According to a note from banking giant JPMorgan, Bitcoin is a risky asset with a lot of upside potential, but not a safe haven. While many people investors consider Bitcoin as a safe haven, the analysts at JPMorgan disagree. The writers of this note claimed that describing BTC as a risky asset is more suitable than a safe haven because it has proved its correlation with the S&P 500 since March.
Bitcoin’s long-term potential is huge
According to the note, institutional investors are also interested in Bitcoin, giving legitimacy and credibility to Bitcoin. Nowadays, many institutions see Bitcoin as a viable investment and it is a really important factor to consider. For instance, PayPal announced its support for Bitcoin and altcoins recently. Institutions and corporations don’t accept new concepts easily and this acceptance can be a positive sign for the future of BTC.
The writers of the note say that they have noticed a rapid growth in corporate interest in Bitcoin. We’ve seen a lot of activity in Bitcoin futures and options markets recently. This increased utility can be good news for Bitcoin and it shows that institutional players have accepted BTC as a vehicle of investment.
According to the note, the store of value aspect is not the only element for Bitcoin’s growth. If Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are adopted as a medium of payment as well, their price could increase substantially. Although Bitcoin is a volatile asset and it may display a lot of volatility in the short term, its huge long-term potential is undeniable.
When comparing Bitcoin to gold, we can see that BTC offers a lot of advantages. Bitcoin’s supply is limited to 21 million Bitcoins and this virtue gives BTC anti-inflation properties – nobody can print more BTC at will. Bitcoin is divisible and it can be transferred around the globe quickly and relatively cheaply. You can conveniently keep Bitcoin and the only thing that you need is a digital wallet.
The technology behind Bitcoin has revolutionary potential – blockchain technology many different use cases in addition to cryptocurrencies. It can be utilized in banking, medical care, education, and many other industries. JPMorgan’s note reiterated the huge upside potential of Bitcoin. The interest from the young generation is a key factor here. Young people are likely to rush to Bitcoin in the coming years and demand for BTC will increase sharply. If we combine this potential increase in demand with Bitcoin’s limited supply, the growth could truly be dramatic.
It’s very likely that you have heard a lot about investing in cryptocurrency. Even if you don’t know how to buy Bitcoin, it’s become common knowledge that cryptocurrency is available. Maybe you’ve even considered buying cryptocurrency yourself but you aren’t entirely sure if it’s worthwhile or not. Read the following ten good reasons to consider investing in cryptocurrency so that you can make up your own mind.
1. It’s the Future of Currency
Many people consider cryptocurrency to be the future of currency itself. If you jump into this now, then you’ll be getting ahead of the curve. It’s also very true that the cryptocurrency industry is growing all the time. Investing now could allow you to make more money since the prices are likely to only go up from here.
2. Investing Is Simple
Investing in cryptocurrency is actually pretty easy to do overall. Even if you don’t know how to buy bitcoin right now, you’ll discover that getting cryptocurrency is very easy when you turn to a respectable company that sells it. You’ll be able to invest money to get the amount of cryptocurrency that you desire without it being a big deal. This isn’t some obscure process that is going to be difficult for you to understand and it has been designed to be very consumer-friendly.
3. You Might Regret Not Investing Later
Imagine waking up and seeing how much cryptocurrency is worth in ten or twenty years. You would instantly be filled with dread knowing that you made the decision not to invest in cryptocurrency all those years ago. Now is your best chance to invest in cryptocurrency so that you can make a return on your investment. You can get in while things are still getting hot so that you can profit off of it in the future.
In 2009, you can buy hundreds of Bitcoins for a dollar. In fact one Norwegian man did just that. He purchased 5000 Bitcoins for roughly $26 USD for a thesis assignment he was working on. Fast forward 4 years where Bitcoin surged to nearly $200 per coin. His thesis investment netted him nearly $1 million dollars! And yet if he held on to those coins until 2017 where Bitcoin was at their highest value at nearly $20,000 per coin, his purchase would have been worth $100 million! Pretty great returns for a mere $26 investment. Of course, keep in mind while there are many fanatical believers in the future of Cryptocurrency, many experts believe a surge like this is probably unlikely to occur again.
4. Blockchain Could Be Revolutionary
It’s hard to discuss the concept of cryptocurrency without also discussing the revolutionary technology that is blockchain. You see, blockchain is something that could change the world in various ways in the next several years. It’s a technology that powers cryptocurrency while also making it possible to trade safely. This transparent way to form contracts and complete transactions is going to have a huge impact on the world.
