Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Immutable Introduces Gas-Free Layer 2 Solution for NFTs

Non-fungible tokens are making all the waves in the industry with the massive growth experienced recently. It appears there‘s still more to come. Resources geared towards the sector’s growth keep surfacing. The latest is a gas-free layer-2 solution for NFTs, Immutable X, developed by Immutable.　　Immutables solution targets one of the biggest barriers to mainstream NFT adoption–high gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum houses most decentralized applications and NFT platforms.　　As a result, NFT enthusiasts have suffered from the high gas fees on Ethereum. Immutable X Alpha introduces a solution that enables minting and trading of NFTs without incurring gas fees. Immutable Founder Robbie Ferguson said:　　“With todays Immutable X Alpha release, any NFT can now be traded, earned, shared, gamed, and collected completely gas-free on Ethereum.”　　Self-custody and improved user experience in NFTs　　Immutable X also aims to enhance user experience and security for developers. With Ethereum at the center stage of NFT development, developers had limited options. As a result, they had to deal with poor security and poor scalability. Ferguson stated:　　“Before Immutable X, developers had few alternatives. Move to another blockchain that provides more scalability, but a fraction of Ethereums ecosystem and security, or use a side-chain. Neither are viable options

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Japanese Regulator Warns Teens Who’ll Soon Be Able to Buy Crypto

The top financial regulator in Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has sent a warning of the possible risks involved with crypto investment for younger citizens after new legislation is set to effectively lower the crypto age of consent to 18.　　Back in 2018, the Japanese Diet voted in favor of a legal amendment to the country‘s Civil Code that will officially lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18. The amendment will promulgate on April 1 next year. And while citizens have to prove their adulthood (or obtain parental permission) in order to access crypto trading apps and websites under existing Japanese regulations, that threshold – now 20 – will be lowered to 18 in less than a year’s time.　　So with the clock ticking down before older teenagers gain access to the crypto markets, the FSA has posted a warning to younger Japanese citizens already mulling their first crypto moves on its website.　　The FSA warned that “cryptocurrencies are different from [fiats] whose value is guaranteed by the countries that issue them, such as the Japanese yen.” The agency added that all investors run the risk of losses due to price drops and volatility. The regulator added that there is

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Bitcoin to Disrupt China’s Climate Goals, Says Study

One of the biggest topics on the global stage these days is climate change and sustainability. Scientists have claimed that irreversible damage will be done to the earth if current behaviors are not addressed within the next decade. In response to this, several countries have set climate goals such as becoming carbon neutral by a certain time.　　For China, however, it seems these goals might be in jeopardy because of bitcoin. According to a recent study, the rate of bitcoin mining in China is very carbon-intensive, so much so that it could be counter-productive to current sustainability goals.　　The Bitcoin Barrier to Sustainability　　The current goal for China is to have its carbon emissions reach their peak by the year 2030. After that, China plans to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2060. However, China is also at the top of the list when it comes to crypto mining, with 75% of all the crypto mining in the world taking place in China. This is despite the fact that cryptocurrency trading is illegal in China.　　This constitutes a huge contribution to the country‘s carbon footprint, on par with one of the ten largest cities in the country. With the current boom in cryptocurrency thanks

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Could civil war in Ethiopia affect Cardano’s Africa plans?

Cardano‘s strategy in Africa could face a setback following the intensification of civil war in Ethiopia. There’s even wide speculation that Charles Hoskinsons cryptic messages about birds landing refer to closing an Ethiopian government contract.　　But, if “birds landing” refers to Ethiopia, is now an inopportune moment to rollout？　　The Tigray Conflict　　Armed conflict between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) has waged since November 2020.　　The TPLF refuses to join Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds plans to merge constituent political parties into his new Prosperity Party. They also accuse Ahmed of illegitimate rule due to the constant postponement of elections.　　Ahmed claims election delays were necessary to counter the spread of COVID. This has created reports that ENDF troops, who have teamed up with Eritrean forces, are unleashing a campaign of ethnic cleansing, rape, and starvation against the Tigrayan people.　　Witnesses and survivors give disparaging accounts of their experiences at the ground level. One man, a local priest, described what he saw when coming across a make-shift burial site.　　“It was difficult to pull them out. Most were already eaten by wild animals. Others were half-eaten by dogs. Their bodies were torn into pieces; their faces were filled with insects. We

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Crypto Firms Mull UK Exit Amid Regulatory ‘Logjam’: CryptoUK Chair

UK crypto firms are considering packing their bags amid a regulatory logjam from the FCA, according to Ian Taylor, chair of crypto-asset trade association CryptoUK.　　Speaking at a panel on regulation hosted by blockchain analytics firm Merkle Science, Taylor said that, “It‘s at that point now where the risk is of companies leaving the UK, we’re hearing this quite a lot. It makes the UK not an attractive place to do business if youre in the fintech sector.”　　“A burning issue for our members is the registration with the FCA, there is something of a logjam,” Taylor said.　　The FCAs crypto regulation drive　　In 2020, the UKs Financial Conduct Authority ordered cryptocurrency businesses to register with it in order to continue operating. In December of that year, the regulator extended its deadline to mid-2021—but crypto businesses are finding themselves stymied by frustrating processes, Taylor said.　　Taylor, who has consulted with the government on crypto regulation, called for greater transparency in respect of decisions by the FCA. He said that the regulator was dragging its heels partly due to its inability to physically visit premises during the pandemic.　　But it was also caught out, as only around 80 firms were expected to apply for the licenses, instead

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Dreamr Announces Platform Governance Token (DMR), Taps Delchain as Strategic Blockchain Advisor

