Crypto Miner, Gateways, Air Quality Sensor, AI kits, Light Sensor

The Chinese government is known for its stringent measures when it comes to data and data control. So, what does it mean when it accepts a foreign company to be involved in their data collection? MXC Foundation, the Berlin-based blockchain company, is one of the few companies that is being considered as trustworthy by the Chinese government. Despite their recent stance on tokens and blockchain related companies, the services provided by MXC technology must be regarded highly by the Chinese government to allow for this partnership. As part of the Chinese plan to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, the Chinese government partnered with MXC Foundation in the city of Shanghai. The partnership will see MXC Foundation transform the district of Yangpu into a Smart City. A statement by MXC read: MXC is assisting the Shanghai Yangpu district with the deployment of an MXProtocol enabled low power wide area network (LPWAN) capable of providing wireless service to LPWAN IoT devices in Shanghai Yangpu. Data collected via the network will use the MXC Interchain Data Market , assuring data reliability and providing an actionable analysis of city-owned data. By forming this collaboration with a Chinese city, MXC becomes the first project to be tokenized in China’s infamously unfriendly cryptocurrency regulated markets. Transformed Lives MXC Foundation deals with data collection and secure distribution of data. For the people of Shanghai Yangpu, this may not seem as much; however, the benefits likely to arise from data collection are numerous. For starters, it is probably going to be more comfortable getting to various destinations through the implementation of MXC’s IoT devices. They can be used to collect data on traffic which can then be used to optimize movement for cars and people. Given the rise in production of driverless cars, the data collected will likely make the driverless experience more accurate. Other car-related optimizations include indicating available parking spaces in malls and other buildings to save time that would have otherwise been wasted on locating parking spaces. Sensors can also be placed in water management systems and drainage systems. The data collected via these sensors can be used to optimize water supply in the district of Yangpu and improve drainage management in Yangpu. Data on the amount of rainfall and the percentage collected can be used to help the district harvest rainwater for future use. Other optimizations may come in the form of determining where water is most likely to be wasted and how this can be improved. Data from drainage systems can also be used to support water management. Security within the Yangpu district can also be improved by placing IoT devices strategically. Cameras, alarms and other alert devices can be placed on potentially insecure areas such that the data is quickly transferred to law enforcement who can then intervene. The sensors may also help deter crime as the city will be aware of the sensors collecting data at all times. The sensors placed strategically can also be potentially useful to delivery companies within Yangpu. Implementation of drone deliveries can be done accurately using sensors placed at delivery centers. Monitoring natural disasters can also be done through MXC’s sensors. These could help residents prepare adequately for earthquakes or floods thereby preventing excessive losses when these incidences occur. Thus, MXC’s Smart City initiative will likely transform the lives of residents in the district of Yangpu in Shanghai. said Shen Xin, Shanghai Yangpu District Government Director. “The Shanghai District and MXC are cooperating in the construction of smart cities and the development of the IoT industry,” Rise in Value Data transfer will be done through MXC’s MX Protocol, a secure blockchain platform that assures the origin and security of data transfers from sensors. Now, MXC has been entrusted with public data by the Chinese government. The data MXC will be dealing with is likely to range from slightly relevant to crucial data that may potentially affect the lives of people. For this reason, the value of MXC is expected to rise as the data they will be handling is potentially valuable. The value of the MXC token is currently below what one would expect considering the nature of their services; the MXC token will likely rise in value as more partnerships with governments are made around the world. Its operations in Shanghai may trigger the rise in value that is very much deserved by the company. The Smart City initiative may also attract investors into the company. The expansion will require liquidity especially when new cities start coming on board. This will also likely improve the MXC token value. The Yangpu district in Shanghai will be among the first Smart Cities in the world. As more data uses are innovated and optimized, the relevance and value of MXC will likely rise. For the people of Yangpu, a potentially more improved life awaits them. The future of cities around the world may very well be on the hands of MXC. MXC will be displaying their Smart City concept at the Hannover Messe in Germany from 1st to 5th of April 2019. Official Links Website | Telegram | Twitter ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ ➕ If you enjoy reading my articles, please be sure to clap them and follow me on medium !

MXC and Shanghai Combine in one of the First Real Blockchain Partnerships of the Industry

A recent released by Bitwise exposed how reported trading volumes and market caps on various crypto exchanges were false. Mentioned heavily on the report was CoinMarketCap as it is the reference of choice for most people seeking to enter or actively participating in the crypto market. report Data from CoinMarketCap quoted and widely spread through trusted news outlets | Source: Bitwise report CoinMarketCap responded to the report by that indeed, some of the data hosted on its platform was inaccurate. confirming However, it seems as though CoinMarketCap is not 100% truthful about their data inaccuracies. In a news report by , CoinMarketCap appears to have done very little about its data inaccuracies even after the report by Bitwise. Further, after admitting that there are inaccuracies in some of the data they posted, CoinMarketCap failed to adequately address the issue despite promising to make the . Forbes necessary changes CoinMarketCap promising to change its metrics system is an indicator that the platform is aware of the fake data they are fed | Source: Twitter Now, various small projects are accusing the platform of deliberately undermining smaller projects while wrongly reporting results of larger projects. CoinMarketCap is reporting false data a worryingly large amount of times. The report on Bitwise focused on the inaccuracies in Bitcoin trading. However, the report also highlighted how the same could be done for other cryptocurrencies. reports that for a mere $15,000, a token could end up getting listed on CoinMarketCap. Through applications such as Gotbit, trading volumes can be easily inflated, thus leading to inaccurate results being posted on crypto exchanges. Exchanges are aware of such practices in the market; however, they choose not to do anything as seen in the case of CoinMarketCap. Coindesk Gotbit isn’t the only platform practicing market manipulation; there are many more that are quiet about their silent influence in crypto exchanges. You would think that knowing this, CMC would put measures in place to obtain the correct data. Operations haven’t changed in the market capitalization platform. Erroneous data is still being peddled. Platforms such as CoinMarketCap thrive when they list coins with artificially low circulating supply which are then traded frequently with an enticing market cap. It is therefore in their interest to list coins that appear to be performing in the market, or at the least, appear to be having a large market cap. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise if CoinMarketCap allows such practices to be conducted in platforms whose products are listed on their website. Genuinely Good Projects Suffer Due To CMC’s Practices The problem with the pumping schemes accepted by CoinMarketCap, apart from the practice being totally unethical, is the fact that it always ends up hurting genuine cryptocurrencies that are climbing through the ranks. Consider MXC, an IoT token based in Berlin, Germany. The platform recently unlocked investor tokens, meaning that the initial tokens bought during private sales could now be sold. MXC also offered an early unlock for some private sales participants in exchange for a 20% burn. These moves would likely improve MXC’s marketcap, which would enhance its position on the CoinMarketCap rankings. However, because of slow updates and a clear disregard for ethical market practices, MXC is still ranked lowly with a market cap of compared to CoinStats which ranks MXC with a market cap of . $2.6 million $4.6 million Source: CoinStats What is even more disheartening is the fact that CoinMarketCap failed to update their data and records even after MXC reached out to them. CoinMarketCap Continues To Willfully Feign Ignorance CoinMarketCap is well aware of the unethical practices that take place in some of the projects they list. However, they choose to remain silent on this issue and pretend as though everything is fine. Various cases on unethical practices have been highlighted concerning some of the projects listed, especially the smaller ones. Coinmarketcap has failed to address these concerns. Because CoinMarketCap ranks projects based on the marketcap, tokens are having a field day manipulating their marketcap to increase their ranking on Coinbase. The latest manipulation concerns a Chinese based token, The company has a minimal circulating supply compared to its total market supply. The reason behind this is the refusal by the platform to unlock tokens locked during the investor and private sale. Now the foundation/token team cannot remove the lock because they know a dump would be forthcoming. which propelled itself to the top 100 rankings based on marketcap on CoinMarketCap. ‘L’ Fun fact: In regards to ‘ L ’, because they lost the faith of crypto investors, now they’re marketing to Chinese elderly women. And in China, people say “once elderly women get involved in business, it means the business is a done mess.” As per the example above, CoinMarketCap is almost certainly to have similar stories. As CMC is a platform, projects would be paying using tokens to get listed on the exchange, or they may be using trading bots to inflate their token activity. The ability to manipulate this practice for nefarious means is obvious, yet CMC steadfastly refuse to change this procedure. Many projects will also be manipulating their marketcap through extended lock-ups. Investors Are Often The Biggest Losers When asked for comment on the discrepancy, MXC replied, “We have continually reached out to CMC to update our supply statistics and thereby increase our ranking. To this day we have not reached any replies from them and our details on CMC continue to be unchanged.” Investors require accurate data for them to make any sound investments. The inaccurate data that is fed to them by Coinmarketcap translates to poor investment choices. Investors end up pouring their hard-earned cash into worthless projects that have been inflated by trading bots and faulty platform metrics. Most investors take CMC as the primary source of information. CMC often says: “investors also check the coin’s website before investing so CMC isn’t the only responsible one” but most investors already make up majority of their investment decisions before visiting the coin’s website. Then they just make sure it exists and looks legit before closing the website and moving on to an exchange. According to a post on , investors may be pawns in a much larger scheme involving backroom deals between CoinMarketCap and tokens. Medium Investors here also mean developers such as the team behind MXC who invested their time and money developing a working blockchain solution only for them to be run down by backroom deals and trading bots. Platforms like MXC are suffering from false representation while others thrive in the top 100 CoinMarketCap list without having any viable product or service. It is disheartening to be outranked by tokens pumped by trading bots in some underground office. CoinMarketCap Needs To Overhaul Its Ethical Standards Completely In many of the links provided in this article, CoinMarketCap agrees that they are aware of some of the irregularities in the data they are fed. In some instances, they even promise to resolve the issue. Despite the promises, the platform operations remain largely the same. CoinMarketCap risks losing the trust it had previously gained. The market can be very unforgiving, especially when taken for granted. For this reason, the following need to be made clear: How Coinmarketcap selects a project to list on its rankings, The average time it takes for Coinmarketcap to update their rankings based on new, accurate information, whether it is involved in any backroom deals with specific projects. I believe by publicly answering these questions, CoinMarketCap would have made a step towards mending bridges that are quickly being consumed by their lies and lack of clarity. #CoinMarketCap #CMC #MXC #CryptoMarkets #Bitcoin Disclaimer: Please only take information my OWN opinion and should not be regarded financial advice any situation. Please remember to DYOR before making any decisions. this as as in ♂️ Hi, my name’s Sal. If you found this article useful and would like to view my other work please be sure to clap and follow me on Medium and LinkedIn! 😎

Issues from CoinMarketCap's Listing Incentives with Smaller Crypto Projects Persist

I’ve been using the same animation pattern in my projects for a while now to animate elements onto the screen. In its simplest form, you would have an element styled with the opacity of zero, then change the styling to have an opacity of one with a CSS transition of a second. We can build on top of that by adding other properties that transition, changing the duration, adding a delay, or setting custom easing. is a reusable React component that I’ve made to drop in whenever I want to quickly add some animation effects to my projects. A simple utility component, it combines CSS Animation with Tailwind classes to create fluid, eye-catching animations with minimal effort. <AnimateIn/> Let’s take a look at how it is used. After importing the component, define and states with Tailwind classes. Wrap the target element within to see the animation come to life. from to <AnimateIn/> import AnimateIn from '../animation/AnimateIn';

<AnimateIn 
  from="opacity-0 scale-90" 
  to="opacity-100 scale-100"
  duration={500}
>
  <YourComponent />
</AnimateIn> Here’s a slightly more complex example that uses more properties to animate in a headline and subtitle. import AnimateIn from '../animation/AnimateIn';

