Blockchain.com, London-based crypto exchange, has been granted a provisional regulatory approval by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai. With granted provisions, institutional and retail clients can use the crypt platform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Blockchain.com, via ablogpost, stated that the organization is in the process of setting up a local office in the area. Furthermore, the company has full intentions of hiring for the same. The platform also underlined the importance of the licensing process as critical to its commitment to global compliance and regulation.

Peter Smith, CEO and co-founder, Blockchain.com appreciated the efforts of the local team via Twitter.

It was on 9 March 2022 that HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai approved the crypto assets law. Furthermore, with the establishment of VARA the goal of establishing the UAEs position as a global player in the virtual assets industry becomes easier.

The countrys crypto assets law necessitates cryptocurrency exchanges and users to register with the regulatory body before engaging in crypto-related activities, such as operating a crypto exchange, transferring crypto assets, and trading tokens or other assets. Since then, a number of cryptocurrency exchanges have been granted regulatory approval in the UAE by VARA.

Furthermore, on 3 June, Crypto.com received provisional approval of its Virtual Asset MVP from VARA. Thus, allowing crypto.com to offer crypto products and services. On 21 June, Hex Trust received a provisional approval from VARA.

On 14 July, crypto trading application OKX was provided a provisional virtual assets license by VARA. On 29 July, FZE, a division of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, received the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license by VARA. This proves that the country is open to offering virtual asset exchange products and services in the UAE.

In July, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced a new metaverse strategy. This strategy aims at increasing the number of blockchain and metaverse companies by 5x in the next five years.

The plan also aims to generate $4 billion. He further added that the move will help Dubai become a metaverse leader in the region. Thus, making it one of the 10 leading economies, besides generating 40,000 virtual jobs.

On 2 August, Blockchain.com successfully registered itself in the Cayman Islands to offer a range of crypto services to institutional clients. Soon after, the company secured regulatory approval from Italys Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP).

Blockchain.com said that the company is actively pursuing additional licenses in other countries as well. These include Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Ireland.

The crypto firm operates several offices in North America, Europe, South America, and Singapore.

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This cryptocurrency exchange becomes the latest to set up shop in the UAE - AMBCrypto News

those behind the first Organisers of the Crypto Policy Symposium hope the event will prompt much more 'critical discourse' of the sector Justin TALLIS

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Cryptocurrency critics, including economists and researchers, will gather in London and online this week to get their message across to regulators about the booming but volatile sector.

A number of governments have expressed concerns over cryptocurrencies, but those behind the first Crypto Policy Symposium say they hope the event will prompt much more "critical discourse" of the sector.

"There are so many crypto conferences but they are funded by the crypto industry," said Martin Walker, a co-organiser.

"The goal is to dispel some myths created by the crypto industry and to make policy makers start asking the right questions."

But Walker, a banking IT expert, is quick to reject claims that Monday and Tuesday's event is an "anti-crypto conference".

Instead he says it is a chance to hear the critical voices of specialists in financial bubbles, researchers who have evaluated the industry's carbon footprint and engineers who question the effectiveness of decentralised technologies.

"We've got regulators from all over the world," he said.

About 1,000 people have signed up to watch the conference online and UK officials are expected to attend a live event in London on Tuesday.

The conference comes as the price of bitcoin has plunged from a peak of nearly $69,000 last October to around $20,000.

The risky nature of the ultra-volatile and poorly regulated market for retail investors will be particularly highlighted.

Many central banks and financial market regulators have warned about the dangers posed by cryptocurrencies.

But in the absence of a clear legislative framework, users are rarely informed when making their investments, say crypto critics.

The collapse of cryptocurrency investment platform Celsius left customers in despair and unable to recover investments that sometimes included life savings.

The firm faced mounting troubles until it froze withdrawals in mid-June and a court filing showed it owed $4.7 billion to its users.

"People didn't understand that their money wasn't secure and they still don't understand why they can't get it back," said Amy Castor, a respected freelance journalist who is among the most vocal of cryptocurrency critics.

"We wanted to have our voices heard because it's important for regulators to understand the risks, how crypto-currencies work, the scam inherent in it, so that they can do more to protect retail investors (and) the public," she said.

Castor, who used to work for cryptocurrency media outlets, became known during the 2017 price surge and subsequent crash for her criticism of the so-called "stablecoin" Tether.

Tether's price is pegged to the US dollar but its cash flow remains murky.

