Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Cryptos all set to conquer retail payments now

For all those skeptics who thought of Cryptos as a passing fad, this should serve as a reminder that the digital assets are as real as any of the other financial assets and they are here to stay. Some of the recent news to hit the wires have propelled Bitcoin and the associated cryptos higher. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading close to $59k, all set to take on the previous all-time high, after making a higher low.　　It was only recently that the worlds largest asset manager, BlackRock, announced that it would give its clients the opportunity to explore investing in Bitcoin. Seems like this move has set a precedent for other big players in the arena. Now, Fidelity Investments, with $5.9 trillion under management, has announced plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of Bitcoin.　　FD Funds Management, a subsidiary of Fidelity, submitted an S-1 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outlining its intention to financially back the ETF. Dubbed as ‘Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust’, it will track the cryptocurrency through the Fidelity Bitcoin Index, which takes spot prices from various Bitcoin markets, including popular exchanges. Big money managers in the legacy

2021-03-31Deep Dive

The Future Of AI And Blockchain Implementation

The combination of blockchain technology and AI is one of the hottest emerging digital trends of the 21st century as they provide data reliability and faster processing speeds when used together. As more companies recognize the affordability of the new technologies, the value of the global blockchain AI market is set to increase from $220.5 million in 2020 to $973.6 million in 2027.　　There is a rise in the adoption by small to medium-sized enterprises of developed blockchain AI applications. Blockchain DApps enable payment automation through cryptocurrencies, making them more reliable by removing the need for approval by a central authority. AI complements blockchain as it uses machine learning to process data and make decisions similar to humans. Both AI and blockchain are in the current position of helping and complementing each other as developments in the two fields are advancing.　　The Emergence Of Decentralized AI　　The digital revolution that started in the new millennium transformed what people knew about valuable resources. Data is one of the resources companies such as Google, Amazon, or Facebook have used to provide a user experience that can be highly monetized. Similarly, Satoshi Nakamotos release of Bitcoin in 2008, as the first decentralized digital payment currency, has

2021-03-31Deep Dive

How NFTs Go MIA: Marketplace Suppressions & Unreadable Token Standards

Following a recent episode of reportedly stolen non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and hacked marketplace account, it turns out that a number of collectors may have lost their NFTs as a result of a marketplace terms of service violation that led to the image being suppressed, as well as a novel ERC-1155 standard thats not compatible with Etherscan.　　As the NFT frenzy has been growing, the number of cases of individuals claiming that their NFTs were gone has increased as well. “There was no history of me ever purchasing it, or ever owning it,” Tom Kuennen, a property manager from Ontario, told Vice. “Now there‘s nothing. My money’s gone.” Vice reported that Kuennen reportedly bought a JPEG of an Elon Musk-themed “Moon Ticket” via the major marketplace OpenSea from digital art collective DarpaLabs. But instead of finding his artwork he got “404 error” and a missing page.　　But how did it go missing？　　One likely explanation for many cases of “missing” NFTs could be suppression by the marketplace, as by buying an NFT youre paying for a piece of code that references a piece of media located somewhere else on the internet. OpenSea community manager Ed Clements was quoted as saying:　　“Digital artworks themselves are not

2021-03-31Deep Dive

110-year-old Thai bank SCB taps into DeFi project Band Protocol

SCB 10X, the holding company of Siam Commercial Bank, Thailands first commercial bank, said today it was joining decentralized finance (DeFi) project Band Protocol as a node validator, as per a tweet this morning.　　The Bangkok-based Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle platform that aggregates and connects real-world data and APIs to smart contracts. ‘Oracles’ are third-party services, like Band Protocol or Chainlink, that fetch data from outside a blockchain to within.　　Oracles are required because blockchains, by design, are immutable and secure stores of data, but cannot individually verify the authenticity of data being stored on them.　　Bank protocol　　As per the release, SCB 10X will validate and confirm blockchain-based financial transactions with other network nodes to increase security and transparency. This would help ensure the integrity of every financial transaction entered into the blockchain while preventing the chances of a financially engineered attack.　　“SCB 10X transitions to finance of the future by joining global DeFi developer Band Protocol as node validator. This is the first time in Asia that a financial services company is materially involved in DeFi,” the holding company tweeted.　　SCB 10X head of venture Kaweewut Temphuwapat said the firm had established a blockchain lab to bring together a team of

2021-03-31Deep Dive

More Than 1,000 Clients Paid With Bitcoin Since 2014 - airBaltic

State-owned Latvian air carrier airBaltic said that more than 1,000 clients paid with bitcoin (BTC), “purchasing one or more reservations” since this option was launched in 2014.　　“In 2019, on average 15 reservations a month were paid using bitcoin, where each reservation consisted of one or more flights. In line with travel restrictions, in 2020 the amount of reservations paid by bitcoin decreased by almost a half,” a spokesperson of the company told Cryptonews.com.　　The company made headlines in 2014 when it said it was the worlds first airline to accept payment for tickets in BTC, enabling crypto users to purchase flights to more than 70 destinations in Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS, and the Middle East.　　Meanwhile, as reported yesterday, airBaltic has decided to broaden the range of cryptoassets it accepts as payment, adding support of bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum (ETH), dogecoin (DOGE), and four USD-pegged stablecoins.　　“The cryptocurrency payment option is available when purchasing airBaltic GREEN tickets. Payments are free of airBaltic transaction fee and are available for flights booked at least five days ahead of the scheduled departure,” according to the air carrier.　　The company is using the services of major crypto payments processor BitPay and converts cryptoassets into fiat. Meanwhile, the price

