<strong>SmartAsset</strong> determined the income ranges for a household to be considered middle class in 345 of the largest U.S. cities and each state.

What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America – 2024 Study | SmartAsset

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This is by (source: ). Bourque is the SVP of Marketing at SmartAsset. Twitter thread Brian Bourque @bbourque 04-01-2023 https://twitter.com/bbourque/status/1642138293402841089?s=20&embedable=true&thread=true Feature image generated via prompt of ‘Scaling up’ HackerNoon Stable Diffusion

Scaling a Startup: What You Need to Know

Asset-oriented programming is when a virtual machine understands what an asset — or a token, is. Virtual machines that understand assets means they can define the security and accounting behind how tokens can be created, held, or moved between accounts. Asset-oriented programming means that developers can easily create decentralized applications (dApps) that are intuitive and safe because the programming language itself handles assets for the developer. It’s like being given a box of standard parts to build with, instead of building every part yourself from scratch. As a result, asset-oriented programming, just like object-oriented programming before it, lowers the learning curve, makes it easier and more intuitive to build Web3 and DeFi dApps, and massively improves security and safety. The Problem with Virtual Machines Today The problem with virtual machines as they exist now is that most of them aren't built with asset-oriented programming. Instead, they are built with message-oriented programming. In layman's language, this means that tokens on most virtual machines today don't move. There isn't any logic that allows the asset to go from one place to another. What moves, instead, are messages to different smart contracts that update a balance on a ledger. In essence, if someone sends one asset to another account, there isn't any asset moving. Instead, the smart contract on the receiver's address will simply update and add "one", and the account on the receiver will update to whatever figure "minus one" is. The problem with this "message only" programming language is that it leaves too many gaps that can be exploited by hacks. The message-oriented nature of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (which is the environment most blockchains are built on)  means that users can be sent tokens without their permission. This can be exploited by mischievous hackers who can disrupt the balance sheet of a protocol and then use that to drain its assets. This isn't just theory. In fact, it's a phenomenon that happens quite regularly. In 2021, the was perpetrated in this manner precisely. The hackers sent tokens to the pool outside of the regular deposit protocol, withdrew liquidity, and then took advantage of the way the token's smart contract updated its records. Spartan protocol hack This meant that the current balance could be manipulated to not match the actual number of the tokens held by the pool. In essence, the hacker could drain all the tokens that were in the pool before the hack. Hacks like this couldn't possibly happen on asset-oriented blockchains. The first reason is that asset-oriented chains have logic built into the protocol itself that recognizes assets as distinct objects. This means that these objects can only move in a manner and function specified by the protocol. Hence hackers will be unable to send unsolicited tokens to a pool without the pool approving it. Secondly, if the Spartan network were built on an asset-oriented chain it wouldn't have to keep updating contracts with a "current balance" as the assets themselves would live inside the protocol. Therefore the smart contract that would calculate the exchange rate before a transaction can simply count the assets in the pool. There would be no current balance to manipulate by a hacker. The main problem of asset-oriented chains — and perhaps their only problem — is that they are yet to gain critical adoption. Most chains in the crypto network are currently message-oriented chains. Because message-oriented chains don't have an internal logic recognizing assets, hackers have a lot of loopholes they can exploit. Last year alone over four billion dollars was from DeFi protocols. A huge percentage of these thefts leveraged the buggy nature of message-oriented chains to manipulate current balances and drain protocols of their assets. The simple fact is this; if DeFi doesn't accept asset-oriented programming, these hacks will continue. And if these hacks continue, the future of DeFi is in jeopardy. If people cannot trust protocols to keep their assets safe, why would they adopt DeFi? At least traditional finance (for all its ills) doesn't have the same sort of problem. stolen Asset-Oriented Programming Today Thankfully, asset-oriented programming isn't just a theoretical idea of how virtual machine logic should work. The Radix network has fully built on the idea to create a network that puts this principle to work. Not only was the Radix network built on the idea of asset-oriented programming, but the Scrypto programming language used by the network was also built around that idea as well. What this means in practice is that developers won't have to build "safety logic" that dictates how balances should be reflected after "message-oriented" transactions. They can simply build functions and allow the platform's logic to dictate how the assets will be counted after each transaction. Developers don't even have to build asset logic during any phase of development since the logic is standardized. This saves a lot of time and allows developers to scale the complexities of their functionality higher than ever before. It also means that there will be less to go wrong for hackers to exploit. What Do Asset-Oriented Virtual Machines Mean For Developers? There are four major ways that asset-oriented virtual machines can change the ways both users and developers interact with virtual machines. The first dynamic is safety. Safety is a huge issue in DeFi, and in the current message-oriented network milieu safety is hardly guaranteed. Asset-oriented networks will guarantee a higher level of safety for users and developers, which in practice means that more people will have the confidence to use DeFi, and developers won't have to spend all their time building safe logic into contracts. Right now, DeFi developers spend about 80% of their time on making protocols safe for deployment. This means they have to test for every transaction use case and theoretically make sure there's logic built into it to stop hacks. Asset-oriented programming solves that problem. The second dynamic is ease. Message-oriented chains are needlessly complex. This affects developers in two ways. The first is that it increases the technical barrier of entry for developers. Secondly, message-oriented chains are difficult to build safe dApps on, even for the most experienced developer. The needless complexities and the fact that developers have to develop logic for every transaction use-case means that they spend a lot of their time on frivolities. Asset-oriented chains are the exact opposite of this. Developers don't have to overcome a steep learning curve to use them. Some developers start using the program and building in it with the Scrypto language the very first day they hear about Radix! That's precisely how easy it is to learn and use. Because Scrypto and the Radix Engine Virtual Machine are so easy to use, developers can dramatically shorten the time from the conception of a dApp to deploying it. They no longer have to spend months testing deployments and making them secure. Message-oriented machines simply don't have standardization of asset logic. In practice, this means that message-oriented chains end up having a lot of redundant code, and there are no standards that other developers can leverage. This also means that innovation is slow to happen, and there are hard limitations to just how complex functionalities can get. The last dynamic is composability and it's closely related to reusability. Composability describes the ability for multiple dApps to connect freely and instantly. Of course, message-oriented chains put a hard limit on this because of non-standard asset logic. The reason for this hard limit is that functionalities on these platforms are held in standalone smart contracts with their bespoke logic. There's very little standardization across chains. Asset-oriented chains like Radix solve this problem by providing a standardized asset logic that all dApps can follow. All the benefits of asset-oriented chains that accrue to the developer on the backend also translate into benefits for the users. More secure dApps mean that user funds are safer. Easier to build dApps means more products and better support for end users. And better reusability and composability mean that there will be fewer limits on what can be built for the end user. Asset-oriented chains will also radically improve capital efficiency. Better security means almost no capital will be getting lost in transit. It also means that the ecosystem will be more structurally stable since there won't be capital crunches caused by hacks. All in all, asset-oriented programming is on course to change DeFi. The question now is when this change will come, not if it will come. Watch the RadFi keynote to learn more about how asset-oriented programming on Radix is the future of Web3. https://youtu.be/5iSK3rTjPMw

