Category: Smart Contract Platforms

Smart Contract Platforms

What is Cardano ($ADA)?
Cardano is a decentralized smart contract platform which would be driven by peer reviewed academic research and capable of running both financial applications and decentralised applications. Established by a former co-founder of Ethereum, Cardano aims to improve on Ethereum by offering low-cost, secure and scalable transactions. To improve smart contract security, Cardano uses the programming language Haskell which has been proven to be easier to audit and formally verify. In addition, Cardano openly addresses the need for regulatory oversight whilst maintaining consumer privacy and protections through an innovative software architecture.

Check out our explainer video on Cardano ($ADA)

What is the ADA token and its uses?

ADA is Cardano’s native cryptocurrency. It was launched on 1st January 2018 through an initial coin offering as a utility token and will have 45 billion total supply. It is currently the 8th most popular cryptocurrency based on market capitalisation according to CoinGecko.

Upon the opening of the Shelley Public testnet on 9th June 2020, and any operator can set up a Cardano stake pool in anticipation for staking and delegation on the mainnet to be released in Summer 2020.

Eventually, ADA will allow users to send value between two parties, pay for goods or services, deposit funds on an exchange, or enter an application. ADA will also be used to power the transactions on the Cardano network.

Founder: Charles Hoskinson

Charles Hoskinson is a co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Ethereum Classic, with extensive experience working with smart contracts and the programming language Haskell. He is an outspoken critic of Ethereum and parted ways with the Ethereum team in 2016. This was likely due to ideological differences arising from the team’s response to the DAO hack of 2016. Hoskinson is now the CEO of Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), and they have devoted a large team of expert engineers and researchers to build Cardano from the ground up.

Cardano – development of the blockchain protocol

Cardano aims to become the third generation blockchain, overcoming issues with previous generations of blockchains namely lack of scalability, interoperability and sustainability. Cardano aims to develop its platform upon these 2 guiding principles:
- Peer-review: any science guiding the solutions to these issues goes through peer review.
- High assurance code: Cardano aims to bring the same level of scientific rigour for mission critical systems such as aerospace to the development of their project.
Cardano’s platform has the following key features:
- Cardano will be built in Haskell code. Haskell uses a math based approach that results in a much more secure and reliable protocol.
- A formally verified Proof of Stake consensus called Ouroboros. It is the first provably secure blockchain protocol developed by the IOHK team and peer reviewed. It has advantages over the traditional proof of work blockchains (e.g. as used by Bitcoin) by requiring less computation resources (there will be no mining) and is thus cheaper to run, yet being just as secure as the more popular Proof of Work algorithm. It also comes with a novel reward mechanism to prevent attacks like block withholding and selfish-mining.
- Recursive InterNetwork Architecture (RINA): Cardano is looking towards building RINA in order to reduce the bandwidth which is required for communicating and disseminating data. The idea is that RINA has fewer protocols but is able to work faster, yet still providing transparency, privacy and scalability.
- The protocol is geared towards protecting users’ privacy rights while taking into account the needs of regulators. In doing so, Cardano is the first protocol to balance these requirements in a nuanced and effective way, pioneering a new approach for cryptocurrencies.
- Cardano will also be completely open source and patent-free.
Cardano’s platform is being constructed in 2 layers- a settlement layer and a computational layer. This gives the system flexibility during maintenance and allow for upgrades by way of soft forks.

After completion of the settlement layer that will run ADA, the separate computing layer will be built to handle smart contracts. Cardano will also run decentralised applications, or dapps, services not controlled by any single party but instead operate on a blockchain.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cardano?

Advantages of Cardano

Many smart contract users believe that Cardano holds the key for long term secure development. This because of the numerous hacks and vulnerabilities in platforms such as Ethereum. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has criticized Ethereum as a “rushed product” with vulnerabilities which led to famous hacks such as The DAO. This could be viewed as a symptom of the flaws in Ethereum’s programming language, Solidity. Cardano improves on this by allowing for development using Haskell which can be formally verified.

Cardano’s use of the proof of stake model in itself brings lots of advantages such as less susceptibility to interference because the nodes will be responsible for throughput and thus eliminating the need for extra machines. In turn less energy will be consumed which is better for the environment.

Rewards are given out based on the number of tokens held rather than the amount of computational power contributed, which is fairer.

The platform’s 2 layered system allows for each layer to be responsible for a complete set of tasks. This means more potential for interoperability with different cryptocurrency platforms and is therefore more scalable compared to Ethereum.

Disadvantages of Cardano

Critics of Cardano have pointed to the slow development and overly ideal goals of the project. This can be risky for Cardano because it could be overtaken by more aggressive competitors, or the regulatory environment can change meanwhile.

Many features promised by the Cardano team are still not yet available. So a lot of what is said about how its cryptocurrency ADA would work is still theoretical.

What is the Daedalus wallet?

In order to store and use ADA, you must install Cardano’s Daedalus wallet. With the wallet you can send and receive ADA as well as view your transaction history.

