LABS Group aims to realise everyone’s dream of real estate ownership through fractionalising real estate investments.
Traditionally, entry into the real estate industry requires a substantial investment due to the indivisibility of assets. Consequently, small investors find this asset class completely out of their reach.
Among the few platforms trying a stab at bringing real estate to the masses is LABS Group. Through its ecosystem token and utilising decentralised finance (DeFi) and governance, its mission is to intelligently blend the centralized and the decentralized worlds of real estate to improve its liquidity.
Check out our interview with Chairman Mahesh Harilela (or listen to the podcast).
Tokenizing Real Estate Assets-LABS Group with Mahesh Harilela
Mahesh Harilela, is the Company’s Chairman. Mahesh comes from one of the most prominent families in Hong Kong, which owns 19 hotel properties worldwide through the Harilela Group. Mahesh himself has certainly inherited the family’s entrepreneurial spirit and is involved in Trading, Brand Development, Renewable Energy Infrastructure, Agriculture and Education. He is also Chairman of the Board and CEO of M. Harilela Global Investments Ltd and Asia CBD Pte Ltd.
What is Labs?
LABS is a leading blockchain-based ecosystem for real estate investments. The platform seeks to bring more people into the space by fractionalizing investments. Compared with other legacy modes of investing in the real estate space like private equity funds, REITs, and direct investment, LABS emerges as the winner.
For instance, it ticks crucial boxes such as low fees, governance, ownership, staking for profit, tradable, among others.
Critical issues the protocol is trying to solve include:
Costly entry and exit prices – Currently, the median entry price into the ecosystem is high. The cost rises as you enter into big cities. Apart from entry points, exit costs are driven through the roof by third parties such as agencies.
Eradicate reliance on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) – Although they allow pooled investments, they are majorly open to deep-pocketed individuals.
Complicated access to a global network – International property ownership is a nightmare in the current state of the real estate industry.
Low Liquidity – The traditional real estate market restricts investors from selling to the local market due to low liquidity.
High fees – The fees range from taxes, agent fees, and transaction fees that introduce inefficiencies in the conventional market.
Labs uses different approaches to solve key issues plaguing the traditional real estate industry permanently. These are:
Crowdfunding
The project believes in fractionalizing real estate assets, making it possible for multiple investors to put their money in the same assets by reducing the entry costs. Additionally, it minimizes the need for investors to stretch their cash reserves unnecessarily. In doing so, it reduces the risks of losing a lot of money.
Powering a Global Portfolio
With digitization, the project removes the global barrier. Consequently, it provides investors with a chance to have a global portfolio of real estate assets. (contentbeta) This lowers the risks for investors. Apart from enabling them to build a global portfolio, the digitization process enables investors to mimic traditional asset features like a store of value.
Caters to Investors Diverse Appetites
Labs enables investors to choose between different types of assets in the industry. For example, they can select residential, commercial, industrial, or hybrid and still choose their preferred location, risk levels, and ROI.
It Brings Blockchain and Digitization Together
By digitizing real-world assets, the project opens them up to trading on virtual exchanges that have no geographical limitations nor opening/closing times.
Extra benefits
Other benefits birthed by the project are:
Interaction with the DeFi scene and enabling decentralized governance.
Ability to trade real estate securities.
Faster and direct dividends payments
Reduced and enhanced transactions.
Liquidity Provision On the Labs Network
Tokenization – This helps power an asset-backed token ecosystem that lives on the blockchain enabling other activities such as over-the-counter trading and token swapping.
Trading on the secondary market – Trading of Labs’ securities leverages recognized exchanges. Note that when shares are tokenized, they are traded on a securities exchange. Such asset trading platforms enable enhanced non-stop trading, positively impacting investors’ entry and exit points.
Lending – Labs facilitates lending activities on the platform using two native assets; the Labs stable token, the Labs security token (more on these later). The protocol uses these tokens to address the liquidity problem by allowing their holders to engage in collateralized lending.
Conclusion
By fractionalizing real estate assets, Labs eases the entry of retail investors into the industry. Consequently, it increases liquidity. Another critical Labs undertaking is digitizing these assets, effectively connecting the real estate market to the DeFi world.
In return, it opens up the space to more possibilities such as collateralized lending, over-the-counter trading, and swapping. Additionally, the inclusion of the LABS token drives community governance that is a crucial pillar in DeFi-focused protocols.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Collateral Pay is a decentralized payment system that merges decentralised finance (DeFi) with Traditional Finance (TradFi), enabling users to store, stake, loan, save, and pay with crypto.
Since its inception, DeFi has aimed to give participants a better alternative to traditional financing. Reliance on centralized parties is being replaced with decentralized and transparent systems. This is achieved by building digital services in an open, secure, and permissionless manner.
Additionally, the rise of DeFi has been nothing less than tremendous. DeFi has grown exponentially and has open the world to new financial opportunities. A year ago, the monetary value locked in DeFi projects was $276 million. As of today, it is a whopping $43.6 billion in value.
However, unlike fiat, it is a bit difficult to make use of crypto assets outside of their respective blockchains, as there is an absence of “gateways to the real world”. Collateral Pay is that gateway that facilitates this process by bridging DeFi and mainstream finance.
Background
Set to launch its marketplace this May 2021, Collateral Pay is an ambitious project supported by more than 12 well-known firms within the blockchain space. The team behind the project is composed of longtime veterans in marketing, blockchain technology, and finance. CEO and founder Chris Longden guarantees that the protocol offers users a much more tax-efficient opportunity.Collateral Pay is described as an ecosystem that works faster and better than any solutions in the market providing participants with an efficient implementation of blockchain.
What is Collateral Pay?
Collateral Pay is a Polkadot-powered decentralized payment method that merges DeFi with the traditional finance sector. The protocol enables users all around the world to store, stake, loan, save and pay. The crypto solution is a payment gateway accessed through an interoperable crypto wallet, granting access to spending power by using crypto as collateral at the point of sale.
Furthermore, under Collateral’s unique algorithm, users are allowed to unlock and make use of their crypto assets without the need of selling them. Interestingly, crypto assets will be used as collateral against merchant payments by users for liquidity.
Overall, Collateral’s secure ecosystem is supported by a P2P network of borrowers and lenders where all transactions are conducted on-chain. Here, lenders stake crypto assets in staking contracts and receive generous APYs in return.
This thorough process is quick and easy, giving users access to instant spending power where assets are used as collateral from the very first point of sale. Precisely, Collateral Pay automatically evaluates at the point of sale the specific amount of digital currency to be bound in a smart contract. This facilitates the payment, and once locked, the fiat equivalent is instantly sent to the seller, legitimizing the transaction.
Ultimately, Collateral users will be able to leverage crypto assets autonomously, not needing loan drawdown facilities, saving time, and facilitating everyday crypto transactions. The platform is set to be a market leader through its efficient protocol that facilitates purchases in-store and online using crypto as collateral through its worldwide network of merchants. The platform aims to soon compete with prominent solutions like Worldpay, Visa, and Mastercard.
By leveraging Polkadot’s cross-chain technology, Collateral is set to also seamlessly connect with Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Binance Smart Chain by Q3 2021, with the possibility of additional blockchain compatibility over time
Decentralized Payment Gateway
The platform offers clients several special tools, allowing users to enjoy their crypto experience in total security under Collateral’s ecosystem.
Save
Collateral Save provides clients with a continuous flow of passive income by staking digital assets in smart contracts that are lent to borrowers, where up to 60% of APY rewards are earned. Overcollateralized crypto assets are used to ensure the security of all staking contracts. Furthermore, powered by chainlink, the platform’s oracles monitors all collateral crypto prices to ensure the collateral-to-value (CTV) level is maintained, protecting both borrowers and lenders.
