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Cryptocurrencies are a hot topic these days – with digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum generating sizable returns over the past few years. With that said, there are now over 11,0000 cryptocurrency tokens in existence – all of which can be bought, sold, and traded online.

If you’re completely new to the world of digital assets – this beginner’s guide on how to invest in cryptocurrency in the US is a must-read. Not only will we explain the fundamentals of how to invest – but also which cryptocurrency brokers allow you to do this in a safe and low-cost manner.

How To Invest in Cryptocurrency – Choose a Broker

The only way to invest in cryptocurrency in the US is to use an online broker. Your chosen broker should offer a safe and secure method to invest in digital currencies in a low-cost manner. Below you will find an overview of the best brokers that allow you to invest in cryptocurrency in the US.

– Overall Place to Invest in Cryptocurrency in the US Coinbase – Great Way to Invest in Cryptocurrency for Beginners Binance – Best Place to Invest in Cryptocurrency for Asset Diversity Robinhood – Invest in Cryptocurrency via a Regulated Mobile App Webull – Invest in Cryptocurrency From Just $1

We review the above crypto brokers further down in this guide.

How to Invest in Cryptocurrency – A Quick Guide For 2021

Once you understand the process of how to invest in cryptocurrency in the US – you’ll quickly learn that the fundamentals are actually very simple. All you need to do is open an account with a regulated broker like eToro – which offers some of the lowest trading fees in this industry.

For a quick overview of how to invest in cryptocurrency with eToro – check out the steps outlined below.

Opening an account at eToro simply requires you to click the ‘Join Now’ button on the provider’s homepage and enter your personal information. You’ll also need to enter your contact details and social security number. Step 2: Upload Your ID – You will also need to provide eToro with a copy of your government-issued ID. Step 3: Deposit Funds – Next, you will need to deposit some funds into your newly created account. The minimum deposit is just $50 at eToro and you use a debit/credit card or transfer funds from your checking account. Step 4: Invest in Cryptocurrency – Click on the ‘Trade Markets’ button followed by ‘Crypto’. Once you find the digital asset you wish to invest in – click the ‘Trade’ button. Finally, enter the amount of money you wish to invest (minimum $25) and confirm your purchase by clicking on the ‘Open Trade’ button.

The above investment process should take you no more than five minutes to complete end-to-end. As soon as your investment is executed by eToro, the broker will transfer the tokens to your main portfolio.

You don’t need to withdraw the tokens to a private wallet – as eToro will keep your investment safe at all times. When you eventually decide to cash out your cryptocurrency investment – you simply need to place a sell order from within your portfolio.

Where to Buy Crypto – Full Broker Reviews

You will need to research carefully when it comes to choosing a cryptocurrency broker. This is because there are many platforms in this industry that are based offshore and thus – do not have the legal remit to serve US clients. In addition to safety, you also need to consider what crypto markets the broker supports and how much you will be charged to invest.

To save you from having to perform countless hours of research yourself, we have pre-vetted a small selection of top-rated brokers that allow you to safely invest in cryptocurrency in the US.

. eToro – Overall Best Place to Invest in Cryptocurrency

eToro is a popular brokerage firm that offers a wide range of asset classes. When it comes to cryptocurrency, you will find a huge selection of markets to choose from. This includes large-cap digital assets like Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin, EOS, and Ethereum. Other popular markets include AAVE, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Decentraland. Regardless of which token takes your interest, eToro allows you to invest in cryptocurrency from just $25. This is the case irrespective of how much the individual crypto asset is worth in the open marketplace.

For example, let’s suppose that you are interested in Bitcoin – which at the time of writing, is trading at almost $50,000 per token. If you decided to invest $500 into this digital asset at eToro, you would own 1% of one Bitcoin. This is because eToro supports fractional ownership – meaning that you can invest any amount of your choosing as long as you meet the stipulated minimum of $25. By choosing eToro as your go-to cryptocurrency broker, you will also benefit from some very competitive fees.

The way eToro works is that the broker operates on a spread-only basis – meaning that your fee amounts to the mark-up between the buy and sell price. This starts at just 0.75% at eToro – although this can vary depending on the crypto asset and wider market conditions. While we are on the discussion of fees, eToro allows you to deposit funds without paying any transaction charges. The minimum deposit amount is just $50 and you can add funds to your account via a bank transfer or debit/credit card.

A popular feature at eToro is the Copy Trading tool – which is ideal for newbies with little to no experience of cryptocurrencies. This is because you will be ‘copying’ a successful trader like-for-like – so any cryptocurrencies that they buy will also be reflected in your own eToro portfolio. The Copy Trading tool requires a minimum investment of just $500 and you won’t need to pay any additional commissions or fees. You might also consider the CryptoPortfolio at eToro – which offers a basket of digital tokens at various weights.

This is managed by the in-house eToro team – so it’s yet another way to invest in cryptocurrencies in the US on a purely passive basis. We briefly mentioned earlier that there are many illegitimate brokers in the cryptocurrency scene. You shouldn’t have this concern at eToro, as the broker is approved by the SEC and FINRA to operate in the US. Furthermore, the broker is authorized and regulated by CySEC, ASIC, and the FCA. You can get started at eToro in under five minutes by opening an account, depositing funds, and choosing the cryptocurrency you wish to invest in!

Pros

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2. Coinbase – Best Way to Invest in Cryptocurrency for Beginners

Coinbase is arguably one of the best-known cryptocurrency brokers in the US. The broker is heavily regulated and carries a superb reputation – especially with beginners. You don’t need to have any prior experience of cryptocurrencies to use Coinbase – as the platform is very simple to use. In fact irrespective of whether you invest online or via the Coinbase app – you should be able to complete the process in under 10 minutes. Perhaps the easiest way to invest in cryptocurrencies at Coinbase is to use your Visa or MasterCard debit card.

This will allow you to complete your purchase instantly. But, you will first need to upload a copy of your ID – as per KYC rules. The fee applied to instant debit card investments at Coinbase is 3.99% of the transaction amount. If your investment is less than $200 – you will pay a flat commission which actually works out more expensive. If you elect to deposit funds via a local bank transfer, it might take 1-2 working days to arrive. But, not only will you benefit from a fee-free deposit, but you’ll pay a reduced trading commission of 1.49%.

When it comes to supported digital assets, Coinbase is home to dozens of cryptocurrencies. This includes a good blend of markets – so Coinbase is suitable for creating a diverse portfolio of blockchain assets. For example, not only can you invest in major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum – but a full host of ERC-20 tokens. In terms of storing your crypto investment safely, you can do this directly on the Coinbase website. The broker offers several security features – such as cold storage (98%), two-factor authentication, and device whitelisting.

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3. Binance – Best Place to Invest in Cryptocurrency for Asset Diversity

While some investors in the US will look to stick with the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, others will look to dive much deeper into this industry. By this, we mean diversifying into a range of digital currencies across various market capitalizations and risk spectrums. For example, you might decide to add some large-cap tokens to your portfolio – such as Litecoin, Dogecoin, and EOS, alongside a selection of DeFi (decentralized finance) and ERC-20 tokens. Either way, if diversification if your main priority – Binance is one of the best brokers for the job.

In a nutshell, Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. It often facilities close to $100 billion in daily trading activity – which is huge. With that said, the exchange has since launched a bespoke website aimed specifically at Americans who wish to invest in cryptocurrency in a safe and regulated environment. This will give you access to 50 cryptocurrencies that can be purchased instantly with a debit or credit card. The fee charged by Binance on instant investments stands at just 0.5%.

As such, this makes it really easy and cost-effective to diversify your cryptocurrency investments from the comfort of your home. The Binance exchange offers even more in the way of diversity – with heaps of crypto pairs that can be traded on a short or long-term basis. The standard spot trading fee at Binance US is just 0.1% – so that’s $1 for every $1,000 staked. Binance offers plenty of security controls – should you wish to store your digital tokens in your account. Binance is also behind the Trust Wallet – which can be downloaded onto your iOS or Android device for free.

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4. Robinhood – Invest in Cryptocurrency via a Regulated Mobile App

If you are interested in the US stock markets, then you might have previously come across Robinhood. The brokerage firm is well-known in the US for its user-friendly and low-cost stock trading facilities – which is particularly attractive to retail investors. With that said, Robinhood also offers a cryptocurrency investment division that covers a small selection of popular tokens. This includes Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Litecoin.

Naturally, such a small portfolio of digital currencies does mean that Robinhood won’t be suitable for those of you looking to invest in a diverse range of crypto assets. However, if you are looking to invest in one of the cryptocurrencies mentioned above, you can do so on a commission-free basis. We should note that commission-free crypto investing at Robinhood doesn’t mean that you are not paying any fees. On the contrary, you will indirectly pay for your cryptocurrency purchase via the spread.

This is the difference between the buy and sell price of the cryptocurrency in question – and this can amount to well over 1% depending on the asset and current market conditions. On the flip side, it is notable that Robinhood supports fractional cryptocurrency purchases – so you can invest as little as you wish. Robinhood is heavily regulated in the US – so there will be no issues with safety. The brokerage site will ultimately appeal to those of you that wish to have an investment account that allows you to access both cryptocurrencies and traditional stocks.

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5. Webull – Invest in Cryptocurrency From Just $1

Webull is often viewed as a direct market competitor to Robinhood. This is because both brokerage firms target the average retail investor that might be looking to trade financial instruments for the very first time. Both also claim to offer 0% commissions on all supported markets. In the case of Webull, while you will not pay any commission to invest in cryptocurrency in the US – you do need to be mindful that spreads start at 1%. The minimum cryptocurrency investment at Webull is just $1 – which is great for those of you on a budget.

We found that Webull offers a relatively wide selection of cryptocurrencies – all of which can be accessed on the main desktop platform or the iOS/Android app. For example, you can trade everything from Cardano, Stellar, and Ethereum Classic to Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin. These markets are operational 7 days per week – so you can enter and exit the market as you please. Webull accounts are quick and easy to open, and there is no minimum deposit requirement.

You will not be able to fund your account with a debit/credit card – as Webull only accepts ACH and bank wires. You will pay $8 per deposit when opting for a bank wire and $25 on withdrawals. You can, however, deposit and withdraw funds for free when electing to use ACH. All in all – and much like Robinhood, Webull is probably the best option for US clients that wish to combine cryptocurrency and stock/fund investments via a single account. And of course – Webull is heavily regulated in the US – so you shouldn’t have any issues regarding safety and security.

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How to Invest in Cryptocurrency – Detailed & Explained in Full

Towards the top of this guide, we ran you through a quickfire overview of how to invest cryptocurrency in under five minutes. However, if you’re looking to invest in this marketplace for the first time – you might require a more comprehensive walkthrough.

If this is the case – below we explain how to invest in cryptocurrency in the US at eToro – a regulated and low-cost broker that is aimed at newbies.

Step 1: Open a Cryptocurrency Investment Account

To get the ball rolling, head over to the eToro homepage and open an account. You can do this with ease by clicking the ‘Join Now’ button and entering your personal information as prompted. This covers the basics – such as your name, nationality, date of birth, home address, and social security number.

eToro also needs to collect your cell phone number and email address – both of which need to be verified. You will also need to choose a username and password.

Step 2: Upload ID

Not only is eToro approved in the US by the SEC and FINRA – but it is also regulated by financial bodies in Europe and Australia. Taking all of this into account – eToro is required to run you through a quick KYC (Know Your Customer) process before you can begin to invest in cryptocurrencies.

For this, you’ll need a copy of your government-issued ID. You will also need to provide proof of residency – such as a bank statement or utility bill. Once you upload the aforementioned documents, the eToro will verify them in 1-2 minutes.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

The next step is to deposit some funds – so that you can proceed to invest in your chosen cryptocurrency. eToro allows US clients to deposit money via a debit/credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro) or bank transfer. The minimum deposit requirement is just $50.

Best of all, eToro doesn’t charge US clients any transaction fees on deposits. This is in stark contrast to platforms like Coinbase or Coinmama – which charge 3.99% and 5% on debit card transactions, respectively.

Step 4: Search for Cryptocurrency

If you already know which cryptocurrency you want to invest in, it’s best to use the eToro search box. In our example, we are looking to invest in Ethereum – the world’s second-largest digital currencies in terms of market capitalization.

However, if you need a little bit of inspiration as to which cryptocurrencies to invest in, it’s best to explore what’s on offer before proceeding. You can do this by clicking the ‘Trade Markets’ button on the left-hand side – followed by ‘Crypto’.

Step 5: Invest in Cryptocurrency

When you are ready to complete your cryptocurrency investment at eToro – click the ‘Trade’ button. You will then see a user-friendly order box – such as the one in the image below.

The only thing you need to do here is to tell eToro how much money you wish to invest into your chosen cryptocurrency – which should be stated in US dollars. All supported digital currencies come with a minimum investment of just $25 at eToro.

Finally, click on the ‘Open Trade’ button to complete your investment. Within seconds, the order will be executed at the next best available price. You can then head over to the ‘Portfolio’ area of your account to see your newly purchased digital tokens!

How to Sell Cryptocurrency

Perhaps one of the biggest barriers of entry for newbie cryptocurrency investors is that they are unsure how they can actually realize their profits. However, we should make the point that selling cryptocurrency back to US dollars is very simple.

That is – if you use a regulated broker like eToro – you can cash out your digital currency investment within seconds. This is because the cryptocurrency tokens are stored by eToro and thus – you can access them around the clock by simply logging into your account. Then, when you are ready to sell – you can do this from within your eToro portfolio.

The funds will instantly be reflected in your account balance – which you then have the option of withdrawing back to your bank account or debit/credit card.

Ways to Invest in Cryptocurrency

The easiest way to invest in cryptocurrency in the US is to use a secure online broker that supports your preferred deposit method. However, this isn’t the only way to gain exposure to this marketplace. As such, it’s important that you consider all options before you proceed to invest in digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency ATM

As the name implies, cryptocurrency ATMs allow you to invest in digital assets at a physical terminal. Most ATMs scattered around the US – of which there are thousands, will only support Bitcoin, Some might support other popular cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Litecoin – but this will vary from provider to provider.

The main process of investing in cryptocurrency via an ATM is as follows:

Find your nearest cryptocurrency ATM by using a website like CoinAtmRadar Once you have located your nearest ATM, select the cryptocurrency you want to buy You will then be asked how much you wish to invest – which usually needs to be in multiples of $10 The ATM will then let you know how much cryptocurrency you will get for your stated investment If you are happy with the exchange rate provided – you will then need to insert the dollar amount into the ATM The ATM will then transfer your purchased cryptocurrency to your stated wallet address

Take note, although the process of investing in digital assets via cryptocurrency ATM might be simple, you do need to have access to a private wallet. Furthermore, and perhaps most pertinent, cryptocurrency ATMs average a commission of 10-15% per transaction.

Cryptocurrency Broker

Cryptocurrency brokers are regulated entities that have the legal remit to serve US clients. All of the brokers that we reviewed on this page fall within the category. This means that you can safely invest in cryptocurrencies in the US with a solid provider. The best cryptocurrency brokers operating in this space will support convenient payment types and offer competitive fees.

For example, at eToro, you can pay for your cryptocurrency investment with a debit/credit card – which will be processed instantly. You will also benefit from a super-low fee structure that starts at just 0.75% via the spread!

Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Cryptocurrency exchanges are plentiful – with hundreds currently operating in the online space. These exchanges sit between buyers and sellers – meaning that you will be trading with other market participants. The overarching selling point with cryptocurrency exchanges is that regulation is either lax or non-existent. This allows people to open accounts and deposit funds without needing to provide any personal information.

However, what you should know is that by using an unregulated cryptocurrency exchange that is based offshore – your funds are at risk. Not only in terms of an external hacking attempt but internal malpractice. If anything does go wrong at your chosen cryptocurrency exchange -= you will likely have nowhere to turn. All in all, the safest and most convenient option when investing in cryptocurrencies is to use a licensed online broker.

Should I Invest in Cryptocurrency?

If you’ve read our guide up to this point – then you are likely ready to invest in cryptocurrency for the first time. However, it is important to remember that while digital currencies have generated some extra-ordinarily financial returns in recent months and years, this asset class is still super volatile. That is to say, much of the industry is driven by market speculation and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

To ensure that cryptocurrencies are right for your investment portfolio – be sure to make the following considerations before proceeding.

Huge Upside Potential

Make no mistake about it – there is every chance that you are looking to invest in cryptocurrency in the US because you have taken notice of the types of financial returns available. For example, major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have generated astronomical growth levels since they launched in 2009 and 2015 respective.

This is also the case with other large-cap digital currencies like Litecoin, XRP, EOS, Cardano, and as of 2021 – Dogecoin. However, you then have up-and-coming cryptocurrencies that are several months, weeks, or even days old.

These digital assets provide the opportunity to target sizable financial returns – as oftentimes, these cryptocurrencies will enter the market will super-low valuation. This provides an upside that would otherwise not be seen in the traditional investment arena. To pick just one example of many, a digital currency called Safemoon was launched as recently as March 2021.

Fast forward just two months and the same crypto asset hit a market capitalization of just over $6 billion. But, of course, there is no guarantee that your chosen cryptocurrency will replicate similar returns. On ther contrary, you could lose some or even all of your investment stake.

Diversification is Simple

We briefly mentioned earlier that there are now over 11,000 digital currencies in this marketplace – with more and more additional being recorded on a week-to-week basis.

While most of these tokens won’t be worth your time – this does at the very least give you a great opportunity to create a diversified portfolio. For example, you might elect to invest in Bitcoin alongside some smart contract projects like Ethereum, NEO, and Cardano. You might also decide to add some smaller ERC-20 tokens to your portfolio and even a selection of up-and-coming DeFi coins.

The more you diversify in this industry – the less chance you have of being over-exposed to a specific cryptocurrency that no longer becomes relevant.

Entering the Market is Easy

Although you might not understand the intricacies of blockchain assets – never before has it been so easy to invest in cryptocurrencies in the US. In fact, all you need to do is open an account with one of the brokers discussed on this page – and you should be able to complete your cryptocurrency purchase in a matter of minutes.

When opting for a beginner-friendly platform like eToro – which is now used by over 20 million people, you only need to invest $25 into your chosen cryptocurrency. The platform also supports debit and credit card purchases – so you can invest from the comfort of your home with ease.

Cryptocurrency is Becoming Mainstream

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are no longer a developer’s pipedream. On the contrary, this innovative space has since become mainstream in more ways than one.

For example, regulators in virtually every nation-state have taken notice – with many even installing cryptocurrency-specific legislation as a way of governing the industry. In the US specifically, there is now a regulated Bitcoin futures market and in the very near future – it is believed that an ETF will follow.

The cryptocurrency industry has also been embarrassed by a significant number of people and institutions – with the like of Tesla recently investing over $1.5 billion into Bitcoin.

Store of Value and Medium of Exchange

Nobody truly knows what role cryptocurrencies will play in the future of civilization. But, what we do know is that digital assets like Bitcoin carry many of the characteristics to function as both a store of value and a medium of exchange. Regarding the former, Bitcoin has a finite value of just 21 million tokens – and so the supply of the digital currency cannot be manipulated by any person or authority.

The crypto asset is also easy to store, transfer, and fractionize – which again, makes it ideal as a store of value. Cryptocurrencies can also operate as a medium of exchange – especially when you consider the speed and cost-effectiveness at which transactions can be processed. For example, the likes of XRP and Stellar can facilitate cross-border transactions in a matter of seconds at a fee of just a fraction of a cent.

What are the Risks of Investing in Cryptocurrency?

It goes without saying that many cryptocurrency investors managing to time the market correctly have made vast financial gains from this industry. Bitcoin, for example, was priced at less than $0.01 when it was first launched in 2009. The de-facto cryptocurrency has since hit highs of over $64,000.

But, cryptocurrencies do present a much higher risk/reward spectrum than traditional assets – so you do need to consider this before parting with any of your hard-earned money.

The most inherent risks associated with cryptocurrency investments in the US are as follows:

Speculation and FOMO

The first thing to remember is that arguably – the vast bulk of people entering the cryptocurrency investment scene for the first time are market speculators driven by FOMO. That is to say, people invest because they think that by not doing so – they are missing out on huge profits. However, this speculative approach to cryptocurrency means that people are entering the market for all the wrong reasons.

For example, if you were to buy shares in Tesla – you would have a good reason to do so. This is because the company solves real-world problems through its innovative electric vehicles and renewable technologies. However, by investing in a cryptocurrency like Dogecoin – which was created as a joke, you are likely doing so for speculative reasons.

High Volatility Levels

Cryptocurrencies are more volatile than move asset classes in the investment space. That is to say, the value of your cryptocurrency investment can skyrocket – but, it can also capitulate in lighting speed.

Let’s take Let’s once again take the example of Safemoon – which we mentioned earlier. To recap, this digital currency went from 0 to a market capitalization of $6 billion in a matter of two months. This is great for those that invested when the cryptocurrency was first launched. However, at the time of writing in September 2021, Safemoon is now carrying a market capitalization of $1.38 billion. Although this is still impressive, this does mean that those that invested at its peak in May 2021 and now looking at losses in excess of 77%.