"The problem is that crypto-currency has become so big that now there is a lot of money going into lobbying... to support politicians," Castor added.

In the United States some elected officials have proudly shown support for the sector, especially at the local level.

The mayors of Miami and New York have said they want to make their cities cryptocurrency capitals, and there are municipality-specific currency projects in various stages of development.

"Officials are making broad statements about the good of cryptocurrencies," said Tonantzin Carmona, a researcher at the Brookings Institution.

"They focus on what good could come from that tech and they ignore the real risks."

In March, Carmona published a research paper on the potential danger posed by the mayors' enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies.

She feared being attacked on social networks but instead says her arguments found favour with the small community of crypto-sceptics, who helped her see that she was not a lone voice.

"There's a difference between being a hater and being critical," she said.

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Cryptocurrency Sceptics Look To Bend The Ear Of Regulators - Barron's

Amid the continuous noise about cryptocurrencies, its often hard to pick out what really matters. However this month, if all goes to plan, the energy-hungry digital sector will undergo its biggest shake-up in years.

Ethereum, the worlds second largest cryptocurrency, is tomorrow expected to start a technology changeover which, once complete, should cause its carbon emissions to plummet by 99%.

The rapid growth in cryptocurrencies in recent years has been staggering. Unfortunately, so too has been their contribution to climate change, due to the enormous amount of electricity used by computers that manage the buying and selling of crypto coins.

Take, for example, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. At a time when the world is desperately trying to reduce energy consumption, Bitcoin uses more energy each year than medium-sized nations such as Argentina. If the Ethereum switch succeeds, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under immense pressure to deal with this problem.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currency systems in which people make direct online payments to each other.

Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are not managed from a single location such as a central bank. Instead, theyre managed by a blockchain: a decentralised global network of high-powered computers. These computers are known as miners.

The Reserve Bank of Australia provides this simple explanation of how it all works (edited for brevity):

Suppose Alice wants to transfer one unit of cryptocurrency to Bob. Alice starts the transaction by sending an electronic message with her instructions to the network, where all users can see the message.

The transaction sits with a group of other recent transactions waiting to be compiled into a block (or group) of the most recent transactions. The information from the block is turned into a cryptographic code and miners compete to solve the code to add the new block of transactions to the blockchain.

Once a miner successfully solves the code, other users of the network check the solution and reach an agreement that its valid. The new block of transactions is added to the end of the blockchain, and Alices transaction is confirmed.

This process, used by most cryptocurrencies, is termed proof-of-work mining. The central design feature is the use of calculations which require a lot of computer time and huge amounts of electricity to perform.

Bitcoin alone consumes around 150 terawatt-hours of electricity each year. Producing that energy emits some 65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually about the same emissions as Greece.

Research suggests Bitcoin last year produced emissions responsible for around 19,000 future deaths.

The proof-of-work approach intentionally wastes energy. The data in a blockchain has no inherent meaning. Its sole purpose is to record difficult, but pointless, calculations which provide a basis for allocating new crypto coins.

Cryptocurrency advocates have given a variety of excuses for the monstrous energy consumption, but none stand up to scrutiny.

Some, for example, seek to justify cryptocurrencys carbon footprint by saying some miners use renewable energy. That may be true, but in doing so they can displace other potential energy users some of whom will have to use coal- or gas-fired power.

But now, the most successful of Bitcoins rivals, Ethereum, is changing tack. This month it promises to switch its computing technology to something far less polluting.

Read more: Ethereum: the transformation that could see it overtake bitcoin

Ethereums project involves ditching the proof of work model for a new one called proof of stake.

Under this model, crypto transactions are validated by users, who stake substantial quantities of blockchain tokens (in this case, Ethereum coins) as collateral. If the users act dishonestly, they lose their stake.

Importantly, it will mean the vast network of supercomputers currently used to check transactions will no longer be required, because users themselves are doing the checking a relatively easy task. Doing away with the computer miners will lead to an estimated 99% drop in Ethereums electricity use.

Some smaller cryptocurrencies such as the Ada coin traded on the Cardano platform use proof of stake but its been confined to the margins to date.

For the past year, Ethereum has been running the new model on experimental blockchains. But this month, the model will be merged into the main platform.

So what does all this mean? The Ethereum experiment could fail if, say, some stakeholders find ways to manipulate the system. But if the switch does succeed, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under pressure to abandon the proof-of-work model, or else shut down.

This pressure has already begun. Tesla founder Elon Musks last year announced his company would no longer accept Bitcoin payment for its electric cars, due to the currencys carbon footprint.

