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In recent years, much has been written about how the Blockchain is poised to transform traditional industries such as banking, real estate, and healthcare. More recently, it has gained attention as a way to finance new ventures, through what is known as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Less noticed, though, is ICOs appear almost antithetical to the standard approach to financing a risky venture.

In fact, ICOs have upended the conventional pattern of staged experimentation and fundraising. Blockchain startups raised over $5 billion in 2017 through ICOs and over $12 billion through the first three quarters of 2018. The average amount of capital raised by a Blockchain project through an ICO in 2017 was $13 million; through the third quarter of 2018 it was $25 million. These ICOs are nearly always held when a project is at an immature stage of development akin to a seed stage startup — when it is testing hypotheses around its consumer value proposition and forming a founding team.

Blockbuster capital raises will always occur in unusual situations (e.g., EOS raising over $4 billion in their ICO and Telegram raising nearly $2 billion in a private financing), but if the average amount of capital raised by a Blockchain project is 10-20x that of a normal startup at an equivalent stage of development, while the failure rate remains roughly similar to staged financing startups, then either investors are foolishly leaping into a dangerous bubble or there are more profound differences in early stage financing at play.

Some observers have pointed out that blockchain projects may have an inherent incentive and strategic reason to be more aggressive in raising capital earlier in the experimentation process. Those benefits fall into three categories:

To jumpstart network effects that provide a first-mover advantage:

Many of the projects being built using blockchain technology are “protocols” that govern the interactions between users in a decentralized autonomous network. In this framing, the native tokens issued through the ICO are the means through which users transact between a decentralized network of participants without the need for any central organization or platform.

Just as with other such platforms or marketplaces that connect users, the value of the decentralized network is a function of the users who choose to transact using the given protocol.  By making the tokens issued through the ICO widely available and liquid (and by using the cash raised to finance further development of activity on the network), projects can rapidly channel developer attention towards their protocols. For example, Sia is a decentralized storage platform on the blockchain, leveraging underutilized hard drive capacity around the world. The more hosts offer up their storage capacity, the more users will be attracted. The more users that come online to store files, the more hosts will be attracted. If the users and the hosts are both owners of the Sia tokens, which appreciate with greater usage of the network, they have an even greater incentive to see the network grow. This so-called “token network effect” creates a positive feedback loop, making it more valuable to be transacting using a given protocol when many others are also transacting through it.

To generate publicity that allows them to solicit broad feedback on their beta product

The publicity around the upcoming launch of an ICO that plans to raise several tens or even hundreds of million dollars is a related way to drive developer interest and engagement. This focused attention from developers has the added benefit of crowdsourcing feedback on the beta version of the project. When the decentralized exchange protocol 0x raised $24 million in their ICO in the middle of 2017, a few months after releasing an early-stage version of the software, it created an enormous amount of developer attention. By completing its ICO shortly after going live with its over-the-counter (OTC) platform for exchange tokens, developers and investors were attracted to testing out the protocol. Today, 0x is widely considered one of the leading decentralized exchange protocols with numerous other applications built on top of its platform. 

To create a decentralized governance structure that is inherently beneficial to the nature of the project

Blockchain projects that can achieve a fully decentralized architecture and governance are inherently more valuable because they are more resistant to attacks and collusion. As Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin notes, “Once you adopt a richer economic model…decentralization becomes more important.” But achieving decentralization requires a meaningful investment in capital in order to attract a distributed network of users and network managers that maintain the decentralized ledgers (or nodes). A larger injection of upfront capital is more likely to create the incentives for autonomous agents to participate in the creation of the blockchain network, thereby making the network that much more valuable.

In some cases, these benefits are real. However, there are very real potential downsides to a large, public fundraising through an ICO. To understand the downsides and why they’re important, though, it helps to understand why staged venture-capital financing has been so successful in the first place.

One of the fundamental elements of commercializing new ventures is the high failure rate they face. Failures are not necessarily due to bad execution; it is just that most new ideas fail, a few become incredibly successful and it is virtually impossible to know which outcome it will be without undertaking the hard work to develop and commercialize an idea. Indeed, over 60% of startups backed by venture capitalists fail and evidence points to the most successful VCs having bigger “hits” as opposed to fewer failures.

A solution to this challenge is multi-stage financing, which allows entrepreneurs and investors to learn about the ultimate viability of an idea through a sequence of investments over time. Multi-stage financing is usually seen as benefiting the investors: It allows them to commit only a fraction of the money upfront, preserving the option to abandon the investment if the idea does not pan out, but allowing them to reinvest if things continue to go well.

What is often less appreciated is that this methodology is equally valuable for entrepreneurs. For the entrepreneur, the earliest money invested into a venture, which is raised when uncertainty is highest, is the most expensive. By raising only a small amount of money initially and de-risking the venture through a series of structured experiments, entrepreneurs who succeed raise subsequent capital at higher prices and are able to retain a higher share of the venture they have built — never mind avoid wasting years of their lives fruitlessly pursuing bad ideas.

This approach to structured experimentation from the entrepreneur’s perspective, popularized by Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup with concrete steps for how to de-risk the venture in the most capital efficient way, has been widely embraced as the gold standard for how to approach the commercialization of radical new ideas. From Boston to Beijing to Bangalore, entrepreneurs and investors rattle off the importance of designing focused experiments to test hypotheses in a capital-efficient fashion in order to achieve product-market fit.  Moreover, as the cost of experimentation has fallen in software (due to the cloud, open source tools, reusable code components and global distribution platforms), hardware (due to rapid prototyping, 3D printing, improved design and modeling software) and biotech (due to technological advances in gene sequencing and editing) and across-the board increases in computational power, modeling tools and big data techniques, so has there been a massive explosion of experimentation in a broad range of industries.

ICOs substantially limit the benefits associated with such staged experimentation, for three reasons:

Architecture

One of the benefits of blockchain technology is that it is immune to centralized parties making changes of their own accord.  But this also implies that the software protocol at the time of the ICO needs to embed — as much as the project’s creators can — the set of rules that will govern the protocol forever.

It is hard for the project’s creators to fully anticipate the technological and incentive issues that will arise from a given protocol, and being able to learn from the way in which users engage can have a consequential effect on the ultimate usability and quality of the platform.  An ICO “bakes in” the protocol early in the life of the project and makes it hard to adjust architecture to enhance performance and capabilities.

Governance

ICOs cede control of decision making to the community. In the early stages of a venture, centralization can be very powerful as it allows for speed, focus and collaborative effort towards one direction.  Centralized decisions can be valuable when testing a particular idea and deciding when to abandon, pivot or double down on the effort.  Once the project has an ICO, governance becomes decentralized, slowing down decision-making and reducing flexibility.

Value

While some entrepreneurs believe that selling tokens is different from selling equity in that it is “non-dilutive” — they don’t give up stock in the company — there remains substantial risk that the protocol will not succeed. When you’re raising money, there is no free lunch. As the markets become more sophisticated, the price at which the ICO happens will reflect this risk and the price of the token will appreciate as the risk is mitigated over time.  Selling tokens early therefore has implications for the amount of value that is captured by the entrepreneur who creates the protocol — potentially leaving substantial “value on the table” for raising capital when the risk is so high.  This dynamic is no different from the dilution cost faced by an entrepreneur raising a substantial money at the earliest stages as opposed to raising a small amount of this expensive capita, de-risking, and raising further funding once the odds of success have improved.  For example, Ethereum’s original crowdsale in the summer of 2014 raised $18 million. Today, Ethereum’s market capitalization is $24 billion.

In addition to these constraints on experimentation, there is a another cost to ICOs:

Exposing Strategic Roadmap to Competition

Many early stage ventures start off in “stealth mode” to prevent their idea from being widely accessible and among the reasons firms have taken advantage of the abundance of growth capital to remain private much longer (e.g., Uber, Airbnb, WeWork) is that it allows them to only selectively disclose confidential information that can be important for strategic reasons to not be available to competitors. An ICO exposes a startups strategic roadmap and, in many cases, actual software code to the public, allowing competitors to learn and adopt elements of it into their own protocols.

In summary, while there are particular benefits of ‘going public’ early through an ICO, there are also a number of potential costs.  Entrepreneurs, investors, and managers need to understand the full implications and risks of having a large ICO early and seek ways to mitigate unintended consequences while taking advantage of the inherent benefits. For example:

Complete a few rounds of more traditional staged equity financings in advance of an ICO.Wait to expose the actual software code and detailed design as long as possible.Use a subset of your community to enhance feedback and speed up experimental cycle time (e.g., private briefings of product road maps).Begin with a more centralized governance structure (e.g., NEO choosing to launch with seven consensus nodes, growing to over 1000 over time) and then migrate the governance structure to a more decentralized one over time.Consider the ICO more conceptually equivalent to the firm’s “IPO” — executed at the moment in time when the idea has become mature and is ready to be widely held and governed in a more decentralized manner.

Disclosure: One of the authors, Ramana Nanda, is a board director at Dunya Labs, a blockchain startup. The other, Jeffrey Bussgang, is an investor in and board member of numerous blockchain startups as part of his role as a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Stellar Lumen (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Compound (COMP) & Uniswap (UNI) Will Be Available on the tZERO Crypto App on October 4, 2021

NEW YORK, September 23, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--tZERO, a leader in blockchain innovation and liquidity for digital assets, announced today that the tZERO Crypto app, a cryptocurrency trading platform, will support Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Stellar Lumen (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Compound (COMP), and Uniswap (UNI) on October 4, 2021, expanding its cryptocurrency offering to a total of 15 coins. Launched in June 2019, the tZERO Crypto App allows investors to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink (LINK), Dogecoin (DOGE), USD Coin (USDC), 0x (ZRX), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Ravencoin (RVN). The tZERO Crypto app is available for download on iOS and Android devices.

tZERO Interim CEO and Chief Legal Officer Alan Konevsky stated, "Our critical priority is to increase the number and range of attractive and compliant assets on our platform and adjacent products. Today’s announcement illustrates our ability to execute against our strategic priorities. We plan to continue to grow our product offerings in near future and add more coins as we create a unified user experience across a range of our securities and cryptocurrency products, including NFTs and other digital assets classes."

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Established in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin with an increased block size that seeks to process transactions faster and add more transaction capacity to the network. Bitcoin Cash aims to deliver on the original promise of Bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash.

Stellar Lumen (XLM)

Launched in 2014, Stellar is a distributed payments network for currencies and payments, enabling quick, cross-border transactions between any pair of currencies. It is designed so all the world’s financial systems can work together on a single network. The native digital currency of Stellar, XLM, powers the entire range of operations on the blockchain network.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is a decentralized blockchain platform for smart contract development, which is built on Ouroboros, a proof-of-stake consensus protocol. ADA, the native token of Cardano, is used for transacting and paying for smart contract operations. The token is named after Ada Lovelace, a nineteenth-century mathematician who is recognized as the first computer programmer.

Compound (COMP)

Compound is an Ethereum token that enables community governance of the Compound protocol, one of an emerging number of decentralized finance protocols. The protocol is a series of decentralized interest rate markets that allow users to supply and borrow Ethereum tokens at variable interest rates.

Uniswap (UNI)

Uniswap is a protocol for creating liquidity and trading ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum Blockchain. Uniswap tokens are exchanged through liquidity pools that are defined by smart contracts, which facilitate the swapping of tokens and enable liquidity.

For more information on the tZERO Crypto app, visit https://www.tzero.com/trade-assets.