<header>
  <AnimateIn 
    as="h1"
    from="opacity-0 translate-y-32" 
    to="opacity-100 translate-y-0"
    delay={500}
    duration={300}
    className="text-4xl"
    style={{transitionTimingFunction:"cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.4, 0.55, 1.4)"}}
  >
    My Big Headline
  </AnimateIn>
  <AnimateIn 
    as="h2"
    from="opacity-0 scale-0" 
    to="opacity-100 scale-100"
    delay={800}
    duration={500}
    className="text-lg"
  >
    This is a subtitle below the headline
  </AnimateIn>
</header> In the headline example, is used to create a sliding effect combined with a fade-in. Here’s how each property contributes to the animation: <AnimateIn/> property: By setting , we tell AnimateIn to render the animation as an element. as as="h1" <h1> and properties: The property starts the headline off-screen ( , moving it 32 units down) and invisible ( ). The property then brings the headline to its final position (back to ) and makes it fully visible ( ). from to from translate-y-32 opacity-0 to translate-y-0 opacity-100 property: The animation is set to begin immediately with no delay and runs for a quick 300ms. duration property: The applies Tailwind's utility class to set the font size, making the headline prominently stand out. className className="text-4xl" property: The custom ( ) adds a unique ease to the animation, giving it a bounce-like effect. style transitionTimingFunction cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.4, 0.55, 1.4) The subtitle uses a different set of animations to complement the headline, creating a cohesive visual flow. property: Here, renders the component as an element, suitable for a subtitle. as as="h2" <h2> and properties: The subtitle starts scaled down to zero ( ) and invisible ( ), then scales up to its natural size ( ) and becomes fully visible ( ). This scaling effect, paired with a fade-in, adds depth to the animation. from to scale-0 opacity-0 scale-100 opacity-100 and properties: The subtitle also starts after an 800ms delay so that it begins after the headline has fully animated. This staggered approach ensures that each element gets its moment of focus. delay duration property: The sets the subtitle's font size, making it smaller than the headline but still significant. className className="text-lg" To better understand what’s happening, let’s look at the source code for : <AnimateIn/> on Github uses a hook to initialize the animation state with the property, which should be one or more Tailwind utility classes, setting the stage for the animation’s starting point before any animation takes place. <AnimateIn/> useState from The first hook in the component is for respecting user preferences for reduced motion. By listening to the media query, the animation behavior is based on the user’s system settings. If reduced motion is preferred, the animation is skipped entirely, directly setting the animation state to the property, allowing for an accessible experience. useEffect (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) to The second hook is where the animation logic resides. If the user has not indicated a preference for reduced motion, the component sets a timer that changes the animation state from the initial value to the final value after the specified delay. This transition creates the visual effect of animation. useEffect from to The cleanup function of this hook (the return statement) clears the timer, preventing potential memory leaks such as if the component unmounts before the animation is completed. The function call is the component’s rendering mechanism. It dynamically creates an HTML element based on the prop, allowing the use of the component across different HTML elements. The is constructed using the function as , which combines Tailwind’s utility classes, the custom passed as a prop, and the current animation state. This dynamic class assignment is what applies the desired styles and transitions to the element. React.createElement as className cn popularized by shadcn className Additionally, there is a attribute that can be passed in to directly set styling properties on the animation container. The is set based on the prop, but it intelligently switches to if the user prefers reduced motion, effectively disabling the animation while maintaining the component’s functionality. style transitionDuration duration 0ms If you’d like to use in your own project and it already uses , then you already have everything you need, just and add it to your components. <AnimateIn/> shadcn download AnimateIn.tsx Otherwise, you’ll want to as well as the for merging tailwind classes. install Tailwind mxcn helpful utility Like shadcn, <AnimateIn/> is meant to be a reusable component that you can copy and paste into your apps and customize to your needs. The code is yours. Also, I’ve put together a nice demo page for playing around with creating different animations with at . <AnimateIn/> animate-in.vercel.app Also published here

I Created a React Utility Component for Animations With Tailwind and CSS: AnimateIn

আমি Tailwind এবং CSS এর সাথে অ্যানিমেশনের জন্য একটি প্রতিক্রিয়া ইউটিলিটি উপাদান তৈরি করেছি: AnimateIn

Ich habe eine React-Utility-Komponente für Animationen mit Tailwind und CSS erstellt: AnimateIn

Creé un componente de utilidad React para animaciones con Tailwind y CSS: AnimateIn

J'ai créé un composant utilitaire React pour les animations avec Tailwind et CSS : AnimateIn

मैंने टेलविंड और सीएसएस के साथ एनिमेशन के लिए एक रिएक्ट यूटिलिटी कंपोनेंट बनाया: एनिमेटइन

Tailwind と CSS を使用してアニメーション用の React ユーティリティ コンポーネントを作成しました: AnimateIn

Tailwind 및 CSS를 사용하여 애니메이션용 React 유틸리티 구성 요소를 만들었습니다: AnimateIn

Criei um componente utilitário React para animações com Tailwind e CSS: AnimateIn

Я создал служебный компонент React для анимации с помощью Tailwind и CSS: AnimateIn

Tailwind ve CSS ile Animasyonlar için React Utility Bileşeni Oluşturdum: AnimateIn

Tôi đã tạo một thành phần tiện ích React cho hoạt ảnh bằng Tailwind và CSS: AnimateIn

我使用 Tailwind 和 CSS 创建了一个用于动画的 React 实用组件：AnimateIn

Which Layer 2 Solutions Are Helping Ethereum Scale?

Crypto Crash? Not Really... 

Investing in the cryptocurrency market offers several advantages to traders in today's meme culture. More seasoned investors are paying attention to this seismic change being driven by the next generation of investors. Many people have heard about meme coins, and today's post will examine the genesis of this new trend and highlight five of those cryptocurrencies that exhibit high traction for 2022. Crypto Investments in the Meme Culture The culture that emerges from memes is known as "meme culture." Memes began as images on the internet that individuals would casually share with others for entertainment. As a result of memes' widespread use on social media, many individuals are increasingly using them in conversations that don't take place on those platforms alone. It is the intersection between meme culture and cryptocurrencies, with the generation of tokens often lacking in fundamentals. A form of self-expression for millennials and the Gen Z, they are more community-driven. Coins based on memes and online pranks, known as meme coins, are a form of digital currency. When a picture of a Shiba Inu became popular, the Doge meme was born, and Dogecoin ( ) appeared on the market. DOGE When others participate in the amusement by purchasing the currently hot cryptocurrency, these cryptocurrencies can gain momentum. As soon as a coin becomes popular, ordinary investors may hop on board and increase its value even more. Dogecoin's "election" of Elon Musk as CEO was an excellent example of a meme coin's popularity boosted by prominent internet figures and celebrities. In 2020, the Reddit group WallStreetBets inflated the price of GameStop stock, which sparked a boom in meme coins. When Redditors started joking about similarly raising the value of Dogecoin, history quickly repeated itself. Something similar happened with SHIB (Shiba Inu), a memecoin that labeled itself “the anti-Doge.” The price of meme coins is extremely unpredictable since these tokens heavily depend on community mood and arbitrary external factors like celebrity tweets. Dogelon Mars (ELON) An attempt is being made by , another parody currency, to match Dogecoin's popularity. That brings us back, once again, to Elon Musk, king of the meme currency market. Dogelon Mars Elon Musk's remarks on digital currencies heavily influence the cryptocurrency market. At its core, Dogelon Mars is an attempt to repeat the success of Dogecoin and to realize Elon Musk's dream of populating Mars. Dogelon Mars doesn't have many examples of how it may be used. Much of its growth is due to the support of the dog-loving community, as is the case with other meme currencies. It has yet to receive Elon Musk's endorsement, despite his name being associated with him. The price of the Crypto might skyrocket with a single tweet endorsing the product. The coin's supply will influence the future price of the currency. A total of one quadrillion Dogelon Mars are available. One-half of the token supply was delivered to Vitalik Buterin, and the other half was locked in the Uniswap liquidity pool. MonaCoin (MONA) Ascii cat meme-related token was introduced in 2013. An unnamed "Mr. Watanabe" is credited with inventing the cryptocurrency, although that person's identity has never been revealed. MonaCoin There are MONA incentives for processing fresh blocks of MonaCoin transactions, which all miners get. For every 1,051,000 blocks, the amount of MONA awarded as a block reward is cut in half in a Bitcoin-style move. Segregated Witness (SegWit) was introduced in MonaCoin (SegWit). As a result, it processes transactions more quickly than Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Mr. Watanabe indicated that MonaCoin was not a security when he launched the coin on an internet forum. It was claimed that the currency was part of a game whose goal was to identify hashes in the MonaCoin network. MonaCoin claims to be the first Japanese coin and is mainly utilized in Japan. Traders use the  Japanese yen or other cryptocurrencies to buy MonaCoin, and the option to access a "smart ATM” is also relatively popular in the country. Hoge Finance (HOGE) is a memecoin with a community primarily made out of memes. Any brand partnerships or collaborations that Hoge Finance would want to engage in are handled through a Swiss non-profit organization. Hoge Finance ERC20 meme coin HOGE (the self-described "original DeFi meme token") brings a 2% fee on every transfer on the Ethereum blockchain.  Taxes are passed on to current holders, and some are burnt permanently, creating a deflationary virtual asset. The project used a “fair launch” mechanism to enter the market, meaning that everyone (from developers to small traders) had a chance to purchase HOGE for the first time on the same trading day. HOGE is run solely by a decentralized community, joining the small groups of blockchain projects with no dedicated wallets for the founding team. HOGE has secured a powerful partner in the House of Representatives with whom they can continue the struggle against DeFi regulation: the “DeFi Angels.” We are talking about a network focused on education, fair launches, and community-vetted deals in the sector. In December 2021, Hoge Finance even spoke to Congress about the possibility of regulating DeFi. Akita Inu (AKITA) Dogecoin had a significant influence on the creation of (AKITA). On the Ethereum network, it uses the ERC-20 protocol to create its tokens. In conjunction with the Polarfox community, its lightning-fast development has set the crypto sector abuzz. Akita Inu Akita Inu was added to several exchanges within a few months of its introduction, including MXC, HotBot, and Poloniex. The AKITA network supports the AKITA community, which stands behind the AKITA token. To this end, AKITA provides total financial support for the network and its associated entities, including social media platforms and webspace. Because there are no founders or team tokens, AKITA may claim to be a decentralized, community-driven experiment. The goal of the community is to go forward by achieving consensus on future choices. Like ELON, AKITA’s founders claim that half of its tokens were sent to Vitalik Buterin, and we don’t know how Ethereum’s founder will use this coin. Volt Inu (VOLT) (VOLT) is based on Ethereum and the BNB Chain as a hyper-deflationary coin. The project wishes to offer exposure to its holders to various blockchain assets, including NFTs, nodes and altcoins, stablecoin farming, and staking. Volt Inu The smart contract for VOLT has recently been updated to reflect the most current changes in the market. One of the primary purposes of this procedure was to expedite the project's progress and ensure its success. The developer team also produced a browser-based online game based on the play-to-earn (P2E) paradigm, Volt Inu 2D Racers. Profits from treasury investments are used to buy back and burn VOLT tokens, which is in line with the hyper-deflationary nature of the coin's design. In addition to this mechanism, VOLT has established an automated burn tax (2% on ETH and 4% on the BNB Chain). As a result of the reduced supply in circulation, the combination of these factors aims to ensure an ever-rising price floor. Conclusions on Meme Coins and Market Traction in 2022 It is probably too early to call the end of meme coins since these beloved cryptocurrencies are still attracting high inflows of capital from the market. The fact that the debate over the way investors should treat these tokens is still open is the ultimate indicator that the curiosity surrounding meme coins is still high. It will be interesting to watch the sector’s future in the following months.

