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Category: Crypto Trends

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

  • YFI Yield Farming with yEarn Pool

    YFI Yield Farming with yEarn Pool

    Yield Farming is a popular method for cryptocurrency owners to gain passive income. It involves taking advantage of various incentives rewards for locking-up (aka staking) different cryptocurrencies. This article focuses on yield farming for the $YFI token which has become the highest performing yield farming pool.

    Check out our video on how to potentially earn 600% returns through YFI Yield Farming!

    The yEarn project has launched its own governance token – $YFI – this week, sending the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Yield Farming scene into a frenzy. As of this article, staking stable coins (USDT, USDC, DAI, or TUSD) into the Y pool will yield an astronomical 896% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). This is due to the incentive token $YFI being distributed to staked token holders, making this the single best yield farming pool right now. This has sparked a huge amount of interest in both searches for the $YFI governance token (trending right now on coingecko). Since the token launch, more than $60 Million of new capital has been deposited into the Y pool. Calculate yield using the community made yieldfarming tool.

    WARNING: Yield farming involves a high amount of risk due to the experimental nature of the Ethereum network with potentially undiscovered critical vulnerabilities. Never stake/farm more than you can afford to lose. This is not Financial Advice.

    What is the yEarn (iEarn) Pool

    The iEarn “Y” pool is a yield aggregator – it automatically invests its capital into different DeFi projects – selecting those with the highest yield and return on investment. As a DeFi protocol, a smart contract keeps the invested funds – which makes the project non-custodial. The pool itself is comprised of 4 different stable coins – USDT, USDC, DAI and TUSD – with a total of over $103 Million USD in currency reserves (Assets Under Management – AUM). These reserves are then lent out to different protocols that offer the best rates of return, including Compound, Aave, and dYdX. yPools are considered riskier than other DeFi products such as Compound because lend capital out to a series of protocols – which themselves could be vulnerable to critical vulnerabilities.

    How to Earn the YFI Token

    There are two pools that reward the YFI token for staking. The first and easiest pool to access is the Y Pool on Curve.Fi. This pool is a collection of stable coins that are automatically invested in different lending protocols. This type of pool is usually considered a higher risk due to possible vulnerabilities not just with its own smart contract, but with other smart contracts too.

    Deposit and stake option on Curve.Fi

    How to to earn YFI tokens

    Unfortunately “Yield Farming” for the YFI token has ended. When YFI first launched, all 30,000 tokens were distributed to stakers on the https://ygov.finance/staking platform. Although initially there were plans to distribute more tokens, attempts to come out with a plan to do so have all been voted down in the Y governance. This means it’s unlikely that new $YFI tokens will be distributed in the future. Other tokens such as YFII and YFV still have token distribution for yield farmers.

    What is YFI token

    Image
    Liquidity provider profit on Y Pool

    YFI is the governance token for yEarn (previously known as iEarn). Tokenholders are entitled to vote on upcoming governance decisions for the network – such as potentially stopping all-new distribution of the token. Creator of YFI, Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) has stated that the token has no intrinsic value.

    “We have released YFI, a completely valueless 0 supply token. We re-iterate, it has 0 financial value”

    Andre Cronje

    This being said, the current wave hype wave and token dynamics have driven up the value of the token. The token follows the “Governance” model where it’s value comes from voting on where the protocol will go next. On top of this, the incentivized Balancer pool (YFI 2%, DAI 98%) requires the staking of $YFI, which locks up further supply. Simply put, DeFi farmers are locking up YFI and DAI in order to receive BPT tokens which could be staked on ygov.finance to gain an additional $YFI. This type of cyclic farming create pseudo ponzinomics and could lead to potentially disastrous results.

    Balancer Warning & new coin minting risk

    One of risks that was mitigated by the team was with token issuance. Currently there is a max cap of only 30,000 YFI tokens. Earlier this week it was discovered that there was a master key which permitted YFI developer Andre Cronje to mint new coins and potentially flood the market with new coins. If he did this, it would of been possible for him to take the entirety of Pool#2 and Pool#3 on Balancer, with a total of more than $150 Million USD. Luckily this did not happen, as he quickly created a multisignature address which requires 6/9 key holders to agree to minting new tokens. The purpose of this is to remove single party risk as 6 of the 9 keyholders are required to agree to create new coins. On top of this, even if they do agree, the community will have 3 days notice before anything happens.

    Overall the long term objective of YFI is to leave control of the total supply of YFI and distribution up to the community to decide. The voting aspect of YFI will allow governance token stakers to decide who to do with the platform.

    YFI distribution stop

    Distribution of $YFI tokens will temporarily stop as new contracts are being prepared. Times for the pools stopping are as follows:

    Resources:

    yEarn documentation – http://docs.yearn.finance
    yGovernance and staking – https://ygov.finance
    Pool Information / Calculator: https://yieldfarming.info/
    Curve Guide on Pools – https://guides.curve.fi/how-to-choose-the-right-curve-pool-for-you/
    Coindesk Report: https://www.coindesk.com/troll-token-why-defi-yield-farmers-are-now-all-about-yfi

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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

  • SushiSwap ($SUSHI) Explained

    SushiSwap ($SUSHI) Explained

    Before we begin

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

    What is SushiSwap ($SUSHI)?

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

    Sounds interesting? Let’s dive into it.

    Summary

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

    Why is SushiSwap so popular?

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

    SUSHI token

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

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

    Advantages of SushiSwap

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

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

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

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

    SushiSwap beginners guide 

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

    Sushiswap.fi homepage
    Sushiswap.fi homepage

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

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

    Connect wallet
    Connect wallet

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

    Liquidity pools
    Liquidity pools

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

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

    Contribute to liquidity pool
    Contribute to liquidity pool

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

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

    2020 roundup and new roadmap!

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

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

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

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

    2021 Roadmap

    As the new year has already begun, it is also interesting to have a look at what Sushiswap is working on for 2021. The team released a long and detailed roadmap in early January. Notable upgrades are the following:

    • Mirin will be the new upgraded version of Sushiswap’s V3 protocol. It will include many new features like franchised pools, double yield, dynamic yield rebalancing, and many more as you can read here.
    • Bentobox (which should have launched in January) was born in the team’s mind as a new Lending Platform. While they were was working on its code though, it became something more. In simple terms, it will be a single vault that holds all tokens for any protocols and future extensions. It will support several oracles and it will also benefit all the $SUSHI holders.
    • Miso (Minimal Initial Sushi Offering) will be a sort of token launchpad, designed to drive new projects’ launches on the platform. It will include crowd sale options, IDOs (Initial Dex Offering), auctions, and more. We could think of it as something similar to Binance’s launchpad.
    • As Ethereum fees are and will keep growing in the next future until ETH2 will be a reality, most platforms are studying alternative solutions for their users such as Layer 2 possibilities. Unlike Uniswap, which is working on Optimistic Rollups, Sushiswap decided to move in sync with the greater Yearn ecosystem and thus will probably offer Zk-rollups options.

    Together with all these big news, Sushiswap is also planning to move to a new domain as the old one, in their view, is not enough to describe the diversity of the platform anymore. A transition to a fully decentralized governance structure is also planned by the end of 2021. Last but not least, Sushiswap has created a proposal page for people to express their ideas on what they would like to see on the platform. Everyone can be a chef is the place where you can voice your opinion if you like to suggest new ideas.

    FAQs

    Is it risky to provide liquidity to SushiSwap?

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

    What is the reward model of Sushi Swap?

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

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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

  • Polkastarter ($POLS) – Kickstarter for Cryptocurrencies?

    Polkastarter ($POLS) – Kickstarter for Cryptocurrencies?

    Polkastarter ($POLS) is a cross-chain decentralised protocol, powered by Polkadot, that allows start-ups to raise funds in a decentralised and interoperable environment.

    In 2020, the decentralized finance ecosystem (DeFi) recorded encouraging figures in the number of DeFi protocols, as well as the number of funds locked in these platforms. On the number of protocols, the platforms addressed different spheres such as lending, trading, and insurance.

    Unfortunately, not many protocols touched on revolutionizing conventional fundraising models such as initial coin offerings (ICOs), initial decentralized exchange offerings (IDOs), and initial exchange offerings (IEOs).

    However, projects like Polkastarter are on their way to bring a sigh of relief to startups looking for innovative ways to attract funding. Before we dig deeper into the project and what it brings to startups, let’s take a look at the group behind it.

    Background

    Daniel Stockhaus and Tiago Martins are the top brains behind Polkastarter. As project co-founders, Stockhaus is the CEO, while Martins is the CTO. Notably, the two have vast experience spanning from tech entrepreneurship to software development.

    Other members of the team include Danilo Carlucci and Matthew Dibb. Carlucci is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, while Dibb is a strategic advisor.

    What is Polkastarter?

    Polkastarter is a decentralized platform enabling startups and other projects to attract capital through token auctions and inter-blockchain token pools. As you would have guessed from its name, the project is built on the Polkadot network that sits on Ethereum.

    Polkadaot Network

    Stockhaus settled on Polkadot because of the network’s major strengths in scalability, speed, interoperability, upgradeability, and governance. To elaborate, Polkadot surpasses Ethereum and Bitcoin transaction speed thanks to its use of parachains, which power horizontal scalability, and Grandpa consensus mechanism, which drives vertical scalability.

    Polkadot’s Proof of Stake consensus, GRANDPA (Source: Polkadot Wiki ‘Polkadot Consensus’)

    Polkastarter taps into these strengths to enable governance through community voting and staking. The network also relies on Polkadot to drive liquidity mining.

    Using these features, the project scores better than existing decentralized exchanges and swap protocols such as Uniswap, Bounce, and Primablock. For instance, these networks don’t support cross-chain pools, while Bounce and Primablock support a limited array of virtual assets.

    Polkastarter’s Use Cases and Major Features

    Polkastarter expands outside the fundraising space to crowdfunding and allows participants to benefit from discounted sales. Additionally, the protocol can increase privacy to over the counter deals by enabling password protection during such trades.

    Polkastarter Key Features (Source: Polkastarter Docs)

    The network differs from other similar projects since it allows:

    • Inter-chain swaps
    • Fixed and dynamic swaps
    • Community voting on critical governance issues
    • Decentralized and permissionless token listing
    • Comprehensive Know your customer (KYC) procedures
    • Users to spot scams from a distance through a built-in anti-scam feature

    Notably, combining these features brings low-cost transactions, fast cross-chain token swaps, the ability to move virtual assets across decentralized platforms, and a user-friendly design.

