Boxmining

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.

  • Fuse Network ($FUSE): What is it?

    Fuse Network ($FUSE): What is it?

    Fuse Network is a Decentralised Finance (DeFi) project launched in 2019. They are a finance company that tries to connect everyday payments to the blockchain through leveraging a DeFi infrastructure to create a platform for entrepreneurs and allow them to turn their communities into valuable economies. With the platform, anybody can easily build their own applications where they can digitize and automate traditional financial transactions and processes.

    The project’s primary focus right now is to establish an ecosystem that can merge financial transactions on top of the blockchain. They are developing this in a way that does not trigger too much cost for the users while enabling a system that secures data privacy.

    In this article, we will look at how the Fuse Network designed a way to link different blockchain models (smart contracts, consensus mechanisms) and traditional business transactions without compromising its platform’s user-friendliness and affordability.

    How fuse works
    How Fuse works

    What is the Fuse Network?

    The Fuse Network is a permissionless and borderless public ledger designed for easy integration of day to day payments. The Fuse Network is anchored to Ethereum via a bridge, so any token can move freely between Ethereum and the Fuse-chain. (aaplumbingsa.com) The function of this is so that when tokens are minted on Ethereum, they can be moved to the Fuse-chain which it can access a huge range of features and plugins that brings out different functions and opportunities.

    Functions of Fuse Network

    Integrate digital payments with crypto – Fuse makes it convenient for companies and enterprises to integrate digital payments on their platforms through its simple user interface. With digital payments, businesses can easily offer their goods and services even to other customers worldwide.

    Ease business operations – Because of smart contracts, business operations can be automated. Just by linking your business data with the Fuse network’s smart contracts, you can easily lower the cost of having complicated IT infrastructures.

    Fuse Studio

    The Fuse Studio is a decentralized application (dApp) that handles the whole interface which the user works with. It runs on top of the Ethereum and Fuse Network.

    The Fuse Studio allows the user to launch and operate their own communities and set some conditions through the help of smart contracts. Smart contracts refer to self-executing codes that can be infused in a program to perform certain functions if some standards are met.

    They can find great use cases for users especially since they do not have to monitor their communities 24/7. Therefore, they can update their conditions based on their own agreements if needed. Additionally, Fuse does not own or control any user data that goes through these contracts.

    Through the Fuse Studio, users are also given the ability to mint their own tokens. They can distribute these tokens for use in their own networks. For instance, someone can choose to distribute a stablecoin of their preference, another ERC-20 token supported by the platform, or create a new one for the communities that they will build on the Fuse Network.

    Fuse Studio also has a built-in contract store to allow the easy launch of new features and integrated services. As a result, there have been numerous developments that the community have come up with for the Studio. Some of these are plug-ins that let users:

    • Manage their communities, add members, admins, and designate roles for each;
    • Establish transaction costs;
    • Integrate white label wallets; and,
    • Access local dApp stores, among others.

    To access the Studio DApp, users just have to download the Metamask wallet plugin on their browsers.

    Fuse Wallet

    The Studio is linked with the Fuse Wallet to help transfer the processes from real-world transactions into the blockchain. The Fuse Wallet is based on Ethereum and supports any ERC-20 token, and it allows for easy onboarding, speedy verification times, merchant support and other functions aimed at regular customers. It is a mobile app available on both iOS and Android. It is also non-custodial, so users can feel assured that they do not have to provide their private keys in order to use it.

    What is Fuse Token ($FUSE)?

    The network’s utility token is the Fuse Network Token ($FUSE)- an ERC-20 token. It can be used as a medium of exchange, as payment to the Fuse Network to approve transactions or to participate in the network’s staking mechanism. Currently, there are 300,000,000 FUSE tokens in supply.

    Utilities of FUSE token

    Validation: Users must stake a minimum of 100,000 FUSE to become a validator and help validate transactions on Fuse Network.

    Voting: The Fuse Network works under the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm so Validators can vote on protocol changes and important decisions concerning the project. This means that the maintenance and governance of the network are largely community-based. The weight of a users’ vote depends on the amount of FUSE staked.

    Fees: Users pay FUSE as fees to the network to approve transactions capped at 1 cent per transaction. This creates circulation between network users looking to validate transactions on the network and validators who invest their computing resources and power to maintain the same.

    Delegation (coming in Q3 2020): Once this function is activated, any FUSE token holder can delegate their owns to a validator in exchange for rewards. and validators with the most tokens are elected to validate transactions on Fuse Network.

    Inflationary value of FUSE token

    Every block which is created on the fuse chain creates new FUSE tokens which are rewarded to the validators for their work. 5% inflation in the network is distributed between the validators. In each 48 hour cycle, the validators with the highest amount of FUSE tokens staked will be entitled to a distribution of the rewards based on their stake.

    Fuse network utilises this fixed inflation rate to help stablise the token price. In phase 2 of the network, there will be an upgrade to a different inflation schedule which will be proposed and voted on by validators.

    How to become a Fuse Validator?

    Validators secure the safety and security of the Fuse Network. Just like mining on Bitcoin or Ethereum, they work to keep the network updated and validate the state of the network by confirming blocks for every cycle.

    There are more than 50 validators in the network. Network transactions are charged at a maximum of 1 cent $ per transaction and these payments go to the validators. Validators also vote on network upgrades and governance changes.

    To be a validator, you need specialized software and hardware that can run 24/7, and as mentioned above you need to stake at least 100,000 FUSE tokens.

    If you don’t have the technical capability to be a validator but have the minimum staking amount, you can instead delegate it to another third-party validator. The delegation process is intended to be activated in Q3 2020.

    Partnership with Rupia Token

    Fuse and Rupiah Token (IDRT) announced a partnership in July 2020, with the goal of widening the reach and adoption of digital assets in all economies across the world. Rupiah Token is the first Ethereum-based stablecoin pegged to the Indonesian Rupiah (Rp).

    Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world, but suffers from financial exclusion. According to the Asian Development Bank’s report- “Financial Inclusion in Asia”, around 78% of Indonesians do not have a bank account. Yet, they are becoming mainstream cryptocurrency holders, with 11% of survey respondents saying they hold cryptocurrencies according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey. This puts them in as the 9th country with the most cryptocurrency holders according to the said Survey.

    With Rupiah Token on board, Fuse will have access to this growing Indonesian cryptocurrency market, providing an option to trade and utilize IDRT in the Fuse Studio and wallet app interface.

    The integration of Rupia token will enable individuals, as well as organizations, businesses, and communities to send and receive IDRT globally.

    Rupiah Token (IDRT)
    Rupiah Token (IDRT)

    Fuse partners with Elrond

    On 14th August 2020, Elrond announced that its assets can be used on the Fuse Network for payments, business and community incentives, and loyalty programs. The partnership will involve the integration of the Elrond mainnet with the Fuse Network. Users will be able to create and manage their business incentives, custom rewards, payments, and other related scenarios using eGLD, BUSD and other tokens issued on the Elrond mainnet. And assets issued on the Elrond blockchain will be usable on the Fuse Wallet.

    Learn more about Elrond

    Conclusion

    Digitization is more important now than before. And with the boom of e-commerce to replace traditional business transactions at present, making businesses more technologically updated is essential.

    The Fuse Network makes it easier for businesses and communities to integrate traditional business transactions into digital processes, saving them more time and resources.

    The innovations provided by the Fuse Network is helpful even for small entrepreneurs and big businesses. And given that the network is maintained by its community, we can expect that its developments will continue to be responsive to the demands of the people participating in the network.

    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 #3:

    Newsletter #3:

    WEEK IN REVIEW

    Interviews with key leaders in the crypto space

    We managed to pull some key movers and shakers in this space and sit them down for an exclusive interview. We asked them all about DeFi, trends for 2020 and most importantly…when bull run?

    Yam Experiment ends due to bugs

    Yam Finance took over Twitter and social media this week both a fun meme and experiment in elastic token design. However, as the token was gaining popularity a bug was discovered that rendered the governance features of $YAM permanently inaccessible. Yield farming principle / Total Value Locked was not affected by this bug.

    At one point, there was almost a glimmer of hope that the project could be salvaged as the community banded together to save YAM. This was a big display of strength and unity in the YAM community. Even though the community achieved the votes needed, a serious bug prevented the fix from deployed, forever dooming the governance features and the YAM treasury.

    Zeus Capital vs ChainLink

    This all started in late July 2020 when Zeus Capital LLP issued reports alleging that ChainLink was operating a pump and dump scheme and recommending people short sell LINK at 7 cents. Zeus Capital were persistent, advertising their reports on Twitter and allegedly paying influencers to post price analysis showing that LINK prices would fall. Zeus Capital did seem to have some monetary interest in this, disclosing that they hold a short position. However, things got really interesting on 8th August 2020 when $LINK prices crossed the $11 mark and millions worth of short positions were entirely liquidated. It’s unknown whether Zeus Capital’s short position was one of them, but this and the continued rise of $LINK past $14 really gave the Link Marines something to celebrate about Read our TL;DR summary of this dispute here.