What Is Asset-Oriented Programming, and Why Will It Radically Improve DeFi 

is the convergence of new Smart Technology stacks merging AR, VR, AI, IOT, and Distributed Ledger innovation, working together as part of a universal network of interconnected people, places & things, both real & virtual. At the forefront of this transition to the Spatial Web Undeniably, there are specific Smart Technologies that will be crucial to the architecture of this networked Web 3.0 experience. Think of the Spatial Web as a blending of virtual and physical worlds using cognitive and distributed technologies. So, what are Smart Technologies? Smart Technologies integrate Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Distributed Ledger Technologies into these key verticals: Smart Spaces Smart Cities, Smart Factories, Smart Buildings, Smart Homes Trillions of IOT sensors are expected to come online in the next decade, providing opportunities for new technologies to create programmable spaces in defined locations, both real and virtual, blending real-world and digital interaction for the complete Metaverse experience. Smart Assets NFTs, Property, Avatars, Art, Merchandise A Smart Asset is any physical or digital object that is registered on a Distributed Ledger securing proof of its unique existence, ownership & location. Programmable conditions in the form of Smart Contracts can automatically determine & execute the transfer, sale, trade and use across locations, users, games, apps and real/virtual worlds. Smart Contracts Programmable, automated, self-executing & immutable code recorded onto Distributed Ledger Blockchains, securing transactions & agreements by replacing static documents and the need for third-party mediation. Smart Accounts A single user account that can be used across any Web 3.0 application that manages, stores & authenticates a User’s Decentralized Identity, Asset Inventory, Wallets, and User Transaction, Payment & Location History. Provides private & secure transactions and interactions across Spaces and between Users. Smart IDs Proof of Identity is the first step of security in any transaction. Utilizing decentralized identifiers, every user, space or asset can be uniquely identified as authentic. Smart IDs prevent fraud as they provide for proof of origin, proof of identity, proof of ownership, and data sovereignty by enabling users to define and control access to the complete contents of their digital profile at any time. According to Dan Mapes, Director of The Spatial Web Foundation, "Smart ID on the Spatial Web includes SSI - Self Sovereign Identity - which means You Own Your Own Data - and can choose to sell it yourself if you want to. This also enables Zero Knowledge Proofs - which gives the user total control over what they choose to share and with whom and for how long. You might choose to share part of your medical record with a doctor but that record disappears after 10 days or 30 days - whatever you decided." Smart Payments Programmable transactions using digital wallets and crypto currencies, to authenticate, automate and execute payments for any exchange of value between Users and Assets in any real or virtual Space. These Smart Technologies along with humans, machines, content, data, assets, locations, buildings, factories, workflows, imagination, and the context of real-time interaction across every one of them, THIS is the Web 3.0 of the future. ++ This is Part 2 of a four part series titled, “The Spatial Web is Coming… Is Web 3.0 Ready?” Read more in Part 3 to find out how Smart Technologies translate into the Spatial Web. Missed Part 1? Find it here Special thanks to Dan Mapes, President and Co-Founder, , and Director of . If you’d like to know more about The Spatial Web, I highly recommend a helpful introductory book written by Dan and his VERSES Co-Founder, Gabriel Rene, titled, “The Spatial Web,” with a dedication “to all future generations.” VERSES Technologies The Spatial Web Foundation Also Published Here

