Thorchain(RUNE) is a cross-chain liquidity platform which allows you to swap assets across chains without any intermediaries or custodians in a decentralized environment. Users can then provide liquidity to asset pairs in Liquidity pools allowing them to earn a part of the fees as reward.

RUNE is the native token of the THORchain ecosystem.

There are plenty of chains out there which allow you to swap assets between chains but here's what sets RUNE apart from the rest.

Unlike other chains where you have to trust a custodian to help you move your assets to other chains , RUNE does the same thing only difference your in control of your assets all the time.

Ok , so how does RUNE do this?

Cross-chain /One-way state pegs (The Bifröst Protocol)

Your assets aren't pegged , the state of the chain is. THORnodes listen to transactions on other supported chains and they record the same in the form of "witness" transactions on THORchain. The nodes reach a consensus that the transaction happened by running the clients of the supported networks. 

There are 4 major players in the RUNE ecosystem :

Liquidity Providers : Get paid fees for providing liquidity for swapping assets 

Node Operators : Keep RUNE as "bond" and get paid for ensuring network security. 

Swappers : Users who swap assets using liquidity provided by LPs.

Traders : People who keep a close eye on pools trying to swap assets for a profit.

THORchain State Machine

The state machine records transactions, changes made to the blockchain state and makes transactions to asset vaults.

Consensus

Thorchain uses the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) Tendermint engine.The network can function perfectly even if 1/3rd (33%) of the network participants act maliciously which is possible because the node operators are required to bond RUNE in order to ensure that they won't harm the network. But if they try to act against the system,  then their bond gets slashed or they lose their RUNE tokens as a penalty for deviating from the protocol thus having a monetary loss if they try anything bad.

THORchain uses the Cosmos-SDK for implementing asset swapping and trading. COSMOS-SDK is one of the leading development kits used by many blockchain projects and exchanges.

Continuous Liquidity Pools (CLP)

THORchain implements CLP which has major advantages such as it does not rely on a centralized party which allows users to trade at fair prices. As the name suggests , the liquidity is always "on" with the assets backed by RUNE.The slip-based fee model also helps traders to execute swaps at reasonable rates.

THORnodes

Like in any other blockchain , THORnodes have a copy of the blockchain and run the network. A node can either be a validator or a light client which synchronizes with the chain and displays data.

Governance Model

Users can add new assets to the THORchain ecosystem by staking it in a new pool. The new pool is recognized by the system and placed in "bootstrap" mode.Initially swapping isn't enabled on such pools.The network monitors these pools and lists the one with the highest value.

When a new pools is placed in bootstrap mode , the value(depth) of the pool is compared with other competing pools. If the new pool is deeper than the smallest active pool ,  then the new asset gets listed and replaces the previous active pool.The pool which was switched back to bootstrap mode undergoes the same process again.

New chains can be listed by the community through THORchain Improvement Proposals (TIP). 

The THOR developer community votes on whether a TIP should be approved or not. If it does get approved,  then the developers write the code and update the THORnode software. The TIP gets implemented (in this case , the new chain gets implemented) when 67% of nodes have updates their software to the newer version.

Similarly,  a chain gets delisted when lesser than 67% of nodes are watching it. 

A chain may also get delisted if the total liquidity in the pool goes to zero when all the LPs pull out their assets. If this happens , the RUNE network immediately cuts all ties with the chain in what is called as 'ragnarok'.

Chain Integrations

The dev team has finished working on Bitcoin which is gonna be integrated very soon. Work is gonna begin on bringing Ethereum next.RUNE is blockchain agnostic ie. it does not favor any single asset/chain but is focused on bringing them together.

Other chains which the community plans on bringing into the RUNE ecosystem:

Bepswap

Bepswap is Binance Chain(BNB) based web-client which is the first Dapp on BNB which allows users to swap , stake and provide liquidity to BEP2 tokens. Bepswap has partnerships with leading blockchain projects like Matic , Elrond , TomoChain and Fantom.

RUNE token 

RUNE is the main asset of the THORchain network. Rune is a BEP2 token on  Binance Chain(BNB).

BNB also uses the COSMOS-SDK like RUNE which enables it to remain blockchain-agnostic. As mentioned before , none of your assets are "pegged" which makes it easier to get them across chains in a trustless environment.

