DAOVentures ($DVG) aims to simplify and create easy to use solutions for people to invest and manage their Decentralized Finance (DeFi) portfolio.
DeFi products are difficult and complex for users to interact with, especially for newbies. Quite a number of investors still have some distrusts about the space. Others have to deal with the possibility of risk and expensive gas fees. However, DAOventures was able to identify these problems and come up with solutions.
What Is DAOVentures?
DAOventures is a decentralized protocol that helps liquidity providers invest in DeFi projects by employing automated advisors and robo-fund managers to help users invest in DeFi products with great returns.
DAOventures relies on its beliefs as a guide to provide exceptional services for investors. The system uses the best strategies to consistently monitor performance, manage risk/reward ratios, as well as audit smart contract security. Some perks of the DAOventures platform include:
The risk/reward ratio is a very important aspect of any trade or investment. DAOventures strategies provide users with wide-ranging products based on their risk exposure level: low, medium, or high risk so newbie and intermediate traders can make more informed decisions before executing a trade.
Curated Information
The protocol’s team investigates, analyzes, and backtests new Dapps to sift out the bad from the good. They do this by matching up all protocols with the best performing algorithm to meet the demands of investors.
Security
The core value of the protocol is security. The platform audits and reviews all products to ensure that it is safe to deploy their crypto products.
The platform allows audits by third-party firms and performs other security tests to ensure that users’ funds are secure. Since DAOVentures is a decentralized platform, it does not own any private keys as funds are secured by users themselves.
Transparency
DAOventures’ investments are transparent since they can be viewed on the blockchain so users could see where and how their money is being moved, as well as be able to review and improve their portfolio to properly track their capital.
Reduced Gas Fees
Users can save a considerable amount of gas when they use DAOVentures. The protocol allows for a better gas calculation through properly managed pooled investment funds.
DAOventures Tokens ($DVG)
Liquidity providers can earn DAOventures governance tokens, denoted as DVG, which allow them to cast votes regarding changes in the protocol’s rules. The Launch for the DVG token would be done on Polkastarter, an auction protocol that is based on the Polkadot blockchain and is used for fund-raising by DeFi projects.
DVGs are basically “tokens” on a smart contract that are developed to follow a fixed set of rules, which can be amended or upgraded through a consensus voting mechanism integrated into the smart contract.
The utility of DVG tokens is numerous. It will be used to incentivize LPs to drive long-term demand of the token, as well as the involvement of the DAOventures community. Users holding $DVG will benefit from staking incentives such as lower transaction fees and rewards.
DAOventures will release a total supply of 444,444 DVG tokens for public sale. The platform will offer a discounted sale of DVG token to POLS token holders and the public before it is listed on Uniswap.
How Does DAOventures Operate?
The protocol works similarly to a normal VC firm in the sense that it searches for better openings for investors to create higher earnings. The technological tools that the platform uses are built through a combined effort from the professional teams.
These tools explore deep into the markets and help liquidity providers deploy their funds into desirable DeFi investments. Examples of the tools used include an automated balancer, liquidity miner, arbitrage bot, and swap token.
DAOVentures employs smart contracts and robo-traders to help investors put money in the top-performing DeFi assets to get the best results. In addition, before smart contracts are deployed for use on the platform, they are first audited and vetted to ensure compliance.
The decentralized processes of the platform help to eliminate counterparty risks. DAOVentures ensures that users have full control of their funds and wallets. As a result, users can interact with smart contracts individually.
While other crypto investors find it difficult interacting with DeFi protocols, DAOventures employs algorithms to manage investors’ funds. Robo-advisors distribute all the pooled funds and deploy them to the DeFi protocol with the best ROI%.
The products and services offered by DAOventures include:
Yield Farming
The platform offers various yield farming strategies for users in order to earn returns. Users can choose a yield farming strategy based on their risk level and profit target. The protocol provides users with investments based on their risk appetite.
Lending And Borrowing
DAOVentures plans to integrate with lending and borrowing protocols such as Uniswap in the near-term. This will help them better manage investor funds and expand the reach of DAOventures operations.
Automated Defi Manager
Through robo-advisors, users have the benefit of investing in the best DeFi projects and products. Investors can profit from the platform’s structured products and yield-farming aggregation via automated managers.
With the growth DeFi has seen, there is little doubt that its ecosystem is the future of finance. However, DeFi’s rise in popularity also brought along several opportunities, risks, and benefits. With that in mind, DAOventures continues to play its part to speed up DeFi’s transition to the much-anticipated future by constantly providing investors with proper solutions. The protocol aims to leverage cross-chain interoperability to provide its users with the best services.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Unido ($UDO), powered by Polkadot, provides enterprises crypto-asset management solutions, that specialize in governance, security, and interoperability within the crypto banking sphere guaranteeing the satisfaction of all users.
Background
Powered by Web3 blockchain Polkadot, Unido was founded by Chris Weddle who has over 20 years of experience within the blockchain sector. The project was initiated in 2017 and is anchored by an experienced team of finance experts, software developers, and blockchain developers. They all come from well-known financial and development firms such as Goldman Sachs, Wipro, and Macquarie.
Unido’s Founder: Chris Weddle (Source: Unido website)
Through the Unido project, the team has successfully managed to solve security and accessibility challenges with its distinct and dynamic implementation of a blockchain-based management tool that facilitates the handling of crypto assets.
What is Unido?
Unido is a technology ecosystem that addresses the governance, security, and accessibility challenges of decentralized applications, and enables companies to manage crypto assets and capitalize on DeFi.
Unido’s distinct protocol facilitates investment in DeFi by leveraging its efficient proprietary and multi-sig key signing technology. Furthermore, users have the unique capability to manage crypto banking operations in complete security.
Under the decentralized platform, assets management enterprises and crypto native companies are ensured agility and efficiency for the custody of their respective digital assets. This creates a strong bridge for firms and organizations to interface with DeFi networks as they remain compliant with licensing and regulatory requirements.
The platform’s algorithm works best by leveraging, as well as supplying clients with a great deal of crypto trading, payments, and banking solutions.
Through Unido’s user-friendly protocol, participants essentially have access to three main features all responsible for the system’s special implementation of the blockchain, namely, Enterprise Crypto Banking Suite, DeFi Vault Access, and Governance/Security features.
A business banking portal, through which firms can manage day-to-day operations and capital expenditure. This feature empowers users with a multi-user wallet management protocol that creates, assigns, and manages clients’ wallets.
Additionally, it is equipped with user governance tools providing access to rights and access requirements unique to the blockchain solution. Overall, this business banking portal is a simple and intuitive instrument with an interoperable, modular architecture that provides analytics on DeFi transactions, activities, and trends.
DeFi Vault Access
The vault access is a multi-signature enterprise wallet or DeFi vault used to store, manage, and invest digital assets in an efficient and safe manner.
The team behind the wallet describes it as a secured and most importantly, a well-integrated bridge into several prominent DeFi investment solutions such as UniSwap, Yearn Finance, and Balancer. Additionally, the vault provides users with a complete overview of investment opportunities within the DeFi space, as well as potential returns and benefits within specific DeFi networks.
Supported by a portfolio performance dashboard, this feature facilitates the management and investment of digital funds.
Governance and Security
Through this blockchain-based feature, the Unido enterprise platform (EP) provides users with an array of security and management instruments ensuring the safety of all funds within the platform.
The Unido platform guarantees blockchain-based security and agnostic architecture, rendering it versatile and applicable to any given on-chain use cases. Powered by a key signing technology, Unido EP ensures flexible and trustworthy governance, which provides assets access only to permitted entities and parties.
Unido Token ($UDO)
The platform’s utility token, $UDO, is the fuel behind Unido’s efficient implementation as it is used to drive network access, ensure transaction security, governance, and network management. Overall, the token is built on a trustworthy smart contract algorithm guaranteeing the development and expansion of the Unido network in the future.
Furthermore, the token facilitates access to the platform’s variety of products to all users, including institutions and developers. UDO has three main use cases, being network access licenses, consumption fees, and DAO Governance.
$UDO Tokenomics
Total Supply: 115,000,000 UDO
Initial Market Cap:$487,813
Seed/Private/Pre-Public Sale Fundraising: $1,400,000
Seed Sale: $0.04, 0% TGE, 20% monthly unlock
Private Sale: $0.05, 25% TGE, 25% monthly unlock
Public Sale:: $0.06, full unlock
Deflationary Economics:
Phase 1: From consumption fees, 60% burn, 20% to EDF, and 20% into reserve. Phase 1 when token supply is reduced by 20%.