Meme Coins That Still Have Market Traction in 2022

Exchange tokens have been around for at least four years but 2021 was the year they made an indelible mark in the crypto market and that is thanks to BNB. The exchange token of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, saw an incredulous run that saw it fly from around $40 in January of 2021 to over $650 by April. That run pushed the token into the 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies and also gave the Binance Smart Chain an enormous amount of exposure and popularity. BNB currently sells at around $390, about half the price from its all-time high and with a market capitalization of over making it the fourth most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. 69 billion dollars If you missed BNB, there are other exchange tokens with a low Mcap and high potentials that are worth looking at. What are Exchange Tokens? The term “exchange tokens” is used to describe crypto tokens that are created by crypto exchanges. It is a digital asset that is native to a cryptocurrency exchange. There are a number of reasons why an exchange might decide to create a token and some of these tokens are sometimes distributed to users as airdrops. Most exchanges however create these tokens specifically to increase the liquidity of the exchange. In other cases, it is used to create incentives for users as well as for governance purposes. The concept of exchange tokens was first introduced by Binance in 2017 before long Kucoin followed with their KCS and since then almost every exchange has launched its own token. Without much ado let’s look at some exchange tokens that are worth throwing your $$ at. FTT (FTX token) FTT is the native token of the . Founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX is one of the largest centralized crypto exchanges in the world. It is especially popular among Futures traders. FTT is the backbone of the FTX ecosystem. The team has carefully designed the incentive schemes to increase network effects, demand for FTT, and decrease its circulating supply. FTX Exchange Some of these schemes include burning FTT used to pay for transaction fees and charging lower transaction fees to users who hold FTT for a certain period of time. The token has a maximum supply of 352 million and a market cap of 4 billion which leaves modest room for growth. A 10X run would bring the Market cap to around 40 billion, half the market cap of BNB. Huobi Token Huobi Token, or HT, is the native token of the , one of the largest crypto exchanges in Asia. The token was created on the Ethereum blockchain and is decentralized. It is a blockchain-powered loyalty point system that supports Huobi Global business and all related products, such as VIP discounts, HT exclusive events, as well as trading against popular coins. The coin currently sells for around $7 and has an Mcap of $1.1B. Huobi recently shut down operations in China due to a government crackdown on cryptocurrencies but has since unveiled plans to continue its operations from friendlier climes. Huobi exchange KCS I probably shouldn’t say this but this is my favorite. KCS is the native token of an exchange that is fondly called, ‘the home of gems’. Kucoin is one exchange that is rarely in the news for the wrong reasons and its exchange token has slowly crept into the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Kucoin, The token currently sells for around $20 but with a market cap that is still below 2 billion dollars, there is still enormous room for growth. KuCoin Token (KCS) is the key to the entire KuCoin ecosystem (KCC). It’s also the native asset on KuCoin’s decentralized financial services as well as the governance token of the KuCoin community. Recently Kucoin began allowing users to stake KCS so as to be eligible for IEOs. A fork of Binance’s BNB Launchpad. The token is still very much undervalued. OKT OKT, the native token of the is one of the newest entrants to the exchange token markets. OKT is the token powering the Okex chain and as such it provides users with immediate utility and benefits such as staking privileges and voting rights. OKExChain ecosystem The token is also employed to pay for transaction fees on decentralized exchanges and other DeFi applications built on the network. The token currently sells for $16 and has a sizeable Mcap of about $4B. It’s one exchange token that has seen a lot of growth in 2021 and seems primed for more growth in the coming months. UNISWAP Let’s not focus entirely on centralized exchange tokens, some decentralized exchanges have tokens as well. is perhaps the most successful decentralized application in crypto. Sure, the gas fees are a turn-off but there is no denying the massive impact the DEX has had on crypto. Built on Ethereum, Uniswap is the most valuable DEX in the world and its native token is UNI. The token has an Mcap of . It’s still far from its ATH of $43 which it attained in April. Uniswap $6B and currently sells for around $10 Cake Cake is the native token of Pancakeswap, a Uniswap fork on the Binance Smart Chain. Pancakeswap is the most popular and most widely used DAPP in the BSC ecosystem due to its low gas fees and an array of coins on offer. The DEX is widely popular among developers of meme coins and the price of Cake spiked in early 2021 during the meme coin season that saw the creation of new tokens almost every hour. The token currently sells for $7 and has a modest market cap below $1.3B. CRO CRO is the native token of Crypto.com and serves as both the flagship token and the ecosystem that revolves around the exchange. Crypto.com was founded in Hong Kong in 2016 and has since grown to be one of the most popular exchanges for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The exchange only recently , one of the largest football clubs in Europe worth $30M. The deal would see CRO pay PSG a substantial amount of that money using their native token, CRO. signed sponsorship agreements with PSG The exchange has other sponsorship deals with Serie A and Formula 1 teams. These deals will give the exchange and its native token more exposure and likely lead to a significant price bump in the future. Other exchange tokens worth of mention are GT, the native token of Gate, and MXC, the native token of MEXC exchange.

Exchange Tokens That Could Be The Next $BNB: $FTT Vs. $KCS Vs. $OKT Vs. $CAKE Vs. $UNI Vs. $CRO

have been the talk of the town in the cryptocurrency world for the past couple of weeks. In early October, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted a picture of his new pet dog, a Shiba Inu breed. Since then, there has been a constant buzz around meme tokens. Meme-based coins is the most well-known meme cryptocurrency, but other cryptos have recently emerged as well. Two of such currencies are Shiba Inu and Akita Inu. Dogecoin Both tokens are named after Japanese dog breeds, but the similarities don’t end there. In this article, we’ll discuss both these coins, their similarities and differences, and which one is the better option in the current climate. But first, let’s discuss these two separately. What is Shiba Inu? Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an Ethereum-based coin that has witnessed a this year. This rise can be attributed to rampant speculation on its price by investors and strong community engagement. The token was created on 1st August 2020 by an anonymous founder known as “Ryoshi”. surge in popularity During the token’s launch, one quadrillion SHIB tokens were minted. Half of its supply was locked in Uniswap SHIB/ETH liquidity pool. This pool is basically a decentralized exchange where investors trade pairs of assets from liquidity pools. The remaining 50% of the tokens were donated to Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum. Buterin ended up by sending them to a dead crypto wallet address. The rest were donated to an Indian Covid-19 relief fund and other charities. burning the majority of them The Shiba Inu universe consists of a decentralized exchange called Shibaswap and two other tokens called ‘LEASH’ and ‘BONE’. The community is also ever-present in a rescue campaign for Shiba Inu dogs. The of SHIB is $0.00005643, with a 24-hour trading volume of $19.0B. Its market capitalization stands at $22.5B. current price What is Akita Inu? Inspired heavily by Dogecoin, Akita Inu (AKITA) was launched on 1st February this year. It is a decentralized meme currency built on the Ethereum network using the ERC-20 protocol. It has recently set the crypto world abuzz with its lightning-fast development in association with the . Polarfox community A couple of months into its launch, Akita Inu was added on numerous exchanges, from MXC and HotBot to Poloniex. The token is part of the AKITA community, which is backed by the . The network and its various affiliations, such as social media platforms and webspace, are being fully funded by the AKITA. AKITA network AKITA prides itself on being a decentralized, community-driven experiment with no founders or team tokens. The community aims to move forward through collective agreement over decisions regarding its future. Within three months of the token’s launch, over 15,000 new investors held it, and another 20,000 joined the AKITA project’s Telegram channel. Akita Inu’s is $0.00000498 with a 24-hour trading volume of $19.5B. current price What Are the Differences and Similarities Between Shiba Inu and Akita Inu? Shiba Inu was launched in August 2020 while Akita Inu came into being six months later in February 2021. Shiba Inu was launched by an anonymous founder, whereas Akita Inu was established through the AKITA network, a community with no formal founder. Other than these, there is not much difference between the two. Some of the similarities between the two coins are: Both are dog-based meme coins. Both of them have witnessed tremendously volatile spikes over the past couple of months. Dogecoin has inspired both. Both have strong community links. Both are based on the Ethereum blockchain. Which is the Better Option? To be perfectly honest, both options are speculative investments at this point. The primary reason that people are buying them is that they expect their prices to explode sooner rather than later. That is an understandable sentiment, but you should always be mindful when making such investments. If you want to invest in a coin based on momentum, Akita Inu is the better option. Because it’s relatively newer, it has built up greater momentum and shows a good enough growth potential. If you want a safer option, go with Shiba Inu. Given that it has greater market experience than its counterpart, SHIB could possibly offer you a bigger safety net. Both Shiba Inu and Akita Inu are undoubtedly making waves in the cryptocurrency world right now. Having taken inspiration from the original meme currency, Dogecoin, both of these tokens have been steadily growing in popularity. Where Can You Buy Shiba Inu and Akita Inu? You’re probably not going to find these meme coins on any centralized exchange. Currently, they are too obscure to be listed even on , one of the top altcoin exchanges on the globe. Binance You should go for decentralized exchanges, like UniSwap, as they are the best place for investors seeking to buy with Shiba or Akita Inu at this point. Keep in mind that since both are Ethereum-based altcoins, you’ll need an ERC-20 compatible digital wallet to store them. As mentioned earlier, investing in either of these currencies is a risky move due to their young lifespan and highly volatile nature. Most people who are investing in them right now are doing so due to a fear of missing out. Having said that, both coins have pretty strong communities linked to them. If you really want to invest in these meme-based coins, make sure you conduct your proper research beforehand! Let us know on what you like or don't like about Shiba Inu and Akita Inu! Hackernoon Community The opinions in this article belong to the author alone, and nothing here constitutes professional investment advice. Please do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. Disclaimer: References: https://apnews.com/article/business-technology-81b7d718e7f495aed57937ca87aa34ea https://hackernoon.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-staking-with-cardano-o13m33dg

