, OKEx, Gate.io and MXC Exchange. Nothing has happened yet, but many traders are already watching to see if a market crash could be incoming, whilst questioning whether the affected exchanges will take any action on the funds that are now in their hands.

    Chinese police seized US$4.2b of PlusToken, forfeited to China’s treasury

    Filings from the Yancheng Intermediate People’s Court reveal that authorities have seized 194,775 Bitcoin (BTC), 833,083 Ether (ETH), 1.4 million Litecoin (LTC), 27.6m EOS, 74,167 Dash, 487m XRP, 6bn Dogecoin (DOGE), 79,581 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and 213,724 Tether (USDT) from 7 individuals convicted in connection with this case.

    This totals around USD$4.2bn worth of cryptocurrencies!

    Court filings have also indicated that the seized cryptocurrencies will be forfeited to the National Treasury. This is because in China, trading and dealing in cryptocurrencies is illegal. So victims have no legal right for return of the seized assets.

    Hence some victims have joked that they have inadvertently contributed to the national treasury.

    What is happening to Plus Token in 2022?

    It seems that the Plus Token saga, which started all the way back in 2018 had drawn to a close in December 2020 when the court in Jiangsu province, China sentenced the ringleaders of the Plus Token scheme to up to 11 years imprisonment. The main ringleader, Chen Bo and 13 other ringleaders were sentenced to between 2 and 11 years in jail. They were also fined various amounts ranging from 120,000 yuan to 6 million yuan. Another associate, Chen Tao, who was responsible for transferring the illegally obtained funds, was sentenced to over 4 years imprisonment.

    As mentioned in the previous section, all the confiscated cryptocurrencies obtained from the Plus Token fraudsters were turned over to the state.

    The Plus Token scam however is not dead in 2022. We can see from various social media outlets that people making periodical videos saying that the Plus Token project is alive and that they are working with a top Asian cryptocurrency exchange. Furthermore, these “influencers” who apparently have connections with those involved with Plus Token allege that once Plus Token is launched, they will not have a native token but instead the Plus Token proceeds will be issued in the form of that exchange’s own token.

    Note however that the “major Asian exchange” in question has never mentioned any working relationship with Plus Token, nor has there been any announcement that they will issue their own native token.

    Plus Token Sources and References

    Chinese Sources and News Coverage

    Special thanks to Matthew Graham for providing the videos and research!

    https://3kemao.com/archives/124864?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0 https://www.ccvalue.cn/article/3952.html?from=singlemessage https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EJLo-Rjjzz283FOCbzuLuA https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HQxl5gKd0105tUIsQ0TQPg https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rPtQAo0sf4P_LDM-8K0Z1g

    Crypto Wallet Addresses

    Chainnode Research: https://www.8btc.com/article/440193
    BlockTempo: https://www.blocktempo.com/unable-to-withdarw-plustoken-is-crashing-down/
    Plus Token Wallet Addresses: http://gscaijing.com/archives/21291
    CoinTelegraph https://cointelegraph.com/news/3b-ponzi-scheme-is-now-allegedly-dumping-bitcoin-by-the-hundreds

    Arrests / Man-hunt

    SCMP: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3016604/six-chinese-nationals-wanted-beijing-internet-scam-arrested

    SCMP: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3112115/chinese-cryptocurrency-scam-ringleaders-jailed-us225-billion

    Plus Token sell-offs and Bitcoin price correlation?

    8BTC: https://news.8btc.com/bitcoin-dip-allegedly-a-result-of-incessant-bitcoin-selloffs-from-3-billion-ponzi-scheme

    Findings from Twitter user Ergo: https://twitter.com/ErgoBTC/status/1197496064854634496?s=20

    Updated on 4th December 2019 to include new section- Plus Token Sell-offs Responsible for Bitcoin Price Drop?
    Updated on 18th December 2019 to correct spelling mistakes and more details of how the Ponzi Scheme operated
    Updated on 9th March 2020 on the latest Plus Token moves in 2020.
    Updated on 25th May 2020 on the latest PlusToken prosecutions and ver 3.0 beta of the app.
    Updated on 25th June 2020 on the movements of PlusToken’s remaining unmixed funds in the week of 21st June 2020.
    Updated on 2nd July 2020 on what exchanges are doing in response

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

  • Stacks ($STX): Bringing Bitcoin’s security to decentralised apps

    Stacks ($STX): Bringing Bitcoin’s security to decentralised apps

    Stacks ($STX) (formerly Blockstack) is an open-source network that allows developers to easily build decentralised applications (such as decentralised finance DeFi applications) and smart contracts. It also relies on Bitcoin as a backbone by reusing its computing power and blockchain for settlement and security with a new mechanism known as proof of transfer (PoX). Below, we look into PoX and everything you need to know about Stacks.


