Saturday, July 24, 2021

Intro to Cold-Storage Hardware Wallets

I love cold storage wallets and I will do my best to make a “outline” for anybody who finds it helpful

Looking for the best hardware wallet to keep your Crypto safe? A Cold storage Hardware wallet is just like your personalized bank account that holds your various Crypto coins instead of regular money. It allows you to store, send and do other transactions with your Assets. The wallets are secured by private keys and security features, which allow you to have full access to your account. Crypto wallets are available in the form of hardware devices, Paper wallets, Mobile apps, and web-based. Crypto cold-Storage hardware wallets are the most secure way to store these coins for the long term to ensure better security. To store Crypto, you need to choose a wallet that is compatible with your assets and your needs.

ALWAYS REMEMBER WHY CRYPTO WAS CREATED.

To be in control of your own assets 100% so it’s your responsibility to keep it secure and safe.. Hardware wallets will do this for you once you follow the rules

  1. NOBODY will ever need your private keys/seeds
  2. Do not share info about your crypto ESPECIALLY not on the internet.
  3. Check your addresses atleast 2 times before hitting that confirm key Bonus: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

My initial reason for having cold- storage hardware wallets was (still is) security. But since I first got into crypto, devices have evolved. Much more features and even defi built right into the device

I even heard of a feature that allows you to create a “phony” wallet with its own private keys incase of a “kidnapping” type event (ledger nano x, maybe other have it also but I know ledger has it)

Let’s start with the most popular

Ledger Nano X

Ledger wallets are recognized as one of the best options in the market. The company was founded in 2014 and has offices in San Francisco, Paris. Currently, Ledger employs over 130 employees across its various offices.

The Ledger Nano X is at the top of the list for its convenient design and all-around functionality. This device is perfect for investors on the go. Additionally, the unit supports a huge variety of coins and tokens. It also works in tandem with multiple Dapps to improve your UX.

Here is a more in depth article :LEDGER NANO X review

Ledger is adding a ton of new features including direct marketplace . Defi swapping, lending on compound (already allows lending of USDC, DAI, USDT stable coins, and a bunch of direct staking opportunities) and a few more.

Trezor One

During the very early days of cryptocurrencies, the only option people had to store all their digital assets were software wallets. The single way to add more security would be to use offline wallets such as paper wallets. This all changed once the Trezor One was introduced. Trezor One was the very first cryptocurrency hardware wallet to be created. This resulted in a massive surge in demand for this as well.

TREZOR is a small, key-sized device which connects to your computer with a USB cable. It stores your Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash, Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Monero, Zcash and other different cryptocurrency private keys offline and signs transactions. It can be safely used on a malware infected computer.

Here’s a more in depth article reviewing Trezor One : Trezor One review

BitBox02

Shift Crypto’s BitBox02 hardware wallet is a competitive in-betweener. In a quest to offer the best of both worlds with minimal compromises, the Swiss-made device takes elements from both Trezor and Ledger. The result is an impressive middle ground between open-source transparency and physical security. And to for simplicity purposes, everything works on top of the elegant BitBoxApp.

The comparisons with other devices don’t end here. Internally, the BitBox02 is very similar with the Coldcard Mk3. Both hardware wallets use the ATECC608A secure chip. But unlike the Coldcard, it has a faster 120 MHz microcontroller chip. This makes multisig setups faster and easier to perform.

Here’s a deeper dive into bitbox 02: BitBox02 Review

Cold Card MK3

The Coldcard adopts a different design philosophy to most hardware wallets. Rather than opting to remain as small as possible, Coinkite has instead emphasized usability over portability.

The device is around the same size as a credit card, measuring in at around 88 mm x 52 mm x 9 mm, but weighing just under 29g. The Coldcard's case is constructed out of clear plastic, putting its internals on display, and it feels robust enough to take knocks and bangs without damaging its innards.

The Coldcard wallet resembles a small calculator, with 12 buttons and a small 128x64 pixel OLED screen on the front, a microSD slot on the rear and a micro USB port on the top. Unlike many other hardware wallets, the Coldcard Mk3 does not feature a built-in battery and instead draws power through its micro USB port. While it won't win any awards for its design, the Coldcard Mk3 is certainly not unattractive and is a good blend of form and function.

Full Cold card Deep dive: ColdCard MK3 Review

There are many more different brands and types of hardware wallets.. my tips are always get one with a screen ( so you can verify addresses with your own eyes) and always get one with a team that’s currently developing it. Also don’t go for cheap! Buy something your gonna use for years and feel good about having

PS. I didn’t number anything in my short list cause it was not meant to be in any specific order.. DYOR

HODL safely and profit fellow crypto junkies


Particl Privacy Project

The Particl Project is a truly decentralized Privacy platform, one which does NOT want to get hold of your data, one which asks no questions and allows you to buy and sell with complete anonymity.

It has been flying under the radar for quite a while but seems the team have now put some great things together. There was a common realization among the developers of the project that the data collection activities of those large, centralized platforms had to be addressed. These platforms have shown themselves not only to be untrustworthy but at times lacking the necessary diligence to safely retain the personal data which users have been forced to give them.

There are basically 3 main components to the Particl Project:

Firstly, there is the Particl Platform where users can build secure and decentralized apps. These Dapps can look as good as and work as well as anything from Apple, Amazon or Google but the big difference is the complete privacy and high level of security offered. Transactions on the Particl Platform use the PART Coin irrespective of which currency payments are made in.

Next is the PART Coin itself which can best be described as a top of the line privacy coin. In terms of scalability, it can handle large numbers without slowing down whilst at the same time its decentralization and high levels of security remain intact. This coin can also generate passive income. More on that later.

Thirdly, the team now have a truly decentralized marketplace up and running. Anyone, anywhere can buy and sell goods and services in total privacy with the added advantage of very low fees. The platform is a mix of P2P and blockchain technologies and it is exclusively run by its worldwide users who are running nodes. The marketplace is private by default with no identifiable data being linked to users. Transactions are hidden on the blockchain, metadata is removed from images and data exchange and communications encrypted. This decentralized marketplace is certainly a huge step forward in countering the predatory behavior of the current big players such as Amazon, eBay and Alibaba.

So now we hear you ask, in the event of things going pear-shaped and one of the parties to a transaction doesn’t perform, who is going to be the arbiter? Well, in the true spirit of decentralization there isn’t one. There is however, an innovative system of double deposit escrow called MAD which stands for mutually assured destruction. Both parties to a transaction need to match, as a security deposit into an escrow smart-contract, the value of the item being purchased by the buyer plus the shipping costs. Then once both parties confirm that the transaction has been completed satisfactorily, the security deposits are returned back less only the regular cryptocurrency transaction fees. If there is a dispute, both buyer and seller are forced to reach a settlement as neither will want to lose the deposit. As the marketplace evolves, a new feature will be soon be added to the escrow system. There will be an adjustable escrow rate wherein a sliding scale of the required escrow amount will be available. There will also be an escrow opt-out option in the event that both buyer and seller have absolute trust in each other.

The PART coin is a good earner of passive income. It uses Proof-of- Stake type of algorithm to achieve distributed consensus on the blockchain. Unlike Proof-of Work for coins such as Bitcoin, the creation of the next block is chosen via various combinations of random selection of the number of coins staked and the period of time which the user has held them. Currently the passive income is 2% per year however this is only true if 100% of the total coin supply is being staked. So if only 50% of the total network is up for staking then the reward rate for the year would be 4% Advantageously, this can all be done on a laptop with no need for huge power draining computing capacity.

So let’s take a look at the upcoming release….

The most striking feature of Particl Desktop v3 will be the inclusion of infinite markets and market management. This feature will allow users to create an unlimited number of markets or storefronts on the Particl network and manage an unlimited number of identities across any of these markets through user profiles. The Particl marketplace will become a network of infinite marketplaces and seller shops. The seller shops themselves can be made private with selected buyers needing an access code to enter. For instance, these shops could be for special promotions only for a particular group of customers or private channels between merchants and their suppliers.

This sounds easy and straight forward and what is also exciting about the infinite markets is the ability of sellers to send a market to their clients, but one which is not listed on the main marketplace. Let’s assume for instance that you want to sell certain goods but in your country these are controlled by a few powerful players or perhaps under government restrictions. To get around this you could create a marketplace for yourself and give your buyers the access code for it and your storefront therefore remains confidential. A very powerful tool indeed with endless possibilities.

The Particl Academy will also be released with Desktop v3 and this is a documentation hub with all of the information needed for both vendors and users of the marketplace. It will include in-depth guides about some of Particl’s core components plus FAQs, troubleshooting and all of the basic instructions needed to get started. It’s going to be a plainly written guide without any technical terms, thus making it easy for everyone to understand. A Vendor Onboarding Program will complement the Particl Academy to assist those vendors wanting to join. A lot of benefits will be made available to those who sign up for the program and the developers are keen to get as many sellers to join as possible to have more products and diversity of choice on the marketplace.

Emerging technologies such as this bringing big changes to the manner in which we buy and sell online and hopefully the abuses by the current big players will soon be curtailed.

The Particl platform offers not just a high degree of privacy but cuts out those sizable commissions charged by the existing middlemen. The listing fees on the marketplace are already very small in comparison to the likes of Amazon and Ebay but with the update these will be reduced by around 95%.

This update “PARTICL V3” is the biggest one so far for Particl and it is going to take things to the next level in terms of decentralized marketplaces.

But back to our daily lives. Some consumers are having to try things which they have never done before such as ordering groceries or apparel online or even getting a meal delivered. These shifts in behavior could very well be long term as consumers will be hesitant to return to the bricks and mortar stores with the lingering threat of Covid-19 still around. In a difficult time like this opportunities abound for people to start their own business, especially those considering an online delivery business. In the Philippines, people are currently stuck in their own local areas with limited access to supermarkets but the Particl marketplace could easily be used to connect local producers directly with customers. Delivery services are coming up left and right to fill this vacuum and they too could benefit from advertising on the marketplace.

The marketplace can also help the unbanked and the exploited in developing countries. Starbucks for instance has in the past been taking advantage of coffee farmers in Ethiopia by offering them very low prices for their crop. This at times can represent as little as 2.2% of the retail value. Hopefully in the near future, armed with only a smartphone these farmers and others like them worldwide, will be able to use the Particl marketplace to sell their products at the best price available. At the moment there is a mobile wallet but the Marketplace has yet to be included, but once this is addressed we will witness its adoption going sky-high with the Particl eco-system experiencing massive growth in developing countries. The ability to cut out the middleman for all buyers and sellers involved in eCommerce will be a welcome change.

Buying, selling, reselling or advertising services, it seems that the Particl marketplace is an ideal venue for starting a new venture.