Rune is key to the success of THORchain as it is used to add liquidity to the pools. All the cross-chain assets are paired with RUNE. It is used to pay fees , governance  and give out rewards to LPs.

Where to buy and store RUNE?

You can buy RUNE on Binance s.

Since RUNE is a BEP2 token , you need a wallet which supports BNB and BNB assets. 

Trust wallet works perfectly for mobile.

Other alternatives include but are not limited to Atomic wallet and Guarda wallet.

RUNE has seen exponential growth in the past year not just in terms of price or market capitalization but also in terms of development,  community and partnering with other ecosystems in the cryptospace making it one of the most exciting projects which aims to tackle interoperability and create an Internet of Blockchains.

Thorchain will only keep growing.

Join the RUNE community on Discord:

https://discord.gg/z5y26s3yzR

If you liked my article , be sure to tip me and if you want to support me further , send a tip to my BNB wallet.

BNB : bnb1wtjg48v85jdxe5nzkjtg6489fa5c3pqsgx2s99

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DeFi project THORChain (RUNE) recently saw a major price surge that took it up by 35%. The surge came soon after the project was listed on SushiSwap, taking RUNE to its brand new all-time high (ATH).

The DeFi sector continues to grow in 2021, with new projects emerging every other day, while existing ones continue to see major advancements. THORChain, for example, just saw a sudden burst of popularity after being listed on SushiSwap, which allowed it to go to $2.30.

The coin has seen a correction since the price surge, currently trading at around $1.77, although its exact price varies from one exchange to another.

On a monthly basis, however, THORChain is up by over 75%, making the turn of the year a very successful time for the RUNE token.

As some may know, THORChain is a cross-chain liquidity protocol, which basically means that it wants to enable crypto traders to easily switch cryptos across different chains. Its listing on SushiSwap is expected to help create the road into Ethereum’s DeFi sector, which is currently still the largest and most developed.

As a result, the project will also be able to build a stronger community, secure better liquidity, and more. Furthermore, the project noted on Twitter that RUNE now has several trading pairs, including the ones against Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and SushiSwap (SUSHI), itself.

With DeFi mostly being based on Ethereum, it comes as a pleasant surprise that DeFi tokens are still capable of seeing strong surges, despite the fact that Ethereum has seen a correction from its recent high. The coin did see an 8% price recovery in the last 24 hours, but it is still 2% down on a weekly basis.

The coin approached its own ATH on January 10th, when it hit $1,347. However, it was rejected by a resistance that forced it down, alongside Bitcoin and the majority of the crypto industry.

The much-anticipated multichain testnet on THORChain will facilitate swaps and pools with Bitcoin. The network made this announcement in an official blog post, pointing out that the recently launched testnet is open to testing by community members. It is also important to note that the entire testing process is equipped with support for both Bitcoin and Binance Chain. Interested persons can swap Bitcoin assets and Binance Chain. They can also provide much-needed liquidity to both BTC or BNB pools. To join as a node, users need to first bind with tRune. This testnet will expose developers to the working of the chain before its official mainnet launch, providing them with the opportunity to fine-tune their products ahead of the multichain’s official launch. The launch will provide users with hands-on experience before the official launch of the multichain testnet. The testing will also enable the network to locate and fix sensitive issues like bugs, etc. Users will have the opportunity to submit bug reports to the exchange’s GitHub website. Also, the testnet phase will help generate important test data. It is, however, important to note that the testnet launch is only a minimum viable sample of the finished products. The Multichain Testnet Will Contain the Following Features: The features below are currently not in the THORChain Bitcoin testnet but will be available in subsequent upgrades. They include: For now, all hands are on deck in putting finishing touches to the multichain and ensuring it goes live according to schedule. Interestingly, THORChain’s native token, RUNE, will be available during the next launch. The multichain mainnet will only go live after series of successful testnet launches. Aside from listing Bitcoin, the platform will be the first to support THORChain’s native token, RUNE. This eliminates the need to carry out RUNE transactions solely on Binance Chain. More details of the move from single to multi-chain will be released in the near future. This is a huge feat for THORChain. Notably, this is also the first time a decentralized peer-to-pool protocol will go live on Bitcoin. At the time of writing, RUNE (THORChain) was down by 11.9%. The token was trading at $0.881948, with a market cap of $193,852,255 and a 24-hour trading volume of $45,069,655. Find out more about THORChain on the Altcoin Buzz YouTube channel.