The Spatial Web is at Hand... What are Smart Technologies? Part 2

Apply these simple strategies to promote longevity and build success for your startup. The inevitability of an economic downturn is upon us. As the economics of physics goes – what goes up must come down – and we are facing the down part of that equation. As such, leaders are shifting focus from expansion to survival and laying out plans for the months and years to come. It is a necessary reminder that successful startups such as Instagram, Uber, Venmo, and WhatsApp all . That said, making big plans in hard times can be challenging, especially for startup leaders. launched with success in the Great Recession of 2008 In a world where we celebrate design-led startups for , there are a few important takeaways regarding the Strategic Design process that can help you create a plan for your startup that will future-proof your company for 2022 and beyond. their high success rate What is Strategic Design? Strategic Design is a way of approaching the problems and challenges of a business using a combination of design and business strategies. Those who utilize Strategic Design use a dynamic and systematic thought process, solving issues holistically. Using Strategic Design approaches, businesses are empathetic to their users while conveying complex ideas and changes that move the mission forward. Moreover, because of the current economic conditions and the adaptive nature of Strategic Design, it will be essential in preparing any startup for the future. Below I will highlight four of my top design strategies and why implementing them in this economic time is vital for your business’s success. Invest in Content Your website is your calling card, your command center, and your business’s central information hub. A great website design can launch your brand into recognition, but quality and, most importantly, updated content is how your business will stay relevant to your target audience. One of my most indulgent hobbies is scrolling and then pulling up those winning sites to cross-reference how they look today (which could be six months to a year since the award). Why do I do this? Because the websites are usually drastically different today than they were at the time of their award. As time passes, a stylized website design is hard to update with new and more relevant content. So websites find themselves downgrading their site design to a more basic yet adaptable layout more apt to content changes. FWA and RedDot award winners Content out wins visuals every time. Content keeps audiences interested, informed, and coming back time after time. No one wants to see outdated references or products. Instead, they want the most current features, the most current specs, and to know that you are continuing to stay vigilant to the changing times. Now is the time to bring up the next important question, is you’re content good enough? One of the easiest ways to ensure your content hits the mark is to follow this cheat sheet. Does it match the customer’s hopes and dreams? Does it address the necessary pain points? Does it solve user concerns? Does it answer important questions? *Pro Tip* You should be able to describe your product using only words from the website. If you cannot do that, your site lacks the comprehensive content your customers need to feel confident about your product. If the way you speak about your product differs from your site’s content, fix it. Invest in User Feedback The most strategic tool a startup has at its disposal is the feedback of its users. It is the only way to build products and services correctly. Customer-centric . Unfortunately, I have noticed that many startups do not utilize this tool. companies are 60% more profitable than those that aren’t Most startup founders prioritize the advice of their investors (or the other “advisors” on their team) instead of talking to their customers. And for those who know, circling the design Twittersphere says it all. But unfortunately, the advice from these circles is likely ambiguous and does not add value to the design or mission. this popular tweet If you are the person who knows the most about the company’s product or service, the best thing for you to do is talk to your customers directly, which is not always easily accessible. Proper client testing and feedback can take hours, days, and even weeks. A fast and easy workaround to this problem is to utilize the convenience of messenger-based apps to reach out to users and ask them direct feedback questions around essential features and aspects that will help add value to your design and move your process forward. Although it is not a proper replacement for proper user testing and market research, sending 25 WhatsApp messages to loyal users of your product can provide you with quick and reliable answers. Furthermore, these answers can help identify red flags and create a guiding path for improvement. Invest in Software Hiring the right people to be a part of your team is crucial to your startup’s success. However, there is no doubt that the hiring process can be high stakes for your company with limited time and resources. According to data from one of the most expensive startup costs is payroll, averaging around $300,000 for five employees across the U.S. In addition, hiring and then firing employees is a costly and time-consuming process that should be avoided at all costs. Smart Asset, Combat unnecessary expenses by investing in software that helps automate processes and leads your startup towards lower burn rates and extended runways. A plethora of software available to startups can substitute a substantial part of their business. Those parts of the business are not key to delivering your company’s product or service but are necessary to keep the business going, such as an HR department. For example, your startup needs someone to pay salaries and onboard new hires, but there is now software, like , that can do it all for you for a fraction of the cost of an employee. Or , a program designed to take the place of entire support teams. These tools can keep your expenses lower and your productivity higher, giving your more flexibility to focus on the key elements that add value to your mission. Deel Intercom Bots *Pro Tip* Some aggregators can help you connect all these software tools to create an automated flow if you want to streamline your automation. Bonus – Invest in Health You might be feeling anxious to put in extra time at work right now to combat any stress you might be feeling; this is normal during crisis times. But if you believe that the more you work, the more you can achieve, that is not true. Take it from me. The fact is that . So no matter how hard we work, I guarantee you that most of the rest of your competition is working just as hard, if not harder. only the bottom 10% of the competition can be beaten by sheer force of work It is that sleep deprivation impairs cognitive functions and productivity. Pulling late hours and compromising your sleep and physical health may feel productive at the moment, but the inevitable crash associated with overworking will cause more long-term harm than good. In addition, . Therefore, health is the key to maintaining a hardworking and productive work environment. scientifically proven work/life imbalances are recently determined to be one main reason people quit their jobs The Bottomline for 2022 and Beyond Your startup can make it through hard times. However, you will need to make some important and strategic design changes to allow for more resilience within your business plan. Future-proofing your startup with strategic design aims to create habits and processes that extend your opportunities and give you the best chance of success for 2022 and many more years ahead.

4 Strategic Design Practices to Future-Proof Your Startup in 2022

4 prácticas de diseño estratégico para preparar su startup para el futuro en 2022

4 pratiques de conception stratégiques pour pérenniser votre startup en 2022

2022 में अपने स्टार्टअप के भविष्य को प्रमाणित करने के लिए 4 रणनीतिक डिजाइन अभ्यास

