It is a common observation that as the world is moving towards complete digitalization, everything that has value will be tokenized. Tokens are unique digital assets that a person can own and store in a digital wallet, and in the future, someone’s house verification will be a token stored in an online wallet instead of a paper.

We are already seeing fiat currencies and securities getting tokenized. For example, US Dollar is now available on digital tokens called stablecoins like Tether (USDT), TrueUSD, and USDC. According to an estimate, there is a total of $256 trillion worth of assets in the world, everything from property to art, to stocks to oil. With the help of blockchain technology, they all can be tokenized.

The idea of tokens began to take shape during the 2017/2018 ICO boom. At that same time, a team believed that there will be thousands of Ethereum tokens in the future and there will be a need to trustingly and efficiently exchange them. That team, led by Will Warren and Amir Bandeali, created a protocol on Ethereum with a tokenized future in mind. The protocol is named 0x Protocol. In the following text, Crypto Economy will provide you a brief overview of 0x Protocol.

0x whitepaper describes 0x as an open protocol for decentralized exchange on the Ethereum blockchain. The project is the brainchild of Will Warren, co-founder and current CEO, and Amir Bandeali, co-founder and current CTO of 0x. The protocol is developed by 0x Labs and the team is based in San Francisco, California.

0x Protocol aims at powering the decentralized exchange where all kinds of assets, stocks, currencies, precious metals, could be traded publicly on the blockchain as tokens. It uses Ethereum smart contracts for anyone in the world to operate a decentralized exchange. With 0x Protocol, 0x Labs is creating an open-source infrastructure that will enable frictionless peer to peer (P2P) exchange of tokens.

0x is fundamentally a network protocol used to facilitate signaling between buyers and sellers rather than a crypto-economic protocol. It is a publically accessible smart contract that any dApp that incorporates exchange functionality can hook into.

0x refers to their model as an “off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement” that combines the efficiency of state channels with the fast settlement of on-chain order books.

0x is implemented with Ethereum smart contracts. The main idea for 0x is to be used by other projects as a back-end transaction protocol. Thus, the 0x protocol itself is application-agnostic and helps decouple the transaction protocol layer from the application layer.

The meaning of “off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement” means that order books are hosted and maintained by separate entities called Relayers. Only the transactions are settled on the Ethereum network.

The 0x’s decentralized exchange (DEX) contract processes the exchange on the blockchain. According to the whitepaper, the entire 0x DEX contract is approximately 100 lines of code and it costs approximately 90k gas to fill an order. 0x DEX serves two relatively simple functions: fill and cancel.

In 0x, the one who creates order is called “Maker” and the person who fills that order is called “Taker.”

By combing these things, one can explain the 0x workflow as:

Tokens on 0x Protocol are traded in two types of order: Point-to-Point order and Broadcast orders.

These trade orders are just like peer-to-peer messaging that allows two parties to directly exchange tokens with each other using just about any communication medium they prefer to relay messages.

In 0x Protocol, if a maker wants to trade Etherem token with a taker whom he knows to trade with, he can simply send a 0x order via instant message or email. A taker just has to accept the trade and trade will be executed. According to the 0x whitepaper, these orders are called point-to-point orders.

0x messages are similar to the SWIFT messaging system that banks use to communicate with each other about money transfers. This P2P exchange of tokens is powered by a consumer-facing product called 0x OTC. Since 0x order messages are relayed off-chain, the link can be sent through any method the person issuing the order prefers, ranging from email to Twitter to even writing it down on a piece of paper.

Each point-to-point order message contains order parameters and an associated signature. Order parameters are concatenated and hashed to 32 bytes via the Keccak SHA3 function. The order originator signs the order hash with their private key to produce an ECDSA signature.

Broadcast orders are used when there are no direct takers. In broadcast orders, buyers and sellers post orders on decentralized marketplaces called Relayers in 0x Protocol.

If a direct taker is not available, Makers can visit 0x Relayers. Relayers are marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers. On Relayers, anyone can place their buy or sell orders. Every order on these marketplaces contains everything needed to make a transaction happen. When a taker finds an order he likes, he just has to confirm it with his crypto wallet and 0x Protocol securely completes the trade.

Several kinds of Relayer exist in the 0x ecosystem, each with their different kind of marketplace. Any developer can create its Relayer by using 0x’s open-source software. The benefit of these relayers is that they can serve an endless number of communities. For example, a music fan can create a marketplace for concert tickets or a game relayer can create a marketplace for in-game items. In this way, the 0x team hopes to create millions of unique global marketplaces, thus enabling a truly global economy. Thanks to blockchain technology, this is now possible to create a more secure and efficient global economy.

Relayers host and maintain an off-chain order book in exchange for transaction fees.

ZRX is a native token of 0x Protocol. It is primarily a governance token but is also used for relayers to charge fees for hosting broadcast orders. Transaction fees are moved from the Maker and/or Taker to the Relayer upon settlement of a trade.

Token holders can also participate in decentralized governance where they can vote on upgrade proposals. In October of 2019, the team released Version 3.0 of 0x that also featured a new ZRX staking mechanism.

In ZRX Staking, market makers can create staking pools. Market makers in 0x are a special category of traders that provide a significant amount of orders in 0x orderbooks. Their function is to make it possible to have liquid markets with tight spreads between bid and ask, and low slippage when executing large orders.

Market makers are entitled to receive rewards in exchange for their activity, which is crucial for the good functioning of 0x markets. To collect these rewards, they need to stake ZRX tokens. To do so, they create staking pools, which allow them to stake their ZRX and attract other tokenholders’ ZRX, provided that they share a portion of rewards with them.

ZRX staking mechanism gives market makers monetary rewards in ether and additional ZRX voting power for providing liquidity.

Important Links

Website: https://0x.org/

Whitepaper: trong> https://0x.org/docs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/0xproject

0x (CURRENCY:ZRX) traded up 10.9% against the dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 21:00 PM E.T. on January 17th. During the last seven days, 0x has traded 18% higher against the dollar. 0x has a total market capitalization of $443.24 million and approximately $197.37 million worth of 0x was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One 0x token can now be purchased for about $0.59 or 0.00001639 BTC on popular exchanges.

Here is how other cryptocurrencies have performed during the last 24 hours:

0x Profile

0x Token Trading

0x can be purchased on the following cryptocurrency exchanges:. It is usually not currently possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as 0x directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to acquire 0x should first buy Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Changelly, Gemini or Coinbase. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to buy 0x using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

Cryptocurrency and BlockchainMoney 0 Comments0x, What is Zerox, ZeroxWhat Is 0X (ZRX)?0X is an Ethereum-based, decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that enables peer-to-peer (P2P) token exchanges. This drastically increases security by cutting out the middlemen of exchanges, which are notoriously unsafe and prone to theft and other cyber attacks. 0x uses its proprietary ZRX ERC-20 token to facilitate on-chain and off-chain transactions.Who Is 0X?0x was founded in October 2016 by Amir Bandeali and Will Warren. They created the platform to streamline Ethereum token trading to reduce gas costs. They lead the 0x Foundation, which maintains and operates the network.Use Cases of 0X0x is used for Over-the-Counter (OTC) trades that dont involve a centralized exchange. This creates more trading pairs and enables faster token liquidity.How to Mine ZRXYou can not mine ZRX, but relayers can charge and receive a fee for initiating exchanges and transfers. ZRX can be purchased on 0x, Coinbase, and other cryptocurrency exchanges.Notable Partnerships and InvestorsZRX is accepted on a wide variety of cryptocurrency exchange markets. It helps that its an ERC-20 token. The 0x protocol is also used in a range of blockchain projects, including dEX, Radar, Blocknet, Augur, Aragon, Maker, and more. While 0X doesnt have a fee, any of these relayer partners may charge its own proprietary fee for using the protocol through their exchange platform.Learn More About 0XIf you want to learn more about 0X, I wrote a full coin intro guide at Crypto Briefing. Or you can learn more about other cryptocurrencies across Thought for Your Penny.