Pay
Under Collateral pay, participants can pay for services by using the platform’s application or online. Users can simply scan a QR code and lock crypto as collateral. Then, merchants will receive funds directly from Collateral in fiat. The fiat will then be repaid at any given time to unlock the digital assets again.
Loan
Through loans, Collateral pay gives users the possibility to finance larger purchases, where sellers or merchants are not involved in the transaction. In general, these larger purchases tend to have the lowest CTV on the market. Hence, users simply have to select the amount they seek to borrow, then lock up the required cryptocurrency to receive funds in a native currency of their choice.
Merchant
The Polkadot-based protocol will provide merchants with a brand new market of crypto holders who once were unwilling to take the risk of losing potential upside. The platform will allow merchants to sell goods and services, and receive native currency payments safely within the Collateral pay ecosystem.
Govern
The blockchain platform will almost be entirely run by token holders who will have an active role in the protocol’s governance system and decision-making processes.
Collateral Pay Tokens ($COLL) and ($COLLG)
COLL is the utility token for the Collateral protocol while COLLG is the platform’s governance token. Both tokens work hand in hand, as users can earn COLLG tokens by staking COLL tokens. This will allow them to participate in the platform’s governance and influence Collateral Pay’s future.
Additionally, staking COLL also allows users to receive more COLL as token rewards from the product fees generated on the platform while liquid provider tokens can be staked to provide liquidity to the ecosystem and earn additional COLL.
There is currently 2,800,000 COLL circulating in the market, with a total supply of 50,000,000 and an initial market cap of USD$1,120,000.
Collateral Pay is a unique payment method, that relies on the efficiency of the Polkadot ecosystem to successfully bridge DeFi and the traditional financing sector. Through this decentralized algorithm, users are sure to gain upon every crypto transaction, offering potentially 100% satisfaction to all customers.
Upon its imminent expansion, Collateral Pay is sure to disrupt the DeFi space and further blockchain adoption worldwide. The platform’s key features ensure a smooth and secure blockchain experience for all participants.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Stacks ($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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Persistence ($XPRT) is an asset-based lending/borrowing and debt issuance/management hybrid protocol, bringing the power of real-world assets to DeFi. It does so by facilitating crypto-assets borrowing, using real-world assets as invoiced NFTs, and then using them as wrapped financial products.
Persistence One is designed to enhance the transfer of value between the two worlds of finance by enabling value transfer through seamless interoperability via on-off ramps. It was developed to promote open and inclusive finance in addition to solving inefficiencies in payments and financing.
Check out our interview with CEO and Co-founder Tushar Aggarwal
https://youtu.be/rGNtrNUyTEY
Bridging DeFi and traditional finance- Persistence w/ Tushar Aggarwal
What is Persistence?
Persistence is an asset-based lending/borrowing and debt issuance/management hybrid protocol, bringing the power of real-world assets to DeFi. It does so by facilitating crypto-assets borrowing, using real-world assets as invoiced NFTs, and then using them as wrapped financial products.
Persistence One is designed to enhance the transfer of value between the two worlds of finance by enabling value transfer through seamless interoperability via on-off ramps. It was developed to promote open and inclusive finance in addition to solving inefficiencies in payments and financing.
Background And History
The project was launched in January 2020. The Persistence team is multicultural and consists of experienced members with sound technical backgrounds. They come from various traditional finance and blockchain companies. As such, they are familiar with the limitations of the current DeFi and centralised finance (CeFi) systems and are aware of what needs to be improved.
Persistence protocol is led by CEO Tushar Aggarwal and CTO Deepanshu Tripathi, both with legacy finance applications development experience. The team believes that three core elements namely Capital, Technology, and Media are crucial for the success of a project and work to establish a balance between them.
How does Persistence work?
Their mode of operation lies in four steps of (1) tokenization; (2) trading; (3) the origination of debt and (4) its securitization. The process begins with tokenizing real-world assets’ invoices as NFTs. This is done so that the assets can be represented adequately on the blockchain.
Next, comes the trading of such NFTs against stablecoins.
Stablecoins are then borrowed by putting real-world assets representing NFTs as collateral, the birth of loans. The fourth and last step is the packaging of the loans into different pools to create fixed income investable products – a process known as securitization of debt.
Why use blockchain?
A key question at this point relates to the reason and advantages of using blockchain for such activities. The mission of Persistence is to increase the speed and efficiency of value transfer, as well as make it more secure. As it happens, blockchains specialize in such matters.
Some advantages for Persistence to use blockchain for their operations includes:
It allows for capital movement in a trustless, borderless, and “free from time constraints” manner.
Blockchains permit invoices, letters of credit and bills of lading, etc. to be tokenized and turned into divisible assets as NFTs.
Introduces the decentralized exchange for uncensorable and secure trading of real-world assets against stablecoins.
Results in the creation of debt marketplaces for lending/borrowing.
Persistence’s approach
Persistence has applied a dual-focus approach for the successful execution of the project. The institutional focus utilizes the asset-based lending use case for physical commodity traders and financiers. Secondly, is the crypto focus, which allows blockchain-based assets to integrate with real-world yield-bearing assets.
Persistence blockchain system
As a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain system, the protocol has three layers of Persistence chains (app-chains deriving security from the main-chain and its validators), Persistence SDK (a plug and play module system powering functionality on the network), and Persistence dApps (finance-based applications).
Its design principles are chain sovereignty (independent secure blockchain operation), liquidity, and usability for business purposes. The Persistence protocol blockchain system is privacy-preserving by default yet legal and regulatory-compliant, is integrated with FIAT on and off-ramps, and allows for simplification of processes.
Persistence SDK is by far the platform’s most important implementation of the blockchain. The Software Development Kit is a system of highly effective modules that enable the creation of marketplaces, yielding to a fast and comprehensive exchange of value.
Overall, the SDK protocol is characterized by four key features, being accessibility, liquidity, innovation, and sustainability. These factors power the protocol and allow the Persistence One platform to elevate physical commodities on-chain as NFTs.
Additionally, through the SDK factors, the platform can efficiently implement crypto with real-world use cases ensuring a continuous stream of sustainable income. By doing so, it unlocks a huge potential for MSME businesses in the DeFi sphere through untapped liquidity; thereby providing tremendous opportunities within the crypto space.
Persistence’s asset-based lending platform Comdex
The protocol has developed the Comdex decentralized commodities trading and financing platform that connects commodities traders, while also providing financing facility to sellers. It is commodity agnostic and can allow for trading diverse groups of commodities, ranging from metal to food products.
Comdex, for regulatory compliance, would require Anti Money Laundering (AML) / Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before on-boarding. It would also feature a trader’s right access system to determine access to particular commodities, opening trade, executable trade size, etc. On top of everything, all activities will be recorded on the open blockchain.
Comdex is the result of a partnership between the Persistence One dynamic team and trading entrepreneurs in Singapore that rely on the platform’s ecosystem to bring forward blockchain integration. As per recent developments, the Comdex protocol has been gaining traction within the blockchain.
Comdex has already managed more than $55 million in transaction volume, far ahead of its competitors in terms of assets on-chain.
What is pLend, Persistence’s lending platform?
Backed by real-world assets, Persistence Lend or pLend is a stable coin lending platform that facilitates the supply of liquidity to pools for all Comdex transactions and dealings. pLend empowers stablecoin holders and enables them to supply liquidity, generating huge returns from real-world income and assets.
So far, pLend’s unique implementation has bridged the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi. The lending platform will allow users to engage in the $65B global trade within the financing sector.
Overall, pLend guarantees participants huge returns on their assets without the need of often unsure mainstream DeFi solutions.