Important Risk Information

Investors should note that trading securities could involve substantial risks, including no guarantee of returns, costs associated with selling and purchasing, no assurance of liquidity, which could impact the price and ability to sell, and possible loss of principal invested. Further, an investment in single security could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. Potential investors are urged to consult a professional adviser regarding any economic, tax, legal or other consequences of trading any securities as described herein.

No Offer, Solicitation, Investment Advice or Recommendations

This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory or other services by tZERO or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees. No reference to any specific security constitutes a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that security or any other security. Nothing in this release shall be considered a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security, future, option or other financial instrument or to offer or provide any investment advice or service to any person in any jurisdiction. Nothing contained in this release constitutes investment advice or offers any opinion with respect to the suitability of any security, and the views expressed in this release should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or hold any security. In preparing the information contained in this release, we have not taken into account the investment needs, objectives, and financial circumstances of any particular investor. This information has no regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific recipient of this information and investments discussed may not be suitable for all investors. Any views expressed in this release by us were prepared based upon the information available to us at the time such views were written. Changed or additional information could cause such views to change. All information is subject to possible corrections. Information may quickly become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements. In addition, from time to time, tZERO, its subsidiaries, or its representatives may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing. These forward-looking statements are based on expectations and projections about future events, which is derived from currently available information. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, including financial performance and projections; growth in revenue and earnings; and business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as "may," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "contemplates," "estimates," "believes," "plans," "projected," "predicts," "potential," or "hopes" or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including, without limitation: the ability of tZERO and its subsidiaries to change the direction; tZERO’s ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; and competition. These and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this release and other statements made from time to time by tZERO, its subsidiaries or their respective representatives, may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. tZERO, its subsidiaries, and its representatives are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this release and other statements made from time to time by tZERO, its subsidiaries or its representatives might not occur.

About tZERO

tZERO Group, Inc. (tZERO) and its broker-dealer subsidiaries provide an innovative liquidity platform for private companies and assets. We offer institutional-grade solutions for issuers looking to digitize their capital table through blockchain technology, and trade on a regulated alternative trading system. tZERO, through its broker-dealer subsidiaries, democratizes access to private assets by providing a simple, automated, and efficient trading venue to broker-dealers, institutions, and investors. For more information on tZERO, please visit https://www.tzero.com/.

tZERO is not a registered broker-dealer, funding portal, underwriter, investment bank, investment adviser or investment manager, and is not providing brokerage, investment banking or underwriting services, recommendations or investment advice to any person, and does not provide any brokerage services. tZERO takes no part in the negotiation or execution of secondary market transactions for the purchase or sale of securities and at no time has possession of investor funds or securities in connection with such transactions.

About tZERO Crypto

tZERO Crypto, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of tZERO Group, Inc. tZERO Crypto, Inc. and tZERO Group, Inc. are not registered broker-dealers, underwriters, investment banks, or investment advisers, and are not providing brokerage, investment banking or underwriting services, recommendations or investment advice to the users of the tZERO Crypto app. No broker-dealer affiliate of tZERO Group, Inc. is involved in the transactions and services offered by the tZERO Crypto App. tZERO Crypto, Inc. is licensed as an authorized money transmitter in every jurisdiction in which it does business that requires such authorization. tZERO Crypto relies upon third-party services to provide fiat and virtual currency custody services to its customers. See the legal disclosures and list of tZERO Crypto, Inc.’s licensing authorities on https://www.tzero.com/crypto-app/licenses.pdf for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: tacts

tZERO Alexandra Sotiropoulos, +1-347-293-1416 asotiropoulos@tzero.com

Four years on, it's time to reappraise the initial coin offering (ICO) era, and the easiest way to do it is by looking at investors’ portfolios.

There's a certain class of crypto denizen who derides anything that isn't bitcoin as garbage, and the long bear market that started in early 2018 certainly seemed to support that view. We're in a different time now where much of the work funded by the largest ICOs has been deployed. Those products now have at least a base of users and their token prices reflect it.

Most of these projects haven't hit their speculatively driven early 2018 highs, but they are far above their bear market numbers. For a certain class of investor, that means well above their token pre-sale prices.

Just to recap, the ICO was a way to raise a lot of money from the public by selling some kind of blockchain-based token (a secondary cryptocurrency that runs on a distributed ledger that also has its own native coin). ICO tokens didn't carry with them an ownership stake in a company, instead they were meant to provide access to some service later on.

(For example, a Netflix token might be good for one month of Netflix viewing.)

It wouldn't take long before the public started getting shut out of these sales for legal reasons, but the amount of money raised didn't slow down at first as deep-pocketed investors picked up the slack. According to CoinDesk data, projects raised about $5.5 billion through 2017 and $6.8 million through the first part of 2018, when the party came to a screeching halt.

Many of these tokens were released to the public at the end of their sales, even though they couldn't do anything useful yet. That didn't matter. People would still trade them. But when word came out that the regulatory sharks were circling this funding model, prices across the crypto market tanked and didn't recover for a long time. That was the beginning of Crypto Winter.

Nevertheless, startups found other ways to distribute tokens, such as offerings on exchanges or on automated market makers (AMMs) or by using smart contracts.

Quickly checking a few of the biggest early ICOs: Augur's REP (probably the first ICO for a token) is trading at $25.53, though it spent the bear market between $10 and $20 (often below $10). Bancor's BNT is trading at $3.63, this despite failing to trade above $1 from November 2018 to June 2020. 0x's ZRX is trading at $0.86, a price it fell below in August 2018, not to see again until this past February.

Tezos's XTZ is doing well. Brave's basic attention token set a new all time high in this bull market and sits right now in striking distance of its last one.

Of course, everyone's gotten a big bump as the overall market went up, everything is – after all – very correlated, but the difference today is those things were largely just ideas then and they are products now.

A few still seem to be struggling. KIN's price remains something like it's always been and Status's SNT also looks like it can't catch the old spark.

Still, by and large the big projects that raised most of their funds up front by selling off a token for usage before there was anything to use (almost always in lieu of selling equity in the company) don't seem to have cut and run and are starting to find markets.

This goes against the received wisdom in the broader crypto culture, where the term ICO has become a dirty one.

Not everyone sees it that way now, though.

"I think ICOs regardless of their regulatory status just conceptually represent a new technological way of forming capital," Jake Brukhman, founder of CoinFund, said. In particular, he noted, the venture capital world tends to follow certain scripts or heuristics that can make it hard for new ideas to get the resources they need.

"What the ICO boom allowed us to do is allocate some capital to some ideas that seem crazy," Brukhman said.

Keld van Schreven, a cofounder of a European digital asset investment company, KR1, took it a step further. "I think it's the greatest funding mechanism we've ever invented," he said. "It was like a really beautiful house party but it got gatecrashed by people that ruined it."

KR1 has invested in the data product Bluzelle, the blockchain ecosystem Cosmos and, in particular, it went very long on the platform for funds, now known as Enzyme but formerly known as Melonport, among others.

He continued, "The impact of the ICO boom is first of all it created a lot of attention and a lot of marketing around digital assets. One could argue that if you didn't have that cycle we wouldn't be where we are today in terms of mindshare."

Brukhman said, "Our first fund, it definitely operated during the ICO era. That launched in July of 2015. ... [I]t was very small and experimental. It actually did very well." CoinFund bought projects like Augur, Filecoin and NuCypher, as examples.

"It's only this year that some of the assets, like Dfinity for example, came to fruition," Brukhman said. While declining to go into detail, Brukhman made it clear that this first fund has been a success.

Everyone acknowledges that a lot of bad projects and bad actors took advantage of the approach before long, but van Schreven said that from where he sat there were also a lot of well-intentioned projects. To him, it wasn't hard to tell which had potential and which were obviously nonsense.

But people are good at talking themselves into bad decisions when there's a boom. "It's the frailty of the human. People want in on something blowing up," he admitted.

Gregory Di Prisco launched a fund in 2017 called Distributed Capital, which persists to today but in a different form. "We saw the opportunity set as: 'There's this new type of asset on Ethereum, and there's only 5 of them now we think there's going to be a lot more," he said.

The new asset was tokens, most of which would follow the ERC-20 standard. There were hardly any when Distributed started, but Di Prisco and his colleagues knew more would come. Even if Ethereum proved to be hopeless, Di Prisco said, they viewed it this way: "We are almost certainly going to be right about the desire to buy them and trade."

At that time, he said, there were hardly any tokens yet and few other funds participating in them. Very few pools of money funded by limited partners had rules that allowed for anything like cryptocurrency. Di Prisco said the playing field at that time for pre-sales and early ICO bets was limited.

Across the various investors we spoke to, the leaders in token purchases early on seemed to have been Polychain, Pantera, Fenbushi Capital, CoinFund and, to a lesser extent, the Digital Currency Group, because it still preferred equity deals. (DCG owns CoinDesk.)

Pantera Capital launched a fund then known as the Pantera ICO Fund, which has since rebranded to the Early-Stage Token Fund.

Pantera partner Paul Veradittakit said in a phone call, "We felt there was an opportunity to create a fund just to invest in projects that were releasing tokens," but to do so early on, in pre-sales and before the project launched.

"We figured people could access Bitcoin and Ethereum so we figured, just do an exclusively early-stage projects for investors," Veradittakit said.

That fund was easily filled and it remains an open-ended hedge fund, with over $1 billion assets under management. It has continued to make active investments so it's not limited to the ICO era, but it still holds a large quantity of tokens from that time. It has investments in ZRX, FIL, DOT, OGN and other early projects from that era.

The fund has made itself an active participant in the communities it has invested in. "We are staking. We are providing liquidity. We are providing governance and voting, all of that stuff."

On average, Pantera holds for three years, looking at itself as a long term partner (at least on a crypto time scale), but, he said, "There are times when the returns are so high it makes sense to take a little off the table."

So it has exited parts of some positions or even made significant shifts when there are material changes in the company.

The bear market was not easy, however. "Quite a few of the tokens that we invested in 2017, 2018, hit a rough patch during the bear market," Veradittakit said. "We didn't do the flips and the dumps and things like that and therefore we had to ride through it. We actually didn't lose that many investors."

Some left, but many stuck around. The fund posted strong returns through 2020 and so far into 2021. From January 2020 to the present it is up 2,807%, according to Pantera.

The ICO boom days were a very strange time and one in which some of the investors we spoke to took bold moves that don't typically fall within the bounds defined by best practices for investing. For example, both Distributed and KR1 decided to go extremely long on one token (MKR and MLN, respectively).

Van Schreven called the bet on Melonport "fund suicide," though it turned out to be anything but. The MLN token for the project now known as Enzyme trades at $105. It still hasn't cracked its prior all-time high but it's well above what it sold for early on; van Schreven said KR1's investment there is up well over 1,000%. It's also up more than 10,000% on its investment in ATOM, the Cosmos coin.

The time was so buzzy that it started to attract Web 2 professionals who quickly realized how limited was the blockchain space. Brukhman contends that this was good as well. Folks who were used to having lots of developer tooling to work with found Web 3 lacked it. So a lot of that stuff got made.

Not all the investors from that era look back on ICOs favorably, though. Di Prisco's fund did very well in part because it got out of so many positions at the top. He still thinks that by and large the 2017 ICO approach isn't a healthy one.

"I think that fundraising mechanism hamstrung a lot of projects," Di Prisco said, explaining that companies should not raise all their funding up front. It forces them to put too much energy into treasury management and not enough into making something good, and if they get it wrong, they can get largely wiped out.

