On the 19th of April, the Tron network recorded its highest daily increase in new accounts.
This feat was noticed by a senior Tron Community member.
Justin Sun was baffled by the sudden increase.
However, it could be due to the Just (JST) token scale next month and the allure of staking TRX.
The Tron (TRX) network has continued to run smoothly since its mainnet was launched in mid-2018. Additionally, the number of total accounts on the network has reached a staggering 5.353 Million at the time of writing this.
Tron Records Highest Daily Increase in New Accounts
In a tweet a few hours ago, Tron community member @MishaLederman, notified the crypto community that the TRX network had experienced its largest daily increment in new accounts on the 19th of April. The tweet went on to give the following stats regarding the achievement.
The #Tron blockchain recorded its highest daily increase of new accounts yesterday, April 19: 65,226 new $TRX accounts (+1,2% daily increase in relation to all 5.3M #TRX accounts) It’s also 61% higher than the previous daily record of 40,386 from Feb 28, 2019.
Justin Sun Baffled at the Increase in New Tron Accounts
In response to the tweet by @MishaLederman, Justin Sun expressed his surprise regarding the achievement. He further stated that he had no idea as to why crypto enthusiasts suddenly decided to start using Tron. His tweet can be found below.
I have no idea why ppl suddenly start to use #TRON. #TRX $TRXhttps://t.co/wOMvddgpYr
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) April 20, 2020
2 Reasons: Staking and the Just (JST) Token Sale
However, there are two plausible reasons why the network has experienced a sudden spike in new accounts.
Firstly, and as pointed out in an earlier analysis, staking Tron (TRX) has continually become a profitable endeavor in the current uncertain times. Average returns are between 7 – 8% per year which is very appealing for anyone who wants to avoid trading the current crypto market environment.
Secondly, the Just (JST) token sale takes place on the Poloniex exchange on the 5th of May. The exchange will only accept TRX as the method of participation. This means any willing participant will have to open an account with Poloniex and purchase or deposit TRX if they want to reap the benefits of the IEO.
Conclusion
The Tron (TRX) network continues to grow as witnessed with the historic daily increment in new accounts pointed out by Mr. Lederman. As a result, Justin Sun expressed his surprise at the sudden increment in new users. However, two logical reasons come to mind. Users want to utilize staking on the Tron network as well as participate in the Just (JST) IEO that takes place on Poloniex. Additionally, it could also be a Tron DApp that has suddenly become popular. Only time will provide evidence of the latter theory.
(Feature image courtesy of Jungwoo Hong on Unsplash.)
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.
As the name seems to clearly suggest, a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) is a standard that has been devised to help in the alteration of BTCs core protocol. However, in a few notable cases BIPs have even served as a source for crucial information for the Bitcoin community at large.
From a more technical standpoint, we can see that the aforementioned proposals seek to facilitate certain consensus-based critical changes (such as soft and hard forks) as well as usher in other modifications related to Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer layer and seed framework. With that being said, it needs to be made abundantly clear that not every change made via a Bitcoin software implementation has a direct effect on the core BTC protocol. In this regard, we can see that certain changes that are routinely put forth by independent developers do not require a BIP to be accepted by the community at large.
Origins
When looking at the back story of how the first Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) came to be, we can see that the first such proposal was introduced by an early crypto dev named Amir Taaki, who is widely credited as being the creator of the world’s first alternative implementation of the Bitcoin protocol — Libbitcoin.
According to a blog released by Taaki around a decade back, he made it abundantly clear that BIPs, if used correctly, has the potential to greatly benefit the overall development of Bitcoin (by making the cryptocurrency’s native ecosystem more structured and accountable.)
Not only that, as per data available online, we can see that Taaki submitted the first BIP (referred to as BIP 0001) to the Bitcoin community sometime during mid-2011. The document essentially highlighted how the entire process surrounding BIPs should be conducted and was largely inspired by the process that is currently used to improve the nitty-gritty associated with a famous digital programming language called Python (as described in PEP0).
How are BIPs vetted?
As with any proposal, a BIP starts off as a basic draft that is submitted by one or more authors. Also, prior to its submission, a BIP is discussed at length informally across a host of BTC-oriented mailing lists, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels, etc. Also, during its lifetime as a draft, a BIP can be modified and changed by its authors (based on community feedback) any number of times.
Also, in the case of a Bitcoin protocol change, a code-based reference implementation is necessary. Lastly, it goes without saying that a proposal is only considered final if it reaches community consensus.
Source: GitHub
Key topics worth exploring
BIP numbers:
As the name sort of alludes to, a BIP number can be thought of as a catalog code that is assigned to a proposal as per the wishes of the designated BIP editor after the draft has fulfilled a majority of the criteria (such as formatting) set forth by the global BTC community.
The BIP editor reserves a number of special rights:
When it comes to improvement proposals, the appointed BIP editor has the power to reserve certain groups of numbers for proposals that share a common link.
BIPs are non-binding:
A core aspect of BIPs worth pointing out is that they are not binding and thus legal action based on them cannot be upheld in a court of law.
What are the different types of BIPs that exist today?
In all, there exist a total of three major types of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals — namely Standards Track BIPs; Informational BIPs and Process BIPs. In this section, we will describe each of these concepts in brief:
(i) Standards Track BIPs:
These are proposals that seek to make changes to the BTC network protocol, block data or even the way in which the ecosystem validates its native transactions. Additionally, Standards Track BIPs also look to change the interoperability of two versions of BIPs and require community consensus to come into effect. A perfect illustration of such a proposal is BIP 91.
(ii) Informational BIPs:
As the name suggests, Informational BIPs are aimed at highlighting various design issues, general guidelines, and other similar data that does not have to be taken seriously by the community at large. BIP 32 is a direct representation of such a proposal.
(iii) Process BIPs:
These kinds of improvement proposals seek to implement a change in the core processes underlying the Bitcoin ecosystem. In their most basic sense, Process BIPs can somewhat be compared to Standards Track BIPs since they entail major changes that need to be vetted through a consensus vote. An example that perfectly fits into this category is BIP 2.
BIP Life Cycle
Depending upon the kind of BIP that needs to be passed, it may or may not require community consensus. However, before things reach such a stage, the submitted proposal has to go through a number of phases such as:
Drafting
Verification
Community Acceptance
Acceptance/Rejections or Amendments.
Famous BIP Examples
1. BIP 141
BIP 141 (better known as SegWit or Segregated Witness) was a proposal that was introduced all the way back in 2015 by a couple of developers who at the time were working on the Bitcoin Core project. As many of our readers may already be aware of, BIP 141 seeks to increase BTCs native network scalability as well as solve many of the issues related to the currency’s transaction throughput. Additionally, it should be pointed out that the proposal was brought into effect via a soft fork which required over 95% of the network’s miners to signal for the upgrade over a fixed period of 14 days.
In layman’s terms, one can think of Segregated Witness (aka SegWit) as being a blockchain scaling solution that allows for more transactions to take place within a single BTC block.
2. BIP 91
Quite similar to BIP 141, BIP 91 was also a soft fork proposal that was brought forth by Bitmain’s James Hilliard back in mid-2017. The goal of BIP 91 was to activate the existing SegWit solution (i.e. BIP 141) with a hash power majority of less than 95%.
3. BIP 148
BIP 148 is a user-activated soft-fork SegWit solution that was introduced during the first quarter of 2017 by an individual who goes by the pseudonym ‘Shaolin Fry’. Simply put, the proposal provides the global crypto community with a unique way in which to scale up Bitcoin’s total Tx capacity. Additionally, it bears mentioning that at the time of its deployment, BIP 148 required 50+% BTCs full node users to upgrade their software.
4. Lightning Network
The BIP associated with the Lightning Network was conceived back in 2015 by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja. The protocol makes BTC’s tx framework more scalable by allowing for instant payments to take place off-chain. This is primarily achieved through the creation of micropayment channels that allow for money transfers to go through without the risk of any counterparty thefts.
From a technical standpoint, we can see that the utility of LN is made possible through the introduction of multi-signature wallets that allow for an infinite number of transactions to take place without there being any need to store the associated data on the native BTC blockchain. The only data that is recorded onto the blockchain is the total volume of BTC that is available in the associated wallet as well as the contribution percentages of the involved parties.
Lastly, in addition to enabling instant transactions, the Lightning Network also helps in the enabling of cross-chain payments as well as smart contract utilization.
5. M.A.S.T
Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees (or MAST as they are commonly known as) is a cryptographic tool that allows for complicated data sets to be merged into BTC tx’s in a highly streamlined manner. This allows for the total amount of data to be added to the blockchain to be greatly reduced. Technically, we can see that M.A.S.T. is an amalgamation of two separate tools — namely Merkle Trees and Abstract Syntax Trees. For those of our readers who may not be aware, Merkle trees can be thought of as algorithmic structures that allow for data to be recorded without the need for it to be downloaded. Similarly, Abstract Syntax Trees allow for complex data sets to be added to a blockchain while bringing down the total amount of data (that has been recognized as being part of a particular transaction) associated with the tx.
In this regard, there are three BIPs that seek to implement M.A.S.T. into the Bitcoin network. These include:
BIP 114:
This proposal was submitted by BTC Core dev Johnson Lau with the aim of increasing Bitcoin’s native security levels by introducing a new merkelized script into the currency’s ecosystem. Additionally, BIP 114 seeks to greatly reduce the need for large amounts of transaction data while maintaining user privacy at all times.
BIP 116:
BIP 116 was proposed by Bitcoin Core developer Mark Friedenbach as a means of allowing native BTC data to be confirmed without there being any need of disclosing the entire data set associated with the tx.
BIP 117:
Also referred to as Tail Call Semantics, BIP 117 is a proposal which when used in conjunction with BIP 116 aims to generalize the core concepts underlying M.A.S.T. while providing full support for native SegWit addresses.
The deployment of M.A.S.T allows for a number of benefits such as:
Enhanced privacy
Faster transaction speeds
Inclusion of complex data (example: smart contracts)
Increased scalability as well as overall tx volume.
6. Confidential Transactions
As the name clearly suggests, the BIP concerned with Confidential Transactions seeks to usher in a new level of privacy for the data contained within the Bitcoin network. The proposal was submitted by a well-respected blockchain developer by the name of Gregory Maxwell. It will allow bitcoin users to gain access to a host of privacy-related benefits — much like what other privacy-centric coins such as Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) currently offer their users.
7. Dandelion
Dandelion is an important BIP that seeks to redesign BTCs core network stack so as to make the premier cryptocurrency more anonymous as well as reduce many of the vulnerabilities that are currently associated with the disclosure of BTCs tx identities. Some of the core benefits of Dandelion include:
Increased difficulty in confirming the origin of a particular transaction
Reduced risks of third-party intrusions
Lowered possibility of miscreants linking BTC Txs with their source IP
8. Numerifides Trust Consensus Protocol
This is another proposal that delineates the creation of a network that is secure, decentralized and features human-readable names. It was submitted by Taylor Hawkins who in a GitHub draft mentioned the following:
“Rather than deriving justice and authority from a system that’s not supposed to look but too often does, I propose a DECENTRALIZED CONSENSUS PROTOCOL that enables a system of decentralized authority on a public piece of data, on an open blockchain and any independent, skeptical user or actor operating the consensus protocol can verify any other actor’s statement of authority in a decentralized, fair and privacy-protective manner.”
Other core facets of this BIP include:
It allows users to establish their aliases which they wish to transact on the network.
In order for this proposal to work, users are required to lock up a certain amount of Bitcoin as well as provide a PoW confirmation for the same.
Conclusion
Despite Bitcoin Improvement Proposals receiving a lot of flak over the years, we need to admit that their importance, at least as far as redefining the Bitcoin ecosystem goes, has been nothing short of monumental. And while a large number of people believe that regular BIPs can lead to more forks in the BTC network, we need to bear in mind that these changes can only be implemented through community consensus.
To keep track of BIPs, crypto enthusiasts can either choose to visit technical digital currency/blockchain portals such as GitHub — which is widely considered by many to be the largest repository of all things crypto. Alternatively, people can also follow crypto news related to this space through a number of different websites such as Bitcoinexchangeguide, Coindesk, Cointelegraph, etc.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Bitcoin Improvement Proposal: What is a BIP, How It Works? appeared first on Master The Crypto.
This privacy coin analysis takes a look at the two leading coins focusing on anonymizing transactions; Monero (XMR) and ZCash (ZEC).
Cryptocurrencies were launched with the aim of anonymizing online payments completely. Some of the most popular cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum – are created with specific characteristics; Bitcoin is used mainly as digital cash, Ethereum facilitates the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts, while Litecoin is characterized as the ‘silver‘ to Bitcoin’s gold. Unfortunately, due to their massive popularity, major coins leave lots to be desired when it comes to anonymity. For a truly private coin, you have to consider other purpose-built cryptocurrencies.
There are currently two major coins that are leading the quest for complete anonymity; Zcash and Monero. They offer a completely private online payment system but are powered by a different technology. In this article, we’re going to discuss and compare the privacy features of these coins and ascertain each of their use cases.
(Read also: Guide on Privacy Coins: Comparison of Anonymous Cryptocurrencies)
Private Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies should, in spirit and principle, be completely private. Blockchain privacy is determined by a coin’s features that obscure transactional data such as addresses and transfer amounts. Without hiding this data, blockchain forensic experts can quite easily identify users, especially since know-your-customer (KYC) laws are enforced by cryptocurrency exchanges.
Monero
Monero (XMR) adopts ‘ring signatures’, ‘ring confidential transactions’ and stealth address to obscure transactional data (the transacting parties and the amount transacted). Ring confidential transaction technology hides the route of the transaction and its amount. Stealth addresses allow the two parties to publish one address but receive payments through several unlinked addresses. This keeps, or attempts to keep sender and recipient information completely private.
Previously in 2017, it was claimed that Monero’s technology had major flaws in hiding transactional information. It was claimed that coin’s ring signatures could be de-anonymized through ‘chain-reaction analysis’.
With the integration of RingCT and stealth addresses however, those claims have been taken care of according to the Monero developer team.
Zcash
Zcash’s (ZEC) approach to privacy takes a different approach, by using a technology called ‘zk-snarks’. Basically, zk-snarks uses a concept called ‘zero-knowledge’ proofs. What this means is that you prove something while revealing a minimal amount of information. An interesting thing to note about Zcash is that stealth transactions are optional, rather than a default feature.
Trust in Zcash’s privacy was shaken when it was found that 69 percent of shielded transactions could be linked to either founders or miners. Since this is a fairly recent problem, it has still not been rectified completely.
(See also: Guide on Identifying Scam Coins)
Cryptocurrency Network Privacy
Network privacy refers to anonymizing of user information such as IP addresses through features like Tor and I2P networks.
Monero
Although Monero is a private coin that obscures its user’s data on the blockchain, it is still possible to identify users via the leaking of IP addresses. To stop this ‘vulnerability’, the Monero team is currently working on Kovri, a C++ version of the current I2P network. Kovri is being designed to de-link IP addresses from transactions and hide geolocations.
This is definitely a step in the right directions towards ensuring complete anonymity for Monero users. Kovri is still in the alpha stage so for now, users have to manage their own network protection.
Zcash
Zcash users can choose to operate on the Tor network. But like blockchain privacy, this is also optional. Unlike Monero, there are no plans for built-in network privacy features for Zcash.
Read more: Category of Cryptocurrency Market: Social Network Coins)
Default / Mandatory Privacy
Depending on the cryptocurrency, privacy features can optional or mandatory. Since there are side effects of enabling strict privacy on blockchain transfers, it’s natural that some coins will give users this choice.
Monero
Monero is a truly private cryptocurrency since it has privacy enabled by default. This default setting ensures that all transactions are carried on the same private standard. Of course, there is greater overhead fees associated with private transactions as they place a heavier workload on the network. Performance of the private network is being constantly improved by the developers.
Zcash
Perhaps one of the biggest flaws of Zcash as a privacy coin is that stealth operations are optional. This flexibility appears to be a benefit, but in reality, it just leads to a lot of confusion. Users who switch between public and private version of the blockchain risk leaking metadata that can result in reduced anonymity.
What’s more, just 13.4 percent of Zcash transactions are private. This goes to show that Zcash isn’t really being used as a privacy coin. Private transactions are expensive and few wallets support them, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Zcash is essentially a Bitcoin fork, so it’s easier for wallets to support regular transactions. Fortunately, stealth transactions on the network are becoming less expensive thanks to zk-snarks efficiency improvements. These improvements might lead to Zcash one day becoming a privacy-only coin in the future. We willl have to wait and see.
(See more: Public Vs Private Blockchain: What’s The Difference?)
Privacy-Related Drawbacks
Monero
Monero is a privacy coin by default, and as such comes with high fees and slow confirmations. The October 18th hardfork which integrates bulletproofs into RingCT has made things better as it aims to reduce transaction data by up to 80 percent.
Zcash
Keeping in mind the increased processing requirements, only a few portions of Zcash users choose stealth transactions. The Sapling upgrade has made stealth transactions much less taxing by reducing RAM requirements from 3 GB to just 40MB.
For a greater understanding of the limitations of blockchain technology (slow confirmations, high fees etc.), it is vital to understand the issue of scalability. Here is an article that breaks down scalability.
Which is the Better Privacy Coin?
Cryptocurrency is still a fairly nascent technology, and as such hasn’t been fully realized yet. Even the best private coin will eventually reveal some flaws that are simply there because the technology hasn’t matured well enough.