This reinforces our point that irrespective of the cryptocurrency you decided to invest in – you must be prepared for high levels of volatility.

How Much Does it Cost to Invest in Cryptocurrency?

The costs involved when investing in cryptocurrency in the US will vary depending on:

Your chosen broker Your preferred payment method The size of your investment

Let’s break down the main costs involved in digital asset investing so that you know what to look out for when choosing a cryptocurrency broker.

Deposits and Withdrawals

If you are happy to deposit funds via ACH or a bank wire – you might be able to benefit from free transactions. But, if you prefer the speed and convenience of using a debit or credit card, the fees can be costly. For example, Coinmama charges 5% on debit/credit card purchases while at Coinbase – it’s 3.99%.

On the other hand, when reviewing top-rated cryptocurrency broker eToro, we found that the provider allows you to fund your account on a fee-free basis. This is the case for both bank account deposits and debit/credit cards.

Commissions and Spreads

Trading commissions are charged by brokers when you buy and sell cryptocurrencies. This works in the same way as buying and selling shares from a traditional stockbroker.

For example:

Let’s say that you use Coinbase to invest in cryptocurrency – which charges a standard commission of 1.49%. If you decide to invest $5,000 – then your commission will amount to $74.50 We’ll then say that you sell your cryptocurrency investment when it has increased in value to $10,000 This means that at 1.49% – your sell commission at Coinbase would amount to $149 In total, you paid $223.50 in commission to enter and exit the market

Now let’ see what this would have cost you when using a spread-only broker like eToro:

eToro charges a spread of 0.75% when you invest in Bitcoin So, your $5,000 investment would attract an indirect fee of $37.50 You sell your Bitcoin investment when it is worth $10,000 – so the spread here amounts to $75 All in all, your trading fees – via the spread, amounted to $112.50

Comparing the two brokers means that you saved $111 by using eToro instead of Coinbase. However, the savings here are likely to be even larger when you factor in the spread at Coinbase – which is believed to average 0.50%.

How to Buy Invest in Cryptocurrency – Conclusion

This beginner’s guide has provided you with each and every piece of information that you need to invest in cryptocurrency in the US. We’ve explained the fundamentals of why choosing a broker is so important – and that in order to do this, you will need to focus on metrics surrounding regulation, fees, payment types, and supported markets.

If you are ready to invest in cryptocurrency in the US right now – you might want to consider eToro for this purpose. In doing so, you will be using a US-approved broker that allows you to invest in dozens of different digital assets at industry-leading fees. You simply need to open an account, deposit funds via a bank wire or debit/credit card – and choose the cryptocurrency that you want to invest in. It really is that simple!

FAQs About Kane Pepi PRO INVESTOR

Kane Pepi writes for several high profile publications such as InsideBitcoins, the Motely Fool, and Learnbonds. Based in Malta, Kane is extremely skilled at complex subjects related to financial matters - including a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, a Master’s Degree in Financial Crime, and actively engaged in Doctorate Degree research, for the money laundering threats of the blockchain economy.

Bitcoin is soaring, Elon Musk’s Tesla has joined a growing group of corporate hodlers and the global cryptocurrency market now has more than $1 trillion in market capitalization. While a good deal of that value is held in so-called “altcoins” of dubious worth, it is clear that the decentralized future of money is gaining momentum. 

The roots of the current crypto revolution can be traced back all the way to the 1970s. We’ve compiled a list of the 10 most important developments underpinning the rise of the digital economy. It is worth noting that the first four are fundamental to the development of not only digital assets but concepts and technologies exploring applications far beyond fintech and decentralized governance. 

Previously, researchers Arvind Narayanan and Jeremy Clark published an article shedding light on the academic origins of bitcoin. The success of these and other academics led to a wellspring of low-quality copycats, who made billions in the heyday of ICOs with little more than a half-baked idea.

To arrive at our top ten, Forbes identified 22 early candidates and consulted with Dr. Neha Narula, director of MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative; Dr. Emin Gun Sirer, associate professor at Cornell University and the founder and CEO of Ava Labs, which is developing the shortlisted Avalanche consensus mechanism; Amiti Uttarwar, bitcoin’s first known female core developer, and Dr. Andrew Miller, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and chair of the Zcash Foundation, developing the protocol of the privacy-focused Zcash cryptocurrency (listed below)

Besides our ten selections, mentioned below, there are numerous honorable mentions including Wittfield Diffie, Martin Hellman’s “New Directions in Cryptography”, Tether and MakerDAO white papers. 

A Certified Digital Signature

Author: Ralph C. Merkle

Date of publication: 1979

Breakthrough: more efficient and secure data encryption

Relevance: Merkle is rightfully named as one of the fathers of cryptography. His Merkle Trees, or certified digital signatures, allowed for efficient and reliable encryption of data by converting blocks of information into strands of unique code. 

Newly added blocks of information could be compared to leaves that are strung together to form “branches”, which track down to a “root”, a single string of numbers and letters containing all the previously recorded information. This method of converting, or hashing, blocks of information enabled space-efficient encoding of blockchain data.

Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms

Author: David Chaum

Date of publication: February 1981

Breakthrough: digital anonymity 

Relevance: Chaum’s seminal contributions to digital privacy and invention of digital cash led to the creation of the Cypherpunk movement, which advocated for widespread use of cryptography as a route to progressive social change. Among the notable cypherpunks are Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, Wei Dai, the creator of the b-money system, cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the bitcoin white paper, and smart contracts inventor Nick Szabo.

How to Timestamp a Digital Document

Authors: Stuart Haber, W. Scott Stornetta

Date of publication: January 1991

Breakthrough: time-stamping of digital data

Relevance: Stornetta and Haber’s work on time-stamping digital documents practically gave birth to blockchain technology. Concerned with the problem of data tampering, they proposed a solution called “a digital safety deposit box” that could record the date and time a certain document was created and retain a copy of it for safekeeping. The accuracy of these records would be guaranteed by an unalterable chain of time-stamp requests. 

This primitive time-stamping scheme did not only serve as a prototype for the bitcoin network and all the ones that followed but found applications practically anywhere the distributed ledger technology is used today. For many enterprises utilizing blockchain the timestamping component is crucial in supply chain management and bookkeeping.

Smart Contracts

Author: Nick Szabo

Date of publication: 1994

Breakthrough: self-executing digital contract

Relevance:  Critical to many existing blockchain-based platforms and applications, smart contracts were first proposed by computer scientist Nick Szabo as “computerized transaction protocols that execute the terms of a contract” with the goals of minimizing transaction costs and the need for trusted intermediaries. 

These self-executing contracts of transparent, traceable, and irreversible nature later defined one of the most widely used blockchain platforms Ethereum, which currently supports more than 2 million such contracts with a wide range of applications ranging from banking and financial services to gaming and gambling.

In 1998, 10 years before the invention of bitcoin, Szabo invented a virtual currency called "Bit Gold" centered around the proof of work mechanism nowadays realized in the form of cryptocurrency mining.

Bitcoin: a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

Author: Satoshi Nakamoto

Date of publication: October 31, 2008

Breakthrough: the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency

Relevance: Invented by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in early 2009, bitcoin took the world by storm, spurring an entire new body of scientific research and business developments related to blockchains, digital assets (including those developed by sovereign governments) and decentralized economies. 

Nakamoto pieced together previously developed concepts of cryptography and digital signatures, proposed by Haber, Stornetta, and Merkle, among others, in a design of a purely peer-to-peer electronic payment system. 

Over the next decade, bitcoin’s narrative shifted to reflect its emergence as a rival to gold due to its deflationary nature, while the cryptocurrency became the herald of asset digitization around the world. Increasing attention from institutional investors and publicly listed companies, including PayPal and Square , sent bitcoin on a record price rally. According to analytics firm Messari, at the time of publication bitcoin has a market capitalization of $882 billion.

Ethereum: A Next Generation Smart Contract & Decentralized Application Platform

Author: Vitalik Buterin

Date of publication: 2013

Breakthrough: incorporation of a Turing-complete programming language to enable the development of various applications on a distributed ledger

Relevance: In 2013, a 19-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin proposed a blockchain with a built-in fully fledged Turing-complete programming language that would allow anyone with coding experience to write smart contracts and decentralized applications for various types of transactions. Transaction fees—or the cost to move funds and run distributed applications—would be facilitated with "ether", Ethereum’s internal crypto-fuel. 

Buterin envisioned multiple applications that could be built atop the Ethereum blockchain: cloud computing, decentralized prediction markets and marketplaces, online voting, and decentralized governance—essentially a world computer that couldn’t be shut down.

Now Ethereum is one of the the most actively used blockchains hosting more than 2,500 decentralized applications for games, exchanges, and decentralized finance (DeFi), and its native cryptocurrency ether is the second most valuable digital asset with a $205 billion market capitalization.

Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin

Authors: Eli Ben Sasson, Alessandro Chiesa, Christina Garman, Matthew Green, Ian Miers, Eran Tromer, Madars Virza

Date of publication: May 18, 2014

Breakthrough: the first widespread application of ZK-SNARKs, a novel form of zero-knowledge cryptography

Relevance: Zerocash was initially conceived by scientists at MIT, Johns Hopkins, and a few other universities as an extension of bitcoin with stronger privacy guarantees, allowing users to hide information that might later identify them.

The Zerocash privacy model pioneered the application of the zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (“ZK-SNARK”) cryptography, which allows one party to prove to another possession of certain information without revealing that information. Zerocash uses ZK-SNARKs to prove that the conditions for a valid transaction have been satisfied without revealing any crucial information about the addresses or values involved. Thus Zerocash ensures that transaction data is posted to a public blockchain, but unlike with Bitcoin, users gain control of their information. They can remain completely anonymous or opt to disclose transaction details for regulatory compliance or audits. 

According to CryptoSlate, currently 82 cryptocurrencies worth a total of $8.85 billion encrypt their transactions with zero-knowledge proofs or similar private technology.

A Note on Cryptocurrency Stabilisation: Seigniorage Shares

Author: Robert Sams

Date of publication: October 24, 2014

Breakthrough: first non-collateralized stablecoin

Relevance: Cryptocurrencies have historically traded with high levels of volatility. Increasing demand for stability led to the creation of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to remain stable in value against some pegged external asset class. Total market cap of stablecoins currently exceeds $43.12 billion.

Unlike the well known fiat-collateralized Tether and crypto-collateralized Dai, Sams’ seigniorage stablecoins wouldn’t use any external reserve as a collateral and instead rely on algorithms to maintain price stability. Modeled after central banks’ management of their countries’ monetary supplies, the algorithm utilizes the smart contract technology to increase and/or decrease the supply of coins in circulation.

In 2015, Robert Sams founded a blockchain company Clearmatics, which focuses on building decentralized financial platforms. In 2018, the firm partnered with the Bank of England on a research into support of blockchain interfaces by BoE’s real-time gross settlement system.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments

Authors: Joseph Poon, Thaddeus Dryja

Date of publication: January 14, 2016

Breakthrough: solution to bitcoin’s scalability problem

Relevance: Despite the original intent of becoming the electronic payment system of the future, bitcoin has been struggling to establish itself as a fully-fledged alternative to existing online payment infrastructures. While Visa processes thousands of transactions per second, the bitcoin blockchain usually processes less than 10.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network was designed as a potential solution to this very problem. It adds another layer to the bitcoin blockchain, on which any two parties can create payment channels for low-value bitcoin transactions. By moving the transactions off the main ledger, the Lightning Network enables decongestion of the bitcoin blockchain and reduction in associated transaction fees.

In 2016, Bitcoin payments startup Lightning Labs, backed by Square founder Jack Dorsey and Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev, among others, set out to bring the idea to life and is currently building a platform similar to the Visa network on the open-source Lightning Network codebase. Lightning Labs’ CEO Elizabeth Stark contributed to the original white paper.

Uniswap v2 Core

Authors: Hayden Adams, Noah Zinsmeister, Dan Robinson

Date of publication: March 2020

Breakthrough: popularized automated market maker exchanges (AMMs) 

Relevance: Unlike traditional exchanges that use an order book to derive the price of an asset and execute trades, Uniswap prices assets according to a deterministic algorithm known as an automated market maker (AMM). The AMM removes the need to have a counterparty to make a trade and enables essentially anyone to create a market by simply interacting with a smart contract. While not the first AMM, Uniswap has popularized the creation of such protocols facilitating the decentralized exchange of digital assets. 

Uniswap v1, the first version of the protocol, launched in November 2018 as a decentralized open-source protocol for automated token exchange on the Ethereum blockchain. The second version of the protocol, outlined in the white paper, introduced upgrades and loosened liquidity provision requirements, making it easier to participate in the economy. 

According to DeFi Pulse, a site that tracks the total value locked in the smart contracts of popular decentralized finance applications and protocols, Uniswap is the fifth most valuable DeFi protocol with $3.77 billion locked. While Maker and Aave have higher amounts of total value locked in their protocols, Uniswap remains one of the most widely used decentralized applications with the highest number of transactions initiated.

…

Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - August 8, 2021) - Gaming is a booming business with new, state of the art and technical games being released every day. It is so popular that it hit the crypto markets within a few years, and many crypto tokens are now allowing their holders a chance to play games and earn tokens. Owing to that, a new project, "DOGEGAME '' took advantage of this opportunity and developed a ticket that will entertain its holders. The developers designed challenges, levels, and a unique theme park, which is also called "the DOGEGAME PARK."

DOGEGAME To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: ull.jpg

The developers are also in talks to launch the DOGEGAME BOX and DOGEGAME SHOOT. These are like a lucky draw where players can try their luck to win money, tokens, and valuable gaming. The team will also choose winners who will receive the door prize. This was launched with the reason to give gamers more chances to take something back with them. Their shooting game is a sci-fi game based in a virtual world. The team hopes it will attract masses from around the globe.

The company had always aimed to make their customer's and traders' investments enjoyable, entertaining, fun-filled, and profitable, giving everyone a chance to win big sitting at home. The team announced that they would bring accurate NFT technology and functionality to the gaming community. The company is looking forward to combining this with the latest DeFi yield generation, lotteries, game keys, and personalized gaming centers. DOGEGAME also requests gamers to appreciate their move as the company will try to test all possibilities in their upcoming plans.

But the team made an unusual move by choosing BSC over ETH. They said that Binance Smart Chain is a hard fork of the Go Ethereum protocol and has similarities with the Ethereum blockchain. But, on the other hand, BSC developers made many changes and updates in significant areas. The team is expecting that their choice will allow them cheaper and faster transactions. The BEP-20 token extends the already famous ERC-20 and clearly defines the framework and rules on the BSC. These tokens can also create securities and stable coins and be backed by BTC, Link, and more.

The company charges 1% as transaction fees, and 1% of the transaction will be distributed to all holders. There will be a total supply of 100,000,000,000 tokens, out of which 70% is reserved for the marketplace. Furthermore, 10% is for development, 15% for marketing and advertising, and 5% for the team.

The first PRE-SALE will be starting from 13th August and will last for a period of 7 days and the prices will be 6x cheaper than the launching price.

Social Media Details:

Medium: https://medium.com/@dogegame.official Telegram Channel: https://t.me/dogegamechannel Telegram Group: https://t.me/dogegamegroup Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dogegameofficial Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dogegame_

Media Contact Details:

Company: DOGEGAME Website: https://dogegame.tech/ Email Address: admin@dogegame.tech

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92456

Nonfungible Tokens, specifically in the digital arts space, have taken the art and crypto world by storm. They have become the “killer app” of Blockchain and driven up the utilities and adoption of digital currencies.

An NFT (non-fungible token) certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items that reflect real-world assets, such as photos, art, videos, and audio that contain a permanent record of provenance, authenticity and ownership.

Tradeability and liquidity drive up the price of NFTs, but utility and meaningful stories elevate the staying power of NFT artwork pieces.  Now big brands are using NFTs to communicate, connect with fans, and capitalize on their brand equity.

NFTs have forged a new avenue for the traditional auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s to tap into the digital art markets. That has been a big win for them.  The NFT market has surged in Q2, 2021 with $2.5 billion in sales so far this year, an increase from just US$13.7 million in the first half of 2020.  In terms of digital art NFT, the main sales volume is driven by Cryptopunks ($666M), and a few NFT marketplaces, NBA topshot collectibles and the Beeples auctioned piece for $69M.

NFTs sell not only the visual but a story, which is not too different from a brand, advertising commercial, song, or movie etc.  In this case, the asset and narrative are condensed into a small or short format via NFT.  In the case of Beeple’s famous auction, the collector Metakovan explained he relates well to the meaning behind the Beeple NFT art piece.  Most of the successful NFT art drops or launches are from independent artists who have strong social media presence and also a strong background in the entertainment or advertising industries as a commercial artist. They are all good storytellers.  These artists are the behind-the-scenes heroes for some amazing commercials, music videos, concert lighting, design and more.  NFT empowers the digital artists to connect directly with their fans and be in the front instead of the backstage.  As a result, we at Affiniti Ventures | AV(M) funded the virtual Mavenarte NFT Art live event and initiative, the first venture-backed NFT art show.  It was created as a launchpad and a voice for top major digital artists in the entertainment space such as Carguin and Yuki Takahashi. While they tend to shy away from social media, the initiative successfully accelerated their entry into the NFT space and allowed them to auction off their NFTs on premium auction platform MakersPlace for their genesis NFT artworks.

Let’s take a step back and review the history of NFTs.  NFT is a customized set of smart contracts created on the Ethereum Blockchain. It was started as a side project at a design studio called Axiom Zen based in Vancouver, Canada. As an experiment, they decided to create Cryptokitties, a blockchain version of Tamagotchi, the popular digital pet toy from Japan. Cryptokitties was the first generation of NFT collectibles in the crypto space in 2017. Each kitty is unique and non-fungible meaning it cannot be copied. But Cryptokitties went beyond and made use of Genetic Algorithm. The developer team of Cryptokitties programmed the breeding and mutation into a set of complex (programmable) smart contracts, so as to gamify the digital kitty collectibles instead of releasing a collection of static images.  It gained enormous adoption and generated a total of 736414 transactions and 64616.3 ETH (which in current ETH price is equivalent to almost 200M).  The peak was around Dec 2017 but plunged soon along with the crash of the rest of the crypto market.   The underlying explosive growth lies in the utility of the product, in addition to the static records.

Many tried to follow suit and apply complex algorithms to create new applications and use cases via NFT and smart contracts, but mostly failed.  Then NFTs went through a dark period until they emerged in late 2020 as a reliable way to certify and track ownership of digital art.

Now many big brands are entering the NFT space; they are well positioned to connect with existing fans and consumers and expand awareness to different and new audiences.  Offering high quality NFT art or collectibles can elevate their brand value and positioning as a premium and innovative leader.  There are some interesting examples, including the most recent Coca Cola NFT (titled “The Friendship box NFT” or the first ever Coca Cola Loot Box NFT).  It’s sold for 217 ETH, with all proceeds going to Special Olympics International, Coca-Cola’s charity partner of 53 years.

Certainly, this is the first test for Coca Cola to explore in the NFT market.  The content and the campaign was a great promotional event to engage with the fans.

However, instead of only 1 of 1 edition, Coca Cola and their partner TAFI could add more utilities to the NFT drop, for example:

This isn’t a new concept. Many social tokens have already been created within the NFT community, but it would be a novel approach for big corporations and brands. The $Whale token and community created by a successful multi-millionaire NFT collector, WhaleShark, is an example of a well-run social community built around the social tokens.  The social token and community should be a good proven case study for all major companies. WhaleShark gained his wealth by collecting NFTs early on in 2017.  The $Whale team has amazing leaders such as WhaleShark Annissa and DeCryptolorian(DC). The $Whale token value has grown over 10x or 40x more during the peak, so something for brands to consider.

At Affiniti Ventures | AV(M) , we will continue to fund more projects that would apply the above approach to build social tokens and utilities in NFTs that brands can include as part of their marketing campaigns. Currently the team has an ongoing strategic partnership and discussions with big brands including Taco Bell, Johnny Walker and more. Other partners include a wealthy sneaker collector who owns a collection of rare physical sneakers worth over 1M.  Together, we tackle some of the intriguing questions and problems in NFTs and in the convergence of digital and physical collectible space.   As a precursor, we released an NFT based on the sneaker collector on MakersPlace.

AVM is always at the forefront of funding and empowering innovative ventures and initiatives including the Mavenarte NFT Art virtual live event in collaboration with some of the greatest NFT and digital artists and musicians including IntroToMusicTheory.com, LevZep, Richard Dixon (featured musicians and artists on a Defi NFT platform Charged Particles) and the two amazing artists Carguin and Yuki Takahashi who are from the AAA game studios.

Another venture invested by AVM is MomentSQ which has partnered with big brands on driving their digital content production and strategy.  They have partnered with brands like Sanrio for the IP Aggretsuko, a popular Netflix Anime series in the western markets.  It has achieved digital sticker usage and sharing for over 215 Million.