Case in point, messaging startup Status raised nearly 300,000 ETH in 2017 (over $100 million) but was still forced into laying off 25% of its staff in 2018.

But that doesn't mean that the ICO form wasn't taking investing in a direction that has potential.

Even van Schreven admits things got out of hand. "At the tail end of it, I think probably there was bad money allocated. The vast portion was people with good intentions," van Schreven said.

"Blockchain technology can create hyper-efficient ways of forming capital. Now, secondarily, let's go find legal frameworks for that and make it work," Brukhman said.

Still, van Schreven remembers it fondly. "The ICO should be held up as one of the breakthrough moments for technology on the funding side," he said, lamenting that "it's gone back to more of a venture capital model to put the hand brake on it."

Four years on, it’s time to reappraise the initial coin offering (ICO) era, and the easiest way to do it is by looking at investors’ portfolios.

There’s a certain class of crypto denizen who derides anything that isn’t bitcoin as garbage, and the long bear market that started in early 2018 certainly seemed to support that view. We’re in a different time now where much of the work funded by the largest ICOs has been deployed. Those products now have at least a base of users and their token prices reflect it.

Most of these projects haven’t hit their speculatively driven early 2018 highs, but they are far above their bear market numbers. For a certain class of investor, that means well above their token pre-sale prices.

Related: SEC Chairman Gensler Agrees With Predecessor: ‘Every ICO Is a Security’

Just to recap, the ICO was a way to raise a lot of money from the public by selling some kind of blockchain-based token (a secondary cryptocurrency that runs on a distributed ledger that also has its own native coin). ICO tokens didn’t carry with them an ownership stake in a company, instead they were meant to provide access to some service later on.

(For example, a Netflix token might be good for one month of Netflix viewing.)

It wouldn’t take long before the public started getting shut out of these sales for legal reasons, but the amount of money raised didn’t slow down at first as deep-pocketed investors picked up the slack. According to CoinDesk data, projects raised about $5.5 billion through 2017 and $6.8 million through the first part of 2018, when the party came to a screeching halt.

Many of these tokens were released to the public at the end of their sales, even though they couldn’t do anything useful yet. That didn’t matter. People would still trade them. But when word came out that the regulatory sharks were circling this funding model, prices across the crypto market tanked and didn’t recover for a long time. That was the beginning of Crypto Winter.

Related: The Node: The First Step to Making Sense of the Token Economy

Nevertheless, startups found other ways to distribute tokens, such as offerings on exchanges or on automated market makers (AMMs) or by using smart contracts.

Quickly checking a few of the biggest early ICOs: Augur’s REP (probably the first ICO for a token) is trading at $25.53, though it spent the bear market between $10 and $20 (often below $10). Bancor’s BNT is trading at $3.63, this despite failing to trade above $1 from November 2018 to June 2020. 0x’s ZRX is trading at $0.86, a price it fell below in August 2018, not to see again until this past February.

Tezos’s XTZ is doing well. Brave’s basic attention token set a new all time high in this bull market and sits right now in striking distance of its last one.

Of course, everyone’s gotten a big bump as the overall market went up, everything is – after all – very correlated, but the difference today is those things were largely just ideas then and they are products now.

A few still seem to be struggling. KIN’s price remains something like it’s always been and Status’s SNT also looks like it can’t catch the old spark.

Still, by and large the big projects that raised most of their funds up front by selling off a token for usage before there was anything to use (almost always in lieu of selling equity in the company) don’t seem to have cut and run and are starting to find markets.

This goes against the received wisdom in the broader crypto culture, where the term ICO has become a dirty one.

Not everyone sees it that way now, though.

“I think ICOs regardless of their regulatory status just conceptually represent a new technological way of forming capital,” Jake Brukhman, founder of CoinFund, said. In particular, he noted, the venture capital world tends to follow certain scripts or heuristics that can make it hard for new ideas to get the resources they need.

“What the ICO boom allowed us to do is allocate some capital to some ideas that seem crazy,” Brukhman said.

Keld van Schreven, a cofounder of a European digital asset investment company, KR1, took it a step further. “I think it’s the greatest funding mechanism we’ve ever invented,” he said. “It was like a really beautiful house party but it got gatecrashed by people that ruined it.”

KR1 has invested in the data product Bluzelle, the blockchain ecosystem Cosmos and, in particular, it went very long on the platform for funds, now known as Enzyme but formerly known as Melonport, among others.

He continued, “The impact of the ICO boom is first of all it created a lot of attention and a lot of marketing around digital assets. One could argue that if you didn’t have that cycle we wouldn’t be where we are today in terms of mindshare.”

Brukhman said, “Our first fund, it definitely operated during the ICO era. That launched in July of 2015. … [I]t was very small and experimental. It actually did very well.” CoinFund bought projects like Augur, Filecoin and NuCypher, as examples.

“It’s only this year that some of the assets, like Dfinity for example, came to fruition,” Brukhman said. While declining to go into detail, Brukhman made it clear that this first fund has been a success.

Everyone acknowledges that a lot of bad projects and bad actors took advantage of the approach before long, but van Schreven said that from where he sat there were also a lot of well-intentioned projects. To him, it wasn’t hard to tell which had potential and which were obviously nonsense.

But people are good at talking themselves into bad decisions when there’s a boom. “It’s the frailty of the human. People want in on something blowing up,” he admitted.

Gregory Di Prisco launched a fund in 2017 called Distributed Capital, which persists to today but in a different form. “We saw the opportunity set as: ‘There’s this new type of asset on Ethereum, and there’s only 5 of them now we think there’s going to be a lot more,” he said.

The new asset was tokens, most of which would follow the ERC-20 standard. There were hardly any when Distributed started, but Di Prisco and his colleagues knew more would come. Even if Ethereum proved to be hopeless, Di Prisco said, they viewed it this way: “We are almost certainly going to be right about the desire to buy them and trade.”

At that time, he said, there were hardly any tokens yet and few other funds participating in them. Very few pools of money funded by limited partners had rules that allowed for anything like cryptocurrency. Di Prisco said the playing field at that time for pre-sales and early ICO bets was limited.

Across the various investors we spoke to, the leaders in token purchases early on seemed to have been Polychain, Pantera, Fenbushi Capital, CoinFund and, to a lesser extent, the Digital Currency Group, because it still preferred equity deals. (DCG owns CoinDesk.)

Pantera Capital launched a fund then known as the Pantera ICO Fund, which has since rebranded to the Early-Stage Token Fund.

Pantera partner Paul Veradittakit said in a phone call, “We felt there was an opportunity to create a fund just to invest in projects that were releasing tokens,” but to do so early on, in pre-sales and before the project launched.

“We figured people could access Bitcoin and Ethereum so we figured, just do an exclusively early-stage projects for investors,” Veradittakit said.

That fund was easily filled and it remains an open-ended hedge fund, with over $1 billion assets under management. It has continued to make active investments so it’s not limited to the ICO era, but it still holds a large quantity of tokens from that time. It has investments in ZRX, FIL, DOT, OGN and other early projects from that era.

The fund has made itself an active participant in the communities it has invested in. “We are staking. We are providing liquidity. We are providing governance and voting, all of that stuff.”

On average, Pantera holds for three years, looking at itself as a long term partner (at least on a crypto time scale), but, he said, “There are times when the returns are so high it makes sense to take a little off the table.”

So it has exited parts of some positions or even made significant shifts when there are material changes in the company.

The bear market was not easy, however. “Quite a few of the tokens that we invested in 2017, 2018, hit a rough patch during the bear market,” Veradittakit said. “We didn’t do the flips and the dumps and things like that and therefore we had to ride through it. We actually didn’t lose that many investors.”

Some left, but many stuck around. The fund posted strong returns through 2020 and so far into 2021. From January 2020 to the present it is up 2,807%, according to Pantera.

The ICO boom days were a very strange time and one in which some of the investors we spoke to took bold moves that don’t typically fall within the bounds defined by best practices for investing. For example, both Distributed and KR1 decided to go extremely long on one token (MKR and MLN, respectively).

Van Schreven called the bet on Melonport “fund suicide,” though it turned out to be anything but. The MLN token for the project now known as Enzyme trades at $105. It still hasn’t cracked its prior all-time high but it’s well above what it sold for early on; van Schreven said KR1’s investment there is up well over 1,000%. It’s also up more than 10,000% on its investment in ATOM, the Cosmos coin.

The time was so buzzy that it started to attract Web 2 professionals who quickly realized how limited was the blockchain space. Brukhman contends that this was good as well. Folks who were used to having lots of developer tooling to work with found Web 3 lacked it. So a lot of that stuff got made.

Not all the investors from that era look back on ICOs favorably, though. Di Prisco’s fund did very well in part because it got out of so many positions at the top. He still thinks that by and large the 2017 ICO approach isn’t a healthy one.

“I think that fundraising mechanism hamstrung a lot of projects,” Di Prisco said, explaining that companies should not raise all their funding up front. It forces them to put too much energy into treasury management and not enough into making something good, and if they get it wrong, they can get largely wiped out.

Case in point, messaging startup Status raised nearly 300,000 ETH in 2017 (over $100 million) but was still forced into laying off 25% of its staff in 2018.

But that doesn’t mean that the ICO form wasn’t taking investing in a direction that has potential.

Even van Schreven admits things got out of hand. “At the tail end of it, I think probably there was bad money allocated. The vast portion was people with good intentions,” van Schreven said.

“Blockchain technology can create hyper-efficient ways of forming capital. Now, secondarily, let’s go find legal frameworks for that and make it work,” Brukhman said.

Still, van Schreven remembers it fondly. “The ICO should be held up as one of the breakthrough moments for technology on the funding side,” he said, lamenting that “it’s gone back to more of a venture capital model to put the hand brake on it.”

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0x Cryptocurrency is currently on bullish momentum by 40.67% in the last 14 days. At 20:42 EST on Thursday, 6 May, 0x is at $2.12.

Currently, 0x has 212367 Twitter followers and 19056 Reddit subscribers.

As of now, on Github, there are 470 forks, 1341 stars, and 84 subscribers.

S&p dow jones brings Bitcoin, ethereum to wall st with cryptocurrency indexes. According to FX Empire on Tuesday, 4 May, "The new indexes, S&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index and S&P Crypto Mega Cap Index, will measure the performance of digital assets tied to them."

Goldman offers new Bitcoin derivatives to wall street investors. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 6 May, "While Dimon later softened his tone, the banking world has long seen Bitcoin as a plaything for criminals, drug dealers and money launderers.", "For years after its creation in 2009, Bitcoin was shunned by Wall Street banks, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon once threatening to fire any of his traders caught buying and selling the digital currency. "

Bitcoin traders in U.S. lack investor protections, gensler says. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 6 May, "U.S. investors lack protections when they trade Bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler told lawmakers.", "The SEC has signaled that Bitcoin is a commodity under U.S. law and therefore not subject to the agency’s toughest rules."

More news about 0x.

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.

At the time of writing, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) is around $176 billion across various blockchains like Ethereum, Binance, Terra, Polygon, Solana, and Avalanche. While Ethereum commands $130 billion of the aggregate total locked, a myriad of other defi-fueled blockchains continue to see TVLs steadily rise.