    Calm down, $YFI’s Andre Cronje isn’t going anywhere

    On 8th August 2020, Decrypt- a cryptocurrency media outlet published an interview with Andre Cronje-creator of yEarn.finance ($YFI) titled “Exclusive: YFI’s Andre Cronje is tired, broke and close to quitting DeFi“. The article goes on to say that when interviewed, Cronje expressed he was “Close to rage quitting again” because of DeFi’s “toxic community” and that he gets nothing from the skyrocketing value of the $YFI coin that he created. This did not sit well with Cronje, who took to Twitter on the same day to express his dissatisfaction with the sensationalism of the article and that he was taken out of context. He also mentioned that he received donations from concerned members of the cryptocurrency community, but would return them. Cronje subsequently was interviewed by the Defiant, where he basically said his drive comes from his excitement to add new things to the DeFi ecosystem, and that he is not going anywhere.

    You can also learn more about his journey to cryptocurrency and eventually DeFi, and the yEarn ecosystem he is building in our summary of his interview with FTX exchange.

    Serum (SRM) begins trading, breaks the Internet

    Serum is the first decentralised exchange ever built on Solana and is the creation of the team behind FTX. Here’s our first look at Serum.

    On 11th August 2020, Serum ($SRM) started trading on Binance, BitMax, FTX, Uniswap (v2), Balancer and more. Cryptocurrency users started flocking onto the exchanges and even our site to trade and learn more about the project. The volume of people interested was so much that we even noticed a slowdown on FTX and on our site itself.

    Within the first 30 minutes of listing, SRM prices shot up to $1.25. By morning of 12th August 2020, attempts were made to break the $2.00 threshold but were met with resistance. However, prices are consistently hovering well above $1.50.

    Thankfully prices have not plummeted since the listing as we saw with many ICO projects in 2017. And with Serum hopefully launching this year, we are interested to know where this will take $SRM.

    UPCOMING:

    Winner of FTX Serum ($SRM) staking competition announced (4:00am UTC on Fri 14th): https://ftx.com/staking
    Sandbox ($SAND) IEO (8:00am UTC on Fri 14th): shorturl.at/qrKVY
    DIA ($DIA) token sale ends (1:00am UTC on Tues 18th): https://token.diadata.org/

    What we’re watching

    Serum ($SRM): With the listing just days ago. People are going to be watching closely to see which direction token prices move. Long term, there is also a lot of interest in what the team at FTX will come up with for Serum.

    Subscribe to the newsletter!

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    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.

  • Livestream 17th August 2020: DeFi, Yield Farming, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Update

    Livestream 17th August 2020: DeFi, Yield Farming, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Update

    Join us for our bi-weekly decentralised finance (DeFi), cryptocurrency and bitcoin updates!

    On the channel we focus on DeFi and Yield Farming, the HOTTEST trends right now. We also look at the latest cryptocurrency and blockchain news as well as market trends.

    Our aim is to have rational discussions and try to see through any speculation and sensation. All the while sharing our personal experiences in our live chat and keeping our community’s spirits up during these times.

    Event Time: 17th August 2020, 03:00 UTC

    Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wytuYqi_Mk8

    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!

  • Bobby Ong, COO of CoinGecko talks DeFi, DEX and when bull run with Boxmining

    Bobby Ong, COO of CoinGecko talks DeFi, DEX and when bull run with Boxmining

    Bobby Ong, Co-Founder and COO of CoinGecko, sat down in an interview with Boxmining on 4th August 2020. They talked about Decentralised Finance (DeFi), Decentralised Exchanges (DEX), whether 2020 will be a breakout year for a bull run, and more.

    What is CoinGecko?

    CoinGecko is a Singapore-based company founded in 2014 by TM Lee and Bobby Ong. It is one of the most popular cryptocurrency data aggregators today. Apart from tracking price, volume, and market capitalization, the platform also records community growth, open-source code development, major events, and on-chain metrics. Basically, Coingecko helps its users quantitatively evaluate and rank crypto assets.

    Here’s some of our KEY TAKEAWAYS from the interview. You can also watch it here:

    DeFi Wave – Decentralized finance on the rise

    According to Ong, the DeFi momentum isn’t slowing down. He believes that DeFi still presents enormous opportunities to democratize financial services to everyone. He also said that Q2 2020 was exceptionally great for DeFi tokens and now it’s everyone’s favorite. Meanwhile, we’ve seen CoinGecko FINALLY answering our prayers for the past few weeks and creating a DeFi coin ranking.

    Trends and Challenges

    In terms of trends, Q2 and Q3 2020 are going to be all about DeFi. When doing analytics, the team found that Uniswap was the most popular exchange in Q2. Everyone in July 2020 everyone was just looking at Uniswap and in fact it was even more popular than centralised exchanges, solidifying their view that DeFi is going to be the hottest trend.

    In terms of challenges, he believes that adding DEXs to the CoinGecko platform was definitely a big challenge because they do not have a rest API. So CoinGecko cannot just integrate DEXs just like how they used to add centralized exchanges. Ong and his team spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get all of the data from DEXs onto CoinGecko. But they have finally overcome this challenge and found a solution to getting the on-chain data and integrating it with Coingecko. That is why CoinGecko can now show data for Uniswap, Balancer, Gnosis Protocol and other many DEXs.

    How does CoinGecko identify scam cryptocurrency projects?

    Initially, to ensure users get the most complete info, CoinGecko would be very lenient in listing the information of any coin listed on any exchange, including DEXs. However, they discovered a lot of scam coins showing up on Uniswap. For example, some people would create new tokens, list it on Uniswap, provide some liquidity to attract others to buy, and after a while take out all the liquidity leaving people with bags of tokens that can’t be sold.

    Hence CoinGecko had to tighten their policy on what information is listed on their platform. Now they have a blanket policy whereby they will not list coins that are only traded on Uniswap unless it is properly checked and vetted by the CoinGecko team. And they do this by contacting the project itself.

    Ong also notes that Uniswap is working on compiling an maintaining a decentralised list of legitimate coins which other aggregators such as CoinGecko can contribute to so that users can watch out for fake coins which are listed on Uniswap. This is a good sign, as it means there is clearly an effort to tackle these scam projects by different platforms.

    How does CoinGecko tackle fake volume on exchanges?

    As for fake volumes on cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinGecko does something unique, which is to look at order book spread and ±2% depth for each trading pair cited on CoinGecko. When CoinGecko first looked at order book depth a year ago, they found numerous instances where an exchange would report millions in trade volume, but the volume was clearly created by bots. Worse still, when you do put in an order, it would trigger the bots to stop trading. Hence, in reality, you can’t even actually trade $10 of coins in there!

    Ong considers that Automated Market Makers (AMM) such as Uniswap or Balancer are game changes because so long as there is liquidity inside the pool, there is real depth. And even if the price may not always be the best, users can still know for sure whether there is some liquidity in there. Though save of course, if the token creators are trying to pull an exit scam as mentioned above.

    Is this a bull run?

    Talking about the growing demand for DeFi protocols, Ong said that everyone in the crypto space wants to witness the same 2017-18 bull run phase. He said, “The next six months will be crucial in determining whether we are going to enter the bull run or not. I think we are still in the early innings like maybe the first base of an actual bull run.” His reasoning behind this stems from observations on the number of page views on his platform. He noticed that in the past year or so they have around 15 million monthly page views and the growth was quite stagnant. However, in the past 1 or 2 months, they have noticed the traffic has increased by around 1.5 to 2 times. He considers that the increase in traffic on CoinGecko can be attributed to existing cryptocurrency enthusiasts looking into DeFi, but we are not at the stage yet where outsiders are coming in and checking out cryptocurrency like in 2017. Therefore, according to Ong, the market hype is real, but we are not seeing a massive bull run yet.

    We asked Ong a bit more on this. Does he think we are entering a bull market, or is this just a fakeout zone where prices will just eventually dip like some of the short-lived hypes in 2019? Ong admits he does have a conservative side, but at the same time, a part of him feels we are almost there for the next bull run. This is because if we look at a typical cycle, bear markets usually last between 3-4 years, and we have already been in a bear market since 2018. Finally, he also mentions his friend’s observations from analysing Bitcoin’s weekly charts that 2020 won’t be a breakout year, but rather it would likely be in 2021. Ong agrees with this analysis and certainly sees we are building ground and setting the scene for a 2021 bull market.

    Thank you again to Bobby Ong for sitting down with us for an interview! Follow Bobby Ong’s twitter and check out CoinGecko!

  • Orion Protocol ($ORN) explained

    Orion Protocol ($ORN) explained

    Orion Protocol ($ORN) offers a unique liquidity aggregator that connects major exchanges into one simple platform. Orion sees traders having difficulty in performing profitable transactions from popular exchanges. And while there are many exchanges to choose from, the liquidity in these exchanges remains an issue and not everyone has the time to research which exchange offers the best returns. Hence Orion wants to set itself apart, not by competing with exchanges, but by aggregating their order books into one simple terminal.

    Background

    Alexey Koloskov, CEO and Co-Founder of the Orion Protocol, launched the project in 2020 in a bid to deal with the problems of large exchanges monopolizing the cryptocurrency exchange market. In his view, both centralized and decentralized exchanges have their fair share of issues. Centralized exchanges are vulnerable to hacks, whilst decentralized exchanges are still relatively underdeveloped.

