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Digibyte CEO Jared Tate calls for developers to help build DGB mobile wallet

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Are you a skilled javascript developer with some experience in mobile projects? Would you like to be involved in one of the blockchain projects with the best reputation in the world? Well, you’re in luck because DigiByte is looking for you. Jared Tate, DigiByte’s founder, posted a tweet just a couple of days ago calling for developers to join the team currently developing the DGB mobile wallet.

Oh, you don’t know what Digibyte is? Well, that’s understandable because this cryptocurrency and blockchain network doesn’t get as much attention as some other digital assets. That shouldn’t lead you to believe that this is not a worthwhile project. It has some solid fundamentals and exciting features that set it apart from the cryptosphere. It has a huge potential to flourish, and you could be in the developing team.

DigiByte

DigiByte is Jared Tate’s brainchild. He developed it during 2013 and launched it the next year. Mr. Tate wanted to see a digital coin in the market that would be as robust as Bitcoin but faster, more secure, and capable of achieving a higher degree of decentralization and reach a community broader than Bitcoin’s.

The project is unique in several ways. It’s the most decentralized blockchain on earth, for a start. The system includes more than 200k active nodes scattered all over the world. This high degree of decentralization makes the network very safe and almost immune to hacks, especially to 51% attacks. As things are today, Digibyte is the world’s largest, fastest and most secure blockchain in the Unspent Transaction Output category. That’s a significant achievement if you take into account that Bitcoin falls in this category too.

The network uses several different algorithms for the mining process. They’re explicitly designed so that they can’t be turned into hardware. That means that manufacturers can’t come up with an ASIC piece of equipment to facilitate the mining process. And this is a good thing.

Why? Because it keeps the field leveled for all miners in the network. Nobody can have the edge over the rest because of owning and operating specialized hardware. But the beauty of it is not just that it keeps things more democratic. Also, it guarantees that the degree of decentralization in the network will remain very high because no single node can become a lot more relevant than the rest.

Digibyte is one of the most exciting but overlooked assets or blockchain projects in the world. It holds the 51st spot by market capitalization. It’s worth USD 145 million in total, and it’s trading at USD 0.012296 as we write this. So far DGB has been one of the altcoins that haven’t really gone along with the upwards trend led by Bitcoin since last Friday. And that means that this is an accumulation period for savvy investors because its price will soar sooner or later.

So, does it sound interesting to you? Is your javascript code writing skill up to scratch? Why not join the DGB developing team, then?

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Congressman wants to ban crypto. Could he?

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The one thing that you can say about the crypto verse is that it’s never dull. It may not always give you the kind of real excitement you crave for, but monotony never shows its ugly face.

Only last night a new controversy started in the US that will surely shake the cryptosphere quite a bit. It will also fire up some debate. There is a possibility that the American government will ban its citizens from buying and using digital assets.

The new development comes courtesy of Brad Sherman, a Congressman. He addressed the House Financial Services Committee proposing a new bill that would make cryptocurrencies illegal.

His openly hostile statement says that a ban is the only way to go because blockchain-based currencies are a threat to the USD’s power and stability. He adds that they’re only useful for criminal users who want to launder money, deal in drugs, or evade taxes.

Mr. Sherman’s antagonistic stance on cryptocurrencies is not a novelty by any means. On March of last year, he went on the record calling digital assets “a crock.” A few months later, in July, he stated that the US should impede the country’s citizens from mining or buying cryptocurrencies.

The politician is not the only high-profile opponent to cryptocurrency, of course. Joseph Stiglitz, who has a Nobel award in economics, doesn’t like digital money any better. Only this week he said that crypto should be shut down “because the anonymity and lack of transparency could give malicious actors new ways to perform illegal activities.” He continued to say that,

“We have a very good currency [the US dollar], so far the currency has been run in a very stable way. We talk about the attributes of a good currency, and the US dollar has them whereas cryptocurrencies do not. I actually think we should shut down the cryptocurrencies.”

YouTube video

Unfortunately, such comments from an economist of Mr. Stiglitz’s reputation give credence to absurd remarks like those of Mr. Sherman. And other economists, politicians, and investors (Warren Buffet comes to mind) also hold a stance against crypto about which they’re very vocal.

