#crypto token pen drive

[quant111]

NFT

hhnnn

The acronym NFT refers to Non-Fungible Token, which explains almost everything. As the crypto sphere begins to boom towards 2021, NFTs have already gained popularity. The piece of artwork shown is an NFT, as well as it was recently marketed for $60 million. Mike Winkelmann, better known by his pen name Beeple, produced digital art creation. It is a digital representation of all works of art he had created from 2013. Surprisingly, Everyday’s actual selling rate is set at a pitiful $110 beginning February 25th. Twenty buyers boosted the value to almost $1.2 million in the first nine minutes of bidding. The price range was rough, $15 million one hour, even before the auction concluded. The price has risen to $30 million in the last ten minutes only. The final price was established at $60.30 million, an additional $10 million for the Christie’s artwork sale, in the dying seconds. 

What is NFT?

Let’s dive into more detail. To begin with, non-fungible simply states that one item cannot be exchanged for another. In NFTs, a token is merely a certification of validity stored on a blockchain, making the currency traceable and available to all. As a result, an NFT is a one-of-a-kind virtual currency that can take the shape of paintings, films, music, or any other type of digital production.

Benefits of using NFT

Gamers and collectors can now acquire the irreversible ownership of in-game goods plus other unique properties and profit from those due to the arrival of blockchain technology. In certain virtual worlds, including the Sandbox as well as Decentraland, people have the opportunity to develop and commercialize facilities. Facilities like casinos as well as amusement parks. On a secondary NFT marketplace, they can also trade particular digital objects acquired during playtimes, such as outfits, characters, and currency in-game. By how they changed the gaming and collectibles market, NFTs are becoming extremely popular with cryptocurrency consumers and companies. A maximum of $175 million has been invested in NFTs since December 2017.

Practical Use Cases of NFT 

Increasing the Gameplay possibilities

Game makers have shown a great deal of interest in NFTs. NFTs can be used to keep track of who owns what in-game, drive in-game markets, and give a variety of other benefits to gamers. 

In many regular games, you can purchase goods to be used in your gameplay. If the thing was an NFT, though, you might repay your investment by trading it once the game is over. If that piece gets more valuable, you might turn a profit. 

As producers of the NFT, game makers might gain a commission each time an element is traded in the public marketplace.  As a result, a much more mutually advantageous business paradigm emerges, in which both participants and developers profit from the supplementary NFT market.

Items that are physically present

Physical goods are not yet as well-tokenized as their virtual counterparts. However, numerous projects are looking into the tokenization of property investment, one-of-a-kind designer clothing, and other topics. Because NFTs are fundamental properties, one day, you might be able to afford a car or a house with ETH and get the ownership in the form of an NFT (in the same transaction). As technology advances, it’s not difficult to envision a day in which your Ethereum account serves as the ticket to your house or car, with the cryptographic evidence of the owner unlocking the entrance. You may utilize NFTs as security in decentralized lending since valued items such as cars and property are represented on Ethereum.

Increasing creators’ compensation 

The most common application of NFTs nowadays is in the field of digital material. This is because the industry is currently in a state of disarray. Services are sapping content creators’ income as well as earning capacity. A painter who posts artwork on a social media site generates revenue for the site, which sells advertisements to the artist’s fans. In exchange, they gain exposure, but publicity does not cover expenses. NFTs fuel a new creative economy in which creators retain control of their work rather than handing it over to the social media channels that promote it. Ownership is ingrained in the substance. When a painter sells their work, the money goes straight to them. If the new owner sells the NFT, the founding investor may be entitled to profits. The designer’s address is included in the token’s information, which can’t be changed. Therefore this is assured the single time it’s traded. 

Conclusion

Theoretically, anyone can set up your own NFT store. Everybody can generate employment, convert it to an NFT mostly on Blockchain, and sell it on their preferred marketplace. Anyone can buy or sell NFT tokens. All these you can do on NFTically, the platform allows you to set up your store in a couple of minutes. It is available in Polygon, Ethereum, Digital Art, Mint, etc. You could even add royalty to the document that will reward you if each person buys the item, along with sale prices. You’ll need an account set up, just like when purchasing NFTs, and it’ll require it to be loaded full o

[ailtrahq]