Phase 2: After enterprise products take off, 50% of fees to be invested into EDF & 50% into reserve.
UDO Use Cases
Network Access License
All applications and Unido EP features will only be available via a license purchasable with the UDO token. Once the license is bought, the tokens are removed from circulation and placed into a secured smart contract until the license eventually expires.
Companies are provided with annual licenses for the Unido platform, where fees are determined by the volume of usage for the target clients and the number of users.
Consumption Fees
All fees and consumption charges within the Unido ecosystem and auxiliary platform will be based on the volume of usage within the platforms. Additionally, UDO will be used to authenticate each transaction within its parent platform.
All operations from developers will either be charged under a subscription model, Freemium model, paid model, or In-App model, all depending on the user specifications and needs.
DAO Governance
In general, the DAO will oversee Unido’s Ecosystem Development Fund (EDF) and allow for the subsidizing of new applications implementation and development, which will contribute to the diversification of the platform.
Unido EP aims to be a leader within the blockchain space by spearheading the race toward mass adoption; especially within the traditional financial sector. The platform’s drive to provide secured banking management tools is a great boost for wide DLT acceptance.
Overall the Polkadot-based platform is a dynamic implementation of decentralized technology, which guarantees total accessibility and security through key features lacking in most solutions of its genre on the market.
Unido Enterprise Platform is ahead of the curve as it provides a sure connection with blockchain giants, ensuring its growth and development in the future. Unido will likely become a leader within the blockchain given the protocol’s current algorithm and products.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Benchmark Protocol ($MARK) is a supply elastic, stablecoin-alternative that connects traditional finance with the cryptocurrency market by revolving around the volatility index. It provides liquidity to the DeFi space during periods of high volatility to optimize value and stability.
Background
Founded by David Mass, the Benchmark protocol aims to bridge the digital currency market to traditional financing. The project was set in motion by a team composed of investors, blockchain engineers, and financial experts to strengthen security and the efficacity of loan collateral within the blockchain.
The sudden selling pressure experienced by the crypto market in march of 2020 prompted the team to act as they understood the risks within DeFi. The Birth of Benchmark exhibits the unique drive of the ambitious team behind the platform.
Ultimately, Benchmark’s team looks to be a household name within the market by staying relevant within the mainstream DeFi space and optimizing their product to the needs of the blockchain.
What is Benchmark Protocol?
Benchmark Protocol is a supply-elastic collateral and hedging system driven by a volatility index. Simply put, the Benchmark Protocol lessens liquidation events and hedges risk with its very own cryptocurrency, the $MARK token.
Furthermore, Benchmark’s algorithm functions as a rule-based utility that adjusts supply, and is supported by the CBOE volatility index (VIX) and deviations from the target metric, which is equal to 1 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) unit. The Benchmark team believes that implementing the SDR creates a larger and far more efficient use case rather than exposure to just one currency.
The Benchmark Protocol provides a dynamic and supply-elastic token in the MARK token, as it manages to connect traditional capital markets to DeFi. The platform’s protocol is unique and efficient; completely separate from the crypto market prices and trends.
The protocol prides itself as an ideal hedge exhibiting total transparency with all users and transactions making a secure and reliable solution for the DeFi sector. Its immutability is robust enough to prevent systematic risk arising from cease and desist orders.
Benchmark’s innovative approach has isolated the recurring issue of overshooting the target peg within the varying market conditions. Through the MARK token, the platform can effectively rebalance supply within a 5-hour window after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ensuring the reduction of arbitrage activity for token users.
The distinct algorithm effectively adjusts to trends within DeFi while implementing traditional finance market strategies. The protocol actively monitors and regulates the total supply of tokens to compensate for anticipated price movements. This method helps in reducing excessive amplitudes of price percentage changes.
Since its implementation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the international reserve asset SDR has been an important factor concerning the health of the international financial system. SDR value is supported by five currencies: the Euro, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen, U.S. dollar, and British pound sterling.
The Benchmark Protocol has been targeting the SDR’s historic price of $1.4075, with a long-term view utilizing macro-exposure to the world’s most established currency basket. The SDR is a superior and secured peg that will not face a tough path should the US Dollar experience strong inflation.
The Benchmark Protocol primarily benefits from SDR diversified and global currency risk instead of single currency risk, which will attract more users globally, thereby, contributing to the growth of the project long term.
Volatility Index (VIX)
Described as the market’s “fear indicator”, VIX is a real-time market index used to estimate the market’s expectations for the relative strength of near-term price changes and volatility typically within the S&P 500 index (SPX).
The blockchain-based platform relies on the VIX as an accurate and suitable predictive element for price development. The VIX enables the platform to be ahead of its competitors by allowing it to be more dynamic and proactive in the DeFi market.
The Press
The platform values Liquidity providers a great deal, as they are essential for the proper operation of the MARK token as a stable collateral utility. Furthermore, liquidity mining is an essential component of the Benchmark Protocol during the bootstrap phase.
The Press is the second phase of Benchmark’s liquidity providers rewards distribution program. It is the largest token allocation with 27% of the total supply provided to liquidity mining initiatives that compensate the liquidity providers’ active participation in the Benchmark network. The Press will feature core MARK Pairs, such as MARK-ETH and MARK-USDC on Uniswap.
The team plans to implement The Press for a period of 3 to 7 years, all depending on distribution velocity.
MARK Token
Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Mark Token is Benchmark’s native asset. MARK is an ERC-20 utility token and was released to the market while taking into consideration SDR and the VIX. So, MARK is secured to the world’s most stable currency (the SDR). Additionally, the token’s rebalances are smart and fast, derived from VIX.
Overall, Benchmark’s native token can be described as a supply-elastic collateral utility designated to increase liquidity during periods of high volatility and in direct correspondence with global equities markets.
MARK is a dynamic digital asset separate from other crypto implementations as it does not rival traditional fiat or paper currencies, which enables token holders to rely on a global currency risk profile versus a single currency risk profile. Additionally, through the platform’s utility token, users are shielded from inflation and further benefit from collateralization of risks.
XMARK Token
xMARK is another ERC-20 utility token within the platform, which represents MARK but is not affected by rebases. xMark is designed to help move the platform towards on-chain governance. The token is minted by holders staking MARK tokens within the single-asset staking platform and is currently available on Binance Smart Chain and Quickswap.
Conclusion
Overall the Benchmark protocol manages to deal with the issues of volatility and inconsistency within the blockchain elegantly. Through MARK and xMARK utility tokens, users are ensured that rules-based, non-dilutive, and supply-elastic collateral will facilitate their crypto journey.
The DeFi sector is set to benefit tremendously from such technology, which provides a unique product that is currently lacking in the blockchain.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
SuperFarm ($SUPER) is a cross-chain DeFi platform aimed at easing the process of creating non-fungible tokens (NFT) while giving them the capacity to add value to their tokens. It has its own NFT marketplace which creators could benefit from. The protocol is designed to make the user’s whole blockchain journey easier. Finally, SuperFarm is a continuously growing project that could attract more partnerships from several gaming platforms.
Background
Elliot Wainman, the creator of EllioTrades and co-founder of Dapp Evolution Games, began his work on SuperFarm with the objective of mass adoption for the Ethereum network. Elliot’s target is to reach over 2.5 billion gamers worldwide who are looking to purchase in-game assets through NFTs.
SuperFarm’s first fundraising round amounted to a total of $1.1 million, where prominent cryptocurrency and financial firms like Bitcoin.com, GBV Capital, Solidity Ventures, and Spark Digital Capital, and many others participated.
Before we dive deeper into what SuperFarm does, it is important to understand what NFTs are.
What are NFTs?
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) refer to digital assets that represent almost anything, from works of art or a person’s identity. NFTs cannot be duplicated and they all have distinct metadata.
They are commonly used to create a blockchain representation of a real world asset so that they can be traded with crypto. Since NFTs are programmable, they can be attached with different characteristics and attributes according to the needs of the creator.
SuperFarm is a cross-chain DeFi platform for NFT farming without any code required, with the primary aim is of making it easier for anyone to create their own tokens and add value to them through NFT farming. And because it does not have any coding requirement on the part of the business, using the platform lessens the technical complexity of coming up with their own NFT.