There are already people talking about using blockchain for major deals in the sports world. You will likely see large contracts going through blockchain for various professional sports leagues before too long. The transparent nature of blockchain gives people peace of mind. This is also going to push people toward cryptocurrency and away from standard government-issued currencies.
5. Withdrawing and Depositing Money Is Simple
Managing your cryptocurrency is going to be a lot simpler than you realize. You see, it has been set up so that cryptocurrency can be withdrawn from your account very quickly. You can also buy cryptocurrency without it being a big hassle and this means that it’s possible to make moves swiftly. This is a very versatile and agile way to invest money that will make sense for just about anyone.
One thing to keep in mind however is to take some time and research the best practices for buying Cryptocurrency and learn which exchanges are safe to use. Cryptocurrency is largely unregulated by the government; this has both positives and negatives. One of the major negatives is that exchanges are free to operate as they wish. This means exchanges are free to apply their own safety measures. Due to the lucrative allure of cryptocurrency, exchanges are frequently targeted by hackers. As long as you do your due diligence and research what safety measures to look for and how best to store your cryptocurrency, your risks of having your investment stolen is basically nil.
6. You Can Send Money to People
Did you know that cryptocurrency makes it easy to send money to people no matter where they are? It’s actually rather simple to initiate a cryptocurrency transfer so that you can send a family member or friend some money. This can also come in handy for handling transactions in other countries. If you need to send money to family or you need to buy things from another country, then it’ll pay to have cryptocurrency that you can utilize.
Further, many sites especially international sites have started accepting cryptocurrency as payment. This is particularly great for Canadians as it is always risky to pay for oversea goods with a credit card or debit card since you have no idea if your payment information will be protected or not. Sending money with cryptocurrency has innate buyer/seller protection built in so you can purchase goods with an ease of mind.
7. There May Be Cryptocurrency Bank Accounts and Debit Cards
In the future, it is speculated that there will be cryptocurrency bank accounts and debit cards. This will likely become commonplace and you’ll be able to use them in the same way that you can a normal bank account. There are some types of cryptocurrency debit cards that exist in the world now but it’ll be a more common thing as time passes. This just shows you that cryptocurrency is something that will be practical for the masses before too long.
8. You Can Invest a Small Sum of Money
It’s also true that you don’t need to put a lot of your money into cryptocurrency to get good results. You can choose to just put a little bit of money toward buying cryptocurrency if you’d like to move forward. A common misconception from beginners is that they must purchase a whole coin, this can seem daunting for something like Bitcoin that is worth thousands of dollars a coin, however this is not true. You can invest in a portion of a coin. This will give you a chance to see what it’s all about and you can then choose to invest more at a later time if you’d like to. It isn’t a form of investment that requires you to have ample cash stores to get things going.
9. You Benefit From Stability and Protecting Your Wealth
Many consider cryptocurrency a way to protect their wealth due to instability in the world. Cryptocurrencies aren’t tied to specific governments as with other forms of currency that you’re used to. This means that the Canadian dollar could go down in value while the various cryptocurrencies could remain fine. It could be a good way to keep your wealth safe even during financially uncertain times.
10. There Are Many Types of Cryptocurrency
Finally, you should also know that there are many types of cryptocurrency. You can get the most popular and relevant cryptocurrency by turning to a respected company that sells it. Many get involved in cryptocurrency investments because they want to speculate on whether the prices will rise or not. Cryptocurrency is certainly trending upward and this means that you could make a good amount of money if you choose to invest sometime soon.
You can choose to investment in an already established cryptocurrency or invest in a totally new one. One well known example is Ethereum. They released in 2015 with a plethora of features that set it apart from Bitcoin. Ethereum’s initial value was around $1 per coin when they began selling in 2015. They are now worth around $400 in 2020. Another example is Dogecoin, which actually began as a joke based on the well known doge meme in 2013. It’s initial value was around a fraction of a dollar at $0.00028307 a coin. In 2020 it’s now worth around $0.00263648. While these numbers are hard to wrap your head around, it’s value increased by nearly ten times in 7 years. Pretty good for something that started as a joke, it’s market cap even frequently puts it among the top 50 coins! You have now seen ten reasons why you might be interested in investing in cryptocurrency. If you’ve been sold on cryptocurrency, then you should be happy to know that investing is very simple. You’ll be able to get things going with just a small sum and you can always choose to buy more at a later date. This is possibly the most exciting type of investment in the world right now and it just makes sense to jump in while you can afford to.
