Author: Raluca

  • Get Cisco CCNA R&S Certification at the Snap of Your Fingers with PrepAway [Sponsored]

    Get Cisco CCNA R&S Certification at the Snap of Your Fingers with PrepAway [Sponsored]

    The corporate world is balanced on the knife edge of IT infrastructure provision at the moment. The thing is that due to Cisco – the leading IT vendor in networking for the internet, certified professionals are able to support Cisco products, as well as to provide solutions to customer’s technology problems. Thus, if you are the one, who is going to build a career in IT or boost it working with Cisco products and services, you are on the right track. This great company offers certifications in such categories as design, routing and switching, IoT, cloud, security, wireless and many more. The certifications are available for specialists with different skill levels, from the entry to the expert. One of the most popular certifications is CCNA Routing and Switching (CCNA R&S).

    How to become Cisco certified?

    To become a certified CCNA R&S specialist, you must pass an exam or two to gain skills necessary to work with the core technologies and the technologies of the next generation. All these skills are a must for you if you set the goal to find the position of a network engineer. All you need do is to take two exams (100-105 and 200-105) or one composite exam (200-125). Most candidates choose to pass one exam, which includes 60-70 questions that you need to complete within 90 minutes. This exam tests how skillful you are with network fundamentals, IPv4 and IPv6 routing and switching technologies, LAN switching technologies, WAN technologies, infrastructure services, and security. Since 200-125 exam is a composite one, its price is $320, while 100-105 and 200-105 cost $165 each. To pass these exams thorough preparation is needed.

    Books to read for Cisco certification

    There are several books to read for prospective candidates hoping to write the CCNA exams successfully:

    • CCNA Routing and Switching 200-125 Official Cert Guide and Network Simulator Library written by Wendell Odorn and Wilkins.

    This book is the first one for you to use, as it is offered by Cisco Press. This great guide has been issued to help you pass the certification exam successfully. Along with theory it contains labs to test your hands-on skills.

    • CCNA: A Comprehensive Beginners Guide To Learn About The CCNA Routing and Switching Certification from A-Z by author Walker Schmidt

    This text is a compendium of the fundamentals anyone seeking to have a sound knowledge of CCNA R&S needs to have, and it is a must read for beginners.

    • CCNA Routing and Switching Complete Study Guide (exams 100-105, 200-105 and 200-125) by Todd Lammle

    This study guide provides detailed information on the essential concepts vital for each network engineer. It equips you with the knowledge and skills in networking fundamentals, LAN switching technologies, WAN technologies, routing protocols technologies, implementation of IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, various mitigation techniques, etc.

    • CCNA Routing and Switching Portable Command Guide (ICND1 100-105, ICND2 200-105, and CCNA 200-125) (4th Edition) 4th Edition written by Scott Empson.

    This book is a real treasure for candidates, as it contains all the necessary commands and concepts you need to know in order to pass the CCNA R&S certification exam/s. Moreover, you get to know the tips of how to apply these commands. The book is portable, and that means you can study on the go. It also contains practical examples that are easy to understand. Without this book, it may be almost impossible for candidates to take the exams.

    • Cisco CCNA in 60 Days by Paul Browning, FaraiTafa, Daniel Gheorghe, Dario Barinic.

    If you feel that you are not ready for the certification exam, this book is for you. It covers the objectives of all three exams: 100-105, 200-105 and 200-125. Along with the theory, you get access to a great collection of videos, exams, labs. Each day you get the tasks to complete and revise the previous topics. It’s a great book to hone your skills and be confident in the exam.