Shiba Inu vs. Akita Inu: The Great Memecoin War 

2020 was quite the year and this is especially true for aleph.im and the wider crypto space that saw significant growth and interest in the second half of the year, triggered largely by the DeFi Summer. With the new year starting and the festivities over, we would like to give you a recap of what we’ve accomplished during 2020, where things stand now, and what we’re looking forward to in the future. About Aleph.im Aleph.im’s core mission is to help decentralized apps and protocols . Our open-source ecosystem achieves this by providing decentralized databases (including file storage), computation and a decentralized identification (DID) framework. . strip off the centralized parts of their stack, achieving a fully decentralized architecture You can think of aleph.im as a decentralized AWS or firebase First Half of 2020 We started the year by adding support for the Neo blockchain. We also conducted a on Neo blockchain as PikcioChain’s parent company shut down. token distribution to Pikciochain holders In early March, our founder Jonathan Schemoul (also known as Moshe in the crypto community) presented aleph.im at EthCC in Paris ( ), the last physical event aleph.im attended before Covid restrictions were put in place. see the video recording The Javascript client library SDK was launched for developers to easily integrate their web apps with aleph.im and finally be able to build fully decentralized DApps. On the product side, we launched our functional decentralized , and the to allow users to swap their ALEPH tokens between the NEO, NULS and Ethereum networks. Personal Storage DApp Token Swap App ALEPH also got listed on its first exchanges, including Uniswap, Balancer, Paraswap, Switcheo, 1inch and Hoo. In June, Moshe did his . first AMA with CryptoDiffer Q3 2020 The along with a tokenomics update (read the announcements and ). ALEPH total token supply was reduced by half here here With the building momentum from the DeFi summer, aleph.im started to steadily gain traction. During this quarter, ALEPH got listed on Eterbase, IDEX, Serum, Kucoin and Beaxy. With the ALEPH token total supply halving and the general bullish market sentiment spearheaded by the DeFi space, aleph.im experienced a surge of interest. Our first partnerships were initiated, with a focus on the DeFi space, as it was clear that projects needed a solution right away to reach full stack decentralization. We partnered with (FTX backed DEX that runs on Solana), Phantasma, Jarvis (read and ), DeFiPie, Evidenz and . Serum Foundation here here Orion Protocol As public interest in aleph.im rapidly grew, Moshe was invited to many AMAs including , , , and . SatoshiClub Kucoin Gains Associates ID Crypto Official The last part of the quarter saw the and resulted in the swift (ALEPH V2). We immediately informed all of our official partner exchanges of the new token issuance and attempted to get in touch with exchanges who independently listed ALEPH with no official partnership. All wallets, including exchange wallets, that held V1 ALEPH tokens received the same amount of V2 tokens. Our partner exchanges (including Kucoin, MXC, etc.) performed the migration successfully for their customers. However, Hotbit exchange did not forward the migrated ALEPH V2 tokens to its customers and continued to allow deposits and trading for the deprecated V1 token long after the situation was made clear and communicated on our official channels. Also note that we decided to conduct this migration to the V2 variant of our token to protect our token holders, just like the 15+ other projects also affected by the Kucoin hack. Kucoin hack , which occurred on Sept. 25th 2020 issuance of a new version of the ALEPH token Q4 2020 The last quarter finished with a bang with new integrations, partnerships and exchange listings. We integrated the two leading interchain projects and , meaning that now the . Polkadot/Substrate/Kusama Cosmos 350+ projects building on these ecosystems can use aleph.im We then followed up the including , and . Polkadot and Cosmos integrations with partnerships within these ecosystems Reef (runs on Polkadot) Starname (runs on Cosmos) RioDefi (runs on Polkadot) The ALEPH listing continued with listings on , MXC, Gate.io and . We also announced . With all this, we made sure we covered CEXs in Asia and reinforced our presence on DEXs/AMMs. Bancor’s cutting edge single-sided AMM Kyber/Kyberswap rewards for Uniswap and Balancer ALEPH liquidity pools Meanwhile, Moshe attended a who we have partnered with and did an during which he did the staking launch. video interview with RioDefi AMA with Gate.io We finished December with the and . Against all odds, we remained on track with our roadmap timeframe, with our team working day and night to make it happen and we launched shortly before New Year's eve. Our staking and node launch got off the ground quickly, reaching 24 registered nodes and . We are now entering the new year with higher figures and have even higher short term goals. Staking Core Channel Nodes Launch +35% of circulating tokens staked Looking Forward to 2021 2020 was an amazing year for aleph.im, with many challenges overcome and incredible successes. Although the crypto community has endured several years of a tough crypto winter, we strongly believe that the momentum gained in 2020 will continue on in 2021. We have an endless amount of tasks and big goals for 2021. We will keep growing our network of nodes, empower our stakers and token holder community further; we will keep improving our core product, integrate with more blockchains and partners, and enable projects to unleash the first fully decentralized DApps of the web3 era. The crypto space is now gaining peak visibility in the mainstream media and beginning to disrupt traditional finance with . This new interest ushers in a big wave of new talent to the deFi ecosystem, with new players building more decentralized products and looking for the best decentralized products to build with. That’s exactly where you can find us, at the core of this “true decentralization” ethos driven by the mission to strip off the last remaining centralized components of existing DApps and protocols. institutions jumping in with huge capital Thanks and Keep In Touch Thank you so much for being part of this amazing story. Join our live conversation on our . Telegram Community Chat | | | | | | DevDocs Website Twitter Telegram Linkedin GitHub Reddit

Aleph.im: Recap of 2020

As the DeFi market heats up with a focus on liquidity farming, I sat down with Alexey Koloskov, CEO and Co-founder at Orion Protocol to talk about liquidty farming and liquidity aggregation in DeFi. Hi Alexy, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind Orion Protocol? Ishan Pandey: I’m Orion Protocol’s CEO and Co-Founder, and my background spans the two worlds of traditional finance and DeFi. I started my journey in the crypto space in 2016 as Chief Architect and Creator of the Waves DEX - the most successful decentralized exchange to date. Before this, I spent years creating software for some of the largest international banks, including Deutsche Bank and UniCredit. Alexey Koloskov: Now, I’m incredibly proud to be leading the Orion Protocol team in building the future of finance. Orion Protocol was built out of the need for an intermediate solution that bridges the gap between the centralized and decentralized worlds of crypto. In 2018, we set about tackling this by developing the most advanced liquidity aggregator ever designed. aggregates the liquidity of every centralized exchange, decentralized exchange, and swap pool into one decentralized platform: connecting traders to the entire crypto market in one place. Orion Protocol Investors are generally very sceptical of leaving their money locked up in smart contracts, at an arm’s distance from hacker’s reach. According to you, what are the best practices when it comes to cybersecurity in smart contracts and decentralized finance products? Ishan Pandey: Investors should always approach the storage of their assets with scepticism and vigilance, given the unfortunate prevalence of hacks, data breaches, and malpractice across the industry. We believe traders shouldn’t have to part with, and therefore risk, their assets to trade. On Orion terminal, traders can execute trades directly from their wallet, across any exchange, without the need to open any exchange accounts. Alexey Koloskov: This is all made possible through our governance mechanism, Delegated Proof of Broker. Brokers with exchange accounts (or exchanges themselves) who carry out KYC on traders behalf, execute trades routed via Orion’s liquidity aggregator. Before executing any trades on Orion Terminal, orders are stored privately in Orion’s Matching Engine. When a trader signs an order, it’s a commitment to exchange assets at the specific terms included in the order - these parameters are signed in the order message and cannot be changed by any parties. Only if a selected broker fills the order will the transfer of assets occur atomically within the smart contract and the buy assets are released to the trader’s wallet. Only when a broker fully settles the order is the transaction submitted to the blockchain. The exact amounts of exchanged assets are strongly enforced by the order’s conditions and cannot be altered by the broker. Brokers never get access to traders’ accounts or funds as the terminal is governed by smart contracts to enforce the token exchange’s secure conditions. Meanwhile, traders’ assets are protected by broker collateral held during the brokers’ tenure. If malicious activity is seen from brokers, they will lose their collateral and be banned from the brokerage, while the collateral will reimburse traders. Additionally, our smart contracts are continually audited by leading blockchain security firm Certik. The audit includes VAPT of the smart contracts and Substrate modules involved in the development. Exchange and liquidity aggregation seem like a good idea as Uber and Amazon, in simple terms, are also aggregators. Thus, how will exchange aggregation and liquidity aggregation work in technical terms? Ishan Pandey: While the influx of capital into the crypto space has been significant in recent years, mainstream adoption is yet to occur. There are tens of thousands of tokens spread across hundreds of exchanges with different interfaces, fees, and processes, and the landscape is understandably daunting for newcomers to space. Alexey Koloskov: To us, fragmentation, centralization, and liquidity are the most significant issues in the space and the most considerable barriers to the industry’s widespread adoption. Fragmentation of liquidity has undoubtedly started to wear thin on traders, increasingly frustrated with high spread, high slippage, lack of trading pairs, and the need for multiple accounts on different exchanges. With crypto described as “nothing more than a fight for liquidity”, I believe the future lies in the industry’s aggregation in its entirety. CEX aggregators and DEX aggregators have grown in popularity, but no entity has transcended the two to aggregate the entire crypto market into one platform, until now. It’s hard to say how long the transition towards a less-siloed industry will take for sure. Still, I believe this transition will occur rapidly when a viable option in the market ticks all the boxes for traders: liquidity, volume, custody, accessibility. Orion Protocol aggregates the liquidity of every centralized exchange, decentralized exchange, and swap pool in the market into one decentralized platform. Can you explain what liquidity mining is? It’s advantages and risks associated with it? Ishan Pandey: Liquidity mining is a network participation strategy in which a user provides capital to a protocol in return for their native token. Participants deposit their tokens to a liquidity pool. They are rewarded for providing liquidity, allowing them to generate passive income based on the share of commission, price spread, and the orders’ lifetime. While it will enable traders to earn rewards passively and receive income higher than the interest on deposits and even some PoS-staking, it comes with risks not found in other mining forms. Alexey Koloskov: Impermanent loss (IL) occurs when the rate of one of the provided assets is unstable. The Liquidity Provider (LP) must provide the pair (e.g. ORN/ETH) in the correct ratio (50/50). Suppose this equilibrium is broken because of the increase in the price of one of the assets on third-party platforms. In that case, arbitrators use this opportunity to buy cheaper assets to make a profit. For example, if the arbitrator buys 1.03 ETH for the USDT value of 1 ETH and instantly sells for USDT, the arbitrator’s profit will be taken away from the LP.  However, this loss is only theoretical until the liquidity provider withdraws their tokens, hence impermanent. The loss is reset when the price returns to previous levels, or the alternate asset increases too. Equally, high APYs can often offset any loss from IL. The protocol recently launched a on Uniswap, rewarding ORN LPs with up to 150,000 ORN per month for ORN/ETH. This reward amount will be distributed proportionally to the amount of liquidity each person provides. The current APR at the time of writing is 136%, with over . liquidity mining program $4.6 million staked The liquidity mining program, alongside our centralized exchange , is in place until main net staking is live on Orion Terminal’s full launch early Q1. is built on a network of brokers and stakers fulfilling every function on the protocol with our native ORN token at its core. Brokers with exchange accounts (or exchanges themselves, such as BitMEX, KuCoin, MXC, and Injective) run Orion Broker Software, automatically executing trades routed from the liquidity aggregator how much ORN they stake and receive a portion of fees from each trade they execute. Non-broker stakers stake ORN to ‘vote’ for their choice of broker based on the variable benefit share offered by the broker. This will allow brokers and stakers to generate passive income. pre-staking initiative Delegated Proof of Broker Furthermore, the protocol is currently developing a solution to IL’s risks by building the world’s largest liquidity pool, composed of assets from all major third-party wallets. For the first time, token holders will be able to monetize their idle assets in their crypto wallet of choice by using those assets to provide liquidity within Orion Liquidity Pool from Q2 of next year. What are your views on the current state of interoperability between blockchains and how the gap can be bridged? Ishan Pandey: Today, there is one thing that distinguishes traditional finance systems from the world of crypto: advanced interoperability. Cardholders can make payments globally without worrying about compatibility and conversion, while this remains an issue in the crypto space. As a result, interoperability has become a buzzword in the space in the same way DeFi did. Fragmentation is a critical issue in the space, and this goes beyond the fragmentation of liquidity across exchanges through to the lack of interoperability between blockchains themselves. Although cross-chain systems are gaining traction, I believe the industry is currently too siloed to evolve to a full-interoperability state without a solution that sits across the entire market. Alexey Koloskov: By aggregating every exchange’s liquidity in the market, Orion Terminal will provide access to thousands of trading pairs. In providing access to thousands of trading pairs, interoperability is critical to us and our system. Following wBTC and renBTC, we have built oBTC to facilitate seamless cross-chain trading on Orion Terminal. While we are currently building on Ethereum and Elrond, Orion terminal is chain agnostic to be flexible with our needs. Our cross-chain trading is performed via proxy tokens issued on the master blockchains (Ethereum and Elrond). These proxy tokens are pegged 1:1 to the native currencies swapped to native tokens via token bridges via atomic swaps, in a trustless and decentralized way. Orion Token Bridge is built between different blockchains, including but not limited to Bitcoin and Bitcoin-like blockchains (BCH, BSV, LTC etc.), Ethereum, ETC, EOS, NEO, Waves and others. Users will utilize Elrond’s high performance for trading, staking assets, and fast cross-chain transferring. Users can securely store their ETC, BTC, LTC, BNB, USDT/USDC and other significant currencies right in their Elrond crypto wallet with instant exchange functionality of the entire crypto market. According to you, what new trends are we going to see for 2021? Ishan Pandey: The way we invest in assets is on the cusp of fundamental change. Tokenization, or the act of issuing a blockchain token that digitally represents real, tradable assets, means that security tokens can be used to describe shares in a company, a piece of real estate, a painting, or even a t-shirt. Alexey Koloskov: Tokenization as an extension of blockchain represents a remarkable power shift of asset ownership: from large centralized entities to the individual. Adopting on a mass scale will allow for creating a new financial system - one that is more democratic, more efficient, and faster than what we’ve ever seen. Tokenization will disrupt the finance sector and the mass of interlinked industries through the transactions at the core of exchanging their respective products, and I expect to see this come to the fore in 2021. The advantages of this most imminently apply to asset classes that are typically considered illiquid. Still, in a tokenized future we’ll see the fundamentals and benefits of blockchain brought to real-world assets en masse: greater transparency, faster and cheaper transactions, increased accessibility, and greater liquidity, as these real-world tokens can then be traded on a secondary market. By solving the industry’s fragmentation, Orion Protocol has become the first platform between the end-user and the entire crypto market. In doing so, we’ve built the foundation for bridging the worlds of crypto, traditional finance, and real-world assets. Only through bridging the gap between these worlds will we achieve real steps towards change building the foundations for a tokenized future, accessible, secure, and compliant, to create a truly decentralized future of finance. The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence by asking the right questions and equipping readers with better opinions to make informed decisions. The material does not constitute any investment, financial, or legal advice. Please do your research before investing in any digital assets or tokens, etc. The writer does not have any vested interest in the company. Interviewer - Ishan Pandey.