In order to find out more, we asked CryptoGuard, who takes care of communications for the project, what excites him about it and he came back to with this:

"To me it's all about freedom. Our world, and even the internet now, has grown very centralized which gives corporations and certain institutions too much power that they leverage to further their agendas and impose on us rules and high fees. Additionally, the giants controlling these central points of control have implemented very aggressive and intrusive data mining and tracking mechanisms which go against the very basic human right that is privacy (and personal freedom). This can be easily observed in the eCommerce sector. A few giants control most of the market and use their power to impose their rules and policies. This often results in censorship, bans of products and services, taking their own sellers out of business by copying their products, and intrusive data mining which often results in leaks of personal information. The worse part is that we have very little resources and alternatives as most, if not all, transaction data has to go through marketplace operators such as Amazon, eBay, or Alibaba, and then through payment processors like Mastercard, VISA, Paypal, etc. This is due to the very nature of centralized payments. What can we really do against these multi-billion dollar companies who prey on any perceived threat to their monopoly the second they get wind of it? Then came along Bitcoin, a censorship-proof, pseudonymous and free (as in freedom) currency. Yet, Bitcoin still has a problem, because most of the time you still need to spend it through centralized cryptocurrency payment processors. This introduces the very same issues mentioned above as with traditional payments. Bitcoin, with its decentralized nature, needs an equally decentralized way for it to be spent other than simply transferring coins to an address. And this is what excites me about Particl. It is an entire marketplace that provides most of the features you would find on a traditional marketplace like eBay, but instead of being run by a business which gets access to all the data and gets to impose its rules, it runs the exact same way as Bitcoin does, inheriting from its benefits and even more. It is entirely decentralized, meaning there is not a single third-party that has influence over it, is private-by-default, making it impossible for any party to collect and share personal and business information, and is censorship-proof so that anyone can buy and sell what they want, without restriction. And the cherry on top...it doesn't even charge a commission or sales fee. It is the perfect embodiment of free market, and it is a beautiful leap forward in technology that has the potential to fundamentally change eCommerce as we currently know it. Working as part of this revolution really makes one's life fulfilling." -CryptoGuard - Particl Communications

Now that was a much longer answer than expected but you see the passion and the potential plus the need for this decentralized eco- system. Also, we reached out to Ido Kaiser (also known as Kewde) who is Developer and Software Architect and other Particl enthusiast Cyberpunks and asked them for their thoughts about the project:

“Once you've had a taste of what decentralization can do for the monetary system then it's obvious that we ask ourselves what it could mean for trade too. Whilst the trade is still rather decentralized today, thanks to a semi decent working of capitalism, it's not impossible to think that it might not stay that way. The Amazon company for example, they are in a unique and creepy position these days. They are both a marketplace and a producer/seller. There will be more companies like these in the future which have an internal conflict of interest. If you see a horrible trend, then I think the least we can do is already work on an alternative option.” -Ido Kaiser - Developer & Software Architect

“One of the things that I find really exciting about the Particl Open Marketplace is that it is pioneering decentralized and private commerce on the internet, using the very architecture that runs Bitcoin. I witnessed the team behind this project, one of the best in the business, go through the roughest market conditions yet still deliver a decentralized application that actually works, with no funny ICO business or marketing gimmicks. The marketplace is live right now for anyone to use, is open source, privacy-enabled, and can be run on the most basic setup so that anyone can be their own Amazon." -Miguel Cuneta, cryptocurrency and decentralization proponent, Co- founder of Satoshi Citadel Industries, Philippines.

"I'm excited about particl, because for the first time in history, a truly free and private market can exist. One that does not allow the market owner to use sales data to outcompete its own sellers and put them out of business. It also allows product inventors to bring their inventions to the market without fearing that copycats that use trends data will steal their idea before the inventors can at least make their initial investment back. This has caused a lot of inventions to be put on the ice and I am excited what new product can enter the market now that inventors can once again hope to profit from their ideas."
-Joe Fisher - Particl Advicer

"The world is full of people who can't see the power imbalances that are being created. Only when the effects of those power imbalances are applied to their personal lifes will they be ready to accept decentralization. But that time will come, it's not a "if" statement, it's a "when" statement. I hope I get to see that tipping point myself but I'm very well aware of the fact that the decentralized technology like Particl has the ability to outlive all of us. When the time is right for people to claim back their privacy and freedoms in trade, I hope they find their way to our platform or at least draw inspiration to build their own." -Gerlof van Ek - Lead Designer & Branding, UI/UX, Developer of the Particl Project

"What really makes me passionate about Particl and decentralized marketplaces is the fact that it takes the burden of having to deal with any middlemen. That really puts the small sellers and buyers at the table and re-establishes fairness in eCommerce." -Bryan Woods - President Spend.com

One thing which We believe will drive the mass adoption and lead Particl to becoming a more mainstream player are the Infinite Markets:

"It is, simply put, an added functionality that allows anyone to create public or private user markets and storefronts. Whereas Particl’s Open Marketplace used to be the only Particl marketplace available, it will now be one out of an infinite amount of user markets or storefronts that anyone can create. It will, however, remain as the default marketplace, meaning anyone installing Particl Desktop will have access to and see this giant public marketplace."

Test new PARTICL V3 TESTNET yourselves: https://particl.news/new-particl-v3-testnet-available/

Test it, break it, report it! Help Cyberpunk dream to come true!


Core Scientific Secures $54M Investment from Crypto Lender Celsius

The global crypto yield-earning platform Celsius Network is pressing ahead with a $200 million commitment towards clean bitcoin (BTC) mining. Part of which has involved a $54 million investment in Core Scientific, a leading figure in carbon-neutral mining.

According to reports from July 23, Celsius’ overall commitment should place the company as one of the biggest investors in the BTC mining industry. Celsius first pledged $200 million worth of mining equipment to Core Scientific, as well as Rhodium Enterprises, a mining company based in Texas, and hash rate-based software company Luxor Technologies, back in June.

Alex Mashinsky, founder and CEO of Celsius, called companies like Core Scientific “exceptional.”

He also referred to them as “setting the standard for energy efficiency in mining around the globe.”

On joining forces with them, the CEO commented, “We are thrilled to be investment partners and are excited to see the successes they’ve had this year, and looking forward to working together to grow our joint business in the future.”

This development is the latest in an eventful month for both parties. On July 21, Celsius announced it had joined the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC). The organization, founded by MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, supports green BTC mining. It also promotes transparency and educate the public on the benefits of BTC. Furthermore, the BMC shares best practices, as a global forum of BTC mining companies and other businesses within the BTC industry.

Meanwhile, Core Scientific announced on the same day their intent to become a publicly traded company and list on NASDAQ. This comes by way of a $4.3 billion merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Corporation (XPDI).

The States embrace BTC miners

Crackdowns on the BTC mining industry are continuing across the world. China extended its shutdown to the eastern Anhui province earlier this month. The country once accounted for the majority of the world’s mining hash rate.

In the meantime, the U.S. has become a top destination for displaced miners to resume their operations. Many have set up shop in Texas, appealing for both its cheap energy prices and pro-crypto government officials. 

A mining operation is also setting up in a 19th century hydroelectric power plant in Mechanicville, New York, as reported on July 9. Execs at Albany Engineering Corp., the company behind the operation, said they expect to make three times as much money by mining BTC than with selling the electricity to the National Grid.


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The scammers are starting to put more effort. I'm impressed!!!

Woke up to this email today. They seem to be upping their game, can't help but feel a little impressed.

Be safe out there everyone. Shit like this is never real.

"Greetings!

I have to share bad news with you. Approximately few months ago I have gained access to your devices, which you use for internet browsing. After that, I have started tracking your internet activities.

Here is the sequence of events: Some time ago I have purchased access to email accounts from hackers (nowadays, it is quite simple to purchase such thing online). Obviously, I have easily managed to log in to your email account .

One week later, I have already installed Trojan virus to Operating Systems of all the devices that you use to access your email. In fact, it was not really hard at all (since you were following the links from your inbox emails). All ingenious is simple. =)

This software provides me with access to all the controllers of your devices (e.g., your microphone, video camera and keyboard). I have downloaded all your information, data, photos, web browsing history to my servers. I have access to all your messengers, social networks, emails, chat history and contacts list. My virus continuously refreshes the signatures (it is driver-based), and hence remains invisible for antivirus software.

Likewise, I guess by now you understand why I have stayed undetected until this letter...

While gathering information about you, I have discovered that you are a big fan of adult websites. You really love visiting porn websites and watching exciting videos, while enduring an enormous amount of pleasure. Well, I have managed to record a number of your dirty scenes and montaged a few videos, which show the way you masturbate and reach orgasms.

If you have doubts, I can make a few clicks of my mouse and all your videos will be shared to your friends, colleagues and relatives. I have also no issue at all to make them available for public access. I guess, you really don't want that to happen, considering the specificity of the videos you like to watch, (you perfectly know what I mean) it will cause a true catastrophe for you.

Let's settle it this way: You transfer $1500 USD to me (in bitcoin equivalent according to the exchange rate at the moment of funds transfer), and once the transfer is received, I will delete all this dirty stuff right away. After that we will forget about each other. I also promise to deactivate and delete all the harmful software from your devices. Trust me, I keep my word.

This is a fair deal and the price is quite low, considering that I have been checking out your profile and traffic for some time by now. In case, if you don't know how to purchase and transfer the bitcoins - you can use any modern search engine.

Here is my bitcoin wallet: 1KcLSenDGH7ES9jnCENJSC95vgLEdGYkkH

You have less than 48 hours from the moment you opened this email (precisely 2 days).

Things you need to avoid from doing: *Do not reply me (I have created this email inside your inbox and generated the return address). *Do not try to contact police and other security services. In addition, forget about telling this to you friends. If I discover that (as you can see, it is really not so hard, considering that I control all your systems) - your video will be shared to public right away. *Don't try to find me - it is absolutely pointless. All the cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous. *Don't try to reinstall the OS on your devices or throw them away. It is pointless as well, since all the videos have already been saved at remote servers.

Things you don't need to worry about: *That I won't be able to receive your funds transfer. - Don't worry, I will see it right away, once you complete the transfer, since I continuously track all your activities (my trojan virus has got a remote-control feature, something like TeamViewer). *That I will share your videos anyway after you complete the funds transfer. - Trust me, I have no point to continue creating troubles in your life. If I really wanted that, I would do it long time ago!

Everything will be done in a fair manner!

One more thing... Don't get caught in similar kind of situations anymore in future! My advice - keep changing all your passwords on a frequent basis"

I wish it was an email I could respond to so I could string this fucker along.


The truth about technical analysis

There is a lot of hate here on technical analysis. I tend to agree it's not worth your time, but it's also insanely misunderstood.