AUDIT.one
Described as a subsidiary to Persistence One, AUDIT ensures top-tier validation services for leading PoS networks through secured Tier 3 and 4 data centers across the globe equipped with a multi-cloud architecture.
Presently, a total of nine networks has entrusted AUDIT.one with approximately $120M worth of assets, including Cosmos, Terra, Matic Network, and NEAR. Additionally, well-known networks like Polkadot and Ethereum 2.0 have shown interest in the Persistence-based protocol.
Persistence token ($XPRT)
Persistence has a native token known as $XPRT built as an ERC-20 based token (for now) and has a 100M supply). Its main uses are staking (for participation in network security), community governance (allowing holders to vote on important matters), rewards (for contributing to the network), and work token (deriving value from the activities on the network).
XPRT StakeDrop
The StakeDrop campaign is made possible through the pStake protocol that guarantees the issuance of representative tokens (stk Tokens) on Ethereum which are backed by the staked assets.
In the case of ATOM; illiquid staked ATOM tokens can be converted to liquid representative ER-20 tokens that can be utilized within the immense and growing DeFi space, backed by the Ethereum blockchain. This means that newly staked ATOMS will now be able for use as collateral when borrowing different stablecoins.
Through this system, participants are provided with the opportunity to implement differential strategies in accordance with their needs within the blockchain.
pStake offers a unique way to stake PoS tokens and in the near future, a percentage of all tokens staked via pStake will also be staked through the AUDIT.one validator, thus ensuring the growth of both protocols within the blockchain.
Benefits of staking Persistence token ($XPRT) (Image Credit: Persistence)
Can Persistence successfully appeal to institutional clients and companies?
The current DeFi infrastructure isn’t conducive to institutional clients and companies. This is mostly because current DeFi projects have institutional red-flags such as pseudo-anonymity, open transaction and activity details, having no legal compliance, having only crypto-based settlements, and having complexities transferred to the users (gas payments, security, key management, risk management, etc.)
However, the Persistence protocol offers verifiable anonymity, hidden transaction details and records, is legally compliant, has FIAT-based settlement guarantees and simplified process – gas payments, security and key management run by the platform. It also provides an institutional-grade infrastructure that these clients are used to.
Conclusion
Persistence is a strong contender for overcoming the obstacle to DeFi being widely used by institutional clients, companies and enterprises. It does this by offering anonymity, hidden transaction records and most importantly, be legally compliant. In these respects, Persistence can help blockchain move from a speculative phase to being used in the real world, including traditional finance.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
FTX EXCHANGE (INCLUDING FTX INTERNATIONAL AND FTX.US) ARE NO LONGER IN OPERATION
Both exchanges have filed for bankruptcy. Subsequently, the exchange was “hacked” and more than US$600 million worth of cryptocurrencies drained. The hacker is strongly rumoured to be a former FTX employee. For more about how this story unfolded and the latest news, check out these articles:
Derivatives Trading is a lucrative market, it is estimated to be worth more than $1 quadrillion all over the world according to Investopedia. This insane valuation is possible because derivatives are available for every type of asset in the world, you have derivatives for stocks, commodities, physical assets, and even cryptocurrency.
According to Investopedia, the size is almost 10 times that of the gross domestic product of the entire world. It is important to understand that the notional value and the actual value of the derivatives market are two different things, which can explain such a high valuation.
What is Derivatives Trading?
Diving into the cryptocurrency world can be overwhelming. You are immediately faced with an insurmountable wall of options and information on different types of trades. Each trade may or may not eventually make you money, however, each type of trade has its learning curve, complexities, and barriers to entry.
Newcomers may have heard about derivatives trading as a very good way of making money, and they might be curious about derivatives trading as an option to do this. However, as with anything, it is important to make sure you understand the basics first and ensure you have appropriate risk mitigation strategies in place if you do decide to invest.
This article aims to set out how to learn about derivatives trading, and provides derivatives on FTX Exchange as an example.
What are Derivatives?
Derivatives, simply put, is a contract between two parties, the contract is based on an underlying asset which can be anything but. In the traditional sense, it is either a stock or a commodity. Derivatives are popular in the crypto market as well, as more and more traders emerge themselves in all that the flourishing market has to offer.
A derivative is not a type of trade rather it is a collection of a few trades. For example future contracts, swaps, options, and warrants, all of which are based upon a contract of an underlying asset. In derivatives trading, the contract is really important, and it is widely used by traders all around the world to hedge risk and commensurate rewards.
Further details about derivatives
You can think of derivatives as a secondary asset that represents a contract on the primary asset, so it is directly linked to the value of the primary asset which is called the underlying asset.
This may sound jumbled up and complex, however, derivatives are an advanced investing option usually used by experienced traders.
Derivatives have two main classes, namely: lock and options. The lock class is made up of swaps, futures, and forward contracts, these contracts are called lock contracts because the parties are locked in the contract up until the life of the contract expires.
For example, if a person specifies they will buy or sell a futures contract they have to buy it or sell it at the end of the expiration period. In the options class the holder has the right to buy or sell the asset as specified in the contract, but he is not obligated to do so. Meaning the buyer can hold off on buying the asset and only give the money that he is owed and the seller can also opt to not sell the underlying asset.
Futures contracts
Futures contracts are a type of derivatives trade in which the price of the underlying asset affects the contract. It is a contract, as the name suggests, in which the seller and the buyer sign a contract to exchange the asset at a predetermined date with a predetermined price that is set somewhere in the future.
Future contracts are based on the expiration date generally, for example, in stocks, future contracts are known based on the month they expire in. Futures contracts are also available for stocks, cryptos, and commodities.
Equity options
Equity options derive their value from the underlying stock, the equity options work on two types of trades: calls and puts. Call options are the type of trade in which the holder of the option has the right to buy the asset at a strike price (preset price) and also a time both of which are preset in the contract. In the Put option, the seller has the right to sell the asset on a price and date that is specified in the contract.
Example of equity options
It is really easy to understand how options work. For example, a trader anticipates a fall in the price of bitcoin so what he does is that he sells ‘put’ options for the asset to be sold at a certain price, which may be the price before the fall.
The trader now has a hedge against the fall of the price, if at the time of expiration of the contract the price of the asset has dwindled further he does not lose money, thus creating a very comfortable space for him.
Differences between options and futures contracts
For people who are new to futures, it is important to understand there is a difference between futures and options. An options contract does not put an obligation on the buyer or the seller. In the American way of doing business, it gives them the right to execute the trade before the expiration time, while in Europe the right is given after the expiration time.
In a futures contract, the buyer has to take possession of the underlying asset, and subsequently, the seller has to sell him that asset, they can settle for the cash equivalent. However, the trade has to take place.
The buyer also has the option of loading off their position any time before the trade expires to get rid of their obligation. This is one thing that is common in options as well as futures trading giving an advantage to the buyer to benefit from the leverage holder’s position before expiration.
FTX Exchange
There are more than 1,000 crypto exchanges globally, each trying hard to break in and flip the market over its head and acquire a lot of customers. Yet only a select few have succeeded in the endeavor.
FTX has been one of the most promising exchanges, the exchange has in a very short time become the ‘go-to’ for professional traders, as it offers options other exchanges cannot.
As a result, it is one of the biggest derivative trading platforms for crypto in the world. It is highly recommended by crypto traders that have been working for a long time in the field.
FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2019. He is also the founder of Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency, and blockchain research company that creates specialized algorithms for trading cryptocurrency.
As have previously published guides on how to add cryptocurrency in your wallet on FTX exchange, you can check it out over here. You would need cryptocurrency in your wallet to post collateral for futures so make sure you add some cryptocurrency to your wallet.