    Tips and tricks for passing CCNA R&S certification exams

    The following are tips and tricks for passing the certification exams

    • Study till the last minute of the exam: nothing beats study when it comes to succeeding at this certification, all books and materials should be read, understood as much as possible even if it requires marathon study.
    • Study with at least two of the recommended books, study guides
    • Use the dumps available on PrepAway.biz website in your preparation process to revise the learned material. Since they are uploaded by the real exam takers, they are the most updated ones.
    • Don’t exalt theory over Practice: with several dozens of books to read in preparation for this top certification in networking, don’t forget that CCNA R&S certification exam/s check your hands-on practical skills. For that, use the ETE Exam Simulator, which you can find on PrepAway website. This modern educational tool has been designed to open the ETE files. Thus, using this ETE Software, you’ll train almost in the real exam environment and enhance your exam preparation.
    • Take online Training courses from Cisco website or PrepAway online platform. The information provided by the top IT experts will make you feel confident and help in passing the CCNA R&S certification exams successfully.
    • Before taking the exam, have a good rest and sleep well. When you feel relaxed, it’s easier for you to gather your thoughts and stay focused. Note, that your condition has a great impact on your final result.

    In conclusion, since Cisco is one of the world’s leading IT vendors recognized globally, having its certification will make your CV more attractive to the best employers. As to complete the tasks successfully at your workplace you need to possess up-to-date skills, the CCNA R&S certification meets that challenge.

    It’s known that Cisco certification exams are tough, and to cement your knowledge, check the Cisco website and PrepAway online platform first. To enhance your exam preparation, use the books covered in this article and the tips provided here. Believe that the CCNA R&S certification will pay you off.

  • Maya on the brink: soaring prices, Mexican gold mines, controversy and more with James Dahlke, founder of Maya Preferred 223 [Sponsored]

    Maya on the brink: soaring prices, Mexican gold mines, controversy and more with James Dahlke, founder of Maya Preferred 223 [Sponsored]

    Maya Preferred 223, a state-of-the-art Ethereum Classic token, appeared on the market less than a month ago. With a starting price of $1,500 per token, MAPR quickly skyrocketed, trading at press time for exactly 1 BTC.

     

    However, the developers claim that the price the token ends up settling around will be much higher. Their point is that Maya Preferred isn’t your average token. It is a kind of stable coin, backed with gold and silver assets based in Mexico. According to the https://mayapreferred.io/, the price of the backing assets is believed to exceed $23.000 per token. With only a million tokens available, the capitalization of MAPR will thereby quickly surpass that of Ethereum. And if, as Maya developers claim, the acquiring and accumulating of backing assets behind Maya Preferred 223 will continue, MAPR has the potential to outpace Bitcoin.

    In an interview with the CEO and founder of one of the most ambitious cryptocurrency projects in recent memory, we tried to figure out some of Maya’s secrets.

     

    1.     Hi James. Let’s start with the most obvious question. Where did the name of your token come from? Why Maya?

     

    It’s very simple. I named the token after my godchild Maya, who means a great deal to me. We decided to do a gold and silver backed token and Maya is a radiant child, I love her very much, so she was the first thing that came to me when I was thinking of all the gold and silver.

     

    2.     The situation seems markedly positive for Maya Preferred. After the token was listed on FatBTC exchange on March 21st, its value rose 200%. You guys are getting picked up by all the biggest names in crypto media. How have you achieved such rapid growth?

     

    I believe the market price of the token is correct right now. We have $23.000 worth of gold and silver backing each token and that number is about to grow. If you have something that’s got $23.000 worth of assets backing it, logically the value of the object being backed should rise to what it is being backed by. I believe that the market is starting to catch on and investors are capitalizing on a good deal while they can, that is why the price has risen so quickly.

     

    3.     Recently Maya’s whitepaper was heavily scrutinized after the Bitcointalk folks alleged that it had been plagiarized. Can you comment on that? Are you going to publish another whitepaper?

     

    We wanted our white paper to serve as a primer, not just to our cryptocurrency, but to the entire industry. Because of that, we included a lot of information and definitions of various terms and concepts, things that, once read and soaked in, arm people with the essential tools of the industry. Now, that was our intention. In terms of execution, we took a lot of information from outside sources, but that is fairly common in this industry. There is no real mystery about it. The last thing we would want is for our investors to feel as if they have had the wool pulled over their eyes by anyone, let alone us. To further clear everything up, our management team thinks that we should put out a new version of the white paper, just so everything is black and white. Will we do that? Right now we are focused on increasing the assets that back our currency, that is our number one priority. I think our investors are much happier when they see that our currency is improving and when they see the physical evidence of all the work that we are doing than would be were we to release a cleaned up white paper. I mean it was written to educate people. But this is the industry that we are living in, and so, yeah at some point we will probably put a new version of the paper out just to clear everything up. I just hope that everyone keeps in mind that all these are negative things — it’s very easy to take swipes at other people and their work and try to point out all the miniscule flaws you find in things. We are not really concerned with that behavior and that line of thinking, we believe in this project and we think it has the potential to transform this industry into something better.