The Daedalus wallet will also offer the following features:
- Unlimited Accounting – Manage any number of wallets with Cardano’s innovative hierarchical deterministic wallet implementation. This will give you more control over how your funds are organised. It also has powerful backup features to help recover your funds anytime.
- Advanced Security – Cardano will not hold your keys. They use the most advanced cryptography in the world to ensure safety from attack and offer spending passwords and seeds for all your accounts.
- Export to paper certificates- Wallets can be exported to paper certificates giving users the option of placing funds in cold storage.
- Built with Web Technologies – Daedalus is built on top of Electron, a battle-proven open source development platform to build cross-platform desktop apps using Javascript, HTML and CSS.
The Daedalus wallet is still a work in progress, features which are expected to be coming soon include:
- Support for Bitcoin and Ethereum Classic.
- Staking features which allow ADA holders to earn more ADA tokens.
- A mobile wallet for both iOS and Android.
What is the Goguen Era of Smart Contracts?

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

To learn more about what the Gouguen Era and Alonzo Hard Fork means for the development of Cardano, check out our detailed article here.

Cardano enters DeFi with Occam Finance ($OCC)

Occam Finance ($OCC) is a suite of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) solutions tailored for Cardano and managed and maintained by the Occam Association, a blockchain entity based in Switzerland. Currently, Occam offers 3 major products: OccamRazer, OccamX and OccamDAO.

Resources:

Website https://cardanofoundation.org/
IOHK website https://iohk.io/
Ouroboros whitepaper https://iohk.io/research/papers/#9BKRHCSI
Blog https://cardanofoundation.org/blog/
January 19, 2022
0x ($ZRX) guide: The future of cryptocurrency exchanges?
0x ($ZRX) is an open protocol for developers to build their own decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges on the Ethereum blockchain. 0x came about as an answer to the problems inherent in centralised exchanges (CEX) and decentralised exchanges (DEX). For CEXs, approximately USD $1.1 billion has already been lost through security breaches on these platforms. Thus cryptocurrency enthusiasts have become wary for fear of losing their funds. Decentralised exchanges were meant to be an answer to this, but they have also issues of increased friction and increasing transaction costs. In this guide, we will explore what 0x is already offering in today’s market, and take a look at their recently released version 3 of the protocol.

Background

0x is a brainchild of its CTO, Amir Bandeali, and its CEO, Will Warren. Other key individuals behind the project include their blockchain engineers, product designers, researchers, and business strategists. They also have a strong list of advisors including Fred Ehrsam, Co-founder of Coinbase and David Sacks, former COO of PayPal.

What is 0x?

0x is a protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain to create and power decentralized exchanges. Its aim is to be interfaced with other systems to power high-end decentralized applications (dapps).

The protocol seeks to inspire the movement of assets across the financial sector by eliminating third parties that have been making the process complicated and costly. The presence of smart contracts has also helped push third parties further to oblivion.

The advent of DEXs comes to safeguard users’ funds and prevent government censorship. These exchanges place the security of users’ funds onto the users themselves instead of trusting centralized platforms, which are prone to hacks.

Due to the Bitcoin blockchain scalability issues and lack of smart contract flexibility, dapp developers have flocked to Ethereum to build decentralized solutions such as exchanges. Unfortunately, with everyone looking to build a specialized dapp, Ethereum has been flooded with applications that cannot communicate well with each other.

Furthermore, these applications have varying degrees of security and quality. 0x came to solve this user fragmentation issue, as well as reduce the cost of using dapps.

How does 0x work?

Although it is built on top of Ethereum, its orders are dealt with off-chain as relayers are used to match the orders. The orders are only uploaded on the Ethereum blockchain after the process is complete. Off-chain signing reduces the amount of gas used in a particular transaction while also reducing the load on the main chain.

A relayer on the platform can be thought of as a decentralized exchange that has both public and private order books. Orders are broadcasted through these order books to make a suitable match.

Apart from reducing the gas fees involved, this approach also allows users to have control over their funds. An important feature of a relayer is that it only facilitates but does not conduct trades.

To allow this, the relayer needs to be supplied with the order maker’s signature, which is then delivered to the DEX’s smart contract. Relayers are rewarded using the protocol’s native token, ZRX, though this has been changed along with several other features in version 3 of 0x.

0x version 3: A new protocol with enhanced features

In August 2020, the decentralized protocol released a new version 3 that enables users to develop a more interconnected DeFi ecosystem. There are 3 major upgrades in this new version: staking ZRX tokens, liquidity bridges and flexible fees.

0x staking features

Version 3 of 0x introduced a staking mechanism which allows trading fees to be accepted in any token. Market makers that provide liquidity are seen as crucial for 0x’s long-term growth since they bring in liquidity. Hence a new staking feature was introduced whereby market makers on 0x are given monetary rewards. This means that any ZRX holder can join a market maker’s staking pool and be entitled to a share of the liquidity rewards. Meanwhile, it is in the best interests of the market maker to entice stakers to join their pool because it increases their potential liquidity rewards payouts and their voting power on governance issues since stakers are required to delegate half their voting power to the market maker.