Dreamr* – a social media and blockchain startup has announced today that it has tapped the respected digital asset and blockchain firm — Delchain, to advise on the launch and rollout of its Dreamr Platform Governance Token (DMR).　　In addition, Dreamr has also announced the release of an update today to its iOS and Android mobile apps that fully integrates the DMR platform token into the user interface. The update allows users to start earning tokens immediately through its in-app rewards program, called Giving Dreams Power.　　To date, Dreamr has been relatively quiet about its plans in the blockchain arena, but behind the scenes the team has been actively working on blockchain integration within its mobile app, and the launch of DMR governance. Every Dreamr account registered since the platforms launch in September, 2020 has its own unique Ethereum address. However, through this update users will be informed of that fact for the first time.　　Also being released for the first time publicly, is the dreamr white paper, detailing the platforms plans for further blockchain development and the innovative Fintech products planned for its ecosystem.　　The Dreamr platform reports just over 20,000 active users to date, and will be giving a bonus of 800

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Reef Finance aims to simplify DeFi investing through Baskets protocol

Reef Finance, a decentralized finance ecosystem powered by Polkadot, has released a new investment product aimed at helping passive investors gain access to a broader portfolio of cryptocurrencies.　　Reef Baskets V1 is described as an “Ethereum-based framework for deploying collections of DeFi tokens” and other crypto assets. It operates in a similar manner to exchange-traded funds, which are popular among traditional investors and institutional managers.　　Investors who use Reef Baskets have the opportunity to invest in multiple DeFi token baskets at the same time. Reef Finance describes its Baskets as a “quantitative approach to yield farming” that reduces an investors decision-making space to just two factors: how much money they are willing to invest and how much risk they are willing to assume.　　The initial version of Reef Baskets is available on Ethereum, with a forthcoming release scheduled for the Polkadot-based Reef Chain.　　Reef Finance CEO Denko Mancheski believes Reef Baskets provides a viable option for investors who dont have time to sift through the hundreds of new DeFi projects hitting the market. He explained:　　“Reef Baskets are the ideal tool for the passive investor who may not wish to spend time researching and curating his own portfolio of tokens. [...] Picking the winner is

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Why Cryptocurrencies.AI’s Solana-based DEX Could Become the Industry Leader

In crypto trading today, the name of the game is high speed, low costs, and ease of access – permissionless access to be precise, which means executing swaps onchain. These are some of the reasons why Cryptocurrencies.AI has elected to host its decentralized exchange on Solana.　　Currently, most DEXs run on Ethereum, the industrys most popular smart contract platform. As DeFi has grown, however, and more users have gotten involved, Ethereum blocks have filled up faster and faster. Now, processing a transaction on Ethereum can cost hundreds of dollars in fees, making token swaps unsustainable. With Cryptocurrencies.AI, users get all the advantages of a DEX without the high fees and slow confirmations.　　What Solana Offers That Ethereum Cant　　Solana is a high-performance blockchain that allows crypto apps to launch on an efficient and scalable network. With the ability to process up to 50,000 transactions per second, Solana can easily handle the throughput needs of the Cryptocurrencies.AI DEX, offering instantaneous transaction finality to its user base.　　Unlike Ethereum, which is still reliant on a slow and expensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) verification mechanism, Solana utilizes Proof-of-History (PoH) methodology. With PoH, Solana essentially creates a snapshot of each historical record, or transaction, proving that the specific event on

2021-04-09Deep Dive

Coinbase Listing Won't Help Bitcoin Price - Analyst

The narrative that the listing of the shares of major crypto exchange Coinbase is helping the price of bitcoin (BTC) higher - is false, according to a prominent Bitcoiner, Vijay Boyapati, the author of The Bullish Case for Bitcoin and Senior Software Engineer at Peach.　　Many people are speculating that interest in Coinbase would trigger “a fresh wave up in Bitcoins bull market,” argued Boyapati in his Twitter thread. Additionally, as Coinbase reported estimated Q1 revenues of USD 1.8bn with some USD 800m in profit, it is likely that the company will be valued around USD 100bn once they become public, he said.　　However, the question is if “this huge liquidity event” will transfer over to bitcoin？ The answer, per Boyapati, is that it may not be the case:　　“If investment dollars that flow to Coinbase provide a ”crypto“ allocation that will satisfy many retail and institutional investors, in a way this steals potential investment demand away from bitcoin.”　　The reason behind this, as Boyapati explains, is that many “unsophisticated” retail and institutional investors may buy into Coinbases direct listing as a way to get exposure to the “crypto” space, but “the capital allocated with this mindset will NOT be used to purchase BTC.”　　According

2021-04-09Deep Dive

This is why Uniswap v3 could have “insane efficiency”

With a tentative deployment date set for May 5th, 2021, the third iteration of decentralized exchange Uniswap is amongst the most hype projects in the crypto space. Its newest features offer its user more flexibility to leverage earning strategies.　　However, the creator of Uniswap, Hayden Adams, claims there is much more to the update. Via his Twitter account, he showed the DEXs new equation to calculate efficiency and said:　　I dont think the insane efficiency of Uniswap v3 has sunk in yet. Over the past 3 months (Jan8-present) the price of ETH/BTC has ranged from 0.0295 to 0.0454 Plugging into the formula, we find it is 9.8x more efficient than v2.　　Comparing the second to the soon-to-launch iteration of Uniswap, Adams highlighted other advantages for the users, like the reduction in the amount of capital required to provide liquidity.　　The liquidity providers (LP) will also be able to participate in a specific range for a trading pair to receive trading fees with the “same amount of impermanent loss”. Adams added the following example:　　the Uniswap v2 WBTC/ETH pair has $318m in it. If WBTC/ETH LPs instead provided to the range of 0.0295 and 0.0454 on v3 they could create the same amount of liquidity and

2021-04-09Deep Dive

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