Still, if you are looking for the best private cryptocurrency, Monero should be your top choice. Yes, it does come with high fees and slow confirmations but its blockchain and network-level privacy are almost peerless. What’s more, you can rest assured that your transaction will be completely private as it’s the default for this coin. The key for individuals who want to keep their Monero safe is to use a secure anonymous wallet for their transactions.
So even though Monero appears to be the cryptocurrency of choice for cybercriminals, it is still a very secure technology. We really can’t blame Monero for how it is being used, just like it’s illogical to blame traditional paper money for a bank heist.
Zcash is making progress in being a great privacy coin but unless it mandates privacy by default, it can’t really be recommended.
(You might also be interested in: Cryptocurrency Guides: Comprehensive List of Crypto Guides For Beginners)
Beneficial Resources To Get You Started
If you’re starting your journey into the complex world of cryptocurrencies, here’s a list of useful resources and guides that will get you on your way:
Trading & Exchange
Crypto Guide 101: Choosing The Best Cryptocurrency Exchange
Guide to Bittrex Exchange: How to Trade on Bittrex
Guide to Binance Exchange: How to Open Binance Account and What You Should Know
Guide to Etherdelta Exchange: How to Trade on Etherdelta
Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis
Cryptocurrency Trading: Understanding Cryptocurrency Trading Pairs & How it Works
Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience
Wallets
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Why Do You Need Wallets?
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a Bitcoin Wallet
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a MyEtherWallet (MEW)
Read also: Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience and Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis.
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Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Privacy Coin Analysis: Monero (XMR) vs ZCash (ZEC) appeared first on Master The Crypto.
This article takes a look at what is the difference between a crypto mainnet vs testnet, two technical terms that serve different functions.
Mainnets and testnets are common technical terms used in the cryptocurrency world to denote blockchain networks that possess vital functions. Let’s take a look at the differences between a cryptocurrency mainnet and testnet:
What is a Mainnet?
Mainnet – short for main network – is the original and functional blockchain where actual transactions take place in the distributed ledger and the native cryptocurrencies possess real economic value. In other words, the mainnet refers to the actual open-sourced blockchain itself that is publicly verifiable. The mainnet carries out the functionality of executing real transactions within the network which is stored on the blockchain and is referred to as the ‘end product’ that is open for the public to use.
Each transaction executed on the blockchain requires participants to pay a transaction fee (payable in the native coin) so as to incentivize miners to validate the transactions and prevent network spamming. For their hard work, miners will be rewarded with native coins from the protocol and also the transaction fees paid by the participants.
(Read more: Coins, Tokens & Altcoins: What’s the Difference?)
Importance of Mainnet
A mainnet serves a variety of vital functions that include:
1) Proof of Development
A Mainnet is a verifiable proof that the project has developed a functional and working blockchain where actual transactions can take place. Having a mainnet is a sign that the project is now live and is in technical progress. Additionally, a live mainnet would put the functionalities and capabilities of the blockchain to the test, since the public can participate in the network and any malfunction could compromise the inner workings of the blockchain. Therefore, launching the mainnet takes a considerable amount of resources and development to ensure that every component is working as it should. More than that, a mainnet serves as a working proof that the project is executing their vision well.
2) Credibility
A project with a mainnet possesses undoubtedly more credibility than a project without one. Since a mainnet is an actual and functioning protocol, all transactions are live and participants can transact with one another with the native coins of the blockchain. interested parties in the community can opt to become a participating node and download the protocol software. Assuming that the blockchain is open-sourced and free for anyone to participate in, the underlying codes of the blockchain is visible to the public and any concerns or issues can be highlighted by participants. The point is, the existence of a mainnet enables the creation of a live ecosystem of participants that facilitates real interaction and transactions to occur with full transparency. Without a mainnet, the project is purely conceptual or ‘theoretical’ with no working product for participants to test out. This is particularly important to understand when evaluating an ICO project that is trying to raise money; it is much harder to evaluate projects without a mainnet or even a testnet.
(See more: A Guide To Fundamental Analysis For Cryptocurrencies)
What is a Testnet?
The testnet- short for test network – is an exact replica of the original blockchain, with the same technology, software, and functionalities. The only difference is that transactions on the testnet are simulated (or ‘fake’) and the coins in the testnet does not possess any real value outside of the testnet environment.
The native coins in a testnet are like monopoly money. You can’t buy anything with that.
The testnet is a simulated environment where the functionalities and capabilities of the (original) blockchain are constantly tested and tweaked by application developers and testers. The purpose of having a mainnet is to develop the blockchain before it goes live or for ongoing testing of blockchain functionalities in a sandbox environment that is separate from the actual blockchain. The transactions on the mainnet are ‘fake’ since they are test transactions, with no transaction costs incurred and no deployment costs required by developers. Since the coins on the testnet are worthless, there is no economic incentive for miners to mine since their only purpose is to facilitate transaction testing.
In summary, activities deployed on the mainnet serves as a simulation of how the protocol would function on the mainnet itself.
Just like how pilots need to undertake 3D-simulation of flying planes before flying an actual plane, a testnet provides a testing ground for developers to test the protocol’s functionalities.
(Read also: Is it Too Late to Buy Bitcoin and Is It too Late to Invest in Cryptocurrency?)
Importance of Testnet
Testnet serves a variety of vital functions that include:
1) Constant Development
Blockchain technology is still in the infancy stages and a tremendous amount of testing and development is needed to enable mainstream adoption and usage. For instance, one of the main issues that are being addressed in the blockchain community is scalability. Rigorous research and development are being undertaken by a wide range of projects to enhance a blockchain’s capability of processing more transactions. In order to constantly enhance a blockchain’s capabilities, numerous testing on smart contract functionality, transactions, and the mining process must be undertaken. The testnet serves as a simulation on how the actual blockchain protocol (mainnet) would work under real-world conditions.
2) Prevent Disruption
A testnet allows testers and application developers to experiment on the features and functions of the protocol in a separate environment, without worrying about disrupting the main blockchain. Making the tests on the mainnet would be a nightmare since the complex interactions between components in the protocol could compromise the network or break the main chain. This would cause massive disruptions to the blockchain and could undermine the protocol. It is thus a common practice for projects to run a prototype on a testnet first, in order to iron out the technical details and ensure that everything is in order.
3) Free Testing
For blockchains that allow smart contract functionality, native coins are required to be spent in order to execute smart contract transactions. For instance, Ether (ETH) is needed to pay for computations that occur in the Ethereum blockchain (Similarly called ‘Ethereum Virtual Machine’). Testnets provide a testing ground for developers who are keen to create applications on the blockchain or test out certain functionalities without spending real currencies. It would be extremely expensive for developers to test out their application features or run experiments on the mainnet, since they would then need to buy real-value coins in bulk.
(See also: Public Vs Private Blockchain: What’s The Difference?)
Mainnet vs Testnet in Action
In order to get a better grasp of the differences between mainnet and testnet, let us take a look at Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized platform that facilitates smart contract functionality and allows for the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) to run securely without any control from intermediaries or third party.
Think of Bitcoin as a single app in your smartphone that is great in what it does, which is to facilitate value efficiently (digital cash). Ethereum on the other hand is like the app store, which enables anyone to create any kind of mobile applications and can be downloaded and used by anyone. Blockchain platforms like Ethereum expand the functionality of blockchain technology, while Bitcoin is just a single representation of this revolutionary technology.
A mainnet and a testnet are two separate networks that operate independently from each other. Here’s an illustration from the context of Ethereum:
Ropsten is the most popular public testnet for Ethereum and is often used as a testing network for developers creating their own dApps on the Ethereum blockchain. Using Ropsten network, DApp developers can experiment on the functionalities on the dApp and also avoid using valuable ETH that is needed for transaction fees and smart contract deployment. Once they’re confident that their dApps work and testing is complete, they can confidently deploy their dApp on the main Ethereum network!
What sets a mainnet and testnet apart are the following factors:
Network ID: A network ID is just an identifier for a network, similar to your ID card that represents your identity. If a new node wants to join the actual Ethereum blockchain itself), they will need to join the mainnet which has a network ID of 1. If they’re keen on joining the testnet instead, they can join the Ropsten testnet which is identified using a network ID of 3.
Genesis Block: This refers to the very first block in the blockchain, which represents the starting point. Since both the mainnet and tesnet are different networks, they have a different genesis block. However, the content of the genesis block can be similar.
(Read more: Guide to Ethereum: What is Gas, Gas Limit and Gas Price?)
Upgrades
From time to time, projects would undergo changes to enhance the capabilities of the blockchain. This is akin to the software updates of your smartphones that has solved previous issues or bugs associated with the previous software versions. Although we mentioned early on that mainnets are the ‘end product’, it may not be the ‘final product’. The blockchain can undergo updates or revisions to a particular functionality, depending on the need of doing so by the developers and the greater community. In order to upgrade the blockchain, a hardfork is required. Here is a detailed guide that explains the complex concept of hard forks.
(See more: Guide to Forks: Everything You Need to Know About Forks, Hard Fork and Soft Fork)
Mainnet Swap
When a project is starting out, it will issue their tokens on other blockchains such as Ethereum or NEO to raise funds. Once they have developed their own blockchain, they will need to migrate the existing tokens issued on other blockchains to the project’s native blockchain (mainnet). This is common practice for new projects in the ICO phase.
This process is called a mainnet swap or a token swap, involving the exchange of one coin for another coin on a one-to-one ratio. The old coin that is issued on another blockchain is discarded and a new coin is issued on the new native blockchain that has been developed and launched by the project. Mainnet swaps usually occur in the following way:
Registration & Auditing:Coin holders are expected to register their coin through the project’s developers, who will then accredit these coins through a supported digital wallet. At the scheduled mainnet swap date, the old tokens are burned while the new, official coins will replace the old coins in the same wallet.
Cryptocurrency Exchange Support: Once the announcement is made, coin holders are invited to keep their coins in the cryptocurrency exchange that supports the swapping process. At the scheduled swap date, the exchange will handle the auditing, accrediting and exchange of the older coin for the newer ones.
(Read also: Breaking: 88% of Crypto Exchanges are Manipulating Trading Volume to ‘Boost’ Rankings)
Effects of Mainnet on Price
The release of a project’s mainnet can cause tremendous excitement in the community, which could affect the coin’s price. This could also contribute to an increase in volatility of the coin’s prices during that period. Let’s take a look at several instances where a mainnet launch coincided with spikes in prices.
Golem (GNT)
Golem is a project that is focused on creating a decentralized marketplace for sharing computing power. They released their mainnet – called Brass – on April 2018. Here’s a look at how prices reacted to the launch of the mainnet.
Golem announced on mid-February that their mainnet would be ready by the end of March to early April. The duration leading up to the mainnet launch saw GNT’s prices consolidating with relatively low volatility, as indicated by a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Volatility Index (RVI) at the bottom of the chart. When Golem officially launched their mainnet on April 10, prices started to soar tremendously, going from $0.20 to $0.60 within a span of 3 days. That’s a three-fold increase in prices! We can also see that there is an increase in volatility after the mainnet launch, which means that there is an increase in risk during that period.
(See also: 4 Types of Coins to Diversify Your Crypto Portfolio & Manage Risks)
Tron (TRX)
Tron is a blockchain platform focused on creating a decentralized entertainment ecosystem. It’s mainnet – called Odyssey 2.0 – was officially launched on June 1. Let’s see how it affected prices:
The announcement for the release of Tron’s mainnet was made on April 9, which saw TRX’s prices increase from $0.035 to $0.1 within 2 weeks. That’s a solid 3-fold increase in prices. This pump in prices is also caused by Tron’s announcement of distributing an airdrop of over $1.7 million on April 21, as a show of gratitude to their token holders. However, the hype generated by Tron was too great and led to a price decline a month before the actual release of their mainnet. In fact, prices continued to move downhill even after the official mainnet release, with no apparent fundamental reason that substantiates an increase or a decrease. We can imply that the hype around Tron’s mainnet was purely fuelled by sentiments.
A mainnet launch is one of the many factors that may affect the value of a cryptocurrency since its launch represents a successful start by the developers in delivering the promises set in their project roadmap. From then on, the team is expected to drive the project development forward through continual enhancement and upgrading. Although a mainnet is an essential technical aspect to consider when investing in a project, it is not unusual for the absence of mainnets or testnets in cryptocurrency projects, especially if they’re starting out and are in the ICO stages. However, rigorous due diligence has to be done in order to assess the quality and viability of the project. From our examples in Golem and Tron, it is not substantive that mainnet launches have a positive or negative impact on prices since it is largely based on the context behind the projects.
(See more: Bitcoin vs Alt Coins Returns: Comparison of Gains Between Bitcoin & Altcoins Investing)
All in All
Mainnets and testnets represent two fundamentally different networks that each represent a vital purpose for any project. A testnet is often used as a testing site for the development and continual enhancement of the mainnet, while the mainnet itself is the actual, functioning protocol that powers the blockchain network. It is important for any investor to evaluate a project based on the success of both their testnets and mainnets, since they represent a good proxy for the technical development of the project’s vision.
(You should also read: Guide to Market Capitalization: Everything You Need to Know About Market Cap)
Beneficial Resources To Get You Started
If you’re starting your journey into the complex world of cryptocurrencies, here’s a list of useful resources and guides that will get you on your way:
Trading & Exchange
Crypto Guide 101: Choosing The Best Cryptocurrency Exchange
Guide to Bittrex Exchange: How to Trade on Bittrex
Guide to Binance Exchange: How to Open Binance Account and What You Should Know
Guide to Etherdelta Exchange: How to Trade on Etherdelta
Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis
Cryptocurrency Trading: Understanding Cryptocurrency Trading Pairs & How it Works
Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience
Wallets
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Why Do You Need Wallets?
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a Bitcoin Wallet
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a MyEtherWallet (MEW)
Read also: Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience and Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis.
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Enroll in our Free Cryptocurrency Webinar now to learn everything you need to know about crypto investing.
Get our exclusive e-book which will guide you on the step-by-step process to get started with making money via Cryptocurrency investments!
You can also join our Facebook group at Master The Crypto: Advanced Cryptocurrency Knowledge to ask any questions regarding cryptocurrencies.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Crypto Mainnet vs Testnet: What is the Difference? appeared first on Master The Crypto.
This article takes a deeper look at second layer blockchain scaling off-chain solutions, with various implementations that are progressing as we speak.
The internet was born as an instrument for radical self-expression. When the web was young, it was all about creativity and experimentation in a truly decentralized peer-to-peer fashion. However, over time it grew from a network of hobbyists into a multi-billion industry and gradually its great power was usurped by corporations, governments, and large ISPs. Over three billion people use the internet monthly, although it’s just a handful of ISPs that serve the majority of the traffic in each country. The internet has grown to billions of websites, but most user activity is happening on Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other major platforms.
(Read also: Guide to Open Source: Importance of Open Source Technology in Cryptocurrency)
Blockchain Technology
The creation of Bitcoin in 2008 was a ground-breaking advancement in technology, promising to bring real changes to our world. The elements of decentralization, transparency, and immutability captured the imagination of many and posed a threat to traditional systems. This revolution was similar to that of the internet back in the 1990s, but with much greater intensity.
After almost a decade, the cryptocurrency landscape has evolved into a vibrant and diverse ecosystem with numerous coins and tokens with trying to solve different problems. However, much is still to be done for blockchain technology to be accessible to the mainstream public.
(See also: 3 Major Industries That Blockchain Technology is Changing)
Main Problem: Scalability
The goal of any real blockchain technology is to empower the masses through freedom and true decentralization. Bitcoin is the digital equivalent of money, but unlike traditional fiat money, it is not controlled by any single entity. Another popular manifestation of blockchain technology is Ethereum, which is a blockchain platform that facilitates the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) and tokens.
While very few can undermine the potential of blockchain technology, there are still major hurdles that limit its capabilities. In the pursuit of decentralization and immutability, blockchain technology suffers from scalability and speed issues. This phenomenon has a formal proof and is called the Decentralization, Consensus or Scale (DSC) trilema or DCS Theorem. In order words, a blockchain can achieve only two of the following three properties in a distributed system:
Decentralization:This addresses the question main questions; ‘To what extent the system is resistant to the failure of its singular element?’ and ‘How much power or influence does an entity possess?’
Consensus:This refers to whether decisions are made by a consensus of all parties or single-handedly by a small group of users
Scale: This refers to the capability of a system to cater to a larger user base, without slowing down or compromising the system
A blockchain cannot have all 3 properties; only 2 attributes can be chosen. That is why scalability, speed and throughput is an inherent problem for a public blockchain focused on upholding the principles of decentralization. However, the cryptocurrency community has been hard at work to find solutions that will address the issue of scalability.
(Read more: Top 10 Crypto/Blockchain Infographics You Must Know)
Other Pressing Issues
Another major issue faced by blockchains is privacy. The nature of consensus-driven distributed databases like Bitcoin and Ethereum is that all transaction data is stored on the blockchain and is tamper-proof. This means that all transaction data can be publicly verified and cannot be changed or altered in any way. This is important for achieving decentralization but not necessarily ideal for personal or commercial privacy. Second layer scaling solutions are addressing this issue.
Before diving deep into the analysis of existing solutions, it is worth noting that off-chain scaling is not the only option. For instance, one can achieve good scaling capabilities by sacrificing the decentralization attribute of a blockchain. Such an approach is pioneered by Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) blockchains, such as Bitshares and EOS. In a DPOS system, the network nominates a few nodes as representatives. This requires a degree of trust since these nodes are responsible for processing transactions in an honest manner.
Public blockchains are pretty much ideal examples of the network effect; high usage of the network attracts more applications, businesses, and users. That is why there won’t be too many base-level (protocol) blockchain platforms in the market; rather, all usage will converge on a few of the most advanced, highly secure and widely used networks. For instance, Bitcoin being used for payments and money while Ethereum is used for dApps and trustless code execution.