Liquidity bridges

Liquidity bridges is an exciting upgrade for decentralised finance (DeFi) developers who are building dapps that will benefit from accessing more liquidity. This is because the feature will enable them to source liquidity not only from the 0x network itself, but other DEXs such as UniSwap or Kyber from a single point of integration, known as 0x API (more on that below). In short, allowing users access to liquidity in other DEXs, thereby ensuring that orders are being filled to reach higher volumes, and thus attracting even more users onto the platform.

Flexible fees for Relayers

Previously, 0x only allowed Relayers to receive fees in ZRX only. This was problematic because sometimes Relayers may not want to receive fees in ZRX. It also led to a poor experience for Relayers since it created more additional steps in DEX trading, for example one of the largest 0x DEXs by volume didn’t have fees. And there is speculation that this is because of the limited ways in which fees could be paid out. This has been fixed in version 3, where Relayers can choose to have their fees paid in any Ethereum-based token or even in the token currently being traded.

ZRX Token: What is it?

The ZRX token is built based on Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard. Apart from being used to pay relayers for facilitating trades, it is also utilized for governance on the 0x protocol. In line with this, the amount of ZRX held determines the power a governor has when contributing to governance issues such as protocol upgrades.

The ZRX token supply is hard-capped at one billion. During its launch in 2017, half of the tokens were released and distributed to developers (15%), 0x (15%), founding team (10%), and advisors (10%).

ZRX is listed on Binance, Coinbase, Huobi, HitBTC, and other leading exchanges. For storage, the token is supported by Ledger (both the Nano X and Nano S), Enjin, Exodus, and any other cryptocurrency wallets primed for ERC-20 tokens.

As mentioned above, the 0x team has recently introduced staking features for ZRX which gives more incentives for both liquidity providing market makers and ZRX holders.

Other products powered by 0x

0x has a whole suite of products aside from its open protocol. These are:

·         0x Instant– This offers a way to buy cryptocurrency on any app or website.

·         0x mesh – Allows access to a global P2P order book for tokens.

·         0x API – Can be used to accumulate liquidity from platforms built on the protocol such as UniSwap, and Mesh. It can also be used to swap tokens based on price.

·         Matcha – A platform to find the best prices across exchange networks.

·         0x Extensions – For use with relayers to incorporate new trading types.

·         0x OTC – This is a consumer-based exchange that allows for a P2P exchange of ETH tokens without a relayer. Unlike the other P2P exchanges, 0x OTC enables the seller to send a link to the buyer on any platform, including social media, and its results are recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.

Even with numerous advantages, the protocol uses multi-signature smart contracts that could be exploited since they are still based on code. Also, since the DEXes are still a work in progress, they may not have the liquidity needed to fill orders for lesser-known tokens.

Conclusion

As blockchain technology matures, so should the applications run on top of it. However, as more dapps flood the scene, we need a standard quality and security setting to ensure that these systems operate as they are intended. Thankfully, with 0x, the standard is already set.

Furthermore, dapp developers also need to embrace the system for users to benefit from low transaction fees.

The 0x protocol can be used in prediction markets such as sports betting, which require untampered results of outcomes of physical events.

The platform’s vast use cases are also capable of bringing real change in the decentralized world while leveraging off-chain mechanisms to drastically enhance scalability.

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.
September 11, 2020
THORChain ($RUNE) information and guide
Among the growing list of emerging decentralized exchanges lies THORChain and their RUNE token. The Company is one of many decentralized finance (DeFi) options in a field that is creating much buzz within the industry. The decentralised liquidity network, whose successful seed funding was completed last year, is one that should not be missed by those who are looking into this field. After a successful mainnet launch, the cross blockchain answer to Uniswap was made official in the first part of this year. As such we have compiled a complete guide to EVERYTHING you wanted to know about THORChain, answering questions like ‘What is THORchain?’, ‘Who Uses THORChain’ and other important topics.

What is THORChain?

First imagined in 2018, THORChain offers a wide range of services on its decentralized permissionless network. It allows for swapping of assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as providing continuous liquidity pools for users. The platform uses a cross chain and can be used on any blockchain/with any asset, unlike other decentralized exchanges.

Their development paper outlines the core conception of THORChain, saying: “THORChain is a liquidity protocol designed to connect all blockchain assets in a marketplace of liquidity through cross-chain bridges and continuous liquidity pools secured by economically incentivised validators.”

THORChain’s consensus is Proof-of-Stake and built on Tendermint, with network validators required to bond (lock up) their native token, $RUNE. Validators are punished for bad behaviour by having their stake slashed, which in turn disincentivises such actions.The network’s data is calculated and overseen using Midguard API service and is secured and bonded by ThornNode, which also powers the network. The nodes make vaults and validate the transactions on the site.

Who uses THORChain?

Users

These are the main participants and they usually use the cross chain services between the pools with them paying a slip fee. The fee is paid due to gas fees on external services and for fast execution. However, swapping is non custodial and unrestricted on different chains.