Cryptocurrencies were being first talked about as early as 1983, with theoretical discussions about how a cryptographic monetary unit would work. But these theories didn’t get put into practice until 2009, when Bitcoin became the first decentralised cryptocurrency available to the public. Since then there have been over 6000 competing forms of cryptocurrencies created.
Cryptocurrencies are digital-only money, bought and stored without the need to go through a bank. This keeps transaction fees to a minimum and means that transfer and processing times are almost instantaneous. They are also designed to be a completely secure form of payment, with no personal details attached to each transaction. With more transactions being done online now, instances of data theft are on the rise, and companies are looking for more secure payment methods to reassure their customers. As such, some major industries have now started to accept cryptocurrency payments. Big names in the tech industry including Microsoft and NewEgg, and transport industry, including Expedia and Virgin Galactic, have embraced cryptocurrencies and given their customers a new payment option.
Cryptocurrency in gambling
Cryptocurrencies have changed the game for smaller online casinos but they do come with downsides.
Another industry where you can directly spend your cryptocurrency is the online gambling industry. Cryptocurrencies have created a bit of a loophole for online casinos, because they do not explicitly require a license. As such, a large number of crypto casinos have been launched, but they are smaller affairs and many are not of the same excellent quality as the big-name casino sites. Another bonus for crypto casinos is that, because the transactions are completely anonymous, there is no way of tracking which country payments are coming from, so anyone who lives in a country where online gambling is not legalised, could get around restrictions by paying in cryptocurrencies. And as previously mentioned, transactions are instantaneous, so players can make a deposit and play straight away, without having to wait for funds to clear.
However, there are downsides to crypto casinos, and many reasons why most people prefer to stick with tried and tested payment methods, including:
Cryptocurrency withdrawals can be complicated and lengthy, and many casinos don’t offer them at all. While you can deposit your money instantly, getting it back can take longer than other options.
Crypto casinos aren’t licensed. There is no official regulation of the industry and therefore less protection for the players. Your financial details will never be leaked, but you could find yourself out of pocket if you take a bet on an unscrupulous website.
Cryptocurrency is anonymous – this isa huge problem for providers who need to be able to spot any fraudulent activity or instances on money laundering. It is one of the main reasons established providers won’t accept the currency as it can mask funds derived from criminal activity.
No age verification checks – with cryptocurrency players can skirt around important verification checks. Age verification is highly important for established casinos to prevent underage players from gambling illegally.
Payment options
There are plenty of different and safer payment options out there for gamblers to choose from.
So, what are the other options? Many people feel uncomfortable using their credit and debit cards for online purchases and deposits. Every website you enter your details into will store them, and stored data is always at risk of being stolen, no matter how good security measures are. But, there are plenty of websites and services which offer a solution and have been around long enough to become trusted by many. The original, and most well-known, payment gateway is PayPal, and it is still the safe choice for most people and most online providers today.
1. PayPal
PayPal works by linking a PayPal account to your bank account or debit card. All payments are then made through your PayPal account, meaning that your details aren’t shared with the website. Keeping all your details in one place instead of spreading them around multiple sites reduces your chances of having them stolen, so using a site like PayPal adds an extra layer of security between your purchases and your bank account. PayPal is safe, secure way to pay and a preferred payment method at many major UK casinos such as the highly regarded 888 online casino, who also accepts many other payment methods.
Another advantage of using PayPal is that, because it deals in fiat currencies and all payments are processed by banks, any casinos which will let you use it for payments have to be licensed and regulated in your country. This offers the added protection of knowing you are dealing with a legitimate enterprise and one which offers protection for its customers. PayPal also lets you withdraw into your account, making it an easy way to transfer out your winnings. You then have the option of leaving the winnings in your PayPal account to fund future transactions directly, or withdrawing the amount into your bank account. There is no charge for either.