(See also: Guide to Blockchain Protocols: Comparison of Major Protocol Coins)
Blockchain Scaling Solutions
There are already several solutions that try to solve the issue of blockchain scalability.
From the classification above, there are 4 categories of scaling solutions that is being explored by the community;
First Layer (On-Chain) Solutions:Also known as the protocol-layer solution, first-layer solutions require fundamental changes to be made onto the codebase of the actual blockchain (hence the term “on-chain”. This entails engaging in updates such as increasing the block size limit or reducing the block creation time.
Second Layer (Off-Chain) Solutions:This refers to secondary applications or channels that are built on top of the main blockchain and do not require any fundamental changes to the actual blockchain. The bulk of transactions are ‘off-loaded’ to the secondary channels to reduce network congestion and facilitate faster processing speeds.
Consensus Mechanisms:Perhaps the most important mechanism of any blockchain, scalable consensus mechanisms streamline the consensus process to allow for greater scalability and transaction processing output.
Scalable Distributed Ledgers:Another form of distributed systems that have a different data structure compared to a blockchain. Distributed ledgers usually use a linear data structure rather than organizing transaction data into chained, sequential blocks like a blockchain do.
This article would be focused on examining second-layer scaling solutions, which are also called off-chain scaling solutions.
Classification of Layer 2 Solutions
Sidechains were one of the first proposals on achieving unlimited scaling and preserving privacy while maintaining the security of the base-layer protocol. Sidechains allow users to lock some coins up on the main chain and in return get coins on the parallel chain with its own rules, consensus and much more flexibility on how the protocol is governed. Sidechains add throughput, flexibility and allow one to experiment with consensus rules. Some implementations of sidechains that are close to ready include Liquid and Rootstock sidechains for Bitcoin, and Plasma for Ethereum.
Another type of off-chain solutions is state channels, which is similar in concept to sidechains. A state channel is an approach where one completely re-imagines the idea of trustless consensus between two parties. Instead of coming up with a global consensus on a public network, we can use local consensus. In order to take advantage of state channels, one must create a payment channel with a node that’s connected to a larger network. Security in state channels is usually achieved by locking up some tokens on the main network and keeping them as collateral to ensure honest behavior. Here is an example of a payment channel:
Let’s look at the different implementations of layer 2 solutions out there.
1) Plasma
Plasma is the sidechain implementation for Ethereum Blockchain which is leverages on smart contracts that takes care of all the rules and validation/governance on the Plasma chain.
Block validation on the sidechain is either done by a single operator or by a consensus of a much smaller set of validators than that of the base layer. This alone allows for the quickening of block frequency and the number of maximum possible transactions in each block. Moreover, this will avoid the issue of block propagation and latency which is always the case for base-layer blockchains, where the block must be accepted by tens of thousands of nodes around the world.
The main drawback and problem with this approach is that sidechains always introduce some degree of centralization. Ethereum developers are constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries to preserve the principle of decentralization and trustlessness as much as possible. The gateway that transfers Ether (ETH) or Bitcoin (BTC) is usually controlled by a single party and can be vulnerable to various attacks. Even though the chain operators cannot necessarily steal user funds due to the protocol rules, they still can acquire transaction data, deanonymize users or withhold some information.
(Read also: Analyzing Cryptocurrency Risk: Existing Coins vs ICO)
2) Lightning Network
Lightning Network is probably the most well-known second layer payment network which is built for Bitcoin and Bitcoin-like blockchains (e.g. Decred, Litecoin). The idea of having a peer-to-peer network that consists of payment channels is almost as old as Bitcoin itself. Satoshi Nakamoto mentioned this approach in his comments on a BitcoinTalk forum back in 2010. The Lightning Network utilizes the concept of payment channels to provide bi-directional monetary transfers and envisions a network with near-instantaneous speed, zero counterparty risk, and low fees.
The main concept in LN is a payment channel that can be opened among any two users by including a special funding transaction in the underlying blockchain. Such a transaction is completed in a form of 2-of-2 multi-sig, meaning no party can single-handedly withdraw the money. In ensuring that funds won’t be lost forever in the channel in the case of non-cooperation, or if the private key is lost, both sides are required to sign each other’s transactions to execute the transaction.
Once the channel is open and funded with some BTC, both parties can transact as fast as their peer-to-peer connection allows and pay no fees for doing so. Lightning transactions are completed in the form of cryptographic commitments. This allows for completely trustless payments; any party can close the channel and fix the outstanding trading balance on the Bitcoin blockchain at any time. In addition, LN ensures that it is impossible to cheat your trading partner by publishing an outdated commitment. This is done by having some lockup time on funds in the multi-sig. If Alice sees that Bob tries to cheat her by publishing some outdated state of their trading history (the one that is beneficial for him), she can simply provide proof in a form of a later commitment and free her funds from the multi-sig. Bob, in turn, will be punished for cheating by the protocol rules. It is the same general approach that Plasma uses to proof honesty on Plasma chain operators, though it is implemented in a different manner.
In most cases, both parties have an incentive to collaborate. In this case, the channel is closed with full cooperation of both parties by constructing a normal transaction from the original 2-of-2 escrow. This transaction would pay out the respective balance to each member, based on the most recent commitments. Neither individual has to go through the slow process of paying additional on-chain fees, nor lose out on the opportunity costs of having their BTC locked up by the protocol.
The practical use-case of LN is not that every single user will publish an onchain transaction whenever they need to make a payment; rather it will work as an actual network. If Alice does not have a direct channel opened with Bob, she can always create a multi-hop transaction that will use several channels to reach its destination – pretty much the way internet works.
Another benefit of LN is that it’s not controlled by any corporation or even a group of developers. The development started with writing a documentation called BOLT (Basis of the Lightning Technology). These BOLTs describe every aspect of the protocol in forensic detail using pseudocode and plain English. There are multiple teams around the world building an actual implementation of Lightning Network using different programming languages and platforms, but since they all collaborate on the same reference specification, the resulting software is interoperable.
The beautiful thing is that actions required to make or receive payment in Bitcoin via Lightning Network rarely takes place on-chain. This saves tremendous costs and speeds up trading significantly.
(See more: Guide to Bitcoin Scalability Solution: What is Lightning Network?)
3) GEO Protocol
GEO protocol is an off-chain scaling solution that can be built on top of any existing public blockchain and connect them in a single cross-chain network. There is no common ledger that requires computationally-expensive nodes and power to secure. Instead, it is an off-chain protocol that leverages on a distributed network of state channels and trustlines connecting them. The advantage is that unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum or Plasma, a GEO node can be spun up on a comparably slow and cheap device – like a smartphone or Raspberry Pi computer.
GEO is leveraging the concept of trustlines which was pioneered by Ryan Fugger from Ripple. The idea is quite similar to bidirectional channels in LN or Raiden, but the main difference being that trustlines occur when there is a bilateral agreement between exactly two users. This agreement consists of two credit lines (liabilities), as well as a balance indicating if, and how much, one party owes the other. Payments between non-trusting strangers are implemented by propagating balance updates through a network of trustlines until the payment reaches the receiver.
Trustlines mechanics
Trustlines consist of IOU (I Owe You) channels where users can issue their own currency or asset and the network facilitates free and unrestricted exchange of that asset. This also allows cross-blockchain exchange of value directly between holders without engaging with centralized exchanges. In order to preserve the decentralized and trustless nature of blockchain technology, the protocol does not allow freezing of either account or trustline.
Another concept developed by GEO protocol is composite channels, which are a combination of trustlines with user-issued assets and classic state channels with cryptocurrency locked up in an on-chain multisig wallet. This combines almost infinite scalability with a trustlessness of the base layer blockchain or multiple blockchains. At the end of the day, the user is allowed to not only make cryptocurrency transactions, but also tokenized fiat money, real world property and other assets. One tangible example of this technology would be a cross-chain DEx (decentralized exchange) enabled by the protocol from scratch.
4) Celer Network
Celer Network is a blockchain agnostic and horizontally scalable protocol that increases the scalability of blockchains through off-chain scaling. It utilizes a layered technology architecture, with several core technical innovations including:
Channel construct suite with sidechain channels and flexible support for generalized off-chain dApp state transitions
Optimal state routing algorithm with 15x higher transaction throughput than existing state-of-the-art solutions
Off-chain operating system that simplifies development and usage of off-chain applications on various platforms
It should be noted that there are other solutions that have taken a similar approach such as the Lightning Network, Raiden, Trinity and Plasma. Celer Network differentiates itself because it will be compatible with all the other projects fighting to scale on-chain. This is important to consider because other projects in this space such as the Lightning Network (LN) cannot work with ETH or EOS.
(Read also: Guide to Crypto Derivatives: What is Cryptocurrency Derivatives?)
5) Raiden Network
Just like Lightning Network for Bitcoin, Raiden creates a sequence of payment channels outside of the blockchain itself to resolve transactions quickly. Raiden, however, has its own ERC20-based token called RDN which is not required to make payments but will be used to get access to additional services. At some point, the team has raised $33 million to fund the development of the project via an ICO – initial coin offering.
One of the first implementations of Raiden Network is called µRaiden, which is specifically designed for micro payments in ERC20-based tokens. The difference is that µRaiden only uses unidirectional payment channels, whereas Lightning Network is leveraging bidirectional payment channels.
What Does the Future Hold?
It is imperative that blockchains radically enhance their scaling capabilities to support higher transaction output and allow for mass adoption. Solving the issue of scalability is being rigorously undertaken by the cryptocurrency community, as can be seen from the above examples. It is only a matter of time before different variations of blockchains are able to preserve the principles of decentralization as well as possessing the scaling capabilities similar to traditional payment processes such as Visa or Mastercard. Second layer networks will extend the capacity of blockchain technology and open new use-cases that in turn will bring Ethereum, Bitcoin and other technologies into the hands of the next billion people.
(You might also be interested in: Crypto ICO vs. Stock IPO: What’s the Difference?)
Beneficial Resources To Get You Started
If you’re starting your journey into the complex world of cryptocurrencies, here’s a list of useful resources and guides that will get you on your way:
Trading & Exchange
Crypto Guide 101: Choosing The Best Cryptocurrency Exchange
Guide to Bittrex Exchange: How to Trade on Bittrex
Guide to Binance Exchange: How to Open Binance Account and What You Should Know
Guide to Etherdelta Exchange: How to Trade on Etherdelta
Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis
Cryptocurrency Trading: Understanding Cryptocurrency Trading Pairs & How it Works
Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience
Wallets
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Why Do You Need Wallets?
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a Bitcoin Wallet
Guide to Cryptocurrency Wallets: Opening a MyEtherWallet (MEW)
Read also: Crypto Trading Guide: 4 Common Pitfalls Every Crypto Trader Will Experience and Guide To Cryptocurrency Trading Basics: Introduction to Crypto Technical Analysis.
Enroll in our Free Cryptocurrency Webinar now to learn everything you need to know about crypto investing.
Get our exclusive e-book which will guide you on the step-by-step process to get started with making money via Cryptocurrency investments!
You can also join our Facebook group at Master The Crypto: Advanced Cryptocurrency Knowledge to ask any questions regarding cryptos!
Stepan Gershuni
The post Second Layer Blockchain Scaling: Off-Chain Solutions appeared first on Master The Crypto.
Palm Beach Research Group has launched a new marketing campaign for its financial email newsletter, The Palm Beach Letter. The marketing campaign describes an “investment of the decade” spotted by Teeka Tiwari.
In “The Investment of the Decade” report, Teeka lists three blockchain technology companies that are expected to capture a slice of the blockchain industry as it grows by 295,000% over the coming years.
What is this so-called “investment of the decade”? Just weeks before the infamous Jetinar is set to take place, Teeka Tiwari’s Investment of the Decade is creating buzz in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world because of his past track record of proven success in picking winners who gone on to post exceptional gains. Keep reading as we explain everything you need to know about Palm Beach Research Group’s new “Investment of the Decade” report.
What is The Investment of the Decade?
Palm Beach Research Group has published a new report online called The Investment of the Decade.
If you subscribe to The Palm Beach Letter today, you will receive a free copy of the report – as well as several other bonus reports such as 5 Coins to $5 Million or Crypto Income Quarterly.
The Investment of the Decade is actually three investments: the report describes three “must-own stocks” that are expected to see enormous gains over the coming years.
All three stocks listed in The Investment of the Decade are linked to an industry that Teeka calls “Genesis”. Teeka expects this industry to grow 295,000% over the coming years:
“The invention I’m going to share with you today—which I refer to as “Genesis”, for a reason that will become clear shortly—is set to grow 32 times more than 5G.”
Teeka claims that some of America’s largest corporations have invested in this “Genesis” technology. He describes how Warren Buffett is one of the world’s top backers of Genesis, and that Apple recently received two patents for Genesis.
In the report, you’ll learn that this mysterious “Genesis” technology is simply blockchain. Teeka Tiwari is a big believer in bitcoin and blockchain. He expects the technology to grow enormously over the coming years.
In The Investment of the Decade, Teeka shares his top three blockchain technology companies. Each company is expected to capture a big slice of the blockchain market over the coming years. According to Teeka, investing in these companies today is like buying Amazon or Google before the Dot Com boom.
Why Does Teeka Expect Massive Growth in Blockchain?
Blockchain isn’t a secret technology. We’ve been hearing about blockchain and bitcoin for years. So why does Teeka believe the industry has a lot more room to grow?
Teeka Tiwari believes blockchain has “wide and varied” uses across multiple industries. Some of the specific areas where blockchain can improve include:
Modernizing the $217 trillion real estate industry
Combating the $1.7 trillion in counterfeit goods sold each year
Improving the electoral voting system
Reducing healthcare costs
Securing the food supply
Food companies are using blockchain to trace food from its origin to its final destination, for example, helping them track ingredients all the way to the finished product. Retailers are using blockchain to separate real and counterfeit goods.
Teeka also describes how major financial industries are “all over blockchain”. He describes how the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation (DTCC), for example, just moved $10 trillion onto the blockchain.
Clearly, Teeka believes there’s huge potential in blockchain technology.
If you sign up for Teeka Tiwari’s email newsletter, The Palm Beach Letter, today, then you’ll receive a free copy of The Investment of the Decade.
What is The Palm Beach Letter?
The Palm Beach Letter is an alternative financial newsletter published by Palm Beach Research Group.
The newsletter is promoted online with huge claims about the earning potential for investors. If you want to get rich quick with minimal risk, then Palm Beach Research Group may have the investment advice you need.
Palm Beach Research Group claims their model portfolio has performed extremely well over the last few years:
“Since 2011, The Palm Beach Letter’s model portfolio has performed second to none… averaging 89% per year.”
Tiwari also claims the returns have got even better since he took over the portfolio in 2016, averaging 154% per year.
By subscribing to The Palm Beach Letter, you’ll gain access to this model portfolio. You will also receive regular email newsletters with the latest financial advice, market movements, and stock tips.
Who is Teeka Tiwari?
Teeka Tiwari is a financial analyst currently working for Palm Beach Research Group. He has a background in banking.
Tiwari serves as editor of The Palm Beach Letter. He also publishes Palm Beach Confidential, which is a crypto-focused email newsletter.
Tiwari made headlines across the bitcoin community for his “5 coins to $5 million” prediction. As you see in The Investment of the Decade report, Tiwari is a big believer in crypto and blockchain technology.
What’s Included with The Palm Beach Letter?
As part of the new promotion, your subscription to The Palm Beach Letter comes with a handful of bonus reports – including the blockchain report, The Investment of the Decade. Here is what’s included with the new subscription:
One year subscription to The Palm Beach Letter
Bonus Report #1: The Investment of the Decade: Three Must-Own Stocks that Will Power Blockchain’s 295,000% Revolution
Bonus Report #2: Blockchain “Moonshots”: Three Chances to Turn $1,000 into $1.6 Million
Bonus Report #3: The Davos Manifesto
Bonus Report #4: The Private Deals Bible: How to Get Outsized Gains from Tiny Investments
Bonus Report #5: How to Own a Fleet of Classic Cars for as Little as $50 Each
Click here now to watch Teeka Tiwari’s Investment of the Decade about the Genesis Technology and Blockchain Stocks report from Palm Beach Letter.
The Palm Beach Letter Pricing
A one-year subscription to The Palm Beach Letter is priced at $49.
If you buy The Palm Beach Letter for $49 today, then you will automatically be enlisted in the automatic renewal system. Your credit card will be charged $129 one year from today, and you will continue to be subscribed to The Palm Beach Letter until you cancel.
The Palm Beach Letter Refund Policy
All purchases come with a 60-day moneyback guarantee. You can receive a complete refund on your purchase within 60 days.
If you request a refund, you are still allowed to keep the free reports, although you will no longer be subscribed to The Palm Beach Letter.
Final Word
Teeka Tiwari has published a report called The Investment of the Decade. In the report, Teeka shares his three best blockchain stocks. Teeka believes these stocks will grow significantly over the coming years as blockchain continues to grow.
To get access to Genesis Technology investment insights and The Investment of the Decade report, you’ll need to subscribe to Teeka Tiwari’s Palm Beach Letter email newsletter.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Investment of the Decade: Genesis Technology Blockchain Stocks Report appeared first on Master The Crypto.
The IRS and other national tax authorities have been aware of bitcoin for years.
The IRS issued its first ruling on bitcoin all the way back in 2013. If you’re not reporting crypto on your taxes in 2020, then you’re exposing yourself to significant liability.