The way SuperFarm abstracts the process of tokenization is through a series of visual, beginner-friendly tools. They can customize the rules for their tokens, identify their attributes, incentivize a behavior, and more. The SuperFarm platform is easy to use but it does not compromise quality and effectiveness.
The tokens that can be generated on the platform are ERC20 compliant. They can sell them to any supported marketplace. In fact, users can even set-up their own NFT marketplace through the platform if they want to.
NFT Farming
Through the platform, businesses can easily create their own farms and put up their NFTs there. Users can access them to stake on NFTs and earn incentives. There is a minimum requirement of SUPER tokens, however, before anyone is allowed to open up new farms.
NFT Marketplace
Users are given access to the NFT store where they can purchase NFTs through the reward points they are given from farming. It also allows users to buy NFTs with supported cryptocurrencies.
Superverse
Superverse is the gaming interface for SuperFarm. It is an NFT-based card game that functions on an autobattler setup. Aside from game points, some of the rewards that are available in Superverse include NFT drops from SuperFarm-partnered gaming platforms.
There is a minimum requirement for SUPER holdings before a user is given access to the Superverse.
$SUPER token is SuperFarm’s native utility token. It can be used as a medium of exchange or to pay for governance and transaction fees. SUPER also gives its holders access to products and programs available in SuperFarm’s gaming ecosystem, video game partners, and NFT drops.
Since the platform seeks to be fully-decentralized in the future, its governance is community-directed. Any decision or proposal to amend or modify the platform has to go through the vote of SUPER holders. Voting power can be determined by the amount of the SUPER tokens you hold. The more you hold in SUPER, the stronger your voting power will be.
Other purchases you can make in the platform also involves SUPER. It can be used to access some important features of the platform which are only available to holders of SUPER.
If you want to purchase SUPER, the token is listed on Uniswap. Below are some of the use cases for SUPER.
SUPER can also be staked. Users just have to lock their SUPER in a smart contract so they can earn token rewards for doing so. This reward structure comes from the collection of platform fees which are made in SUPER as well.
Farming
SUPER can be staked for NFT rewards too. By participating in the staking for NFTs, users can also receive exclusive NFT rewards from partner farms.
Users can also set up their own farms on the platform. However, there is a minimum requirement of 100,000 SUPER tokens in order to do so. The purpose of the quota is to make sure that there is a low likelihood for spams, good quality of farms, and to incentivize the purchase of the token.
NFT Drops
SUPER holders are also entitled to NFT drop rewards. These are the NFTs available in the Superverse and partnered video games. However, to be a part of the NFT drops, users should be holding the minimum SUPER tokens required.
SuperFarm is an interesting DeFi project. One of the platform’s strengths is that it has already identified who its target market is. If the project takes off successfully and gets more gamers and developers on-board, it is highly likely that it will drive people’s interest in crypto and DeFi significantly. Imagine 2.5 billion gamers jumping onto the crypto train; it will be a huge feat.
Moreover, SuperFarm is a project that businesses can easily benefit from. If they want to create their own NFTs and market them, SuperFarm’s interface has prepared the platform for them as well. If the project achieves its objectives, it offers a promising outlook for the whole of DeFi. Looking at where it stands today, it is not impossible. The platform is easy-to-use and profitable. It belongs to the DeFi projects we have to look out for.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Vortex DeFi ($VTX) aims to provide users a one-stop access to all leading decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and protocols from a single web-based user interface.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has evolved from a niche subcategory to the biggest catalyst driving the cryptocurrency and blockchain field today. It’s primarily focused on the Ethereum network, which has the majority of the DeFi share. There are, however, a large number of core DeFi protocols, combinators, and countless forks. All of this can become confusing fast.
Fortunately, users don’t have to delve into the complex workings and nuances of these protocols, which can be overwhelming even for long-term users. Vortex DeFi is introduced to simplify the access and exposure to the sector. It has integrations with different protocols, which abstracts away the complexity in a simple and yet intuitive interface, to level the playing field and ensure greater participation.
Background
Vortex DeFi launched in Aug 2020 through a private investment round. It accrued interest and funding from X21 Digital, DuckDao, Moonrock Capital, Magnus Capital, Pluto Digital Assets PLC, Faculty Capital, A195 Capital, etc. A public sale will be held soon.
It has a multicultural team, led by CEO Rahul Singh and strategic advisor Lester Lim. The other prominent team members are technical lead Arun Sunil and product lead Shaz. All team members have previous experiences in market-leading companies and blockchain projects.
What is Vortex DeFi?
Vortex DeFi is a web-based DeFi management system or a comprehensive DeFi aggregative solution platform, serving as a bridge between Ethereum and Polkadot. It combines the functionality and power of core protocols in a sleek dashboard to allow users of all categories to engage in yield farming. The core services provided are NFT asset management, lending and borrowing, insurance, and exchange.
Vortex DeFi will also utilize the yEarn finance protocol to access and extract value from various lending protocols to enable automated profitable yield farming. The added advantage of cross-chain compatibility ensures that users don’t have to choose between two promising blockchains. Vortex DEFI also has several components, taking the guesswork and experimentation out of the process.
Being the Uniswap or Bancor equivalent of Vortex, V-Swap will offer an automated digital assets exchange on the Ethereum and Polkadot blockchain. It’s likely to offer liquidity aggregation from multiple sources, so a peer to peer exchange of tokens can be performed without a direct counterparty or orderbook.
V-Pay
It will offer a fiat gateway for users, so they can acquire and sell crypto assets from FIAT, in their cards or bank accounts. This is required for onboarding new users, as well as ensuring that they have a way for realizing their returns.
V-Yield
A yield aggregator as the name goes, V-Yield will combine yield from different sources and optimize them according to the best return rate. It will spare users from the trouble of manually finding sources and having the need to rotate them.
V-NFTs
An asset management, V-NFTs will allow users to manage their asset collection and swap them for each other. Given that NFTs are an illiquid asset class and their infrastructure is scattered, it’s hugely important to develop a unified interface.
V-Insure
DeFi protocols are rife with exploits and smart contract risks. Therefore, to onboard new users and even to retain existing ones, it’s necessary to grant them peace of mind by ensuring the protection of their funds. V-Insure will seek to insure user funds by seeking out integrations with multiple DeFi insurance protocols.
Vortex DEFI Native Token ($VTX)
The native token of the platform is Vortex DeFi Token ($VTX), ERC-20 token, which will be used to incentivize users. It has four purposes:
Liquidity pools (LP) rewards are distributed in VTX
Usage for staking on the platform.
Holding VTX tokens allows users to save on the platform fees
The team has announced plans to regularly buy tokens and burn them every quarter to reduce supply and increase the value of existing tokens.
All of these benefits and value accrual mechanisms will motivate users to hold tokens, in anticipation of rising demand and prices.
$VTX Token Metrics
The VTX token has a total supply of 100M $VTX and an initial circulating supply of $0.4M $VTX.
Private Sale (concluded): 32,500,000 VTX sold at 0.0276 USD per token.(25% TGE, 75% vesting over 120 days)
Public Sale (on 28 February 2021): 2,500,000 VTX to be sold at 0.04 USD per token. No vesting period.*
Advantages of Vortex DeFi
The platform offers users the advantages of a unified DeFi management dashboard, the ability to fuse several protocols together offering a seamless experience with abstracted complexity, powerful lend and earn functionality, automated rotation of funds for optimized returns, non-custodial function, and insurance against loss of funds.
Vortex DEFI will have integrations with several key DEFI protocols, including but not limited to Maker DAO, Compound, Kava, Idle, Aave, Yearn, Uniswap, Nexus Mutual, Curve. This will allow for a powerful user experience, which is likely to improve penetration of decentralized finance.
Vortex Vision
The team hopes that Vortex will become the top one-stop solution for a user’s DeFi needs and allow them to simplify their experience. Vortex hopes to make financial applications accessible and simple for all users, regardless of their technical expertise. It will also allow saving on transaction fees (gas) by batching and combining transactions.
Vortex can also enhance the decentralization level of DeFi protocols by ensuring broad participation and an increase in user activity. Furthermore, it will feature the DAAS (DeFi-As-A-Service) business model. Currently, the product is in development and more changes are expected as the platform launch draws near.