The nonprofit foundation behind the privacy-driven messaging app Signal is officially joining the cryptocurrency venture. In this case, the Signal Foundation announced it has started accepting crypto donations.

According to an announcement via Twitter, the organization encouraged people to arrange donations via cryptocurrencies, but it’s not limited to bitcoin (BTC) or ethereum (ETH).

Per their landing page, the foundation also supports litecoin (LTC), chainlink (LINK), zcash (ZEC), amp (AMP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), dai (DAI), gemini dollar (GUSD), storj (STORJ), and 0x (ZRX).

The addition of privacy coins comes in response to a number of social media users asking Signal to add such cryptos to “comply” with their privacy-driven philosophy.

A tweet from Signal reads:

As a nonprofit organization, we depend on your support. If you’ve been patiently waiting for Signal to accept cryptocurrency donations, you no longer need to hodl back your generosity.

Regarding the crypto payment processor used, the Signal Foundation stated it will handle all payments via The Giving Block, a company specialized in processing crypto donations for nonprofit organizations.

Moreover, the team behind the Signal app pointed out that those who want to claim U.S. tax deduction can optionally “provide an email address to receive a tax receipt.”

The foundation further clarified that The Giving Block supports anonymous donations.

Signal, created in 2018 by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, is a well-known privacy messaging app with more than strong encryption features.

In fact, the app has received mainstream endorsement globally from crypto-friendly personalities, such as American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and Tesla Technoking Elon Musk, who recently encouraged his Twitter followers to start using it.

Recently, due to the controversy sparked by Whatsapp changing its terms and conditions, Signal’s user base skyrocketed in a matter of hours.

What do you think about Signal accepting crypto donations? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The nonprofit foundation behind the privacy-driven messaging app Signal is officially joining the cryptocurrency venture. In this case, the Signal Foundation announced it has started accepting crypto donations.

According to an announcement via Twitter, the organization encouraged people to arrange donations via cryptocurrencies, but it’s not limited to bitcoin (BTC) or ethereum (ETH).

Per their landing page, the foundation also supports litecoin (LTC), chainlink (LINK), zcash (ZEC), amp (AMP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), dai (DAI), gemini dollar (GUSD), storj (STORJ), and 0x (ZRX).

The addition of privacy coins comes in response to a number of social media users asking Signal to add such cryptos to “comply” with their privacy-driven philosophy.

A tweet from Signal reads:

As a nonprofit organization, we depend on your support. If you’ve been patiently waiting for Signal to accept cryptocurrency donations, you no longer need to hodl back your generosity.

Regarding the crypto payment processor used, the Signal Foundation stated it will handle all payments via The Giving Block, a company specialized in processing crypto donations for nonprofit organizations.

Moreover, the team behind the Signal app pointed out that those who want to claim U.S. tax deduction can optionally “provide an email address to receive a tax receipt.”

The foundation further clarified that The Giving Block supports anonymous donations.

Signal, created in 2018 by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, is a well-known privacy messaging app with more than strong encryption features.

In fact, the app has received mainstream endorsement globally from crypto-friendly personalities, such as American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and Tesla Technoking Elon Musk, who recently encouraged his Twitter followers to start using it.

Recently, due to the controversy sparked by Whatsapp changing its terms and conditions, Signal’s user base skyrocketed in a matter of hours.

What do you think about Signal accepting crypto donations? Let us know in the comments section below.

Blockchain data provider Covalent has raised $2 million in a strategic funding round.

It was a token round, Covalent founder Ganesh Swami told The Block. Hashed Ventures led the funding, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, Delphi Ventures, and others.

With fresh capital at hand, Covalent plans to launch a decentralized version of its data query network. In other words, Covalent wants to be a "permissionless and unstoppable public utility," said Swami.

Decentralization would make Covalent "faster and cheaper" for clients, Swami told The Block. "For us, it means now we can recruit a hundred more people from the community to work along-side us to further our mission," he said.

Swami didn't say which blockchain Covalent is using for the decentralized network but said it is "one of the existing faster blockchains."

Founded in 2017, Covalent provides blockchain data in one place for six different blockchains — Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polkadot, Avalanche, Polygon (formerly Matic), and Fantom. Until last October, Covalent only supported Ethereum.

Covalent now is in the process of supporting more blockchains networks, including Optimism, Moonbeam, Elrond, NEAR, xDAI, Compound Chain, and others "very soon," Swami told The Block.

The firm's top customers include ConsenSys, 0x, Balancer, Reef Finance, Zerion, and others, said Swami, adding that the project serves a total of over 100 customers.

Covalent's decentralized query network is expected to go live "later this year," and a testnet would launch "in a few months," said Swami.

There are currently 25 people working for Covalent, and Swami is looking to add 15 more people by the end of this year.

As for Covalent's native token, Covalent Query Token (CQT), it is expected to launch in Q2 of this year after a public sale.

"We have a public sale coming, but that's more of a marketing or distribution event and not a fundraise perse," said Swami.

The token round brings Covalent's total funding to date to $5.1 million. The project previously raised $3.1 million last October.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

A market correction resulted in a bitcoin price decline to about $51K, but the altcoins have been hit the most. Most large-cap altcoins such as UNISWAP and Polkadot experienced a double-figures price decrease, while Ethereum declined to much lower than $1.6K. The BTC market cap was also not left out in the correction.

Yesterday’s altcoin market started on a healthy note with a few gains after some days of sideways trading. ETH led other altcoins to reach a peak daily price of $1.7K. But in less than a day, the market conditions changed drastically.

Some hours ago, there was a sudden price decline that caused Ethereum to trade at its intraday low of $1.55K. While it has made a few rallies, it remains more than 6% down and currently trades beneath $1.6K. The remaining altcoins also experienced dips. Cardano and Binance now trade at about $1 and $250 respectively after experiencing a 5% and 2.5% price decline.

Polkadot experienced the highest slump at 13% and now trades below $31. Ripple is now less than $0.5 after a 10% decline. UNI and LTE currently trade at $28 and $176 after a decline of about 12% and 9% respectively. Theta which had previously risen by almost 61% during the past week was down by 18% to now trade at about $12. Despite this decline, theta maintains its position to be among the top nine altcoins with the largest market cap.

Crypto coins price drop by percentages. Source: Quantify Crypto

Other notable losses were 0x (-12%), Ontology (-14%), Omg Network (-12%), Sushiswap (-13%), Ren (-12.5%), Flow (-12.5%), Fantom (-12.5%), IOTA (-15.5%) and Theta Fuel (-23.5%). With about $151 billion loss within one day, the cumulative market capitalization is now less than $1.62 trillion.

When Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla now accepts bitcoin for the purchases of the electric car and won’t convert the coins to fiat currencies, it seemed as if the king coin is heading for a fresh bullish run. The king coin surged by a couple of thousand dollars to exceed $58,000 within a few hours after that tweet.

However, there was a price decline as BTC lost over $6K to trade at its intraday low of $51.5K as of this writing.

While it may have rallied to about $53K, it still represents a 4% decrease within a day. What’s more worrisome is that bitcoin’s market capitalization decline beneath the desired $1 trillion and has failed to rise above it since then. Bitcoin market cap has surpassed a trillion dollars twice this year (February 19 and March 9). While it didn’t stay there for long the first time, it has remained there since the second time before it went under it after today’s decline.

