How did blockchain come about? Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta envisioned what many now know as blockchain in 1991. Initially, their first project involved creating a network of cryptographically secured blocks where no one could tamper with the timestamp records of documents.
In 1992, they upgraded their system to incorporate Merkle trees, which enhanced efficiency by allowing more documents to be collected in a single block. However, it was in 2008 that Blockchain History began gaining relevance, thanks to the work of an individual or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Satoshi Nakamoto is credited as the mastermind behind blockchain technology. Very little is known about Nakamoto, as it is believed that he could be an individual or a group of people who worked on Bitcoin, the first application of digital ledger technology.
Nakamoto conceptualized the first blockchain in 2008, from which the technology evolved and found its way into many applications beyond cryptocurrencies. Satoshi Nakamoto released the first whitepaper on the technology in 2009. In the whitepaper, he detailed how the technology was well-equipped to enhance digital trust, given its decentralized nature, meaning that no one would ever control anything.
Since Satoshi Nakamoto stepped away and handed over Bitcoin development to other developers, digital technology has evolved, resulting in new applications that shape the blockchain story.
Applications and Benefits of Using the BNB Cryptocurrency
BNB is the cryptocurrency that powers the Binance Chain ecosystem. As one of the most popular utility tokens worldwide, not only can you transact BNB like any other cryptocurrency, but BNB also has a wide range of applications and use cases.
Use BNB to pay for goods and services, settle transaction fees on the Binance Smart Chain, participate in exclusive token sales, and much more.
In addition to being a blockchain platform, Ethereum has a significant impact across various sectors. It is widely used in decentralized finance (DeFi), enabling lending, trading, staking, and other financial activities without intermediaries. Moreover, Ethereum has been utilized as a foundation for launching NFTs, driving the growth of the digital art market, digital collectibles, and much more.
Following an incident in July 2016, the Ethereum network underwent a fork. At that time, attackers exploited vulnerabilities in the smart contract code of a prominent Ethereum application called The DAO. In response to community concerns, the Ethereum Foundation implemented a hard fork to reverse all transactions related to The DAO and allow original DAO contributors to recover their funds.
While many communities supported Ethereum's hard fork, some chose to continue operating on the original Ethereum blockchain. This blockchain became known as Ethereum Classic.
The launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has increased institutional investment in the global cryptocurrency market and intensified the upward price movement, which began in late 2023.
These funds, authorized in January 2024, brought the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to the traditional stock exchange and boosted digital transactions, especially in the first quarter. The cumulative trading volume exceeded $268.9 billion by May 22, 2024, according to the cryptocurrency industry information and news services company, The Block.
In the first three months of this year, Bitcoin's price saw a 44% increase, according to CoinMarketCap. The positive performance of the cryptocurrency with the largest global market capitalization is also reflected in other assets. Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, rose by 28.7%, and Binance Coin (BNB) surged by nearly 88%. This movement highlights how institutional advancement, with recognized participation in one of the world's leading economies, solidifies digital currencies as an investment option.
Low transaction costs: Solana transaction costs are around $0.00025 per transaction. The network's scalability ensures transactions cost less than 1 cent for developers and users.
Speed: The Solana network can handle up to 65,000 transactions per second, making it one of the fastest networks in the cryptocurrency market.
Growing network: As the network gains popularity, many developers are creating projects for Solana, increasing its usage.
Scalability solutions: Solana network allows for scalability, meaning that even as its user base grows, it can handle operations smoothly.
Meet Laszlo Hanyecz, the first person to conduct a Bitcoin transaction for a physical item - 10,000 BTC for 2 pizzas in 2010.
You may think you've never heard of Laszlo Hanyecz, a Florida-based programmer working for the online retail company GoRuck, but you'd probably be wrong - Hanyecz was behind the groundbreaking purchase of two Papa John's pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoins (BTC) on May 22, 2010, making this week an eight-year celebration of Pizza Day.
But the transaction didn't involve just one person: Jeremy Sturdivant, also known as Jasco, was part of the original Bitcoin pizza deal as the recipient of the 10,000 BTC, which he used to get two pizzas.