The New York state legislature in June passed a bill to ban some Bitcoin operations that use carbon-based power. (However, the decision requires sign off from New Yorks governor and may be vetoed).

And in March this year, the European parliament voted on a proposal to ban the proof-of-work model. The proposal was defeated. But as Europe heads into the cooler months, and grapples with an energy crisis triggered by sanctions on Russian gas supplies, energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies will remain in the firing line.

One thing is clear: as the need to slash global emissions becomes ever more pressing, cryptocurrencies will run out of excuses for their egregious energy use.

Read more: Tesla's Bitcoin about-face is a warning for cryptocurrencies that ignore climate change

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The most important cryptocurrency event in years is about to begin and the biggest windfall goes to the planet - The Conversation Indonesia

What was once just a market of one is now flooded with other options for cryptocurrency investors. The arrival of meme coins that seem to create millionaires overnight makes it easy to believe that cryptocurrency investments are meant only for the short term. But despite a crowded field, there is one cryptocurrency investors should count on never selling -- Ethereum (ETH 1.04%).

Like Bitcoin (BTC 0.25%), Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that changed our thinking about finance in the digital age, but for different reasons. Ethereum is unique from Bitcoin in myriad ways. But one, in particular, is responsible for what is possibly the greatest innovation to result from blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies -- decentralized finance, better known as DeFi.

The traditional financial world relies on centralized authorities like banks, notaries, brokers, exchanges, and other middlemen who manage and process financial services. Traditional financial processes, such as applying for a loan or purchasing a stock, require some sort of intermediary to conduct the transaction.

But because of Ethereum and its innovative smart-contract technology, these traditional financial processes are becoming increasingly obsolete. Smart contracts are the backbone of DeFi and are what make Ethereum so unique. Before its creation in 2014, no other cryptocurrency had smart-contract capabilities. The creation of smart contracts allows blockchain developers to customize conditions and criteria for executing particular actions.

For example, smart contracts could oversee loan agreements and release collateral upon full repayment. Since smart contracts can integrate with other data, they could also regulate agricultural drought insurance policies by automatically paying out if agreed amounts of rainfall occur.

In addition to their seemingly infinite customization and potential, smart contracts and DeFi could completely upend what we believe traditional institutions' roles are in the financial world.

One of the most appealing aspects of DeFi is its inclusivity. If you want to utilize a DeFi financial product, all you need is an internet connection. There are no credit bureaus, no brokers, and no loan officers. As long as a crypto wallet is set up, users can trade and move assets anytime and anywhere.

In addition, all transactions are in real-time and completely transparent. There is no need for banks or brokers to process transactions since they occur near instantaneously on the blockchain. The other perk of the blockchain is that once a transaction is added, anyone with an internet connection can view activity on the network. It doesn't hurt that just about any possibility of tampering or malfeasance is eliminated due to the blockchain's high level of security.

Arguably, the greatest benefit of DeFi is that it is constantly evolving. Applications and projects built on Ethereum are all open-source. That means developers can integrate multiple DeFi apps to create financial products to meet new user demands as they arise.

Since Ethereum was the first blockchain to possess smart-contract functionality, it holds most of the market share that makes up the DeFi sector. Despite new competitors like Tron (TRX 0.13%), Binance Coin (BNB -0.26%), and Avalanche (AVAX 0.39%) arriving to grab some of the market, they face an uphill battle because Ethereum's grasp on the DeFi economy is unbelievably disproportionate.

We can look at a statistic called Total Value Locked (TVL) to compare the collective value of a blockchain's DeFi ecosystem. Think of it like the market cap of a company.

Out of the $62.5 billion invested across DeFi as of this writing, nearly $36 billion is on Ethereum's blockchain. The next-closest competitor is Tron, and this blockchain only supports about $9 billion of value. It's not even close.

The potential long-term value DeFi presents should be heavily weighed by investors, especially considering it's only in its infancy. Those who are optimistic that DeFi can usurp traditional finance should count on Ethereum continuing to dominate for the foreseeable future.

RJ Fulton has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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1 Cryptocurrency to Buy and Hold Forever - The Motley Fool

Women also don't invest in cryptocurrencies as much as men do, said Ms. Hume, who cited risk aversion as one reason.

"It's been well established in research that women engage with investment risks differently than men," Ms. Hume said. "And financial advisers, in particular, have observed that when investment risks are unknown, women are more likely to take money off the table and pass on the opportunity. And what we have with crypto is an asset class that, at this point, the risks are still mostly unknowns."