Tax authorities in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, and other countries have all built specific rules for crypto taxes.
Fortunately, reporting your crypto for tax purposes is easier than ever. There are crypto tax services and crypto programs. There’s crypto accounting software. There are CPAs that specialize in creating accurate crypto tax returns.
In fact, there are so many crypto tax services that it’s difficult to know which one is right for you. That’s why we want to help. We’ve ranked the best crypto tax software for 2020, including crypto tax websites, apps, programs, services, and providers.
What is Crypto Tax Software?
Crypto tax software is a tool used to calculate your cryptocurrency gains and losses.
Typically, your brokerage – the place where you buy stocks, bonds, ETFs, and other investments – would provide this statement for traditional investment products. Crypto, however, is not a traditional investment product, and crypto exchanges are not traditional brokerages.
TD Ameritrade and JPMorgan would normally issue a Form 1099 that lists all of your annual proceeds, cost basis, and gains or losses from any investment transactions, for example.
Crypto exchanges, however, do not issue any such forms.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges – including Coinbase – will issue a Form 1099-K that lists all of your gross crypto transactions. However, this information is not useful in preparing your tax return. You need to provide more data.
That means the burden of reporting your crypto gains and losses comes down to you. That’s where crypto tax software becomes useful.
Basic crypto tax software will simply compile all your cryptocurrency transactions from various sources and calculate gains and losses in US Dollars by following the IRS’s guidance.
Crypto tax software does not typically calculate the specific taxes you owe on your crypto holdings. The taxes you pay will vary based on your taxable income. Depending on the information you enter into your tax return, you might pay more or less than another filer with identical crypto transactions.
Essentially, crypto tax software takes all of the numbers from your crypto accounts and crypto wallets, takes note of any transactions you made throughout the year, then lists all of those numbers in a way the IRS can understand. Then, you can attach the report to your TurboTax e-file submission. Or, you can print off the report and attach it to any other tax return.
Do I Really Need to File Taxes on My Crypto?
Yes! The IRS has added a crypto question on Schedule 1, which means crypto has officially gone mainstream.
Failure to report crypto investments, crypto profits, or crypto losses may be treated just like failing to declare other investment income. You could face steep tax penalties this year or in the future.
Remember: if you’re trading on regulated crypto exchanges, then you likely provided personal information and possibly even your SSN. The IRS can easily find your crypto accounts.
Contrary to what somebody might tell you, the IRS does have rules in place for taxing bitcoin: the IRS and most other national tax authorities treat bitcoin like property. That means you need to report all transactions involving crypto, including how much you paid, how much you bought, and how much profit or loss arose from that transaction.
The IRS will analyze this information, then add or deduct from your taxable income.
How Does Crypto Tax Software Work?
Crypto tax software is like a third-party data aggregator. Typically, you pay a small fee for the software, and the software extracts your data from different crypto exchanges.
Someone who conducted fewer than 50 crypto transactions in the fiscal year might pay $10 to use the crypto tax software, while an institution that conducted 10,000 transactions in the fiscal year might pay $500.
Most crypto tax software works in a similar way:
You sign up for the crypto tax software and pay a fee; users with more crypto transactions to report will pay a higher fee
You give the crypto tax software read-only access to your crypto trading accounts, wallets, and other crypto sources; if you have accounts on Coinbase and Kraken, for example, then you will grant API access to those exchange accounts to your crypto tax software
Alternatively, all crypto tax software lets you upload CSV documents
The crypto tax software checks your crypto accounts and extracts your transaction history
The crypto tax software aggregates all of this transaction history; the software checks the date and time of each transaction, reports the price based on historical data, then adds up your gains and losses
Ultimately, the crypto tax software reconciles all of the transactions and prices, then produces a detailed gain and loss report compatible with IRS guidelines; typically, the two reports produced by crypto tax software include Form 8949, Schedule D and, in some cases, Schedule 1
What’s the Difference Between Good and Bad Crypto Tax Software?
At first glance, all crypto tax software might seem pretty much alike. All crypto tax software makes a similar promise to do your taxes quickly and accurately.
So what’s the difference between good and bad tax software? Here are some of the ways to compare today’s best programs and services:
Integrations: Some crypto tax software integrates with hundreds of large and small crypto exchanges. Whether you trade on major exchanges – like Coinbase – or obscure, local exchanges, this crypto tax software will be able to track account data and create deliverable information for the IRS.
Bandwidth: Did you conduct 1,000 crypto transactions in the past year or just 10? Based on the number of transactions, you might pay a cheap or expensive price for crypto tax software. A hobby trader may find crypto tax software for free because there are only 15 transactions to report over the fiscal year, for example, while an institution needs to pay $1,000 for crypto tax software because there are thousands of transactions to report.
API vs. CSV Access: Crypto tax software integrates with your exchange accounts in two ways – through Application Programming Interface (API) or Comma Separated Values (CSV). API is seamless and accurate because it connects directly to the exchange: you just copy the API key from your exchange/wallet and paste it into the crypto tax software. CSV, meanwhile, is slightly more inconvenient. You download your transaction history from your exchange in .csv format, and then upload this .csv file to the crypto tax software. Most crypto tax software supports API access to major exchanges, while more obscure exchanges require manual CSV syncing.
Reputation: Some of crypto’s biggest names offer crypto tax software. Coinbase has a crypto tax tool, for example. Other crypto tax software is offered by startups that launched last year. Reputation is important in the crypto tax space: you’re trusting your financial future to this software. Check the crypto tax software’s team page to make sure they have members with experience in compliance/regulation. Or, make sure they have some other type of proven track record that gives you peace of mind.
Accuracy Guarantees: Does the crypto tax software offer any type of guarantee? Does the provider guarantee accuracy? Some providers will actually pay your tax penalties (up to a certain limit), giving you added peace of mind that everything was reported accurately.
Price: Crypto tax software ranges from free to expensive. Traders with a high number of transactions will pay more for crypto tax software than traders with a low number of transactions. Some crypto tax software doesn’t charge a different rate based on the number of transactions, but it does charge a different rate based on the value of your account.
Country Support: Some crypto tax software is focused on the United States. Most crypto tax software, however, lets you easily produce reports for other major English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Some software also supports Germany, Japan, and other countries. Some software supports all countries simply by offering standardized reports suitable for any country.
Perks and Bonus Features: Some crypto tax software comes with certain perks and bonus features. All crypto tax software offers some type of gain/loss reconciliation, but some of the better software products also have bonus features like free portfolio tracking, educational webinars, tax planning tools, and more.
We’ve ranked the world’s best and biggest crypto tax software based on these features and more.
TaxBit
TaxBit claims to offer “crypto tax software simplified”. The software was designed by leading blockchain CPAs and cryptocurrency tax attorneys, making it one of the more reputable names in the space.
Today, TaxBit supports over 4,200 cryptocurrencies, equities, commodities, and fiat currencies. Even if you’re dealing with obscure cryptocurrencies, you should have no trouble using TaxBit to report your crypto transactions.
TaxBit also claims to offer a full audit trail, making it easy for you (or the IRS) to dive deep into any transaction and see exactly how cryptocurrency taxes were calculated. For the fiscal year 2020, TaxBit is offering 10% off all plans as well as a free trial.
Pricing
Basic ($50 Per Year)
250 transactions
10 exchanges/wallets
Current year tax form
Chat support
Plus ($175 Per Year)
2,500 transactions
Unlimited exchanges and wallets
All tax forms (2014 to 2019)
Chat support
Pro ($500 Per Year)
CPA review of tax form
25,000 transactions
Unlimited exchanges and wallets
All tax forms (2014 to 2019)
CPA phone support
CryptoTrader.tax by Coin Ledger
CryptoTrader.tax is Coin Ledger’s crypto tax software. The software claims to be the easiest and most reliable way to prepare your cryptocurrency taxes.
Like other software, CryptoTrader.tax lets you import your trades (via API) or upload a trade history file, then download your report to add to your tax return. All major crypto exchanges are supported.
One advantage of CryptoTrader.tax is that the program is a trusted TurboTax partner. Coin Ledger has partnered with TurboTax, the world’s largest tax preparation platform, to let you easily electronically file your tax return.
Another nifty feature with CryptoTrader.tax is that you can not only add your crypto transactions, but you can also report any crypto income – including income earned from mining, gifts, airdrops, and forks. Any income – including crypto-related income that didn’t arise from trades – needs to be reported to the IRS, and CryptoTrader.tax lets you do that.
Pricing
Hobbyist ($49 Per Tax Season)
Up to 100 trades
Live chat support
Unlimited report revisions
FIFO, LIFO, and specific identification
IRS Form 8949
Capital gains report
TurboTax integration
TaxAct integration
Tax-loss harvesting
Pro Trader ($99 Per Tax Season)
Up to 1,500 trades
Live chat support
Unlimited report revisions
FIFO, LIFO, and specific identification
IRS Form 8949
Capital gains report
TurboTax integration
TaxAct integration
Tax-loss harvesting
High Volume Trader ($199 Per Tax Season)
Up to 5,000 trades
Priority support
Unlimited report revisions
FIFO, LIFO, and specific identification
IRS Form 8949
Capital gains report
TurboTax integration
TaxAct integration
Tax-loss harvesting
Unlimited ($299 Per Tax Season)
Up to 100 trades
Priority support
Unlimited report revisions
FIFO, LIFO, and specific identification
IRS Form 8949
Capital gains report
TurboTax integration
TaxAct integration
Tax-loss harvesting
Any reports for 2018 and previous years are 15% of the normal report price. If you want to use CryptoTrader.tax to submit crypto-related trades and income from previous years, then you can get a small discount. Plans are also available for tax professionals.
ZenLedger
ZenLedger advertises itself as “the fastest and friendliest tax tool” for crypto users and their accountants. The crypto tax software works with all major exchanges and most major fiat and cryptocurrencies. ZenLedger imports your transactions then prepares your required documents (including capital gains reports, income reports, donation reports, and closing reports).
Just like with CryptoTrader.tax, ZenLedger is an official TurboTax partner, which means any data collected by ZenLedger can easily be added to your TurboTax electronic tax return.
ZenLedger offers more tiers than most other crypto tax software listed here, ranging from their Hobbyist option ($69 for 100 transactions) to the Unlimited option ($999 for unlimited transactions). You can also pay extra to have your tax return fully prepared for you, in which case ZenLedger will connect you with a tax attorney or CPA to fully complete your tax return.
Pricing for Standard ZenLedger Plans
Hobbyist ($69 Per Tax Year)
100 transactions or fewer
Up to $15,000 total asset value
Starter ($149 Per Tax Year)
500 transactions or fewer
Up to $50,000 total asset value
Premium ($399 Per Tax Year)
1,000 transactions or fewer
Up to $300,000 total asset value
Executive ($799 Per Tax Year)
4,000 transactions or fewer
Up to $1 million total asset value
Unlimited ($999 Per Year)
Unlimited transactions
No asset value cap
Priority support
Pricing for ZenLedger Fully Prepared Plans
Silver ($750 Per Tax Year)
50 transactions or fewer
Up to $50,000 total asset value
Up to four tax forms
One state tax return
Up to two hours of return preparation time, with additional time discounted
Gold ($1,250 Per Tax Year)
100 transactions or fewer
Up to $300,000 total asset value
Up to six tax forms
One state tax return
Up to three hours of return preparation time, with additional time discounted
Diamond ($2,500 Per Tax Year)
400 transactions or fewer
Up to $1 million total asset value
Up to eight tax forms
Two state tax forms
Up to seven hours of return preparation time, with additional time discounted
TokenTax.us
TokenTax.us lets you calculate your crypto taxes and file your return. It’s a crypto tax software platform and cryptocurrency tax accounting firm that, like many other reputable providers here, has also partnered with TurboTax. TokenTax.us supports all major exchanges via API, although you can also upload any transaction history via CSV.
After collecting your exchange data, TokenTax.us will populate Form 8949, which is the form that’s used to report capital gains. That form can easily be added to your tax return or imported directly into TurboTax.
TokenTax.us also supports margin trading taxes, including direct support for some of the world’s largest and most popular leveraged trading platforms. Deribit, BitMEX, and Bybit are all supported.
As with other software, TokenTax.us lets you create just a crypto gains/losses form or you can pay extra for a complete tax return. You can also produce crypto tax forms for any country in the world – not just America and its Form 8949 for the IRS.
Pricing
Basic ($65 Per Tax Year)
Up to 500 transactions
Only supports Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, and Binance
IRS Form 8949 or international support
Live chat support
Premium ($199 Per Tax Year)
Up to 3,000 transactions
Support for every exchange
Support for margin trading (on BitMEX, Deribit, and Bybit)
Tax loss harvesting dashboard
Everything included with Basic
Pro ($799 Per Tax Year)
Up to 20,000 transactions
Tax loss harvesting advisory session
All margin exchanges supported
FBAR included
Everything included in Premium
VIP ($1,499 Per Tax Year)
Advanced crypto reconciliation assisted by a CPA
Two 30 minute sessions with a tax expert
IRS audit assistance
Up to 30,000 transactions
Everything included in Pro
eToro Crypto Tax
eToro has a Crypto Tax Calculator found online at https://etorocryptotax.com/
The calculator is designed for informational purposes. Anyone can input major cryptocurrencies, then find out the taxes owed on those cryptocurrencies.
You select your tax year, then choose a cryptocurrency. eToro Crypto Tax supports about 30 of the world’s biggest cryptocurrencies. Then, you can manually add trades or import your trades via CSV.
The calculator then looks up the price you paid for each trade, including any profits or losses you made on your crypto trades. eToro will calculate your capital gains tax, giving you a rough idea of how much money you should owe based on your trades.
Unlike other crypto tax software listed here, eToro Crypto Tax does not create Form 8949 with the IRS, nor can the information be directly added to your tax return. However, if you’re looking for a rough outline of how much tax you can expect to pay on your crypto holdings, then eToro Crypto Tax is a great (and free) option.
Pricing
Free
Lukka.tech
Lukka is a technology and data services provider that recently launched LukkaTax for ordinary crypto users. LukkaTax is a do-it-yourself crypto tax preparation product launched in December 2019 just in time for the 2019 tax season.
As with other crypto tax software listed here, LukkaTax will create reports for your virtual currency activity on IRS Forms 1040 and 8949.
Lukka is a blockchain technology company founded in 2014. The New York-based company is best-known for offering products that automate and optimize accounting, auditing, and tax processes for consumers, investors, funds, fund administrators, OTC and proprietary trading firms, exchanges, miners, protocols, and accountants. Now, the company offers individual tax form preparation options.
Pricing
$19.95
Accointing
Accointing is a management platform that lets you easily track and manage your crypto portfolio, then produce a tax report. You can import any exchange (via API or CSV) and track over 6,000 currencies.
One unique feature with Accointing is that it’s available on desktop and mobile devices. You can track your portfolio wherever using the mobile app for iOS or Android.
Accointing will track your transactions throughout the year, your taxable income, your untaxable income (gifts, donations and lost or stolen funds), and capital gains. It’s all packaged neatly into a user-friendly interface.
Pricing
Starter Tax Report ($49.99)
Full report with up to 250 transactions
Reports for all previous years
License valid for 365 days
Advanced Tax Report ($129.99)
Full report with up to 5,000 transactions
License valid for 365 days
Reports for all past years
Professional Tax Report ($259.99)
Full report with unlimited transactions
Advanced holding period page
Tax optimizer
License valid for 365 days
Reports for all previous years
Coinbase Tax Resource Center
Coinbase has a complete Tax Resource Center under its support page. Coinbase is careful to explain that it does not offer tax advice and only offers crypto-related tax info for informational purposes. However, this information can certainly help you handle your crypto taxes for the year.
Coinbase’s Tax Resource Center, for example, explains what happens when Coinbase sends you a Form 1099-K, including what to do with that statement. Coinbase is one of the few exchanges that send a Form 1099-K, although you’ll need to meet certain limits to receive one ($20,000 of transaction volume or more in most states).
Coinbase’s Tax Resource Center also explains what to do if you receive an IRS B-Notice, which indicates there are discrepancies with your tax identification number (TIN) and the legal name Coinbase used by Coinbase to file Form 1099-K.
You can view Coinbase’s Tax Resource Center on its support page here.
Pricing
Free
CoinTracking.info
CoinTracking.info advertises itself as the leader for cryptocurrency tracking and reporting. The platform has 11 years of historical data, coin trends for 7,200 coins and $3.9 billion tracked across all portfolios.
You can use CoinTracking.info to simply track your portfolio – just like any crypto portfolio tracking app. Or, you can use the platform to create a capital gains report. Variable parameters are available for all countries, and 12 tax methods (FIFO, LIFO, AVCO, etc.) are supported.
CoinTracking.info supports direct imports from all major exchanges and dozens of lesser-known exchanges as well. You can also import coin holdings and transactions from your wallet. There’s even legacy support for closed exchanges.
Personal exports via CSV, XLS, PDF, HTML, XML, or JSON
20 personal trade backups
Prioritized transactions
Priority customer support plan
BearTax
BearTax, found online at Bear.tax, lets you fetch crypto trades from anywhere, identify transfers across exchanges, and automatically generate tax documents – similar to other crypto tax software listed here.
With BearTax, you can import your trades from almost any exchange (via API or CSV), review your trades and process them (using FIFO or LIFO methods), then automatically generate your tax documents and send them to your accountant.
BearTax lets you import from 50+ exchanges via API or CSV. There’s no limit to the number of exchange accounts you can track with BearTax. BearTax will gather your transaction information, then generate IRS Form 8949.
