Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

The Advantages and Revolutionary Practices of Decentralized Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a recent phenomena that has become so critical to our everyday lives its here to stay. Several facets of cloud computing could be witnessed in the past decade like fast web connections and advances in common technology. Internet speeds of 150 Mbps is relatively common in urban and suburban cities, while 30 Mbps download speeds combined with 6 Mbps upload speeds are the new default standard in flagship mobile devices – enabling us to work with ease in the cloud. Combining high speeds with lower storage drive limits and a shift to remote work lifestyles, cloud computing is the obvious choice. This gives the benefit of having everything on a cloud server, ranging from your files, photos, applications, business databases, and shared computing all at your fingertips.　　Hiding behind the clouds in this transition however is the torrential downpour of vulnerabilities that result from a culture of cloud computing. Keeping most or all of our storage activity on the cloud creates a massive security issue where we can lose all of our data. If you need to use the internet to access your data, then it is always susceptible to hacking. In addition, any private or confidential data

2021-03-05Deep Dive

Mapping Ethereum’s DeFi eco-system projects on Polkadot

Polkadot has been rapidly growing from a niche blockchain project to one of the richest DeFi networks that have real potential to compete with Ethereum. While still in its infancy, the network already has a robust ecosystem of decentralized applications, all of which offer similar, and sometimes even more functionalities than their Ethereum counterparts.　　We take a look at some of the upcoming Polkadot parachains and compare them to their Ethereum counterparts.　　Projects flocking to utilize Polkadots scalability and decentralization　　Introduced in 2016, Polkadot has become one of the most influential blockchain platforms on the market, with its sights set on achieving unprecedented decentralization. The blockchain was created by Gavin Wood, one of the original founders of Ethereum, who envisioned the platform as a way to provide businesses and developers easier access to blockchain technology.　　Woods quest, as time has shown, has become incredibly attractive to developers. In the past year, dozens of new projects have launched on Polkadot with dozens more planning on migrating at least a portion of their networks to a Polkadot parachain.　　Smart contract execution　　One of the most exciting categories of the DeFi ecosystem that have gotten a lot of traction on Polkadot are smart contract execution projects. Smart contracts on

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Bitcoin Volatility Reached A 10-Month High In February As Prices Hit Records

Bitcoin volatility climbed in February, attaining its loftiest reading since April 2020 during a month where the cryptocurrencys price rose to fresh highs.　　The digital currencys annualized 30-day volatility reached 114.51% on February 8, the most since April 10, 2020, data provided by asset manager Blockforce Capital reveals.　　This figure was far higher than the historical 30-day volatility of 63.78% that bitcoin has had going back to 2013, additional Blockforce Capital figures show.　　The digital asset experienced these sharp changes in value during a bullish month, where its price rose to an all-time high of $57,487.03, CoinDesk figures show.　　At this point, the digital currency was up more than 73% in February, additional CoinDesk data indicates.　　[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]　　 A Bullish New Year　　Bitcoin has had an excellent year so far, nearly doubling its price of roughly $28,900 at the start of 2021.　　These latest gains have built on top of the bullish momentum that the cryptocurrency has experienced since falling to a local low of less than $3,900 in March of last year.　　The digital currency has climbed close to 1,400% since dropping

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Galaxy Digital, CoinShares Back Bitcoin Mining Intermediary Startup

Compass, a bitcoin (BTC, +5.12%) mining startup, raised $1.7 million in seed funding led by Galaxy Digital, joined by CoinShares, CoinFund, CoinGecko and other cryptocurrency companies, according to a press release on Wednesday.　　Locations of the mining facilities working with Compass per its website include Iceland, Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, China and the U.S.　　One of Compass businesses is to serve as an intermediary between hosting facilities with excess capacity and institutional or retail customers interested in mining bitcoin.　　In its first two months, the company sold $11.4 million worth of mining machines to customers.　　“Without mining, there is no bitcoin,” CEO Whit Gibbs said in the press release. He said Compass was launched to “ensure that everyone has the access and ability to grow their exposure” to bitcoin through participating in the infrastructure-level work of mining.　　Last month, bitcoin miners saw all-time high monthly revenue of $1.36 billion industrywide, per CoinDesk prior reporting.　　In a statement, the company said it plans to use the proceeds from the capital raise to quickly scale its team and mining technology.

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Crypto Valley's top companies up 680% in value since mid-2020

A report compiled by a Swiss venture capital company has revealed that the value of the largest fifty firms operating in the countrys famed Crypto Valley has increased by 680% since July 2020.　　The Top 50 Report, from Zugs Crypto Valley Venture Capital, or CV VC, found the valleys 50 largest companies have increased in value from $37.5 billion in July 2020 to $254.9 billion as of February 2021.　　The report examined firms operating from the Swiss canton of Zug (AKA Crypto Valley) and found the number of blockchain firms in the region increased by 4.4% to 960 since July. Over the same period, the number of employees hired in the digital currency sector in the region increased by 8.5% to 5,184.　　Crypto Valley now hosts eleven crypto Unicorns with a valuation of over $1 billion each: Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, Aave, Cosmos, Solana, Tezos, Dfinity, Near, Nexo, and Diem (formerly called Libra).　　Despite local concerns that the sector would decline amid the coronavirus pandemic, the research found the valley to have weathered the crisis, with CEO and founder of CV VC, Mathias Ruch, stating:　　“After entering the Corona crisis in March 2020 with certain fears, we are now confident about the future. The positive development

2021-03-04Deep Dive

TRON’s First Cross-Chain Prediction Market Comes Through a Partnership with Prosper