ThorChain recently unveiled the highly-anticipated public Bitcoin testnet — swaps and pools with native Bitcoin. Users were invited to test it out. The developers feel that the Bitcoin testnet is a monumental leap in DeFi on Bitcoin.

Thorchain claim to be a native Bitcoin and a decentralized liquidity network.  Being a cross chain liquidity network, THORChain does not have pegged or wrapped tokens. It provides for swap between assets across chains, and provides liquidity to earn yield and to run a node to service the network.

Some users expressed that atomic swaps with a high fee blockchain like Bitcoin is a horrible idea. And, further stated that high fee Bitcoin will only be traded in centralized exchanges to save on fees.

When swapping assets in Thor Chain users should swap between any connected asset pay a fee that is transparent for the access to liquidity.

Cross Chain Transfer is very important in ThorChain.  They provide a simple way to convert fiat currencies to digital assets.  Different methods have been promised to convert fiat via exchanges.  ThorChain have put forward the cross-chain bridges with incentivized validators to ensure the transactional integrity in the process of converting fiat currencies to digital assets.

ThorChain claim to be the initial on ramp or bridge which will connect Bitcoin and other kinds of digital assets.  The bridge infrastructure is also expected to permit chains to communicate with each other to transfer assets fluidly and anonymously.

Due to centralization of exchanges, the single point of failure is at the point of communication between block chains for exchanging digital assets.

The claim is that the deterministic value of RUNE increases when more of assets flow in to the Thorchain Ecosystem.  Deterministic value is used to predict the future price and value of RUNE, useful for speculation and as a tool to provide for dynamic cross chain liquidity.

Those who are new to ThorChain should essentially know what ThorChain is all about. Thorchain continue with their primary principle of:  “”Optimize for liquidity first, everything else comes later.”

This they feel is important to drive maximal ROI for LPs, with this pools can become deep, which drives up volume, but reduces fees for traders.

If you like the article, feel free to send a tip to our writers in ThorCoin (RUNE) coins to: bnb136ns6lfw4zs5hg4n85vdthaad7hq5m4gtkgf23 – MeMo: 106502881 or any other Cryptos via this link.

Popular crypto trader and analyst Elliot Wainman says a group of relatively obscure altcoins have the potential to moon this January.

In a new YouTube video, Wainmain, also known as EllioTrades, picks 14 crypto assets that could provide traders with major gains in the next few weeks.

First, Wainman predicts big things are in store for decentralized liquidity network THORChain (RUNE), which is currently trading at $1.76 with about a $278.28 million market cap at time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

The altcoin analyst predicts THORChain will reach a $1 billion market cap and potentially even higher.

“I’ve always been a fan of THORChain, I’ve always been a fan of RUNE, because it allows for yield to be extracted by locking up Bitcoin, and anything that’s DeFi and Bitcoin related to me is set to go absolutely bananas as Bitcoin also grows. So in my mind, a project like RUNE was and always is set to do really well on the back of Bitcoin and DeFi growing together.” 

Another crypto Wainman says is set to grow with Bitcoin and Defi is REN, a protocol that enables the transfer of crypto assets between blockchains. The trader says he’s “betting big” on REN, which is trading around $0.42 with $369 million market cap at time of writing.

Wainman is also bullish on AllianceBlock (ALBT), a “decentralized, blockchain-agnostic layer 2 that bridges traditional and decentralized finance” with only a $46 million market cap. The trader highlights AllianceBlock’s new partnership with data storage project Ocean Protocol as a bullish sign of things to come.

Next up, the crypto trader mentions two related projects that help miners extract the greatest possible value from confirming transactions. Wainman says KeeperDAO (ROOK) and Archer DAO (ARCH), which is up 128% on the day, can multiply in value during this bull cycle.

Wainman then moves on to the decentralized insurance sector, which the analyst labels as one of the most important portions of the decentralized space. Wainman chooses to spotlight Polkadot-based Bridge Mutual (BMI) as an exciting project in the sector.

“Bridge has been at this for two years and has a very interesting complex web of mechanisms that they use to ensure that insurance is provided accurately, that the right policies get approved, that when people are harmed that they actually get the coverage that they’re entitled to.”