Conclusion
DEFI was founded on the principle of openness, equal opportunity, transparency, trustlessness, lack of centralized control, fast processing, and lego-like composability. It is generally presented as a superior alternative to the traditional financial system, which differs heavily from the principles of the crypto community and disallows these services to a large number of people.
On the other hand, DeFi is accessible to almost everyone with an internet connection and a personal computing device or smartphone. However, primitive user interfaces and experiences of the existing DeFi protocols were a problem. Thankfully, Vortex will overlap the strong functionality of these protocols with an amazing and simple interface.
Currently, there is a lack of dashboard-style platforms connected to multiple DEFI protocols, aggregating their services and offering a one-stop solution. All of this is about to change with the Vortex launch, which is likely to onboard a large number of new users as well as provide a novel interesting solution to the existing ones.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Polkastarter ($POLS) is a cross-chain decentralised protocol, powered by Polkadot, that allows start-ups to raise funds in a decentralised and interoperable environment.
In 2020, the decentralized finance ecosystem (DeFi) recorded encouraging figures in the number of DeFi protocols, as well as the number of funds locked in these platforms. On the number of protocols, the platforms addressed different spheres such as lending, trading, and insurance.
Unfortunately, not many protocols touched on revolutionizing conventional fundraising models such as initial coin offerings (ICOs), initial decentralized exchange offerings (IDOs), and initial exchange offerings (IEOs).
However, projects like Polkastarter are on their way to bring a sigh of relief to startups looking for innovative ways to attract funding. Before we dig deeper into the project and what it brings to startups, let’s take a look at the group behind it.
Background
Daniel Stockhaus and Tiago Martins are the top brains behind Polkastarter. As project co-founders, Stockhaus is the CEO, while Martins is the CTO. Notably, the two have vast experience spanning from tech entrepreneurship to software development.
Other members of the team include Danilo Carlucci and Matthew Dibb. Carlucci is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, while Dibb is a strategic advisor.
What is Polkastarter?
Polkastarter is a decentralized platform enabling startups and other projects to attract capital through token auctions and inter-blockchain token pools. As you would have guessed from its name, the project is built on the Polkadot network that sits on Ethereum.
Polkadaot Network
Stockhaus settled on Polkadot because of the network’s major strengths in scalability, speed, interoperability, upgradeability, and governance. To elaborate, Polkadot surpasses Ethereum and Bitcoin transaction speed thanks to its use of parachains, which power horizontal scalability, and Grandpa consensus mechanism, which drives vertical scalability.
Polkastarter taps into these strengths to enable governance through community voting and staking. The network also relies on Polkadot to drive liquidity mining.
Using these features, the project scores better than existing decentralized exchanges and swap protocols such as Uniswap, Bounce, and Primablock. For instance, these networks don’t support cross-chain pools, while Bounce and Primablock support a limited array of virtual assets.
Polkastarter’s Use Cases and Major Features
Polkastarter expands outside the fundraising space to crowdfunding and allows participants to benefit from discounted sales. Additionally, the protocol can increase privacy to over the counter deals by enabling password protection during such trades.
The network differs from other similar projects since it allows:
Inter-chain swaps
Fixed and dynamic swaps
Community voting on critical governance issues
Decentralized and permissionless token listing
Comprehensive Know your customer (KYC) procedures
Users to spot scams from a distance through a built-in anti-scam feature
Notably, combining these features brings low-cost transactions, fast cross-chain token swaps, the ability to move virtual assets across decentralized platforms, and a user-friendly design.
How Polkastarter Handles Fixed Swaps?
Fixed swaps pools are significant components of the network. Unlike with automated market making, fixed swap counteracts price volatility. Also, fixed swaps provide a greater level of transparency on the amount raised during fundraising.
Polkastarter employs fixed swap pools instead of AMM swap pools. This approach solves, among other challenges, the risk of private investors artificially inflating the price and dumping their holdings and the cost of token offerings.
Additionally, fixed swap pools ensure a fair distribution of tokens while eliminating the risk of rug pulls in a liquidity pool.
Note that instead of using a bonding curve approach to determine token prices in a pool, Polkastarter sets a fixed price when swapping tokens. As such, it’s possible to add other parameters, such as how much a single user can contribute to a project. Additionally, it’s easier to set more parameters to ensure transparency and fairness on new token holders.
Immediate advantages of using fixed swaps are:
The amount raised and tokens sold can easily be calculated.
It attracts investors distributed both demographically and geographically.
Token holders are given a chance to acquire tokens at a standard price.
Polkastarter’s Native Token ($POLS)
Tokenomics
The network has a native token called $POLS, which it uses for various sections on the platform. POLS’s total supply is 100 million tokens. Exactly 42.5 percent of the tokens were sold during the seed sale, private sale, and Uniswap listing. Other tokens went to the marketing fund, team, advisors, and foundational reserve.
Funds raised during the sales periods went into legal/accountancy (5%), ecosystem growth (20%), liquidity/exchanges (30%), and product development (45%).
POLS is used on the Polkastarter ecosystem as a utility token. Among its major uses are governance and fees.
As a governance token, its holders can vote on crucial matters such as protocol features and tokens to be displayed on the network. On fees, transactions on the platform are paid using the native currency.
Other Utilities
Staking – The token can be staked to earn staking rewards on various fronts. For example, it can be staked to receive pool rewards or for pool access. Note that the option to stake POL for pool access is solely upon pool creators. However, the choice is ideal for giving top liquidity providers private access to high-end pools.
Liquidity mining – Additionally, Polkastarter’s native currency can be staked to participate in liquidity mining. Rewards are distributed to entities providing liquidity on the secondary markets, among other subsections.
Two Key Partnerships With Polkastarter
Although Stockhaus and the team have inked many partnerships with reputable decentralized platforms, two stand out.
Polkastarter and Covalent
Covalent is a platform capable of fetching intricate details about a crypto wallet. As such, it allows Polkastarter and its users to check the trustworthiness of a token contract. The users have access to the token contract age, verification, transaction volume, among other details.
Polkastarter and DIA
Decentralized Information Asset (DIA) is a platform that provides distributed oracles on Polkastarter. Thanks to the exceptional qualities of its oracles, DIA helps Polkastarter provide warnings against massive price slippage.
Other partnerships involve Moonbean, Shyft, and Orion Protocol.
Conclusion
By using fixed price swaps instead of AMM, Polkastarter sets the bar higher in decentralized funding. It adds the transparency and fairness aspect that has been missing on similar platforms. The projectl’s partnerships with Covalent and DIA gives its users peace of mind knowing that they can pick a suspicious project from the crowd and avoid price slippage.
Furthermore, Polkastarter’s native token opens the door to distributed governance while giving its holders an extra way to earn rewards through staking.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Staking on Ethereum 2.0 is finally live. However, the process of connecting your Ethereum (ETH) coins can be a bit tricky. It’s not all about sending 32 ETH to the contract. Doing so would end up with you losing your funds. In this tutorial, we will cover how to connect to the ETH staking contract through a validator node. Furthermore, we shall be using Allnodes, a non-custodial platform for hosting nodes.
How To Set up an ETH 2.0 Validator?
First, your Ethereum wallet should have the 32 ETH coins needed by the contract. Note that interacting with the Ethereum blockchain is done through MetaMask. Therefore, you need to fund your MetaMask through a hardware or a software wallet.
The journey starts on Allnodes. The platform takes care of the technical bit of hosting nodes for a relatively low fee, although it depends on the hosting package chosen. The platform supports multiple payment methods, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Click on Ethereum staking on the upper right corner, and on the new window that opens, select “Host ETH 2.0.”
If you’re new to Allnodes, create an account; otherwise, login to your account.
Select you’re your plan.
Connect to MetaMask.
ETH 2.0 Launchpad
Click on “Open ETH 2.0 Launchpad” then “Get started.”
There are subsections on the left pane of the welcome screen, such as introducing eth2 phase 0, signing up, and responsibilities, among others. In addition, it holds information on the expected income. On the responsibilities section, for example, it states that a validator node only earns rewards when it’s actively participating in the network. Unfortunately, the effects of a node being offline are equal to the profits of it being online.
Other critical sections:
Risks of slashing – If a node gets compromised or it misbehaves, its stake is slashed, consequently reducing its staking power.
Backup Mnemonic – They are special words that are used for recovering deposited ETH. For maximum security, the mnemonic should be written on paper instead of saving on a computer.