    How Polkastarter Handles Fixed Swaps?

    Fixed swaps pools are significant components of the network. Unlike with automated market making, fixed swap counteracts price volatility. Also, fixed swaps provide a greater level of transparency on the amount raised during fundraising.

    Polkastarter employs fixed swap pools instead of AMM swap pools. This approach solves, among other challenges, the risk of private investors artificially inflating the price and dumping their holdings and the cost of token offerings.

    Additionally, fixed swap pools ensure a fair distribution of tokens while eliminating the risk of rug pulls in a liquidity pool.

    Note that instead of using a bonding curve approach to determine token prices in a pool, Polkastarter sets a fixed price when swapping tokens. As such, it’s possible to add other parameters, such as how much a single user can contribute to a project. Additionally, it’s easier to set more parameters to ensure transparency and fairness on new token holders.

    Immediate advantages of using fixed swaps are:

    • The amount raised and tokens sold can easily be calculated.
    • It attracts investors distributed both demographically and geographically.
    • Token holders are given a chance to acquire tokens at a standard price.

    Polkastarter’s Native Token ($POLS)

    Tokenomics

    The network has a native token called $POLS, which it uses for various sections on the platform. POLS’s total supply is 100 million tokens. Exactly 42.5 percent of the tokens were sold during the seed sale, private sale, and Uniswap listing. Other tokens went to the marketing fund, team, advisors, and foundational reserve.

    $POLS Token Distribution & Utility (Source: Polkastarter Docs – What are the Tokenomics?)

    Funds raised during the sales periods went into legal/accountancy (5%), ecosystem growth (20%), liquidity/exchanges (30%), and product development (45%).

    POLS is used on the Polkastarter ecosystem as a utility token. Among its major uses are governance and fees.

    As a governance token, its holders can vote on crucial matters such as protocol features and tokens to be displayed on the network. On fees, transactions on the platform are paid using the native currency.

    Other Utilities

    • Staking – The token can be staked to earn staking rewards on various fronts. For example, it can be staked to receive pool rewards or for pool access. Note that the option to stake POL for pool access is solely upon pool creators. However, the choice is ideal for giving top liquidity providers private access to high-end pools.
    • Liquidity mining – Additionally, Polkastarter’s native currency can be staked to participate in liquidity mining. Rewards are distributed to entities providing liquidity on the secondary markets, among other subsections.

    Two Key Partnerships With Polkastarter

    Although Stockhaus and the team have inked many partnerships with reputable decentralized platforms, two stand out.

    Polkastarter and Covalent

    Covalent is a platform capable of fetching intricate details about a crypto wallet. As such, it allows Polkastarter and its users to check the trustworthiness of a token contract. The users have access to the token contract age, verification, transaction volume, among other details.

    Polkastarter and DIA

    Decentralized Information Asset (DIA) is a platform that provides distributed oracles on Polkastarter. Thanks to the exceptional qualities of its oracles, DIA helps Polkastarter provide warnings against massive price slippage.

    Other partnerships involve Moonbean, Shyft, and Orion Protocol.

    Conclusion

    By using fixed price swaps instead of AMM, Polkastarter sets the bar higher in decentralized funding. It adds the transparency and fairness aspect that has been missing on similar platforms. The projectl’s partnerships with Covalent and DIA gives its users peace of mind knowing that they can pick a suspicious project from the crowd and avoid price slippage.

    Furthermore, Polkastarter’s native token opens the door to distributed governance while giving its holders an extra way to earn rewards through staking.

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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

  • FinxFlo ($FXF): Cost-saving crypto trading?

    FinxFlo ($FXF): Cost-saving crypto trading?

    Despite the apparent growth of the crypto ecosystem, one major problem faced by traders is the cost. Many retail traders often fall victim to exchanges that quote unfair asset prices. Unfortunately, these shortcomings can lead to distortions in the market. This is where FinxFlo comes in to provide a solution.

    FinxFlo is a platform that seeks to allow its users to trade with 25+ exchanges (DeFi and CeFi based) from a single interface, with a one-time KYC verification process. Therefore, traders on FXF can access the best price for the asset to be traded. With just one account and one KYC process, traders can maximize the prices and rates provided by the platform.

    Furthermore, the brokerage also enables traders to make informed decisions by providing them with accurate and real-time information and ensuring transparency.

    Background

    Founded in 2019, Finxflo comprises a multi-cultural team of individuals with successful stints in various industries such as Law, Finance, Fintech, etc.

    The CEO and Co-founder, James Gillingham, is a household name in the world of investments, who has once owned a trade algorithm platform, which he sold off later at the tender age of 23 in a big deal.

    Along with Thomas Plaskocinski, he is channeling all that experience towards creating a simple yet effective solution to most traders’ problems, namely, market volatility.

    FinxFlo operates under an exemption granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) within the Payment Services Act 2019. Meanwhile, further regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions are underway.

    What is FinxFlo?

    FinxFlo is a crypto brokerage platform that aggregates offers from the top exchanges to create a fair market environment and provide more liquidity.

    Using Decentralized Finance (DeFi) model and concepts, FinxFlo doubles as a price aggregator platform with brokerage services to help traders and investors identify the best buy and sell positions for digital assets.

    That way, they can avoid the risks that exist within the crypto markets. But not only that, FinxFlo offers its users the privilege to trade at a low fee.

    Through its native token, FXF, users can earn rewards by engaging themselves in various activities available on the platform (more details in the subsequent sections). 

    In short, the platform combines the best of Defi and CeFi into a single product.

    The Advantages of FinxFlo

    FinxFlo advantages
    FinxFlo advantages (Image credit: FinxFlo)

    Smart Order Routing

    It’s the proprietary concept at the heart of the FinxFlo trade algorithm. Whenever a user enters an order, the platform automatically compares available prices on different exchanges and selects the user’s overall best option.

    With it, users are ensured to derive maximum returns on their investment without having to swap platforms.

    Dark Pool Trading

    Front running, which closely resembles the popular pump and dump strategy, occurs when, as in most cases, a whale investor moves to cause a sudden change in the price of assets by creating a large transaction.

    Cryptocurrencies are not immune to such manipulation. But this is where the Dark Pool feature comes in. The function protects users from unsuspected market movements by enabling users to exit a trade in the case of such events swiftly. At the same time, if the user can pull profits with his position, the trade will be allowed to continue.

    A Unitary portal

    In trying to keep pace with this fast-evolving industry, most crypto traders end up owning even more than five accounts with different exchanges to access the extra privileges offered on each.

    But thanks to FinxFlo’s one account, one KYC, one wallet, and one interface policy, users can have all their needs met on a single portal without losing any of the benefits that come with having multiple accounts.

    Furthermore, FinxFlo’s combination of the Ethereum and Tron blockchain network means, for the first time, traders can access different asset pairs not available elsewhere.

    Token Mining

    On other exchange platforms, traders’ rewards are the profits they make with successful orders. On Finxflo, even the list performing traders get rewarded for their activities.

    This process is also referred to as Trade Mining.

    FinxFlo Fees

    On FinxFlo, a trading fee of 0.1% (for each buy or sell order) is deducted at the execution point. In addition, fund withdrawals are completely free.  

    Exchange Security

    Security and safety are arguably the most sensitive issues users worry about when selecting a good crypto exchange. For several years, various protocols and upgrades have been developed to address this issue but theft and hacks are still on the rise.

    For this reason, FinxFlo has partnered with Fireblock to insure users’ assets and also provide top-level security based on the latest cybersecurity technology.

    FinxFlo token (FXF)

    FXF is the utility token of the platform, which is built as a blockchain 3.0 asset to facilitate interoperability between two separate networks, Ethereum (as an ERC20 coin) and Tron (as a TRC20 coin).

    To enjoy some of the most exciting benefits of the ecosystem, users must hold the FXF coins. Aside from that, there are other lucrative benefits that come with having an FXF token in one’s FinxFlo account such as staking and yield farming.

    FXF token is available for trading on Uniswap, Gate.io and Bilaxy.

    FinxFlo tokenomics
    FinxFlo tokenomics (Image credit: FinxFlo whitepaper)

    Staking

    Trading fees accumulated over time are distributed to users through a reward pool system. To be eligible, token holders would need to stake their FXF holdings on the network. Users would have their rewards distributed via a smart contract relative to their staked coins.

    Yield Farming

    Similar to other DeFi platforms, FinxFlo offers a yield farming program. But unlike how it is being provided on other exchanges, FXF token holders are automatically listed as Liquidity Providers (LPs).

    These locked tokens are used to create funds, which serve as margins for FinxFlo exchange partners. In return, LPs get additional FXF assets as rewards. Most crypto investors utilize this process (called Liquidity Mining) to create additional income streams for themselves.  

    Conclusion

    With all the recent hype centered around crypto such as the Gamestop and Dogecoin debacle, major corporations like Tesla buying into Bitcoin, etc., many newcomers are now eager to join the blockchain movement, which also exposes them to massive risk.

    Fortunately, Finxflo’s vision to mitigate the risks of trading overhyped digital assets. Therefore, if the project becomes widely adopted, the crypto universe will see an even bigger influx of new individuals who will actively participate in trading, liquidity mining, as well as other crypto activities.

    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.

  • Bitfinex Exchange Review (2023): Wide, Advanced, and Secured

    Bitfinex Exchange Review (2023): Wide, Advanced, and Secured

    Bitfinex is a veteran cryptocurrency trading platform with a long history, but its past is not without controversy, leaving many to question its legitimacy. But for those looking for a secure and feature-rich cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex is worth checking out, offering users a range of security and other features that rival those of Coinbase and Binance.

    Sign up here to get started

    What is Bitfinex?

    Bitfinex is a premier destination for experienced traders from around the world. It is one of the top exchanges in terms of recognition and trading volume, serving all but a few countries. It supports both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto trades, allowing users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with ease. Finex is a secure platform with advanced features such as margin trading, lending, and order types. It also offers a mobile app for trading on the go. With its user-friendly interface and low fees, Bitinex is an ideal choice for traders of all levels.

    Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers a wide range of features, including margin trading, limit and stop orders, and over-the-counter (OTC) trades. It has an intuitive interface with easy-to-navigate dashboards and menus, and robust security measures. Despite this, Bitfinex has been hacked twice (in 2015 and 2016). Since then, it has improved its security and compensated lost funds to every user. Bitfinex is a reliable and secure platform for trading cryptocurrencies, offering a wide range of features and tools to help users make informed decisions.