Bybt analytics reports that this market situation has resulted in more than $2 billion worth of liquidations throughout the market since yesterday. In the last 12 hours alone, over $1.6 billion worth of liquidations has happened. That period represents the estimated time the market started correcting itself.

BTC/USD price chart. Source: TradingView

The market-wide correction that noticed BTC plummet to $51,500 has harmed the choice cash even worse. Ethereum dropped effectively beneath $1,600, whereas double-digit value declines are evident for quite a few large-cap alts, together with Polkadot and Uniswap.

After a couple of days of sideways buying and selling, the altcoin market appeared wholesome yesterday with minor positive aspects. Ethereum led the cost with a rise above $1,700. Moreover, the second-largest cryptocurrency went to a day by day excessive of $1,740.

However, the scenario has modified completely in the previous 24 hours. A sudden value drop evaporated $200 of ETH’s worth, and the asset went to an intraday low of $1,550 a couple of hours in the past. Despite recovering some floor since then, ETH remains to be beneath $1,600 and is over 6% down.

Red dominates the remainder of the altcoin market too. Binance (-5%) and Cardano (-2.5%) have decreased to $245 and $1.1, respectively.

Polkadot has slumped by 13% to beneath $31, Ripple (-10%) is beneath $0.5, UNI (-11.5%) is right down to $27, Litecoin (-9%) trades at $175, and THETA (-18%) is now simply shy of $12. Nevertheless, THETA is 60% up in the previous seven days, and its ascend has made the coin the ninth largest by market cap.

Further losses are evident for Theta Fuel (-24%), IOTA (-15%), Ontology (-13%), Fantom (-12%), OMG Network (-12%), Flow (-12%), Ren (-12%), SushiSwap (-12%), 0x (-11%), and extra.

Ultimately, the cumulative market capitalization noticed $150 billion wiped off in a day to a low of $1.620 trillion.

The scenario for the first cryptocurrency appeared to be going its manner yesterday following information from Elon Musk’s Tesla that the large will allow purchases with BTC and retain the cash. Almost instantaneously, the cryptocurrency jumped by a couple of thousand {dollars} and even topped $57,000.

The tables turned reasonably vigorously for bitcoin because it plummeted by greater than $6,000 since then to an intraday low of $51,500 registered a couple of hours in the past. Although BTC has bounced off and spiked to roughly $53,000, it’s nonetheless over 4% down on a 24-hour scale.

What’s maybe much more damaging is the truth that bitcoin’s market capitalization dropped beneath the coveted $1 trillion and nonetheless sits beneath it.

According to Bybt data, the improved volatility has precipitated over $2 billion in liquidations throughout all the market since yesterday. In the previous 12 hours alone – roughly on the time when the market began dumping in worth – the liquidations are greater than $1.6 billion.

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Disclaimer: Information discovered on CryptoPotato is these of writers quoted. It doesn’t symbolize the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether or not to purchase, promote, or maintain any investments. You are suggested to conduct your individual analysis earlier than making any funding selections. Use supplied info at your individual danger. See Disclaimer for extra info.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

Hope you are looking to Start a DeFi Exchange Business, but having some trouble to select profitable decentralzied exchange business, Right? No need to worry about that! you're in a right place at the right time.

From the early days of Cryptocurrency, exchanges have played a major role in matching crypto buyers with Crypto sellers. 

Traditionally, centralized exchange players have dominated this crypto field. However, with the rapidly-evolving stack of advanced technologies available, a growing number of tools for decentralized trades have emerged.

In this article, we are going to discuss most profitable and exclusive details about "Top 10 DeFi based Decentralzied Exchanges in 2021" which are expected to rock in the upcoming year.

Decentralized exchanges are autonomous decentralized applications (DApps) which permits for direct P2P (peer-to-peer) crypto transactions to exchange without having to give up control over their funds to any intermediary. 

This type of business infrastructure is completely different from centralized exchanges where cutomers hand over their cryptocurrency assets to the exchange, which acts as a intermediary and essentially problems IOUs for customers to exchange with on the platform. Decentralzied Exchanges were initially conceptualized to avoid the requirement for any authority to supervise & approve trades made within a particular exchange. Through the help of smart contracts, Decentralzied Exchanges operate automated order books and trades. This creates them “truly peer-to-peer exchange.”

Uniswap is a Top leading decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that runs on the Ethereum blockchain network. Guaranteed liquidity for millions of customers & hundreds of Ethereum applications. Uniswap is a trustless & permissionless interface that permits anyone to develop/swap any 2 Ethereum assets in the crypto market, against an underlying liquidity pool. UniSwap was one of the most stirring Decentralized Finance developments in 2019 and continues to count amongst the best decentralized exchanges (DEXs). 

Number of users: 438K+

TVL: $5.61B

Volume: $825.42 M

Uniswap decentralized trading pool itself establishes prices & exchange rates and facilitates you to exchange rapidly with its protocol through the use of Ethereum based contracts. Hence, you don’t require to find a counterparty. Liquidity providers earn 0.3% of the crypto trading fee every time an ERC20 pair is used. that time no protocol fees accured. Though, a 0.05% fee can be charged in the future.

Uniswap Wallet Support: 

WalletConnect WalletLink (Coinbase Wallet) Portis Fortmatic Trust Wallet

dYdX Decentralized Exchange you to rent, entrust and create wagers on the potential prices of crypto money.

dYdX DEX is directed to carve further developed exchange tools on the Ethereum blockchain network.

The dYdX protocol is accessible to each and everyone, to be built upon–with customers’ cryptocurrency assets managed by smart contracts instead of human.

Number of users: 4.99K+

TVL: $291.83M

Volume: $30.42M

dYdX DEX is the most prominent decentralized margin trading forum with a maximum of over 150,000 ETH confined in its smart contracts.

In April 2020, it hit a milestone more than $500 million users was traded on the platform. Each maker gets paid to exchange 0.025% of the fees.

DODO Decentralzied Exchange - Trade. Invest and Issue your Cryptocurrency Assets With Market Leading Liquidity. DODO exchange is an on-chain liquidity provider which leverages the Proactive Market Maker algorithm (PMM) to offer on-chain & contract based liquidity for everyone. The decentralzied exchange also has a circulating stock of its own crypto coins – 99,406,891 DODO coins, to be precise & also a maximum allowance of 1,000,000,000 DODO coins. 

1. Liquidity Protocol - DODO is a liquidity protocol powered by the PMM (Proactive Market Maker) algorithm & built for capital efficiency 2. Contract-Fillable Liquidity - DODO exchange contract-fillable liquidity is comparable to centralized exchanges. 3. Price Discovery - DODO exchange provides a low barrier-to-entry, pain-free crypto token issuance mechanic for long tail crypto assets

Number of users: 2.35K+

Volume: $76.05 M

Supported Coins:

Dodo supports over 40 pairs Bunch of stablecoins such as USDT, Kine, Dai, USDC, SushiSwap, ShuttleOne and more coins.

1inch exchange provides the best rates by discovering the most efficient swapping routes across all leading Decentralzied Exchanges. 1inch is heavily relying on its DAO in the case of rewards and fees. 1inch exchange is also an ERC-20 token that governs 1inch’s DEX aggregator & liquidity protocol. Crypto Transactions on 1inch.exchange are up to 42% cheaper price because of using CHI GasToken.

Number of users: 45.7K+

TVL: $75.09M

Volume: $24.12M     

1INCH exchange token holders can decide the price impact fee, the swap fee and the governance reward. 1inch does not charge any fees for swapping tokens.   

