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  • Alphabit Digital Currency Fund Deploys Initial Investment into Stratis Protocol and Initiates Coverage

    Alphabit Digital Currency Fund Deploys Initial Investment into Stratis Protocol and Initiates Coverage

    Bitcoin Press Release: Stratis’ innovative blockchain solutions have attracted the attention of the digital asset investment fund, Alphabit, who have injected an initial investment while commiting to a further 7 figure investment over the next 24 months for growth and development of the BaaS ecosystem.

    1st February 2020, London, United Kingdom: Blockchain as a Solution (BaaS) service provider Stratis makes decentralized adoption easier for any firm with its innovative products designed to fit seamlessly with legacy operations, by allowing companies access to the Stratis blockchain via the widely-used C# programming language. The platform allows seamless running of smart contracts, multiple sidechains, and houses a full-scale ICO platform.

    Alphabit, A billion USD AUM fund and one of the world’s first regulated digital asset investment funds focused on delivering turn-key solutions and assisting projects with end-to-end partnerships, enters into this venture to rapidly scale Stratis’ development and help deploy cutting edge products that allow mainstream organizations to use blockchain in their day to day operations. The significant commitment by Alphabit is a testament to the groundbreaking approach of Stratis’ offerings.

    CEO of Alphabit Liam Robertson commented on the partnership: 

    “Stratis Protocol, after analysis, fits neatly into our investment thesis and we believe the potential for growth for Stratis to be exponential. We are delighted to welcome Stratis into our portfolio and look forward to supporting them over the coming months and years.”

    Stratis CEO Chris Trew said the following: 

    “We are thrilled  to partner with Alphabit, one of the world’s first regulated digital asset investment funds. Alphabits initial injection, in conjunction with their further investment commitment, will unquestionably assist in accelerating the adoption of Stratis Technologies, while cementing Stratis as the go-to platform for Microsoft .NET Blockchain development.”

    With the expertise and backing of Alphabit, Stratis will be empowered to develop ever-better solutions for the b2b market. Coupled with their C# support, Stratis’ solutions will increase the onboarding of blockchain solutions in the global market.

    About Stratis

    Stratis offers unprecedented levels of security, reliability and performance through leveraging blockchain. First of its kind, the platform’s native C# ecosystem enables firms all over the world use their existing IT infrastructure and tools to adopt the technology by providing access to the Stratis blockchain’s features, in a language which is familiar to the everyday developer.

    • Stratis Identity: A decentralized KYC and AML check to make it easier for businesses to verify client identities and comply with regulations.
    • Supply Trust: A turnkey solution for supply chain management, providing full visibility in a trustless and decentralized environment.
    • STO Platform: Regulation-compliant digital securities for businesses launching STO’s
    • Stratis Smart Contracts: Secure and auditable digital contracts that are developed in the industry-standard Microsoft C# language, fit for the DeFi age.

    About Alphabit

    Alphabit specializes in investments in blockchain and distributed ledger technology projects. They offer a wide range of advisory services and act as the Investment Advisor to the Alphabit Fund; one of the world’s first regulated digital asset investment funds. 

    Their goal is to share their expertise with promising projects and advance the cryptocurrency movement as a whole, and to date, Alphabit has successfully brought to market projects like Metal Pay, The Sun Exchange, and Suterusu.

    To find out more about how Stratis is bringing the next generation of blockchain to businesses, visit their website, or to see how Alphabit is empowering Blockchain businesses to reach new heights, visit their website.

    Follow Stratis on Twitter – https://twitter.com/stratisplatform
    Join the Stratis Developer Academy – https://academy.stratisplatform.com/
    Check out Stratis on GitHub – https://github.com/stratisproject
    Read the latest Stratis news – https://www.stratisplatform.com/news/

    Media Contact Details
    Contact Name: Bitcoin PR Buzz Press Team
    Contact Email: press@bitcoinprbuzz.com

    About Bitcoin PR Buzz: Bitcoin PR Buzz has been proudly serving the crypto press release distribution needs of blockchain start-ups for over 8 years. Get your Bitcoin Press Release Distribution today.

  • How to Start Investing in Cryptocurrencies?

    How to Start Investing in Cryptocurrencies?

    Feeling comfortable with making a Bitcoin or altcoin purchase, setting up a cryptocurrency wallet, and even finding trustworthy information can seem like a high barrier to overcome when first starting out. Keep in mind that every person involved with crypto was at one point in a similar position – a novice looking to improve his or her knowledge.