According to a report released this year from Gemini Trust Co. LLC, a cryptocurrency exchange, 32% of crypto owners in the U.S. are female. Data released in February by eToro USA LLC, a trading platform for cryptocurrency and other exchanges, indicates that 41% of female investors in the U.S. have crypto holdings, and 41% plan to increase them.

Lule Demmissie, U.S. CEO of eToro based in New York, said while she thinks crypto has a "very diverse consumer base," there needs to be an increase in the diversity of crypto creators.

"Unless any innovation has a diverse set of people creating it, by definition, it cannot become an equitable product over time," Ms. Demmissie said.

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Cryptocurrency's gender diversity problem drawing increased focus from Congress, others - Pensions & Investments

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, will complete a plan to lower its carbon emissions by more than 99% in the next month, the foundation that controls the platform has confirmed.

The project, called the merge, will result in ethereum switching the underlying technology it uses for validating crypto transactions to a new process that requires less energy to manage.

Once complete, the merge will end the role of miners in the ethereum ecosystem, helping to dramatically reduce electricity usage. These users run huge quantities of powerful, purpose-built technology all day, every day, to generate random numbers that affect the security of the overall network.

The energy consumption of ethereum mining is currently estimated at about 72 terawatt-hours a year, according to Alex de Vries, a Dutch economist who runs the Digiconomist website. That is comparable with the power consumption of Colombia, with a carbon footprint equivalent to that of Switzerland.

The changeover will lead to the platform moving away from a proof of work process, which requires cryptocurrency miners to generate random numbers to verify records stored on the blockchain the technology underpinning digital currencies such as ethereum and the more popular bitcoin.

Ethereum will instead use a proof of stake process, in which the network will be secured by users who stake sums of the cryptocurrency, committing themselves to acting honestly at the risk of losing it.

De Vries said the switchover would eliminate the majority of electricity usage. They could cut off a huge chunk of their power demand. I will be working on quantifying that more accurately but at least 99% (probably even 99.9%) reduction should be achievable. This translates to something like the electricity consumption of a country like Portugal (a quarter of all data centres in the world combined) vanishing overnight.

The proof-of-stake model is currently being used on an experimental beacon blockchain, where it has been tested to ensure that the theoretical security it provides is sufficient for the multibillion-dollar economy that sits on top of the ethereum network. Now the experimental blockchain will take over the work of the main network.

Imagine ethereum is a spaceship that isnt quite ready for an interstellar voyage, the ethereum foundation said, explaining the merge. With the beacon chain, the community has built a new engine and a hardened hull. After significant testing, its almost time to hot-swap the new engine for the old midflight. This will merge the new, more efficient engine into the existing ship, ready to put in some serious lightyears and take on the universe.

There are still potential problems ahead. The foundation said users needed to watch out for an increase in scam activity because hackers could take advantage of the confusion around the switchover to try to trick users into giving up their passwords, their funds or both. You should be on high alert for scams trying to take advantage of users during this transition, the organisation said. Do not send your ETH anywhere in an attempt to upgrade to ETH2. There is no ETH2 token, and there is nothing more you need to do for your funds to remain safe.

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The final stages of the merge are expected to begin on 6 September, the foundation said, with the old blockchain switched off at some point between 10 and 20 September.

Ethereum will not be the first network to use proof of stake, and others including cardano and solana have demonstrated the technology at a smaller scale. But its switchover will leave bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, facing renewed criticism for its continued reliance on proof of work.

The bitcoin network uses 130TWh of electricity a year, De Vries estimates, a sum that will be increasingly difficult to defend if the ethereum blockchain demonstrates that the same capabilities can be achieved in an environmentally friendly manner.

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Cryptocurrency ethereum plans to cut carbon emissions by 99% with upgrade - The Guardian

The crypto industry has seen an immense growth in the last few years, with several countries introducing laws to regulate them.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets representing value which can be digitally stored, traded, transferred or even used as a payment tool. Unlike legal tender or fiat currency, cryptocurrency is not issued by banks or governments, but is based on a decentralized structure which exists across a public network, allowing it to be outside the control of central authorities.

Crypto Scams

But with the growing popularity of the crypto industry all over the world and in the UAE, crypto scams have also seen a huge increase.

Crypto scams are unfortunately, a reality and occur on a regular basis with scammers using various techniques and methods to scam buyers and sellers.