2. Binance cards
But, payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe don’t deal in cryptocurrencies. However, for people determined to use them for purchases, there might be a new way to do so. You can use a Binance card – a Visa-powered debit card – to make deposits at casinos that don’t traditionally accept cryptocurrencies. The Binance card pays the casino in whatever currency you choose, and convert the funds from your linked cryptocurrency account. It’s the perfect way to use cryptocurrencies for your purchases and casino deposits, without having to limit yourself to only sites which accept them as a form of currency. Now you can use a safe, licensed site for your crypto casino – it’s a win for everybody!
Summary
Cryptocurrencies are gaining in popularity and edging closer to becoming a valid mainstream way of shopping online. And as this happens, more and more online retailers will start to accept them as payment. For the online casino industry, it can’t be too long before some sort of regulations are introduced to hold crypto casinos to the same high standards as the rest of the online casinos. Crypto players deserve the same level or protection and the same good quality products as those who pay with fiat currency, and with demand growing steadily, it may come sooner than you think.
Since entering the market in 2018, Bitsgap has offered a great experience to users in crypto trading, incorporating the latest features to enhance user experience (UX). Through our platform crypto traders have unlimited access to intuitive trading features previously only thought of in institutional investment firms and hedge funds with immense financial and human intelligence resources. Your experience will get even better with our latest update that brings new features to improve your trading profit margins and enhance overall UX.
Update 1: Multifunctional Trading Terminal and Futures and Spot Trading Support
To enable users to analyze the market faster and make better trade decisions, Bitsgap has updated the trading terminal. Now, users will access a decision-making panel for executing orders and managing their crypto exchange on the right side of the terminal. The left panel will display insightful infographics on cryptocurrencies.
The update adds futures and spot trading support on the platform. You are now a leap ahead to speculate on rising or falling markets and apply hedging strategies if you have open positions to protect. The multifunctional interface update is essential for your futures and spot trading as you can easily access data to monitor your trades. Bitsgap has also added Binance Futures and FTX for this new trading.
Update 2: Fast and Responsive User Interface (UI)
With the thin margins in crypto trading due to volatility, profit, or loss-making moves could be down to seconds. The latest Bitsgap update has an improved UI performance allowing you to quickly select cryptocurrencies and complete trade by a click.
Update 3: Updated Automated trading bots
To avoid complicating the user’s simplicity experience on our platform, Bitsgap deploys automated bots to follow a straightforward and time-tested strategy known as Grid trading. Using the new Grid Strategy, the bot allocates limit orders within a set trading range; buy-limit orders are placed below the current market price, and sell-limit orders placed above the current market price. With every executed buy-limit order, the bot places a new sell limit order above the executed price and vice versa. To ensure you generate more returns, this automated process is designed to be interchangeable.
Using the Grid Strategy, the bot will analyze the price trends to buy at low and sell at high prices for high-profit margins, exploiting sideways, and rising markets. When markets are falling, a cost-average effect and a profit generated by the bot will offset the negative value change of a base currency.
Update 4: Backtesting and Bot Statistics
Bitsgap’s latest update also provides investors with a Backtesting tool, to help them evaluate the performance of their trades regarding their potential returns based on past trends data. This historical data accounts for price volatility and automated strategy settings to ensure results on expected returns are precise.
Another feature of this update is the Bot Statistics. This tool provides users with detailed infographics on the returns generated by the active bot in a quote currency of any day for portfolio management and decision-making.
In Summary
Bitsgap still makes users experience a top priority, ensuring that your trading is smooth and your wallet is secure. These new features are reinforcement of these core principles of the platform. If you don’t have a Bitsgap account yet, create one here in a few steps and get started with our 14-day free trial, without a credit card. You may also join our affiliate program and earn a 30% commission from every purchase by an invited friend.
Just like you don’t always have to go to a bank to swap some fiat currencies, you don’t have to go to a traditional exchange to convert Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In the first case, you can choose a currency exchange, and in the second you have the option to use a similarly convenient and accessible alternative: an instant crypto exchange, such as ChangeHero. In this ChangeHero review we are going to tell you how ChangeHero manages to provide the best crypto exchange experience.
History of ChangeHero
ChangeHero was founded in 2018 and is registered in Hong Kong. The team working on the service is based in many parts of the world, including Europe and Asia. Over the course of two years in operation, the team has grown almost twice in size. Regardless of the size, the team has always consisted of blockchain experts with years of experience in crypto.
ChangeHero started as a small company, but rather soon managed to partner up with the largest crypto businesses such as Exodus and SatoshiLabs. This helped accelerate the growth and make the service develop fast.
What can ChangeHero do?