    Key Features of Bitfinex

    Bitfinex is known for its core features such as:

    Exchange Trading: Central limit order books that let users to deposit, trade, and withdraw digital tokens.

    Margin Trading: By receiving funding from the margin funding platform, qualified customers can trade with up to 10x leverage.

    Margin Funding: The P2P financing market in which users can earn interest by lending funds to other users who trade with leverage.

    OTC Desk: Trades can be conducted directly between parties using Bitfinex instead of going through open order books.

    Ability to Purchase Cryptocurrency Using Debit or Credit Cards: OWNR and Mercuryo, third paty payment processors, are accepted by Bitfinex for cryptocurrency purchases.

    High Liquidity: As one of the leading exchanges in terms of daily BTC/USD trading volume, Bitfinex ensures price stability and trader confidence.

    Good Customer Support: For 24/7 support and a comprehensive knowledge base, users of Bitfinex can rely on email support with responses within 12 hours.

    Security: Bitfinex is a secure cryptocurrency exchange that takes extra precautions to protect user funds, such as cold storage, DDoS protection, encryption, and regular backups, as well as additional security measures like whitelisting, 2FA, U2F, and suspicious activity analysis.

    Variety of Trading Options: Trading participants have access to limit, market, stop, trailing stop, fill or kill, iceberg, OCO, hidden, and post-only limit orders in addition to funding and leverage trading.

    Market Pairs: About 100 market pairs are available on the platform, including those for well-known coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and EOS as well as well-liked alternative coins like TRON, Stellar, NEO, 0x, QTUM, and many others.

    Key Advantages of Bitfinex

    Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that has been providing users with a secure and reliable trading platform for over five years, earning positive reviews from users along the way.

    A Cryptocurrency Exchange Targeted Toward Professional Traders

    Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that is mostly aimed at crypto trading professionals. It offers advanced order types such as limit, stop-limit, stop, fill or kill, and scaled, as well as the ability to customize the interface. Advanced crypto traders can also view more-informative charts. This makes Bitfinex a great option for professional traders, as evidenced by the many user Bitfinex reviews.

    Plenty of Trading Pairs (400+)

    Crypto trading pairs are an important factor for professional cryptocurrency traders. Bitfinex offers over 400 different trading pairs, including both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto options. This wide selection of trading pairs allows traders to find the best option for their needs, and potentially make more profits. With Bitfinex, users can take advantage of low fees, taxes, and account limits to maximize their profits. With so many options available, traders can find the perfect crypto trading pair for their needs.

    High-Level Security Features

    Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers a wide range of features and services. It has suffered some security issues in the past, but the platform has taken steps to ensure that its users are protected. It has implemented two-factor authentication, cold storage, and other measures to ensure the safety of user funds. Additionally, it has a dedicated security team that monitors the platform 24/7 and responds quickly to any potential threats. With these measures in place, users can rest assured that their funds are safe and secure on the Bitfinex platform.

    Bitfinex is a secure cryptocurrency exchange that pays close attention to IP addresses and user information. It also offers additional security measures such as allowing withdrawals from a single, set IP address and cold cryptocurrency storage. Cold storage refers to keeping crypto coins in hardware devices that are not connected to the internet, making them virtually impossible to access. (caldwell.edu) With these security measures in place, users can rest assured that their funds are safe and secure on the Bitfinex platform.

    The exchange keeps 99.5% of its users’ crypto assets in cold storage devices, which is one of the best security features that it employs. Many users of the exchange agree that Bitfinex has learned from past controversies and that the current security measures in place are both reliable and adequate. This ensures that users’ funds are kept safe and secure, giving them peace of mind when trading on the platform.

    Derivative Trading Option

    Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that offers its users a variety of trading options, including derivatives. Derivatives are contracts that are tied to the asset being traded, such as Ethereum. This allows users to invest in an asset without actually purchasing it, allowing them to take advantage of market opportunities quickly and easily. Bitfinex reviews are positive, with users appreciating the convenience and flexibility of the platform.

    5 Different Fiat Currencies are Supported

    It is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to make deposits with five different fiat currencies – USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and CNH – via wire transfer. This makes it easier for users to purchase cryptocurrencies without having to go through the tedious process of transferring other coins from their wallet. Bitfinex also offers a wide range of trading options, making it a great choice for both experienced and novice traders. With its user-friendly interface and secure platform, Bitfinex is a great choice for those looking to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

    Key Disadvantages of Bitfinex

    Despite its many features and benefits, Bitfinex has had a controversial past which may raise questions about its legitimacy.

    Conflicting History

    Bitfinex, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, experienced two major break-ins in 2015 and 2016, resulting in the loss of user funds. In response, the exchange reimbursed all affected users in full. The hacks had a major impact on the crypto community, and served as a warning to other exchanges to strengthen their security. Since then, Bitfinex has taken steps to ensure their platform is as secure as possible, and have received positive reviews from users.

    Perhaps Not Appropriate for New Traders

    It is an exchange built for professional traders. It offers a wide range of features, but these may be difficult to understand for beginners. If you are new to crypto trading and want an easy-to-use platform, Coinbase may be a better option. Bitfinex is known for its security, but users should be aware that it may not be suitable for those with little knowledge of financial markets and investments.

    Fees

    It has a “maker” and “taker” fee model, with taker fees ranging up to 0.2%. Deposits are free, and withdrawals cost a bit depending on the cryptocurrency. Bitfinex is a great choice for traders looking to save money on fees while trading cryptocurrencies.

    How to use Bitfinex?

    Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that offers users a secure and easy way to buy and sell digital assets. Let’s take a look at how the actual registration process on the site works.

    Step 1: Go to the official Bitfinex website.

    Step 2: On the upper-right part of the screen, press Sign Up.

    Step 3: In order to open up an account, you’ll have to do the usual – create a username and password, and provide Bitfinex with your email address.

    Step 4: Now, you’ll be asked to confirm your email address.

    Step 5: You will now need to re-log into your account. And, that’s it – you’re in!

    Registering with Bitfinex is fast and easy, with two-factor authentication and identity verification available for added security.

    Conclusion

    Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that offers a wide range of financial and analytical tools. It is secure and has low fees, making it a great option for experienced traders with a varied portfolio of crypto assets. However, if you’re just starting out, there are better options out there, such as Binance or Coinbase. Before trading on Bitfinex, make sure to read up on the platform and understand the risks involved.

    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.

  • HitBTC Exchange Review (2023): Low Trading Fees and Wide Variety of Digital Assets

    HitBTC Exchange Review (2023): Low Trading Fees and Wide Variety of Digital Assets

    HitBTC is a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, EOS, and more. This review of HitBTC will provide you with information regarding the platform’s security, advantages and disadvantages, supported cryptocurrencies, fees, and payment methods.

    Sign up here to get started

    What is HitBTC?

    HitBTC is a European bitcoin exchange platform founded in 2013 with a 6 million USD Venture Capital investment. Ullus Corporations is the company behind HitBTC, which offers traders the opportunity to trade the most popular cryptocurrencies and widespread fiat currencies, such as USD and EUR. The main goal of the company is to introduce crypto traders to the most advanced technologies.

    HitBTC provides a secure and reliable platform for trading digital assets, with a wide range of features and tools, including advanced order types, margin trading, and a variety of order books. The platform also offers a wide range of payment options, including bank transfers, credit cards, and cryptocurrencies. With its user-friendly interface and advanced security measures, HitBTC is a great choice for both experienced and novice traders.

    Key Features of HitBTC

    The following are the main features of the HitBTC exchange:

    • Over 380 cryptocurrencies are available for purchase and sale in over 800 coin pairs. HitBTC has one of the most diverse cryptocurrency trading platforms and was one of the first exchanges to accept new projects.
    • Exchange of cryptocurrencies. Purchase Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency and begin trading immediately without verification. However, you may be required to prove your identity afterward.
    • Safe exchange. HitBTC is one of the few exchanges that has never been hacked.
    • Low trading costs. Starter and General accounts are charged a 0.1% creator fee and a 0.2% taker cost, whereas upgraded accounts are free.
    • API that is both robust and robot-friendly. Users of HitBTC can utilize trading bots, which operate well with the platform’s strong API.
    • Demo account. HitBTC provides a demo account for new Bitcoin traders. Everyone can use its site without placing a deposit.

    Key Advantages of HitBTC

    Although HitBTC offers numerous features and functionalities, this review will solely concentrate on its essential cryptocurrency aspects, aiding you in determining if this exchange aligns with your requirements. With that established, let’s commence the review by examining the positive aspects and assessing the legitimacy of HitBTC.

    800+ Trading Pairs 

    HitBTC is a popular crypto exchange platform that supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies. With over 380 cryptocurrencies and 800 crypto pairs, users have access to a huge selection of coins. HitBTC reviews confirm that the platform is secure and reliable, making it a great choice for those looking to trade in cryptocurrencies. Fees are also competitive, making it an attractive option for those looking to maximize their profits. With its wide selection of coins and competitive fees, HitBTC is a great choice for those looking to trade in cryptocurrencies.

    HitBTC supports a range of cryptocurrencies, including but not limited to:

    • BTC
    • ETH
    • XRP
    • USDT
    • BCH
    • LTC
    • ADA
    • Approximately 380 others

    In addition, the exchange offers an extensive list of trading pairs, including but not limited to:

    • BCH/BTC
    • BCH/USDT
    • BTC/USDT
    • ETH/BTC
    • LTC/BTC
    • Approximately 800 others

    This vast selection of trading options makes HitBTC a comprehensive platform that allows for trading even lesser-known altcoins.

    Secure Platform

    HitBTC is one of the few crypto exchange platforms that has never been hacked due to its multiple security measures. These include the termination of all sessions, email notifications about new IP logins, automatic logouts, whitelisting withdrawal addresses, and two-factor authentication. To ensure maximum security, users should create a strong password and use dedicated email accounts for trading, as well as keep their coins in secure cryptocurrency wallets such as Ledger and Trezor. HitBTC provides robust security and is recommended for those who want to keep their funds safe.

    Low Transaction Fees

    This platform offers some of the lowest trading fees in the market. Regular users pay a fixed amount – 0.1% maker fee and 0.2% taker fee. However, the more you trade, the lower your fees will be. Starting from Tier 9, you will be paid 0.01% back of the trade that you make. The system will calculate your trading volume for the last 30 days and determine the fee rate for your account every day, encouraging you to trade even more. With its low fees and secure platform, HitBTC is a great choice for cryptocurrency traders.