    Hence accordingly to Yanush Ali, CSO of Orion Protocol, their project is exactly what the cryptocurrency industry needs today as it is a truly decentralized platform that meets the demands of businesses and consumers alike.

    What is Orion Protocol?

    Orion Protocol is an open-sourced, decentralized finance project mainly created to aggregate liquidity from different major liquidity providers i.e. exchanges. Primarily, Orion helps users get the best return out of their funds while lowering the risks associated with going onto multiple exchanges (both centralized and decentralized).

    Orion operates by collecting the liquidity offered across multiple exchanges in the cryptocurrency market into a single, universal API. This API combines multiple order books from exchanges in order to make it easier for users to make trading calls whenever they wish to.

    For example, when the user makes an order and a single API call is made, Orion itself will split and route this action to multiple exchanges at once. This leads to them being able to find lower buy and sell spreads and eventually the best exchange prices for users.

    With Orion, traders do not have to bother themselves too much with APIs from different exchanges, data formats, modes, and order types. They can just focus on executing their trades or managing their assets.

    In addition, Orion seeks to address another risk from centralized exchanges — hacking. Hot wallets usually provided by online cryptocurrency exchanges are susceptible to hacking. Recent reports already revealed how vulnerable centralized exchanges (and even decentralized ones) are. And users have no option but to deposit their cryptocurrencies there for trading, which inevitably puts them at risk. Orion’s non-custodial solutions try to solve this by letting users freely manage their assets on the platform, whenever and however they want, without ever giving up their private keys just to do so.

    Along with Orion’s multi-currency wallet, it is easier to keep track of your portfolio’s overall performance as they can easily be found in just a single API. The hassle in using and maintaining multiple wallets just to trade in multiple exchanges is eliminated.

    Since Orion is open-sourced, third-party developers can join the protocol and make their own decentralized applications on top of it.

    Orion Products

    Orion aims to be a one-stop shop, so naturally they have a whole suite of products and ecosystem for traders. Let’s take a look at them in turn.

    Orion Trading Terminal

    The trading terminal is Orion’s platform to allow traders and investors to conveniently execute trades in its universal API. In just a single call, users can make trade orders that will be automatically executed across different exchange platforms in search for the best spot prices.

    If users want to invest in emerging blockchain initiatives or are interested in purchasing new tokens, they can also perform such transactions with Orion’s trading terminal.

    Portfolio management application

    Instead of having to check different accounts from multiple exchanges one by one just to monitor your portfolio, Orion simplifies the process by collecting all relevant information together in a single tool for the user.

    Orion’s portfolio management application allows users to monitor and record their activity across exchanges, set alarms for arbitrage opportunities, and automate asset management processes, among others.

    All these processes do not require the user to give up custody over their funds because the application offers a non-custodial portfolio management feature. Surrendering your private keys to a third party is no longer necessary.

    App store

    Orion has a marketplace of decentralized applications that users can access to purchase Orion-based software. Many of these software may be third-party developments built on top of the protocol. Some applications users can gain access to are:

    • Arbitrage apps;
    • Algorithmic trading bot; and,
    • Payment integration systems.

    Enterprise trade

    While interoperability is a concern for some aggregators, Orion has developed a system made to address this. Orion has its own extension that firms and traders can embed into their own software to provide access to Orion’s API.

    Liquidity boost plugin for exchanges

    Orion has its own plug-in that centralized and decentralized exchanges can place on their own platforms to contribute to Orion’s aggregated liquidity. This also helps bring market-makers to exchanges at a reasonable fee.

    Orion shared liquidity pool — brokers are liquidity providers who hold funds in exchanges while also executing orders on behalf of the users. They stake a minimum amount of ORN tokens to join the liquidity pool. The more ORN they have, the more fees they get from executing orders.

    DEX launcher

    This is the platform where users can launch their own decentralized exchange with access to Orion’s liquidity. It is not just a simple method to open new exchanges but also provides instant liquidity.

    Orion Token ($ORN)

    Orion Protocol’s native utility token, $ORN, is an ERC-20 token. The token supply is capped at 100,000,000 ORN and the circulating supply is around 3.8 million coins. Orion claims it is committed to ensuring ORN’s sustainability and they aim to achieve this through several means:

    • providing uses for the token;
    • non-inflationary staking;
    • diminishing supply;
    • benefits for holders; and
    • refund opportunities.

    Uses for ORN

    ORN can be used throughout its various products. For example:

    • Orion terminal: Users receive fee discounts when paying using ORN, and can earn terminal transaction fees and interest by staking ORN tokens.
    • Decentralized brokerage: brokers are required to stake ORN in order to be chosen to execute trades. Whilst non-brokers can stake ORN to vote for their chosen broker.
    • Orion Enterprise: All licensing fees generated will be used to buy ORN from the market and removed from the total supply.

    Non-inflationary staking

    Currently Orion has a multi-exchange pre-staking initiative and according to them, it yields a 39% APR. Apparently it is so lucrative that 50% of circulating ORN ahs already been staked.

    Upon Mainnet launch in Q4 2020, Orion will utilize a Delegated Proof of Broker (DPoB) staking model. This model has 2 components: Broker Stakers and Non-broker Stakers. Brokers run the Orion Broker Software, which automatically executes trades routed there from Orion’s liquidity aggregator. The more ORN staked by the Broker, the more likely they are chosen to execute trades. Brokers can also increase their chances of getting chosen through Non-broker Stakers who stake ORN to “vote” for their chosen Broker to execute the trades. Both Broker Stakers and Non-Broker Stakers receive rewards. Broker Stakers receive a portion of fees from each trade they execute, whilst Non-Broker Stakers a variable reward share offered by the Brokers in exchange for their vote.

    The DPoB model for staking ORN is non-inflationary because, under existing mechanisms used by other exchanges, miner/staker benefits are typically minted as new tokens which hurts the underlying asset over time. Orion departs from this existing mechanism because Orion does not mint tokens for the purpose of giving rewards, instead, DPoB stakers receive rewards that are generated through Orion’s 13 revenue streams. This in turn preserves the necessity and the value of the ORN token.

    Orion's 13 revenue streams
    Orion’s 13 revenue streams

    Diminishing supply

    Orion actively removes ORN from ciruclation (thus increasing its value over time) through the following means:

    • Staking: Under the DPoB model, both Broker and Non-Broker stakers remove their ORN from the circulating supply. The rewards generated are compounded into their stake which further reduces circulating supply.
    • Licensing fees: 100% of licensing fees generated from Orion’s DeFi solutions will be used to purchase ORN from the market and removed from circulation.
    • Refunds: ORN tokens refunded via the Dynamic Coin Offering (DYCO) will be destroyed.

    Benefits for ORN holders

    As seen above, Orion Terminal users get fee discounts when paying using ORN and stakers get additional incentives.

    Refund opportunities

    Orion is the first project ever to implement a DYCO. 80% of the funds which were raised during the token sale were set aside to buy-back holders’ tokens if they so requested. Any refunded tokens will be burned.

    Where can I trade ORN?

    ORN can be purchased with Ethereum (ETH) or USDT in several exchanges such as KuCoin, BitMax or Uniswap (v2), although according to Coingecko, it is most actively traded on Bilaxy exchange. Orion also claims that through a multi-exchange pre-staking program, ORN tokens can be staked on Bitmax, KuCoin and Biki for staking rewards of approximately 39% APR.

    Orion roadmap: What can we expect?

    Orion’s token sale had ended on 14th July 2020 and as mentioned above ORN is already listed on several exchanges. In the upcoming Q4 2020 we can expect the launch of the public mainnet, decentralized brokerage and Orion price oracle. Most importantly upon public mainnet launch the DPoB staking model will be place.

    Here’s a look at Orion’s roadmap:

    Orion roadmap
    Orion roadmap

    Conclusion

    The challenge for traders and investors is how they can make sure that the transactions they make are still profitable. This is because day-to-day market prices can be manipulated by crypto whales and other large investors as they influence overall liquidity.

    Orion’s aggregated liquidity promised to solve this issue and so far, it is off to a good start. With Orion, no single entity or investor can influence its aggregated liquidity. Users can consider this platform if they want to execute trades that are much more profitable, or if they just simply want to have a better view of how their portfolio is performing on different exchanges.

    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 #2: Yield Farming is HOT – but Farmers Beware of scams

    Newsletter #2: Yield Farming is HOT – but Farmers Beware of scams

    I’ll keep this week’s newsletter short and sweet. Primary markets (BTC, ETC) have been relatively stable, which an overall trend of recovery after last week’s flash crash on the 2nd of Aug. The crash was primarily targeted at leveraged traders, with over $1 Billion USD worth of contracts being liquidated across multiple exchanges. After this crash, prices quickly recovered nearing previous highs. This goes to show one of the dangers of over-leveraged positions, as there can be sudden volatility in either direction causing positions to be liquidated.

    Yield farming is HOT, but farmers Beware!

