Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

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The key to cryptocurrency, in terms of its potential as a means of revolutionizing finance, is that it is decentralized. What decentralization here refers to is the quality inherent in many digital assets whereby they exist independent of a single controlling entity.

This is in contrast with traditional currencies whose printing and distribution are controlled by governments and banks. With cryptocurrency, assets can be minted, distributed and transacted in a trust-less fashion by means of networks, computers and nodes.

This trust-lessness opens the door for users of cryptocurrency to enjoy a certain level of privacy and financial freedom that is not available to them in traditional finance. Given the success and growth that has occurred in the cryptocurrency industry, many have thought to take that decentralized paradigm and apply it to other fields to see if it could have similar results.

The place where this decentralized approach has seen the most results would have to be DeFi, where decentralized principles are completely changing how we envision banking and finance to be done moving forward.

DAOs and their role in DeFi

At the heart of DeFi lies the DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, construct. DAOs represent the transmutation of the traditional financial organization into a more egalitarian form, where authority is shared among peers.

Thanks to the structure of DAOs, smart contracts are used to authorize transactions rather than special groups of people. Generally speaking, in a DAO all that is necessary for ones voice to be heard is the possession of a certain amount of tokens tied to the platform.

These tokens allow their holders to influence the decisions that are made by the organization and present proposals for changes.

The DAO can be thought of as the final goal for most DeFi organizations. Ideally, a DeFi platform should be something that everyone with the inclination and means can participate in.

The more DAOs there are in the industry, the stronger it will become because, as is the case with the Bridge DAO on the Everscale network, they can serve as necessary junctions that connect the many independent networks.

The Bridge DAO

The TON Bridge is a multi-network, second-layer solution that links the Everscale blockchain with that of Ethereum, Polygon, Fantom, Binance Smart Chain and more. The unique value of the Bridge lies in its ability to offer users the opportunity to move assets bi-directionally between Everscale and Ethereum-based networks. This is significant because high gas fees, poor scalability and slow transaction times make it very difficult for regular users to make Ethereum transactions. Fees are fractional on the Everscale network, and transaction speeds are exponentially faster.

Due to the enhanced freedom that the Bridge gives users in comparison with the limitations inherent in original chains, it can be likened to a DeFi bank that offers clients autonomous control over their funds.

Now the management of that institution will be opened up as its governance structure is replaced by a DAO. The transition from the first iteration of the Bridge to the DAO will bring with it significant changes.

Typically in DAOs, there is a central set of smart contracts or one large smart contract (depending on the blockchain) that commands the other lesser contracts of the platform. In the Bridge economy, those contracts are primarily based on the Ethereum and Everscale blockchains.

Prior to being run by a DAO, when changes were made to smart contracts, an administrative key had to be used for authorization. Now, thanks to the structure of the DAO, changes can only be authorized collectively by members of the organization.

The activation of the DAO also means that participating members of the Bridge economy will now be able to vote on decisions that affect the community. The voting protocol is a real smart contract that is authorized to make changes to other smart contracts.

For example, if a user wants there to be support for new BRIDGE tokens on the platform, they can write a proposal, which is a special smart contract. If the community votes in favor of approving that proposal then the smart contract will be deployed and changes will be made to the configuration contracts that add support for particular tokens.

Unveiling of Bridge comes at a watershed moment for Everscale

The full unveiling of the Bridge is happening at a momentous time for the network. Earlier this month, the FreeTON DeFi Alliance announced that it would be rebranding from FreeTON to Everscale.

The reasoning behind the change lies in the strides that the network has made technologically since beginning as a continuation of the now-defunct TON Telegram project. The Everscale network is a completely different animal now compared to when it started. In terms of technical specifics, the network has switched from the old nodes written in C++ to newer, more stable and efficient Rust nodes. The new nodes and other innovations have changed the manner in which the protocol operates, necessitating a new image for the network.

According to Broxus founder Sergey Shashev, The rebranding was planned 2-3 months ago. It is happening because we have gone way beyond the limitations of the original TON technology. Plus, there are a lot of TON tokens around and people are confused. We are more than just a token, and in terms of ecosystem offerings, what we have is on par with Near, Solana and Polkadot. Despite the rebranding, however, our roadmap is still the same. The main difference is the networks transition to Rust nodes."

BRIDGE tokens, proposal voting and relays

The Bridge DAO is able to operate thanks to BRIDGE tokens. In the Bridge economy, BRIDGE tokens act in the role of governance tokens. There has been a total of 14 million BRIDGE tokens issued with no plans for further issuances.