Liquidity aggregation and farming on blockchain with Alexey Koloskov

The cryptocurrency industry often faces criticism due to its lack of compliance. While trading platforms have to adhere to strict regulations, there is still room for further improvements. It is a crucial aspect that too few companies take seriously or prioritize today. Compliance is a Necessity To die-hard advocates and fans, there is no room for compliance when using cryptocurrencies. Many people actively seek ways to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies without performing a KYC identity verification procedure. Several years ago, it was unusual to see an exchange enforce such checks upon its users. Today, it has become the new normal, and it will only become more outspoken in the future. Whether one likes it or not, regulation and compliance are two pillars of the future cryptocurrency ecosystem. Bitcoin and alternative currencies need to shake off the label of "tools for money laundering and other criminal activities." Mainstream consumers and companies do not want to get involved with something that is still partially shady in their eyes. Compliance will prove beneficial to the broader industry, even if not everyone sees it that way at first. One could argue the compliance aspect is a "test" for the cryptocurrency industry. More specifically, it is a measure to determine which trading platforms have honest intentions and keen business sense. Any company avoiding compliance altogether may not be trustworthy in the end. If they are not compliant, why even trust them with your coins? Avoiding KYC and AML Is Not An Option Even today, there are still multiple smaller exchanges currently not performing KYC and AML checks. We are not talking about decentralized exchanges, as no one has the power to force such a procedure upon the users. When it comes to centralized platforms, however, integrating compliance needs to be a top priority. Sadly, that is not always the case. Even the industry giant of Binance allows users to trade and withdraw funds without verification. More specifically, the limit is 2 Bitcoin per 24 hours worth of crypto-assets. It may seem insignificant to larger traders, but this is more than sufficient for most regular users. When the largest exchange sets a precedent of not prioritizing compliance, no one can expect its competitors to do things differently. Compliance Processes Become Easier Several years ago, it would take days, if not weeks, for users to complete compliance procedures. That is no longer the case today, thanks to innovative providers such as Jumio. Their online identity verification process shortens the overall onboarding time for cryptocurrency users. Additionally, it is a very straightforward procedure, further lowering any friction associated with this concept. Moreover, several compliance verification providers will offer a global solution. Rather than working with different providers to verify identity checks in other regions, leveraging global coverage benefits both exchanges and their users. An all-encompassing approach, like this model, will eventually make people more comfortable with compliance procedures. Individual Exchanges Need To Make a Choice Another factor contributing to the lack of compliance is how there is no industry standard. More specifically, most exchanges operate in regions where cryptocurrency regulation doesn't exist or is very accommodating. This diversified approach makes it impossible to create an industry-wide standard to which all centralized exchanges need to adhere. At the same time, every trading company can make up its mind. I genuinely applaud any company that focuses on compliance, as it makes them more legitimate to onlookers. One may argue that these compliance processes are invasive and erode user privacy. We live in a digital age where privacy is seemingly no longer a fundamental right. At the same time, companies are only allowed to gather the data they need. Performing a compliance procedure for cryptocurrency trading has less impact on one's privacy than using a bank account. Setting an Example Is Crucial Keeping all of the above in mind, it is time for individual exchanges to push the envelope. Any company serving as a positive example toward incorporating compliance checks for all its users will eventually gain a competitive edge. One concrete example is MXC Global. As a company, they put compliance at the top of the priority list. The firm holds multiple licenses across the world, allowing it to scale up its operation across different regions quickly. Additionally, this company is of the many exploring services offered by Jumion, allowing them to cater to users worldwide through one quick and convenient compliance process. The same train of thought applies to MXC Global's approach to platform security. It is one of the few exchanges to note a zero coin loss record since its inception. Moreover, they have active partnerships with third-party security providers to ensure no one can take advantage of the platform or user funds. Conclusion It is now up to other exchanges to determine what they want to achieve. Focusing on compliance and security is an absolute must at this point. Taking the necessary precautions to protect the company, but also the users needs to trump everything else. Whether local regulators enforce them or not, failing to adhere to these guidelines will hold back the global adoption of cryptocurrencies. The way I see it, far too many cryptocurrency companies aren't taking compliance seriously today. Whether they do so willingly or for external reasons is tough to determine.  Regardless of what the driving factor may be, compliance processes need to become mandatory at all times. There are no valid reasons not to do so, and the users will ultimately benefit from this approach. Compliance offers traders peace of mind and may lead to broader adoption of crypto-assets globally.

Regulatory compliance needs to become mandatory for all cryptocurrency exchanges

Binance is widely considered to be a top cryptocurrency exchange. At the same time, their approach to crypto-assets can be improved. It is not unthinkable a better platform will emerge over time, capable of rivaling this industry giant. Binance is a Cryptocurrency Behemoth Anyone who is familiar with cryptocurrency will acknowledge Binance is a household name. The company does a lot of things right. It is the exchange with the most liquidity, it has over 15 million users to date, and it pays close attention to new trends in the industry. Additionally, its Launchpad service can facilitate Initial Exchange Offerings, giving users more reasons to sign up for their platform. Moreover, the Binance brand is separated into different entities, catering to specific user groups. Binance.us, for example, is tailored to the needs of American and Canadian cryptocurrency enthusiasts. The company has created similar entities in other regions, all in an effort to increase its market position. All of this goes to show that Binance is clearly the market leader among exchanges. Not only does it have the highest volume for spot trading - currently over $5.3 billion per day - but it also provides access to derivatives, leveraged ETFs, and it has its own BNB token as a core trading market. That is also where the positive aspects of Binance will end for most cryptocurrency users. When it comes to providing early access to new tokens on the market, for example, it is clearly behind smaller companies. In fact, there are several exchanges that easily beat Binance to the punch, particularly where DeFi tokens are concerned. The DeFi Token Listing "War" In the cryptocurrency world, most people simply want to make money. To do so, they need to be able to buy new crypto-assets at cheap prices before their value potentially explodes. Not all assets will go through such a cycle, but there is often money to be made by buying new tokens at an early stage. This has become apparent where DeFi assets are concerned. Being able to acquire them shortly after their launch is paramount. In Binance's case, this is where the exchange falls short more often than not. Although all major DeFi assets make their way to Binance eventually, it is not known for providing investors and speculators with the most opportune to buy. In fact, several smaller exchanges continue to beat Binance to the punch in this segment. Platforms such as MXC Exchange tend to list prominent DeFi tokens a lot quicker than their competitors do. ( : ) Disclosure The author of this story is the Director of Global operations for MXC exchange That in itself is remarkable for many reasons. I find it baffling that companies with far fewer resources than Binance can do something this behemoth is seemingly incapable of. It does not take much effort to list what customers want, and then act on it in a timely manner. Major DeFi Tokens Arrive Late on Binance When looking at some of the top DeFi projects, their native assets have been listed on the likes MXC Exchange and others well ahead of Binance, Kraken, or . Whereas the bigger entities maintain a "wait-and-see" approach, the others gain a competitive advantage, attributing to their overall appeal and popularity. Coinbase To provide some examples, tokens such as COMP, CRV, CREAM, YFI, MKR, and UMA were all listed on MXC Exchange or other smaller exchanges well ahead of Binance even thinking about doing the same. It is a very competitive space - especially where DeFi tokens are concerned - but that is always a good thing. Coinbase Pro recently added a listing for Nucypher to its platform. In the DeFi space, this is a very prominent project. It was added to the smaller exchanges mentioned earlier more than a week earlier, giving investors plenty of time to scoop up NU at a low price. When one exchange remains the "king of the hill" for an extended period of time, a degree of centralization kicks in. That is counterproductive, particularly in the cryptocurrency industry. Users want choice, competition, and access to their favorite assets as quickly as possible. Whoever can provide that complete package has a genuine chance of dethroning Binance as the go-to exchange in the future. I firmly believe this will be a matter of time. Leveraged ETF Competition Heats up It has to be said, smaller exchanges may take fewer risks when listing the next DeFi token gaining some sort of momentum among enthusiasts. A company such as Binance is known for thoroughly vetting code and use cases prior to listing additional assets. Even so, that process seemingly takes too long for a lot of people, especially those who focus on speculation first and foremost. Furthermore, it is crucial for new crypto projects to find exchanges willing to help them with liquidity. For many developers, having their token listed on Binance or Coinbase is the ultimate goal. Many of them will never reach that stage and dabble with some of the more obscure and lesser-known trading platforms. More often than not, that spells the end for those projects. It is now clear that there are "intermediary" exchanges that will not only prove beneficial for liquidity but also seem to serve as a warning system for bigger exchanges to pay attention to specific listings. That is a unique position to be in and something that will, in my opinion, only become a more outspoken advantage than ever before. As these smaller exchanges gain more momentum, they will begin rivaling Binance in other departments as well. When it comes to leveraged ETFs volume, the competition is heating up. Binance's lead may remain intact for now, but the platforms offering early token listings see their users explore this trading vehicle on their platform, instead of users going back to Binance to do so.  It is a sign of a major shift in market share waiting to happen. Conclusion It is evident that no trading platform will be able to take the crown from Binance overnight. That being said, I do see several signs of how other exchanges perform certain business practices in a better way. Keeping the users and their needs in mind has to be the number one priority for all platforms. For Binance, that aspect seems to be taking a backseat to other aspects the company is focusing on. Only time will tell who is taking the right approach and where people will prefer to go for all of their trading needs. ( : ) Disclosure The author of this story is the Director of Global operations for MXC exchange