Total Value Locked Across All Defi Compatible Blockchains

The total value locked (TVL) in defi today has risen to $176.9 billion with a change of 1.07% during the last 24 hours, according to defillama.com statistics. The TVL has been steadily nearing the $200 billion zone and today Uniswap commands 3% dominance among the variety of defi applications. The defi application Aave commands $16.04 billion and Curve captures $13.92 billion today as most of the TVL is locked into application bolstered by the Ethereum chain.

A number of other chains, however, have been contributing billions to the overall defi TVL. While Ethereum (ETH) has around $130.07 billion on Sunday, the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has around $19.05 billion TVL. This is followed by Terra ($7.84B), Polygon ($5.34B), Solana ($4.3B), Avalanche ($2.36B) and Klaytn ($1.29B). The latest launch of the Arbitrum mainnet scaling solution for Ethereum has approximately $2,343,531 TVL on Sunday.

As far as decentralized exchange (dex) platforms are concerned, Curve has the most TVL today with $13.92 billion followed by the BSC-powered Pancakeswap with $5.94 billion and Uniswap has $5.3 billion TVL. For just the Ethereum chain alone, among 16 different dex platforms, Dune Analytics dex stats show there’s been $19 billion in global swaps during the last seven days. $2.24 billion in 24 hours and Uniswap commands 69.2% of all the dex volume across 16 dex platforms.

Uniswap Remains Ethereum’s Top Dex, Unique Defi Addresses Rise to 3.3 Million

Seven-day stats show Uniswap exchanged approximately $12,952,621,793 in global trades. 88% of the volume stems directly from dex applications but the rest of the volume (11.7%) are funneled through dex aggregators like 1inch, 0x API, Matcha, and Paraswap. The number of defi users or unique addresses across Ethereum-based defi apps is 3.3 million. The biggest lending apps today include platforms like Aave, Compound, Anchor, Venus, and Cream Finance respectively.

As far as yield-based TVL rankings on defillama.com are concerned, Convex Finance holds the top position on Sunday. This is followed by Yearn Finance, Alpaca Finance, Tranches, and Autofarm. The largest defi asset in terms of TVL is wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) with $10.05 billion locked. The second-largest defi asset is hbtc (HBTC) with $1.74 billion and mirror (MIR) with $1.01 billion.

What do you think about the defi TVL growth across various blockchains? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

If you want this weekly update in your inbox every Saturday, click here to become a subscriber.

Also: Taliban Resurgence Could Threaten Afghan School Teaching Women To Code And Build Ethereum Apps

ALTCOINS STEAL THE SHOW

While bitcoin is struggling to break past the $48,000 resistance level as of early Friday Eastern time and ether is losing 3.4% on the week, Ethereum’s competitors, or the so-called “ETH killers,” are conquering new highs.

Notably, ADA, the native token of Cardano, which last week took over binance coin to become the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, is , propelled by the announcement of the forthcoming rollout of smart contract support on Cardano’s main network. The surge brings ADA’s year-to-date gains to nearly 1,300%, making it the best-performing top five token, beating returns of 1,030% for binance coin, 330% for ether and 59% for bitcoin.

Also climbing in the ranks is the Solana blockchain’s SOL, now the tenth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The coin has confidently  and $70 thresholds in the past few days to hit an all-time high of $80.53 on Wednesday.  The boost is attributed to the rapid growth of the blockchain’s ecosystem. Last week, a decentralized exchange on Solana, Mango Markets, raised $70 million in a token sale, and a few days later NFT collection “The Degenerate Ape Academy” successfully debuted on Solana’s first fully-fledged marketplace for non-fungible tokens, Solanart, raising approximately $2.5 million in just eight minutes. Though on Friday, Solana’s decentralized finance protocol  , with all associated social media accounts taken down. Some have expressed concerns that this could be a rug pull, a malicious maneuver whereby the project’s developers take off with investors’ funds.

Finally, smart contracts platform Avalanche, which is also capitalizing on the burgeoning popularity of non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, saw its native cryptocurrency AVAX  over the past week. On August 18, the Avalanche Foundation kicked off a new initiative titled “Avalanche Rush.” The $180 million program aims to bring DeFi applications to the network, starting with some of the largest DeFi protocols, Aave and Curve.

COINBASE BULKS UP ITS CRYPTO PORTFOLIO

Crypto’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., Coinbase,  on Friday a commitment to invest $500 million in cryptocurrencies and allocate 10% of its quarterly net income into various assets, including ether, proof of stake assets, DeFi tokens, and others, in addition to bitcoin. Coinbase’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong,  that the firm had already "received board approval". The move would make Coinbase the first publicly traded company in the U.S. to assemble such a diverse crypto portfolio.

In preparation for closer regulatory scrutiny and potential business risks, Coinbase has  amassed a $4 billion cash stockpile. Earlier this month, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler  that he intends to regulate cryptocurrency trading and lending platforms to the maximum extent.

DEFI SUMMER 2.0

In addition to Coinbase aiming to add DeFi assets to its balance sheet, the world of decentralized finance has welcomed more positive news this week. On Thursday, Galaxy Digital, the crypto-focused investment management firm founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz, announced the creation of the Galaxy DeFi Index Fund, giving traditional investors access to nine Ethereum-based DeFi governance tokens: Uniswap, Aave, Maker, Compound, Yearn.Finance, Synthetix, SushiSwap, 0x and UMA. Thus, the fund would track the newly launched Bloomberg Galaxy DeFi Index, created by the two companies.

As decentralized finance projects, designed to let users forgo traditional financial intermediaries, are increasingly capturing attention of Wall Street whales, the SEC is taking aim at the novel sector. On Wednesday, the Commission’s chairman Gary Gensler strongly  that the industry, still largely unregulated in the U.S., may not be immune from regulatory oversight.

 Walmart

Its Food Traceability Initiative, which helps Walmart detect contamination and other food safety issues, now tracks nearly 500 items like fresh leafy greens, coffee, seafood and meat. Last year, it assisted the FDA with six investigations into food safety and was able to provide detailed information on the original source of potential contamination within an hour. This year, Walmart will conduct a pilot with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to track imported foods. In addition, the retail giant is  looking to hire a cryptocurrency expert to further expand nhood Q2 Revenue Doubles, Led by Crypto Trading  []

Second-largest U.S. Mortgage Lender Will Accept Payment In Bitcoin []

Binance enforces mandatory KYC on all users amid mounting regulatory pressure []

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O bitcoin (BTC) avança 6,43% na manhã desta sexta-feira (20), aos US$ 48.519,17 (R$ 263.025,29). No acumulado dos últimos sete dias, a principal criptomoeda do mercado avança 4,15%.

Bitcoin sustentando altas

O noticiário e os dados internos da blockchain do bitcoin apontam que essa alta deve se sustentar por mais alguns dias. Além disso, hoje é dia de vencimento de opções em criptomoedas (se você tem dúvidas sobre como funciona o mercado de opções, não deixe de ler esse texto de Ruy Hungria).

Nesse cenário, o índice de força relativa (RSI, em inglês) da principal criptomoeda do mercado aponta para uma alta no preço do bitcoin. O RSI despencou para abaixo dos 70 pontos em maio, o que indica que as cotações da moeda poderiam perder fôlego a qualquer momento. 

Entretanto, nos meses seguintes, o indicador voltou a subir e se aproximar novamente da faixa dos 70 pontos. Dessa forma, o mercado enxerga o patamar de US$ 47 mil sustentável para o preço do bitcoin no momento. 

Em outras palavras, o bitcoin deve se manter em torno desse valor por algum tempo ou subir em um determinado momento. Analistas afirmam que o próximo preço de sustentação do bitcoin deve estar na faixa entre US$ 50 mil e US$ 52 mil, de acordo com dados do Coin Desk. 

Confira o nosso canal do YouTube porque o bitcoin pode subir até o final do ano:

Parceria: índice de cripto

Na última quinta-feira (19), a agência de notícias Bloomberg e a gestora Galaxy Digital afirmaram que desenvolvem um índice em criptomoedas para finanças descentralizadas, as DeFis. Os principais protocolos que devem estar incluídos no índice são:

(UNI)Aave (AAVE)Maker (MKR)Compound (COMP)Yearn.Finance (YFI)Synthetic (SNX)SushiSwap (SUSHI)0x (ZXR)Uma (UMA)

"As finanças descentralizadas estão crescendo como o próximo grande tema de investimento dentro da criptografia", disse Alan Campbell, head de produtos da divisão de índices de múltiplos ativos da Bloomberg, em comunicado.

"À medida que as soluções de liquidez e custódia institucional continuam a crescer, o DeFi se tornou uma opção cada vez mais atraente para os investidores institucionais, e continuaremos trabalhando com a Galaxy para expandir nossa oferta de índice de criptografia”, conclui o texto.

Em maio de 2018, a Bloomberg e a Galaxy Digital lançaram um índice em bitcoin e ethereum (ETH). Recentemente, a empresa que desenvolveu os índices das bolsas S&P 500 e Dow Jones lançou uma plataforma para medir performance de bitcoin e ethereum.

Confira como andam outras criptomoedas do mercado hoje:

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.

Since its initial coin offering (ICO) in March 2020, Solana (SOL) has appreciated over 300 times in value. To put this into perspective, a $500 investment in Solana during its ICO would be worth over $150,000 in August 2021. While Solana has gone up in value significantly, it’s for good reason. Solana is a smart-contract-enabled blockchain with high throughput and low fees that aims to give Ethereum a run for its money.

While the majority of gains from Solana are likely behind us, you can still find plenty of ways to make high returns through investing in Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Similar to Ethereum, Solana is a platform for projects to build on, with decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and non-fungible token (NFT) platforms leading this innovation.

At its core, Solana is a platform for decentralized applications (DApps). Developers build infrastructure on Solana’s blockchain, similar to how developers made protocols like Uniswap, Chainlink and 0x on Ethereum. However, Solana has clear benefits that may incentivize developers and users to migrate to its blockchain from Ethereum’s.

Solana uses a proof-of-history consensus model to secure its blockchain. Through using this novel consensus model, the platform can process thousands of transactions per second, whereas Ethereum can only handle around 30 transactions per second. What’s more, Solana makes it easy for developers to port over their protocols into Solana’s ecosystem, adding to the amount of infrastructure on its blockchain.

Solana’s closest competitor is Ethereum. Both blockchains host DApps and have their own unique benefits. Ethereum’s ecosystem is far more developed than Solana’s, with thousands of developers building interoperable applications where users can perform advanced financial functions without the need for an intermediary. Also, Ethereum’s blockchain offers more liquidity, which is a critical advantage when it comes to finance. 

Plus, Ethereum’s blockchain is much more decentralized, making it more censorship-resistant and secure. Solana currently has about 600 validators on its network, which is about ⅙ of the validators Ethereum has. Regardless, Solana is one of the more decentralized networks within the blockchain industry.

However, Solana’s clear benefits continue to draw users to its blockchain. For one, Solana can process transactions much faster than Ethereum’s network. Transaction speed is extremely important for applications like derivative exchanges and NFT gaming. Also, it costs far less to transact on Solana, making it a better option for retail traders without large amounts of capital. 

With such a new ecosystem of decentralized applications, Solana presents a unique opportunity for massive returns if you can find the right projects to invest in. However, with little regulation of the Solana ecosystem, you have to watch out for scam coins. Before investing in any cryptocurrency, be sure to do your own research so you can be confident that your cryptocurrency is likely to perform well over your investment horizon.

The projects deemed to be the best projects on Solana are those with a solid foundation, relatively large user base and a strong team of developers. Another important factor considered while compiling this list is how likely a project is able to compete with its Ethereum counterparts through using the benefits of Solana’s blockchain.