On July 13, XRP experienced a notable price increase but has since retraced to hover around $0.50 per token. Similarly, Bitcoin saw an upswing, reaching $31,000 the same day, yet presently, it is trading around the $26,000 mark. With established cryptos suffering significant dips, next-generation altcoins like Borroe.Finance ($ROE), QUBE, and Domini.art (DOMI) is worth keeping an eye on.  Bitcoin and XRP’s Downward Trajectory The recent rollercoaster ride of XRP can be partly attributed to a pivotal legal ruling involving Ripple, the company in charge of the asset. This landmark ruling had initially boosted XRP’s value above $0.9, but the subsequent dip to $0.5 has caused discussions in the crypto market.  Bitcoin has encountered its own set of obstacles. The regulatory watchdog in the United States has compounded the cryptocurrency’s volatility by suspending several applications for Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  While Bitcoin’s slide is concerning, some consider $ROE, QUBE, and DOMI as the next-generation altcoins with promise. Borroe.Finance ($ROE): Aiding Efficient Web3 Fundraising Borroe.Finance is a platform striving to fuel the growth of the Web 3.0 industry by facilitating instant funding opportunities. Recognizing the need for fundraising in the blockchain sector, Borroe.Finance has created an AI-powered peer-to-peer ecosystem for easy fundraising by creators and blockchain businesses. Via Borroe.Finance, businesses can convert future revenue streams into collateral to secure loans. This innovative approach transforms revenue streams like subscriptions and royalties into fractionalized NFTs, making them available on the Borroe.Finance marketplace.  Borroe.Finance’s marketplace offers instant transactions, low fees, and speedy approval times. It also offers various crypto and fiat payment solutions and special rewards for marketplace activity. Borroe.Finance’s blockchain ICO of its native $ROE token is currently in Stage 2. The campaign has already seen impressive growth. At the current Stage 2 of its presale, the $ROE token is valued at $0.0150, reflecting a substantial 50% surge from its initial launch price.  As of the moment this report is being penned, a noteworthy 60% of the tokens have found their way into the hands of eager investors. Visit Borroe.Finance Presale InQubeta (QUBE): A Gateway to AI Investments InQubeta (QUBE) connects investors with AI startups using its native token, QUBE. Its core concept involves fractional investment in AI startups through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), democratizing access to promising projects for individuals with various budgets.  QUBE is designed to be deflationary, with a 2% fee on every buy-and-sell transaction sent to a ‘burn’ wallet. An additional 5% sell tax goes to a dedicated reward pool, incentivizing token staking. The fusion of AI and crypto presents exciting possibilities, and QUBE aims to address the limitations of traditional investment methods. AI technology can drive innovation and progress, especially in startups. However, many traditional investment avenues are often exclusive and out of reach. InQubeta bridges this gap by making AI startups accessible to everyone. Smart contracts ensure a secure and transparent investment process, while the NFT marketplace enables AI startups to raise funds and gives investors exposure to vetted projects. Join InQubeta Presale Domini (DOMI): Revolutionizing Art Investment with Blockchain Domini.art has the potential to revolutionize the art investment landscape by combining the timeless appeal of art with the transparency of blockchain technology. It transcends the boundaries of traditional art markets, offering a new way to invest in art. Artworks on Domini.art are tokenized as unique NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, making them accessible to a broader audience through fractional ownership. This opens up opportunities for investors seeking portfolio diversification. DOMI Advisory offers expert guidance for emerging artists and established blue-chip artworks.

The platform enhances liquidity by allowing ownership stakes to be listed and explored in a fair trading environment. Furthermore, Domini.art prioritizes artwork security through specialized storage facilities, comprehensive insurance coverage, and blockchain transparency. With a total supply of 1 billion DOMI tokens, the platform implements a deflationary burn mechanism, enhances liquidity pools, and redistributes funds to improve the ecosystem. As Bitcoin and XRP experience fluctuations, next-generation altcoins like Borroe.Finance, QUBE, and Domini.art offers unique solutions to diverse challenges in the blockchain industry.  Visit Domini Presale Source

[etiennekissborlase]

Crypto Bust: Argentina Collars Trader Who Laundered $12 Million In Cryptocurrencies

Crypto Bust: Argentina Collars Trader Who Laundered $12 Million In Cryptocurrencies https://bitcoinist.com/crypto-bust-argentina-collars-trader-who-laundered-12-million-in-cryptocurrencies/ Argentina has become a hotbed of illicit cryptocurrency activities lately. Authorities recently detained a 37-year-old man posing as a cryptocurrency trader. He allegedly laundered millions of dollars for criminal groups with crypto-assets.  Large-Scale Money Laundering Scheme According to local press, the suspect, whose name was not released by the police, received these funds from scams committed through fake websites. Local authorities were tipped the exchange used to move the tokens, which detected suspicious activities on the account created by the suspect.  The police moved in to conduct their investigation, which led to uncovering a high-profile money laundering scheme that cloned bank pages to lure unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money. During this period, the police have managed to identify and prosecute the group of people that coordinated the operation, ranging from those who lent their names to open bank accounts, recruiters, and the team that cloned the bank web pages.  Related reading: US SEC Awards Record $279 Million To Whistleblower – More Crackdown On Crypto Firms? The investigation further revealed that the detainee managed to launder $11.57 million in cryptocurrencies using a hardware wallet. Hardware wallets have become criminals’ ideal means of laundering money due to their portability and accessibility. These wallets come in pen drive shapes, and to access the tokens stored in the hard wallets, they are connected to a computer, and a seed phrase — a 12-word password — is inputted.  The police also noted that the arrest of the primary suspect puts an end to the investigation of the money laundering scheme. Argentine authorities have been clamping down on cybercrime, with the police undertaking 70 simultaneous raids across different regions. The Dark Side Of Cryptocurrency While this can be considered a win for authorities, it undoubtedly puts crypto-assets in a negative light once again. Countries like the United States and Europe have taken rigid measures to regulate crypto as an alternative means of payment, while others like China and Nigeria have banned it outrightly.  One of the compelling arguments is that cryptocurrencies can be used for illicit activities, which can be hard to trace and makes them attractive for money laundering and other financially related crimes. In addition, there has been a rise within the crypto industry of scams such as rug-pulls, and smart contract exploits, leading to massive losses for those affected.  Related reading: Texas Lawmakers Progress With Digital Currency Bill Nevertheless, many crypto advocates believe that the negative elements in the industry are minimal, and most financial crimes still occur using fiat payment systems. The increasing regulations in the crypto industry have also reduced crime, as many exchange platforms are required to conduct KYC and other compliance processes. This largely led to the suspect’s arrest in the money-laundering scheme.    -Featured Image from, iStock chart from Tradingview via Bitcoinist.com https://bitcoinist.com May 07, 2023 at 06:55AM

[nftlaunches]

What the hell is NFT? How does it work?

The acronym NFT refers to Non-Fungible Token, which explains almost everything. As the crypto sphere begins to boom towards 2021, NFTs have already gained popularity. The piece of artwork shown is an NFT, as well as it was recently marketed for $60 million. Mike Winkelmann, better known by his pen name Beeple, produced digital art creation. It is a digital representation of all works of art he had created from 2013. 

Surprisingly, Everyday’s actual selling rate is set at a pitiful $110 beginning February 25th. Twenty buyers boosted the value to almost $1.2 million in the first nine minutes of bidding. The price range was rough, $15 million one hour, even before the auction concluded. The price has risen to $30 million in the last ten minutes only. The final price was established at $60.30 million, an additional $10 million for the Christie’s artwork sale, in the dying seconds.