    Personally, I’ve been yield farming quite a lot this week with generally favorable results. Please note that Yield Farming is EXTREMELY dangerous as it involves the use of potentially unverified audited code on smart contracts. Do Your Own Research (honestly this is what’s taking up most of my time)

    Starting off, Yearn’s developer Andre Cronje (check this interview summary) launched Yvaults 2. Simply funds saved there will automatically be invested into the best strategy possible to generate more profit. The new system allows for the addition of new strategies too – basically what the founder Andre sees fit. Annual returns can vary – we’ve seen numbers between 50% and 200% APY. However, there isn’t a good way to calculate for the time being.

    One of the biggest trends this week is the emergence of $YFI clones. $YFI farming was extremely popular 2 weeks ago as it has extremely high yields. However – this has since paused as there is no new distribution of $YFI. Many opportunistic developers sought to create forks for $YFI that would distribute new coins such as $YFII, $YFFI, $YFT, and $WIFEY (just to name a few) in a similar fashion. One of the biggest risks with these $YFI clones is that the use un-audited code  – so they are extremely vulnerable to smart contract bugs (such as this one https://twitter.com/oli_vdb/status/1290370855709573122 ).

    BEWARE: $ASUKA & YYFI exit scams

    Two infamous projects pulled of exit scams in the past month, with developers minting a huge number of tokens and trading it into DAI. Both $ASUKA and $YYFI preyed on farmers who added liquidity to balancer pools that are required to farm the tokens. These pools are dangerous because the funds are directly used as a counter-party to trades, meaning that the pool’s DAI will directly be used to buy up the corresponding token. The $YFFI developer minted 1,000,000 $YFFI and sold it immediately, making off with $70,000 in the process (could have been more if he understood how balancer works).


    For the time being, I’m staying away from any yield farming involves liquidity pools.

    CREAM

    This week I’m testing out CREAM mining. CREAM is a project inspired by Compound and they are offering airdrops of CREAM token to those supply / borrowing from the protocol. Currently, the project’s code is up on GitHub but is pending formal audits. This means there will be potential smart contract risks with farming here.

    UPCOMING:

    Serum IEO (Friday 7th): https://boxmining.com/serum-srm-first-look/
    Interview with Binance CEO CZ (Wed 12th). Ask questions and win prizes: https://boxmining.com/ask-a-question-to-cz-binance/
    CURVE.FI expected to launch a new token in the coming weeks.

    Subscribe to the newsletter!

    https://mailchi.mp/afde32c593a4/newsletter

  • What is Utrust ($UTK): Full guide and review

    What is Utrust ($UTK): Full guide and review

    Utrust aims to distinguish itself from the competition and overcome the volatility and lack of consumer protection which are some of the biggest factors preventing user adoption of cryptocurrencies. Utrust tries to do this by merging the best features of traditional payment gateways with the security of blockchain technology.

    Background and team

    Sanja Kon is the CEO of Utrust with an extensive track record working as the Head of Marketplaces and Large Enterprises at PayPal. She also has previous experience working as the European Partner of Development at eBay. Coming from PayPal, she has a full understanding of the eCommerce ecosystem and how to handle merchant partners. This positions Utrust at a very strategic position in terms so cryptocurrency payment adoption.

    What is Utrust?

    Utrust dashboard
    Utrust dashboard

    Utrust is a digital payment platform built on the blockchain. It combines the features of the traditional online payment system and blockchain technology to offer the best of both worlds. One that offers an affordable payment system that secures transactions between buyers and sellers from the point of payment until they receive the products.

    The platform also streamlines the exchange between merchants and consumers by making payments simpler. There is no need to bear huge operational costs or conversion fees anymore just to establish a cryptocurrency payment gateway. This makes the option of accepting and making cryptocurrency payments within everyone’s reach.

    Utrust goes further by promising real-time business-to-consumer transactions without having both parties suffer from the volatility of cryptocurrencies. After all, there is nothing scarier than transacting in cryptocurrencies only to later find out that the payment you accepted significantly changed in value.

    The Utrust platform supports different digital currencies and its native token, $UTK. Users can make payments for goods and services without any exchange rate fee if they are paid in UTK.

    UTK is backed by the platform. Each time a transaction happens, a small percentage of the fees are converted into UTK and burned. This decreases the total supply of UTK, causing its value to rise. The more transactions, the higher the token value becomes.

    Others believe that Utrust might just be the alternative to PayPal because PayPal can be expensive and at times, inconvenient to use. Here is how they do it.

    How Does Utrust Work?

    Perhaps one of the biggest problems in transacting in cryptocurrency is that at any given time, the price of a particular coin may change drastically. Or, a transaction that was already finalized might turn out to be disadvantageous for the buyer but cannot be reversed anymore.

    Here is how Utrust combined the traditional buyer protection system with blockchain technology:

    1. The transaction begins with buyers looking for merchants accepting cryptocurrencies. Through the merchant’s website, they can see if they have integrated Utrust with their payment system. Buyers can also use the Utrust wallet on their mobile phones to store, send and buy products and transactions will be processed instantly.
    2. The buyer is charged a total payment fee that covers a 1% commission and conversion fee. This is what Utrust carries to convert cryptos into fiat currencies in real-time with the best conversion rates.
    3. When the buyer completes the purchase of a product, the fiat money they pay will be converted and held in escrow. It will only be released after a prescribed holding period.
    4. Should there be no disputes in the transaction, the payment is released from escrow.
    5. The seller receives the payment in fiat currency, which he can withdraw, or convert to another cryptocurrency.
    Utrust wallet
    Utrust wallet

    What is the holding period? Utrust’s Performance-Based Criteria

    The holding period in point 3 above refers to the time period before the merchant receives the actual payment for the product sold. Utrust determines the length of the holding period depending on the reputation of the merchant in the marketplace.

    The purpose of the holding period is to ensure that the products each customer buys are received in a condition agreed upon before each transaction. If the transaction is all well and good, the amount held in escrow is released.

    For successful transactions or those that are dispute-free, the merchant earns good reputation ratings. But the more disputes they experience in their transactions, the lower their rating becomes. And the lower their reputation rating is, the longer their payment holding period is.

    UTrust’s Third-party Mediation

    Utrust’s third-party mediation in transactions takes the form of establishing a safe communication platform for everyone involved. Through a messaging system, buyers and sellers can easily discuss their concerns with a particular product if they need to. And if a conflict arises, Utrust has impartial mediators who can resolve arising disputes and decide whether to refund a buyer or release payments to the merchant.

    What Problems Is Utrust Trying to Solve?

    Cryptocurrency Volatility

    The reason why some merchants do not accept payments made in cryptocurrency is because of high transaction fees and volatility. This makes crypto transactions less feasible and much riskier for merchants and buyers.

    Consumer Protection

    Consumer protection is the process where the merchants can interact with the seller before a transaction is actually finalized. If a product received seems to be faulty, it must be settled accordingly before each transaction is closed. But this is not the case with most payment gateways. Blockchain’s immutability makes it difficult for merchants and buyers to reverse problematic transactions because of the nature of blockchain transactions.

    Advantages of Utrust

    Immediate Conversion From Crypto to Fiat

    Sellers have the option to accept the fiat currency of their choice for payments. To protect sellers from market volatility, funds are immediately converted into fiat currency whenever customers pay in cryptocurrency.

    The seller then receives the payment and is offered the option to withdraw it in his bank account, store it in their wallet, or convert it into another cryptocurrency.

    Buyer Protection System

    Apart from addressing market volatility, Utrust also took steps in protecting consumers from scams by acting as a third-party mediator between transactions. Every purchase is protected from the point of payment to delivery.

    Utrust has a blockchain-powered buyer protection system that creates a safe and secure environment for payment transactions between customers and merchants. This is done via Utrust holding the funds and releasing them to the seller on performance-based criteria.

    And because transactions are recorded on the blockchain, they are irreversible and final. This eliminates the possibility of fraud from buyers, chargebacks, and other financial losses arising from failed transactions.

    While there are a lot of other payment gateways available in the cryptocurrency space, Utrust is the first to provide consumer protection and third party mediation, unlike other blockchain payment gateways.

    Partners

    Utrust has already on-boarded several businesses such as S.L.Benfica, PRW Jewlery, Phone House, iperfumes.com, Bleu Jour, Whow, Alternative Airlines, Woocommerce, Morefrom and Elrond, among others.

    Conclusion

    We can get the best out of technology and innovation by putting together the best features of traditional innovations and blockchain technology. UTrust did exactly that when it meshed together the traditional process of consumer protection and the advanced infrastructure brought by blockchain.

    If we are looking at increasing the adoption rate for cryptocurrencies, this is the way to go. Utrust addresses the risk of price volatility that scares merchants from accepting them as payment transactions and offers a solution to the problem of fraudulent payments.

    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.

  • Uniswap Review and Tutorial: Beginners Guide and Advanced Tips and Tricks

    Uniswap Review and Tutorial: Beginners Guide and Advanced Tips and Tricks

    Uniswap is an automated liquidity protocol and is one of the most popular decentralised exchanges (DEX) out there because of the surge in popularity of decentralised finance (DeFi). Users can become liquidity providers for a pool on Uniswap by depositing an equivalent value of each underlying token in return for other tokens in the pool. In this article, we look at why Uniswap is so popular and provide a tutorial suitable for both beginners, and some advanced tips and hacks for more advanced users.