    Demo Account

    This is a great platform for trading, especially for beginners. It offers a Demo account, which allows users to have a real-time experience in trading without risking any real investments. The Demo account is completely free and can be used for educational and training purposes. It is a perfect place to apply different strategies and figure out how the trading works. With the Demo account, users can credit themselves with a test fund and have a real trading experience without risking anything. Therefore, if you want to have a real trading experience without risking anything, HitBTC is the perfect platform for you.

    Mobile App

    HitBTC, a cryptocurrency exchange, is now making it easier for traders to access their accounts on the go. The exchange has recently announced the development of a mobile app for iOS and Android devices, available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. This app will provide traders with a secure and convenient way to access their accounts, allowing them to trade, deposit, and withdraw funds, as well as monitor their portfolio performance. With the app, traders can stay up to date with the latest market developments and take advantage of trading opportunities as they arise. HitBTC’s mobile app is sure to be a hit with traders, providing them with a secure and convenient way to access their accounts on the go.

    Key Disadvantages of HitBTC

    Having discussed the positive aspects of HitBTC, it’s time to take a look at its shortcomings – but if you’re looking for a better alternative, Coinbase or Binance may be worth considering.

    Customer Service Isn’t the Best

    HitBTC is a crypto exchange that claims to provide 24/7 customer support, however, multiple reviews have pointed out that the customer service is poor. This has been a source of disappointment for many users who have experienced issues with creating an account, verifying identity, and trading crypto. It is important to take this into consideration when deciding whether HitBTC is the right exchange for you.

    The Verification Process Takes Time

    HitBTC is a secure crypto exchange platform that requires users to go through a long verification process. This includes providing personal information, residential address, proof of identity, selfie, and phone number. While this process is quite regular for all crypto exchange platforms that take security seriously, it might take a while to provide all the needed information. This step-by-step guide will help users to register and create their accounts on HitBTC quickly and securely. All users should be aware that the verification process is necessary to ensure the safety of their funds and data.

    How to Register on HitBTC?

    Creating an account on HitBTC is a straightforward process. Follow these simple steps:

    • Step 1. Head to the HitBTC homepage and click on the “Sign Up” button located at the top right corner of the page.
    • Step 2. Input a valid email address and generate a secure password.
    • Step 3. Supply additional details, including your full name, phone number, and country of residence.
    • Step 4. Click on “Finish Registration.”
    • Step 5. Check your email address and click on the confirmation link.

    Upon completing these five simple steps, your HitBTC account will be created, and you will be ready to start trading.

    How to Deposit Funds into Your Account?

    Once you have created your HitBTC account, the next step is to deposit funds so that you can begin trading. Here’s a simple guide to help you with that:

    • Step 1. Navigate to your account page and click on the green “Deposit” button.
    • HitBTC Review: Depositing Funds.
    • Step 2. Use the search field located at the top of the page to find the cryptocurrency you wish to deposit and click on the “Deposit” column. This will generate a wallet address for you.
    • HitBTC Review: Depositing Funds.
    • Step 3. To initiate a transaction, copy and paste your wallet address into a third-party service.
    • Step 4. For certain cryptocurrencies, you may also need to copy and paste your payment ID, also known as a “Destination Tag.”

    If you have completed all of these steps, you have successfully deposited funds into your HitBTC account and are now ready to start trading.

    Conclusion

    HitBTC is a reliable and highly-recommended crypto exchange platform that offers robust security measures and supports more than 380 cryptocurrencies and over 800 crypto pairs. It also has low trading fees and a Demo version that allows users to try the platform out without investing anything. However, some users don’t like the long verification process and customer support is not the most helpful. If you’re looking for a better and more-established crypto exchange, Coinbase or Binance are great alternatives.

    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.

  • What is Solana (SOL token): explained

    What is Solana (SOL token): explained

    UPDATE:
    A lot has happened with Solana since this article was written. We’ve published another article on the latest Solana updates here.

    Solana ($SOL) is one of the hottest blockchains in 2021 – due to its incredible speed and extremely cheap transaction cost. This means Solana can support a huge number of decentralized applications without slowing down or having extremely high transaction costs (a problem currently plaguing the Ethereum ecosystem). Solana transactions can cost as little as $0.001 USD.

    Solana is taking on one of the biggest challenges with existing blockchains- scalability. Designed from the ground up to be able to process over 50,000 transactions per second, Solana is built with scalability and speed in mind. This directly competes with other payment systems like Paypal or Visa. On top of this, Solana can achieve sub-second confirmation times, meaning users do not have to wait for their transactions to be confirmed. This makes Solana an idea blockchain for decentralized finance and trading – as traders demand near-instant trade times.

    Solana achieves this incredible speed by solving how the blockchain tracks time and issue timestamps – using a mechanism called “proof of history“. Proof of history allows the Solana network to synchronize their individual clocks such that they are all in agreement with each other.

    And this is the reason why Solana was developed. With the capacity to process more than 50,000 transactions per second, Solana has attracted several crypto proponents including FTX exchange.

    Learn more about FTX Exchange.

    Check out our video on what makes Solana so hot right now.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bp16DGhWjE

    Background

    Anatoly Yakovenko founded Solana back in 2017. Yakovenko is a software engineer that formerly worked for Qualcomm and Dropbox with extensive experience in compression algorithms. He originally published the Solana white paper detailing Proof of History and how it can be used to speed up both proof of work and proof of stake-based blockchains.

    Along with Greg Fitzgerald, Solana’s CTO, as well as Eric Williams, they conceptualized a new way of dealing with the throughput problems that were present in both the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. They envisioned a trustless and distributed protocol that allows for greater scalability, which was how Solana was born.

    What is Solana? Key Innovations

    Solana brings a total of 8 innovations that are exclusive to its system. The innovations revolve around how information is sent within a network – with the objective of making Solana as fast as how data transferred.

    1. Proof of History (POH) – Cryptographic clock for the blockchain.
    2. Tower BFT – Solana’s version of the Practical Byzantine Fault Toleration (PBFT) system
    3. Turbine – Blockchain broadcasting protocol.
    4. Gulf Stream – Forwarding protocol without mempools.
    5. Sealevel – Solana’s parallel smart contracts.
    6. Pipelining – Transaction Processing Unit.
    7. Cloudbreak – Accounts database.
    8. Archivers – Storage of blockchain history.

    Let’s take a look at these key innovations in turn.

    Proof of History

    Solana took to the community a new solution to make a blockchain more decentralized. The PoH system embeds historical records of blockchain transactions in order to prove that transactions indeed happened before they are included in the distributed ledger.

    This is done by what Solana calls the ‘Verifiable Delay Function.’ On the Solana blockchain, transactions are embedded with timestamps that help establish the sequence of events that were processed before the latest state of the blockchain is broadcasted to the whole network.

    Transactions are entered into blocks through Solana’s sequential preimage resistant hash, simply referring to hashes that cannot be altered. These hashes are then used as an input to the next transaction. Then, these entries are timestamped to record their actual sequence and eventually, save time on having to revalidate each hash function altogether.

    TowerBFT

    TowerBFT is Solana’s version of the PBFT system. The consensus algorithm uses PoH as its cryptographic clock in order to reach blockchain consensus without incurring massive messaging overhead and transaction latency.

    Before the state of the ledger is finalized, validators vote on which version of the ledger is accurate. Then, their vote is locked out. This means that they are prohibited from making a different vote on a future version of the blockchain that does not show that the record of the previous votes on it.

    Turbine

    Solana makes it easier for data to be transmitted to every blockchain node by dividing them into smaller packets. This helps Solana address bandwidth issues and increase its capacity to settle transactions faster.

    Gulf Stream

    Solana can achieve a network throughput of 50,000 transactions per second by easing the process of block confirmation. Gulf Stream facilitates the process of transaction catching and forwarding even before the next set of blocks for confirmation are finalized.

    Sealevel

    Thousands of smart contracts run in parallel with each other to achieve a more efficient runtime for Solana. Transactions that are in the same state of the blockchain can run concurrently.

    Pipelining

    A set of blocks that contain transaction information is quickly validated and replicated across all nodes in the network. Solana does this by assigning a stream of input data onto different hardware that is responsible for each of them.

    Cloudbreak

    Solana achieves scalability with no risk of sharding by organizing a database that simultaneously reads and writes transaction input. Cloudbreak establishes a data structure where transactions are processed in software that utilizes every hardware responsible for indexing data.

    Archivers

    Solana’s network allows every node to replicate information from the blockchain according to the space available on their hardware. Archivers download their respective data from validators, and this data is accessible to the network.

    Programming on Solana

    Solana has support for smart contracts that allow developers to write decentralized applications on the network. This means it’s possible to run decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and NFT marketplaces on Solana. The native language to program in Solana is RUST. RUST is a programming language that emphasizes performance and reliability over ease of use. This means that developing for Solana is harder than Ethereum (which uses solidity), but also can produce more reliable dapps.

    Solana is fundamentally different in terms of programming language and network design – making it very different from Ethereum (which is arguably the biggest smart contract network today).

    Solana NFT

    Solana allows users to mint, sell and trade NFTs on a larger scale. The marketplace hosts over 5.7m NFTs and the average mint cost is around US$1.5 per NFT.

    Solana allows creators to host NFT marketplaces on the Solana ecosystem.

    SolSea is Solana’s first ever NFT marketplace. SolSea offers creators tools for developing and managing their NFT collections. Other NFT marketplaces on Solana include Magic Eden, Solanart and Metaplex.

    SOL Token ($SOL): What is it and what are its uses?

    Solana’s native token or coin is known as $SOL. Currently, there is a circulating supply of 26 million SOL and it has a maximum supply of 489 million SOL.

    Staking SOL

    Solana is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network with delegations. Validators process transactions on and run the network. Since validators are also chosen based on the amount of stake they hold in the network, the biggest staked validators are likely to be chosen to input transactions on the blockchain. And when they do this, they earn rewards. Therefore validators would want to entice delegators (i.e.non-validator SOL token holders) to allocate tokens to them to stake on their behalf. Validators do this by offering lower commissions, which delegators must pay to validators in the form of a fee representing a percentage of the rewards earned.