What is NFT?

Let’s dive into more detail. To begin with, non-fungible simply states that one item cannot be exchanged for another. In NFTs, a token is merely a certification of validity stored on a blockchain, making the currency traceable and available to all. As a result, an NFT is a one-of-a-kind virtual currency that can take the shape of paintings, films, music, or any other type of digital production.

Benefits of using NFT

Gamers and collectors can now acquire the irreversible ownership of in-game goods plus other unique properties and profit from those due to the arrival of blockchain technology. In certain virtual worlds, including the Sandbox as well as Decentraland, people have the opportunity to develop and commercialize facilities. Facilities like casinos as well as amusement parks. On a secondary NFT marketplace, they can also trade particular digital objects acquired during playtimes, such as outfits, characters, and currency in-game. By how they changed the gaming and collectibles market, NFTs are becoming extremely popular with cryptocurrency consumers and companies. A maximum of $175 million has been invested in NFTs since December 2017.

Practical Use Cases of NFT 

Increasing the Gameplay possibilities

Game makers have shown a great deal of interest in NFTs. NFTs can be used to keep track of who owns what in-game, drive in-game markets, and give a variety of other benefits to gamers.

In many regular games, you can purchase goods to be used in your gameplay. If the thing was an NFT, though, you might repay your investment by trading it once the game is over. If that piece gets more valuable, you might turn a profit.

As producers of the nft launches, game makers might gain a commission each time an element is traded in the public marketplace.  As a result, a much more mutually advantageous business paradigm emerges, in which both participants and developers profit from the supplementary NFT market.

Items that are physically present

Physical goods are not yet as well-tokenized as their virtual counterparts. However, numerous projects are looking into the tokenization of property investment, one-of-a-kind designer clothing, and other topics. Because NFTs are fundamental properties, one day, you might be able to afford a car or a house with ETH and get the ownership in the form of an NFT (in the same transaction). As technology advances, it’s not difficult to envision a day in which your Ethereum account serves as the ticket to your house or car, with the cryptographic evidence of the owner unlocking the entrance. You may utilize NFTs as security in decentralized lending since valued items such as cars and property are represented on Ethereum.

Increasing creators’ compensation

The most common application of NFTs nowadays is in the field of digital material. This is because the industry is currently in a state of disarray. Services are sapping content creators’ income as well as earning capacity. A painter who posts artwork on a social media site generates revenue for the site, which sells advertisements to the artist’s fans. In exchange, they gain exposure, but publicity does not cover expenses. 

NFTs fuel a new creative economy in which creators retain control of their work rather than handing it over to the social media channels that promote it. Ownership is ingrained in the substance. When a painter sells their work, the money goes straight to them. If the new owner sells the NFT, the founding investor may be entitled to profits. The designer’s address is included in the token’s information, which can’t be changed. Therefore this is assured the single time it’s traded.

[brokerscomplaint]

Are you a cryptocurrency scam victim? Get help.

Some people are into cryptocurrency just because their friend or relative earned a huge amount. Over the past number of years, it is seen that cryptocurrency has caught the attention of many investors. Similarly it has also caught the unkind attention of scammers too.

Introduction

Cryptocurrency only exists digitally or virtually and not PHYSICALLY. It is not a physical token as issued by Central Banks of different nations. But you use a facility that allows you to get cash for cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is usually exchanged with someone or somebody online, with your computer, or on phone.

Types of cryptos

It does not use any intermediary (like a bank) for exchange or transaction. Few and famous cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB), U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC), etc. are well-known cryptocurrencies and good market capitalization. There are many other cryptocurrencies, and new ones are endlessly being created every day.

Why do people use crypto?

Persons use cryptocurrency to avoid transaction commissions that regular banks charge. It is also used for quick payments and gives anonymity to the sender and receiver. Few others use cryptocurrency as an investment, and hold on to it in a hope that its value will go up.

Cryptocurrency scams.

Crypto scammers aim to gain private and confidential information/datalike security codes. They may also trick an unsuspecting investor to transfer cryptocurrency code to an illegal or conceded digital wallet.

Broadly speaking cryptocurrency scams falls into two categories.

1. Transferring cryptocurrency straightforwardly to a scammer because of business opportunity, deceitful investment, or pretense.

2. Ingenuities aimed to obtain access to victims’ authentication credentials or digital wallets. In other words, the scammers try to get or steal the data that gives them the right to use victims' digital wallets or other types of personal and private information like security codes, etc. In some cases, this even includes the right to use the physical hardware (stick or hardware lock or pen drive) associated with cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency scams

1. Fake mobile App. – One of the ways to cheat investors is to tempt victims to download the fake app through Google Store or Apple App Store. A fake app will have a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes with poorly phased paragraphs. It virtually looks or is a carbon copy of the original App.

2. Sham or imposter websites – For each original website there is n number of fake websites. If in the browser the site address does not start with “https”, then it is not a secured website. Another indication is a padlock icon near the URL bar. If present then it is a secured URL. If not present think twice before visiting. Scammers usually direct you to a nearly identical-looking web address for payment. They create a fake URL. There is a very small unnoticeable change, e.g. replacing zero with the alphabet “o” or a font change. To avoid this better type the URL address instead of copy-pasting or clicking the given URL.

Where to go and what to do?

If by chance you have been scammed by a Bitcoin Scam or other Cryptocurrency Scam, Forex Scam, simply contact Brokers Complaint. It is a community that helps scam victims recover money from scammers. Do not panic or get disheartened. Get a free consultation. Just fill out the form and let us know your story, how you were scammed?