Crypto-to-crypto Exchanges
The main focus of the platform is to provide the best crypto exchange service to users. To this end, ChangeHero has streamlined the process of swapping cryptocurrencies, so that even an absolute beginner has no problems with it. The platform takes the market search and order matching in its hands, so you only have to make a few simple steps to convert Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency for another. In total, there are more than 40 natively supported cryptocurrencies.
When you log in to a traditional exchange, you see order books, graphs and many other sections. In contrast, on ChangeHero the exchange can start from the get go on the landing page, and the UI is easy to comprehend:
Notice how there are two modes of an exchange: Best Rate and Fixed Rate. In Best Rate, the result of your transaction can change due to volatility of prices. To avoid it, users can pick Fixed Rate, but the tradeoff is that the fee is slightly higher and the transaction is time-limited (more on that later).
Regardless of the chosen rate, the whole process takes only a few minutes, and you don’t need to worry about registering or giving up more than you want to swap into custody. The best thing is that you can dive right into the process, without signing up or creating an account. This is what makes ChangeHero the best crypto exchange service provider on the market from a customer’s point of view.
Fiat-to-crypto
Thanks to the partners of ChangeHero, they offer the users of the platform debit or credit card purchase of cryptocurrencies. It is as quick, though a one-time mandatory KYC procedure is necessary. Since there are two options, regional restrictions are less limiting and the list of accepted fiat currencies is longer.
With the providers supported by ChangeHero, crypto purchases are quick and convenient with no worries about withdrawing from the exchange address.
Sell Crypto
If you want to convert Bitcoin to fiat, the fiat-to-crypto partners also offer selling cryptocurrencies for fiat. The flow of the process is very similar to the purchase process.
Like buying crypto, it’s quicker than to do so on an exchange and is not connected with custodial risks. The sell option puts ChangeHero on equal ground with other best crypto exchanges.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
ChangeHero has a long, constantly updating list of currencies. Unlike on traditional exchanges, you do not have to look for markets for an altcoin pair or make multiple transactions — here the process is automatic, so you can exchange any combination of currencies.
Some of the listed currencies are also available for purchase and/or selling, and here is the exhaustive (at the moment of publication) list:
Exchange Only
Buy and Exchange
Exchange, Buy and Sell
XRP BNB LINK LTC XMR TRX XTZ ZEC BUSD ETC OMG TUSD DOGE DGB ZRX PAX LSK ARDR BRD COMP DAI MKR PPT REP SNT UNI XEM XVG NIM
BSV XLM DASH NANO QTUM USDC
BTC ETH USDT BCH TRX ALGO BAT OKB
The list of the currencies with which you can buy crypto includes 28 fiat currencies, and you can sell crypto in exchange for 9 currencies.
ChangeHero Blog
The ChangeHero team works in many directions to make ChangeHero the best crypto exchange platform, including the creative and informative content.
On ChangeHero Blog you can find guides and tutorials about blockchain projects, weekly and monthly news roundups, interviews with prominent community members, service announcements and more! The blog is updated regularly to keep our users and readers informed on the latest trends and innovations in crypto and blockchain.
How to Register?
ChangeHero is an instant cryptocurrency exchange platform that does not have user accounts. In other words, you do not have to register at all. Multiple ChangeHero reviews point out to this being a strong point of the service, which makes it the best crypto exchange provider in comparison with traditional exchanges.
Fees and Timing
For all the services and convenience ChangeHero provides to its users, they take a reasonable fee of 0.5% from the exchanged result. When we’re talking about speed of exchange, security of funds and the convenience, which makes it one of the best crypto exchanges, it is a bargain.
The Fixed Rate exchanges guarantee that you will receive the exact amount that was estimated at the moment of creating the transaction. However, since there are risks connected with volatility, an additional 0.2–0.5% risk fee is charged.
Since Best Rate transactions take into account the current rate on the market, it does not matter when the funds will be actually sent to ChangeHero’s address for exchanging. However, in Fixed Rate transactions, to avoid charging users high risk fees, the time to send the funds for exchanging is limited to 15 minutes. If they arrive later, the transaction will expire and be refunded to a refund address automatically.
AML and KYC
According to their AML/KYC policy, ChangeHero reserves the right to apply selective KYC procedure to the transactions the security system flags as suspicious. A user can either go through with the exchange after contacting support and going through a simple KYC procedure, or decline and get a refund. The team has been on record stating it is important to them that they do their part in deterring criminal activity in crypto, so they choose to comply with general AML guidelines.
