Cardano Rumor Rundown July 25, 2021

Hey Everyone!

Let's go...

Newly covered today:

1. Big lesson for future Cardano DeFi projects: Uniswap Labs just had to censor the Uniswap UI to ban synthetics of underlying securities. Bucket shops have been around for 150 years and illegal for 100 years. It turns out that you can’t do it in crypto either. https://twitter.com/Uniswap/status/1418697012095164420 https://twitter.com/haydenzadams/status/1418961999539712006
2. Gerowallet has withdrawn their Project Catalyst proposal. https://twitter.com/GeroWallet/status/1419041835331117056
3. Check out this new video of the World Mobile Team on the ground in Zanzibar. Doesn’t this feel like a better mission for our ecosystem than DeFi? https://twitter.com/WorldMobileTeam/status/1419051567878221828

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/
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 ménage à 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
106. 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
107. Here’s the IOHK Development Update for July 23! https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1418635822987943939
108. 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/
109. The Cardano Foundation is looking for a Content Writer! https://jobs.lever.co/cardanofoundation/da4104e2-178e-43b5-9016-48b612fdcd52

~Army of Spies

A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Risks in the Cryptoverse

The cryptoverse has an ocean of wealth that's beautiful both at the surface and down to its greatest depths; but it's also a risky place. As you go deeper into its depths, you accumulate more and more risk. Depending on how prepared you are, you can either get crushed by this pressure or witness the beautiful ecosystems that lay below the surface.

Of course, higher levels of risk typically result in higher rewards; risk and reward are siblings after all. But it's always important to understand what you're getting into. This post will discuss the different levels of risks that investors can either avoid or accumulate while navigating thru the cryptoverse.

Risk Level 0 - Inherent Risks of Crypto

Inherent risks are unpredictable and monumental events and scenarios. This is the type of risk that you really shouldn't worry too much about; but it's always there. An example of this would be a the Tetherpocalyspe, an utter mismanagement of the largest stablecoin in the ecosystem, USDT, with which most cryptos derive tons of their value from.

• Other examples include the dawn of quantum computing, an internet apocalypse, and a world government ban.
• A real-world example in relation to fiat are the prospects of a nuclear war, World War 3, or the collapse of fractional banking.

Risk Level 1 - Market Volatility

As history has shown time and time again, crypto can easily lose half or more of its value within a couple of days. Crypto is well-known to be a highly volatile compared to other markets—expect 5 to 10 percent movements on any given day and as much as 30 percent or more at times. Of course, not all crypto assets have the same volatility profiles and you can mitigate this risks with sound investments or ETFs. Stablecoins and guaranteed futures contracts are exempt from market volatility.

Risk Level 2 - Human Error

Human error can be realized by sending your funds to the wrong wallet; forgetting passwords; theft, robberies, or government seizure; uneventful trading; being involved or targeted in an exploit; etc. Human error is one of those risks you cannot avoid because...well, you're human! But there are many ways to mitigate this, ie stay the hell away from your crypto!

Risk Level 3 - Counter-parties

Malicious actors can hack and steal from custodians, platforms, smart contracts, and price oracles that hold user assets. These are:

1. Centralized Market Exchanges and Centralized Finance Platforms have centralized points of attacks that can be hacked and stolen.
2. Decentralized Finance Platforms typically run on centralized oracles (for now), and this creates a single point of failure with which malicious actors can control the information sent out to smart contracts and hijack the outcome.
3. Hot Wallets or online wallets, like all things connected to the internet, are vulnerable to cyberattacks.

These third-party entities typically do not carry the same protections as your traditional bank, but trusted platforms invest millions into dedicated professional teams to take security precautions in an effort to ward off attacks. Many custodians will therefore have insurance policies in place to hedge against the risk of hacks, but will generally set a ceiling to the amount of loss that can be covered and reimbursed. For Defi, though many projects are focusing on mitigating these risks (e.g. decentralized oracles and defi insurance platforms), the risks still remain.