Pricing
Basic ($1 Per Tax Year)
Up to 20 transactions
Unlimited exchanges
Intermediate ($30 Per Tax Year)
Up to 200 transactions
Unlimited exchanges
Email support
Expert ($100 Per Tax Year)
Up to 1,000 transactions
Unlimited exchanges
Professional ($200 Per Tax Year)
Up to 10,000 transactions
Unlimited exchanges
Connect with accountant
Priority chat support 24/7
Custom file imports
CoinTracker.io
CoinTracker.io lets you calculate bitcoin taxes and track your crypto portfolio from one convenient platform. You connect your exchanges, wallets, and DeFi platforms. Then, CoinTracker.io automatically and continuously synchronizes your crypto balances and transactions.
Some people use CoinTracker.io simply to track their entire crypto portfolio. You can get a breakdown of your holdings, how they have grown over time, and other data. CoinTracker.io supports over 300 wallets and exchanges, making it easy to sync your funds wherever they’re held.
You can also instantly generate tax reports for any country in the world. Full CoinTracker.io tax reports are available for crypto users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Partial support is available to residents of every other country in the world. With a few clicks on CoinTracker.io, you can view your tax summary, then download the reports you need to file your taxes.
Pricing
Hobbyist ($49 Per Tax Year)
100 transactions
Free portfolio tracking
Cost basis methods
Trader ($199 Per Tax Year)
1,500 transactions
Free portfolio tracking
Cost basis methods
Tax summary by wallet
Pro ($499 Per Tax Year)
5,000 transactions
Free portfolio tracking
Cost basis methods
Tax summary by wallet
Priority support
Custom (Custom Pricing)
Unlimited transactions
Everything included in Pro
Blox
Blox is a cryptocurrency accounting, tracking, and managing software. It’s marketed more towards blockchain businesses instead of individual users and investors.
Key features with Blox include the ability to automatically track and sync wallets, build audit trails with CPA financial tools, have full control over bookkeeping and transactions, and view a real-time dashboard with your balances, analytics, historical data, and assets performance, among other metrics.
Some of Blox’s target customers, according to the official website, include crypto executives, asset managers, blockchain protocols, accounting firms, crypto companies, mining operations, crypto funds, and VCs. Etoro, 0x, Nexo, Crypto.com, Civic, PumaPay, Paxful, and other notable names all use Blox.
If you’re looking for a crypto accounting and tax software specifically designed for your crypto or blockchain business, then Blox is one of the best options available.
Pricing
Pro Plan (Free)
Up to $50,000 assets under management
Storage for 100 transactions
1 collaborator
Email support
Business ($299 Per Month)
Up to $20 million assets under management
Storage for 50,000 transactions
4 collaborators
Cost basis
CSV export
24 hour support response time
Enterprise ($449 Per Month)
Up to $60 million assets under management
Storage for 150,000 transactions
8 collaborators
Cost basis
CSV export
Dedicated account manager
Custom (Custom)
Unlimited assets under management
Everything included in Enterprise
Koinly
Koinly calculates your cryptocurrency taxes in 20+ countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, France, and more.
As with most other crypto tax software here, you connect your exchange API keys and blockchain public addresses, then Koinly syncs all of that information to your dashboard. With a click, you can generate tax reports to minimize your taxable gains. You can also just use Koinly to track your portfolio. You can see your coins and total value, for example, or analyze your trade performance. There’s even a built-in block explorer.
Koinnly lets you import data from anywhere. 300+ exchanges are supported, and you can import data via CSV or API. Koinly supports over 6,000 cryptocurrencies. A free trial is also available with no credit card required. Koinly also has versions of its platform specifically designed for businesses, funds, and CPAs.
Pricing
Hodler ($79 Per Year)
300 transactions
Tax report for any year
All exchanges and wallets
Income and capital gains
Trader ($179 Per Year)
3,000 transactions
Tax report for any year
All exchanges and wallets
Income and capital gains
Priority support
Oracle ($399 Per Year)
10,000 transactions
Tax report for any year
All exchanges and wallets
Income and capital gains
Priority support
Review and import assistance
Early access to new features
Bitcoin.tax
Bitcoin.tax is one of the most low-key options on this list. A free version of the platform is available, although paid plans start at $29.95 (and more expensive plans can process up to one million transactions).
Bitcoin.tax lets you import details from one of the supported exchanges. You can also add any spending or donations you might have made from your wallets, any mined coins, or other crypto income you have received. You can compare different cost-basis methodologies, including FIFO, LIFO, and average costing. You can also compare like-kind treatment. Then, Bitcoin.tax will show you your capital gains report with every transaction’s cost basis, sale proceeds, and gain, along with an income report, donation report, and closing report.
Once the Bitcoin.tax capital gains report has been produced, you can import it directly into TurboTax, TaxACT, and other tax software. You can also attach it as a statement to your tax return or print it as a PDF.
Pricing
$0 to $29.95
Bitwave.io
Bitwave.io offers tax and accounting solutions for businesses that use crypto. The crypto tax software supports multi-user wallets, accounting and taxes, AR/AP, and more. If your company uses crypto, then Bitwave.io is one option available.
Some of the advertised benefits of Bitwave include “secure”, “integrated”, and “easy”. The platform describes itself as an “industry-leading solution for secure management of your funds”. There’s a specific Bitwave accounting platform that works with existing tools like QuickBooks Online and Xero. There are also specific tools for paying bills with crypto or managing multi-sig, multi-user enterprise wallets.
Bitwave was formerly known as BitAlpha. The company is based in San Francisco.
Pricing
Custom
Crypto Tax Girl
Crypto Tax Girl, found online at CryptoTaxGirl.com, is a CPA named Laura who specializes in crypto-related taxes.
Crypto Tax Girl offers a number of crypto tax-related services. There are two courses on CryptoTaxGirl.com, for example, that teach you everything you need to know about crypto taxation in the United States. The two courses include “The Complete Guide to Cryptocurrency Taxation” ($50) and “How to Really Use Cointracking” ($199).
Laura also offers consultations, crypto gain and loss reports, tax returns, and tax advisory services. The Crypto Tax Girl website also offers free tax tips, while Laura’s YouTube page has more crypto tax explanation videos. Laura has had over 200 clients come to her for cryptocurrency tax filings, including individuals, small business owners, C-suite level business executives, expats, students, high and low-income earners, and others. Her goal, according to the official website, “is to make cryptocurrency taxation simple and easy to understand.”
Pricing
Custom
Happy Tax Services
Happy Tax, found online at HappyTax.com, is a general tax filing service where a CPA prepares your taxes for you – including your crypto profits and losses.
To get started with Happy Tax, visit HappyTax.com to find your local Happy Tax representative. Or, download the Happy Tax app and submit your tax report right from your mobile device.
Happy Tax offers a 100% guarantee of all work, and they have a free audit department if you need it. The company markets itself as “the convenience of H&R Block but better”. While H&R Block hires people with just a few days of tax preparation experience, Happy Tax works with licensed and certified CPAs. In fact, these are the only people that prepare taxes for clients at Happy Tax.
Happy Tax has four plans ranging from $100 to $500 per tax year. They also advertise a specific “crypto” package. Whether you want a complete tax return or just a profit/loss report on your crypto assets, Happy Tax may be the right choice for you.
Pricing
$100 to $500 per tax year
Crypto.tax
Crypto.tax doesn’t directly offer crypto tax returns or crypto tax calculations. Instead, this website is dedicated to listing the best crypto tax tools available today.
At a glance, you can view the latest offers and prices for Accointing, Bear.tax, CoinTracker, and ZenLedger, among others.
The straightforward website also has answers to various crypto tax questions.
Final Word
Whether you’re a hodler, crypto-accepting business, or institutional investor, you have more crypto tax software options today than ever before.
Choose a crypto tax software program today to avoid facing steep crypto tax penalties in the future.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Best Crypto Tax Software for 2020: Top Bitcoin Accounting Service Providers & Programs for Taxes appeared first on Master The Crypto.
Teeka Tiwari has launched a new marketing campaign for his Crypto Income Quarterly newsletter. It’s called “the tech royalty retirement plan”.
By following Teeka’s investment advice in the tech royalty retirement plan, you can “collect $180,472 every year” and “enjoy income for life” while “starting with just $100” – at least according to Teeka Tiwari.
As with other Teeka Tiwari marketing pages, the sales page for Tech Royalty is filled with grandiose claims of followers turning small investments into massive fortunes.
“I’ve turned $12K into $1,032,763 in just a little over a year?!! Wow. Thank you seems insufficient,” writes one of Teeka’s devoted followers after following his investment advice.
“Thanks to you, I have over $4.5 million,” writes another follow.
So what’s the secret behind Teeka Tiwari’s tech royalty investment system? Let’s take a closer look at how it works – and whether it’s a scam or a legitimate investment opportunity.
Let’s review Crypto Income Quarterly and see what Teeka’s Palm Beach Tech Royalty retirement plan is all about in 2020.
What is the Tech Royalty Retirement Plan?
Teeka Tiwari’s tech royalty retirement plan is described as “a royalty stream that allows you to collect cash in your hand every day, week or month – on new technology.”
These tech royalties are similar to traditional royalties, where you receive a periodic payout because of something you own – like a movie, song, or book.
Obviously, plenty of tech companies give away dividends. But what’s the difference between Teeka’s “tech royalties” and a dividend?
Teeka answers this question by stating that tech royalties pay significantly better than dividends.
“Normal dividend investments have an average annual return of just 1.85%…but tech royalties could have already handed you peak returns of 517%, 770%, 987%….even 9,161% and more.”
Teeka also claims that by taking advantage of these tech royalties today, you can earn $180,472 per year for life with just a $100 investment.
“Think about that…you can start with as little as $100…retire in a year…and enjoy income for life.”
Obviously, all of this sounds too good to be true – especially from a company like Palm Beach Research Group known for its exaggerated customer testimonials.
So what exactly is Teeka Tiwari talking about? What is a tech royalty?
Tech Royalties Are Cryptocurrencies
After dazzling you with ridiculous claims of how much money you can make by following his investment advice, Teeka Tiwari finally reaches the point of his argument: his “tech royalties” are just cryptocurrencies.
Teeka seems to be particularly bullish about the blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrencies. The sales page never actually says “blockchain” by name, although Teeka describes how many of his tech royalties/cryptocurrencies are built on this technology.
Why is there an opportunity for such exponential growth in the field? Why does Teeka claim a $100 investment can make a millionaire?
Well, Teeka describes the “network effect” of crypto and blockchain technology:
“With tech royalties, you get the chance to profit from the network effect. Tech royalty software [crypto/blockchain software] can scale to millions of users – practically overnight. Because adoption doesn’t happen one person at a time…it happens exponentially.”
Teeka also claims to have some secret investment strategy that lets him collect dividends every hour, every day, every week, or every month as needed. It’s unclear what he’s talking about here, but it seems like he’s talking about periodically selling some of your crypto assets to lock in gains, and then calling these profits “royalties”.
Click here now to watch Teeka Tiwari’s Crypto Income Quarterly Presentation right now.
Teeka Believes Cryptoassets Are the Big New Investment Class
Ultimately, Teeka’s “tech royalty” argument is built on the idea that institutions are about to flood into cryptocurrencies.
Teeka points to proof like the fact that Fidelity is adding crypto support to every brokerage account. TD Ameritrade is about to do the same. As more brokerage platforms follow suit, the money will pour into crypto – at least, according to Teeka.
Teeka also mentions Bakkt, the crypto exchange platform launched by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owners of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Bakkt’s volume has been steadily growing over the past few months since launching in September 2019.
With that in mind, Teeka believes other brokerages will quickly follow suit and add crypto support:
“Do you think Schwab… TD Ameritrade… Interactive Brokers… and every other online broker… is just going to stand by and let Fidelity be the only one? No way! That’s not what happens in a competitive industry like finance.”
Because of this effect, Teeka believes crypto is a new asset class just like REITs, ETFs, index funds, and tech stocks. However, unlike these asset classes, ordinary investors can invest today right along with early adopters and institutions. You don’t have to wait for a company to go public or for everyone to hear about it before you buy:
Of course, critics will say that crypto has already gone far past the “you get to buy here” point. Critics will claim that crypto has already had its historic boom and bust cycle. Will bitcoin ever return to its highs of $20,000 or more? Teeka Tiwari certainly seems to think so. If you think so too, then you can follow his investment advice to earn millions – at least, according to Teeka.
What is Crypto Income Quarterly?
Teeka Tiwari’s “tech royalty retirement plan” is just a marketing campaign for his Crypto Income Quarterly newsletter.
Once every three months, Teeka will send a copy of Crypto Income Quarterly to your inbox. The newsletter contains investment advice – like the types of cryptocurrencies you should buy right now to lock in massive gains.
As with other products from Palm Beach Research Group, Crypto Income Quarterly promises easy money and fast wealth. By following the investment advice contained within the newsletter, you can lock in huge gains with a limited chance of a loss – at least according to the Palm Beach Research Group team.
Teeka claims that he could sell Crypto Income Quarterly for much more than he’s currently selling it. Out of the sheer goodness of his heart, however, Teeka has chosen to keep prices low:
“You get access to the only hedge fund quality research currently available on this totally new opportunity to get rich outside the stock market. Of course, I could sell my research to hedge funds and other big-league investors and make about 20X to 40X what I make now. But the truth is… I have all the money I’ll ever need.”
Crypto Income Quarterly
Crypto Income Quarterly has a bizarre and expensive pricing system:
New Membership Joining Fee: $2,000
Renewal Fee: $249 every three months
Yes, you’re paying $2,000 just to join Crypto Income Quarterly. Then, you are required to pay $249 for every issue thereafter ($996 per year).
All of this information is hidden in fine print at the bottom of the Crypto Income Quarterly sales page, making it difficult to see exactly what you’re signing up for when entering your credit card information.
What’s Included with Crypto Income Quarterly?
If you subscribe to Crypto Income Quarterly through the tech royalty sales page, then you’ll get a handful of bonus products, including:
One Year Subscription to Crypto Income Quarterly: You get an annual subscription to Crypto Income Quarterly, delivered to your email inbox once per quarter.
My Top Three Tech Royalties in 2020 for Early Retirement: Teeka lists three “tech royalties” (i.e. cryptocurrencies or blockchain companies) he recommends buying today. Teeka claims that a $100 investment today will lead to a windfall of $100,000 per year or more starting this year.
10 Cryptocurrency Income Special Situations That Could Hand You $81,624 Per Year or More For Life: This eBook lists ten special cryptocurrency income situations that could hand you $81,624 per year or more for life.
Wilson’s Crypto Insights: Palm Beach Research Group’s Greg Wilson publishes a newsletter called Wilson’s Crypto Insights. The newsletter claims to provide “hedge-fund-level analysis”. Teeka also claims that “only 52 professionals in the world now receive it”.
Periodic Email Updates: Teeka will periodically send emails to subscribers to update them on any news, recent crypto developments, or position changes.
Income Crypto Quick Start Guide: Your subscription includes an eBook that explains how cryptocurrencies work, how to get started today, and how they fit into your retirement portfolio.
Crypto Video Guides: A crypto instructor named Hector Pena has put together crypto video guides that walk you through the first steps of buying cryptocurrency.
All of these bonus products are eBooks. They will be delivered to your inbox after you pay your $2,000 new membership fee for Crypto Income Quarterly.
Final Word on Tech Royalty Retirement Plan
Crypto Income Quarterly is a newsletter from Palm Beach Research Group and Teeka Tiwari. Teeka Tiwari is a former hedge fund manager who has recently specialized in crypto.
Teeka is very bullish on cryptocurrency. He seems to think that crypto is about to explode with growth. As evidence, he points to the fact that Bakkt, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, and other major brokerage platforms all support crypto – and other brokerages should soon follow suit.
Teeka Tiwari has published a new sales page to promote Crypto Income Quarterly. The sales page talks about the “tech royalty retirement plan” and “tech royalties” you can invest in.
As with other Palm Beach Research Group products, the sales page is filled with ridiculous claims of earning potential: by investing $100 in Teeka’s recommended cryptocurrencies today, for example, you can earn guaranteed income of $100,000 per year for life. Even people who bought $100 of bitcoin in 2009 aren’t earning that kind of money!
Crypto Income Quarterly also has an unusually expensive pricing setup. You pay $2,000 just to join the newsletter. Then, you pay $249 every quarter for each additional issue of the newsletter. Making things more complicated is that all of this pricing information is hidden in fine, light-colored print at the bottom of the sales page.
Ultimately, there are significant issues with Crypto Income Quarterly and how the newsletter markets itself online, and the tech royalty retirement plan is yet another example of that.
However, if you’re bullish on cryptocurrencies and believe in Teeka Tiwari’s investment wisdom, then you may want to sign up for Crypto Income Quarterly through the tech royalty retirement plan sales page.
Discover what Teeka Tiwari’s Tech Royalty Retirement Plan is all about for his Crypto Income Quarterly newsletter.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Crypto Income Quarterly: Palm Beach’s Tech Royalty Retirement Plan appeared first on Master The Crypto.
Biggest Blockchain + Crypto Events to Attend in 2020
Let’s kick off the new 2020 decade with a bang and list all of the top bitcoin events, cryptocurrency conferences and blockchain-centric meetups this year.
With 2019 now behind us, it is hard to ignore how transformational the year ahead will be as excitement for the global blockchain community has never been higher as a whole. In this regard, it bears mentioning that after facing bearish conditions for the price of bitcoin and greater crypto market for the better part of the last year and all of 2018, the digital asset industry is primed for a big shift ahead. These events included are massive catalysts that provide enriching experiences within the ecosystem and also are great excuses to explore the world and get out from behind your computer screen.