2021-03-31Deep Dive

Deconstructing the Bitcoin Lending Landscape in 2021: How to Lend Wisely and Avoid Disaster

Bitcoiners have dreamed of lending and earning interest on their coins for over a decade. With companies such as BlockFi offering juicy 6 percent interest rates, has this dream finally come true？ Or is this just a minefield, where youre just one step away from disaster？ Lets peel back some of the layers of this onion to try to better understand todays bitcoin lending landscape, so you can make a more informed decision before parting ways with your hard-earned sats in hopes of collecting more sats.　　First, lets review some fundamentals. All parties involved in a business deal should have a shared and equal understanding of what is expected to happen and the risks involved. Lending is just like any other business deal. If you loan me your bitcoin, you should expect me to tell you exactly what I will do with your money, what risks are involved, and what happens if I dont repay you. It takes some time to work through the details, but thats where the devil lies. Details matter.　　Imagine I ask you to lend me 10 bitcoin. I should be able to tell you not only that I plan to use your money to buy a house,

2021-03-31Deep Dive

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to Issue Japan’s First Security Tokens

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, one of Japans largest banks, has completed its first asset-backed security token issuance pilot.　　The bank announced Monday it has converted Japans first certificates of ownership backed by securities into security tokens, and is conducting a trial on the digital asset issuance platform Securitize Japan, a unit of Securitize Inc., according to CoinDesk Japan.　　The method of raising funds through the issuance of security tokens is called a security token offering (STO). Investors are issued a digital token that represents a physical investment to be stored on a blockchain.　　Security tokens became famous in 2018, following the initial coin offering (ICO) boom. Unlike ICOs, STOs were meant to represent a security regulated and traded in accordance with securities regulation. Despite the hype, STOs failed to take off for the most part, particularly in parts of Asia. In fact, in 2018, Beijings financial authority warned that STOs were illegal.　　The security tokens issued in Japan‘s effort have a short-term rating of “a-1” given by the Japan’s leading credit rating service, Rating and Investment Information, and will be launched within the month, according to the announcement. The security tokens are also compliant with Japans Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), according to

2021-03-31Deep Dive

Cheap Gas: Orchid Labs is Using xDai to Drive Down the Cost of Its VPN

Orchid Protocol is going multichain to drive down the cost of its decentralized VPN service.　　Its no secret that Ethereum gas fees are high. Thats why Orchid Labs is now using the xDai blockchain to drive down the cost of its open-source VPN service.　　Orchid Protocol, a decentralized virtual private network, enables users to buy bandwidth from a global pool of service providers, making it virtually undetectable to prying eyes. Its now added support for xDai and other Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible blockchains so that bandwidth can be purchased with xDai instead of ETH, avoiding the high fees associated with the latter.　　“This has reduced the cost to use Orchids VPN to $1 by solving the problem of higher Ethereum gas fees,” Orchids CEO, Steven Waterhouse told Decrypt.　　Waterhouse co-founded San Francisco-based Orchid in 2017 with Jay Freeman (now CTO), Brian Fox, and Gustav Simonsson. Orchid Labs launched its VPN service in July 2020. The VPN is currently available on Android, iOS, macOS, with plans to launch on Windows OS later this year.　　Users can buy VPN credits for $1, $5, or $20 for use in the Pay Per Use VPN service using the Orchid app.　　“Theres no difference in service at the various price points,”

2021-03-31Deep Dive

Indians Want Bitcoin Despite Government Stance

You cant keep bitcoin down.　　Thats true in a lot of places around the world, from Belarus to Nigeria, where crypto is a workaround for dissidents and a substitute for unreliable monetary systems.　　But its especially true in India, a market that has lots of cryptocurrency activity (and masses of potential) despite a decade of government confusion, inconsistency and delay.　　Just recently, Indias Parliament was rumored to be about to pass a bill banning crypto outright, only for that body to postpone the measure and go on a three-month holiday.　　In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India sought to ban banks from dealing in crypto. Then last year, the Supreme Court overturned that ban, raising hopes of a boom.　　Nobody – even the so-called experts – knows what will happen now. The official government stance has been overwhelmingly negative over the years. But some factions are more supportive than others, and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently left some wiggle room. “We will allow certain windows for people to do experiments on the blockchain, bitcoins or cryptocurrency,” he said.　　The consensus speculation is that the government may eventually ban payments in crypto but preserve the ability of people to hold crypto as an investment (as long as

2021-03-31Deep Dive

Why Cardano has the Potential to Become the Biggest Smart Contract Blockchain

Hammering on Cardanos “downsides” has been addressed as an agenda against the network, by its founder Charles Hoskinson. But these actions are perceived as a sign that the future is bullish for Cardano.　　These were the summary of Hoskinsons tweet, which was made in response to the negative assertions that the network was not up to industry standards. Hoskinson, who has apparently been paying attention to it all, says that “it must mean that Cardano is finally perceived as a threat to the status quo and we are on the right track.” The next six months may come with more criticism but it will all pay off, he added.　　Ran Neuner has also amplified Hoskinsons comments in a tweet where he wrote “Am I crazy to think that Cardano will be the biggest smart contract blockchain？”　　Both parties are not wrong to have predicted a bullish future for Cardano, given the number of network rollouts coming in the future. Proponents have speculated that the updates will place the network well on its way to being a strong Ethereum competitor.　　The CEO of the IOHK—which is dedicated to building the Cardano blockchain— revealed that the Alonzo Testnet will make Cardano a smart contract network. This

2021-03-31Deep Dive

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