Risk Level 5 - Alternative Assets

DeFi—and sometimes even CeFi—platforms will provide rewards in a local asset that has it's own market volatility risk. For example, if you want to earn interest by holding Bitcoin in Polygon's AAVE platform, you'll be earning rewards in Polygon's native asset, MATIC, instead of in Bitcoin. Celcius, a CeFi platform, also provides an option to earn interest rewards in their native asset, CEL.

This can either result in upside risk, if the native asset goes up in value; or downside risk, if the native asset goes down in value.

Risk Level 5.1 - Impermanent Loss

Impermanent loss is a temporary loss of funds where the liquidity provider has to provide assets in an equal ratio, and one of the assets is volatile in relation to the other. This risk is relative to a scenario where you just held the better performing coin or token. The more volatile the asset is in relation to another, the higher the risks. A more in-depth explanation can be found here.

Risk Level 5.2 - Liquidation

Liquidation is the risk of surrendering your funds to an exchange or platform when your deposit reaches a minimum value. Exchanges or platforms do this to be prepared for possible scenarios where a lender won’t be able to exit a position or access their funds whenever they wish. Thus, they specify collateralization ratios and cap the borrowing/withdrawals.

This is evident among leverage trading exchanges or in defi lending and borrowing platforms. When entering defi, you can entirely skip this step and simply be a liquidity provider; hence, the reason why it's an optional risk alongside impermanent loss.

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A final few takeaways:

1. The cryptoverse is still inherently more risky than most markets. Remember the crypto market has only been around since 2010. Anything can happen so never ever EVER invest more than you're willing to lose.
2. If you're going to go deep, make sure you're equipped. There are ways to explore the depths of the cryptoverse without getting completely crushed and that's by being equipped with the right mentality, understanding the risks, and making the necessary preparations. These are also risks you cannot avoid so don't pretend you're somehow immune to it either.
3. You can appreciate the cryptoverse from any angle. Just as you can appreciate the seas from a distance, or by exploring a coral reef, or by deep-diving into it's depths; you can do the same with the cryptoverse. Again, just make sure you're using the right equipment and aren't swimming in a seal suit in killer-whale territory.

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tl;dr: The deeper you dive into the ocean, the higher the pressure gets. Likewise, the deeper you go into the cryptoverse, the higher the risks gets. This is just the way nature works.

Particl - Amazon, eBay and Alibaba

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 Particl version of 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 passive income is 4% 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 8% 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.

The marketplace can 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, also, 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 everyone 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!

Smartlands Timeline since the Investment Platform Launch in April

As the crypto market shows some signs of returning to strength, it’s worth taking a quick look at all that’s been going on in the world of Smartlands since the end of April and the investment platform launch at smartlands.app

I know there’s a lot of people who are too busy to keep up with all the various updates, so here’s a timeline of events for Smartlands since 30th April 2021.

30th April - beta launch of the real estate investment platform (smartlands.app)

3rd May - partnership announced with Neuromation to tokenise data centers

5th May - delay to initial platform listings until 14th May

14th May - initial listings formally announced with three properties listed and $16mil to be tokenised

26th May - new property listing added, bringing the listed target amount to $18.5mil

9th June - 21 additional AMA questions answered with more details on business direction and project updates

22nd June - 20 SME projects announced as selected with Big U for future round of tokenisation funding

7th July - KYC functionality (through OnFido) added to the investment platform

20th July - Relaunch of the official Smartlands wallet

23rd July - Smartlands Ukraine LLC registered as a subsidiary company of Smartlands Platform Ltd.

We’re expecting more good things to come this week and ongoing, including more information on the following that have been previewed:

• New asset listings
• Subsidiary companies set up to deal with different types of assets
• 2FA added to the investment platform website
• More functionality for the wallet through regular updates
• Details on the staking process
• Update on funding the initial asset listings (and therefore staking return)
• New partnerships, staff members, marketing materials etc.