To trade futures on FTX you would first need to go to the markets tab at the top of the platform’s home page.
FTX markets tab
Once you have reached there you would be able to see the futures section, where several contracts would already be listed.
FTX futures contracts
In the section, you would be able to see almost all kinds of details about the futures, their expiration, price, trading volume, and the change in their value over the day as well. Along with crypto, you can also deal in futures contracts of US-based stocks and also some commodities as well.
Once you choose the type of future you want to trade, you are taken to the console which has almost all the information one needs to trade the future.
FTX futures console
In the middle of the console, you can look at the trading window which has the graphs displayed.
The top right corner shows you the index details as well as the price of the futures contract, along with its expiration. The bottom right shows you details of the collateral you have available, and the leverage can also be set from there as well.
Coming down from the console you can come to the order book as well as the order execution tab and the market trades tab:
FTX order execution and markets tab
Futures are a type of trade that is very complex thus requiring a lot of information on the console screen for traders to make a decision. Thus while the console may look clustered it is functional.
At the bottom of the console is the history book, where you can take a look at different positions you have had and the ones currently you are in. The data gives you a summary of the performance over time.
The futures trades can be made through the console easily by keeping the collateral in your wallets. Once you have the collateral you can start trading futures through the exchange easily.
Trading options
Options are traded just like futures on the exchange, a topic that has already been covered on the website. You can either go long or short on a particular contract and the settlement is made at the end equal to the expiration price.
Expiration of Contract
FTX’s options are usually settled in USD, it is important to note that on FTX the price of a particular cryptocurrency is based on the FTX crypto index’s average at any time one hour before expiration. This is a common practice to beat volatility in the market.
Let’s just assume you short sell two options of BTC each priced at around $300, now the BTC expiration price according to the contract is $35,200. That means that your option is worth $200.
Your option gives you the right to buy BTC at $35,000. Now, if the contract expires as such, after expiration you will have essentially a profit of $400 based on your holdings, which means that the $200 above the price of the BTC translates to the $400 profit that you will get at the end.
Buying and selling options on FTX
To trade options on FTX exchange you first need to go to the Options section of the platform. The options can be curated based on the requirements you set.
FTX options section
You can create an option based on your requirements and request a quote on the platform which is the most common way of buying options.
There are many people on the platform checking the requests and within 10 seconds you might find a responder to your bid. Then it is up to you to accept, as soon as you accept the quote the contract starts.
You can look at the requests you have opened in the ‘My Requests’ section.
Quoting Options on FTX
Quoting is also really simple, you can look at the requests for quotes posted by people on the platform, you can take a look at the requirements set by them and give them a quote. Whichever quote is a better deal would be shown to the person who makes the request.
It is important to note that you have no idea if the person posting the request is buying or selling, you have to provide a quotation for both scenarios.
You can see the requests for quotes in the ‘All Requests’ section.
Conclusion
As discussed, FTX was founded as a tool for crypto traders who didn’t have a lot of options to start trading with. Over time the exchange has developed a curated set of options for its customers.
The platform is very stable with a focus on simplicity and minimalism, nothing on the platform is without a purpose. The simplicity makes it very easier for people to start trading on FTX.
However, it should be pointed out that futures and options trading are advanced levels of investing and require lots of research, reading, and learning before starting to invest.
It is a good way of hedging your risks in the market, however, you should only trade at the start with the money you can afford to lose, reckless investing is not the way to go about it. Hopefully, this guide will help you get started on your crypto trading journey.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Wootrade ($WOO) is a digital asset liquidity pool that partners with cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and over the counter trading desks (OTCs). They also have a darkpool trading platform which claims to offer zero (or even negative) trading fees and above average liquidity for spot and futures trading.
Check out our interview with Jack Tan, CEO of Wootrade!
Better trading (no strings attached)?-Wootrade
Background
While both automated market makers (AMMs) and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) belong to the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, they are quite distinct from each other.
There is no limit order functionality for AMM providers such as Uniswap, whilest the trading role of DEXs is more complete and closer to that of a common cryptocurrency exchange. At present, AMMs are extremely popular. They draw more consumers and have rates of exchange that outweigh those of DEXs.
Wootrade collaborates with DEXs as they solve their liquidity challenges using Wootrade. Exchanges would find it easy to draw even more customers by providing more liquidity and delivering more full features. In DeFi cryptocurrencies, standard exchanges have smaller trading rates than Uniswap, and even losing customers, owing to the popularity of the DeFi sector.
Although supporting both centralized and decentralized exchanges to improve their AMM competition, Wootrade has already listed DeFi coins and intends to consistently list more.
Team
It is worth noting that Mark Pimentel, Wootrade’s Co-founder, worked at Citadel and Knight Capital (acquired by Virtu in 2017), respectively. Pimentel initially operated in the high-frequency trading department at Citadel, and then went to Knight Capital’s electronic marketing group in the United States. There, he was in charge of operating the substantial dark pool.
When Pimentel stepped into the crypto ecosystem, he came across a common problem between quantitative funds and exchanges i.e. the market liquidity is fragmented. He aimed to add his trading skills and familiarity with the dark pool to Wootrade. The inclusion of Wootrade’s token economy was intended to make this model more robust, fairer, and more efficient.
What is Wootrade?
Built by industry-leading proprietary trading company Kronos Research, Wootrade provides dramatically enhanced liquidity, spreads, and fees. Wootrade is regarded as the next evolution of crypto trading.
Wootrade features specialized market-making skills based on alpha through collaborations with the world’s top proprietary trading teams. A self-reinforcing and mutually-advantageous dynamic between traders, exchanges, market-makers, and investors all connected by the WOO token has been created by this innovative framework.
Mark Pimentel and Jack Tan, Founders of Kronos Research, had invented the Wootrade concept to address the big pain points for more challenging crypto traders. Kronos Research has evolved from a team of 2 to more than 60 persons now and trades over a billion dollars on a daily basis.
How does Wootrade achieve high liquidity and zero fees?
Wootrade claims to have above average liquidity and zero trading fees, but how do they achieve this?
Taking BTC as an example, at a depth of 100 BTC, Wootrade will sustain a spread of 0.2%. In addition, it does not charge any handling costs or operating costs to users. Kronos Research, a quantitative market research institution, has incubated Wootrade. The fact that Kronos excels in a number of trading techniques is popularly known.
In various market conditions, Kronos has a daily trading volume of more than $1 billion and can guarantee substantial returns. Although Wootrade implements zero-fee trading, retail-oriented exchanges do not generally compete with it. In fact, exchanges or DEXs, wallets, brokers, and trading institutions are mostly Wootrade customers.
Currently, over 10 exchanges and institutional customers are linked to the platform. In addition, through the exchanges that collaborate with Wootrade, a total of more than 65,000 end users have used their trading profile. New exchanges were queuing up for entry after releasing Wootrade 1.0, as market demand surpassed the expectations of the team.
Open governance on Wootrade
The aim is for the group to have more and more autonomy to grow the project as it sees fit. Voting power grows exponentially in relation to the amount of time involved, but anyone who buys tokens only to vote would not have any control over decisions.
Instead, those who have carried for the right length of time will be able to control with the greater weight the choices made. Additionally, the incentive scheme is aimed to enable those with the right combination of talent and expertise to engage more effectively in the governance and decision-making process.
The aim of Wootrade is to reach 40% of the cryptocurrency market’s liquidity. This includes a significant number of exchange customers and market makers to be on board. There is a big market for wealth management businesses on both exchange investors and AMMs on the platform.
Since it’s not easy to check and trust the trading staff, investors sometimes skip good opportunities. Wootrade can, therefore, be fitted with an oracle computer to solve this. This helps market makers to submit their NAVs and results to the blockchain. For its retail customers, exchanges may then verify and pick outstanding items.