    We’ve put together a list of useful tips to make your first foray into the cryptocurrency space as easy as possible.

    Understanding the cryptocurrency basics

    Perhaps the best thing to do, even before investing any money, is to get familiar with basic terminology and concepts that underpin the crypto ecosystem. Understanding terms like blockchain technology, cryptocurrency mining, decentralized finance (DeFi), altcoin, and stablecoin is a good starting point to get accustomed to the way digital currencies work.

    Check our cryptocurrency FAQ at the bottom of our homepage for easy to understand and concise definitions of these terms. Head to the Crytpo Questions section for access to more detailed descriptions, ordered by a number of different categories and question tags.

    Stay up to date with the latest news

    You should try to find credible news sources that you can trust to be objective and that are updated frequently. You don’t want to make rash, uninformed decisions, like buying a random coin you actually know nothing about just because you fear missing out on potential gains.

    At CoinCheckup you will find up to date news for major cryptocurrency-related events, useful articles and guides that will help you on your crypto journey. Other major crypto portals, such as CoinCodex, CoinDesk, and Cointelegraph are also great sources of information. Additionally, there are many reputable Twitter commenters and Youtube channels that provide useful information. 

    Whichever source of information you prefer keep in mind that things in the cryptocurrency space change on a daily basis so try making a routine out of checking different news sources. 

    Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or on any other major social media platform for easy access to up to date news in the world of crypto.

    Making your very first investment

    The best and easiest way to get exposure to the crypto market is to buy some Bitcoin. The amount can be very small, just a couple of dollars are enough to make a purchase and get familiar with how things actually work in practice. Let the steps below guide you through the process:

    1. Pick an exchangeCoinbase, Gemini, Bittrex, Bitfinex are some of the most popular crypto exchanges on the market. Each of the exchanges we have listed offers the ability to buy Bitcoin. The exchange platforms vary greatly in terms of features and in the selection of coins they offer. Coinbase is a great pick for beginners, with its combination of a straightforward user interface and the selection of most popular cryptos. 
    1. Buy some Bitcoin – Owning Bitcoin is a great place to start your crypto journey. Firstly, you will get to experience how buying cryptocurrencies work in practice. Secondly, Bitcoin provides an easy transition towards buying so-called altcoins, such as Ethereum or Litecoin.

    Check our step-by-step guide on how to buy Bitcoin on Coinbase for further assistance.

    1. Setting up a crypto wallet – Leaving your crypto holdings on an exchange is not advised. Making use of a software crypto wallet (or hardware variant, if you are looking for maximum security) should be your top priority as wallets provide an extra layer of security for your digital assets. 

    Check our top recommendations for the best crypto wallet in 2021 to find the one that best suits your needs.

    Pick the right investing strategy for you

    There are many viable strategies for investing in crypto. Since each person has his or her own goals when it comes to crypto investing, there are many different but still viable approaches to choose from. Below you will find the most common investing tactics, their descriptions, and recommendations based on your experience level:

    • Buy and hold – Perhaps the most popular and probably the easiest to employ is the so-called “buy and hold” strategy. It basically means that you buy an asset believing that it has great potential for long-term gains; in other words “time in the market” beats “timing the market”. People opting for this strategy don’t trouble themselves with short term price volatility and instead choose to hold to an asset for years, sometimes even decades. It is the best strategy for newcomers.
    • Dollar-cost average – Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is another strategy that is perfectly suited for newcomers, but widely used even among more experienced investors. It is yet another approach to mitigate the effects of short-term price swings. Instead of investing your funds all at once and trying to find the perfect time to buy an asset, you divide the total investment amount into smaller pieces and make periodical purchases of a target asset in an effort to reduce the impact of short-term volatility.
    • Day trading – Once you acquire the required experience and get more comfortable with making trades, you can try to execute shorter-term intraday strategies to profit off of price changes of a given crypto asset. To become a successful day trader, you need not only to poses a deep understanding of technical analysis, which allows you to spot market inefficiencies, but also a great deal of self-discipline and objectivity.
    • Leverage trading – The last investing strategy on our list has by far the highest risk to reward ratio. It allows investors to gain more exposure to market assets via credit provided by a broker at a premium of leverage fees and liquidation risks. It is absolutely not recommended to beginners. However, leverage trading can be a very lucrative strategy for experienced investors who can withstand the high degree of volatility that is associated with it.

    Be comfortable with taking calculated risks

    Cryptocurrency space is still relatively new and thus prone to quick changes. Because of this fact, savvy investors have the opportunity to make highly profitable trades and to participate in creating a new currency system. On the other hand, there is a higher degree of risk associated with cryptocurrency investing than in traditional markets, since the swings are bigger and especially long-term predictions harder to make. 