Next on Wainman’s list is decentralized derivatives platform, Injective Protocol (INJ). With a market cap of $88 million, the trader points out that the project, which just announced the first decentralized Tesla futures market is now available on its Solstice testnet, has a lot of room to grow considering the traditional derivates market is worth tens of trillions of dollars.

Wainman’s next three picks are also decentralized derivatives related products. The trader highlights Oiler Network, which has not yet had its token launch, Hegic, and a project built on top of Hegic, Whiteheart (WHITE).

Wainman then highlights REVV which is a project in the NFT space, a sector which Wainman is particularly bullish on.

Next on his list is PARSIQ (PRQ), which Wainman labels as an undervalued project that boasts high profile partnerships and great tech.

“They’ve partnered with some of the biggest and most influential coins and projects and chains in the entire ecosystem and I believe they are just getting started as their technology is being recognized a one of the most superior infrastructure projects in the entire space.”

The last two assets Wainman mentions are Akash (AKT), a decentralized cloud storage project, and RAMP which as of writing stand at $27 and $28 million market caps respectively.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Marc A

Operational Proof of Stake (PoS) networks are rare, but will be more common with the launch of Cosmos, Polkadot, Tezos and Ethereum 2.0. With this comes a question of how to distribute tokens, as well as how the new cryptoeconomic incentive model works. For the projects already mentioned, tokens were distributed through various ICO models, as well as being PoW mined (Ethereum).Existing hybrid PoS networks (such as Dash and Decred) are not fully PoS, since tokens are partially PoW mined. Thus tokens can be distributed in an accessible and egalitarian way.The question arises — how should PoS tokens be issued if neither an ICO or Proof-of-Work model is used?If a PoS network is launched with no pre-mine (ICO), and block rewards are issued to validators, then the starting validators can accumulate 100% of the tokens. If there is no permissionless way to nominate validators, then the starting validators may be a colluding cartel or a greedy founder who can dominate the network — especially in the early years of high inflation. Even if a cartel or greedy founder is not present, then massive coordination is required between genesis validators to start the network, which sets up channels of communication which may later be exploited later by cartels. If tokens are not issued to non-validators, then non-validators can never enter the validator set. Such a network is doomed.The THORChain team have done a fair bit of research into the problem and have proposed a novel method to distribute PoS tokens in a fair, accessible and liquid way. The method is referred to as “Proof-of-Determination” (PoD).The network is launched by using a seed chain that is censorship resistant and can store arbitrary data. This can be done by using either Bitcoin or Ethereum, but the THORChain team will elect to use Ethereum for simplicity.A PoS network is prepared by first deploying an election smart contract as well as a bridging smart contract that links the two chains together. The PoS network is hard-coded with a starting validator count n, the beginning block reward BR, a bond period T, and a cycle time to add additional validator slots, c and the maximum number of validators, m.Validator-elects then run the PoS network software, as well depositing a “Proof of Determination” (PoD) into the election smart contract. The PoD contains their PoS public key, a nonce, and the hash of their keys and nonce:Since the election contract is permissionless, any validator-elect can attempt to add themselves. The validator-elects attempt to find the lowest possible hash they can by incrementing the nonces. The method is called “Proof of Determination” since each validator can choose to work as much or as little as they want — they can only influence where they are in the starting set of validators. Each validator (assuming equivalent work) has an probabilistically equal chance of being in the starting validator set, as well being the genesis validator.Once the validator-elects observe n number of unique public keys in the election smart contract, they can attempt to publish the starting Validator Set for the genesis block on the PoS network. The round-robin validator order is deterministically set by the value of the PoDs in the election contract, ordered in ascending order (from lowest to highest). The lowest PoD is likely to be the validator who was most determined to find the lowest hash value.The genesis block is proposed and the block reward is distributed, BR/m units of tokens emitted to n validator-elects, incrementally locked beginning at T, and ending at 2T, in increments of cblocks. This ensures a smooth and continuous lock/unlock cycle for validators. Every period of c, a new validator slot is opened up, such that after a certain number of T, the intended capped number of validators m is achieved (such as 100). New validators continue to elect themselves into the election contract, with the lowest-value PoDs signed into the Validator Set.A portion of the block reward is emitted into a continuous liquidity pool, which is bonded to the asset linked via the bridging smart contract. Anyone can send assets into a linked liquidity contract to acquire PoS tokens. These assets can be used to stake in the Validator Set, and ensure high churn between active and standby validators.The full theory can be found in the original proposal.The THORChain team propose a novel method for launching a permissionless proof-of-stake network that is fairer, more distributed and more liquid.The team will release information in participating in the Election Ceremony in due course.Be sure to check out our official community channels for updates:The official team for THORChain — the lightning fast decentralized exchange protocol.