BRIDGE tokens provide the means for the Bridge to function by generating the necessary liquidity and opening up its governing structure to users. Any user who wants to participate in Bridge governance just has to hold a certain number of BRIDGE tokens.

While there is a minimum amount of tokens necessary for participation, there are expanded governance roles in the ecosystem that are available to those who have more tokens. If you acquire 2% of the total amount of BRIDGE tokens, you can enter governing proposals of your own for the community to vote upon.

Proposals generally serve a few functions. They are often used to add support for assets from other networks, make changes to the configuration of Bridge settings and to appropriately deal with Relays that are not functioning properly.

Relays, or Bridge validators, have special importance in the Bridge DAO structure. Any user with at least 100k BRIDGE tokens is eligible to become a Relay.

Relays are so important because, by locking in the liquidity necessary to ensure that the platform can function without issues, they perform an essential service for the community. As a result, Relays are rewarded for the work that they do.

If, however, a Relay fails to function in line with what is expected of it, they are dealt with via a proposal.

Other types of proposals, like changes to liquidity protocols and management, are possible as well. Interested users will find all the different proposals and discussions related to their implementation on the Everscale forum and the projects Github.

Bridge DAO unique in DeFi

The Bridge DAO offers a number of unique features that will both stimulate growth for the Everscale network and benefit members of the DeFi community at large.

A much-needed solution

What the Bridge DAO offers is a sorely needed solution in the fractured world of DeFi. This can be clearly understood if we look at what it can do for a platform operating on Ethereum with its own liquidity pools and farming protocols.

The Bridge DAO enables that platform to transfer all of its liquidity over to Everscale, where transactions will be 1000 times cheaper than any made on Ethereum. At the same time, end-users will still be able to just use the Ethereum interface.

The reason that this kind of operation is feasible is that Everscale has unbeatable scaling capabilities, and, unlike other bridging services, Everscale charges no fees on Bridge transactions.

Those fees are covered by the profits that the network makes off of reserves and the interest generated by the liquidity locked in by users. This is exactly the kind of connecting platform that, by benefitting the individual user as well as larger platforms, the industry sorely needs.

By acquiring BRIDGE tokens users not only open numerous avenues of potential profit for themselves and make transferring assets across different blockchains infinitely easier and cheaper, they also gain a voice in the DAO governance model and can help enact the changes they deem necessary for the platform and industry to grow.

Original post:
This Cryptocurrency Achieves DeFi Milestone With Fully Decentralized Bridge, First of Its Kind To Be Run By DAO - Entrepreneur

With cryptocurrency becoming more popular each time and more people investing in it, in this slogging thread, the technology channel discussed what they thought about companies starting to pay their employees with cryptocurrency. We covered how advantages this way could be concerning bureaucracy and how willing people would be to this type of currency, as well as how close this reality can be.

Slogging insights

Since cryptocurrency is becoming more of a reality, in this slogging thread we discussed in our technology channel the future of payments through cryptocurrency. We covered topics such as if this is the future for payment in companies and how close this new reality can be, as well as its advantages and difficulties in some countries.

This Slogging thread by Sara Pinto, Linh Smooke, Mnica Freitas, Limarc Ambalina, Abeer, Favour Amadi, Jack Boreham and Ellen Stevens occurred in slogging's official #technology channel, and has been edited for readability.

What do you think of companies starting to pay their employees with cryptocurrency? Do you think it will become a new reality?

I've come across the news that the football player Messi has received part of his pay, when he changed teams to Paris Saint-Germain, in a type of cryptocurrency. This type is "PSG fan tokens", which allows the owners to have an opinion in certain aspects of the football team, such as some awards. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/leo-messi-will-receive-part-his-pay-in-cryptocurrency-should-you-do-the-same-11628790797

Mnica Freitas, Jack Boreham, Limarc Ambalina, Favour Amadi, Abeer, petar.btc and Rohan Dominic

We do it at HackerNoon! We have 25 employees and contractors both in the US and international. Banks always charge hefty price for intercontinental transactions so crypto payments have been such a nice break lately!

Sara Pinto, as crypto is still a difficult subject for me to grasp, I'd have to ask that my paycheck be transferred via the traditional ways. But, I think paying through cryptocurrency will pick up, and we'll see more and more companies offering this option. I don't believe it will be the primary option, though, as most people aren't familiar with crypto.

Linh Smooke, that's great! I think it's a good innovation regarding payment since those charges can be excessive. If you don't mind me asking, has any obstacle come up?