     

    4.     What about the Maya Preferred roadmap? When are you going to unveil it to the public?

     

    The reason why our roadmap is not on our website right now is that we are moving so fast that by the time we publicize it to the public it will already be old news. Soon we will publicize a road map for everyone to see where we plan to take this thing in the long run. I believe our coin holders will be very pleased with what we have on the horizon.

     

    5.     Last week MAPR was listed on CoinCheckup. When will we see Maya Preferred on other major platforms?

     

    We are in discussion with most of them already and they said that one of the reasons why we cannot get listed is because we need to be on multiple exchanges. That isn’t really an obstacle for us in the long run. Right now we are giving the coin some time to trade on FatBTC so if we do decide to go to another exchange we can show them a solid history with trading patterns. I think in about six months time we will get on all major platforms including Coincheckup.com, coinmarketcap, etc.

     

    6. Right now MAPR capitalization is ranked fifth, at around $5 billion, right? What kind of movement do you expect after the major platform listings, when an almost no-name token emerges out of nowhere to land in the top-10? Aren’t you worried that issues like the recent whitepaper scandal could taint the view of the project held by the global community? How do you prepare for that?

     

    Well, as I explained we are going to take care of whatever issues there are with the white paper. That’s really not something that we are worrying about, because we trust that investors and the community at large will see these things as they truly are, which is without real substance. It would be an unequivocal honor to get listed on all major platforms, and we’ve set our sights on that. We are an open company, we’ve provided proof of all the assets that are backing our currency. Where I’m from if you’re honest and have a good work ethic people will give you a fair shake. Where I’m from, people love a good underdog story. I think that is what we are talking about here, more than anything else; a no-name coin becomes a legacy coin overnight and injects the whole industry with new ambitions and new energy. There’s your story.

     

    7.    Maya Preferred is not exactly treading water. U. K. Financial Ltd, the company behind the token, recently acquired several more precious metals assets, that can, in theory, impact the final price of the token. Tell us about these agreements.

     

    The new mines that we acquired to back Maya Preferred 223 are substantial gold and silver Mines. We are now up to eight mines altogether and the estimated individual backing is now up to over $23,000 a token. It’s only going to go higher, and that number is only going to grow, We are going to continue to acquire Gold and Silver mines and expand as more and more people take notice of our project and climb on board.  

     

    8.     Let’s bet. What will MAPR’s price be in a month, exactly one month from today’s date? I say it could be 1.5 BTC. What do you think?

     

    I never comment on the price of my token. I learned a long time ago that can only lead to bad things, but I will say this right now: I believe our token will continue to rise progressively day by day, and with the assets we have, plus the additional assets we will acquire, and just a million coins in existence, the sky’s the limit for us.

  • Build and Diversify Your Crypto Trading Portfolio with Bithoven.com [Sponsored]

    Build and Diversify Your Crypto Trading Portfolio with Bithoven.com [Sponsored]

    Bithoven.com is an avant-garde cryptocurrency trading platform launched at the outset of 2019. Despite its early evolvement, it has already proven to be a reliable and secure trading platform, where any crypto trader, either a newbie or professional, can take advantage of a multitude of trading tools and high liquidity in the order book.

    Overview

    Fundamentally, Bithoven.com allows any person to start trading immediately after registration. Even more, the crypto exchange runs an ongoing promo campaign where any registered user can get 100 DOGE for free, henceforth traders are able to test the functionality of the trading platform, its intuitive UI, experience guaranteed security provided by TLS/SSL encryption and choose among a huge number of trading pairs.