A popular crypto trader says the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector of the crypto market is poised to go through a moon phase that will put 2017’s extended bull run to shame.

The pseudonymous trader known in the industry as Altcoin Psycho tells his 82,000 Twitter followers that buying DeFi assets is similar to buying Ethereum back in 2016, when its price ranged from about $1.00 to a high of $19.

“DeFi bubble is going to make the ICO bubble look like child’s play when things really get going…

Plenty of people don’t even know what DeFi stands for, getting into DeFi right now is like buying ETH in 2016.”

At the start of the month, the crypto trader revealed he’s starting to scale into Reserve Rights Token (RSR), which is the utility token of the Reserve Rights stablecoin protocol.

He’s also investing in the decentralized cross-chain liquidity token THORchain (RUNE), the governance and liquidity token of the decentralized exchange SushiSwap (SUSHI) and the decentralized derivatives exchange Serum (SRM).

In addition, the analyst is naming the synthetic asset protocol Synthetix (SNX), smart contract platform Cardano (ADA), and pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol Alogrand (ALGO) as coins whose “time has come.”

As for the crypto king Bitcoin, the trader says investors should realize BTC remains virtually unchallenged as the number one store-of-value asset.

“In the next alt season, there will be a lot of narratives for a new ‘Ethereum killer.’ There will be 0 narratives for a Bitcoin killer. I’m not a maximalist, but keep this in mind.”

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Sergey Nivens

Crypto analyst Josh Rager says he’s patiently waiting for Bitcoin to prove it’s hit a bottom before placing any buy orders.

Rager tells his 100,000 followers on Twitter that the crypto market’s rapid descent is likely not over yet.

“This is why it can be wise to wait. BTC broke a daily level so continuation down, along with bounces in between, can be expected…

Not worried about catching the bottom. Not going to rush into alts or buying more spot BTC or ETH yet.

Happy to buy at a slightly higher price after confirmation of bounce or reversal. Nothing worse than buying something and watching it continue to go lower.”

Rager says Bitcoin may have a lot more room to fall, but won’t sink below the $19,000 level.

As for the altcoin market, Rager is responding to a query from Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, who’s asking crypto Twitter to pitch their favorite altcoins.

“Danger! I’m going to add a basket of 10 alts to my BTC and ETH bets, using this dip.

Shill me your coin but with a quality paragraph WHY I should look at it. My knowledge base is low, so treat me like the idiot I am (nicely).”

Rager tells Pal he’s bullish on ten DeFi “blue chip” assets, meaning he believes the projects could play a fundamental role in the future of the industry.

Rager names the yield aggregator Yearn.finance (YFI), exchange token SushiSwap (SUSHI), exchange token Uniswap (UNI), non-custodial money market protocol Aave (AAVE), synthetic asset token SNX, lending token Compound (COMP), exchange liquidity token Curve DAO (CRV), cross-chain platform Alpha Finance (ALPHA), cross-chain platform THORChain (RUNE) and the data feed provider Chainlink (LINK).

Featured Image: Shutterstock/rangizzz

Crypto trader and influencer Elliot Wainman says he believes certain sectors of the crypto market are about to erupt.

Wainman tells his 197,000 subscribers on YouTube that he often navigates the crypto markets by finding opportunities when the market is down and most traders are fearful.

“As people started to get too bearish yesterday, I started to get quite bullish. When people were overextended on Bitcoin, I was looking at the altcoins. This is the nature of predicting the next move and being a step ahead of the game. That’s how you don’t just get a little 20%, 30% pump. That’s how you get those Xs and gains.” 

The trader also shares a signal that could indicate the time has come for altcoins to outperform Bitcoin.

“People start to think, ‘Well, if Bitcoin’s moving 10%, 20%, then why do I need to be in these riskier altcoins?’ and that’s exactly the mindset that drives everyone out of the alts and makes everyone stop paying attention to the alts. That’s what you want to take advantage of because you have the opportunity to see this next move coming, which in my mind is inevitable.”