[i-globalone]

Stronger privacy is coming to the largest stablecoin, tether, with a recent blockchain-to-blockchain swap of $15 million worth of tokens.At 11:27 UTC on Jan. 7, stablecoin issuer Tether conducted a cross-chain swap of some 15 million USDT reserves from ethereum to Blockstream’s Liquid, a federated sidechain running parallel to the bitcoin blockchain. The technical possibility of USDT’s Liquid debut was first announced in July 2019.Innocuous at first glance, the transfer has implications for both digital asset trading and the larger tether market, which saw a mass migration from Omni, a bitcoin-based protocol, to ethereum and even Tron over the course of 2019.But what Liquid offers is privacy.Through confidential assets – a privacy tool which blinds asset values on public ledgers via a protocol called “confidential transactions” – these tether may never see public light again. In fact, it may be the first instance of private digital asset trading at scale.By hiding tether transfers between off-exchange accounts on Liquid and exchanges themselves, traders can move assets around “without worrying about frontrunning,” pseudonymous Blockstream community manager Grubles told CoinDesk via Telegram. For example, a trader could move some Liquid-based tether to an exchange, with the intent of buying bitcoin without tipping her hand to others who might drive the price up before she can make the purchase. “Movements of tether can be tracked in general but also particularly to and from exchanges, which is valuable information. People absolutely trade based on this information,” Grubles said. “Moving from a blockchain that has transparent transactions and onto Liquid is somewhat of a no-brainer in the context of trading.”Tether maintains a healthy competitive advantage against other stablecoins with nearly 75 times the daily trading volume of the next leading stablecoin, the Paxos Standard (PAX), according to Messari’s Stablecoin Index. Noting its ubiquitous use today by traders, Grubles said a pairing with privacy tech only adds to tether’s competitive edge.Moreover, tether on Liquid may be the first instance of a semi-private stablecoin, according to Blockstream CSO Samson Mow.“Services like Whale Alert, that track movements of assets, would not work for confidential assets in Liquid,” Mow told CoinDesk.However, the number of tether tokens issued on Liquid remains public via the Blockstream block explorer, said Grubles, potentially assuaging some of the concerns of Tether skeptics. The stablecoin issuer and its sister company, Bitfinex, are currently under investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office for allegedly commingling corporate and customer funds. Shielded tethersConfidential assets (CAs) were first formally proposed by Blocksteam employees in an April 2017 academic paper penned by bitcoin researchers Andrew Poelstra, Adam Back, Mark Friedenbach, Gregory Maxwell and Pieter Wuille.As described in the paper, the researchers used Pedersen commitments, a mathematical function capable of shielding input information while proving its overall validity, to “blind the amounts of all unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs, the term for individual blockchain values).”Through CAs, coins can be both hidden from prying eyes and proven to still exist. Customer demand drove the decision to convert $15 million worth of tether from ethereum to the Liquid version, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino told CoinDesk.“With Confidential Transactions you can’t see the amounts being sent from one party to another,” said Mow. “That means that USDT issued in the Liquid Network provides better privacy than USDT on other chains.” Tether’s blockchain hopAs a vehicle for crypto trading and price volatility protection, it’s likely more USDT will be minted on Liquid given the advantages. And, it’s not like Tether hasn’t played nomad before.“We may be witnessing the beginning of another Tether migration from ERC20 to Liquid,” said Tales from the Crypt podcast host Marty Bent in a blog post Tuesday. (ERC20 is the standard Tether has used to create tokens on top of ethereum.)Launched as RealCoin in July 2014, tether is currently issued on multiple blockchains, the largest of which are ethereum, Omni and Tron. As data provider CoinMetrics shows, Tether kicked issuance onto the ethereum blockchain into high gear in April 2019, rising from $60 million to $400 million in a mere four weeks.Eight months later and a flippening of sorts occured, with tether issuance on ethereum overtaking Omni earlier this winter. As of press time, some $2.3 billion tether is issued on ethereum compared to $1.5 billion on Omni.While $15 million may be a far cry from $60 million, let alone $1.5 billion or $2.3 billion, Tether’s last year with ethereum demonstrates how fast the tide can shift.“The impetus for the transition away from Omni to an ERC20 standard is, from what I understand, because their wallet support is [subpar]. What Ethereum has done really well to date is make it really easy for services to spin up a wallet and accept random tokens,” Bent wrote. “One thing the transition to an ERC20 standard hasn’t solved for Tether users is the Whale Alert problem.”Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

http://m.globalone.com.np/2020/01/crypto-trading-privacy-gets-boost-as.html

[cryptswahili]

What happened this week in the Crypto markets?

“That’s Our Two Satoshis” — A Dovish Fed Reinforces Bitcoin’s Value Proposition

The Fed blinks

After posting their worst December in 87 years, stocks bounced back in spectacular fashion in January as the S&P 500 Index rose 2.0% last week to finish January 8% above its year-end closing level. The stock market has now gained 16% since the December 24 lows, after Mnuchin called the banks to force reassure them. We’ve highlighted the lack of correlation between the stock market and the crypto markets many times in the past, so the equity returns themselves don’t matter much to crypto as an asset class. What does matter is why this rally occured. The Fed has done a complete “about face” on its policy, ignoring strong employment data and inflation figures which normally drive motivation, and instead have focused purely on stock market returns and sentiment. As our friends at Ikigai stated last week, “the now dovish Fed is great for risk-on assets and validates the idea that Central Banks are irresponsible, thus reinforcing Bitcoin’s original value proposition.” Once again, we remind all investors, even those who think digital assets are irrelevant, to remember why Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exist in the first place. You can only push something so far until it finally breaks.

So Equity Markets are Fragile, What About Crypto?

Meanwhile, crypto markets were largely unchanged last week, but January still concluded with a sixth straight negative monthly performance, the longest stretch ever.

