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According to the letter, VanEck TRX ETN (VTRX) has been officially approved by Deutsche Börse Group and is available for trading on Xetra from September 21, 2021.

The approval from Germany will exempt VTRX from the approval of other EU regulatory authorities, and VTRX will be listed as compliant security in 14 countries including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

This marks TRX (VTRX) as the third mainstream cryptocurrency – after Bitcoin and Ether – that has been listed on the traditional financial market of Europe.

Justin Sun introduced blockchain as a ‘value network’ to China in 2012, which established him as an early evangelist and practitioner of blockchain. Later in 2017, he founded TRON.

Today, TRON has built a comprehensive ecosystem spanning from underlying protocols and smart contracts, to NFT and metadata storage, boasting over 54 million users and $50 billion worth of crypto assets across the globe.

Moreover, the TRON-based USDT (TRC20-USDT), with a circulating supply as high as $36 billion, is now the world’s largest stablecoin in circulation, accounting for more than 50% of the global market.

Not long ago, TRON also inked a strategic partnership with Valkyrie Investments to launch Valkyrie TRON Trust. As the first institutional fund targeting TRON’s crypto ecosystem in the US, the initial size of this trust is over $50 million, and it plans to file to go public in 2022.

Justin Sun also announced in his latest open letter to the community that BTTC, a layer 2 scaling and cross-chain solution, is scheduled for launch on October 30, 2021.

By then, a closed loop of both layer 1 and 2 networks with sound cross-chain connectivity will take shape, delivering both a robust underlying network of global settlement layer and a heterogeneous, scalable cross-chain network – BitTorrent Chain – that features high throughput and full compatibility with EVM. This solution will usher in a new era of connecting all chains.

According to available resources, the listing of VTRX has been stringently reviewed and approved by Deutsche Börse Xetra, fully complying with the financial regulatory requirements in Europe.

Further, with the support of Clearstream under Deutsche Börse Group, TRX ETN is expected to be available for trading in the pan-European market on major European exchanges in London, Paris, Amsterdam and more.

This marks another milestone of TRON – the forerunner in the global public chain sphere – in pursuing globalization and compliance under Justin Sun’s leadership.

This content is sponsored and should be regarded as promotional material. Opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Daily Hodl. The Daily Hodl is not a subsidiary of or owned by any ICOs, blockchain startups or companies that advertise on our platform. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in any ICOs, blockchain startups or cryptocurrencies. Please be advised that your investments are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. Check out the Latest Industry Announcements  

PRESS RELEASE. London, UK — Centric announced an upcoming fork to the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), after almost 2.5 years on the TRON blockchain. Centric’s tokens, Centric Cash (CNS) and Centric Rise (CNR), will move to the BEP-20 token standard native to the Binance Smart Chain.

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) touts “the advantages of the Binance Chain, optimized for ultra-fast trading.” It launched in September of last year, and has become a popular choice for decentralized app (DApp) deployment.

“The move to Binance Smart Chain represents the most exciting development since CNS launched on exchanges last July,” said Joel Clelland, Centric’s CEO. “We’ve been watching the BSC community develop, and we are impressed. BSC’s reputation aligns well with how we see Centric and will allow us to scale.”

Centric’s Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Butcher, pointed out that BSC offers integration with the popular MetaMask wallet, “with just a quick user customization requiring no special skills.”

“The opportunity to hold and transact Centric tokens through MetaMask opens a world of possibilities for our community,” said Butcher. “Centric users will gain access to a proliferation of projects and utilities in the DeFi space. I see us adding more decentralized exchanges (DEXs), incorporating yield farming, expanding opportunities with new DApps, NFTs, and more,” said Butcher.

Before deciding to switch, Clelland said the team consulted the ten centralized exchanges listing CNS.

“We discovered most already integrate with the Binance Smart Chain. The overwhelming support and cooperation of the exchanges increased our confidence in executing the switch with minimal disruption,” said Clelland.

The rising cost per transaction on TRON over the past year provided another motivation for the move. In contrast to TRON, the cost per transaction on BSC has stayed the same or decreased, even while the price of Binance Coin (BNB) rose sharply starting in January.

Centric Cash (CNS) will be renamed to Centric Swap, as the new name better reflects the token’s utility as the on-ramp to the Centric network, and the off-ramp to liquidity. CNS will keep the CNS ticker. The name and ticker of Centric Rise (CNR) will remain unchanged.

Centric’s developers are building out a conversion tool to execute a 1:1 swap between the TRC-20 tokens and the new BEP-20 tokens. CNS held on exchanges at the time of the switch will automatically convert, as will all CNR held in Centric’s native wallet. Users with CNR or CNS in an external wallet will have access to the conversion tool as well.

Clelland said the team still intends to build their own blockchain, per their roadmap.

“Developing a blockchain from the ground up is a major undertaking. While it’s still on the horizon, we didn’t want to let the development hold us back from leveling up. Switching to BSC will benefit the project and help us grow the community in the meantime. Their blockchain is deployed and battled-tested. It’s fast, ubiquitous, and offers low-cost transactions. I couldn’t be happier,” said Clelland.

Centric’s development team is working with key partners, including casino site Moolah.bet and DeFi staking platform Green House Staking, to ensure a smooth integration.

Learn more about Centric – https://www.centric.com

Download Centric’s Whitepaper – https://www.centric.com/docs/Centric_Whitepaper.pdf

Telegram – https://t.me/CentricChat

Twitter – https://twitter.com/centricrise

About Centric

Centric was conceived with the vision of one day replacing traditional fiat currencies. Blockchain technology will enable a more transparent world and we believe our innovative approach to achieving widespread adoption long-term sets Centric apart from other cryptocurrencies today.

Centric believes the largest obstacle to the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is price volatility. Cryptocurrencies, unlike fiat currencies, do not have a central bank to implement monetary policy focused on stabilizing purchasing power. Thus, changes in demand induce massive price fluctuations. The decentralized model to price discovery has made the majority of existing cryptocurrencies nothing more than stocks or commodities, valued on psychology, traded on unregulated stock markets, and susceptible to manipulation. The lack of price stability has prevented credit and debt markets from forming because volatility incurs a premium.

While the rest of the industry focuses on transaction throughput and smart contracts, Centric focus on solving price stability to realize the economic capabilities that the blockchain enables.

This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recently, CRAFTLAND has announced the launch of its platform which will recycle altcoins to help investors who were severely affected by poor management or low liquidity crypto projects.

The word "Booming" is not even enough to describe the rapid popularisation of the blockchain and crypto industry. Whether it is business executives, blue-collar or white-collar workers, as well as street folks are all talking about crypto investment. However, underneath this giant industry with nearly millions of assets changing hands daily are the wreckage left by numerous altcoin projects and their large number of stranded investors.

Projects rise and fall all the time, many investors invest into new altcoins just to find themselves stranded in projects that were abandoned later due to poor management or low liquidity; especially when Bitcoin experienced a bear market for two-month in June this year, that aggravates the number of projects being abandoned. Altcoins issued by these abandoned projects became the worthless and people coined them as "shitcoins". Investors holding these altcoins could't regain their losses from these failed investments and were stranded with wallets full of worthless coins

Understanding that many investors have been affected severely, CRAFTLAND vows to save these investors from their misery. CRAFTLAND recycling platform is such a revolutionary DeFi project (DeFi-decentralized finance) to assist investors trapped with these altcoins.

What is CRAFTLAND

"Recycling" Altcoins To Rescue Investors Stranded In ETH And TRON Network Abandoned Projects

CRAFTLAND combines DeFi decentralized finance and GameFi blockchain games to launch the CRAFTLAND recycling platform, which is the first DeFi project to recycle abandoned blockchain assets and their altcoins that were built on the Ethereum and TRON networks.

The Ethereum network is undergoing its "London HardFork" upgrade. Taking this opportunity, CRAFTLAND uses the new Ethereum blockchain network architecture to recycle abandoned projects altcoins on the Ethereum and TRON networks, and recycle them into CRF (Blockchain pet game fuel currency) and CFT (DeFi currency)

CRAFTLAND recycles the worthless altcoins from investors and issues new CRF cryptocurrency to them. Utilising CRAFTLAND blockchain pet collection games to drive community cohesion, and at the same time using DeFi Staking with interest-bearing fixed deposit contracts to increase the coin's value. Through this process, the worthless altcoins wil be recycled for valuable assets with liquidity, forming a self-sustaining ecosystem, giving value back to investors and the CRAFTLAND blockchain game.

"For early investors trapped in abandoned projects and holding huge amounts of shitcoins, CRAFTLAND is an opportunity to get out of the projects and rejuvenate their failed investments."

CFT Blockchain Fixed Deposit Contract Defi Staking

The most important thing for blockchain projects is a functioning self-sustaining and autonomous appreciation model. CRAFTLAND introduced the staking mechanism based on the Ethereum POS system. The staking smart contracts will tighten CFT supply, increasing market demand, promote CFT value appreciation and return to investors.

The CFT Staking smart contract works like an investor buying a fixed deposit on smart contract, and reclaim their shitcoins in exchange for CFT, agreeing to bet on the CFT for fixed deposit within a period of time, the CFT interest income will be distributed after the smart contract expires.

The most outstanding advantage of CRAFTLAND betting to earn interest is that the interest rate people stake for will increase in proportion to the duration of their smart contract or the amount of the bet.