The impressive rise of the NFT market in Q1 2021 gives rise to the legitimate question whether it will stay or if brands will participate. The takeaway is that big brands are well positioned to capitalize on their brand equity by offering more utilities in their NFT offerings.

Written by LK Shelley, Managing Partner, Affiniti Ventures | AV(M)

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In the United States, cryptocurrencies have been the focus of much attention by both Federal and state governments.  Within the Federal government, most of the focus has been at the administrative and agency level, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Department of the Treasury, through the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).  While there has been significant engagement by these agencies, little formal rulemaking has occurred.  Generally speaking, Federal agencies and policymakers have praised the technology as being an important part of the U.S.’s future infrastructure and the need for the U.S. to maintain a leading role in the technology’s development.  Many agencies have acknowledged the risk of overregulating, and cautioned policymakers from passing legislation that would drive investment in the technology overseas.

Several state governments have proposed and/or passed laws affecting cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with most of the activity taking place in the legislative branch.  There have generally been two approaches to regulation at the state level.  Some states have tried to promote the technology by passing very favorable regulations exempting cryptocurrencies from state securities laws and/or money transmission statutes.  These states hope to leverage investment in the technology to stimulate local economies and improve public services.  One example, Wyoming, has been mentioned as a state seeking a broader impact on its economy.  Recently, its legislature passed a bill allowing for the creation of a new type of bank or special purpose depository institution.  The new type of bank will act in both a custodial and fiduciary capacity and is meant to allow businesses to hold digital assets safely and legally.  The state has been praised for becoming the most crypto-friendly jurisdiction in the country.  Another state, Colorado, passed a bipartisan bill exempting cryptocurrencies from state securities regulations.  Ohio became the first U.S. state to start accepting taxes in cryptocurrency.  Oklahoma introduced a bill authorizing cryptocurrency to be used, offered, sold, exchanged and accepted as an instrument of monetary value within its governmental agencies.  On the other hand, Iowa introduced a bill that would prohibit the state and political subdivisions of the state from accepting payment in the form of cryptocurrencies.  Authorities in at least 10 other states, like Maryland and Hawaii, have issued warnings about investing in cryptocurrencies.  New York, which passed laws once considered restrictive, has eased restrictions for attaining a BitLicense in the hopes of luring back cryptocurrency companies that previously exited the New York market.

There is no uniform definition of “cryptocurrency,” which is often referred to as “virtual currency,” “digital assets,” “digital tokens,” “cryptoassets” or simply “crypto.”  While some jurisdictions have attempted to formulate a detailed definition for the asset class, most have wisely opted for broader, more technology-agnostic definitions.  Those taking the latter approach will be better positioned to regulate as and when the technology evolves. 

The sale of cryptocurrency is generally only regulated if the sale (i) constitutes the sale of a security under state or Federal law, or (ii) is considered money transmission under state law or conduct otherwise making the person a money services business (“MSB”) under Federal law.  In addition, futures, options, swaps and other derivative contracts that make reference to the price of a cryptoasset that constitutes a commodity are subject to regulation by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act.  In addition, the CFTC has jurisdiction over attempts to engage in market manipulation with respect to those cryptoassets that are considered commodities.  The likelihood of the CFTC asserting its authority to prevent market manipulation is much higher today as a result of both the Chicago Board Options Exchange (“CBOE”) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) offering futures linked to the price of Bitcoin.

The SEC generally has regulatory authority over the issuance or resale of any token or other digital asset that constitutes a security.  Under U.S. law, a security includes “an investment contract,” which has been defined by the U.S. Supreme Court as an investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of others.  SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 328 U.S. 293, 301 (1946).

In determining whether a token or other digital asset is an “investment contract,” both the SEC and the courts look at the substance of the transaction, instead of its form.  In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that “the reach of the [Securities] Act does not stop with the obvious and commonplace.  Novel, uncommon, or irregular devices, whatever they appear to be, are also reached if it be proved as matter of fact that they were widely offered or dealt in under terms or courses of dealing which established their character in commerce as ‘investment contracts,’ or as ‘any interest or instrument commonly known as a ‘security’.”  SEC v. C.M. Joiner Leasing Corp., 320 U.S. 344, 351 (1943).  It has also been said that “Congress’ purpose in enacting the securities laws was to regulate investments, in whatever form they are made and by whatever name they are called.”  Reves v. Ernst & Young, 494 U.S. 56, 61 (1990).

The SEC has been clear on its position that even if a token issued in an initial coin offering (“ICO”) has “utility,” the token will still be deemed to be a security that is regulated under the Securities Act if it meets elements of the Howey test.  On February 6, 2018, in written testimony to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, the Chairman of the SEC stated as follows:

Certain market professionals have attempted to highlight the utility or voucher-like characteristics of their proposed ICOs in an effort to claim that their proposed tokens or coins are not securities.  Many of these assertions that the federal securities laws do not apply to a particular ICO appear to elevate form over substance.  The rise of these form-based arguments is a disturbing trend that deprives investors of mandatory protections that clearly are required as a result of the structure of the transaction.  Merely calling a token a ‘utility’ token or structuring it to provide some utility does not prevent the token from being a security.

In a more nuanced speech delivered in June 2018, William Hinman, the SEC’s Director of Corporate Finance, stated:

Returning to the ICOs I am seeing, strictly speaking, the token – or coin or whatever the digital information packet is called – all by itself is not a security, just as the orange groves in Howey were not.  Central to determining whether a security is being sold is how it is being sold and the reasonable expectations of purchasers.  When someone buys a housing unit to live in, it is probably not a security.  But under certain circumstances, the same asset can be offered and sold in a way that causes investors to have a reasonable expectation of profits based on the efforts of others.  For example, if the housing unit is offered with a management contract or other services, it can be a security.

Later in the same speech, Mr. Hinman made clear that a digital token that might initially be sold in a transaction constituting the sale of a security, might thereafter be sold as a non-security where the facts and circumstances have changed over time, such that the Howey test is no longer met.  While such comments are not official policy of the SEC, they are a good indicator of it.

If a digital asset is determined to be a security, then the issuer must register the security with the SEC or offer it pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements.  For offerings that are being made under a Federal exemption from securities registration, the SEC places fewer restrictions on the sale of securities to “accredited investors.”  An individual investor is an “accredited investor” only if he or she (i) is a director or executive officer of the company issuing the securities, (ii) has an individual net worth (or joint net worth with a spouse) that exceeds $1 million, excluding the value of the investor’s primary residence, (iii) has an individual income that exceeds $200,000 in each of the two most recent years, and has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same individual income level in the current year, or (iv) has a joint income that exceeds $300,000 in each of the two most recent years, and has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same joint income level in the current year.  See SEC Rule 501(a)(5). 

One enforcement action to note is SEC v. Telegram.  In October 2019, the SEC filed a complaint against Telegram alleging the company had raised $1.7 billion through the sale of 2.9 billion GRAMS (the company’s native cryptocurrency) to finance its business.  GRAMS were to allow customers of the messaging service to use the token as a means of payment for goods and services within the Telegram ecosystem.  The SEC sought to enjoin Telegram from delivering the GRAMS it sold, which, using the Howey test, the regulator alleged were securities and were not properly registered.  In March of 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction.  The SEC argued that the Simple Agreement of Future Tokens (“SAFT”) – mirrored after the commonly used Simple Agreement for Future Equity – and the subsequent resale of GRAMS delivered pursuant to the SAFT, could not be viewed as two isolated phases, but rather should be viewed holistically as a single integrated scheme to issue securities that yield a profit.  Ultimately, Telegram abandoned its plan to issue the GRAMS tokens, and agreed to repay the $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million civil penalty.  The SEC’s position could make it more difficult for token issuers to bifurcate between capital-raising activities and the bona fide sale of tokens intended to provide some utility other than as an investment.

In addition to Federal securities laws, most states have their own laws, referred to as blue sky laws, which are not always preempted by Federal law.  Anyone selling digital assets likely to constitute a security should check with counsel about the applicability of blue sky laws.  Of particular importance, there are certain exemptions from registration under Federal law that do not preempt the application of state blue sky laws.

Two other implications for a token constituting a security are (i) the requirement that a person be a broker-dealer licensed with the SEC and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) in order to facilitate the sale of securities or to act as a market maker or otherwise constitute a dealer in the asset, and (ii) the asset can only trade on a licensed securities exchange or alternative trading system (“ATS”) approved by the SEC.  As of August 2020, several exchanges attained approval as an ATS and several firms have been registrated as broker-dealers, in each case, with the intent to deal in cryptocurrencies that are considered securities.  To date, however, there are only a handful of security tokens actively trading on these ATS platforms.  This is likely the result of the difficulties in harmonizing traditional securities laws around the transfer of securities and the notion of a peer-to-peer network that seeks to operate without intermediaries. 

Under the Bank Secrecy Act (the “BSA”), FinCEN regulates MSBs.  On March 18, 2013, FinCEN issued guidance that stated the following would be considered MSBs: (i) a virtual currency exchange; and (ii) an administrator of a centralized repository of virtual currency who has the authority to both issue and redeem the virtual currency.  FinCEN issued guidance that stated as follows: “An administrator or exchanger that (1) accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or (2) buys or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason is a money transmitter under FinCEN’s regulations, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies to the person.”  See FIN-2013-G001, Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging or Using Virtual Currencies (March 18, 2013).

An MSB that is a money transmitter must conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of its exposure to money laundering and implement an anti-money laundering (“AML”) program based on such risk assessment.  FinCEN regulations require MSBs to develop, implement, and maintain a written program that is reasonably designed to prevent the MSB from being used to facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.  The AML program must: (i) incorporate written policies, procedures and internal controls reasonably designed to assure ongoing compliance; (ii) designate an individual compliance officer responsible for assuring day-to-day compliance with the program and BSA requirements; (iii) provide training for appropriate personnel, which specifically includes training in the detection of suspicious transactions; and (iv) provide for independent review to monitor and maintain an adequate program.

All U.S. persons are prohibited from doing business with foreign nationals who are on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Entities List (“SDN List”) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).  OFAC provides an updated and searchable version of its SDN List at: sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov.  OFAC requires all U.S. citizens to “block” (i.e., freeze) the assets of individuals and companies who are engaging in transactions with (i) countries that are subject to U.S. economic sanctions (“blocked countries”), (ii) certain companies and entities that act as agents for such countries (“blocked parties”), and (iii) certain individuals that act as agents for such countries (“specially designated individuals” or “SDNs”).  It is important to have a compliance program in place to avoid (or mitigate) receiving civil and criminal penalties from OFAC for non-compliance.  See 31 C.F.R. Part 501 (OFAC Reporting Regulations); OFAC Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines (Nov. 9, 2009).

On February 13, 2018, in response to a letter from Senator Ron Wyden, an official within the Treasury Department issued a correspondence that called into question whether ICO issuers were de facto an MSB that was required to register with FinCEN.  While there were several flaws in the logic set forth in the letter, it remains an area of concern for anyone considering a token sale.  To add more confusion, speaking at a conference on November 19, 2019, FinCEN Director Kenneth Blanco, responding to a question about Facebook’s plan to issue a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, stated that stablecoin issuers and dealers are money transmitters and must follow BSA’s AML laws.

State laws on money transmission vary widely but can generally be grouped into a few categories.  Most states define money transmission as including some or all of three types of activities: (1) money transmission; (2) issuing and/or selling payment instruments; and (3) issuing and/or selling stored value.  A few states only regulate these activities when “money” is involved, and define money as “a medium of exchange that is authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government.”  Generally, state money transmission laws apply to any entity that is either located in the state or is located outside of the state (including in a foreign jurisdiction) but does business with residents of the state.  A novel solution to the redundancy of attaining state licenses is to become a New York limited purpose trust company.  This may seem counterintuitive, as New York has the most onerous money transmitter licensing requirements for cryptocurrency companies, but this type of trust company charter exempts the company from many states’ money transmission laws and requirements, while also providing the ability to conduct a broad range of custody and fiduciary services related to cryptoassets.  Nevada and Wyoming have since followed New York and now permit the creation of special purpose depository institutions.

Another tension point for AML laws is the emergence of decentralized finance (“DeFi”).  DeFi is the permissionless decentralization version of various traditional financial instruments with a focus on exchanging assets, lending and borrowing and the creation of synthetic assets.  For example, Uniswap is a decentralized exchange in the form of two smart contracts hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as a public, open source front-end client.  This ultimately allows for anyone with an internet connection to trade many Ethereum-native tokens with other users of the application.  Inherent with its open source nature, Uniswap does not have a customer identification vetting process and, in fact, circumventing AML laws is touted as one of Uniswap’s foundational values amongst the cryptocurrency community.  As of this writing, there is $5 billion locked into DeFi applications.

In March 2014, the IRS declared that “virtual currency,” such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, will be taxed by the IRS as “property” and not currency.  See IRS Notice 2014-21, Guidance on Virtual Currency (March 25, 2014).  Consequently, every individual or business that owns cryptocurrency will generally need to, among other things, (i) keep detailed records of cryptocurrency purchases and sales, (ii) pay taxes on any gains that may have been made upon the sale of cryptocurrency for cash, (iii) pay taxes on any gains that may have been made upon the purchase of a good or service with cryptocurrency, and (iv) pay taxes on the fair market value of any mined cryptocurrency, as of the date of receipt.

For an individual filing a Federal income tax return, the gains or losses from a sale of virtual currency that was held as a “capital asset” (i.e., for investment purposes) are reported on (i) Schedule D of IRS Form 1040, and (ii) IRS Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets).  Any realized gains on virtual currency held for more than one year as a capital asset by an individual are subject to capital gains tax rates.  Any realized gains on virtual currency held for one year or less as a capital asset by an individual are subject to ordinary income tax rates.  The IRS requires, on Form 8949, for each virtual currency transaction, the following information be disclosed: (i) a description of the amount and type of virtual currency sold; (ii) the date acquired; (iii) the date the virtual currency was sold; (iv) the amount of proceeds from the sale; (v) the cost (or other basis); and (vi) the amount of the gain or loss.  It should be noted that the record-keeping requirements of IRS Form 8949 can be particularly onerous for those who have used cryptocurrency to make numerous small purchases of goods or services throughout the year.

For transactions completed on or after January 1, 2018, the Internal Revenue Code now prohibits the use of Section 1031(a) for cryptocurrency transactions, and requires a taxpayer to recognize taxable gain or loss at the time that any cryptocurrency is converted into another cryptocurrency.  Section 13303 of P.L. 115-97 (the tax act signed into law on December 22, 2017) changes Section 1031(a) to state as follows: “No gain or loss shall be recognized on the exchange of real property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment if such real property is exchanged solely for real property of like kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.”

For transactions completed on or prior to December 31, 2017, the IRS has not issued any guidance on whether different cryptocurrencies are “property of like kind” that would qualify for non-recognition of gain under Section 1031(a).  Generally speaking, exchanges between different cryptocurrencies are usually done by either (i) a simultaneous swap of one cryptocurrency for another, or (ii) a deferred exchange, in which one cryptocurrency is sold for cash, followed by the purchase for cash, of a different cryptocurrency.

For transactions completed on or prior to December 31, 2017, Section 1031(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code states the following: “No gain or loss shall be recognized on the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment if such property is exchanged solely for property of like kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.”  In 26 C.F.R. 1.1031(a)-2(b), “like kind” is defined as follows: “As used in section 1031(a), the words like kind have reference to the nature or character of the property and not to its grade or quality.  One kind or class of property may not, under that section, be exchanged for property of a different kind or class.”  It should be noted that, in order to attempt to utilize the tax treatment of Section 1031(a) for transactions done on or prior to December 31, 2017, (i) each transaction must comply with certain requirements set forth in IRS regulations (such as the use, in certain instances, of a “qualified intermediary”), and (ii) the taxpayer must file a Form 8824 with the IRS.

There is a risk that the IRS could use its prior revenue rulings on gold bullion as a basis for taking the position that, for transactions completed on or prior to December 31, 2017, different cryptocurrencies are not “property of like kind” under Section 1031(a).  In Rev. Rul. 82-166 (October 4, 1982), the IRS ruled that an exchange of gold bullion for silver bullion does not qualify for non-recognition of gain under Section 1031(a).  The IRS stated: “Although the metals have some similar qualities and uses, silver and gold are intrinsically different metals and primarily are used in different ways.  Silver is essentially an industrial commodity.  Gold is primarily utilized as an investment in itself.  An investment in one of the metals is fundamentally different from an investment in the other metal.  Therefore, the silver bullion and the gold bullion are not property of like kind.”  The IRS also stated in Rev. Rul. 79-143 (January 5, 1979) that an exchange of $20 U.S. gold numismatic-type coins and South African Krugerrand gold coins does not qualify for non-recognition of gain under Section 1031(a).  The IRS stated: “The bullion-type coins, unlike the numismatic-type coins, represent an investment in gold on world markets rather than in the coins themselves.  Therefore, the bullion-type coins and the numismatic-type coins are not property of like kind.”

Arizona became the first state in the U.S. to adopt a “regulatory sandbox” to shepherd the development of new emerging industries like fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrencies within its borders.  The law grants regulatory relief for innovators in these sectors who desire to bring new products to market within the state.  Under the program, companies are able to test their products for up to two years and serve as many as 10,000 customers before needing to apply for formal licensure.  Other states have since followed suit and created similar programs including Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming.

Cryptocurrency fund managers that invest in cryptocurrency futures contracts, as opposed to “spot transactions” in cryptocurrencies, are required to register as a commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) and commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with the CFTC and with the National Futures Association (“NFA”), or satisfy an exemption.  Also, because of additions to the Dodd-Frank Act, cryptocurrency hedge fund managers that use leverage or margin would also need to register with the CFTC and NFA.  The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Commodities Act to add new authority over certain leveraged, margined, or financed retail commodity transactions.  The CFTC exercised this jurisdiction in an action against BFXNA INC. d/b/a BITFINEX in 2016.  Fund managers should be cautious when using margin/leverage as it may require them to register as a CTA and CPO with the CFTC and register with the NFA.

The Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Company Act”), the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), as well as state investment advisor laws, impose regulations on investment funds that invest in securities.  The Company Act generally requires investment companies to register with the SEC as mutual funds unless they meet an exemption.  Cryptocurrency funds, and hedge funds generally, can be structured under one of two exemptions from registration under the Company Act.  Section 3(c)(1) allows a fund to have up to 100 investors.  Alternatively, Section 3(c)(7) allows a fund to have an unlimited number of investors (but practically it should be limited to 2,000 to avoid being deemed a publicly traded partnership under the Securities Exchange Act) but requires a significantly higher net-worth suitability requirement for each investor (roughly $5 million for individuals, $25 million for entities).  As a general rule, most startup funds are structured as 3(c)(1) funds because of the lower investor suitability requirements.

Until the SEC provides more guidance on classifying individual cryptocurrencies as securities or commodities, the likelihood of many cryptocurrencies being deemed securities is high.  As such, we recommend that cryptocurrency funds that invest in anything other than Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and the handful of other clearly commodity coins, comply with the Company Act preemptively.  For most startup funds, this would mean limiting investors within a given fund to less than 100 beneficial owners.

Regardless of whether a startup cryptocurrency fund manager is required to register as a CPO/CTA with the CFTC under the Commodities Act, register or seek exemption from the SEC as an investment advisor (under the Advisers Act), or investment company (under the Company Act), every cryptocurrency fund manager will be subject to the fraud provisions of the CFTC and/or the SEC.  In September 2017, the CFTC announced its first anti-fraud enforcement action involving Bitcoin.  These anti-fraud actions can be taken by the SEC and CFTC regardless of the cryptocurrency fund’s exempt status.

In July of 2020, the OCC affirmed in an interpretive letter that national banks and savings associations can provide custody services for cryptocurrency.  The letter noted that banks can also provide related services such as cryptocurrency-fiat exchanges, transaction settlement, trade execution, valuation, tax services and reporting.  The effort supplements a patchwork of state regulation and guidance that to date has encouraged only a select few national banks and financial services companies to embrace cryptocurrency (see above: Money transmission laws and anti-money laundering requirements).  While the OCC agreed that underlying keys to a unit of cryptocurrency are essentially irreplaceable if lost, it said that banks could be a part of the solution by offering more secure storage services compared to existing options.

The general rule of thumb regarding Bitcoin mining remains relatively straightforward.  If you are able to own and use cryptocurrency where you live, you should also be able to mine cryptocurrency in that location as well.  If owning cryptocurrency is illegal where you live, mining is most likely also illegal.  There are few, if any, jurisdictions in the U.S. where possession of cryptocurrency is illegal.  Plattsburgh, New York, however, is likely the only city in the U.S. to impose a ban (temporary) on cryptocurrency mining.  Also, the U.S. Marine Corps banned crypto mining apps from all government-issued mobile devices.