In some cases, the trade offers a high return with no explanation, which could be a sign of scam.

In other cases, the scammer may pose as a broker, and offer the buyer and the seller a very profitable deal. Once the scammer has convinced the parties that the deal is worthwhile, he may insist the parties to meet in person for completing the transaction. The buyer would typically bring cash to this meeting and send his account details to the broker. The broker will forward his own account details to the seller instead of the buyers, and the seller would end up sending cryptocurrency to the scammers account.

In another type of scam, fake crypto coins are bought by the buyer. Fake mobile applications which look like authentic apps, fake crypto websites and emails which appear to be genuine correspondence from a crypto website, are also other forms of scams.

Are there Laws in the UAE regulating crypto currencies?

Yes, at present there are limited laws in the UAE which regulate crypto currencies. For example, the Securities and Commodities Authority Decision No. 23/RM/2020 regulates the offering, issuing, listing and trading of crypto assets in the UAE.

The Emirate of Dubai issued Law No 4 of 2022 on the Regulation of Virtual Assets, which aims to regulate the virtual asset industry in the Emirate of Dubai.

Additionally, Abu Dhabi Global Market also has issued specific regulations on crypto currency activities such as crypto currency exchanges, custodians, intermediaries, brokers etc.

There may also be penalties if you are involved in crypto scams.

Under the Cybercrime Law of the UAE, propagating a cryptocurrency without a license from the competent authorities could lead to imprisonment of 5 years. It could also result in fine of up to 1 million dirhams. This has been provided under Article 41 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 34/2021 Concerning the Fight Against Rumors and Cybercrime.

Article 41 states as follows.

Everyone calls for or propagates a competition or crypto-currency or creates or manages false portfolio or company to receive or collect funds from the public for investment, management, utilization or development, without license from the concerned bodies, shall be sentenced to detention for a period of not more than (5) five years and/or to pay fine of not less than (250,000) two hundred fifty thousand Dirhams and not more than (1,000,000) one million Dirhams. The court shall order the recovery of the seized funds.

Further, under Article 48 of the Cybercrime Law, advertising, promoting, mediating or dealing in any form of virtual currency, or crypto currency which is not officially recognized in the UAE or which doesnt have a license from the competent authority will result in penalties including detention and fines.

Article 48 of the Cybercrime Law states as below.

Everyone commits either of the following acts through the information network or information technology method shall be sentenced to detention and/or to pay fine of not less than (20,000) twenty thousand Dirhams and not more than (500,000) five hundred thousand Dirhams: 1. Promotion of goods or services through misleading advertisement or misstatements. 2. Advertisement, promotion, mediation or dealing in any form or encouraging the dealing in a virtual currency, cryptocurrency, stored value unit or any payments unit not officially recognized in the state or without license of the competent body.

Conclusion

It is crucial to be fully aware and informed while dealing with crypto currencies to ensure that you are not being scammed out of your monies. Crypto transactions should be undertaken using licensed and recognized exchange platforms. It is also prudent to confirm the authenticity of the website or online crypto application before providing any personal information or details.

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What You Need to Know About Cryptocurrency Scams in the UAE - JD Supra

Asia and Japan in-particular, has been one of the frontrunners in the adoption of cryptocurrency. This should not come as a surprise because Japan is usually leading the way when it comes to welcoming innovative technology and ideas. Asian countries, such as Japan, have pushed the boundaries of technology and there are museums in Tokyo where you can see the technology of the future, including robots. The adoption of crypto in Japan has been widespread in certain age groups but how does it compare to the west?

To generate new cryptocurrency, a process called mining is required. This process requires a lot of energy and therefore, it makes sense for the most crypto to be mined where energy costs are low. When discussing crypto in the west, we must start with the United States. This is where much of the worlds bitcoin is mined and if we take figures from April 2021, the US had a global hash rate of 16.85%. However, this increased as the year progressed and a few months later, that figure was at 35.4%. In terms of specific states, Texas is leading the way in terms of crypto mining and could become known as the bitcoin capital of the world. In contrast, Japan is outside the top 8 countries for mining bitcoin, with China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada, Iran, Malaysia, Germany, and Ireland all above Japan when it comes to mining bitcoin. So, in the respect of mining, Japan has not adopted crypto the same as the west, with the United States, Canada, Germany, and Ireland leading the way.

