Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Polkadot (DOT) DeFi Platform Acala Launches Acala EVM for Ethereum Compatibility

Acala, a pioneering Polkadot-based DeFi ecosystem, has announced that Acala EVM, the Ethereum-compatible Polkadot-native virtual machine, is up and running. This is an important milestone for the whole segment of cross-chain interoperability systems.　　Acala EVM: one-stop virtual machine　　According to a press release shared with U.Today, with the new Acala EVM, blockchain developers can use the whole stack of technologies (Acala+Substrate+EVM+WASM) for a single wallet.　　Smart contracts deployed on the new EVM can seamlessly use all Polkadot-powered assets, such as DOT, ACA, aUSD, renBTC and so on. Furthermore, Ethereum-based assets (ERC-20 tokens) can be listed on Acala-powered DEXs and used for gas fee payments.　　For instance, once a tokenholder sends his/her wrapped Ethereum (WETH) to Acala, he/she can pay gas fees in Ethers (ETH) with no need to purchase ACA tokens for the purpose.　　Also, Acala EVM supports a native network of oracles to broadcast real-time price feeds and supports many types of protocols: DEXs, stablecoins, lending/borrowing instruments and more.　　Acala: bringing DeFi experience to Polkadot　　Acala is a platform for decentralized financial protocols that harnesses Polkadots blockchain capability. Acala is built around its core stablecoin, aUSD, and offers many use cases, including “yield farming,” synthetic assets trading, interest earning, etc.　　Acala has very low gas fees and

2021-02-08Deep Dive

Dogecoin (DOGE) Skyrockets 500% And Reaches the Top 10

Dogecoin (DOGE) was able to reach the 7th position in the market as it skyrocketed by over 400% in the last 24 hours. The virtual currency surpassed $0.062 and it hit a market cap of almost $10 billion. In this way, DOGE became larger than Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Binance Coin (BNB), Stellar Lumens (XLM) or USD Coin (USDC).　　DOGE Surges by Over 500%　　In recent hours, DOGE surprised the crypto market by experiencing a price increase of over 500%. The virtual currency suddenly became one of the largest digital assets in the world and it was close to surpassing Cardano (ADA) and XRP.　　The reason behind this price increase is related to the expansion of the WallStreetBets Reddit movement. This is a Reddit group that started massively buying stocks that were shorted by large hedge funds. Due to this reason, the price of these stocks (for example GameStop or AMC) exploded to prices not seen in years.　　Trading platforms such as Robinhood have suspended trading for some assets, including GameStop and AMC due to “market volatility.” This has been an issue that affected millions of users in the platform and that pushed the price of these assets down. Users were only to

2021-02-08Deep Dive

Elon Musk Taps Crypto as the Future of Currency on Earth

Tesla CEO Elon Musk thinks theres “a good chance” cryptocurrencies will be the future of money on Earth.　　 The Global Cryptocurrency System　　Elon Musk, the world‘s richest man, said in a video recorded by The Hollywood Fix that “there’s a good chance cryptocurrency is the future currency of Earth”.　　Further, in the video, which lasted under two minutes, the eccentric billionaire went on to suggest it could easily be several cryptocurrencies that see mass adoption.　　His words were followed by candid advice not to over-speculate in the cryptocurrency market.　　“But it should be considered speculation at this point. And, so, dont go too far on the crypto-speculation front.”- Elon Musk – Tesla CEO　　The comments come as Bitcoin (BTC) regained momentum yesterday. This saw the top-cryptocurrency push towards $41,000 in a determined attempt to set a new all-time high.　　Elon Tweets, Crypto Eats　　Despite the words of warning, Musk is not shy about his endorsement of the cryptocurrency space. In an event described as “inevitable”, the billionaire changed his Twitter bio to “#bitcoin”.　　This triggered the top cryptocurrency to rally, breaking weeks of inactivity.　　Musk also “supports” the cryptocurrency worlds favorite canine-themed token; Dogecoin (DOGE). The billionaire regularly tweets DOGE-related memes to his followers on Twitter, including an interesting