Sushi Swap decentralized exchange produced over $1 billion in liquidity in 4 days and came to be called a “vampire protocol” due to its main intention of sucking Uniswap’s liquidity & migrating it to its ecosystem. 

SushiSwap exchange, since its launch on Aug2,2020, inducted the $SUSHI token as a reward for customers who staked liquidity tokens into a few specific Uniswap liquidity pools. 

Number of users: 41.5K+

TVL: $4.96B

Volume: $214.46M

Cryptocurrency users who placed their liquidity into the Sushi tapped Uniswap liquidity pools, had their liquidity pool tokens held in a smart contract that would easily migrate over to SushiSwap. They had 3 days to decide if they wanted their Uniswap LP tokens to be turned into SushiSwap LP tokens. On September 9, SushiSwap Migrated over $800 million in liquidity funds.

You can obtain sushiswap's utility token – SUSHI at various on-demand cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) including  Binance. Poloniex, and OKEx.

Balancer is a protocol for programmable liquidity. Balancer exchange develops each and every effort to be as trustless as possible. There are no admin oriented controls, unwanted upgradeability, or shutdowns built into the smart contracts.

Easily swap ERC20 tokens - Exchange tokens without any deposits, bids, asks, and order management system. All on-chain network.

Balancer Simulate Trades, Smart Order Routing, Unstoppable Interface functinaolities. Flexibility built into the base protocol Up to 8 tokens. Any weights. And programmability through smart-contract owned pools. Instead of paying high fees to portfolio managers to rebalance your portfolio, you collect that certain fees from crypto traders, who rebalance your portfolio. You can earn returns by providing liquidity or as a crypto trader swap between any cryptocurrency assets in the global liquidity pool.

Number of users: 54,300+

TVL: $1.88B

Volume: $62.74M

Balancer Decentralzied Exchange works similarly to other top decentralized exchanges like Uniswap & Curve. However, Balancer provides additional exchange features, including the ability to bundle up to eight tokens into liquidity pools. It has a variable decentralized exchange fee depending on the liquidity pool.

Balancer is its automatic market maker (AMM) protocol that decreases the overall cost and slippage between crypto trades of different cryptocurrencies. Balancer DEXs is a decentralized replacement for the traditional market-maker, a 3rd party involvements that provides liquidity to traded crypto assets. 

Ethereum (ETH), DAI, MKR, USDC, REP, BTC++, WBTC, WETH, BAT, SNX, ZRX, LINK, DZAR, UMA, LRC, REN, LEND, KNC, COMP, OCEAN.  Tokens without pools such as tBTC, ANT, cUSDC, cDAI, imBTC, pBTC, sBTC, sUSD, PNK, AS, T and RPL.

Kyber Network is a decentralized, blockchain-based liquidity protocol that facilitates the exchange of tokens without an intermediary and offers liquidity for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.  Kyber Swap is Kyber Network’s Decentralzied Exchange DEX project that uses a native token Kyber Network Crystals ($KNC) for governance and a claim on crypto trading fees.

Kyber is the liquidity infrastructure for decentralized finance (DEFI). Kyber network aggregates liquidity from diverse sources into a single liquidity pool, which offers the best rates for takers such as DApps, crypto Wallets, DEXs, and End crypto users. 

Number of users: 5.2K+

TVL: $18.91M

Volume:  $4.12M

Crypto Transactions on Kyber are fully on-chain network and thus completely transparent & also verifiable. KyberDAO is a community platform that permits KNC token holders to participate in governance.

Kyber Network Strategies:

Instant Settlement

Straightforward Integration

Fully On-chain

Liquidity Aggregation

Customizable Business Model

Curve Finance is a decentralized exchange (DEX) running on Ethereum Blockchain Network. It's completely designed for swapping between stablecoins. All you need is an Ethereum wallet integeration, some crypto funds, and you can swap various stablecoins with low fees & slippage.

Number of users: 7.37K+

TVL: $3.89B

Volume: $20.51M

Curve.finance is a decentralized liquidity aggregator where anyone can add their cryptocurrency assets to many different liquidity pools & earn certain fees.

Bancor is a blockchain based decentralzied protocol that enables participants to exchange crypto assets directly instead of depending on decentralzied exchanges. It is a completely on-chain liquidity protocol and can be implemented on smart contract blockchain networks.

Number of users: 54,300+

TVL: $1.75B

Volume: $26.38M

Bancor Exchange is an open-source standard for liquidity pools to offer automated market-making (AMM) against smart contracts.

With Bancor network, one can:

Bancor V2 is the latest update to the Bancor protocol. Even though Bancor exchange was one of the first protocols to implement liquidity pools, it didn’t attract sevaral participants because of numerous problems.

0x API is a professional grade liquidity aggregator enabling the future of Decentralzied Finance (DeFi) applications.

0x protocol works similarly to SWIFT protocol, but for operating decentralized exchanges (DEXs) for exchanging digital tokens and crypto assets that run on the Ethereum blockchain network. Built on the siginificant foundation of Ethereum token standards, its acts as the key infrastructure layer for the burgeoning number of financial applications and instruments that are on-boarding the blockchain technology stack and are getting traded in digital forms. 

Daily Volumes:  $36.8+ M

As loads of the global level financial price is getting tokenized with each and every day, the requirement to exchange such digital assets & crypto tokens in a secure & efficient manner is keep growing. With its clearly business oriented focused message formats and smart contracts, 0x protocol attempts to fill up for the requirement.

We, Blockchainappsdeveloper curate the best defi decentralzied exchange projects with the intention of adding value for crypto investors through the process of selecting, organizing, and looking after various projects available in the current cryptocurrency market.

At Blockahinappsdeveloper - DeFi Exchange Development Company, we provide premium DeFi Exchange Development Services and Solutions that are sure to build your desired business venture in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Space to immense heights. Our experience developing DeFi protocols, with a team of adept developers coupled with white-label software and scalable solutions, will provide your DeFi bsaed DEX platform the boost it requirements to succeed in this lucrative business sector.

Blockchainappsdeveloper providing high-end security & liquidity, entire anonymity and financial inclusivity, Decentralzied Exchanges make trading and transacting cryptocurrency accessible and lucrative for crypto entrepreneurs.

Development of new 0x Extensions. Passer and Distributor Contract. 3 min readIntroduction We designed the Passer Contract and Distributor Contract for 0x protocol ecosystem.The BlockBase Team has developed two extension contracts that enable projects to offer new forms of NFT trading to their users.Who we are? BlockBase, Inc. is a development and consulting firm of blockchain technology based in Japan. And we build Marketplace of NFT which named. 3 months ago, we were adopted by Acceleration program of 0x. Therefore we replaced backend system to 0x protocol and built new 0x Extensions contracts for Japanese regulation and a better UX.Passer Contract Wrapping ETH into ERC-20 compliant wETH has been a barrier to adoption for the greater DeFi ecosystem. With the Passer Contract, users can simply send ETH and the orders they want to fill. It is similar to a forwarder contract, but the passer contract that the taker to send ETH and get ETH to the maker. The algorithm of passer contract is temporarily mint and approve PASS tokens(ERC20) when the fill order is executed. Then PASS token and ERC721 token are transferred by ERC20Proxy and ERC721Proxy. When PASS token TransferFrom is called, the minted passer token is burned and ETH is automatically send to the maker. These processes is executed in one single transaction. Please refer to this image for details of the transaction.Passer tokens are like a gear. It is for the smooth sending and receiving of ETH.More information of the Passer Contract can be .Distributor Contract In the current 0x Protocol system, although the fee payment was ZRX, the users needs to get ZRX tokens, We need to improve usability more easily. It is also discussed in .The distributor contract allows taker and maker fees to be paid in ETH .The developer and the service provider set the fee distribution address and distribution ratio, and the distributor contract enables distribution. The distribution is possible up to 10 or more addresses because it is made with emphasis on extensibility. This also enables the return of profits to developers and creators who provide NFT. More information of the Distributor Contract can be .Conclusion We are confident that we can contribute to the 0x ecosystem. This contracts has already been released (Apache License 2.0). A library using this contract will be provided as an open source soon.We deliver NFT developers much easier and simpler way to build MarketPlace of NFT!