Serum (SRM): The leading DEX on Solana’s blockchain. The protocol has all the benefits of decentralization while keeping key features investors are used to on centralized exchanges. Whereas DEXs like Uniswap and PancakeSwap are automated market makers (AMMs) that let users swap between cryptocurrencies, Serum is a full-featured exchange with limit orders and leverage trading. Using order books on DEXs on Ethereum are infeasible, as the data needed to do so can’t be uploaded to its blockchain efficiently. You can buy Serum on the FTX exchange.

Star Atlas (ATLAS): The 1st and largest NFT gaming platform coming to Solana on August 26, 2021. The game is set in space, and users will be able to explore the virtual reality universe and own spaceships, visit planets and battle against other players. The initial sale won’t be available to U.S. investors, but the ATLAS token should be listed on DEXs, such as Serum, shortly thereafter. Solana has the potential to outcompete Ethereum in the NFT gaming space, as its blockchain can handle transactions so much quicker and at a fraction of the cost. Speed is especially important for gaming because users need quick settlements while interacting with a blockchain-based game in real time.

Raydium (RAY): The 1st automated market maker on Solana with 1st mover advantage in this space. With nearly $1 billion locked in its smart contracts, it’s one of the most widely used decentralized applications in Solana’s ecosystem. Similar to SushiSwap on Ethereum’s blockchain, Raydium has a project accelerator called the “AcceleRaytor” that helps new cryptocurrencies launch with liquidity on its platform. With such a large user base and sufficient liquidity, RAY is among the most established projects on Solana’s blockchain. You can buy Raydium on the FTX exchange and Uniswap.

Arweave (AR): A decentralized storage solution based on Solana’s blockchain. The project has funding from some of the highest tier venture capital firms in the space, including Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. The project introduced novel ideas of profit-sharing communities that incentive developers to use the platform, granting those who contribute to the ecosystem equity instead of selling equity to investors in presale or seed fundraising rounds.

Audius (AUDIO): With over 100,000 artists, 5 million listeners and a partnership with TikTok, Audius is primed to be the next generation of music streaming services. Through smart contracts and blockchain technology, Audius aims to replace centralized streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. You can buy AUDIO on the FTX exchange and Uniswap.

Luckily, a lot of projects that are on Solana can also be accessed via DEXs on Ethereum. Uniswap is a great way to gain access to tons of new cryptocurrencies, and you don’t even need to make an account to use the platform. You will, however, need an Ethereum wallet to use Uniswap. If you don’t already have an Ethereum wallet, Metamask is among the best wallets for using DeFi, and it’s free. 

Once you’ve downloaded a software wallet, you’ll need to send Ether tokens to your wallet’s address. Once your Ether is in your wallet, connect your wallet to Uniswap to gain access to thousands of cryptocurrencies that aren’t available on typical exchanges like Coinbase.

Need help getting your hands on some Ethereum? Check out some of the top U.S. exchanges that allow you to easily buy Ether tokens.

1 Minute 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.

1 Minute Review

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.

1 Minute Review

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.

As a general rule of thumb, you’ll take on more risk investing in small market cap altcoins than investing in established, large market cap altcoins. Before investing in any cryptocurrency, be sure to do your own research. Some key factors as to whether or not a project will perform well are its user base, development team, community and product market fit.

No matter which cryptocurrency exchange you choose to invest on, it’s a good idea to also use a cryptocurrency wallet. Cryptocurrency wallets give you custody over your cryptocurrencies, adding a level of security that exchanges don’t have. Plus, using a software wallet grants you access to all the decentralized protocols built on Solana.

Ledger has been making cryptocurrency hardware wallets since 2014, and it’s the most popular wallet among cryptocurrency investors. Hardware wallets are physical devices that store access to your crypto offline, making it impossible for a hacker to steal your funds via the internet.

Plus, the Ledger Nano X and Ledger Nano S support thousands of different cryptocurrencies. More likely than not, you’ll be able to store all your digital asset investments on a single device with Ledger.

A software wallet is necessary for interacting with DeFi protocols. If you have Metamask, Phantom is a similar wallet, but it’s built for Solana’s blockchain. Ethereum software wallets don’t work with Solana, so you’ll need to download another crypto wallet for Solana and Solana tokens. Luckily, most software wallets available today are free to download via the Google Chrome store. 

More likely than not, Solana will find its place within the cryptocurrency market. While Ethereum seems to be the king of DeFi, other projects may find a niche for certain decentralized applications. Due to the low latency and high throughput of Solana’s blockchain, projects that need to process large amounts of data may thrive within its ecosystem.

Methodology

Benzinga crafted a specific methodology to rank cryptocurrency exchanges and tools. We prioritized platforms based on offerings, pricing and promotions, customer service, mobile app, user experience and benefits, and security. To see a comprehensive breakdown of our methodology, please visit see our Cryptocurrency Methodology page.

Try Gemini

Gemini builds crypto products to help you buy, sell, and store your bitcoin and cryptocurrency. You can buy bitcoin and crypto instantly and access all the tools you need to understand the crypto market and start investing, all through one clear, attractive interface. Gemini Crypto Platform offers excellent account management options. You can manage your account at a glance, view your account balance 24-hour changes and percent changes. Get started with Gemini now.

With over 11,000 unique crypto assets launched, the cryptocurrency market capitalization stands near $2 trillion. It’s undeniable that cryptocurrency has legitimized itself as a true investment class over the last few years.

As the industry continues to evolve, the cryptocurrency world continues to gain popularity. The words Bitcoin and blockchain are on everyone’s tongues. And while some people have been in the field for a long time now, new investors arrive every day. With an eagerness to start trading and hopefully make profit, it’s important to only manage your risk accordingly. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile assets, sometimes moving double-digit percentage points in a single day.

Needless to say, entering this dynamic and complex world is not that simple. That is why people should know how, when and, most importantly, where to trade their assets. Before getting into how the market and price movements work, the 1st step an investor should take is finding a reliable cryptocurrency exchange to use.

Huobi Global is one of the most popular and trusted cryptocurrency exchanges. With a trading volume surpassing $30 billion, investors have sufficient liquidity to trade a variety of digital assets. It also has its native token, Huobi Token (HT), that has a value around $13. The focus of the platform was mainly in Asia, but because of the Chinese government’s recently imposed crypto regulations Huobi Global is now focusing its efforts on expanding in the U.S.

The platform provides a clean interface and more than 10 languages, which is really helpful to new users around the world. It also has a mobile app, available on Apple Play and Google Play stores. Furthermore, the exchange provides staking pools where users can stake their tokens to earn profits.

Bitcoin (BTC) was the 1st cryptocurrency to exist. It remains the currency with the highest recognition, most adoption, largest market capitalization and one of the highest daily volumes. This makes BTC one of the safest tokens to invest in for the long run. The Bitcoin Dominance (BTCD) is the ratio between the market capitalization of BTC compared to the rest of altcoins.

Altcoins are alternative cryptocurrencies to the most popular one — Bitcoin. The current number of altcoins is very difficult to know because anyone can create a token on a platform such as Ethereum, Solana or Binance Smart Chain.

Some cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH) offer the simplicity of being able to develop tokens without the need to create a new blockchain network. Employing a smart contract, you can create the basis for a new token, reducing development costs and making it easier to launch a cryptocurrency

Innovation comes through competition. If there wasn’t any token to question Bitcoin’s project and model, it would be considered the best that can be offered and no one would seek to improve it.

Altcoin prices are extremely volatile. This may represent an incredible investment opportunity, but it makes it much riskier. 

Among other cryptocurrencies on the market, Bitcoin has irrefutably been the dominant token since its beginning. But other coins have been standing strong in the last months.

For every investor, the goal is to minimize risks and maximize profits. That is why, in the crypto market, most of them opt to diversify their investments. Savvy investors understand the importance of diversifying their funds in order to achieve a balance between risk and reward.

Huobi Global offers the possibility to buy more than 300 tokens, so diversifying your money on the same platform won’t be a problem. The following are some of the best cryptocurrencies to invest on Huobi Global:

Although most popular cryptocurrencies can be traded on Huobi Global, there are some exceptions. Binance Coin (BNB), the utility token from Binance, and Coin98 (C98), cannot be traded at Huobi Global. If you are interested in buying these tokens, you are able to do it directly from Binance and Binance.US.

Also, you can start earning free cryptocurrency on Coinbase today. Coinbase has a program called Coinbase Learn which pays users in crypto to learn about blockchain technology. Simply watch a few videos, and Coinbase will credit your account with different altcoins.

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.

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.

Your privacy and security is of vital importance, so whichever token you decide to buy, take your time to store them correctly in a safe wallet. Whether it is a digital wallet like Coinbase or a cold storage unit like the ones offered by Ledger, protecting your private keys is a must.

Remember never to share your keys, and in case you decide to store your cryptocurrencies in an offline wallet, keep the device protected in a safe location.

After experiencing a bull run earlier this year, the cryptocurrency market capitalization sits just above $2 trillion. Top-tier tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum have experienced huge gains coming out of summer 2021, and the altcoins do not seem far behind. 

With new projects starting to flourish on different blockchains, the mid-term future of the market seems promising. Many long-term investors believe the cryptocurrency market will continue to rise, as the world keeps moving toward a decentralized economy. However, investors should still expect market volatility, as the crypto market never closes. 

Since Huobi Global headquarters and servers are not located in the United States, the platform doesn’t need to comply with American regulations. Therefore, non U.S. customers will be able to enjoy a much higher offering of token markets. If you want to use a cryptocurrency trading platform that’s based in the United States, however, then you’ll need to look elsewhere. Coinbase is one of the most recognized and reliable exchanges, but some alternative choices are eToro or Voyager.

As exchanges NovaDax e Coinext anunciaram a listagem de novos criptoativos buscando atender a crescente demanda dos investidores nacionais no universo do Bitcoin (BTC) e criptomoedas.

No caso da  NovaDAX, haverá a listagem de dez novas criptomoedas na sua plataforma. Com isso, os cerca de 750 mil clientes brasileiros da empresa passam a contar com mais de 60 opções de moedas, o que possibilita uma grande diversificação de investimento.  

Um dos grandes destaques da lista é a AXS, que é derivada de um dos jogos que mais tem atraído a atenção de investidores e de jogadores, o Axie Infinity. 

Desde o início do 2021, a AXS acumulou 7.277% de valorização, passando de US$ 0,59 para US$ 43,53. Esse enorme crescimento superou, e muito, o de moedas como Bitcoin e Ethereum (ETH), que tiveram valorização de 36% e 226%, respectivamente, no mesmo NFTs, garantindo originalidade nas obras de arte virtuais, já que cada jogador pode batalhar, evoluir, criar terras e até desenvolver personagens. Seu diferencial é que os jogadores podem vender todos os tokens recolhidos ou criados no mundo virtual, trocando esse valor por criptoativos  no mundo real”, explica César Trevisan, Head de Business Development da NovaDAX.  

Além da AXS, outras três moedas listadas são de games: MANA, ENJ e UMA. Para complementar a lista, os traders poderão escolher entre a KNC, Ren, YFI, Ox (ZRX), GRT e BAT.

 “Nossa missão é popularizar o mercado de cripto. Para isso, nada melhor que oferecer cada vez mais opções aos brasileiros que querem investir com a gente”, finaliza Trevisan.   