    No matter how diligent you are in your research it is pretty much a guarantee that you will make mistakes along the way, either by missing on a great opportunity or investing in a project that will ultimately not pan out as you had hoped it will. Don’t view crypto as a get-rich-quick scheme, instead, try to make calculated moves, don’t invest more than you are comfortable losing and remember to have fun along the way.

  • ROFX Review: The Automated Trading Robot for Regular Profits

    ROFX Review: The Automated Trading Robot for Regular Profits

    Introducing RoFx

    Developed by experts, RoFx was introduced in 2009 as a robot which would help in making profits and generating passive income. Ever since its launch, the robot has never failed to deliver profits as per the expectation of the users. The robot has offered 10% monthly returns on an average ever since its launch. The robot uses the original investments and aims to offer a stable passive income source. Traders are assured of complete transparency when using the robot.

    RoFx is also referred as Expert Advisor and works mainly on the basis of artificial intelligence. The developers mention that the software offers low drawdown rate and aims to compensate users for losses. This is done mainly by utilizing the reserve fund of the company. We decided to investigate a bit further when we came across so many positive reviews which RoFx has managed to gather in the past few months.

    So, first let us understand what automated forex trading is?

    As evident by the name, it is about using forex robots or EAs for trading a specific pair of currency. Now, this can include copy/social trading and trading signals. Any trading robot is developed in a special way. It can carry out trading decisions independently on the behalf of the trader. This robot can also work as an indicator which points out to the user when to buy or sell a product. Majority of developers mention and advertise that their specific robot will bring in unusual trading success. However, this is far from reality and does not usually happen. Most EA’s we come across these days are not successful. There are several reasons for this – one reason being that the market situation can change anytime. It also indicates that any specific EA might have performed well under some conditions, but in another condition, it may not perform that well.

    How does RoFx work?

    Any EA is generally installed with the MT’s expert’s directory. It works on the basis of a set algorithm. This trading software usually closes or opens trades automatically which are based on some set inputs. There are a few demo accounts, which have a back-testing feature that can simply evaluate if an EA is profitable or it is not.

    Forex Robots and Scams – The Association?

    With the popularity of forex trading, scams are getting quite common as well. Scammers come in disguise to dupe the traders in the form of forex robots. They come with some unusual ‘get rich schemes’ or offer opportunities like ‘earn big money without working’. These offers are quite enticing for traders who wish to get rich in a short time. It is seen that amateur and novice traders usually fall prey to such scams. In fact, it is seen that there are also some software which are advertised in a way to assure traders that their money is in safe hands. The truth is that most such robots or software is fake and might be capable of generating just 10% profit. Most of these robots are extremely poorly managed automated trading systems which do not consider many things, which includes the changes in market conditions.

    What are the benefits of using automated forex trading robots?

    • They are a good source of passive income generation.
    • With robots, there is no influence of emotional trading
    • Ensures better risk management. There are many EA’s which allow users to make changes in settings for take-profit orders or stop-loss.
    • They help in quick backtesting. It takes just a few minutes or seconds to get results.
    • The robot does all work for the user. Thus, there is no specific time requirement.
    • There is no need for additional expertise or knowledge to use the robot. The EA does it all.

    Disadvantages of Automated Forex Trading:

    • The majority of robots do not consider political and economic news.
    • There is a negative effect on trading when there is internet connectivity failure.
    • There are many EA’s which function without a stop-loss. This can put the trader’s account at risk.

    How Legitimate is RoFx

    RoFx is a Fintech Company and has offices in the UK, Hongkong and US. Anyone is free to visit their headquarters located in the UK. This can be done by just making an appointment in advance. There is also an annual conference and the company invites several VIP clients.

    RoFx does not need any financial regulation as it is a software company engaged in the development of AI. It has links with some of the top brokers of America, Europe and Asia which does testify its legitimacy.

    RoFX and Other Trading EA’s – Understand the Primary Differences

    If you consider RoFx with others, you will realize that it has an automated approach. Traders have to deposit their money and sit back. The robot does the rest. Money can be deposited in the Euro, USA or Bitcoin. RoFx also does not require a long installation process.