    You can also check out our Uniswap Guide with a walkthrough of their various features, tips and tricks here:

    Key features of Uniswap

    Uniswap has 2 major elements or features known as Swap and Pool:

    Swap: Uniswap’s Swap feature allows users to swap between Ethereum (ETH) and different ERC-20 tokens.

    Pool: Uniswap’s Pool Allows users to earn through providing liquidity. This is done by depositing tokens into a smart contract and you would receive pool tokens in return.

    Why is Uniswap so popular? Advantages of the Exchange

    Self-custodial: Uniswap allows you to retain full custody of your funds. So there is no risk associated with centralised exchanges where you could stand to lose your funds if the exchange is hacked or goes bankrupt.

    No Know Your Customer (KYC) process: Because Uniswap allows you to retain custody of your funds they do not require you to go through a lengthy KYC process and disclose your full name, passport details etc. It also means getting started on the Exchange will be much quicker and will drastically reduce the chances of your personal information falling into the wrong hands if the Exchange is hacked.

    Low trading fees: Uniswap only charges a flat fee of 0.30% per trade. This is much cheaper than most decentralised exchanges.

    Access to new coins: Usually with centralised exchanges, different cryptocurrency or DeFi projects will need to go through a vetting process with the exchange before their coin or token is listed for trading. However, since Uniswap is decentralised and owing to their popularity, a lot of projects are instead choosing to launch on Uniswap directly. So with Uniswap, users can get their hands on these new tokens first. And with crazy fluctuations in token prices, especially when they first launch, many traders consider it crucial to be the first ones there.

    Is Uniswap safe or a scam? Disadvantages and risks

    Transaction failure: When swapping coins on Uniswap, transactions can be at risk of failing. This is mostly for 3 reasons. Firstly, you paid too little gas fees and the transaction took longer than the hard deadline coded into the transaction. Secondly, you had specified a maximum price that you would be prepared to pay per token but the price exceeds the maximum before the transaction is completed. Lastly, there is insufficient liquidity in the pool. In these cases, your transactions are “reverted” i.e. reset as if the transaction never occurred, so you would not lose your funds. So it cannot really be said that Uniswap is a scam.

    Fake coins: Anyone can list their tokens on Uniswap, so there are people out there who list fake coins on Uniswap in the hopes of being able to scam people into sending their funds for these coins. So Uniswap users need to be extra careful in this respect- see our section below on identifying and avoiding fake coins on Uniswap which teaches you how to double-check you are sending funds to the correct transaction.

    Uniswap beginners guide

    Uniswap allows users to connect directly to their Exchange, the following wallets are supported: MetaMask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic and Portis.

    Connecting MetaMask to Uniswap

    If you don’t have a MetaMask wallet yet, learn to set one up with our MetaMask tutorial.

    On Uniswap, click “Launch App” and then “Connect to a wallet”. Choose the MetaMask wallet (or whichever other wallets you want to connect with) and click “Connect wallet”. A popup window would appear showing your account, choose the wallet then click “Next” and “Connect”. Then you are all set!

    How to use Uniswap’s Swap feature

    Uniswap allows you to swap between ERC-20 tokens. On the Swap tab, choose the amount of ERC-20 tokens you want to swap. Choose the token you want to swap to by clicking the down arrow under “To”. A list will appear and you can choose the token you want to swap to, or if your token is not on the list you can paste the address of the token. Uniswap will display an estimate of how many tokens you would receive after the swap. To confirm, click “Swap”.

    Choose the token to be swapped
    Choose the token to be swapped

    You will then be taken to a page to confirm your swap (see left image below). There are several figures you need to look out for here:

    • the amount you are swapping from, and the amount you will receive;
    • minimum sent: which is the guaranteed minimum amount you would receive if the price drops whilst the transaction is processing;
    • price impact: the difference between the market price and the price estimate provided by Uniswap due to trade size; and
    • liquidity provider fee: amount of fees you will be paying to Uniswap. This is generally 0.03% of the transaction.

    Once you’ve confirmed your swap, a pop-up window would appear (see right image below) to confirm the gas prices to be paid for this swap since it is an Ethereum transaction. Input the gas prices you wish to pay and click “confirm”.

    Confirm swap
    Confirm swap

    Once the transaction is completed, Uniswap will let you know and provide you with a link to Etherscan to show your transaction details. Here you can check how many tokens you actually got out of the swap, and the amount of transaction fees that were paid.

    Uniswap advanced tips and tricks

    Failed transactions: why does it happen and how to avoid them?

    Transactions on Uniswap can fail if the prices of the input currency drops such that it does not fulfil your preset criteria. When a transaction fails, all your sent Ethereum would be reverted back to you. So you do not lose your original funds. However the Ethereum gas fee does get deducted and it is not refunded.

    To avoid failed transactions, you can look out for other people who are also trying to do the same transaction as you. To do this click “…” on Uniswap go to “Analytics” and search for your intended trading pair to see how many other people are also trying to do the same swap. If the price of the token you want to swap for is increasing in value, you may want to increase the amount of gas fees. This will speed up your transaction and beat your other competitors to lock in the swap price.

    How to get faster / speed up Uniswap transactions

    Get faster or speed up your transactions by essentially outbidding other competitors who are trying to process the same transaction. This is by paying more gas fees than others. To see how much gas fees to pay go to Ethereum Gas Station and see the recommended gas prices for fast, standard and safe transactions. As a tip for getting fast transactions, we suggest paying around 10% more than the recommended price for fast transactions. You can input the amount of gas prices you wish to pay in the MetaMask pop-up window before you confirm your transaction (see above section on how to use Uniswap’s Swap feature).

    ETH gas station
    ETH gas station

    Fake coins on Uniswap: How to identify and avoid them

    Because any coin can be added to Uniswap, there are lots of scam or fake coins on the Exchange. Cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, so if you accidentally send your funds to buy these scam coins or tokens you will not be refunded. The logo and ticker of these fake coins can look exactly like the real ones, so you need to be careful.

    You can verify if the coin or token is real by checking it on Coingecko. To do this, look up the coin or token you want to exchange to on Coingecko, at the bottom of the page find and click on the trading pair for Uniswap (see image on left). You will then automatically be taken back to Uniswap and the token will have been imported (see image on right).

    Import token on Uniswap
    Import token on Uniswap

    Another way to verify that the token is genuine is to check it on Etherscan (see below). Again on Coingecko, find the token and click on the etherscan.io explorer. On the Etherscan window, you will be able to see the contract number for the token. Match this contract number with the number in the address bar in your web browser for Uniswap.

    Check token number on Etherscan
    Check the token number on Etherscan against the number in your Uniswap browser.

    Warning: Do NOT search for the token or its address on Etherscan. Always link to Etherscan via Coingecko or the project’s official website. This is because Etherscan itself lets you search for all tokens and transactions on the blockchain, including the fake ones.

    How to adjust slippage tolerance

    Slippage in trading occurs when the price at which the order is eventually executed does not match the price at the time you confirmed the transaction. When trading on Uniswap, this is referred to as “slippage tolerance” and is expressed as a percentage.

    For coins or tokens whose price is on the way up, there may be a lot of competition to process the transaction and get those tokens. In that case, you can increase the chances of your transaction being processed faster by increasing your slippage tolerance. This will also avoid failed transactions.

    To adjust your slippage tolerance, click on the gear icon located at the top right-hand corner on the Uniswap browser. There you can adjust your slippage tolerance. This will, in turn, decrease the minimum amount that is guaranteed to be sent to you. That is, it will increase the chances of your transaction going through but at the cost of potentially receiving fewer cryptocurrencies.

    Slippage tolerance compared
    Slippage tolerance compared

    Mobile trading: How to use Uniswap on your phone

    Prices of cryptocurrencies are always fluctuating, so serious traders want to be able to trade their cryptocurrencies on the go. Uniswap allows you to connect your mobile wallet. Simply go onto Uniswap on your browser and follow the same steps as you would on your PC. This allows the same wallet to appear on your PC and your mobile phone. The following mobile wallets are supported: MetaMask, Trustwallet, Coinbase wallet, Rainbow, Argent, imToken, Pillar, Safe, Math, and Fortmatic.

    From our user experience, it’s not the most convenient feature since you need to multitask between several windows. BUT it does fulfil the objective of being able to trade cryptocurrencies on the go.

    Uniswap Liquidity Pool guide

    Uniswap has liquidity pool which is essentially pools of various tokens that sit in smart contracts. Users can exchange the tokens in the pools using Ethereum as a conduit. And a main feature of Uniswap is that anyone can create new exchange pairs in a liquidity pool for any token, unlike centralised exchanges where the exchange dictates what trading pairs are available.

    First off, note that for liquidity pools you need to deposit both an equal value of Ethereum and the token that you want to participate with. So say I want to participate in the ETH/USDT pool, I would need to deposit an equivalent amount of ETH and USDT into the pool at the same time. The funds you supply to these pools will be traded by other people and so there will be fluctuations in the ratios of ETH and USDT that you have.