Bitcoin’s Largest Drawdowns

Source: Ark Invest

While February is historically a very good month for crypto prices, there doesn’t seem to be enough tangible data to sink your teeth into in order to make this market move materially higher or lower. Last week we even highlighted all of the positive announcements that are on the horizon in crypto, but the fact is, none of these events are actually happening today. All of the positives are important, but remain highly speculative and forward looking. Until we witness some actual substance to support all of the great announcements and infrastructure investments, it’s unlikely that this market can go materially higher. Even when certain protocols and projects deliver positive results or outcomes, the boost to token prices is often short-lived as the increased valuations can’t be sustained. As long-time technology investor, Tim McDonald, wisely stated this week:

The crypto narrative is still strong, but adoption remains weak.

Bubbles vs Adoption

So that leaves us at an impasse. We have a technology that is undoubtedly promising, coupled with major investments across the whole ecosystem reinforcing the future role that Digital Ledger Technology (DLT) will have on financial services and beyond. Yet prices of today’s digital assets don’t necessarily reflect this future. It’s become clear that investors are now demanding that these investments in the infrastructure begin to bear fruit before the asset class can grow any further. And that takes time. Daniel Heyman, a developer working on Ethereum projects at Consensys, put it best(paraphrasing):

In many ways, the bubbles created by the frenzy in the installation phase makes it possible for the new technology to succeed. The bubble creates a burst of (over-) investment in the infrastructure of the new technology (railways, canals, fiber optic cables, etc.). This infrastructure makes it possible for the technology to successfully deploy after the bubble bursts. The bubbles also encourage a spate of experimentation with new business models and new approaches to the technologies, enabling future entrepreneurs to follow proven paths and avoid common pitfalls. While the bubble creates a lot of financial losses and economic pain, it can be crucial in the adoption of new technologies.

The bubble [in crypto] came early because blockchain technology enabled liquidity earlier in its life cycle. More bubbles are likely.

Although there are no “good bubbles,” bubbles can have good side effects. During Canal Mania and Railway Mania, canals and railways were built that had little hope of ever being profitable. Investors lost money, but after the bubble, these canals and railways were still there. This new infrastructure made future endeavors cheaper and easier. After the internet bubble burst in 2001, fiber optic cables were selling for pennies on the dollar. Investors did terribly, but the fiber optics infrastructure created value for consumers and made it possible for the next generation of companies to be built. This over-investment in infrastructure is often necessary for the successful deployment of new technologies.

This analysis suggests that the best case scenario for crypto in the near-term may be more speculative bubbles, which will ultimately crash as all previous bubbles have. During this time, many investments will ultimately be wiped out, but each building block created will ultimately accrue value to those companies/projects/protocols/users that remain relevant during the subsequent phase(s). Different investing strategies will take advantage of this in different ways… quant funds will take advantage of the elevated volatility, VC funds will patiently wait for the cycle to conclude, and liquid strategies will adapt to what is most profitable. This is a key rationale for why active management matters in crypto, today and in the future, as fund managers offer the ability to navigate these bubbles and crashes to discover where value will ultimately accrue.

Notable Movers and Shakers

A choppy week left most tokens largely unchanged week-over-week. Those that outperformed generally were caused by news of increased future adoption via enhancements that are still months if not years away.

NEM (XEM) token saw a 26% selloff last week following layoffs from the NEM Foundation. According to the foundation, the organization is nearing bankruptcy and making a last ditch effort to sell some of their tokens to stay afloat.

Augur (REP) is still feeling the positive effects of Veil’s launch two weeks ago, gaining 11% week-over-week. User experience is one of the major hurdles to mainstream crypto adoption and Veil seeks to solve this problem for Augur, 0x and other Ethereum dapps.

Ripple (XRP) posted overnight gains of 14% on Thursday after video footage went viral of Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, mentioning Ripple as one of the “new technologies that will actually change the way intermediation is conducted”. Although speculative, positive endorsements of blockchain technology from groups like the IMF is huge for the tiny world of crypto.

Litecoin (LTC) rose 1% on the week after selling off with the majority of the market earlier in the week. Tweets from founder Charlie Lee, the upcoming block halving, and bullish technical analysis all contributed to a strong week for the token.

What We’re Reading this Week

Why Crypto Needs Institutions

Haseeb Qureshi, GP at crypto fund Metastable, penned this article speaking to a central debate in crypto: the role of institutions. In a space that has thumped the table for decentralized and unseating large players from power, we forget that the rise of centralized institutions drove much of the progress in mankind’s history, and that these newly created decentralized institutions are fundamental to crypto.

Kik Speaks Out Against Possible SEC Enforcement Action

Last week, messaging app Kik spoke out stating they would fight any enforcement action from the SEC levied against their 2017 ICO, when they raised over $100m. Kik received a Wells Notice last month which they publicly responded to. While it’s good that Kik is looking to defend themselves in court instead of settle, publishing their rebuttal is an easy way to invite the world to critique your defense. Our own CLO, Phil Liu, thinks that Kik is unlikely to win as there is a rebuttal to every one of the arguments that Kin (their token) is not a security.

The Anti-Fundamental Case for Crypto

According to trading platform Caspian, the next wave of crypto traders will be High Frequency Traders (HFT). The fragmented and volatile nature of crypto provides opportunities for HFTs to capitalize on the price discrepancies common in the market. In addition, exchanges have begun to provide tools to allow for these HFT strategies. Although algo strategies have the potential for great success in crypto, such strategies may be short lived as the market develops, spreads tighten and exchanges consolidate.

Creating Trust in Centralized Entities

Arwen, a crypto startup out of Boston, released a testnet this week for its Arwen protocol. The protocol is designed to allow traders of centralized exchanges to trade without providing the exchanges access to their private keys, essentially letting traders keep custody of their tokens. To start, the protocol will be available with a beta version through the KuCoin exchange, with an expected launch in Q2. Arwen is an example of one of the many good solutions we’re seeing developed in the crypto space that complement existing infrastructure.

