With a ferocious blockchain industry in recent times, lots of consecutive blockchain platforms, applications appeared which built on layer 2 and non-EVM compatible chains from algorithms to Defi, Web3,…

Source: Getty Image

The tremendous expansion of tons of projects in decentralized space made 2021 generate a huge number of newborn launchpads. The platform permits blockchain-based projects to fund their capital while giving access to an amount of token-presale for their early investors. We could not negate what it brought to the project after listing. However, inadequacies still exist, like limitations in a single-chain, high cost, centralized,…

The development of multichain once integrated into the wallet idealized immersing it in a launchpad.

This actually came out of its stealth with the name “Multichain Launchpad”. It doesn’t limit the number of chains joined in, as well as encourage more and more chains. The type of platform provides full features that help users raise funds, promote their project on the top of their site. It also protects users from fake projects that appear on many low-quality launchpads.

A multichain launchpad totally supports multi-chain wallets that ensure the platform can integrate with chain wallets and allow them to access a broader community. Besides, the private information was kept to prevent anonymous hackers from accessing it. That will be a special hint to attract investors who would like to partner for a long path.

DAO compatibility and what happens if a launchpad is integrated with DAO?

DAO is one of the major features of digital currencies is that they are decentralized. This means they are not controlled by a single institution like a government or central bank, but instead are divided among a variety of computers, networks, and nodes. In many cases, virtual currencies make use of this decentralized status to attain levels of privacy and security that are typically unavailable to standard currencies and their transactions.

In some cases, the majority is not sure. The reverse is that although there are also a lot of potential projects, and developers might be questioned about their development ability, and they are not eligible to launch on these platforms until they launch on another platform and achieve success, DAO launchpad misses a potential project that could be launched on them.

However, the above case is not plural, the combination of DAO and multichain launchpad will be a worthy choice for developers and investors. Projects will be strictly censored by the majority, investors will minimize their risks when investing in these projects. With the development of the blockchain industry and decentralization in the future, this combination promises to bring more innovation, fairness and transparency, and more benefits to both developers and users.

Source: Switcheo

What Is STEPN?

STEPN is the first move2earn mobile NFT game powered by Solana where players can walk, jog or run outdoors with an NFT Sneaker to earn tokens. STEPN aims to inspire millions to engage in healthier lifestyles by bringing them into the Web 3.0 world while contributing positively to carbon neutrality.

With the goal of making walking more interesting, encouraging people to be more interested in health care as well as being active in the outdoors, STEPN is an application that combines both movement and economics, helping you walk that also earn money.

Studies show that more people are exercising now, which makes StepN a perfect market to scale.

Outstanding Features

STEPN is one of the top winning projects in the Solana Hackathon Ignition Gaming Track event. It is also the only mobile game to win the Hackathon. Through its user-friendly, easy-to-use interface, built-in Marketplace and Wallet, STEPN’s game design, and its goal of reaching millions of non-cryptocurrency users, the app won Hackathon Jury approval.

The STEPN team is looking to take advantage of fitness and the incredible social atmosphere behind the phenomena. There are millions of fitness freaks in the world who work with countless apps and programs. What STEPN is building will tap into the social and community elements to revolutionize how blockchain technology is used for earning.

The unique Move-to-Earn concept is something Kwong and his team believes can help onboard myriad new users to crypto. Kwong acknowledges the difficulties of initial entry but believes that users will flock to his app once these barriers are assuaged. But the Move-to-Earn will not be the only concept that brings users to the app––in fact, Kwong thinks it will be secondary.

Source: solscan.io

What can we do in STEPN?

Move-to-earn: Move outdoors with Sneaker NFT and earn tokens (with multi-layered anti-fraud mechanism).

Mint or upgrade Sneaker NFT (Minting): Each Snearker has different types, qualities, attributes and gem sockets.

Commodity Exchange (Marketplace): Where users can rent/rent or sell/buy Sneakers, Badges and Gems.

Game Modes

Solo Mode: Players are required to equip their Sneakers in order to earn $GST when moving around. Sneakers have Energy, which are also needed to earn $GST.

Marathon Mode: Players need to register under the Marathon Tab at least 24 hours prior to commencement, and can only take part in one Marathon at a time. There will both be Weekly Marathons and Monthly Marathons.

Background Mode: players will be able continue earning $GST while the STEPN app is not being actively used, provided the player owns a Sneaker in their in-app wallet.

Detailed information about GST/GMT Token

GMT and GST

Move & Earn: 30%

Ecosystem: 30%

Private Sale: 16.3%

Team: 14.2%

Public Sale: 7%

Advisory: 2.5%

GMT Allocation

Token Release Schedule

Token Release Schedule

Token Use Case

Governance: Stake participates in governance, the longer the lock time, the higher the voting power.

Staking Reward: GMT stakers can vote to decide the distribution of staking rewards.

Accrual of protocol revenue: GMT is burned to access in-app features, such as athletic shoe upgrades and new athletic shoe molding.

How To Buy GMT Token?

Currently, GMT is in the process of being distributed to the market via Binance Launchpad. In the future, users will be able to buy GMT when it is listed on Binance

Roadmap

STEPN Roadmap

Currently, the project has launched versions on Android and iOS platforms (iOS will be released in Q1/2022). According to the announcement from the project, as of February 21, 2, STEPN has achieved 2022 daily active users and 21 monthly active users.

The next stages of development will follow the following roadmap:

Q1 / 2022

Rental system

The credit system uses the test to train tenants to understand how STEPN works.

In-market matching system for pairing between landlords and tenants of sneakers based on the credit rating of the lessor.

The rental system uses smart contracts to settle the rental agreement.

Multi-chain wallet

Users can deposit and deposit crypto assets according to Solana and EVM standards.

Q2 / 2022

Charts

PvP leaderboard is linked with Marathon mode, player ranking, player group on leaderboard.

Marathon Mode

Host a weekly or monthly marathon. Users need to pay a subscription fee to join.

The highest ranked players or groups of players will receive PvP rewards.

Administration

Users can stake GMT (STEPN’s native token, which we will learn more about later) in the app to participate in the governance role.

Q3 / 2022

Achievement system

Based on the user’s activity, the app will issue an achievement badge to the user. Some achievement badges have in-app perks.

Achievement badges can be traded on the NFT marketplace.

Quest System

The daily, weekly quest system allows users to earn extra rewards through completing certain tasks.

Background mode

Background mode allows users to earn tokens without actively participating in Solo mode. To put it simply, it’s like holding tokens for passive interest.

Q4 / 2022

Fiat on/off Ramp (exchange fiat for crypto and vice versa)

Connect non-crypto users to the STEPN app.

Social Network

STEPN will implement social interaction functions in the application through location-based services (LBS).

Team, Investors, and Strategic Partners

Core Team Members

Jerry Huang (Co-founder): Decades of experience in game development, operation, and marketing. Developed some of the highest-ranking games on the iOS app store.

Yawn Rong (Co-founder): Entrepreneur, crypto angel investor, and start-up incubator. Experience in business scaling and start-ups.

Jessica Duan (CSO): A holistic executive with a background in design. Experienced in operational strategy and management, senior customer consulting, marketing, and business development.

Core Team Members

Investors & Partners

STEPN Raised $5 million in seed round from Sequoia Capital, Folius Ventures, Solana Capital, Alameda Research, 6th Man Ventures, DeFi Alliance, M13, Corner Ventures, Sfermion, Zee Prime Capital, Lemniscap, Spark Digital Capital, MorningStar Ventures, Openspace Ventures, Solar Eco Fund and WelindersShi Capital.

Notable angel investors also participating in this round are Republic Zhen Cao’s Asia Partner, Santiago R Santos.

Investors & Partners

STEPN Official Channels:

Website: https://www.stepn.com/

Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/StepN

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STEPNofficial

Discord: http://discord.gg/stepn

Telegram: https://t.me/STEPNofficial

Conclusion

STEPN is a lifestyle application combined with the Move and Earn model to help users both practice sports and earn money through that activity. It’s basically the same way as the model Play-to-Earn that we often see. The difference in the way it works may be what makes it attract a certain number of users after only a short time of launch.

Hopefully, this article has given HotQA readers the most basic information about this project. See you in the next posts.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. This article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is actually a form of digital money, although instead of being issued or guaranteed by any Government or monetary authority in any country, Cryptocurrency is issued by Blockchain project creators.

Sometimes these people are anonymous, write a few lines of code and create a lot of cryptocurrencies. But cryptocurrencies are only valuable when they are widely accepted and used by the community, they are not guaranteed by banks or any other trusted organization that we can keep these coins in exchange for fiat money.

This problem leads to Memecoins or scam coins which make many people lose money because they cannot sell to anyone. That creates a lot of bad reputations for cryptocurrencies.

How does Cryptocurrency work?

Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain, a distributed public ledger that keeps track of all transactions that are updated and held by currency holders.

Cryptocurrency units are created through a process known as mining, which involves using computer power to solve complex mathematical problems that make coins. Users can also purchase the currencies from brokers and store and spend them with cryptographic wallets.