When discussing the adoption of cryptocurrency by Japan, we must consider the crypto legislation in the country. Crypto exchange businesses in Japan are regulated by the Payment Services Act and have been since April 2017. In 2014, the Japanese government decided not to introduce laws to prohibit individuals or companies from receiving bitcoin as a form of payment. All cryptocurrency exchange businesses must be registered and keep records and transactions must comply with money laundering. Looking at the west and particularly the United States, bitcoin was classified as a convertible decentralized virtual currency in 2013 by the U.S. Treasury and is legal in the country. So, cryptocurrency is legal in Japan and the major western nations, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Japans cryptocurrency market grew significantly in 2021 and between the end of 2020 and 2021, the amount of crypto being traded in the country increased by six times. As of the beginning of 2022, over 6 million people in Japan were using crypto but it seems the government is keen to keep the industry under control. In terms of population percentage, roughly 5% of the Japanese people are using crypto. Switching to the west and in the United States, between 30 to 50 million US citizens have engaged with crypto and that figure is predicted to keep rising. That means around 14% of the population are using or have used crypto. This number is bigger than Japan but access to crypto has been a lot easier for US citizens over the years. If we look at the United Kingdom, roughly 1 million people claim to own a crypto asset. That means just under 2% of the population have used crypto, which is less than Japan. Perhaps Japans high interest in gaming has helped, with crypto gaming becoming more popular since 2018. There are plenty of high quality crypto casinos in Japan and new gaming cryptocurrencies have been issued, with Enjin being a good example.

Japan is home to many established companies and start-ups who are entering the crypto market. Japan may not mine as many bitcoins or have the same legislation as countries in the west but the country is adopting cryptocurrency quickly. The number of individuals and companies entering the crypto market in Japan is only going to increase in the future.

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Has Japan Adopted Cryptocurrency the Same Way as the West? - Coinpedia Fintech News

One of the biggest innovations that has altered the world in ways no one could have anticipated is technology. Although inventions such as industrial growth played an essential part in getting the world where it is, the invention of the internet and thus technology has shaken everything that its predecessor did. It has diversified many sectors, especially those that would have been considered unchangeable such as the finance sector. No one would have imagined that people would trust their money and wealth to be new, unknown, and unverified inventions. Stock market investing was the epitome of where all these started.

However, as time goes on, terms such as cryptocurrency have become very popular, especially with the emergence of Bitcoin in 2008. Unfortunately, although most people have heard about bitcoins, most do not understand what it is and entails. In most cases, cryptocurrency is confusing. The main question by some people is why is everyone talking about bitcoin, and how do those who understand it suddenly make much money in a short time? This leads most people to jump into the deep end blind, not knowing what they are doing. Therefore, this article will highlight the top must-know things about Crypto that you should know before investing.

The first step in understanding the operation of cryptocurrencies is understanding their definition to remove the vagueness surrounding them. Cryptocurrency, also known as Crypto, is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network as a medium of exchange that is not tied to any bank or government to maintain or uphold it. Therefore, unlike normal bank operations where there is a central authority, there is no higher power to answer to in the cryptocurrency world. The coin ownership of every individual is stored in a computerized database secured using strong cryptography and blockchain technology. Therefore, in a simple definition, cryptocurrency is a digital currency that circulates without a central monetary authority. Like physical money, one can use cryptocurrency in trading, buying, and selling, but unlike physical money, it is held in a digital wallet, and its exchange is done online.

In its inception, the creation of cryptocurrency was begun by Bitcoin in a primary process known as mining. Mining is an intensive energy process where a computer performs an intensive series of complex puzzles needed to verify the authenticity of transactions in the blockchain. As the computer solves these puzzles, the owner will likely be rewarded with a newly created token of a specific cryptocurrency. However, as miners of these cryptocurrencies increase, the likelihood of a reward decreases. For cryptocurrency mining, a computer needs specialized hardware called application-specific integrated circuit ASIC. Apart from Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies use different methods of creating and distributing tokens.

There are thousands of types of cryptocurrencies available in the market. Since it was first launched in 2008, Bitcoin has been the most popular, followed by alternatives such as Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin. However, it is essential to note that, although most cryptocurrencies use the same decentralized system and blockchain technology, each type has its differences. The differences are mainly due to the coding and algorithms used.

Now that you know the fundamental aspects of cryptocurrencies, the next important question is whether it is a worthwhile investment. Although it is commonly mentioned in the financial sector, getting into the cryptocurrency scene is not as automatic. Therefore, it is essential to consider if it is a worthwhile investment. Whether or not investing in this field is for it mainly depends on your goals and, secondly, what you want to achieve.