Mnica Freitas, I understand. Since I'm not an expert as well, I think for me it would depend on the type of cryptocurrency, its value, and the need I would have for actual money. I also agree that may not be the primary option, at least for now. Do you agree that it could be more beneficial in specific aspects? For example, in the Messi case, he will have a certain amount of power inside the club, which may give him advantages as a player when it comes to nominations to awards. I think this is a great strategy

Sara Pinto, it depends on the company. For companies that have workers all over the world, yes it will become a reality and it can't come soon enough. Having experienced this at HackerNoon: modern banking is the most painstaking, and red-tape-filled institution ever. Modern banking practices make it harder for people in lower-income countries to get paid (which defeats the purpose). Some countries like Pakistan don't allow online payments like Paypal for example. Or I even heard of one person we tried to pay at HackerNoon that said she had to have a certain amount of money in her bank account before the bank would allow us to wire transfer money to her. That makes no sense: having to prove you have money before you're allowed to receive money

Crypto can hopefully solve this

Sara Pinto, I totally think payment through Crypto would be a fantastic idea. Cut out all the middlemen and the hoops and boy, in finance, there are a lot of middlemen and hoops to jump through. Especially with Stablecoins, there isnt even much fear about fluctuation. I just wonder how Governments would take to it as there are a lot taxes and paperwork that need to be filed.

Also, I just caught up with the thread. HackerNoon pays some of their employees with Crypto? That is sooo cool!

Linh Smooke, were there any paperwork or hoops you guys had to jump through to do it? Or was it just as simple as sending their income as crypto instead of fiat?

Sara Pinto, It can be helpful in terms of intercontinental, better yet, inter-currency exchanges, facilitating the processing of salaries without making you lose money on bank fees.

Sara Pinto, as for the Messi case, thought it is interesting, how does nominating awards represents an advantage for him? Is it just a perk? An offer for accepting payment in crypto?

Limarc Ambalina, That makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, it all comes down to all the bureaucracies that only make life harder for people. If cryptocurrency can help solve this type of problem, I can't wait for it. But for that, the first step is to educate people. Otherwise it won't be easy to introduce this topic as being a viable way

Abeer, That is a good question. The government must have some kind of system implemented since it is already something happening. I did find an article about taxes over cryptocurrency income in India. It says that the government plans to bring "cryptocurrencies under the tax net". I'll leave it here if you want to know more: https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/government-may-change-income-tax-laws-to-tax-cryptocurrency-gains-in-budget/articleshow/87802508.cms

Mnica Freitas, In my point of view, it brings an advantage because he may be able to nominate himself in such things, drawing more attention to him (not that he needs). For me, it seems like a strategy. He may be short a couple million dollars, but receiving a way of having power will also benefit him.

Sara Pinto, I think it is a welcome option especially as remote work is fast becoming a thing. With remote workers comes a lot of payment processes and hoops to jump through for companies, being able to get paid by just a click is a breath of fresh air and everybody can do more with the time saved.

Sara Pinto, That will make awards a bit biased but I can see how that can benefit Messi.

Favour Amadi, I completely agree with you. Hopefully, it will stay like that, and there won't be many obstacles with this type of payment

I think it will, PayPal is starting to adopt it and many other big brands. For us freelancers and interns, PayPal adopting it is a big win.

For the time being it can be viewed as a type of investment. Companies sometimes issue shares as an addition to the salary. Crypto, while volatile, can bring in quite a bit of wealth as well. Which deviates from standard pay. I think there is room for both, but at the end of the day until most areas of society accept crypto, it can't be the only mode of payment.

Jack Boreham, I didn't know that Paypal was already applying cryptocurrency as payment. That's quite interesting! Maybe receiving salary in this way is closer than we think to a common alternative. Do you think people are gonna be receptive to this?

Ellen Stevens, I completely agree, the bigger issue is if people will accept this type of payment, although companies may be willing to. Even though it is an exciting thought and becoming more achievable each day, there's going to be some obstacles in the way, such as this one

Sara Pinto, without a doubt! But I think it might take around a decade for it to catch on!

Sara Pinto, have you invested in crypto?

Jack Boreham, Not really, I'm still getting the hang of it about crypto, I'm very new to this world. Have you invested? Do you think it might be a good investment?

Sara Pinto, it's worth it if you have some spare money, but not if you don't. The markets are so volatile, so its difficult to make money. I've invested a small amount, but it's more of a trial period for me.

Jack Boreham, The thing about crypto, as far as I know, is that even though it might my valuable, it won't help you if you actually need cash. I hope your experiment goes well

Sara Pinto, that's true. Hopefully one day we will get there

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Is Cryptocurrency the Salary of the Future? - hackernoon.com

Is crypto right for you, and should you dive in once the new year kicks off?

If you follow any sort of financial news, you may be aware that a lot of investors have made serious money off cryptocurrency this year. And if you'd like to get in on the action, you may be considering adding cryptocurrency to your portfolio.