A group of U.S. lawmakers have proposed a requirement that individuals declare their cryptocurrency holdings when entering the U.S., but to date no such requirement has gone into effect.

We are not aware of any broadly applicable reporting requirements specific to cryptocurrency in the U.S. 

Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, has value and therefore is increasingly likely to become an estate asset.  While there are few, if any, laws specific to cryptocurrency, due to the nature of cryptocurrencies, typical wills and revocable living trusts may not be well suited to efficiently transfer this new type of asset.  Consequently, new estate planning questions and clauses may be needed.

While cryptocurrency is not sufficiently mature to allow existing legal structures to promulgate a complete set of rules and regulations, cryptocurrency’s technological character allows estate planning to protect the intent of clients holding cryptocurrency.  However, the lack of statutory structure necessitates proactive steps.  Accordingly, someone who wants greater certainty of bequeathing cryptocurrency to their heirs will need to provide specific and detailed written instructions in their estate planning documents.  The information they will need to include will depend upon the type of virtual currency wallet that they have.

There is wide range of cryptocurrency wallets that are available at this time.  The current types of cryptocurrency wallets include: (i) a single device software wallet in which you hold the private keys (example: bitpay wallet); (ii) a multiple device web wallet in which you hold the private keys (example: blockchain wallet); (iii) a multiple device web wallet in which you do not hold the private keys (example: coinbase wallet); (iv) a USB hardware dongle wallet in which you hold the private keys (example: trezor wallet); and (v) a “paper wallet” in which the private keys and public keys are written down (which can be later loaded into a software wallet of your choice to be spent).

The instructions that you provide in a will (for your personal representative) or in a declaration of trust (for the successor trustee of a revocable living trust) should be written in a manner that is easy to understand for individuals who are not familiar with cryptocurrency.  For example, in the case of a single device software wallet in which you hold the private keys, instructions could include (i) a description of the name and version of the wallet software, (ii) a description of the name and version of the operating software system of the wallet device (i.e., iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows or Linux), (iii) a description of the types of virtual currency held by the wallet, (iv) either the long-form private and public keys for the wallet or the 12-word “seed” BIP39 or BIP44 recovery phrase for the wallet, and (v) step-by-step instructions (which may include screenshots) showing how the wallet can be restored onto a new device, if the current wallet device cannot be accessed.

As transfers from a Bitcoin wallet and most other wallets are irrevocable, private key information about cryptocurrency accounts will need to be kept in a secure manner.  Security can be enhanced by storing the private key information in a safe-deposit box or vault, which could only be accessed after the holder’s death by the personal representative designated in their will (or the successor trustee designated in their revocable living trust).

Staking remains popular as ever in the crypto market. More projects are allowing staking to earn a modest passive income. Theta, a cryptocurrency created to improve video streaming, has also done the same. But it can be difficult to stake if you’re new to the market. Here, we take you through the Theta project, the use cases, and a step-by-step guide on how to stake theta.What is theta token?

Theta solves the problems faced by increased demand for video streaming and virtual reality. While, to users of YouTube or Netflix, the process may seem easy, the demand on computing resources that this requires from the other end is significant.

Content delivery networks aid in this process, but are under pressure. In exchange for the use of network power, theta token holders receive additional theta tokens. This eases the demand on these networks and provides an income for holders.

While it isn’t possible to stake every cryptocurrency, theta is one that can be staked. Staking a cryptocurrency means offering it up to the blockchain for various uses, such as for computing or network power, as described above. So yes, theta token can be staked.

In order to stake theta, you need a minimum of 1000 theta tokens. At the current price, this would cost almost $7k, so this may take a while to build up.

If you have the required 1000 tokens, you can use the Theta web wallet to stake your tokens. You can do this with up to 10,000 tokens.

There are, however, minimum requirements that need to be met for you to be able to stake your theta tokens. These relate to the specs of your computer. Despite this, the reward for staking your theta is TFuel tokens. These can, in themselves, be staked to earn more.

Currently, you need a computer with the following requirements to stake theta or TFuel:

5 Mbps internet connection8GB RAMA CPU with at least 4 Cores

Having said this, the majority of computers would meet these standards these days, making it accessible to most people.

To stake theta, you will need a theta wallet, which you can sign up for by visiting thetatoken.org. You can do this by clicking “Wallet” at the top of the page and “Create Wallet” on the next page. This will then take you through an account sign up process, asking you to create a password.

Once you have created a password, the next page will ask you to download a Keystore file, needed to login to your account. In addition, it will also give you a twelve-word phrase that allows recovery of your wallet, should you forget your password.

Before you can stake theta, unless you already hold the crypto, you will need to buy some on whichever exchange you use. For this demonstration, we will use Binance; however, it is available on other exchanges.

First go to the “Buy Crypto” section of the Binance website and select theta in the “Receive” box from the dropdown. Enter the amount of the token that you want to buy. For our example, we have just entered 15 (Binance’s minimum), but the minimum to stake is 1000.

Click “Continue” to head to a screen that asks you to complete the transaction. Confirm your details, including the card CVV on the back.

Beyond this screen, you should be able to go ahead and buy your crypto. This will then appear in your Binance Wallet.

The next step is to go to your Binance wallet and click “Withdraw” at the top of the page. This will take you to the page shown below.

Next, find your theta wallet address by going to wallet.thetatoken.org and sign in by uploading your Keystore file that you created and downloaded earlier on and entering your wallet password. Then click “Unlock Wallet.” On the next page, click “Receive” and copy the wallet address.

Enter your wallet address on Binance and the amount you want to withdraw. Here, we don’t have any, so this option doesn’t show. Finally, at the bottom of the page, click “Withdraw.” Binance claims that the crypto should arrive within 2 minutes; however, some instances see it take hours to arrive.

Once your wallet contains at least 1000 theta tokens, click on “Stakes.” This amount of theta, given it is currently worth $6,600, may take a while to build up.

From here, you need to click “Deposit Stake” and then “Delegated Guardian Node.” This allows you to use nodes that others in the community have offered for staking. Select one from the list and on the next screen, enter the staking amount.

Which node you choose does matter, as it may dictate how much of a fee you pay to the node host. Unless you have a lot of theta tokens, this is your only option. However, for TFuel tokens, the type of token your reward for staking comes in, you can stake these from 10,000 TFuel tokens.

The consensus in the community seems to be that unless you have a lot of theta tokens, the best option is to stake on a Delegated Guardian Node. When you have picked a node to delegate staking to and confirmed the staking amount, you may need to approve the transaction.

Whether you pick a node that charges a fee or not, there is a platform fee of 0.3 TFuel. This is minimal, however, once complete, the Theta will be staked until you tell the platform to do otherwise. The longer you leave it staked, the more you earn.

However, it is important to note that TFuel tokens are currently considerably lower in value than theta. As it stands, TFuel is worth around $0.33 compared to theta at $6.82. This means you would need just over 20 TFuel to get one theta token.

While it may be an obscure one, the theta cryptocurrency still holds some potential, especially given its use case. As far as staking theta goes, it is possible to earn between one and two TFuel tokens a day, however. This is based on the experiences recounted by theta community members.

TFuel does provide a useful calculator which will calculate your return. Don’t expect to become a crypto millionaire anytime unless you have large starting capital.

One downside is that it can take considerable time to unstake tokens and retrieve your reward. The waiting time for this is currently 60 hours. Staking this asset requires patience.

With enough invested, it’s possible to make several thousand dollars a year. If that makes it worth it for you, go right ahead. If you’re looking for a small supplementary income from staking, this may be sufficient. It is not enough to rely on for the average staker though.

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. The digital asset – which specializes in smart contract technology backed by the blockchain protocol, allows you to diversify against other leading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and XRP.

In this guide, not only do we show you how to invest in Ethereum – but we also discuss the best cryptocurrency brokers in this marketplace.

How To Invest in Ethereum – Choose a Broker

If you want to invest in Ethereum in the US in a safe and low-cost manner – you’ll need to choose a suitable cryptocurrency broker. Below you will find a list of the best Ethereum brokers currently serving US clients.

– Overall Place to Invest in Ethereum in the US Coinbase – Great Way to Invest in Ethereum for Beginners Binance – Best Place to Invest in Ethereum for Asset Diversity Robinhood – Invest in Ethereum via a Regulated Mobile App Webull – Invest in Ethereum From Just $1

You will find a detailed review of the above Ethereum brokers further down in this beginner’s guide.

How to Invest in Ethereum – A Quick Guide For 2021

If you wish to skip our comprehensive guide and simply want to invest in Ethereum right now – the quickfire overview will show you how to do this in under five minutes. For our walkthrough, we are showing you the ropes with eToro – a regulated broker and low-cost broker with over 20 million clients.

You can register an eToro account in under two minutes by providing your name, home address, date of birth, social security number, and contact details. Step 2: Upload Your ID – To remove account limitations, upload a copy of your government-issued ID. The KYC process at eToro is automated, so you’ll be good to go in under a minute. Step 3: Deposit Funds – You can now deposit funds with a debit/credit card, Paypal, or bank wire. There are no deposit fees for US clients and the minimum stands at just $50. Step 4: Invest in Ethereum – The final step is to search for ‘Ethereum’ and click the ‘Trade’ button. After entering your investment amount ($25 minimum), click the ‘Open Trade’ button to complete your Ethereum purchase!

eToro will instantly execute your Ethereum investment for you at the next best available price. You don’t need to worry about getting yourself a wallet to store your investment, as eToro offers an in-house wallet. This means that you can keep your ETH tokens in your eToro portfolio until you are ready to sell – hopefully at a profit!

Where to Buy Ethereum – Full Broker Reviews

Not only are there hundreds of cryptocurrency exchanges available in the online domain – but virtually all of them support buy and sell markets on Ethereum. After all, the digital token is the second-largest crypto asset in terms of market capitalization.

This can make it slightly challenging to know which broker to use when investing in Ethereum – which is why we have provided comprehensive reviews of the best providers in this space.

Be sure to read through each review to ensure you select the best Ethereum broker for you!

. eToro – Overall Best Place to Invest in Ethereum

If you’re looking for the best place to invest in Ethereum in the US – look no further than eToro. This brokerage site – which was first launched in 2007, now serves over 20 million people. The broker is particularly popular with newbie investors that have little to no experience in the cryptocurrency space. In fact, even if you have never previously invested in digital currencies, you should be able to complete the process at eToro in under five minutes.

First, you need to open an account and upload a copy of your ID. Then, you can choose from a wide variety of payment methods to meet the minimum deposit amount of $50. This covers everything from Visa, MasterCard, and Paypal to Neteller, WebMoney, and local bank transfers. All of the aforementioned payment methods can be used on a fee-free basis – which is a major advantage. After all, most cryptocurrency brokers offering Ethereum charge in excess of 5% to deposit in US dollars.

Once you’ve added some money to your eToro account, you can then search for Ethereum and enter your investment stake. This starts at just $25, which is perfect if you are only planning to invest small amounts. As soon as you confirm the investment, eToro will execute your Ethereum purchase at the best available rate. Then, you will find the ETH tokens stored safely in your eToro portfolio – where you can keep them for as long as you wish at no extra charge.

When it comes to trading fees, eToro also excels. This is because the broker only charges a spread – which is essentially a mark-up between the buy and sell price. This starts at just 0.75% on digital currencies – which is one of the best spreads we have come across. If you’re a risk-averse investor that tends to diversify, you’ll be pleased to know that eToro offers over 30 cryptocurrencies on its website. This covers everything from XRP, Litecoin, and Bitcoin to Ethereum Classic, EOS, and Cardano.

In fact, if you want to take your diversification strategy to the next level – you might consider the eToro CopyPortfolio service. This is a professionally managed tool that will let you passively invest in a diversified basket of crypto assets. The team at eToro will regularly rebalance the portfolio – so there is nothing for you to do until you are ready to cash out. You should also check out the eToro Copy Trading tool – which is another passive investment feature.

With this, you will be ‘copying’ an experienced eToro trader like-for-like – proportionate to the amount you invest. For example, if your chosen trader decides to invest 25% of their portfolio into Ethereum, you will do the same. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, eToro is one of the most regulated and reputable cryptocurrency brokers in this industry. The platform is approved by the SEC and FINRA in the US and authorized and regulated by financial bodies in the UK, Australia, and Cyprus.

Pros

Cons

2. Coinbase – Best Way to Invest in Ethereum for Beginners

There is every chance that you have heard of Coinbase – not least because the cryptocurrency broker is one of the largest in the US. In fact, the platform now serves over 56 million clients and its parent company has since been listed on the NASDAQ exchange. In a nutshell, if you’re looking for a beginner-friendly Ethereum broker that supports instant investment via debit card payments – Coinbase could be worth considering. You will have access to fiat currency facilities as soon as you have registered and uploaded a copy of your ID.

In doing so, you can then invest in Ethereum with your everyday Visa or MasterCard. You will be charged an all-in commission of 3.99% when using the Instant Buy feature – which is expensive. If you are prepared to manually transfer funds from your US bank account, you can do this on a fee-free basis. When the money arrives and Coinbase processes the payment – you can then invest in Ethereum at a fee of 1.49%. If your investment amount is less than $200 – expect to pay higher fees.

Although admittedly, Coinbase is one of the most expensive brokers in this industry, it is also one of the safest. This is because the platform has installed a wide range of security features that ensures you are able to invest without the fear of being scammed or hacked. For example, it is mandatory that all account holders set up two-factor authentication. This means that you will need to enter a unique code that is sent o you via SMS or Google Authenticator on each login attempt.

Plus, Coinbase keeps 98% of client digital funds in cold storage – with the remaining 2% kept in hot wallets for liquidity and withdrawal purposes. If you have a US dollar balance at Coinbase, this is kept in bank accounts that are FDIC-insured. In addition to offering high levels of security and convenience, Coinbase is also great for diversifying. This is because the platform offers a broad selection of blockchain assets – with more and more being added on a regular basis. There is also the Coinbase mobile app that doubles up as a cryptocurrency wallet.

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Cons

3. Binance – Best Place to Invest in Ethereum for Asset Diversity

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally in terms of trading volume and client numbers by some distance. For instance, not only does Binance claim to have over 100 million account holders, but in the 24 hours prior to writing this guide the exchange facilities over $93 million worth of crypto transactions. Although Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange, it has since launched a domestic platform that complies with all relevant US regulations and laws.

This means that as a US client, you can safely invest in Ethereum knowing that you are using a legitimate provider. In terms of the process involved to invest in Ethereum at Binance, the easiest option on the table is to use your debit or credit card. This will allow you to invest instantly, albeit, Binance will need to verify your identity first. We found that once you upload a copy of your ID, Binance is usually able to do this within a couple of minutes.

Binance charges a debit/credit card fee of 0.5% to invest in Ethereum – which is much cheaper than Coinbase. This is also the case with 50+ other digital currencies supported on the main Binance website. If you decide to trade digital assets on the Binance exchange, you will pay a commission of just 0.10% per slide. For instance, if you were to swap $1,000 worth of Ethereum in Bitcoin, this would cost you a commission of $1. By holding a minimum number of Binance Coin (BNB) tokens, this commission is further reduced by 25%.

If you have a bit of experience in short-term trading, you might also like the advanced Binance exchange. This will give you access to a plethora of tools that can help forecast the future direction of your chosen cryptocurrency pair. This is inclusive of detailed charts with multiple timeframes, technical indicators, and integration with TradingView. You can also choose from a variety of order types at Binance. This covers everything from limit, stop-loss, and take-profit orders – which are great for entering and exiting the market in a risk-averse manner.

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4. Robinhood – Invest in Ethereum via a Regulated Mobile App

Robinhood is one of the largest stockbrokers in the US – with millions of investors using the platform to buy and sell shares in a simple and cost-effective manner. With that said, Robinhood has since branched out into other asset classes. Not only does this include options and investment funds, but a small number of cryptocurrencies. This includes the likes of Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. In a similar nature to its stock department, Robinhood allows you to invest in Ethereum on a fractional basis.

This means that instead of having to invest over $3,000 to buy a single ETH token, you can purchase any amount that you wish. For example, if you invested $35 and Ethereum was priced at $3,500, you would own 1% of one ETH. When it comes to fees, Robinhood is well-known for its 0% commission offering. Although at first glance this sounds like you are getting a great deal – it’s really important to keep an eye on the spread. As we mentioned earlier, this is the difference between the buy and sell price of Ethereum.

In the case of Robinhood, we find that the spread can creep up at times – especially outside of standard market hours. Nevertheless, once you have invested in Ethereum at Robinhood, you won’t have the option of withdrawing your tokens to a third-party wallet. Instead, your investment will remain on the platform until you elect to cash out – which you can do at any given time. In terms of paying for your Ethereum investment, Robinhood doesn’t support debit/credit cards or e-wallets like Paypal.

Instead, the only options you have are ACH and a bank wire. Both options are fee-free, but you might have to wait up to 5 business days for Robinhood to credit the payment. For example, if you are on the basic account, only the first $1,000 that you deposit will be credited instantly. If you’re on the gold account – which costs $5 per month, you’ll be given much higher limits. Finally, we should note that Robinhood also offers a top-rated mobile app that allows you to buy, sell, and trade assets while on the move.

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5. Webull – Invest in Ethereum From Just $1

The final broker that we will review today is Webull – which is a great option if you want to invest in Ethereum in the US with super-small stakes. In a nutshell, this user-friendly trading platform allows you to invest in cryptocurrencies from just $1. This means that you can purchase just a very small fraction of Ethereum – which is great if you want to enter the market conservatively. Much like Robinhood, Webull is known for its 0% commission service.

Not only is this available on stocks and ETFs, but cryptocurrencies like Ethereum too. The platform notes that it charges a spread that starts from 100 basis points. In simple terms, this means that the spread amounts to a minimum of 1%. When you take this into account, the 0% commission offering isn’t as competitive as it sounds. For instance, eToro operates a similar pricing model, but the spread starts at just 0,75%. In addition to Ethereum, Webull offers a number of other leading digital assets.

This includes the likes of Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Cardano, Stellar, Zcash, Dash, Ethereum Classic, and more. Although Webull offers a comprehensive web trading facility, the vast majority of clients actually opt for the beginner-friendly mobile app. Available on both iOS and Android devices, the Webull app gives you 24/7 access to the cryptocurrency markets. In terms of making a deposit, neither debit/credit card nor e-wallets are supported.

You can, however, deposit funds via ACH on a fee-free basis. You can also initiate a domestic bank wire, albeit, this will cost you $8 per deposit. Bank wire withdrawals are even more expensive at $25 per transaction. If you’re the type of investor that likes to keep tabs on how your assets are performing, the Webull app offers real-time market data. You will also find customizable charts and technical indicators – should you wish to perform some independent research and analysis.

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How to Invest in Ethereum – Detailed & Explained in Full

If you’ve never used an online cryptocurrency to invest in digital assets – you might be somewhat confused about how things actually work. Put simply, the investment process is virtually like-for-like with that of buying shares from a traditional stockbroker. That is to say, it’s just a case of opening a cryptocurrency broker account, depositing some funds, and then completing your Ethereum investment.

Nevertheless, if you need a little guidance – the sections below will show you how to invest in Ethereum step-by-step. You will notice that for our tutorial we are using FINRA-approved broker eToro – which is not only the best platform to invest in Ethereum for convenience and cost-effectiveness – but also safety.

Step 1: Open an Ethereum Investment Account

By choosing eToro as your go-to Ethereum broker, the first part of the process will require you to register an account. The broker will need to collect some personal information from you – which includes your first and last name, home address, nationality, and date of birth.

You also need to provide some contact details, alongside your social security number. You will then need to verify your cell phone number and email address.

Step 2: Upload ID

To complete the eToro registration process, the broker will ask you to upload two verification documents. This is the industry standard for regulated brokers – irrespective of which asset classes they host.

The two documents you need to provide are listed below:

: Multiple documents are supported – such as a utility bill or bank account statement. The document must be dated within the prior three months. Proof of Identity: To verify your identity, you will need to upload a copy of a valid government-issued ID.

Once soon as you upload the above documents, eToro will electronically verify your identity and residency status. It does through automated technology, so in most cases, expect to see your eToro account verified in under two minutes.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

Now that you have got the account verification process out of the way, the next step is to deposit some funds into your newly created eToro account. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to use a debit or credit card. E-wallets like Paypal and Neteller are also worth considering, as these are processed instantly.

You might also consider a local bank wire. But, this can delay the process by 0-3 working days, so do bear this in mind. In terms of deposit fees, US clients can fund their accounts without paying any transaction charges. The minimum deposit across all supported payment methods is just $50.

Step 4: Search for Ethereum

eToro offers thousands of financial instruments across several asset classes. As such, it’s best to just enter ‘Ethereum’ into the search box at the top of the page and click the ‘Trade’ button.

In doing so, this will take you straight to the relevant page to invest in Ethereum.

Step 5: Invest in Ethereum

All that is left for you to do now is enter your stake and confirm the order. First, you can enter your investment amount in US dollars into the relevant box. The minimum amount to invest in Ethereum is just $25. When you enter your stake, you will see that the number of units will update in real-time.