CRAFTLAND Blockchain Pet Collection Game And CRF Game Fuel Coins

Recently, the NFT market in the blockchain game system is very popular, and the transaction of blockchain game items has driven tens of millions of dollars in game asset transactions. Taking this opportunity, CRAFTLAND has launched a blockchain pet collection game, which enhances community cohesion through pet breeding in the game and social elements in homes, stores, and communities.

Altcoins and mainstream cryptocurrencies recovered by CRAFTLAND will be issued as CRF assets in proportion. CRF can be used in addition to the consumption of pets in CRAFTLAND, it can also be traded on the NFT market, or converted into CFT for the CFT blockchain fixed deposit contract. In addition, rare and unique CRAFTLAND pets can also be traded on the NFT market, which is also the charm of this game.

CRAFTLAND has zero charge for recycling?

With the purpose of saving blockchain investors, CRAFTLAND will not charge investors a single cent of funds except for the fuel fee of the Ethereum network.

Investors only need to go through identity verification and wallet screenshots to prove the value of the air currency they own, and CRAFTLAND will verify their eligibility to join the recycling plan and wait in line for CRF issuance.

Of course, if investors want to join the CRF pre-sale on the CRAFTLAND platform, they can learn more on the CRAFTLAND website.

Summary

Without any cost at all, through CRAFTLAND, through the dual-line mode of fixed deposit contracts and blockchain games, it is possible to restart your discarded assets, re-giving value, and revitalizing the investment that has failed in the past, not seeking to get rich, only to get back the capital, Isn't it wonderful?

Media Contact Brand: Craftland Technology LLC Contact: William James, Marketing Director E-Mail: support@craftland.world Address: Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025, United States Website: https://www.craftland.world

SOURCE: Craftland Technology LLC

Despite a weakening dollar, the top altcoin was unable to clear above the $3,300 resistance. The price of ether needs to remain above $3,140 in the near future to prevent further downsides.

In response to Jerome Powell’s announcement that the Federal Reserve would hike rates slower than expected, the dollar stagnated around multi-week lows.

There will be U.S. jobs numbers on Friday, which could provide insights as to when the Fed will start tapering. Ethereum faces strong resistance near $3,280 and $3,300. In the hourly simple moving average, the price currently sits below $3,200 at the time of writing this report.

The cryptocurrency once again tried to break above $3,260 and $3,280. In comparison to bitcoin, ether’s price failed to move higher above $3,280 and started declining.

Ether could continue declining if it does not gain traction above $3,220 and $3,200 resistance levels. Immediately below $3,150, there is a support.

In the near future, a major support zone will form around $3,140. Below $3,140, the downside break could accelerate losses. According to the scenario, ether prices might return to $3,060

The network upgrade, which will cause ETH transaction fees to be destroyed instead of being handed to miners, has cost just over $400 million in burned ETH so far. There is a burning of approximately 200 ETH every hour.

By Sunday, over 124k ETH had been drawn from circulation by the Ethereum blockchain.

The EIP-1559 update, which burns ETH, became effective on August 5. Ethereum 2.0 is envisioned as an evolution of Ethereum that stabilizes transaction fees and speeds up the switch to Ethereum 2.0 from Ethereum 1.0.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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CropBytes has been part of the crypto gaming revolution since early 2018. The game has been through an entire market cycle, refining the economy and the gaming experience. This exposure gives the game an edge over others now that players can consistently grow their crypto portfolio despite fluctuations in the market.

CropBytes sets out to create a virtual world where anyone can buy, sell and own assets — a game of farming, business and strategy in a world that runs on crypto. Gamers love it and have built elaborate strategies and plans to gain maximum output from their investment. 

What gives CropBytes players an advantage over others?

Most crypto games are struggling to compete with traditional titles on consoles and smartphones. CropBytes is built on the Unity game engine, a popular platform for building games, which is supported by multiple platforms like Android, iOS and web.

Players can download the app, start farming and producing goods, and then visit the game marketplace to sell their produce to other players or make a lucrative purchase. Once you have enough produce from your assets, you can also convert these to game coins (GC), which can be used to purchase exclusive GC assets, such as Superhero nonfungible tokens and more.

CryptoBytes chief of marketing Sheryl Varghese commented:

“Today, some players own assets worth millions and have a huge collection of pro assets — they are already major industrialists in the game. Making it big in the crypto world can’t get any easier!”

CropBytes assets and future nonfungible tokens are unique and play an important role in the game economy and hold huge utility value. For example, Superheroes are rare, breedable and have special abilities that can be used to increase a player’s potential in the game. They can boost farm produce, thereby giving a player an advantage in the game in the long run. Soon, we will have a new generation of Superheroes, which will also be used in our upcoming player-versus-player battle game. Check out CropBytes.com for the launch of these Superhero pro assets.

Want more? You can meet other co-player farms and check out the fishing mini-game. The team has recently released a single-player fishing mini-game and will soon release a multiplayer version. Get ready for some skill-based crypto earnings.

Currently, the game uses Tron (TRX) as the in-game currency and will soon use Tether (USDT), while working to support others in the near future. CropBytes is also expanding the ecosystem by working with more games and marketplaces to ensure tokens and collectibles can be traded with ease across multiple games.

What sets CropBytes apart?

Not only is CropBytes the first crypto game to launch on Android, iOS and web, but the team also has a reputation of riding the bull run with new exciting game features and steady growth for the players.

Our vision is to build an evolving game that lasts forever and grows with time. We have carefully crafted the game’s economics, assets and tokens to make them future-proof. 

We are also focused on growing the ecosystem with a variety of in-app games so players won’t be inclined to switch to a different game. Players can sell their assets after completing a title or use the assets in the next game. With that, we are also bringing in support for regional languages so gamers all over the world can join in.

In the last six months, CropBytes has gained tremendous attraction from players worldwide. The number of players has doubled, while deposits have grown 5x. The overall market capitalization of CropBytes is only going up. 

CropBytes founder Sandeep Kumar said:

“Our players have always asked for the CropBytes token, but we were keen on building a well-rounded product before we launched. After developing and refining CropBytes for nearly three years, we are glad to announce we’re finally launching our CBX token.”

CropBytes is now backed by a few top entrepreneurs in crypto and will soon be launching its token in a public sale. The blockchain industry has continued to evolve over the past decade, with more products being developed daily.

The team is gearing up to launch the much-awaited CBX token sale soon, get ready.

Links

Website: om/exchange

Telegram (Channel): https://t.me/ccropbytes

Telegram (Community): p>

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cropbytes

With an increasing number of new businesses embracing blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, the idea of creating a crypto token has also gained appeal, especially since many blockchain platforms are open-source and free.

In this article, we look at crypto tokens and what you need to know as a business to develop and launch them successfully.

If you are considering developing a crypto token, then it is best to get in touch with a professional crypto token development company such as XValley Technologies who can help you establish your presence in the crypto space and generate revenue for your business.

What are crypto tokens?

Crypto tokens are units of value developed on top of existing blockchains by various crypto organisations and projects. The most common blockchain platforms used to create a crypto token are Ethereum, Tron, and Binance Smart Chain.

For example, the Ethereum blockchain’s native token is ether (ETH), but there are also many other tokens that use the Ethereum blockchain, including DAI, COMP and CryptoKitties (Each Kitty is an ERC-721 token).

Crypto tokens can be used for a wide variety of purposes from trading, buying, and selling goods, to participating in decentralised finance (DeFi) mechanisms, playing games, or accessing platform-specific services.

Usually, companies create a crypto token in order to raise funds through crowdfunding by selling their tokens in what is called a “token sale” or crowd sale.”

There are different types of crypto crowdfunding platforms including an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), Security Token Offering (STO) and Initial Exchange Offering (IEO). Two concepts that have become very popular are the Initial Liquidity Offering (ILO) and the Initial Dex Offering (IDO).

Initial Liquidity Offerings (ILOs) have emerged as the most popular option for the launch of new tokens surpassing even Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Initial Dex offerings, or IDOs are tokens hosted on a decentralised exchange (DEX) and are very attractive due to their immediate liquidity and trading, and low costs for listing.

Benefits of crypto tokens

Their unique features such as anonymity, decentralisation and increased security, and their growing use in the cryptocurrency marketplace have made crypto tokens popular among crypto users and startups.

Crypto tokens are programmable, permissionless, transparent and trustless. They are programmable as they are controlled by smart contracts which carry the inherent logic and function of the token.

In this respect, they are also characterised by transparency as the rules and the transactions are viewable and verifiable by all.

They are permissionless as everyone can participate in the system and are trustless as there is no central authority.

Popular crypto tokens in the market

There are various types of tokens depending on their use, but the main ones are: common tokens, utility tokens, security tokens (asset-backed, equity and debt tokens), and non-fungible tokens.

Some of the most popular tokens among crypto traders are Binance USD, Compound, Chain link, Maker, Wrapped bitcoin and Huobi token.

How to develop and launch a crypto token for your business?

Before you move on to choosing the blockchain platform to develop your crypto token, you will first need to select the right consensus mechanism.

A consensus mechanism will ensure that all transactions are legitimate and can be added to the blockchain.

Once you have chosen your blockchain platform you will need to ensure that you are fully satisfied with the internal architecture of the blockchain as you will be unable to make any changes to the parameters of the blockchain platform after the token is deployed.