2021-02-08Deep Dive

Ukraine to channel excessive nuclear power towards Crypto Mining

Ukraine may have found a fitting practice to help it reduce its excessive nuclear power that has been going to waste for years. The idea of building a digital power plant with a capacity for cryptocurrency mining was discussed by the countrys Deputy Minister of Energy for Digital Development Yevhen Vladimirov, who met up with other officials to map out the possibilities.　　As reported by one of the countrys local media outlets, Yevhen Vladimirov explained that the country has a chance at efficiently preserving its nuclear power if it begins to adopt emerging digital technologies.　　Instead of storing unused “base capacity” as he puts it, he presents the lucrative idea of making an extra profit for the states Energoatom. Businesses who are given permission to operate in the field, who will likely come from home and abroad will be taxed, making it a win-win situation for both parties.　　Yevhen Vladimirov can be quoted saying;　　“The future lies in the latest technologies that can be used to balance the energy system, while benefiting financially. The idea of creating a data center on the basis of a nuclear power plant, of course, deserves attention, because the Ukrainian UES has unused base capacity. ”The constant load on

2021-02-08Deep Dive

Bitcoin Futures World-Wide Hit $14 Billion for the First Time

IN BRIEF　　BTC futures hit an all-time high on Feb. 6, as the top cryptocurrency neared $41,000.　　This comes as the wider cryptocurrency market saw several days of record performance.　　Traders are capitalizing on cryptocurrency derivatives to maximize returns.　　The aggregate value of all Bitcoin (BTC) futures reached $14 billion on Feb. 6, according to Skew data.　　Bitcoin For the Future　　The total value of all unsettled Bitcoin (BTC) futures in the cryptocurrency market soared to over $14 billion yesterday according to cryptocurrency analytics firm, Skew.　　The record valuation follows a recent BTC rally to just under $41,000. Binance, the largest exchange by volume, led the futures charge, accounting for just under half the aggregate trading volume for BTC futures.　　The top cryptocurrency exchange also led the tally for open interest in BTC-based derivatives, with $2.33 billion worth of contracts unsettled.　　The most famous bitcoin futures provider, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), came third on the tally ($2.05 billion). Rival exchange OKEx held second ($2.21 billion).　　A futures contract allows its owner to purchase the underlying asset at a pre-agreed price at some specified time in the future. Unlike an options contract, the holder is obligated to make the purchase.　　$1.5 Trillion on the Horizon　　With the cryptocurrency market‘s record performance

2021-02-08Deep Dive

What Are the Risks of Governance Tokens?

Many of today‘s leading DeFi projects are popular because of their governance tokens – something that hasn’t really been the case back in the ICO boom of 2017.　　Now, the yield farming hype has created many new governance tokens to control a projects properties. Yet, these tokens have been abused in various ways, acting as a monetary incentive instead of a true representation of voting power.　　In theory, a governance token gives the token holder voting power to influence the DeFi projects direction. For instance, community members can launch new proposals to change particular properties for the project. Further, governance token holders can vote on each proposal.　　The ultimate goal is to create a self-governed decentralized community as it allows every stakeholder to discuss and vote on how to manage the protocol or project.　　Compound, for example, believes that “by placing COMP directly into the hands of users and applications, an increasingly large ecosystem will be able to upgrade the protocol, and will be incentivized to collectively steward the protocol into the future with good governance.”　　Governance tokens, however, come with a certain number of risks. This article discusses three potential challenges:　　The risks of trading governance tokens　　The risks of proportional distribution　　The risks of governance communication　　　　Risks

2021-02-08Deep Dive

Is Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Playbook A Success Already?

Key Bitcoin fundamentals like Hash rate and on-chain indicators like exchange outflows are recording significant jumps already suggesting corporations are on a Bitcoin buy spree again. Michael Saylor is putting his money where his mouth is and he owns 17,732 Bitcoins ~$664 million himself.　　Key takeaways:　　Bitcoin hash rate records new ATH and hits 179.19 EH/s　　11,754 Bitcoins~ $438 Million scooped off from Gemini in just an hour　　MicroStrategy leading by example for crypto adoption　　Bitcoin Hash Rate Hits New ATH while Exchange Outflow Rate Spikes　　The Bitcoin bull run driven by MicroStrategy is only getting strong with thought leadership from Michael Saylor who is leading by example.　　From an investor point of view rise in Bitcoin hash rate is healthy as it indicates more and more miners are joining Bitcoin Mining and are using efficient hardware to mine Bitcoins. Bitcoin hash rate hit an all time high last time on Oct. 18th, 2020 hitting 162.263 Million Tera hashes per second and it spiked to 179.19 EH/s today. Max Keiser who is praised by Bitcoin community for predicting correct long term Bitcoin price is also follower of “price follows Hash” theory.　　On-chain analyst Willy Woo shared recent exchange outflow data that reveals Bitcoin price may see a movement