In our example, we are investing $400 into Ethereum – which will get us 0.12 units – or 12% of 1 ETH token. Finally, you will need to click on the ‘Open Trade’ button to complete your Ethereum investment.

How to Sell Ethereum

The overarching objective of investing in Ethereum is no different from any other asset. That is to say, you are likely investing because you want to make a profit. The only way to realize this is by selling your ETH tokens at a higher market price than that what you originally paid.

For instance, if you invested when Ethereum was trading at $3,000 per token and you sell when the digital asset is priced at $4,000 – that’s a profit of 25%. In terms of how you go about cashing out your profits, you can sell the tokens back to the same broker you purchased them from.

For example, if you invested at eToro, you just need to create a sell order. The ETH tokens will then be converted back to US dollars at the next best available price.

Ways to Invest in Ethereum

Wondering about the best ways to invest in Ethereum in the US? Ultimately, the best option on the table is to use a regulated broker. This will ensure that you invest in a safe and secure environment. With that said, a lot of US traders also seek alternative methods – perhaps to benefit from lower fees or to take advantage of additional investment features.

With this in mind, the sections below will provide a brief overview of the best ways to invest in Ethereum in the US.

Ethereum ATM

You will find thousands of crypto ATMs scattered across the US. The vast majority of these will offer both Bitcoin and Ethereum. This means that you can simply insert cash into the ATM and in return – have the Ethereum tokens sent directly to your wallet.

Do note that Ethereum ATMs are super expensive in terms of commission fees. The most competitively priced ATM that we have come across will charge a mark-up of 5%. On the other hand, we’ve also come across plenty of providers that charge in excess of 15%.

Ethereum Broker

As we noted earlier, Ethereum brokers work the same way as a traditional stock trading platform. This is because the Ethereum broker will likely be regulated and crucially – authorized to operate in the US. This is the case with all of the Ethereum brokers that we have discussed on this page.

Ethereum brokers will sell you digital tokens directly – meaning that you do not need to trade with other market participants. You will also be able to pay for your Ethereum investment in US dollars – with some brokers supporting debit/credit cards and e-wallets.

Ethereum Exchanges

If you’re seeking low commissions and a vast library of markets, then you might be tempted to use a cryptocurrency exchange. In doing so, you will be trading directly with other investors. There are hundreds of exchanges operating in this space – all of which offer a market on Ethereum.

The key issue here is that cryptocurrency exchanges often fall short when it comes to regulation. This is because they are typically located offshore and thus – they have no regulatory body to answer to. As such, we would suggest avoiding unregulated exchanges.

Should I Invest in Ethereum?

Since launching in 2015, Ethereum has proven to be a superb alternative to Bitcoin. With that said, the two blockchain projects are not direct competitors – so many investors will own both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Nevertheless, that isn’t to say that Bitcoin is right for your long-term portfolio. This is why we think it is important to only invest in Ethereum if you have already performed independent research on the digital asset.

In the sections below, we explore some of the main reasons why you might consider investing in Ethereum for the first time.

De-Factor Smart Contract Platform

The main selling point of the Ethereum blockchain is that it supports smart contract technology. Although you don’t need to understand the specifics of how smart contracts work, as an investor, it’s useful to at least have a grasp of the basics. In a nutshell, smart contracts allow two or more people to transact in a trust-less and decentralized environment.

The technology is able to achieve this through pre-defined code that cannot be manipulated by any single person or entity. For example, a travel insurance agreement backed by a smart contract might be programmed to payout if the individual’s flight is canceled.

The underlying technology can perform this action without needing a third party, as it can collect the required data from variable online sources. The smart contract technology utilized by the Ethereum blockchain can essentially be used for every sector or industry imaginable – from baking and employment to gaming and voting.

Ethereum 2.0

Another hugely promising technical aspect of the Ethereum project is that is approaching its much-anticipated network upgrade. In what it calls ‘Ethereum 2.0’, this will take the underlying network to new heights.

For example:

Ethereum 2.0 will see the network upgrade from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. This will make the network considerably more energy-efficient. The upgrade will improve Ethereum’s scaling capacity by a significant amount. This means going from a maximum capacity of just 16 transactions per second (tps) up to an estimated 100,000 tps. A direct result of improved scalability is faster and much cheaper transactions

All in all, Ethereum 2.0 will allow the project to handle a vast number of transactions in a cost-effective manner – paving the way for usage on a mass scale.

Ethereum Has Yielded Huge Gains

When it comes to investment returns, Ethereum has not disappointed its backers since it was launched just over six years ago. In fact, if you were one of the lucky ones to invest in Ethereum in 2015 – you would have paid around $0.75 per token. At the time of writing in August 2021, Ethereum is trading at just over $3,200.

Doing the math, this works out at end-to-end gains of 426,566%. So, had you invested a mere $100 when the blockchain asset was first launched, your ETH tokens would now be worth over $426,000. With that said, you haven’t necessarily missed the boat by entering the market at this stage of the project’s development.

On the contrary, Ethereum has generated some huge returns in 2021 alone. For instance, the digital token was priced at $736 at the start of the year. Ethereum then breached an all-time high of $4,362 in May 2021 – so that’s gains of almost 500% in just five months of trading.

What are the Risks of Investing in Ethereum?

It goes without saying that all investments – whether that’s stocks, crypto, or gold – come with an element of risk. But, in the case of digital assets like Ethereum, the risks are much higher.

Volatility

For example, we mentioned earlier that in the first five months of 2021, Ethereum increased in value by almost 500%. On the other hand, Ethereum has also gone through periods where it has declined in value by a sizable amount in a short timeframe.

For instance, the digital asset went from highs of $1,400 in January 2018 to just $370 in April of the same year. This means a price reduction of 73% in just four months of trading.

Competition

Although Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization and is still the de-facto smart contract platform in this industry – it is facing stiff competition from alternative projects. For example, the likes of NEO is not only able to execute secure smart contracts on its network, but it already offers faster and more scalable transactions than its Ethereum counterpart.

Other so-called ‘Ethereum Killers’ include EOS and Cardano. The key point here is that there is no guarantee that Ethereum will retain its status as the leading smart contract blockchain. On the contrary, there is every chance that the platform will lose its market share to other participants. This is why the project needs to ensure that its Ethereum 2.0 upgrade happens sooner rather than later.

How Much Does it Cost to Invest in Ethereum?

You will need to pay some fees to invest in Ethereum. The two most prevalent fees are linked to deposits and trading commissions.

You might find that cryptocurrency brokers often charge 3-5% to deposit funds with a debit or credit card. Binance is, however, much more competitive – as the platform charges just 0.5% on debit/credit card payments. You will likely need to pay a commission to invest in Ethereum. Coinbase, for example, charges 1.49% on both buy and sell orders. Be careful when you come across Ethereum brokers offering 0% commissions. For instance, while Webull offers 0% commission on Ethereum investments, the spread starts at 1%.

All in all, we found that eToro is one of the best Ethereum brokers when it comes to fees. Not only can US clients deposit funds with a debit/credit card, e-wallet, and bank wire for free – but the only trading fee payable is the spread (from 0.75% on crypto).

How to Buy Invest in Ethereum – Conclusion

By reading this beginner’s guide on how to invest in Ethereum – you should have no issues completing the process in under five minutes. You do, however, need to do a bit of research on your chosen broker before opening an account. As explained extensively, your chosen platform must be regulated, offer low fees, and accept your preferred deposit method.

Ultimately, we found that eToro is by far the best broker in this space – as you can invest in Ethereum at a minimum of just $25. The broker is regulated by multiple financial bodies and approved to operate in the US. And – not only can you deposit funds with a debit/credit card and e-wallet for free – but you can invest in Ethereum on a spread-only basis.

FAQs About Kane Pepi PRO INVESTOR

Kane Pepi writes for several high profile publications such as InsideBitcoins, the Motely Fool, and Learnbonds. Based in Malta, Kane is extremely skilled at complex subjects related to financial matters - including a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, a Master’s Degree in Financial Crime, and actively engaged in Doctorate Degree research, for the money laundering threats of the blockchain economy.

This is the first in a series of articles on Initial Coin Offerings ("ICOs"). Future articles will follow various companies throughout their ICO process, give examples of companies with different types of ICO tokens, regulatory issues and investor perspectives. If you haven’t already, check out my previous articles on “A New Way To Raise Money” and “How to run an ICO”.

Initial Coin Offerings ("ICOs") emerged in 2017 as a new means for projects to raise funds, and they did so dramatically – taking in over $5 billion that year. Bitcoin went into the stratosphere, then experienced a 50% correction. A few ICOs have flamed out spectacularly, the rest have plenty of money, but some are facing serious talent constraints due to the roaring market. Many people have expected the brakes to come on hard on this "fad". Instead there has been an additional $3 billion raised just since the start of the year.

Less than 1% of startups seeking traditional funding get money from angel investors and just 0.05% receive venture capital funding. Among ICOs, 25% meet their funding goals, and this is the case even though the average size was $15 million in 2017 and they've more than doubled that in 2018.

So with all this capital available, my customers at Inwage, an IT advisory and services firm for ICOs and Blockchain development, often ask questions like “Can my startup even do an ICO?”

The answer is that any organization can do an ICO, it's not just for those who want to create a new type of cryptocurrency. There are gold mining operations, tech Unicorns, Venezuela is the first government to do so, and many other nations are considering it.

A better question would be “What type of token offering is right for my startup?”

There are three core attributes of a token to consider with regards to your business model and how various stakeholders, which include potential users, investors, partners and regulators, will react to your offering. These are:

Investment vs. Utility:

Various regulatory agencies view some tokens as within their domain, while others are treated like currency or a new kind of tradable token. The defacto standard globally for determining whether or not a token falls within the regulated domain is the Howey test. Basically, an investment token is something you buy and hold because you believe it has a bright future, while a utility token is something you buy because you're going to use it to purchase or gain access to goods or services within a system where it is honored.

Examples of Investment tokens include:

Equity Tokens: just like a traditional non-voting share of stock.Dividend Tokens: similar to a corporate bond.Voting Tokens: offering a say in operations, but not always including equity or dividends.

These should all be very familiar to anyone who has ever purchased a public stock, so I'm not going to provide specific examples. The utility tokens, on the other hand, need a bit of explaining. This is not an inclusive list, it's just some good examples.

Loyalty Tokens: Airline miles are the classic example, they can be used to purchase services, transferred to others to incentivize certain behaviours, and there are schemes to trade them via intermediaries. A token example is Kickcity App, a combined event management and marketing platform. Using the platform for your own events, referring friends to other events, or providing affiliate marketing services for events are just a few ways to increase your personal stash of tokens.Discount Token: Ever see those promo code boxes during the digital checkout process of a product? Companies often discover promo codes that have become far more broadly used than they intended. A token based solution would make for trackable single use promo codes.Membership Token: A timeshare is great, until one day you’re sitting at Gymboree with a toddler, trying to work out the last time you managed to see the place, and you know it was pre-pregnancy. There are many sorts of things out there where one entity owns the asset, but there are a vetted group of members with permission to access it, one at a time or with a limited group size. Blockchain Hotels is creating a hotel franchise, with a timeshare coin for each hotel. Service Tokens: Those change machines in the arcade you remember as a kid gave out metal coins that couldn't be refunded, encouraging you to spend your whole purchase there. Service tokens require the usage of the token on a particular platform, but comes with the additional benefit of tradability. The most popular of which is Ethereum, which requires you to spend Ether as a gas to power all sorts of various applications, such as the launch and and trade of ICO tokens.Preorder Tokens: Crowdfunding titan Kickstarter says they won't touch ICOs, while competitor Indiegogo is taking a more forward looking position. Like a Kickstarter, such tokens give you a reservation for something new, but unlike Kickstarter a preorder token can be sold at any time.

There are many benefits to both types of tokens for ICO offerers and investors. There are many interesting projects of varying sizes seeking funding. There are few geographic barriers to involvement. Tokens are readily salable, so if an ICO loses your interest, you won’t have buyers remorse for very long. Projects seeking user uptake as well as funding can do innovative things to draw in small investors, who also happen to be future customers.

A typical utility token goal is to raise money from as many small investors as possible, since there is an expectation that the token is going to be used for transactions within the system. A good example of this is the KiK messenger's Kin, which was created to accelerate the existing internal economy of the platform's 300 million users. Their sale of $98 million in tokens reached over 10,000 purchasers and there were many small dollar players in the mix.

Investment tokens are typically considered securities, which definitely puts you under the regulatory purview of the Securities Exchange Commission when raising money from US investors, and may put you in a similar position in other jurisdictions. If you're too impatient to wait for my article on token regulation, you should Google the Howey rule to get a basic idea of what is going on, but the fact that you intend your token to be used in an active ecosystem is not sufficient to fend off SEC attention. Some lawyers I’ve spoken with, including Gordon Einstein, believe every token starts out as a security, until the ecosystem is “fully developed”. This mean the determination on whether the token is a security or a commodity depends on the SEC’s assessment of maturity of the virtual market where it’s used, rather than on forward looking statements in an introductory white paper.

This is not a situation where you can just wing it, you need proper counsel to ensure you're not creating a future compliance problem.

Centralized vs Decentralized

Another consideration for the token is whether or not the value of the token is backed by a centralized organization like a corporation or an LLC, or if you are truly creating a distributed organization, which is often run by a foundation whose only revenue model is donations and the rise in the value of the launched coin. The blockchain concept has the penetration it does due to decentralized, trustless projects – with Bitcoin being the first and most notable. But vast majority of ICOs in the future are likely to involve centralized entities tapping this new funding market.

And that is working just fine. Centralized browser project Brave raised $36 million in their ICO … in thirty seconds flat. There are plenty of other examples of centralized organizations that meet their funding goals, albeit in days, weeks or months, rather than seconds.

Do you think you have a decentralized use case? Maybe you do, but the first question here is “How will you find and retain the talent you need to execute?” While the fund raising numbers for decentralized projects are an order of magnitude larger than what centralized projects achieve, the risks are much more significant. Instead of a token on an already mature blockchain that expects to host such projects, your plan presumably involves forking an existing open source blockchain, making significant modifications, and then inducing large numbers of people to put up the capital for the miners and nodes required to support your project.

I'm not saying this is impossible, but there is a lot more due diligence and you pretty much need recognized players who've created a successful blockchain protocol implementation before you can get any traction.

Fungibility?

A bit of an odd word, isn’t it? Fungibility is a term that one runs across in economics classes, and then it’s typically never seen again, but the concept is simple. Is a specific item readily exchangeable for another item of the same class, or is it unique? You’d readily trade a $20 bill from your wallet for one proffered by your seat mate on an airplane, but you probably wouldn’t be willing to swap your driver’s license.

Most tokens that have been created are fungible - they are currencies or securities, just representing a slice of something. The first non-fungible tokens I can think of are the Cryptokitties, an e-pet trading game that runs on Ethereum. There is a lot of serious work coming in this area, think digital identities - your personal information, car titles, anything where a unique entity needs to be represented is a candidate. It isn’t clear how to run an ICO with an offering of unique tokens, particularly if they are virtual identity documents, but a security tied to an organization producing such a solution, maybe a membership style token to be used in conjunction with the identity would be workable, or perhaps even an initial sale of the assets at a discount.

But How Do I Build My Token?

ERC-20, the Ethereum Request for Comments #20 token has become the de facto standard for ICOs, with 70% of ICOs running on top of Ethereum. This type of token rides on the same blockchain as the Ethereum cryptocurrency, taking advantage of the security enforced by miners with a combined electrical use equaling that of the country of Cyprus. While ERC20 is both simple and secure, currently powering billions of dollars of value, newer standards and platforms are competing to take a slice of this market as token use cases become more complex and new kinds of companies look into doing ICOs.

Fabian Vogelsteller, who worked with Vitalik Buterin to develop the ERC-20 standard explains, “ERC-20 is popular because it was the first broadly adopted token standard. However, there are now two extensions of the ERC-20 standard, ERC-223 and ERC 777, which function in the same way as the ERC-20 token, being just as easy for exchanges and wallets to integrate, but also allow the tokens to interact with Ethereum smart contracts, which were not built directly into the initial ERC-20 token.”

What this means is that not only do these newer tokens get the benefit of sharing Ethereum's broadly distributed blockchain, their smart contracts can talk directly to Ethereum smart contracts. The token creator can focus on making it do its specific job well, while leaving some of the heavy lifting in terms of transactions in the hands of very mature Ethereum smart contracts. Is that explanation too circular? One of the first ICOs was The DAO, which was famously robbed of nearly a third of its funds due to a one line flaw in a smart contract. These new tokens can leverage well tested smart contracts developed by and audited by experts, greatly reducing the potential for mischief like that.

ERC20 and its offspring are not the only game in town. There is an up and coming system focused specifically on the use case of initial coin offerings, the Waves Platform.

I spoke with Sasha Ivanov, CEO & founder of Waves Platform, to learn more, “Waves’ primary use case is to make it very easy for anyone to create blockchain tokens and build their own applications using that functionality. The Waves Platform has over 10,000 tokens at the current count. Many are test tokens or frivolous applications, but there are plenty of real-world businesses that use Waves, from crypto trading platforms like Simdaq to shared office space initiatives like Primalbase. Ethereum's smart contracts are a powerful scripting language, but it’s complicated – and with that complexity comes risks. Waves allows you to create simple blockchain tokens very quickly and easily, without any specific programming expertise.”

There are several other platforms that host ICO tokens looking to take on the customization and flexibility of Ethereum's new standards or the simplicity of Wave’s tokens. These include NEO, NEM, Stellar and EOS. However, for companies new to this kind of technology, it is often best to take a more conservative approach from a security standpoint by working with Blockchain IT specialists or sticking to simple ERC-20 tokens that have been audited. Almost 10% of the ICO funds from 2017 ended up in the hands of hackers, and you definitely don't want to add to that statistic.

What's Next?

You should now have some idea of what type of token you're going to create, but that's only the first step. Next, you have to make sure you're not going to have a regulatory problem with various regulators, with the Securities Exchange Commission being the most aggressive in the ecosystem. Finally, you are going to have to actually execute the fundraising plan.

I had a long talk with Juan Llanos, Consensys financial & regulatory technology lead and my company's compliance advisor. From a high level, the current state of affairs is a lack of regulatory clarity, strong efforts by the industry to educate regulators, and tales of what mistakes lead to enforcement actions. Unfortunately, his insights are too broad to fit into this article, so you will have to wait for my upcoming article on token regulation.

Once your ICO plan has been sharpened by regulatory review, you've got to actually get people to give you money. I've talked to many investors over the last four years but one of the most innovative and perceptive is Mike Costache, cofounder of the d10e conference series. Talking to Mike is like trying to fill a tea cup from a fire hydrant. He was bubbling over with the tale of his latest success, the creation of a $27 million ICO for the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange. The d10e road show has an event every month and Mike heads the 120 member Blockchain Investment Consortium, so we'll be leaning heavily on his leader of the pack position to get a view into what's happening in the funding realm for a future article.

Closing:

Six months ago I published Your Guide On How To Run An ICO For Better Or Worse, which which explains the various aspects to consider once you have decided on the kind of token you want for your ICO, from security risks and regulations, to how investors evaluate projects before investing. I suggest you take a read.

If you're already in the process of rolling out an ICO and you've found yourself stuck, maybe I can help. My company, Inwage, provides advisory, consulting, engineering, and staffing services for companies building out initial coin offerings and blockchain based applications.

Disclosure: I am an advisor to both Kickcity and Blockchain Hotels, which were mentioned in this article.

…

The mobile for the age of cryptoThe new crypto-enabled Exodus 1 phone, manufactured by the Taiwanese company HTC is not far from arriving in the market. The new device is geared towards cryptocurrency use and protecting the users privacy. It will support swap 60+ ERC 20 tokens (Kyber Network, KNW; Basic Attention Token, BAT; DAI are among those). And thats just one of many exciting features.It comes with Opera 3.0 as its default browser, which, unlike Googles Chrome privileges the users privacy, and it also facilitates cryptocurrency transactions. The new phone allows users to call for ETH, BTC, and LTC requests. It also enables them to access decentralized applications in the cryptosphere on their mobile, using Opera.Theres a built-in wallet on the phone. It features Kyber Network liquidity that enables users to transact directly into the blockchain they want without recourse to a third-party exchange or platform. The Exodus 1 (successor to the Exodus, by the same company which is also geared towards crypto) will allow HTC to keep their techiest users on their toes, and help bring the cryptosphere closer to the mainstream.Phil Chen, the companys Decentralized Chief Officer, had this to say about the new phones features:The Bitcoin blockchain is about 200 [gigabytes], and its growing about 60 gigs per year. And those numbers are reasonable to hold on a smartphone. Imagine the iPod with 256 gigs of course, the music fan wants to keep the whole music library, but the crypto fan wants to keep the whole Bitcoin blockchain.HTC will be revealing further details about the new device gradually, including other features and price ranges. But it seems clear that HTC wants a broader user base, so the chances are that the new device will be significantly cheaper than the companys first crypto-enabled device. But those are rumors, not news.A mobile Bitcoin nodeAnother feature (and this one is indeed confirmed) is that the mobile will be able to run a fully functional node for the Bitcoin network out-of-the-box. That wont include mining (which hasnt been discarded for future versions), but it will be otherwise complete using a shorter version of the Bitcoin blockchain. That being said, the mobile will also support additional storage options so that users who want to run their node based on the full 200 GB blockchain can do it by just adding a microSD card.HTC is betting on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to have the edge over the mobile worlds big players (Samsung and Apple, mainly) which is why it released its Exodus phone last year and the new device sometime during the current year.How much of a role will HTC play in moving the crypto verse into the mainstream? Its anybodys guess for now. But this is the company that produced the first Android-based smartphone, so if we go by precedents, things look perfect for HTC and for crypto.So HTC will be an integral part of two worlds: the mobile industry and the crypto verse. It will be exciting to see how the new product affects things on both. Well be watching closely and reporting back to you.[Image courtesy of Flicker]Disclaimer: All information provided through this article should not be regarded as investment advice, nor should be taken for granted for crypto trading purposes. Before making any investment or trading plans, make sure to inquire about the information diligently by carrying out your very own research. Thank you.