    • Continuously Updated Trading – RoFx uses superior technology for trading which has been continuously updated and modified in the last 10 years. The robot takes help from a neural network which helps this software in adjusting according to conditions of the market. There is continuous scanning of charts to understand the changing market conditions. It is a completely automated trading process which requires little cash and an internet connection.
    • Easy to Use Service – Traders can access the services from the website. There are many interesting packages. The base package offers 50% daily profit. This might increase to 95% as the trader increases the investment.
    • Past Performances – Over the last 10 years, RoFx has accumulated impressive track records. It is proof that the robot performs quite consistently. Total transparency is assured on the website as the traders get an overview of their trading activities which include daily profits & monthly gains. The statistics are all verified through MyFxBook.
    • Efficient Customer Support – The customer support team offers convenient and instant services. They are reachable and offer solutions. This kind of service is mostly absent from other services which include GPS and Odin.
    • Risk-Free – When anyone chooses to invest in RoFx, it is totally risk-free. The chances of losing money are less as well. You can easily find their monthly analytics at myfxbook. Here you will find the algorithm of the robot in the past few years. The robot did not incur any loss and even if it incurs losses, it will be compensated by the reserve fund. There is a stop loss system and no leverage trading involved.

    Some other details about RoFx

    This is an automated software & does not need download. You simply must visit the website & register. To get started, you can fund the account. The minimum amount needed is $1000. The profit calculator is available which helps in determining the gains you will receive.

    Several easy methods of withdrawal are available. The minimum withdrawal is $1000 cash. Those who wish to withdraw an amount that is lower than this, can use Bitcoin and use the ‘exchange’ option. No withdrawal fees are charged by RoFx. When any user withdraws after the expiry of the package, a commission is charged by the bank. There are multiple deposit options available for users which include bank transfers, credit cards and Bitcoin.

    Conclusion

    There are several trading robots these days and each promise to perform well. However, when it is for an extended time, most of them do not perform. There are many robots that advertise that they offer 200% gains and attract amateur and local traders. RoFx has a user-friendly and straightforward approach. It offers a growth of up to 10% monthly and traders are quite happy with it.

    OP-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. CoinCheckup does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post and we are not responsible or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the article or for any damage or loss to be caused by and in connection to it.


  • Optimistic Rollups for Ethereum Scaling have been Unveiled by Cartesi

    Optimistic Rollups for Ethereum Scaling have been Unveiled by Cartesi

    Some exciting news has just come onto the blockchain marketplace about Cartesei and their new optimistic roll ups and how they impact Ethereum scaling. The great thing about these rollup solutions is they have gone through a rigorous process of assessment and are now even thankfully endorsed by Vitalik himself, one of the founders of the Ethereum blockchain protocol.

    About Cartesi

    Founded in 2018 by Erick de Moura, Augusto Teixeira, Diego Nehab and Colin Steil, Cartesi has seen a monumental rise in its popularity and is now ranked in the top 600 cryptocurrencies in the world. It is expected however that in the weeks and months following this announcement that the price of the asset will rise well into the higher market capitalisation levels.

    Cartesi is special in the blockchain universe because it allows decentralized applications to run within a Linux environment. Complex processing can therefore be implemented outside of the blockchain environment. The result of this is there are no restrictions based on computational limits of blockchain and the transactional costs can also be avoided. Cartesi is chain-agnostic which means it isn’t linked to only one particular blockchain protocol and therefore developers don’t need to worry about a particular blockchain surviving in the long run when using Cartesi.

    Cartesi has the vision of making decentralised app development easy, scalable, and cost-efficient. The company plans to achieve this by incorporating tools developers already use into its structure as these tools have evolved over the past 30 years and are therefore more efficient than newly developed tools as they are already fit for purpose. Cartesi is all about broader blockchain adoption and it is aiming to make decentralised apps just as prominent in the marketplace as conventional applications.

    Cartesi has solved the urgent Ethereum scalability problem and huge fees by implementing an optimistic rollups variant.

    Optimistic Rollups for Etherum

    Cartesi is essentially a layer two project that runs on Ethereum at this time. The company has just announced their optimistic rollups for the Ethereum side chain and blockchain which aims to drive the cost of interacting with the Ethereum network way down. This is great news for blockchain enthusiasts and Etherum enthusiasts as it makes the entire blockchain ecosystem more accessible to the masses. The optimistic roll ups that have been designed by Cartesi will highly substantially lower fees by amounts unthought of before. Along with this the optimistic rollups will also take computational demands on the blockchain off chain which means that the speed of the blockchain should be substantially improved.

    Cartesi is using this release as a follow up to one of their earlier releases, Cartesi Machine. This is a viral machine that is completely unique as it allows Ethereum smart contracts to run their heavy and computationally intensive programs on a Linux server. Optimistic roll ups are just the second wave intended to speed up the process of running computationally intensive software on the Ethereum blockchain.