Matcha, a decentralized exchange from 0x that launched today, wants to become the new standard in cryptocurrency exchanges. The 0x team believes there is an opportunity to raise the bar and create a new, simpler trading experience that will usher the next wave of crypto traders into the greater DeFi ecosystem.

With Matcha, 0x is attempting to provide a better and easier-to-use experience similar to Robinhood, but for decentralized finance, said Matt Taylor, 0x’s head of marketing.

“Robinhood gave people a very clean user-friendly way to trade these assets,” he told Decrypt. “We feel part of the opportunity for us—and how we are going to differentiate between Matcha and other DEXs—is by creating much better design and user experience.”

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0x was founded by Amir Bandeali and Will Warren as a platform to build decentralized exchanges. In a 2018 post, Warren described 0x’s mission as “building public infrastructure, making assets more accessible, more liquid, and empowering enterprising teams around the world to build a new financial system.”

While there are already DEX online based on the 0x Protocol, such as Tokenlon and Bamboo Relay, Matcha is the first one produced by the 0x team.

Taylor said that until recently, 0x has been focusing on developing its core protocol and building out its ecosystem. So why now? "We strongly believe there is an opportunity to substantially improve the DEX trading experience, both in terms of design and pricing,” he said. “Matcha's UI/UX is more intuitive than other DEXs because it abstracts away the complexities involved with trading on Ethereum. Additionally, the 0x team recently created a solution for aggregating the best prices from across DEX networks like 0x, Kyber, Uniswap, and more.”

Matcha utilizes 0x API under the hood, which uses smart ordering routing to split orders across 0x Mesh, Kyber, Uniswap, Oasis, Curve, and a variety of RFQ providers.

The Matcha DEX offers a variety of ERC-20 tokens as well as stablecoin-based trading pairs: ETH, WETH (Wrapped ETH), USDT, LINK, COMP, USDC, MKR, BAT, ZRX, NMR, KNC, REP, ENJ, SNT, REN, TUSD, DAI, MANA, WBTC (Wrapped BTC), ANT, and SNX.

DEXes, which facilitate peer-to-peer trading, are popular in part for skirting the KYC and AML requirements of regulated exchanges. Their number continues to grow, with over thirty DEXs currently online, built on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, EOS, Stellar, and now 0x protocol.

Since funds transfer peer to peer, DEXes are prized for a variety of other features too, including privacy and security. With no single point of failure, they tend to be less susceptible to hackers, and have no need for custodial service.

However, decentralized exchanges do have risks. If something goes wrong with a transaction, or the site crashes, users can be out of luck. Very few provide dedicated customer service that can step in to resolve issues. Likewise, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission looks askance on them. In 2018, the SEC filed charges against Zachary Coburn, founder of the decentralized exchange EtherDelta for operating an unregistered national securities exchange.

https://matcha.xyz/[/caption]

Day traders and other investors often prefer centralized exchanges because they offer higher liquidity and the ability to margin trade.

Matcha currently does not charge fees for transactions, “but perhaps in the future—may be far future—we will decide to start to implement a business model to take fees or another route to monetize that business,” Taylor said.

The tax year’s filing deadline is approaching, which means many crypto users will need to submit their returns. While many find filing taxes can be an arduous task, the process gets even more complicated when you have to factor in activities like trading, airdrops, and mining. Tax rules for cryptocurrencies have historically been fairly opaque, but authorities have clarified their stance in recent years.

The position is clear: active crypto users are liable for taxes, and government officials are watching closely. 

Fortunately, there are now tools designed specifically for crypto users to calculate tax liabilities as simply as possible. One of the most popular options on the market is CryptoTrader.Tax, which offers a degree of simplicity that makes the process easy. 

The user experience on CryptoTrader.Tax is broken down into four steps, starting with an “Import” stage. Once logged in, users are invited to import the accounts on which they’ve carried out their crypto activity. 

The service supports most of the major centralized exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com, and Gemini. FTX, Blockchain.com, and Hotbit are soon to be added. 

When inputting data from a centralized exchange, users have the option to import a file or auto-import. CryptoTrader.Tax recommends the auto-import tool. 

When importing, the user must obtain an API key by logging into their exchange account. CryptoTrader.The tax provides clear instructions on how to import API keys on its blog. Coinbase is also integrated on the site, meaning there’s an option to automatically give CryptoTrader.Tax access without logging in on a separate tab.  

While obtaining the API key is a fast process, it can take some time to load each exchange’s history, depending on the number of trades and other activities. Any seasoned active day traders would need to allocate at least one or two hours to pull in all of their data. 

For active DeFi users, there’s also an option to import trades on Uniswap, Ethereum’s most popular decentralized exchange. For this option, users must input their Ethereum address (important note: Ethereum Name Service is currently not supported; CryptoTrader.Tax can only read the full 0x address). Soon, Aave and Compound will also be added. 

The support for DeFi protocols like Uniswap and Aave is a significant step forward for crypto tax services. As decentralized finance grows, so will the need for infrastructure that helps users calculate their liabilities. Disposing of crypto assets through trading is one of the most common taxable activities in crypto, with many of DeFi’s most active users trading on platforms like Uniswap on a daily basis. CryptoTrader.Tax’s import tool can break down this activity in one easy-to-read dashboard. 

The second stage in the calculation process is for “Other Transactions,” which includes crypto received from mining, staking, and airdrops. These activities are treated differently from trading by the IRS —they are considered a form of income rather than capital gains. Crypto Briefing’s “Other Transactions” included small amounts of assets earned through Coinbase referrals. 

The process follows with a “Review” stage, providing a ledger of every transaction the user has engaged with. The transactions date back to the user’s first interaction with each platform. The transaction history clearly shows the type (for example, buy, trade, or mining), the platform (for example, Coinbase or Uniswap), and the amount.

Every transaction gets automatically listed in chronological order, though there are options to add filters depending on what the user wants to search for. The main benefit to the transaction ledger is the simplicity with which it shows a user’s entire crypto journey.

Thanks to this tool, it’s easy to track transactions over the course of years with little effort. 

The service concludes by grouping all transactions into reports according to the tax year. Each report can be generated near-instantly, with a breakdown of the number of incoming transactions, outgoing transactions, and trades. Selecting “View Report” then leads to a detailed review of each tax year and associated activities.

The transactions are clearly ordered by asset, showing the date acquired, date sold, and overall profit or loss. It also gives options to view short-term and long-term positions, end-of-year positions, losses for tax-loss harvesting, and more. The reports are calculated using the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) method, which is useful for reducing the costs. However, users also have the choice to use other calculation methods such as Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) or Highest-In, First-Out (HIFO) methods.

The total capital gains are shown clearly on the top right corner of each report. There’s also an option to send each report on to a tax professional. 

For readers with other crypto-active friends and family, CryptoTrader.Tax runs a generous affiliate program , paying 25% recurring commission for each referred customer. 