WOO token ($WOO)
Wootrade has its own native token that will act as a value and rewards carrier generated by the system. The WOO token will be used to vote on governance decisions concerning the platform. WOO can also be used in staking/mining reward systems, retail users can stake WOO and ETH or USDT into an asset managment product and receive rewards.
For those who are interested in spot/futures trading, WOO can be used as collateral on the Wootrade platform.
Customers can also get a discount when using WOO to pay for say management fees for asset management items. For Wootrade’s clients or partners that do not have their native token, they can also choose to adopt WOO as their platform token. Thereby giving consumers another place to use WOO.
Prime Nodes on Wootrade
For B2B clients they are different tiers to stake the WOO tokens on the exchange or platform for eligibility to become a Prime node. In addition to the staking requirement, they also need to demonstrate a unique marketing plan and business proposition.
Wootrade Staking Program: Fee Structure
Once they become a Prime node, every dollar of flow they route to the network gives them a reward of a certain number of WOO tokens. The concept behind this is that after a while of doing this, they would not need to charge their users and fees and simply scale off the rebates provided by Wootrade.
Essentially, Wootrade’s rationale is that they do not think businesses would try and rely on market makers (which require a huge fee for their services). Especially when the alternative provided by Woodtrade is that they would get access to a zero fee trading network with proven liquidity, AND get paid to trade there.
WOO tokenomics
WOO tokenomics
Ticker: WOO
ICO Token Price: 1 WOO = 0.03 USD
Fundraising Goal: $650,000
Total Tokens: 3,000,000,000
WOO is available for spot trading on Uniswap, Huobi, MXC and Gate.io
Conclusion
Wootrade sees the potential for conventional and decentralized finance to incorporate concepts. The crypto industry will increasingly be affected by this new technology. The conventional business of asset management will now pay attention to the optimized use of blockchain technologies and token architecture.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
WAX Protocol ($WAXP) stands for Worldwide Asset eXchange. They are one of the safest and most convenient ways to create, buy, sell and trade virtual items i.e. non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through an integrated DPoS blockchain platform designed to work hand-in-hand with a microservice layer to improve the digital goods market’s infrastructure. Obtaining WAX knowledge has enabled innovators to develop a highly-connected and sophisticated marketplace that has brought a lot of value in digital goods projects.
This information here will help you learn how to incorporate the WAX Protocol within the WAX Platform and how the two tools complement each other. It’s worth noting that the WAX Platform is composed of the WAX Protocol and a microservice layer.
Learn more about WAX with our interview with Evan Vandenberg, Director of Business Development at WAX.
Profitable digital collectibles and blockchain gaming (with WAX blockchain)
Background
The WAX platform was founded by William Quigley and Jonathan Yantis, together they have vast experience in blockchain technology. Quigley is also the Managing Director of Cashel Enterprises, a cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicle which has incubated and invested in over 40 blockchain and cryptocurrency projects. Meanwhile, Yantis also works as WAX’s CEO.
The global growth of the digital goods marketplace has experienced enormous challenges for the past decade, but WAX technology has helped in finding solutions that spur the development of the sector. Although some users think that the technology has arrived late when challenges are already overwhelming, it’s actually the perfect time since blockchain has matured enough to satisfy the requirements for the WAX system to succeed.
As the digital goods market continues to expand, it’s essential to acknowledge that tokenized consumer products and virtual items have played an instrumental role in blockchain growth. Virtual items like in video games alone have generated more than USD$140 billion for the market. On the other hand, tokenized consumer products have realized over USD$1.8 trillion.
Considering that WAX attempts to offer remedies for a marketplace with a combined market value of over USD$2 trillion, it’s easy to realize the magnitude of the problem. The first year of incorporating WAX Protocol operations on major players like VGO and dApps has realized over USD$150 million worth of trading volume.
What is WAX?
Wax is a marketplace for digital assets, serving more than 400 million online players that sell, buy, and collect in-game items. Their suite of blockchain-based tools allows people to trade digital or physical items instantly and securely to anyone in the world. WAX’s platform brings together a community of collectors and traders, buyers and sellers, creators and gamers, merchants, creators of dApps and even game developers.
Examples of what WAX can do include buying and selling gift cards to people across the globe, or building your own online store using the B2B tools created by WAX. WAX also allows people to create NFTs and send them to others.
WAX Blockchain
The WAX network works on a consensus model that relies on various WAX Guilds to enhance blockchain production. WAX utilizes Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), which depends heavily on WAX Guilds to ensure success in blockchain generation.
The WAX ecosystem has witnessed considerable growth due to the incorporation of the WAX Token Model, which is designed to ensure success in various aspects such as voting, staking, and rewards. The Wax Staking Reward is a feature that has encouraged community participation because it allows users to vote and access rewards.
With WAX tokens, users have immense options to explore. For instance, if staked WAX tokens haven’t been placed, a token holder will require platforms such as Scatter and Lynx to automate the process.
WAX Tokens ($WAXP)
WAX tokens ($WAXP) power the entire WAX ecosystem. They are used to reward participants in the chain and enable contributors to receive ten times the number of tokens purchased. This strategy makes it easier to calculate all microtransactions on the platform.
One benefit of owning WAX tokens is that you get to earn even more tokens by voting for WAX guilds. This is called the WAX staking reward. This process is hassle-free and takes just a minute or two to join. Furthermore, you can unstake your tokens at any time.
WAX and DeFi? WAX’s new tokenomic model explained
In a recent announcement, WAX mentioned they will have a new tokenomic model hoping to capitalise on the rapid growth and popularity of NFTs and decentralised finance (DeFi). Their plan is to link the value generated from creating, selling and trading NFTs to Ethereum. WAX considers it different from other DeFi platforms because they consider these activities to be able to provide a sustainable source of value to stakers.
How the new WAX inter-blockchain tokenomic model would work is that the operational functions of NFTs would still be done on the WAX blockchain, whilst Ethereum will become, “…the capital vault of the WAX NFT empire”. There are 4 components to this new tokenomic model, namely:
WAXP to Ethereum bridge: this new bridge will enable WAXP token holders to convert their tokens into WAXE.
WAXE: WAXE is a new Ethereum ERC20 utility token. Participants of the WAX tokenomics will need to burn their WAXP tokens to get WAXE tokens via the Ethereum bridge. They would then stake the WAXE in the Ethereum Distribution Contract.
WAXG: WAXG is a new Ethereum ERC20 governance token which will be distributed to WAXE stakers based on a set timetable and proportionate to their percentage of the WAX Economic Activity Pool. Token holders will be able to govern the allocation and distribution of economic value on the platform.
WAX Economic Activity Pool: This is a smart contract which will accumulate a percentage of generated WAX fees to be converted to ETH for distribution to WAXE stakers or given to WAXG token holders that decide to burn their tokens.
For full details of WAX’s new tokenomic model, check out their article on Medium.
WAX Guilds and Rewards
A WAX blockchain contains 21 WAX Guilds that qualify to earn a reward. Remember, blocks can only be produced after the chain meets the threshold to earn rewards. The rewards are awarded depending on the number of blocks that every WAX Guild can produce. Standby Guilds are considered as backup operators that help to generate a chain on request.
WAX Performance Metrics
WAX has been configured in such a way that it releases two blocks per second. It’s worth noting that each WAX Guild can only produce one block at a time. If a block fails to come out at a specific time, other blocks will jump the queue to ensure a continuous process.
A block that has been skipped will contend for a space in the memory pool to compete for guilds’ inclusion in the next turn. More than 3000 blockchains are usually transacted each second in the WAX system. The transaction rate is two times swifter than the VISA system can procure in the same period.