The next step is the APIs. Since some platforms do not provide any pre-built ones, you will need to get them from third-party blockchain API providers such as ChromaWay or Bitcore, to name a few. Finally, make sure that your token complies to international cryptocurrency rules and regulations.

Developing and launching a crypto token can be a significant step for your business, as a crypto token will help you reduce operational costs and expand your customer base.

A crypto token will also transform your transactions, eliminating fraud risk, providing anonymity, transparency, and security.

Leading fintech firm XValley Technologies is the ideal partner to help you access the exciting new sphere of blockchain payments and crypto transactions.

If you are considering launching your own crypto token, then get in touch with their friendly and experienced team to help you get started.

Before a company makes an initial public offering, it has to release a certain amount of information. It has to tell potential shareholders the current value of its assets, what it does, how much it earns and how much it spends. It has to give investors enough knowledge to make an intelligent decision about whether to invest. That information is regulated by law.

Companies that make initial coin offerings (ICOs) are also governed by regulations, but those regulations and their jurisdictions remain unclear. Cryptocurrencies are still new, and rulings can be inconsistent. In 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission defined Bitcoin as a security. In July 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission defined the DAO token as a commodity. Add in the international nature of cryptocurrencies that allow companies to launch coins and tokens in places with lighter regulations, such as Singapore, and it’s no wonder that investors looking to put their money into ICOs might struggle to make their assessments.

Forget the regulations and forget the numbers. There are four things that you need to look at when you’re assessing an ICO, and they should be available for every coin.

First, look past the coin towards the product.

A cryptocurrency isn’t meant to operate in a vacuum. It’s supposed to support a product. There’s no point in buying casino chips at a discount if no one is going to build the casino that uses them or if the casino that was built was so run-down and poorly managed that no one would want to gamble in it.

The same principle applies to a cryptocurrency. All cryptocurrencies are similar. They’re all built on the blockchain. Some, like Ripple, might be pre-mined while others, like Bitcoin, will have a set release. Some, like Tether, might be linked to a fiat currency, while most others will be allowed to float freely. But each of those coins has their own use, and it’s much easier to assess that use than it is to assess the characteristics of the coin itself.

Ask yourself if you think there’s a real need for the product the coin is supporting. Ask yourself if you would use the product the coin is supporting. Assess the product in the same way that you’d assess a company looking for investment — and avoid any coins that aren’t funding a viable project.

You’ll find information about the product in the whitepaper, which is the second thing you should examine. In an area with as much regulatory mess as ICOs, the whitepaper is the closest you’re likely to get to a proper financial report. Because companies are using ICOs at an earlier stage of funding than traditional businesses use IPOs, the whitepaper is unlikely to contain much in the way of numbers and statistics. What you will get is a description of the vision behind the venture. You’ll get an explanation of why the company needs a cryptocurrency and what it’s trying to do with it.

You’ll also get a sense of how professional the company is. Whitepapers take effort to write properly. The founding team needs to be able to explain its ideas clearly to a writer who has to express those ideas in language that can be understood. A white paper is a professional product, and a pretty low bar to meet for a company that wants to raise millions. And yet, many businesses fail to meet it. At the start of the year, TRON, one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, was accused of plagiarising its whitepaper. It’s a poor sign if the company has to copy another business’s ideas to justify its own existence.

While you’re looking at the whitepaper, you should also pay close attention to the bios of the team members involved in the project. When venture capitalists listen to pitches from startup founders, the page that always interests them the most is the page about the team. Ideas are a dime-a-dozen, but the people who can make those ideas happen are much harder to find. Investors want to see that the people they’re giving money to have shown that they’re capable of building something, even if they haven’t yet had a great success. They want to see that they can get things done.

Cryptocurrencies haven’t been around long enough for team members to have the same kind of long experience with the blockchain that founders might have with businesses, but they do need to meet some criteria. They should have experience in the field in which they’re operating. They should have members who have worked with blockchain technology. They should have some experience that shows they’re capable of making things happen.

Finally, one way to more accurately assess the team is to join its Telegram group. A rival to WhatsApp, Telegram is the app of choice for cryptocurrency businesses. Many of them will invite potential investors to join their group on Telegram where they’ll take questions and talk about the product. You might not be able to sit in a pitch room with the company’s founders and check out their PowerPoint, but you can sit in a digital room with them and make your own judgments.

Assessing an ICO isn’t easy. There’s a reason that Google and Facebook are both banning their advertising. But with some care, some thought and plenty of caution, it is possible to dive into an ICO and make some smart decisions.

An initial coin offering, or ICO, is a fundraising strategy in which a blockchain team sells their project’s underlying cryptocurrency in exchange for the funds they need to create the platform. Generally, those funds consist of bitcoin, ether, or both.

ICOs entered the limelight in 2017 as stories of 24-hour, million-dollar raises began circulating news outlets around the world. Status raised $100 million in June, Tezos accumulated $237 million in July, and Filecoin brought in $257 million in August of that year. Suddenly, it seemed as if any team working on a cryptocurrency could easily raise at least a hundred thousand dollars. ICOs gave young startups the ability to raise significant capital without having to deal with the sometimes ruthless venture capital (VC) firms.

With all the hype that ICOs have received, you may still be wondering, “But, what exactly is an ICO, and how do they work?” Let’s take a more in-depth look at this technological breakthrough and how it’s ushered in a brand new way of raising money. Our explainer includes:

History of ICOsHow Does an ICO Work?ICO vs. IPO: Are Initial Coin Offerings Legal?The Future of Initial Coin Offerings

Although ICOs gained popularity in 2017, they had already existed for four years at that point. The first ICO occurred in mid-2013 with Mastercoin raising around half a million dollars in bitcoin. The project’s developer, J.R. Willet, proposed using Bitcoin as a protocol base layer for future protocols in his white paper, The Second Bitcoin White Paper, similar to how we use Ethereum today. His project, Mastercoin, would be the first project to help facilitate this mechanism.

Without getting bogged down in the details, Mastercoin was before its time, unable to perform several critical functions due to Bitcoin’s lack of Turing completeness.

It wasn’t until the advent of Ethereum that the blockchain community really started taking notice of ICOs. Ethereum and its scripting language, Solidity, solved many of the initial issues that Bitcoin had with smart contract and decentralized application (dapp) development. Mainly, Ethereum was written in a Turing-complete language, “allowing anyone to write smart contracts and decentralized applications where they can create their own arbitrary rules for ownership, transaction formats and state transition functions.”

The Ethereum team raised around $18.4 million during the project’s ICO in September 2014. And from there, the ICO notoriety snowballed into the avalanche we have before us today.

Most, if not all, initial coin offerings utilize some type of smart contract network. These networks vary in their architecture, strengths and ideal use-cases, but they all employ a decentralized blockchain. Popular examples include EOS, Tron and NEO. However, the most popular ICO platform, by far, is Ethereum.

The ERC20 Standard

The majority of tokens launching an ICO on the Ethereum network follow the ERC20 standard. This standard effectively outlines a set of programming rules that all ERC20 tokens must follow. It includes six primary token functions:

AllowanceApproveBalanceOfTotalSupplyTransferTransferFrom

These six functions enable you to get the total token supply, get an account balance, transfer tokens and approve the token as a form of money. Because these functions are standardized, developers know what behavior to expect when working with any ERC20 token. But let’s get back to ICOs…

Smart contracts are the backbone of ICOs. The open-source programming guarantees that:

The project receives the bitcoin or ether you contribute, You get the project’s cryptocurrency in return, andIn some cases, you receive your investment back if the project doesn’t reach its minimum fundraising goal.

Smart contracts accomplish all of these tasks automatically and without the need for an intermediary.

The Typical ICO Process

Participating in an ICO is a relatively straightforward process. For this example, let’s focus on an Ethereum-based one.

First, the ICO host mints their new cryptocurrency using Ethereum’s solidity code and places those coins in their own wallet. Following that, as a participant, you send some amount of ETH to the host’s wallet. In return, you receive some of the new cryptocurrency. The amount you receive depends on what value the host gives the crypto when he/she creates it. Since both Ethereum and the new token follow the ERC20 standard, there’s no need to create a separate wallet for each.

And that’s it. Any reputable team will make the smart contracts powering their ICO available to the public. Be wary of any project that keeps this code hidden.

At this point, you’ve probably drawn some parallels between initial coin offerings (ICOs) and initial public offerings (IPOs). In both scenarios, you’re handing over some amount of money in return for what appears to be a stake in the company/project. This assumption is dangerous to make, though, as there are some critical differences between the two:

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

CentralizedHeavy regulationHigh-level of bureaucracyInvestor protectionReceive stock/equity

Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

DecentralizedLittle to no regulation (currently)No red tapeNo investor protectionReceive tokens

As you can see, while ICOs do provide some advantages over traditional IPOs (decentralization, no bureaucracy), they also come with more risk. As it stands today, there’s not much stopping a crypto team from running away with your money after an ICO. Numerous projects have already successfully done so.

An additional risk, you receive tokens instead of equity with your investment. So, there’s a chance that although the company behind your token is successful, the tokens you hold could be worth next to nothing, leaving you up a creek. The success of your ICO investment ultimately depends on the token’s adoption within its ecosystem.

So, Are ICOs Even Legal?

Yes, they are. Well, sort of.

The regulations around ICOs vary from country to country. While countries like Switzerland and Malta have taken a more progressive approach to legislation, others, such as the United States, are still working out the regulatory kinks.