Buying cryptocurrency in Singapore is easy. Within some minute, you can buy any digital assets of your choice, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. Using a secured and trusted platform gives you the safe ground to prospect the cryptocurrency world.

In this article, we’ll present you with the right guide on buying cryptocurrency in Singapore.

First, you will understand the general performance of digital assets and why you should buy them. Also, we reveal some top brokerages and exchanges where to buy cryptocurrency in Singapore. So, if you’re ready, let’s explore this route together!

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency, a digital asset, or a type of virtual money. It can serve as ordinary money like dollars, euros, and pounds but with no physical counterparts like banknotes or coins.

This implies that cryptos cannot be carried about; they exist only in digital, electronic, or non-tangible forms. Furthermore, Cryptos are not owned by the government or the central bank, and no governmental authority controls their technologies.

Most cryptos are decentralized and governed by users who stake these digital assets. Similar to normal or traditional money, cryptos are stored in a wallet on the blockchain.

However, they are stored in a manner accessible to only the owner with a private key for safety. The blockchain is an account ledger that keeps the track/record of all transactions.

Unlike standard money but similar to stocks, the crypto value is never stable; they fluctuate per second. That is why the crypto market is highly volatile, even though some cryptos are regarded as a store of value.

According to the coin market cap, Bitcoin is known as the first and highest crypto in the digital market. Moreover, it is the most used and is referred to as the de-facto digital crypto of choice in Singapore.

Singapore, in recent times, has emerged as a global hub for technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore’s financial regulatory body offer a stable regulatory and legal atmosphere for cryptocurrency businesses.

MAS regulates and monitors the crypto ecosystem against the risks accompanied by crypto trading activities like money laundering and Terrorism. Therefore, all the crypto in the digital market was developed for a particular purpose.

Bitcoin was developed to dare the global banking industry while Ethereum focuses on smart contracts. Crypto like Ripple creates a fast and cheap environment for financial institutions to send and receive funds. However, most people in Singapore engage in crypto activities to make more money, so they buy based on speculation. To invest in crypto and make more profit, below is an overview of how it works.

Let’s assume that you bought Ethereum worth 2,000 Singapore Dollars when the crypto price is $30,000. A few years later, the crypto price increased from $30,000 to $50,000, giving a percentage increase of 66.6%.

This implies that your 2,000 SGD investment has yielded a profit of 66.6% (0.666) of your investment capital. Therefore, if you liquidate your investment selling it back to SGD, your selling price will be (0.666*2,000 + 2,000) 3,332 SGD.

To calculate your profit, it will be 3,332 SGD – 2,000 SGD, which equals 1332SGD. It’s important to note that the crypto market is volatile; the prices change every second with little or big difference.

For instance, Ethereum price rose from $2,311(3,128SGD) to $2,316 (3,135SGD) at 12:20 pm and 12:24 pm respectively – a 0.2% increase. In 7days, the crypto recorded a 14.3% increase from $2,025 (2,741SGD) on July 22nd to $2,316 (3,135SGD) on July 29th.

Singaporeans invest their funds in crypto to make more money, just like every other investment. There is no doubt that the digital market is becoming crowded with investors as the awareness of crypto assets increases.

This growth is influenced by the growth of top cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In addition, Singaporean crypto investors now consider digital currencies as an investment tool because of their upside potential and MAS regulation.

The reasons why Singaporeans buy Crypto, in addition to the few points listed above, are;

The blockchain industry where the cryptos are built has proven to be a game-changer for numerous sectors. For example, it has been efficient in industries like banking, supply chain, and healthcare.

Moreover, it allows distributed ledgers to facilitate impossible economic activity by eliminating trusted actors and intermediaries from computer networks. This feature makes crypto investment attractive to Singaporeans who believe that crypto has a future.

People who believe that crypto investment is worth seeing it as an avenue to make more money while promoting the technology.

This is another common reason why Singaporeans choose to invest in crypto. Crypto investors desire to have a reliable, censorship-resistant store of value. Censorship-resistant means that crypto transactions cannot be altered on the investment platform.

In addition, most cryptos have a limited supply capped by mathematical algorithms, unlike fiat money. Hence, no government agency or political body can affect their value via inflation.

More so, cryptocurrencies are cryptographic– the government body cannot tax or confiscate the tokens without the owner’s consent. This attribute makes them attractive to investors with the concerns of bank failures, hyperinflationary events, and other disasters. Bitcoin proponents describe it as digital gold due to its censorship-resistant and deflationary properties.

The crypto market is recently dominated by speculative trading, while promoters believe that cryptocurrencies could be part of everyday life. However, the most widespread use of cryptos, according to blockchain studies, is exchange trades.

Thus, it accounts for more economic activities compared to everyday purchases and trades. As a new technology, the crypto space is expected to exhibit some speculative behavior as blockchain technology adoption increases.

However, new investors or beginners are advised to take a calculated risk and not a foolish one. They should be vigilant not to fall into psychological traps like Fear of Missing Out, herd instinct, or the Greater Fool Fallacy.

The significant ability is among the most unique and impressive aspects of crypto. It doesn’t rely on any central intermediary but on investors’ ability to keep the cryptographic keys controlling their accounts safely.

The crypto space has adopted many security measures to protect investors from scams, thefts, and other losses. Investors are expected to look out for these features and explore them as funds lost in the crypto space may be unrecoverable.

However, online theft is among the common threats to crypto investors; it’s referred to as hacking. Cyber hackers have stolen digital coins worth billions of dollars from Software wallets, exchanges, and ordinary users. In addition, they use many schemes to trick users into giving up their holdings, including market manipulation, social engineering, and doubling scams.

Cryptocurrencies are known for their volatility irrespective of their growth and popularity; they are highly speculative too. Unfortunately, this behavior is common among all the cryptos, and as such, it is best to invest or stake moderately.

The crypto space gives investors the leverage of buying any amount of crypto according to their pocket size. This will help you manage the risk associated with crypto investment properly without losing much of your funds.

Many Singaporeans now prefer investing through the Capital.com exchange to minimize cost. This is because the exchange allows you to have the best and fast trading experience at almost zero cost.

They will also give you access to a wide range of cryptos, and you can invest as low as $20 (27SGD). In addition, the blockchain industries allow investors to invest in more than one crypto at a time to minimize risk.

There are thousands of cryptos in the digital market listed by various exchanges that you can buy with ease. Unfortunately, this has decided on the crypto to buy a challenging task for investors, especially a newbie.

Learning how to buy crypto is not enough; you need to know the best crypto that suits your digital portfolio. Then, you can study the one discussed below and add the knowledge to the outcome of your research.

Bitcoin is referred to as a decentralized cryptocurrency invented under Satoshi Nakamoto’s nickname and launched in January 2009. It is the first and crypto that was launched in the market.

The crypto has recorded a $100 (135.38SGD) market cap of $200 (270.76SGD) billion in 2020. As of July 2021, the Bitcoin market cap has risen to over $744 (1,007SGD) billion, with a total circulating supply of over 18million BTC. This makes the BTC crypto more valuable than other coins listed in Singapore.

More so, Bitcoin holds a 60% market share of over 8,600 cryptos in the digital market; this is a unique advantage. As a result, it’s regarded as investors’ choice, especially for newbies awing to its global recognition.

The institutional investors are now buying, selling, and trading Bitcoin futures, making the crypto find its way to Wall Street. With the way Bitcoin crypto is breaking records, a Bitcoin ETF may get a green light in the nearest future.

In addition to being an exchange medium, Bitcoin is also taken to be a store of value. The Bitcoin exchange network enhances borderless transactions in 10minutes at the cost of less than a dollar.

As a store of value, it has the characteristics of gold and is a finite digital asset class. Presently, the bitcoin price is $39,763 (53.825SGD) with $31,096,274,042 (42,093,471,356SGD) as its 24-hour trading volume.

Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized blockchain with Ether (ETH) as its cryptocurrency, as described in its white paper in 2013. ETH serves as a platform for the execution of decentralized smart contracts and other numerous cryptocurrencies.

It was founded by Vitalik Buterin and seven other co-founders on July 30, 2015. Ethereum aims at becoming a global platform for DApps allowing users globally to write and run censorship and fraud-resistant software.

Ethereum has promoted the concept of a decentralized blockchain smart contract. Smart contracts are referred to as computer programs that execute the required actions for fulfilling an online agreement between parties. They were developed to minimize transaction costs and increase transaction efficiency by eliminating intermediaries.

The blockchain of Ethereum, with its ERC20 token compatibility standard, can host other cryptos tokens in addition to smart contracts. This has been the ETH platform’s most common use as it has hosted over 280,000 ERC20 tokens lately. This feature has made Ethereum crypto to be among the top 100 cryptos by market cap.

The current price of ether as of July 29th is $2,326 (3,146SGD), with a market cap of over $271 (366.54SGD) billion. Ether has a total token supply of 116million ETH with a 24-hour trading volume of $15,996,169,113 (21,635,298,610.41SGD).

Binance is one of the biggest and globally recognized cryptos founded by Changpeng Zhao and He Yi. They launched the crypto in July 2017 with BNB as its native token.

The crypto name is gotten from its technology Binary Finance –Binance. The Binance network includes Trusted Wallet, Binance Chain Academy, and Research projects. They all make use of decentralized blockchain technology.

The main purpose of BNB is to provide less trading commission for investors on the Binance exchange. Therefore, the Binance team has adopted the burning program; they burn BNB coins to reduce the BNB token supply.

This will, in turn, increase the crypto value and may attract more investors into the system. Early this year, 2021, the BNB token made a significant price rise and has become among the enterprise investors.

As of today July 29th, the BNB price is $314.9(426SGD) shifting from its high of $675.68 (914.13SGD) in May 3rd. It has a current coin market cap of $52,946,556,736 (71,631,396,608.13SGD) and a total supply of 168,137,036.00BNB. The 24-hour trading volume is $1,393,280,110 (1,885,149,787.23SGD).

Cryptocurrency trading and exchanges are legal in Singapore. However, the country took a more friendly approach to crypto issues than some of its neighbors. Though they have not considered crypto a legal tender, Singapore’s tax authority sees Bitcoin as goods. As a result, they have resorted to taxing crypto proceeds as it applies to other goods and services (Singapore’s version of Value Added Tax).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2017 took its position on crypto growth, declaring its intention to regulate the system. MAS seeks to regulate virtual currencies and digital payment tokens DPT so far; the token is labeled securities.

The regulatory body, later in 2020, issued a public warning on the risks associated with the crypto investment. Presently, any proceeds from crypto transactions are taxed the same way tax is paid on gains from stock investments.

Make no mistake about it; although cryptocurrencies no longer have a murky reputation in Singapore, the industry is still prone to scam artists. After all, digital currencies largely operate anonymously; transactions are not tied to the identity of the sender or receiver. In turn, this means that crypto-assets like Bitcoin are often the currency of choice for scammers.

With this in mind, there are several safeguards that you can take to ensure you buy cryptocurrency safely in South Africa.

There are so many ways to buy crypto in Singapore; check if the exchange you choose is regulated. Ensure that the exchange has enough available resources for new investors. How secured is the exchange? Look out for the following to confirm this;

­­­­Is it insured? Some exchanges ensure investors’ funds against theft and fraud.

Can you sign up from Singapore? Unfortunately, some crypto exchanges cannot operate in Singapore like eToro. So, look for the ones that you can easily sign up for there.

Peer-to-peer transactions involve the direct buying and selling of cryptos among users without any third party. The users here use market aggregators and charts to know when to buy, sell or hold their cryptos.

This transaction method is becoming so common among Singaporean investors, and it is not the best option. The process is based on trust and is very risky; no regulatory agency backs it.

Most beginners do think that storing their crypto holdings in a private wallet is not useful. Instead, they prefer keeping their assets on the exchange, which could be risky as exchanges don’t have private keys.

However, storing your crypto holding in a private wallet is part of the safe way to compete for your crypto buying transaction. It is the next decision to make once you have decided to enter the crypto industry.

However, a private wallet will help secure your crypto holdings from cyber thieves and hackers, unlike an exchange. Although with a regulated exchange, the story may be different. The types of wallets you can use are the software or mobile wallet and hardware or cold wallet.

Buying cryptocurrency in Singapore requires the use of a regulated and trusted brokerage or exchange. Using unlicensed companies creates some difficulties as they don’t have the legal right to handle fiat currencies. They can only transact on digital assets.

By using Capital.com to buy cryptocurrencies in Singapore, you have several payment methods at your disposal. Also, except for bank transfers, the other options impact instantaneously on your account.

Below are the available payment methods on Capital.com:

While considering to plunge into cryptocurrency investment, you must choose a trusted and prominent brokerage or exchange. Unfortunately, thousands of online crypto platforms can’t be trusted due to insecurity.

Most of them are not under any regulatory agency and comply with no laws to checkmate frauds and money laundering. In addition, trading on such platforms exposes you to the risks of losing your funds. Therefore, you’ll need to make some checks and balances before investing your money.

Having that in mind, we’ll present you with the best and trusted platforms where to buy cryptocurrency in Singapore. So not only will you have a safe environment to trade, but you will get meager fees on these highly equipped platforms.

Capital.com has risen as one of the top and outstanding platforms to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies globally.

Founded in 2016, the broker has created more accessibility of different financial instruments to its users. Its safe and unique platform has special tools and features for every customer, whether beginner or advanced.

The broker offers the trading of digital assets in CFDs. So for any cryptocurrency you want, you can buy the crypto CFDs instead of the tokens.

This removes the issues of getting a wallet for storage or keeping your crypto coins. Also, you’ll have no worries about the risks and stress associated with private keys and their safekeeping.

At Capital.com, most of the services for customers are free. The broker gives a 0% commission on trading. There are no fees for deposits, withdrawals, opening /closing trades, educational tools, real-time quotes, indicators/charts, and others. Capital.com uses the variable spread approach on the buying/selling of instruments for charges.

Furthermore, it supports several payment options for funds deposits. Some of the options include credit/deposit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, ApplePay, Neteller, Skrill, etc.

The platform has a low minimum deposit of €250 (about 405 SGD) for bank transfer only and $20 (27 SGD). Apart from bank transfers, deposits through other payment options reflect instantly in the user’s account.

When it comes to security, Capital.com has a tight spot for its users. The broker is under the regulation of top-tier financial agencies such as the FCA, CySEC, etc.

Hence, compliance with financial and security laws is a top priority for the company. The brokerage’s reputation speaks for it, and there’s why it boasts over 20 million users.

Capital.com offers a satisfactory experience to its users. Just with a single click, you can access over 3,000 financial market instruments in one same place. Some of the instruments include cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, forex, commodities, etc.

You won’t need to log in to different exchanges to access the multiple classes of instruments. Also, there’s a 24/7 customer support service on the platform through phone and emails.

Also, the broker has a unique smart trading app. There’s an integration of an AI in the trading system. This exposes cognitive detective biases in the trading patterns for users. It automatically identifies deviations in a trading pattern and alerts the user. Additionally, the AI provides helpful content to traders in boosting their skills and performances.

Capital.com has both web and mobile apps for customers’ convenience wherever and whenever. In addition, they have trade indicators, news, and analyses charts for the different market instruments.

In addition, the platform offers excellent educational resources for beginners to learn and improve on their transactions. Some of them are courses and webinars on crypto buying and trading activities.

Capital.com Transaction fees p>AvaTrade stands as the best platform if your interest is in advanced tools for your crypto transactions. The company is one of the leading and prominent sites for CFDs transactions in different financial instruments.

It offers CFD trading opportunities in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, etc. Some of the assets on the platform besides crypto include stocks, forex, ETFs, bonds, indices, and commodities.

The broker is under the regulation of top-tier agencies in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, and others. AvaTrade maintains a secured platform by complying with financial laws on security and anti-money laundering campaigns. Right from the account opening process, the company ensures KYC compliance and documentation.

Also, there’s encryption for every transaction on the platform via SSL technology. This maintains the security and confidentiality of customers. Using Avatrade means trading in a safe environment.

AvaTrade supports different payment options like bank transfers, credit/debit cards, e-wallets, and others. The minimum deposit through bank transfers is $500 (675 SGD), while cards and e-wallets are $100 (135 SGD).

The broker takes no fee for deposits and withdrawals of funds. The charges on the platform are based on spreads which vary by the market prices and digital assets. Also, you can leverage at different caps depending on your deposit amount.

The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. It comes with some advanced trading tools such as ZuluTrade, MetaTrader, and DupliTrade. In addition, users can access perform backtesting on historical price data using technical, analytical tools.

They can also create unique customized strategies for their trades. There are also charts and graphs displaying price changes for digital assets.

AvaTrade supports mobile app on iOs and Androids that help customers even when they are on the go. In addition, it has a demo account that gives beginners the right heads-up on the platform and in crypto transactions.

The platform offers 24/5 customer support in different languages via live chats, emails, and phones. However, a major downside for this broker is the high quarterly inactivity fee of $50 (67.5 SGD).

AvaTrade Transaction fees

Binance is a popular company and remains the largest global platform for trading volume and liquidity in crypto and other instruments. The broker has a wide range of cryptocurrencies listed on it.

Some of the digital assets available on the platform include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Ripple, and others. Also, Binance has its coin, the Binance coin (BNB), for trading. By using the platform, you can conveniently trade in crypto-fiat and crypto-cross pairs.

Also, you can different funds transfer options using Binance. The company supports bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and e-wallets. Besides bank transfers, the other options are instantaneous confirmation for your deposits. However, bank transfers take a longer time.

Binance uses an intermediary account for bank wires. The entire process will require 48 hours to complete, excluding weekends and public holidays. The minimum deposit on the platform is $100 (135 SGD).

The platform has both basic and advanced crypto trading versions. There are charts/graphs, trade histories, and order books. However, there are added tools for technical analysis on the advanced version. This helps the users while trading on crypto value over time.

Binance fees are competitively moderate. It has a 0.1% average fee for crypto trading. Withdrawal fees vary based on the digital asset.

The customer support service on Binance is a little below standard. There is no live chat or phone. Instead, the customers utilize support tickets through an online form on the website. The company makes responses through emails.

Binance Transaction fees

Kraken is another outstanding platform where you can buy and trade cryptocurrency in Singapore. Founded in 2011, the platform has made outstanding performance for over a decade.

It has a widespread reputation, respect, and trust with the crypto industry. Its services include digital assets such as Bitcoin, Etherrum, Ripple, and others. Also, it has other financial instruments like stocks, indices, etc.

The platform boasts unique trading tools and features. Using the broker allows trading on crypto futures. Another great outstanding feature is the ability to leverage up to 50:1 while engaging in crypto margin trading. Advanced investors will always prefer to stick to Kraken.

Also, the platform has a great user-friendly interface that beginners can easily navigate. Also, it has 24/7 customer support services through live chats. In addition, the broker runs a help center comprising detailed answers to the most frequently asked questions. You will also find information and guides for every aspect of cryptocurrency you want.

An education section on the platform hosts some content, tutorials, and articles suitable and helpful to beginners.

Kraken Transaction fees

Coinbase has a great reputation as the best user-friendly platform for cryptocurrency and other financial instruments. Its interface is straightforward and easy and most suitable for beginners. There is no complexity associated with the features on the platform. This account for its over 35 million users.

The broker has a wide range of digital assets available on the platform to boost your crypto portfolio. You can conveniently buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and others. There’s also the mobile app for easy transactions when you’re on the go.

The platform is a safe and trusted platform for crypto transactions, regulated by several licensing agencies, including FinCEN. Also, Coinbase has some security features like 2-factor authentication (2FA), email notifications, address whitelisting. Finally, there’s the Coinbase Vault, where you can lock all your withdrawal requests within 48-hour.