“Look at 88mph (MPH). Up 300% against Bitcoin. Injective (INJ) up 60% against Bitcoin on the seven-day [timeframe]. We have THORChain (RUNE) up 33% against Bitcoin. KeeperDAO ROOK, one of my favorites, up 100% against Bitcoin. ChainX (PCX) up 42%. Hegic up 52%. API3 up almost 200% against Bitcoin. 

This is where you get these gains even if all you want to do is stack more sats and stack more Bitcoin. You have the opportunity to do that by getting your hands on good alts before they take off, before they go mainstream and before they’re the talk of the town.”  

Wainman believes decentralized finance (DeFi) assets will witness the most explosive rallies and says a few of his top picks are the data oracle API3, network optimization protocol Marlin (POND), and the decentralized capital market Allianceblock (ALBT).

Wainman says he’s also bullish on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“Altseason is here. Altcoin dominance is growing. We have a subsiding crypto fear and greed index. We have NFTs (non-fungible tokens) absolutely booming which is super exciting for me… Usually, when you hear so many people being super skeptical and you really see the fundamentals, it could be, not always, but it could be an indicator that you’re on to something and that the dividends for this bet will pay out dramatically.

That’s what altcoins have been over the last few months and years. That’s [what] I believe DeFi (decentralized finance) will continue to be as people have written it off as dead since the end of the August boom.” 

Featured Image: Shutterstock/ParabolStudio

Crypto researcher and Bitcoin advocate Lark Davis says three little-known crypto assets could soon see exponential gains.

Davis says he’s investing in TrustSwap, a decentralized finance platform that offers a deflationary reward token.

“[TrustSwap] is bringing smart escrow time-release contracts for ICOs, crypto-recurring payments like subscriptions, smart swaps, token sale launch pads, the ability to easily launch a token or a tokenized asset, which of course then opens up the door for really just wrapping a wider variety of assets overall.” 

TrustSwap currently has a $32 million market cap. Davis notes it would be a multifold increase to catch up to more established players like Kyber or Synthetix. With the altcoin market making a comeback in recent weeks, he says it’s “the perfect time” to see something like TrustSwap launching.

Davis is also adding Swingby to his portfolio. The protocol is designed to enable trustless inter-blockchain swaps, and Swingby’s “Skybridge” testnet already has interoperability between Bitcoin and the Binance chain. It’s similar to THORChain, but Davis believes both have room to grow and can provide liquidity to the space.

“The Swingby tokens will earn rewards via staking. Now currently, you’re getting 50% staking rewards on BitMax. That’s crazy. It’s paying out daily and it compounds, which is very, very nice. 

As usual, early-stage cryptos do have the highest rewards because they carry higher risk. Swingby is currently at a market cap of $6.6 million. THORChain is at a $100 million. Even if Swingby became half as big as THORChain is right now, then that would be a 10x move. I think that both THORChain and Swingby are going to have a lot of room to grow further as this market takes off.”

In the six days since Davis made his picks public, Swingby’s market cap has grown to about $11.2 million.

Lastly, Davis is tracking BZRX, which is a governance token for bZx Protocol and a “DeFi behemoth,” according to Davis.

“This could be a serious money maker long term for stakers. A lot of its closest peers already have market caps six times greater on average than bZx. We’re just at the start of the bull run here, guys.

This platform is likely to be fully operational sometime in August after undergoing some extensive security audits to try and avoid the kind of exploit that it suffered earlier this year.”

Davis says he remains a Bitcoin bull and will continue to buy BTC with a target of $50,000. He warns that the crypto market is volatile and risky, and says traders should do their own research before making any investment.

Many altcoins are still struggling to recover from the previous market crash, which triggered losses of 90% or more for a long list of cryptocurrencies. In the long run, many strategists including Pantera CEO Dan Morehead believe the vast majority of cryptocurrencies will not survive the test of time, with only a handful rising to the top.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Tithi Luadthong

Analysts and senior executives at the crypto intelligence firm Messari are revealing the crypto assets that make up their portfolios heading into 2021.

In a 134-page report dubbed Crypto Thesis for 2021, Messari founder and chief executive Ryan Selkis says he likes his exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Zcash (ZEC), and Litecoin (LTC) via Grayscale.