In this 2020 crypto events guide, the list reviews a host of worthy conferences, reputable trade shows and notable forums that a lot of tech savvy enthusiasts are looking forward to attending not only to increase their technical, financial and even economical appetite, but also to network with some of the biggest names, players and companies in the crypto industry.
These crypto-focused ‘meetings of the minds’ represent fantastic opportunities to connect in-person and link up face-to-face with industry innovators and crypto influencers that are leading the charge into the new decade of cryptoassets. While daily news and podcasts are great ways to consume the essence of the blossoming bitcoin industry, getting around powerhouse people and innovative individuals who make this space what it is today could be life changing for you. The ability to establish needle-moving relationships and potential partnerships can greatly increase if you attend any these crypto conferences in 2020.
Whether it is picking up a new marketing strategy, business idea or learning about a dApp concept; if you are involved with bitcoin and blockchain there is zero doubt that making the effort and taking the time to show up to any of these crypto events is going to be a worth while educational endeavor that can feed fuel to your financial future.
Without further ado, let’s breakdown the biggest cryptocurrency conferences of 2020 and share some pertinent details (dates, locations, speakers, main attractions) about each to hopefully help peak your interest and expand your knowledge of all things bitcoin and blockchain.
January 2020
Digital Money Forum 2020
Date: January 7, 2020
Location: The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, USA
Much like its last four iterations, Digital Money Forum 2020 will also be sponsored by CES. The event will take place during the first week of January and will feature several attractions that will allow members of the global tech community to explore many key issues currently being faced by the blockchain/crypto industry.
Some of the industry personnel who will be attending the event include:
Combiz Richard Abdolrahimi — Emerging Technology & Innovation Leader for Deloitte
Jeremy K. Balkin — HSBC’s Innovation Head
Steven Becker — President of MakerDAO
Stan Bharti — Chairman of Gear Capital
Rick Bleszynski — CEO of Splend
Michelle Bond — Ripple’s head of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Ripple
Michael Casey — Content curator for leading crypto media outlet CoinDesk
Crypto Finance Conference 2020
Date: January 15-17, 2020
Location: Suvretta House, St. Moritz
Dubbed as an ‘investors-only event’, the Crypto Finance Conference brings together some of the biggest private/institutional investors in the world along with several crypto/blockchain experts. The 3-day event will deal with many topics about this domain and will allow attendees to source high-profile investment and networking opportunities. This year’s conference will feature Gemini’s Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Eva Kaili (the MEP Chair of STOA, European Parliament), Michael Sung, Bitfury’s Bill Tai, Coinshare Capital’s Meltem Demirors.
The North American Bitcoin Conference
Date: January 15-17, 2020
Location: James L. Knight Center, Miami USA
The 2020 version of the much-hyped North American Bitcoin Conference, will be sponsored by Keynote. Not only that, the event will feature two full days of crypto/blockchain-related events as well as various discussions about disruptive technologies that many experts will change how the global finance industry works. Some well-known tech personalities who will be taking part in the event include Binary Financial’s Harry Yeh, Crypto Pioneer’s Nick Spanos, Netki COO Dawn Newton, Alex Tapscott, and Charlie Shrem.
Lastly, it also bears mentioning that the event is open to everyone and anybody looking to attend can simply show up at the conference to join in.
2020 Block Talk Summit
Date: January 18, 2020
Location: McNally Amphitheater, New York
The 2020 Block Talk Summit will deal primarily with the question “How does blockchain’s future look like in the United States and China?”. It also bears mentioning that this iteration of the event will be hosted by New Power Chain and will feature some of the top blockchain experts (affiliated with different exchange platforms, law firms, crypto platforms) from across the United States and China.
Geneva Blockchain Congress 2020
Date: January 20, 2020
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
The second edition of the Geneva Blockchain Congress seeks to delve into the topic ‘From laboratory to market via ethics, regulation, and governance‘. As per the official event website, the Congress aims to help foster a healthy exchange of views between international standard-setting bodies and national government agencies that have been tasked with the responsibility of devising crypto/blockchain-oriented legal frameworks. Confirmed attendees include:
Louis de Bruin: Executive at IBM Global Business Services
Kavita Gupta: Professor at Stanford University
Marta Piekarska-Geater: Director at Hyperledger
Tina Balzli: Member of the Crypto Valley Association
European Blockchain Convention (EBC)
Date January 20-21, 2020
Location: Hotel Hesperia Barcelona Tower, Barcelona, Spain
The European Blockchain Convention (ECB) is all set to take place during the third week of January and will feature more than 600+ tech leaders, regulators, investors, devs from all over the world.
The event aims to help provide crypto enthusiasts with a platform to network, form long-standing business partnerships and source potential partners for their business ventures.
As per the official ECB website, the two-day event will seek to delve into the real-life use cases associated with blockchain and DLT across a variety of different domains such as energy distribution, finance, supply chain, healthcare, retail, etc.
Blocktech Connect 2020
Date: January 28, 2020
Location: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
The second iteration of the Blocktech Connect conference will take place during the last week of January in Hamilton, Ontario. The core focus of this year’s conference will be novel technologies such as blockchain, Artificial Intelligence(AI), and the Internet of Things(IoT). Additionally, the day-long event will bring together several industry leaders who will not only present their views on the aforementioned subjects but will also interact with attendees to educate and inspire them.
Some keynote speakers who will be giving an address at the event include established industry personnel such as Chetan Phull, Ramy Nassar, Stephen Worrall, Jerry Qian.
UNLOCK Blockchain 2020 Forum
Date: January 28-29, 2020
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The third iteration of the UNLOCK Blockchain 2020 Forum will be a two-day event that will be held in Dubai. The event will deal with a host of issues related to blockchain and decentralization (primarily from the standpoint of individuals living in the MENA region).
Since its inception, UNLOCK has been looking to improve ties between several international and regional blockchain startups. In this regard, it bears mentioning that this year, the conference will seek to discuss and highlight certain niche’ topics like:
The regulatory difficulties surrounding blockchain/crypto in the MENA region
Benefits and downsides associated with Security Token Offerings (STOs)
Rise of crypto exchanges and platforms in the MENA region
Lastly, we need to point out that this year’s conference will host a total of 800 attendees as well as 115 speakers from 70 different blockchain firms. If that wasn’t enough, UNLOCK 2020 will also feature a total of 70 media partners and 30+ investors.
Crypto 2020 Summit ONLINE
Date: January 29-31, 2020
Location: Online based
The Crypto 2020 Online summit is all set to take place during the last week of January. It will feature a plethora of renowned crypto personalities including MakerDAO’s Mariano Conti, Pantera Capital’s Joey Krug, Bitcoin.com’s Roger Ver, Tone (amongst others).
As part of the conference, the attendees will take part in discussions related to specific topics such as:
Why is 2020 all set to be the year of crypto?
The most promising crypto projects of 2020
The digital currencies that are most likely expected to surge this year.
February 2020
4th International Blockchain Congress (Blockress) 2020
Date: February 6, 2020
Location: AON Center, Chicago, USA
The 2020 iteration of the International Blockchain Congress (also commonly referred to as Blockress) will be held in Chicago during the first week of February. The event is focused primarily on several issues about technical domains such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, digital smart contracts and will be attended by many high profile personalities from within this space. Some of these individuals include:
Hester M. Peirce: Current Commissioner of the U.S. SEC (also affectionately referred to as Cryptomom)
Bill Foster: U.S. Congressman from the State of Illinois
Shogo Ishida: CEO at QRC Group
Robert Konsdorf: CEO at EOS Detroit
Blockchain Dev Conference 2020
Date: February 13 – February 14, 2020
Location: Oakland Convention Center, San Francisco, United States
Over the last 4-5 years, blockchain has transformed how a lot of people perceive various crypto-related technologies. In this regard, the Blockchain Dev Conference 2020 will seek to educate the masses about the overall utility of the blockchain protocol, decentralized contracts, and other such innovations.
The two-day event is essentially a part of Developer Week that is scheduled to run from February 12-16, 2020 and will see several high profile tech personalities (such as Jesse Stockall, Synth, Wyatt Floch) present their thoughts and opinions in regards to various issues related to this burgeoning space.
DAS London
Date: February 10th, 2020.
Location: The Rosewood Hotel, London.
The Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London is one of the most highly-anticipated blockchain events of 2020. The event will focus primarily on institutional clients that are looking to make their mark within the global digital asset ecosystem. Additionally, as part of the event, there will be more than 500+ attendees who will be given a direct opportunity to speak and interact with the representatives of various financial institutions, asset managers, and blockchain pioneers regarding a whole host of issues ranging from digital finance to blockchain’s future potential.
As per the official DAS London website, the agenda for this year’s conference will comprise primarily of key topics such as:
Market infrastructure
Trading mechanics in exchange and OTC markets
Financial derivatives and how best to make use of them
The key aspects of ETFs
All of the above-mentioned issues will be tackled directly by established personnel who have been associated with the blockchain/crypto arena for quite some time now. Also, some of the keynote speakers who have already confirmed their appearances at the event include Steve Kokinos, Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer, Diana Biggs, Michael Ippolito.
Blockchain Economy
Date: February 20-21th, 2020.
Location: WOW Convention Center, Istanbul / Turkey
Widely touted to be one of the most elaborate and comprehensive blockchains/crypto events to take place in the MENA and Eurasia region, the Blockchain Economy conference will be held in picturesque Istanbul during the second half of February.
The event will host several established speakers including crypto billionaire John McAfee, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, Alex Alexandrov, and Nithin Eapen. Not only that, but it is also expected that several other big-name tech personalities will also be attending the event, however, details regarding the same have not yet been released at this time.
As per the official Blockchain Economy website, the core agenda of the event will look to tackle a whole host of topics related to ‘financial technologies of the future’ that hold the potential to change the world.
NFT.NYC 2020
Date: February 20, 2020
Location: The Edison Ballroom, New York, United States
Considered to be the world’s leading Non-Fungible Token (NFT) event, NFT.NYC 2020 has been around for a couple of years now. The single-day event will see a total of 500 attendees and 80+ speakers come together in NYC’s Time Square to tackle a whole host of issues that are currently affecting the emerging NFT Ecosystem.
As part of the conference, various NFT experts will present to the world different use-cases where Non-Fungible Tokens have impacted consumer experiences of ownership and identity of digital currencies. Also, according to the official event website, some of the topics that will be discussed at length during the conference include:
The various tangible use-cases of NFTs related to enterprises.
How can consumer marketing be facilitated through the use of NFTs?
Gaming interoperability using NFTs and the different NFTs that provide sports enthusiasts with digital ownership.
Regulation of NFTs and how these assets can be used to build trust and confidence across the global finance industry.
CoinGeek Conference 2020
Date: February 20, 2020 – February 21, 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
CoinGeek Conference 2020 is a crypto event that will be focusing primarily on the developments surrounding Bitcoin SV, a blockchain platform that is touted to be regulation-friendly and can be scaled on an extremely large scale (that too easily and efficiently).
As part of this year’s event, some of the primary affiliates related to the Bitcoin SV project will be in attendance. They include Dr. Craig S. Wright, Chief Scientist of nChain and one of the foremost proponents of the BSV ecosystem, Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of the nChain Group and Steve Shadders, CTO for the BSV Node project.
March 2020
Hong Kong Blockchain Week 2020
Date: March 2 – 6, 2020
Location: Ocean Park Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong
HongKong Blockchain Week 2020 will be hosted by NexChange and will bring together some of the biggest leaders associated with this steadily growing industry. According to the official event website, the conference will serve as a meeting ground for tech enthusiasts, investors, government personnel, entrepreneurs, start-up owners, etc. Additionally, it also bears mentioning that the 2019 iteration of the Hong Kong Blockchain Week hosted more than 3,500 attendees and thus it is expected that this year’s version of the event will be no different.
London Blockchain Week 2020
Date: March 4 – March 11, 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
This will be the 6th edition of the London Blockchain Week (LBW) and it is expected that over 3000 odd people will be attending the event. Over the week, participants will be allowed to take part in several meetups, evening receptions, workshops as well as a special blockchain hackathon. If that wasn’t enough, as per the official LBW website, the organizers will also be hosting a competition wherein the heads of 10 different crypto/blockchain projects will be asked to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges (comprising mainly of top venture capitalists). Of the ten, one winner will be chosen and be allowed to present his/her platform at the next Fintech Worldwide event free of cost.
Blockchain Technology World 2020
Date: March 11 – March 2020
Location: London, UK
As the name seems to suggest, Blockchain Technology World (BTW) 2020 is an event that is dedicated to helping in the widespread adoption of blockchain tech and digital currencies throughout a host of unique industrial domains. However, the primary focus of this year’s event is on the various ‘real-world’ applications of the technology. In this regard, BTW will be hosting a wide array of content from several crypto innovators, entrepreneurs across many different theatres.
Lastly, it bears mentioning that in 2019, a total of 20K technology buyers and influencers from all over the globe attended the conference.
DC Blockchain Summit 2020
Date: March 11 – March 12, 2020
Location: Georgetown University, Washington DC
The 5th edition of the DC Blockchain Summit will see members of the Chamber of Digital Commerce coming together to discuss the issues that still affect the blockchain and crypto sector at large. The event is scheduled to take place during the second week of March and will be held in partnership with Georgetown University’s Center for Financial Markets and Policy. Some of the attendees who will present their views and opinions as part of the summit include MEP’s Chair of STOA Eva Kaili, Former head of the US CFTC J. Christopher Giancarlo, President of the CDC Perianne Boring and CDC’s CPO Amy Davine Kim.
Blockchain Africa Conference 2020
Date: March 11-12, 2020
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Touted to be one of the biggest blockchain/crypto events to take place in Africa this year, the event will seek to demystify and address many of the business challenges that can potentially be solved through the use of blockchain across this economically ripe region. Additionally, the conference will also seek to educate attendees about the various real-world applications (of this burgeoning technology) that are already being used by different businesses across the globe and hence can be used to help many developing African nations.
Some of the tech innovators and leaders who will be gracing the event include:
Tone Vays — Respected cryptocurrency trader and analyst who frequently appears on many tv shows that aired globally.
Akhona Damane — Member of the CSIR
Gary de Beer — Developer and Digital Specialist for BankservAfrica
Mervyn George — Strategy Head and Advisor for SAP Africa
Carmelle Cadet — Founder & CEO of EMTECH
2020 Blockchain for Business
Date: March 13, 2020
Location: RCED, Fayetteville, USA
The 2020 edition of the Blockchain for Business conference will be hosted by Sam M. Walton College of Business. It will bring together some of the foremost academic/industry experts from across this domain to come and explore how decentralized information and value exchange based technologies are slowly but surely changing how businesses are operating these days.
To be even more specific, the keynote speakers at the event will be addressing a host of niche’ topics such as:
The advantage and overall utility of open frameworks
How should regulations evolve as we move into the future?
What are the core fundamentals associated with public, private, permissioned, and hybrid blockchains?
Lastly, it bears mentioning that folks who will be taking part in the conference include Nick Szabo (the inventor of digital smart contracts), Caitlin Long (Chairman of WyoHackathon), Paul Brody (Principal and Global Innovation Leader, EY) and Archana Mehta Sristy (Sr. Director Software Engineering, Walmart).
Blockchain Expo Global
Date: March 17-18th, 2020.
Location: Olympia, London.
Blockchain Expo Global is one of the world’s largest tech events to focus solely on future digital potentialities such as crypto tech and blockchain. The conference will feature some high profile personalities including William Lovell, Ioana Surpateanu, Leanne Kemp, Mariana Gomez de la Villa, Johan Toll and will take place in London during the third week of March.
As part of the expo, several event showcases will be held by different companies that are not only leaders within this space but are also actively working to create cutting edge blockchain platforms and solutions.
Blockchain Week Rome 2020
Date: March 17- March 21, 2020
Location: Mercure Hotel, Roma, Italy
With Bitcoin having paved the way for a global financial revolution at the turn of the last decade, Blockchain Week Rome will seek to expose attendees to many industry leaders, startup owners, experts to help them understand the ins and outs of this rapidly evolving sector. In this regard, it bears mentioning that the 5-day long event will see keynote addresses being given by respected industry specialists such as Giacomo Zucco (world-renowned BTC researcher and specialist), Massimo Chiriatti (CTO Blockchain & Digital Currencies IBM) and Gian Luca Comandini (Member of MiSE).
Paris Blockchain Week Summit 2020
Date: March 31- April 1st, 2020.
Location: Station F, 5 Parvis Alan Turing, 75013 Paris.
One of Europe’s largest blockchain+crypto events, the PBW Summit will feature a total of 2500 attendees from all over the world. not only that, but the conference will also host more than 150 speakers along with 50 sponsors. Lastly, the event will be held in beautiful Paris, France during the last week of March.
According to the official PBWS website, the two-day event will come replete with several insightful talks and workshops that will be conducted by respected members of the global crypto/blockchain ecosystem. In this regard, it should be pointed out that some big-name players who have already signed to give talks at the summit include Arthur Breitman, David Chaum, Hadas Gold, Jack Gavigan, Marjan Delatinne (with more names to be announced within the next couple of weeks).
Finnovex Middle East 2020
Date: March 11-12, 2020
Location: Conrad Hotel – Dubai, UAE
Finnovex is one of today’s leading tech events that deals exclusively with innovation related to the field of financial services in the Middle East — one of the fastest-growing capital markets in the world. The conference is all set to take place during the second week of March and will deal with several pertinent issues such as:
How can banks and other financial institutions located in and around the Middle East match or surpass their international peers?