ChangeHero Partners
ChangeHero has some of the most prominent crypto industry members to back up the claim that it provides one of the best crypto exchange services. Here are some of the partners’ ChangeHero reviews:
The platform includes ChangeHero API, with which the instant exchange option can be built in various products and platforms. The API is used by such partners as Coinify, SatoshiLabs (Trezor), CoolBitX (CoolWallet), Exodus and Magnum wallets. Besides, being all for diversity in the crypto space, they support Verge, Jelurida (Ardor, Ignis, NXT), DigiByte and other communities.
ChangeHero Affiliate Program
Like for many other crypto exchanges and platforms, for anyone who is interested in working and earning with ChangeHero, the affiliate program is available.
This program lets the affiliates earn Bitcoin with referral links and with a convenient widget that is easy to install and to use. For crypto product owners, they offer the API integration already mentioned above.
Pros and Cons of the ChangeHero
To sum up what makes the experience on ChangeHero the best crypto exchange platform:
Pros:
Convenient: easy and quick crypto swaps;
Secure: no account creation means no data collection, no custody means you deposit only what is needed;
Versatile: the list of supported currencies is rather long, and users can exchange, buy and sell cryptocurrencies — all on one platform;
Accessible: the conversion process is very easy, but even if you have any trouble, the support team is always there to help you 24/7.
Cons:
Of course, the swaps are far from instant. But due to the nature of blockchain, it’s only natural they still take a few minutes. However, the process is fine-tuned so it takes less than 10 minutes on average;
There are thousands of coins and tokens on the market, while ChangeHero supports only 40 or so. But judging from their social media, they are planning to eventually catch up with the demand from users.
Summary
All the perks and benefits we described in the ChangeHero review above, in our opinion, really make ChangeHero the best crypto exchange from the user experience standpoint. They seem to be doing fine in sticking to their mission to be the go-to place to convert Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for all.By the way, they are also present on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Telegram, so you can always stay informed about the updates and content by subscribing.
Konstantin Anissimov, executive director at CEX.IO
BTC/USD
On Thursday, 22nd October, Bitcoin slowed down its rising pace, having added $243 by 17:00 UTC. BTC/USD was mainly trending sideways during the day. The pair began the day at $12,835 and edged slightly down below the level of the open in the first five hours of the day, forming a local support level at $12,728. With modest volatility, the pair continued upwards in a wavy pattern, climbing to the day’s peak at $13,095, as of 18:00 UTC.
Thursday’s slowdown in Bitcoin’s ascension indicates that the traders have locked in some of their profits generated during Wednesday’s spiky session. Also, there was a visible contraction in overall trading volumes in BTC/USD, compared to those a day earlier.
Looking into the end of this week, we are eligible to see Bitcoin keeping its place above $12,900 since there is no capital resistance for Bitcoin until $13,949. The only local resistance formed during Wednesday’s bull ride stands at $13,219. It may create a slight accumulation of selling volume at the price level and serve as a target level for day traders to claim their profits at. But it will have no significance for the price action on the daily timeframe.
ETH/USD
Ethereum was demonstrating a healthy-looking continuation of Wednesday’s bullish price action, making a lot more progress than Bitcoin on Thursday, 22nd October. ETH/USD opened Thursday’s session at $390.50 and instantly began trending up, having jumped above 1.5% in the first two hours of the day. Later on, the volatility reduced until 8:00 UTC, with the price mainly going sideways.
At 8:00 the main upside move began and continued until noon; the spike took Ether to $415.75 at the close of the 12th hour. In the next hour, the price dropped a little in a corrective move. From 13:00 until 18:00 UTC, the pair was edging up and reached a high of $418.50 between 17:00 and 18:00 UTC.
Projecting the price action of the ETH/USD pair for the rest of the week, we may expect a little more bullishness from Ether in an attempt to shorten its lag from Bitcoin. A little cash flow from Bitcoin into Ethereum is also probable since there is clear headroom for Ether to grow further up to the 0.786 Fibonacci level at $432.5, which is the most prominent target level for ETH/USD for the rest of the week of 19th October.
The market for decentralized finance (DeFi) exploded in 2020 as the total value locked in protocols exceeds $11 billion.