Transfer delay – For now, interacting with the deposit address is one way. As such, you can only deposit and not withdraw or transfer the coins.
Long term committed – Ethereum has a commitment statement noting that validator nodes are in it for the long haul and they can’t go back to previous versions such as ETH 1.0.
On the client selection pane, there’s the option to run ETH 1.0 client. While this is possible, it’s costly and needs some technical knowledge.
Generating Key Phrases for ETH 2.0
The next window is for generating key pairs. First, select the number of ETH 2.0 validator nodes you need. Note that each node requires depositing 32 ETH into the Ethereum staking contract.
Next, select between Linux, Windows, and Mac operating systems.
For this example, we’ll be setting up an ETH 2.0 validator node on a Windows-powered computer.
The intimidating part about this part is that it uses a command-line interface (CLI) instead of a graphical user interface (GUI), which is what non-devs are used to.
Downloading and Using CLI
Download the CLI from Github by clicking on the link “get it from developers.” When on the download page, select the release that coincides with your computer’s operating system.
Extract the zipped folder to reveal the file called “Deposits.”
The “Deposits” file is a CLI interface.
To get it to run as required, hold the SHIFT key and right-click on the file to bring up the option “Open PowerShell window here.”
On the previous download page, below the list of available downloads, copy the command code and paste it on the open CLI window. Note that this window should have a blue background color.
CLI window
Follow the instructions on the screen for the command to run successfully.
Choose language and select a password. PLEASE remember this password; we shall need it later.
The CLI will generate a unique mnemonic. The mnemonic helps you unlock your staked ETH when transfers finally go live. Therefore, put it on paper for safety and press “Enter.” Input the phrase.
In the folder with your CLI download, a new folder named “validator keys” will be created. Inside this folder, we have two files; Deposit data and Key store.
Depositing The Files on Launchpad
On the “Upload Deposit File” section, hit “add file” and drag and drop the deposit data file (Deposit.in).
Click “Continue” and connect to your MetaMask wallet, which should have 32 ETH.
Read the summary, “Initiate the transaction,” and double-check the Ethereum deposit address.
Confirm the transaction on MetaMask. You can view the transaction status on Etherscan after it’s successful.
Back To Allnodes
Let’s pick up from where we left on Allnodes. Confirm that you’ve generated ETH 2.0 phrases, deposit data, and have put in 32 ETH to the contract.
The next step is to choose the hosting plan.
Drag the files in the specified order. That is, the deposit data file, key store file, and provide the password we generated earlier on the CLI interface.
The next window on Allnodes shows the status of your node.
Note that you can use Allnodes to run multiple ETH 2.0 validator nodes.
And, that’s it.
Note that you can view the status of the deposit on the Beacon Chain by using the same address that you used to deposit your coins to the ETH 2.0 staking contract.
Manage your Allnodes account
To keep up ETH 2.0 node, you need to top up the node which requires a payment of around US$5 per month until the release of ETH 2.0. ETH 2.0 is expected to be launched in around 2 years. In return, at every epoch you would be able to earn a bit of ETH in return.
Update: Returns on my Allnodes node?
As of June 2022, my validator node balance is at 35.45202. This means I have earned a total of around 3.45 ETH since I set it up 2 years ago in 2020. Note that results may vary and those who set up their node earlier (as was in my case) were able to enjoy a 16% APY.
Conclusion
Ethereum 2.0 is being continuously developed by the Ethereum Foundation to be able to run on a wide range of computing devices. The above tutorial on how to set up an ETH 2.0 validator node using Allnodes covers every corner of the process. However, critical details such as mnemonics and passwords should be kept secure since they determine access to the deposited coins.
In addition, it’s worth noting that the process happens on three platforms, Allnodes, ETH 2.0 Launchpad, and CLI. Therefore, the three systems must harmoniously work together to get the desired outcome.
FAQs:
What if You Don’t Have the Full Amount?
Good question. First, NO. a validator node needs the full amount.
Can the ETH 2.0 Staking Contract Take Less Than 32 ETH?
However, you can still stake a lower amount only that it will be through third parties such as participating cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.
Can I withdraw the rewards I earn from staking?
NO, not until ETH 2.0 reaches Phase 1, which is likely to be in 1 year or possibly more.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Litentry ($LIT) is a decentralized cross-chain identity aggregator, built on Substrate, that features an identity matching and identity staking mechanism.
In today’s world, personal data and identity are everything. Some companies in the conventional world make millions by selling user data. In the decentralized world, blockchain-based firms make losses.
For example, one user can create multiple accounts to take advantage of free airdropped tokens. Also, platforms powering decentralized finance (DeFi) have no way of tracking users’ credit history, making them charge higher collateral when issuing loans.
Fortunately, there’s a new way to keep track of identities in the distributed ecosystem securely. Powered by Litentry, we can see blockchain-focused platforms do more than just power token swaps. It’s now possible to scan through user’s deposit and withdrawal actions on Uniswap. Furthermore, a user’s activity can also be assessed on a community-governed blockchain.
Since the platform is so diverse, below, we look at the major highlights.
Background
Litentry is developed by a team of blockchain professionals based in Germany. Its founder was among the early contributors of Parity, a decentralized network. Notably, the project engineering team’s background is rooted in Ethereum.
The protocol is funded through a Web3 Foundation grant. On its Github page, the project lists eight team members with organization permission.
What is Litentry?
The project focuses on decentralized identity (DID), allowing user identities to be linked to multiple distributed protocols. Litentry acts as a DID aggregator where it collects, indexes, and distributes DIDs to blockchains.
More importantly, it performs all these activities in a decentralized and verifiable way. Notably, built on the Substrate network, the platform works towards the greater goal of eradicating identity redundancy in the Web3-powered application ecosystem.
The problem
In the current internet world, third parties take control of storing user passwords and data pertaining to their online activity. Unfortunately, internet users are coerced into accepting unfavorable terms and conditions, consequently lessening the grip on their personal data.
Litentry brings the change by returning the control of user data to the users by powering a user-focused internet using blockchain technology. As such, the revenue emanating from using users’ data gets the users to share in the profits. Before Litentry, these profits went to third parties managing the user data.
Key Features of the Litentry platform
Apart from using decentralized ledger technology (DLT), the platform has other critical features that help it bring the much-needed revolution to the blockchain sector. Key among them include:
Identity management – The platform is all about identities, and their management sits at the protocol’s core. This feature powers anonymous and independent identities emanating from applications and or services used by the user.
Distributed storage – After collecting the data, the protocol stores them in a decentralized manner to enhance access from all corners of the distributed world.
Identity staking – This is a unique feature. Just like staking tokens and earning rewards, Litentry enables users to stake their identities and be rewarded.
Decentralized contributors – Instead of creating multiple accounts to use different platforms or services, the project allows users to use one identity to interact with various services anonymously. Interestingly, the user doesn’t have to provide passwords or any other registration details.
To bring all the above features to life, the protocol uses a layered architecture. On the top layer is the Litentry Runtime, which sits on Substrate. The Runtime layer is a Parachain of Polkadot and employs offline workers when generating identities.
The second layer is the User Side. Here, users flex their muscles when it comes to data under their control. Note that user data that comes from applications are anonymous, stored in a decentralized way, and cryptographically-separated.
On the Litentry Authenticator layer, we have the mobile data hub. The hub can be used to manage a user’s different identities. Additionally, the hub can be connected to various IoT devices that the user wants.
Next is the Litentry SDK enabling developers to fire up their creative juices to create completely decentralized applications and/or services. In addition, the Litentry IPFS data center offers users a chance to check the data attached to their identities.
The middleware layer comprises services such as off-chain catching and query servers. It is also made up of a client-side SDK library that helps connect front-end apps with decentralized networks.
Litentry Tokenomics
The incentive mechanism on the Litentry platform takes into account different participants such as an identity staker, validator, external storage, node, and data buyer.
Identity staker — This is the person who has an identity record and has a stake in the identities pool.
Identity validator — An identity staker becomes a validator of new blocks when their identity has been confirmed.
Storage — Stores all data about an identity in a decentralized manner.
Node — The node is a critical component of the Litentry platform. Its work is to perform functions such as invoking off-chain workers to validate identity correctness and connecting with external decentralized storages.
Data buyer — This is any entity on the blockchain that requests identity validation.
Data generator — These are entities generating data and can include applications, users, or services offering migration services.