When Bankers Bash Bitcoin

Andreas Utermann, CEO of Allianz Global Investors, made comments this week that might have ruffled some feathers, including that cryptocurrencies are “entirely unsuitable for investing in”, and “look like something dreamt up by and most useful for the criminal underworld”. Putting aside the motivations of such comments (crypto and blockchain are afterall poised to disrupt businesses like Allianz), Utermann claims his intention was to point out that cryptocurrencies require far more regulation than has been applied to date.

SWIFT’s Race Against Ripple

SWIFT’s CEO revealed this week that the group is working with R3, the company behind the Corda blockchain, to integrate their Global Payments Innovation (GPI) Link Gateway to Corda for use in payment transfer and settlement. SWIFT has made a massive effort over the last year to step into the blockchain space as businesses like Ripple have made strides in cross-border payments. Although rumors circulated late last year that SWIFT was partnered with Ripple, it’s clear now that these two giants will be in direct competition.

Blockchain Progress Outside Crypto

JPMorgan’s Chair of Global Research, Joyce Change, commented last week that although cryptocurrency performance is down, the potential for blockchain technology to succeed is ever increasing. Chang believes that adoption will be slow and mostly concentrated in trade finance, estimating real impact over the next three to five years.

Arca in the Press & on the Streets

Bloomberg quoted Arca’s Portfolio Manager, Jeff Dorman, this week in their coverage of how crypto hedge funds’ are shifting their strategy to take advantage of current market conditions. The story was also picked up by CoinTelegraph and Finder.

David Nage, Arca’s Head of Distribution, published an article in Block Tribune last week discussing how crypto investing has revived the Fund of Funds model, which up until 2017 was considered dead.

Enterprise Radio hosted Arca’s CEO Rayne Steinberg on their podcast last week where he discussed the future of traditional finance and crypto and how Arca is bridging the gap for those groups.

CEO Rayne Steinberg also published a piece citing concerning trends globally and how crypto/blockchain are antidotes to these trends.

If you’re up in the Bay Area, catch Arca’s Jeff Dorman at Blockchain Investment, who is speaking at the event hosted by Sheppard Mullin on February 26.

And That’s Our Two Satoshis!

Thanks for reading everyone! Questions or comments, just let us know.

The Arca Portfolio Management Team

Jeff Dorman — Portfolio Manager

Katie Talati — Head of Research

Hassan Bassiri — Junior PM / Analyst

Disclaimer: This commentary is provided as general information only and is in no way intended as investment advice, investment research, a research report or a recommendation. Any decision to invest or take any other action with respect to the securities discussed in this commentary may involve risks not discussed herein and such decisions should not be based solely on the information contained in this document.

Statements in this communication may include forward-looking information and/or may be based on various assumptions. The forward-looking statements and other views or opinions expressed herein are made as of the date of this publication. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated and there is no guarantee that any particular outcome will come to pass. The statements made herein are subject to change at any time. Arca Funds disclaims any obligation to update or revise any statements or views expressed herein.

In considering any performance information included in this commentary, it should be noted that past performance is not a guarantee of future results and there can be no assurance that future results will be realized. Some or all of the information provided herein may be or be based on statements of opinion. In addition, certain information provided herein may be based on third-party sources, which information, although believed to be accurate, has not been independently verified. Arca Funds and/or certain of its affiliates and/or clients hold and may, in the future, hold a financial interest in securities that are the same as or substantially similar to the securities discussed in this commentary. No claims are made as to the profitability of such financial interests, now, in the past or in the future and Arca Funds and/or its clients may sell such financial interests at any time. The information provided herein is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities. This commentary has not been reviewed or approved by any regulatory authority and has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances or objectives of persons who may receive it. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives.

What happened this week in the Crypto markets? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

[icodogio]

How To Evaluate Cryptocurrencies

Looking to get involved with a project that has caught your eye? How can you be sure that the technical jargon really cuts the mustard and isn’t just some mumbo jumbo put together with fancy marketing and nothing but vapors under the hood? Well, there are some acid tests you can apply when sizing up projects and we’ll give you the rundown in this guide; so that you can avoid getting pranked with a heavy bag of excrement and separate wheat from the chaff when assessing the market and what constitutes a probable bid.

…Is It Gonna Bang Though?

The first concept you must understand when sizing up cryptocurrency projects is they are ten a penny and in 2017 due to the parabolic bull run, even more frequently appearing on the scene in a seemingly never-ending onslaught. In short – everyone is playing bullshit bingo in crypto.

Just try and see how many projects feature essentially exactly the same thing, just with different colors and branding and maybe a few extra bells and whistles, at its core mostly all projects barely differentiate themselves from one another and purely offer buzzwords or conceptual ideas whilst working on the backbone of another successful project in the interim.

The Core Pillars of any cryptocurrency

1. Speed – It will be sold as fast, faster than X and able to handle more TPS (transactions per second) than Visa.

2. Accessibility – After speed, it’s easy to use and literally ‘just works’ the software is super simple and anyone case use it. Or can they?

3. Reliability – It’s secure. More Secure than Fort Knox according to the marketing guff. It’s unbreakable and cannot be hacked. This is as an important pillar as the other two. Of course, if you can double spend or attack a network it’s not going to ever work. So it must be reliable without a shadow of a doubt.

After these three, a niche will be added to the cryptocurrency. This could be literally anything from logistics to file storage to tokens in a virtual world. One must ask himself, that’s all good and decent but why not just use Bitcoin, Ethereum or Ripple for that part? Why would this specific use case token or coin be a success, what is the unique selling point? What is the call to action? Why would people use this over an existing large cap project?

If you cannot come up with a sizable argument, one that warrants the usage. It’s highly unlikely the coin is going to be a big success. You can argue that it just won’t be a banger. It will most likely be a dud, that fades and fizzles out after the hopium of expectations has evaporated and left a market full of bag holders who want to jump on the next greatest thing. Be careful of joining a train of investors just because of hype. Give it a fair evaluation.

