Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Privacy protocol’s dogged focus on untraceable coins and anonymous communication

In a battle of animal-themed cryptocurrencies, a bullock-branded, anonymity-focused protocol is making the case that it is faster, safer and cleaner than the shiba inu-faced joke coin that became a top 10 cryptocurrency this year, largely on the strength of Elon Musks memes.　　Animals aside, the Oxen privacy coin does have some reason to compare itself with market darling Dogecoin. Speed, for one. While DOGE‘s block time is one minute compared to OXEN’s two, Oxen can use what it calls Blink technology, which is the default setting for OXEN to make the transactions nearly instant.　　On top of that, Oxen has moved to a far more environmentally friendly proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, rather than the power-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) technology that DOGE shares with Bitcoin. Additionally, Oxen uses staked service nodes, which can be used to power blockchain-based, mass market-focused DApps — like the anonymous messaging DApp Session and Tor-challenging router Lokinet that Oxen has launched.　　While Oxen was designed specifically with anonymity in mind — something that the Colonial Pipeline ransomware hackers discovered is not inherent in pseudonymous-but-transparent Bitcoin after the FBI recovered $2.3 million in ransomed Bitcoin — DOGE was literally designed as a joke.　　“Although DOGE might be a meme — that

2021-06-29Deep Dive

Fitch Ratings Warns Against El Salvador Bitcoin Move

Fitch, one of the “big three” credit rating agencies, has cautioned that El Salvadors move to make Bitcoin legal tender would put banks at risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion.　　El Salvadors president, Nayib Bukele, announced last week that Bitcoin would become legal tender on September 7.　　However, the World Bank, the IMF, and other global authorities have been critical of the move. The World Bank has refused a request from El Salvador to assist in the countrys implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender.　　In a blog post on Friday, Fitch warned that Bitcoin could potentially violate international anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing standards, and facilitate tax evasion.　　Links between organized crime and Bitcoin are a particular concern for regulators. Bukele has repeatedly denied links to MS-13 and Barrio 18, two of the largest drug cartels in Central America. But critics have said that he worked with the gangs to assist his political career.　　One of the Salvadoran governments partners in its plans is Chicago-based Zap Solutions Inc., whose digital wallet, Strike, is already being used by some Salvadorans.　　Last week, Decrypt reported that Zap lacks licenses to operate in most U.S. states. This makes it illegal for Salvadoran emigrants to send

2021-06-29Deep Dive

South Korean Crypto Exchanges Ready for Legal Fight Amid Closure Threats

South Korean crypto exchanges are preparing lawsuits to sue the government or challenge it in the constitutional court if they fail to meet a September regulatory deadline and are obliged to close.　　New regulations for crypto exchanges, which have already passed into law, will be enforced as of September 24. But thus far none of the nations 60 functioning crypto exchanges have met the exhaustive list of criteria required to obtain operating permits.　　Even the nations “big four” exchanges – Upbit, Korbit, Bithumb, and Coinone – are still to secure the key banking deals required, while the regulatory Financial Services Commission (FSC) is set to conduct on-the-spot checks at all 60 South Korean trading platforms.　　But while exchanges are holding onto the hope that the FSC and the government will soften their stances as the deadline approaches, anger is mounting in the crypto sector, with a grim acceptance across the industry that as things stand “most exchanges” are still set to close on September 24 unless the government backs down.　　According to Yonhap and Dailian, the chasing pack of larger non-big four exchanges is growing increasingly disgruntled with what they see as “unreasonable demands” placed upon them and the regulators “preferential treatment” of the

2021-06-29Deep Dive

Banco Sabadell's TSB Bank to Ban Cryptocurrency Purchases

London-based TSB Bank—which is owned by Spanish banking giant Banco Sabadell—is intending to prohibit cryptocurrency purchases, according to a June 28 report by Business Insider.　　Its unclear when the ban will come into effect.　　Crypto-related fraud appears to be the primary concern that influenced the decision, according to the banks spokesperson:　　“We take our obligation to protect customers extremely seriously and continually review merchants and websites with excessively high fraud rates.”　　The ban might also have been prompted by the Financial Conduct Authority banning Binance Markets Limited from operating in the country last week. Its worth noting that all products and services offered by the Binance crypto exchange are still fully accessible in the U.K.　　849 TSB customers lost money on Binance in the span of one month.　　As reported by U.Today, British digital bank Starling also suspended payments to cryptocurrency exchanges in late May to protect customers before resuming them in early June.