The Future of WAX technology
WAX Platform doesn’t only work to offer remedy for the current problems but also offers a roadmap for future operations. WAX Developer Hive is tasked with the duty of technical service provision, tutorials, and other simulations. Besides, WAX developers equally provide vital resources that make implementations successful.
The technology has also incorporated features that will make it convenient to evaluate whether the system passes the transparency test among communities.
Also, there’s room to allow interoperation with other chains to enhance performance. NFTs are among the candidates that need microservices and can thrive with the WAX Platform.
Conclusion
Gamers from across the world can substantially benefit from its secure and decentralized digital items marketplace. As WAX Platform continues to provide more improvements, developers will find several ways to create features that would better serve gamers in terms of digital goods trading.
The platform is also expected to play an instrumental role with digital media and is set to welcome over three billion users in the coming five years.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Exeedme (XED) is a blockchain-powered gaming tournament platform designed to finally give professional gamers the income and recognition they deserve.
There are over 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, making the gaming industry twice the size of the music and movie industries combined.
But while producers and developers in the entertainment industry are able to rake in millions, the same cannot be said for gamers who find it almost impossible to earn a living playing video games.
Although we do have cases of professional gamers generating substantial income through livestreaming, their numbers are considerably low as it requires a very high amount of creativity, skill, and time to build a big-enough audience and thrive. This challenge is what Exeedme is trying to solve.
Background
Francisco Varela and Nuno Fernandes teamed up to come up with this innovative idea of rewarding gamers for their devotion and skills to playing the game they love.
To truly ensure the project caters to the professional gamer, their Head of Engineering- Arlindo Torres, is himself a game analyst and professional CS:GO player. Exeedme also has Ricardo “FOX” Pacheco Miguel, a professional CG:GO player and world champion as their Ambassador
What is Exeedme?
Exeedme is looking to revolutionize the gaming industry by providing Play2Earn platform for gamers, developers, and organizers a place to monetize their skills through blockchain-based gaming tournaments.
The tournament platform is built on Polkadot, a next-generation multi-chain protocol that has grown exponentially in the last few months.
Exeedme chose to build its system on top of Polkadot in order to benefit from its decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) innovations. This would allow it to move fungible and non-fungible assets across multiple chains seamlessly, which could expand its horizons to larger communities.
The Exeedme team recognizes the fact that the current game monetization models leave a lot to be desired since current models favor a few privileged gamers but do not provide an avenue for an average player to earn an income through gaming.
Hence, Exeedme has come to give gamers a place to exercise a real sense of ownership and earn money as they play.
Exeedme Gaming Solutions
The central idea behind Exeedme is to provide a platform where gamers can be able to earn money from doing what they love. The platform seeks to reward gamers of all skill levels without any discrimination, which means you don’t need to become a top professional gamer in order to earn an income.
And in this ecosystem, the biggest winners would be the game developers, as well as players.
Virtual Assets
Many games today have systems where they allow gamers to earn or buy virtual assets. The downside to this is that these assets cannot be monetized or transferred outside of the gaming system.
Exeedme is looking to change all that through its XED native token, plus the use of NFTs. Gamers would be allowed to transfer their game’s “virtual assets” to different game universes, even if they are on different blockchains, which would result in an interoperable digital multiverse.
Since DeFi and NFTs would be pre-built into the gaming platform, peer-to-peer gaming economy platforms could readily grow. These growing economies would be geared towards rewarding gamers instead of the side chain advertising industries.
How Gamers Earn on the Platform
Gamers can earn on the Exeedme platform in 3 ways: winning, participating, and progressing.
To earn through winning, a gamer has to pick his favorite game to play, then stake it via funding with crypto assets. The player then selects his opponent or lets the system match him with similarly skilled players. The gamer could bet on himself to win and if he succeeds, he can take his earnings.
Gamers can also win simply by participating and progressing in any game or tournament they play.
In addition to the 3 methods mentioned above, Exeedme also allows players to earn NFTs when they progress such as trophies, collectibles and in-game assets. These an be used across different games, traded or monetized.
Advantages of Exeedme
Exeedme holds a number of advantages over the old gaming models, some of them are:
Exeedme’s XED tokens are far better than participation trophies that some of the other games reward. Regardless of the outcome of a game, a gamer can be assured of earning a token that can be spent. This is because every time there is a bet on the gamer winning, XED tokens are being mined.
Newly-minted XED and crafted NFTs can also be earned just by progressing in a game’s tournament or winning it. They are also won when a gamer reaches a milestone, completes a new mission, or achieves a higher ranking.
Earned XED and NFT tokens can be traded or monetized, making it a very fun way of earning.
XED Token
Exeedme’s $XED is their native token. Players are rewarded with XED tokens through winning or progressing in a game.
The project has designed its platform in such a way that its governance system is led by gamers who would also be major participants on the blockchain. Accordingly, the best way to help improve the platform and push it into success would be to stake XED tokens.
Gamers who stake the token would enjoy certain privileges like lower fees, a cut of the match fees, access to free and special tournaments, access to exclusive NFT launches, exclusive badges, and other perks.
Exeedme would also be deploying community pools in its bid to fund general improvements to the protocol. Developers can also obtain funding through various methods depending on their project.
45% of the funds raised will help support the product development team;
30% will be for growing the ecosystem;
15% will be for providing liquidity to Uniswap and other exchanges;
5% will be for Legal, Regulatory and Security; and
5% will be for general and administrative expenses.
Exeedme Staking Pool
The gaming platform would deploy community pools to fund general improvements to the protocol. Developers on the protocol would have access to various funding methods which would be determined by their project.
For instance, XED rewards and NFT rewards pools would have access to fees garnered from tournaments. They would also be able to receive mints and melts of NFTs and fungible tokens.
Conclusion
Exeedme is a uniqueue blockchain gaming platform designed in a way to create a playing field for any skill leveled gamera chance to earn from doing what they love. And despite having other gaming-based blockchain protocols in the space, Exeedme is quite unique in its approach.
While the previous gaming models do not give adequate room for gamers to earn from their skill, the innovative platform looks to correct that by providing an ample opportunity for gamers to earn from whatever skill levels they have.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
StoneDefi ($STN) considers itself the only yield management protocol which is focused on creating “Rock Solid Yield” for users of the decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
StoneDefi was founded in September 2020 by Alex Lam. Previously, Lam had worked with government-affiliated Institutions before taking up a keen interest in cryptocurrency. He has so far become actively involved in the crypto world, building platforms to support investment pools, notably RockX.
Rockx provides some degree of support to StoneDeFi thanks to Lam’s influence. However, StoneDefi is currently run by a team of about 7 people scattered across South-east Asia.
In the later months of 2020, StoneDefi’s project caught the attention of Singapore-based Venture Capital, Signum Capital. The project then received early-stage funding from the VC of undisclosed value. Signum Capital exclusively deals with blockchain startups and innovations.
Together with his team of finance and cryptocurrency experts, Lam guides StoneDefi as the project leads to becoming the only rock-solid yield management protocol for crypto assets.
What is StoneDefi?
StoneDefi, commonly referred to as Stone, is a yield management protocol that functions to ensure maximum returns for liquidity providers. It also secures capitals in asset pools and yield farms to safeguard investor’s interests in the DeFi sector.
StoneDeFi was designed to create a “rock-solid” yield for DeFi investors. Stone differs from other yield aggregator platforms in the priority it gives to the credibility of investments. The protocol focuses on the viability and integrity of all digital assets over just the potential yield.
After all, the name “stone” comes from the idea of a rock-solid yield aggregator.