A few simple examples:

Here's a really simple example of it. Let's say BTC has been hovering around $30k for a while now. During that time lots of people buy their first Bitcoin. Then we have a good week like we did this week and it goes up to $35k. But sadly, that was temporary and we start dropping back to $30k. All these new buyers don't want to loose money so as it drops to their buy price, they sell. Simple supply and demand then forces the price lower. People that didn't get out at $30k are starting to loose money and so they sell to cut their loses, pushing the price down further. This is the most basic type of technical analysis pattern called support and resistance.

Here's another example. Let's say you see the Stegosaurus Under a Rainbow pattern (https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/op6xvs/bitcoin_will_reach_75k_in_september_heres_how/). And now imagine the scenario in which everyone thinks that's a real pattern and when it "completes" it means the price can only go up. Everyone wants to get in on the profits, so they all start buying. This forces the price up. Thus now the pattern has merit.

It's not the charts and lines we draw on them that is magical. It's a way to trade on the hivemind (to steal a Reddit term). It's one of those "if everyone else is jumping off a cliff, would you also do it?" things. It ascribes predications modeled on human psychology.

How is makes you money:

Now a lot of people hate on technical analysis because it's not always accurate. You need to think of it like playing blackjack and counting cards. Just randomly playing a hand (or buying crypto) gives you about 50/50 odds of making money. Now when you start counting cards (or using technical analysis), maybe you tip the odds to 50.1% in your favor, but that's all you need. Over the long run, it eventually pays off.

What technical analysis is not:

It's not a magical predicator to guarantee you profits. Just like the counting cards example above, if you use it incorrectly, it may make your odds even worse than random chance. Other events can overshadow its effectiveness. For example, if Vitalik tweet's Ethereum is a scam, that is obviously going to overshadow any predictive powers technical analysis has and things are doing down.

Should I use technical analysis?:

In my opinion, it's not worth the effort and can be frustrating if you are wrong. It's easier to just DCA. The most I'd use it for is maybe trying to find good entry or sell point. That being said, knowledge is important. It's at least important to understand something and make an educated decision not to use it rather than bashing something you do not understand.

Disclaimer:

Obviously not an expert in it. This isn't financial advice. This is just an attempt to provide some layman's knowledge on the subject.


What is happening to doge now is a very difficult and painful process of decoupling from btc price and emerging as the dominant crypto in the world of real commerceπŸ’ŽπŸ™ŒπŸ’ŽπŸ’ŽπŸ€™πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€ but there is good news..

Just look at the recent news with commerce payments with doge enabled on Coinbase Commerce!

However, the crypto markets are still driven by btc and right now it is actually the perfect storm for bitcoin which drags all other crypto down thru arbitrage trading when it dips. Here are just some factors weighing down on btc, crypto and doge by extension:

  • China btc mining/tx processing ban
  • Tesla drop
  • Bitcoin energy inefficiency and environmental impact concerns from sustainability conscious institutional investors

This process of decoupling from btc and all things bitcoin is going to last for some time but when it is over doge hodlers are going to be rich. You know it, I know it, Vitalik knows it, and Elon knows it too..

Here's just some of the why:

  • Doge adoption by businesses for real commerce is rapidly expanding not just in the US but globally. Recent addition toncoinbase commerce payments platform is just another sign of many.
  • Doge daily trading volumes have been shattering all records with 1250% rise to $1 billion in Q2 of this year
  • Upcoming doge platform upgrades such as SegWit and Check Sequence Verify will result in 99% drop in tx fees, improved doge tx speed and overall platform scalability - (all spearheaded by Musk) - which may lead to doge adoption by Tesla and other big businesses
  • Multiple future events like Doge-1 mission to space will continue to contribute to doge popularity
  • Doge brand is akin to Apple in terms of positive emotions it evokes among consumers (marketologists luv this kind of isht. doge brand already sells a lot of product today!! from slimjiim to merch to dogecan by axe.. etc. etc.)

Again the process of doge breaking away from BTC will be wobbly and at times painful with dips twists and turns as we have been experiencing for 2 months now. However, the things that have happened in just the last 3 months have already made it abundantly clear that doge crypto dominance is inevitable.

Doge is happenan and it is real. So much for a joke. Looks like fate does love irony after all..

to the moon shibe! πŸ€™πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€πŸš€ spread the word and do only good everyday !! and HODL


Should you own (maybe just a little) Bitcoin?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/should-you-own-maybe-just-a-little-bitcoin-094516011.html

Andy Serwer with Max Zahn Sat, July 24, 2021, 4:43 AM

In this article:

Is crypto the (new) trade of our lifetime? I ask this question as the price of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) — a proxy for all cryptocurrencies — has fallen almost 50% since mid-April, from $63,000 to $32,000. (I’ll get to the parenthetical "new" in a second.)

We may even be heading into another so-called crypto winter, where the price of Bitcoin falls precipitously and stays down for some time. But here’s the rub: Heretofore each downturn has been followed by the price of the coin recovering and then going on to greatly exceed its previous high.

Doesn’t that scream long term buy and hold? (Or trader bait if that’s what floats your boat.) Shouldn’t you therefore own a piece? Maybe just a little piece?

How do we know crypto will continue to go up? No one knows. Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) seem like obvious bets now, but five or 10 years ago they looked risky, or overpriced or both. And with Bitcoin you add a whole other layer of uncertainty, which is to say crypto currency itself. Crypto is way more complex and speculative than iPhones or EVs or chips.

I’ll get into the issue of defining crypto later, but I want to be clear that what I’m really trying to address here is, should you have some exposure to crypto in your investment portfolio, and if so, what kind and how much?

That question comes from this fact: It’s entirely possible the only thing riskier than owning crypto, is not owning crypto. Meaning that 50 years from now, your grandchildren might shake their heads in disgust for you not buying Bitcoin at $32,000, (or $25,000 next week.)

A dilemma, no?

Let me briefly address the word "new" in my lead, which I used because for the past 25 years, I've called tech the trade of our lifetime. Just like with what we’ve seen so far with crypto, tech stocks would go up and would go down, but they would always go higher. The chart for the NASDAQ 100 Technology Sector (^NDXT) goes from bottom left to top right. And it makes sense, doesn’t it, as tech becomes a bigger and bigger part of our economy.

And now? Well, I’m not saying tech is finished by any means, but it could be that after two and a half decades, the sweetest part of that trade has run its course, especially for the big FAAN/MG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, Google) names. Two strong winds now blow in the faces of those companies.

The first is the tyranny of large numbers, meaning it becomes increasingly difficult for a company to grow 30% a year when its annual revenue is closing in on $200 billion (as is the case with Google, which also sports a market valuation of $1.7 trillion.) How can a company sustain that and how much bigger can it grow? The second wind is potential government regulation addressing the massive market power of these giants, (though breaking up these companies may be a boon to shareholders and consumers.) And of course these two headwinds are intertwined.

A segue back to crypto. I know it seems like all you hear these days is "Bitcoin, Bitcoin Bitcoin," right? Celebrities, CEOs, and heads of state are either investing in it, setting up endeavors or commenting on it. But here’s the thing, the total value of all Bitcoins right now is $605 billion, or about half of a single FAAN/MG. That also equals only about 1.7% of the world's supply of money (and about 5.3% of the world's gold supply, according to Investopedia.)

In fact all crypto coins combined now account for less than 5% of the world's money supply. Imagine the hype if crypto gets to be equal to 25% or 50% of what they call fiat (or traditional) currency. So maybe crypto has room to grow. On the other hand tulip bulbs were worth a bunch too, back in the day.

What exactly is cryptocurrency? (Forgive me if this part is familiar.) Crypto is a type of digital, usually non-government issued, currency that is encrypted, which protects it from being counterfeited. (So-called stablecoins are crypto pegged to traditional currency like the dollar.)

These currencies exist on distributed computer networks which use blockchain technology, a special kind of database really, which creates a permanent record of transactions that can be viewed by all.

Bitcoin, launched in 2009 by someone or some people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, is the king of the coins, but there are thousands of them, (Yahoo Finance tracks over 300), including biggies like Ethereum, used for instance to buy and sell NFTs (non fungible tokens, which I wrote about here), Ripple, or XRP, which is used for banking transactions and the infamous Dogecoin, a satirical coin (replete with its Shiba Inu dog meme), which has a very no joke market value of $25 billion.

Yes, it's kind of crazy. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger don’t like crypto. Munger calls it “rat poison” and says it aids and abets criminals. That certainly has been true (along with all the legit use), but it ignores the obvious point that a vast majority of all the crime in the world is facilitated by traditional currencies and systems, (Exhibit A: The FinCEN Files investigations. Crypto is never mentioned here. JPMorgan, HSBC and Deutsche Bank and dollars are often.) It’s still very much the case that the $100 bill is the criminal’s currency and denomination of choice.

Others point to additional issues with Bitcoin. Elon Musk for instance, generally a crypto bull, helped juice the run-up in Bitcoin earlier this year when Tesla announced it would accept Bitcoin as payment. But Musk then created a crypto downdraft in May when he suspended that program due to environmental concerns, as creating Bitcoin, (or mining), requires copious amounts of energy consumption. (Musk said this week he will reconsider as mining processes improve.)

Others note Bitcoin isn’t actually accomplishing what many hoped it would do. “Bitcoin was designed as a digitally anonymous medium of exchange that did not involve a trusted third party, such as a central bank, but Bitcoin has failed abjectly at its stated objective,” says Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and author of a forthcoming book called, "The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance." 

“It’s a very volatile currency in terms of value, so it is not a reliable medium of exchange. Moreover, it’s slow, expensive, and cumbersome to use," he said. "Despite a lack of intrinsic value, Bitcoin began to be adopted mainly as a speculative asset.”

Ric Edelman, executive chairman of Edelman Financial Engine, doesn’t necessarily disagree but says “where bitcoin is not succeeding as a digital currency it is succeeding as a digital asset.” Furthermore Musk and others believe that entrepreneurs will build “layers” on top of Bitcoin that will render it more utility.

Mainstream bankers like Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, have also mostly been critical, though Dimon’s view is evolving. Initially he savaged crypto, but said that blockchain technology was legit (a common stance by mainstream financial folks), and green lit blockchain projects at the bank. Then in congressional testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in late May, he said he wouldn’t steer clients away from crypto.

“My own personal advice to people is: stay away from it. That does not mean the clients don't want it,” Dimon said. “This goes back to how you have to run a business. I don't smoke marijuana but if you make it nationally legal, I'm not going to stop our people from banking it."

Just this week, JPMorgan became the major bank to give its customers access to crypto funds.

I tend to think that Bitcoin and its ilk are to money what the internet is to information — a digital, low cost, less fettered variation. As such, cryptocurrency and blockchain are a parallel universe to the legacy world of finance, soon to mirror every facet of what came before and perhaps one day to subsume it. What does that mean for JPMorgan, the Fed, the NYSE and the dollar? Lots, though who knows what exactly. It may not kill any of them though. For instance, all those newfangled mobile payment businesses like PayPal and Square haven’t slowed Visa and Mastercard much.