A large part of it was played by the novel concept of automated market makers and Uniswap was, and still is, at the forefront. As with everything new, however, there are issues to be considered.
The Problems with Automated Market Makers
The overall concept behind an automated market maker is undoubtedly an exciting and promising one. Of course, it does come with its insufficiencies, especially in the representations that are currently existing on the markets today.
The biggest challenge is undoubtedly the price slippage after each trade that’s oftentimes captured by arbitrage traders as a convenient profit-making opportunity.
Now, it goes without saying that the most prominent supporters of decentralized exchanges and AMMs are the liquidity providers (LPs). They are the ones who put the initial deposits as liquidity and, as such, traders can enjoy a smooth trading experience and better prices. However, LPs are also the ones who bear the risks of impermanent loss (IL).
Arbitrage traders, on the other hand, make profits on the aforementioned opportunities without having to put an initial investment. They can also leverage flash loans to increase their profitability. With this in mind, Vertex DEX takes a swing at the above IL issues by providing more incentives for LPs.
Vertex DEX and its Proposition
Vertex is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that aims at creating a more advanced version of an automated market maker where LPs receive a better profit.
Compared to what LPs earn on Uniswap, Vertex provides a profit increase of up to 500%. This profit is otherwise received by arbitrage traders who earn it without contributing to the platform in any way. The exchange also claims to provide the best prices to traders by aggregating the liquidity from all other decentralized exchanges. Additionally, in order to reduce transaction fees, the platform will launch over Binance Smart Chain. In addition, it also has a deflationary token (which gets burned on every transaction) to further incentivize LPs.
In addition, Vertex imposes no hidden protocol charges and all of the trading fees go to the liquidity providers.
The presale will start on 23rd Oct. The listing price will be 40% higher than the its presale price.
Currency backed with assets is not a new concept. The United States dollar was backed by gold until 1971 when the gold standard was abandoned. The concept of asset-backed currencies is being replicated in the blockchain world through the concept of tokenization. Tokenization means that companies can divide assets digitally into different parts, with the ownership unit recorded on the blockchain. RUSH is a new company that is exploring tokenization in a way that has never been done.
Tokenization and trust
2017 was the year of the initial coin offerings (ICO) boom, so many companies offered asset back tokens, especially for precious metals like Gold or Silver or alternative assets like artworks. The problem with many of those companies is that they offered nothing more than beautiful whitepapers and lines of codes there was no time spent on executing those projects. When investors want to invest in tokenization, they want to be sure that assets actually back the tokens. RUSH tokens are trusted; the team has worked more in executing the project than on marketing. One Rush token is equivalent to one cubic meter of aggregate quarries.
RUSH tokens and aggregate quarries
Most tokenization projects are tied to precious metal like silver. The RUSH team has decided to explore a new asset to back their tokens asset is known as aggregate quarries. The team chose aggregate quarries to back their tokens because aggregate quarries have great economic importance. The aggregate quarries contribute mainly to the economy of large and medium enterprises. Aggregate quarries are used in the construction of railways, waterways, roads, bridges, etc. The RUSH team chose aggregate quarries because they will continue to be used, and the value will increase with usage. You can read more on the importance of aggregate quarries on their whitepaper.
RUSH enable fractional ownership
The importance of tokenization is that fractional ownership is enabled. If a RUSH token buyer owns 0.001 RUSH (RUC), it means that he owns 0.001 aggregate quarries; this might not be possible physically. Still, the power of division in blockchain makes the division of ownership possible. It enables the RUSH tokens to be used as a currency, and it is also a divisible physical asset. The advantage is that you don’t need to have one aggregate quarries to own the assets. You can have a small fraction of 1 aggregate quarries, and your tokens can be easily transferred to another person while still maintaining it’s physical value.
RUSH tokens double value
Investors are more interested in the tokenized project because they are tied to physical value. The prices of cryptocurrencies are very volatile. We have seen a cryptocurrency lose 80% of its value overnight. Investors are looking for stability. RUSH tokens offer stability, that’s is why the RUSH token is suitable for cross-border settlements. The value of aggregate quarries means that investors see the value attached to the tokens beyond the cryptocurrency market’s volatility. RUSH tokens can also be used for speculation by trading it with other cryptocurrencies. The RUSH token is available for trading on the ProBit exchange.