The thing about Mr. Sherman is that this time he’s not just throwing a rant. He’s trying to put his decided fiat money where his mouth is by asking to enact his anti-crypto preferences in a law. The main issue he refers to is the USD’s disempowerment as the primary means of exchanging value in the global economy.

The congressman affirms that weakening the USD’s power has always been one of the crypto aficionados’ top priorities. Also, the appearance of a single global currency that could do away with censorship and find ways around economic decisions arising from the US government, such as sanctions against “rogue” countries. Unlike Mr. Sherman’s usual rants, this point is funny because it’s true, at least partly.

It’s not the first time somebody calls for a ban on crypto in the US or elsewhere. Chances are it won’t be the last either. But there’s a question more important than an actual ban, should it occur, and it’s this: can cryptocurrencies be really banned? How would that happen?

Is a ban really possible?

We’ll save you some stress and give you the short answer right now. No, you can’t ban cryptocurrencies, hard as you could try. Even if you’re the world’s most powerful government.

Decentralization is one of blockchain’s technology primary characteristics. That feature makes it immune to censorship because the network’s critical information is distributed among many nodes which keep the system working as a team. It’s a monster of a thousand heads, so cutting one off is futile. The only way to exert control over the whole network, or the information it carries, is to shut it down completely. And a system extended all over the globe, as Bitcoin’s (but also the case with many other blockchains) can’t be shut down.

A ban would need for Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, to have a central authority. Thus, if you want to bar the cryptocurrency, you just block the currency’s primary agent, and that’s it. But there’s no central authority in cryptocurrencies, so you’re basically trying to catch a ghost.

That’s what Satoshi Nakamoto intended from the beginning, and you can read it if you take the time to review Bitcoin’s now legendary white paper. It was supposed to defeat any attempt from governments, the banking system, or any other power broker to censor it, control it, or bring it down. And it’s been successful so far. So you could ban a few nodes in the network for sure.

But it would be exceedingly hard to block absolutely all the nodes in the planet which is what it would take to ban a cryptocurrency. And you would have to do this for every network that supports every cryptocurrency. Adding a further level of difficulty, these networks are not static. New nodes are popping up all the time, and keeping track of all of them is nearly impossible.

Of course, we’re assuming that the “ban” is going to be enforced rather than just announced, leaving the American users free to either respect it or not, which is an option indeed. Another option would be to punish the economic activities related to digital assets. That’s much more feasible, and could achieve the desired effect, at least partially. For sure, more effectively than a real technological ban.

Then there’s criminalization. The US government could declare all activities related to cryptocurrencies as felonies. That would make every cryptocurrency holder, or miner, or business a criminal. That’s possible, but how effective could it really be? After all, that’s the exact same policy that has given us the war on drugs. It has been a spectacular failure on all fronts.

A complete ban would thus be utterly impossible. But the government could make cryptocurrency’s users’ lives so miserable, and complicate the use of cryptocurrency so much that all the advantages could be lost.

Outlook

Fortunately, the rest of the world is not on Mr. Sherman’s side on this. It’s not that there are so many countries that are crazy about digital assets. Yet, many of the world’s most significant economic powers are sick and tired of depending so much on the United States government by depending so much on the USD. Donald Trump’s antics have exacerbated that situation. As a result countries like China and Russia are dumping their USD reserves and buying gold and other assets to store wealth just as effectively.

Mr. Sherman is right in that the USD is losing a bit of ground as the world’s leading currency. But his understanding of the situation is dismal, and he’s barking at the wrong tree. Going against crypto will do nothing to help the USD because other countries in the world are not abandoning it in favor of Bitcoin or crypto. They’re doing it because of the US’ erratic behavior as a superpower.

So how worried should we be about the ban? Not that much. It would be impractical, to say the least. And let’s not forget that Wall Street is slowly but surely becoming interested in cryptocurrencies. Once the New York financial establishment makes up its mind and comes into crypto, the political power they hold will virtually guarantee that the government will let things be, if only not to irritate the country’s bankers.