Litentry’s base asset is called LIT. The network uses the asset to reward identity stakers in the identities pool. Two types of rewards the stakers get are the block reward and the matching fee.
Apart from stakers, validators are motivated to truthfully verify the correctness of data. On the other hand, data generators enjoy benefits from the Litentry Foundation in the form of grants.
External storage operators earn a section of the fee paid by users interfacing with the service. Others who are incentivized using LIT tokens are nodes.
Those who pay using LIT tokens include identity buyers. Observe that these entities only have access to the winning identity or identities during an identity matching process.
Conclusion
The identity problem is two-pronged; users can create multiple entities to defraud a company. On the other hand, malicious actors aggregate user data and sell it to the highest bidder without profiting the real data owners.
Fortunately, Litentry uses a layered approach to comprehensively tackle the problem to the benefit of both identity owners and decentralized platforms. Here’s to another promising project with a unique approach to solving some of the most crucial problems that often go overlooked.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Linear Finance ($LINA) understands that decentralized finance (DeFi) has opened new possibilities for derivative offerings and that many exchanges have the apparent problems of front-running, expensive gas fees, and liquidity issues. Linear Finance seeks to go around those issues with its cheap, quick, and transparent synthetic asset exchange platform. With Linear, users can simply make a synthetic asset that contains a portfolio of different underlying tokens based on the exposure that they are willing to take. This presents new yield-making opportunities for anyone based on their customized financial goals.
Check out our interview with Linear Finance!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcXsEwj5hpI
Background
Drey Ng and Kevin Tai, Co-founders of Linear Finance, built the project with a vision of an inclusive and more democratized access to investment opportunities. By their team’s expertise in different crypto initiatives and financial instruments, Linear made a cross-chain, Ethereum-based protocol that seeks to fulfill their vision.
With Linear, users can make their own portfolio exposures and manage them on their own. This initiative enables investors to easily invest, save, and earn efficient profits from their assets.
What is Linear Finance?
Linear Finance is a decentralized delta-one asset protocol where users can make, manage, and trade synthetic assets. This gives users exposure to different kinds of assets without having to actually own their underlying assets.
An additional feature that Linear Finance has introduced is a cross-chain compatible and decentralized protocol that can support a faster, more affordable, and secure exchange of synthetic assets.
Linear Finance’s platform is powered by its native token, LINA. It can be used for many purposes such as payments, staking, liquidity mining, governance, and investing in “Liquids.” Liquids are Linear’s synthetic assets composed of different underlying tokens or investment options.
LinearDAO
LinearDAO is the governance community who controls important platform designs and system parameters including pledge ration, LINA inflation reward and frequency, transactions fees, proposal implementation, and many more. Furthermore, they also regulate the profit and loss regarding liquidation.
Perks and Special Features
The project promises infinite liquidity and no slippage. Here are some of the perks users can find with Linear Finance:
Convenience: The protocol promises quick transactions with low transaction fees. Any kind of user can enjoy the platform as well, whether they are a market maker, staker, or trader.
Transparency: To prevent front-running, every transaction made within the exchange is made transparent to all users. This also reduces systemic risks on the part of each network participant.
Ethereum-based: Because it is built on the Ethereum network with cross-chain compatibility, it can work alongside other DeFi projects too.
User-tailored options: There are different exposure options that users can freely choose from, such as other tokens, commodities, or market indices.
The whole Linear platform is built on two different blockchains but they complement each other thanks to cross-chain compatibility. For users, they only need to open an Ethereum-based wallet and an EVM-compatible wallet.
Linear automatically links these two together through smart contracts. Here are some of the advantages of an infrastructure modeled around that concept. They are:
Maximized DeFi support: While LinearDAO and LINA tokens are based on Ethereum, its use of EVM and smart contracts make it easy for the platform to interact with other DeFi protocols.
Affordability: Buildr and Exchange function through smart contracts on top of EVM-compatible blockchains. This enables Linear to support the building and trading of Liquids at very minimal gas fees.
Fewer risks of front-running: The block time confirmation for other EVM-compatible blockchains are much faster than Ethereum. This allows users to create their own Liquids at more updated prices through the help of oracles. This way, the risk of users front-running the exchange becomes much lower.
LINA Token
LINA can be used for payments, staking, and governance participation. But mainly, LINA functions as the base collateral needed to mint Liquids through Buildr, the decentralized application (dApp) designed to manage synthetic assets.
To create Liquids, users have to “pledge” 100% of their digital assets, which also means collateralization. This is to ensure that Liquids are fully-backed by an underlying asset, saving the stability of the system from the volatility of synthetic assets. The pledge requirement can be reduced eventually if the LinearDAO deems it necessary.
Collateralization
Buildr takes a hybrid approach in terms of collateralization. For Liquids, users need to deposit a mixture of LINA and other cryptocurrency tokens to generate a synthetic asset. The ratio is 80:20, where at least 80% of the collateral must be in LINA and 20% can be in other cryptocurrencies.
Staking
Staking LINA offers users many incentives. These are the following rewards that users can receive by doing so:
Exchange Fee Reward: The transaction fees collected from users of the Linear.Exchange platform, currently set at 0.25%, is redistributed weekly to LINA stakers on a pro-rata basis. For non-LINA stakers, these rewards can also be provided too but it will depend on the decision of the community governance council.
Inflationary Reward: LINA has a starting inflation rate of 75% which decreases on a weekly basis. The inflation reward is given to LINA stakers on a pro-rata basis as well.
Yield Farming: Yield farmers help maintain Linear’s debt pool and the whole platform. For the first two years of the project, users who actively use the exchange can receive token bonuses. These token bonuses can then be deposited by yield farmers in other liquidity pools such as Balancer, Curve, and Uniswap.
In facilitating faster trade activities with almost unlimited liquidity, Linear is building their own exchange. As of now, Liquid is collaborating with other public blockchains to reduce transaction settlement timeframes to as quick as one second every transaction coupled with instant finality.
With a plan of partnering with oracles, Linear also believes that they can solve problems with front-running as they gain the capability of refreshing prices on a frequent and quick basis at much lower prices for the underlying assets.
Linear Finance ($LINA) token public sale
The token public sale took place on 14th September 2020. A total of 47,222,222 LINA tokens were sold in 2 rounds. The first round had 25mil tokens at $0.00400 per token. The second round, 22,222,222 tokens at $0.00450 per token.
The sale was 40 times oversubscribed and closed earlier than expected (it was supposed to last for 24 hours). Each participant in the sale had to purchase 500 USDT/USDC worth of LINA. Hence only 400 participants were able to get the allocation on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVED basis. This was determined by the time/date stamp on their Google Form submission. The first 200 users were allocated LINA tokens from round 1, and the remaining 200 participants from round 2. This was however subject to the registrants completing the KYC process in a period of 24 hours.
$LINA was first listed on Uniswap and reached more than 20x from public sale price (and around 60x from private sale round 1). It is now stabilized at around $0.005 (as at 3 November 2020).
Linear pre-staking platform
Immediately after listing, Linear Finance has launched its staking platform. Holders can participate in the 8 weeks pre-staking program and get rewarded. The APY has been around 600% for weeks and has now decreased around 370%. All the earnings will be claimable 6 months after mainnet launch but users can withdraw their staked funds at anytime.
Partnership announcements
In the weeks following the launch, Linear has announced partnerships with Nervos, Moonbeam and Hex Trust.
Nervos is an open source blockchain that offers security and trustlessness without compromising on scalability and performance with its unique layered architecture. The collaboration is focused on improving Linear’s cross chain capabilities and penetration of the Chinese market.
Moonbeam, an Ethereum ($ETH) compatible smart contract parachain, is a strategic partner to help set the feet into the Polkadot ($DOT) ecosystem and level up Linear’s interoperability. Finally, the partnership with Hex Trust as a custody partner, will give Linear the chance to offer secure, institutional grade custodial services for institutional investors.
A next announcement has revealed a new partnership with 3Commas, a cryptocurrency trading platform that helps users build automated trading bots. The investment is meant “to include future integration of the platforms and tools, streamlining operations and allowing for a greater range of features and offerings”.
Testnet is live
On 16th October 2020, the first testnet for Buildr has been released. Buildr is one of the core dApps of the Linear suite, where users can stake their $LINA (and soon more collaterals) to build ℓUSD, the base currency of Linear Exchange. Stakers are entitled to rewards and to a part of the transaction fees generated by the exchange. ℓUSD tokens can be minted to purchase synthetic assets within the exchange itself and can be moved to other protocols.