2022 年のスタートアップの将来を保証する 4 つの戦略的設計プラクティス

4 práticas de design estratégico para preparar sua startup para o futuro em 2022

4 Thực tiễn Thiết kế Chiến lược để Chứng minh Tương lai Khởi nghiệp của Bạn vào năm 2022

2022 年让您的初创公司永不过时的 4 种战略设计实践

As software and hardware engineers around the world are untangling the centralization of the internet, a new theme within the enclave of blockchain-based solutions - generally referred to as decentralized finance - or DeFi for short - have emerged. While blockchains provide the for reliable information and - to a lesser extend value - transport functions  - a layer of middleware to the larger concept of cryptographic primitives mapped by network protocols (not: blockchains), current developments are largely focused on digitally native assets, and their derivatives. However, a first-principles view on the innovation of financial services will focus on the central tenet of technology: the increase of productivity of human activity, freeing up individuals’ attention — measured in time — that these can assign to leisure activities or higher-order pursuits, such as the accumulation of knowledge. To that end, network technologies, in particular, the internet and consequent emergence of the World Wide Web, amplified human productivity by fueling a surge of synchronous and asynchronous coordination methods of human fecundity, as well as the wider distribution of economic activity in general. building blocks Revenues for financial service in 2021 exceeded $22 trillion, while global GDP stood at only $94 trillion. Until recently, unmitigated coordination on the web was mostly limited to the exchange of information, while the exchange of rights and assets still required multiple layers of rent-seeking third parties, frequently curtailing productivity and profitability. Emblematic of these intermediaries are financial service providers which regularly introduce friction to business activities in form of time delays and fees. As by the Stern School of Business and others has shown, the unit costs of financial intermediation thus far has not decreased, despite advances in information technology. Moreover, evermore 'creative' financial products are entirely disconnected from the real economy. Endeavors such as the high-frequency trading - which trade stocks in Nano-seconds - produce nothing of value, while turning regular stock buyers into non-player-characters within a game dominated by powerful server farms strategically deployed to execute trades faster than a person could react. These technological advantages are amplified by machine learning solutions fed with data generated by human traders. The acquisition of which which - euphemistically labelled as 'payment for order flow', was on display in the widely criticized actions of Robinhood in 2020, resulting in dozens of law suits against the company which claims to be on 'a mission to democratize finance for all' (more on the scandal ). research here The true mission of any for-profit company is to maximize shareholder value, 'mission statements' are just that: statements. Financialization Financialization is a process whereby financial markets, and financial institutions, gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes. The impact of financialization can be observed as an increase in the take-rate of the financial sector relative to real productive activity, and a transfer of income from production to the financial sector, and ultimately an increase of income inequality. As and other researchers have pointed out, there is evidence that an overemphasis of financialization puts an economy at risk of debt deflation and prolonged recession (more ). These findings were confirmed in a before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Thomas Palley here 2020 hearing State Of Financial Technology As with government services, financial services are plagued with administrative and regulatory burdens mostly dating back to a pre-digital era. Aside from the creation of fiat money via the process of collateralized lending, commercial banks have been tasked with financial surveillance functions via legal, regulatory, and procedural means to stop criminals from dressing up funds obtained illegally as legitimate. The cost of these so-called 'anti-money laundering' efforts is passed on to consumers in form of fees, while the externalities of fiat money creation by the commercial banks is primarily expressed in the inflation of the housing market, and secondarily in the reduction of purchasing power due to an overall increase in the money supply. Setting the deputization of these entities for state objectives aside, legacy regulatory regimes do not address the activity of the transacting parties but aim to account for principal-agent problems inherent to financial intermediaries. Banks most often enter into commercial agreements with the parties that extend their position of mere custodians of the assets of third parties to forcing these into a new agreement. While bank customers are often under the impression that they 'deposit' money into their account, this process instead extends an (often) interest free to the bank. To date, the principal technology for recording these agreements is database solutions, which in some cases are still using mainframe architecture writing in Cobol, a programming language not taught to software engineers for decades. Faux Fintech One of the earliest network technologies to facilitate commercial activity over long distances was the pantelegraph, which in 1865 was most commonly used to verify signatures in French banking transactions. However, the origin of the term “fintech” can only be traced over a period of 30 years and was first introduced by the Financial Services Technology Consortium in the early 1990s. The term was later  popularized by solutions built atop the World Wide Web, which allowed users to perform financial transactions without having to interact directly with the banking system. Most notably, companies such as Confinity — later renamed PayPal, enabled users to establish accounts that utilize email as payment addresses. While providing customers with a better user experience, these Fintech 2.0 solutions are entirely dependent on legacy financial service providers and the infrastructure maintained by them. As such these solutions lack the general deflationary requirement of technological progress, exposing the the true nature of companies as mere window-dressing to the legacy financial systems which decentralized finance solutions disrupt. Decentralizing Finance? The term 'decentralized finance' refers to solutions built atop the internet and public blockchains. DeFi systems deploy smart contracts on blockchains to create automated solutions, sometimes resembling those of financial services, without the need for a corporate entity acting as middleman. Current DeFi building blocks include standardized smart contracts forming digital bearer instruments, non-custodial exchanges, decentralized lending markets and on-chain asset management solutions. DeFi systems generally do not require intermediaries or centralized organizations. Instead, they are based on open networks and decentralized applications. Agreements are executed by automated software, and transactions are performed in a secure and verifiable way — i.e., recorded on a public ledger. This architecture can in principle create an interoperable system with high transparency, equal access rights, and little need for custodians, central clearinghouses, or escrow services. However, thus far, DeFi offers a small number of applications, due to being limited to digitally native assets. For example, users can acquire U.S. dollar-pegged assets, deposit these assets to an equally decentralized lending platform to earn interest, and subsequently add the interest-bearing instruments to a decentralized liquidity pool or a blockchain-based investment vehicle. Conclusions Decentralized finance applications will prove to fulfill the promise of solutions promoted under the term fintech. However, economic activity is ultimately based on the delivery of tangible goods and services. And, while the number of DeFi solutions and capital exchanged using these systems is steadily growing, at present the space is still largely limited to the use cases of trading, borrowing and lending of — namely bitcoin and Ethereum’s ether, which as of mid-November 2021 together make up nearly 60% of the market cap of all cryptocurrencies listed on CoinGecko. digitally-native commodities A reliable signal for the evolution of DeFi to true Fintech 3.0 is a significant reduction of financial service take-rates in the gross domestic product of a country. The latter will likely first be seen in countries with economies less financialized than the U.S. and other modern nation-states. Governments and investors alike must take note when other countries not only leapfrog legacy banking systems but also skip over mere window-dressing solutions to technology debt. Hence the notion that new technologies discussed by central banks around the world — such as central bank digital currencies (see my previous article ) will “bank the unbanked” — are akin to the expectation that current smartphone users will return to using rotary phones if offered by their local telecom provider. here P.S These thoughts are excerpts from a forthcoming book on the evolution of currencies which can be pre-ordered . here