Before you do, ask yourself these essential questions to see if that's the right move for you.

The term "cryptocurrency" encompasses thousands of digital coins. You may be more familiar with some of the popular ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but in reality, there are many, many options. Before you invest in cryptocurrency, research your choices carefully, and don't assume that the coins that get the most press are the best ones to put your money into.

There's no such thing as a risk-free investment. But cryptocurrency is notoriously volatile. The value of digital coins tends to swing more wildly than stock values -- and stocks can be volatile in their own right. Make sure you're willing to deal with that before you add digital coins to your portfolio.

There are plenty of people who have had great success buying stocks and holding them for 40, 50, or 60 years. But cryptocurrency doesn't have that same track record; it simply hasn't been around long enough. Digital coins have only been circulating for a little over a decade, and that alone makes cryptocurrency a bit speculative as a long-term investment. This isn't to say that you can't treat it as one, but it's a good idea to decide what approach you'll take to crypto before you buy it.

You can lose money any time you invest. But because cryptocurrency is riskier than a typical investment, it's important to be set financially before putting money into it. Take a look at your savings account balance to make sure you have at least three months' worth of living expenses set aside. If you don't, build up your emergency fund before you buy crypto -- or even stocks, for that matter.

Though cryptocurrency seems to be 2021's hottest investment, that doesn't automatically make it right for you. Don't succumb to peer pressure; instead, take your time. Figure out if there are more suitable ways to invest your money in the coming year.

Remember, too, that if you're going to dabble in cryptocurrency, you may want to start slow. That could mean putting around 5% of your portfolio into cryptocurrency and keeping the rest of your brokerage account in stocks, bonds, and ETFs.

Investing in cryptocurrency could make you quite wealthy. But it's important to feel comfortable with that decision before diving in.

Link:
Should You Start Investing in Cryptocurrency in 2022? - The Motley Fool

Andrew Yeo doesnt know whats happened to tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency belonging to hundreds of clients of the collapsed exchange ACX, but he aims to find out.

In mid-October the veteran insolvency practitioner was appointed administrator of Blockchain Global, the company that used to run ACX, and since then hes been getting a crash course in all things crypto from the tech experts at the firm where hes a partner, Pitcher Partners.

Theres always stuff thats different you have that on every job, he says.

Its always about finding out whats different about this industry and how you can use it.

A cryptocurrency exchange is digital marketplace that enables customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. It makes money through set fees or by taking a percentage of transactions. No mainstream banks in Australia allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, although the Commonwealth bank has a pilot in the works, so exchanges are currently the only means to do this.

To get to the bottom of what has happened to the cash and coins held in the accounts of ACX customers, Yeo will need to cut through a jungle of claims and counter-claims that have been playing out in court since last year.

Its clear that theres a number of channels of investigation which we may have available and determining which ones are best to follow first is not a simple task, he says.

Theres plenty at stake. Since Yeos appointment, creditors, including ACX clients and Blockchain Globals directors and management, have come forward with claims they are owed close to $50m.

ACX is not the only Australian exchange to run into trouble in what is for now a completely unregulated industry.

Last week, the smaller exchange Mycryptowallet also fell into administration, reportedly owing clients hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Globally, exchanges have proven vulnerable to failure and theft; Japanese operation Mt Gox collapsed in 2014 after someone stole 850,000 bitcoins from it and in 2016 hackers stole almost 120,000 bitcoins from the British Virgin Islands group Bitfinex, which managed to survive and still exists today. Its not suggested that ACXs assets have been stolen.

This week, the Morrison government announced plans to regulate exchanges some time in the future.

In a speech on Thursday to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said the government would consult on establishing a licensing system for digital currency exchanges, together with regulation of businesses that hold custody of crypto on behalf of customers.

The consultation process is due to be finished by the middle of next year, after an election that must be held by 21 May 2022.

Experts say licensing exchanges is a good idea, but it needs to be backed up by enforcement.

With regulation comes a halo, businesses can say theyve got a stamp of approval, and represent that people should have trust and confidence in them, says the chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Gerard Brody.

The regulatory regime itself has got to be robust. Its no good having a licence given to a business if the standards its got to meet under that licence result in consumer detriment.

Pamela Hanrahan, a professor of commercial law and regulation at the University of New South Wales, says licensing creates a moral hazard.

It does carry some kind of colour to it that people are properly regulated, but thats true of every form of occupational licensing, from hairdressing to whatever, she says.

She points to failures such as the financial planning scandals that rocked the banking industry in the mid-2010s, and the 2009 Trio Capital failure, which deprived retirement savers of $176m and was the biggest superannuation collapse in Australian history, as examples of where licensing regimes have failed to safeguard consumers.