    Cartesi CEO Erick de Moura said:

    “Optimistic rollups represent more than just an incremental improvement to decentralized applications. They are a vital step toward the maturity of the whole blockchain ecosystem. Allowing mainstream programmability means that DApp developers have an entirely new expressive power to create from smart contracts.

    The availability of optimistic roll ups also opens the door for extensive adoption by regular developers who have never programmed for blockchain, who can now create decentralized applications with a coding experience similar to desktop or web.”

    Ethereum’s congestion has reached an all time high and as a result the fees have spiralled out of control in recent months and years. Optimistic rollups offer a solution to these by promoting decentralised finance projects that may have layer two scalability options. These layer two projects could potentially result in layer one ramifications of speed and scalability that was considered impossible prior to exploring that possibility. 

    Summing up their contributions

    After this news this company is definitely one to watch in the future. If they can do this for the Ethereum network who knows what they will be able to do for other protocols and for the blockchain ecosystem as a whole.

    We need more companies like Cartesi to start tackling the challenges of scalability as the only way blockchain as a whole will gain a sustainable competitive advantage over fiat currency is if we can address the issues currently permuting the entire blockchain industry. These issues are mainly around speed and cost and thankfully cost and speed have both been addressed here by Cartesi.

    Furthermore this news story highlights how important it may be to start looking to level two side chains and companies in the Ethereum ecosystem to find the solutions to existing problems of scalability.

  • 27th January: BTC/USD Breaks below 31,000, ETH/USD Dips below 1,300

    27th January: BTC/USD Breaks below 31,000, ETH/USD Dips below 1,300

    Konstantin Anissimov, Executive Director at CEX.IO

    BTC/USD

    BTC/USD began the trading session of 27th January, Wednesday, at 32,501 as per the exchange rate on CEX.IO. From the day’s start the pair began slipping down with a determination to break down below the 2.618 Fibonacci retracement level positioned at 31,000. The pair was trending down in a steadily going downside move with two flag formations clearly visible on the 15-minute timeframe between 06:00 and 08:00 UTC and between 09:00 and 11:00 UTC.

    BTC/USD was starting the 11th hourly candlestick of the day at 31,556 and was in a good position for a attacking the 2.618 Fibonacci retracement level, which it successfully did, closing the hourly candlestick at 30,724 on the 4-hour timeframe as well. The move was the second successful breakdown since 21st January, but this time there was no hammer on the 4-hour timeframe to pull the price back, and it was starting to look like a proper breakdown that would not be retraced.

    Between 12:00 and 13:00 UTC, the BTC/USD trading pair edged a few paces up at the close of the hourly candlestick but remained well under 31,000 at the close. At 13:00 UTC, the pair continued the downswing with another bearish candlestick and fell once more in the hour between 14:00 and 15:00 UTC to 29,600, with the lower wick touching the 50-day SMA for the first time since 9th October 2020. The subsequent bounce took it up to 30,654 with the upper wick reaching up to 31,000. After that another downswing drove the pair below 30,000 and to a close of 29,750 between 18:00 and 19:00 UTC.

    The breakdown below 31,000 is an important and highly anticipated stepping stone to lower price regions and a continuation of this downside corrective move. It opens the path to the region of 18,500 –20,500, where big buying volumes will be concentrated by the time the BTC/USD trading pair reaches that price range.

    Presently, with the breakdown below 31,000 we are eligible to expect further downside dynamics until the specified price levels. But those might be expected to be attained in a somewhat medium term of up to six months. And, speaking of a less distant future, we expect the price to capitalise at 29,500 by the end of the week of 25th January.

    ETH/USD

    ETH/USD opened the trading session of 27th January at 1,367.3 as per the exchange rate on CEX.IO. The pair instantly began trending down, finding a resting point at 1,300 at 03:00 UTC. The pair moved sideways in the next couple hours and fell to 1,288 between 05:00 and 06:00 UTC. After a couple hours of sideways fluctuations between 06:00 and 08:00 UTC, ETH/USD took another dive to 1,261.3.

    Another two bullish hourly candlesticks between 09:00 and 11:00 UTC made up a little flag formation before another dive to 1,222 took place between 11:00 and 15:00 UTC. A sharp spike that happened in the next hours retraced the losses of the four previous hours, but another downswing between 16:00 and 19:00 UTC took ETH/USD to 1,230. Between 19:00 and 20:00 UTC the pared some of the losses, closing the hourly candlestick at 1,266.3.