How can startups and other financial entities diversify their products and services?
What are the regulatory challenges being faced by firms operating in the Middle East — especially in terms of developing secure financial systems?
What are the roles that various banking/non-banking institutions, financial organizations, investment firms can play in helping this niche market sector evolve at a rapid rate?
Additionally, it also bears mentioning that the 2020 iteration of Finnovex will see some of the top C-level executives operating within the financial services industry today.
April 2020
Istanbul Blockchain Week 2020
Date: April 6-10, 2020
Location: Hilton Istanbul, Turkey
The first iteration of the Istanbul Blockchain Week is all set to take place over 5 days in April. The event is touted to be one of the most anticipated blockchain events of the year and will feature some big-name players from the industry including crypto YouTuber and analyst Ivan Liljeqvist, host of CNBC’s Crypto Trader show Ran Neuner, Founder of EAK Digital Erhan Korhaliller, Cointelegraph executive Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr and Founder of DataDash Nicholas Merten (amongst many others).
Blockchain Revolution Global 2020
Date: April 7-8, 2020
Location: Toronto, Canada
The second edition of Blockchain Revolution Global (BRG) will bring together some of the most prominent companies, leaders, thinkers and visionaries from the field of blockchain and crypto tech. The event is being hosted by leading independent think tank Blockchain Research Institute and MCI Group and as per the official event website, the goal of BRG is to help “educate, inspire, and prepare leaders” for the incoming blockchain revolution.
Future Blockchain Summit 2020
Date: April 7 – 8, 2020
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The 3rd edition of the Future Blockchain Summit will take place during the second week of April in Dubai. The event is going to be co-hosted by Smart Dubai as well as the Dubai World Trade Centre. It will see some of the world’s top tech leaders, government representatives, enterprises, startups come together to discuss a whole host of issues related to the adoption of blockchain on a global scale. Attendees will include Swedish Minister of Infrastructure David Suomalainen, London Stock Exchange’s Blockchain Strategy Head Dotun Rominiyi, Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, and Hon. Silvio Schembri (Parliamentary Secretary for the Maltese Government).
ANON Summit 2020
Date: 15-16 April, 2020.
Location: Gösserhalle, Vienna, Austria.
The ANON Summit is gradually becoming one of the hottest destinations for tech enthusiasts all over the globe. The two-day event will focus on many topics such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), crypto platforms, digital assets, and blockchain technology.
At the time of writing this article, it is estimated that ANON will feature a total of 1500 attendees and 100 guest speakers (including some big-name personalities such as Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Walter Kok, Mariya Gabriel, Maximilian Marenbach). Additionally, the event will also serve as a base for budding entrepreneurs who may be looking to network with industry leaders and experts.
FinnoSec Africa 2020
Date: April 21-22, 2020
Location: Nairobi, Kenya (exact venue will be announced in the coming few weeks)
As many of our regular readers may already be aware of, the continent of Africa currently houses some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. In this regard, many experts believe that as we move into the future, blockchain tech will help this region transform both socially and economically.
According to the official event website, FinnoSec 2020 will serve as a meeting of the minds for several experts from the field of finance, cybersecurity. Some of the attendees include:
Titus Mengich Kimaiyo: County Director of ICT & e-Government
Bamidele Oseni(FCA), FICA: Group Chief Risk Officer at I&M Bank Ltd
Raymond Bett: CEO of startup Salaam as well as President of ISACA (Kenya)
Peter Njuguna: CIO of Co-Operative Bank of Kenya
Steve Njenga: Country Chief Information Officer, Barclays Bank
Christian H. C. Ayiku: CFO of Ecobank Transnational Togo
Blockchain Life 2020
Date: April 22 – 23, 2020
Location: Music Media Dome, Moscow, Russia
Blockchain Life 2020 is all set to draw in a total of more than 4,800 participants from all over the world to discuss the key aspects associated with this burgeoning sector. Additionally, over the last 3-4 years, the event has become quite a prestigious platform where several market leaders and government representatives come to discuss the influence of blockchain technology on various industries (such as supply chain, healthcare, etc).
May 2020
Blockchain for Europe Summit 2020
Date: May 2, 2020
Location: Brussels, Belgium
During the first week of May, the Blockchain for Europe Summit (BES) will witness some of the region’s top blockchain players come together to discuss the potential uses of DLT across a host of different sectors (as well as chalk out the implications of the technology on society at large).
Additionally, as per the official event website, BES aims to facilitate collaborations between national, regional and global players to help in the faster adoption, promotion of blockchain technology throughout Europe.
IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency 2020
Date: May 3-6, 2020
Location: Toronto, Canada
The second and latest installment of ICBC 2020 will be hosted by IEEE and will take place in Toronto, Canada during the first week of May. It will feature some keynote addresses, tutorials, peer-reviewed technical paper presentations, etc to help educate attendees about the future of this ever-growing domain. Not only that, as per the official conference website, the authors of a select few papers will be invited to submit their research findings that will then be published in a special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management periodical.
Ethereal New York 2020
Date: May 8 – 9, 2020
Location: NYC, United States
Along with Consensys, the Ethereal Summit is also considered by many to be a go-to event for blockchain/crypto enthusiasts all over the globe. The conference aims to connect leading developers, companies, and influencers to come together and help shape the future of this industry. In this regard, it bears mentioning that this year’s version of the event will be attended by big-wigs such as Joseph Lubin, Taylor Monahan, Robert Leshner and Laura Shin.
Consensus 2020
Date: May 11-13, 2020
Location: Hilton Midtown, New York, United States
The consensus is widely recognized (since 2015) by many as being one of the premier crypto gatherings of imminent tech personalities to take place annually. In this regard, this year’s event will also most likely draw in almost every major company, developer, founder, and investor associated with this domain to discuss the key issues currently affecting this industry as a whole. Additionally, the three-day event will also serve as the perfect meeting ground for entrepreneurs, startup owners to network with one another as well as with various Wall Street and Fortune 500 executives.
While the attendee list for Consensus 2020 has not yet been released, it is expected that some of the biggest names from the world of crypto will be attending the event.
Understanding Bitcoin 2020
Date: May 28 – 31, 2020
Location: The Westin Dragonara, St. Julians, Malta
Understanding Bitcoin 2020 is a 3-day event that will seek to provide crypto enthusiasts with tangible ways in which to eliminate many of the misunderstandings/FUD currently surrounding Bitcoin’s Trustless Network. Additionally, the conference will also discuss the future of Trustless Decentralized Value Transfer and will feature keynote addresses from established industry personnel such as Tone Vays (respected crypto trader and analyst), Dr. Adam Back (Founder & CEO, Blockstream), Alex Petrov (CIO of BitFury).
June 2020
Telco Blockchain Forum
Date: June 9, 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
As per the official agenda of this year’s Telco Blockchain Forum, the event will seek to push for blockchain adoption across the global telecommunications industry. Additionally, the conference will come replete with a broad panel of speakers who will be discussing the potential of blockchain within the telecom sector as well as probing its various business cases (concerning this niche domain).
Additionally, the forum will also delve deeper into the various real-life uses for blockchain in telecom (such as whether or not the tech can serve as a viable revenue generator, or work primarily as an open slasher for the industry at large?)
Blockchain for Business Summit 2020
Date: June 10 – 11, 2020
Location: Excel London, United Kingdom
Following the success of last year’s event, the 2020 iteration of the Blockchain for Business Summit will seek to address the hype and speculation surrounding the digital asset market. Additionally, the event will also look to discuss the various real-world use cases of the technology within a host of different industrial domains and market sectors.
The summit will be attended by many big-name players such as GE Power’s Innovation Head Maher Chebbo, Nordea’s Ville Sointu, Bank of England’s William Lovell and ING’s Mariana Gómez de la Villa (amongst others).
Crypto Valley Blockchain Conference
Date: 11-12 June 2020.
Location: Rotkreuz, Switzerland
The third and latest edition of the Crypto Valley Conference (CVC) will be held during the second week of June in Rotkreuz, Switzerland. The two-day event will feature many discussions that will tackle pertinent issues related to blockchain technology. As per the official conference website, CVC will host more than 50+ presentations from global industry leaders.
Additionally, but the event will also present attendees with:
Carefully selected research studies that deal with the academic aspect of crypto and blockchain tech.
Interactions with several high-profile individuals from different corporate environments, academic institutions, start-ups, and government entities.
Product showcases from a large number of companies.
Panel discussions that offer challenging opinions.
Lastly, it bears mentioning that the Crypto Valley Conference will be attended by more than 700 individuals, 100+ investors, 10+ exhibitors, and 200+ companies.
July 2020
Blockchain Summit: The Business of Blockchain
Date: July 1-2, 2020
Location: Olympia Conference Centre, London, UK
Blockchain Summit 2020 will offer attendees access to a number of tech influencers and disruptors from all over the world. This year’s edition of the conference will feature a total of 200+ speakers hailing from various industries such as blockchain, AI, finance and will serve as a platform for different vendors to discuss, demo and showcase their products to the global tech market at large.
Supply Chain on Blockchain Conference 2020
Date: July 13, 2020
Location: Fishburners Event Space, Brisbane, Australia
As the name seems to suggest, the Supply Chain on Blockchain Conference seeks to bring together supply chain operators with various blockchain researchers, independent developers, government officials to discuss a wide range of niche issues related to this domain (such as provenance, supply chain financing, deal negotiation, and Logistics).
Blockchain Expo Europe
Date: July 17-18th, 2020.
Location: RAI Amsterdam.
Widely considered to be one of the world’s largest blockchain-oriented conferences, the event focuses primarily on things like:
The future of enterprise technology
The potential of blockchain and crypto
In addition to this, as part of the two-day event, there will also be a number of event showcases that will be conducted by various leading brands from this rapidly evolving industry.
Mining Disrupt Conference (MDC) 2020
Date: July 22 – 23, 2020
Location: DoubleTree by Hilton, Miami, United States
MDC is widely recognized as being one of the world’s largest crypto oriented conferences to feature a number of established miners, hosters and even ASIC Makers. As part of this year’s event, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the various disruptive blockchain startups and platforms that have the potential to completely revolutionize this industry. Not only that, it is expected that MDC 2020 will be attended by more than 1,000+ experts, influencers, and strategists from all over the world. Some of these individuals include:
Irene Gao — International Sales Manager, Bitmain
David Vorick — CEO, Co-founder of Obelisk ASIC Manufacturer + Lead Developer of Sia
Navdeep Garg — Tech Executive for BitTorrent
Philip Salter — Head of Mining Operations, Genesis Mining
August 2020
Blockchain Summit Singapore
Date: To be decided
Location: Suntec, Singapore
The day-long event will feature more than 700 industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers who will come together to help attendees understand the various ins and outs associated with this constantly evolving technology. And while the guestlist for this year’s summit has not yet been announced, going by the personnel who have attended the event in previous years, it is expected that some of the most prominent names from this space will attend this year’s conference.
Blockchain Training Conference
Date: To be decided
Location: Denver, Colorado
This year’s Blockchain Training Conference is all set to feature a number of in-depth interactions with members of the global blockchain sector. As per the official event website, the conference will come replete with a total of 16 hours of educational content that is tailored to help people maximize their knowledge of all things related to this burgeoning domain.
Forum Blockmaster
Date: To be decided
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Forum Blockmaster is widely considered to be Brazil’s premier crypto/blockchain event. This year’s version of the event will see a number of South America’s leading tech developers, business owners, and crypto enthusiasts come together to not only network with one another but also share their knowledge, insights and connect with regional and international attendees.
September 2020
Blockchain in Oil & Gas Conference
Date: September 16-17, 2020
Location: JW Marriott Houston, United States
The 4th edition of the annual Blockchain in Oil & Gas conference will take place during the third week of September and much like its predecessor will witness more than 40+ speakers and 200+ attendees. Additionally, it bears mentioning that the event will be held in partnership with the Oil and Gas Blockchain Consortium — an entity that comprises of well-known industry giants including Shell, Equinor, Chevron, Hess, Repsol (amongst others).
As per the official event website, this year’s conference will look to explore the various ways in which blockchain can be used to by oil & gas firms to streamline their internal operations as well as maximize their overall productivity. Not only that, but the conference will also feature live demonstrations of various blockchain-based governance frameworks that can be used to replace the industry’s existing legacy systems.
October 2020
Voice of Blockchain 2020
Date: October 5-6, 2020
Location Venue SIX10, Chicago, United States
According to a host of information available online, this year’s version of the Voice of Blockchain (VoB) conference will seek to provide members of the global blockchain ecosystem with a platform to interact with one another in a highly streamlined manner — thus allowing them to maximize their networking opportunities.
It is expected that the core agenda for the event will be announced by 1/31/20.
Crypto Invest Summit 2020
Date: October 6 – October 7, 2020
Location: Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, United States
Also referred to as CIS, the event is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading crypto conferences/expo’s to focus on niche’ topics like blockchain investing, crypto adoption, etc. Additionally, it should be pointed out that this year’s conference will be hosted by Goren Holm Ventures and will be attended by a number of innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs, startups, angel investors, venture capital investors, retail investors, family offices, real estate investors who have been associated with the blockchain space for many years now.
Previous attendees include Steve Wozniak, Tim Draper, Dan Morehead, Bill Barhydt, and Apolo Ohno.
November 2020
MoneyConf
Date: November 2 -3, 2020
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
MoneConf 2020 is a two-day event that will host more than 5000 attendees from more than a hundred different countries. In terms of what the event offers, the conference will come replete with a number of keynote addresses, practical workshops, networking sessions that will allow individuals to maximize their knowledge of topics such as blockchain, crypto, AI, decentralization, DLT, etc.
Blockchain Expo North America
Date: November 4-5, 2020
Location: Santa Clara Convention Centre, United States
The fourth edition of the annual N.American Blockchain Expo will draw in leaders, experts from a number of industries to discuss issues related to a variety of niche’ domains such as blockchain, IoT, 5G, cybersecurity, cloud technology, AI and big data.
Additionally, it also bears mentioning that the event will feature a number of keynote speeches, interactive panel discussions and solution-based case studies that will not only allow attendees to learn about the various facets of this ever-evolving space but also allow them to gain a better grasp of some of the finer details of this technology.
Lastly, as per the official agenda of the event, the conference seeks to help people discover the core industries that can be disrupted through the use of blockchain tech. Some of these market sectors include retail, finance, healthcare, insurance, energy, music, government, real estate.
Decentralized 2020
Date: November 11-13, 2020
Location: Limassol, Cyprus
Hosted by the University of Nicosia, the fourth annual Decentralized conference will be held during the second week of November. As many of our readers may already be aware of, the event is widely considered to be one of Europe’s premier conferences on blockchain and digital currencies. In this regard, it bears mentioning that Decentralized 2020 will see some of the world’s leading business execs, as well as academic experts, come together to discuss the various trends and developments affecting this space. Previous attendees include blockstream’s Dr. Adam Back, CDC’s Perianne Boring, and Eva Kaili.
IMTC 2020
Date: November 16-19, 2020
Location: Miami, United States
IMTC 2020 will see a total of 500 odd participants coming together from all over the globe to not only network with one another but also learn about the latest developments taking place within the world of blockchain and crypto-related finance. Speakers at this year’s event will include big-name personalities such as George Harrap, Leon Issacs, Nina Hulsken.
Best 2020 Crypto Events and Conferences: Final Word
What a jam packed year it will be in the land of bitcoin. As the blockchain-based era dawns upon us all in 2020 and beyond, from the halving event coming up to any one of these listed cryptocurrency-centric conferences, a wise word to all crypto enthusiasts, advocates and zealots is to make the rounds and start networking with peers, find new interesting suppliers or vendors and begin positioning yourself for the best chance at success in this amazing world of cryptoassets.
Whether it be increasing your awareness or gaining clarity, these blockchain-related crypto events will transpire a different level of inspiration and motivation you can take back home. Oh, and one final thought – be sure to have fun! Attending any of these bitcoin events will be advantageous to pick up strategies, insights and analysis that you simply won’t find on crypto twitter.
Aziz, Master the Crypto Founder
I’m Aziz, a seasoned cryptocurrency trader who’s really passionate about 2 things; #1) the awesome-revolutionary blockchain technology underlying crypto and #2) helping make bitcoin great ‘again’!
The post Best Crypto Events: Top 2020 Bitcoin Blockchain Conferences appeared first on Master The Crypto.
Ransomware is something the “average American” is worried about, says former cybersecurity top dog Chris Krebs
Former Department of Homeland Security official Christopher Krebs called for greater governmental oversight of cryptocurrency in an interview yesterday, saying that anonymous payments are a threat “the average American is concerned about.”
In an interview on Late Night with Bill Maher, Maher asked the former U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency director about his thoughts on Bitcoin.
“What’s gonna happen with Bitcoin? Where do you see that going? That’s in sort of your area, I see it bringing down civilization, but maybe I’m being anti-intellectual,” said Maher.
“Cryptocurrency is, as I see it, is one of the single enabling factors that has allowed cyber-criminals to deploy a massive amount of ransomware across our state and local agencies,” said Krebs. “It’s the anonymous payments, the ability to pay anonymously. And I think that is the cyber-threat that the average American is concerned about.”
Maher noted that 1600 schools have been hit with ransomware (citing a report from IBM), and Krebs added that there have also been attacks on “hospitals, and government agencies, I mean we had, Baltimore’s been hit twice, Atlanta, Mecklenburg county North Carolina, 23 counties in Texas, Louisiana’s been hit a couple times.”