In the longer term over the next few months, there are four primary things to look for that bring Smartlands to the next level:

• Announcement of Liechtenstein Fund going live - tokenisation of assets + retail investing
• Brokerage license secured - allowing Smartlands to act as a central hub of asset tokenisation
• Digital Asset laws in Ukraine passed - opening up secondary markets, asset governance functionality and more
• Series A Funding - new round of venture capital funding for Smartlands to go to the next scale of business.

Those of us who have been following Smartlands since 2018 (some even since the ICO!) can see a lot of things coming together now and we’re at a turning point in which Smartlands can really prove itself as central to the growing asset tokenisation sector.

There’s been a number of stops and starts over the years, so it's always worth taking some caution with the above items, but with such a pipeline in front of us things are looking very good for what is to come next - keep stacking and enjoy the ride!

Weekly Wrap: This Week In Chainlink July 19 - July 25, 2021

Chainlink News and Announcements

• Sign up today for Smart Contract Summit #1

SmartCon is back! This August 5-7, we’re hosting 200+ speakers across the DeFi, NFT, and wider blockchain ecosystem for three full days of panels, AMAs, and workshops. Sign up today to discover the latest research and innovations across the smart contract industry.

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• Smart Contract Summit Developer Track

Introducing the SmartCon Developer Track! Join us on August 6 for a day of technical workshops, panels, AMAs, and more with top projects from the blockchain space. Sign up below to level up your smart contract skills & connect with devs across the industry.

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• SmartCon Global Watch Parties

We're excited to host 20 watch parties across the globe for SmartCon! Make sure you've registered for the event, then fill out the form below for the chance to attend an exclusive watch party in your city. We'll release tickets based on when you signed up for the summit.

Chainlink Grants

• Qubistry Receives Grant to Natively Integrate Chainlink OCR on RSK

We’re excited to give a grant to @Qubistry_co for a native integration of Chainlink OCR on Bitcoin-based smart contract platform @RSKsmart, enabling hybrid smart contracts for DeFi that use Chainlink oracles to access off-chain resources like Price Feeds

Chainlink Labs Updates

• Help us build Chainlink!

Chainlink Labs is hiring for open roles across various departments, including engineering, marketing, & operations. If you want to be at the forefront of technological innovation in the blockchain space & help advance smart contract adoption, apply today.

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• New Speakers for Smart Contract Summit #1

1. Balaji S. Srinivasan, Angel Investor & Entrepreneur
2. Stani Kulechov (@StaniKulechov), Founder of @AaveAave
3. Justin Moses (@justinjmoses), CTO of @synthetix_io
4. Yorke Rhodes III, Co-Founder, Blockchain @Microsoft
5. Mona El Isa, Founder & CEO, @avantgardefi
6. Harriet Cao, Co-Founder, @irisnetwork
7. Aaron Wright, Founder, @OpenLawOfficial
8. Derek Yoo, Founder & CEO, @MoonbeamNetwork
9. Sangmin Seo Ph.D, Head of Platform Group, Ground X
10. Jae-Yun Kim, CEO, SUPERBLOCKS

Will be speaking at SmartCon this August 5-7. Sign up today for the biggest #blockchain event of the year on August 5-7 to discover the latest smart contract innovations and use cases from 200+ industry-leading speakers across #DeFi, the #NFT economy, and the larger blockchain space.

Integrations

• Chainlink Price Feeds Are Live on Avalanche Mainnet, Paving Wave for Advanced DeFi Apps

With support from a Chainlink grant awarded to @protofire, Chainlink Price Feeds are now running live as the go-to oracle solution on @avalancheavax mainnet, enabling Avalanche devs to build high throughput, low-cost, & universally connected DeFi apps.

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• AutoFarm Integrates Chainlink Price Feeds Into Its Cross-Chain Yield and DEX Aggregator

Cross-chain DEX and yield aggregator @autofarmnetwork has integrated Chainlink Price Feeds to provide its users with precise, up-to-date global benchmarks, empowering more informed decision-making when entering/exiting vaults and swapping between assets.