Since Bitcoin's fateful first recorded transaction for a physical good, the currency's use case has taken off, with customers now able to use Bitcoin for real estate transactions, online shopping, plane reservations, and, of course, pizza.
Cryptocurrencies allow bypassing costs and avoiding expenses related to fees, supporting this borderless market. Additionally, they reduce the time it takes for e-commerce to receive funds.
Transaction Agility
Investing in blockchain-mediated transactions speeds up your transactions, thereby optimizing your cash flow. Moreover, it also brings advantages to your customers since order fulfillment becomes faster. This happens because cryptocurrency payment processing is more immediate, ensuring purchased items are dispatched instantly.
Market Reach
Companies aiming to increase market share and generate more profits can benefit from adopting cryptographic transactions. They can invest in offering new products and partnerships with different markets, including international ones. Many brands and markets accept payment in digital currencies. Moreover, those looking to expand their brand beyond borders can rely on cryptocurrencies for international transactions.
Secure Transactions
Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies feature complex encryption, making them difficult to counterfeit and steal. Blockchain technology prevents so-called friendly fraud as well as chargebacks. Thus, merchants feel more secure when issuing refunds to customers.
Reduced Fees
Certain cryptocurrencies offer the advantage of reduced third-party service fees. This is a significant benefit to e-commerce as it enhances profitability by keeping transaction costs lower.
Payment Flexibility
An e-commerce website can provide a complete shopping experience to consumers by adopting cryptocurrency as a payment method option. When customers encounter more payment flexibility, there is less cart abandonment, particularly when they can reduce banking service fees.
Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is an entrepreneur with an impressive track record of successful startups. He founded Binance in July 2017 and within 180 days, turned it into the world's largest digital asset exchange by trading volume. A pioneer in the blockchain industry, CZ has shaped Binance into a leading blockchain ecosystem, comprising Binance Exchange, Labs, Launchpad, Academy, Research, Trust Wallet, Charity, NFT, and more. CZ spent his early years flipping burgers before studying at McGill University in Montreal.
Currently, Binance Earn offers two types of profits - Guaranteed and High Yield. Users can choose to invest their cryptocurrencies for predictable returns or opt for high-yield staking coins that provide above-average gains, albeit with corresponding risks to the invested capital. Only invest what you can afford to lose, regardless of how high potential returns may be.
Guaranteed
If you're new to the world of cryptocurrencies, you can start with products listed under [Guaranteed]. These products offer relatively stable yields, and you can retrieve your capital upon redemption or at the end of the lock-up period, if applicable.
1.1 Simple Earn Simple Earn offers two types of products - Flexible Products and Locked Products. Similar to a bank's savings account, you can deposit your cryptocurrencies and earn daily interest on your idle funds.
1.2 Launchpool When users stake their cryptocurrency assets in DeFi projects, such as providing liquidity to a liquidity pool, they receive rewards. By reinvesting these rewards, users can engage in a process known as Yield Farming.
1.3 BNB Vault BNB Vault is a capital-guaranteed investment product designed to help your inactive cryptocurrencies generate returns. 1.4 ETH Staking
Binance has launched the ETH Staking service to provide an accessible platform for Ethereum staking to all users. It starts with just 0.1 ETH and Binance covers all validator operational expenses and supports chain penalty risks, where applicable. All applicable on-chain staking rewards will be distributed to users.
In addition to these products, there are various others that may be attractive and suitable based on your investment profile. Be sure to read about the benefits of using the Earn section provided by Binance.
Cryptocurrencies are fully digital currencies protected by cryptography. They can be transferred freely between individuals without the control or intermediation of governments and central banks.
Cryptocurrencies emerged to facilitate the exchange of value and to bring more financial freedom to people. Therefore, they can be used in transactions across the globe, offering advantages such as greater transparency, autonomy, and lower fees.
Advantages of investing in cryptocurrencies:
Unlike stocks, the price of crypto assets can vary significantly, which enhances the chances of appreciation and return on investment.