DeFi - Definancializing Productive Activity

Hi Denko, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind ? Ishan Pandey: Reef Hi Ishan, thanks for having me and I’m excited to share the story and vision behind Reef. I am the CEO and Co-founder of Reef and before starting the company, I worked at Viewly and Adelphoi as CTO. Speaking about Reef, Reef is a reliable, extensible, efficient and fast blockchain built on Substrate to make DeFi, NFTs and gaming easy to use for newcomers. It started out as a Global Liquidity Aggregator, Smart Yield Farming Aggregator, and Smart Asset Management platform designed to make it easy for beginners to get started with yield farming. Denko Mancheski: Now Reef Chain is the most advanced Ethereum VM-compatible blockchain. It’s self-upgradable and has on-chain governance. Its infrastructure also allows for EVM extensions which allows for native token bridges, scheduled calls (i.e. recurring payments), and smart contract in-place code upgrades. It will support an additional VM in the near future, which will allow developers to write code in multiple programming languages. The network runs on a Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism, offering scalability and low fees. Decentralized finance is cutting-edge and a little mysterious to outsiders. The Bank of International Settlements is recently forming a committee to analyze crypto-assets exposure to the banks. According to you, do you think DeFi protocol hacks could have a considerable impact on the real economy in the future? Ishan Pandey: That’s an excellent question. For DeFi startups, cybersecurity is the key to survival as cyber-attacks are rampant. DeFi protocol Cream Finance lost $130 million and DeFi lender bZx suffered a hack of $55 million. Imagine a DeFi protocol managed by global institutions with $30 billion in total value locked – imagine if such a protocol gets hacked. It will definitely have an impact on the real economy. DeFi is the future, but we are not just even starting out when we look at the larger picture. DeFi protocols will take over the traditional financial markets and is going to be exciting, and cybersecurity will be one of the major aspects of success. Denko Mancheski: Although the crypto markets are witnessing dramatic exponential growth, privacy and interoperability issues continue to persist. What are your views on governance tokens and regulating DeFi protocols? Ishan Pandey: Governance tokens are essential for DeFi protocols as it makes the protocol decentralized and allow for the community to run the project. According to the regulators, a software protocol is not a security if it is completely decentralized with no legal entity tied behind it. Therefore, governance tokens are going to be the bread and butter of ensuring decentralization and decentralized governance. Denko Mancheski: Bitcoin cannot be regulated because it is a software and there is no legal entity behind it. Regulating DeFi is a tough job, but regulators are coming after DeFi. The FATF, in its recent update on FATF recommendations regarding VASP, has mentioned that DeFi protocols may fall under the definition of VASP, if the software and the legal entity have a commercial nexus. Therefore, it will be necessary for DeFi protocols to create a framework where the fees generated from the protocol do not benefit the legal entity behind it. Further, it is important to note that regulators regulate software and regulate the legal entities behind it. The idea of decentralized finance is now being recognized as a critical shift in the way financial markets operate. In what ways has DeFi affected the traditional financial market and according to you, how can banks leverage smart contracts? Ishan Pandey: The banking institutions are 10 years behind and it will be very risky for banks to leverage smart contracts right now. Smart contracts are still at a very nascent stage and a lot of development and testing is required before banks and traditional institutions start applying smart contracts. Further, if the bank starts experimenting with smart contracts, they will be tested in a sandbox environment. Denko Mancheski: Numerous decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols operating on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) have been hacked in recent months while the industry continues to project significant growth in 2021. How can these DeFi exploits be tackled? Further, what are the best practices for cybersecurity regarding smart contracts? Ishan Pandey: There is no way to tackle DeFi exploits except having a good cybersecurity framework. It is critical to test smart contracts in the production environment and write robust tests that imitate all circumstances that can happen after the smart contract is released. It is important to note that smart contracts can have bugs and complex smart contracts are highly susceptible to cyber threats; therefore, it is critical to test smart contracts without having any rush or feeling that you are in a race to release your smart contract without enough testing. We also have numerous exploits and post-mortem reports to learn from, and therefore we need to learn those lessons and prevent the same vulnerabilities from existing in the next DeFi product. Denko Mancheski: Do you think that DeFi protocols are susceptible to money laundering activities? Further, how can KYC and other controls be implemented in a decentralized protocol? Ishan Pandey: DeFi protocols are susceptible to money laundering if KYC/AML controls are not put in place. That’s the reason that regulators are increasing their oversight on DeFi and cryptocurrencies. DeFi protocols must-have safety cushions so that the protocols are not a safe haven for moving illicit funds. Denko Mancheski: According to you, what has been the pandemic’s overall influence on global finance? Further, how can blockchain and DeFi disrupt the global financial market? Ishan Pandey: The pandemic has really increased the adoption of e-commerce and cryptocurrencies as the majority of the people stayed at home. Even as the economic and human costs of the Covid-19 pandemic have become clear, the global financial system has served as both a source of strength—with banks and fintech assisting in the distribution of aid to small businesses and households in need—and a potential risk—with record measure of market volatility and growing concern about credit losses. Governments, central banks, regulators, and international organizations have all responded quickly to handle the economic collapse and financial consequences, but there are still debates about how policy should develop in the future to maintain financial stability. Denko Mancheski: Blockchain technologies are perfect for handling multi-party, inter-organizational, and cross-border transactions because they are ideally adapted to validating, securing, and exchanging data. Thousands of proofs of concept have been conducted worldwide over the last five years, but actual deployments have been sluggish to materialize because parties adopting blockchain as a shared ledger must agree on IP rights, governance, and economic models. Government laws have also hampered its broad usage. The Covid-19 epidemic was necessary to overcome the barriers to blockchain acceptance. The virus has exposed flaws in our supply chains, our inability to deploy resources where they are most needed to combat the pandemic, and challenges in gathering and disseminating the data required to make quick choices. To solve these issues, blockchain technologies that have been in development for years have been repurposed and released. The post-pandemic era will only accelerate the adoption of blockchain and DeFi. Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence, 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.