    Background

    Stacks is handled by a globally-distributed team that includes scientists from leading universities such as MIT, Stanford, and Princeton. On top of that, The project is a public company with its headquarters in New York.

    Stacks’s place in the DeFi and broader crypto ecosystem is further cemented by being backed by notable names in the industry such as Y Combinator, Foundation Capital, Digital Currency Group, Winklevoss Capital, and LUX.

    What is Stacks?

    Stacks is a decentralized platform that leverages the Bitcoin platform’s security to power the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (Dapps). Interestingly, the network does not have to recreate the system’s PoW mechanism to connect to it. The project has four major layers; application, protocol, Stacks blockchain, and the Bitcoin system.

    What is Proof of Transfer (PoX)?

    Proof of Transfer (PoX) and the earliest Proof of Work (PoW) are requirements to define what a miner needs to do in order to create blocks on the blockchain. The purpose of mining is to verify a transactions’ legitimacy and in return miners are rewarded with cryptocurrencies. Proof of Work is the mechanism used for Bitcoin whereby miners compete to solve a puzzle using their computer’s processing power in order to add each block to the chain.

    Learn more about what REAL cryptocurrency mining looks like.

    However, Bitcoin has its fair share of drawbacks. It has a very low transaction speed and is not smart contract-friendly. Therefore, second-layer solutions like the Lightning Network have tried to provide fast Bitcoin transactions but failed to power smart contracts.

    As such, it has lost in the competition to Ethereum who now powers most decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Yet, with Ethereum witnessing increased congestion, new projects are shifting from Bitcoin and Ethereum’s proof of work (PoW) to platforms using proof of stake (PoS) and other energy-friendly consensus mechanisms such as proof of burn (PoB). Now Stacks wants to take this a step further with their proof of transfer (PoX).

    Name What miner needs to do to mint new cryptocurrencies
    Proof of work (PoW) Use electricity towards computations i.e. solving complex problems.
    Proof of stake (PoS) Dedicate an economic stake in a base cryptocurrency
    Proof of burn (PoB) Destroy a base cryptocurrency
    Proof of transfer (PoX) Transfer a base cryptocurrency
    Proof of work and other mechanisms

    Stacks Blockchain

    As mentioned earlier, Stacks has four major layers; application, protocol, Stacks blockchain, and the Bitcoin system.

    Stacks blockchain is the solid rock that holds the ecosystem together. It is a distributed layer by itself and allows users to create smart contracts and virtual assets. What’s interesting with this layer is that it’s not a layer two chain but connects to the BTC-powered network with a 1:1 block ratio.

    This implies that whatever happens on the Stacks platform is easily verifiable on the Bitcoin platform.

    How Do the Two Platforms Connect?

    To interface the two independent distributed networks, the Stacks blockchain uses PoX instead of PoW. Generally, the mechanism enables miners to mine a new digital currency by transferring a base currency. In the case of Stacks, transferring BTC results in a new coin being minted on the Stacks protocol.

    Apart from fronting a new consensus mechanism i.e. PoX, the decentralized platform allows its users to easily create virtual assets that are transferable, and ownership can be assigned. The assets can represent a wide range of use cases such as business models, funding, and governance.

    However, to effectively cater to each of these use cases, Stacks, through the Stacks blockchain, supports different asset types such as fungible and non-fungible tokens.

    Learn more about the differences between fungible and non-fungible tokens.

    To power smart contracts, the Stacks blockchain uses a smart contract-centric programming language called Clarity, which provides enhanced security. Notably, the programming language is employed by leading decentralized platforms such as Algorand.

    Protocol Layer

    The protocol layer has the storage, authentication, financial, and naming service. Stacks’ storage system is called Gaia. It stores app data without the need for a third-party service provider.

    It utilizes off-chain cloud systems such as a DigitalOcean or Azure to power super-fast data access by applications. Fortunately, the data is secured by its creator’s private key.