Especially when considering well-established cryptocurrencies in the market, such as Bitcoin, these assets can be considered very promising in the long term.
Factors such as favorable economic conditions for riskier assets, media attention, and large companies entering this market can spur cryptocurrency prices more suddenly.
In the long term, it's primarily the fundamentals of a cryptocurrency, its ability to develop its technology, and offer more utility to people that can contribute to its appreciation.
The term 'Web3' was coined by Gavin Wood in 2014, but gained traction starting in 2021 with the cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) revolution. Also known as Web3, it represents the third generation of the internet powered by blockchain technology.
Web3 is characterized by its decentralized nature, which allows greater ownership and control for users over their own online information. It is seen as an internet where users not only participate but also own what they use, with decision-making power," emphasizes Kenneth Corrêa, an MBA professor at FGV specializing in new technologies, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse.
Kenneth explains that "the three are key concepts shaping the future of the internet and are strongly interconnected. They all point towards a more personalized and interactive internet (Web3), where users can engage in immersive virtual spaces (Metaverse) with verifiable ownership of unique items and experiences (NFTs)."
Key characteristics of Web 3.0 include
Decentralization: Web 3.0 is powered by blockchain technology, enabling a truly decentralized internet where no single entity has complete control over the network.
User ownership: In Web 3.0, users own their own data and have full control over how it is used.
Digital currencies: Part of the aforementioned decentralization is the existence of cryptocurrencies not controlled by any central organization or bank.
When thinking about global trade, the logistics sector is a vital part responsible for ensuring safe and effective transportation worldwide. Blockchain, in turn, has been transforming the management of this sector, enabling opportunities for process automation and increased security.
Given the complexity of processes, the challenges involved in this sector, and the context in which companies are expected to demonstrate operational transparency, transport security, and consequently reliability, blockchain technology emerges as an ally.
In this regard, it is important to note that according to Grand View Research data, 12.5% of the revenue from the global blockchain market was allocated to the logistics sector, highlighting the recognition of its importance and positive impact on logistics operations.
Therefore, one of the main functionalities brought by blockchain is the ability to enable real-time tracking of a product from its origin to its final destination. The technology also ensures the creation of a digital copy of a physical object or even an operational or industrial process, improving transparency and reducing operational risks.
Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, Nvidia embarked on its journey with the mission to revolutionize the world of computer graphics.
The introduction of the company's first Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), the GeForce 256, in 1999, marked a milestone that forever changed the gaming and graphics industry. The parallel processing capability of Nvidia's GPUs quickly became essential for gamers and graphics professionals worldwide.
In recent years, Nvidia has expanded beyond high-performance graphics. The company has ventured into areas such as data centers, autonomous vehicles, and more recently, artificial intelligence. Each of these sectors has greatly benefited from the parallel processing power of GPUs, which are ideal for running complex AI algorithms.
Nvidia has positioned itself as a leader in this field by providing hardware and software that accelerate the development and deployment of AI solutions. Nvidia GPUs are used to train AI models, process large volumes of data, and efficiently perform inference tasks.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently reached the impressive milestone of 200 million customers worldwide. This achievement not only solidifies its position as a leader in the digital asset market but also illustrates the exponential growth in global interest and adoption of cryptocurrencies. To grasp the magnitude of this number, it's worth comparing it to the populations of various countries around the world, including Brazil.
The cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently launched an incentive and early access rewards program for Web3 users, introducing airdrops and missions.
Named 'Megadrop', the new program is a token launch platform where users "can stake BNB for Locked Products and/or complete tasks on their Web3 wallet for early access to rewards from selected Web3 projects before their tokens are listed on the Binance Exchange," as per a blog post on Binance.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is a blockchain platform capable of executing smart contracts. It operates alongside Binance Chain, a separate blockchain platform optimized for ultra-fast trading with significantly higher transaction throughput.
Binance, one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, launched Binance Chain in 2019 to support its decentralized exchange (DEX), BinanceDEX. Binance Chain was specifically designed for fast and non-custodial trading. It introduced a native utility token called BNB, with a fixed supply of 200 million BNB tokens.