    The ETH/USD uptrend is getting weaker, with the new high of 25th October just an inch above the previous one. If these dynamics continue, presently going uptrend may be halted by a flat trend for a couple of weeks. Presently, an intraday downswing to 1,165 looks to be a likely target level for the rest of the week of 25th January, which can then be a local turning point to send the ETH/USD trading pair higher, which will be a clear indication of a beginning flat trend.

  • Coinsbee Review

    Coinsbee Review

    As cryptocurrency users and HODLers, we all know that cryptocurrency is here to stay and has a real shot of becoming the new predominant form of money. However, we’re not quite there yet, and the adoption of cryptocurrencies still has a long way to go – it can be very difficult to find retailers that accept cryptocurrency payments. This doesn’t mean that cryptocurrency users are out of options, as different companies have stepped in to make life a lot easier for everyone that prefers to transact with crypto.

    In this article, we’ll be covering Coinsbee, a service that allows users to easily spend their cryptocurrencies to buy goods and services that we use every day. Coinsbee offers gift cards, game credits, as well as mobile phone and payment card top ups.

    Coinsbee is a Germany-based company that was initially launched in September of 2019. Following its launch, Coinsbee continued to upgrade the platform, introducing support for multiple languages, re-designing its shop and implementing top-ups for prepaid mobile phone plans.

    Coinsbee offers gift cards and vouchers for gaming, e-commerce and more

    Coinsbee makes sure to cover as much ground as possible, and currently supports more than 500 brands that can be accessed in a total of 165 countries.

    Coinsbee is especially suitable for gaming fans, as the store has a very strong selection of vouchers in the gaming category. Gift cards for leading gaming platforms like Steam, the Playstation Store, Nintendo and Google Play are all available for purchase with cryptocurrency.

    The platform also offers vouchers to top up various online payment accounts, including prepaid virtual Mastercard cards, Neosurf cash vouchers, as well as Skrill and AdvCash gift cards.

    For prepaid mobile phone top-ups, Coinsbee offers a truly huge selection. Some providers will also periodically run promotions where you’ll be able to get more bang for your buck (or bit). Depending on the provider, the bonuses can go up to 50% or even more.

    For a full list of the supported products, you can check out the Coinsbee shop. When browsing the Coinsbee shop, you can browse and filter through products by category (for example gaming or e-commerce), or by country. If you already know what you’re looking for, you can just use the search bar and see if the product is available for purchase in your country.

    After purchasing a gift card or top-up through Coinsbee, you’ll receive them to the email address you’ve provided.

    Coinsbee will only request personal information from users who make a payment worth over €1,000. Users who make a payment of more than €10,000 will have to pass a verification with their identity card, while users who cross the €15,000 threshold will also have to provide proof of address.

    Large selection of cryptocurrencies

    Coinsbee is not just limited to Bitcoin, but also supports more than 50 other popular cryptocurrencies. This way, altcoin fans can benefit from the company’s services as well. Here are a few examples of the cryptocurrencies that are supported by Coinsbee:

    As we can see, the selection of cryptocurrencies supported by Coinsbee covers both coins with a large market cap as well as smaller cryptocurrencies.

    Lightning Network support

    Lightning Network is a layer 2 technology that allows users to send Bitcoin transactions between each other almost instantly and at very low costs. Coinsbee has integrated Lightning Network support into its platform, allowing for extremely quick payments that make the user experience a breeze. During checkout, users can select Lightning Network as a payment option, and they will receive instructions on how to complete the payment.

    Lightning Network support is actually quite a rare feature among cryptocurrency businesses, so Coinsbee definitely did well here to distinguish itself from the competition.

    Conclusion

    Coinsbee can provide great utility if you hold crypto and would like to spend it in everyday scenarios. The platform is easy to use, and offers a huge selection of gift cards and vouchers, so you’re likely to find exactly what you’re looking for. Coinsbee’s range of supported cryptocurrencies is large enough to make the platform suitable for practically all cryptocurrency holders.

    Gift cards can provide more privacy for online payments compared to paying with your credit card, and this is an especially important consideration for cryptocurrency fans, who tend to be privacy-conscious.

    Coinsbee can also be a option if you’re looking to buy a gift for someone in your life, but aren’t quite sure what to get them – nobody will be disappointed with a gift card for a service that they enjoy using on a regular basis. If you’re planning on giving a gift card to someone else, Coinsbee has created a simple tool which allows you to create a customized gift card.