Then there’s regulation. At some point lawmakers will wrap their brains around crypto, but they haven’t yet. “Right now we’re past the wild west phase where we were living in a fairly unregulated environment. We’re in what I would characterize as an awkward phase,” says Daniel Tramel Stabile, a partner in the Miami office of Shutts & Bowen LLP​​ and a professor at University of Miami Law School, who specializes in legal issues surrounding digital assets. “I think in the long run regulation will be a very positive thing for the industry as it continues to mature.”

I could write a zillion more paragraphs about crypto, it touches every corner of our lives now and there are a flood of news stories every day, but I’m going to leave it at that. Except to refer you to a pretty incredible, somewhat under-the-radar conversation at The B-Word Conference this week between Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter (TWTR) and Square (SQ), and Cathie Wood, head of ARK Invest, entitled “Demystifying Bitcoin.” It really bears watching but here are a few choice nuggets salient to this story.

“I’ve thought about money for quite a while,” says Musk. “I especially think about money as an information system. It makes sense to support something that improves the quality of information with which we conduct the economy. Bitcoin is a candidate for that."

“My hope for crypto in general is that it can improve the efficiency of the information that we call money. So if the core efficiency of money is improved and money has less error, error as in any kind of government interference or fraud. This will lead to a better standard of living and more power to the individual, which I very much agree with.”

Dorsey said he likes crypto because of “the network and the community. It’s deeply principled, it’s weird as hell, it’s always evolving. It just reminded me of the internet when I was a kid. The amount of cost and distraction that comes from our monetary system today is real and it takes away attention from the bigger problems.”

Cathie Wood sees crypto as “solving even more problems but also creating even more opportunities as well, which is the history of technology and disruptive innovation.”

Some visionary advocates there, all three of whom are oh-so-familiar with wild swings in valuation. Speaking of which, the price action of Bitcoin has not been for the faint of heart. From October 2013 to April 2014, for instance, BTC went from $100 to $1,000 and back to $400. But that’s ancient history. In 2017, BTC went from $900 in March to (famously) almost $20,000 in December, and then down to $3,500 a year later. And now over the past 12 months or so, Bitcoin went from $5,000 to $60,000 and now halved again.

Despite that, or really because of that, more and more want to take the plunge. A new survey by Goldman Sachs “found that nearly half the family offices it does business with want to add digital currencies to their stable of investments.” Billionaire Interactive Brokers founder Thomas Peterffy, who’s been critical of crypto previously, told CNBC this week that “Even I myself have put a little bit of money into crypto, because even though chances are, I think, that this is not going to be a viable market, I think that there’s a small chance that this will be a dominant currency, so you have to play the odds.”

In fact crypto has already minted a new crop of billionaires and centimillionaires, like Sam Bankman-Fried, who Forbes estimates is worth “$16.2 billion, thus cementing his title of the wealthiest known crypto billionaire.” Bankman-Fried is building FTX, a new crypto derivatives exchange which just did a $900 million private equity funding, the biggest in PE history. (Funny I don’t see any crypto billionaires popping up on Bloomberg’s Billionaires List...yet.)

We checked in with Eric Jansen, founder and CIO of investment management firm Finivi, and asked him for his crypto investing thesis. “It’s an alternative investment that doesn't seem to be correlated with the stock market,” he says. “The holy grail of investing is to have a basket of investments that don’t react the same way to events—interest rates going up or down or the stock market up or down. You could potentially be in a scenario where crypto markets are doing well and the stock market is not. It could be like the early days of the internet," Jansen says. “You have to expect Pets.com type stocks that go to zero, the same in crypto world, but there are going to be Amazons, Google and Facebooks that eventually come out of it."

“Money is becoming a form of expression,” Jansen continues. “In the U.S. I use dollars, in China I use the yuan. I believe in Dogecoin, buy stuff in Doge, believe in Dash, I’ll buy in Dash. You’ll use cryptocurrency because it defines you. That’s where currency is going. Not country by country but more individualistic.”

Well that’s different.

“I began highly skeptical, thinking it was a very dubious proposition that this was legitimate,” says Ric Edelman. “The more I learned, the more I discovered that this is a revolutionary technology that will change commerce on a global scale. I’m confident anyone who goes through a similar exploration will reach a similar conclusion. Don’t allow your biases or assumptions to prevent you from making investment decisions that you may regret.”

OK, if you’re buying any of this then, well, how much do you buy?

“I generally advise investors to allocate 1% of the portfolio to digital assets because of the volatility and because of the price potential,” says Edelman. “You don’t need to have a significant allocation to have a material improvement in your portfolio. One percent is plenty. If it fails, it’s only 1%. Won’t cause financial harm. If it improves, as it has historically, it will deliver significant returns.”

So where do you put this mad money? “Two choices,” says Edelman. “Simply stick with the largest, most established digital assets. That’s Bitcoin and Ether. Together they comprise about 80% of the marketplace. It’s like saying ‘if you're going to invest in soft drinks, buy Coke and Pepsi.’” 

Once you decide to take the plunge you then have to decide whether to buy coins directly from an exchange like CoinDesk or Gemini, (not so straightforward still), from a broker dealer like Robinhood, from a Bitcoin ATM (true!), through futures, a peer-to-peer network or through a fund like Grayscale’s GBTC at brokers like Fidelity, Schwab or E-Trade. (The latter is really the easiest.)

Bottom line: There’s a whole (parallel) universe to explore here. Take it slow, be careful, learn and make up your own mind. Just know the whole thing could implode one day — or devour the world of money and finance as we know it. Or perhaps most likely, something in between.


Particl Privacy Project

The Particl Project is a truly decentralized Privacy platform, one which does NOT want to get hold of your data, one which asks no questions and allows you to buy and sell with complete anonymity.

It has been flying under the radar for quite a while but seems the team have now put some great things together. There was a common realization among the developers of the project that the data collection activities of those large, centralized platforms had to be addressed. These platforms have shown themselves not only to be untrustworthy but at times lacking the necessary diligence to safely retain the personal data which users have been forced to give them.

There are basically 3 main components to the Particl Project:

Firstly, there is the Particl Platform where users can build secure and decentralized apps. These Dapps can look as good as and work as well as anything from Apple, Amazon or Google but the big difference is the complete privacy and high level of security offered. Transactions on the Particl Platform use the PART Coin irrespective of which currency payments are made in.

Next is the PART Coin itself which can best be described as a top of the line privacy coin. In terms of scalability, it can handle large numbers without slowing down whilst at the same time its decentralization and high levels of security remain intact. This coin can also generate passive income. More on that later.

Thirdly, the team now have a truly decentralized marketplace up and running. Anyone, anywhere can buy and sell goods and services in total privacy with the added advantage of very low fees. The platform is a mix of P2P and blockchain technologies and it is exclusively run by its worldwide users who are running nodes. The marketplace is private by default with no identifiable data being linked to users. Transactions are hidden on the blockchain, metadata is removed from images and data exchange and communications encrypted. This decentralized marketplace is certainly a huge step forward in countering the predatory behavior of the current big players such as Amazon, eBay and Alibaba.

So now we hear you ask, in the event of things going pear-shaped and one of the parties to a transaction doesn’t perform, who is going to be the arbiter? Well, in the true spirit of decentralization there isn’t one. There is however, an innovative system of double deposit escrow called MAD which stands for mutually assured destruction. Both parties to a transaction need to match, as a security deposit into an escrow smart-contract, the value of the item being purchased by the buyer plus the shipping costs. Then once both parties confirm that the transaction has been completed satisfactorily, the security deposits are returned back less only the regular cryptocurrency transaction fees. If there is a dispute, both buyer and seller are forced to reach a settlement as neither will want to lose the deposit. As the marketplace evolves, a new feature will be soon be added to the escrow system. There will be an adjustable escrow rate wherein a sliding scale of the required escrow amount will be available. There will also be an escrow opt-out option in the event that both buyer and seller have absolute trust in each other.

The PART coin is a good earner of passive income. It uses Proof-of- Stake type of algorithm to achieve distributed consensus on the blockchain. Unlike Proof-of Work for coins such as Bitcoin, the creation of the next block is chosen via various combinations of random selection of the number of coins staked and the period of time which the user has held them. Currently the passive income is 2% per year however this is only true if 100% of the total coin supply is being staked. So if only 50% of the total network is up for staking then the reward rate for the year would be 4% Advantageously, this can all be done on a laptop with no need for huge power draining computing capacity.

So let’s take a look at the upcoming release….

The most striking feature of Particl Desktop v3 will be the inclusion of infinite markets and market management. This feature will allow users to create an unlimited number of markets or storefronts on the Particl network and manage an unlimited number of identities across any of these markets through user profiles. The Particl marketplace will become a network of infinite marketplaces and seller shops. The seller shops themselves can be made private with selected buyers needing an access code to enter. For instance, these shops could be for special promotions only for a particular group of customers or private channels between merchants and their suppliers.

This sounds easy and straight forward and what is also exciting about the infinite markets is the ability of sellers to send a market to their clients, but one which is not listed on the main marketplace. Let’s assume for instance that you want to sell certain goods but in your country these are controlled by a few powerful players or perhaps under government restrictions. To get around this you could create a marketplace for yourself and give your buyers the access code for it and your storefront therefore remains confidential. A very powerful tool indeed with endless possibilities.

The Particl Academy will also be released with Desktop v3 and this is a documentation hub with all of the information needed for both vendors and users of the marketplace. It will include in-depth guides about some of Particl’s core components plus FAQs, troubleshooting and all of the basic instructions needed to get started. It’s going to be a plainly written guide without any technical terms, thus making it easy for everyone to understand. A Vendor Onboarding Program will complement the Particl Academy to assist those vendors wanting to join. A lot of benefits will be made available to those who sign up for the program and the developers are keen to get as many sellers to join as possible to have more products and diversity of choice on the marketplace.

Emerging technologies such as this bringing big changes to the manner in which we buy and sell online and hopefully the abuses by the current big players will soon be curtailed.

The Particl platform offers not just a high degree of privacy but cuts out those sizable commissions charged by the existing middlemen. The listing fees on the marketplace are already very small in comparison to the likes of Amazon and Ebay but with the update these will be reduced by around 95%.

This update “PARTICL V3” is the biggest one so far for Particl and it is going to take things to the next level in terms of decentralized marketplaces.

But back to our daily lives. Some consumers are having to try things which they have never done before such as ordering groceries or apparel online or even getting a meal delivered. These shifts in behavior could very well be long term as consumers will be hesitant to return to the bricks and mortar stores with the lingering threat of Covid-19 still around. In a difficult time like this opportunities abound for people to start their own business, especially those considering an online delivery business. In the Philippines, people are currently stuck in their own local areas with limited access to supermarkets but the Particl marketplace could easily be used to connect local producers directly with customers. Delivery services are coming up left and right to fill this vacuum and they too could benefit from advertising on the marketplace.