You don’t own anything tangible if you own cryptocurrency. What you have is a key that enables you to transfer a record or a unit of measurement from one person to another without the assistance of a trusted third party.

Types of Cryptocurrency

Crypto Coins vs. Tokens

Currently, there are about 2,000 cryptocurrencies on the market, including both Coin and Token. Coin is also a form of cryptocurrency built and developed on a separate blockchain platform and operates independently. Coin was born with the purpose of solving problems of payment, finance, security, application development…

Some typical Coins on the current market such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Stellar, NEO,  Litecoin, IOTA, and so on.

Source: Jelvix

Tokens are also cryptocurrencies and are usually issued from ICO (Initial Coin Offering) projects. Tokens are developed on a certain Coin Blockchain platform, as we often see most of the early tokens using Ethereum’s Blockchain according to the ERC-20 standard. In addition, some tokens also use the background of WAVES, NEO, ICON and even Bitcoin.

What Are Altcoins?

Altcoin is a combination of two words Alt and Coin. In this case, Alt means alternative form, Coin means money. Combined, Altcoin means an alternative form of money. The currency used as an alternative is a digital currency Bitcoin.

Simply, Altcoins are digital currencies born after Bitcoin. Most Altcoins are encrypted from Bitcoin. Each type of Altcoin will be handled and used for different purposes.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency

Some advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrencies are as follows.

Advantages

Cryptocurrencies represent a new, decentralized money paradigm. Centralized intermediaries, such as banks and monetary institutions, are not required in this system to enforce trust and police transactions between two parties. Thus, a cryptocurrency-based system eliminates the possibility of a single point of failure, such as a large bank, triggering a global crisis, such as the one triggered in 2008 by the failure of institutions in the United States.

Cryptocurrencies promise to make it easier to transfer funds directly between two parties, eliminating the need for a trusted third party such as a bank or credit card company. Such decentralized transfers are protected by the use of public and private keys, as well as various types of incentive systems, such as proof of work or proof of stake.

Cryptocurrency transfers between two transacting parties are faster than traditional money transfers because they do not use third-party intermediaries. Flash loans are a good example of such decentralized transfers in decentralized finance. These loans, which are processed without the use of collateral, can be completed in seconds and used in trading.

Cryptocurrency investments can be profitable. Over the last decade, the value of cryptocurrency markets has skyrocketed, reaching nearly $2 trillion at one point. Bitcoin was worth more than $862 billion in crypto markets as of December 20, 2021.

Disadvantages

Cryptocurrencies, despite their claim to be an anonymous form of transaction, are actually pseudonymous. They leave a digital trail that can be deciphered by agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This opens the door to governments or federal authorities tracking ordinary citizens’ financial transactions.

Cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity among criminals as a tool for nefarious activities such as money laundering and illegal purchases. The case of Dread Pirate Roberts, who ran a drug marketplace on the dark web, is well known. Cryptocurrencies have also become popular among hackers, who use them to carry out ransomware attacks.

In theory, cryptocurrencies are supposed to be decentralized, with their wealth distributed among many parties via a blockchain. In practice, ownership is extremely concentrated. An MIT study, for example, discovered that only 11,000 investors held roughly 45 percent of Bitcoin’s soaring value.

Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can mine them. However, mining popular cryptocurrencies requires a significant amount of energy, sometimes as much as entire countries consume. Mining has been concentrated among large firms with revenues in the billions of dollars due to high energy costs and the unpredictability of the industry. According to an MIT study, ten percent of the mining capacity is accounted for by ten percent of the miners.

While cryptocurrency blockchains are extremely secure, other crypto repositories, such as exchanges and wallets, can be compromised. Many cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets have been hacked over the years, with millions of dollars in “coins” stolen in some cases.

Conclusion

Understanding the market is the first step toward success as a trader. To capitalize on market opportunities, you must have a firm grasp of key concepts. HotQA has been providing basic to advanced knowledge of the crypto market, as well as the latest market news, to help you become a profitable trader and gain more knowledge in this potential market.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, the article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

Source: The Tech Journal

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency released as open-source software. Released in 2009 by an unidentified genius nicknamed Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin uses a peer-to-peer protocol for all transactions, which helps Bitcoin eliminate the middleman step in the transaction execution process. Basically, Bitcoin transactions will be made directly from the sender to the receiver with extremely low transaction fees (almost zero) without having to go through any intermediary organizations or individuals.

With important features such as anonymity, no transaction fees, more and more people trust and accept it. Bitcoin has a high level of security, appears and is divided completely automatically based on algorithms and anyone can own it through deciphering mathematical equations and giving answers, aka “mining”.

The History of Bitcoin

In 2008, the world financial crisis occurred due to the United States housing bubble. This led to Lehman Brothers – the 4th largest US investment bank declared bankruptcy with a debt of $619 billion.

The US and world economies wobbled. A series of consequences such as unemployment, business bankruptcy, etc.

Doubts about the traditional banking system arise from here. At the time, the domain bitcoin.org was registered on August 18, 2008.

On October 31, 2008, the Bitcoin Whitepaper was released by Satoshi Nakamoto.

January 3, 2009 Genesis Block – the first block on the Bitcoin Blockchain was born. For the first time, a currency that was not controlled by a government or a central bank was born.

How does it Work?

The answer to the above question is Blockchain – Decentralized Storage.

Bitcoin works through the blockchain – a public ledger that records all transactions. The registry is maintained by a network of peer-to-peer nodes. As transactions take place, they are grouped with other transactions in a “block”. Blocks are verified and added to the chain using cryptographic methods. This measure has a high level of security and is resistant to hacker attacks.

Once added to a blockchain, blocks are propagated to other nodes of the network. Each node keeps its own copy of the blockchain and checks each transaction along the way. The process is immutable and accessible to all; this makes hacking impossible.

Pros and Cons of Bitcoin

Pros

Security: Thanks to blockchain, the Bitcoin system is very secure. Relative anonymity makes problems like identity theft unlikely.

Decentralization: Bitcoin is completely decentralized. Hence not subject to any interference by politicians or bankers.

International: Bitcoin is a truly international currency. Making international transactions with Bitcoin is extremely easy. Cryptocurrencies will likely become more and more valuable as we move towards a more global economy.

Bitcoin could be the future: Cryptocurrency is rapidly gaining acceptance and widespread use. Many large companies in the world of finance and technology confirm that a new era is underway. The future is uncertain, but Bitcoin could also be a game changer.

Market share: Bitcoin occupies a large share of the cryptocurrency market. It is the first and best known digital currency today. If you want to invest in cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is the most obvious choice.

Cons

Volatility: Bitcoin has experienced frenzied price fluctuations. Value increases exponentially, but always in the face of economic bubbles. As with many other investments, trade only what you can lose.

Bitcoin legal uncertainty: The legal and regulatory status of Bitcoin is uncertain in many territories.

Scams and Hackers: Cryptocurrencies are not immune to scams. Multilevel models that promise huge profits tempt many traders and lead to losses. Currently, exchanges are increasing security; so scams can become rare.

Bitcoin may underperform new cryptocurrencies: Although it is the first and most valuable cryptocurrency, some argue that BTC is lagging behind other alternatives. Since BTC is decentralized, it can’t really grow much. No company backs or monitors. Any change to the network or system requires the consensus of a majority of miners. Competing currencies use newer technology and can benefit from a centralized model. BTC has taken the lead, but this position could be challenged by new competitors.

Is Bitcoin Safe to Invest In?

For those who are new to BTC in particular, the Crypto market in general wants to know if Bitcoin is safe. To get the answer, we need to learn about the technology used to create this coin, the security and privacy features of Bitcoin owners.

Technologies

Bitcoin is a currency created based on Blockchain technology, designed to resist data change. This is considered a breakthrough for future finance.

A blockchain is a digitally distributed, decentralized, public ledger that exists across a network, stores all transaction information and ensures that it will not be changed in any way. Blockchain will be distributed data stored and validated on many different computers connected in a common network.

No person or machine can change, delete, or overwrite the data in it. Note that although the information cannot be changed, it will be added when there is a consensus of all nodes in the common system. And yet, thanks to Blockchain technology, the ability to transmit data does not require and requires intermediaries to confirm information. People can share information for many units in the same construction network.

Security and Privacy

The Bitcoin cryptocurrency has very high security, the appearance of BTC and the division for miners is completely automatic according to the algorithm.

It is very difficult to hack into the Bitcoin system to profit, change the amount of BTC because the hacker not only has to infiltrate a single computer, but he needs to simultaneously hack into more than half of the network’s computers, accounts for about 51% of all computers scattered around the world, at the same time. Therefore, everyone can rest assured that Bitcoin cannot suddenly disappear or change abnormally.

In addition, the Bitcoin network is protected by when each transaction is formed, its information is immediately recorded on a new block. Participants are required to decrypt to confirm the transaction, then the information is recorded in a distributed ledger distributed on many different computers. Adding a new block to the ledger needs to be agreed on the validity of the block, can not arbitrarily delete, overwrite a previously used block.