2021-02-07Deep Dive

Charles Hoskinson: Cardano will ‘kick Ethereum 2.0’s ass’

It is an open secret within the crypto community that Charles Hoskinson, former co-founder of Ethereumand its creator Vitalik Buterin are not the best of friends. As Hoskinson has stated in the past, the two have parted ways due to disagreements over the further development of Ethereum.　　In a new interview with Ben Armstrong, founder of BitBoy Crypto, the Cardano creator again criticized Ethereum 2.0and laid out why his project will be the superior platform in the future. Hoskinson expressed fundamental doubts about the sustainability of ETH 2.0.　　Opening the interview, Hoskinson first and foremost criticized Ethereum 2.0‘s scaling model, stating that ETH “has put itself in a position where they’re betting on Optimistic Zk rollups and these other things.” On the differences in terms of scaling, Hoskinson noted that it is much easier for Cardano to achieve a high number of transactions per second (TPS):　　“We‘ve chosen a radically different scaling models. And actually I think both of them have the potential working, but I think Vitalik’s are a little bit riskier from an engineering and research point of view. This is why it is so difficult for them to get Eth 2.0 out. They have chosen to shard all that stuff.

2021-02-07Deep Dive

KardiaChain Expands KAI Membership Ecosystem With NEM Partnership

KardiaChain, a hybrid blockchain solution for enterprises and government, announced on Twitter that they would be partnering up with NEM – a smart asset management blockchain.　　“KardiaChain Forms Partnership with @NEMofficial - a 2015-founded blockchain veteran with many recent collaborations with DeFi projects - to Expand Ecosystem for KAI Membership Dapp including users from the NEM community, and technology exploration. $XEM.”　　NEM also tweeted about the partnership, noting that the partnership will accelerate decentralized development.　　“KardiaChains KAI Membership App is integrating $XEM to support #NEM ecosystem growth. @KardiaChain is an interoperable blockchain platform, built on their Dual Node tech. The partnership accelerates decentralized development, utilizing both sides technologies and networks.”　　Finer Details Of The Partnership　　As per the partnership, Kardiachain will integrate NEMs XEM token into their KAI Membership dApp to boost technological integration from both projects. As of now, the Member dApp already has north of 100,000 global users. Post-XEM integration, KAI will see an influx of new users ushering in from the NEM community. New and old users will be able to experience many real-world and DeFi applications in the membership dApp.　　Plus, having successfully launched its mainnet in December 2020, KardiaChain also combined it with the Dual Node technology. This will allow KardiaChain

2021-02-07Deep Dive

Glassnode CTO Dispels the Myth That Bitcoin Ownership Is Highly Concentrated

Earlier this week, Rafael Schultze-Kraft, CTO at blockchain data and intelligence provider Glassnode, did an analysis of “the distribution of Bitcoin across network participants”.　　In a blog post published on Tuesday (February 2), the Glassnode CTO referred to a Bloomberg report (from last November) titled “Bitcoin Whales Ownership Concentration Is Rising During Rally.” He said that problem with such reports is that “that analyze the distribution of BTC across network addresses. This leads to misleading statistics, which result in false narratives around BTC ownership among stakeholders.”　　He then pointed out two problems with this approach:　　“Not all Bitcoin addresses should be treated equal.” (e.g. an address belonging to a crypto exchange can hold funds for millions of individuals)　　A Bitcoin address is not an “account.” (e.g. one person can own/control multiple addresses)　　Here are the results of Glassnodes analysis:　　The Bitcoin supply held by the smallest participants (shrimps and crabs) has increased by 130% since 2017, and the second smallest (i.e. octopuses and fish) has increased by 14%.　　As for the larger entities, i.e. “dolphins + sharks” and “whales + humpbacks”, they have decreased their Bitcoin holdings by -3% and -7% respectively.　　Glassnode goes on to say that they found “on a more short-term time window” a significant

2021-02-07Deep Dive

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