Overall, the service is easy-to-use and offers impressive value for money. Although importing transactions may prove to be time-consuming for the most active traders, the amount of time saved using the service instead of manually calculating would likely be significant. The added support for DeFi staples is also worth noting as the space continues to grow. At this point, it’s clear that crypto is starting to infiltrate traditional finance, and that means taxes will continue to apply. 

Some of crypto’s most active traders may choose to seek out bespoke services, though most would only require a more affordable option like the one CryptoTrader.Tax offers. For less active retail investors who want to get ahead of their liabilities through one simple interface, CryptoTrader.Tax might be the best option available on the market today. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH and AAVE. They also had exposure to UNI and COMP in a cryptocurrency index. 

Disclosure: When readers sign up for CryptoTrader.Tax using some of the above links, you support independent journalism on Crypto Briefing. This does not impact our reporting. We continue to pursue a fair and balanced editorial. For more information about our partnership with Sorare, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Twitter or Telegram.

The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.

You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.

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Want to jump straight to the answer? You can buy PAXG on Gemini and BlockFi.

Did you know that you don’t need to have a safe full of gold coins to be a gold investor? It’s true! Cryptocurrency project PAX Gold provides investors with an easier, more affordable and more convenient way to invest in gold. Learn more about how to buy PAX Gold and invest in the gold market with our guide for beginners. 

PAX Gold is a commodity-based cryptocurrency and stablecoin backed by gold. Each one of PAX’s tokens, PAXG, is backed by 1 fine troy ounce of gold. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Paxos acts as both a trust company and a gold custodian, with regulation from the New York State Department of Financial Services.

If you own PAXG, you have the right to ownership of gold held under the Paxos Trust Company. You can redeem your PAX Gold tokens for gold bullion bars held under custodianship of Paxos or through a network of physical gold retailers located throughout the United States and Canada if you own a small amount of PAXG. 

PAX Gold was introduced in September 2019 to provide investors with a more convenient and affordable way to invest in gold without the risks and expenses that come with owning and storing physical gold. Since its introduction, the PAXG token has seen a significant rise in both price and total market capitalization as an influx of new investors enter the gold market. PAX Gold currently forms the 337th largest crypto project with a total market cap of about $104.6 million and a daily token trading volume of about $10 million. 

Before you can buy or sell PAXG, you need to open an account with a cryptocurrency broker that supports PAX Gold trading. After opening your account, you can place buy and sell orders through your broker’s trading platform. Your broker will then carry out these orders and deposit your coins and tokens into your brokerage trading account, typically in exchange for a small commission or fee.

The broker that you choose will determine what you pay in fees and the assets that you can invest in, so it’s worth the time to compare a few brokerage options before you open an account. If you aren’t sure where to start your search, consider a few of our top choices below. 

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that offers investors access to 26 coins and tokens. Founded in the US, Gemini is expanding globally, in particular into Europe and Asia. Offerings include both major cryptocurrency projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and smaller altcoins like Orchid and 0x.

Gemini is 1 of the only brokers with multiple platform options based on skill level. New investors will love the streamlined interface of Gemini’s mobile and web apps, while advanced investors might appreciate all the tools that come with ActiveTrader. 

In addition to a host of platform choices, Gemini users also have access to insured hot wallets to store tokens without worrying about digital asset theft. Learn more about what Gemini can do for you in our review.

Maybe you think cryptocurrency is the future, or perhaps you were swept up in the initial waves of Bitcoin. BlockFi may be your next step if you’re ready to evolve as a crypto investor.

Whether you’re a native crypto user or curious enough to start investing, BlockFi seeks to bring institutional-grade financial products to crypto markets that often face restricted access. It strives to bring clients low-cost, simple applications designed to maximize the potential of crypto assets. Learn more in our BlockFi review.

Kraken is a cryptocurrency that offers access to more than 50 supported coins and tokens, staking capabilities, futures trading and more. Kraken offers a variable maker-taker fee schedule, which often results in lower fees compared to flat-rate brokerages.

In addition to a wide range of crypto choices, Kraken offers customizable ordering platforms and mobile apps that you can use to fully refine your trading experience. There’s plenty to love about trading on Kraken. It appeals to both seasoned professionals and new investors looking to learn more about the market.

A cryptocurrency wallet involves a device or software program that provides you with a private set of keys that you can use to store your coin and token investments. If you don’t plan to actively trade your PAXG, it’s usually a good idea to keep your investment out of your brokerage account and in a private wallet. Private wallets keep your investments safer in the event that your brokerage is targeted in a hack.

You can use a range of both hardware wallets and software wallets to store PAXG, as the token runs on the Ethereum network. Explore a few of our favorite ERC-20 wallet solutions below. 

The original cryptocurrency hardware wallet, the Ledger Nano S keeps your tokens safe using offline cold storage.

The Ledger Nano S provides you with an all-in-one solution for your token and coin storage, with support for both independent blockchain projects (like Bitcoin and Litecoin) as well as ERC-20 tokens (like PAX Gold and Chainlink).

The Ledger Nano S also provides a significantly more affordable price point when compared to other hardware wallet options at a price of less than $60.  

Searching for a simple and free way to store your cryptocurrency investments off your exchange of choice? Look no further than the Coinbase Wallet. The Coinbase Wallet is a software wallet available as a free download from both Apple and Android devices and supports all ERC-20 tokens.

The Coinbase Wallet makes it easy to open your account and transfer funds to other users by authorizing transfers by username instead of wallet address. The Coinbase Wallet also supports a full collection of ERC721 collectibles as well as decentralized application usage. 

When you decide how you want to store your tokens and where you want to trade, you can place your first buy order to invest in PAXG. Though the specific process that you’ll go through will vary depending on your broker, learn the basic steps to placing a crypto buy order.  

Looking to predict how the price of PAXG will change in the future? Start your search by looking at trends in gold prices. Because PAXG is a stablecoin linked to gold, the price of gold heavily influences how PAXG prices will move.

When you see your PAXG in your account, you need to decide how you want to earn a return on your investment. You usually have 3 options and the best choice will vary depending on the long-term price movements of PAXG.

Because PAX Gold ties directly to the price of gold, the price of the token will shift as the price of gold does. Some of the factors that can influence the price of gold may include:

The value of your PAXG may also influence the movements of the general cryptocurrency market. Track today’s top market movers using the chart below.  

If you’ve been considering adding precious metals to your investing portfolio but you don’t want to undergo the risks that come with storing gold on your property, an investment in PAXG can provide a more convenient way to invest. As an alternative asset, gold has long been used as a hedge against inflation. PAXG allows you to digitally store your protective investments. You might also want to consider investing in a gold ETF to add an extra layer of exposure to the gold market. 

Tesla is among the 1st companies to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet. The company holds more Bitcoin than almost any other institution –– Tesla invested $1.5 billion into the cryptocurrency in January 2021. Since Tesla made this investment, it’s estimated that the company has made around 100% returns in the span of just a few months.

Tesla announced that it has started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. Elon Musk noted on his Twitter that Bitcoin payments won’t be converted into fiat currency. Instead, Tesla will accept bitcoin payments to gain more exposure to the cryptocurrency.

Tesla announced that it will start accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment soon. Tesla plans to accept Bitcoin as a strategy to continue adding it to its portfolio. Using Bitcoin as a form of payments can be risky –– you don’t want to be the person who spent $1 million worth on a Tesla because you spent your investment too early. On the other hand, if Bitcoin depreciates, then you could potentially save yourself from those losses by purchasing a Tesla with your Bitcoin.