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• Twin Finance Integrates Chainlink to Secure the Pricing and Collateralization of Synthetic Assets

@TwinFinance integrates Chainlink Price Feeds to secure the pricing and collateralization of its synthetic assets, ensuring they accurately track real-world financial data feeds like the Nasdaq-100 price index, total cryptocurrency market cap, and more.

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• Jigstack Integrates Chainlink Price Feeds to Secure Exchange Rates for Decentralized Crowdfunding

@jigstack DAO has integrated Chainlink Price Feeds into its crowdfunding platform @Lemonade_Defi to access precise & reliable exchange rates on Ethereum, enabling teams to set stable crowdfunding goals while allowing users to pay on-chain in crypto.

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• SteakBank Using Chainlink Oracles to Source Price Data for Liquid Staking On BSC

Liquid staking platform @SteakBank has integrated Chainlink on @BinanceChain to access a real-time Price Feed for the BNB/BUSD pair, ensuring that its smart contracts have an accurate depiction of global markets and remain resistant to flash loan attacks.

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• CryptoCart Will Integrate Chainlink to Secure Price Data Across All Stores

Crypto-based e-commerce platform @CryptoCartCC is using Chainlink Price Feeds to source accurate, up-to-date exchange rates during the checkout process, enabling customers to buy a variety of real-world goods using over 100 different cryptocurrencies.

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• Octane will Integrate Chainlink Price Feeds to Secure limit orders

@octane_finance will use Chainlink Price Feeds to secure their limit order solution on @BinanceChain. Chainlink's wide market coverage & decentralized infrastructure ensure price data is precise, highly available, & protected against flash loan attacks.

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• AthleteX Will Use Chainlink Sports Data to Power Novel Athlete Performance Tokens

@athleteXmarkets will use Chainlink's high-quality sports data within its synthetic asset issuance & DEX protocol on @0xPolygon to enable Athlete Tokens—collateralized synthetic assets representing athletes, with values pegged to individual performances.

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• LuxFi Will Launch a Chainlink Node to Bring Luxury Assets Data On-Chain

Luxury asset data & analytics provider @luxfiofficial will launch a Chainlink node to bring a variety of datasets about the luxury goods market on-chain, empowering devs to build dApps using SKUs, primary/secondary market prices, and ownership information.

VRF Integrations

• DFSocial Implements Chainlink VRF to Secure Randomized Outcomes on Its Gaming Protocol

@DFSocial_Gaming integrates Chainlink VRF, bringing secure on-chain randomness to its gaming protocol. Chainlink VRF powers provably random NFTs, giveaways, and mystery boxes to ensure participants that all outcomes are verifiably fair and tamper-proof.

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• SAFERmoon Integrates Chainlink VRF to Secure the #SAFERsummer Celebration

@safermoonreal has integrated Chainlink VRF on @BinanceChain to power their 6-week long giveaway contest. Chainlink VRF uses off-chain computation to generate cryptographic proofs so users can verify the integrity of the random numbers VRF generates.

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• TeaSwap Finance Integrates Chainlink VRF to Secure SUGAR & TeaSport Raffles

Gamified farming platform @SwapTea integrates Chainlink VRF on @BinanceChain to securely pick winners in its draws. Chainlink VRF uses off-chain computation to generate fair randomness, which is verified on-chain as high integrity via cryptographic proofs.

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• Infinity Skies Using Chainlink VRF to Fairly Distribute Provably Rare Loot Boxes as In-Game NFTs

Decentralized blockchain game @Inf_Skies integrates Chainlink VRF on @BinanceChain to bring tamper-proof randomness to their virtual world, creating a more competitive & rewarding gaming experience by fairly distributing rare loot boxes as in-game NFTs.

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• CryptoCompanions Will Integrate Chainlink VRF to Secure its Play-to-Earn Battle Economy

@CompanionsNFT, a play-to-earn NFT game on @avalancheavax, will integrate Chainlink VRF to ensure that its PVP battles, up-leveling, and stat farming game mechanics are powered by a provably fair, tamper-proof source of on-chain randomness.