Therefore, before starting this investment, consider the following;

The first step that will help answer the question of whether you invest in cryptocurrency is outlining why you want to do it. Many investment opportunities in the market may offer less risk and more excellent stability than cryptocurrency. Therefore, why are you considering these digital currencies as an option? If you are considering gaining a new skill and exploring something new, this may be better since it will teach you many things about digital currencies. On the other hand, if you want to invest your cash to grow it, it is advisable to note that the cryptocurrency market is very volatile, and its shifts are primarily unpredictable.

Once you decide to invest, the next step is getting the feel of the industry. As an investor especially, since you are new to digital currencies, it is better to know how the sector operates before investing. Therefore, take your time to learn the different currencies offered. Which one is best depends on your standing, and especially look beyond the most prominent names such as Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ether? Since there are other new upcoming currencies, they may have benefits that the older ones lack.

In addition, explore the blockchain technology in depth to grasp how this part of cryptocurrency works. Fortunately, there are many primers on blockchain technology written for those who do not have a coding or computer science background.

You can find anything on the internet, which is one of its main benefits. Since digital currency is occasionally one of the most trending topics, things tend to develop quickly. The primary reason for this being a trendy area is a robust and active community of cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts talking about it around the clock.

Find a community to learn from what happens in the industry to educate yourself on what is happening and, most specifically, how it will impact the market. Additionally, by answering your questions, the community will help you understand parts of the market that seem hard.

Besides finding a community, finding the time, and reading the cryptocurrency projects white papers are crucial. Each digital currency project should have one that is easily accessible. The white paper should tell you everything there is to know about the developers and specific about the project. If the white paper is unavailable or has scarce details about the project, that is generally considered a red flag.

The digital currency space is an exciting one.Research and timing, however, will determine whether you succeed or fail. Do continuous research on anything you dont understand, have a knowledgeable support system to help navigate the roads, and pick the best time to invest since timing is vital.

Disclaimer: Any information written in this press release or sponsored post does not constitute investment advice. Thecoinrepublic.com does not, and will not endorse any information on any company or individual on this page. Readers are encouraged to make their own research and make any actions based on their own findings and not from any content written in this press release or sponsored post. Thecoinrepublic.com is and will not be responsible for any damage or loss caused directly or indirectly by the use of any content, product, or service mentioned in this press release or sponsored post.

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The Top Must Know Things About Cryptocurrency - The Coin Republic

On 15 September, the ethereum blockchain is planning to switch off its mining rigs. If it happens, it should reduce the carbon emissions of the entire ethereum ecosystem by orders of magnitude overnight, leaving bitcoin as the only major cryptocurrency to be built on the destructive proof-of-work concept. But the switchover could also throw some of the largest institutions in the sector into chaos, and seems likely to evolve into a cold war between the new version of ethereum and the diehard followers of the old. And thats if it happens at all.

A brief refresher on cryptocurrencies. The two biggest in the world, ethereum and bitcoin, are based on an idea called proof of work. This and Im simplifying involves the networks outsourcing their security to a decentralised network of miners, who compete to burn ludicrous amounts of electrical energy to generate lottery tickets. Each time a winning lottery ticket is generated, the miner who did so gets a reward (for bitcoin, that is currently 6.25BTC about 110,000), and gets to verify all the transactions that have happened since the last winner, packaging them up into a neat block, and adding them on to the chain made up of all previous blocks. They stamp the block with their lottery number and the process begins again.

Nearly all of the above paragraph is false, so please do not write to me. It is true enough for what follows: this proof-of-work model is at the root of everything youve heard about the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies. And ethereum is planning to drop it.

The replacement is called proof of stake. Conceptually, it is more complex, but with the same broad brushstrokes we can describe it like this: rather than burning electricity to generate lottery tickets, you instead use your ethereum to buy premium bonds, and the system picks a winner in proportion to the amount of bonds theyve bought, who then gets to do all the validation stuff as normal. You can cash out of your premium bonds, but the process is slow, so you are motivated not to abuse your validation privileges.

A version of ethereum has been running on those principles for a while. Its had different names over the years, from testnet to Eth2, but on 15 September its going to become simply ethereum. This switchover, dubbed the merge because the old and the new networks will be merged together has a good shot at being the single largest technological event ever to happen in the crypto space. Which means it has a good shot at being messy as hell.