In the United States, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that most ICOs are instead security offerings because the tokens that they offer are securities due to failing the Howey Test. Therefore, the teams behind them need to register with the SEC – something they haven’t been doing. On top of that, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classifies tokens as a virtual currency requiring a different set of licensing, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has its own classification, muddying up taxes regarding them.

If your head is spinning right now, you’re not alone. Throw in the fact that each state also has its own set of regulations and you can understand the current difficulty in running a legal ICO.

Although their regulatory landscape is uncertain, it’s clear that initial coin offerings, or some alternatives, are here to stay. Even in 2018’s bear market, there were over 1250 ICOs that raised a cumulative $7.85 billion – over a billion dollars more than 2017.

More generally, tokenized fundraising is beginning to blend more and more with traditional methods. We’re starting to see Security Token Offerings (STOs), Equity Token Offerings (ETOs) and even Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs), a spin on the favorite YCombinator-created SAFE.

With higher liquidity, 24/7 trading and the elimination of middlemen, it looks as if the future of tokenization, including more ICOs, is on its way.

—

Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and smaller altcoins, may be overextended and in a bubble.But they can easily power higher anyways, a senior crypto analyst at Token Metrics says.Here are 12 altcoins, several of which are obscure and little known, that have upside.See more stories on Insider's business page.

Cryptocurrency skeptics share some common ground with Forrest Przybysz, a self-described crypto evangelist who's a senior cryptocurrency investment analyst at the analytics platform Token Metrics.

Both believe that bitcoin, and some smaller altcoins, appear to be in a bubble.

As history has shown, that doesn't mean that the bubble won't continue to expand far further. But Przybysz told Insider that a near-term pullback shouldn't be written off by crypto bulls.

"The growth has been exponential," Przybysz said. "Currently, we are in a bit of a bubble off of that trendline. We're seeing even faster-than-exponential growth currently. Now occasionally, what happens is that these little bubbles or parabolic runups pop, and we come back down to the exponential growth trendline of total cryptocurrency market cap. We haven't broken this trendline, or even really tested it, except for in the pandemic crash."

Bitcoin (BTC), the original cryptocurrency, has been on a wild ride in 2021. It's up 52% this year and has more than quadrupled in the past 12 months as individuals, corporations, and even governments increasingly embrace digital assets. 

The so-called "digital gold" started the year on fire after Tesla announced it had added the digital asset to its balance sheet, and it gained more steam as investors viewed it as an inflation hedge. It then lost momentum over the summer and fell from over $64,000 to about $30,000 before retesting the key $50,000 mark and slipping back to the mid-$40,000s.

Bitcoin has sharply corrected this week, and Przybysz warned that more downside could be ahead. His charts show the digital asset is slightly overextended, and he calls levels over $35,000 "bubble territory." A bear market could happen, as could a lengthy period of choppy trading.

But Przybysz said bitcoin could double or triple from current levels to $100,000 or $150,000 if regulators approve and legalize a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which he said would draw in "dumb money" that could end up buying the asset as it peaks in a bearish "blow-off top" formation. Przybysz expects there a decision one way or another by the end of October.

"We are in kind of a make-or-break space right now for crypto, for the market," Przybysz said.

It's nearly impossible to time financial markets, and so investors should be aware that buying into "bubble territory" might cost them dearly if the music suddenly stops. 

Key factors to follow going forward include the COVID-19 Delta variant, geopolitical unrest, and how soon the Federal Reserve starts tapering bond purchases, Przybysz said. Investors got insight into the Fed's framework on Wednesday, when Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the US central bank could take its foot off the monetary stimulus gas pedal sooner rather than later.

Ethereum is boring — but a strong bet

Besides bitcoin, crypto investors have poured their money into ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain. This network allows decentralized apps to be built on top of it, which can lay the groundwork for decentralized finance (DeFi) and countless other use cases.

Ethereum's price action is relatively boring by crypto standards, and the advent of new flashy new competitors like Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) has put ether under pressure.

Everyone loves to give up on ethereum when its price pulls back, Przybysz said, adding that it will "strike back" and take more market share. The main reason for his bull thesis is EIP-1559, a hard fork that drastically reduces the number of new ether tokens that come into circulation, which creates scarcity that should help lift prices unless demand falls. 

The Ethereum network upgrade took place in early August but isn't fully priced in yet, Przybysz said. He predicts ether could double and "conservatively" rise to $6,000 or $8,000, though for some hardcore crypto fanatics, a 100% gain from current levels is yawn-inducing. Ethereum traded near $3,072 early on Thursday.

Many young crypto speculators prefer betting on altcoins, which are, in some cases, the digital equivalents of lottery tickets. Smaller cryptos promise potential returns of tenfold or more, so they're naturally "in a bit of a bigger bubble," Przybysz said.

"If you just go and you gamble on altcoins, you're probably not going to see 10x returns," Przybysz said. "You might get lucky, but you're probably not going to see 10x returns with any type of consistency. We have an investment research framework where we weed out all of the bad altcoins, or altcoins that we think will not show those types of returns, in an effort to increase our chances of investing in altcoins that will see those kinds of returns."

Token Metrics' investing framework focuses on each token's use case, or designed purpose, and evaluates whether it can address an unsolved need, Przybysz said. Assuming the token innovates and provides value, it then must also provide a strong incentive for investors to hold it. Examples include profit-sharing from the project or governance rights.

Additionally, there must be good "supply-side tokenomics" for altcoins to succeed, Przybysz said. That means the supply in circulation must be sufficiently high and that the dilution rate isn't too fast. Finally, investors should target projects with strong development teams and backers.

Three examples of relatively well-known altcoins that Przybysz said to avoid are Litecoin (LTC), Tron (TRX), and Ethereum Classic (ETC). He doesn't think they'll last despite past successes because they're inferior to competitors, Przybysz said.

By contrast, Przybysz shared 12 altcoins he likes and has his eye on. Below are the names, along with the symbol, market capitalization, and a summarized use case for each.

Symbol: NANO

Market cap: $663M

Use case: A lightweight form of digital money that offers quick, secure payments.

Symbol: BCH

Market cap: $10.2B

Use case: A decentralized, peer-to-peer money sending system that's fast and private with low fees.

Symbol: XMR

Market cap: $4.3B

Use case: A platform that allows for private, anonymous payments and transactions.

Symbol: DASH

Market cap: $1.8B

Use case: An open-source global payments network that offers cheap, quick transfers.

Symbol: AUDIO

Market cap: $930M

Use case: A decentralized music streaming platform that promises to empower artists, in part by allowing them to receive payments directly from listeners.

Symbol: ALPHA

Market cap: $370M

Use case: A cross-chain decentralized finance platform that allows developers to address unmet industry needs and earn tokens in the process.

Symbol: SAND

Market cap: $610M

Use case: A blockchain-based video game that has a digital world in which users can build and exchange digital assets.

Symbol: MANA

Market cap: $1.3B

Use case: A virtual reality platform that lets users create and monetize content.

Symbol: ILV

Market cap: $335M

Use case: An open-world video game built on ethereum that allows users to battle while collecting and trading digital items.

Symbol: ATLAS

Market cap: $187M

Use case: A multiplayer online game in a virtual world where users fight for resources and control.

Symbol: OHM

Market cap: $987M

Use case: A decentralized reserve currency backed by baskets of assets.

Symbol: EDN

Market cap: $3.1M

Use case: A blockchain ecosystem that prioritizes certain transactions on the ethereum network while protecting private data.

Was this article valuable for you? More:FeaturesInvestingcrypto

While NFTs have been around since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, the market has only recently taken off. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become one of the biggest crypto crazes of 2020 and 2021. NFT sales totaled $95 million in 2020, and in just the first half of 2021 sales reached nearly $2.5 billion.

Digital artist Mike Winkelman, known as Beeple, recently sold an NFT for $69 million, and soccer great Lionel Messi recently launched his own NFT collection. But you don’t have to be famous to create or trade NFTs. Read on to learn more about the NFT market and how you can use these digital assets.

Related: Popular terms every crypto beginner needs to know

NFTs 101

NFTs are collectible crypto assets, intended to represent a unique digital item that can be bought, sold or traded.

The term “fungible” refers to something that can be interchanged for something else just like it. A dollar bill, for example, is fungible because all dollar bills are more or less the same. Non-fungible tokens, then, are digital items that cannot be duplicated, such as:

ArtworkMusicCollectibles, like trading cardsItems within video games like skins, weapons or avatarsVirtual land

The possibilities are almost endless. Individuals can now create something digital, put a unique stamp on it within the blockchain network, and sell it to someone without needing a third-party intermediary like an art broker or pawn shop.

How to buy NFT tokens

In some ways, trading NFT tokens is similar to trading other kinds of crypto. Before learning how to buy NFT tokens, there are a few things worth considering, such as:

What marketplace do you intend to use?Which cryptocurrency will be needed to fund your crypto wallet and make the purchase?Are the NFTs you’d like to buy only available at a certain time?

Some NFTs are only available on certain platforms. Someone who wants to buy an NBA Top Shot pack of virtual trading cards, for example, must open an account with NBA Top Shot and create a Dapper wallet.

The buyer will then fund their wallet with either the USDC stablecoin or any number of supported fiat currency options. After that, a buyer will have to wait for a card pack drop and buy a pack before they sell out. NFT drops have become a popular method of selling NFTs to eager buyers. Drops like these often require users to sign up and have their accounts funded prior to the drop so they don’t miss their chance to buy once the NFTs drop.