    How to Stake SOL Tokens

    Staking SOL tokens can also be a way for users to earn a profit if they are just holding their tokens.

    1. Transfer tokens. To stake SOL tokens, users have to first transfer their tokens in wallets that support staking. These are wallets like Ledger Nano X.
    2. Make a stake account. A stake account will have a different address from the supported wallet that you will link it with.
    3. Select a Validator. After creating a stake account, you can choose from Solana’s validators to determine who you’ll delegate your SOL to.
    4. Delegate your Stake. Once you have chosen a validator, you can use your wallet to delegate your stake account to them.

    Solana partners with Serum ($SRM)

    Serum is a new high-speed non-custodial spot and derivatives decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Solana. The reason why Serum wanted to build on Solana is that it wanted to enable the best of both the centralized and decentralized worlds, that is, an exchange that is able to be resistant to censorship and non-custodial, yet fast, inexpensive, and highly liquid. And this is only achievable because Solana enables Serum to run on an on-chain central limit order book (CLOB) that updates every 400 milliseconds.

    What does this mean for cryptocurrency and DeFi traders? It means that Serum will have the lowest latency and gas costs.

    Learn more about Serum in our full review ($SRM)

    Conclusion

    The common problem with the earlier blockchains are issues concerning transaction settlement speed and bandwidth. With Solana’s new architecture powered by a new way to verify transactions and coupled with an efficient PoS mechanism, it can definitely be a strong candidate for platforms that could compete with Bitcoin and Ethereum.

    What is the best wallet for Solana (SOL)?

    The best and most user-friendly wallet is Phantom wallet. This Web3 compatible wallet can be installed directly on your browser as a “Chrome Extention”, allow you to directly interact with websites in the Solana Ecosystem. Phantom wallet is non-custodial, meaning only you will have access to your cryptocurrencies. Phantom can also be used with Ledger Hardware wallets for additional security.

    How do you stake Solana?

    Solana can be staked on the FTX platform for 6% APR rewards. Rewards are given in the form of SOL. It is important to note that unstaking requires at least 7 days – with a 10% penalty for immediate unstaking.

    How does Solana compare vs Ethereum

    Solana’s key difference with Ethereum is that it solves the scaling on layer 1 – instead of other workaround solutions. Solana was designed to be fast by improving network speed and communication between nodes. One key advantage of scaling in this manner is that it doesn’t break composability – the communication between different smart contracts. Ethereum 2.0 scales using “shards” – a technique that could potentially introduce communication issues between decentralized applications on different shards.

    How do you mine Solana?

    It is not possible to mine Solana as the blockchain is not based on proof of work consensus (unlike Bitcoin mining). Solana can only be purchased on exchanges or earned via staking mechanisms.

    Is Solana Proof of Stake

    Solana is a Proof of Stake blockchain – requiring validators to stake SOL in order to participate in network consensus. Validators have an elected leader that broadcasts the transaction order and this action is replicated in other validators.

    Is Solana ($SOL) token undervalued/underrated?

    CEO of FTX exchange Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has stated in an interview with Fortune that SOL is the “most underrated token…at least as of a month ago [July 2022]”. Despite the recent Solana hack, SBF’s opinion on the SOL token remains unchanged. SBF believes that Solana has growth potential since it has worked through two-thirds of the technical issues already. He also added that, with reference to Solana, anytime the limits of what is possible are tested, is when you figure out what needs to be refined or improved. And that, “Any blockchain would have broken if it tried to do what Solana had done.”

    Solana $SOL price prediction?

    As of early August 2022, Solana ($SOL) has been trading at around US$39. The all-time high price of SOL was $259.96 and the all-time low was $0.500801. Prices of SOL were unaffected by the recent Solana hack, much to the surprise of the cryptocurrency community. Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX exchange and Solana, Therefore, crypto analysts predict that SOL prices have the potential to continue rising to a range of not less than US$55 to potentially US$68 by the end of 2022.

    Where can I buy Solana ($SOL) crypto token?

    Solana $SOL token can be bought on most major crypto exchanges e.g. Binance, FTX, KuCoin, Gate.io, Kraken, Huobi Global, and OKX. They can also be found on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap and Sushiswap.

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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

  • Newsletter #13: Ethereum 2.0 Arriving in December!

    Newsletter #13: Ethereum 2.0 Arriving in December!

    ETH 2.0 is armed to launch

    The ETH2 deposit contract address is finally here! Although the final version of the new era for Ethereum is still far away (probably a few years), users are now able to stake their coins and get rewards if they wish to become validators. Learn everything about ETH2 and we answer all your FAQs in this article. A few important things need to be reminded:

    • The staked funds won’t be redeemable for ETH anymore. Once they’re sent, they will be gone for a long time. Since there are no other functionalities already available on ETH2, the only possible thing to do is use them as a passive source of income.
    • If you want to become a validator, you need to have at least 32 ETH to start with and fulfill the requirements. There are possible penalties if you fail at that (you can run into them in different ways), although Vitalik himself, founder of Ethereum, recently tweeted reassuring that the sanctions are not as bad as people might think.
    • Phase 0 “Beacon Chain” is supposed to start on 1 Dec 2020 (as opposed to previous speculations which dated it to 2021), but one condition has to be met in order to trigger the action: 524,288 ETH (16384 validators) have to be in the deposit contract 7 days before the planned date.

    Learn 5 important things about ETH 2.0 in under 10 minutes!

    Ethereum 2: FIVE things you MUST KNOW

    Election Madness is over! Markets react to Biden win

    Bitcoin broke through $15000 area for the first time since the beginning of 2018 on 5th November 2020 a short while after the 12th anniversary of the release of its Whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto on 31 October, 2008. The rally continued until $16000 before pausing for what it looks like a possible healthy retrace. It has been moving in the 14-15k range ever since, leaving people wondering whether the bottom is in or not.


    This bullish action started long before the US elections craze and before there was a clear winner. If we look at the chart, we see that $BTC has been in an uptrend for weeks and has decisively broken the $12000 resistance a couple of weeks prior to the elections, stopping only around the weekly resistance in the $16000 area.

    Bitcoin prices from 1 February to 8 November 2020
    Bitcoin prices from 1 February 2018 to 8 November 2020

    A comparison with the Fear and Greed Index, reveals that the level, now at 90, is its second highest ever. A major pullback was then to be expected soonish rather than later but as always with $BTC, and especially in a parabolic phase, trying to predict the price action is useless if not even dangerous for non-professional traders.

    Following the spike in price, Bitcoin’s market cap has risen to $283B and it is now bigger than some major US companies, like Coca-Cola, Netflix, Disney and PayPal (which recently announced crypto payments will be possible within their platform).

    Crypto Exchange CEO among the top donors for Biden’s campaign

    In a report disclosing the top donors to Mr. Biden’s Democratic Presidential Campaign, FTX.US (the US arm of FTX exchange) stands out as a familiar crypto face amongst the donors, with a total contribution of $5,22M.

    This donation came directly from Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the Exchange, and it’s the second-largest contribution from a CEO in the list, behind Michael Bloomberg, who donated $56M.

    Hopefully this is a good push for positive publicity for cryptocurrencies. Showing that cryptocurrencies and the various industries surrounding it should be taken seriously and can be highly profitable ventures.

    Red flags of the week

    Tron suffered attack

    On 2 Nov around 6 am HK time, the Tron Network suffered an attack by a malicious smart contract during a routine update to the new 4.1 mainnet version. As Justin Sun himself declared on Twitter, the attack used “the authority granted to the contract developer. The attacker initiated malicious transactions and caused the Super representative to suspend the production of blocks”.

    As a consequence, all transactions were halted and users couldn’t interact with the network.

    The community was very helpful in identifying the attack and fixing it. The nodes had then been upgraded and everything went back to normal in less than 4 hours.

    This incident raised once again a question regarding the real level of decentralization of Tron, as it uses DPoS (Delegated proof-of-stake), and the “Super Representatives” (which validate transactions and are in charge of blocks production), whether individuals or companies, are mostly related to Justin Sun himself.

    Cred Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

    Cred, the US cryptocurrency lending service has filed for “Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection” on 7 November 2020.

    This comes not long after they announced on Twitter a halt on all inflows and outflows from the platform in relation to a “fraudulent incident”. The day after, they also declared that the company was “not under investigation”, but that the halt was voluntary.

    Cred assets are credited around $50-100 million and its users are left worrying about their funds as the situation is unclear. Alex Mashinsky, Founder of CelsiusNetwork, tweeted that they will try to help their community as he understands that many users have deposited funds with Cred.

    Other news

    Banks ditching gold

    There is a shift in central Banks in that, as Michael Sonnenshein (Grayscale managing director) tweeted, they are now more willing than ever to ditch Gold ETFs for Bitcoin. This, and the multiple news we had about Investment Funds buying crypto to diversify their portfolio, is definitely not something to underrate.

    Record $1 billion crypto seizure by US Government

    US Attorney David Anderson has confirmed that officials have sized crypto assets moved from a Silk Road hack related wallet a few days ago. The wallet owner is an unknown hacker and has been referred to as “Individual X”.

    Silk Road used to be a known website for criminal exchange of goods. On the black marketplace users could buy and sell drugs, stolen credit cards, weapons and more. The website was shut down in 2013 and the founder, Ross Ulbricht, is currently in prison serving two life sentences. The last time funds were moved from a Silk Road related wallet was in 2015.

    The assets consist of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, for a total net worth of around $1B, making this the biggest seizure in the history of crypto.

    Source BBC.

    HK new regulations proposal

    Hong Kong is proposing newer and stricter regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges in its Public Consultation on Legislative Proposals. This regulation will target all the trading platforms operating in Hong Kong that cover virtual assets, together with overseas platforms involved with Hong Kong’s investors.

    Most worryingly to Hong Kong cryptocurrency enthusiasts is the proposal that virtual asset service providers should only offer services to “professional services”.

    Learn more about these proposals and how Hong Kong’s crypto community are reacting.

    Keep3r.network ($KP3R)

    Andre Cronje, the well-known developer and the most prominent name behind yEarn Finance($YFI), has recently launched another experiment- Keep3r Network ($KP3R).

    Keep3r Network is basically a network consisting of “Jobs” (smart contracts that need an external entity to perform an action) waiting to be operated by “Keepers” (usually knowledgeable teams that are able to perform these tasks). The token is simply the reward for Keepers as they complete assigned Jobs.