The last testnet update has just come out allowing users to purchase “Liquids” with ℓUSD on Linear.Exchange. Meanwhile, mainnet launch is allegedly happening in a couple of weeks.
If you want to read more and discover how to contribute to the testnet, please have a look at the articles here and here.
More than 222 million of $LINA tokens are staked, for a total value of more than USD$1 million.
New Partnership with Band Protocol
In this article dated November 16, Linear Finance has ufficially announced their partnership with Band Protocol, cross-chain decentralised oracle.
The biggest problem this collaboration is trying to solve is front running. As Drey Ng, Co-Founder at Linear Finance said: “Front running is a fundamental problem not just for current synthetic asset trading but all trading in general”. Not solving this problem would jeopardize all “the benefits of cross-chain compatibility (such as speed and cost), and a superior creative selection of synthetic assets”.
How Band Protocol Oracle works with Linear
Other reasons why Band Protocol was chosen are the minimized network risk., end-to-end customizability for real-time data and truly decentralized oracle mechanism. The partnership will start securing the Linear Protocol on Binance smart Chain, the first project’s cross-integration, where the BEP token has just been created (the common $LINA we see on exchanges is an ERC-20 token).
The team is now working on features to allow users to seamlessly swap chains.
Linear Finance road to mainnet
Mainnet Buildr Launch and new staking program
The Linear Mainnet Buildr v1.0 went live on December the 21st, after months of extensive testing. The Buildr dApp is the heart of Linear’s decentralised application suite. Users can stake $LINA tokens to build ℓUSD and earn rewards. Here is a complete and detailed guide on how to use Buildr to the fullest.
Linear’s Buildr
All of the $LINA from the pre-staking program were migrated seamlessly to the mainnet and while previously earned rewards will be blocked until next June, new mainnet staking rewards will be locked for 1 year from launch. They will count towards the P-Ratio and can be used to build $LUSD. It is important to note that in order to be eligible for rewards, users are required build ℓUSD or any subsequent Liquids.
Binance Smart Chain’s Buildr v2.0 launch
As anticipated, Linear wants to bring Cross Chain compatibility and ease of use to Defi and Ethereum users. The team had, in fact, previously declared that “Linear was designed for all users (no matter how much LINA you hold) and transaction costs will not become a barrier to entry. Nobody will get left behind”.
The promise has been kept and Linear.Builder Mainnet v2.0 with full Binance Smart Chain (BSC) integration and swap has gone live on January the 15th, 2021. Users can now enjoy almost gasless fees when interacting with the platform.
The transaction was seamless and old stakers only have to connect to Buildr via MetaMask using the BSC Mainnet (they can also use Binance Chain Wallet) and they will see their Lina tokens and rewards already there. For new holders who would like to stake for the first time, there is an internal ERC-20 -> BEP20 swap whithin Buildr itself. More info and complete instructions can be found on the Medium article.
Be careful!: There are now two versions of the $LINA token. If you send the Etherum version to a BSC wallet or vice-versa (whether it is a custodial or non-custodial address) you will lose your tokens! If in doubt on what to do, contact the support team via the official channels which you can find on their Website.
Linear will be listed on Binance Innovation Zone
Binance has announced it will list Linear Finance’s $LINA token on its Innovation Zone. Trading for $LINA/$BTC, $LINA/$BUSD and $LINA/$USDT trading pairs will start at 12:00pm (UTC) on 18th March 2021.
Furthermore, Binance Launchpad is offering 21,084,000 LINA tokens for sale at at 0.00031044 BNB for 1 LINA. Subscription has already ended at 1:00p.m. (HKT) on 18th March 2021 and tokens will be sent to successful applicants at 6:00p.m. (HKT) on the same day.
Conclusion
With the rising gas prices in Ethereum, as well as the emerging trend of yield farming, the DeFi space is presented with new financial opportunities but is discouraged by its costs. Projects such as Linear is a promising addition to the space as it seeks to go around these problems.
With Linear as a platform to easily build and manage investments, users can now enjoy quick and affordable profit-building opportunities. And in recognition of the real purpose of decentralization, Linear appears to be on the right track after putting in the pipelines a roadmap for a planned transition to community governance.
Linear is certainly on the radar of a lot of renowned investors in this space. They have recently completed a USD$1.8m seed round with notable backers in the investment space such as NGC Ventures, Hashed, CMS Holdings, Genesis Block, Kenetic Capital, Alameda Research, Evernew Capital, Soul Capital, Moonrock Capital, Black Edge Capital and PANONY. According to Linear, this funding will go towards accelerating the development of their testnet and mainnet, as well as promoting their platform. It will certainly be exciting to see what the Linear Finance team will be releasing in the months to come.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
The first line of defense to an online account is a username and a password. However, malicious actors sprawling the internet have made the traditional account security combo unreliable and risky per se.
Therefore, SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) has been heavily utilized to provide another layer of security. Unfortunately, skilled hackers can still find a way to intercept SMS codes.
To detach account security from the monopoly of software-focused methods, universal second-factor (U2F) authentication was developed. The technology uses open standards under the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance.
Check out our video explaining what is YubiKey, and its pros and cons.
YUBIKEY REVIEW AND GUIDE: How to keep your Bitcoin and cryptocurrency SAFE
What is YubiKey?
FIDO works to reduce the reliance on passwords when securing internet accounts. YubiKey is a U2F-enabled hardware key developed by Yubico to secure web-based services. Businesses, individuals, and developers can use it.
YubiKey
The key is available in different shapes and connectivity functionalities. While earlier versions only support physical insertions into USB ports on a host device, the YubiKey five series accommodates connection through near field communication (NFC).
NFC allows interaction with the device without physically plugging it into a port. However, the key and the host device must be near each other.
YubiKey Reviews on Amazon
From the reviews left by buyers on Amazon and other platforms, it is evident that the key is a must-have for security-conscious internet users. In fact, over 80% of buyers left a five star score for the YubiKey.
One of the reviewers recommended the Yubico YubiKey to developers, IT pros, and “security-minded users.” Furthermore, they praised its manufacturer for providing GUI-enabled YubiKey manager for those having a hard time on where to start.
Others attributed their happiness to the key’s support for password managers such as LastPass. YubiKey users hail it for ease of use as a smart card and its compliance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with their hardware key. Although the negative reviews are minimal, some raise valid concerns.
Among the main problems is documentation, which isn’t user-friendly. Additionally, a buyer on Amazon notes that the key “is still too complicated for the average consumer, as it’s not exactly a plug and play device.”
How to Start Using YubiKey
The process of enjoying world-class security on your online accounts starts with purchasing the hardware piece from a reliable platform. After receiving a key, visit Yubico’s website, and choose your key from the list.
Specifying the purchase key from the list helps filter the services where it can be used to provide security. On the services list, select the account you need YubiKey’s hand in boosting its security.
Each service is followed by step-by-step instructions on how to connect to the hardware security key.
For example Binance lets you use your YubiKey with their cryptocurrency exchange. This means that your YubiKey is required for authentication before approving any transactions. Note however that Yubikey authentication is not supported on Binance’s Apps and mobile websites.
How to set up your YubiKey on Binance
Login to your Binance account and click on your profile avatar.
Choose “Security” from the options, then “Setup.” On the 2FA section, click on “Security Key.” Note that it only provides the needed extra security layer when accessing the Binance.com website.
Read the note and hit “Continue anyway.”
Insert the key in any available USB port and press the button at the hardware’s center to activate it.
Activation needs to be done within one minute after inserting the key. However, it can be repeated if you miss this activation window.
Once activated, hit “Allow” to the message “Allow this site to see your security key.”
Next, verify your account. Note that Binance will need you to provide the authentication code from Google Authenticator if you had previously enabled this step.
Binance will then send you an email at the registered address for you to confirm the addition of a new 2-step verification method using something you physically have.
After verifying the email, you are done.
Examples of YubiKey-Supported Services
YubiKey works with a host of services such as cloud-based systems, password managers, email platforms, social media, gaming developer tools, cryptocurrency platforms, offline computers, among others.
Examples of cloud-based systems compatible with the security key include Dropbox, DigiCert PKI Platform, DocuSign. Cryptocurrency platforms that support YubiKey include Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, and Gemini.