Drops can sell out in a matter of seconds, so being ready ahead of time can be crucial. Of course, there are other NFTs and NFT platforms that don’t utilize drops. The main things to keep in mind when pondering the question, “How to buy NFT tokens?" are what wallet to use, which cryptocurrency you’ll use and what platform to use.

How to create NFT art

What about those who are uninterested in learning how to buy NFT tokens and instead want to create their own? Creating a piece of NFT artwork is fairly straightforward and does not require in-depth knowledge of the crypto industry. Before beginning, a creator will have to figure out which blockchain on which they want to issue their NFTs. Ethereum is the most popular blockchain service for this purpose at this time, but a variety of other blockchains are gaining in popularity, such as:

Cosmos (ATOM)TezosPolkadotTron (TRX)Flow by Dapper LabsBinance Smart Chain

Each blockchain comes with its own unique NFT token standard, marketplaces, and wallet services. If someone were to create NFT tokens on Binance Smart Chain, for example, traders can only use those NFTs on platforms that support Binance Smart Chain assets. So they couldn’t sell them on an NFT marketplace like OpenSea which is based on Ethereum.

Since Ethereum is the most commonly used NFT ecosystem, let’s look at what’s needed to mint a new NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. First, an NFT creator would need an Ethereum wallet that supports ERC-721, Ethereum’s NFT token standard. Some wallets that qualify include Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Enjin and D’Cent.

An NFT creator will also need about $50 – $100 worth of Ether (ETH) tokens. Those using the Coinbase wallet can buy ETH from Coinbase with US dollars or another fiat currency. Other users will have to purchase ETH from a crypto exchange and send it to the wallet they set up in the previous step.

After creating a wallet and funding it with ETH, it’s time to choose a platform. A variety of NFT-focused platforms allow users to connect their wallets and upload the images or files that they’d like to turn into NFTs.

Some popular NFT marketplaces on Ethereum include:

MintableRaribleOpenSea

These three marketplaces all have a “create” button located in the upper-right corner. Let’s look at how things work in OpenSea. Clicking “create” takes you to a screen that asks to connect to your Ethereum-based wallet. After entering the wallet password as requested, the wallet will connect with the marketplace. You might have to sign a message in their Ethereum wallet to prove they own it.

Next, you would hover over the “create” button and select “my collections.” Then you would click the blue “create” button. A window will pop up that lets you upload the image or file you want to turn into an NFT. Add your name, and write a description. Basically, you’re creating a folder where you can place the NFTs you create.

After assigning an image for the collection, it will appear on the left-hand side of the screen. Then you’ll have to add a banner image by selecting the pencil icon on the top right. At this point, you can start creating NFTs. Click on “Add New Item” and sign a message with your wallet. You’ll then arrive at a new window where you can upload the item you want to turn into an NFT, whether It be audio, an image or a GIF.

On OpenSea and similar platforms, users can also add special attributes to make their NFTs more unique. You can also add special content that can only be opened by the buyer. This could include things like discount codes or passwords that let buyers access particular services.

After finishing, clicking “create” at the bottom of the page and signing another wallet message will confirm that you have created your NFT. The token will then show up in your collection.

How to sell NFTs

Once you’ve purchased an NFT, you’ll need to decide whether you want to HODL it, or sell it. To sell an NFT, you must list the token on a marketplace. To do this, click on the NFT in your collection that you’d like to sell and locate the “sell” button. Clicking on “sell” will bring up a pricing page, allowing you to set the terms of the sale. You can choose either a fixed price or an auction sale. NFTs typically sell for ETH or ERC-20 tokens. Some platforms only let you sell for the native token of their blockchain, however.

NFT creators can also earn royalties for their artwork each time someone sells their tokens to a new person. In OpenSea, you set this up by clicking the “edit” button and making use of the option to program royalties into an NFT. You would receive royalties through a variety of ERC-20 tokens. Once they’ve selected that option, creators earn royalties automatically through smart contracts.

The takeaway

Overall, it’s not that hard to learn how to buy NFT tokens or to create and sell them. Developers have created graphic user interfaces that make the process as painless as possible. Of course, having previous experience with using cryptocurrency wallets will be a big help.

Learn more:

This article originally appeared on SoFi.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.

SoFi Invest

The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA /SIPC  . SoFi Invest refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.

1) Automated Investing—The Automated Investing platform is owned by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (“Sofi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC, an affiliated SEC registered broker dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, (“Sofi Securities).

2) Active Investing—The Active Investing platform is owned by SoFi Securities LLC. Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation.

3) Cryptocurrency is offered by SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, a FinCEN registered Money Service Business.

For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of Sofi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit www.sofi.com/legal. Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Lending Corp and/or its affiliates.

Crypto: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t endorsed or guaranteed by any government, are volatile, and involve a high degree of risk. Consumer protection and securities laws don’t regulate cryptocurrencies to the same degree as traditional brokerage and investment products. Research and knowledge are essential prerequisites before engaging with any cryptocurrency. US regulators, including FINRA  , the SEC  , and the CFPB, have issued public advisories concerning digital asset risk. Cryptocurrency purchases should not be made with funds drawn from financial products including student loans, personal loans, mortgage refinancing, savings, retirement funds or traditional investments.

If you’re looking to invest in digital currencies but wish to do so in a passive and diversified manner – cryptocurrency funds could be the solution. However, you might need to think outside of the box in this respect – as cryptocurrency funds in the UK are still a work-in-progress. There are, however, several alternatives that might be worth considering – such as CryptoPortfolios or a DeFi Composite Index.

In this guide, we discuss top alternatives to the Best Cryptocurrency Funds UK so that you make an informed investment decision.

Alternatives to the Best Cryptocurrency Funds UK – Choose a Broker

The brokers listed below offer top-rated alternatives to cryptocurrency funds in the UK.

– Invest in CryptoPortfoliosBinance – DeFi Composite IndexCapital.com – 0% Commission Crypto Index (Professional Clients Only)

For more information on each of the above brokers, scroll down to read our in-depth reviews.

How to Invest in the Best Cryptocurrency Fund UK – A Quick Guide For 2021

We found that the best cryptocurrency fund alternative in the UK comes in the shape of the eToro CryptoPortfolio. Through a single investment, you will gain exposure to a highly diversified basket of digital currencies.

Below you will find a quick step-by-step walkthrough of how to invest in this cryptocurrency fund.

You will first need to register an account with eToro – which will require your name, home address, date of birth, and other personal details.Step 2: Upload Documents – The FCA regulates eToro – so you will need to provide the broker with a copy of your driver’s license or passport.Step 3: Deposit Funds – You can make a deposit into your newly created eToro account with a debit/credit card, Paypal, Skrill, or bank transfer.Step 4: Look for CryptoPortfolio – On the left-hand of the eToro dashboard, click on ‘Invest in CopyPortfolios. Next, look for and click on the ‘CryptoPortoflio’ option.Step 5: Complete Investment – The CryptoPortfolio comes with a minimum investment of $1,000 – which is about £730. As such, you can invest any amount of your choosing as long as it meets the stated minimum. Once you click on the ‘Invest’ button, eToro will allocate your funds to the CryptoPortfolio.

You can keep your CryptoPortfolio investment going for as long as you wish at no extra charge. When you are ready to cash out, you can do this from within your eToro portfolio.

Best Cryptocurrency Fund UK – Alternative Markets to Consider

As cryptocurrency funds are yet to enter the UK marketplace, you will need to consider an alternative. The good news is that the alternatives that our research team has identified operate much the same as a traditional fund. This is because you will be able to invest in a basket of cryptocurrencies through a single trade – and the respective provider will rebalance the portfolio on a regular basis.

In the sections below, we review alternatives to the best cryptocurrency funds in the UK.

1. eToro – Overall Best Crypto Broker – Invest in CryptoPortfolios

After extensive research, we found that eToro offers the best cryptocurrency fund alternative in the UK market. In a nutshell, this comes in the form of the platform’s CryptoPortfolio – which is a passive investment service professionally managed by the eToro team. Through a single investment – you will gain exposure to a wide basket of digital assets. Each cryptocurrency is weighted based on various factors – such as its market capitalization and current performance.

Breaking the CryptoPortfolio down further, our research team found that Bitcoin and Cardano carry the largest weighting at just over 17% and 16% respectively. You then have the likes of Ethereum, IOTA, and Tron – each of which are weighted at just over 12%, 8%, and 7%. Other digital currencies held by the CryptoPortfolio include NEO, Stellar, Dash, Litecoin, Uniswap, Bitcoin Cash, and Zcash. There are also holdings in Ethereum Classic and Chainlink.

As you can see, the CryptoPortrfolio service offered by eToro is a superb alternative to a cryptocurrency fund – as you will be investing in a huge number of projects. Most importantly, you can invest in a 100% passive nature, as the eToro team will regularly add or remove digital currencies to ensure the portfolio aligns with the wider market sentiment. Plus, eToro will also adjust the weighting it gives to each CryptoPortfolio constituent – based on the performance of each token.

In terms of past performance, this is where the CryptoPortfolio really stands out. For instance, in the first 9 months of 2021, the CryptoPortfolio has generated gains of 174%. Annual gains in 2020 were also very impressive – with 12-month returns of 201%. Another popular attribute of the CryptoPortfolio is that there are no additional fees to invest. Unlike traditional funds, there is no requirement to pay eToro any commissions on the profits that the CryptoPortfolio service generates.