He is also holding next-generation payment network Terra (LUNA), decentralized storage marketplace Siacoin (SIA), Ethereum-based DApp management platform Aragon (ANT), crypto-specific insurance protocol Nexus Mutual (NXM), and inter-blockchain liquidity project Ren (REN).

Meanwhile, senior research analyst Ryan Watkins is big on decentralized finance (DeFi) assets and governance innovation. He holds Ethereum, Terra, and Aragon. Additionally, Watkins is long on blockchain agnostic project THORChain (RUNE), DeFi yield aggregator yearn.finance (YFI), peer-to-peer lending platform CREAM, Internet of Things startup Helium (HNT), governance token lending platform Powerpool (CVP), and next-generation decentralized staking network Rocket Pool (RPL).

Wilson Withiam, also a senior research analyst, is invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Helium, THORChain, and Rocket Pool. He’s also holding decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI), cross-blockchain protocol Polkadot (DOT), and Polkadot’s experimental network Kusama (KSM).

Intel analyst Aidan Mott is a fan of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Powerpool. He’s also a holder of Ren tokenized Zcash renZEC, options trading platform Hegic, blockchain gaming platform Xaya (CHI), decentralized autonomous organization yield farming aggregator yAxis (YAX), and Ethereum-based decentralized game Axie Infinity (AXS), which Mott refers to as “Cryptokitties meets Tamagotchi.”

Research analyst Mason Nystrom is a big believer in Andre Cronje’s projects as he’s long on Uniswap and yearn.finance. He also likes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Aragon, Axie Infinity, Helium, and community-owned marketplaces such as Rarible (RARI) and Audius (AUDIO).

Senior research analyst Jack Purdy is also a holder of Bitcoin, Ethereum, yearn.finance, Hegic, and Helium. He’s also interested in DeFi interoperability project Alpha Finance (ALPHA), and decentralized derivatives exchange Perpetual Protocol (PERP).

The last Messari team member to divulge his crypto holdings market intelligence vice president Eric Turner. He’s currently invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash, yearn.finance, Powerpool, and THORChain. Turner holds decentralized on-chain asset management protocol Melon (MLN) as well.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/camilkuo

PayPal is in talks with major cryptocurrency companies including Bitcoin custody solutions provider BitGo which, once completed, could expand the online payments company’s exposure to digital currencies.

Speaking with people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said a deal with BitGo could be completed in a matter of weeks. BitGo provides custody solutions that allow its customers, which are primary institutional investors, to store Bitcoin safely and securely. Still, the deal may not push through, which means Paypal would try to acquire other targets.

BitGo was founded in 2013 by Mike Belshe, and its custody solutions include digital wallets that require more than signatures for transactions to proceed. It also has offline vaults to store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In August, it applied to become a regulated qualified custodian in New York.

PayPal would become more entrenched into the cryptocurrency space once it acquires a major company like BitGo. However, some have expressed concerns with the move. Thorchain, another cryptocurrency company, said PayPal acquiring BitGo would mean that the majority of wrapped Bitcoins (wBTC) — Ethereum-based tokens that represent Bitcoins that are custodied in the latter — would be in the hands of the payments company.

“PayPal is not a good actor in this space. Position accordingly,” Thorchain tweeted. 

PayPal made a splash in the cryptocurrency space after it announced that its customers would soon be able to buy Bitcoin and other digital tokens on its platform. It has acquired a cryptocurrency license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, which now allows it to deal with digital currencies. 

To offer the service, it partnered with Paxos Trust Company, a cryptocurrency service provider that is also a competitor of BitGo.

Bitcoin reacted to the news with a solid green candle on Wednesday, reaching as high as $13,200 before closing at $12,802. Bitcoin tried another push above $13,000 before closing at $12,983. However, contrary to Wednesday’s action where only Bitcoin went up, the entire cryptocurrency market went up Thursday. Ethereum went up to $413 while Link increased to $11.95. 

PayPal was initially part of the Libra Association, the Facebook-led initiative to create a global digital currency. The payments company however left the initiative, along with Visa and Mastercard. Libra pivoted to creating stablecoins after pressure from U.S. regulators. Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at Coinshares, said it’s possible that PayPal will create its own stablecoin after leaving the Libra Association, Cointelegraph reported.

(CoinTelegraph) – Global payments firm PayPal is looking to acquire a crypto asset custody firm, with a report published by Bloomberg on Oct. 23 claiming the company is currently in talks with BitGo Inc.