How to Invest in Bitcoin?

Cryptocurrency investing can take many forms:

Bitcoin mining: A person can become a bitcoin miner provided they have a massive computing system loaded with different software and ample electricity to start with.

Buy and hold BTC for a long time: You don’t need to know too much about technical analysis, just wait for low price to buy and high price to sell to make a profit. However, making buying and selling decisions requires investors to know how to evaluate and predict fundamental analysis. You can buy directly on the exchange or on the black market.

Bitcoin trading: This is a form of making money from BTC in a short time from just a few hours or a few days. You will become a Trader, using the technique of analyzing price charts with BTC, finding the appropriate buy and sell points.

There are also many other forms of investment such as ICO, margin trading, etc. that people can refer to and choose the method that suits their risk appetite.

Conclusion

Above is all the important information about Bitcoin. Hope you guys have got the answer to the question What is Bitcoin? From there, understand and make the most effective investment decisions. As always, this article is not financial advice.

Why is Blockchain so popular? Why Blockchain is widely applied in many fields, especially in the field of cryptocurrency? HotQA will help you quickly understand Blockchain through the most basic and understandable terms. Let’s start!

Source: LeewayHertz

Blockchain technology – Simply explained

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain

The birth of blockchain has created a new direction for the world’s technology – finance industry, the world of blockchain technology.

Or you can also understand, blockchain is like a public accounting ledger, in which, all information is stored and transmitted transparently, completely, cannot be changed or cheated. This is a new technology, which greatly improves the limitations of the traditional way of storing and exchanging information. Therefore, blockchain is increasingly being applied in many fields: economic and financial, education, agriculture, industry, entertainment, health or education.

Blockchain Principles

In order to understand the details of how they work, we need to learn the concepts in turn.

Blockchain Data Structure

The data information will be stored in blocks. Except for the first block (Genesis block), each block will have a structure of data, Hash code and Hash code of the previous block to mark. Once a block of data is encrypted, it is nearly impossible to change the information in the block. This is one of the things that makes this technology different.

The blocks are linked together, you can imagine a model of a train with numbered carriages connected together.

What is Node?

Once you understand data structures, the next concept you need to know is Node.

Node is considered as a device on the Blockchain network. Node is the foundation that allows Blockchain technology to work and exist. Nodes are distributed in a large network and perform many different tasks.

A node can be any device (computer, phone, printer, etc.), provided they are connected to the internet and have an IP address. Simply speaking, a Node is a point where a message will be created, received or transmitted. All nodes on the blockchain are connected to each other and constantly exchange information so that the nodes are quickly updated.

Working Mechanism of Blockchain

Nodes will perform cryptographic operations and store data blocks, so what motivates members of the Blockchain network to participate in the operation of Nodes?

The answer is the reward from closing data blocks. With the PoW consensus mechanism used for Bitcoin and some coins, when the Nodes solve the math and find the appropriate Hash to close the block, a reward of money will be given to that person. We often see “Bitcoin mining farms” operating with many computers running continuously with the goal of receiving rewards. The miners themselves also contribute to the operation of the system.

There is another mechanism used quite a lot today is POS (Proof of Stake), you can learn about PoS through the article:

What Is Staking in Crypto? A Beginner’s Guide to Staking Crypto

As you can see, by virtue of the decentralized Node network as well as the operating mechanisms, Blockchain offers a lot of potential for practical applications.

3 Popular Consensus Algorithms of Blockchain

1. Proof of Work (PoW)

This consensus algorithm is used to select a miner for the next block generation. Bitcoin uses this PoW consensus algorithm. The central idea behind this algorithm is to solve a complex mathematical puzzle and easily give out a solution. This mathematical puzzle requires a lot of computational power and thus, the node who solves the puzzle as soon as possible gets to mine the next block. Considered as the first consensus algorithm, associated with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), …

2. Proof of Stake (PoS)

This is the most common alternative to PoW. Ethereum has shifted from PoW to PoS consensus. In this type of consensus algorithm, instead of investing in expensive hardware to solve a complex puzzle, validators invest in the coins of the system by locking up some of their coins as stake. After that, all the validators will start validating the blocks. Validators will validate blocks by placing a bet on it if they discover a block which they think can be added to the chain. Based on the actual blocks added in the Blockchain, all the validators get a reward proportionate to their bets and their stake increase accordingly. In the end, a validator is chosen to generate a new block based on their economic stake in the network. Thus, PoS encourages validators through an incentive mechanism to reach to an agreement.

3. Proof of Authority (PoA)

That reputation-based consensus algorithm is Proof of Authority (PoA for short). Block verifiers will not be based on the number of coins they hold, but on their own reputation. So PoA Blockchains are secured by arbitrarily selected validating nodes as trusted entities. Typical projects using BFT algorithm such as: MakerDAO (xDAI), ZINC (ZINC), …

Advantages and disadvantages of Blockchain

Advantages

Open: One of the major advantages of blockchain technology is that it is accessible to all means anyone can become a participant in the contribution to blockchain technology, one does not require any permission from anybody to join the distributed network.

Verifiable: Blockchain technology is used to store information in a decentralized manner so everyone can verify the correctness of the information by using zero-knowledge proof through which one party proves the correctness of data to another party without revealing anything about data.

Permanent: Records or information which is stored using blockchain technology is permanent means one needs not worry about losing the data because duplicate copies are stored at each local node as it is a decentralized network that has a number of trustworthy nodes.

Tighter Security: Blockchain uses hashing techniques to store each transaction on a block that is connected to each other so it has tighter security. It uses SHA 256 hashing technique for storing transactions.

Immutability: Data cannot be tampered with in blockchain technology due to its decentralized structure so any change will be reflected in all the nodes so one cannot do fraud here, hence it can be claimed that transactions are tamper-proof.

Disadvantages

Scalability: It is one of the biggest drawbacks of blockchain technology as it cannot be scaled due to the fixed size of the block for storing information. The block size is 1 MB due to which it can hold only a couple of transactions on a single block.

Energy Consuming: For verifying any transaction a lot of energy is used so it becomes a problem according to the survey it is considered that 0.3 percent of the world’s electricity had been used by 2018 in the verification of transactions done using blockchain technology.

Time-Consuming: To add the next block in the chain miners need to compute nonce values many times so this is a time-consuming process and needs to be speed up to be used for industrial purposes.

Legal Formalities: In some countries, the use of blockchain technology applications is banned like cryptocurrency due to some environmental issues they are not promoting to use blockchain technology in the commercial sector.

Blockchain Technology Applications for Industry 4.0

Nobody would dispute the fact that Blockchain is a high potential investment opportunity as well as opening the door to other applications. These applications include:

Trade and Buy/Sell digital assets

Legal contract

Medical record

Other digital documents in the industry

Through the above article, HotQA hopes that you have gained more knowledge about Blockchain technology, including understanding what Blockchain is, the working principle of Blockchain, the advantages and disadvantages of Blockchain as well as Blockchain can be applied can be used in many different areas of life. Follow HotQA on Binance Feed to read many useful articles and information about Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency!

Making money with cryptocurrency is currently considered a trend, which has received a strong response in recent years. And for many investors buying and selling Bitcoin, Staking is a relatively new concept. However, the role of Staking does not stop there. This article provides an overview of the Staking role and the working of Proof of Stake (PoS). Besides, providing universal knowledge on how to do staking for you on the cryptocurrency playground. Let’s start!

Source: Coin Guru

What is Staking?

Staking is when you buy and hold cryptocurrency in your cryptocurrency wallet on reputable cryptocurrency exchanges, a Blockchain project. And it has to be for a specific amount of time after that you will get a reward amount. This is similar to having a savings deposit in a bank account. And you will receive a fixed interest rate as bonus at the end of the contract period. The reward investors receive will depend on the amount of Coin staked and the duration of the stake.

Currently, many exchanges have also provided staking services to serve users when using. Binance exchange allows users to earn rewards in a fairly simple way and all you need to do is keep your coins on the exchange.

Therefore, in order to understand Staking more deeply, we first need to understand how PoS (Proof of Stake) works and how Staking works.

How does it work?

To fully understand how staking works, you need to understand how Proof of Stake works.

Proof of Stake (PoS) is the blockchain’s validation mechanism or consensus algorithm. In PoS, block validation does not happen through mining like in PoW but is done through coin/token staking. The greater the number of staked assets, the higher the chances of being selected to become a validator and receive block rewards. After the validation process is successful, the reward will be divided among the participants in proportion to the contribution rate.

Anyone wants to participate in the staking process must own a coin/token in the blockchain system. After successful staking, this coin/token will be locked as collateral of the network.

It sounds very simple: Investors only need to own some cryptocurrency and receive passive bonuses. With PoS, new blocks are produced and verified by staking. This means you don’t need any special tools to solve the problem. Just lock all of the virtual money you are holding. This amount will determine your bonus amount. The more coins a user locks in the same coin, the more likely they are to be selected as the validator that closes the new block.