    As it usually happens, as soon as the father of Decentralised Finance (DEFI) wrote a new Medium revealing a new product, investors jumped on the boat pouring money at it, hoping to increase their portfolio size. As a result, the token raised to almost $400 in 48 hours. It is now at $120.

    Boxmining updates

    Genesis Block Hong Kong appoints Boxmining as Strategic Advisor

    Genesis Block Hong Kong, a leading Over The Counter (OTC) trading center for digital assets, announced our appointment as Strategic Advisor. The collaboration has been set with the aim of creating content and exchange of information on the whole crypto industry and digital assets.

    New clips channel

    We have opened a new Boxmining Clips YouTube channel for short clips from videos and livestreams for bite-sized insights!

    Upcoming events

    18 Nov 23:59 UTC: deadline for joining Oasis Labs’ ROSE garden.

    13 Nov: SWAG Finance SQUIRT 4 ends and 5 begins

    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.

  • E-money ($NGM): Rethinking stablecoins?

    E-money ($NGM): Rethinking stablecoins?

    e-Money is aiming to reimagine the stablecoin. Traditional stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a value that is pegged to a particular asset. But this has its drawbacks- for example, sudden market crashes of the underlying asset can result in the stablecoin being unable to keep up and maintain its peg.

    e-Money distinguishes itself with its novel token- an interest bearing stablecoin that can shift in value to accommodate economic pressures.

    Check out our interview with CTO Henrik Aasted Sørensen:

    Currency-backed Stablecoin: E-money (NGM) w. Henrik Aasted Sørensen

    Background

    The team behind e-Money is Block Finance A/S while their motive is to create a platform that can bridge blockchain with the traditional financial system. This way, stablecoins can find a stronger use case and attract greater adoption as it promises an alternative means of exchange, free from the interference of financial middlemen or large institutions.

    The platform is built on top of the Cosmos chain, which is also the same network where some of the biggest decentralized exchanges are developed. Furthermore, e-Money promises a faster, easier, and cheaper method of making peer-to-peer transactions worldwide.

    What is e-Money?

    e-Money is a blockchain-based payment platform that aims to make peer-to-peer payments and money transfers cheaper and more accessible digitally. With e-Money, Block Finance A/S intends to do away with the intermediaries present in most traditional financial services by introducing ‘currency-backed’ stablecoins.

    Later in this article, we will talk about the difference between this token class, as well as algorithmic and collateralized stablecoins. Basically, eMoney’s own currency-backed stablecoins serve as the backbone of e-Money’s frictionless digital asset for cross-border transactions.

    The team behind e-Money established the coin to usher in a new model for stablecoins that has the following characteristics:

    • Completely backed with actual bank deposits and government bonds;
    • Can support multiple currencies;
    • Lower transaction charges;
    • Quick transaction settlement times; and
    • Interest-bearing.

    How does the e-money stablecoin work:?

    e-Money is an innovation from the original concept modeled for collateralized stablecoins. One of its differences, however, is that it can hold interest. This is similar to how savings accounts in traditional banks work, making them a viable alternative store of value compared to other stablecoins that also fluctuate based on the movements of the whole crypto market.

    Bank reserve v Currency-backed tokens
    Bank reserve v Currency-backed tokens

    e-Money’s currency-backed token does not ensure a 1:1 peg with the fiat it represents. Instead, its price depends on the value held by the currency plus the interest accrued on the reserves of e-Money on the represented fiat.

    Annually, the supply of the e-Money token will be inflated by 1%. And unlike algorithmic stablecoins, the value of a currency-backed stablecoin does not depend on the need to manage its overall supply, monitor the performance of its underlying reserve, or collect transaction fees.

    Features of e-Money

    Cosmos and Tendermint Deployment

    e-Money is developed on top of the Cosmos chain, making it interoperable with other blockchain ecosystems. However, e-Money’s system maintains its independence from other chains through the implementation of a ‘sovereign zone.’

    Cosmos is used to enable inter-blockchain communication (IBC), a feature known to many as the ‘internet of blockchains.’ Through the Cosmos Hub, e-Money’s platform can frictionlessly interact with other blockchain networks should they need to be implemented on different platforms.

    Tendermint deployment is also another remarkable feature of the platform as it helps achieve faster transaction settlement times without compromising data integrity and security through a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism.

    Validator Network

    Since the platform secures blockchain consensus through stakers, validator networks are put in place to ensure the security of the network. Therefore, e-Money implements the validator service accessible in the Cosmos Hub and IRISnet’s IRIS Hub.

    The main task of validators is to confirm the authenticity of blockchain transactions involving e-Money, as well as to ensure the integrity and health of the whole network. Currently, there are already over 40 validators working to maintain the security of the platform.

    e-Money’s Decentralized Exchange

    Along with the currency-backed stablecoin, e-Money also has a decentralized exchange platform where users can access cryptocurrencies available in the Cosmos ecosystem.

    It bears some differences from a typical decentralised exchange (DEX). Here are some of them:

    • Payments needed for trades are only for transaction fees;
    • Transaction fees can be paid with your preferred token;
    • There are no listing requirements to use the DEX, any token is already tradeable once supported by the platform;
    • Higher liquidity since token balances can be sold on different orders; and
    • Faster transaction throughput through an on-demand block generation method.

    Risk Management

    To manage the risks that are likely to be experienced by stablecoin holders, e-Money implements an interest mechanism that helps its currency-backed stablecoin maintain its value despite economic fluctuations.

    To further mitigate the risks of partnering with single financial institutions to back their stablecoins, e-Money is collaborating with several banks. This spreads the risk that most collateralized stablecoins face when dealing with escrow accounts. e-Money is also putting a portion of their collateral into low-risk government bonds.

    Regulatory concerns are also dealt with. In fact, e-Money’s team has already begun working with regulatory agencies in the EU to determine their status and plan their road ahead. They have legal counsels and advisors who are directly working on EU financial regulations.

    Cosmos stacks, like e-Money, have already been audited and subjected to adversarial testnets. This ensures that the risk of users experiencing a problem with the platform is mitigated even before they are rolled out.

    2 e-Money Tokens

    There are two token classes supported on the e-Money platform. They are (1) Next Generation of Money (NGM); and (2) e-Money, a currency-backed stablecoin, which is a fiat currency represented onchain.

    Next Generation of Money (NGM) Tokens

    NGM token is primarily used for staking, as well as a reward incentive for users. Users can lock their NGM tokens on smart contracts for staking, or use them to nominate validators they trust to maintain the network. Annually, the NGM supply will be inflated by 10%, and then distributed proportionally to stakers.

    NGM tokens will also be the backbone of e-Money’s operations, with token rewards being the only source of funding for the platform.

    NGM token
    NGM token

    e-Money Tokens

    e-Money, its currency-backed stablecoin, can represent several cryptocurrencies. Its main function is to support the exchange of currencies between e-Money users. They can be used for payments, remittances, and transaction fees.

    Supported fiat currencies will have their own representation on the e-Money platform. These are currencies like EUR, CHF, SEK, NOK, JPY, USD, and GBP. Support for more tokens will be introduced soon.

    e-Money token class
    e-Money token class

    e-Money Token Metrics

    The NGM token has an initial total supply of 100,000,000 $NGM and a circulating supply of 6,364,516 $NGM.

    Funding Rounds

    Seed Round (concluded) :2,285,000 NGM sold at 0.10 USD per token. 12 months vesting period.*

    Private Sale (concluded): 6,700,000 NGM sold at 0.25 USD per token. 6 months vesting period.*

    Public Sale (on 19th January 2021): 300,000 NGM to be sold at 0.50 USD per token. No vesting period.*

    *The initial vesting date was 4th November 2020 at 1:00pm CET.

    Token allocation

    Marketing Costs: 280,000 NGM (0.28% of total supply)

    Market Making Fees: 33,333 NGM. (0.033% of total supply)

    Exchange Listing Fees: 600,000 NGM. (0.60% of total supply)

    Liquidity Provisioning (Float): 1,193,026 NGM. (11.9% of total supply)

    Customer Acquisition: 8,300,000 NGM. 8.3% of total supply)

    Ecosystem Fund (Grants): 10,000,000 NGM. (10% of total supply)

    Treasury: 60,000,000 NGM. (60% of total supply)

    e-Money Token Sale

    On 19th January 2021 at 12:00 CET, e-Money will launch the public sale of its NGM token on Polkastarter. This will be in the form of an Initial Decentralised exchange Offering (IDO). 300,000 NGM tokens will be available for sale at USD$0.50 each.

    Conclusion

    Stablecoins currently on the market have huge drawbacks. Problems with collateralization and the performance of their underlying assets can cause uncertainty on their value. For instance, MakerDAO’s DAI had encountered some problems when ETH crashed last March 2020, creating difficulties in maintaining its peg.

    e-Money is proposing a potentially promising alternative. By being collateralized in its issuing currency and interest-bearing, they are resilient against the at-times volatile economic climate. It is also simplified as its underlying fiat reserve is calculated automatically, and transparent with the help of quarterly audits by Ernst & Young to ensure Proof of Funds.

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

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

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

    Tutorials and guides for the ESSENTIAL DEFI TOOLS:

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

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

  • Lepricon ($L3P): gamified DeFi?

    Lepricon ($L3P): gamified DeFi?

    Lepricon is a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) trying to realise the potential of gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in blockchain by giving users a platform for gamified decentralized finance (DeFi) dApps focusing on user experience.

    Background

    Founded in October 2020, the project is led by Joshua Galloway (Founder & CEO), Stephen Browne (COO), and Phil Ingram (CMO). The CEO has vast experience in the digital currency scene.

    For example, he served as the executive director of business development at Sors Digital Assets and as a Venture Builder for Plutus Venture Capital.

    Apart from the virtual currency space, Galloway held a co-chair position on the board of directors at the International Game Developers Association (Hong Kong Chapter).

    Key Lepricon partners include RioDeFi, Hex Trust, Blockwell, and Plutus VC.

    What is Lepricon?

    Lepricon is a layered distributed platform for developers to create DeFi-based decentralized applications (dApps) with a gaming basis. Lepricon’s mission is to incorporate optimal community involvement in dApps. Therefore, the project presents developers with an open book to decide how far they want to take NFT-themed games.

    Lepricon has undergone thorough security audits, and the code is available for public review. Notably, the project moves a step further to include bug bounties on all its contracts to weed out even the smallest code malfunction.