    This is because if someone wants to sell ETH for USDT, they will tap into your liquidity pool and the USDT that you supplied to the pool would be used to buy up the ETH- this whole concept is known as Automated Market Making (AMM). As a result of this, there would be a higher ratio of USDT compared to ETH in your pool. Conversely, if someone wants to sell their USDT for ETH, they would take ETH out and shrink your ETH liquidity. Thus the liquidity pool is like scale, whereby if your ETH goes down by 10 dollars, then your USDT should correspondingly up to by 10 dollars.

    So why would liquidity providers do this? It is because they receive a Liquidity Provider Fee from those who are conducting swaps in their liquidity pool. As mentioned earlier in this article, Uniswap charges a flat fee of 0.3% for each transaction. This 0.3% is actually then split in proportion amongst all the liquidity providers of that pool based on their contributions.

    Adding liquidity and earning provider fees
    Adding liquidity to pools allows you to earn provider fees when other people do swaps

    And Uniswap is not the only liquidity pool provider out there, so many people try to find and contribute to the most profitable pools in order to earn more liquidity provider fees. Pools.fyi is one such website that a lot of people use to try and find the best liquidity pools.

    Click here for our video tutorial on Uniswap liquidity pools.

    FAQs

    What’s the difference between Uniswap version 1 and 2?

    Uniswap has launched an improved version of their Exchange, simply referred to as version 2. The main difference between these versions is that version 2 offers ERC-20 to ERC-20 token pools, native price oracles and flash swaps.

    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.

  • Ask a question to CZ (Changpeng Zhao), Founder and CEO of Binance

    Ask a question to CZ (Changpeng Zhao), Founder and CEO of Binance

    I’ll be interviewing CZ, Founder and CEO of Binance LIVE on 12th August 2020 at 3:00am (UTC)!

    In the interview we will be discussing:

    • DeFi Mania – Is Binance going to go big on Decentralised Finance (DeFi)?
    • What can we expect from Binance in 2020?
    • Upcoming giveaways on the Exchange!?

    What is Binance? Binance was established in 2017 and is BY FAR the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange with more than USD $3 million being traded on the Exchange every 24 hours. The Exchange offers trading in 201 coins and 637 trading pairs. The Exchange also has its native token $BNB which consistently ranks within the top 10 of all cryptocurrencies based on market capitalization.

    The huge success of Binance also means that CZ himself is hugely well-known in the cryptocurrency scene and beyond, having been featured on the cover of Time Magazine as going from zero to billionaire in only 6 months, and is extremely active on Twitter with over 540,000 followers.

    This video is aimed at all levels of cryptocurrency enthusiasts so feel free to ask CZ your burning questions about DeFi, cryptocurrency projects, exchanges, and this space in general. I’ll personally be giving out prizes for:

    • Most Creative Question;
    • Most Insightful Question; and
    • Funniest / Weirdest Question.

    To ask a question, leave a comment in this post below!

    Event Time: 12th August 2020 at 3:00am (UTC)

    Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xhIlP7m0QE

    To learn more about Binance, check out our Binance exchange review.

    SIGN UP FOR A BINANCE ACCOUNT HERE!

  • Interview with Sunny Lu, Co-Founder and CEO of VeChain

    Interview with Sunny Lu, Co-Founder and CEO of VeChain

    Sunny Lu, Co-Founder and CEO of VeChain went on a live interview with Boxmining on 20th July 2020 to talk about what’s happening with VeChain recently and their grand objectives. It was also a great opportunity for Lu to directly speak to and answer questions from the community. Here are some key takeaways from this interview.

    VeChain is a smart contract platform mainly focused on enterprise adoption. The platform allows for the creation of decentralised applications to solve problems such as anti-counterfeiting, cold-chain logistics and maintaining tamper-proof records.

    Learn more about VeChain

    Watch the full interview here:

    VeChain interview with Sunny Lu

    What is VeChain?

    Lu said that VeChain is a “next-generation” smart contract platform devoted to providing blockchain solutions to different enterprises.

    In terms of adoption, VeChain is at the top of all the blockchain developments in the field, having been adopted by prominent clients such as BMW, Givenchy, and Walmart. Lu also said that the project has done a lot globally and they are very proud of their achievements.

    Blockchain can create a trust-free world

    He said that the innovation brought about by blockchain technology enables us to create trustless machines. With its decentralized structure and immutability, it can establish a unique trust features that may or may not be available in centralized systems.

    Blockchain creates a trust-free world because it does not rely on flawed humans in operating the whole system. Furthermore, you do not have to worry about people deciding to play “something dirty or evil” with blockchain.

    Lu also stated that if we “aim for the better world, blockchain has to be there.”

    Post COVID-19 developments need blockchain

    He said that “digitization is the new black.” True enough, a lot of people are now starting to be aware of its use cases.

    When COVID-19 shook the world, many enterprises had to digitize their business, or put them up online, in order to continue to remain afloat. According to him, that meant “relying on the digital version of the world”. If that is to be the case, he said that “blockchain is the first fundamental infrastructure technology you got to do.”

    Furthermore, a blockchain allows a business operation that is completely secure and transparent from end-to-end. With it, every data relevant to each transaction can be safely stored and accessed by anyone since it is a distributed database.

    Continuous improvements on the blockchain infrastructure

    Lu also shared that to maintain VeChain’s growth, they are continuously increasing the capacity and capability of their platform. This is what they have devoted themselves to doing for the past three to four years.

    Before, the procedure required for an enterprise to establish an e-commerce platform was extremely difficult. That was the case if we look back 25 or 30 years ago. But with blockchain technology, we don’t have to work everything out from scratch anymore.

    Blockchain has enabled us to easily build an e-commerce platform with all the new tools that can help enterprises innovate their Proof of Concept (PoC), production, and skill amplification. Other parts of the supply chain could also heavily benefit from blockchain technology.

    Adoption is increasing at a massive scale

    He said that a lot of people are now starting to use the blockchain as an essential part of transitioning to e-commerce. Just a year and a half ago, VeChain underwent numerous upgrades.

    They now have new fundamental modules that seek to provide specific solutions to enterprises. The first module provides a standard template for different kinds of businesses based on the industries that have used VeChain successfully.

    For example, you can imagine establishing a supermarket chain. With VeChain, the standard template would be to refer to Walmart China (Learn about what VeChain is doing for Walmart China) you can easily refer to China’s Walmart case. Or in the case of a pharmaceutical company looking into conducting clinical trials for new drugs, they can refer to Bayer China (Learn about VeChain’s partnership with Bayer China).

    This saves a lot of time for the user because they can start production in just a few weeks after setting it up.

    He said that looking back, it had been too time-consuming to establish a business on a blockchain platform. A project that he observed in the United States was developing a food safety platform on the blockchain. It took them 14 months, however, to set up on-chain for just a 12-month period PoC.

    VeChain helped make the process a whole lot easier. He also shared their experience in Walmart China, which only took them three months to finish everything.

    “If you are starting to use a template, it would be easier. You would just need a couple of days or a week maximum to create something. No need to wait nine months or more just to create a PoC,” he said.

    A second module accessible to them provides templates to different companies based on which practice that might fit their model. They can build on these templates, and transfer their infrastructure model to the blockchain within just a few weeks.

    The third module that they use allows the user to gather and understand data on the blockchain. It provides the user with the tools to reveal the value of the data that they have stored. In the case of Walmart China, for example, Lu explained that consumers can still easily trace the movement of their purchases with the data accessible in its public blockchain.

    Blockchain needs more business people to flourish

    He said that while blockchain is mainly a technological innovation, the entire blockchain space needs more business experts to complement its technological value with business value. That way, people can maximize the benefits of the blockchain while maintaining sustainability.

    This benefit is shared by every enterprise in the VeChain platform, even the small and medium-sized enterprises.

    What’s next for VeChain and $VET?

    Six months after they first launched the VeChain mainnet in 2018, the total number of transactions was almost half a million. But in 2019, this number shot up to 36 million. And in 2020, they were already processing a hundred thousand transactions per day.

    The growth rate is increasing consistently. But when asked about his plans on listing VeChain’s token $VET on other crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, he said that he has no comments yet.

  • DeFi Money Market and DMM Governance ($DMG) guide

    DeFi Money Market and DMM Governance ($DMG) guide

    Decentralized finance (DeFi) has come a long way since it was first conceptualized. Now, the market has nearly $4 billion worth of assets locked up. And DeFi Money Market (DMM) is one of the most promising protocols that is gaining a lot of traction.

    The DMM platform allows users to earn annual yields of 6.25 percent for holding Ethereum-based tokens like USDC and DAI. What makes it even more interesting is that it is backed by real-world assets that create passive income that is greater than the interest owed.

    These real-world assets will be tokenized and launched on the Ethereum blockchain tracked by Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network.

    Background: Who is the team behind DMM?

    DMM team
    The team behind DMM (Image credit: Warlmertt)

    DeFi Money Market is a product of the DMM Foundation, which was established in the UAE. The members are a team of veteran experts hailing from academia, the legal and regulatory sector, and fintech.

    It is one of the few projects backed by top Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper.

    What is the DeFi Money Market (DMM) Ecosystem?