    Simple Steps to Get Started

    There are 3 simple steps to start selling/buying cryptocurrencies and deciding on your trading strategy at Bithoven.com:

    1. Register an account and verify your email address;
    2. Replenish your account with crypto;
    3. Start trading immediately!

    To crown it all, the users get access to order books, real-time reports and handy charts to aid in a flawless decision-making process during trading sessions.

    AML/KYC Compliance

    The crypto exchange operates in accordance with high industry standards and is fully compliant with all AML/KYC regulatory requirements. Bithoven.com provides high-quality services to all its customers by identifying and eliminating potential risks of money laundering. The effectively implemented AML/KYC rules are aimed at improving efficiency and stability in the crypto sphere and serve as a confidence-building measure for all parties.

    Strengths

    The main advantages of Bithoven.com are as follows:

    • It’s fully compatible, meaning that all platform users can trade by using any device ꟷ a desktop computer, a tablet PC or a smartphone;
    • Highest liquidity portfolio in the order book guarantees instant trading and flawless order execution;
    • 349 cryptocurrencies available for deposits and withdrawals;
    • 858 trading pairs are aimed at boosting cryptocurrency trading to the maximum extent;
    • Expert Customer Care Team available 7 days a week;
    • Special offers and discounts for platform users.

    Your Starting Point

    The website strives to remain trustworthy at all times to its users and does not have any hidden fees/commission for its services. The whole trading process is automated and calibrated to the fullest extent and traders can be certain that Bithoven.com is a perfect starting point. The mission of the trading platform is to boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies and make crypto trading accessible and affordable, thus achieving bigger financial freedom for all trading platform users.

    The crypto exchange grows and expands day-by-day and presently offers to all professional crypto traders the possibility to conduct OTC trading. In particular, all professional high-volume traders (or groups of traders) can take advantage of the available option without having to go through the public order books.

    Summary

    The group of IT professionals and friendly Customer Care Team make every effort so that all users can enjoy the first-class services that will certainly fit the needs of every single trader. When it comes to crypto trading, one of the most important issues for traders is to find the best option that will offer wide opportunities, advanced features and multi-layered security. As a brand new exchange, Bithoven.com has already a decent amount of trading volume. A huge number of supported cryptocurrencies is absolutely tempting for any demanding trader, thus it is redundant to register on multiple trading platforms to satisfy an insatiable appetite for any preferred cryptocurrency. Get FREE 100 DOGE today on Bithoven.com and check out all the next-generation features available.

  • Using the Internet to Teach Investment Strategies [Sponsored]

    Using the Internet to Teach Investment Strategies [Sponsored]

    When it pertains to finances, it’s vital to develop a regular conversation around investing. Too often, people assume that investments are boring. Investments are things that news anchors or financial analysts talk about. As a result, the average person tends to be intimidated by the act of investing properly. If you’re in a position where you know how to invest, it’d be a great idea to teach others how to do it. Before you get started, you should seek legal counsel regarding how to protect yourself. You don’t want to be held liable if someone’s financial investment results in a loss. However, once you get your legal considerations taken care of, consider how you can use the internet in order to teach others investment strategies. 

    Using the Internet to Teach Investment Strategies

    Website Development 

    Build your own website. Owning your own website is like owning your own piece of real estate. It belongs to you. As long as you keep up with the payments, it will always belong to you. As you make improvements to it, the better it will look. As you invest time and energy into a website, it’ll develop equity. If you choose to sell it in the future, you can make a lot of money from it. Knowing this, a website is a great investment for your business. If you’re not in love with the process of building a website, you can purchase a domain, hosting and a template. Hire a web developer and a web designer to create the ideal look for you. As you continue to get traffic to your website, stay in touch with someone who’s great with IT and web development. If the site goes down or something happens, you’ll want to have someone you trust working on the backend. 