The marketplace can also help the unbanked and the exploited in developing countries. Starbucks for instance has in the past been taking advantage of coffee farmers in Ethiopia by offering them very low prices for their crop. This at times can represent as little as 2.2% of the retail value. Hopefully in the near future, armed with only a smartphone these farmers and others like them worldwide, will be able to use the Particl marketplace to sell their products at the best price available. At the moment there is a mobile wallet but the Marketplace has yet to be included, but once this is addressed we will witness its adoption going sky-high with the Particl eco-system experiencing massive growth in developing countries. The ability to cut out the middleman for all buyers and sellers involved in eCommerce will be a welcome change.

Buying, selling, reselling or advertising services, it seems that the Particl marketplace is an ideal venue for starting a new venture.

In order to find out more, we asked CryptoGuard, who takes care of communications for the project, what excites him about it and he came back to with this:

"To me it's all about freedom. Our world, and even the internet now, has grown very centralized which gives corporations and certain institutions too much power that they leverage to further their agendas and impose on us rules and high fees. Additionally, the giants controlling these central points of control have implemented very aggressive and intrusive data mining and tracking mechanisms which go against the very basic human right that is privacy (and personal freedom). This can be easily observed in the eCommerce sector. A few giants control most of the market and use their power to impose their rules and policies. This often results in censorship, bans of products and services, taking their own sellers out of business by copying their products, and intrusive data mining which often results in leaks of personal information. The worse part is that we have very little resources and alternatives as most, if not all, transaction data has to go through marketplace operators such as Amazon, eBay, or Alibaba, and then through payment processors like Mastercard, VISA, Paypal, etc. This is due to the very nature of centralized payments. What can we really do against these multi-billion dollar companies who prey on any perceived threat to their monopoly the second they get wind of it? Then came along Bitcoin, a censorship-proof, pseudonymous and free (as in freedom) currency. Yet, Bitcoin still has a problem, because most of the time you still need to spend it through centralized cryptocurrency payment processors. This introduces the very same issues mentioned above as with traditional payments. Bitcoin, with its decentralized nature, needs an equally decentralized way for it to be spent other than simply transferring coins to an address. And this is what excites me about Particl. It is an entire marketplace that provides most of the features you would find on a traditional marketplace like eBay, but instead of being run by a business which gets access to all the data and gets to impose its rules, it runs the exact same way as Bitcoin does, inheriting from its benefits and even more. It is entirely decentralized, meaning there is not a single third-party that has influence over it, is private-by-default, making it impossible for any party to collect and share personal and business information, and is censorship-proof so that anyone can buy and sell what they want, without restriction. And the cherry on top...it doesn't even charge a commission or sales fee. It is the perfect embodiment of free market, and it is a beautiful leap forward in technology that has the potential to fundamentally change eCommerce as we currently know it. Working as part of this revolution really makes one's life fulfilling." -CryptoGuard - Particl Communications

Now that was a much longer answer than expected but you see the passion and the potential plus the need for this decentralized eco- system. Also, we reached out to Ido Kaiser (also known as Kewde) who is Developer and Software Architect and other Particl enthusiast Cyberpunks and asked them for their thoughts about the project:

“Once you've had a taste of what decentralization can do for the monetary system then it's obvious that we ask ourselves what it could mean for trade too. Whilst the trade is still rather decentralized today, thanks to a semi decent working of capitalism, it's not impossible to think that it might not stay that way. The Amazon company for example, they are in a unique and creepy position these days. They are both a marketplace and a producer/seller. There will be more companies like these in the future which have an internal conflict of interest. If you see a horrible trend, then I think the least we can do is already work on an alternative option.” -Ido Kaiser - Developer & Software Architect

“One of the things that I find really exciting about the Particl Open Marketplace is that it is pioneering decentralized and private commerce on the internet, using the very architecture that runs Bitcoin. I witnessed the team behind this project, one of the best in the business, go through the roughest market conditions yet still deliver a decentralized application that actually works, with no funny ICO business or marketing gimmicks. The marketplace is live right now for anyone to use, is open source, privacy-enabled, and can be run on the most basic setup so that anyone can be their own Amazon." -Miguel Cuneta, cryptocurrency and decentralization proponent, Co- founder of Satoshi Citadel Industries, Philippines.

"I'm excited about particl, because for the first time in history, a truly free and private market can exist. One that does not allow the market owner to use sales data to outcompete its own sellers and put them out of business. It also allows product inventors to bring their inventions to the market without fearing that copycats that use trends data will steal their idea before the inventors can at least make their initial investment back. This has caused a lot of inventions to be put on the ice and I am excited what new product can enter the market now that inventors can once again hope to profit from their ideas."
-Joe Fisher - Particl Advicer

"The world is full of people who can't see the power imbalances that are being created. Only when the effects of those power imbalances are applied to their personal lifes will they be ready to accept decentralization. But that time will come, it's not a "if" statement, it's a "when" statement. I hope I get to see that tipping point myself but I'm very well aware of the fact that the decentralized technology like Particl has the ability to outlive all of us. When the time is right for people to claim back their privacy and freedoms in trade, I hope they find their way to our platform or at least draw inspiration to build their own." -Gerlof van Ek - Lead Designer & Branding, UI/UX, Developer of the Particl Project

"What really makes me passionate about Particl and decentralized marketplaces is the fact that it takes the burden of having to deal with any middlemen. That really puts the small sellers and buyers at the table and re-establishes fairness in eCommerce." -Bryan Woods - President Spend.com

One thing which We believe will drive the mass adoption and lead Particl to becoming a more mainstream player are the Infinite Markets:

"It is, simply put, an added functionality that allows anyone to create public or private user markets and storefronts. Whereas Particl’s Open Marketplace used to be the only Particl marketplace available, it will now be one out of an infinite amount of user markets or storefronts that anyone can create. It will, however, remain as the default marketplace, meaning anyone installing Particl Desktop will have access to and see this giant public marketplace."

We invite to test PARTICL V3 TESTNET yourselves: https://particl.news/new-particl-v3-testnet-available/

Test it, break it, report it! Help Cyberpunk dream to come true!


This Week's Hot NFTs on Mintable - July 24

NFTs coming your way!

Our team scours through Mintable and highlights the most unique NFTs listed on our marketplace!

Mintable Collectors' Event

Stand a chance to walk away with limited edition mystery NFTs! They are highly valuable, and worth up to $600. Visit us at mintable.app to learn more. 

Event ends on July 30th and tickets are limited. 

So be sure to act fast!

Mintable Meet and Greet

Got any questions about NFTs? Want to learn more about our community?

Join us for a Meet and Greet on Discord!

Happening on Saturday, July 24th @ 11PM EST.

Giveaway Winners!

Remember our giveaway that happened earlier this month?

Here are the winners! Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@mintable_app) to keep up with all the exciting events and announcements we have for you.

Trending NFTs

Dawn of a new Millennium(Puzzle)

Bitcoin Vs YuGiOh

What holds more value when both don’t exist in the real world and are simply virtual? Bringing childhood into the present, the artist merges the two fictional worlds into a single piece of art.

View the preview video in high resolution on Mintable.

Seller: cryptorcurrency

Starting Bid: 0.45 ETH

View NFT

Bird

Evolution Of Bird

Bright colors, bold lines.

This eye-catching artwork is definitely a statement piece! It plays on pareidolia, causing viewers to 'see' a face in the the objects present in the composition.

Check out the artist on Instagram too!

Seller: mozen_

Price: 0.000556 ETH

View NFT

PIXEL ART 005 - HAU BOULEVARD
HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD PIXEL ART

A modern and refreshing take on the facade of Holy Angel University, a university founded on June 1933 by Don Juan Nepomuceno & Pedro Paulo Santos. The Artist, known for his pixel art paints the first lay-founded catholic school at dusk, where the colour of the sky envelopes the entire scene.

Seller: igab17

Price: 0.012293 ETH

View NFT

4d6163696e746f7368

4d6163696e746f7368

Glitchy, colourful, fun, and adorned with text that conveys life’s two hardest words, “I’m sorry”. Artist fadingflesh’s creations highlight the desire of not taking each other too seriously.

Seller: fadingflesh

Price: 0.025 ETH

View NFT

neon_judgment

_part_one

neon_judgment is an introduction to an exciting NFT animate movie project.

Follow the character of "Oni", a giant robot destroyed by a life of excessive consumption of "exe", through a journey into the cyber world.

An original collaborative idea between @mooname in design and music 

and @KodoroNabu in design and animation. The collection will be offered over time, following the success of the first episode.

Seller: nabu

Price: 0.524047 ETH

View NFT

Tre Amici by Tammy Seaman

Physical artwork 12" x 12" x 2.5" + HD digital image + Copyright

Tre Amici by Tammy Seaman.

12" x 12" x 2.5" physical artwork, oil on stretched canvas. This NFT includes the physical painting (free shipping in the 48 contiguous United States,) HD digital image (TIF format,) and the Copyright Agreement signed by the artist.

See gallery419.com for details.

Seller: gallery_419

Price: 0.951545 ETH

View NFT

Subotik Nippona

the art of equilibrium

The movement of the paintbrush comes alive with this digital collage created by jocedu. Each moment is punctuated by drops of Chinese ink and classic but powerful brush strokes, foregrounded only by a figure that is seemingly in motion as well.

Seller: jocedu

Starting Bid: 0.034907 ETH

View NFT

Oriura Game

Oriura game sponsor title, with credits space

Want to venture into something new? Why not look into sponsoring an indie game? Publishing September 30 2021, Oriura will include the NFT owner in the game sponsor title, as well as 10 names in the game credits.

Seller: yugo

Price: 0.95 ETH

View NFT


Why choose Cryptocurrency VASP Ireland?

With our all around procured notoriety in both money and innovation, no nation is better positioned to underwrite when crypto-resources move past Bitcoin to turn into a standard controlled monetary resource. The feature getting blasts in the cost of certain crypto-resources, mainly Bitcoin, have given them a degree of acknowledgment that is lopsided to their present combined market capitalisation. Significantly more energizing than these inconsistent explodes, nonetheless, is the drawn out a promising circumstance that crypto-resources present once they move from the edges of the monetary area to a standard managed monetary resource. No nation is preferred put over Ireland to gain by this developing acknowledgment of Cryptocurrency VASP Ireland.