When it comes to the platform itself – eToro is a popular brokerage that is authorized and regulated by the FCA. It now serves over 20 million clients – many of which are UK-based. eToro allows you to buy, sell, and trade individual cryptocurrencies too – with the minimum starting at just $25 (about £18) per order. The CryptoPortfolio, on the other hand, does require a minimum investment of $1,000 (about £730). Nevertheless, eToro also offers thousands of commission-free stocks – which will allow you to diversify your crypto investments further.

Pros

Cons

2. Binance – DeFi Composite Index

One of the best cryptocurrency funds UK that our team came across is that of the DeFi Composite Index offered by Binance. For those unaware, DeFi refers to decentralized finance and it is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, there are now hundreds of DeFi tokens active in the digital currency scene – with a collective market valuation worth billions of pounds. The key issue with the DeFi sector is that it is super-difficult to know which tokens to invest in – as success levels can and will vary quite considerably.

For example, while some DeFi tokens have witnessed gains of over 10,000% in 2021 alone – others have all but failed. Fortunately, this is where the Binance DeFi Composite Index can help – as the exchange gives you access to a highly diversified basket of decentralized finance tokens. In fact, the basket consists of dozens of top-performing Defi projects at various weights – which is based on market performance and valuation.

To give you an idea of which cryptocurrencies the Binance DeFi Composite Index holds, the largest holdings are given to Chainlink, Uniswap, Algorand, and Luna. Other holdings include the likes of Yearn.finance, Maker, Kava, AAVE, and dozens more. In terms of the provider itself, Binance is actually the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally – with trading volumes exceeding tens of billions of dollars on a daily basis. You will find low commissions at Binance – with the exchange charging just 0.10% per slide.

Pro

Cons

3. Capital.com – 0% Commission Crypto Index (Professional Clients Only)

Capital.com is an FCA-regulated brokerage site that offers spread betting markets and leveraged CFDs. As digital asset CFDs fall within the remit of cryptocurrency derivatives, Capital.com can only offer these financial instruments to UK residents that are classed as professional clients. This requires a stress test that includes a minimum of 1-year experience in the financial services industry. Nevertheless, if you are a professional client in the UK – then you might be interested in the Capital.com Crypto Index.

This comes in the shape of a CFD instrument that tracks the performance of five individual cryptocurrencies. This is inclusive of Bitcoin, Litecoin, XRP, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash. The Crypto Index is weighted based on daily trading volumes and market capitalization, so naturally – Bitcoin contributes the largest percentage. Unlike the other UK cryptocurrency fund alternatives we have discussed thus far, the Capital.com Crypto Index is more conducive for short-term trading strategies.

As a CFD instrument, you will have the option of going long or short on the Crypto Index – which means you can attempt to profit from both rising and falling prices. For example, if you are of the opinion that the wider cryptocurrency markets are likely to enter a bearish period, you can trade this viewpoint by placing a sell order on the Crypto Index. Additionally, this financial instrument can be traded with leverage – meaning that you can stake more on the Crypto Index than you have available in your Capital.com account.

We also like Capital.com because of its low-fee pricing structure. In a nutshell, the platform allows you to trade the Crypto Index at 0% commission alongside competitive spreads. If you are an experienced trader – which is likely to be the case if you are classed as a professional client, then you might decide to speculate on the Crypto Index via MetaTrader 4 (MT4). This will give you access to a wide range of analytical features – such as real-time pricing charts, technical indicators, and drawing tools.

Pros

Cons

How do the Best Cryptocurrency Funds UK Work?

As we have explained throughout this guide, UK-based cryptocurrency funds are yet to make an appearance. However, when you think about how traditional funds work, you will quickly learn that there are heaps of great alternatives to be considered. After all, the two main attractions of an investment fund is that you can trade passively and in a diversified manner.

These two metrics are certainly achieved with the eToro CryptoPortfolio – which we would argue is the best cryptocurrency fund alternative in the UK. To recap, you will place a single investment into the CryptoPortfolio – which is thereon managed by the eToro team. The portfolio consists of dozens of leading cryptocurrencies at various weights.

At any given time, the eToro team will readjust the weighting system of its CryptoPortfolio to ensure it aligns with the wider sentiment of the crypto asset scene. Furthermore, eToro will from time to time add or remove cryptocurrencies to the portfolio. Either way, you can sit back and let your money work for you when investing in the CryptoPortfolio. In fact, there is nothing for you to do until you are ready to cash out!

Is There a Cryptocurrency Fund UK?

There is no cryptocurrency fund available to UK residents in its truest form – as the FCA is yet to approve any of the applications it has since received. There are various cryptocurrency funds located overseas – however, these are not yet available to retail clients based in the UK.

You might, however, consider an alternative – such as the eToro CryptoPortfolio or Binance DeFi Index Composite. We review these two alternatives in great detail further up in this guide. 

How to Choose the Best UK Cryptocurrency Fund Alternative?

This guide has reviewed the best UK cryptocurrency fund alternatives in the market right now. However, there are several others in this marketplace, so you need to do some research to find the best option for you and your financial goals.

To point you in the right direction – check out the core factors below before proceeding with an investment.

The Reputation of the Fund Provider

The first thing that you need to look for when searching for the best cryptocurrency funds in the UK is the reputation of the provider behind the financial instrument. For example, we have discussed the eToro CryptoPortfolio extensively in this guide for one core reason – the brokerage itself is authorized and regulated by the UK’s FCA.

This means that you can be 100% sure that you are using a credible provider when investing in cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, Binance – which offers an innovative DeFi Composite Index – is not regulated by the FCA. Sure, the exchange has over 100 million clients-  but you do need to remember that you will be using an unlicensed platform.

Crypto Fund Constituents

The next thing to look for in your search for the best cryptocurrency funds in the UK is the number and type of digital assets within the provider’s portfolio. This is crucial, as this will determine which crypto-asset projects you are investing in.

For example, at the time of writing, the eToro CryptoPortfolio contains 16 cryptocurrencies of various shapes and sizes. This includes large-cap projects like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano – as well as several up-and-coming DeFi tokens like Uniswap, Chainlink, and Tezos.

Weighting System

If you have previously invested in traditional ETFs, then you might have a brief understanding of how fund managers ‘weigh’ their portfolios. For those unaware, this refers to the allocation that each individual asset within the portfolio is given.

For instance, with the eToro CryptoPortfolio, the fund manager bases its weighting system on market capitalization and daily trading volume.Other factors are also taken into account – such as the recent performance of each token in terms of growth.These factors mean that well-performing cryptocurrencies with a large market capitalization – such as Bitcoin and Cardano, are given the largest portfolio weighing.At the other end of the scale, higher-risk projects like Uniswap and Chainlink contribute much less.

Of course, digital asset prices and performance will change throughout the day, so the best cryptocurrency funds in the UK will ensure that their portfolios are regularly rebalanced.

Fees and Commissions

When you invest in a traditional fund or ETF, you will be accustomed to several fees. This can include a commission to purchase or sell the investment, as well as ongoing maintenance fees.

Some fund providers even charge a performance fee – which is based on the amount of profit that they generate for investors. These fees can also come into play when investing in a cryptocurrency fund – so it’s important that you assess the provider’s pricing structure before proceeding.

How to Invest in the Best Cryptocurrency Fund UK? Detailed Walkthrough

If you like the sound of the eToro CryptoPortfolio – which we found to be the best cryptocurrency fund alternative in the UK, we are now going to walk you through the investment process step-by-step. By following the tutorial below, you should complete the entire process in less than five minutes!

Step 1: Open an eToro Broker Account

The first step is to visit the eToro website and look for the ‘Join Now’ button. Once you click it, a registration form will appear on your screen – much like the image below.

This will collect some personal information from you – such as your name, date of birth, and home address. You will also need to provide your email address and mobile number.

Step 2: Upload KYC Documents

As an FCA-regulated broker, eToro will ask you to upload a copy of your passport or driver’s license. This ensures that the broker remains compliant with the FCA’s rules on anti-money laundering measures.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

eToro supports a wide range of payment methods, such as:

Debit CardsCredit CardsE-Wallets – Including Paypal and SkrillUK Bank Transfers

The minimum deposit is just $200 at eToro. But, in order to invest in the eToro CryptoPortfolio – you need to add at least $1,000 to your account. There will be a very small FX fee of 0.5% when you deposit funds at eToro.

Step 4: Search for CryptoPortfolio

Now that you have a funded eToro account, you can proceed to invest in the CryptoPortfolio. To go straight to the relevant investment page, simply enter ‘CryptoPortfolio’ into the search box.

You will then need to click on the search result once it loads – like in the image above.

Step 5: Place CryptoPortfolio Investment

The final step is to choose the amount of money that you wish to invest in the eToro CryptoPortfolio. As noted above, the minimum investment is $1,000.

To complete your investment, simply click on the ‘Invest’ button. And that it’s – you’ve just invested in the best cryptocurrency fund alternative available in the UK!

Best Cryptocurrency Fund UK – Conclusion

This guide has explained that the UK is yet to introduce any cryptocurrency funds – at least for retail investor clients. The good news is that we have identified several alternatives – all of which operate in a very similar nature to traditional funds.