    Personalized Textbook 

    There are so many angles to consider when you’re dealing with creating textbooks for your curriculum. Keep in mind that your textbook doesn’t need to be as thick as the ones from high school. If you have a great ebook that covers the details of investing, you’ll be able to have another avenue that teaches students how to invest. You can even decide to share your own investment story. This can be a book of its own. As you talk about how you got started, you can talk about the challenges and triumphs you experienced. Sharing these details helps you to become more relatable to your audience. If you’re not a great writer, this is okay. You can always outsource this portion of the process to a freelance writer or a ghostwriter. If investing is your area of expertise, stick to what you can do well. 

    Course Development 

    It’s a great idea to consider building multiple courses. Build a course for someone who’s a beginner with cryptocurrency. You can build a course for someone who is a beginner with the stock market. Build a course for someone who’s interested in the foreign exchange market. If you have a beginner’s course, intermediate course and an advanced course for your areas of expertise, you’ll be able to increase the number of dollars you receive for each course. You might also decide that it’s best to do a membership. When people pay a specific membership fee each month, they’ll be given access to all of the courses at one time. There are many platforms and websites that offer course development services. You can build the course on their website. They’ll handle the website development, design, and maintenance. They’ll collect the money for you. All you’ll need to worry about is the content. 

    Marketing Strategies 

    You’ll have to promote the fact that you have courses, a website, and books that your students can consume. When you’re building an online platform, use social media statistics in order to generate more attention. You can do this through a number of platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you create an Instagram page, connect that to your YouTube channel. Once you produce a new YouTube video, let your followers on Instagram know. Use the right hashtags to attract your target audience. Don’t forget to research the best times to post your content on social media. You don’t want to get lost within the algorithm frenzy. As long as you develop a strategy for consistent and compelling content, you’ll be able to promote your courses. Make sure your YouTube videos don’t give everything away. Instead, give them a taste of what to expect. You can also create videos that talk about why it’s important to invest, how investing has changed your life and myths about investing. At the beginning and end of every YouTube video, always remind your viewers that you have courses that can help them as they develop their own investment strategies. Leave the links to your books and courses in the description box. As you continue to produce and share more content, your visibility and following will increase.

  • BuySellHodl Crypto App Launches Real-Time Bitcoin Price Prediction and Rating Feature [Sponsored]

    BuySellHodl Crypto App Launches Real-Time Bitcoin Price Prediction and Rating Feature [Sponsored]

    70% say to ‘Buy’ Bitcoin,  13% say to ‘Sell,’ Generating a Bitcoin 2020 Price Prediction of $8,912.

    Newly launched cryptocurrency app BuySellHODL has announced the launch of its unique crypto ratings and price prediction feature, with Bitcoin as the initial cryptocurrency ratings launch. The rating feature is currently free and the first of its kind in the crypto space. It gives users real-time crypto ratings and price predictions that are entirely community-driven and quantitative, creating an invaluable analysis tool for all crypto enthusiasts.

    Bitcoin Price Prediction and Rating

    Bitcoin has earned a “Buy” rating with a 2020 price prediction of $8,912. The ratings distribution breaks down as follows: 70% Buy, 17% HODL, and 13% Sell.  Users also prefer Bitcoin to altcoins, with an overwhelming 64% of users select Bitcoin as one of their top 3 coin picks.

    The app regularly queries its users for their opinions on the overall state of the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin, and the value associated with other top cryptocurrencies. This data is updated in real-time and accounted for as part of a proprietary formula that is then used to generate the ratings and price predictions.

    Unique Aspects of the BuySellHODL Crypto Ratings:

    • Real-Time Data – Price predictions and targets are updated in real-time.
    • Quantitative Information – A proprietary formula that generates ratings and predictions.
    • Sentiment Analysis – Easy to see Bitcoin trends and critical shifts in community opinion.
    • Universal Access – Our crypto ratings, predictions, and crypto news can be viewed on the buysellhodlapp.com website and our and iPhone and Android Cryptocurrency App.