2021-06-29Deep Dive

Trik Dimainkan dalam Perdagangan Cryptocurrency!

1. Menuai keuntungan　　Peranan yang dimainkan oleh influencer dan media massa dalam industri ini sangat kuat, dengan menggunakan aset digital sehingga menjadikan nama rumah tangga tidak diketahui dan secara dramatik meningkatkan nilainya kepada para pemula untuk melabur. Manipulator menjual duit syiling mereka kepada pemula dengan memanfaatkan nilai yang mencapai puncaknya.　　2. Duit syiling untuk pemasaran pelbagai peringkat　　Beberapa syarikat cryptocurrency melancarkan kempen untuk pembiayaan orang ramai dan melanggan. Harga untuk duit syiling sangat rendah dan dijanjikan akan melonjak dengan cepat. Sebilangan peniaga yang tunduk pada godaan itu dirugikan oleh harga yang dimanipulasi oleh syarikat-syarikat ini. Semua dana mereka yang dilaburkan akan berakhir dengan apa-apa apabila harga mencecah palung dan runtuh.　　3. Perdagangan over-the-counter (OTC)　　Beberapa pemula yang merancang untuk membeli mata wang digital mungkin ditipu oleh iklan untuk menjual duit syiling dengan harga yang jauh lebih rendah daripada pasaran dalam kumpulan sembang. Mereka terpikat untuk membuat simpanan untuk duit syiling tanpa rasa curiga biasanya oleh pesanan dari penipu yang menggunakan potret yang menawan sebagai penyamaran tetapi disenarai hitam segera setelah kedatangan dana mereka di akaun penipu. Oleh itu, jangan menjadi bijak dan bodoh kerana tidak ada makan tengah hari percuma di dunia!

2021-06-28Deep Dive

Hashing out a future: Is Bitcoin hash rate drop an opportunity in disguise?

China‘s crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations has led to a significant drop in the network’s hash rate, but industry participants believe it presents an incredible opportunity for the wider mining ecosystem.　　China has long been a major contributor to the Bitcoin mining space, at times accounting for more than 70% of the global hash rate of the world‘s preeminent cryptocurrency. That was up until June 2021, when the Chinese government moved to shutter a number of the world’s biggest mining centers.　　The Chinese southwestern province of Sichuan has an abundance of hydroelectric power, which is fed by Asia‘s largest river, Yangtze. The advent of ASIC mining saw the province become home to some of the biggest mining operations in the world over the past few years due to its favorable electricity rates. But that is now coming to an abrupt end, driven by the country’s hardening stance on cryptocurrency mining and the ecosystem in general.　　Local media has reported that 26 major Bitcoin mining hubs were forced to shutter in Sichuan, which has had a dramatic effect on the global hash rate. The Bitcoin hash rate peaked mid-May at 171 terahashes per second (TH/s) but has dropped to a low of 83

2021-06-28Deep Dive

Chia: The Main Hard Drive Price Influencer

Hard disk sales are expected to diminish as the price of Chia falls by 70%.　　Seagate has increased its revenue expectations with an improved SEC filing from $2.85 billion to $2.95 billion.　　Plotting Chia on SSD and HDD impacts the lifespan of the hard drives.　　Rising demand in hard drives increases the utilization of the production line, which otherwise would be idle.　　Examining the potential of green Bitcoin alternatives involves directing attention to newer consensus mechanisms. The Chia Network has developed a reputation of being environmentally friendly as it does not rely on the proof of work mechanism to secure the network. Built by BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, Chia operates on a proof of space and time protocol that requires hard drives to plot blocks. SSD and HDD prices have soared amid early adopter hysteria.　　Digging for Hard Drive Gold　　The Chia Network‘s green mining marketing positively impacted the public’s attitude towards mining. The network represents an energy-efficient alternative as it is solely dependent on hard drives. Reports indicate hard drive shortages occurred for both enterprise and consumer-grade hardware. A Vietnamese report highlights that enterprise-grade hard disks were being resold to Chinese consumers. Furthermore, Chinese reporter WuBlockchain revealed that a 16T WD hard drive amounted to