You do have to enforce it properly, she says.

Victims of ACXs collapse certainly feel theyve been neglected by regulators including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in the Victorian supreme court, 94 of them claim Blockchain Global, as operator of the exchange, owes them $13m worth of tokens including bitcoin, ethereum and ripple, as well as cash held in their ACX accounts.

The biggest thing Im angry about is that were not getting any help from Asic, one ACX client says.

These companies are registered with Asic but we have to sue the company.

Not all of ACXs clients are participating in the lawsuit and all up there are estimated to be more than 200 who claim to have lost access to crypto and cash held at the exchange.

On Thursday afternoon, judge Richard Attiwill stayed the proceeding against Blockchain Global due to Yeos appointment as administrator.

However, he allowed it to continue against the other defendants in the case, including Blockchain Global chief executive, Allan Guo, and the companys chief financial officer, Samuel Lee.

Guo and Lee did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia and they are yet to file defences in the matter.

Meanwhile, in another dispute also before the Victorian supreme court, Blockchain Global and Guo are fighting a former company employee, Jin Chen, over control of 117 bitcoins. Chen claims that he is owed the crypto for work developing software to run the ACX exchange, but the company and Guo say Chen has failed to comply with a deal that was supposed to end the stoush, because he did not make the source code of the software accessible. Chen denies this.

On Thursday afternoon Attiwill also stayed Chens claim against the company in light of the appointment of the administrator, but allowed the contest between Chen and Guo to go ahead.

The issues are less clear at the smaller Mycryptowallet, which is in the hands of liquidator Terry van der Velde of SV Partners.

SV Partners says little information is available because the appointment is at very early stages but van der Velde aims to sell the business.

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Hanrahan says the collapses make government regulation of exchanges an urgent need.

They need to act reasonably quickly, she says but not so quickly that the laws fail in the same way as ones covering financial services have.

Its one thing to announce it, but you know, theyre going to have to deliver it and hopefully not make quite the mess of it that theyve made of chapter seven of the Corporations Act [which regulates financial services], she says.

In the meantime, people who buy and sell crypto should realise that they dont have any inherent worth.

She believes cryptocurrencies are worse investments than the tulip bulbs that changed hands for fortunes during the tulipmania that gripped the Dutch in the 17th century, an episode in history thats regarded as a classic example of a speculative bubble.

At least if you bought a tulip bulb you can plant it and grow a tulip, she says.

These things dont do anything.

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The search is on for $50m in lost cryptocurrency after two Australian exchanges collapse - The Guardian

In 2021, there were a lot of conversations on Reddit, but there was one topic that cut through the online chatter this year: cryptocurrency. People mentioned crypto 6.6 million times on Reddit in 2021, according to Reddit Recap 2021, whichrounds up the most popular posts, topics and conversations on its platform over the past year.

For more than 10 years, Reddit has been home to over 500 cryptocurrency communities. As more redditors (reddit users) participate in conversation, whether it be for information, help, or to share major successes, Reddit continues to be the hub for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the company said in its report.

The top-five most-viewed cryptocurrency communities in 2021 were: Dogecoin, Superstonk, Cryptocurrency, Amcstock, and Bitcoin.

Reddit group Dogecoin: Whos still holding $DOGE? had 80.3K upvotes, while Reddit group bitcoin: Tesla buys $1.5b in Bitcoin had 45.5k upvotes on the platform. Up vote is when users show their approval for a post by clicking an up arrow, which pushes the post toward the top of the site so that more people can see it.

Interestingly, Reddit hosts more than 430 million monthly active users in over 100,000 communities.

It should be noted that cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin, Ethereum and Shiba Inu also topped Googles 2021 Year in Search, which the Alphabet-owned search engine released this week. Dogecoin and Ethereum price were the top 10 most-Googled news stories of the past year, across the globe.

Reddits year-end review noted that users created 366 million posts over the past year, which was a 19 percent increase year-over-year. As of November, Reddit drew more than 2.3 billion total comments and 46 billion upvotes.

Meanwhile, Shiba Inu was the most discussedcryptocurrency on Twitter during October, as per the data compiled by ICO Analytics. The analysis firm revealed the 20 most discussed cryptocurrencies on Twitter and Shiba Inu has emerged as a clear winner, receiving a 22 percent share of all crypto assets discussions on the platform, dwarfing Ethereum by 8.1 percent and Bitcoin by 7.2 percent.