    BuySellHODL (@BuySellHODLApp) Founder Clifford Lerner says, “There is a severe lack of compelling data and real-time analysis on cryptocurrencies. Our app addresses these shortcomings head-on, by providing the first of its kind cryptocurrency community-drive ratings and predictions content. By querying our community of users, we’re able to create fresh, real-time, and unbiased cryptocurrency ratings and price prediction data, while eliminating the inherent shortcomings and biases of qualitative ratings data that give little insights into the sentiment trends.”

    How Do the Crypto Ratings and Price Predictions Work?

    BuySellHODL app users are asked to create a “Crypto Bio,”, which includes several questions related to the overall cryptocurrency market and their price predictions for specific cryptocurrencies. This data is then used as part of a proprietary formula to generate the ratings and price predictions for each coin.  

    Specifically, the Bitcoin price prediction formula incorporates several factors including:  

    1. The distribution of the Bitcoin Buy, Sell, and HODL ratings.
    2. The distribution of all cryptocurrency ratings.
    3. The bitcoin price prediction survey data.  

    Our price predictions are updated in real-time and available on the BuySellHODLapp.com website and our Android and iPhone apps, with weekly analysis posted to our Crypto News.  In order to keep the data fresh, the formulas only incorporate recently updated data.

    Robust Feature Roadmap

    There are several exciting features in development to enhance our ratings and predictions  feature including:

    Additional Crypto Rating Launches: Over the upcoming weeks, BuySellHODL will launch additional ratings and price targets for the top cryptocurrencies by market cap including: Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Zcash (ZEC), TRON (TRX), Binance Coin (BNB), Stellar (XLM), and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

    Expert Cryptocurrency Analysis: We will be launching an”‘Experts” section with ratings and price prediction data exclusively from crypto thought-leaders. Experts can request to be considered at: contact(at)buysellhodlapp.com.

    Geographic Ratings Analysis:  We will offer the ability to compare the ratings and price predictions for several of the top crypto locations including: USA, Japan, Brazil, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, China, Argentina, Estonia, and Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Indonesia.

    CONTACT: contact (at) BuySellHodlApp.com

    About: BuySellHODL (@BuySellHODLapp) is the ultimate crypto app for beginners and crypto-enthusiasts, offering live crypto ratings, bitcoin price predictions, crypto news, and a fun live bitcoin game with real money prizes.  BuySellHODL was founded by entrepreneur and crypto-enthusiast Clifford Lerner, author of the best selling business book, Explosive Growth – A Few Things I Learned While Growing To 100 Million Users.  DISCLAIMER:  BuySellHODL does not provide financial advice. Please read our full disclaimer on buysellhodlapp.com/disclaimer.  ]

  • Introducing crypto cashback [Sponsored]

    Introducing crypto cashback [Sponsored]

    About crypto cashback

    When a trader opens an account at a crypto exchange (or broker) through a referrer like Cashbackcloud, the exchange pays a part of their commission to them after every trade the client makes, as a compensation for referring a customer to them. After this, Cashbackcloud as a cashback provider will share the majority of this revenue with the actual client. So, as your trading conditions remain the same and you don’t have to pay higher fees you will earn much more profit after every trade you make. Also, because there is a commission on every trade, you’ll even make a little money even on your losing trades. Therefore, you only lose money if you miss this opportunity and don’t use crypto cashback.

    Which crypto cashback provider should I use?

    Cashbackcloud is the world first website to offer crypto rebate at more than 20 crypto brokers. Cashbackcloud has more than 10 years experience in financial markets such as forex, binary option cashback and e-wallet cashback. Also with Cashbackcloud, you can earn cashback at ICOs and on a few crypto related products like robots and signals. Up to a whopping 38% of your fees can be earned back after each trade (depending on your crypto exchange and your VIP level). Watch this video below to learn more about cashback and the Cashbackcloud system:

    Basically, with crypto cashback you can only get back part of your fees. Furthermore, you can register without giving out sensitive information or your credit card. It’s totally risk-free, only your email address and a password are needed.

    Steps to earn cashback

    • After you sign up on Cashbackcloud you need to register at your broker through their referral link.
    • Then add your crypto broker account to their website to let them verify your account.
    • They’ll verify your account in a few business days and that’s it! You only need to trade like always and your cashback will be added to your profile.
    • After collection of $20, you can withdraw your profit to any e-wallet or crypto wallet.