    On the other hand, Stacks uses a decentralized feature to provide authentication. Authentication powers access to the network’s apps using a username and details on Gaia.

    The financial aspect of the system supports DeFi platforms such as those providing decentralized exchanges and lending. The financial pillar is further strengthened by the protocol’s use of Clarity to drive smart contracts.

    For instance, the smart contract-programming language can interface directly with the Bitcoin blockchain. Additionally, it’s reinforced to prevent security breaches and anticipate possible vulnerabilities.

    Stacks has a unique naming feature called BNS (Blockstack Naming Service). Despite being decentralized, the service enables the platform’s users to give assets human-readable names. The names are secured with a combination of public and private keys.

    $STX Token: What is is and tokenomics?

    Activities on the Stacks blockchain are powered by a native currency known as Stacks token ($STX). It is used up as “fuel” when making transactions, interacting with smart contracts and using the BNS feature. It is also distributed as a reward to STX miners (see below).

    The genesis block minted 1.3 billion Stacks tokens. Minted coins were shared among the founders, treasury, equity investors, employees, two token sales, and app mining.

    Stacks token distribution
    Stacks token distribution (Image credit: Stacks Whitepaper)

    App mining is Stacks’ way to reward developers for building high-quality applications on the Stacks network.

    Stacks is available on Binance, HashKey, Crypto.com, and Kucoin. Unfortunately, its availability has been set for non-US persons only.

    Stack Network’s Use Cases

    From the start, the platform is built to enable privacy and allow users to control how their data is used in a world where user data is treated as a commodity for sale. And with Stacks’ use of PoX, Clarity, and other qualities, developers can ensure data privacy when creating apps, eliminate central authorities in financial products, and build fair games.

    Stacks 2.0 and use cases

    Stacks 2.0 blockchain is a layer-1 blockchain utilising the Bitcoin blockchain as a secure base-layer to bring apps and smart contracts to Bitcoin. Stacks 2.0 is currently in the testnet phase. The team have confirmed they are on track to reach code completion for the Stacks 2.0 blockchain by 15th December 2020 and have set a launch date for 14th January 2021.

    Stacks implements proof of transfer (PoX) as a consensus mechanism and natively connects to Bitcoin. Therefore developers can ensure data privacy when creating apps, eliminate central authorities in financial products, and build fair games without the need to modify Bitcoin.

    There will be 2 types of participants on Stacks

    STX miners

    They can spend BTC to elect leaders by sending transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, where a Verifiable Random Function (VRF) will randomly select the leader of each round. The leader then writes the new block on the Stacks chain.

    As a reward, STX miners get STX tokens, transaction fees, and the Clarity contract execution fees of each block.

    STX holders

    Holders can participate in consensus by locking up their STX for a cycle, running a full node, and sending useful information on the Stacks network as transactions.

    As a reward, STX holders can earn Bitcoin rewards and unlike in the proof of stake mechanism, there is no risk of slashing for STX holders.

    Conclusion

    With an increasing number of security breaches on smart contracts and blockchain platforms, leveraging Bitcoin’s security when building smart contracts puts Stacks at the top of the game. Using Clarity at the base of every smart contract keeps hackers at bay, especially in the DeFi scene where malicious actors are always on the prowl for vulnerabilities in protocols.

    Additionally, Chainlink oracles provide a trusted source of off-chain data for developers, while PoX allows for a one-on-one connection to the BTC-powered blockchain.

    We are certainly curious to see what the team come up with in Stacks 2.0 and whether they can live up to their aims.

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

  • How To Stake Ethereum 2.0 on Allnodes?

    How To Stake Ethereum 2.0 on Allnodes?

    Staking on Ethereum 2.0 is finally live. However, the process of connecting your Ethereum (ETH) coins can be a bit tricky. It’s not all about sending 32 ETH to the contract. Doing so would end up with you losing your funds. In this tutorial, we will cover how to connect to the ETH staking contract through a validator node. Furthermore, we shall be using Allnodes, a non-custodial platform for hosting nodes.

    How To Set up an ETH 2.0 Validator?

    Setting up an Ethereum 2.0 validator remains a technical but increasingly accessible process. The following steps reflect the latest requirements and best practices.