Most yield aggregators are notorious for their risky strategies endangering investor funds in high-risk pools. StoneDeFi’s developers see a far bigger future for DeFi and understand the role of investors in it. Therefore, their enduring emphasis on “rock-solid” yield to transform funding in the DeFi space from just speculations and get-rich-quick schemes into a credible institution.
They are able to achieve this by carrying out thorough assessments of the sustainability and integrity of different investment pools. The protocol also carries out regular audits of active pools and yield farms to keep up with changes and safeguard investor funds.
By hedging single assets through indexes, the protocol is able to venture into more volatile pools while mitigating investors’ risk. Consequently, investors can enjoy a reliable and consistent passive income from liquidity pools through Stone’s protocol.
How to earn yield on Stone DeFi (Image credit: Stone DeFi)
Liquid Staked Assets
To ensure stable and maximum yield to users, StoneDefi has explored a number of alternative farming strategies. One of Stone’s more progressive strategies is staking in liquid assets.
Stone, in collaboration with platforms that generate staking derivatives (notably StaFi), has developed a way to use LP funds to create a flexible redemption for rigid PoS stakes. Stakers can redeem locked tokens for rTokens which can be subsequently traded on platforms like Uniswap while still accruing yield on their locked stakes.
For the liquidity of staked assets to be viable, there must be a system by which the credibility of user funds is ascertained. Stone’s extensive assessment protocol plays a vital role in this phase. This flexibility would see tokens in sufficient circulation without inflation while accelerating its price discovery on DEX.
Users can also use staked tokens for other purposes, especially trading where they have access to their profits without the restrictions of the unbounding that can sometimes take up to 28 days.
STN Token and The Stone DAO
Just like other yield aggregators, StoneDefi has its own native token which is tied to most activities carried out on its platform. The Stone token or “STN” has a variety of functions that ensure smooth participation and exchange on StoneDefi.
STN’s most important function is to ensure effective protocol governance through its Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Individuals who stake STN tokens are granted voting rights and the ability to propose adjustments in the way the protocol is run.
This DAO approach seeks to ensure open and transparent governance of investor funds to counteract closed and centralized regulation, which is a common problem for yield aggregators.
Stone’s token is also used to reward participation in investment pools. When Liquidity providers participate in different recommended pools, they are given different quantities of STN as acknowledgement and reward.
However, not all pools attract the same number of STN tokens. Token rewards are distributed to encourage participation in less populated pools. This system of incentivizing smaller pools would ensure portfolio rebalancing.
Distribution of STN
STN is also used for paying transfer fees in cross-chain executions, as well as standing as the security deposit in liquid staked assets. To prevent the devaluation of STN, a system where some percentage of STN tokens in the market are bought back to be burned is put in place. A percentage of the Stone platform’s fee income is used to fund the purchase of the STN tokens to be burnt.
Conclusion
While several yield management platforms have been successful in generating a consistent return for investors, one thing that they often get wrong is risking their user’s funds at the expense of high yields. This is symbolic of short-term thinking that could have dire consequences on the DeFi sector and possibly the entire crypto industry if asset pools are not given adequate risk assessments.
But with an innovative approach to yield management, StoneDefi is able to ensure maximum yield for users without having to risk user fund without cause. Their open and transparent method of governance through a DAO is also promising, giving investors the authority to contribute to the administration of their funds.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. (https://www.stocktargetadvisor.com/) Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Deriswap is the latest and unreleased project by Andre Cronje, announced for the first time in a Medium post on 23rd November 2020. Andre is a well known developer in the Defi space (“the Father of Defi” as many define him) and famous is his interest in trying to simplify users’ lives when approaching protocols. For example Yearn Finance ($YFI), launched in July 2020, automatically distributes users’ funds to various swap-based DeFi protocols based on their returns, risks, and other factors. Keep3r Network (which came in October) on the other hand, is a platform for projects that need or wish to outsource their “jobs” (operations) to third parties.
How has Defi improved over time?
Only a year ago, decentralized finance (DeFi) sounded so foreign, attracting just a handful of die-hard crypto enthusiasts and supporters. Fast-forward to 2020, and the space has become some sort of a sub-sector of crypto, leading to the creation of networks which address various sectors. Most of these platforms concentrate on yield farming through swaps. Other options and futures-focused systems also came on board.
Unfortunately, while these systems brought solutions, they also complicated the space. For instance, new questions had arisen such as which one is the easiest to use, which one has the best yields, etc.
Luckily, yield aggregator platforms such as Yearn Finance, as we said, came to the rescue of liquidity providers (LPs).
However, the segmentation problem still isn’t solved. This is where Deriswap comes in. The protocol ensures capital efficiency by aggregating services offered by other platforms such as Uniswap, Bancor, Deribit, Primitive, Compound, and Aave.
What is Deriswap? What problems is it trying to solve?
Andre Cronje
Deriswap is a decentralized platform combining swaps, options, futures, and loans into a single product.
Cronje wanted to, among other things, guard DeFi users against the high costs incurred when moving away from the money market, as is the case with options-focused networks such as Hegic. Additionally, Cronje’s vision is to shift from segregated to consolidated liquidity.
Some advantages of pooled liquidity include less price slippage and fees. Also, he wanted to strengthen asset-settled instead of cash-settled options.
Under the microscope, Deriswap is inspired by Uniswap. In an interview, Cronje noted that the platform was born after adding roughly 150-lines of code to the Uniswap protocol. However, things like math functions had to be developed from scratch to address unique computations on the new system.
What products will Deriswap offer?
Swaps make use of Uniswap’s Automated Market Maker (AMM) formula “x * y = k” and allow LPs to provide liquidity as pairs of two coins such as Bitcoin (BTC)-Ethereum (ETH). Their incentives originate from trading costs.
Options – Options tap into swaps to hedge against volatility. For example, positive trading costs cancel losses from settled options. Deriswap makes use of TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price) oracles to implement American-styled options that have no hard-coded settlement time.
Deriswap Interface
Since settlement occurs in pairs, call and put functions have to exhaust assets from either side. That is, a call request buys the entire amount while a sell order auctions the absolute value.
Deriswap options allow users to maximize fees whether the market moves sideways or is too volatile. In case it moves sideways, for example, there are fewer trading fees but high options fees. When it’s unstable, vice versa, the trading costs increase while the options charges are reduced.
Futures – Futures ride on the time element found on swaps. This, vice versa, is “just a normal trade” in Cronje’s words. It allows one party in a contract to pay a premium as well as the base asset.
Loans – Loans are a natural evolution from futures. Interestingly, the deposited currencies pair back each other. For example, assuming you deposited BTC-ETH and want an ETH loan, BTC serves as collateral. This then determines the amount of ETH eligible for borrowing.
Once the ETH is returned, BTC is given back. Otherwise, BTC is forfeited. It is important to note that loans can be settled before their due date.
What are Deriswap’s advantages?
We could think of the platform as a Yearn replica which doesn’t only interact with swaps like Uniswap and Bancor. It deploys capitals to the entire ecosystem of options, loans, and futures. Therefore we can outline key points such as:
users can deploy funds on selected platforms from a single interface. For instance, they could allocate 30 percent to Aave to power decentralized borrowing, 30 percent to Deribit for options, and 40 percent to Uniswap for trading.
distributing capital to various unrelated platforms allows Liquidity Providers to use the same amount of money for different things.
with different spheres of Deriswap complementing each other, LPs guarantee returns even when one market is dormant or unfavorable. For example, when the market has low volatility, they can quickly turn to options and loans. This while a highly-volatile market provides an opportunity to make a killing from trading and futures.
Deriswap makes existing DeFi products functional and cheaper
… and accommodates what Cronje calls “lazy liquidity”. This is liquidity from LPs who don’t have time to be active on a platform. Instead, they provide liquidity and come back after six months to check for yields.