    Cashbackcloud pays more than $2,000,000 to their traders a year, as forex rebate binary option rebate and crypto rebate. That’s why they are a great option as a  cashback site with one of the highest rates.

     

     

  • Crypto Security 101: Dos and Don’ts

    Crypto Security 101: Dos and Don’ts

    While cryptocurrencies were once relegated to the outskirts of society, they’ve come a long way since Bitcoin’s genesis block in 2009. In today’s world, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular. Now we see news of cryptocurrency price movements and events in the markets from mainstream outlets like CNBC, Forbes, and even Bloomberg. However, with the gained recognition of the emerging asset class, there are more bad actors than ever before looking to take advantage of the newcomers to the industry who may not be as crypto-savvy. With that in mind, we’ve created a quick checklist for you to evaluate your own cryptocurrency holdings and ensure they remain yours. Here’s your primer on crypto security best practices and the Do’s and Don’ts in the industry.

    Do’s

     

    Keep Large Crypto Holdings in Cold Storage

    If you have large balances of cryptocurrencies, the best practice is to store excess funds in a secure holding location like cold storage. Cold storage simply means that your crypto holdings are stored in an offline wallet with no connection to the internet. Without any internet connectivity, you can protect your wallet from cyber attacks, unauthorized access, and other potential vulnerabilities.

    [Bonus “Do”: Consider a dedicated hardware wallet for storage like the Ledger Nano S or Trezor.]

    Enable 2 Factor Authentication (2FA)

    Whenever possible, you should always enable 2-factor authentication (2FA) if given the ability. Whether talking about “hot” wallets, cryptocurrency exchanges, or any other account that enables access to your crypto funds, you’ll want to use it. For most cases, 2FA will rely on the use of the Google Authenticator app or SMS message ( but you should really avoid SMS 2FA — go for the authenticator app instead, here’s why) and is strongly recommended for ensuring that you are the only one with access to your funds.

    Backup Your Wallet

    It’s important to backup whatever wallet(s) you’re using from time to time. Depending on the type of wallet, there will be a slightly different procedure. Beforehand, make sure you do some research on the different types of wallets available, to decide on which one works best for you. You can either backup and store your Wallet.dat file externally (in a safe place) or ensure that you’ve got your recovery phrases stored in a secure place should you lose access to your wallet. This is a crucial step that should not be overlooked.

    Use Bookmarks

    For any and all important crypto websites, the best thing you can do is to bookmark them. You can keep a separate bookmark folder in your browser for cryptocurrency exchanges and other websites to avoid phishing from nefarious third-parties. For example, should you happen to accidentally navigate to “Binance.io” or “Binnance.com” (or any other variation that looks similar but is not the official site), you could find yourself handing over your login credentials to phishers who will compromise your account and holdings.

    [Bonus tip: Always check the address bar at the top of your browser to sure the site has “https” and is, in fact, the correctly spelled address.]

     

    Don’ts

    Treat an Exchange (or Mobile Wallet) Like a Bank Account

    While cryptocurrency exchanges have significantly increased their security over the years, it’s important to remember that they’re exchanges, not bank accounts. Use exchanges as they’re intended to be used, for exchanging. By storing cryptocurrencies on exchanges long-term, you’re effectively outsourcing your security measures and putting all your trust in a third-party. You don’t want to get burned when/if that third-party has security issues. This is equally, if not truer, for mobile wallets. They’re fine for keeping a little spending cash on you (something like $20-$100) but never any more, here’s why.

    Give Away Your Private Key

    This one is a no-brainer. Don’t give away private keys to your wallets to anyone and always store them in a secure place. On top of that, always remember the popular saying: “If you don’t own your private keys, you don’t own your crypto.”

     

    Respond to Social Media Users Claiming to be Exchange Representatives

    Really, we could do an entire section on all the popular phishing scams out there, but for the sake of this list, just know that you should never respond to Twitter/Telegram/Discord users claiming to be “Coinbase support” asking for your login information. Do not respond to these phishers and report their accounts immediately.