Benefits of Staking

Generate passive income and increase coins during Staking

Instead of leaving it on exchanges without receiving an increase in the number of coins, you can put in the stake and receive more coins during the staking process. Of course, this will be suitable for those who want to hold that coin for a long time. And if you want to trade, buy and sell continuously, it will not be suitable.

Cost savings compared to PoW

Compare the latest ASIC with a high-performance computer. To participate in Staking, of course, you must meet some conditions of the project. Especially, if you want to become the main Nodes, Masternodes in the Blockchain network, you will definitely need higher configuration computers. However, you don’t need a lot of computers to run Nodes, you only need 1 machine and install it once. The rest is to increase the number of Staking coins inside.

This is different and much more economical than PoW – the more powerful computers, the more mining.

Security

Staking is done securely because there is a backup. At the same time, before officially Staking, you can calculate your profit rate after that Staking period.

What date and time will you unlock, or if you want to unstake in the middle, how long will it take you to receive the coin?

To projects

Staking in PoS is a way for foundational Blockchains to create decentralization for their network. The power and strength of the network will now be divided among the participants (Node, Masternodes…).

Take advantage of external resources to jointly operate the network through Nodes.

Incentives to join the network: Participating in staking and receiving rewards will help participants maintain their activity.

Network security: To carry out attacks, hackers must hold 51% of the network’s power. Dispersing that power in different nodes will make it nearly impossible to gather their power to create attacks.

Staking will also somewhat affect the price of the coin.

Risks of Staking

Staking is a form of investment that brings steady returns, but they also have certain risks:

During the Staking period, the amount of coins participating in the staking is locked. You will not be able to do any buying/selling or trading with this amount of coins. Unstaking will prevent you from getting the rewards you originally wanted. Usually, to un-stake you will also have to take a while to get back the coins that have been staked. Maybe when receiving that amount of coins, the opportunity has passed.

Staking is not always profitable. The biggest risk you can face is the coin price going down. For example, you stake 1,000 coin X (price $0.1/X) with an interest rate of 30%/year. When you receive interest, the total amount of coins received will be 1,300 X coins. But if the price is only $0.07/X, the total value is now $91 dollars (less than $100 initial investment).

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, the article is for informational and sharing purposes only. Please refer to other articles on HotQA, as well as do your own research to get the most objective view before deciding to invest in the market.

Source: DappWorks

What Are Smart Contracts?

Smart Contracts are digital contracts that automatically execute when certain conditions are met and are stored on the Blockchain. The deal execution process is fully automated, transparent, traceable, reversible and does not need to go through a third party.

Terms of Smart contracts are similar to Legal Contracts but written in the form of a programming language.

Nowadays, smart contracts are still popular in the cryptocurrency industry, mainly for the exchange of cryptocurrencies. But it is not limited to cryptocurrencies and in fact, many insurance and real estate companies are adopting this standard protocol for better scalability at a cheaper rate. In short, smart contracts are an essential component for many platforms. That is why it is important to understand what smart contracts are and how they work.

How Do They Work?

In simple terms, Smart Contract acts like a deterministic program. Smart Contracts will execute a specific task in case certain conditions are satisfied. Therefore, a Smart Contract system usually follows “if…then…” statements.

On Ethereum, Smart Contracts are responsible for executing and managing the activities that take place on the blockchain when users (addresses) interact with each other. Any address that is not a smart contract is called an Externally Owned Account (EOA). Therefore, the smart contract will be controlled by the computer and the EOA controlled by the user.

Smart Contract Ethereum consists of a contract code and two public keys:

The first public key is the one provided by the contract creator.

The other key represents the contract itself, which acts as a unique digital identifier for each Smart Contract.

Smart Contracts are implemented via blockchain transactions and they are only activated when a Standalone Account (EOA) or other Smart Contracts call them. However, the first trigger is always from the EOA (user) side.

The operation of a smart contract can be simulated step by step as follows:

Step 1 – Pre-program the contract: The conditional sentences of the agreement in the contract such as: “If / When…” are put into the Blockchain into Code – a programming language

Step 2 – Chain of Action: If the condition is satisfied, the Smart Contract will be executed

Step 3 – Execution & Transfer of Value: Once the transfer is made, the terms of the contract are automatically codified and transferred to the parties involved

Step 4 – Complete: The completed transaction will be updated on the blockchain and cannot be changed. Only authorized parties can view the results

Smart Contract Vs. Traditional Contract

Some of the unique features of traditional contracts include:

Created by legal experts

Compilation of a large number of documents

Requires a third party to execute

It took quite a while to agree and sign

Contracts can have many problems and can be unclear

It takes a lot of money and has to rely on the justice system to solve the problem

The similarity between a traditional contract and a smart contract is that the terms and penalties are clearly stated.

However, smart contracts have differences such as:

Created by programming languages like C++, Go, Python, and Java on a computer system

The entire code is executed by Blockchain distributed ledger system

No need for a third-party intermediate

Ensure transparency and accuracy in enforcement

Pros And Cons

Pros

The application of smart contracts can be used in many different fields: Logistic, banking, real estate, election,…

Freedom: Do not accept the management of any agency

Minimize risks from third parties

Safe and transparent

Economical and fast

Cons

Risks from the Internet: Can be attacked or exploited by hackers if they reveal important information

Do not receive legal rights: Interests may not be protected because there is no policy

High requirements on the implementation level of programmers and systems. From there, the cost to pay them and the infrastructure is not small

Real-world Smart Contract Examples

Insurance company AXA is one example of a business that has trialed using smart contracts. Their product, named Fizzy, used smart contracts to provide customers with direct, automatic compensation in the event that a scheduled flight was delayed by two or more hours.

Music streaming platform Inmusik allows the use of smart contracts to ensure fair allocation of revenue earned through streaming. Ownership rights to a song are validated through the Inmusik blockchain, and revenues are allocated accordingly.

Factom is a blockchain development company that aims to revolutionize the way patient information is stored within the healthcare industry. By storing medical data within the blockchain, information is accessible only by hospitals and healthcare administrators, greatly enhancing the security of confidential information.

ATLANT is a blockchain company that looks to facilitate the tokenization of assets, meaning the issuing of a digital token that represents a physical asset such as a work of art or property. Once tokenized, these assets can be traded in a similar fashion to stocks and shares, allowing transactions to be completed online.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. This article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

Along with the rise of DeFi and DEX, IDO also received a lot of attention from the crypto community. So what is IDO? What are the current popular IDO platforms for investors? Below is an article to give you an overview of this familiar term.

Initial DEX Offering (IDO)

What Is An IDO?

An IDO is a fundraising method in which the IDO coin is issued via decentralized liquidity exchanges.

A decentralized liquidity exchange is a type of crypto asset exchange that relies on liquidity pools with which traders can swap tokens.

Liquidity pools are pairs of crypto assets and stablecoins. For example, USDT/ETH is a liquidity pair. Traders can swap them between different crypto assets and stable coins based on market conditions. As the volatility of stablecoins is negligible, it offers a safe option for traders to manage the high volatility of crypto tokens and assets by swapping them with each other.

As a result, decentralized liquidity exchanges enable companies to launch a token and access immediate liquidity.

In an IDO, the IDO coin is issued via decentralized liquidity exchanges, such as Uniswap, Bancor, or Binance. Binance DEX hosted the first-ever IDO. According to them, a fundraising method enables protocols available for traders without being controlled by others. An IDO can be self-organized by anyone. So, it does not bear any assurance or guarantee as the issuer controls the event. IDO is gaining popularity as more businesses are considering it for fundraising.

Role of IDO

For investors

In the era of strong development of the Internet, a project that wants to receive a large investment and has a high market capitalization needs to succeed in connecting the community. It was from this need that IDO was formed and developed.

IDO opens opportunities for investors to access, buy and hold tokens of potential projects. If the project is successful, that token can increase in price many times after the IDO, offering them huge profits.

For the project

IDO enables founders to raise capital quickly from the community to develop their projects without spending too much money and reducing complicated censorship or permission procedures. In addition, if you choose to do IDO on DEX exchanges or popular launchpad platforms, the project will be widely promoted in the platform’s existing community, increasing the number of investors interested in the project.

From partnering with a DEX to raise capital, the project will also begin to build relationships within the exchange’s ecosystem. Thus, future projects will go much more smoothly

For DEX

Help exchanges/platforms attract a large amount of traffic and help increase transaction volume.

Contribute to building ecosystems and relationships with potential projects.

Increase the reputation and popularity of the platform.

How does an IDO work?

Source: Phemex

An IDO uses the decentralized exchange to facilitate the token sale. A crypto project provides tokens to the DEX and users commit their funds through the platform, and then the final distribution and transfer are done by DEX. This automated process occurs through the smart contracts on the blockchain.

The rules of the IDO follow standard methods.