Confira as novas moedas listadas pela NovaDAX e a data que - GRT  03/09 - BAT  Coinext

No caso da Coinext serão listadas duas novas opções de criptomoedas em seu portfólio, a Axie Infinity (AXS) e Chiliz (CHZ). Além disso, a corretora informou em nota que durante o mês de setembro serão listados pelo menos mais 7 criptoativos, todos com taxa zero para trades até dia 30.

Das Berliner FinTech Vivid bietet über seine App ab sofort 50 Kryptowährungen an. Bis auf weiteres ist der Handel kostenlos. Die Käufer tauschen ihr Geld jedoch nicht in Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co., sondern erwerben OTC-Derivate.

Weltweit engagieren sich immer mehr Unternehmen in Kryptowährungen und befeuern so den Trend zum digitalen Geldersatz. Nach Signalen zu neuen Beschränkungen und Regulierungen aus China, USA, Europa und Japan zeigten sich die Kurse von Kryptowährungen in den vergangenen Wochen jedoch als sehr volatil. Angesichts dessen ist auch die deutsche Wirtschaft gespalten in der Frage, ob es sich bei Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co. eher um Spekulationsobjekte oder eine Ersatzwährung handelt.

Zugleich meldete das Krypto-Nachrichtenportal www.theblockcrypto.com im Mai einen neuen Handelsrekord von umgerechnet fast 2,2 Billionen US-Dollar. Das hohe Interesse auf Kundenseite befeuert Banken und Finanzdienstleister, den Kryptohandel ins Portfolio aufzunehmen. So hat die Börse Stuttgart neben der Bison-App nun eine weitere mobile Anwendung gelauncht, die einen direkten Zugang zum Krypto-Marktplatz BSDEX eröffnet. Sogar Krypto-Geldautomaten sind auf dem Vormarsch.

50 Coins auf einen Streich

Das FinTech Vivid Money setzt ebenfalls auf den Krypto-Trend und hat vor wenigen Wochen den Handel mit zehn verschiedenen Kryptowährungen gestartet. Nun setzt Vivid noch einen drauf und weitet das Angebot auf 50 verschiedene Krypto-Coins aus. Damit sei man führend unter den europäischen Banking-Apps, teilt das Unternehmen mit.

Kryptowährungen und Vivid als Banking-App: Das gehört einfach zusammen. So war es für uns nur ein logischer Schritt, unseren Nutzern weitere Kryptowährungen anzubieten. Wir sind besonders stolz darauf, mit 50 handelbaren Kryptowährungen das größte Angebot als Banking-App in Europa zu haben.”

Alexander Emeshev, Mitgründer von Vivid

Zu den neuen Coins in der App gehören unter anderem 0x, Aave, Aragon, Bancor Network Token, Compound, Chiliz, Decentraland, Dogecoin, Enjin Coin, Fetch.ai, Filecoin, FTX Token, Holo, IOST, Kyber Network, Loopring, Maker, OMG Network, Polkadot, Polygon, REN, Solana, Stellar, Storj, Swipe, Synthetix Network Token, Tron, Uniswap, VeChain and XRP. Coins, die bereits verfügbar waren, sind: Algorand, Basic Attention Token, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Chainlink, EOS, Ethereum, Litecoin und NEM.

Abwicklung per OTC-Derivaten

Banking-Kunden, die per Vivid-App Kryptowährungen kaufen, erhalten allerdings keine echte Kryptowährung, zudem ist der Vertragspartner weder Vivid Money noch Vivid Invest. Die Aufträge werden an den Partner CM-Equity übermittelt, ein in Deutschland zugelassenes Finanzdienstleistungsinstitut unter Aufsicht der BaFin. Die Vivid Invest wiederum ist als vertraglich gebundener Vermittler der CM-Equity bei der BaFin registriert.

Transaktionen mit Kryptowährungen sind bei dem Berliner FinTech bereits ab einem Eurocent möglich. Der Handel funktioniert mittels Fractional Coins, also Anteilen an den Kryptowährungen, deren Kursverlauf ohne Hebel 1:1 per Over-the-Counter-Derivaten (OTC) abgebildet werden, wie das Vivid-Hilfeforum verrät.

Diese Konstruktion hat für Kunden zwei wichtige Konsequenzen. Zum einen besteht ein zusätzliches Kontrahentenrisiko, denn die in Kryptowährungen investierten Gelder liegen bei CM-Equity. Zum anderen kann der Kunde mit solchermaßen erworbenen Kryptowährungen weder bezahlen noch diese auf eine Wallet übertragen.

Leistungsvielfalt als Prinzip

Das umfangreiche Kryptowährungs-Angebot folgt der bisherigen Strategie, die Vivid-App zu einer Finanzplattform zu machen, die sowohl die täglichen Bedürfnisse um das Banking als auch längerfristige Ziele wie Sparen und Investieren mit einem breiten Leistungsportfolio vereint. Ähnlich wie nun bei Kryptowährungen bietet Vivid auch die Möglichkeit, per OTC-Derivaten in Aktien und ETFs zu investieren.

Ein weiterer Aspekt ist die finanzielle Bildung. Darauf habe man von Anfang an Wert gelegt, so Emeshev. Mit Vivid Classes will man den Kunden die notwendigen Informationen an die Hand geben, um fundierte Entscheidungen zu Sparanlagen und Investitionen zu treffen. Dementsprechend habe man gerade für Kryptowährungen, eine besonders volatile Anlageklasse, die Vivid Classes um neue Lektionen ergänzt.

Nicht zuletzt setzt das FinTech auch auf eine breite Abdeckung des Marktes. Neben Apples App-Store und Googles Play-Store können Kunden die Vivid-App auch in der App-Gallery für Huawei-Smartphones finden. Aufgrund der US-Sanktionen können aktuelle Huawei-Smartphones nicht mehr auf Googles Android-Dienste zugreifen. hj

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Decided you want in on the action? You can buy Bitcoin on Coinbase, Gemini and Robinhood.

Since its inception, Bitcoin has shocked the world with amazing gains — and steep declines. With its latest move, this crypto giant has surprised investors once again. 

As the world’s 1st and largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) represents the face of the crypto industry to onboarding participants. And with its sheer dominance, Bitcoin’s movements, up or down, can dictate the direction of the entire altcoin market.

Despite Ethereum (ETH) and competing smart contract platforms stirring a renewed interest in the altcoin market, investors remain laser focused on Bitcoin’s next move. But what is Bitcoin, exactly? And what makes this cryptocurrency so valuable? 

With Bitcoin being accepted as payment by a growing number of merchants, traders across the world are asking one increasingly important question: How high can Bitcoin go?

Bitcoin is simply a distributed ledger technology. Created anonymously by an engineer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the technology behind Bitcoin was first described in 2008.

Allowing for the permissionless sending and receiving of its associated coin, Bitcoin establishes the basis for decentralized financial (DeFi) transactions. With a proof-of-work system for mining and a cap at 21 million coins, the Bitcoin whitepaper describes a mechanism to incentivize participation in the network.  

But to its millions of users worldwide, Bitcoin is simply electronic cash. And without a centralized institution to authorize transactions between parties, Bitcoin represents a revolution in modern payment systems.

Bitcoin is currently trading near $46,500. With a market cap over $871 billion, Bitcoin alone represents more than 40% of the crypto market. While down considerably from its highs of early 2021, Bitcoin has made solid gains in the past month. Nevertheless, a recent market drop saw Bitcoin’s price fall 12% overnight, leaving traders questioning if the cryptocurrency is truly the store of value its proponents claim. 

When considering how new blockchain technology still is, and how dominant Bitcoin’s position in the market, there should be no doubt that the original cryptocurrency still has room to grow. However, as smart contract platforms like Ethereum continue to develop, Bitcoin runs the risk of being seen as an outdated relic.

Expectations for future growth may depend largely on an influx of new participation. And Bitcoin is well positioned to attract the lion’s share of cryptocurrency investments. Still, to better understand Bitcoin’s potential, the prognostications of top analysts can help shed light into this crypto’s future direction.  

With over 25 years of experience in financial markets, strategic analyst Plan B has made a  bullish forecast for Bitcoin, seeing potential for the coin to reach $100,000 by the end of 2021. Using a stock-to-flow cross asset (S2FX) forecasting model, Plan B sees Bitcoin experiencing parabolic growth in the near term.

Popular Twitter influencer and Bitcoin prognosticator, Mr. Whale has presented an extremely bearish outlook for Bitcoin. Believing that bitcoin has already peaked, Whale predicts a bleak near-term future for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. He sees Bitcoin dropping to $7,000 as early as 2022.

If you’re wondering where to buy Bitcoin, the answer is simple. The best way to purchase Bitcoin is on a trading platform that supports it. But depending on your location, the exchanges available may be limited.

Some of the most trusted trading platforms for U.S consumers include Coinbase, Gemini, Voyager and Crypto.com. Each of these exchanges employ state-of-the-art security, ensuring the safety of your assets. 

1 Minute 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.

1 Minute Review

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.

1 Minute Review

Changelly Crypto is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to swap, buy and sell more than 170 cryptocurrencies. 

With an intuitive and straightforward platform, tools that allow you to find the best exchange rate quickly and multiple forms of currencies and payment methods accepted, Changelly offers a wide range of benefits over its competitors. 

Though we’d love to see Changelly expand its educational offerings and consider adding phone support to its customer service repertoire, the platform is a solid choice for both new and experienced traders alike.

Despite a recent downturn, analysts continue to make the case for Bitcoin’s eventual rise to $100,000 and beyond. And if institutional interest continues at its current pace, some say it could happen as early as this year.

More than doubling from its current price, the move to $100,000 would push Bitcoin’s market cap to an almost unbelievable $1.88 trillion. And while betting against Bitcoin is an inherently risky strategy, it may be reasonable to temper our expectations for gains going forward.

Whether you’re looking for connectivity or security, the diversity of wallets found online have expanded with the cryptocurrency market. With hardware and software varieties to choose from, the following wallets represent the most reputable options for crypto consumers.

The ultimate option for securing your digital assets, Ledger represents the most trusted name in hardware wallets. Built with state-of-art-security in mind, your private keys are stored on the physical device itself, giving you complete ownership of your cryptocurrencies.

ZenGo has gotten rid of private keys altogether. Using facial biometrics to secure your crypto, ZenGo’s software wallet has everything you need — with no extra fees! 

Bonus section: With El Salvador officially accepting Bitcoin as legal tender, the original cryptocurrency has reached a significant milestone. Should this experiment in decentralization prove useful to the nation in the coming months, the impact on Bitcoin’s price could be incredible.

The market took a step back recently, sending Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies tumbling over 12% in 1 single day. While prices seem to be stabilizing, the impacts of the latest market shock will likely continue to play out in the near term.

Bitcoin dominance currently stands at 42.1%, trending lower as smart contract platforms continue to take market share from the world’s largest cryptocurrency. And as DeFi applications develop on alternative platforms, Bitcoin’s future as the king of crypto becomes unclear. 

As the undisputed champion of the crypto universe, Bitcoin represents the ultimate store of value for its investors. And with its recent adoption as legal tender by El Salvador, Bitcoin has proven itself a competitor to traditional fiat systems. 

Still, the volatility of the cryptocurrency market carries inherent risk for traders. And while many analysts expect the currency to reach new heights, Bitcoin’s future is still far from certain. The decision to hold Bitcoin as a part of your portfolio will depend on your own comfortability with the risks involved. 