    To help with their mission are FOUR critical features. They include:

    1. A native token – Dubbed L3P, the coin allows holders to participate in governance issues such as upgrades and fees charged.
    2. Staking – L3P has staking functionalities that enable holders to earn rewards by participating in securing the network.
    3. Loyalty protocol – Called Shamrock, it tracks community reputation and loyalty. The feature helps Lepricon reward faithful members by measuring positive contributions on the platform. Some events with a higher reputation score are staking, voting or submitting a proposal, and inviting friends to the platform.
    4. dApp store – It houses and allows access to fun game content initially created around the prediction market.

    The Connection Between Lepricon, Ethereum, and Polkadot

    Lepricon came to life on the main Ethereum blockchain before it operated as a parachain on Polkadot.

    The advantage of leveraging the Polkadot network is that it facilitates and makes it easy to interact with other decentralized protocols. For instance, it makes it easy to move data across blockchains.

    Apart from the two blockchains, the network seeks to replicate the traditional gaming landscape by making Lepricon available on other leading protocols such as EOS and Cardano.

    Lepricon token (L3P)

    L3P is the protocol’s native currency.

    The token generation event saw the creation of 777,777,777 tokens. Their distribution is as follows:

    • 28% token sale via presale, private and public crowd sale;
    • 25% community and staking rewards;
    • 24.5% ecosystem ans partnership funds;
    • 18.5% team and advisors, to be locked and released over time; and
    • 4% development teams of bitpool, KQJ and fanspredict;

    Others Ways to Earn L3P Tokens

    Apart from buying the L3P tokens, Lepricon has incorporated other ways to mine the native token, which include:

    Community Building

    Exactly 2.5% of L3P tokens are set aside for mining through community building. This type of mining targets to bring more people on board the Lepricon train by distributing tokens to diverse yet relevant participants. Programs categorized in this group include bounties and airdrops. It also encompasses dispute resolution.

    Yield Farming

    This accounts for up to 20% of all coins in circulation.

    Adoption, Prediction, and Referral

    Note that mining using these methods has a promotional element. As such, Lepricon locks earned coins but with unlocking capabilities. The protocol allocates 2.5% of all minted coins to mining through prediction, referral, and adoption.

    Interestingly, these tasks are very simple. For example, by opening a wallet on the protocol, you kick start mining through adoption, while when you invite friends over, you are already mining through referral. Encouraging invited friends to stake their L3P holding boosts your rewards in this category.

    L3P Token Features

    1. Liquidity mining – Lepricon buys back the tokens and recycles them to provide liquidity, thus safeguarding against bottlenecks in incentives.
    2. Interoperability – L3P tokens are interoperable with other decentralized systems. Consequently, it improves scalability and customization.
    3. Increased interaction – Lepricon’s mission is to drive interaction through gamified DeFi. The protocol’s native asset sits at the center of it all. It allows holders to play against themselves or directly connect to liquidity pools.
    L3P Token features
    L3P token features

    Other Crucial Components of the Lepricon ecosystem

    Lepricon Launchpad

    Launchpad provides a crowdfunding platform specially optimized for game artists and developers. The platform enables the Lepricon community to invest in projects that have their interests at heart. In addition, the Lepricon Launchpad enables its users to get lead access to rare virtual assets residing on the decentralized network as NFTs.

    Examples of projects that can use the platform to raise funds include NFT art projects, prediction games, virtual collectible trading card games, and gamified NFTs.

    Lepricon Economy

    The project needs to make profits. One way it does this is by dividing dApps into individual teams and their own set of fees. For instance, a prediction dApp has a distinct development team and a fee rate. The fees can be set depending on a single prediction pool event, user transaction, etc. However, a DAO can adjust the fee parameter accordingly.

    Conclusion

    By incorporating gaming in NFTs, the DeFi-NFT ecosystem is bound to reach new heights. Although such an interaction seemed impossible, Lepricon is getting everything right.

    From operating on the Polkadot space to launching on different blockchains, the project is keen on making dApps available and easily accessible.

    Additionally, Lepricon’s focus on user experience and interface, coupled with decentralized governance, increases the playability and adoption of NFTs in the DeFi space.

    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.

  • Huobi Exchange Review (2023): Low Fees, User-Friendly and Top-Notch Security

    Huobi Exchange Review (2023): Low Fees, User-Friendly and Top-Notch Security

    Huobi, one of the oldest and most reliable cryptocurrency exchanges on the market, offers a wide range of features and benefits for crypto enthusiasts to explore and take advantage of. We’ll look at Huobi’s key attributes as well as the kinds of advantages you may anticipate if you decide to make it your primary cryptocurrency trading platform. We’ll talk about the exchange’s security, supported coins, and a lot more topics.

    Sign up here to get started

    What is Huobi?

    Huobi, a leading digital asset exchange, was founded in 2013 by Leon Li, a former Oracle engineer. Huobi quickly gained momentum in the emerging Bitcoin market in China, and harnessed investments from leading investors, including the Sequoia Capital group. In just three months after its live launch, Huobi made over $4 billion in turnover, and by 2014, the exchange had quadrupled its turnover. Huobi has since become a leader in the Asian crypto market, providing a secure and reliable platform for digital asset trading. With its innovative technology and experienced team, Huobi is committed to providing users with a safe and convenient trading experience.

    Huobi, reported a turnover of $247 billion in 2016, which is almost half of the world’s cryptocurrency exchange market share. After the Chinese authorities dropped the banhammer on the cryptocurrency exchanges operating in China, Huobi decided to relocate to Singapore and globalize its operations. It began exploring markets in Japan, Russia, Korea, and other countries. Huobi has since become a leading crypto exchange in the global market, offering a wide range of services and features to its users. With its innovative approach and commitment to providing a secure and reliable trading platform, Huobi has become a trusted name in the crypto industry.

    Key Features of Huobi

    Simple User Interface: Huobi’s professional interface and functionalities make navigating their website a breeze, providing users with access to price feeds, charting tools, and market depth data.

    Various Order Types: Offering a variety of order types including Limit, Market, and Stop Limit orders, as well as margin trading with 5x leverage and a 0.1% fee for 24 hours on Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).

    Flash Trade: Huobi’s Flash Trade feature allows users to experience real-time trading with an order book, chart index, and market chart, making it an exciting way to trade during times of high volatility.

    Compatible with various platforms: The Huobi platform is compatible with multiple platforms like Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.

    Security: Huobi, incorporated in Singapore with advanced crypto regulations, provides robust security measures such as 2-factor authentication to protect users’ accounts.

    Swift Customer Service: Huobi offers fast and reliable customer service, with its customer support team providing prompt responses to any trading issues within the hour.

    Key Advantages of Huobi

    We will start off by talking about the actual advantages that users will experience when using the exchange. The finest features of this platform are mentioned in a number of user Huobi exchange reviews that have been published online; among them, the prominence of the supported cryptocurrency coins stands out.

    Supports 300+ Cryptocurrencies

    Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers its users the ability to trade and exchange over 300 different cryptocurrencies. This includes both the most popular coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, as well as some of the less-known crypto assets. Huobi’s wide selection of coins gives users the ability to purchase and invest in multiple different assets on the same platform, allowing them to diversify their portfolios and explore new opportunities. Huobi also offers a variety of features such as margin trading, spot trading, and futures trading, making it a great choice for both experienced and novice traders.

    Very Low Fees

    Huobi is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that offers its users some of the best fees on the market. Whether you’re starting out with crypto or looking to trade higher amounts, Huobi is a great choice for those looking for competitive fees. Multiple Huobi exchange reviews left online confirm that the platform offers great prices for its users. Huobi is a reliable and secure platform that is trusted by millions of users around the world. With its competitive fees and secure platform, Huobi is a great choice for those looking to trade cryptocurrencies.

    Crypto trading involves two terms – “maker” and “taker”. A ‘maker’ is someone who performs the payments, while a ‘taker’ is a person who receives it. Huobi exchange reviews show that the fees for both makers and takers are usually below 0.2%, which is significantly lower than most other exchanges. Additionally, Huobi Pro reviews show that users who hold Huobi tokens can get even lower fees. This makes Huobi a great option for those looking to trade crypto without having to pay high fees.

    Top-Notch Security Features

    Huobi is a reliable and secure cryptocurrency exchange, offering users a safe and secure trading experience. The exchange keeps up to 98% of its users’ crypto assets in cold wallet devices, which are offline hardware devices used to store cryptocurrencies and tokens. This ensures that a potential hacker won’t be able to access your funds, as it’s impossible to breach the security of a cold wallet without stealing the physical device. Additionally, Huobi’s User Protection Fund ensures that, if anything were to happen to your crypto assets, and their security was compromised, you’d be compensated for your losses. All in all, Huobi is a safe and secure crypto trading option.

    24/7 Customer Support

    Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers reliable and live customer support 24/7. This is a great feature that sets it apart from other exchanges, as many of them only offer email support. With Huobi, you can be sure that you’ll be able to get help with any issue you might be facing at any time of the day. The customer support team is knowledgeable and experienced, and can provide assistance with any issue you might have. This makes Huobi a great choice for anyone looking for a reliable and secure cryptocurrency exchange.

    Credit / Debit Cards – Accepted!

    Huobi accepts both credit and debit card payments, allowing users to quickly and conveniently fund their accounts. Huobi also offers promotions and discounts to help users save money on their trades. With its user-friendly interface and secure platform, Huobi is a great choice for both experienced and novice traders.

    Key Disadvantages of Huobi

    From the Huobi Pro reviews, it is clear that the majority of the more unfavorable comments Huobi receives are more about the functionality the platform lacks than the things it does offer.

    Trading Exclusively in Cryptocurrencies (No Other Assets)

    Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to trade a variety of digital assets. While this can be seen as a pro for hardcore crypto fans, some user Huobi exchange reviews point out that it only allows users to trade cryptocurrencies and not other assets. This could be a con for those who would like to use Huobi as their standalone exchange. Ultimately, it all depends on the user’s financial portfolio-building preferences.

    An Unregulated Exchange

    Huobi falls under the laws of the Republic of Seychelles. What this means is that the company behind the exchange is not regulated by any major financial institution. This could be seen as both a pro and a con, depending on your stance regarding crypto regulations. For those who want to honor the philosophy behind crypto, the unregulated nature of the exchange might not be too big of a deal. However, if you are looking for a regulated and secure exchange platform, Binance and KuCoin are some of the best alternatives.