Keepers Integrations

• Flurry Finance Will Integrate Chainlink Keepers to Automate the Daily Rebasing of rhoTokens

@FlurryFi will use Chainlink Keepers to automate daily rebases of rhoTokens in a decentralized & highly reliable manner. Chainlink Keepers use secure off-chain computation to monitor time-based conditions & trigger rebases once conditions are satisfied.

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• Impermax Integrates Chainlink Keepers to Automate Staking Reward Distributions

Indirect and leveraged yield farming protocol @ImpermaxFinance is using #Chainlink Keepers to automate the distribution of staking rewards, leading to a frictionless DeFi experience where users are consistently paid out on time without manual intervention.

What’s New for Developers 🛠

• ETH / USD Data Feeds

Chainlink’s extensive collection of oracle networks provides accurate real-world data on-chain to power more advanced dApps. Developers can integrate the ETH/USD Price Feed on @xdaichain, already relied on by @perpprotocol, @CreamdotFinance, & @1HiveOrg.

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• BTC / USD Data Feeds

Chainlink continues to launch pre-built oracle networks to support DeFi protocols across multiple blockchains & L2s. @0xPolygon devs can integrate the BTC/USD Price Feed into their dApps for decentralized Bitcoin price data, currently used by @TryPlotX.

Featured Videos & Educational Pieces 🎥

• CHAINLINK 2.0: EXPANDING THE META-LAYER
  • In this @RealVision interview, @AshBennington & @SergeyNazarov explore DeFi use cases, Chainlink 2.0, & the future of the blockchain space. Watch below to learn how Chainlink oracles & smart contracts synergize to enable open, efficient economic systems.

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• Alpaca Finance on Chainlink Live | Secure Leveraged Yield Farming on BSC
  • Alpaca Finance is a BSC-based leveraged yield farming protocol that offers capital efficient lending/borrowing through platform-controlled undercollateralized loans. Users can maximize the value of their assets through various farming strategies while lenders can safely earn passive income by providing liquidity to the borrowers who want to amplify their farming position sizes and resulting yields.

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• Kalata on Chainlink Live | Binance Smart Chain Derivatives Trading
  • Kalata is a derivatives trading platform for synthetic assets supported by a peer-to-pool trading engine, where trades are executed with zero slippage against a real-time Chainlink price feed. Users can trade synthetic assets anywhere with 24/7 access and without traditional barriers.

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• Oracles Are the Final Piece of the Puzzle
  • Chainlink oracles are the final piece of the blockchain puzzle, enabling smart contract applications to provide global access to reliable infrastructure and services such as decentralized finance and parametric insurance.

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• Creating a Fair Economic World With Hybrid Smart Contracts
  • By enabling hybrid smart contracts, Chainlink can transform industries and bring reliable infrastructure to regions around the globe. For instance, by using Chainlinked parametric insurance products, anyone worldwide can access secure and data-driven insurance policies to hedge against various kinds of risk.

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• What Is a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)?
  • Zero-Knowledge Proofs are cryptographic protocols that generate privacy guarantees for blockchains for various use cases. Learn the basics of ZKPs & how decentralized oracle networks can enable smart contracts to use confidential datasets as secure inputs.

Ecosystem & Community Celebrations 👏

• Chainlink onboards an average of 1.4 new partners each day in 2021
• Announcing Chainlinked a new Chainlink ecosystem podcast, covering technical updates, interesting use cases & community news!
• Chainlink Grant winners @acreafrica & @Etherisc have processed thousands of microinsurance payments to African farmers.
• Avalanche to Include Data From Chainlink
• Sign up to the IC3 Blockchain Summer Camp where Sergey Nazaraov will be featured giving a talk!
• Photos from an in-person Chainlink Meetup at ETHCC with Community Manager Marc Romero from Chainlink Labs!
• Chainlink Labs' Developer Advocate Harry Papacharissiou leading Track 2 of Smart Contract Bootcamp this weekend!
• Gabriel Haines interviews CLG to talk about the Chainlink community, DeFi and NFTs
• Truth > Trust