For many, Bitcoin represents a trusted vehicle for wealth accumulation. As such, stacking the coin during market dips remains a reasonable investment strategy. 

Methodology

Benzinga crafted a specific methodology to rank cryptocurrency exchanges and tools. We prioritized platforms based on offerings, pricing and promotions, customer service, mobile app, user experience and benefits, and security. To see a comprehensive breakdown of our methodology, please visit see our Cryptocurrency Methodology page.

Try Gemini

Gemini builds crypto products to help you buy, sell, and store your bitcoin and cryptocurrency. You can buy bitcoin and crypto instantly and access all the tools you need to understand the crypto market and start investing, all through one clear, attractive interface. Gemini Crypto Platform offers excellent account management options. You can manage your account at a glance, view your account balance 24-hour changes and percent changes. Get started with Gemini now.

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!

Decided you want in on the action? You can buy Cardano (ADA) on Coinbase, eToro and Crypto.com.

Cardano (ADA) has been one of the best performing cryptocurrencies of 2021. Cardano recently shattered all-time highs and cemented itself as the 3rd largest crypto asset by market cap at a price of around $3. Japan has also recently given Cardano the green light to be listed on exchanges, opening it up to the 3rd largest economy in the world.

September 2021 is the scheduled implementation of smart contract functionality on Cardano. The introduction of smart contracts will allow Cardano to become a player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space and possibly become an even bigger rival to Ethereum. Holders of the Cardano token (ADA) can stake their ADA and receive rewards.

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform launched in 2017 by former Ethereum developer Charles Hoskinson. Cardano, the 1st blockchain built based on peer-reviewed research, is being developed through evidence-based methods. Overcoming the scalability and security vulnerability issues of Ethereum is the goal of the project. Hoskinson also wanted Cardano to be a for-profit entity, accepting venture capitalist donations. In contrast, Ethereum was adamant about remaining a non-profit organization.

Elon Musk caused a stir in the markets when he tweeted that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) won’t begin accepting Bitcoin until it increases its use of renewable energy. Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain in contrast to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which both use a proof-of-work protocol. The proof-of-stake protocol is more environmentally friendly since it uses significantly less energy than proof-of-work chains. The proof-of-stake system can achieve more than 4 million times the energy efficiency of a proof-of-work system.

The Cardano platform consists of 2 layers. The settlement layer is where the ADA token exists and keeps track of transactions. The 2nd layer, the computation layer, enables smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to run on the platform.

The market cap of Cardano as of August 2021 is around $90 billion, cementing its position as the 3rd biggest cryptocurrency according to CoinMarketCap ($89,954,280,847). The current price of a single ADA token is just under $3 — almost 100 times greater than its 2020 low of around $0.03.

You shouldn’t focus too much on the cost of an asset because it’s the market cap that determines the market value of a project’s circulating token supply. The market cap is the total cost to purchase all the projects tokens entirely in a single transaction. The market cap also helps disclose the amount of risk involved when investing in a project. Cardano was able to soar to the 3rd highest market cap because of the anticipation of the Alonzo hard fork in September 2021. The hard fork will allow DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming apps to go live on Cardano.

The project’s large-cap ranking (about $90 billion) makes it principally categorized as a “safe” investment. Analysts identify potential capacity for Cardano to grow in value. Cardano has a chance to match Ethereum’s projection of hitting a $1 trillion market cap by 2022. The Cardano ecosystem is forecasted to grow exponentially, and owning ADA could be rewarding as adoption grows.

C. Jebb is a talented trader who also provides insights into current events and predictions on the crypto market. He thinks that after ripping through all-time highs, Cardano could be due for a correction to the downside in the short term. However, by recently adding Cardano, Japanese exchanges could help produce a bullish move to the upside long-term. C. Jebb predicts that Cardano will go to $10 in the next 10 to 12 months but looks for it to correct in the short term.

In some ways, Cardano is in a similar position to that of Ethereum in 2018, on the cusp of making its debut into the DeFi and NFT space with the release of SundaeSwap. SundaeSwap is a DEX built on the Cardano blockchain. Sundaeswap uses the same protocol popularized by Uniswap, with several innovative adaptations for Cardano. DeFi protocols running on Cardano could be a bullish catalyst for the long-term growth of the ADA token price.

Jason from “A Chain of Blocks” podcast is a brilliant market analyst who is a big Cardano fan. Still, he also sees a possible bearish scenario for the project. The crypto space is exceptionally fast-paced, yet the development at Cardano has been moving at a languid pace. Projects that launched years after Cardano like Elrond and Polkadot have delivered far more robust ecosystems. The lack of smart contract functionality means that not many developers are building on Cardano.

Other projects could increase their lead in development if Cardano delays releasing smart contracts. If smart contracts succeed, Cardano will still need time to implement sharding to overcome scalability issues. If the bearish scenario plays out, Jason didn’t give a price prediction but sees a deep correction coming for the price of ADA.

You can buy the ADA token at several exchanges, including Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and eToro. If you’re new to the crypto space, a centralized exchange like Coinbase may be easier to use. Make sure to research several exchanges because each has unique benefits to offer users.

1 Minute 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.

1 Minute Review

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.

1 Minute Review

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

1 Minute Review

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.

Cardano has been one of the breakout projects of 2021. It proved its ability to reach high price points by continuously smashing through all-time highs. If the Alonzo hard fork goes off without a hitch, the ADA token could get to $10 before the end of 2021. Cardano will increase its user and developer base as more DeFi and NFT projects are released, which should cause an increase in the price of ADA. For Cardano to reach $10, Bitcoin will have to remain on an upswing for the remainder of the year. However, due to the very turbulent nature of the crypto markets, you should not put too much confidence into price predictions. There could also be delays in project development. A more conservative outlook is that ADA could reach $10 in the next 10 to 12 months.

It’s not safe to leave your crypto assets on an exchange because, in the event of a hack, you could lose your money. The best practice is to keep your crypto assets offline in a hardware wallet or an online software wallet, depending on your preference. Using a crypto wallet gives you more security as long as you keep your private keys safe.

The Ledger is one of the best hardware wallets to secure your cryptocurrencies. The device is primarily an offline hardware wallet. It has software with an easy-to-use interface to help users manage their portfolios. It also connects to Bluetooth or USB, depending on whether you’re on a desktop or mobile.

ZenGo wallet is a mobile software wallet with a stylish interface along with a built-in exchange for trading. The ZenGo wallet is excellent for beginners because the support team is there to answer any questions. The wallet also removes the hassle of keeping private keys and seed phrases because it uses facial biometrics.

The total market cap for the entire crypto space is just over $2 trillion. Positive sentiment in the market seems to be making the $2 trillion overall crypto market cap act as a support level. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) continue to look steady as they trade sideways within a tight price range. Most analysts anticipate a breakout move in positive price action, confirming the continuation of the bull market.

Investing in cryptocurrency can be a roller coaster of extreme price swings, so don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. Research the projects you support to ensure that the team is legit and that the token has a use case. Remember that even a bona fide project could take years to develop or could fail.

Suppose you believe in Cardano’s ability to deliver smart contracts and overcome scalability issues soon. In that case, ADA could prove to be a superb investment. The release of DeFi and NFT apps like SundaeSwap and ErgoDEX could drastically increase the number of transactions on the network, driving the ADA price higher. Early adopters who hold ADA before the release of these dApps could prove to be a profitable endeavor.

Methodology

Benzinga crafted a specific methodology to rank cryptocurrency exchanges and tools. We prioritized platforms based on offerings, pricing and promotions, customer service, mobile app, user experience and benefits, and security. To see a comprehensive breakdown of our methodology, please visit see our Cryptocurrency Methodology page.

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Ethereum Classic is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality.[1] It supports a modified version of Nakamoto consensus via transaction-based state transitions executed on a public Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Ethereum Classic maintains the original, unaltered history of the Ethereum network.[2] The Ethereum project's mainnet initially released via Frontier on 30 July 2015. However, due to a hack of a third-party project, the Ethereum Foundation created a new version of the Ethereum mainnet on 20 July 2016 with an irregular state change implemented that erased The DAO theft from the Ethereum blockchain history.[2] The Ethereum Foundation applied their trademark to the new, altered version of the Ethereum blockchain; Ethereum (code: ETH).[2] The older, unaltered version of Ethereum was renamed and continued on as Ethereum Classic (code: ETC).[2]

Ethereum Classic's native Ether token is a cryptocurrency traded on digital currency exchanges under the currency code ETC.[3] Ether is created as a reward to network nodes for a process known as "mining", which validates computations performed on Ethereum Classic's EVM. Implemented on 11 December 2017, the current ETC monetary policy seeks the same goals as bitcoin of being mechanical, algorithmic, and capped. ETC can be exchanged for network transaction fees or other assets, commodities, currencies, products, and services.

Ethereum Classic provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. The virtual machine's instruction set is Turing-complete in contrast to others like bitcoin script. Gas, an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to mitigate spam and allocate resources on the network.[4]

Several codenamed prototypes of the Ethereum platform were developed by the Ethereum Foundation, as part of their proof-of-concept series, prior to the official launch of the Frontier network. Ethereum classic followed this codebase after the DAO incident.

On 20 July 2016, as a result of the exploitation of a flaw in The DAO project's smart contract software, and subsequent theft of $50 million worth of Ether,[5] the Ethereum network split into two separate blockchains – the altered history was named Ethereum (ETH) and the unaltered history was named Ethereum Classic (ETC).[2]

On 28 May 2016, a paper was released detailing security vulnerabilities with the DAO that could allow Ether to be stolen.[7] On 9 June 2016, Peter Vessenes publicly disclosed the existence of a critical security vulnerability overlooked in many Solidity contracts, a recursive call bug. On 12 June 2016, Stephan Tual publicly claimed that the DAO funds were safe despite the newly-discovered critical security flaw.

On 15 July 2016, a short notice on-chain vote was held on the DAO hard fork.[8] Of the 82,054,716 ETH in existence, only 4,542,416 voted, for a total voter turn out of 5.5% of the total supply on 16 July 2016; 3,964,516 ETH (87%) voted in favor, 1/4 of which came from a single address, and 577,899 ETH (13%) opposed the DAO fork.[8] The expedited process of the carbon vote drew criticism from opponents of the DAO fork. While proponents of the fork were quick to market the vote as an effective consensus mechanism and pushed forward with the DAO fork four days later.[9]

The first Ethereum Classic block that was not included in the forked Ethereum chain was block number 1,920,000, which was generated by Ethereum Classic miners on 20 July 2016.[8][10]

A mechanism called the "Difficulty Bomb" was designed to push the Ethereum chain from proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake in the future by exponentially increasing the difficulty of mining. This Difficulty Bomb was added to the network on block 200,000 in an upgrade named "Ice Age". While Ethereum Classic participants debated the merits of the Difficulty Bomb, a network upgrade called "Die Hard" at block 3,000,000 delayed the effects of the mechanism. Once the network participants came to consensus on the issue, Ethereum Classic upgraded its network on block 5,900,000 to permanently defuse the Difficulty Bomb. This abandoned a future with proof-of-stake and committed the network to the proof-of-work consensus mechanism.

In an attempt to modernize the Ethereum Classic protocol, several protocol upgrades were scheduled to activate features that the Ethereum network already enabled over the past years. Atlantis, activated in September 2019, enabled the outstanding Byzantium changes, Agharta, in January 2020, brought Ethereum's Constantinople patches, and Phoenix finally achieved protocol parity between Ethereum Classic and Ethereum with the introduction of the Istanbul protocol upgrade. Since the Phoenix protocol activated, applications are fully cross-compatible between the networks.