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Cryptocurrency was the most popular conversation on Reddit in 2021 - The Indian Express

What happened

Today, there's a small cryptocurrency that's making a big move. Earlier this morning,Celo(CRYPTO:CELO) surged to as high as $4.72 per token, representing an increase of nearly 30% since yesterday's close. This rapid move has been quickly corrected, though Celo does remain 5.2% higher over the past 24 hours, as of 12:30 p.m. ET. This move comes amid more downside momentum in the crypto world today, with the overall market down 3.4% at the same time.

Yesterday's announcement that crowdfunding platform Kickstarter would be migrating to a platform based on the Celo blockchain has provided a key catalyst for this cryptocurrency. It appears investors primarily in Asia jumped on this catalyst, with Celo's outsize move happening during trading hours there.

Image source: Getty Images.

Celo is a top 100 cryptocurrency, but one many investors may not have heard of. With a market capitalization of "only" $1.4 billion, it's a relatively emerging player in the crypto scene.

What makes Celo special is this blockchain ecosystem's focus on increasing crypto adoption among smartphone users. For platforms like Kickstarter looking for more market share among mobile users, as well as those without banking access, Celo's platform is enticing.

Additionally, it has been pointed to as an excellent blockchain network from an environmental standpoint. This network's proof-of-stake network has allowed Celo to become carbon negative, something Kickstarter executives like. Given the attention that's now being paid to energy usage in the crypto world, Celo's environmental positioning is something worth considering. At least, Kickstarter executives think so.

The world of cryptocurrencies is a vast, fast-moving space. It's impossible to keep tabs on every one. Indeed, Celo is a blockchain network that may not have gotten the attention it rightfully deserves.

This announcement could pave the way for further partnerships and adoption of the Celo blockchain. Accordingly, the sharp spike we've seen with Celo of late appears to be warranted.

It should be noted that Celo tokens remain approximately 65% below their 52-week highs. Thus, this is a small-cap token many investors may want to take a flier on right now.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

Originally posted here:
Why This Cryptocurrency Soared Nearly 30% Today With the Overall Crypto Market Down - The Motley Fool

Shiba Inu (CRYPTO:SHIB) is the latest cryptocurrency to go viral. Despite falling 57% from its all-time high, its price has still surged a mind-boggling 65,600,000% since November 2020. At that pace, $1.53 invested in Shiba Inu at its all-time low would be worth $1 million today. That's right; for less than it costs to buy a cup of coffee, some investors made a fortune.

That being said, don't beat yourself up if you missed out. Betting on Shiba Inu would have been (and still is) similar to buying a lottery ticket. Its unprecedented gains were fueled by hype, including relentless social media campaigns thaturged people to buy and hold. Cryptocurrency is already a volatile asset class, but mix in a little hype and some smart branding -- Shiba Inu takes its name from the same meme as Dogecoin -- and you have a recipe for explosive growth.

Image source: Getty Images.

Unfortunately, Shiba Inu lacks actual utility. Despite being an ERC-20 token, a type of smart contract built on the Ethereum blockchain, Shiba Inu has not been widely integrated into decentralized applications (dApps) or decentralized finance (DeFi) products. And since there is nothing exceptional about it, I doubt that will change.

However, there are thousands of other cryptocurrencies out there, and many of them look like smart investments. Solana (CRYPTO:SOL)stands out from the pack. Here's why.

In 2015, the launch of Ethereum forever changed the cryptocurrency space. Rather than a mere digital ledger, the Ethereum blockchain is a programmable platform, meaning it can support self-executing computer programs (i.e. smart contracts). In turn, that technology evolved into dApps and DeFi products -- software that functions outside the control of any third party.

In the context of DeFi, that means investors can trade, lend, and earn interest without involving a bank or brokerage. To that end, DeFi makes financial services more efficient. For instance, you could earn 5.95% APY by lending Tether -- a stablecoin designed to track the value of the U.S. dollar -- to the Aave protocol, a DeFi productthat pays interest in exchange for liquidity. To put that figure in context, the average U.S. savings account currently pays 0.06%APY.

However, Ethereum currently handles just 30transactions per second (TPS), meaning its throughput is far too low to support mainstream adoption. In fact, network congestion has already caused transaction times and fees to rise, because more people are competing for a limited number of resources (i.e. miners must verify all transactions, but they can only work as fast as the network permits).

Solana was created to overcome that barrier. Like Ethereum, the Solana blockchain is programmable, but thanks to its innovative combination of proof of history (PoH) and proof of stake (PoS) consensus, the platform can process a staggering 50,000 TPS. If you aren't familiar with PoH, it works like this: Transaction data is hashed(encrypted) and timestamped, creating a verifiable order of events that validators use to add data to the blockchain. That means one validator doesn't have to wait for confirmation from every other validator, which accelerates throughput while still ensuring security.