Upcoming Events 📅

• <26 July> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - Meet the Advocates: Global Blockchain Q&A
• <28 July> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - Chainlink: Connected Smart Contracts Blockchain Happy Hour
• <28 July> [VIRTUAL Q&A] - StormX on Chainlink Live | Price Oracles for SeleCT x StormX NFT Sale
• <28 July> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - Chainlink New York: Hybrid Smart Contracts Happy Hour
• <28 July> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - Chainlink: Connected Smart Contracts Blockchain Happy Hour
• <28 July> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - GBA Romania x Chainlink Romania: collaboration perspectives
• <28 July> [VIRTUAL Q&A] - Chainlink en Vivo | Hyperledger Latinoamérica
• <29 July> [VIRTUAL Q&A] - Wrapped on Chainlink Live | Use Custodial Wrapped Crypto on Cross-Chain DeFi
• <31 July> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - [USA] Chainlink Phoenix Community Meetup
• <31 July> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - [Turkey] Akıllı Sözleşmeler ve Oracle Problemi
• <5 August> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - [Southeast Asia] Smart Contract Summit Virtual Watch Party Day 1
• <5 August> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - [Indonesia] Nonton Bareng Smart Contract Summit Virtual Hari 1
• <5 August> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - [Uganda] SMART CONTRACT SUMMIT #1 WATCH PARTY
• <5 August> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - Smart Contract Summit #1 - Watchparty Austria
• <5 August> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - [USA] Austin Watch Party - Smart Con #1
• <6 August> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - [Southeast Asia] Smart Contract Summit Virtual Watch Party Day 2
• <7 August> [VIRTUAL MEETUP] - [Southeast Asia] Smart Contract Summit Virtual Watch Party Day 3
• <7 August> [PHYSICAL MEETUP] - [Nigeria] Smart Contract Summit - Watch Party

Are you interested in hosting your own meetup? Apply to become a Chainlink Community Advocate today: https://events.chain.link/advocate

Chainlink’s Community Grant Program empowers our ecosystem to create valuable resources that help accelerate the adoption of Chainlink-powered smart contracts. Apply for a grant today.

Are there other community content and celebrations that we missed? Post them in the comments below! ⤵️

Cryptofights: In Search Of Evasive BSV Utility

In which we go over a few details about CryptoFights, the game that has been sweeping BSV's transaction rate by storm.

It has been heralded by Calvin's Coingeek as an "explosive success on BSV blockchain", featuring bold assertions such as

• Cryptofights is a "killer app" that demonstrates "the true power of BSV enterprise blockchain."
  
• "CryptoFights wouldn’t work on any blockchain other than BSV"
  
• "the number one player on the game leaderboard earned $146.70 in 24 hours."
• "With the attention this game is getting, it’s not likely to plateau anytime soon."

What's actually happening

A lot of transactions

As of last week, Cryptofights has finally passed the BSV transaction spam bot to become the #1 source of transactions.
Look at https://bsvdata.com/applications for evidence. The spam bot application is somehow missing from the chart, but just add a constant 200,000 daily transactions for it, and you'll be about right. As you can see, Cryptofights easily flippened the spam bot on July 17 and is generating roughly 500,000 transactions a day now.

In this way, Cryptofights demonstrated the power of the BSV Enterprise Blockchain™ much like the BSV transaction spam bot did before it: You can indeed fill up BSV with a lot of transactions. Yet somehow nobody at Coingeek ever bothered to acknowledge the spam bot as the BSV killer app it truly is.

Then again, Cryptofights implies there is a purpose to those transactions. Stories are being written to imply those transactions are needed to play the game. Are they?

Spambot 2: The Quest For Utility

When is a spam bot not a spam bot? When its transactions are actually meaningful and, dare we say, useful.