Liquidity providers

These are secondary participants who add liquidity to the various pools which is then bound with RUNE in a separate vault. Using the continuous liquidity pool means the network does not need oracles or have a price feed. Liquidity rewards are earned through fees generated from pools and are paid out when users withdraw. As the THORChain website explained, “liquidity is provided by stakers who earn fees on swaps, turning their unproductive assets into productive assets in a non-custodial manner. Market prices are maintained through the ratio of assets in pools which can be arbitraged by traders to restore correct market prices.”

Nodes explained

Nodes are the basis for THORChain’s services. They have three main functions, these are: to Bond RUNE, create vaults (which are like wallets) and witness transactions/produce blocks. They are all run by node administrators who are also rewarded for their work through bond rewards. For a full breakdown of node operators, please click here.

In terms of THORChain, as previously mentioned, nodes earn two-thirds of the System Income and they make vaults and validate the transactions on the site. Nodes are anonymous, with plausible deniability on all transactions. The nodes are created every three days and compete to enter with bonded capital. The oldest nodes are churned out and replaced when necessary. This allows the nodes to stay fresh and keeps the network constantly updating itself.

RUNE token: what is it?

Another integral part of the system and the nodes that run it is THORChain’s native token, RUNE. Available through Binance Chain, the token is a BEP2 token.The RUNE token is used in all liquidity pools and is bonded by nodes. All RUNE tokens are at a 1:1 ratio to asset value and this allows for pools to be linked. RUNE is also the rewards for pools, with the equivalent of 1/3rd of the System Income providing continuous liquidity incentives.

Alongside providing on chain liquidity, RUNE is also an important part of the THORChain security. This is because it protects against malicious actors by offering them a larger benefit for liquidating then they would receive from corrupting the system, as nodes earn 2/3rds of the System Income. Thus all transactions using RUNE on the system have double the amount at a 67% to 33% ratio. The other third is for liquidity providers. Not only that, but in terms of security nodes are also closed when malicious activity is detected.

RUNE has a total supply of 500 million tokens. Of which 100 million will be sold to the public in 3 stages, 150 million has already been allocated throughout the team, community and operational reserves, and the remaining 220 million is saved for the emissions reserve.

How to earn RUNE?

RuneVault: Liquidators and users of RUNE can have access to the RUNEVault feature which allows you to store and stake the token, with returns on investment. Using a Binance Chain Feature, users can “freeze” their tokens even if they have staked them meaning that the currency is always in the wallet. Earnings are based on weekly RUNE staked, but this weekly taking is reset should you withdraw any amount.

Rewards

THORChain offers rewards for all participants on the network. The rewards are paid out through the distribution of system income. This is worked out by Swap fees plus Block rewards. Swap fees are paid by users when swapping assets and Block rewards are worked out on an emission schedule. As mentioned previously, the system income is paid 67% to the nodes and 33% to the liquidator. However, this ratio is officially worked out by the incentive pendulum.

Governance on THORChain

THORChain attempts to have a minimal governance model. Instead staked capital is the main driver of the market and developers respond accordingly. New assets are easily listed and this means there are rarely many governmental decisions to undertake and it is truly decentralized in many ways.

Who is the team behind THORChain?

The team behind THORChain is purposefully pseudoanonymous. According to their website, “figureheads, personalities and founders undermine a project’s ability to decentralise,” and that, “transparency is demonstrated in other facets (treasury, code, research)”. That being said, there are 10 employees listed on LinkedIn and 12 team members listed with 6 additional advisors on ICOBench.

What sets THORChain apart? What are its benefits?

THORChain takes a little while to understand the basics and the nodes that run the network. However, once you get the hang of the exchange then THORChain has a number of benefits.

The main benefit is that with their cross chain feature, any asset can be swapped and a pool created around it. That gives users a huge amount of variety and does not hem them in unlike other decentralized exchange options do. This opens a whole new world of possibilities for DeFi users and one that should be applauded.

Conclusion

For those who are fans of Uniswap, then this decentralized option could be a great alternative. Yet, as Balancer has shown with their recent security scare, the often precarious nature of DeFi security does cause concern. Perhaps though, THORChain with their incentivized payments negates this risk. However, until more is known about the site and they are around for longer it will be hard to make a final judgement.

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.
July 22, 2020
Carry Protocol: What is it and what will it do for offline retail?

Carry Protocol

Carry Protocol is a blockchain project that integrates directly interacts with millions of customers who shop and dine in South Korea. Carry creates an ecosystem that directly rewards shoppers, advertisers and retail stores, creating a win-win situation using blockchain technology. The key value behind Carry (CRE) is the integration into the biggest Korean rewards program – Dodo point (with more than 20 Million registered users).

Despite the rise of online retailers such as E-bay and Amazon, a great deal of commerce still occurs offline in brick and mortar stores. This traditional offline market is worth about US$25 trillion and comprises of 90% of all retail spending. This creates a lot of transactional data which includes valuable information on how and what we spend our money on.