  SWOT Analysis

The strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a business planning methodology that goes back to the basics. Any entrepreneur writing a business plan has had to deal with their SWOT analysis and why not do our own on projects we’re going to invest our hard earned coins into?

Take a pen and paper, draw a cross to quarter the page and write out your SWOT for the project (check the picture below). What are the key strengths? What are the weaknesses, the opportunities, and threats to the business? Size them up, the pros and cons. If you find it is really not making sense by this point, you sir have found a pile of excrement.

Often projects do not hold any value and are purely marketing hype born from the multi-level marketing swamp that is slowly being drained. Avoid such projects like the plague don’t give power to their cause.

  Repository Activity

So you have a project that passes the shit test. You have done some appraisal and found that after looking at it under a SWOT analysis and pragmatically comparing it’s pillars – this diamond in the rough actually holds water and shows a lot of promise. It has an X factor about it, something that just oozes success. You are really sold on the concept

…but what about the team?

Don’t take some marketing spiel with nice profile pictures at face value. That’s just idiocy. I can go and get a wall of temps and make a whole hierarchy for a penny. Why should that make you believe it. So you see a wall of faces, does that mean they cannot all be dullards? Is your money really safe?

Remember when you deposit your ETH into an ICO, there are really no guarantees that the team is going to use your money to finish the project. You wish they will, you assume they will. But how can you know for certain, once you send that transaction that they will honor you as you have to them? Do you know who they are, I mean really? Looking at a marketing website, you know a sales face.

Let’s look at how they actually work to understand the project. Load up their github and check the commits coming in. Go through each developers profiles and see what is going on. Forget Linkedin, that’s just floss. Get to the underbelly, look inside the guts of the machine. If you see hundreds of commits, loads of code being updated and a active community with issues being closed, a slack chat or similar (maybe discord, telegram or such) that you can engage and have a nice conversation with the team. You should mark this project a success.

  Because it’s impossible to fake that. You can fake marketing, you can buy views, you can write all about your project in the best possible light. But you cannot fake code commits, you cannot fake bug fixes and updates with the public. So for me, the repository is the heart of the project.

You could skip even the first SWOT step and just go straight for a project’s repository really, but I wanted to explain how important the methodology is to get the direction of a project and it’s the viability of market success first. Because despite developers being active, it doesn’t mean they are working on a great project necessarily. They may just be hired to work at the time of marketing, and once ICO is completed, fizzle out and stop updating the project.

  Get to know the Team

Get to know the team, find out who are the key developers. See if they have socials you can follow, and just get involved. Talk with them, see what they zeitgeist is inside that team’s ecosystem and where it’s going. If you feel the fire in their bellies and know the hunger is there for success, you can sleep soundly knowing the team is working hard to finish the project and your investment will grow.

If you cannot vouch for that, and after looking for development work you find very little to none. Again you have found a real shit coin. No matter what the fresh-faced marketing messiah has written (who very probably has a long LinkedIn title/twitter bio mentioning buzzwords like serial entrepreneur/crypto god / MLM marketing pro/blockchain expert / disruptive tech expert / fintech disruptor / ico consultant, you know he’s full of it) just look for the actual code.

Because after all…“Show me the commits, don’t show me promises.”

is the only real-world test for these things. I solid project will hold up to this scrutiny.

  Let Me Have a Test Drive

So you managed to get all this way, the project is gonna bang. The SWOT is on point. You are sure they are not a bunch of cretins at the helm and you are ready to open that trusty wallet and dip your toe into the market. You are going to invest, but how much?

Well before you even think about putting a nice chunk of change into this thing, let’s just give it a test run. Go and buy a $10 worth of the crypto and give it a little play. Send it to your friend, send it to yourself, see how it works. Does the chain actually have mining power? How long does this transaction take to clear? Is the wallet really buggy.

Be completely critical, even hypercritical of the project. Because it’s going to get the same hard testing in the real world when someone who has no involvement, no investment and is just a an end user who is using it for the first time – because of the amazing world changes claims it made on its whitepaper has finally come to light and its adoption has become mainstream.

If the experience is really shabby and you are saying what the heck a few times. It’s safe to say

…you have found another dud

And many projects have their ups and downs so make sure to check back later if you feel it was just a bad day, or the network was having upgrades. Don’t just do one test, check it over a period of a few weeks and see how the network is behaving. Try the mobile wallets, and exchanges it is listed on.

  Keeping Liquid

The project must be liquid, there must be a buyer when you are selling. You cannot contemplate holding a million tokens of some project if there is no volume –

…who are you going to sell to?

Be super skeptical of projects that have no liquidity and promise the earth. If no one is trading, how are you going to get price appreciation? Markets with low liquidity are highly risky because if you want to exit the market and cash out, and you have no buyers. The price will quickly fall to whoever wishes to make a bid.

Say you buy at $1 because you hear the project is going places, you did all that boring checks I mentioned prior and you are sure this project is not a shit coin. You buy $10k of the token. After a week the token is trading at $0.70, so you double down and get some more, another $10k to the investment. But a week later, the volume is non-existent and after that sponsored promotion dried up, no one is trading the token. Quickly bids start to fall down towards $0.10.

At this point, you have lost over half of your investment. Nearly all of it is gone unless you are a very optimistic person with a high tolerance to risk, you probably don’t want to look at the number. So you wait for a better day. Let’s hope that day comes. Do you want to just be in the land of hope and hope alone, waiting for that magical day when people find your project and decide to start pumping the price up and buying it like there was no tomorrow? Sounds like quite a dicey bet now.

Maybe it would have been better to buy a solid company with earning reports that was traded on the regulated stock markets. But no, you want that growth, you want that X factor this project is alluring too.

…So you continue to hold.