Bitcoin Cannot be Regulated Because it is a Software and There is no Legal Entity Behind it 

The Year 2018 which launched in with a bang with every single cryptocurrency reaching its price ended with an unexpected nosedive for most of them. One of the major factors that caused the demise of prices was surely the downtrend of Bitcoin price. Evidently 2018 can be termed as the year of “Crypto Crash” in the era of blockchain history. Conversely if we account for the yearly lows of bitcoin price over the years, the bitcoin trading was still profitable for HODLers. ATH altcoins Even amidst such negative sentiments of the market the technological developments of cryptos like , Tron (TRX) etc. made the headlines every now and then reminding people that ICO era was yet not over. Ripple (XRP) In this article we’ve considered currencies that are atleast an year old. While calculating percentages we’ve considered their this year highs and their closing rate on 31st Dec 2018. We’ve also mentioned their lowest price this year. Even though Bitcoin and ethereum do not make it to the TOP 10 list but still have suffered a major drop worth mentioning. Bitcoin (BTC) Ever since its ride in December 2017, the glorious era of cryptocurrency market where bitcoin’s ATH price almost touched $20,000, the ride has been deteriorating ever since reaching an year’s low at $3156 (as per binance exchange). Bitcoin price has plunged about this year. to the moon 77.94% **High: $**17527.30 **Low: $**3156 **Closing rate : $**3865.95 77.94% Percentage Decline : Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/ 2010: +0.82%2011: +0.76%2012: +0.26%2013: +1.11%2014: -0.25%2015: +0.09%2016: +0.22%2017: +0.37%2018: -0.33% Bitcoin average DAILY value change during: Numbers do speak for themselves, 2018 can be termed as the worst year for bitcoin till now. Even amidst such hue and cry, where almost everyone is crying foul about cryptocurrencies and ICOs, John McAfee has turned out to be a true believer who stands tall with his . $1 million price prediction for bitcoin by 2020 Ethereum (ETH) Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world in terms of market cap. Its developer friendly platform makes it easier to build and deploy decentralised apps (DApps). Vitalik’s , where he announced that crypto’s exponential growth days are over. He said interview with Bloomberg There is no longer the opportunity for yet another 1,000-times growth in anything in the space anymore. This comment further fueled the ethereum’s plunge to $100 range. Although he took to twitter to explain his comment but the damage had already been made. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/ **High: $**1397.48 **Low: $**84.66 **Closing rate : $**139.86 89.99% Percentage Decline : 1. Quantum (Qtum) Quantum is the public blockchain platform that leverages the simplicity and security of bitcoin UTXO protocol while adding the convenience and flexibility of smart contracts. This hybrid blockchain application platform is built with a motive to tap onto the mobile DApps (Decentralised Applications) market. In year 2018 Qtum happens to be the worst performing cryptocurrency. **High: $**94.07 **Low: $**1.48 **Closing rate : $**2.31 97.54% Percentage Decline : Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/qtum/ 2. Cardano (ADA) Similar to Ethereum, Cardano is a scalable and secured smart contracts platform conceptualised by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cardano/ **High: $**1.17 **Low: $**0.027 **Closing rate : $**0.043 96.32% Percentage Decline : 3. Nem (XEM) Nem’s smart asset blockchain system allows enterprises to build applications for real world use cases. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/nem/ **High: $**1.84 **Low: $**0.057 **Closing rate : $**0.068 96.30% Percentage Decline : 4. Neo (NEO) Neo, formerly known as Antshares, is a conglomeration of digital assets, digital identities and smart contracts thereby building a smart economy for the world. Post its re-fabrication from Antshares in 2017, Neo’s claim to fame was a point of discussion for the trading community. The returns were as high as 50X in the initial days of its launch. The first quarter of 2018 saw an ATH price at **$**187.97. From there it was a downward road for the coin closing the year at **$**7.53. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/neo/ **Year’s High: $**187.97 **Year’s Low: $**5.53 **Closing rate : $**7.53 95.99% Percentage Decline from Year’s High: 5. Lisk (LSK) Established in early 2016 Lisk is a which allows developers to create DApps in javascript. It also allows them to deploy a sidechain linked to the lisk blockchain. sidechain development platform Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/lisk/ **High: $**33.59 **Low: $**1.10 **Closing rate : $**1.46 95.65% Percentage Decline : 6. OmiseGo (OMG) Majorly used in thailand, Omisego Network talks about disrupting the current payment network systems throughout the world. Its motto signifies financial inclusion. It is the next-gen financial network built on ethereum network to provide transparent peer to peer transactions in real-time. Unbanked the banked Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/omisego/ **High: $**25.72 **Low: $**1.09 **Closing rate : $**1.42 94.48% Percentage Decline : 7. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Released in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is the fork coin of bitcoin backed by . It’s the upgraded version of bitcoin core software which is faster, cheaper and more reliable to use. Bitcoin cash closing in at $163.62 this year by suffered a plunge of . As a matter of fact bitcoin cash faced another hard fork into Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHABC) and Bitcoin Cash Satoshi Vision (BCHSV). Roger Ver -94.34% **High: $**2891.55 **Low: $**76.52 **Closing rate : $**163.62 94.34% Percentage Decline : Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/ 8. Dash (DASH) Based on bitcoin framework, Digital cash a.k.a Dash makes it easier to shop online with cryptocurrency as it enables swifter and private transactions. It values financial privacy of customers. Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dash/ **High: $**1283.36 **Low: $**58.47 **Closing rate : $**81.79 93.62% Percentage Decline : 9. Litecoin (LTC) Launched in 2011, litecoin is a decentralised global payment network meant to provide instant payments. The transaction speed is 4X times the transactions on bitcoin network. Just like bitcoin only 84 million litecoins can be mined. Developers of litecoin call it . silver to bitcoin’s gold Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/litecoin/ **High: $**300.49 **Low: $**22.97 **Closing rate : $**31.98 89.36% Percentage Decline : 10. Stellar (XLM) Founded by Jed McCaleb in 2014, stellar facilitates cross border payments just like ripple. The cryptocurrency launched on stellar network is lumens (XLM). Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stellar/ **High: $**0.892 **Low: $**0.093 **Closing rate : $**0.117 86.88% Percentage Decline : The Road Ahead The end of crypto era is no way near. What crypto crash 2018 taught us is that there is a dire need to curb malpractices like responsible for such volatility of prices. With the advent of institutional investors, STOs (Security token offereings) and legalisation of cryptocurrencies by multiple countries a long road lies ahead for crypto. pump and dump