    If you’re a cryptocurrency user who’s in the market for gift cards and vouchers, Coinsbee is definitely worth checking out.

  • Crypto Wallet Security in 2021

    Crypto Wallet Security in 2021

    Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, were in rightful contention for the title – word of the decade. While that may have gone by the wayside, there is no doubt that digital coins marked the second half of the past decade and are slowly changing the world. 

    While many thought that Bitcoin and its competitors would never reach the price-peaks attained in late 2017, throughout 2020, cryptocurrencies experience a surge in popularity that led them to surpass previous all-time highs. Thus, many casual internet users wonder if they should jump on this bandwagon and what kind of security assurances do most digital money provide?

    If you are a newbie, you can check out cryptocurrency wallets for beginners here,  or you can read through our article and find out how safe your funds are in a digital pocketbook. 

    The Best Crypto Wallet to Use

    When considering a crypto wallet, you should know that they divide into software and hardware ones. The latter often get referred to as cold ones and are the most secure option for keeping coins, especially if you aim to do so for long periods. Unlike software wallets, they have no connection to the internet and are software installed on a physical device such as flash drives or desktop computers. They are virtually unhackable.

    Trezor is the most famous cold wallet. It and its cold competitors generate public and private keys via random number generators. These get stored on the device. Even if such a wallet gets connected to an infected computer, its data will remain uncompromised. They let you set a PIN code and a recovery phrase, which you will need to regain control of a lost device. Their main drawback is the risk of internal software failure and the threat of physical theft.

    When it comes to software wallets or hot ones, Blockchain is the most popular option. It has over 65 million users and name-brand association on its side.  Exodus is a closed-source free wallet that’s a decent choice for beginners. Electrum is a good option for advanced Bitcoin only users who want customizability and an easy to navigate interface. Know that the most popular storage alternatives are unlikely to house unestablished currencies, but they boast better hot wallet security than niche ones.

    Security Features That Make a Difference

    Before you decide on a crypto wallet, if security is a priority, you’ll have to make sure that your chosen option has most of the following features. Firstly, you want to be able to access your wallet only from a list of trusted devices. It is a simple feature that most online accounts allow these days. If a device that is not in such a directory tries to gain control of your coins, it has to identify itself. Furthermore, it is super-beneficial to whitelist withdrawal addresses, a handy feature that stops hackers from taking funds out of your pocketbook, even if they have gained access to it. So look for your wallet to have it. 

    Multi-factor authentication is another must. 2FA or two-factor authentication has become the industry standard. It adds an extra layer of protection by only allowing access after users present secondary evidence that confirms their identity. However, look to go a step further and take advantage of biometric authentication. It incorporates fingerprint and retina scans that not only provide privacy but also eradicate digital fraud. Always use such a multi-signature feature, and if your wallet gives you a series of seed words, make sure to back those up. 

    Security Issues You Must Pay Attention to Most

    While the subject of crypto security most revolves around keeping private keys away from prying eyes, the topic should be vaster. The conversation should include how coin transfers happen and what can lead to the hijacking of funds. 

    Phishing is a practice that has been around since the dawn of the world wide web, and it entails tricking people into using malicious sites or software that appear legitimate.  Scammers go so far as using Google ads to advertise fake sites that steal login credentials.  In 2018, hundreds of Electrum users lost close to a combined million dollars in a hacker attack that tricked them into providing their password information via a fake upgrade.

    Wallets that run on a desktop OS are vulnerable to malware compromising crypto transactions.  The reason for this is because operating systems for desktop computers are targets of large surface attacks. Thus, such users are most susceptible to malware, which can steal their private keys, among other things. Browser extensions can be especially harmful, targeting and attacking browser-based wallets.

    Other tips that can help you conduct safe transactions include being aware of address spoofing, making sure your software gets frequently updated, minding your digital hygiene, and not boasting about your crypto wealth.

  • Strategist Predicts $10,500 Price Target for Ethereum

    Strategist Predicts $10,500 Price Target for Ethereum

    Key highlights:

    • Ethereum is distributed and decentralized, and its distinctive feature is the capacity for smart contracts.
    • According to Fundstrat, a price target of $10,500 is possible for Ethereum due to more development in the space

    Ethereum is one of the popular choices among crypto enthusiasts, and many users and analysts are bullish about the future of its native asset ETH. These days, Ethereum price predictions are a hot topic, and many analysts are sharing the thoughts of what the ETH markets will look like in the future. Some of these analyses are backed with plenty of research, while others take a more speculative approach.