To that end, Solana is the world's fastestblockchain, according to the developer team, which is headed by former Qualcomm software engineer Anatoly Yakovenko. That value proposition has captured the interest of dApp builders and DeFi investors. In fact, Solana is the fourth-largest DeFi ecosystem, with $12.5 billion invested on the platform.

The probability of Solana climbing 65,600,000% from its current market value is next to nothing. Then again, I would never bet on any asset generating those types of returns. But that doesn't mean Solana is a bad investment. In fact, given DeFi's rising popularity, I think it's one of the most worthwhile cryptocurrencies to own.

In the past year alone, DeFi investments across all blockchains have surged more than 1,300% to $260 billion. As that trend continues, Solana's ecosystem should continue to expand as more users invest more money in DeFi products on the platform. And because those users have to pay transaction fees using the blockchain's native cryptocurrency, Solana's price should rise over time.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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Missed Out on Shiba Inu? My Top Cryptocurrency to Buy Now - Motley Fool

The stock market has nothing on cryptocurrency when it comes to stellar gains. While the S&P 500 index more than doubled in value in less than 18 months from the low point of the pandemic to its recent high, the total cryptocurrency market cap has risen from $163 billion to almost $2.7 trillion.

And more new cryptos are born every day. At the time of this writing, 30 new cryptocurrencies were added in just the last 12 hours alone. Not all of them will be worth your time, especially those named after a certain dog. And in fact, most probably won't be.

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Even among the biggest, better-known coins, very few likely have long-term viability. Which is why, if you're interested in investing in the sector, you should be very circumspect about where you put your money.

Yet there are some good reasons some of them will be winners that could return five, 10, or even 20 times your original investment. Here's one that has a better chance than most after its value was dramatically cut.

Image source: Getty Images.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was the first widely adopted cryptocurrency, and for that reason alone it remains the most popular and most valuable of coins.

Having been skeptical of its staying power, I remember telling a friend who bought Bitcoin between $600 and $900 to sell, sell, SELL!! when it hit $7,000, and that he was a fool for holding on to it at $15,000. Let's just say I'm the one sitting with egg on my face today.

Today, Bitcoin is probably as mainstream as it gets, with companies like Tesla buying and accepting the coin, and asset managers like Grayscale Investments owning a sizable portion of bitcoin for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. However, its attempt to create an exchange traded fund (ETF) linked to derivatives contracts, not actual bitcoin, has so far been thwarted by the SEC.

The popularity and success of Bitcoin paved the way for the 7,858 other cryptocurrencies that exist today.

Yet it's not the only one, and arguably not even the best crypto, despite often being considered the gold standard of the industry. Instead, you might want to consider crypto's "silver standard," Litecoin (CRYPTO:LTC).

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Charlie Lee, Litecoin creator and founder of the Litecoin Foundation, describes the coin as a "light version of Bitcoin" as it was created from a modified version of Bitcoin's source code. So while the two share a certain heritage, there are some important differences, notably its hashing function, speed of block generation, and availability of supply.

I won't pretend to understand all that goes on under the hood of coin creation, but the hashing function of a cryptocurrency is essentially the conversion of any form of data into a unique string of text to safeguard the data. Unlike encryption, hashing really can't be reverse engineered, or decrypted. It's a one-way road.

Also according to Lee, new blocks on the Litecoin network are generated every 2.5 minutes on average, or some four times faster than the Bitcoin blocks, which are being mined about every 10 minutes.

He also points out that where the total universe of Bitcoin is around 21 million tokens, there are 84 million litecoins, making it much more accessible. That's why he called it "the silver to Bitcoin's gold."

Image source: Getty Images.

While real gold does have its commercial uses, it is more often seen as a store of value. Silver, on the other hand, is actually much more important because beyond its value as a precious metal, it has vital industrial, technological, and consumer uses, especially in automobiles, solar panels, and (of course) jewelry.

Think of Litecoin in the same way. It was designed to be mined through use of consumer-grade computers, not the more-specialized processors typically used to harvest the power-hungry Bitcoin applications. Its hashing function also makes it easier for individual investors.

As a result, Litecoin is the 15th most-valuable cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of nearly $15 billion as of Dec. 1 and a per-token value of $216. It is also the third most widely held cryptocurrency by institutional investors behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Litecoin tripled in value this year before tumbling 45%, putting it at an enticing price, seen as undervalued based on its correlation with Bitcoin. At least one analyst foresees a $1,500 price for Litecoin, even though it's been three years since it hit its all-time high of $420.