Worst 10 performing cryptocurrencies of 2018

Cryptocurrency is one of the words you can’t avoid these days. News, blogs and even big-time financial authorities obsess over it, and by now everyone has to admit: the world is changing in front of our eyes. Miss this bandwagon now and you will be left so far behind that you might never recover. So, here you are with this great new business idea or getting ready to launch a startup, and you want to embrace the fascinating opportunities of the new world and create your own cryptocurrency. But how exactly does one do that? The Internet is full of information but, as it often happens, it’s contradicting, spattered all over the place, and sometimes simply hard to understand due to a heavy industry jargon. After reading this article you will know exactly what a cryptocurrency is, how a token is different from a coin, how to make your own cryptocurrency and whether your business needs it. Trending Cryptocurrency Hub Articles: 1. Everything we know about Ethergotchi so far! 2. Decentraland’s Virtual LAND Sale Stats 3. Three best blockchain stocks investors should watch out for 4. A Crypto that will Pay You Difference Between Token and Coin Before we dive into the technicalities of how to create your own cryptocurrency, we should set our facts straight and take a look at some basic definitions used in all cryptocurrency-related conversations. So, what is a cryptocurrency? Let’s take a step back and refresh in memory a definition of a currency first. While we tend to think about currencies in terms of banknotes and coins or dollars and euros, a currency is a unit of storage and account and a means of exсhаnge, i.e. a universally accepted way to obtain goods and services as well as to store and distribute wealth. Now, a cryptocurrency can be defined as a digital currency relying on encryption to generate new units and confirm the transactions. It has all the functions of the currency with the difference of running outside of a single centralized platform (such as a bank). Cryptocurrencies don’t have banknotes but they do have coins, which are often confused with tokens. So what exactly is the difference between them? Simply put, it all comes down to these three points: Coins require their own blockchain while tokens can operate on the existing ones. Tokens are limited to a specific project; coins can be used anywhere. Coins buy tokens but tokens can’t buy coins. If you want to put tokens and coins in a real-life context, think about tokens as your Frequent Flyer Miles while coins are actual money: you can use both to get an airplane ticket, but with the miles your choice will be limited to the air company that issued them, while with the money you can take your business anywhere you want. The bottomline is that you need to build a blockchain if you want to create a crypto coin. Benefits of having your own cryptocurrency In some cases it’s a no-brainer: if your project or startup requires its own blockchain, you need to create your own digital currency to incentivize the nodes contributing their processing power. One more word on blockchains here: many authoritative business analysts foresee a big future and a growing list of the markets and industries where the blockchain technology will significantly disrupt the status quo and generously reward the early adopters. The good news is that for many fields the blockchain technology has never truly arrived yet so it’s not too late to join the ranks of pioneers. The other important aspect is that when you decide to start a cryptocurrency you get a whole set of powerful marketing tools and consumer benefits which will help you differentiate yourself from the competition. Here is a list of the most significant advantages: Eliminating fraud risks — cryptocurrency is impossible to counterfeit and no party can reverse past transactions. Providing transaction anonymity — customers decide what exactly they want sellers to know about them. Cutting down operating costs — cryptocurrency is free from the exchange or interest rates, as well as the transaction charges. Offering immediate transactions — state holidays, business hours or geographic location of the parties don’t affect cryptocurrency. Ensuring an immediate pool of potential customers — now you can make business with those without an access to traditional exchange resources. No more trade restrictions in any markets. Providing security for their funds — since cryptocurrency is a decentralized system, there is no Big Brother figure like banks or government institution that can seize or freeze your assets. How to Create a Blockchain Now that you know how your own cryptocurrency can boost your business, let’s see the main steps you need to take to build a blockchain. Step 1. Know your use-case. Do your business interests lay in smart contracts area, data authentication and verification or in smart asset management? Define your objectives clearly at the very beginning. Step 2. Choose a consensus mechanism. For your blockchain to operate smoothly the participating nodes must agree on which transactions should be considered legitimate and added to the block. Consensus mechanisms are the protocols that do just that. There are plenty to choose from for the best fit for your business objectives. Step 3. Pick a . blockchain platform Your choice of a will depend on the consensus mechanism you’ve selected. To give you a better idea of what is out there, here is a list of the most popular blockchain platforms: blockchain platform Ethereum (market share — 82.70%) Waves (WAVES) NEM Nxt (NXT) BlockStarter EOS BitShares 2.0 CoinList Hyperledger Fabric IBM blockchain MultiChain HydraChain BigChainDB Openchain Chain Core Quorum IOTA KICKICO Step 4. Design the Nodes If you imagine a blockchain as a wall, nodes are the bricks it consists of. A node is an Internet-connected device supporting a blockchain by performing various tasks, from storing the data to verifying and processing transactions. Blockchains depend on nodes for efficiency, support, and security. There is a number of choices you have to make about the nodes you will employ: What are they going to be in terms of permissions: private, public, or hybrid? Will they be hosted on the cloud, on premise or both? Select and acquire necessary hardware details, such as processors, memory, disk size, etc. Pick a base operating system (most common choices would be Ubuntu, Windows, Red Hat, Debian, CentOS, or Fedora) Step 5. Establish your blockchain’s internal architecture Tread carefully as some of the parameters can not be changed once the blockchain platform is already running. It’s a good idea to take your time and really think through the following: Permissions (define who can access the data, perform transactions and validate them, i.e. create new blocks) Address formats (decide what your blockchain addresses will look like) Key formats (decide on the format of the keys that will be generating the signatures for the transactions) Asset issuance (establish the rules for creating and listing all asset units) Asset re-issuance (establish the rules for creating more units of the open assets) Key management (develop a system to store and protect the private keys granting the blockchain access) Multisignatures (define the amount of keys your blockchain will require to validate a transaction ) Atomic swaps (plan for the smart