    The DeFi Money Market Ecosystem (DMME) is a decentralized protocol that allows users to earn interest on any Ethereum-based tokens by lending them for real-world assets like real estate, jewelry, automobiles, etc. as collateral. The goal of this ecosystem is to enable anyone in the world to earn consistent and stable interest on their money. Furthermore, their rates are higher than traditional competitors. They currently have an APY (Annual Percentage Yield) of 6.25% for DAI and USDC accounts, which is above most traditional alternatives.

    DMME aims to seize the trillion-dollar opportunity that is currently resting on centralized finance (CeFi) companies. And it does this by blending real-world assets with digital assets, which enables them to create a more robust and transparent system.

    DMM Protocol: What is it and how does it work?

    The DMM Protocol can be split into three parts: an array of Ethereum smart contracts, a treasury management system, and a data feed that allows off-chain data to stream into the smart contract.

    These three components blend to form the DMM Ecosystem and allow the creation of DMM tokens backed by off-chain real-world assets.

    The DMM protocol currently supports DAI and USDC. For this walkthrough, let’s use USDC. First, a user deposits USDC to the protocol. Then mUSDC is minted. The dollar amount will be used to provide loans collateralized with real-world assets.

    And once the loan gets paid, the interest will be deposited back to the system. Then, users can convert their mUSDC to USDC plus interest.

    DMG Governance ($DMG) token

    $DMG is the governance token of the platform. It allows the community to regulate and grow the DMM ecosystem, as well as its protocol. As the DMM community grows globally, DMG is paramount to encouraging active participation and mitigating centralization risk.

    DMG holders have the capability to govern the parameters of the protocol as well as decisions on asset allocation.

    The token is a fork of Compound Finance’s governance asset $COMP but with extra functionality such as “native burn.”

    DMG token distribution

    The DMM ecosystem has a total of 250,000,000 DMG tokens. The supply distribution is as follows:

    • 40% will be allocated to the DMM Foundation for future development, support, and other general functions
    • 30% will be sold in several public token offerings
    • 30% will be allocated as a reserve for paying developers, partners, as well as other protocols for integration and growth of DMM’s decentralized network

    At present, 60% of the total supply of DMG has been time-locked in smart contracts with different locking periods.

    DeFi Money Market Account

    A DeFi Money Market Account (DMMA) is a new DeFi native asset class that enables any holder of Ethereum-based tokens to earn interest from real-world assets represented on the blockchain.

    In other words, DMMAs are technically ERC-20 tokens that get created when we swap an Ethereum token into DMM tokens called mAssets.

    DMM DAO

    A DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) is an organization where the decisions regarding the rules of the system are written in code and voted on by its members.

    One of the core ideas of the DMME is that every stakeholder in the network should be able to take part in the decision-making process regularly without the need for permission. Initially, the DMM DAO members will consist of the core team and community members. To be part of the DAO, you have to be a holder of $DMG tokens, which gives you voting rights to the system.

    The DMM DAO is one of the few DAOs that is already generating revenue through its yield taken from real-world asset loans. The value of all assets amounts to roughly $8.7 million with active collateralization of 380%. Furthermore, the team anticipates that DMG tokens, not to mention the entire DMM protocol itself, to be totally distributed and decentralized a year from now.

    DMM DAO collateralization
    DMM DAO collateralization (Image credit: Warlmertt)

    Conclusion

    In order to succeed, DMM ultimately needs to fully decentralize the traditional financial system. Bridging real-world assets to the Ethereum blockchain is no easy task, but DMM is on its way to successfully execute its goal by using the right tools and partnering with the right organizations. The tokenization of physical assets will bolster DeFi and entire crypto space and possibly take a huge bite from the trillions of dollars worth of capital from legacy financial systems.

    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.

  • PrimeXBT Exchange Review and Guide 2020

    PrimeXBT Exchange Review and Guide 2020

    PrimeXBT is based in the Seychelles and was launched in 2018 as a Bitcoin-based exchange platform offering various products such as leveraged trading in cryptocurrencies, Forex, indices and commodities. Today they are ranked no.24 of all derivatives exchanges with over USD$250 million in daily trade volume according to CoinGecko. They serve clients from over 150 countries and the platform is available in 16 languages: English, Malay, Chinese, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. The Exchange was also recently recognised as the Best Bitcoin Platform for Margin Trading at the 2020 ADVFN International Financial Awards. In this review and guide we look at several features of PrimeXBT, our user experiences and give you a step-by-step guide on how to get started.

    Key Features

    • No KYC required: You only need to provide your email and country of residence to register for an account. No address proof is required.
    • Customisable trading interface: Users can enable, disable or move various information panels on their trading page. They can also add various widgets such as orders, watchlists or positions etc.
    • Annotate trading charts: On their Analysis page, you can overlay different trading pairs, insert up to 50 technical indicators, mark and save trading charts for further study.
    • Up to 1000x leverage: PrimeXBT offers up to 100x leverage for trading cryptocurrencies, stock indices and commodities. For Forex trades, up to 1000x leverage is available. (https://www.air-inc.com/
    • Wide range of products: PrimeXBT offers cryptocurrency trading, as well as trading indices, Forex and commodities. For fast results, traders can also try out Turbo, one of PrimeXBT’s unique trading features.

    Let’s look at some of PrimeXBT’s features in detail.

    PrimeXBT offers more than cryptocurrency trading

    PrimeXBT offers cryptocurrency trading, as well as trading indices, Forex, and commodities. PrimeXBT supports trading in 5 cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP and EOS; with trading pairs between these cryptocurrencies and USD and BTC only. Unfortunately, the Exchange does not seem to be jumping onto the DeFi train, unlike their competitors. So unless they start listing some DeFi coins and fast, we are concerned they may be overshadowed by more aggressive exchanges.

    For Forex, the following 7 foreign currencies can be traded on PrimeXBT: USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, CAD, CHF and JPY. However the Exchange does also offer trading pairs with other currencies such as SGD, RUB and TRY. Traders can also trade the following 10 stock indices: S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, FTSE 100, EURO STOXX 50, CAC 40, NIKKEI 225, DJI, ASX 200, GER30 (DAX30), IBEX 35 and HK-HSI.

    Lastly, the Exchange provides commodities trading, this is done entirely digitally through the Exchange and its CFDs without having to physically handle gold bars and oil barrels etc. The following 5 commodities are available for trading on PrimeXBT: Gold, Silver, BRENT, CRUDE and NAT. GAS.

    Margin trading is offered by PrimeXBT. The Exchange offers up to 100x leverage for trading cryptocurrencies, stock indices and commodities. For Forex trades, up to 1000x leverage is available. Obviously there are serious risks involved in doing this because if the position goes against what you traded your losses will be correspondingly magnified. Hence margin trading should be for very experienced traders only and even so, extreme caution must always be exercised.

    Turbo trading: How to guide

    PrimeXBT offers a unique product called Turbo trading, and as the name suggests it is basically trading on turbo mode. All you need to do is predict if a chosen asset’s price will be higher or lower than the current price after a specified period. Both the specified period (which will be between 30 seconds to 15 minutes) and the potential profit ratio will depend on the asset chosen and this will be calculated and displayed to you before you confirm your trade.

    Taking the below image as an illustration, I predicted that BTC/USD prices would go up in 10 minutes (i.e. when the chart reaches the circular green arrow). I invested 0.0002 BTC and the potential profit was calculated for me at 0.000013 BTC, or 65% of what I put in if my prediction was correct. However if my prediction was wrong, I would lose the 0.0002 BTC I had put in.

    Turbo trading
    Turbo trading

    We think this feature would be very attractive to novice traders, and even advanced traders who something quick and simple for a change. We tried out this feature and enjoyed knowing what the potential outcomes would be before we put in the trade and found ourselves excitedly fixated on the trading screen during the whole period.

    Note that PrimeXBT Turbo trading is not available to citizens and residents of the following countries: USA, Canada, United States Minor Outlying Islands, American Samoa, Israel, Japan, Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Crimea.

    Supported currencies and payment methods

    PrimeXBT only supports BTC deposits. For some locations, you can buy Bitcoin with your credit (Visa or Mastercard) or debit card and deposit this directly to your Exchange wallet. PrimeXBT only accepts payments in USD, EUR and GDP and a minimum purchase of 0.002BTC is required. You will be required to select your location beforehand and the Exchange will let you know if your location supports this feature.

    For security reasons, to buy BTC on PrimeXBT you will need to provide the following personal details: email, country of residence and identification document (ID card, driver license or passport). The Exchange will also email you a code to enter at checkout to confirm your email.

    PrimeXBT Fees

    Deposit and withdrawal fees

    PrimeXBT does not charge fees or deposits into your Exchange wallet or for transferring from one wallet to another on your own PrimeXBT account. The Exchange charges 0.0005 BTC for withdrawals.

    Trading fees

    PrimeXBT charges 2 types of trading fees: a trade fee and overnight financing fee. Trade fees are 0.05% for cryptocurrencies, 0.01% for stock indices and commodities, and 0.001% for Forex.

    Overnight financing fees are charged if traders do not open or close their leveraged position within the same trading day (i.e. 0:00 UTC) and it is a percentage of the daily funding rate depending on the liquidity of the underlying asset. Taking BTC/USD for example, the overnight financing fee is 0.04166% of the daily funding rate for both long and short positions.