Carry CEO Richard CEO demonstrates the Carry App

Carry Protocol uses blockchain technology to harness the utility of this transactional data. The network will give merchants better advertising tools and also enable consumers to control their data.

How does Carry create a win-win situation?

How Carry works from a consumers’ perspective

Merchants

Consumers can choose to pay in cash, credit or cryptocurrency

Merchants will be able to also accept digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Carry in their brick and mortar stores.

Carry will also enable merchants to reward their customers with digital tokens and custom Branded Tokens (BT). These BT will act as loyalty points.

Consumers

Consumers will be rewarded for sharing their transactional data

Carry will finally allow consumers to own and monetise their transactional data.

Most importantly, Carry will allow consumers to do this anonymously. Carry ensures consumers’ data remains anonymous by associating it with one or more wallet addresses rather than consumers’ names. Consumers can also choose to withhold selling their data to advertisers.

And of course, consumers will enjoy the benefits of the CRE tokens and BT.

Advertisers

Advertisers can utilise the data which consumers choose to share

They will be able to make use of the transactional data provided anonymously by consumers.

Advertisements will be sent to consumers’ phones about various merchants and their offers, which can attract consumers to them.

How does the Carry token (CRE) work?

CRE (pronounced “carry”) is the main token in the Carry system and features a huge part in the ecosystem.

Merchants use CRE to access Carry’s host of services. For example creating custom BT or programmable smart contracts. The merchants stake a certain number of CRE tokens on the Carry Protocol which will determine how many BT transactions they can have.

Consumers use CRE as payment for goods and services. The CRE spent will also be converted to loyalty points in the form of BT, which consumers can use in subsequent visits.

Advertisers will distribute CRE to consumers as compensation for accessing their transactional data.

What’s the status of Carry?

Carry will be operated by the co-founders of Spoqa. Spoqa is South Korea’s largest brick and mortar rewards platform with customer-facing tablets in 10,000 stores across Korea. Customers use this platform with their Dodo Point loyalty service.

Carry will utilise the system of consoles by Spoga.

Carry will utilise this existing infrastructure by launching its service on Spoga’s tablets. A simple update on the tablet is all that’s required.

In terms of partnerships, Spoqa itself already has $10 million in funding and has expanded into Japan. Meanwhile, Carry already has support from Hashed (the early angel investors in ICON).

Carry hopes to eventually expand out of their base in Asia to the rest of the world.

The Company has also recently announced its partnership with Genesis Block, an Asia-wide Over The Counter (OTC) trading desk and cryptocurrency ATM machine provider.

Carry x Genesis Block

CRE will be tradable at Genesis Block’s OTC desks.

Click here to learn more about OTC desks. You can also check out our video with Genesis Block’s Head Trader- Charles where we make him spill all his trading secrets.

Binance Competition

Carry Protocol has been selected to be in a voting competition on Binance – if successful CRE will be listed on Binance Exchange.

Conclusion

As much as we increasingly spend our times online, we cannot escape the offline world. We still want to travel to different places, visit shops and go out for meals with our friends.

Carry will be a welcome change to the increasingly relentless and intrusive world of online targeted advertising. Consumers will be able to choose to share their data to advertisers. Most importantly, we will receive actual incentives for doing so.

The low cost associated with Carry will also help a lot of small businesses gain exposure. This will enable them to survive in this aggressive market dominated by corporations who may simply only have better resources but not necessarily a better product.

October 27, 2019
ThunderCore (TT) Explained: Will this Blockchain overtake Ethereum?
What is Thundercore?

ThunderCore (TT) is a high-performance smart contract platform which allows for the running of decentralized applications (Dapps) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Thundercore promises low fees and compatibility with any app written for the popular Ethereum Platform. The underlying currency on Thundercore Network is TT, which is used as a transfer of value and for related gas fees on the platform.

Thundercore attempts to Solve Scalability, allowing For Under One Second Confirmations. In the last couple of years, many blockchain projects have been working on scaling and improving network speeds. Until recently, it seemed nearly impossible to scale blockchains with big projects like Ethereum failing to do so. ThunderCore seems to have cracked it and may be on track to beating giants like Ethereum in scaling their platform.

What is the aim of ThunderCore?

ThunderCore aims to be a high-performance blockchain that enables mass adoption of dApps. It promises comparatively lesser transaction fees (low gas cost), compatibility, security and speed.

Currently, transactions on the blockchain are very slow. This is because of the “Blockchain Trilemma” a term coined by Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum.

Solving the Blockchain Trilemma

Vitalik Buterin proposed that a Blockchain can only have a maximum of 2 of these properties

According to the “Blockchain Trilemma“, a blockchain has three major features: decentralization, scalability and security.

However, the blockchain trilemma proposes that it is very hard for a project to have all three features to a satisfactory condition. A network that is decentralized and has a tough security would not be scalable. Similarly, a blockchain that is decentralized and scalable will have little security etc.

Buterin believes at a fundamental level, a blockchain network can only achieve two of the three features at any time. The blockchain trilemma could be the source of scalability issues on most cryptocurrency blockchains. Most crypto projects cannot handle high numbers of transactions while ensuring network decentralization and security.