The Tardiness Of Dominant Crypto-Exchanges Is An Opportunity For The Upcoming 

The concept of trading cryptocurrencies goes well beyond just buying and selling Bitcoin. Since the inception of futures, perpetuals, derivatives, and leveraged ETFs, the playing field has expanded significantly. Especially this latter type of investment vehicle appears to be noting a hefty increase in momentum. I expect this to be a mere sign of what is yet to come for the industry as a whole. A Different Era of Bitcoin Exposure When the value of Bitcoin rises, demand for trading cryptocurrencies is often bound to increase accordingly. In recent weeks, there has been plenty of volume across centralized and decentralized exchanges, confirming the market is attracting ample attention. For DEXes, there is nearly $5 billion in trading volume over the past week. Looking at the past month, over $20.37 billion in volume was recorded. However, it is crucial to look beyond just the direct trading of assets. Many investors seek exposure to cryptocurrencies through alternative vehicles, many of which note an increase in trading volume as well. At this time, there are a few investment vehicles that don't involve physically owning any cryptocurrency. They will provide access to the overall market momentum, which is what investors want. Traditional options include futures and derivatives. Futures contracts are simple vehicles that cater to people who seek low-risk exposure to volatile markets.  Obtaining them can be done through a variety of platforms. When Bitcoin turns bullish, as it has for weeks, futures trading tends to gain popularity. The same goes for perpetual contracts, although they work slightly differently. Through a perpetual contract, users can enhance their market position by leveraging it. Although this approach can pave the way for stronger gains, it will equally incur much steeper losses. Chasing the Bitcoin top is, in my opinion, always a bad idea. I'm not saying that because I believe Bitcoin has reached its peak. It is far too easy to lose money for novice investors who don't conduct the necessary market research. Furthermore, it is important to note perpetual contracts don't necessarily come with an expiry date. This approach makes it easier to buy and sell contracts, but it can also offer a false sense of security. Buying a perpetual contract and "forgetting about it" can quickly wreck a portfolio. Investing in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies through perpetual contracts requires a different mindset and constant monitoring of the market to be effective. For newcomers and smaller investors, this can act as a death trap. Leveraged ETFs are a Better Option It is no secret that a proper Bitcoin ETF on a major trading platform outside of the cryptocurrency industry remains an unfulfilled dream. Regulators are concerned over the position Bitcoin is in, which is why the SEC has rejected all Bitcoin ETF applications to date. For institutional traders, this makes the market a bit more difficult to access. At the same time, they can easily leverage OTC trading and dark pools to suit their needs. Until a proper ETF comes to market, there are alternative vehicles to be explored. One option I personally favor is the leveraged ETF. Traditional market participants may know this vehicle as a way to amplify the returns of an underlying index. The position can be leveraged up to 3:1 for maximum exposure. A leveraged cryptocurrency ETF uses the same method. Underlying tokens of the currency are used - Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Cardano - and positions can be amplified. If the underlying crypto asset goes up by 5%, investors with 3x Long Bitcoin ETF will see 15% credited to their portfolio. A rather simple, yet incredibly powerful and efficient way of speculating on cryptocurrency prices. Contrary to perpetual contracts, a leveraged cryptocurrency ETF is mainly used in the short-term. Those who actively want to play the market can use this vehicle to its full extent and reap the rewards accordingly. Going long or short at the right time - especially in cryptocurrency markets - can prove to be very lucrative. Exchanges are Quick to Catch on The appeal of leveraged cryptocurrency ETFs has not gone by unnoticed. In recent times, I have seen numerous platforms that provide exposure to this type of vehicle. FTX is a rising star among cryptocurrency trading platforms. It provides BULL, BEAR, HEDGE, and HALF contracts for individual tokens. Traders can also bet on or against the entire altcoin index, for example. The company has a growing collection of leveraged tokens to trade. This trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Leveraged ETF products were introduced by MXC Exchange almost a year ago, and differ from other products on the market. There is no liquidation for leveraged positions through its re-balancing mechanism. Additionally, it has up to 5x leveraged ETFs for certain currencies such as Bitcoin and XRP. This has resulted in over $400 million in daily trading volume across 78 different tokens.  Furthermore, they added a Grayscale Portfolio Index last week. The world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is no stranger to leveraged tokens either. It too provides exposure to different assets and markets by letting users leverage a bullish or bearish stance. Although its list of supported tokens is relatively limited, there is a genuine interest in these vehicles. As exchanges and trading platforms focus on these vehicles, it will become easier for everyday people to expose themselves to cryptocurrencies. Conclusion Even though cryptocurrencies have often been considered to be a "fad", the industry has grown and evolved over time. This is apparent when looking at the market values, but also where the trading vehicles are concerned. Lowering the barriers of entry to this industry remains a top priority. In my opinion, things are heading in the right direction, but there is room for further progress. Although I still hope to see an official Bitcoin ETF hit the market one day, leveraged ETFs can serve as a worthwhile alternative. Bitcoin is on the cusp of hitting a new all-time high value without an official ETF on a major market. Even if this latter situation doesn't change, I still expect the value of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies to keep rising to new highs over time.

Move Over Perpetual Contracts - Leveraged ETFs Are The Hot Favorite Of Crypto Speculators

Smart contracts have a lot of potential, even though they remain fairly limited in approach. Obtaining external data is impossible for a contract on its own. The future will inevitably involve decentralized oracles, which can serve many different purposes. The Limitations of Smart Contracts Expanding the use of blockchain technology to forge bonds and agreements between different parties is a logical step in the evolution. I firmly believe smart contracts are the next frontier in this industry, even though they are still in their infancy stage of development. Currently, smart contracts are primarily used for a handful of use cases, most of which will never attract attention outside of the cryptocurrency community. To change that narrative, smart contracts themselves will have to undergo an evolution. One of their key flaws is the inability to access external information in any capacity. One option to explore comes in the form of blockchain oracles. These systems are widely considered to be core building blocks of the blockchain ecosystem. Being able to obtain external information and interface with remains a key hurdle to overcome. One can state that blockchain oracles are effectively bridging the gap between a blockchain ecosystem and the outside world. It is a big step forward to forge contractual agreements and acquire the necessary relevant information to execute certain conditions. Enhancing the scope in which smart contracts can operate and thrive will make this technology more appealing and potent. Centralization Remains a Concern Setting up blockchain oracles can be done in different ways. One common approach is to use a centralized solution, although that poses its own set of risks and drawbacks. Verifying the integrity of data should never be biased, yet with a centralized approach, that is almost impossible to avoid. Tapping into as many reliable data sources as possible, comparing the information, and then processing the details is the only path forward. After all, an oracle is merely a system that queries and authenticates external data sources and relays the information. It is not an actual data source, but it must be coded to tap into specific data sources. The more sources, the more reliable the information will turn out to be. Whether it is price information, completing transactions, or updating product stock, it needs to be done properly, securely, and without bias. In my humble opinion, centralized blockchain oracles will have a very short lifespan. We already see dozens of projects explore decentralized solutions, even though most of them opt for one and the same provider. This is another aspect of centralization that will always be a concern in this industry, even though it doesn't necessarily need to be. While I do believe Chainlink has the right approach in terms of decentralized blockchain oracles, not everyone should rely on this technology just yet. There are other providers worth exploring  in this regard. Cryptocurrency and blockchain want to be taken seriously by the mainstream. To achieve that goal, we will all need to work together to create a future where decentralization is the norm, rather than an option. DeFi Needs Decentralized Oracles The decentralized finance segment  has gotten a lot of interest as of late. Users want quick access to new launches before they hit platforms like Binance or Coinbase. Several exchanges, such as MXC Exchange, and a few others, continue to push the envelope in terms of providing users with exposure to DeFi tokens and mining. At the same time, we all need to remember this is only one side of the medallion. Investing in DeFi assets for speculation only is never the right approach. In my opinion, the focus needs to be on decentralization as much as possible. That includes DeFi projects using decentralized blockchain oracles for their unique purposes. Considering how decentralized finance aims to be a more transparent approach to finance, all of the relevant data accessed by the project needs to be as decentralized and verifiable as it can be. Finding the Right Solution is Crucial Regardless of how one wants to look at the situation, it all comes down to finding effective oracle solutions. Projects exploring this option need to find ways to maintain their sovereignty without compromising on the overall focus. That may be a lot more difficult than onlookers assume. In its current form, there is no decentralized blockchain oracle capable of suiting every need just yet. Personally, I think that is a positive sign. Competition needs to emerge in this space to not only explore different options, but also give rise to new and powerful solutions. Although Chainlink is currently the go-to oracle solution for most projects, I keep my eye on the space to explore what else is out there. One project, by the name of Razor Network, aims to offer "truly decentralized oracles' A very bold claim to live up to, as there are no second chances to make a good first impression in this industry. Under the hood, Razor Network leverages network stakers to provide data to smart contracts. This is an unusual way of obtaining information from multiple different sources. It can also offer an incentive to participants to keep providing data and remain honest while doing so. The concept of give-and-take is, in my book, incredibly powerful when it comes to decentralizing anything. People are seemingly not interested in doing too many things without being rewarded somehow. Conclusion The future certainly looks bright for decentralized blockchain oracles, especially when more competing services come to market. There needs to be a much broader access to services that focus on decentralized solutions, whether it is at the technology level, or at the data level. When these two segments meet in the middle, I firmly expect great things to happen. For the time being, there aren't too many decentralized blockchain oracle providers yet. That situation will hopefully come to change in the future. The demand for solutions like these will keep on growing, especially if they prove to be extremely scalable. Whether that will be achieved in the coming months, or if it will take years, is impossible to predict.

More Competition is Good: Decentralized Blockchain Oracle Solutions

Different statistics in the cryptocurrency industry aren’t always entwined. Some will see the popularity of OTC trading volume as a result of more people being interested in DeFi and yield farming. In reality, they couldn’t be further from the truth. Those who explore OTC markets are not the target audience for decentralized finance, at least in its current form. Bitcoin OTC Trading is a Booming Segment Figuring out the exact volume passing through Bitcoin OTC trading is difficult. Providers can either disclose information or keep it to themselves. Despite this somewhat lack of transparency, it is safe to assume there are billions of dollars flowing through the different trading desks. Regardless of what may be the “current hot trend” in crypto, OTC traders will always try to buy in bulk if their situation allows or requires it. There is a good reason why OTC trading remains such a sought-after solution, even though DeFi is seemingly getting all of the attention lately. Primarily active on Ethereum's blockchain, DeFi - or decentralized finance - gives crypto holders options to put their assets to work and generate revenue. As such, many people would expect this to trigger a decrease in OTC trading, but that may not be the case after all. Not everyone in this industry is looking to chase the next pump. Additionally, not everyone thinks of Ethereum as a “financial facilitator” either. The vast majority of onlookers in this world have no idea DeFi even exists, or who it is supposed to matter. Those why engage in OTC trading are often leveraging long-term strategies, instead of having a pump-chasing attitude. Bitcoin and Ethereum will remain very prominent crypto assets in the industry. Not everyone is using these assets through fairly risky and mainly unaudited DeFi offerings. Instead, there are always those who hold these assets for a longer period of time. Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen a decent price increase throughout the past year, rising by 47.5% and 127.7% respectively. Given the recent rise in the number of companies buying Bitcoin as part of their investment portfolio, OTC trading is likely to keep increasing. These people are drawn to cryptocurrencies for a reason that has nothing to do with what crypto influencers want others to believe to be important. In its current shape, DeFi has no real use other than mere speculation, and comes with far too many risks to boot. During my research, I learned how the first OTC market was launched in 2014 by Circle. Since then, a cascade of new OTC providers has been  coming to market, ranging from Kraken to MXC Exchange and Grayscale to Cointral, to name just a few. In my opinion, it is safe to assume there will be even more competition in the OTC segment over the years to come. Institutional demand for cryptocurrency is on the rise globally, and these people buy in bulk. As competition emerges in OTC trading, several aspects become apparent. Clients want to use their preferred payment method and not worry too much about fees. A lot of platforms provide one or the other, but finding both under one roof remains difficult. Slowly but surely, this is changing with the help of crucial partnerships. Working together in the cryptocurrency industry will often have beneficial outcomes. Finding the right mix between innovation, convenience, and accessibility will be the key hurdle to overcome. Again, this has very little to do with DeFi, yield farming, or any other current “hot trend”.Those who trade OTC are the ones who make a bigger impact on the overall appeal of Bitcoin. While these traders are not moving the price in a visual manner, the quantities of BTC moving hands tell a tale of their own. DeFi Isn’t Ready for Institutional Interest In reality, the people flocking to DeFi are often small-scale cryptocurrency enthusiasts. They are people who already own Bitcoin or Ethereum, and look to earn a quick buck by any means necessary. In the past, these people would invest in altcoins, such as Litecoin, Monero, NEO, DigiByte, and others. Today, they are trying to find the next DeFi “unicorn” token in the hopes of securing phenomenal returns. This makes the DeFi crowd very different from the people who trade Bitcoin or Ethereum over-the-counter. Those people are not interested in whatever may be brewing behind the scenes, or terms that are clearly not sustainable in the long run. All they want is to diversify an existing - and oftentimes large - portfolio by obtaining Bitcoin first, and perhaps Ethereum if they have a larger risk appetite. DeFi is , in its current state, seemingly going through a period of stagnation. The total value locked in the industry has not risen much recently, and struggles to remain above $11 billion. Compared to the OTC market - which was estimated by a $220 billion industry in 2018 - that is small change. This is a further sign of how OTC traders aren’t showing an increasing interest in decentralized finance as of right now. Different Audiences are a Good Thing Rather than relying on smart contracts, OTC traders engage with a buyer or seller directly. Although some may opt for trading crypto-to-crypto, the vast majority is more likely to be fiat-to-crypto or crypto-to-fiat. The main draw of OTC trading is how one can buy and offload large amounts of cryptocurrency without influencing the market price directly. As Bitcoin’s momentum appears to be turning bullish again, there is likely to be an influx in OTC trading volume. For exchanges and other service providers in the industry, catering to the needs of as many different types of users is crucial. While DeFi may seem appealing, OTC trading is where companies can make a genuine impact. With the right partnerships in place, there is an interesting future ahead. Both DeFi and OTC can co-exist without issues, but they clearly target completely different audiences, at least for now.