They accept a project to run on an IDO after the vetting process, and once they offer a supply of tokens for a fixed price, the users can lock their funds in return for these tokens.

You need to complete marketing tasks to join the investor whitelist, or you can provide your wallet address.

Some funds are raised to create a liquidity pool, and the rest are given to the team. Investors trade the token after the TGE, and usually, the liquidity is locked for a certain period.

At the TGE, tokens are transferred to the user, and then the liquidity provider is opened for trading.

Examples of IDOs

The first-ever IDO is known to have happened in June 2019 on Binance DEX by Raven developers. The most profitable IDO at the moment is Flow from the Dapper Labs project. There has been growing public interest in IDOs ever since.

Among other major IDOs, there are Compound, bZx Protocol, mStable, SushiSwap, Shift, and ExeedMe. The coins of these projects have grown tenfold after the token sale.

Advantages and disadvantages of IDOs

Advantages

AdInstant Liquidity

Since tokens that are sold start trading on the host DEX immediately, IDOs provide instant liquidity with little to no slippage thanks to the available liquidity pools on the DEX. Instant liquidity for a token is important because if it cannot easily be sold for another token, it can be harder to find investors.

Instant Trading

As soon as the first investor buys a token, the token is available for trading on the DEX. This instantaneous trading can allow users to immediately participate in the utility of the network by using the token to do things like staking, governance, and any other utility functions the token offers. This also allows for liquidity of the token because more people can access the token in liquid and stable markets.

Lower Costs

IEOs and ICOs can incur huge costs when it comes to paying exchange listing fees or paying exchanges in tokens, but with decentralized exchanges the fees are not as high and there are no issues listing the token as there is no central authority to give permission.

Investor Fairness

IDO launchpads often limit the amount of tokens you can purchase, effectively blocking whales and bots from locking out small investors. This encourages fairness among investors, and allows smaller investors the chance to get in on initial offerings.

Disadvantages

Risk of Scam 

Since projects don’t need to be vetted to begin trading, this can lead to scams. The way you can combat this risk is by doing your research and only using a trustworthy launchpad platform. There are platforms that provide anti-scam vetting as well as KYC checks, but it’s also important to do your own research into a project before buying into their token.

Difficulty Participating

It can actually be hard to get on a whitelist, which is a pre-arranged list of addresses that are eligible to participate in the IDO. The number of participants on the whitelist is limited, and if a project is popular it can make it harder to make it on the whitelist, especially for smaller investors who don’t have as high of a quantity of the launchpad’s native token – which is how you enter a whitelist.

IDO Launchpads

Below is a list of successful IDO platforms that investors interested in IDO cannot ignore.

BSCPad

The BSCPad platform provides cryptocurrency projects with a means to distribute tokens and raise liquidity. It is a platform for fair, decentralized launches.

BSCPad aims to be the next generation of blockchain launchpads that addresses the issues with staking. Existing launchpads face a challenge due to an underlying problem, acquiring enough tokens to participate in the ecosystem is prohibitive, and even if you stake the tokens, the allocation spot is never guaranteed.

Polkastarter

Polkastarter is an IDO launchpad for decentralized and multi-chain token pools. It allows crypto startups to raise capital in a fixed-swap pool and distribute their new tokens to early investors. Polkastarter was founded in 2020 by Daniel Stockhaus, Tiago Martins, and Miguel Leite.

As of Q1 2022, it has already assisted more than 100 projects to raise $45 million through public and private sales. Apart from IDOs, the platform also supports GameFi launchpads, metaverse land sales, and other NFT sales.

DAO Maker

DAO Maker is a safe, retail-oriented start-up funding platform. After its launch, it has evolved to encourage low turnout frameworks, allowing many retail investors and individuals to become involved in venture capital. DAO Maker is now available on various online exchange platforms. It cannot be purchased directly for fiat money, but coins can be obtained by buying Ethereum through any of the fiat currency exchangers for cryptocurrency.

This project develops growth technologies and funding frameworks for businesses while lowering investor risks. This is a great option for anonymous projects looking to conduct an IDO and reach as many users as possible. DAO Maker integrates with platforms such as MetaMask, 1inch, Ronin, WalletConnect, and Wanchain.

TrustPad

TrustPad is a decentralized multi-chain fundraising platform that allows organizations to raise funds while assuring early-stage investors that their funds will be safe. It is yet another one-of-a-kind launchpad platform based on Binance’s blockchain. Certik Skynet, Ethereum, MetaMask, Solana, Trust Wallet, and WalletConnect are also supported.

The purpose is to provide users with a fully integrated limit order experience by removing the friction associated with the current platforms. Users can execute to earn, resulting in a long-term ecosystem where new traders can learn more about the operations that underpin transactions. TrustPad works with Mid-Size businesses, Small businesses, enterprises, and Free Users.

Conclusion

IDO is a new fundraising trend in the crypto market in 2021 when it has gradually overcome the shortcomings of previous methods. At the same time, IDO also offers attractive investment opportunities with huge profit margins.

Hopefully, the detailed information in HotQA’s article has helped you gain more knowledge as well as these shares can help you better understand what IDO is. Read more of our articles to make political investment decisions.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. This article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

Source: Ultcoin365

What Are DEXs?

A decentralized exchange or DEX is a place where people can go to trade cryptocurrencies without an intermediary. To better identify what a decentralized exchange is, it’s important to first understand how centralized exchanges work.

DEX was created to eliminate the supervision of the authorities so that the transactions are accurate, transparent and trustless. DEX decentralized exchanges allow peer-to-peer (P2P) trading.

Before DeFi products became popular, DEXs were known to investors through Uniswap. This is an exchange that opens the door to a bright future for DEX.

CEX Vs. DEX: What’s The Difference?

Both cryptocurrency exchanges have their own benefits and drawbacks. Moreover, traders can access any of the platforms depending on their requirements. Let’s look at the key differences between CEX and DEX so that a trader can make an informed decision.

Source: HotQA

How Do DEXs Work?

In a typical centralized exchange, the asset in question is directly deposited — either in fiat (via bank transfer or credit/debit card) or in cryptocurrency. When cryptocurrencies are deposited, users lose control over them — although not from a usage standpoint, because of course cryptocurrencies can still be withdrawn and traded. However, control is lost from a technical standpoint: the cryptocurrency in question can no longer be spent on the blockchain.

Of course, this brings security risks: the team behind the crypto exchange could disappear along with the many crypto assets. A hack could also cause the assets to disappear. For many users, however, this is an acceptable risk, as they simply stick to reputable, well-known exchanges with a solid track record and precautions to prevent data breaches.

Decentralized exchanges are quite like their centralized counterparts in some respects but differ greatly in others. It is important to note that there are a few different types of decentralized exchanges. What they all have in common is that orders are executed on a blockchain (using smart contracts) and that users do not have to give up custody of their funds at any point.

There are a few variants to cross-blockchain DEXs, but the most popular variants revolve around assets on a single blockchain (like Ethereum or Binance Chain).

Decentralized Exchange (DEX): Pros & Cons

Source: Forbes

Pros

1. Privacy and Anonymity

Using a decentralized exchange typically only requires you to connect your wallet and sign a transaction. No identity verification process is required.

2. Security

Decentralized exchanges are generally more secure than centralized exchanges for two reasons:

They are non-custodial: Hackers target exchanges to access the central database and extract users’ private keys and withdraw their funds. Since DEXs do not hold your private keys, hackers cannot get into your wallet.

No identity checks: No risk of leaking private user data.

3. DeFi and NFT Integration

DeFi and NFTs are the two frontiers of the blockchain space, and DEXs are strong propellers. DEXs allows users to access the world of smart contracts and DApps that provide financial services, including lending and savings products, as well as NFT projects.

Cons

While decentralized trading venues provide some substantial advantages over centralized exchanges, they also have drawbacks new crypto investors need to be aware of.

1. Limited Trading

DEXs are currently limited in functionality. Features like margin trades, limit orders, futures, options, etc., are typically unavailable.

2. Efficiency

Decentralized exchanges are not as fast and efficient as CEXs due to the scalability issues faced by most blockchains. Centralized exchanges are not faced with this problem because they use both on-chain and off-chain mechanisms to ensure they run smoothly.

Top 5 Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) for 2022

Uniswap

On Ethereum, Uniswap is a decentralized system for automated liquidity provision.

Uniswap, one of the first automated market makers(AMM), allows users to act as liquidity providers by donating assets to decentralized liquidity pools. Liquidity providers earn a passive income by sharing a portion of the fees their pool produces.

Uniswap V3 has been released, which improves the capital efficiency, execution, and infrastructure of the Uniswap platform. Even though competing protocols with a similar interface have arisen to rival Uniswap, the Uniswap team has managed to keep their platform new for consumers by developing it.

PancakeSwap

PancakeSwap is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) and decentralized exchange for swapping BEP20 tokens on Binance Smart Chain.