However, ThunderCore has found a solution for this problem.

How does ThunderCore solve the Blockchain Trilemma?

Many projects have tried and failed to continue their emphasis on decentralization and security while incorporating scalability. ThunderCore, however attempts to do this in a unique way. They do this by creating a Fast Path and a Slow Path. The Fast Path is for optimistic conditions. Whilst the Slow Path is for worst-case situations.

What is the Fast Path and the Slow Path?

The Fast Path is like a highway, allowing for instant confirmations on the network. However, if anything goes wrong on the Fast Path, ThunderCore users can resort to a Slow Path. The Slow Path is similar to a network of smaller roads. It isn’t very fast, but it will be reliable.

For the Fast Path, ThunderCore facilitates fast and easy confirmation by 2 ways. The “Committee”, which is executed by a committee of stakeholders. And the “Accelerator” to linearize transactions and data.

ThunderCore uses Ethereum as the Slow Path as it is one of the most stable networks in the industry. The slow path will take over when the network condition is bad and /or if there is an attack. It also acts as a check to see if the Accelerator is working.

How to Stake Thundercore?

Thundercore cannot be mined as a way to generate new TT or gain passive income, hence there is no thundercore mining. Instead to passively generate Thundercore, TT is staked by locking up TT in a particular wallet. The amount of rewards depends on the lockup duration, which can be 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. Staking Thundercore is easy, you can do this using the mobile wallet and joining a staking pool.

Thundercore Staking Rewards over time

What is the ThunderCore (TT) used for?

The ThunderCore (also known was ThunderToken or TT) is the native cryptocurrency of the ThunderCore network. Analogous to ETH on the Ethereum network, ThunderToken is used for paying gas fees and value transfers.

The ThunderCore Team

ThunderCore Team: Chris Wang (CEO), Elaine Shi and Rafael Pass

The team comprises of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs. They previously worked in publishing academic papers relating to Bitcoin and smart contracts. They are also the founding members of the Initiative for Cryptocurrency and Contracts (IC3).

Update Aug 2019: Chief Scientist Elaine Shi has announced that she will be leaving the ThunderCore Project.

What is the Current Status of ThunderCore?

The first Thunder release will be fully EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) compatible. Thus, allowing for direct migration of dApps.

ThunderCore has already deployed its pre-release main-net. Therefore, developers can already start building on ThunderCore. Users can also start deploying smart contracts.

How do I connect to the ThunderCore Mainnet?

You can directly connect to Thundercore by changing the RPC settings on Metamask or changing the server on MyEtherWallet.

ThunderCore Mainnet Settings for Metamask
1. Install MetaMask: you can install the MetaMask browser extension on your browser. Create an account on the Metamask website and set up the security protocols (for a full guide check out our Metamask Tutorial);
2. Get ThunderToken (TT): You can get tokens from the Metamask browser extension. Click on the drop down menu and select “custom RPC”. Go to “new network section” and select “advanced option”.
  1. Mainnet RPC URL: https://mainnet-rpc.thundercore.com
  2. Chain ID: 108
  3. Symbol: TT
3. The TT symbol will appear on your Metamask. You can get 50 free tokens on the ThunderCore website by copying and pasting your Metamask TT address onto the appropriate field. You can also use this process to purchase tokens;
4. Copy and paste the ERC20 contract: copy smart contract source code from Github; (use mine here: https://remix.ethereum.org/#version=soljson-v0.4.24+commit.e67f0147.js&optimize=false&gist=116b51b7e5bf2cd3f29f2136dac3f08f)
5. Deploy through Remix ID; and
6. Check on https://scan.thundercore.com/ .
Pros and Cons of ThunderCore

Pros
- ThunderCore is compatible with the Ethereum network;
- The network has a faster transaction speed compared to Ethereum;
- ERC20 smart contracts can be deployed on this network;
- The team are working on new features that would allow dApp interaction without gas;
- ThunderCore allows users and developers to utilize existing tools such as Metamask and Truffle etc.; and
- Developers can use familiar programming languages (e.g. Solidity) while carrying out smart contracts on the network.
Cons
- There is currently only one “Accelerator” on this network. This raises questions over how much power will be centralized. (Note the accelerator cannot freeze accounts or pause transactions indefinitely as this would lead to a re-election)
Token metrics & Circulating supply

The Thundercore is currently listed and trading on Huobi. The coin is listed as Thunder Token on CoinMarketCap.

Huobi has released the Token metrics of ThunderToken (TT):

Total Raised: $50M USD
Angel round: $0.01 USD/token (2 years lock- till March 2020)
Seed round: $0.02 USD/token (1 year lock – till Apr-May 2019)
Final round: $0.10 USD/token(20% released on Feb 28, 40% to be released on May 28, 40% on Aug 28)
Huobi Lite round: $0.015 USD/token, only $500,000 USD worth of tokens sold

What we can deduce from this is that ThunderCore valuation dropped from the final Private sale time – from $0.1 to $0.15. Admittedly, the Huobi Lite tokens could also be considered to be sold at a discount to encourage more players to get in. There is controversy over the Huobi Lite sale of TT, as the token price was much lower than the Final Round – upsetting a lot of the initial investors and supporters (such as ThunderFans).