contracts enabling the exchange of different cryptocurrencies without a trusted third party) Parameters (estimate maximum block size, rewards for block mining, transaction limits, etc.) Native assets (define the rules of a native currency issued in a blockchain) Block signatures (define how the blockchain participants creating blocks will be required to sign them) Hand-shaking (establish the rules of how the nodes will identify themselves when connecting to each other) Step 6. Take care of APIs Make sure to check whether the blockchain platform of your choice provides the pre-built APIs since not all of them do. Even if your platform doesn’t come with those, not to worry: there are a lot of reliable blockchain API providers out there. Here are some of them for you to check out: ChromaWay Bitcore Neuroware Tierion Gem Coinbase’s API Colored Coin APIs Blockchain APIs Factom Alpha API Colu BlockCypher Step 7: Design the Interface (Admin and User) Communication is the key and a well-thought-out interface ensures a smooth communication between your blockchain and it’s participants. Here are the things to consider at this stage: Web, mail and FTP servers External databases The front end and programming languages (e.g. HTML5, CSS, PHP, C#, Java, Javascript, Python, Ruby). Step 8. Make your cryptocurrency legal Slowly but surely the law is catching up with the cryptocurrencies and you better protect yourself from any surprises by looking into the trends around the cryptocurrency regulations and the direction they are headed. Bonus step for overachievers: Grow and Improve your Blockchain You’ve come so far, don’t stop now. Get a headstart into the future and think how you can boost your blockchain by tapping into the future-proof technologies like the Internet of Things, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive service, Machine Learning, Containers, Biometrics, Cloud, Bots and other inspiring developments. Bitcoin Forks as an Alternative to Building Your Own Blockchain As you can see, it takes a lot of time, resources and particular skills to build a blockchain. So what can you do if you don’t possess all of the above but still want to build your own cryptocurrency? Then it’s time to talk about Bitcoin forks. How to Create a Bitcoin Fork? It’s time for another basic definition to make sure that we speak the same language. What is forking in cryptocurrency? In layman’s terms, a blockchain fork is a software update. All blockchain participants (aka full nodes) run the same software and it’s crucial that they run the same version of that software to be able to access the shared ledger to verify transactions and ensure network security. Therefore, every time you want to change your blockchain parameters or introduce new features, you will need to create a fork. What is the difference between hard and soft forks? Forks can be divided into hard and soft. Hard forks require 90% to 95% percent of the nodes to update their software; the system will no longer accept the nodes running a non-updated version. Soft forks are less demanding. Simply a majority of the nodes is required to update the software and those who run a previous version can continue to operate. What are Bitcoin forks? Now, the Bitcoin forks are the changes in the Bitcoin network protocol. Since the Bitcoin code is an open-source protocol, it is a low-lift exercise for those who want to create their own cryptocurrency and built on the existing by adding new features or addressing current imperfections. How to create a Bitcoin fork? Option 1. Use a fork coin generator. If you don’t have any programming skills, services like ForkGen might be a perfect solution for you. ForkGen is an automated fork coin generator where anyone can create a unique Bitcoin offshoot by changing some parameters and rules. Option 2. Do It Yourself. If you want to take a hardcore way to create a Bitcoin fork and aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, follow these steps: Go to Github, find, download and compile Bitcoin code on your computer. Then, the programming part starts: you’ll have to reconfigure the Bitcoin code, implement your customization. Publish the code (open source) back to Github. Provide a website and some kind of documentation (normally a white paper). Bitcoin forks: success stories Bitcoin forks are worth exploring if you want to start your own cryptocurrency leveraging the social and financial capital around the Bitcoin name. Some examples of successful Bitcoin forks include: Litecoin Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin Gold Main Steps of How to Make Your Own Cryptocurrency To sum it up, you have two ways to go about starting your own cryptocurrency: build a blockchain or create a fork. To build a blockchain you need to: define how it will be used in your business model; decide upon a consensus mechanism choose a blockchain platform; design the nodes and blockchain properties; provide APIs for the tasks executed on you blockchain; develop an intuitive and comprehensive Admin and User Interfaces; take care of the legal side of the business. To create a Bitcoin fork you can either: Use an automated fork coin generator like ForkGen Or: Download the Bitcoin code; Customize it; Publish and maintain your code. Starting a New Cryptocurrency: Is It Worth the Effort? Having read this far, you already have a fairly clear picture of what it takes to create a new blockchain. Before starting any new complex project it’s always a good idea to take a deep breath and evaluate once again if this is something you should be investing your time and money in. So, how to establish if you even need a blockchain in the first place? Here is a list of question that will help you to answer this question before you make this commitment. Do you need data storage? Do your requirements reach beyond what a traditional database can provide? Do you have multiple participants updating the data? Are you looking to eliminate a third-party? Do you want to establish a safe environment for the parties that don’t trust each other? Is your environment going to have hard rules requiring little to no updates? Do you need to maintain the privacy of your data? If you’ve answered “yes” to 3 and more of these questions, you will get all the benefits of a blockchain including: Enhancing data security. Cutting down transaction costs. Preventing frauds. Improving efficiency. Providing transparency. Executing Smart Contracts. While the benefits are numerous, the amount of work that goes into creating your own blockchain is significant and requires a wide range of knowledge and tools to execute all steps of the process in the most time- and cost-efficient way. Having employed the help of professional developers you will significantly cut down your expenses in the long run by eliminating the room for errors, and, therefore, time and cost of the rework and updates; future-proof your solutions by working with the experts who stay on top of all the latest industry developments and innovations, and free up your time for growing your business. Explore how your business can benefit from its own cryptocurrency and blockchain — schedule your free with the Ezetech professionals now. 30-min consultation Originally published in Ezetech blog and shared with Medium community. And don’t forget to give us your 👏 below!

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