PancakeSwap, like many of the other DEXs on our list, did not generate funds through an ICO or IDO. Instead, the PancakeSwap team directly bootstrapped it. Currently, the platform is funded by the PancakeSwap treasury, which receives a commission of 12 percent of all trading fees.

PancakeSwap offers a variety of yield farms, a Binance Coin prediction market, a lottery game, initial farm offerings, an NFT market, and more in addition to its DEX capabilities.

SushiSwap

SushiSwap is an automated market-making (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX) currently on the Ethereum blockchain. SushiSwap is also non-custodial, which means that—unlike centralized exchanges—SushiSwap does not need to possess your tokens in order for you to be able to trade them. Instead, SushiSwap allows users to trade trustlessly, peer-to-peer, with liquidity that is supplied by other users.

The platform was one of the first DExs to launch on the Avalanche, Fantom, Harmony, and Celo blockchains, and has earned a reputation for being one of the first DExs to launch on new chains.

SushiSwap, as an automated market maker, allows users to earn money by contributing liquidity to the site. It also has a range of other features, such as a variety of yield pools, an on-chain lending solution, and a MISO launchpad.

Mdex

MDEX is a decentralized platform for cross-chain transactions and deployed on BSC, HECO and Ethereum. MDEX aims to integrate the advantages of multiple chains to build a high-performance compound DEX ecology. The dual mining mechanism of liquidity mining and transaction mining provides participants with maximum rewards. MDEX is now available on Heco and BSC, and users can use MDEX Bridge to complete cross-chain transactions on Heco, Ethereum, and BSC.

Despite the fact that gas taxes on the Ethereum blockchain will be reduced soon, MDEX has managed to surpass Uniswap in terms of market cap volume when both MDEX and MDEX (BSC) market cap volumes are considered. MDEX isn’t bashful about claiming to be the world’s largest DeFi ecosystem.

MDEX should be on your radar if you’re looking for a decentralized exchange. Its user-friendliness and the services it provides have fueled remarkable growth for any decentralized exchange.

JustSwap

JustSwap is the first decentralized token exchange protocol on the TRON platform, allowing users to exchange any TRC20 tokens at the system price instantly.

JustSwap also allows users to earn transaction fees by being a liquidity provider, even getting commission-free on the protocol. In addition to exchanging TRC20 tokens, JustSwap users have the ability to earn transaction fees and mining rewards.

Conclusion

In general, DEX and CEX both have certain advantages and limitations. CEX has high trading volume and liquidity. At the same time, the platform also allows users to convert from Fiat to Crypto and vice versa. Meanwhile, DEXs are durable and “protected” against attack and fraud from third parties.

Through the above article, HotQA believes that you have made the right choice for yourself. Good luck with your future investment projects.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. This article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

Recently, NFT is a concept that is constantly mentioned by the press and media. The term NFT has become the topic of discussion in many technology groups and has flooded the Internet.

What is NFT really? Why does NFT have such potential? Can investing in NFT yield quick returns? Let’s learn about one of the hot spots of Blockchain technology with HotQA!

Source: Engadget

What is NFT?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can serve as a medium for commercial transactions.

To make it easier to imagine, usually for Fungible Tokens, we can completely exchange it with others because their value is equivalent. Cryptocurrencies are a prime example of a fungible token because each coin has the same value as any other coin of its kind at any given time. However, with NFT, each asset such as a painting, game character, etc. is unique and irreplaceable, thus creating a unique value for these assets.

Source: MIT Software

Features of NFTs

Unique – Each NFT has a unique property usually stored in tokens metadata. NFTs are unique in their character, and no two NFTs are the same. On the contrary, an original image .jpg file is the same as its copy, a .jpg file.

Digitally Scarce resource – NFT is stored in the blockchain network. Hence, the certificate of ownership is available on multiple networks, making it possible to prove digital asset’s ownership.

Indivisible – Most NFTs cannot be split into smaller denominations; you cannot buy or transfer a fraction of NFTs.

Ownership– These tokens guarantee the ownership of the asset transferred.

Fraud proof– They are easily transferable and fraud-proof.

Source: Variety

Practical NFT Application

It is the de-facto application area where everyone is trying to sell a token in millions.

Not just GIFs and images, you can also mint music and videos into NFTs.

And just like with images, music and videos can be copied all over the internet. But the bragging rights to own the original remains with the legit buyer.

For instance, this short video of Gucci Ghost last sold for USD 3,600 seven months back.

Back then, its creator–Trevor Andrew–listed it for USD 200. Then it changed several hands, and presently it is listed for USD 16,300 by its now-owner Danny.

They have plenty of use cases other than digital arts. Some of them are:

Tickets for an event (movie, live performance, soccer match, etc.) can be tokenized as NFTs. As every seat location is unique and no two can be the same.

Legal Docs, Invoices, Signatures, etc. You can convert any legal property document into an NFT. It can help in identifying the actual owner. This will reduce the scams in real estate and ease the selling process. Additionally, it will reduce the necessity of middlemen (local administration). So, the transfer will be economical and quick for both the seller and the buyer.

Similarly, you can tokenize invoices and signatures. It’ll end the misuse and will hold a permanent record of every transaction.

Supply Chain Management using NFTs can provide evidence about the originality of any product. For instance, you can check any medicine for its authenticity by tracking it to its genuine manufacturer.

Anything distinctive can be converted into a non-fungible token to ensure fair use. For example, your college degree, driver’s license, personal ID, passport, etc., can be issued as an NFT to prevent forgery.

How to buy NFT?

Before you buy NFT, there are 4 questions you need to think carefully:

Buy NFT from which market? Which wallet to use to connect to the NFT marketplace platform? What cryptocurrency to use to load the wallet and use? How will the NFT you want to buy be sold? Auction? Limited sale?…

As you may already know, some NFTs are only available on certain platforms. For example, if you are going to buy NBA Top Shot, you need to open an NBA Top Shot account, create a Dapper wallet and deposit in the form of USDC tokens or other suitable tokens. You also need to wait for the product to be announced and buy it quickly before it runs out of stock

Limited sale is a method to increase the rarity of NFT by creating a customer group with strong buying demand. The sale often requires buyers to register an account and deposit money first to avoid missing the opportunity to buy NFT. These sales only last a few seconds, so you need to be prepared.

Source: GILDED BLOG

Some popular NFT marketplaces include:

OpenSea

Rarible

SuperRare

Nifty Gateway

Foundation

Axie Marketplace

NFT ShowRoom

VIV3

BakerySwap

Risks of NFT

Non-Fungible tokens are making huge money for digital creators. There are plenty of artworks sold online every single day. It is even possible for a creator to earn millions in just a few seconds when their NFT is sold in the digital space. It is also visible that people are more enthusiastically buying, selling, and investing in the digital market rather than doing the same in the physical market.

This gives a considerable rise to the possibility of cyberattacks and online fraud. There are high chances of damage to the digital assets and the investors buying and selling NFTs in the market. Even though there is a vast potential for the NFT market, there are certain risks that one needs to consider.

If you are thinking about getting into the NFT market, then you should understand these risks and challenges with NFTs for a better idea.

Conclusion

Thanks to the “unique” and “limited” nature, NFT is being applied in a variety of fields such as gaming, art, digital asset, etc. As a result, NFT tokens promise to have a lot of potential to enhance in the near future. Besides the attractive potential, NFT also comes with risks as mentioned above. Therefore, investors also need to equip themselves with solid knowledge before deciding to put down money. Hope this article of HotQA has helped you better understand one of the most popular products of blockchain application. Good luck!

Source: Tino Group

Blockchain technology has spread to almost every field of the market, and many cryptocurrencies are taking advantage of the advancement of this technology to target a variety of fields. One of the most unique projects today is the Celo blockchain, as the area it targets are mobile phone users.

What Is Celo?

Celo is a mobile blockchain project optimized for mobile phones. Instead of using the complex alphanumerics of the blockchain as the blockchain address, Celo users can send and receive cryptocurrency using their mobile phone number as the public key. Through Celo, all operations of money transfer, payment, participation in DeFi protocols become convenient and easy to operate with just your mobile phone. Celo’s goal is to reach a customer base of 6 billion smartphone users, contributing to bringing blockchain and crypto closer to users around the world.

Salient Features Of Celo

Mobile-First blockchain platform

Smartphones have become an indispensable item in human life. From being just a device to receive calls, today’s mobile phone can meet all the needs of users including entertainment, entertainment, search, Internet access, buying and selling goods or services,…

In the past 3 years, cryptocurrencies in particular and blockchain, in general, have made great progress, opening a new era with unlimited potential that can be applied in almost all areas of life. However, the expansion of blockchain is still limited due to difficulties in accessing users.

Celo is the world’s first blockchain platform built to be optimized for mobile devices, as a bridge between modern blockchain technology and people. If successful, Celo could extend the connection to more than two-thirds of the world’s population.

Lightweight Identity technology

Instead of having to copy or remember long wallet addresses, Celo has simplified by allowing assets to be sent through very familiar wallet addresses such as phone numbers, personal emails, even IP addresses or Bank account numbers.