“And they just want money. This isn’t anything sophisticated, this isn’t ideological,” Maher responded, comparing — puzzlingly — the ransomware attacks to the plot of the movie Die Hard. (Shortly after, Krebs incorrectly referred to the fictitious Nakatomi Plaza as “Nakasomi Tower”).
Krebs went on to warn of “bad guys” running wild if there are “no consequences.” He recommended “looking at” cryptocurrencies in exchange wallets, pressuring countries that cyber-criminals call home to crack down on illegal activites aimed at the U.S., and helping state and local governments improve their defenses.
Ransomware has been on the rise the last few years, likely contributing to an image problem in the cryptocurrency space. One recent poll indicates that only 43% of respondents believe cryptocurrency is a valid form of payment, and another from 2020 shows that 90% of respondents are “worried” about cryptocurrencies being used to launder money.
Krebs, who rose to prominence after being fired by former president Donald Trump because of Krebs’ vocal dismissal of election fraud conspiracy theories, may be aligning his publicly stated views with popular opinion in preparation for a run for office. The former bureaucrat has also floated policy proposals such as investing in state and local cyber defense and education programs.
A seed round in a new NFT platform is a promising step towards universal NFT royalties
Can a new non-fungible token (NFT) platform finally solve the problem of ecosystem-wide royalties?
NFT platform Recur announced on Thursday a $5 million seed round led by the DeFi Alliance, Delphi Digital, Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, and Gemini, among others.
The raise claims a number of notable superlatives, including the first seed investment in the NFT ecosystem from industry veteran Gary Vaynerch, as well as the largest seed round ever for a NFT project (Dapper Labs has raised many multiples more money over its three year fundraising history, but largely in Series A rounds).
Currently there are a number of platforms that allow NFTs to impart royalties to artists after every secondary market sale, including Foundation, Zora, and Euler Beats developer Treum. Recur’s key innovation will be a ERC token standard that will allow royalties to function regardless of platform.
“RECUR’s technical team is involved in the official process for Ethereum improvements (EIP), and our technology will be implemented at the blockchain layer,” said Recur co-CEO Zach Bruch. “By doing this it will allow the NFTs minted on our platform to move freely around the ecosystem while still generating recurring royalties for the owners and IP holders. Ultimately, our goal is to make NFTs chain-agnostic and keep NFTs and royalties decentralized.”
Bruch did not reference a specific EIP his team is working on. Similar proposals, such as EIP-2981, which adds standard royalty functionality to the ERC-721 NFT standard, are also in the works.
While the NFT space is growing increasingly crowded (and Recur’s royalties will presumably be applicable ecosystem wide) one other way to stand out is through headline-grabbing licensing and intellectual property acquisition. To that end, Recur is bringing some former media industry heft to the fore via former Disney executives Stephen Teglas and Chris Heatherly. Teglas in particular held a position with Disney’s Licensing department.
“RECUR is working with some of the largest brands in the world which will be announced in the coming months,” said Bruch. “We are exclusively working with Blue Chip brands to help them bring their IP to the largest audiences possible.”
The press release says the first Recur “brand experience” will be released in the summer of 2021.
Bitcoin price reaching $182,000 would probably make Satoshi Nakamoto the richest person on the planet.
It is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of BTC, will become the world’s richest person if the price of Bitcoin (BTC) hits approximately $182,000.
As of March 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest person on earth with a net worth of $181.6 billion.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is a close second at $163.7 billion, owning more than 20% of the electric car maker.
How much BTC does Satoshi Nakamoto have?
Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, released the Bitcoin whitepaper in October 2008 under a public MIT license.
On Jan. 3, 2009, Bitcoin’s first block, known as the “genesis block,” was mined. This marked the launch of the Bitcoin network, which kickstarted the cryptocurrency and blockchain movement.
Albeit the exact figures remain unclear, from January to July 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto is estimated to have mined over 1 million BTC. This means that at current Bitcoin prices, it is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto is worth roughly $54 billion.
In other words, if the price of Bitcoin hits $182,000, this would put Nakamoto’s net worth at around $182 billion, which is higher than the current net worth of Bezos.
In 2010, Sergio Demian Lerner, a prominent cryptocurrency researcher, published a research paper estimating the BTC holdings of Satoshi Nakamoto.
By analyzing the early blocks that Satoshi mined, Lerner estimated that 1 million BTC is likely owned by Satoshi. He wrote:
“I estimate at eyesight that Satoshi fortune is around 1M Bitcoins, or 100M USD at current exchange rate. I’m sure there will be plenty of people that will carefully analyze the source data set and come up with the exact figure, which will be very close, but nevertheless they will scream at me again.”
Lerner’s analysis of the blocks Satoshi mined. Source: Sergio Lerner
Can the price of BTC hit $182,000?
While there are many price models that predict the price of Bitcoin to reach anywhere between $200,000 to $1 million, the most well-known model is the Stock-to-Flow (S2F) model.
The S2F model forecasts the price of Bitcoin to hit $100,000 to a “conservative” $288,000 by the end of 2021, using a formula based on the relationship between the value of Bitcoin versus the existing supply (stock) and the amount of newly mined BTC entering the market (flow).
In November 2020, PlanB, the creator of the S2F model, said:
“People ask if I still believe in my model. To be clear: I have no doubt whatsoever that bitcoin S2FX is correct and bitcoin will tap $100K-288K before Dec 2021.”
The stock-to-flow model. Source: PlanB
If Bitcoin rises to as high as $288,000 as per the S2F model, Satoshi’s fortune would be worth around $288 billion, which should put the creator far out in front of Bezos and Musk.
Meanwhile, some other Bitcoin price predictions have been even higher for the current bull cycle. For instance, Bloomberg predicted that BTC could reach as high as $400,000 if it becomes a “risk-off” reserve asset.
However, the identity of Satoshi remains a mystery and it isn’t known whether the person(s) is even alive today. Industry experts have suggested the likes of Hal Finney, Adam Back, and Paul Le Roux as potential candidates, as well as others presuming that it could have been a group of individuals.
Liquidity mining is a marked and significant improvement over the investment mechanisms of ICOs, but is it here to stay?
By the end of 2018, many crypto skeptics had their “I told you so” moment, as many initial coin offerings, or ICOs, failed to deliver on their promises. Between 2017 and 2018, 3,250 projects were launched via ICO and $21.4 billion was collected from investors. But by early 2018, a study revealed that nearly half of 2017’s ICOs had failed — with another 13% considered “semi-failed” — dealing financial blows to coin purchasers anticipating gains. Many projects achieved very high returns initially, only to see coin values fall precipitously thereafter.
Related: Did you fall for it? 13 ICO scams that fooled thousands
It’s important to note that many other ICOs were successful, launching projects that are still thriving today (Chainlink being one such stalwart example). Despite the successes, however, investors have been hesitant to forget the less fortunate tales — over the past couple of years, ICOs have slowed to a trickle.
Perhaps skeptics celebrated a bit prematurely. While ICOs may not have proven to be the optimal funding mechanism for decentralized projects, the fundamental promise behind these innovations remains. Innovations continue, and a new methodology for bootstrapping — liquidity mining — has moved in to fill the gap.
Related: DeFi liquidity pools, explained
In liquidity mining, a project offers its tokens to anyone willing to deposit their funds into a smart contract. Let’s look at a hypothetical example: “Cranberry Finance” offers the liquidity provider token “Cranberry Coins” to any user who deposits Cranberry and Ether (ETH) on Uniswap. In addition to earning fees collected from each trade between Cranberry and ETH on Uniswap, everyone who stakes their liquidity provider tokens in a smart contract can earn more coins from the project. Depending on the price of Cranberry Coins, the rate of Cranberry rewards, and the amount of liquidity provided, the annualized returns from liquidity mining programs can range from double-digit yields on the lower end to annual percentage yields of over 10,000% for riskier projects.
The proliferation of both liquidity mining and decentralized finance, or DeFi, has surprised even eternal industry optimists (myself included). Today, the market capitalization for DeFi stands at over $80 billion, with a total value locked of over $67 billion (compared with the $5.4 billion raised by ICOs in all of 2017). While liquidity mining was only first implemented at scale in mid-2020, it is clear a new boom has been born.
For many though, questions remain: Will this boom eventually bust? Will investors looking for high yields once again be left holding the bag?
ICOs and liquidity mining share some elements in common: The onus is still on the investor, as it always is, to know what they are investing in and assume the risks (and the risks are real). But I believe the answer to the above questions is that there are fundamental differences between ICOs and liquidity mining, differences that make liquidity mining a more sustainable funding model for long-term value creation, for both the project developers and their investors. Let’s explore how ICOs and liquidity mining differ.
Contrasting the native elements: ICOs vs. liquidity mining
ICOs provided a mechanism for distributing tokens, gaining funding and building a coin user base. However, some of the flaws inherent in the system became evident. Investors typically saw high returns immediately following the ICO, but values often dropped thereafter. Because the tokens themselves conferred no legal rights, income-generating capabilities beyond the market value of the coin, nor governance over the project, there was little incentive for many to continue to hold tokens. Many investors took early gains and cashed out, which did little to support coin growth. Some ICO projects were proven to be scams, affected by hacks, or poorly conceived projects with inadequate management teams that spent invested capital on extravagances.
Liquidity mining operates on a fundamentally different principle. As trading volume on decentralized exchanges surpasses centralized exchanges, a token’s marketability is dependent on having sufficient liquidity on a decentralized exchange; yet, it can be a challenge to attract liquidity to support an exchange, derivatives contract, lending platform, etc. Distributing tokens to liquidity providers is the primary mechanism for initially inviting the needed liquidity. The tokens have more value than the face value of the coin by offering yield — and often governance rights — incentivizing both a sense of ownership in the project and longer-term retention. More liquidity attracts more users, and more users provide more financial payback to liquidity providers, creating a continuous positive feedback loop.
It’s also important to note that the characteristics of the growth of DeFi and the ICO bubble are quite different. While often unsavvy retail investors dove headfirst into the ICO boom cycle, we are seeing fewer investors with more highly specialized industry knowledge of the market embracing DeFi. That said, FOMO — the fear of missing out — is human nature. There will always be those who are so tempted by the potential gains, they can’t resist the urge to “ape” in.
Not all that glitters is gold: Thoroughly research projects
While I believe that liquidity mining and DeFi are, in general, based on solid fundamentals, not all projects are created equal. I am neither an investment advisor nor a tax attorney and can’t tell you which projects are more advisable than others.
I will, however, recommend that any investor understands full well what they are getting into. Each project has differing leadership, governance structures, marketing plans, innovations, security frameworks, and plans to build and incentivize community involvement. All of these factors are important to consider in any investment decision.
Gold, silver, crypto, DeFi: Change is inevitable but rarely linear
The history of what we consider currency — and the staccato pace of innovation — teaches us that change will continue, but not always in a predictable fashion. While the methods for gaining investments for blockchain projects have gone through some starts and stops, I believe liquidity mining is here to stay.
That isn’t to say another mechanism won’t eventually take its place if it proves to serve the community even better — after all, that is the essence of innovation.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Willy Ogorzaly is the senior product manager at ShapeShift, an international, noncustodial cryptocurrency leader. He is responsible for advancing product strategy, defining new features and solutions, and ensuring new products meet the needs of an evolving, innovative and dynamic crypto and DeFi landscape. Before joining ShapeShift, Willy co-founded Bitfract (acquired by ShapeShift in 2018), the first tool enabling trades from Bitcoin into multiple cryptocurrencies in a single transaction.
Brian Kelly is the founder and CEO of BKCM LLC, a cryptocurrency fund. While the world’s attention is focused on Bitcoin (BTC), he highlights Ethereum as a more reliable and promising investment asset.
“The fact that BTC is now the fastest growing and most expensive cryptocurrency does not mean that it will not be overtaken by another, more interesting competitor in the next 10 or15 years,” says Kelly.
So why Ethereum? Kelly identifies 3 main reasons why you should pay attention to the “second cryptocurrency” instead of the market leader.
1. “Ethereum futures are just around the corner”
Even considering that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decreed that Ethereum is not a stock, the introduction of ETH futures is quite possible, because there is already an Ethereum index, Kelly said.
“After the introduction of the ETH index, the value of the cryptocurrency soared by 30% in just a week. It is possible that if the futures are approved, the cryptocurrency will repeat or even surpass this growth,” he explains.
2. Cryptocurrency mining software
One of the main reasons why Bitcoin is worse than ETH is the terrible harm to the environment from “mining” of the first cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is mined using graphics cards, which, in the process, emit a huge carbon footprint, comparable in scale to a country like New Zealand.
At the same time, ETH is much more environmentally friendly, which is especially important in view of the upcoming UN meeting regarding the ecology, believes Kelly.
3. Ethereum is not just a currency
The third and perhaps the main feature of Ethereum is that it is not only an asset for saving or speculation, it is a whole “decentralized prediction market!”.
The decentralized and unregulated prediction platform Augur has been in development for about 3 years, the exact time is unknown. Its task is to analyze a huge amount of information (news, support and resistance levels, crowd behavior and a million more different factors) in order to produce unmistakable forecasts and signals for trading in the cryptocurrency market.
Although the platform is not ready yet, you can already find an unofficial project on the net that uses the Augur technology. Officially, the partnership between CryptoTrader and the Augur platform has not been confirmed, but the huge number of profit publications speaks for itself.
Here are some examples:
“Ethereum-linked platform gives recommendations on the purchase or sale of its own cryptocurrency. It sounds absurd, but it’s true!”, says Kelly.
“So far, the platform successfully predicts the movement of other currencies, as well. You can see for yourself”, says the investor.
“You can make money on speculation, but this is a big risk, you need to have knowledge and skills to predict cryptocurrency movements. I remain loyal to Ethereum cryptocurrency, so much so that 20% of my assets are invested in ETH. But now there is a more interesting and reliable option – CryptoTrader. I will continue to follow the development of this platform and its results. I can afford not to stretch for yield,” concluded Kelly.
However, anybody considering visiting a Bitcoin casino will appropriately have worries about wellbeing.
Gambling itself is a hazardous business, and there have been a few prominent hacks and burglaries in the cryptographic money market.
In spite of this, gambling with Bitcoin isn’t really pretty much as unsafe as you might suspect. It could even be contended it’s safer than gambling with fiat money.
Why utilize a Bitcoin casino?
Gambling with Bitcoin rather than regular monetary forms brings an entire host of benefits.
Perhaps the greatest advantage is the speed at which you can get to your rewards.
Creating a withdrawal in a traditional currency can take around seven days to finish because of the administration in question.
A Bitcoin withdrawal, then again, can be finished inside the space of minutes because there is no requirement for exchanges to be affirmed by an outsider.
Another advantage is low expenses. Since there is no outsider endorsement measure, clients can send and get Bitcoin immediately for an immaterial expense. This is an unmistakable difference to traditional online casinos, where move expenses can be high.
A few groups likewise like the protection that a Bitcoin free bonuses on allvideoslots. You can store, pull out, and play in complete namelessness.
Security
Despite the fact that hacks and burglaries are normal in the cryptographic money market, it merits calling attention to these are to a great extent restricted to crypto trades.
There still can’t seem to be a significant burglary at a Bitcoin casino. Indeed, Bitcoin casinos could be viewed as more secure than traditional casinos because of Bitcoin’s cryptographic nature.
Bitcoin exchanges are scrambled and confirmed a few times at various focuses on the organization. The private keys utilized in moves are amazingly extensive, making them difficult to decipher and, apparently, more secure than utilizing a Mastercard.
Spotting rebel casinos
Having said all that, there are acceptable and awful Bitcoin casinos out there – similarly as there are acceptable and awful traditional casinos.
There are at present three Bitcoin casinos on the ‘boycott’ at Casino.org: Euro Play Casino, Grand Reef, and Balzac Casino. They are considered risky because of issues, for example, obnoxious strategic policies, uncertain client issues, free gameplay in free mode, moderate installment time, and no data on licenses.
Given the plenty of Bitcoin casinos accessible, it merits doing your due persistence to guarantee you pick one you feel totally great with.
The principal thing to pay special mind to is legitimate accreditation and certificate. In the UK, that implies checking the Bitcoin casino has a permit from the UK Gambling Commission.
Generally protected and permit Bitcoin gambling administrators in the UK would likewise join forces with true capable gambling associations, like Game Care or Gamblers Anonymous.
Different strides to incorporate understanding audits and evaluations from free survey locales, exploring the invite reward cautiously, guaranteeing games are fueled by trustworthy programming suppliers, and searching for a casino with a huge assortment of games.
You may likewise need to go with a casino that offers a framework called ‘probably reasonable’. This is an apparatus that empowers you to confirm each move result and guarantee you’re not being cheated by the casino.
Beginning
Whenever you’ve discovered a Bitcoin casino you trust, you’ll need to set up a Bitcoin wallet to store your Bitcoin reserves.
Wallets come in three structures: online, programming (disconnected), and equipment. It’s essentially all around acknowledged that equipment wallets are the most secure type of wallet while online wallets are simpler to utilize.
Whenever you have your wallet set up, you can set aside your installment by entering the online casino address in your wallet. The supports will show up in your casino balance in practically no time, and you would then be able to begin playing.
End
In principle, a Bitcoin casino isn’t any less protected than a traditional online casino – and from numerous points of view, it could really be safer.
The main thing to check is that the site is respectable – this is particularly imperative given the unknown, irreversible nature of Bitcoin. Luckily, there are heaps of autonomous survey locales that can assist you with evaluating every casino’s authenticity.
With the advantages that Bitcoin gambling offers – namelessness, rapid stores and withdrawals, low charges, and provably reasonable gaming – it’s not difficult to perceive any reason why Bitcoin casinos are getting on quick.
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