The first DeFi cross-chain prediction market will launch live on TRON after a collaboration with Prosper.　　The popular blockchain project TRON will introduce the DLT-agnostic prediction market Prosper to its ecosystem. TRON users and TRX holders will be able to provide liquidity and enhance the success-rate of the prediction market solution.　　TRON Teams Up With Prosper　　Justin Suns TRON announced its latest partnership in a press release shared with CryptoPotato earlier today. It informed that the two blockchain projects have teamed up to address some of the issues related to decentralized prediction markets.　　Such tools have been active for a while, but the statement highlighted the lack of sufficient liquidity as a major hurdle on their way to receive mass adoption. This comes mostly because each prediction market “has traditionally been segregated to a single chain,” and not enough users could provide the necessary liquidity to produce accurate predictions.　　Prosper works similarly – the higher the liquidity is, meaning more users are involved, the more “predictions are made, leading to a more accurate and robust prediction outcome based on greater collective insight from the crowd.”　　Furthermore, Prosper operates a cross-chain platform, which enables it to aggregate liquidity into its platform regardless of the users access point.　　With

2021-03-04Deep Dive

DAO Investing in NFTs Raises $1.3M From Crypto VCs

Yield Guide Games will use the funds from Delphi Digital, Scalar Capital and others to invest in virtual land and other in-game assets.　　A decentralized newcomer to non-fungible token (NFT) investments has raised $1.3 million from a smattering of well-heeled veterans of crypto venture capital.　　Yield Guild Games (YGG), the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with a penchant for NFTs, raised the funds from Delphi Digital, Scalar Capital, BlockTower Capital, gumi Cryptos Capital, Ascensive Assets and Youbi Capital.　　YGG will use the funds to improve its protocol for distributed investing in the burgeoning NFT scene, the startup said. As a DAO, YGG pools investor assets for the purpose of betting and then profiting on NFTs, sharing the proceeds with backers. Its focus is on NFTs that intersect with the gaming space.　　“Just like real estate, virtual economic activities of games will occur in virtual lands,” a spokesperson for the project told CoinDesk via email. “As virtual land is scarce, demand for it within blockchain games will increase in value over time.”　　DAOs have begun speculating on NFTs as the token type explodes in prominence. FlamingoDAO, a competitor in the space, recently spent 605 ETH (+6.36%) ($761,889 at purchase) on a CryptoPunk NFT.　　“Scalar invested in YGG because

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Tether's Supply Dominance Hits Record Low as USDC & Co Rise

As USD coin (USDC) strengthens its positions, tether (USDT) is losing its market share, according to crypto intelligence firm Coin Metrics. That said, stablecoins, in general, are again on the rise this year, and the total supply is expected to grow further with the increase in use cases.　　Per the firms weekly report, USDC is going parabolic - its total supply passed USDC 9bn on February 28, and this was only six days after surpassing USDC 8bn. All in all, USDC supply has more than doubled since the start of the year.　　But while this is good for USDC, it means increased competition for USDT, with Coin Metrics writing,　　As a result of USDC‘s rapid rise Tether’s (USDT) supply dominance has dropped to 70%, its lowest level ever.　　That said, stablecoins as a whole are seeing a comeback in 2021, rising yet again. They are widely used:　　in decentralized finance (DeFi) as collateral and for other purposes;　　to hold money on the sidelines amidst market volatility;　　to trade in and out of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and other cryptoassets;　　to move money around the world and for foreign aid.　　Total stablecoin supply has increased to over 50bn, growing from about 30bn to start the year, wrote Coin Metrics, adding

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Federal Credit Union Regulator Should Look at Crypto Rules, Official Says

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) could be the next federal regulator to dip its feet into crypto-related rules.　　Credit unions will want to look at digital assets and blockchain technology, said NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman in a speech Wednesday. Speaking to the Credit Union National Association Governmental Affairs Conference, Hauptman said his regulatory agency may consider providing guidance around the treatment of digital assets.　　Credit unions are non-profit, member-owned financial institutions that provide similar services to banks in the U.S. While national banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), credit unions are overseen by the NCUA.　　“NCUA may want to look at the actions taken by another regulator, the OCC. That agency recently provided guidance around custody of digital assets and the use of stablecoins for payments,” Hauptman said during his speech. “Stablecoins, as you may know, are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize price volatility, and the OCCs guidance moves the U.S. closer to the real-time payment systems already used in other countries.”　　The NCUA may not want to recreate every piece of guidance the OCC published, but Hauptman said he looks forward to working with NCUA Chairman Tood Harper to

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Crypto Futures Trading: How to Long and Short Cryptocurrencies

Has the volatility of cryptocurrency prices made you want more than simple spot trading？ Do you consider the process of buying and selling actual cryptos too burdensome？ You have probably already heard of crypto futures trading, as volatile assets tend to be very popular for this type of trade, but you may not be completely sure what it entails. Alternatively, maybe youve heard of “long” and “short” crypto trades, which sound pretty complicated at first, but are actually really useful types of trades that let you profit from the price movements of an asset without ever having to hold the asset yourself.　　But first, what do all of these terms mean？　　Futures Trading　　Futures — regardless of the asset type — are a type of derivative financial contract “that obligates the parties to transact an asset at a predetermined future date and price,” states Investopedia. In other words, I need an asset (for example ten sacks of wheat) in three months, but Im much more comfortable with its current price as it might rise until the time I need it. I make a deal with a trader that I will buy that amount for the current price once the contract expires, which is

2021-03-04Deep Dive

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