Late conversation at EU level, supported by administrative recommendations, implies expanding mindfulness that crypto-resources can possibly get inescapable in the economy, both as simply monetary instruments and as methods for installment and a store of significant worth. The European Commission's proposed administrative system for crypto-resources tries to battle the dangers to customer insurance and monetary steadiness that such far reaching acknowledgment presents. Furthermore, it and different recommendations look to guarantee that the EU is furnished with the administrative framework to help a business opportunity for crypto-resources.

https://preview.redd.it/69l0pn96w4d71.jpg?width=740&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa1d5dbf37a94f65c9719696eb548424726298a5

The EU is intensely mindful that in the event that it neglects to do as such, it hazards losing this business to other worldwide monetary focuses. In the event that the European Commission's proposed guideline on business sectors in crypto-resources is passed into law, it will imply that crypto-resource specialist organizations will require administrative authorisation in an EU part state and will be allowed to visa that authorisation all through the EU. The suppliers will likewise be dependent upon prudential prerequisites, authoritative necessities, rules on protection of customers' assets, objection dealing with techniques and irreconcilable circumstances. Register as a VASP in Ireland are now subject to anti-money laundering and counter radical financing (AML/CTF) requires introduced by the Criminal Justice. This briefing offers an overview of AML/CTF obligations introduced by the Act such as:

  • Listing with Central Bank of Ireland as a VASP,
  • Fulfilment with AML/CTF obligations,
  • Fitness as well as probity obligations
  • Your subsequent steps as a VASP
  • Exchange between virtual resources and fiat monetary forms
  • Exchange between at least one types of virtual resources;
  • Transfer of virtual resources, in other words, go through with an exchange for the benefit of someone else that moves a virtual resource from one virtual resource address or record to another;
  • Custodian wallet supplier (for example an element that offers types of assistance to shield private cryptographic keys in the interest of its clients, to hold, store and move virtual monetary forms);
  • Participation in, and arrangement of, monetary administrations identified with a guarantor's offer or offer of a virtual resource or probably both.

Perhaps the main changes presented by 5AMLD are the augmentation of against illegal tax avoidance and countering the financing of psychological oppression (AML/CTF) commitments to virtual resource specialist co-ops Virtual asset service provider Ireland.

Virtual Asset Service Providers

A virtual asset service provider is characterized under the CJA 2021 as (underlining added for accentuation) an individual who, via business, completes at least one of the accompanying exercises for, or for the benefit of, someone else: Yet, does exclude an assigned individual that is certainly not a monetary or credit foundation and that gives virtual resource administrations in a coincidental way and is dependent upon management by a public capable position other than the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank). If you want to form Cryptocurrency VASP Ireland, consider visiting our official website.


Bitcoin durchbricht ΓΌber $33K, ein Plus von 15% in 5 Tagen

Bitcoin durchbricht ΓΌber $33K, ein Plus von 15% in 5 Tagen -
Bitcoin erlebte ein paar großartige Tage nach dem B-Word-Event, bei dem Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey und Cathie Wood sehr liebevoll darüber sprachen. Es ist in fünf Tagen um 15% gestiegen und scheint sich auf einen Test von 34.000 US-Dollar vorzubereiten. Bitcoin-Preis steigt in wenigen Tagen um 15% Dies war eine sehr turbulente Woche für den Bitcoin-Preis, die vor ein paar Tagen nicht so aussah, als hÀtte sie einen guten Start gehabt. ... ... weiterlesen auf https://news-krypto.de/krypto-news/bitcoin-durchbricht-ueber-33k-ein-plus-von-15-in-5-tagen/?feed_id=7963&_unique_id=60fbd218f2210


Bitcoin durchbricht ΓΌber $33K, ein Plus von 15% in 5 Tagen

Bitcoin durchbricht ΓΌber $33K, ein Plus von 15% in 5 Tagen -
Bitcoin erlebte ein paar großartige Tage nach dem B-Word-Event, bei dem Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey und Cathie Wood sehr liebevoll darüber sprachen. Es ist in fünf Tagen um 15% gestiegen und scheint sich auf einen Test von 34.000 US-Dollar vorzubereiten. Bitcoin-Preis steigt in wenigen Tagen um 15% Dies war eine sehr turbulente Woche für den Bitcoin-Preis, die vor ein paar Tagen nicht so aussah, als hÀtte sie einen guten Start gehabt. ... ... weiterlesen auf https://news-krypto.de/krypto-news/bitcoin-durchbricht-ueber-33k-ein-plus-von-15-in-5-tagen/?feed_id=7965&_unique_id=60fbd219ea8ca


Top Cryptocurrency News Sites to Read

Cryptocurrency news sites are crucial resources for both novice and experienced traders who want to stay up to date on the latest cryptocurrency news, price predictions, and trading methods.

Crypto News is one of the key sources for traders to stay up with the crypto world, as the world of crypto trading and blockchain technology is expanding at a quick rate. To get into the world of crypto trading, you don’t have to be a crypto miner or a professional investor.

Listed below are top cryptocurrency news sites to stay updated on the latest trends:-

CoinMarketCap

If you’re looking for a trustworthy and comprehensive cryptocurrency news source, go no further than CoinMarketCap! CoinMarketCap is one of the most famous cryptocurrency websites, offering precise and dependable data on market capitalization, cryptocurrency prices and conversions, exchange volumes, and blockchain news.

CoinMarketCap, which was founded in 2013, was bought by Binance in 2020 and is now regarded as one of the most trustworthy crypto news platforms that can assist you in mastering the art of cryptocurrency trading.

CoinTelegraph

CoinTelegraph is another popular and reliable cryptocurrency news source that covers a wide range of issues. Every day, readers may find a range of intriguing news and articles ranging from bitcoin trading to blockchain initiatives. The good news is that information is available in English, Spanish, Japanese, and Serbian, among other languages.

CoinTelegraph has become a favorite source of knowledge for anybody interested in the future of money, including notable crypto YouTubers and crypto influencers since it began publishing in 2012.

CoinDesk

Are you new to the world of cryptocurrency trading? Then CoinDesk, one of the most popular websites devoted to cryptocurrency trading and blockchain technology, is the place for you. CoinDesk keeps you up to date on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including data from the Bitcoin Price Index, trends, and crypto events.

CoinDesk, on the other hand, has a long history; it was created in 2013 and has been steadily developing since then. The fact that the site is optimized for various devices and may be downloaded as an app is also appreciated by readers.

CCN

CCN (not to be confused with CNN) is another prominent crypto website. This crypto news site situated in Norway offers up-to-date articles on various cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as information on ICO calendar lists and event calendar announcements.

It’s worth noting that CCN includes a growing blog section, making it one of the most user-friendly crypto sites on the internet.

Bitcoinist

Don’t be fooled by its name! Bitcoinist is a well-informed cryptocurrency website that covers a wide range of prominent cryptocurrencies and blockchain events in addition to Bitcoin.

It’s no surprise that Bitcoinist has risen in popularity since its inception in 2012, with over 2 million monthly users. As a result, if you’re seeking up-to-date technical analysis and cryptocurrency news, go no further than Bitcoinist!

Bitcoin Magazine

Another notable crypto site that was originally dedicated to Bitcoin is Bitcoin Magazine. In reality, Bitcoin Magazine is one of the first cryptocurrency websites, with Vitalik Buterin, the architect of the game-changing Ethereum technology, as one of its creators. The magazine was printed till 2015, and it was reprinted in 2019 with a special edition commemorating Bitcoin’s tenth anniversary.

Now, Bitcoin Magazine delivers in-depth research, price analysis, and advice on a variety of cryptocurrencies. You are free to read as much as you like!

CryptoSlate

CryptoSlate is without a doubt one of the top ten cryptocurrency websites worth your time. This blockchain news outlet delivers unbiased information on ICOs, cryptocurrency rankings, and blockchain news.

Furthermore, CryptoSlate provides real-time values for thousands of coins, allowing traders to make informed decisions and construct effective strategies.

Null TX

Null TX, formerly known as The Merkle, is a leading crypto site that may assist crypto fans in understanding the world of bitcoin. Credible crypto news, as well as informative articles on a variety of cryptocurrencies and the financial technology sector, may be found here.

Null TX has evolved to be one of the most trusted sites in the field of crypto trading and blockchain technology since its inception in 2014.

DailyCoin

DailyCoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrency news sites, and it can help traders comprehend the complexity of bitcoin and blockchain technology. It has a diverse collection of articles about cryptocurrency trading, blockchain technology, and financial technology.

What’s more, guess what? You can also find some amusing content, such as crypto-related memes!

NewsBTC

Last but not least, let’s take a look at NewsBTC, another popular cryptocurrency news site. BTC was launched in 2013, and it now delivers accurate crypto information, such as news, technical analysis, instructional articles, reviews, start-up data, and event calendars.

The good news is that new articles are published every day, so you can stay up to date by reading.

Given how quickly the crypto industry changes, crypto news, and blogs are unquestionably valuable sources of information. As previously said, crypto news can assist traders in staying informed about the world of crypto trading, blockchain technology, and investing methods. Having access to this type of information can also assist traders in mastering the art of trading market news.


Question: If you were assigned the task of creating a visual diagram of how Bitcoin worked what would the first event to depict be?

No text found

Question: If you were assigned the task of creating a visual diagram of how Bitcoin worked what would the first event to depict be? (x-post from /r/Bitcoin)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/oql2lt/question_if_you_were_assigned_the_task_of/

Cardano Rumor Rundown July 24, 2021

Hey Everyone!

Let's go...