For example, the eToro CryptoPortfolio allows you to invest in 16 digital currencies through a single trade – with the portfolio weighted based on market capitalization, daily trading volume, and pricing performance. Best of all, the CryptoPortfolio is a passive investment vehicle- as everything is managed in-house by the eToro team. 

FAQ

Justin Sun, founder of Tron, a smart contract-enabled cryptocurrency, announced he purchased an NFT avatar for $10.5 million. The NFT, dubbed ‘Joker’ due to its appearance, is part of a Tron-native NFT series called Tpunks, that seeks to emulate the style and success of the known Cryptopunks series, but on the Tron blockchain.

Justin Sun Purchases NFT for $10.5 Million

Justin Sun, the founder of the smart contracts-enabled Tron blockchain, announced today the purchase of an NFT avatar for $10.5 million dollars worth of tron. The NFT purchased, identified as #3442 but called “Joker,” ostensibly due to its resemblance to the popular Batman villain, is part of the Tpunks series. Tpunks is a collection of NFTs that seeks to recreate the art style of another very successful line of NFTs, on Ethereum, the Cryptopunks.

The series features 10,000 avatars, of which there are some with rare traits, which make them especially desired by collectors. The project is picking up steam and has climbed to fourth place rank in collectible dapps at time of writing, according to DappRadar. Prices of rare NFTs on the platform have also spiked, with some offers reaching more than $800K.

This isn’t Justin Sun’s first foray into the NFT market. Sun was an active bidder on Christie’s sale of Beeple’s “Everydays: the First 5,000 Days” NFT. Sun made a bid of $60 million to acquire the asset, but according to his statements, he was outbid by $250K by an unknown buyer at the last minute.

NFT Craze

Non Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, have caused quite the excited commotion in the cryptocurrency space. Justin Sun is not the first to dive in. Several famous influencers, actors, and even rappers have gotten into the space to take advantage of this new kind of media. Even Jay-Z, the famous musician, partnered with Sotheby’s in June to auction an NFT inspired by his “Reasonable Doubt” album, called “Heir to the Throne.” The musician also changed his Twitter profile picture to display a Cryptopunk, something that made some of his followers believe he had purchased one.

Several other projects have sold millions of dollars in NFTs. The main project, Cryptopunks, surpassed $1 billion in sales last week, being the third NFT-based project to reach that number after Axie Infinity and Opensea. NFT fever even reaches into institutional markets. Visa, the multinational payments giant, purchased a CryptoPunk (#7610) to add to its collection on August 23, calling NFTs a “new era” of collecting.

What do you think about Justin Sun’s Tpunk purchase? Tell us in the comment section below.

Ethereum changed the nature and future of the crypto industry when it launched back in 2015. Its story is well-known by now, but as a quick recap — Ethereum pointed out the possibilities of blockchain technology, showing the world that this underlying tech behind cryptocurrencies can be a lot more than just a distributed ledger.

Since then, the blockchain sector exploded, which led to amazing products such as smart contracts, DeFi, NFTs, dApps, and more, all of which is now available throughout the crypto industry.

But, for all its innovativeness, Ethereum still has its flaws, such as consuming too much energy due to its use of Proof-of-Work consensus, as well as its inability to scale. In the early days of its existence, neither of these things was particularly damning. Ethereum was still faster than Bitcoin, more energy-efficient consensus algorithms didn’t even exist yet, and the changes it brought made it extremely popular extremely quickly.

Not to mention that the crypto industry had so few members back then that even the scaling issues weren’t immediately noticeable, or at least, they did not have an impact. But, as crypto started to grow, more people joined in, more products got created, and more users started using them. Over time, the fact that it could only process a handful of transactions per block became a problem. Its growing transaction fees became a problem. Even Proof of Work became a problem, especially these days when the world is so desperately trying to go green.

The rise of Ethereum challengers

All of this, combined with the popularity of it being a development platform, led to the creation of countless other development platforms, each of which sought to become the next big thing — the next Ethereum.

But, by the time that happened, Ethereum was already so big and so well-developed that none of them stood a chance at even matching its performance and community, let alone overpowering it and becoming a so-called Ethereum Killer. Still, the idea of a blockchain that could overtake Ethereum someday became the stuff of legends, and whenever a new platform started seeing growth, people have been wondering — is this the one? Has Ethereum finally met its match?

This question was asked when NEO, also known as Chinese Ethereum first emerged. However, NEO wasn’t it. It was also asked when EOS came out, as well as when TRON — a project that originally started as an ERC-20 token — launched its own blockchain.

Time after time, people were asking the same question, but the answer eventually always ended up being the same. No other blockchain in the past six years was strong enough to overtake ETH, despite all of its shortcomings.

Now, however, Etheruem has a new challenger, and the same question is being asked again. Just like before, the answer is not obvious right from the start, which means that anything can yet happen. We are referring, of course, to Cardano, which is set to bring smart contracts to its mainnet in only a few days, on September 12th.

Could Cardano become the Ethereum Killer?

Cardano is not a new blockchain — it has been around for years now. However, unlike many other failed Ethereum Killers, Cardano did not rush its development. The project decided to take its time and do things slowly but surely, and it took years to get to where it is right now.

It never had any controversies, it was never hacked, nor did it encounter project-breaking bugs and similar issues. In fact, it became quite well-known for progressing slowly and not sacrificing its detailed plans just so that it could participate in bull runs and attract attention. All of this resulted in several benefits.

For one, Cardano managed to remain relevant while most of the previous Ethereum killers sank on the list of the largest coins, simply because people lost interest and have found other projects to focus on. And, another thing — Cardano developed its technology properly, allowing it to withstand the test of time.

As mentioned, this is an important moment for the project, as it will finally integrate smart contracts into its mainnet, which will mean that the project will finally be able to allow the creation of dApps, DeFi protocols, new coins and tokens, and more.

In addition, Cardano is built with PoS (Proof of Stake), which requires a lot less energy for it to work. It is also much faster, much safer, and a lot cheaper than Ethereum, with the ability to scale and meet user demand. The project raises zero red flags, and it promises a lot, but the thing is that Cardano never promised more than what it can deliver.

Cardano is already the second-largest altcoin

The anticipation of its smart contract integration alone was more than enough to push the coin’s price to a new all-time high over the last several weeks, and now that the day of the launch is closer than ever, Cardano is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, just before Ethereum, and, of course, Bitcoin.

It is also as much as $10 billion larger than the next biggest crypto, which is Binance’s Binance Coin. Of course, it is still leagues behind Ethereum’s market cap, which currently sits at $297.5 billion, whereas Cardano is only at $79.1 billion. The only possible rival that the coin currently may have a reason to fear is Solana (SOL), which is another similar blockchain, but also one that seems to offer the same quality of services, but that moves a lot faster than ADA.

Whether or not this might be SOL’s downfall remains to be seen. For now, however, Cardano is still significantly bigger, and it appears to have greater expectations than Solana itself.

Another thing worth noting is that Ethereum is not exactly sitting around doing nothing while it waits to be overthrown. The project’s developers have been working on implementing Ethereum 2.0 for a long time now, and it seems that they are closer than ever to completing the process. They also recently introduced an upgrade that brought a new token burning mechanism that will reduce the coin’s supply, and at the same time, reduce the cost of making transactions.

This once again gives ETH the advantage, but we will still have to wait to find out whether this will be enough to stop Cardano from overtaking it.

To learn more about some of the differences between these altcoins, read our Ethereum vs Cardano feature.

The cryptocurrency industry has witnessed several rising assets over the past few years. While Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP (to some extent) have remained prominent over the past 5 years, some projects temporarily rose to the occasion. Tron is possibly one of those projects at the moment.

In 2019, Tron was expected to match Ethereum in terms of network activity and traction but over time, the project has not managed to cope with the growing industry. However, there are some lessons that can be taken from such a narrative.

In the past, Tether or USDT stablecoin has been associated with assisting other assets to maintain price levels. FUD created with Bitcoin has been discussed in detail but now, it seems like the stablecoin has been keeping Tron’s functionality alive.

According to Tether’s transparency report, at press time, USDT issued on the Tron blockchain is more than any other chain with $32 billion. It comprises roughly ~52% of the total USDT supply, marginally ahead of the ETH platform.

Additionally, Tether recently announced that they issued $1 billion USDT more on the Tron chain but it hasn’t been authorized yet for circulation. Paolo Ardoino, Tether CTO said this amount will be used as inventory for next period issuance requests and chain swaps.

Therefore, it is probably not a stretch to state that Tron’s blockchain is currently active only to support the USDT issuance, which is a stark difference from its goals set in 2019.

A popular term that is attached to every rising prospect against ETH, Tron had a period owning this phrase as well. At the moment, it is ranked 26th in the industry, behind several other projects that came into the picture over the past year.

It is clearly evident that the average development activity for Tron has also been underwhelming over the past two years, with other tokens moving ahead. Now, there are clear similarities between some projects in 2021 and Tron in 2019; they are backed by hype.

Without naming any particular protocol, the main objective here is to understand that several projects in the top-20 or even top-30 might not meet their initial lofty expectations. The crypto industry is innovating and developing at a rapid pace, so it is essential that investors thoroughly understand the potential of a project. Another Ethereum killer is always around the corner, but the largest altcoin continues to shove them away.

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As per Coinmarketcap.com, the global crypto market cap is $2.1 trillion, a fall of 0.33% over the previous day. The total crypto market volume has registered an increase over the last 24 hours is $136.64B, which makes a 3.08% increase.