To start, theres the date. If youve noticed a soupon of scepticism, its because Ive been burned before. I wrote about the forthcoming merge being months away in May 2021:

The switch to proof of stake has been planned for several years, with a host of problems, both technical and organisational, delaying implementation. But now, according to Carl Beekhuizen, a research and development staffer at the Ethereum Foundation the change will be complete in the upcoming months.

It was not.

But this time, the switch is rather more final. For one thing, theres an actual hard date; for another, the preparation for the merge is now live in the code that runs the ethereum network. It could still be delayed, but the default case, if no further action is taken, is that the merge will happen as planned.

Whats at stake

That doesnt mean the merge will be smooth. The first stumbling block will be the forks: clones of the old version of ethereum, spun up to keep the proof of work system alive.

This wont be the first time this has happened. Theres untold bitcoin forks, with names like bitcoin cash, bitcoin satoshi vision, bitcoin classic and bitcoin gold, but none have ever toppled the originals dominance.

So why might the ethereum fork have more of a chance? Because it will almost certainly have the backing of a powerful constituency: ethereum miners. After years at the centre of ethereum infrastructure, the miners face their industry being simply switched off overnight, and many of them arent happy with that proposal. They have real, physical assets invested in the continuation of a proof-of-work cryptocurrency, from expensive graphics cards to electrical hookups, and its not easy to repurpose it for something else.

Due to the open-source nature of cryptocurrencies, its easy enough for the miners to simply pick up where they left off, and carry on running Nu-thereum, or whatever it gets called, on 16 September as though the merge had never happened. The question is, what happens next?

Everyone who has a balance of ETH will suddenly find that they have two balances, one on each blockchain. And everyone who has a smart contract running on ETH will suddenly find they have two of them, as well: there will be the proof-of-work version of the Bored Ape NFTs, and the proof-of-stake version, and so on.

Some of those duplicates may happily coexist. Others might try to talk down the forked version, but never quite kill it how much would someone who wants to own a killer NFT pay for an unofficial version on the forked chain? If its not zero, then the trade could continue for some time, even if the developers of the Apes disown the forks.

But for other projects, there can only be one. Each USDC token is backed by $1 of hard assets held by Circle, the company that develops the stablecoin. If there are suddenly twice as many USDCs because of the fork, Circle doesnt have twice as much cash, and it will have to choose one network to support and the other to reject.

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It seems unlikely that the big stablecoins, like USDC and Tether, will back the rebel chain. And that, in turn, means the entire rebel ecosystem will come into existence in a slow-motion collapse, as forked projects fail one by one. But it will still provide a base for new creation, and one that is ultimately more similar to the ethereum developers know and love than the environmentally friendly version it is about to morph into.

Whats next

The upstart miners arent solely acting out of self-interest. There is a point of principle at stake, as well, which is the decentralisation that underpins the crypto economy. That decentralisation is, at heart, the only real reason for cryptocurrencies to exist: a centralised conventional database is faster, cheaper and safer to run, but requires you to trust whoever is running it.

A decentralised cryptocurrency cant be interfered with by big business, or big government, which makes them great for well, crime and evasion of government regulations, in the main, but also loftier concepts like permissionless innovation and uncensorable speech.

Some of the backers of the proof-of-work (PoW) concept including the bitcoin maximalists who look down even on upstarts like ethereum worry that proof of stake (PoS) ultimately results in Dino: decentralisation in name only. The nature of the system involves handing control of the network to those with the most money held within the network. Worse, it hands extra power to those who look after other peoples money: centralised exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, and centralised notbanks like Celsius or Voyager, if theyd survived that long. Those exchanges can offer staking services where they do the hard technical bit of making proof of stake work (buying the premium bonds, in the terms of my fantastic analogy), and their customers get the rewards.

The rise of the Dinos is more than just a theoretical concern. In a post-Tornado Cash world still dealing with the fallout of North Koreas favourite decentralised app being accused of money laundering and sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) it isnt at all clear whether it is legal under US law for a validator, the PoS replacement for miners, to approve a block that contains a transaction to or from a sanctioned address.

Ethereums developers are trying to force the matter, proposing a credible commitment to punish censors. What that means is not yet clear, but the hope is that it doesnt have to be that the credible commitment means that organisations who have to comply with OFAC simply do not stake ethereum in the first place.

It is not entirely clear what an ethereum with no validators who are trying to remain in compliance with US sanctions would look like. But that is the world were heading to.

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TechScape: How a major change to ethereum could change cryptocurrency forever - The Guardian