Newly covered today:

  1. It looks like Cardano will be included by Celsius soon. With these types of services, never forget the old adage “not your keys, not your crypto”. https://twitter.com/CardanoDean/status/1418632715012878343
  2. Here’s the IOHK Development Update for July 23! https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1418635822987943939
  3. Cardano received some coverage in the Motley Fool as an eco-friendly crypto! https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/cryptocurrency/articles/4-eco-friendly-cryptos-you-should-know-about/
  4. The Cardano Foundation is looking for a Content Writer! https://jobs.lever.co/cardanofoundation/da4104e2-178e-43b5-9016-48b612fdcd52

Previously Covered but still interesting:

  1. Reuters reports on an EU digital identity wallet project. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/eu-step-up-digital-push-with-digital-identity-wallet-2021-06-01/?taid=60b6e171efd84f0001b64ae1&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
  2. Vitalik is saying it’s highly unlikely we see ETH 2.0 before late 2022. I’m guessing that means mid 2023 which will be after two years of Cardano slaughtering the entire ETH user base. Things are looking so bad that Vitalik says he doesn’t even like using the ETH 2.0 label anymore since he knows the changes will be more incremental. This is what early capitulation sounds like guys. https://cointelegraph.com/news/even-vitalik-buterin-is-surprised-at-just-how-long-eth2-is-taking
  3. Cardano-Nervos cross-chain bridge to be built. This would be at least the second cross-chain bridge after the Cardano-AGI bridge. https://www.coindesk.com/cardano-nervos-force-bridge-network-first
  4. And….still! Kings of the github! https://twitter.com/CryptoDiffer/status/1400744567956180993
  5. Binance has 63 stakepools charging 6%. Please stop paying so much for the right to stake your ADA. You don’t have to pay that much. You have a huge number of better options. You are literally giving away your ADA rewards to a large corporation. It’s easy: just download the Yoroi Chrome extension, send your ADA there, and pick from the 2k+ available stakepools right inside Yoroi. https://twitter.com/BraveHeartStak3/status/1401204563189940231 https://adapools.org/groups/binance-20 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emurgo&hl=en_US&gl=US
  6. Here’s a good Emurgo blog article on the use of Emurgo Trace in the Oil and gas industry. https://twitter.com/emurgo_io/status/1402339278097502210
  7. IOHK gives us a closer look at everything being upgraded for Alonzo. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/06/08/a-close-look-at-the-software-running-cardano/
  8. We’re currently at 71.52% of ADA staked. This is a pretty incredible ratio and shows the strength of the Cardano community. https://twitter.com/CardanoPoolPeek/status/1402378400803794950
  9. El Salvador passes the statute to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country. https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1402827595339681794
  10. Cardano gets more positive coverage on the Nasdaq website with a second article following the one from April 7 earlier this year. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/be-part-of-a-historic-crypto-moment-with-cardano-2021-06-08
  11. Prof. Aggelos Kiayias releases an article on a tri-coin system called Stablefees that could fix the problem of appreciating transaction fees in crypto. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/06/10/stablefees-and-the-decentralized-reserve-system/
  12. Minswap gives us the dev perspective on why Cardano’s Plutus is such an improvement over Ethereum’s Solidity. https://twitter.com/MinswapDEX/status/1403411522110427137
  13. Here’s a great ETH vs. Cardano DeFi project comparison infographic. https://twitter.com/Coin98Analytics/status/1403397242707320835
  14. Zach Guzman and Mike Novogratz get an opportunity to prove once again how extremely threatened they are by the fact that they can’t frontrun Cardano at this point. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1404100510525841408
  15. John O’Connor appeared on the Disrupt Network Podcast. bit.ly/3znqyB7
  16. President of Tanzania calls on the central bank to prepare for the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. I wonder what crypto ecosystem already has experience working with an African government on a big crypto project and has partnered with a mobile company that is already bringing connectivity to rural Tanzania? https://twitter.com/DocumentingBTC/status/1404126444863766533
  17. With exploits like this one being all too common in the legacy smart contract networks, we’re not even going to have sell the Cardano use case for DeFi. The competitor networks have already made the case that something better must be on the way. https://twitter.com/zapper_fi/status/1404429179794362369
  18. World Mobile CEO tweets out a tantalizing response to the Tanzanian President’s call for her nation’s central bank to prepare for crypto. https://twitter.com/MrTelecoms/status/1404375153191141377
  19. If you are new to Cardano and you would like to get a handle on the terminology involved in the ecosystem, you may want to check out these Cardano flashcards produced by Coconut Pool. https://twitter.com/coconut_pool/status/1403442954434269185
  20. While renewable energy is certainly a wonderful thing, there may be a problem with your technology when your path to compete on clean energy consumption involves you talking about harnessing the power of a whole series of volcanoes. Maybe just use fewer volcano’s and more proof-of-stake? https://twitter.com/_eLaPs_/status/1404125569093029889 https://twitter.com/gladstein/status/1402718041557725184
  21. The Charles/Lex Fridman podcast has dropped. This is a big deal. This is a fairly mainstream podcast with over 1 million subscribers. https://youtu.be/FKh8hjJNhWc
  22. The bank of England is getting very serious about how it “may wish to limit migration” of money from the legacy system to stablecoins. Wow. Just another example of why it’s such an asset (no pun intended) that Cardano is prepared for regulation. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1405712468823842816
  23. Check out the newly “pimped up” Cardano documentation. https://twitter.com/theSavaSavic/status/1405526615585480730 https://docs.cardano.org/
  24. Runtime Verification (architects of K Framework which powers Cardano’s IELE & KEVM) raised $5.3MM in a round that included Cardano’s C Fund. https://runtimeverification.com/blog/runtime-verification-raises-5-3-million-to-advance-blockchain-security https://twitter.com/RosuGrigore/status/1405917218035097600
  25. It’s a good sign that the top two crypto communities are spending so much time talking negatively about Cardano. You only focus your hatred on that which is most threatening. I’m glad to see we’re the biggest threat on their radar. https://twitter.com/nic__carter/status/1405194146063736840
  26. We are crushing all the competitors in terms of assets staked! https://twitter.com/CryptoDiffer/status/1405854686209622018
  27. All 345,501 of the people who have watched the Lex Fridman/Charles episode as of writing are realizing that Cardano could be the first project to put voting on the blockchain in a U.S. state. https://www.atalaprism.io/app
  28. It looks like the second biggest ETH stakepool or it's custody provider has lost it’s users private keys to $75MM in ETH. Cardano doesn’t have this problem. We get to keep custody of our crypto because we found a better way than slashing. https://stakehound.com/blog-post/fireblocks-eth-2-key-management-incident/ https://twitter.com/JamesSpediacci/status/1407465311180255236
  29. Draft table of contents for Mastering Cardano has been revealed. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1407165366355124225
  30. COTI (a project with very close ties to Cardano) is coming to Ledger. https://medium.com/cotinetwork/coti-native-is-coming-to-ledger-c56b04df1253
  31. The June Cardano 360 is currently available on Youtube. https://youtu.be/al5m14299ww
  32. We saw segments on various newer partner entities like Nervos, Orion Protocol, and Revuto. Nervos is a UTXO proof-of-work blockchain which is building a cross-chain bridge with Cardano so that you can use your ADA on Nervos dApps and vice versa. Interoperability is a big theme for Nervos and they plan to have a working testnet within a month. Orion Protocol is building a terminal that will allow for decentralized non-custodial trading across centralized and decentralized exchanges. They say this would not require you to KYC or even have an account with any of these exchanges. Revuto is an online subscription management service that recently completed a $10MM token sale on Cardano.
  33. It was also revealed that Wolfram Labs, COTI, and IOHK have a three-way partnership (a mΓ©nage Γ  tech) to build an NFT auction site. The people from Wolfram were talking about very interesting things including live minting during streaming events and automated upload to IPFS. COTI will be building out auction and bidding mechanisms in ADAPay.
  34. Professor Aggelos Kiayias gave us an update on research including that Ouroboros Chronos and Hydra papers have both been accepted into conferences/journals. Chronos will provide Cardano with a global concept of time that doesn’t rely on any outside timekeeper. Prof. Kiayias also pointed out that Hydra is distinguishable from other layer two protocols in that the scripting language is identical to that of the base layer in Cardano such that any dApp that can run on Cardano will run on the Hydra L2. This is a huge plus and superior to many other layer two solutions in other ecosystems where the base layer dApps will not run on layer two. Finally, the Mithril paper has been submitted for peer review. It will provide Cardano light wallets with Succinct Non-interactive Arguments of Knowledge that will give us the best of both worlds: no delays for syncing as in full node wallets while still preserving trustlessness.
  35. Finally, the Goguen Summit will be in late September. Sign up now at summit.cardano.org.
  36. The Fed is once again STRONGLY signalling to us that they are going to regulate stablecoins. The Fed is also specifically calling out Tether for the first time. You need to be thinking about how stablecoin regulation might affect your favorite Cardano DeFi or other project. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1408500265397985282 https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1408572624125534212
  37. People are starting to realize that the Stakehound private key loss in ETH may attract unwanted regulatory attention to Ethereum 2.0 while this problem could never have occurred in Cardano. Also, only a few days later another ETH stakepool (this time SharedStake...the sixth biggest ETH Stakepool) allegedly experiences a rugpull that some are valuing at over $30MM. This is another problem that could not happen in Cardano staking. It feels like we stepped into the ring, they rang the bell, and ETH just started punching itself in the head. Eventually it’s going to KO itself. https://twitter.com/Madror7/status/1408505144984051716 https://twitter.com/JamesSpediacci/status/1407761823143645189 https://twitter.com/MeiTrades/status/1408117430656905219 https://sharedstake.medium.com/the-sharedstake-story-by-kairos-44d37aa7837a
  38. Here’s another great Cardano data site. This one is from the Cardano Fans stakepool. https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/3136c55b-635e-4f46-8e4b-b8ab54f2d460/page/r2LQC
  39. John O’Connor of IOHK points out that France still controls the monetary policy of 14 countries in Africa. There is definitely a built in market on the continent for a project that delivers monetary sovereignty to the people. https://twitter.com/jjtoconnor/status/1408978882129272832
  40. Here’s a great new interview with the CEO of World Mobile from Cardano Chats. https://youtu.be/w0Z2RP6a9HE
  41. New article from the Cardano Foundation on Governance. https://forum.cardano.org/t/blockchain-governance-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters/65493
  42. Sebastien explains some Alonzo HFC event changes. https://twitter.com/SebastienGllmt/status/1409485560012414978
  43. IOG Research update from Prof. Aggelos Kiayias. Really interesting bit right at the beginning on the history of cryptography as a field of study. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UAL_6f7PFw
  44. Sebastien of dcSpark submits a Cardano Improvement Proposal to allow wallets to implement collateral. https://twitter.com/SebastienGllmt/status/1409910858117877763
  45. New Plutus Pioneers Class starting July 1!
  46. Charles says it looks like we will hit Alonzo white on Monday. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1410279529021648896
  47. Coti update from Shahaf Bar-Geffen. https://twitter.com/COTInetwork/status/1410644013863124992
  48. The Mithril paper (allows for trustless light wallets) is now available for your reading pleasure. https://iohk.io/en/research/library/papers/mithrilstake-based-threshold-multisignatures/
  49. The Ouroboros Chronos paper (allows for the blockchain to be its own timekeeper) is also now available. https://iohk.io/en/research/library/papers/ouroboros-chronospermissionless-clock-synchronization-via-proof-of-stake/