In its own words Cryptofights' main feature is its "cash tournament."
To use that feature, you must send Cryptofights some money, which doesn't have to be with BSV.
You can however only get BSV back out of it. Cool.
In the last 24 hours, about 200 unique users participated in roughly 1650 PvP battles, while Cryptofights was emitting half a million BSV transactions.

That seems like a lot of transactions considering. Let's dig into what's happening, and what those transactions accomplish.

Cryptofights is using the Run framework as their underlying game engine/storage/BSV integration mechanism.
It's a fun little framework. It stores large chunks of javascript source code in strange places, and expects users of the framework to load and run it in a provided sandbox, as a mean of doing smarter things with transactions. While stopping short of calling itself a smart contract platform, it nonetheless purports to let applications create "tokens, contracts, artwork, elections, games, digital pets, and more."
It appears that Run is intended to allow users to use someone else's Run code and objects under some conditions, although their docs could be clearer on how and when exactly that would happen.

Searching for utility by logging database transactions

Cryptofights's use of Run is however much more reductive. Once you cut through the fluff, Cryptofights' use of Run is effectively treating BSV as a write-only log store.

Looking at how Cryptofights uses Run reveals a few things: They are running their own run-db instances, which means that if they're using vanilla code, their business logic runs in node.js app servers and stores the game data in a SQLite database. While using SQLite is a bit unusual here and isn't a good long term choice, this is otherwise a fairly ordinary approach.

However, every database change also emits a BSV transaction. And that is the big reveal behind the enormous transaction count: The overwhelming majority of Cryptofights BSV transactions consist of payloads that mirror any and every change in their internal database.

The way they are using Run is essentially equivalent to using BSV to store a log of their internal database transactions.

Notably, because the run-db server already tracks all this locally along with the actual database, there are no real reasons why Cryptofights would ever need to go look at those BSV transactions.

So that isn't particularly useful.

Searching for utility by being transparent

But maybe it helps to prevent cheating? Their FAQ certainly implies it might be useful for that.
Except it has nothing to do with preventing users from cheating, it just makes some internal log file public.
It doesn't even truly prevent Cryptofights itself from cheating, since they still control how their "Run Jigs" are used, they simply can't edit their logs afterward.

Is being certain that Cryptofights didn't alter their logs after they were created useful?
It depends on your threat model. You could argue it protects players from Cryptofights acting in bad faith, except that Cryptofights still has a lot of latitude at the time the logs are created. They can arbitrarily initiate the issuance of arbitrary items, move funds, grant XPs and levels at will, and whatever else.

Speaking of whatever else, Cryptofights battles rely on dice throws. Randomness and blockchains are always an interesting match, and the extra transparency Cryptofights provides by immediately and constantly throwing every database change into the BSV mempool has consequences here:

At the beginning of every battle, Cryptofights comes up with a seed of its chosing, and that value is then used predictably to generate every throws in the battle. That means, not only does Cryptofights exert an enormous influence over the "randomness" of fights, players also have access to that seed value during the fights and can predict both their throws and their opponent throws. This is handy to figure out optimal moves during the battle. They can also predict the rewards the winner will get based on that seed and the number of turns played in the battle. This provides a rather convenient and undetectable form of cheating, enabled by Cryptofights "publicly auditable decisions."

This is effectively more harmful than useful.

Searching for utility with non fungible tokens (NFT)

Next, let's talk about NFTs. Those are non-fungible tokens that players can own and do with at what they will.
Cryptofights claim they have NFTs. Do they, and could those be worth the transactions they're printed on?

Even at first glance, for most of them, the answer to the latter is unequivocally no. Every item in the game, all of which are auto-generated, is portrayed as an NFT. Most of them are completely and durably worthless. But what of the few items in that pile that are perhaps seen as valuable?

Alas, those still lack all the basic properties of a NFT: You don't own the keys that control them. You cannot trade them on a third-party marketplace. You cannot transfer or sell them yourself, the best you can do is to politely ask the game to transfer or sell them for you.

In short, those are not NFTs, they are just game items, for which Cryptofights is emitting some related BSV transactions, but those transactions do nothing for you.