Of course, these wallet addresses will be encrypted on public platforms to ensure the security and ownership of users.

Focus on stablecoins development

Stablecoins have always been a very important factor in the development of an ecosystem, because of that Celo is one of the ecosystems that pay great attention to the development of its native stablecoin. Celo offers a variety of stablecoins with stable value as an actual fiat currency like cUSD, cEuro backed by high-value assets (BTC, ETH, Celo, DAI..) in Celo’s Reserve Holdings (one of the largest BTC holders in the world).

In addition, users can pay transaction fees in any currency. This feature helps users not have to worry about always having to maintain the balance of the native token to only pay fees like other blockchains.

Celo Reserve Holdings as of March 18, 2022

EVM compatibility

Celo includes a programmable smart contract platform that is compatible with the Ethereum virtual server. This allows Celo to deliver rich features to users, while rapidly supporting a diverse ecosystem of third-party apps and extensions.

CELO Coin

Celo has two different coins: CELO and Celo Dollars.

CELO coin is a native asset of the platform, which plays the role of:

Core Utility: Payment for on-chain transactions

Governance: Voting for governance decisions

Reserve and Staking for Celo platform

The CELO coin allows users to contribute their voices to the development of the platform.

CELO has a fixed supply and a variable value relative to the total value of stablecoins in circulation throughout the Celo ecosystem. CELO also plays a core role in the Celo platform’s stability mechanism, automatically adjusting the circulating supply of stablecoins to help keep prices as close to the target value as possible.

Celo Dollars (cUSD) is a stable asset in US Dollar prices. With cUSD, users can transfer money faster, cheaper and easier on their mobile phones.

Tokenomic

Token Metric

Token Name: Celo

Ticker: CELO

Blockchain: Celo Blockchain

Token Type: Utility, Governance

Total Supply: 1.000.000.000 CELO

Token Allocation

Staking & Validator: 30%

Community: 19.5%

Contributors: 18.5%

Pre-launch Sales: 12.5%

Reserve: 12%

Operations: 7.5%

CELO Token Allocation

CELO Token Sale

Private Sale 1: $0.18/CELO

Private Sale 2: $1/CELO, with a 25% discount for buyers who agree to lock in an additional 3 years beyond the initial 1-year lock-in period, and/or forgo the return of the reserve in case the mainnet is not released

Token Release Schedule

Celo has developed a token allocation plan that spans through 2050, depicted in the image below:

All tokens will be unlocked until 2050 with 3 important milestones: 2021, 2030 and 2050 with the following specific figures:

Team

Celo’s team of more than 100 members are professionals from all over the world with a wide range of experience working in public and private sectors, technology, non-profits and organizations and non-government. The entire Celo team is publicly available on their website.

Investors

Celo is one of the blockchains that has proven its potential and strength through a list of more than 80 large individual and institutional investors such as a16z, Coinbase, Polychain Capital or Jack Dorsey CEO of Twitter.

Partnership

Celo is an active partner of many large organizations operating in many fields such as technology, finance, environment, society, etc. Among them are Laboratoria, World Food Program, cLabs.

In addition, Celo also cooperates with many organizations operating in the blockchain field from many different fields: expansion, construction, education, payment, community,…

Official Websites

Website: https://celo.org/

Medium: https://medium.com/celoorg

Github: https://github.com/celo-org/celo-monorepo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeloOrg

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeloOrg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celoorg/

Telegram: https://t.me/celoplatform

Conclusions

Celo is a very special platform due to the goal of bringing the blockchain technology experience to users through mobile devices. Thanks to its unique and highly practical idea, and the advantage of being the first, it can be seen that Celo’s potential is still very large, worthy of being in the long-term investment.

Although it is still in the early stages of development, Celo’s vision and goals are long-term, with the desire to reach more than 6 billion mobile phone users globally. What is more, the community behind Celo is huge, diverse and full of enthusiasm, they will surely make Celo step by step become an indispensable platform for everyone.

 

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. This article is for informational and sharing purposes only.

If you are an expert in some kind aspect of the cryptocurrency industry, it is recommended to create and maintain a community to call out investors. Establishing a community allows you to reach out to the target audience and attract new users. However, a community now implies more than just Twitter followers in the developed industry. Discord, Reddit, and Telegram are popular tools nowadays that help to engage in meaningful discourse. Using a crypto community approach will provide entrepreneurs an advantage over their competitors. And in this article, we’ll talk about developing a crypto community strategy.

Effects of cryptocurrency on value

A cryptocurrency’s value increases dependent on supply and demand. Various factors, like fewer costs and rapid implementations, influence the demand for a coin. However, the supply will be determined by the number of people who choose to sell their coins as well as the number of coins that are generated. Since there isn’t a tested technique for creating a crypto community, you may start by giving out tokens to make sure they are received by as many individuals as possible.

However, due to the numerous requirements from the government, cryptocurrency firms only sell their tokens to approved investors. In light of this, startups should permit users to begin mining and not require a token pre-sale.

How to encourage community discussions

In order to commit long-term, it is necessary to engage in attractive discussion within your community. The crypto industry is changing rapidly, and new developments are always being made. Product updates and timely responses to customer complaints should be part of a healthy conversation. Consider creating a community where individuals may impart their knowledge to their peers. A vibrant online community will grow the client base even further. The key is to include as many individuals as you can in the conversation.

You can communicate about the technological features and user expectations even within a genuine discussion.

Tips to effectively build a crypto community

Obtain a Blockchain network (users and developers)

The future success of your product will depend on both users and developers. This is when you can add a feeling of inclusion and belonging. If you’re a in the crypto community, it is recommended to keep in contact with individuals you communicate with. This might apply to investors, traders, platform owners, new users, and so on. Therefore, a branded community will allow attracting new followers. 

Give credit to users and make redeemed coins available

By rewarding users for good behavior, you increase user engagement. Adding competition is one strategy for increasing your visibility. It’s an easy approach to increasing awareness and receiving free PR. To compensate users for the sign-ups and views they generate on the platform, you should implement a virtual currency system in the community.

Secure your project

No matter how effective you are, there will inevitably be some conflicts. However, there may be fewer concerns if the community has a better understanding of the project’s developing directions.

Incorporating third-party apps 

You may enhance community functionalities in a variety of ways. For example,  hosting a hackathon, including surveys, or teaming up with third-party sites. Slack, Marketo, and Hubspot are leading apps.

Motivate the community

Giving rewards is one of the most important tactics for creating a lively community. Meme contests, trade competitions, AMA events, and free giveaways are all possible to plan.

Partner with projects

Even though it can seem contradictory, working on different projects together adds value for users. Additionally, it enables them to access a larger following and find new possibilities.

Manage your community

Your project will continue to expand if the community is managed properly. Larger towns typically have volunteers who maintain order. The presence of official personnel will aid in involving the neighborhood and fostering trust in the cryptocurrency initiative.

But a smart business will assist you in managing interactions rather than depending on independent applications. You’ll receive a road plan from the team for attaining your objectives. Better still, you’ll approach brand-new users and respond right away without missing anything.

A crypto community also has the benefit of allowing for personalization. This indicates that you may develop a user-centric user experience and combine the business using pricey APIs and widgets.

You can change the way customers interact with brands by developing community support. There will be diverse backgrounds and experiences of users within the community.

The talks are effectively kept open-ended via Telegram. If your project doesn’t have a telegram, don’t be shocked if some users doubt its validity. This is so that users may communicate with the main teams using the site. Crypto veterans are familiar with the community’s dynamics.

The network effect

Your target audiences are the ones that should be prioritized. You must be specific about your goals and the ways in which you might include people if you want to take advantage of the network effect.

Here are tips on how to effectively build a community. We believe that every industrial expert is willing to deliver their experiences and advice to other users, especially beginners. And building a community network will help to reach out to audiences who have the demand, as well as willing to contribute to developing the industry. 

Most community leaders prioritize Telegram, Discord, and Reddit as leading tools to engage their community. However, with more premium features that help to shorten the distance between members such as livestream, PvP, PvG, which are only available on HotQA App. We are proud to provide community leaders with an effective tool that helps them to sufficiently communicate and interact with members, building a stronger and more stable crypto community.

Social media is virtually unrivaled as a tool for online community building around a brand or business. However, with so many people and organizations attempting to do the same thing, communications professionals must refine their approach in order to build a loyal community of followers.

Below are 10 inspiring tips for you, as a leader, to help you build a strong community group in these modern times.

Be Willing to respond

While posting engaging content on social media is important, responding to comments can help elevate your social communities. When you respond to your commenters with a comment or a like, your community will appreciate your promptness and be motivated to engage with your posts on a regular basis. You’ll also help to amplify and organically boost your content.

Encourage followers to take action for a good cause.

Giving back to the communities that brands serve is an excellent way to put values into action. When used to invite audiences to participate in an effort, social media can be a powerful tool for engaging with followers and fans. Allowing followers to take cause-related actions on social media empowers them to make a difference while also validating their shared connection with the brand.