After a series of 51% attacks on the Ethereum Classic network in 2020,[11] a change to the underlying Ethash mining algorithm was considered by the community to prevent being a minority proof-of-work chain in the Ethash mining algorithm where Ethereum is dominating the hashrate. After evaluating various options such as Monero's RandomX or the standardized SHA-3-256, it was eventually decided to double the Ethash epoch duration from 30,000 to 60,000 in order to reduce the DAG size and prevent Ethash miners to easily switch to Ethereum Classic. This modified Ethash is also referred to as EtcHash or Thanos upgrade.

As with other cryptocurrencies, the validity of each ether is provided by a blockchain, which is a continuously growing list of records, called "blocks", which are linked and secured using cryptography.[12][13] By design, the blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. It is an open, distributed ledger that records transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.[14] Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum Classic operates using accounts and balances in a manner called state transitions. This does not rely upon unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). The state denotes the current balances of all accounts and extra data. The state is not stored on the blockchain, it is stored in a separate Merkle Patricia tree. A cryptocurrency wallet stores the public and private "keys" or "addresses" which can be used to receive or spend Ether. These can be generated through BIP 39 style mnemonics for a BIP 32 "HD wallet". In the Ethereum tech stack, this is unnecessary as it does not operate in a UTXO scheme. With the private key, it is possible to write in the blockchain, effectively making an ether transaction.

To send Ether to an account, the Keccak-256 hash of the public key of that account is needed. Ether accounts are pseudonymous in that they are not linked to individual persons, but rather to one or more specific addresses.

ETC is a fundamental token for operation of Ethereum Classic, which thereby provides a public distributed ledger for transactions. It is used to pay for Gas, a unit of computation used in transactions and other state transitions. Within the context of Ethereum Classic it might be called ether, but it should not be confused with ETH, which is also called ether.

It is listed under the currency code ETC and traded on cryptocurrency exchanges, and the Greek uppercase Xi character (Ξ) is generally used for its currency symbol. It is also used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the Ethereum Classic network.[15]

Ethereum Classic addresses are composed of the prefix "0x", a common identifier for hexadecimal, concatenated with the rightmost 20 bytes of the Keccak-256 hash (big endian) of the ECDSA public key (the curve used is the so-called secp256k1, the same as bitcoin). In hexadecimal, two digits represent a byte, meaning addresses contain 40 hexadecimal digits. An example of an Ethereum Classic address is 0xb794f5ea0ba39494ce839613fffba74279579268. Contract addresses are in the same format, however, they are determined by sender and creation transaction nonce.[16] User accounts are indistinguishable from contract accounts given only an address for each and no blockchain data. Any valid Keccak-256 hash put into the described format is valid, even if it does not correspond to an account with a private key or a contract. This is unlike bitcoin, which uses base58check to ensure that addresses are properly typed.

On 11 December 2017, the total supply of Ether on Ethereum Classic was hard capped at ETC 210,700,000 via the Gotham hard fork upgrade. This added a bitcoin-inspired deflationary emission schedule that is documented in Ethereum Classic Improvement Proposal (ECIP) 1017. The emission schedule, also known as "5M20", reduces the block reward by 20% every 5,000,000 blocks. Socially, this block reward reduction event has taken the moniker of "the fifthening."

The people who continued with Ethereum Classic advocate for blockchain immutability, and the concept that "code is law" [17] against the pro-fork side (Ethereum) which largely argued for extra-protocol intentionality, decentralized decision-making, and conflict resolution.[18]

On 20 July 2016, due to reliance on the same clients, the DAO fork created a replay attack where a transaction was broadcast on both the ETC and ETH networks. On 13 January 2017, the Ethereum Classic network was updated to resolve transaction replay attacks. The networks are now officially operating separately.[8]

On 10 August 2016, the ETH proponent Robin Hood Group transferred 2.9 million stolen ETC to Poloniex in an attempt to sell ETC for ETH on the advice of Bitly SA; 14% was successfully converted to ETH and other currencies, 86% was frozen by Poloniex.[8] On 30 August 2016, Poloniex returned the ETC funds to the RHG. They set up a refund contract on the ETC network.

On 29 June 2017, the Ethereum Classic Twitter account made a public statement indicating reason to believe that the website for Classic Ether Wallet had been compromised. The Ethereum Classic Twitter account confirmed the details released via Threatpost. The Ethereum Classic team worked with Cloudflare to place a warning on the compromised domain warning users of the phishing attack.[19][ better source needed ]

In January 2019, Ethereum Classic was subject to double-spending attacks.[20][21] From July through August 2020, Ethereum Classic suffered from more 51% attacks.[22][11]

Decided you want in on the action? You can buy Cardano (ADA) on Coinbase, eToro and Crypto.com.

Cardano (ADA) has been one of the best performing cryptocurrencies of 2021. Cardano recently shattered all-time highs and cemented itself as the 3rd largest crypto asset by market cap at a price of around $3. Japan has also recently given Cardano the green light to be listed on exchanges, opening it up to the 3rd largest economy in the world.

September 2021 is the scheduled implementation of smart contract functionality on Cardano. The introduction of smart contracts will allow Cardano to become a player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space and possibly become an even bigger rival to Ethereum. Holders of the Cardano token (ADA) can stake their ADA and receive rewards.

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform launched in 2017 by former Ethereum developer Charles Hoskinson. Cardano, the 1st blockchain built based on peer-reviewed research, is being developed through evidence-based methods. Overcoming the scalability and security vulnerability issues of Ethereum is the goal of the project. Hoskinson also wanted Cardano to be a for-profit entity, accepting venture capitalist donations. In contrast, Ethereum was adamant about remaining a non-profit organization.

Elon Musk caused a stir in the markets when he tweeted that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) won’t begin accepting Bitcoin until it increases its use of renewable energy. Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain in contrast to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which both use a proof-of-work protocol. The proof-of-stake protocol is more environmentally friendly since it uses significantly less energy than proof-of-work chains. The proof-of-stake system can achieve more than 4 million times the energy efficiency of a proof-of-work system.

The Cardano platform consists of 2 layers. The settlement layer is where the ADA token exists and keeps track of transactions. The 2nd layer, the computation layer, enables smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to run on the platform.

The market cap of Cardano as of August 2021 is around $90 billion, cementing its position as the 3rd biggest cryptocurrency according to CoinMarketCap ($89,954,280,847). The current price of a single ADA token is just under $3 — almost 100 times greater than its 2020 low of around $0.03.

You shouldn’t focus too much on the cost of an asset because it’s the market cap that determines the market value of a project’s circulating token supply. The market cap is the total cost to purchase all the projects tokens entirely in a single transaction. The market cap also helps disclose the amount of risk involved when investing in a project. Cardano was able to soar to the 3rd highest market cap because of the anticipation of the Alonzo hard fork in September 2021. The hard fork will allow DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming apps to go live on Cardano.

The project’s large-cap ranking (about $90 billion) makes it principally categorized as a “safe” investment. Analysts identify potential capacity for Cardano to grow in value. Cardano has a chance to match Ethereum’s projection of hitting a $1 trillion market cap by 2022. The Cardano ecosystem is forecasted to grow exponentially, and owning ADA could be rewarding as adoption grows.

C. Jebb is a talented trader who also provides insights into current events and predictions on the crypto market. He thinks that after ripping through all-time highs, Cardano could be due for a correction to the downside in the short term. However, by recently adding Cardano, Japanese exchanges could help produce a bullish move to the upside long-term. C. Jebb predicts that Cardano will go to $10 in the next 10 to 12 months but looks for it to correct in the short term.

In some ways, Cardano is in a similar position to that of Ethereum in 2018, on the cusp of making its debut into the DeFi and NFT space with the release of SundaeSwap. SundaeSwap is a DEX built on the Cardano blockchain. Sundaeswap uses the same protocol popularized by Uniswap, with several innovative adaptations for Cardano. DeFi protocols running on Cardano could be a bullish catalyst for the long-term growth of the ADA token price.

Jason from “A Chain of Blocks” podcast is a brilliant market analyst who is a big Cardano fan. Still, he also sees a possible bearish scenario for the project. The crypto space is exceptionally fast-paced, yet the development at Cardano has been moving at a languid pace. Projects that launched years after Cardano like Elrond and Polkadot have delivered far more robust ecosystems. The lack of smart contract functionality means that not many developers are building on Cardano.

Other projects could increase their lead in development if Cardano delays releasing smart contracts. If smart contracts succeed, Cardano will still need time to implement sharding to overcome scalability issues. If the bearish scenario plays out, Jason didn’t give a price prediction but sees a deep correction coming for the price of ADA.

You can buy the ADA token at several exchanges, including Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and eToro. If you’re new to the crypto space, a centralized exchange like Coinbase may be easier to use. Make sure to research several exchanges because each has unique benefits to offer users.

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.

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.

Cardano has been one of the breakout projects of 2021. It proved its ability to reach high price points by continuously smashing through all-time highs. If the Alonzo hard fork goes off without a hitch, the ADA token could get to $10 before the end of 2021. Cardano will increase its user and developer base as more DeFi and NFT projects are released, which should cause an increase in the price of ADA. For Cardano to reach $10, Bitcoin will have to remain on an upswing for the remainder of the year. However, due to the very turbulent nature of the crypto markets, you should not put too much confidence into price predictions. There could also be delays in project development. A more conservative outlook is that ADA could reach $10 in the next 10 to 12 months.

It’s not safe to leave your crypto assets on an exchange because, in the event of a hack, you could lose your money. The best practice is to keep your crypto assets offline in a hardware wallet or an online software wallet, depending on your preference. Using a crypto wallet gives you more security as long as you keep your private keys safe.

The Ledger is one of the best hardware wallets to secure your cryptocurrencies. The device is primarily an offline hardware wallet. It has software with an easy-to-use interface to help users manage their portfolios. It also connects to Bluetooth or USB, depending on whether you’re on a desktop or mobile.

ZenGo wallet is a mobile software wallet with a stylish interface along with a built-in exchange for trading. The ZenGo wallet is excellent for beginners because the support team is there to answer any questions. The wallet also removes the hassle of keeping private keys and seed phrases because it uses facial biometrics.

ErgoDEX is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that runs on both Cardano and Ergo networks. Ergo has had a long-standing relationship with Cardano due to overlapping technologies. The DEX running on both blockchains allows for quick liquidity swaps between the networks. The Cardano ecosystem is just beginning to grow. As use cases for the ADA token increase, token holders will reap the benefits.

The total market cap for the entire crypto space is just over $2 trillion. Positive sentiment in the market seems to be making the $2 trillion overall crypto market cap act as a support level. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) continue to look steady as they trade sideways within a tight price range. Most analysts anticipate a breakout move in positive price action, confirming the continuation of the bull market.

Investing in cryptocurrency can be a roller coaster of extreme price swings, so don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. Research the projects you support to ensure that the team is legit and that the token has a use case. Remember that even a bona fide project could take years to develop or could fail.

Suppose you believe in Cardano’s ability to deliver smart contracts and overcome scalability issues soon. In that case, ADA could prove to be a superb investment. The release of DeFi and NFT apps like SundaeSwap and ErgoDEX could drastically increase the number of transactions on the network, driving the ADA price higher. Early adopters who hold ADA before the release of these dApps could prove to be a profitable endeavor.