OTC Trading and DeFi are NOT Mutually Exclusive

In the cryptocurrency industry, there are currently two hot trends. On the one hand, there is DeFi, or decentralized finance. On the other, there are decentralized exchanges. Both segments intertwine for many different reasons, yet they are also very different from one another, DeFi Needs Decentralized Exchanges The ongoing growth of decentralized finance has not gone by unnoticed. There are dozens of different projects, all of which offer their own native token. The tokens are offered to liquidity providers as an incentive. However, these tokens do not have any value on their own, unless they can be traded on the open market. It is at this point where decentralized exchanges play an increasing role of importance. A lot of DeFi tokens are best acquired shortly after their launch. That is, assuming a trader or speculator wants to make money from the token as quickly as possible. Most of these tokens are speculative in nature, with most traders not caring too much for the fundamentals of these coins. Without decentralized exchanges - platforms such as Uniswap, 1Inch, Tokenlon, SushiSwap, JustSwap, and others - obtaining DeFi tokens would prove incredibly difficult. More specifically, users would have to provide liquidity to these DeFi platforms to get the tokens, as there would be no other avenue to explore. One also has to acknowledge that, without DEXes, trading DeFi tokens would be a nightmare more often than not. Granted, there are some centralized exchanges that pay attention to listing new DeFi tokens. All of these platforms focus on legitimate projects, rather than just listing everything that comes their way.. These are primarily smaller trading platforms, but the likes of MXC, Binance, and even Coinbase cannot be ignored either. Eventually, the "cream of the crop" will find its way to centralized trading platforms. By the time this happens, its value may have exploded or collapsed already, though. The Rug Pull Issue Whereas decentralized exchanges facilitate DeFi token trading at an early stage, it is not an ideal situation either. Every benefit comes with a drawback, especially in the cryptocurrency space. There is no "free lunch" for anyone in this industry. As far as DeFi trading is concerned, the so-called "rug pulls" are becoming a lot more apparent in recent months. When a rug pull occurs, two outcomes can be observed. First of all, it is likely the token will no longer have any liquidity to speak of, making it impossible for speculators to sell their assets. Another possible outcome is how the creator of the token dumps the asset's price to $0, or close to it. When doing so, the creator will often drain any remaining liquidity from the trading pair on decentralized exchanges as well. Rug pulls are very nasty, but unfortunately, all too common these days. In fact, one could state that decentralized exchanges facilitate this behavior. There are no "verifications" to carry out, and as such, no repercussions for this type of predatory behavior either. No Trading Volume Competition Going by the current statistics on CoinGecko, there is a genuine lack of DeFi token trading volume. More specifically, the DeFi volume - compared to global cryptocurrency trading volumes - is just 0.9%. This means less than 1 in 100 trades is for DeFi tokens. Such a statistic will not instill much confidence in decentralized finance overall. Comparing the DEX trading volume to regular exchanges, there is no real sense of competition either. Decentralized exchanges tend to generate $500 million in daily volume on average. Centralized exchanges will, combined, often generate over $45 billion. Decentralized platforms are in a very different league in terms of numbers, users, and overall appeal. Cross-Chain Liquidity is the Next Frontier One potential way to make DEXes seem more appealing is by tapping into cross-chain liquidity and markets. One of the new platforms I keep my eye on, Chocoswap,  shows what needs to change in this industry sooner rather than later. Instant transactions and low fees on a cross-chain asset exchange are things enthusiasts of all stature are actively looking for. Personally, I would like to see a lot more of these developments take place in the future. Unlike other DEXes, it leverages a dual-token economic model through a utility token and a governance token. It is crucial for traders to distinguish between the two. Offering one token that “suits all purposes” is clearly the wrong approach in my book. Having separate solutions to achieve completely different goals can potentially help lower barriers to entry. What really stands out to me is the ability to tap into different blockchains for liquidity. No decentralized exchange has been able to provide such functionality, even though it is clear as day there needs to be far more interoperability in this industry. In a way, Chocoswap positions itself as a DEX and DeFi solution rolled into one. While I have high expectations personally, it remains to be seen if this model is viable. Closing Thoughts Both decentralized finance and decentralized exchanges offer something the cryptocurrency industry can benefit from. At the same time, both concepts are entwined so closely, it almost makes one way of exploring either option. DeFi has started to get a bad name of sorts, primarily due to the growing number of rug pulls. As these tokens are primarily traded on DEXes, those platforms have to contend with worsening public perception as well. At the same time, this rather negative outlook on both industries will not remain in place. It is my firm belief that both DeFi and DEX platforms can help transform the cryptocurrency industry for the better. During the initial stage - which we are in right now - there will always be growing pains and kinks to work out. Given enough time, these concerns can all be overcome and the industry will be better off for it.

Decentralized Exchanges Must Put An End To DeFi Token Rug Pulls

The crypto market in recent times has been hot with lots of new monies going round due to the sudden attention to altcoins, while mainstream currencies continue to experience high level of inflation leading to sharp value declines. The DeFi space continues to experience massive attention, and with the oracle market being established, the market value of LINK, NEST, and BAND has repeatedly hit new highs. In addition to the DeFi and oracle markets, the NFT market is also experiencing increased attention leading to market highs for several of the NFT based tokens. The focus of this publication is to assess the value of ten different NFT projects and how these projects are solving the problem of tokenizing real-life assets. Interestingly, eight out of the ten projects being studied have seen a visible increase in their token price. This probability is still quite high. The first NFT project on our list is the CryptoKitties. CryptoKitties is a game centered around breedable, collectible kitties. Each cat is one-of-a-kind and 100% owned by you; it cannot be replicated, taken away, or destroyed. Homogenization and non-homogenization are also well understood. There can be multiple cats, but they cannot be divided into a few dozen cats. Each cat can have different characteristics such as coat colors, temperaments, size, colour, etc. Thus making it impossible for each cat (NFT) to be divisible. Bitcoin can split up to 16 times, it can be 0.1, 0.01, 0.0001, etc., each Bitcoin is the same, there is no difference. Our common TOKENs like the ERC20 tokens are all interchangeable and split-able. NFT has a unique and unique logo, which is neither interchangeable nor separable. NFT has high application value in games, collectibles, artworks, tickets and other fields. Someone once wrote that NFT maybe a new story in the currency circle after the 2020 halving. The Value of NFT We know that money is essentially a generally accepted medium of exchange used to transfer value between two or more peers. However, in modern society, personal wealth is no longer measured by the amount of money held, rather by the assets under a person’s name. These assets include but not limited to items with a certain market value such as houses, cars, stocks, precious metals, and bonds. For ordinary individuals in modern society, the value carried by assets is often far greater than the value of cash at hand. However, assets in the real world often have the following two flaws: Most physical assets are very liquid; The cost of anti-counterfeiting is high, and some heavy assets need to be centralized and confirmed for authenticity. For example, the real right of real estate needs to rely on the registration of the estate with the Housing Authority; it is difficult to prove that you own it before you see the real thing. In the blockchain world, we have cryptocurrencies characterizing different fungible assets such as stocks, shares, fiat currencies, and other precious assets possessing money properties. Naturally, we also need a medium for valuing non-monetary assets, hence the reason the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) came into being. Thanks to the decentralization, non-tampering, and cryptographic nature of the blockchain, it has made the arrival of NFT to solve a series of problems facing the real world non-fungible assets. The tokenization of Non-Fungible assets on the blockchain has ensured the following: It has better liquidity and can conduct efficient and atomic transactions; Cryptography helps to confirm the rights to and ownership of assets. Hence, fungible assets mapped on the blockchain cannot be forged. In addition, NFT has also achieved features that cannot be achieved by other cryptocurrencies, especially in the areas of representing negative assets (liabilities), proof of identity or equity, virtual props, etc. NFT fills the gap of encrypted assets, allowing us to incorporate assets with independent value into the scope of the encrypted economy and obtain blockchain protection. However, when empowering the real economy, we have also discovered the current problem that NFT is facing: the problem of real asset value mapping, in simple terms "on-chain value" and how to make participants believe that this NFT characterizes its owner How to prove the promised assets? Who will endorse it? We believe that since most of the current physical assets themselves are centralized assets, before the NFT has reached a consensus, its value chain has to rely on the endorsement of the central agency. For example, if real estate is to be listed in the form of NFT, under the current system, we still need the Housing Authority to endorse the value of this NFT. We need to also understand that NFT protocols are data protocols, which are executed on the blockchain, circulated on the blockchain, and encrypted to confirm the rights of assets users and owners. The business to which NFT applies does not necessarily need to be decentralized. Recent Events Within the NFT Industry 1. Binance’s new IEO project is not DeFi, but NFT. When CZ posted on Twitter to hint about the launch of a new project on Binance's LaunchPad, at that time, many people speculated that it would be a DeFi project. Although the mass’s prediction was reasonable due to the fact that the DeFi space is hot and buzzy at the moment. Well, the new project turned not to be a DeFi project. Eventually, when Binance’s IEO project was unveiled, the public’s prediction was wrong. It turned out to be a game project called The Sandbox, not DeFi, but an NFT project. 2. Does Binance choosing NFT instead of DeFi expose hidden opportunities in the NFT market? Binance choosing an NFT project instead of DeFi is worth thinking about. The emergence of DeFi is a result of decentralized exchanges. The creation of the now popular Uniswap, as well as lending, pledge, staking protocols etc., are all closely related to decentralized exchanges. Since Binance is the leader of centralized exchanges, if Binance chooses DeFi, although it can bring itself a wave of revenue, it will also make DeFi hotter and benefit decentralized exchanges more. In this case, Binance did not choose DeFi, maybe it is the next game of chess! Why did Binance choose NFT? The tokens on Binance, MANA, and ENJ, are the current champions and runner-up on the NFT track. In addition, NFT itself has its own vital attributes, and in 2020, it has gained increased attention from the public. The combination of these factors makes it reasonable to choose NFT. So, why is Binance likely to lead a wave of NFT fever? Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange, and there is no doubt about its ability to start its own NFT project, and ENJ is already under its command, which will naturally attract high attention. Therefore, in my opinion, I believe that the NFT projects will gain increased exposure in the nearest feature, hence leading to investment opportunities. This is just my personal opinion, and does not constitute investment advice. Introducing Other NFT Projects In addition to ENJ and MANA, the NFT industry actually has several other interesting projects. For the sake of this paper, the author assessed six booming NFT projects and listed them for your reference. 1. ENJIN The ENJ project was funded on November 02, 2017. The total amount of ENJ token issued is 1 billion ENJ. The current price is 0.21USD, and the market value is $167 million. It ranks 47 in the world and is the leader of NFT. Enjin is the largest online game community creation platform, established in Singapore in 2009, with 18.7 million registered players, and tens of millions of gamers visit the game platform every month. ENJ uses the blockchain to allow players and content creators to add virtual items. The features of the blockchain, such as non-tampering and accounting, can make the content of virtual items more specific and full, even if the game is removed from the shelves. Enjin's strong physical support makes ENJ's empowerment relatively easy, which is also an important reason why ENJ can become a leader. Online exchanges: 23 such as Binance. 2. MANA MANA is the token of the Decentraland platform. It was issued on September 18, 2017, with a total volume of 2.64 billion and a market value of 102 million, ranking 60th in the world and one of the leading NFTs. Decentraland is a blockchain-based virtual world platform. In a decentralized world, content creators and game players can trade freely without intermediary fees. Users can create their own blockchain identities on the platform and use the blockchain to record ownership. Any user can create their own virtual space on the platform, publish applications, create, trade, and obtain value. MANA can be used to create territories, purchase goods, and services, etc. Online exchanges: 44 exchanges including Binance, OKEx, Huobi, and Coinbase. 3. SAND The total amount of SAND is 3 billion, based on ETH, the current market value is 38 million US dollars, and the first echelon of NFT. Similar to Decentraland, TheSandbox is also a virtual game world. Players can create digital asset NFTs by consuming tokens SAND, and upload them to the store. At present, it has established cooperative relations with more than 50 partners such as ATARI, Crypto Kitties, Shaun the Sheep, etc. The innovation of The Sandbox is that users can create the game experience by themselves and encourage others to create, which can better attract game players who like to create. Online exchange: Binance 4. AT The total amount of AT is 1 billion, based on ETH, the current circulating market value is 2.71 million US dollars, entering it into the first echelon of NFT and be representative of the collectibles industry. AT (Artfinity) is the traceability, transaction, and monitoring ecology of physical assets on the chain. The goal is to build a weakly-centralized custody and trading platform for physical assets such as collectibles and artwork and fundamentally eliminate the fraud and lack of liquidity of physical assets. AT was first released in April 2019, and it has completed the custody of large-scale assets. It is NFT's leading project in the field of collectibles and artworks. At present, there are mainly applications such as TokenBag, ATEX, and Fine Art in the ecology. Artists can upload works on the chain, and users can participate in auctions and transactions of artworks and collections online. Online exchanges: BKEX, Coinegg, HBTC, ATEX, Abit, and more than 10 exchanges 5. FFF FFF is a new project. It was issued on June 16, 2020. The total amount is 10 billion. The current market value is 1.19 million US dollars and the price is $0.02. FFF is the abbreviation of Force For Fast Token. It is an automobile interest community with cross-chain as the underlying technology and provides a platform for car and racing enthusiasts with services such as game competition and social networking. The gas stations, dealers, vehicles, etc. inside the FFF game are all NFTs. Users can build their own cars and participate in races. Online exchange: MXC and HBTC. 6. NASH NASH was issued on May 24, 2018, with a total of 100 billion. NeoWorld is a multi-person networked virtual world based on blockchain technology, and it is also a 3D space created by global users in collaboration. Users can manage and construct territories through high-degree exploration and resource collection, and can even create and experience third-party content or applications on the territories, and create value and obtain wealth through this. Online exchanges: 3 companies including Bithumb. In addition, there are NFT tokens such as SLP, ZXC, RARI, LAR, etc., which are no longer described. If you are interested, you can search for it.