Interact With the Content of Your Followers

While eye-catching, retweet-baiting, gimmicky sensationalism is quickly becoming the norm among communicators of all stripes, you can swim against the current and try social listening. Rather than posting your own content, motivate your followers by listening to and engaging with theirs. This will be appreciated by them and will help to strengthen the foundation of your relationship.

Collect and Share Third-Party Content That Motivates You

If something inspires you, it is likely to inspire others! Share quotes, art, stories, or anything else that inspires you, even if you did not create it. Remember to give credit to the content creators and use your platform to promote a diverse range of creators.

Draw Attention to Followers and Convert Them Into Active Participants

If you truly believe that social media is a community, then treat it as such from the perspective of your followers. You should share your followers’ stories, even if it takes more time. Inquire with them. Please share their videos. Invite them to collaborate with your organization to create content about why they love your brand and how it is an important part of their lives.

Be Relatable While Staying On-Brand

Traditional communities in society are built on shared interests, and online communities are no exception. People seek you out and follow you because you share stories, lessons, and ideas that they can learn from and apply in their own lives. Furthermore, the content you share should be consistent with how you describe yourself in your profile, so followers know what to expect.

Be on Time

Timeliness is essential. Your message must be relevant to what happened in the market today. Consider not only what you’re sharing and why, but also “why now?” Your content must immediately connect with your followers. What is happening in their world right now? If you want to motivate people to act, they must be able to connect the thought to the action and then act on it.

Increase Engagement Through Fun Content

Social media is all about interaction. While many of us in the B2B space is all about spreading thought leadership via these channels, true engagement occurs when you make it fun. People want to see each other. They want to support their friends. They are drawn to human stories. You want to incorporate all of this into your mix.

Highlight ‘ordinary’ people doing extraordinary things.

Everyone loves the phrase “From Zero to Hero”. One of the most important things we learned in 2020 was how many “ordinary” people are heroes. It’s the most inspiring thing I’ve ever heard. So, my one piece of advice for inspiring social media followers is to highlight how “normal” people (both employees and customers) are accomplishing incredible things—and how your product can help them do so.

Create A Secure Online Environment

For brand equity, trust is the new currency. Before you can inspire your followers, you must first provide them with a trustworthy and safe environment. Understanding toxic channel behaviors, recognizing harmful activity, prioritizing human moderation, responding to threats, and refining detection through AI are the first steps. This requires hard work, but with trust and safety, people can achieve their goals (and yours).

Have you ever struggled to get your community members to engage with your social media community? Or are you simply attempting to attract them? Here are 5 tips to help you reach your target member and understand the member’s insights to help you build a better community.

Define Your Target Audience

To reach your target audience, you must first define your target audience. And, for this, you need to understand your customers.

You list their demographic and psychographic attributes and preferences to gain a better understanding of your target audience. For example, in a stock Facebook community group, the target people are usually matured men/women between the ages of 25 and 40, and their insights are informative, they have strong skills and expertise, and about the characteristic, they are quite sarcastic, so the posts in the group should follow these insights to gain more quality posts.

Then you can market your community group only to those who are most likely to be genuinely interested in them. This means that there will be a higher chance of getting leads and conversions. This will help you increase traffic by investing less.

Create Useful, Up-to-date, and Relevant Content

The best way to reach your target audience is by providing them with the useful, newest, and relevant content. Writing about topics that are of interest to your intended audience is a sure-shot way of grabbing their attention.

The more targeted and relevant your content marketing is, the easier it will be for you to reach your target audience and engage them.

Content plays a major role in helping you generate leads and conversions. It can be implemented in various ways to get your desired results.

Here are some of the most common methods:

Blog posts and articles – Written content may not work as well as videos and images, but it still helps you get the attention of your audience. Just make sure that you write about topics that are of interest to your target audience and are useful to them.

Social media content – You can connect with your target audience through social media platforms as well. Through a combination of images, videos, and text, you can engage and reach them more efficiently.

Read The Room

To really be successful, you absolutely need to know what’s trending in your industry and why. Ask yourself: What are you trying to accomplish with your community group? Additionally, compare and contrast what worked and didn’t work for your competitors. Knowing your competitors is a great way to really identify what your platform needs to do to reach your target audience. Let’s look at this on a smaller scale, for example when we go to an event, it’s natural for us to approach those with common interests. While some would consider that to be remaining in our comfort zone, others would say it’s staying relatable.

The same mindset applies to community groups. How can your brand be more relatable to your target audience? Think about what your group has to offer those with the same mindset. What kind of audience is your group trying to attract? It’s true that these beginning stages may take more time than the group launch itself. However, it’s essential to know everything you can know about your niche before mindlessly casting a fishing line in the wrong pond and catching a frog. Attracting the right audience is the key. If you define your group character to have that academic vibe, keep it, it is your own color, don’t mess up with your niche market with other groups who work in the same industry but they do the best with their own colors.

Don’t “Ghost” Your Community Members

Once you’ve confidently communicated to your audience that your brand is the route they should take in order to meet their needs, stay connected to them. Many group administrators stop at the interaction when they think their community is big enough. Let’s back up and think about this. Would you want to try a new content or game, or event for the first time, only to be uncertain you’ll ever hear from the group from which you’ve joined it? What if you have questions? What if it’s not everything it’s cracked up to be and you want your effort back? Sadly, many community groups leave their members with questions like these when they don’t follow up with them.

Thankfully, there are ways to avoid making your members feel like they’ve been “ghosted.” Consider yourself a “big boy” in your community, and as an administrator, interacting with your members’ posts by adding some discussed comments can sometimes create excitement for them. While it’s better than not following up at all, it’s still more beneficial and helpful to your customers to actually communicate with them. There’s something about personalization that makes people feel special and want to stick with your brand.

Keep It Fun

Nobody wants to be a part of a dull, slow, or negative community group. People want to be relaxed and discuss in a humorous way after a long day and a busy life, so keeping it lighthearted is critical to gaining followers and keeping them engaged with the posts. Don’t be afraid to add more “spicy” content; our goal is to create a playground for people who share similar interests and to allow them to be themselves in a safe environment. Remember, spicy and toxic are two different words; create a border first to ensure that everything adheres to community standards so that we can build a healthy environment.

What is Learn-to-earn?

We have to admit that, as the crypto industry becomes more popular and everyone begins to adopt this new currency into their daily life, the market appears to have a significant growth in the number of ways to earn crypto.

To define it in a simple way, Lean-to-earn is the technique of rewarding tokens to players, who have learned about crypto. There are usually many forms of learning, such as video watching, quiz taking, and article reading.

The earned tokens will be used to trade in the competitive market. This also means, when you hold a number of tokens, you are considered the investor of that business, and you can use that to start your trading journey.

Why Learn-to-earn?

Basically, this is a win-win strategy. The learn-to-earn working process is app organizer receives engagement from users, while users can truthfully gain knowledge from the information and token provided by the app.

In conclusion, the token reward seems to be a big motivation for users to learn more about the crypto industry, through a variety of forms of learning. The company will also benefit from your trading using its tokens, which help them build its own community and raise higher exposure, also grow its reputation in the industry.

Where can you Learn-to-earn?

As we have mentioned, Lean-to-earn is leading the crypto models, therefore, it is not hard to find a crypto exchange that is conducting this kind of method. For example, Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, launches its Binance Learn & Earn, a quiz form of answering questions with topics focused on blockchain knowledge and earning tokens if answered correctly, have received massive support from users for its advantages.

Source: Binance

Or Rabbithole, where users who engage with well-known blockchain protocols and decentralized applications are rewarded by the site. The best feature, which makes it simple for newer crypto players to use, is how Rabbithole breaks down each protocol into gamified activities for users to comprehend the application’s fundamental features. In exchange, the protocol receives more exposure and users, which helps it start its network operations.

Source: RabbitHole

And HotQA, a crypto-powered Play-to-learn, Answer-to-earn platform that anyone can join not only to earn crypto but also to flex knowledge in an entertaining way. HotQA aims to be a community-driven platform empowering users by rewarding them for their engagement and enjoyment. Moreover, we are proud to design an app dedicated to everyone. Not limited to Blockchain and Crypto, a wide range of subject matters are created from General to History, Music, and Science, allowing players across multiple platforms to play together and develop multi-game modes to play anytime, anywhere.

Source: HotQA.io

Learn-to-earn leads the way in practical implementation

Learn-to-earn is a feature where it is different from others. Based on its process, where it truly provides users the practical implementation into their daily life, and its impact on education.

Learn-to-earn is the perfect primary pack for crypto newcomers, as they not only reward people with tokens and teach them how to trade and be involved in the crypto market, but it also provides useful information through the way where it actually inspires people.

It is too soon to state that Learn-to-earn is the next big hit after Play-to-earn. However, due to its fast growth, benefits, and its application, and especially the downturn in the market throughout the year, this feature definitely will create a massive wave in earning crypto if being able to catch the perfect golden time.