Anonymous sources cited in the report claimed that the two companies may reach an agreement within a matter of weeks. BitGo is a multi-signature custodian that was founded in 2013. In 2018 the company raised $15 million in a round led by Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital.

However, the deal is believed to be far from certain, with the report noting that: “Talks could still fall apart and PayPal could opt to buy other targets.”

The rumors follow this week’s announcement that PayPal will be launching crypto payment services from next year, which was the catalyst for a quick double-digit percentage price push for Bitcoin (BTC).

Not everyone is overjoyed with PayPal’s potential acquisition, with the official account of Thorchain (RUNE) expressing concerns about the decentralization of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), given most of the Bitcoin (BTC) locked in the protocol are stored with BitGo.

Yesterday, Meltem Demirors, the CSO of crypto asset manager CoinShares, predicted that PayPal will seek to launch a stablecoin after the payments company left the governance association for Facebook’s Libra project.

After a dramatic drop in the price and trading volume of decentralized finance (DeFi) assets in recent weeks, there are now signs of life in the nascent market. Four decentralized finance (DeFi) assets are soaring as Bitcoin takes a break from its bullish rally and consolidates around $15,500. ADVERTISEMENT Leading the big rebound in the sector is lending platform Aave after bottoming out on November 5th at $26.02 and rallying as high as $58.52 on November 9th, according to CoinGecko, for an increase of over 123%. Following the DeFi surge is derivatives liquidity protocol Synthetix as its native asset SNX is up over 81% after rallying to $4.52 on November 9th from a low of $2.49 on November 5th. ADVERTISEMENT Cross-chain digital asset exchange Thorchain is also part of the huge resurgence in DeFi with its native token RUNE surging as high as $0.63 on November 9th from a local low of $0.35 on November 4th to represent gains of 80%. Decentralized exchange Uniswap is also in the green, printing gains of over 64% from its monthly low of $1.79 on November 5th to a seven-day high of $2.94 on November 7th.   The huge spike in the four DeFi coins comes after the crypto assets topped out and went on a downward spiral in mid-September, generating losses between 50% – 78% in less than two months. The rally also coincides with Bitcoin’s consolidation after the leading cryptocurrency was rejected at $16,000. Altcoins appear to be getting a breather as the king cryptocurrency pauses from its strong ascent from around $10,500 in October. Follow Us on Twitter Facebook Telegram Check out the Latest Industry Announcements   ADVERTISEMENT Featured Image: Shutterstock/gonin

Analysis of 38 top DeFi assets reveals a median performance only 15% above Bitcoin. 11717 Total views 42 Total shares Listen to article 0:00 News Despite a pullback from the meteoric bull market for , the average DeFi token return has vastly outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum. The median performance is a different story, however. On Nov. 17, pseudonymous crypto analyst “Ceteris Paribus” shared data with his 12,000 followers compiling the YTD median and average performances of 40 top crypto assets, comprised of 38 top DeFi assets, Bitcoin () and Ether (). Around 26 of the DeFi assets are currently posting YTD gains. The analyst found that the median return sits around 148.8%, which is 15.5% above Bitcoin’s 133.3% YTD gain. So, half of DeFi tokens are above that level, and half below. Paribus said it was pretty much even: However, the 2020 average performance of 428.7% is more than triple Bitcoin’s gain. As of this writing, DeFi’s top-performing assets for 2020 are Aave (AAVE) with a 4,245% gain, Band (BAND) with 2,466% and Yearn Finance (YFI) with 1,597%. THORChain (RUNE) is the only other DeFi token to post quadruple-figure YTD, with 1,203%. The sector’s worst-performing assets for the year so far are Curve (CRV), SushiSwap (SUSHI) and Swerve (SWRV), posting losses of 88.7%, 80.1% and 79.9%, respectively. DeFi assets have produced extreme volatility in recent months, with 10 of 29 DeFi tokens posting gains exceeding 1,000% in August, while CRV was the sole asset to end August in the red. However, only Gnosis (GNO) and Hegic (HEGIC) were able to post single-digit gains for September through October, while the remaining 34 tokens were at a loss — including five tokens that fell more than 89%. November has thus far seen comparatively modest volatility, with 32 of 38 tokens gaining to post median and average performances of roughly 20% and 35%, respectively.