     

    Put a Target on Your Back

    Last, but certainly not least, is don’t make yourself into a bigger target than you already are. No one else besides you needs to know how many cryptocurrencies you’re holding. Refrain from bragging and flaunting good investment strategies, mining operations, and yield, etc. online. There’s no need to post on Twitter about how you’ve been “killing it” in the crypto realm. That’s great if you are, but don’t give hackers a reason to single you out.

     

    The Bottom Line

    At the end of the day, there is always more we can do to improve the security of our cryptocurrency holdings and crypto-related accounts. However, with a little common sense and knowing even the most basic industry best practices, you’ll be able to put yourself ahead of many of the other crypto holders to ensure that your crypto stays yours!

     

     

  • What is the future of digital storage based on blockchain tech? [Sponsored]

    What is the future of digital storage based on blockchain tech? [Sponsored]

    Siacoin on Coinswitch

    Let’s take a flashback a few years ago when the shared storage was beginning to make its mark in the industry. Everyone was reluctant to join such a shared network owing to one major concern i.e. security and privacy of data. But sooner or later, everyone has to adopt technological advancement, as it is an inevitable process and it is a must to adopt, to stay in the fast pacing industry. In fact, cloud storage is a giant industry which has formed a base for numerous business start-ups.

    Now, there has been a new cloud storage platform developed on the foundations of Blockchain technology, i.e. Sia.

    About Sia

    Sia is a decentralized storage platform secured by blockchain technology. The Sia Storage Platform leverages underutilized hard drive capacity around the world to create a data storage marketplace that is more reliable and lower cost than traditional cloud storage providers.

    Privacy

    Sia encrypts and distributes your files across a decentralized network. You control your private encryption keys and you own your data. No outside company or third party can access or control your files, unlike traditional cloud storage providers.

    Cost Efficiency

    On average, Sia’s decentralized cloud storage costs 90% less than incumbent cloud storage providers. Storing 1TB of files on Sia costs about $2 per month, compared with $23 on Amazon S3.

    Redundancy

    Sia distributes and stores redundant file segments on nodes across the globe, eliminating any single point of failure and ensuring uptime that rivals traditional cloud storage providers.

    Open Source Protocol (For developers)

    Sia’s software is completely open source, with contributions from leading software engineers and a thriving community of developers building innovative applications on the Sia API.

    Opportunities as Marketplace

    Using the Sia blockchain, Sia creates a decentralized storage marketplace in which storage providers compete for your business, which leads to the lowest possible prices. Renters pay using Siacoin, which can also be mined and traded.

    Long-Term Siacoin Price Prediction

    To make some reasonable predictions for the decade ahead, we have to take a look at SiaCoin roadmap for the forthcoming years. With speed being one of the main issues, the company is going to reach the level of Amazon S3 as early as in 2018. Furthermore, new data distribution features are going to be implemented, which are currently in the pipeline. By 2020, the company is planning to become an ace player on the cloud storage market prodding out Amazon and other major competitors. So, can this scenario expand SiaCoin price predictions?

    Well, yes, this roadmap sounds too determined, and if the team keeps working at the same pace, it may reach some of its development goals, which will subsequently push the SiaCoin price to rise which is evident from historical Siacoin price chart. While facing such heavyweights as Amazon and Google may be tough, SiaCoin hardly has any other competition on the distributed storage market apart from Storj, so this project has pretty good timing.

    However, one cannot make a long-term SiaCoin price prediction for 2020 quite accurately, while isolating it from the whole crypto market. Reason being, you need Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other big altcoin to buy SiaCoin. Although you have the option to buy Siacoin with credit card. Since the mainstream of altcoins usually reflects Bitcoin’s bullish/bearish trends, the ace coin of crypto and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole will have a massive impact on the future price of SiaCoin. Thus, considering the possibility of mainstream crypto adoption in the nearest future, SiaCoin price predictions might take a drift and look completely different.