Tesla recently announced that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to hold as an investment on its balance sheet. This exposes Tesla to the volatility of Bitcoin, which has gained controversy from Tesla’s shareholders. As of writing, it’s predicted that Tesla’s investment has roughly doubled in value, making the company enormous amounts of profit. With more money being pumped into the economy with every stimulus bill, more companies are looking to alternate stores of value to hedge against inflation. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on his Twitter that Tesla will accept Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles. Although the price of Bitcoin is volatile, accepting Bitcoin as payment is a good way for companies to gain exposure to cryptocurrency assets.

Since its inception, Bitcoin has appreciated against USD more than almost any other asset. In July 2010, Bitcoin was trading at less than 1 cent per coin. Although Bitcoin has been through several bear markets where its value diminished over 80%, it’s recovered to new all-time high prices in each subsequent bull market.

As you can see, the price of bitcoin is highly volatile. If you aren’t risk-tolerant, then cryptocurrency may not be for you. With the high volatility associated with Bitcoin, many investors see Bitcoin’s price movements as irregular. Since Bitcoin has risen so dramatically over the last decade, if you adjust the scale of Bitcoin’s prices to be logarithmic, you can see a clear trendline.

If you want to spend your Bitcoin on a Tesla but don’t want to lose your exposure to your investment, you can use BlockFi to take out a loan with cryptocurrency. BlockFi offers loans to anyone, regardless of credit. The company can do this by requiring bitcoin to be held as collateral for your loan; once you pay back your loan, you’re given back the bitcoin you used as collateral.

According to the IRS, you’re still responsible for paying taxes on Bitcoin used as payment. So, if you plan on saving on taxes by using Bitcoin, you’re out of luck. Bitcoin isn’t any easier to use than other forms of payment, so it may just be better to buy a Tesla with cash.

The biggest pro or con of using bitcoin as a payment is the opportunity cost of spending your bitcoin. An opportunity cost is the foregone gains from an alternative decision (like holding your bitcoin and using cash instead). If you think that Bitcoin will depreciate in the future, then using it to buy a Tesla may be a good idea. On the other hand, if you believe Bitcoin’s price will continue to rise, then you should probably hold onto your crypto and use cash.

Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrency assets are taxable under IRS regulations. Unlike currencies, Bitcoin is taxed as property, similar to stocks. This means that when you dispose of your Bitcoin in any way, you are responsible for claiming capital gains tax on your tax returns. Taxing cryptocurrency as property instead of currency is actually beneficial for investors, as capital gains taxes are less than income taxes, which is how currencies are taxed. 

The primary types of bitcoin wallets are hardware wallets and software wallets. Software wallets are usually free to use, and they’re computer programs that store your crypto on your phone or computer. Some notable software wallets include Coinbase wallet, Binance wallet and BlockFi. BlockFi is unique because it lets you earn interest on your cryptocurrency holdings.

Hardware wallets are the safest way to store bitcoin, as they store your assets offline on a physical device. These devices are typically the size of a USB stick and connect to your computer via Bluetooth or USB. One of the best hardware wallet companies on the market is Ledger –– it supports over 1,000 cryptocurrencies and has industry-leading security features. 

Most exchanges that let you invest in cryptocurrency also allow you to send Bitcoin from your exchange account to other wallets. This is how you can make payments with Bitcoin or send Bitcoin to a hardware or software wallet. 

Some exchanges that you can easily purchase Bitcoin on are Coinbase, eToro and Gemini. These exchanges, depending on your account verification level, let you instantly send Bitcoin to other wallets to make payments. 

eToro, headquartered in Cyprus, England and Israel, has provided forex products and other CFD derivatives to retail clients since 2007. A major eToro plus is its social trading operations, including OpenBook, which allows new clients to copy trade the platform’s best performers. Its social trading features are top notch, but eToro loses points for its lack of tradable currency pairs and underwhelming research and customer service features

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that offers investors access to 26 coins and tokens. Founded in the US, Gemini is expanding globally, in particular into Europe and Asia. Offerings include both major cryptocurrency projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and smaller altcoins like Orchid and 0x.

Gemini is 1 of the only brokers with multiple platform options based on skill level. New investors will love the streamlined interface of Gemini’s mobile and web apps, while advanced investors might appreciate all the tools that come with ActiveTrader. 

In addition to a host of platform choices, Gemini users also have access to insured hot wallets to store tokens without worrying about digital asset theft. Learn more about what Gemini can do for you in our review.

Coinbase is one of the Internet’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms. From Bitcoin to Litecoin or Basic Attention Token to Chainlink, Coinbase makes it exceptionally simple to buy and sell major cryptocurrency pairs. 

You can even earn cryptocurrency rewards through Coinbase’s unique Coinbase Earn feature. More advanced traders will love the Coinbase Pro platform, which offers more order types and enhanced functionality.

Though Coinbase doesn’t offer the most affordable pricing or the lowest fees, its simple platform is easy enough for complete beginners to master in as little as a single trade.

Voyager is a leading name in the sphere of cryptocurrency investing, giving you access to over 50 tokens and coins. Buy, sell and swap assets using Voyager Crypto’s simple mobile platform available as a free download for iOS and Android users. 

When you invest through Voyager, you’ll pay nothing in commissions, which is a major benefit when compared to other cryptocurrency brokers. Voyager is also one of the only brokers we’ve seen that allows users to earn interest on their crypto investments. 

Though the broker could do more to improve its customer service, it’s an excellent option for beginner investors and seasoned professionals alike.

Maybe you think cryptocurrency is the future, or perhaps you were swept up in the initial waves of Bitcoin. BlockFi may be your next step if you’re ready to evolve as a crypto investor.

Whether you’re a native crypto user or curious enough to start investing, BlockFi seeks to bring institutional-grade financial products to crypto markets that often face restricted access. It strives to bring clients low-cost, simple applications designed to maximize the potential of crypto assets. Learn more in our BlockFi review.

Most Bitcoin exchanges are centralized exchanges, meaning that the exchange holds all investors’ funds and allocates them accordingly. On these exchanges, investors can trade or convert their cryptocurrency for a small fee, avoiding the cost of blockchain transaction fees.

Centralized exchanges use order books to calculate the market price of Bitcoin. Bitcoin order books are an aggregation of all the buy and sell orders for the asset; the price is determined by the highest bid and lowest ask for the cryptocurrency. For example, if the order book’s lowest ask is $55,000 per bitcoin and the highest bid is $54,999, then you can either purchase Bitcoin for $55,000 or sell for $54,999. 

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a fairly new cryptocurrency industry within cryptocurrency. DeFi exchanges work differently than traditional exchanges, as there is no 3rd party that controls your assets, and you don’t need to make an exchange account. Instead, these exchanges use smart contracts to delegate investors’ funds. 

In its early days, Bitcoin was seen as a new form of payment to be used through the internet. Now, bitcoin is seen more as a store of value; an investment similar to gold or silver. This is due to the low transaction throughput on Bitcoin’s network –– Bitcoin is only capable of handling about 7 transactions per second, making it hard to use as a form of payment. Most investors would rather use USD as a form of payment, as they predict Bitcoin’s value will appreciate faster than the dollar.

Most companies don’t accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. You can technically buy anything with Bitcoin, but you need to find someone willing to accept Bitcoin as payment. Some large companies like Microsoft, AT&T and Twitch all accept Bitcoin payments for certain transactions.

By adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet, Tesla has taken on the risk of Bitcoin’s price volatility. So far, this risk has paid off for Tesla. Since the company invested, Tesla has made more profit from Bitcoin than it has from selling its electric vehicles.

The NBA has recently teamed up with Dapper Labs to create a digital version of NBA trading cards. However, these digital collectibles aren’t cards at all.