The broker supports funds deposits through bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and others. There’s a fee of 3.99% for deposits through debit cards. Though banks transfers are cheaper, they will a long time to get confirmation. The crypto trading commission fee is 1.49%. In general, Coinbase may be considered quite an expensive platform.

Coinbase Transaction fees

To get started on how to buy cryptocurrency in Singapore, you’ll need the service of a crypto brokerage or exchange. The process of opening an online account takes just some minutes to complete.

Remember that the reliability and security stance of such a platform matters a lot. Using a reputable brokerage such as Capital.com provides safety and cost-effective platform for buying cryptocurrency.

Here are the complete walkthrough steps in buying cryptocurrency on Capital.com at 0% commission.

Capital.com is the best platform to use for crypto activities in Singapore. The broker offers its customers most of its services for free, and where there are charges, they are competitively low.

You’ll have a 0% commission on crypto trading, and it accepts deposits in Singapore dollars. Also, Capital.com allows its users to leverage up to 1:5 in their transactions.

Visit the official site of Capital.com and click the ‘START NOW’ button to register for a new online account. Then, fill the on-screen form by entering some personal information such as your name, phone number, date of birth, etc.

Also, you’ll create a username and password for your login. Ensure to use a strong password to increase the security of your account.

Buy Cryptocurrency with 0% Commission Now >

Capital.com is under the strict regulation of three top-tier licensing agencies – the FCA, CySEC, and ASIC.

As such, the broker ensures compliance with security rules in account documentation and anti-money laundering campaigns. Thus, Capital.com carries out account verification and KYC documentation on every user.

The verify you’re your account, you will upload the following :

Account verification in Capital.com is near-instantaneous. Once you’re through with your uploads, you’ll receive a notification confirming the verification of your account.

After the account verification, you can process to deposit your funds in your account. Capital.com accepts deposits in Singapore dollars which it can convert to USD to your crypto transactions.

You’ll log in to your account and click on the ‘DEPOSIT’ button on your left-hand side.

Also, the broker supports different payment methods on its platform. Therefore, you should select any transfer method that is suitable for you. Some of the options available for users for first-time deposits include:

The platform supports subsequent funds deposits through Neteller and Skrill. The minimum deposit for all the payment options is $20 (27 SGD) except bank transfers. However, bank transfer has a minimum deposit of €250 (about 405 SGD). Also, the broker takes no charge for funds deposits irrespective of the payment options you chose.

Deposits through cards and e-wallets instantly impact your account, but bank transfers can take more time.

When the deposit reflects in your account, you can proceed to buy any cryptocurrency you desire. Capital.com trades on CFDs, so you’ll be getting your purchase in CFDs form.

From the search box, search and select the crypto you want to trade. Since the broker converts other fiat currencies to USD, you will choose the option that has USD/the crypto. Then, click the TRADE button on the right-hand side.

Enter the amount of the crypto CFDs your want to buy and set your order accordingly. Finally, confirm your order and conclude by clicking the TRADE button. Capital.com will execute your buy order using the best available market price. And there, you have your cryptocurrency.

Following this article, you now have all it takes on how to buy cryptocurrency in Singapore. The guide takes a deeper dive to clarify digital assets and the best brokers available for your purchase. It also reveals the trend cryptocurrencies available in the market for you, what to consider, and the potential risk in crypto investment.

Being fully equipped, you now understand what to expect as you leap into the industry. Remember, you must use the right ground for the investment of your digital assets. Capital.com gives you all and more than you can expect when buying cryptocurrency.

Starting from the account opening process to buying the crypto, 0% commission, and the leverage cap. You will never get it better out Capital.com. So, visit the site today and hit the STRAT button now!

Asad is a freelance writer. He is interested in cryptocurrencies, technology, and in particular the subject of online security. An open supporter of freedom of speech, privacy, and equality for all. On a personal level, he likes to stay socially active, loves playing snooker, cricket, enjoys seafood and loves listening to folk music.

LONDON (Reuters) – Meme-based virtual currency Dogecoin soared on Wednesday to an all-time high, extending its 2021 rally to become the fourth-biggest digital coin.

Dogecoin, launched as a satirical critique of 2013’s cryptocurrency frenzy, has climbed 41% in the last 24 hours to a record $0.68, according to CoinMarketCap.

This year alone it has soared over 14,000%, from $0.00468 on Dec. 31, taking it past more widely used cryptocurrencies such as the Tether stablecoin and XRP to become the fourth-largest by market capitalisation.

Dogecoin – whose logo features a Shiba Inu dog at the centre of the meme – remains little used in commerce or payments. Like other digital coins, it is highly volatile and its price is heavily influenced by social media users.

On Tuesday, the New York crypto exchange Gemini said it would start letting users trade and custody the token.

Some cryptocurrency market players said its volatility was its main draw, with a mixture of retail investors and market makers fuelling its trading volumes.

“The ugly truth is that a lot of crypto valuations are divorced from reality anyway,” said Joseph Edwards, head of research at crypto brokerage Enigma Securities.

“Right now, (Dogecoin) is being seen as it’s always been seen – an asset with surprising staying power that provides opportunities to take advantage of volatility every year or so.”

Dogecoins are now cumulatively worth $88 billion, compared to bitcoin’s $1 trillion and ethereum’s $391 billion.

(Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Alison Williams)

Bitcoin is not a security—but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be regulated, former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Jay Clayton said today. 

Clayton, who now advises One River Asset Management on cryptocurrency, told CNBC that Bitcoin was not a security long before he joined the SEC. But regulation of the asset will still inevitably come, he added.

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 1, 2021

“[Bitcoin not being a security] does not mean that it should not be regulated,” he said. 

“In fact, where digital assets land at the end of the day, which is very much a wide-ranging question, will be driven in part by regulation—both domestic and international—and I expect, and I’m speaking as a citizen now, that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly whether it’s through how these are held by banks, security accounts, taxation and the like.” 

Clayton’s comments come as Ripple , the company behind XRP , previously the third-most capitalized cryptocurrency in the market, asks the SEC to reexamine Bitcoin and Ethereum. Specifically, Ripple wants a court to compel the SEC to share its internal discussions about Bitcoin and Ethereum in the hopes that it will improve its own case for XRP.

Ripple is facing a billion-dollar lawsuit from the SEC, which filed its complaint just before Clayton stepped down as chairman. The Commission alleges that the company illegally raised $1.3 billion through the unregistered sale of XRP, which the SEC says was a type of security known as an investment contract.

But Ripple says XRP is not a security—but rather a cryptocurrency. The company is in the process of fighting the SEC’s lawsuit on those grounds. 

As part of its defense, Ripple asserts that the SEC should class XRP as a virtual currency, just like it classes Bitcoin and Ethereum virtual currencies and not securities.

The lawsuit has so far proven to be detrimental for the firm, and for XRP: top crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken have halted all XRP trading. The price of the currency also dipped, and it fell down the list of the top cryptocurrencies by market cap—dropping from third to seventh in a matter of months.

Some 59 million Americans own some form of cryptocurrency. Despite its volatility, crypto remains a favorite among investors looking for a hedge against expansionary monetary policies and an unstable global economy, as well as those looking for potential huge returns.

As crypto continues to grow in popularity, tax authorities are slowly pinning down compliance and reporting regulations and starting to scrutinize crypto creation, platforms and transaction data. The result could be a nasty surprise for your clients who transact virtual currency.

“For a typical investor of cryptocurrency, the tax treatment will be similar to how other securities such as stocks or mutual funds are handled,” said Austin Bennett, Milwaukee-based principal with CliftonLarsonAllen. “The investor achieves preferential capital gain rates if the cryptocurrency investment is held for one year or more but is subject to ordinary income tax rates if it’s held less than a year.”

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Jamie Hopkins, managing partner of Wealth Solutions at Carson Group in Philadelphia, adds, “When you transact with crypto, sell, exchange and so on, you need to think that [it] is likely a taxable event with a gain or loss attached. If you’re given a cryptocurrency as part of compensation, that is treated as ordinary income when earned.”

Seems straightforward, except that so far the regulation and enforcement still seem to fall short of other tax areas. “I’ve run into individuals who have hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars of taxable cryptocurrency transactions going on [who] are just paying no taxes at all,” Hopkins added.

The IRS made a crypto inquiry one of the first questions on the 2020 individual income tax return, though the question confused some taxpayers. Does the government want to know about mere purchases of cryptocurrency that don’t involve a sale?

Nevertheless, “it will be increasingly harder to hide crypto activity from the IRS,” said Julia Carlson, founder and CEO of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group in Newport, Ore.

Crypto comes with a cost basis, she said: “What you originally invested, and then it becomes a taxable event when you sell your crypto. It will either be a taxable gain or loss based on your cost basis. You’d then be subject to the same tax treatment as you would if you sold a stock or other capital asset.”

“Misconceptions are still prevalent in the cryptocurrency space but have largely been reduced as more detailed IRS guidance has been published,” said Tom Cardinale, a partner at EisnerAmper in Iselin, N.J., specializing in corporate taxes, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. He added that the IRS has posted long-awaited FAQs that address tax reporting issues for many cryptocurrency transactions, including capital gains treatment, ordinary income events, exchanges and accounting methods.

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The United States recently reached Tax Day. While always a daunting deadline,for crypto traders the recent changes in tax requirements for cryptocurrencies made it even harder.

However, US officials and exchanges worked together to help smooth over filing issues.

Tax Day is the last day US citizens can file their tax returns for the previous year.

This year marks the first time questions about cryptocurrency, and digital assets appeared on the form. Taxpayers were asked if they have received, sold, sent, exchanged, or earned any financial interest in virtual currency. 

A box with a simple “yes” or “no” option was where they provided their answer.  However, a simple as this sounds, much like anything to do with federal tax forms, it’s not so cut and dry. 

These new questions raised uncertainty among crypto investors. What transactions require me to report gains/losses?  Are NFTs part of the equation?  Do I need special forms?

This “crackdown” on crypto traders appears to stem from the growing tax gap in the US. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said that an estimated $442 billion in unpaid taxes is outdated because it does not account for virtual currency.  Rettig said of the tax gap estimate:

“It does not include any focus with respect to virtual currency, which I indicated now is about a $2 trillion market cap. It does not include much information with respect to foreign source income. It does not include information with respect to illegal source income, which is taxable, and we do chase.”

He said it would not be “outlandish” for the actual tax gap to be approaching $1 trillion and that the top 1% of earners account for $175 billion of the tax gap.  

The newest IRS guidelines state that cryptocurrency users must report their gains and losses. Specifically, if they received, sold, mined, or traded digital currencies in 2020. 

IRS Notice 2014-21 states that cryptocurrencies, despite operating as a real currency, do not have any legal tender status in any jurisdiction. Cryptocurrency, like bitcoin, is, therefore, “convertible” virtual currency. 

The notice, and the attached FAQ section, aim to help taxpayers understand why they are paying taxes on crypto and how to do it properly.

One crucial distinction the FAQ makes is for those who bought crypto with real currency in 2020 and did nothing else with it. These people could answer no to the cryptocurrency question.  

It is small loopholes like this that likely caused, and will continue to cause, a lot of headaches. Especially for crypto owners who tend to do their taxes themselves.

The IRS is aware that these new mandates cause confusion, even among tax veterans. As a result, it teamed up with several entities to try to smooth out the process. 

One example is the collaboration between Coinbase and the IRS. Along with other big crypto exchanges, Coinbase shares some customer records with the service. 

When the IRS looked over the records from Coinbase, it found 750 users who sold more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies. This included one trader who failed to report over $5 million in transactions. 

However, this doesn’t mean that the exchanges are just letting the government look in on users.

Coinbase does their part by updating the form they send users if they meet certain criteria.  These users were sent the 1099-MISC form if they received $600 or more in crypto from Coinbase Earn, USDC Rewards, or Staking. 

Coinbase sent both the user and the IRS a copy of this form so all parties can see what was earned from the platform and therefore what needs to be reported.

While the new regulations are an added stress for traders, the IRS did make an effort to warn those who would be implicated.

Over the last year, it has been sending out warning letters to customers who might need help with their forms or help to remember to pay their taxes. The letters come in three variants, 6173, 6174, and 6174-A, and all address crypto holdings.  

These letters also alerted users that the IRS knows about their virtual currency holdings and previously unreported accounts. During the last year, over 10,000 letters were sent to Coinbase customers alone. 

Coinbase is not the only exchange working with the IRS. As the new rules stay in effect, users should check if their exchange is sharing this information.  If they do, it is likely the IRS already has this financial information and can choose to conduct an audit.

It’s not just the exchanges trying to ensure their users know how to navigate these new rules. Companies specializing in crypto tax have been working to make traders’ lives easier.

One such company is Taxbit. The startup provides automated taxation software to crypto users and companies using crypto.  For example, BlockFi and Gemini are two of their larger clients. This is unsurprising as many big names see the need to help their users stay compliant with the updated regulations. 

This year, the IRS selected TaxBit to aggregate transaction data to make sure taxes paid and taxes owed line up. Co-Founder and CEO of TaxBit Austin Woodward said: 

“This is a milestone moment for the cryptocurrency industry. It indicates regulators are embracing the asset class but doing so in a way that ensures a straightforward approach to conform with existing regulations. We believe this is an important step for the enablement of widespread cryptocurrency adoption.”

The team-up came just weeks after TaxBit announced a $100 million Series A funding round led by PayPay.

Another partnership aimed at assuaging tax woes for crypto users is between ZenLedger and Abra.  ZenLedger is a crypto tax software and blockchain analytics company. Abra is a financial service and tech firm that operates an all-in-one, custodial crypto wallet and exchange. 

The collaboration allows Abra customers to access crypto tax help easily via the ZenLedger platform. As a result, users can view trading history, understand their liabilities and quickly generate tax forms using their stored info. 

While the tax filing for 2020 has passed, these new regulations are going to stick around. So keeping on top of the requirements will continue to be important for crypto traders into the future.

Matthew De Saro is a journalist and media personality specializing in sports, gambling, and statistics. Before joining BeInCrypto, his work was featured on Fansided, Forbes, and OutKick. With a background in statistical analysis and a love of writing, he takes an outside-the-box approach to reporting news.

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Nonfungible Tokens, specifically in the digital arts space, have taken the art and crypto world by storm. They have become the “killer app” of Blockchain and driven up the utilities and adoption of digital currencies.

An NFT (non-fungible token) certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items that reflect real-world assets, such as photos, art, videos, and audio that contain a permanent record of provenance, authenticity and ownership.

Tradeability and liquidity drive up the price of NFTs, but utility and meaningful stories elevate the staying power of NFT artwork pieces.  Now big brands are using NFTs to communicate, connect with fans, and capitalize on their brand equity.

NFTs have forged a new avenue for the traditional auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s to tap into the digital art markets. That has been a big win for them.  The NFT market has surged in Q2, 2021 with $2.5 billion in sales so far this year, an increase from just US$13.7 million in the first half of 2020.  In terms of digital art NFT, the main sales volume is driven by Cryptopunks ($666M), and a few NFT marketplaces, NBA topshot collectibles and the Beeples auctioned piece for $69M.

NFTs sell not only the visual but a story, which is not too different from a brand, advertising commercial, song, or movie etc.  In this case, the asset and narrative are condensed into a small or short format via NFT.  In the case of Beeple’s famous auction, the collector Metakovan explained he relates well to the meaning behind the Beeple NFT art piece.  Most of the successful NFT art drops or launches are from independent artists who have strong social media presence and also a strong background in the entertainment or advertising industries as a commercial artist. They are all good storytellers.  These artists are the behind-the-scenes heroes for some amazing commercials, music videos, concert lighting, design and more.  NFT empowers the digital artists to connect directly with their fans and be in the front instead of the backstage.  As a result, we at Affiniti Ventures | AV(M) funded the virtual Mavenarte NFT Art live event and initiative, the first venture-backed NFT art show.  It was created as a launchpad and a voice for top major digital artists in the entertainment space such as Carguin and Yuki Takahashi. While they tend to shy away from social media, the initiative successfully accelerated their entry into the NFT space and allowed them to auction off their NFTs on premium auction platform MakersPlace for their genesis NFT artworks.

Let’s take a step back and review the history of NFTs.  NFT is a customized set of smart contracts created on the Ethereum Blockchain. It was started as a side project at a design studio called Axiom Zen based in Vancouver, Canada. As an experiment, they decided to create Cryptokitties, a blockchain version of Tamagotchi, the popular digital pet toy from Japan. Cryptokitties was the first generation of NFT collectibles in the crypto space in 2017. Each kitty is unique and non-fungible meaning it cannot be copied. But Cryptokitties went beyond and made use of Genetic Algorithm. The developer team of Cryptokitties programmed the breeding and mutation into a set of complex (programmable) smart contracts, so as to gamify the digital kitty collectibles instead of releasing a collection of static images.  It gained enormous adoption and generated a total of 736414 transactions and 64616.3 ETH (which in current ETH price is equivalent to almost 200M).  The peak was around Dec 2017 but plunged soon along with the crash of the rest of the crypto market.   The underlying explosive growth lies in the utility of the product, in addition to the static records.

Many tried to follow suit and apply complex algorithms to create new applications and use cases via NFT and smart contracts, but mostly failed.  Then NFTs went through a dark period until they emerged in late 2020 as a reliable way to certify and track ownership of digital art.

Now many big brands are entering the NFT space; they are well positioned to connect with existing fans and consumers and expand awareness to different and new audiences.  Offering high quality NFT art or collectibles can elevate their brand value and positioning as a premium and innovative leader.  There are some interesting examples, including the most recent Coca Cola NFT (titled “The Friendship box NFT” or the first ever Coca Cola Loot Box NFT).  It’s sold for 217 ETH, with all proceeds going to Special Olympics International, Coca-Cola’s charity partner of 53 years.

Certainly, this is the first test for Coca Cola to explore in the NFT market.  The content and the campaign was a great promotional event to engage with the fans.

However, instead of only 1 of 1 edition, Coca Cola and their partner TAFI could add more utilities to the NFT drop, for example:

This isn’t a new concept. Many social tokens have already been created within the NFT community, but it would be a novel approach for big corporations and brands. The $Whale token and community created by a successful multi-millionaire NFT collector, WhaleShark, is an example of a well-run social community built around the social tokens.  The social token and community should be a good proven case study for all major companies. WhaleShark gained his wealth by collecting NFTs early on in 2017.  The $Whale team has amazing leaders such as WhaleShark Annissa and DeCryptolorian(DC). The $Whale token value has grown over 10x or 40x more during the peak, so something for brands to consider.

At Affiniti Ventures | AV(M) , we will continue to fund more projects that would apply the above approach to build social tokens and utilities in NFTs that brands can include as part of their marketing campaigns. Currently the team has an ongoing strategic partnership and discussions with big brands including Taco Bell, Johnny Walker and more. Other partners include a wealthy sneaker collector who owns a collection of rare physical sneakers worth over 1M.  Together, we tackle some of the intriguing questions and problems in NFTs and in the convergence of digital and physical collectible space.   As a precursor, we released an NFT based on the sneaker collector on MakersPlace.

AVM is always at the forefront of funding and empowering innovative ventures and initiatives including the Mavenarte NFT Art virtual live event in collaboration with some of the greatest NFT and digital artists and musicians including IntroToMusicTheory.com, LevZep, Richard Dixon (featured musicians and artists on a Defi NFT platform Charged Particles) and the two amazing artists Carguin and Yuki Takahashi who are from the AAA game studios.

Another venture invested by AVM is MomentSQ which has partnered with big brands on driving their digital content production and strategy.  They have partnered with brands like Sanrio for the IP Aggretsuko, a popular Netflix Anime series in the western markets.  It has achieved digital sticker usage and sharing for over 215 Million.

The impressive rise of the NFT market in Q1 2021 gives rise to the legitimate question whether it will stay or if brands will participate. The takeaway is that big brands are well positioned to capitalize on their brand equity by offering more utilities in their NFT offerings.

Written by LK Shelley, Managing Partner, Affiniti Ventures | AV(M)

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We are discovering a new reality. Things that were once unimaginable are becoming real and part of our world. Achieving quantum supremacy is one of the monumental breakthroughs that will revolutionize history. But, what effect will it have on Ethereum? Cryptographer and blockchain researcher Amira Bouguera explains in the following article.

“Science offers the boldest metaphysics of our age. It is a thoroughly human construct, driven by the faith that if we dream, press to discover, explain, and dream again, the world will somehow come clearer and we will grasp the true strangeness of the universe.”

TL;DR:

Our journey to quantum computing begins in 1981 when the brilliant Nobel prize winner Feynman raised the following question at an MIT conference on physics and computation:

At that time, no one thought it could be possible. This comes back to the definition of physics and the limits of classical computers. Physics is the study of energy, matter, and the interaction between them. Our world, and reality in itself is quantum in nature; electrons exist in multiple states at once, and we can’t model that properly with classical computers. Calculating every possibility is just too much for them, for example:

Feynman’s speech and accompanying paper in 1982 is the first work that explicitly discusses the construction of a machine that would operate on quantum mechanical principles. He discussed the idea of a universal quantum simulator, i.e., a machine that would use quantum effects to explore other quantum effects and run simulations.