However, Binance Chain lacks the flexibility to support smart contracts, a deliberate design choice to prevent network congestion.
If a platform optimized for fast and non-custodial trading were to support smart contracts, it could lead to significant network congestion. A notable example validating this statement is the blockchain game CryptoKitties, which congested the entire Ethereum network at the peak of its popularity.
In September 2020, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was launched as a programmable smart contract blockchain platform running parallel to Binance Chain. BSC is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to migrate their EVM-based applications directly to the BSC platform.
While BSC operates parallel to Binance Chain, it should not be categorized as a Layer-2 scalability solution or sidechain. BSC is an independent and standalone blockchain that can continue to operate even if Binance Chain goes offline.
Due to its EVM compatibility, developers can not only port their DApps seamlessly but also use their favorite tools like Metamask to interact with BSC. This native compatibility will help BSC leverage the rich Ethereum ecosystem that exists today.
BSC uses Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA), a variation of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, achieving an average block time of ~3 seconds, making it much faster than Ethereum.
Those who follow the market, even from a distance, have certainly been surprised by the ups and downs of digital currencies in the news. The most famous is Bitcoin, but many others also have relevance and the favor of investors. But after all, what is a cryptocurrency and how do these assets work?
Generally, a cryptocurrency is a type of money like other currencies we deal with daily, with the difference of being entirely digital. Moreover, it is not issued by any government (as is the case with the euro or the dollar, for example).
With Bitcoin, you can transfer funds from A to B anywhere in the world without ever needing to trust a third party for this simple task, unlike the traditional market that uses an intermediary (financial institution / BANK) as a transaction mediator, along with the need for high bureaucracies in case of high-value transactions.
Cryptocurrencies can be used for the same purposes as physical money itself. The three main functions are serving as a medium of exchange, facilitating commercial transactions; store of value, to preserve purchasing power in the future; and long-term investments, prioritizing appreciation over time.
In addition to Bitcoin, we have the availability of other cryptocurrencies that stand out as "mother assets or pillars of cryptos" such as Ethereum, BNB, among others. For those seeking long-term investments, it is always good to keep in mind established crypto assets for potential wealth growth.
The evolution in Ethereum's roadmap came with the Shanghai Update, launched in April 2023. This update, notable for introducing EIP-4895, brought a crucial innovation by allowing ETH validators to unlock staked funds on the network. As a direct result, staked ETH and associated rewards became readily accessible, leading to a substantial increase in ETH liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.
The Merge
The "Merge" update involved a fundamental transition of Ethereum's consensus mechanisms from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). This change resulted in a more sustainable and energy-efficient Ethereum.
The Surge
The "Surge" aims to increase Ethereum's processing capacity to up to 100,000 transactions per second through the implementation of Sharding, a scalability technique.
Dencun Fork
The Dencun update on the Ethereum Mainnet brings with it the implementation of six Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) focused on execution logic. Among these, EIP-4844 stands out for introducing innovative functionality specifically tailored for second-layer solutions, promising a significant reduction in transaction fees.
Ethereum (ETH), the world's second-largest blockchain project, has paved the way for the emergence of revolutionary new technologies. One of these is DeFi.
DeFi, short for Decentralized Finance, refers to a set of financial services and products such as loans, transfers, and payment systems that operate on a blockchain, a type of decentralized and immutable database. Typically, these solutions are not controlled by intermediaries such as banks or other financial institutions.
Operations on DeFi protocols are described and executed by algorithms and smart contracts, which are self-executing computer programs. A practical example to understand how they work is a loan:
An individual can borrow money from another person in a peer-to-peer transaction. The terms of transfer, amounts, interest rates, collateral, and all details are predefined in these automated contracts and executed by them. There is no need to rely on a bank or another entity with its hefty fees to intermediate the operation.
Therefore, the main goal of this technology is to create a global decentralized financial system that is independent, cost-effective, less bureaucratic, and accessible to everyone.