ThunderCore Hub (Games and Thundercore Giveaways)

ThunderCore Hub is a wallet and Dapp hub for mobile phones

Currently ThunderCore Hub is doing a 150 TT giveaway to test out their new Android app. To quality, visit the ThunderCore Hub website and install the beta APK, register for an account and play dApp games to get the free TT.

Conclusion

ThunderCore is different because it scales both transactions and smart contracts. This could mean that blockchains can have thousands of transactions per second without compromising on security and decentralization.

Update (May 1 2019): Mainnet RCP address and Team members & Linkedin Profiles
Update (May 10 2019): Added listing information on Huobi
Update (May 14 2019): Added ThunderCore Hub and TT Giveaway
October 25, 2019
Harmony Protocol (ONE): Everything you NEED to know
The Harmony (ONE) protocol takes on the challenge of scaling blockchain without sacrificing decentralization. This has been the holy grail of challenges because solving scaling usually involves sacrificing decentralization – however Harmony maintains an open-consensus where anyone can join. This is achieved by:
- Proof-of Stake – Harmony holders can participate in network consensus and improve network security
- Deep Sharding – network is split into different teams or “shards” that work together and increase transaction efficiency
- Network Optimized – Network communications are split into small fragments and shared (Kademlia routing)
Harmony protocol has a sharding-based, fully scalable, secure and efficient blockchain. This means that the consensus mechanism can provide the blockchain solution necessary for the future of DApps. Even though Proof of Work networks were initially highly decentralized this element can be diluted with high usage. As such, the consensus mechanism for Harmony ensures it is still decentralized and permission-less. These are critical parts of future relevance and sustainability.

Check out the Boxmining interview with the Co-Founder of Harmony Protocol, Nick White for an introduction to the project.

Interview with Co-Founder Nick White

The Competitive Scalability Field

Providing scalability is a noble endeavor and unsurprisingly, Harmony will not be first to do it. This is because the field already features an array of running projects that also aim to provide the same solution. These rival projects include: EOS, Zilliqa, Algorand, and others. Harmony distinguishes itself by having a solid proof-of-stake system with state sharding. State sharding splits the network into teams that work together. This allows the network to grow faster as more nodes are added (rather than stay stagnant). Chains and transactions are co-ordinated by a beacon chain.

“Neither of the projects mentioned above has a blockchain which will be performant, scalable, and as low cost as the Harmony blockchain will be.”
Nick White, Co-founder of Harmony

Co-founder Nick White touts the fact that Harmony has advantages over and above typical scalability projects. These are in the form of improved user experience, reduction of costs and the ability to support larger user bases for the decentralized app community. This will in turn draw more developers and projects to be a part of the Harmony project community.

Harmony Protocol Consensus

Needless to say, the target audience is not only limited to DApps developers but also established companies with greater user bases who wish to integrate blockchain technology into their products. White contends that such apps have had the problem of slow and existing networks. Harmony, on the other hand, makes their operations possible by efficient and affordable solutions.

The Challenge of Attracting New Nodes

Attracting new nodes to the network is definitely an issue for the network. To this matter, their Co-Founder and CEO, Stephen Tse stated as follows:

“Harmony is building a robust ecosystem and we are in talks with every major staking as a service company to bring them on board and help grow Harmony’s validator ecosystem.”

As such, the project has a proposal to lower the barrier for those who wish to participate in the network. This is in the form of lower resource requirements (specfically, 4GB) for new entrants. In addition, Harmony will write scripts that will make the initial setup simple as well as block rewards for staking. The economic model that underlines that is yet to be clear but stakers have the assurance of rewards for participation.

Binance Partnership

Binance exchange has recently announced the upcoming Harmony Protocol Initial Exchange Offering (IEO). This IEO will take place on 28^th May 2019 and aims to raise funds for a project whose operation is a lot like its name. This is because the idea of providing a pertinent demand for cryptosphere, scalability, is something that can draw on collective human collaboration in the innovative platform.

Harmony will be on Binance Launchpad

The Binance IEO has been known to be a boost for its featured projects. This is because of the marketing catalyst as well as investor attraction. As such, Harmony can reach millions more with the Binance partnership. The partnership will also be in line with Harmony’s vision to provide scalability to billions across the world.

White stated that the team has motivation from the global outlook that Binance provides. Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the lives of those both in developed and developing countries. This means that parts of Africa and Latin America, both within the scope of Harmony targets, can also achieve meaningful progress.

With that in mind, the Binance Launchpad will take place on 28^th May 2019. Notably, the process will follow the lottery format that is typical of Binance now. The token price is $0.003175 for one Harmony (ONE) token with a hardcap of US$5 million.