With The DeFi Hype Dying Down on Profit-Bookings, What Will Lead The 2020 Boom?

At the moment, there are more than , with a combined market capitalization of over $18 billion. As the crypto industry progresses at a high pace, investors are constantly willing to trade in this never-sleeping market. In order to be able to participate in cryptocurrency trading, users turn to the so-called exchanges. 1500 cryptocurrencies existing today Cryptocurrency exchanges, or digital currency exchanges, are platforms that enable customers to trade digital currencies for other assets. Cryptocurrencies can be traded for fiat money or different digital currencies. Today, there is a myriad of cryptocurrency trading platforms that exist to meet the growing needs of the crypto community. Without a doubt, cryptocurrency exchanges have a great influence on the development of projects and their liquidity. Yet, to what extent does the number of featured exchanges matter when it comes to the bright future of the project? Let’s discuss this. ICO Market: Trust Issues Are Sunk Its Popularity? The cryptocurrency market has been overtaken by the popularity of ICOs in 2017, with the peak craze happening at the end of December 2017, when Bitcoin hit the ceiling at around $20K. In addition, thousands of ICOs have taken place last year, with only a fraction of them surviving and bringing value today. Unfortunately, the ICO market was ill-populated with hundreds of scam projects, which raised a significant amount of money and never delivered on their promises, and then suddenly disappeared. This trend has affected the trust of the community for ICOs, decreasing their popularity and success rates. According to the , “almost 80 percent of 2017's ICO were "identified scams.” statistics from Mashable IEOs as a Safer Alternative The year 2019 saw the birth of a new fundraising method, which combined the ICO model with a more solid and stable way of implementing the project. Initial exchange offerings (IEOs) had a blast this year – during the first half of 2019, IEO projects were able to raise $1.6 billion. The second half of the year has continued riding the trend, with the top exchange launchpads fueling the development of the IEO market. Investor demand for the IEOs also stays strong, as a number of promising cryptocurrency projects are taking place, heated up by crypto channels in Telegram. However, what determines the success of IEOs in modern crypto space? Some claim it depends on IEO project’s liquidity, others mention the token price and adherence to the roadmap of the project. Some talk about the community size as the gauge of the progress of a project. Today, we will talk about one particular factor – the number of exchanges listing the project. Does it affect a project’s long-term success or popularity? Does it determine the true value of the project? The More The Merrier? Not Quite The number of exchanges listing the project is closely tied to its liquidity. Without a doubt, liquidity is something that plays a big role for a project. Yet, in the case with IEOs, thanks to their mechanism of crowdfunding, they get instant liquidity as they are getting listed on an exchange. Thanks to this feature, IEOs overcome one of the major setbacks that were faced by ICOs – lack of liquidity. The key important fact when it comes to the IEO liquidity – quality matters over quantity, especially when it comes to multiple exchange listings. There is a multitude of cryptocurrency exchanges that are now realizing that the implementation of the launchpad is beneficial for them. Along these are Binance, Bittrex, Bitmax, Huobi, Kucoin, and OKEx along with many others. , as a matter of fact, is one of the growing crypto exchanges that are now among the top 10 digital currency exchanges in the world. At the moment, it has more than 190 altcoins listed, with the number growing almost every day. Binance is yet another prospective exchange that offers a variety of popular coins, including BTC, BCH, XMR, DAG, ETH, XRP, EOS, LTC, ADA, TRX, NEO and the like. Kucoin is an exchange that is based out of the US and offers users the opportunity to trade more than 190 cryptocurrencies as of today. This exchange follows the latest US crypto regulatory practices. Bittrex is a Singapore-based exchange that was introduced by a group of professionals with a great digital asset background. At the moment, this exchange offers token trading, perpetual swap trading, OTC trading, and other financial products. MXC Now, many of these and other exchanges are listing coins on a daily basis – but aside from affecting coins’ liquidity factor, do these exchanges add a lot of value and stability to the projects? Not exactly. Just as we mentioned above, quality matters much more than quantity. Speaking differently, the success of a crypto project largely depends on the features of the exchange it is listed on. Some important factors that crypto projects should take into consideration when assessing the possibility of listing are: Compatibility Do token’s values reflect those of the exchange? How about the mission – does it align? If a project’s values and vision are in conflict with those of the digital currency platform, a listing might not bring any value to the project, if not depreciate it. Safety The importance of this factor cannot be overstated. With recent cyberattacks wiping out thousands of users’ wallets clean, tokens should double-check the exchange for the safety practices in place. Noteworthy, big and popular exchange does not always have the best security systems in place – remember ? Coincheck hack Regulations Most of the major cryptocurrency exchanges are following the latest regulations when it comes to compliance. Yet, there were cases of popular exchanges overlooking simple regulatory rules. A prospective and stable crypto project would not want to be a part of such an exchange. These are just some factors that should be on a discussion board of crypto projects that are planning to get listed on yet another exchange. The common belief in the crypto space is that the number of exchanges that the coin is listed on equals the project’s true value. Let’s see real-life examples. Successful Blockchain Projects 2019 GoWithMi One of the great performing IEOs, according to the , is GoWithMi. The native token of this project, GMAT, has been able to hit 3.56X ROI USD, with its ATH ROI USD being a whopping 21.08X. CryptoRank’s list GoWithMi is committed to building the world’s first complete decentralized location-based services (DLBS) infrastructure. The project has taken off on Gate.io, and was able to raise $1,350,000 during its IEO. At the moment, this promising Singaporean project is listed on Gate.io, Big.One and HotBit, with all three exchanges being under $500,000 daily trading volume. In addition, these three exchanges are not mainstream and they are not popular globally when compared to other giants like Binance and Coinbase. Nevertheless, despite being listed on only three exchanges, GoWithMi continues to deliver on its promises and grow its community. Tokoin Another successful cryptocurrency project that was introduced this year is Tokoin. Tokoin’s TOKO has performed very well – it reached ATH ROI USD at 9x, with ROI USD standing at 4.18X. Tokoin is striving to secure a better future for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) globally. Thanks to its innovative platform, growing businesses are able to use their potential to the full without facing limitations. Currently, Tokoin is listed on KuCoin and Atomars, according to . In spite of the fact that users are now only able to buy this coin on these two exchanges, token’s performance stands among the top 10 for 2019. Coingecko Pledgecamp Yet another example of a successful coin that has not been listed on multiple popular and big exchanges, and still was able to bring 2.93X ROI USD and 3.97X ATH ROI USD is Pledgecamp (PLG). Pledgecamp aims to disrupt the crowdfunding industry with blockchain-powered escrow contracts. With an impressive list of advisors on its side, this token has been listed on 6 exchanges so far. These are Bithumb Global, MXC, Bitforex, Piexgo, OKEx, Binance DEX. Notably, even though this token is listed on Bitforex, which surpasses all other mentioned exchanges (and those of GMAT) in daily trading volume, Pledgecamp’s token’s price is trading cheaper than GoWithMi’s token. Final Word We’ve discussed that the number of exchanges that list coins does not affect or determine its true value. Yet, what does then? As mentioned in this article, some key factors like liquidity, community size, adherence to the roadmap are among those that will pave the way for a project. Nonetheless, there is one more factor that has to do with the exchanges – it is the exchange platform that launched that IEO. Projects that took off of KuCoin, Huobi, OKEx, Gate.io, and Binance generally brought significant profits to inventors. Following the same logic, investors tend to choose platforms they trust – they see it as a measure of a certain project’s future success. To conclude, it is worth to mention that the popularity of the exchange does not always reflect its safety or level of trust that investors have. Choosing the IEO project to invest in takes a lot of thought, and sometimes hyped-up projects fail without even reaching their goals.

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