Tech giants are racing to build the first quantum computer, a device with millions of times more processing strength than all the computers currently on Earth combined. Recently, in an article published in the scientific journal, Nature, Google announced that it has realised what was once thought to be impossible: achieving quantum supremacy. 

To explain quantum supremacy, it’s worth describing how quantum computers work. 

In a quantum computer, we have quantum bits (qubits), which can be in state 0 or 1 or both at once while classical computers are being represented by bits, which can be either in the state 0 or 1.

Qubits can be anything that exhibits quantum behavior: an electron, an atom, or a molecule. 

Two key aspects of quantum mechanics are superposition and entanglement. These two concepts are the secret behind the quantum computer’s superpower.

Superposition is an extraordinary phenomenon in quantum physics that quantum computers leverage. It allows a particle to exist in two separate states at once, as the result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur. 

A cat, with a Geiger counter, and a bit of poison in a sealed box. Quantum mechanics says that after a while, the cat is both alive and dead . `                        

Can a cat be dead and alive at the same time? 

We don’t know whether the cat is dead or alive until we look, and when we do, it is either dead or alive, but if we repeat the same experiment with enough cats, we see that half the time, the cat survives and half the time he dies.

In quantum physics, the entanglement of particles describes a relationship between their fundamental properties that can’t have happened by chance. This could refer to states such as their momentum, position, or polarisation.

Knowing something about one of these characteristics for one particle tells you something about the same characteristic for the other. This means that the person who opened the box in the previous experience is entangled or linked with the cat and that the “observation of the cat’s state” and the “cat’s state” correspond with each other.

Today, the use of the term “quantum computers” is no longer limited to scientific journals and physics conferences. Many players are engaged in a battle over who can build the first powerful quantum computer. These include commercial entities such as Google, Rigetti, IBM, Intel, D-Wave, IonQ, and Microsoft. Additionally, virtually all major nation-states are currently spending billions of dollars on quantum computing development and research.

Quantum supremacy is the notion of a quantum computer doing something that classical computers simply can not reasonably do. In this instance, the reported Google paper claimed it was able to perform a task (a particular random number generation) on its QC in 200 seconds (3 minutes 20 seconds) versus what would take 10,000 years on a supercomputer. 

Google has used Sycamore, its newly developed 53-qubit quantum processor, to achieve quantum supremacy. The purpose of this gate-based superconducting system is to provide a testbed for research into system error rates and scalability of their qubit technology, as well as applications in quantum simulation, optimization, and machine learning.

Although Google’s achievement was a huge step forward into the advancement of quantum computers, significant milestones remain ahead before a commercially viable quantum computer that can be used to solve real-world problems can exist.

Quantum computing is an unleashed power with two sides. On the one hand, it represents a significant breakthrough in fields like science, life-saving medical advances, and financial strategies. On the other hand, it has the power to break our current encryption systems used to protect information.

The security of most cryptographic methods currently in use, whether for encryption or digital signature, is based upon the hardness of solving some mathematical problems.

While computing discrete logarithms and factoring integers are distinct problems, they both are solvable using quantum computers.

Ethereum currently uses elliptic curve based schemes like the ECDSA scheme for signing transactions and BLS for signature aggregation; however, as mentioned above, the elliptic curve cryptography in which security is based upon the difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm is vulnerable to quantum computing and must be replaced with a quantum-resistant scheme.

The hash function SHA-256 is quantum-safe, which means that there is no efficient known algorithm, classical or quantum, which can invert it.

While there is a known quantum algorithm, Grover’s algorithm, which performs “quantum search” over a black-box function, SHA-256 has proven to be secure against both collision and preimage attacks. In fact, Grover’s algorithm can only reduce 𝑁 queries of the black-box function, SHA in this case, to √N, so instead of searching 2^256 possibilities, we only have to search 2^128, which is even slower than algorithms like van Oorschot–Wiener algorithm for generic collision search and Oechslin’s rainbow tables for generic pre-image search on classical computers. 

In the Ethereum 2.0 Serenity upgrade, accounts will be able to specify their own scheme for validating transactions, including the option to switch to a quantum-safe signature scheme.

Hash-based signature schemes like the Lamport signature are believed to be quantum-resistant , faster, and less complex than ECDSA. Unfortunately, this scheme suffers from size issues. The size of Lamport public key and signature together is 231 times (106 bytes vs. 24KB) more than the ECDSA public key and signature. So, the use of the Lamport Signature scheme will need 231x more storage than ECDSA, which is unfortunately too large to be practical at this time.

Ethereum developers are testing other quantum-resistant signature options like XMSS (eXtended Merkle signature scheme) signatures used by The Quantum Resistant Ledger blockchain , hash ladder signatures , and SPHINCS .

There are many reasons to switch to hash-based signature schemes like XMSS, as they are fast and yield small signatures. One major drawback is that XMSS signature schemes are stateful, due to their Merkle trees with many one-time signatures. This means the state has to be stored in order to remember which one-time key pairs were already used to create a signature. On the other hand, SPHINCS signatures are stateless as they use few time signatures with Merkle trees, which means no need to store the state anymore since one signature could be used multiple times. 

Hash-based RANDAO functions, which are used for random number generation in the beacon chain in Ethereum 2.0, are already believed to be post-quantum.

During Ethereal, Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation revealed the 2027 Ethereum 3.0 plan to move from the zk-SNARKs to zk-STARKs protocol. Both techniques allow the prover to convince a verifier about a particular claim by sharing only a proof that backs up the prover’s claim, without sharing any private information. These techniques are normally used as a privacy and scalability method to send confidential transactions on Ethereum or as a replacement of BLS signatures for signature aggregation. However, zk-SNARKS relies on pairings that are not quantum-resistant. zk-SNARKS uses a trusted setup, which runs the risk of being compromised, compromising the entire system, and allowing the generation of false proofs. ZK-STARKs, on the other hand, are quantum-secure as they are based on hash and not pairings. They improve upon this technology by removing the need for a trusted setup.

Google has accomplished a great achievement. This technology will harness the unusual laws of quantum mechanics to bring unimaginable advances in fields like materials science and medicine. Simultaneously, it could also pose the greatest threat to cybersecurity yet. Fortunately, the threat is not yet here. No one knows when the quantum power will strike, but when it does, Ethereum will be prepared.

Developers from the Ethereum community have begun working on alternative cryptographic signature schemes to replace those vulnerable and build a secure, resilient post-quantum Ethereum protocol. Additionally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated a process to solicit, evaluate, and standardize one or more quantum-resistant public-key cryptographic algorithms. At the time of this posting, NIST has short-listed 26 algorithms for post-quantum cryptography standardization to advance to the next round of testing.

Amira Bouguera is a cryptographer and security engineer at ConsenSys Paris. She teaches cryptography Université Paris 8.

XRP is Back on the Phemex Crypto Exchange Yes, that’s right! Due to the popular demand of crypto trading enthusiasts, Phemex reconsidered its position regarding the XRP controversy and decided to lift the ban.

Along with XRP, Phemex listed eight new coins, which proved to have incredible potential. All of them will be available for spot trading against USDT and as linear contracts with up to 20x leverage. 

Why was XRP suspended? Ripple was in a pretty tight spot in the last couple of months due to the Lawsuit issued by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC accused Ripple that it has sold XRP as an unregistered security, despite XRP being a bridge currency. It was believed that Ripple sold its currency to family members at a lower price, with the purpose of reselling them at the market value in order to generate profit.

So until the information was clear enough, most crypto exchanges decided to suspend it.

But XRP holders didn’t like it, especially big companies. So they started to defend Ripple against SEC accusations. Among the defenders, we can see the lawyer John Deaton – who promised to fight for 11,000 XRP holders.

Therefore, due to the popular demand for XRP, Phemex decided to get it back for spot and contract trading. 

What are the new coins? As you may already know, Phemex is a lot more stringent than other exchanges because they want to provide their users with the best options available on the market. So not any cryptocurrency gets listed.

The crypto projects need to be fully vetted and have amazing potential and public demand. After careful research, Phemex listed the following new cryptocurrencies:

This token was built for the digital advertising industry – so that publishers, creators, and advertisers are paid as they deserve. And because the team behind BAT chose its target audience so well, it got over 1 million users in just a single year. 

The Market Cap hit over $1.8 billion, with a trading volume of $490M in the last 24h. Therefore, it has all it needs to be accepted by Phemex. 

Chiliz got its spotlight on the market with another surprising target audience – the sports lovers.

The token is the core cryptocurrency for Socios.com, where people can purchase branded Fan Tokens from popular sports teams like FC Barcelona, Juventus, or Atletico de Madrid. 

Its Market Cap reached over $4 billion, with a trading volume of $459M in the last 24h. 

Another innovative crypto project that has to be listed on Phemex. MANA is the core crypto for Decentraland, a platform where people can trade their assets in a fully virtual world.

This virtual realm is built entirely by users – every scene, structure, t-shirt, or dragon. So there’s another target audience – video gamers.

With so many digital designers and gamers out there, there’s no surprise that it hit a Market Cap of over $2 billion and a 24h trading volume of $220M. 

Enjin Coin backs up a blockchain project that allows users to create, manage, and trade fungible and non-fungible tokens. So far, over 1 billion gaming assets were created, and they don’t lack creativity. Spaceships, vehicles, armors, you name it.

The numbers speak for themselves – $2 Billion Market Cap and a 24h trading volume of $280M.

SUSHI opens the door to a fully DeFi platform, where users can swap, earn, stack yields, borrow, or leverage crypto assets.

Besides its complete ecosystem, Sushy Swap conquered crypto enthusiasts with its unique approach to present its products.

Dapps’ storage is named “the Bento Box” for example. So what brought SUSHI to its Market Cap of $2 billion is a great marketing strategy. The team knew how to make it sound different than other DeFi platforms. 

By holding SNX, you are providing collateral to the Synthetix protocol in exchange for rewards. You can trade Synths with infinite liquidity and zero slippage.

Phemex got it on the list because of its amazing stats, like the $2,06 Market Cap and the 76,000+ holders.

GRT is the core currency for a crypto platform built for APIs. On the platform, you can build APIs for DeFi, Marketplaces, and even Social Media.

The project is backed up by top brands in the crypto domain, like Coinbase Ventures, Compound, or Multicoin. No wonder they’ve got a market cap of $1.9 billion. 

MKR is the utility token of the Maker DAO platform, and everyone who holds it has something to say in future decisions regarding the main project.

It has one of the biggest Market Caps in the crypto area – almost $6 billion, with a $1 billion trading volume in the last 24h.

Having 9.91% of the total market really says something, especially because there are over 8,000 cryptocurrencies right now. 

Who is Phemex? Phemex is a crypto exchange company managed by leading traders of Wall Street. It offers up to 100x leverage and is by far one of the safest crypto platforms out there — with offline signatures cold storage, just to mention a few.

But Phemex is way more than that.

The enjoyable activities that his team organizes for users make Phemex stand out. Take, for example, the Trading Arena competition, where users can join forces to receive huge prizes. The last edition finished with an 8 BTC total prize pool for the best teams.

If you want to be up with the news, follow Phemex on Social Media and get the best out of trading!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Phemex.official Twitter: https://twitter.com/phemex_official Telegram: https://t.me/Phemex_EN LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/phemex

This stablecoins list won’t give investors access to the wild price swings that put crypto on the map. Stablecoins are conspicuously less volatile than most other cryptocurrencies. They accomplish this by pegging their value to a more stable asset.

For instance, some stablecoins are backed by a dollar reserve. These reserves are usually handled by an independent administrator. And the administrator is regularly audited to certify that the fixed ratio between the reserve and the coin (typically 1:1) is warranted. But this is just one of several examples of an asset that a stable coin can be pegged to.

There are commodity-collateralized stablecoins. These are backed by assets such as precious metals, oil or even real estate. There are also crypto-backed stable coins. And there is something called “seigniorage style” stablecoins. These are managed and backed by an algorithmic process as opposed to a hard asset. The algorithm naturally expands and contracts this sort of stablecoin’s supply. This process is modeled after the way central banks manage monetary supplies. And it naturally keeps the value very… well, stable.

This isn’t an exhaustive stablecoins list. There are several other types out there. But these are the main examples and the ones that we’ll be taking a closer look at going forward.

We’re starting off our stablecoins list with the largest stablecoin by market cap. Tether is a pretty standard blockchain-based cryptocurrency. When it first launched in 2014, Tether set out to back each token 1:1 with U.S. dollars. That’s no longer the case, though. These days, each Tether token is backed by Tether’s reserves. (You can check out Tether’s transparency page here.)

As a store of value, Tether is extremely reliable. But what’s most interesting is how quickly Tether’s usage has surged of late. This stablecoin recently surpassed the $1 trillion mark on a yearly basis for the first time in terms of adjusted on-chain volume. It makes up more than half of the overall transaction volume of stablecoins. And adoption is still rising. That makes this one of the most promising cryptos on our stablecoins list.

With a market cap just above $1 billion, Paxos would be considered tiny compared to Tether. But it doesn’t appear like that will be the case for long. It is an extremely well-regulated stablecoin. And it’s one of the few that have been approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services. This helped pave the way to a major partnership with PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL). The approval played a major role in allowing it to get into the crypto business. And having a friend in the form of this payments systems giant will be very helpful in introducing increased adoption. That makes this one of the more promising tokens on our stablecoins list.

This extremely reliable stablecoin is about on par with Paxos in terms of market cap. This one is 100% backed by the U.S. dollar. And it also happens to be one of the most liquid stablecoins available to date. TrueUSD is a product of the TrustToken team, which has developed an excellent reputation for developing asset-backed tokens.

It’s also worth noting that TrustToken has developed partnerships with banks to store the funds backing this stablecoin. But the most obvious reason to like TrueUSD is that is has lower transaction fees than wire transfers. And on top of that, it offers above-average interest rates on stored balances. All these factors make this a no-brainer for our best stablecoins list.

In terms of market cap, USD Coin is the second-largest stablecoin. It was developed by the Centre Consortium, which is a collaboration between Circle and Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN). This Ethereum-based stablecoin is also pegged to the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio. And it’s available in just about every crypto exchange out there. (If you happen to be in search of an exchange, you can check out a side-by-side comparison of two of our favorites here.)

Because it operates on the Ethereum network, USD Coin can be transferred around in the world in virtually no time. This also makes it a very cost-efficient means of transferring funds. And just for peace of mind, U.S. dollar reserves are audited monthly by the giant accounting firm Grant Thornton. All of this makes this one of the stablest coins on our stablecoins list.

Not to be outdone by Coinbase, Binance developed a stablecoin of its own that’s also pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. And it can also be used anywhere the ERC-20 Ethereum platform is accepted. This means that Binance USD can be used for many forms of commerce, and transactions can be completed in mere minutes. This stablecoin has also been approved by the New York State of Financial Services. Like Paxos Standard, there are no fees associated with creating and redeeming Binance USD. And needless to say, this is the go-to stablecoin for those who prefer to use the Binance exchange for their crypto transactions.

For starters, the stablecoins on this list all come with a hearty dose of transparency, as all transactions are recorded on a public ledger that can be monitored by anyone. The other reason these stablecoins make for a good investment is that transaction speeds blow traditional payment methods out of the water. Have you ever seen a change show up on your bank statement days after you made it? That doesn’t happen on blockchains. And stablecoin transactions don’t rely on third parties to verify transfers. This leads to lower fees.

For someone using crypto as a means of transferring their money (or buying other cryptos), this stablecoins list is simply ideal.

One of the big reasons crypto has caught on is its decentralized nature. But the same can’t be said for the tokens on this stablecoin list. For the most part, they are created by centralized outfits that own the currency. While this keeps them much less volatile than traditional cryptocurrencies, it also means that they are less prone to grow in value. If you’re looking for the next moonshot, there are other coins, like SafeMoon or Telcoin, that might be of interest.

The investment opportunities on our stablecoins list won’t be making anyone rich. But they do offer an additional way to diversify your crypto portfolio… while getting a nice dose of stability in the process. They can also offer a sort of safety net for those trading in some of the more volatile altcoins. If the value of a coin is rapidly declining one of the easiest ways to exit a position is by simply trading it for a stablecoin. It’s an easily accessed escape hatch that can be used to store value while deciding on your next trade.

If you’re not sure what your next crypto trade should be, we suggest signing up for Manward Financial Digest. Manward founder – and crypto expert – Andy Snyder offers all sorts of ways to put stablecoins to work while trading them in for some of the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies on the market. Just enter your email address in the box below and start preparing for your next crypto trade.

Blockchain technology provides a beneficial layer of openness and transparency that current centralized networks cannot, but some private data isn’t meant to be shared publicly. 

How many people want to use a network that shares their financial details and identifying information to everyone, for example?

That’s the issue that Secret Network aims to solve. By enabling programmable smart contracts that run on blockchain and compute within trusted execution environments, shielding the data from the nodes themselves, Secret Network promises the transparent benefits of blockchain with the kind of security and privacy that users demand from web services.

Here’s a look at how Secret Network works and what the community behind it hopes to achieve with the project.

Secret Network is a blockchain built specifically for data privacy. By supporting encrypted inputs, outputs, and smart contract states, Secret Network enables programmable smart contracts that keep user data safe. If coins like Monero and Zcash are the privacy-centric evolution of Bitcoin, Secret Network’s smart contracts are like an evolution of Ethereum’s own smart contracts, building upon that premise while enabling the secure transfer of private data.

Secret Network was born out of Enigma, a startup that developed the concept of a decentralized protocol for secret smart contracts. Enigma raised $45 million in a 2017 initial coin offering (ICO), but faced enforcement from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 that forced a settlement with the SEC.

Ultimately, the community around Enigma decided to continue that vision as an independent, decentralized project, which is how the current version of Secret Network was born. A swap allowed holders of Enigma’s Ethereum-based ENG token to trade 1:1 for SCRT, the native coin of Secret Network used for governance and paying fees. Enigma remains involved as one of the key players in the community supporting development of Secret Network.

Secret Network is a layer-1 blockchain with its own consensus and on-chain governance, built atop the Cosmos /Tendermint framework. It relies on a network of distributed nodes that perform the computation of smart contracts built on Secret Network, but the nodes use a trusted execution environment (TEE)—like a black box—to do so away from prying eyes.

It’s similar to how a smartphone processor uses a TEE to handle sensitive data like fingerprints, but it’s a blockchain node instead. The network bills its smart contracts as “secret contracts,” as they’re designed to preserve the privacy of the data held within. The SCRT (“Secret”) coin must be staked by nodes to participate in the network, plus it is used to pay fees and transfer value.

There’s a lot to like about blockchains as far as being immutable and transparent, but that kind of openness limits the kind of data that can be safely handled by many blockchains—particularly top-secret data that people or companies wouldn’t want seen by just anyone. 

Secret Network aims to plug that hole by providing the layer of privacy and security while still keeping what people like about blockchain technology—the best of both worlds, in theory. While it’s not the only company attempting to fill that void, it’s a concept that could be key to driving the future of certain decentralized apps (dapps), particularly in the realm of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Secret Network is designed to empower decentralized applications that demand a level of privacy not found on many other blockchain networks. By using a trusted execution environment and keeping private data away from both the public and node operators, it can handle sensitive information that users and organizations might not otherwise be willing to share.

The network’s operators have proposed a wide number of potential use cases, including credit scoring and lending dapps that ensure privacy, machine learning capabilities that still retain privacy in the process, and improving the ability to safely share and monetize data. More widely, Secret Network could potentially be useful to any dapp that handles sensitive data.

In this blog: how you can receive $SEFI, recent @secret_swap growth and improvements, upcoming bridges (including #BSC and beyond), and more!$SCRThttps://t.co/GCxGf8T30B

— 𝕊ecret Network (@SecretNetwork) March 17, 2021

With the ENG-to-SCRT token swap concluding in January 2021, effectively closing the book on the old Enigma project, Secret Network is trying to build towards a future that embraces interoperability with other blockchains. A lack of cross-chain compatibility could limit Secret Network’s appeal and ultimately keep it from being as widespread or useful as the community developers intend it to be.

Secret Network is also making a big decentralized finance push with its Secret DeFi initiative, and launched a SecretSwap decentralized exchange in February 2021. According to the Secret Network FAQ , “part of our vision has always been bringing privacy to every blockchain,” and it calls out Cosmos inter-blockchain communication and interoperability as another potential initiative on the roadmap.

Beyond that, Secret Network appears focused on attracting more developers to build their dapps on the blockchain, thus demonstrating more use cases in the process. It’s not the only blockchain with privacy-focused smart contracts ( Oasis Network is another example) and there are other potential solutions to the dilemma of handling sensitive data on blockchain—such as secure multi-party computation. Whether Secret Network’s solution ultimately stands above others currently on the market or even on the horizon remains to be seen.