Verdict

Harmony Roadmap 2019

In summary Harmony makes a solid stab at tackling blockchain scalablity whilst keeping an open consensus. The highlight of Harmony is the ability to do state sharding rather than simple transactional sharding, allowing more headroom for future scaling without congesting beacon chains.
May 27, 2019
Elastos Explained – what’s a decentralized internet
Elastos is a third generation technology that leverages blockchain technology in giving internet users complete control over their digital properties. The protection that Elastos provide is beyond cryptocurrencies or private data. It covers other intellectual properties such as books, games, movies, and business ideas.
Elastos is a new Internet technology that is revolutionizing online security and smart technology. Elastos is built on the concept of removing middleman, monetizing computing power, protecting digital assets and offering incentivised digital properties transactions with enhanced security and speed at an affordable cost.

How does Elastos work?
Elastos operates in an isolated environment called a virtual machine that runs on elastos runtime. Its is a lightweight operating system kept in a little box. To penetrate the system, an attacker has to create their own box and connect to the user’s data.

If hackers manage to breach the security, Elastos does not grant Internet access so the information derived cannot be sent out or uploaded to the third-party websites like YouTube, Facebook or Dropbox.

Alternatively, the hacker may try to download it to external storage, but elastos requires that the owners of the data grant permission from their end. Therefore unless the owners voluntarily share their digital assets, hackers cannot take possession of it giving owners exclusive protection over the data they secure with elastos.

In another instance, assuming the hackers try to connect another virtual machine like engineering artificial intelligence (AI) scanner, it can only scan and check the data, but it is not transferable as it is an isolated device. The information cannot be passed on to the outside world.

In another real-life instance, assuming you have a session with your doctor and he connects to your virtual machine, he can only read your medical report but will not be able to save a copy. It is also imperative to the point that the moment you close your Elastos machine, the information viewed by the doctor will be permanently erased guaranteeing you topmost security.

The Blockchain Technology Behind Elastos

Now that we know how Elastos works, it is possible for readers to conclude that Elastos does not need a blockchain technology to function in reality, the blockchain provides the secure ID to access Elastos.
In a case where a hacker tries to override the user’s security, it is the blockchain that will be responsible for the assurance that the ID is authentic, not tampered with, void of virus and malware, and perfectly matches with the one registered in the block.

Blockchain provides a layer of trust for all the virtual machines that want to connect to a system.

Real Life Application of Elastos

Business and Enterprise

It helps businesses and enterprises to protect the trade secrets, for instance, Coca-Cola can use it to store their recipe menu which will not be available to anyone without their permission

Professionals

To safeguard valuable private data and ensure that only people with permission can access the information stored on it

Content Creators

Authors, content creators, movies and game developers can leverage the use of elastos in securing the ownership of their intellectual properties. With that, they can scale up their earnings and prevent illegal distributions of their contents to unauthorized users.

Also, the content owners can use elastos to create a scarcity of their digital asset thereby increasing its value.

Developers

Elastos provides large blockchain applications in a secure environment and keeps contents intact after multiple uses

Ethereum vs. Elastos

Ethereum operates on a single main chain structure leading to speed limitation while elastos adopts main chain and side chain structure that speeds up the transaction, payment and smart contract support for several applications and services

Ethereum experiences network congestion and data redundancy while Elastos is the more secure runtime with the independent operating system, software development kit (SDK) that speed up the operating process and prevent data congestion.

Ethereum exposes data to risk as it employs a front end decentralized application (DApps) while elastos make use of a safe DApps prevented from accessing the networks thus protecting data from DDos. Also, elastos doesn’t make use of IP addresses which implies that hackers cannot track users’ activities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Elastos is a disruptive third generation blockchain technology that offers total protection of data and vital confidential information for an individual or a corporate body. The innovative technology will help content owners to maximize the returns on the sale of their digital assets thus making more from their intellectual properties. Elastos is a very beneficial technology that every user of the internet should have in their possession to create a more secure internet environment for all.
March 1, 2019
OmiseGo (OMG) in a nutshell
(Updated on 31-08-2017)

OmiseGO is a token proposed by Omise that allows real time, direct transfers across multiple fiat currencies and digital currencies. Omise go is an existing payment management platform mainly focused on Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Japan. With this new project, they plan to take this one step further and integrate their services with blockchain technology.

What it Offers
1. Ethereum based financial technology
2. Ease of use – no bank account needed
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3. Affordability – low transaction fees
  - Using traditional remittance methods make it difficult for a lot of their target market to send money home. The fees will take up a large percentage of the total amount. OmiseGo can offer almost instant transfers at low cost.
4. Allows easy transfer between fiat currencies and also digital currencies
What it Means

Ultimately, OmiseGo should make it easier for foreign workers to send money home to their families. It also has the additional benefit of extra security through decentralized currencies. Millions of users in fast growing economies will be given the opportunity to go from fiat currencies to digital currencies.

**Update**

OmiseGo has announced their collaboration with McDonald’s Thailand. Founder, Jun Hasegawa, confirmed the news on his Twitter. Following the news, OMG has seen a slight rise of over 4% today.
August 30, 2017