RUSH tokens and physical assets
Investors love to invest their assets in projects that can be trusted. The team understands why they ensure that the tokens are always available for exchange with real-life physical assets. They can monitor their investment in a dashboard on the RUSH website. They provide that the aggregate quarries are always available if you want to exchange your tokens for aggregate quarries. The team ensures that they are not building a snake oil project. The project is always asset-backed as promised by the team.
How to buy RUSH tokens
Investors can purchase RUSH tokens on the RUSH website. The tokens are also available for purchase on ProBit exchange.
Conclusion
Asset-backed tokens are great, but implementing a truly asset-backed tokens requires a transparent and dedicated team. Assets should be available to be exchanged for the physical goods that back them. The RUSH team is proving transparent tokenized assets that can be exchanged for physical goods.
The emergence of DeFi in 2020 characterizes the crypto industry.
DeFi sector has inherent risks such as user error, faulty smart contracts e.t.c
Low liquidity, interoperability, and over-collateralization hinder DeFi adoption.
DeFi community strives to come up with solutions
To this very day, cryptocurrencies have accomplished several major milestones in their ten-year transformation into a good asset class. Some of the achievements include token and coin offerings, development of crypto derivatives market, United States SEC regulatory body, tokenized bitcoin and state-issued digital currencies. However, the year 2020 has been marked by the rise of DeFi (Decentralized Finance), which disrupted the entire industry.
As typical with digital assets such as bitcoin, several DeFi assets have witnessed monumental gains within a concise space of time. For instance, 24 hours after Serum launched its governance token, its value went through the ceiling, recording a mammoth 1,500 percent increase. Consequently, the total amount of assets locked inside DeFi protocols start growing. According to DeFi Pulse data, investments worth over $11 billion are currently closed in DeFi protocols.
Notably, DeFi has not only caught the attention of crypto enthusiasts, but centralized finance experts are also beginning to gain interest. This trend is primarily driven by the massive potential that decentralized finance presents. The growing sector is expected to revolutionize the financial industry entirely. However, for that to be achievable, some certain risks and challenges need to be addressed.
Some of the significant risks facing the emerging DeFi sector arise from the dependency on smart contracts, price volatility, uninsured loans, user error, and possible breakdown of the price system.
Although the DeFi sector presents tremendous benefits, it is still evolving. This implies that the massive luxuries offered by the DeFi ecosystem come at a certain degree of risk. One key is the fragility of smart contracts. Despite the robust underlying technology behind smart contracts, a coding error might result in massive funds loss. For instance, a $10 million ethereum heist was fortunately averted by a white hat hacker late last month from an incorrect code.
The risk of smart contracts is strongly associated with the ever-increasing cases of human error. No matter how perfect a platform’s code is, the developers cannot foretell the way users will maneuver through the application. Massive sums of funds have been lost by sending false addresses. For instance, users of a platform may direct funds to the incorrect smart contract blockchain address. Such a risk can be mitigated by introducing the new ERC-777 tokens that identify and impede the wrong addresses, increasing the fees.
Another critical factor that should always be considered is the internal management of a project and the external laws and regulations. There is still the possibility of a DeFi project changing management and even ownership. At times, structural and operational changes might occur without warning. The domestic authorities might also implement fresh legislation that might spell the usability o a given currency or even ban it entirely.
The other missteps, such as the market volatility associated with cryptocurrencies and uninsured loans, suggest that there is still a considerable risk of losing money in the DeFi sector. Such losses could occur without necessarily the user nor the developer making a mistake.
Apart from the inherent risks, some problems need to be addressed to drive DeFi proliferation. Some of these issues that impede the sector’s expansion include over-collateralization, centralization, inadequate liquidity, and the lack or little interoperability of networks.
What’s next for DeFi?
Startups have already emerged to come up with solutions to these risks and problems. With time, resources will be directed towards DeFi, boosting liquidity as the sector expands. However, faultless coding, the emergence of new interoperability mechanisms like Atomic Swap on top of high liquidity, would make the decentralized finance sector more inviting to the traditional financial structure and ordinary people. All the setbacks discussed are being dealt with by the community in various ways. Some of them might be entirely addressed with time. The risks associated with faulty smart contracts and user errors will likely minimize the more contemplative utility of audits, open-source promptness, bug rewards, and a coordinated manner of creating solutions. As governments and regulators develop a policing structure of the sector, more investors will flock in as the legal parameters will be clearly defined.