    Step 1: Prepare Your ETH and Wallet

    You will need 32 ETH to activate a validator. Use a secure wallet such as MetaMask, ideally connected to a hardware wallet like Ledger or Trezor. Ensure your wallet is connected to the Ethereum mainnet and has enough ETH to cover gas fees.

    Step 2: Hardware Requirements

    With the rollout of Danksharding and increased network throughput, validator nodes now require more robust hardware:

    • SSD storage of at least 2TB, with 4TB recommended
    • Minimum 32GB RAM, preferably 64GB
    • Multi-core CPU with virtualization support
    • Reliable internet connection with at least 1GB/hour bandwidth for both upload and download

    Step 3: Choose Your Hosting Platform

    Allnodes continues to be a popular non-custodial hosting option. Monthly fees range from $5 to $10 depending on your configuration. Other platforms include DappNode, Avado, and Stakely.

    Step 4: Use the ETH 2.0 Launchpad

    Visit the Ethereum Launchpad to begin validator registration. Review the updated validator responsibilities, which include attesting to blocks, maintaining uptime to avoid slashing, and committing to long-term participation in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system.

    Step 5: Generate Validator Keys

    Use the official Ethereum CLI tool to generate your validator and withdrawal keys. Choose your operating system and follow the instructions. Store your mnemonic phrase securely and offline.

    CLI window

    Step 6: Upload Deposit Data

    Upload the deposit_data.json file to the Launchpad. Connect your wallet and confirm the transaction. You can verify your validator status on the Beacon Chain Explorer using your validator address.

    Step 7: Finalize Hosting on Allnodes

    Log into Allnodes and select the ETH 2.0 hosting option. Upload your deposit data, keystore file, and CLI-generated password. Monitor your validator’s performance through the Allnodes dashboard.

    Step 8: Maintenance and Monitoring

    Keep your node online at all times to avoid penalties. Use monitoring tools such as Grafana, Prometheus, or Allnodes’ built-in analytics. Annual returns for validators currently range between 3 and 4 percent, depending on network conditions.

    Manage your Allnodes account

    Keeping your Ethereum validator running on Allnodes is simple and secure:

    • Hosting Fees: Around $5–$8/month per validator. Pay with crypto or credit card.
    • Validator Rewards: Earn ~2.7–3.2% APR in ETH. Rewards auto-send to your withdrawal address.
    • Monitoring Tools: Real-time status, performance alerts, and uptime tracking via dashboard or external integrations.
    • Security: Allnodes is non-custodial. You manage your mnemonic and withdrawal keys—never share them.
    • Maintenance: Stay online 24/7, pay hosting fees on time, and monitor alerts to avoid penalties or slashing.

    Update: Returns on my Allnodes node?

    As of June 2022, my validator node balance is at 35.45202. This means I have earned a total of around 3.45 ETH since I set it up 2 years ago in 2020. Note that results may vary and those who set up their node earlier (as was in my case) were able to enjoy a 16% APY.

    Conclusion

    Ethereum 2.0 is being continuously developed by the Ethereum Foundation to be able to run on a wide range of computing devices. The above tutorial on how to set up an ETH 2.0 validator node using Allnodes covers every corner of the process. However, critical details such as mnemonics and passwords should be kept secure since they determine access to the deposited coins.

    In addition, it’s worth noting that the process happens on three platforms, Allnodes, ETH 2.0 Launchpad, and CLI. Therefore, the three systems must harmoniously work together to get the desired outcome.

    FAQs:

    What if You Don’t Have the Full Amount?

    Good question. First, NO. a validator node needs the full amount.

    Can the ETH 2.0 Staking Contract Take Less Than 32 ETH?

    However, you can still stake a lower amount only that it will be through third parties such as participating cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.

    Can I withdraw the rewards I earn from staking?

    NO, not until ETH 2.0 reaches Phase 1, which is likely to be in 1 year or possibly more.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

    Background

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

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

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

    What is Base Protocol?

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

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

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

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

    Features of Base Protocol

    Base Protocol as a Synthetic Asset

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

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

    Elastic supply

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

    Rebasing- how does it work?

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

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

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

    Example

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

    BASE Token ($BASE)

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

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

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

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

    Uses for $BASE token

    Price Reference

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

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

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

    Safe Haven

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

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

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

    Price Reference

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

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

    Lending Instrument

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

    Base Cascade

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

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

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

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

    Conclusion

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

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

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