    How to Use the Huobi Cryptocurrency Exchange?

    Users can exchange their preferred crypto coins in Huobi by following these steps:-

    • Visit the homepage of Huobi exchange and click on the “Trade” button.
    • Click on the “Exchange” tab and choose the digital currency and the preferred amount that they want to exchange.
    • Confirm the amount and the USDT worth of crypto coins that they wish to exchange with bitcoin or any other crypto coins.
    • Click on the “Confirm” tab to complete the transaction.

    How to Register on Huobi?

    The registration process involves the following steps:

    Step 1: Go to Huobi’s official website.

    Step 2: Press Sign Up. You’ll be redirected to a new window, where you’ll have to fill out some relevant information. 

    Step 3: Now, you’ll have to verify your account by entering the code that was sent to your email.

    Step 4: Once you’ve done that, you’ll be redirected to the main page of the exchange. That’s it!

    The signup process was quite simple, as you can probably see by now. It only takes a minute and is incredibly simple, according to the majority of user Huobi exchange reviews!

    How to Deposit Funds into Your Huobi Account?

    Let’s look at Huobi’s credit or debit card payment options as the last point in our evaluation of Huobi’s exchange.

    Step 1: Navigate to the Buy Crypto button on the top-left of your main exchange page.

    Step 2: Here, you’ll have to choose a credit card payment option, and enter the amount of money that you’d like to spend on Bitcoin. 

    Step 3:If you still haven’t finished your verification, you will now be prompted to do so. You must give Huobi your address and a photo of identification during the brief verification process.

    Step 4: The necessary amount of cryptocurrency will be funded into your Huobi wallet once your transaction has been completed and you have successfully passed verification. All done!

    Huobi Exchange makes crypto purchasing fast and simple, as evidenced by the countless positive user reviews.

    Conclusion

    Huobi is a top-tier cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers users a secure and easy-to-use platform. With over 300 different crypto assets available and the ability to purchase cryptocurrencies with a credit or debit card, Huobi is a great choice for those looking to get into the crypto market. The majority of funds are kept in cold storage devices, providing users with an extra layer of security. User reviews of Huobi are overwhelmingly positive, making it a great choice for those looking to get into the crypto market. If you’re looking for even better alternatives, take a look at our list of the top-rated crypto exchange platforms, such as Binance and KuCoin.

    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. (Alprazolam) 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.

  • ShapeShift Exchange Review (2023): Decent Crypto Exchange with Some Amazing Usability Features

    ShapeShift Exchange Review (2023): Decent Crypto Exchange with Some Amazing Usability Features

    ShapeShift is a free, open-source platform that allows users to buy, trade, track, and earn across multiple blockchains. Owned and operated by the community, private, non-custodial, and secure. We aim to share all about Shapeshift on this exchange review, from its features to how to create your account.

    Sign up here to get started.

    What is ShapeShift?

    ShapeShift is a unique crypto exchange that offers users a range of features. Although it hasn’t achieved the same level of recognition as other exchanges such as Binance or Kucoin, ShapeShift is a viable alternative and deserves consideration.

    ShapeShift, founded in 2013 by Blockchain enthusiast Erik Voorhees, is a Cryptocurrency exchange website that debuted in 2014. Erik designed ShapeShift to make purchasing cryptos like Bitcoin as easy as possible, transforming it into a “vending machine” that anyone can use. Initially, users could only trade a few cryptocurrencies.

    As the registered user list grew, the platform increased its trade count to 40 cryptocurrencies and 940 trading pairs by 2015. By July 2018, the list of cryptocurrencies had expanded to 103. Today, there are over 750 cryptocurrencies available for trading, including popular coins such as Bitcoin, ETC, BlackCoin, Augur, and Gnosis.

    Key Features and Advantages of ShapeShift

    Is ShapeShift safe and worth using? That’s the question most cryptocurrency enthusiasts ask when looking for ShapeShift exchange reviews online. To answer this question, we should first examine the safety and usability of ShapeShift before exploring its other features.

    A Unique Balance of Security VS Anonymity

    When it comes to cryptocurrency exchange platforms, security should always be the top priority. Users should be aware of the potential risks of a leak or hack, and make sure that the platform they are using has the necessary security measures in place to protect their assets. ShapeShift stands out from other crypto exchanges due to its anonymous purchasing feature. Reviews of the platform, however, suggest that the experience may be different.

    ShapeShift’s lack of a thorough account creation process was both a pro and a con. However, cryptocurrency enthusiasts often prefer this decentralized option, as evidenced by ShapeShift exchange reviews. People may be wondering if ShapeShift is legit before committing to a purchase. Rest assured, ShapeShift has maintained its security even after discontinuing the anonymity feature.

    You can be sure that each time you perform a transaction, a new public wallet key is generated for you, providing identity and account protection. Additionally, two-factor authentication is available on the site for added security. ShapeShift will never request your private key, which is an essential thing to remember. In the crypto world, the saying “not your keys, not your cryptos” is true to an extent – if you don’t own your private wallet key, you don’t truly own your assets, as they can be lost in an instant.

    The security of your crypto coins ultimately depends on you, as ShapeShift exchange was previously anonymous. Many user reviews emphasize this point.

    Superb Usability Features

    Usability is an important factor to consider when choosing a cryptocurrency exchange platform, such as ShapeShift. Reviews of the platform can help you determine if it is worth using, but usability should not be overlooked. ShapeShift has optimized their website, app, and platform to cater to crypto trading beginners. With the influx of new traders, ShapeShift has ensured their platform is user-friendly and secure.

    ShapeShift is an enjoyable and user-friendly crypto exchange, with a visually appealing interface that is free of difficult industry jargon and technicalities.

    50+ Supported Crypto Assets

    Cryptocurrency support is essential for a successful crypto platform. As the crypto markets have grown in popularity over the past few years, more and more people have come to the industry. To meet this increased demand, crypto enthusiasts are researching and purchasing a wider variety of altcoins in addition to Bitcoin.

    ShapeShift offers its clients the ability to trade over 50 different cryptocurrencies, meeting the market demand and providing a wide range of assets to purchase and trade.

    Innovative Features (Rainfall)

    ShapeShift’s latest update, Rainfall, provides users with USDT rewards every time someone makes a trade on the platform, making it a great crypto exchange alternative. Many online ShapeShift exchange reviews praise the attention they pay to providing users with different features.

    ShapeShift rewards its users with Fox tokens for completing specific tasks related to their accounts. If there is enough demand, the company may also start selling Fox tokens. With these tokens, users have the chance to win exciting giveaways from ShapeShift.

    Super-Low Fees

    When choosing the best crypto exchange for yourself, fees are an important factor to consider. To maximize your profits, you should look for an exchange that offers the lowest fees and is also secure. ShapeShift is a legitimate platform offering its users competitively low fees, making it a great choice when compared to other exchanges.

    ShapeShift offers competitive fees, with no deposit or withdrawal fees. The fees vary depending on the cryptocurrency being traded, but are typically lower than those of other exchanges.

    The KeepKey Wallet

    The KeepKey wallet, a hardware cryptocurrency wallet made and sold by ShapeShift, is widely regarded as one of the most popular crypto wallets available. With its advanced security features, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular.

    ShapeShift is renowned for providing some of the safest cryptocurrency wallets, so it’s no surprise that their exchange is secure too. Many user reviews agree that ShapeShift is a great alternative to storing crypto coins in hot wallets from a security perspective.

    Key Disadvantages of ShapeShift

    Users may come across some negative ShapeShift exchange reviews and feedback online. To help you make an informed decision, let’s take a look at these reviews. Afterwards, we’ll discuss the registration process to the site.

    Prior Security Breach

    ShapeShift is widely considered a secure crypto exchange, despite its past security breaches. Unlike other exchanges, ShapeShift’s breach was not typical. ShapeShift experienced a security breach caused by an internal employee, resulting in the theft of approximately $230,000 worth of crypto coins from the company’s hot wallets. Fortunately, no users were affected by the breach.

    ShapeShift’s transition from an anonymous exchange to an account creation-requiring one caused concern, but the company has since rebuilt its reputation and is now considered reliable. For the most reliable cryptocurrency storage, Coinbase and Binance are the top choices. For even greater security, hardware wallets such as Ledger and Trezor are recommended.

    Some Users Report Lost Funds During Transactions

    ShapeShift has acknowledged that some of its customers have lost funds sent from the exchange to their wallets. It is actively working to resolve the issue and refund the affected users. A small percentage of customers experienced issues with their transactions; however, the majority of people had no problems.

    Most people have not reported any similar issues recently. It is indicating that the complaints about this issue are now in the past.

    ShapeShift’s active presence on media channels is evident, as they have responded to many frustrated users who have posted on Reddit about the safety of the platform. The answers to the question “Is ShapeShift safe?” may be mixed, but it is clear that the company is attentive to customer concerns.

    How to Use ShapeShift?

    The registration process for ShapeShift is easy to use and straightforward. It only takes a few minutes to sign up and start trading.

    1. Access ShapeShift’s official website.
    2. Create an account by clicking “Get Started” Button, enter your email and create a password.
    3. Download the ShapeShift app to verify your account by scanning the QR code or following the link in your email.
    4. Verifying your identity is the final step in creating your account. Quick and simple to follow, the account creation process is complete once you have done this.

    How to Start Trading on ShapeShift?

    Once you have verified that ShapeShift is legitimate, you can begin trading.

    1. Navigate to the Platform from your Dashboard, then press GO TO PLATFORM button.
    2. Press the Trade button on the left side of the screen to access the platform.
    3. Verify your account to start trading cryptocurrency. Scan the QR code to complete the verification process and begin trading your selected amount of cryptocurrency.
    4. Exchange your currency for cryptocurrency with Banxa, integrated within the ShapeShift platform – no fiat money required.

    Your crypto coins will be credited to your wallet in a short time after you make the trade. It’s that easy!

    Conclusion

    It is difficult to give a definitive answer to the question of whether or not to use ShapeShift for cryptocurrency exchange. Online reviews are mixed, with many users unable to make a clear decision. ShapeShift is an ideal alternative for those who want low fees and an easy-to-use platform. It offers a variety of features and promotions, making it a great choice for users.

    If you’re looking for an exchange to transfer fiat-to-crypto, but don’t want to risk the negative user reviews that mention the transaction issue that ShapeShift has experienced, you could consider alternatives such as Binance and Coinbase, which are the leaders in this area.

    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.