What could be the catalyst for Litecoin to rise in value over time is Litecoin halving, or the process by which the supply of the coin is controlled. After 840,000 blocks are mined the amount of Litecoin miners are rewarded with is halved. It occurs approximately every four years and is built into its algorithm.

Two halvings have occurred so far, the next is expected in late 2023. After halving, prices are expected to grow because fewer miners work to mine new coins since they receive less compensation. It continues until the coin price offers a great enough incentive and the miners return to the network. It's the regulation of the supply and the forced scarcity of Litecoin that could be its greatest lever.

Certainly Litecoin is more speculative than Bitcoin or Ethereum, but because it is a more convenient and economical option for cryptocurrency investors, even if Litecoin doesn't reach such stratospheric levels, investors might still want to dig into this silver-medal finalist.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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This Cryptocurrency Could Be 10 Times Higher by 2030 - Motley Fool

These cryptocurrency projects are worth knowing

Cryptocurrency is the most trending topic all across the globe. Most of the investors of today feel that cryptocurrency is the best option to invest upon in the long run. Those who know how to ride the waves of the volatile crypto market and perform short trades making huge money too. The long term is where the big gains are if you have the time and the patience. Cryptocurrency projects can also inspire us and can improve lives in the future. Lets see the top cryptocurrency projects that you need to know about and explore.

The Ethereum blockchain has its own limitations such as increased fees and low transaction number that is allowed per second. In order to rectify these major challenges, the crypto project Polygon was founded in 2017 by Indian software engineers which is meant to become the Internet of Blockchains for Ethereum scaling the blockchains capabilities and linking it to other compatible blockchains. This is one of the top cryptocurrency projects to know about.

Solana was founded in 2018 which is a fast and scalable blockchain allowing the building of DApps, smart contracts, and tokens. Solana can process about fifty thousand transactions every second, which is the fastest as of now. It is a cryptocurrency that has a speed and low latency that can make it useful in cases in which ETH would become useless.

Chainlink was launched in 2017 and allows smart contracts to communicate to real-world applications such as medicine, bank payments, insurance, and other services through its network. This cryptocurrency can solve the problems of using blockchains and smart contracts which are decentralized with real-world data, which is centralized by creating a bridge between them.

Ampleforth is a unique cryptocurrency that its coin supply is volatile each new day. It changes the supply of coins adjusting to the demand, the circulating supply of coins being adjusted algorithmically. For fiat money, moremoney, more bills need to be printed when the demand is too high. Taking a loan in AMPL is made using stable contacts.

Vechain was founded in 2015 and its a blockchain project which is meant to trade and supply better by providing a unique digital identity to all the products in the supply chain. It can allow us to identify products and see if they are fake or not.

Polkadot is a project founded in 2016 and it is one of the initial co-founders of Ethereum who launched it to solve the common blockchain issues. They can communicate with each other to form a network. It is a kind of multichain that allows the multiplication of the possible number of transactions.

Theta was founded in 2018 which has a potential to be the next streaming and video solution after Twitch and YouTube. But the only thing is that it will be decentralized and provide better quality than any centralized content delivery network. Big tech companies have also partnered with Theta and this can only be a good thing for its future. It is one of the top cryptocurrency projects to explore.

It is the oldest coin on the list of top cryptocurrency projects and it is meant to be a network that allows the free circulation of money by integrating with the current financial system and making improvements where it is possible. In this way, people across the globe can access financial services with low fees.

It was launched in 2017, by a former co-founder of Ethereum. It is similar to that of ETH and can improve the problems that are already being faced since it was built from scratch. One of the issues is that of scalability.

The ICP was launched in 2016, and it is a fast blockchain where its creators want to become the new world wide web. Its capabilities are greater because it can be scaled to infinity. We can witness a boost in it with its new blockchain-based internet.

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Top 10 Cryptocurrency Projects to Lookout for in 2022 - Analytics Insight

Over the past 24 hours, Crypto.com Coin's (CRYPTO: CRO) price has risen 7.84% to $0.61. This continues its positive trend over the past week where it has experienced a 8% gain, moving from $0.57 to its current price. As it stands right now, the coin's all-time high is $0.97.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Crypto.com Coin over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are bollinger bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

The trading volume for the coin has decreased 41% over the past week, while the overall circulating supply of the coin has decreased 0.18% to over 25.26 billion. The current market cap ranking for CRO is #14 at 15.54 billion.

If you are interested in purchasing Crypto.com Coin and want to know the best cryptocurrency exchanges, follow this link to Benzinga Money.

Do you want to learn more about trading and be able to analyze your own portfolio of stocks or cryptocurrencies? Consider signing up for Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy. You can follow the link here to visit.

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