This is not useful, and calling those game items NFTs is deceitful.

Searching for utility by exchanging value

If we go back to its roots, BSV is a fork of Bitcoin, and Bitcoin is about storing and passing value around. Despite all the tragic events surrounding BSV's development, this is also still something BSV can do.

And that is arguably a decent use case for a gambling or "cash gaming" app.

Of course, transactions that meaningfully impact a players' wallet balance are a negligeable portion of the whole. Each PvP battle touches the users' wallets once when the battle begins, and the winner's wallet once when the battle ends. Given a current rate of about 1,650 PvP battles per day, that accounts for about 3,300 daily transactions.

Still, there's some utility there.

Searching for utility by being a loss leader

It's a good thing transactions on BSV are so darn cheap, or Cryptofights could easily end up spending a million dollars a year on transaction fees alone. In fact, they came dangerously close to reaching that rate on July 19, when they spent $2,434 in fees in a single day, which would add up to $888,000 over a year.

Very soon after, they fees dropped from 2.1 faketoshi/byte to 0.5 faketoshi/byte, which likely means that they are now dependent on Calvin's TAAL to accept their transactions.

In doing so, they are keeping things in the family, since they themselves are partially owned by Calvin, and have collected roughly $2,300,000 in funding from him and other BSV folks.

Even at TAAL's discounted fee rate, if their BSV traffic remained constant, they can expect to hand over $180,000 a year in fees alone. This is a very expensive log storage cloud service indeed.

Is it useful? Sure, but only to Calvin, and it is certain his thumb is on the scale here. He gets to portrays Cryptofights self-defeating use of BSV as evidence of BSV's "true power", in the hopes it will attract more unsophisticated parties.

If they were not driven by perverse incentives, a rational company in Cryptofights' situation would disable the broadcasting of valueless BSV transactions, and save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, at the cost of losing no functionality. That'd also fix some of the dice issues.

Won't somebody please adopt BSV?

Speaking of deceptive practices, the near totality of cryptofights traffic has been bought.. It is not organic traffic, and will vanish the moment Cryptofights stops paying for it.
This is not an isolated or accidental business tactic, since they've also been caught buying likes and retweets on their twitter account.

But so what? If those users end up adopting BSV, does it matter? Surely, those large transaction rates must mean that is exactly what's happening.

Let's dig into the numbers.
We know Cryptofights is averaging about 500,000 daily transactions right now.
Those accounts for about 39,200 daily battles. Out of those, over 37,550 are "Bot" battles, where users play against a computer-controlled opponent. That leaves around 1,650 "PvP" battles, featuring 2 players.
Today, all those PvP battles were played by about 200 players.

In the past 24 hours, about 20 new users showed up on the Cryptofights leaderboard. That means that 20 users won their first PvP battle during that period.

That doesn't come close to the "explosive success" hyperbole of Calvin's CoinGeek.

Quick recap and parting thoughts

This is already too long, and there's still more to be said. The leaderboard has bad data, the CoinGeek claim that someone earned $146 is 24 hours is obviously false, the websites feel like an inconsistent patchwork with the occasional broken link, which could be a symptom of using too many contractors, or having bad turnover rates.

• There's nothing Cryptofights is doing that couldn't be done without BSV.
• Cryptofights doesn't have NFTs in their current incarnation. Anyone saying different is lying to you.
• The high BSV transaction rates are not just a misleading and empty talking point, they are also expensive and harmful to Cryptofights.
• Cheating is not only possible, but facilitated by their transaction diarrhea.
• Despite literally trying to buy users, their user growth numbers remain unimpressive.

There's a strong technical case to be made that Cryptofights could be doing more if it hadn't BSV'd itself.
After all, Cryptofights used to have real NFTs before this.
With BSV came investment funds it perhaps needed to survive, but at a cost of being steered into a dubious technical direction.

Can Cryptofights recover from this, or will the same Faustian bargain that allowed it to survive now forbid it from ever thriving?