Instead they’re collectible in-game highlights from NBA players called Top Shots. NBA Top Shot releases packs of Top Shots on its website every so often, and they sell out quickly. The technology that makes these digital collectibles possible are non-fungible tokens.

Non-fungible tokens use Ethereum’s blockchain to make it impossible to duplicate the collectible. Ethereum tokens used for digital art, concert tickets and collectibles all use the ERC-721 token standard for Ethereum tokens. What makes ERC-721 tokens special is that they’re non-fungible, meaning that each token is capable of holding a distinct value.

The NBA Top Shots are digital collectibles that may be the next evolution of trading cards. However, these collectibles hardly resemble a physical NBA trading card. Top Shots main feature is player highlight video clips. 

For example, the Lebron James Dunk Top Shot features Lebron James dunking on the Houston Rockets. This Top Shot is particularly sought after and extremely limited –– the highest sold edition sold for north of $200,000. Other Top Shots are as cheap as $5, and you can view the transaction history for each collectible to get an idea of how its value has changed over time.

To make an NBA Top Shot account, visit nbatopshop.com and click sign up. You can sign up with an email or by connecting your google account to the website.

Next you’ll be prompted to copy a one-time code you can use to recover your account –– make sure to save this somewhere safe in case you ever need it. After this, you’ll be greeted with some videos explaining what NBA Top Shots are and how to go about purchasing them. 

If you plan on holding your NBA Top Shots NFTs for the long term, you should transfer your collectibles to a cryptocurrency wallet. Cryptocurrency wallets are a much safer way to store your crypto assets; leaving your NFTs or cryptocurrency on an exchange puts your assets at risk of being hacked. Since these NFTs are Ethereum-based tokens, most Ethereum wallets can also support NBA Top Shots. 

The 2 most popular types of Ethereum wallets are hardware wallets and software wallets. While software wallets are usually free to use, hardware wallets need to be purchased. Software wallets are computer programs that store your assets on a mobile device or personal computer, and they’re known to be a much safer way to store your assets.

The safest way to store your NFTs and cryptocurrency is with a hardware wallet. Hardware wallets are physical devices that store your cryptocurrency offline, making it impossible for your assets to be stolen by online hackers.

Ledger is one of the most well known hardware wallet producers on the market. They offer a few products, most notably the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X. Both these hardware wallets serve the same function, but the Nano X is Ledger’s more premium wallet.

The Ledger Nano S comes in at an affordable price for most crypto investors, coming in at just over $50. If you opt for the Ledger Nano X, expect to pay north of $100. 

Metamask is a software wallet that acts as a Google Chrome extension. It’s simple interface makes it easy to use with NBA Top Shots or any other website that transacts crypto. It’s important to note that Metamask is an Ethereum wallet, so you can only store Ethereum-based tokens in the wallet.

There are ways to use metamask with other cryptocurrencies, such as purchasing Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), which is an Ethereum token pegged to the value of Bitcoin.

You can either buy singular Top Shots on the secondary marketplace or purchase card packs from NBA Top Shots directly. Currently, all card packs are sold out and often sell out extremely quickly after the release.

NBA Top Shot has 2 types of card packs: a base set and a Rising Stars pack. The base set sells for $9, while the Rising Stars pack retails for $199 and gives you a much better chance at a rare collectible.

If you’re unable to buy a pack of Top Shots when they’re released, then you’ll need to buy the collectibles on the secondary marketplace. Purchasing from the secondary marketplace also lets you choose which card you want to buy.

Cryptocurrency exchanges let you purchase crypto using your bank account. In order to buy Ethereum, Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, you’ll need to use a cryptocurrency exchange. Alternatively, if you know someone who owns cryptocurrency, you could buy it directly from them and have the seller send the crypto to your cryptocurrency wallet. 

Some popular exchanges that make it easy to buy and sell cryptocurrency are Gemini, Coinbase and eToro.

Coinbase is especially secure. It stores 98% of investors funds in a hardware wallet, leaving the other 2% on the exchange for liquidity. These exchanges all have easy to use interfaces and support all 3 of the cryptocurrencies that NBA Top Shots accepts.

eToro, headquartered in Cyprus, England and Israel, has provided forex products and other CFD derivatives to retail clients since 2007. A major eToro plus is its social trading operations, including OpenBook, which allows new clients to copy trade the platform’s best performers. Its social trading features are top notch, but eToro loses points for its lack of tradable currency pairs and underwhelming research and customer service features

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that offers investors access to 26 coins and tokens. Founded in the US, Gemini is expanding globally, in particular into Europe and Asia. Offerings include both major cryptocurrency projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and smaller altcoins like Orchid and 0x.

Gemini is 1 of the only brokers with multiple platform options based on skill level. New investors will love the streamlined interface of Gemini’s mobile and web apps, while advanced investors might appreciate all the tools that come with ActiveTrader. 

In addition to a host of platform choices, Gemini users also have access to insured hot wallets to store tokens without worrying about digital asset theft. Learn more about what Gemini can do for you in our review.

Coinbase is one of the Internet’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms. From Bitcoin to Litecoin or Basic Attention Token to Chainlink, Coinbase makes it exceptionally simple to buy and sell major cryptocurrency pairs. 

You can even earn cryptocurrency rewards through Coinbase’s unique Coinbase Earn feature. More advanced traders will love the Coinbase Pro platform, which offers more order types and enhanced functionality.

Though Coinbase doesn’t offer the most affordable pricing or the lowest fees, its simple platform is easy enough for complete beginners to master in as little as a single trade.

Voyager is a leading name in the sphere of cryptocurrency investing, giving you access to over 50 tokens and coins. Buy, sell and swap assets using Voyager Crypto’s simple mobile platform available as a free download for iOS and Android users. 

When you invest through Voyager, you’ll pay nothing in commissions, which is a major benefit when compared to other cryptocurrency brokers. Voyager is also one of the only brokers we’ve seen that allows users to earn interest on their crypto investments. 

Though the broker could do more to improve its customer service, it’s an excellent option for beginner investors and seasoned professionals alike.

Maybe you think cryptocurrency is the future, or perhaps you were swept up in the initial waves of Bitcoin. BlockFi may be your next step if you’re ready to evolve as a crypto investor.

Whether you’re a native crypto user or curious enough to start investing, BlockFi seeks to bring institutional-grade financial products to crypto markets that often face restricted access. It strives to bring clients low-cost, simple applications designed to maximize the potential of crypto assets. Learn more in our BlockFi review.

Non-fungible tokens have gained popularity alongside the current cryptocurrency bull market. The entire cryptocurrency market cap has appreciated hundreds of billions of dollars this year alone.

Typically, large market capitalization cryptos are less volatile than small market cap coins and are regarded as a less risky investment. To get an idea of the cryptocurrency market sentiment, you can monitor how the price of large cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are moving.

Since NBA Top Shots are digital collectibles, they can offer more than traditional trading cards. These collectibles are cube shaped, and each face of the cube has different features. The collectibles feature in-game clips of different basketball players, as well as game records and a picture of the player featured on the card. 

If NBA Top Shots replace NBA playing cards in the future, the initial releases will likely be worth a lot of money someday, like rare trading cards from the 1950s.

NBA Top Shot started in October 2020. Since its inception, the company has transacted over $230 million of Top Shots on its website. The company is a joint venture between the NBA and Dapper Labs, the developer of the popular crypto game, CryptoKitties. 

Top Shot is a platform where you can buy and sell digital basketball collectibles. It’s powered by Ethereum’s ERC-721 token standard. ERC-721 tokens are Ethereum based tokens that are non fungible. If a token is non fungible, then each token can hold a distinct value, allowing for collectibles like trading cards to be tokenized on the blockchain.