    What is Ethereum?

    Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform that supports smart contracts. The smart contracts language used by Ethereum is called Solidity, and it allows users to create complex apps that run on the Ethereum blockchain. 

    The Ethereum project was first started by Vitalik Buterin in 2013. He was joined by other co-founders like Charles Hoskinson and Gavin Wood, and the Ethereum project held an ICO in 2014 in which they raised around $16 million. The Ethereum mainnet started its operations in July 2015. While Ethereum did start with a pre-mine there wasn`t anything like a vesting schedule for the pre-mined ETH coins.  

    Many landmarks and milestones occurred for Ethereum in the past years, and one of the most notable developments was the launch of the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain on December 1, 2020.  

    ETH is currently moving away from Proof-of-Work (mining), and is making a transition to Proof-of-Stake. The new version of Ethereum 2.0, also called Serenity, will also implement advanced scaling technologies such as sharding. When the new Ethereum 2.0 platform is ready, it will be able to process thousands of transactions per second while having a much lower environmental footprint.

    Fundstrat thinks ETH is about to explode

    We all remember the extraordinary movement of Bitcoin in January this year. Bitcoin touched new all-time highs, and now many analysts expect that for ETH as well. Fundstrat Global Advisors is a strategy firm that predicted a target of $10,500 for ETH. The firm has good reasons for this prediction, including more use cases, stablecoins, and the emergence of DeFi emergence on the Ethereum blockchain. According to Fundstrat strategist David Grider, ETH has the best risk/reward ratio in the crypto space. 

    Fundstrat believes ETH can earn more through fees this year because there are more players on its blockchain right now, and this could push Ethereum to higher prices. Ethereum users already paid $180 million in fees in just 17 days at the beginning of 2021, and it is a bullish signal for massive growth in 2021. 

  • Grayscale Rumors Boost the Chainlink Market

    Grayscale Rumors Boost the Chainlink Market

    Key highlights: 

    • Chainlink is an oracle network that provides a bridge between Blockchain smart contracts and off-chain data.
    • There are some rumors about Grayscale getting ready to launch a LINK-based investment product

    Chainlink (LINK) is a popular project in the crypto space, which has attracted a significant number of investors. This is evidenced by the fact that LINK is the 7th largest cryptocurrency on the market today, and has a market cap of around $9 billion. Chainlink had an outstanding performance in 2020, and now many crypto fans are interested if it can perform similarly this year as well.

    What is Chainlink? 

    Chainlink is an oracle network designed to provide reliable data to smart contracts deployed on blockchains such as Ethereum. Chainlink connects smart contracts that are on-chain to the off-chain data sources like APIs, bank payments, etc. The Chainlink team launched an ICO in 2017, raising 114,285 ETH. 

    LINK is the biggest Ethereum-based token by market capitalization. It is an ERC-20 standard token, but also has functionalities associated with the ERC-223 standard. This functionality permits the processing and reception of the tokens inside a particular transaction. The tokens are paid to node operators for the data they provide. There are many operators in the space now, and considerable growth has been seen since the mainnet launch launch. 

    LINK has oracles for ETH and its trading pairs. Applications and so on can utilize the oracles. The Chainlink network has three solutions to avoid insufficient data and vulnerabilities for oracles. One solution is voting, and data from the Chainlink network is selected and validated through this process. The network chooses among the oracles and guarantees the best performance. 

    Whenever a smart contract wants some data from the network, every node offers its data and puts some tokens at stake. The tokens are dispensed among the nodes that provided quality data. This system of operation encourages the nodes to behave honestly.

    A Chainlink Trust from Grayscale?

    Crypto asset management company Grayscale recently registered a series of trusts in Delaware. The names of the trusts reference different cryptocurrencies, with some examples being Chainlink, Tezos and Filecoin. Grayscale is a major company that offers products for investing in cryptocurrency. Some of the company’s products are focused on specific coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while others give investors a way to invest in the cryptocurrency market more broadly. 

    Among the altcoin names referenced by the newly-registered trusts, Chainlink would seem to be the most likely option if Grayscale actually does decide to go ahead with a product launch. Rumors about Grayscale introducing LINK to its lineup of crypto investment products have fueled speculation, and provided some additional volatility to the LINK markets. On January 25, the token’s price reached an all-time high above the $25 price level.

    Grayscale is one of the largest cryptocurrency asset managers in the world, holding more than $25.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. It has crypto regulated products for the public in the United States of America. The company offers products that are accessible to traditional investors, and allows them to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency asset class.