    PrimeXBT has competitive fees compared to other exchanges if you are a casual or small volume trader. However most other exchanges have discounts for high volume traders by way of VIP tiers, or discounts for holders of an exchange’s native token. PrimeXBT does not have such discounts so there is little incentive for users who trade more, especially if other exchanges have comparatively cheaper trading fees for larger trade volumes.

    Here’s a breakdown of all PrimeXBT’s fees and trading conditions.

    Supported countries

    PrimeXBT offers its services to over 150 countries except for citizens and residents from the following locations: USA, Canada, Seychelles and countries currently under economic sanctions by either the United Nations or the European Union.

    Security: Is PrimeXBT safe?

    PrimeXBT uses numerous security tools and measures. From our user experience, we can see on the front end that the Exchange uses 2-factor authentication (via. Google Authenticator) and sends a confirmation email letting us know we’ve logged in. We do see some additional security features not typically found elsewhere. One such feature is mandatory whitelisting of destination addresses for Bitcoin withdrawals i.e. users can only withdraw their Bitcoin to addresses they have previously whitelisted.

    On the back end, PrimeXBT utilises cold storage of digital assets using multi-signature technology, DDOS protection and cryptographic hashing for all passwords and encryption of all other sensitive data, among others. They also conduct full risk checks after every order placement and execution, and regular testing and assessments by their technical team.

    We also note that the Exchange currently has a good track record of no hacks or discovered vulnerabilities so far. Nevertheless users should still remain careful and vigilant with their security measures e.g. not leaving all their funds on the Exchange.

    Learn more about PrimeXBT’s security features here.

    User Experience and guide

    We found PrimeXBT to be very open and transparent about themselves and what they do. For example answers to any questions we had about them can be found on their website. Their website and tutorials are a detailed one-stop resource for how to use their platform and their explanations are very clear and well organised. This is very positive and it certainly points to the Exchange being reliable.

    How to register for a PrimeXBT account

    PrimeXBT claims their registration process only takes 40 seconds and indeed we found it to be very fast and convenient. No KYC procedures were required. To register, simply fill in your email and choose a password.

    PrimeXBT registration
    PrimeXBT registration

    The Exchange would then send you an email asking you to confirm your email address. Confirm this and you will be brought back to the main page where you would be asked to select your country of residence. No address proof is required for this step.

    Confirm your email and country of residence
    Confirm your email and country of residence

    Once you have confirmed these details you are all set!

    Registration complete!
    Registration complete!

    How to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies on PrimeXBT

    Deposits

    As a Bitcoin-based exchange, PrimeXBT only allows you to deposit Bitcoin. Users can either deposit Bitcoin directly from another cryptocurrency wallet or if their location is supported, purchase Bitcoin with their credit/debit cards.

    To deposit Bitcoin from another wallet, click on “Account” on the top bar and “Deposit” on the sidebar. There you will find your Bitcoin wallet address.

    deposit bitcoin
    Deposit Bitcoin

    For some locations, you can buy Bitcoin using your credit (Visa or Mastercard) or debit card. To do this click “Buy Bitcoin”on the Deposits page. You will then be required to input how much Bitcoin you wish to purchase. Confirm this by clicking “Buy”. Please note that PrimeXBT only accepts payment in USD, EUR and GDP and a minimum purchase of 0.002BTC is required.

    Buy Bitcoin
    Buy Bitcoin

    You would then be asked to provide your email and country of residence. The email address is so that the Exchange can send you a code to enter at checkout as a security measure. You are required to choose your country of residence because some locations do not support Bitcoin purchases, and the page will instantly let you know if this is the case. If Bitcoin purchases are supported you would be required to provide photographs of your identification document (ID card, driver license or passport) and your payment details.

    Provide details for payment
    Provide details for payment

    Afterwards you would be required to confirm your purchase and at checkout, enter the code previously sent to your email address. The Bitcoin you purchase would automatically be sent to your Exchange wallet.

    We found depositing Bitcoin from another wallet to be very simple. As for buying Bitcoin, the steps were easy to follow but we found it excessive in terms of all the information you need to provide. After all, we are depositing Bitcoin into an account, not withdrawing. We don’t expect to require an ID copy AND a picture of us holding said ID when buying items from other online retailers. So in all honesty, unless you do not use any other exchanges and you are buying Bitcoin for the very first time, we foresee most people would just buy Bitcoin elsewhere and transfer it to the Exchange.

    Withdrawals

    Withdrawals from PrimeXBT require a few additional steps compared to other exchanges because they have a mandatory whitelist of destination addresses. Note also that the Exchange only supports Bitcoin withdrawals, so any other asset must be converted to Bitcoin first before withdrawing.

    To withdraw, go to “Account” on the top bar and “Withdraw” on the sidebar. Select “Add new address” and type in the address you wish to send your Bitcoin to together with a name for this address in the “Comment” field, then click “Add new address”.

    Add new address
    Add new address

    The Exchange will send you an email asking you to confirm the new Bitcoin withdrawal address. To confirm, click “Confirm new address”.

    Confirm new address
    Confirm new address

    Back on the Exchange’s Withdraw page, the new address will show up on the list of destination addresses. Select the address you want to send your Bitcoin to and the amount you wish to send. On the right, you would be able to see details of the send i.e. the destination address, the transfer amount, transfer fee and the actual amount which would be sent. To confirm, click “Submit to withdraw”.

    The Exchange’s limitation of only allowing Bitcoin withdrawals can be troublesome since you would need to first convert everything to Bitcoin, which may result in losses if prices fall. We also found the whitelist process to be a bit annoying at first, but as it is for security we consider it a fair tradeoff. It however won’t cause that much inconvenience in the long run if you usually only send Bitcoin to a few specific addresses e.g. your hardware wallet.

    Trading on PrimeXBT

    One thing we really liked about PrimeXBT is that when you log in to your account for the first time, each page will have a pop up tutorial covering topics such as how to fund your trading account, how to place your first order etc. For a subsequent refresher, you can always click the question mark “?” on the top right hand corner for more tutorial videos. So getting started with trading was relatively easy.

    A feature that some traders might like is their one-click or double-click trading feature. This allows you to open and close positions, and cancel orders with literally one click i.e. bypassing the confirmation process. It is a really convenient feature for those who are impatient or need to lock in their positions quickly. On the flip-side you could suffer huge losses if you misclick since it is irreversible.

    The main feature of PrimeXBT is its ability to customise. As mentioned above the Exchange lets users customise their trading interface and charts. For the trading interface, you can move, add and remove various widgets e.g. charts, watchlists and orders etc. You can also add new “workspaces” i.e. tabs by clicking “+”. Workspaces can be renamed, and you can add widgets onto them and customise their location.

    This feature is very helpful for experienced traders who wants all their necessary information displayed in one place, or even more casual traders who want to customise their trading page so it is similar to other exchanges they may be more familiar with.

    Customisable trading interface
    Customisable trading interface

    PrimeXBT also allows users to customise and annotate trading charts. Users can overlay different trading pairs on top of each other for comparison, e.g. in the below image we put together the charts for BTC/USD and ETH/USD. Users can also write notes, draw lines and choose from up to 50 indicators to put onto the charts etc. There are lots of features which will certainly keep technical analysts very occupied and finally, you can save a picture of your chart for a later date. This is certainly a feature designed by pro traders with other professionals in mind.

    Customisable charts
    Customisable charts

    Welcome bonus

    PrimeXBT currently has an enticing welcome bonus to encourage more users. New users who deposit more than 0.009 BTC into their trading account within the first 6 hours of registration are entitled to a US$50 trading bonus. The Exchange will automatically deposit the Bitcoin equivalent of this into your trading account.

    Welcome bonus
    USD$50 trading bonus for new users

    Conclusion: Is PrimeXBT a good exchange?

    Here’s some pros and cons of PrimeXBT based on our user experiences.

    Pros

    • Good track record without any hacks so far. The Exchange has additional security features not usually found elsewhere such as mandatory withdrawal address whitelisting.
    • The Exchange is one of the most open and transparent we have come across. Almost any question we had on the Exchange is answered on their own website.
    • Customisable trading interface and charts. This feature is likely to be very attractive to seasoned traders.

    Cons

    • Even with the Exchange’s helpful tutorials, there is still a steep learning curve if you want to make use of the many features the Exchange has to offer.
    • Very limited cryptocurrency support and only Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are supported.
    • Requiring photo ID and KYC process just to buy Bitcoin is a bit excessive.

    In conclusion, we find PrimeXBT definitely geared towards traders with a bit more experience, particularly those who trade the major cryptocurrencies and other markets such as stocks and commodities on the side. We also find Turbo to be a very novel and interesting feature which we may revisit in the future. The Exchange’s interface is very clear and intuitive, and in any event you can customise it to your needs and preferences. Users will need a bit of time exploring all of the customisation features that PrimeXBT has to offer which may seem overwhelming at first, but is certainly worth it in the long run. With this high level of customisation, we think once users overcome the initial learning curve, they are likely to come back to this exchange time and time again.

    SIGN UP TODAY!

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

    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.