2021-06-28Deep Dive

Cryptocurrency: The future of futures?

Institutional inflow to crypto is only getting started, but the technology promises to improve the futures markets beyond crypto.　　Many traders entering cryptocurrency markets from traditional finance may look to derivatives as vehicles for price speculation and hedging. There are plenty of choices when it comes to exchanges and instruments; however, traders should consider a few key differences between crypto futures and traditional futures before dipping a toe into this rapidly growing market.　　Different instruments　　Traders entering cryptocurrency from the traditional markets will be accustomed to futures contracts with a fixed expiration date. Although fixed expiration contracts can be found in cryptocurrency markets, a significant proportion of crypto futures trading is in perpetual contracts, also known as perpetual swaps. This variation of a futures contract does not have a fixed end date, meaning the trader can hold an open position indefinitely.　　Exchanges that offer perpetual contracts use a mechanism known as “funding rate” to periodically balance the price variances between the contract markets and the spot prices. If the funding rate is positive, the perpetual contract price is higher than the spot rate — longs pay shorts. Conversely, a negative funding rate means that shorts pay longs.　　Moreover, traders that come to cryptocurrency from traditional

2021-06-28Deep Dive

Heads Up: Tricks Played in Cryptocurrency Trading!

The digital currency industry is rife with miracles and pitfalls. Tricks commonly used in this field are introduced herein to protect you from frauds!　　1. Reaping profits　　The role played by influencers and mass media in the industry is powerful, hyping a digital asset up to make a household name out of an unknown and dramatically increasing its value to bamboozle novices into investing. Manipulators sell their coins to beginners by taking advantage of the value reaching its peak.　　2. Coins for multi-level marketing　　Some cryptocurrency enterprises launch campaigns for crowd-funding and subscribing. Prices for coins are extremely low and are pledged to surge rapidly. Some traders who succumb to the temptation are harmed by prices whipsawing wildly manipulated by these companies. All their funds invested will end up with nothing when prices hit the trough and collapse.　　3. Over-the-counter (OTC) trading　　Some novices planning to buy digital currencies may be swindled by advertisements for selling coins with prices much lower than market ones in chat groups. They are enticed into making deposits for coins without suspicion usually by messages from swindlers who use charming portraits as a disguise but are blacklisted soon after the arrival of their funds in scammers‘ accounts. Hence, please don’t be

2021-06-28Deep Dive

How SPACs & Bitcoin Disrupt Common Wisdom Of Investing

What do Taylor Swift‘s record company and Asian “superapp” Grab have in common？ They are both part of Wall Street’s recent dealmaking fad: special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).　　SPACs are shell companies that are floated on the stock market with one purpose: to buy another company. This aims to achieve the same as a stock-market listing or initial public offering (IPO), but in reverse. Instead of a traditional company seeking to raise capital from investors through an IPO, with SPACs the empty listed company is set up first. For this reason, they are sometimes known as blank-cheque companies.　　Depending on where the SPAC is listed, whoever is in control usually has two or three years to find a company to buy. If they fail, the SPAC will be wound up and the funds returned to investors.　　The SPAC explosion　　SPACs have been around since the 1990s, but they exploded in popularity in 2020 and early 2021. This is partly because there has been more and more capital looking to make money, since bonds have been paying unattractively low interest rates, and far fewer companies are listing than in previous decades.　　Regulations have made traditional flotations slower and more expensive. Flotations are also traditionally underpriced on

2021-06-28Deep Dive

...

551553

...

737