  50. Cardano is now a small part of Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund. They actually sold off current holdings in other coins to buy ADA. This is big for institutional adoption! https://twitter.com/Grayscale/status/1410945118228692994
  51. Catalyst Fund 4 results are here. https://adapulse.io/fund-4-results-are-here/
  52. Robert Kornacki of dcSpark releases an article on why every Cardano dApp will use NFTs. The article contains some very interesting discussion on smart contracts in the EUTXO context including language instructing that “UTXOs have smart contracts attached to them and not the other way around” and “[...]the simplest way to think about it is that when a UTXO is created it has the option to have a smart contract attached to it.” https://medium.com/dcspark/every-eutxo-dapp-will-use-nfts-and-heres-why-fd87e6a8c9a6
  53. A very interesting medium article on the concurrency problem in eUTxO blockchains such as Cardano. (Article by Occam Fi....thanks to Muggy Pool for sending it my way). https://medium.com/occam-finance/the-occam-fi-technical-series-on-concurrency-cd5bee0b850c
  54. The concurrency issue in plutus smart contracts has also been recently commented on by Lars and Sebastien. https://twitter.com/LarsBrunjes/status/1390331642103877633 https://twitter.com/LarsBrunjes/status/1403761666383306757 https://twitter.com/SebastienGllmt/status/1410983827481108480
  55. The Cardano Foundation has released a video on its short and long-term strategies to get to one billion users by 2026. https://twitter.com/CardanoStiftung/status/1412137365318127626
  56. Ben O’Hanlon sets the record straight on developer interest in Cardano. https://twitter.com/benohanlon/status/1412136150404370432
  57. As always, Cardano is straight killing the competition in terms of assets staked. https://twitter.com/StakingRewards/status/1412389781003194395
  58. Between Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 of the Plutus Pioneers program there have been 4,300 potential future Cardano developers involved. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1412465643245424649
  59. Here’s an interesting chart purporting to show the dates on which various Cardano DeFi projects might have finished products. https://twitter.com/Cryptokev84/status/1412343821757730820/photo/2
  60. IOG says they have started onboarding new SPOs and developers to Alonzo White this week. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1412847798274478084
  61. Charles also confirms that Alonzo White may start Friday but probably Monday due to a natural (and warranted) desire to avoid executing a rollout at the start of a weekend. https://youtu.be/yd1eg4QopV8
  62. Daedalus 4.2.0 now adds Ledger & Trezor Catalyst Registration. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1413176419186774018
  63. Yoroi 4.5.7 extension release now adds Ledger Catalyst Registration. https://twitter.com/YoroiWallet/status/1413128256836997120
  64. Here’s the voter registration schedule for Catalyst Fund 5! Get yourself registered now even if you’re in cold storage on a hardware wallet! https://iohk.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/900006490763-Project-Catalyst-FAQ
  65. Cardano Gainz Calculator now has a graph showing 10 year growth. https://twitter.com/lesquive1/status/1413249312465866757
  66. Emurgo has released a guide on how to register for Catalyst voting with your Ledger Hardware Wallet. https://github.com/Emurgo/yoroi-mobile/blob/develop/catalyst5-instruction.md
  67. Great new interview with World Mobile’s Mickey Watkins, Charles, and John O’Connor. https://youtu.be/WSSpI8Rtif0
  68. This infographic shows just how big the Cardano DeFi space is getting. https://twitter.com/BPE_Crypto/status/1413973912396963840
  69. This infographic shows just how much DeFi volume is out there for Cardano to steal. https://twitter.com/Coin98Analytics/status/1413514041029394439/photo/1
  70. There is a new stakepool explorer available. https://www.cardanoworld.io/
  71. Very interesting timing with a) Grayscale Buying $50MM ETCG, b) Grayscale adding ADA, and c) Charles joining the ETC Cooperative board given that two of the members of the ETC Cooperative board seem to come from Grayscale and DCG. Maybe the world is starting to understand just what Charles and IOHK have been able to accomplish over the last few years. https://twitter.com/ETCCooperative/status/1410439775950082051 https://twitter.com/ETCCooperative/status/1413328106568421377 https://twitter.com/Grayscale/status/1410945118228692994
  72. There is a new Cardano wallet being introduced by u/berry_ales from the Berry Pool. I have no idea if it will be good or bad at protecting your ADA. Just reporting that it exists. https://twitter.com/berry_ales/status/1414548062207361025
  73. There is currently a lawsuit challenging the notion that staking rewards should be taxed as income. The plaintiff argues that newly created property isn’t taxed as income and that this should also apply to staking rewards. A win here would be very nice for Cardano delegators. https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-staking-rewards-and-their-unfair-taxation-in-the-us
  74. The Cardano Foundation’s Cardano Developer Portal is now up and running. https://twitter.com/CardanoStiftung/status/1414640913612255234
  75. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s party has won re-election in a landslide election. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57791868
  76. Avanti Bank of Wyoming files comments with the Federal Reserve on their new guidelines that could massively impact how the traditional banking system interacts with cryptocurrencies like Cardano. Given what role ADA is likely to play in the future of crypto financial transactions, this is extremely relevant for ADA holders. https://avantibank.com/press/avanti-submits-comments-to-federal-reserve https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1414783323193364482
  77. Cardano is still destroying everyone in terms of value staked! https://twitter.com/StakingRewards/status/1414895205384327168
  78. The Cardano ecosystem maps keep getting bigger and more complicated. https://poolg.de/Eco/CardanoEcosystemMap.html
  79. In news that could have significant repercussions for many stablecoin reliant Cardano DeFi projects, Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave some hard signals that they will regulate stablecoins in House Committee testimony. He revealed that the Fed will issue its long-awated paper on stablecoins, CBDCs, and other digital assets in September. Powell also went as far as to say "You wouldn't need stable coins you wouldn't need cryptocurrencies if you had a digital US currency, I think that's one of the stronger arguments in its favor." https://twitter.com/Nate_DiCamillo/status/1415349008034418691
  80. We experienced a successful fork to the Alonzo White testnet! https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1415399456841863177
  81. Very serious accusations are laid out against the Meld project. https://twitter.com/Bobme808/status/1415283648438358016
  82. The European Central Bank drops news of “a project to prepare for possibly issuing a digital euro.” A digital Euro is coming and regulation of private fiat-pegged stablecoins is coming with it. https://twitter.com/ecb/status/1415273625385644036
  83. IOHK releases a paper on a crypto-backed algorithmic stablecoin. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1415531260470972423
  84. A crypto media personality recently uncovered links between the Priviledge EU Project, Horizon Europe Grant Agreement 780477, and Cardano. https://twitter.com/BreakingADA/status/1415653936703295488
  85. Always the GitHub activity champs! https://twitter.com/ProofofGitHub/status/1416065097794002946
  86. We are now seeing the advent of a so-called “Fair Initial Stakepool Offering”. https://twitter.com/MinswapDEX/status/1416110973690122240
  87. The weekly development update is out. https://roadmap.cardano.org/en/status-updates/update/2021-07-16/
  88. Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, is calling a meeting of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets to discuss stablecoins on Monday. Prepare for regulation. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0276
  89. Coindesk really hates us. Now they are writing articles about Cardano and using words like “crypto-colonialism”. https://www.coindesk.com/the-headache-of-crypto-colonialism
  90. Liqwid says it is on target to be live on day 1 after the Alonzo hardfork combinator event. https://twitter.com/liqwidfinance/status/1416363542975074305
  91. According to maximalists you’re apparently not allowed to be busy with your company authoring papers if you’re in Cardano. https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1415761569082789890
  92. There is actually a chart showing where all the Meld ISPO delegators came from now. https://twitter.com/stakenoble/status/1416189846054387712
  93. The IOHK mid-month development update for July is out and available for viewing. https://youtu.be/U9K-8jILGcg
  94. Apparently “unsigned Phalices” are a thing in the Cardano ecosystem now. https://twitter.com/unsigned_algo/status/1416909454100992000
  95. The El Faro article reporting meetings between Cardano, Whizgrid of Cyprus, and the brothers of President Bukele of El Salvador definitely contain some extremely interesting details related to a possible Salvadorean national stablecoin by the end of the year and a possible digitization and blockchain storage of a wide range of government related documents next year. This could be huge!!!!!! https://elfaro.net/en/202107/el_salvador/25611/Bukele-Plans-to-Launch-a-National-Cryptocurrency-This-Year.htm
  96. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told regulators in the Presidents Working Group on Financial Markets that they must move quickly to regulate stablecoins. So, a Salvadorean market for stablecoins might be good for Cardano. https://www.reuters.com/technology/yellen-says-us-must-move-quickly-establish-stablecoin-rule-framework-2021-07-19/
  97. Sebastien of dcSpark was recently on Cardano Live to discuss Alonzo. https://youtu.be/lejoT_odbOY
  98. Notable news for upcoming Cardano DeFi projects. There may be slightly less competition in the “get a return on your crypto assets” game very soon. The New Jersey AG’s office has delivered a cease and desist letter to BlockFi. The AG’s press release cited BlockFi’s interest bearing deposit accounts as unregistered securities and also mentioned the lack of FDIC or SPIC insurance for it’s depositors. This leaves some lingering questions for Cardano DeFi projects that might be planning to accept deposits or other transfers of value and offering a return of sorts. You could argue that these projects are decentralized where BlockFi was not. But, the AG’s press release seems to cite decentralization as one of the risks of DeFi projects. Also, as a practical matter, there is a question whether decentralization will be a good shield from regulators since many of these projects have companies and real humans with faces and names behind them unlike a truly anonymous founder such as Satoshi Nakamoto. https://www.njoag.gov/new-jersey-bureau-of-securities-orders-cryptocurrency-company-blockfi-to-stop-offering-interest-bearing-accounts/ https://twitter.com/BlockFiZac/status/1417316834244796416
  99. EU is planning to introduce regulations on anonymous crypto wallets. This is a big deal. But, Cardano is probably more prepared than any with its identity solutions that could be used for KYC/AML. https://twitter.com/Wiiinnie/status/1417575921565978628
  100. Cardano didn’t come up in the Cathie Wood, Jack Dorsey, and Elon Musk panel discussion at “The B Word” event. But, given how Elon repeatedly shot down maximalist explanations for the shortcomings of proof-of-work chains in energy consumption and throughput, the whole thing ended up sounding like a long-form pitch for proof-of-stake and Cardano. Seriously, you should check it out. https://www.thebword.org/c/track-2-Bitcoin-As-A-Tool-For-Economic-Empowerment
  101. Emurgo is hiring for community management/product support! https://twitter.com/emurgo_io/status/1417870195952168964
  102. Gary Gensler, SEC Chair, indicates that crypto assets providing synthetic exposure to securities will be regulated as securities. This should be scary news for any Cardano projects that are aimed at exactly that! https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/gensler-remarks-aba-derivatives-futures-law-committee-virtual-mid-year-program-072121
  103. The mainstream press is suddenly realizing the behavioral economics tools that a central bank with CBDCs could wield. There is definitely a universe where this becomes a very dystopian and jarring introduction to virtual currencies for the mainstream. https://twitter.com/NeerajKA/status/1418168477429424135
  104. Wolfram CEO, John Woodard, drops a guest article with IOHK on NFT liveminting. The article seems to have a good amount of focus on the community building potential of NFTs. I think that could be a big growth area for the future. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/07/22/wolfram-and-cardano-build-communities-with-nfts-and-liveminting/
  105. IOHK has released its Conclave paper on collective stakepools. https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/742.pdf

~Army of Spies