Cloud-based systems compatible with YubiKey
Social media platforms with inbuilt support for the hardware key include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
For developers and offline computer users, YubiKey is enabled for popular services such as Github and Bitbucket for developers and can be used to login into Mac and Windows computers.
Latest YubiKey Series
The hardware piece is developed in sets, with keys in one batch having additional features than those in previous models.
Yubico YubiKey 5 Series – Keys in this group are compatible with conventional and new systems. It has enhanced passwordless, multi-factor, and 2F authentication. Also, it has a touch-to-sign button, can be inserted on USB-A and C ports, and has NFC capabilities.
Security Key Series – Its salient features include dual NFC and USB-A connectors. Additionally, hardware security pieces in this cluster are crush and water-resistant.
YubiKey FIPS Series – These are certified hardware security keys that can be used for regulated environments such as government institutions. This set weds different functionalities such as one time passwords (OTP), smart card technology, and U2F. Keys in this group have USB-A and USB-C compatibility.
YubiKey 5C NFC – It has support for NFC, USB-C, and provides a fast yet secure authentication process. This series has a longer list of supported operating systems and browsers than other versions.
YubiKey Bio – When released, this will be the latest Yubico YubiKey in the market. Its major selling-points are fingerprint recognition, enhanced security, minimal helpdesk calls, and PIN-based login.
Coming soon: YubiKey bio
Conclusion
From the reviews, it’s clear the YubiKey hardware security key is effectively guarding users against account takeovers. However, which Yubico YubiKey is best suited for your needs depends on its cluster. The newer the series, the more the features and services it can provide.
Despite some users citing complicated documentation, exerting effort to set this up can indeed give that extra layer of security that would keep your accounts safe and give you peace of mind.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
We have received an overwhelming response in our previous contest. For those that didn’t manage to win our giveaway the last round, here’s your chance!
Contest ends on 16 November 2020, 11.59pm HKT. Entries received after this time period will not be considered.
Entrants to this contest shall be deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions.
Winners will be chosen at random by computer software, from all entries received and verified by Boxmining.
Boxmining reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without prior notice.
There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
Winners will be notified via email on or before 18 November 2020. If the winner does not respond within 7 days after being notified by Boxmining, then the winner’s prize will be forfeited. If a winner rejects their prize or the entry is invalid or in breach of these Terms and Conditions, the winner’s prize will be forfeited. (tesseraonlaketravis)
KIRA Network ($KEX) is an interchain exchange protocol that allows users to earn block and fee rewards while staking any digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Background
KIRA is developed by a strong team consisting of full-stack developers, blockchain engineers, back-end developers, and technical architects. The team is led by Milana Valmont (CEO) and Mateusz Grzelak (CTO).
In the past, Valmont had held different roles which include being a blockchain consultant at Adcoin, as well as a strategy advisor at KNOKS. Grzelak had also held prominent positions in firms such as Settle Finance, Barclays, and Bity.
KIRA Network’s strategic partners include AlphaBit, TRG Capital, Swingby, and Math Wallet. In addition, the team also includes Roger Lim from NGC Ventures and Alssio Treglia from Tendermint.
What is KIRA Network?
KIRA Network is a blockchain-based protocol that brings liquid staking into the DeFi market. It enables access to all virtual currencies, digital fiat, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) within a cross-chain ecosystem.
With liquid staking, liquidity providers can stake any digital asset. Consequently, they earn incentives emanating from new blocks and transaction fees.
The protocol’s idea of liquid staking stems from the current staking space. Here, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges provide crypto trading, acquisition, as well as act as a hub for a host of digital currencies.
Currently, a large number of those coins that are available for staking are found on centralized exchange platforms. For this reason, KIRA wants to change this by providing a decentralized platform that mirrors what traditional virtual currency exchanges offer.
As such, even small actors in the PoS ecosystem will have access to liquidity and evade security risks found on centralized platforms. Also, the protocol removes the cap on fee and block incentives for liquidity providers.
KIRA Network: 8 Key Pillars
To have a profound impact on the DeFi scene, KIRA Network is supported by eight pillars, which include:
Security
Using the Multi-Bonded PoS (MBPoS) consensus mechanism, the network can harness its security from staked assets. In addition, MBPoS helps remove the barrier as to which virtual assets can be staked and/or can attract rewards.
Utility
KIRA uses IXP (Interchain Exchange Protocol) to provide market access to the wide range of assets staked on the system.
Liquidity
KIRA supports liquidity provision through staking derivatives. The platform has a 1:1 ratio between staking derivatives and staked tokens.
Expansibility
The protocol uses validators to ensure the credibility of transactions. Also, the validators operate Initial Validator Offerings (IVOs) that allow investors to raise funds for new projects without affecting their liquidity.
Investors delegate their tokens to the validators while the validators mine new tokens. Correspondingly, the former earn block rewards.
Upgradeability
Upgrading the system relies on developers. Therefore, to drive development, the protocol uses an on-chain contracting system as an incentive scheme.
Sustainability
To ensure the platform has long term viability, it uses an on-chain governance structure. To elaborate, the governing body touches on the network’s economic aspects that include inflation and interest rates.
Scalability
KIRA tackles scalability by removing restrictions on the number of validators and the stake value. In turn, this makes it possible to introduce shards or zones.
The Network makes use of Polkadot, Cosmos, and other cross-chain systems to power liquid staking. Notably, this staking mechanism does not discriminate against cryptocurrency assets.
KIRA Token ($KEX)
KEX is KIRA Network’s native token. Apart from being used as a staking token on the network, KEX is also used as a base asset upon which other currencies are valued.
Additionally, KIRA’s native currency is a requirement when participating in the system’s governance issues. Moreover, it’s used to reward holders, delegators, and validators. Note that KEX holders are rewarded by being offered low transaction and exchange costs.
In contrast, delegators earn almost 99 percent of all block rewards and close to 50 percent of all network fees. Validators, on the other hand, earn a commission depending on their configuration and sit on the system’s governance table. Their earnings could go up to 50 percent network fees.
KEX is allocated to developers/team (15%), advisors (7%), the KIRA Foundation (20%), as well as reserve and liquidity (26.6%)
KEX token is not available to trade yet and the public sale is soon to be announced. KEX will be launching ERC-20 KEX token on Ethereum network before KIRA Network is launched with the initial supply of 300,000,000 KEX token. Users will be able to swap for the native KEX token with the equal amount of value once the mainnet is launched.
KIRA Network has raised 3.6M during the seed (priced at $0.025) and private sale rounds (priced at $0.05), with a vesting period of 18 months starting at mainnet launch. All seed and private round participants will receive approximately 2.5% of their token after finalization of all stages of the public round distribution.
Public round has a $400k cap, token price at $0.075. Find out more here.
Governance on KIRA Network
The protocol uses a governance structure that slowly hedges away from full dependency on stake and or wealth distribution.Governance is guided by rules that exclusively put whitelisted actors to execute on-chain actions that are cleared for execution.
On top of these rules are parameters and individually assigned permissions. The network puts checks and balances on its governance model through operators, a voting council, an electorate council, and a proposal council.
Notable KIRA Network Partnerships
To drive the adoption and usability of the KIRA protocol, the platform has partnered with notable players in the DeFi Space. Some of the most conspicuous are:
KIRA and Finance.vote – The partnership enabled KIRA to provide liquidity to Finance.vote’s social trading layer. For this reason, it opened a new revenue stream forFinance.vote users by allowing them to conduct yield farming using digital assets in their portfolios.
KIRA Network and Math Foundation – Here, theMath Foundation benefited from staking KEX (KIRA’s native token) tokens and the interaction with KIRA’s MBPoS.
KIRA Network and Swingby – Thepartnership brought staking functionalities to Skybridge users. Skybridge is a decentralized inter-chain asset bridge.
KIRA and Blockparty – This partnership madeBlockparty one of KIRA’s validators.
Conclusion
From crucial partnerships to using a new consensus mechanism, KIRA Network is keen on expanding the possibilities in the DeFi space for liquidity miners and yield farmers. Furthermore, the protocol’s eight pillars help it to enhance security, sustainability, utility, scalability, among other functionalities that are key in driving DeFi adoption.
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more
With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces
More videos and articles are coming soon as part of our DeFi series, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel so you can be notified as soon as they come out!
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.