Now coming on to crypto prices, there is seen a mixed trend with Bitcoin and Ethereum trending lower in price by a margin. Bitcoin at the time of writing this report was down by 0.98%, while Ethereum was down over 1 percent. Nevertheless, some others including Cardano logged gains of 11% and quoted at a price of $2.76 per token. Others including the likes of Tezos, Tron, Elrond etc. were trading higher by between 6-8%. And yet another crypto Hedera Hashgraph was up over 14%.

It is being asserted that the markets have stabilised as regulatory concerns again surge. In respect of Bitcoin there is expectation that will consolidate with support nearby at the 200-day moving average, although resistance remains strong around the $50,000 price level.

Note on Thursday, the State Power Company of China announced that it is conducting inspections on bitcoin and other crypto mining facilities."The article stated that virtual currencies such as bitcoin waste energy and evade financial supervision, and have no clear legal status in China," crypto newswire WuBlockchain tweeted.

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The Tether stablecoin USDT’s daily usage on the Ethereum blockchain has shifted slightly later in the day from Asian business hours toward European and U.S. market hours, possibly because of China's crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and USDT users' migration to other blockchains, a new report suggests. 

Last year, most USDT activity on Ethereum happened between 2:00 and 14:00 coordinated universal time, and during that time, the period from 6:00 to 8:00 UTC was the busiest, according to the report by blockchain-analysis firm Coin Metrics. This year, however, there has been less usage from 2:00 to 6:00 UTC and more from 15:00 to 20:00 UTC.

Investors can trade crypto 24 hours, seven days a week, but local stock exchange times can be used as a proxy for when traders in any given region are active.

Several factors could have contributed to the shift of USDT’s daily usage pattern on Ethereum, according to Coin Metrics, including that some trading activity has shifted to other blockchains that offer lower fees than Ethereum, such as Tron and Solana. 

Also, as China reiterated its crypto ban and started cracking down on crypto mining in May, the migration of crypto miners and investors may have led to a drop in Asia-based USDT activity. That migration, however, wouldn't explain the changes before May, Coin Metrics noted.

It's also possible that that USDT on Ethereum is increasingly being used as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. 

In comparison, the rival dollar-linked stablecoin USDC sees most usage from 14:00 to 22:00 UTC, in line with U.S. market hours. Bitcoin and ether activity are more equally distributed throughout the day.

A widely followed crypto analyst and trader says XRP, Bitcoin Cash and two other crypto assets are poised to ignite rallies to potentially outperform Bitcoin (BTC).

The popular crypto strategist, known in the industry as DonAlt, tells his 289,000 followers that the XRP/BTC pair is printing a large inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, which is a technical formation that could signal the emergence of an uptrend.

“Inverse head and shoulders on top of HTF [high timeframe] cycle bottom support… Up 50% and still far away from resistance. I’ll just be patient and hold. If it full-blown reverses on me, I’ll sell a bit above breakeven. Looks pretty good to me.”

According to DonAlt’s chart, the XRP/BTC pair could surge to 0.00007852 BTC, worth $3.77 at time of writing. The move to the price target marks a 185% upside potential for the pair’s current value, which is 0.00002748 BTC ($1.31) at time of writing.

Next up is decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash system Bitcoin Cash (BCH). DonAlt says the BCH/BTC pair has managed to stay above a key support level and is now ready to rally to his target above 0.02 BTC, worth $950.

“Honestly looks like a good setup here. Next resistance is like 50% away, and invalidation is tight.”

The next coin is supply chain management platform VeChain (VET). According to DonAlt, VeChain is showing signs of life against Bitcoin (VET/BTC) after holding support at 0.00000196 BTC ($0.09). Should the pair hold the crucial price area, DonAlt sees VET/BTC skyrocketing to 0.0000045 BTC, worth $0.21.

“Wrong below green (196 satoshis). Right and scaling out above red (450 satoshis).”

The last coin is blockchain-based operating system Tron (TRX). DonAlt says that the TRX/BTC pair has successfully retested a key support level in the weekly timeframe at 0.0000015 BTC ($0.07). Should TRX/BTC follow the strategist’s script, DonAlt sees it rallying to 0.000003 BTC, or $0.14.

“TRX actually looks quite good against BTC here. Invalidation below green (150 satoshis). Target red (300 satoshis).

Featured Image: Shutterstock/nazarovsergey

Following the bug and the split that occurred after a great number of Geth nodes did not upgrade, Ethereum fees have risen dramatically since August 21, jumping from $11 per transaction to today’s 0.0088 ether per transaction ($27.98).

Ethereum is the second-largest crypto asset in terms of crypto market capitalization with a $375 billion market cap or 17.4% of the crypto economy’s $2.16 trillion. ETH is up 34.3% during the last month, but has lost 2.1% during the last two weeks. On August 27, Bitcoin.com News reported on Ethereum having issues upgrading and the problems led to a chain split. As that news has settled, discussion of rising Ethereum gas fees have replaced the conversation.

Ether fees have jumped dramatically since August 21, spiking 154.36% to today’s average transaction cost of $27.98 per transaction. The cost to interact with smart contracts and Web3 platforms is even worse, as people have reported on Uniswap or decentralized exchange (dex) fees being upwards of $300 to even over $1K per interaction. Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace fees for places like Opensea have significantly higher ether gas fees than usual as well.

The hope is that Ethereum 2.0 will fix the issues with transaction fees and stabilize the fees to be more uniform. However, while Ethereum developers prepare for the switch, Ethereum competitors otherwise known as ‘ETH-Killers’ are steadily catching up to the second-largest crypto asset.

Ethereum is facing rising competition from blockchains like Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, Terra, Avalanche, Tron, Cosmos, and EOS. All of which aim and promise to provide much lower transaction fees in order to send funds or interact with decentralized finance (defi) applications.

Although the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade is something these networks may want to fear as many Ethereum proponents believe it will solve the fee issues. Two specific projects that aim to squash ether gas fees include Optimism and Arbitrum. These two projects leverage what’s called “optimistic rollups” and the Ethereum community is hopeful they will make progress toward relieving ether gas costs. Additionally, there are other projects that aim to crush ether gas costs with projects like fuel.sh, the aztec.network, starkware.co, loopring.org, zksync.io, and hermez.io.

Furthermore, already people are using projects like Polygon (MATIC) and Hecofi to utilize Ethereum in a cheaper fashion as well. The Ethereum community understands that the full ETH 2.0 release will not be 100% until at least some point in 2022. Until then so-called ‘ETH Killers’ and alternative gas solutions will likely continue to increase in demand. $27.98 or 0.0088 ether per transaction is not very enticing to people who want to transact with ether, buy and sell NFTs, and interact with Web3 and defi platforms.

What do you think about Ethereum’s rising fees jumping 154% in one week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

As headlines were made last week over the Chinese Poly Network hack by the now infamous ‘Mr White Hat’, a second heist was brewing at another of Asia’s largest centralised cryptocurrency exchanges where thieves would make off with $97m in stolen digital assets.

The Japanese Liquid exchange reported the unfolding events in a series of tweets.

The following assets had been transferred to hacker's following addresses (Further investigation to come): BTC: 1Fx1bhbCwp5LU2gHxfRNiSHi1QSHwZLf7q ETH/EWT: 0x5578840aae68682a9779623fa9e8714802b59946 TRX: TSpcue3bDfZNTP1CutrRrDxRPeEvWhuXbp XRP: rfapBqj7rUkGju7oHTwBwhEyXgwkEM4yby

— Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 19, 2021

The company revealed the wallet addresses which were used by the hacker to steal the funds, and temporarily froze all activity on the exchange while assessing the extent of the hack’s impact.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX) and Ripple (XRP) were the main assets targeted in the theft.

Coin mixers that randomly pool and clean cryptocurrencies in a non-custodial fashion have been used by the hackers to get away with almost half the stolen assets. According to chain data, 6,000 Ethereum (ETH) worth a staggering $20m has already been cycled through mixers into new anonymous wallets.

Uniswap was the decentralised platform used to swap ERC20 tokens stolen in the heist for more liquid Ether.

Authorities are working to recover the remaining 9,600 ETH which the hacker is yet to move from their wallet. The Japanese exchange remains hopeful the Ether valued at $32m can be recovered.

Progress was made over the weekend according to updates from Liquid on its corporate blog, the company further announced that it had already significantly ramped up network security to ensure protections against future robberies by crypto gangsters.

A wake up call for the industry

Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technical Officer at the Bitfinex derivatives exchange, pointed to the latest hack as a wake up call for the industry. Using the event as an opportunity to suggest a more unified approach with exchanges and trading platforms working together to increase security measures in crypto.

“Today’s hack at the Liquid exchange is the latest security breach in the digital token space,” he said.

“This is another warning, if one were needed, to everyone.

“The ingenuity of bad actors seeking to breach the security systems of exchanges and trading platforms will not abate. It is therefore imperative that we work together as an industry with all exchanges remaining in a perpetual state of vigilance against such threats.

“While the safeguarding of customer funds is of course an exchange’s number one priority, holders of cryptocurrencies should take all steps necessary to ensure that their funds are safe.

“These include ensuring that they have a cold wallet, two factor authentication, notification messages when funds are withdrawn, and avoiding public WiFi.”

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If you want to find out more information about the environmental impact of cryptocurrency and other cryptocurrency news, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started.

As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not.