After 6 months the project is delisted from several exchanges and trading at $0.05 with extremely low volume. You bite the bullet and try to sell some of your stacks, but you cannot find a bidder and the price keeps falling away. There is no reason why this could not happen to even a good project that passed SWOT analysis and holds water because due to many outside factors there can be all kinds of bearish sentiment thrown into the mix and people decide they don’t want to invest in the project.

So even when you have found good plays that you really want to get involved in, don’t get comfortable. Don’t marry any trade. There is no guarantee on what the weather will be tomorrow. You might be sure it’s not going to rain, arrive at the beach and it’s a torrential downpour. Unless you can rule out all possible bearish factors, with real life stability ensuring action such as buybacks by the managing team – there is no way to ensure the price of a crypto.

Even the biggest cap coins can shed double-digit percentage losses in matters of hours, what makes you think that this new shiny coin you have heard all about is going to be any stronger?

  Trading Pure Alpha

There are fleeting chances for alpha in the cryptomarket, meaning coins which move independently of the pack of large caps such as BTC, ETH, and XRP. Finding that alpha and riding it will be highly profitable, but it’s not a sure thing and moves in an agile manner. You will find coins often run up 5% or 10% in a day before reversing those gains only a week later.

Don’t get caught holding the bag on the wrong side of the trade. Do your own research and know what you are buying by following the steps we outlined prior and using pragmatic thought when entering a market. Don’t just follow the chat and Twitter, use common sense. This way you will never find yourself panic buying, or selling again.

  Want to know more about it, join us on our Discord and Telegram channels and get into the discussion, or join our 8000 member community on our ICO DOG Investment Platform:

                        The post How To Evaluate Cryptocurrencies appeared first on ICODOG.

source https://icodog.io/opinion/how-to-evaluate-cryptocurrencies/

[lostmemories-datarecovery-blog]

Cryptocurrency Security | When it comes to your coins, keep it quiet

Have you ever heard the saying “Silence is golden”? In the context of cryptocurrencies, being quiet about your funds will not bring you gold, but it might just save your coins. Beware of stranger danger. Let’s suppose that you have invested a lot of money in cryptocurrencies, or that your investments have paid off and your cryptocurrency funds have multiplied. Obviously, you are pleased about it, and you want to share your success story with other people, so you post a comment about it on Facebook or Reddit. A random reader of your post might then decide that he or she really wants your riches and starts using a variety of malicious tactics to get them. These might include cyber attacks or even physical violence. (You would be surprised how much information can be mined from your social media, including your physical location.) Use common sense. In the offline face-to-face world, a bit of restraint might come in handy as well. It is easy to have a few beers and start to be a bit more talkative. Making friends is great, but the contents of a hardware wallet might not be the best topic to begin with, just like you wouldn’t talk to everyone about your regular bank account balance or your salary. Don’t be an easy target. Hardware wallets, such as Trezor or Ledger Nano range are a perfectly safe, cryptographically protected place for your coins and keys. However, keeping a low profile will protect you from other people even trying to steal your funds or harm you. Physical violence or blackmail are things even hardware wallets cannot protect you from. What to avoid? While publicly advocating the benefits of crypto is perfectly fine, boasting about how much you actually own might not be a good idea. Avoid talking about your account balances with people you do not trust. (Sometimes, you should keep quiet even with people you trust.) Avoid posting about your personal funds on social media and on internet forums. Never ever post your recovery seed online or show it to anybody else. Use a fresh receiving address for your incoming transactions. If not careful, your address may be used to track your balance and transaction history.   Lost cryptocurrency - In certain circumstances, we are able to assist with Crypto (Wallet) Recovery or advise your legal representation if stolen as Digital Forensic Experts    

How to keep YOUR cryptocurrency safe from hackers and theft

  CRYPTOCURRENCY is unique when compared to money because of its inherently ethereal nature – but like anything valuable, bitcoin crypto needs to be protected.   In a year where £840million ($1.1billion) of cryptocurrency has already been stolen, Express.co.uk exclusively reveals how best to keep to keep your crypto safe. Cryptocurrency such as bitcoin is an entirely digital entity requiring an internet connection for any transaction. According to Steven Russo, founder of digital security company Krypti, this connectedness makes bitcoin increasingly susceptible to hacking. Mr Russo exclusively told the Express: “Blockchain itself is safe, but there are two vulnerabilities: the storage of keys and the transaction and use of the keys. “Well over a billion dollars of cryptocurrency has already been stolen, so it’s a pretty solid statement to say exchanges are not secure.” Bitcoin wallet keys are the most susceptible to theft because they give users access to their cryptocurrencies. The latest in a string of brazen thefts saw £46million ($60million) of digital coins plundered from a Japanese exchange. And in January 2018, more than 660,000 crypto wallets were stolen from exchange service BlackWallet, costing crypto owners hundreds of thousands of pounds in losses.   Mr Russo also outlined the second major vulnerability with cryptocurrency, which concerns the transaction and use of cryptocurrency keys. He said: “If you wanted to send me some cryptocurrency, whether you are inside or outside an exchange, you would have to type in literally about a 30 digit number, which represents your crypto coin and my address. “If even one single mistake is made in that entire address, that money could very quickly be lost and you would never retrieve it." The crypto security expert said trusted crypto wallets enable users to send and receive digital currency, as well as monitor their balance.   He added moving money is always a "big vulnerability". In order to best protect your bitcoin and other crypto assets, you should invest in a physical crypto wallet – a hardware device similar to a USB pen-drive. Hardware wallets are an incredibly popular method of storing your tokens and are key to making transactions. These crypto wallets are password protected and come with a private key that only you should know.   You can also opt for an online cryptocurrency wallet from a reputable source. Much like hardware wallets, online storage services will give you a private key to keep your digital tokens secure. Depending on which wallet type you choose, you can always transfer between the two. And always remember not to store your coins on a crypto exchange – once you buy or exchange bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, immediately deposit it to your private wallet. Read the full article