When is Deriswap launching?
As of today, there is no official release date and not much info has been disclosed. Through a series of tweets, articles and community posts announcing Yearn Finance’s last collaborations, we came to know that Deriswap will be completed and launched together with the Sushiswap team. The partnership should biuld the next Sushiswap trading platform on top of Deriswap.
In this post, we can also read that the two teams will cooperate “in a stealth project following Deriswap release”.
To confirm this “aura of mystery” behind Deriswap and last Cronje’s announcements in general, “cryptomaniacs” are welcome to bet on what this fourth notorious project in his last tweet could be
Cronje is considered by the cryptocurrency community as having the “Midas touch”, where every project he touches turns into gold. Therefore, people are anxious to know if and when Deriswap will launch a token so that they can dive in early and buy it for a cheap price and sell it later. Most DeFi protocols have their own limited supply token, so it is expected that Deriswap will eventually also have a token. However, the Deriswap protocol is currently undergoing audit so there is no official Deriswap token yet. There is also no news on whether there will even be a token at all.
However, this has not stopped some people from issuing fake Deriswap tokens for unsuspecting crypto enthusiasts to buy. In one such scam, people deposited over 150 ETH in less than 15 minutes, which the scammer promptly took and absconded.
André just gave an update about deriswap 30 mins back. Someone created a fake token called $DWAP. 60 addresses in less than 15 mins with 150+ ETH.
Aaaaanddd its gone.
Take few mins to hover around etherscan before u jump, it’s not that hard.
In an ecosystem where liquidity is thinly spread across multiple platforms, Deriswap acts as a consolidator in order to increase capital efficiency. As such, a DeFi enthusiast can deploy his capital into loans, options, swaps, and futures platforms. Consequently, they can receive incentives, even when one industry is stagnant. Moreover, the use of the TWAP oracles eliminate the risk of widespread price variance.
Since Deriswap is developed by a seasoned programmer, the platform is likely to turn out as another success, just like Yearn.
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.
PancakeSwap is one of the most popular yield farming projects on Binance Smart Chain. However, beyond the usual yield farming method, PancakeSwap offers multiple products which users can maximize in order to leverage their holdings. This makes PancakeSwap is a strong competitor against similar projects in the space such as Uniswap.
Check out or video on PancakeSwap yield farming strategies and particularly how to avoid impermanent loss!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCqAa6a5EQ8
PancakeSwap yield farming strategies
What is PancakeSwap?
PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) platform that facilitates the trading of BEP-20 tokens. It implements an automated market maker (AMM) model to provide liquidity on peer-to-peer trades within the protocol.
Through this model, PancakeSwap matches buy and sell orders from different platform users directly in a liquidity pool. The supply of tokens in this pool is provided by user deposits in a process called “staking.”
When they stake tokens, PancakeSwap rewards them in return with a proportional amount of their share in the platform’s trading fees as well as liquidity provider (LP) tokens. The LP token that stakers will receive as an incentive will be the same asset that they supplied to the liquidity pool.
But basically, it works closely similar to how Uniswap and SushiSwap works. Even its user interface looks almost the same. The difference lies in the yield strategy that anyone can take advantage of in the platform. When users stake, they also earn CAKE tokens.
There are multiple liquidity pools where users can stake. Here are some examples for them:
CAKE-BNB
BUSD-BNB
BETH-ETH
USDT-BUSD
USDC-BUSD
DAI-BUSD
LINK-BUSD
TWT-BNB
CAKE token: What is it?
PancakeSwap token ($CAKE) is the platform’s native token. Users are rewarded with CAKE tokens for staking their funds on the platform. They can then stake their CAKE tokens to earn other types of tokens on special staking pools. The CAKE token is mainly for participating in community governance where users can vote on decisions relating to the direction or running of PancakeSwap.
PancakeSwap Guide: How do you start using PancakeSwap and earn CAKE tokens?
PancakeSwap is easy to use. First, you will have to visit their website at https://pancakeswap.finance/ and link your wallet there. You have the option to connect it to your MetaMask, Binance Chain Wallet, WalletConnect, and Trust Wallet, among others.
As mentioned, it also supports MetaMask even if that wallet is Ethereum-based. This is because the platform is built on top of the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which supports interoperability between Ethereum-based wallets.
On the platform, there are options to either swap your tokens or supply liquidity in the ‘pools’ section. There is also an option to start ‘farming’ if you look through other sections.
You can farm CAKE tokens on the platform. But before you can start doing so, you first have to supply liquidity to PancakeSwap’s pool in order to earn rewards in CAKE tokens. You can stake them back to the platform and get more in return. And again, users can also farm other tokens by participating in other liquidity pools.
Syrup Pools
Project owners can launch their tokens with the help of the Syrup pools. Here, they can commit a portion of their own tokens and distribute them to CAKE holders. There will be two categories for projects supported by the Syrup pool: Core and Community.
Core projects are those that have been vetted by the team behind PancakeSwap. Community projects are those that CAKE holders voted in governance decisions. Despite this, anyone can distribute their tokens to CAKE holders through the Syrup pool. However, only the projects that get the vote of the community gets to be listed on the interface of the platform.
PancakeSwap syrup pool (Image credit: PancakeSwap)
Transaction Fees
DEXs that follow the AMM model also charge trading fees. Users that participate in liquidity pools receive their LP token rewards on top of the accumulated trading fees on the platform.
PancakeSwap charges 0.2% trading fees for users. In these fees, 0.17% is redistributed to liquidity providers with the other 0.03% allocated for burning by the PancakeSwap Treasury.
Since the platform is decentralized, this distribution schedule can be revised by the stakers as necessary.
CAKE Lottery
There is also an option for users to join the CAKE lottery. It will have an interval of 6 hours per lottery session and you can get one lottery ticket for 10 CAKEs. This ticket will generate a random four-digit combination of numbers between 1 to 14.
A winner’s take-away can go as high as 50% of the entire lottery pool if their ticket numbers match all four winning numbers on the lottery. There are also rewards too even if at least two of your numbers match the same position as the ones on the winning ticket.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on PancakeSwap
PancakeSwap also offers an option to participate in the exchange of collectibles on the platform. There is a section for non-fungible tokens (NFT) (called “Pancake Collectibles) represented by cute figures that users can trade for CAKE. You can choose to keep these NFTs if you own a few and trade them at a sooner date.
PancakeSwap introduced Initial Farm Offerings (IFO) on the platform to help out newly-launched tokens in opening opportunities for yield farming. To do this, users can commit their LP tokens to available pools. Here, those who will launch their tokens to the IFO will first be asked about the specifics of their project like their token’s current development stage, use case, distribution schedule, smart contract audits, expected valuation, and the purpose for the fundraising.
Is PancakeSwap safe?
PancakeSwap is audited by CertiK, one of the most reputable smart-contract auditors in this space. However, there is always risks involved in using these platforms such as bugs, which could result in loss of funds.
Conclusion
There are many yield farming projects in the space today and it can be difficult to assess where to focus on. And in selecting a platform to use, it is important to look beyond their promised APY. On multiple fronts, PancakeSwap seems to be a strong competitor to some of the biggest yield farming protocols in the space today.
Since the platform is built on top of the Binance Smart Chain, it has an edge because this means that their blockchain network is faster than others in the space as it features around 3-5 second block times with their Proof-of-Stake model. Above that, there are other profit-generating opportunities with PancakeSwap. Beyond yield farming, users have the opportunity to participate in lotteries, collect NFTs, and launch fundraising rounds through IFOs. These are features that many other popular yield farming projects do not offer yet.
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) 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.
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.
Base Protocol dashboard (Image credit: Base Protocol)
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.