That being said, the interest that backward politicians such as Mr. Sherman have in attacking cryptocurrencies only shows that the crypto verse is accomplishing its original mission, which was to disrupt the world’s financial system precisely to take power away from banks, governments, and politicians.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Scandals and crypto: 3 of the best-known cases

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Bitcoin and many other digital assets hold great potential for the good and the bad. They could make you rich in a heartbeat. They could also make you lose your shirt just as quickly. Cryptocurrency investing is very risky, which is why it can be highly profitable, and very exciting.

One of the things that make cryptocurrencies so exciting and open to the possibilities is also one of the things that make them so dangerous. That’s the lack of regulations from governments and institutions in general.

Lots of new exchange platforms, as well as wallet services, are popping out in the crypto verse all the time. And they remain unregulated. That’s why the risk of fraud, hacking and other misbehaviors remains real. Take the Bitfinex fiasco, for instance, which saw the platform lose USD 66 million. So the risks are here, they’re real, and every cryptonaut should be aware of them. And the Bitfinex example is not even among the most important ones.

And the lack of legal codes is not the only problem. The very nature of the beast makes it prone to moral hazard. It’s a situation that allows for huge risks, which, in turn, mean that equally big profits could be in the cards, which is why recklessness is present around the crypto verse.

In this article, we recapitulate for you some of the greatest scandals we’ve seen so far in the cryptosphere.

QuadrigaCX

It could have been a Sherlock Holmes novel. A dead CEO, fraud accusations, millions of dollars lost. It shook the Bitcoin world, and while it looked like something out of thriller fiction, the nightmare was genuine for all those holders who lost their wealth.

It was 2018 and QuadrigaCX’s CEO, Gerald Cotten was enjoying his honeymoon in India. But he didn’t make it back. After Mr. Cotten’s death, the company found that it couldn’t manage the company’s cryptocurrency portfolio. So the bells rang, and the alarm was widespread.

QuadrigaCX’s wallets were cold. That means that the company’s cryptocurrencies are stored offline, which is a good thing when it comes to security because it makes hacks so much harder. But only Mr. Cotten was privy to the passwords, so the company suddenly was unable to give its customers their coins back.

The situation prompted an investigation on QuadrigaCX, and then new disturbing facts started to emerge. Once the investigators got hold of Mr. Cotten’s personal computer, the firm Ernst & Young found a way to locate all the wallets owned by the company. And the wallets were empty, which meant that from USD 140 to US 190 million were missing.

As the auditing company followed the money, they found that the wallets had been regularly emptied over a full year before Mr. Cotten’s honeymoon. So the investigators (and the customers) had the remains of a company and no assets to recover.

The highly irregular situation described above lead to all kinds of theories. For instance, some said that Mr. Cotten faked is own demise so he could get away with millions of dollars to enjoy with his new wife. His widow says that he actually died.

But what happened to the company’s deposits? Good questions. Nobody has been able to find out so far.

Mt Gox

This cryptocurrency exchange was started by Jed McCaleb who enjoys an excellent reputation in the crypto world. Mt Gox stands for “Magic the gathering online eXchange.” No, we don’t understand what that means either. But the weird name didn’t stand in the way of Mt Gox becoming the world’s largest Bitcoin trader very quickly.

The platform was responsible for about 70% of the world’s trading in Bitcoin at some point. But things were never quiet for the company. It suffered from persistent security problems, it was always under attack by hackers, the CEO wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, and they even got a lawsuit from the US government. So Mt Gox was always in the news for all the wrong reasons.

But painful as life was for the company, it was manageable. Then a real catastrophe hit. In 2014 the company had to go bankrupt because it lost half a billion USD in Bitcoins. Hackers had been emptying the company’s wallets over a long, and the company security team was none the wiser. Then, as users tried to withdraw their funds, they found they didn’t have any left.

The users complained, of course. The company answered by going silent and disappeared from all social media. The story isn’t over yet. It’s been almost five years already, and creditors are still trying to get their money back from Mt Gox. Some of them have been able to sell the debt at discounted prices, and the legal fight remains ongoing.

NiceHash

This company started in Slovenia. It was a crypto mining platform shared by both miners and investors. In December 2017, when Bitcoin was most attractive than ever, the platform had to face a very advanced hack attack. The hackers succeeded and went away with BTC 4,736,042 in their digital pockets. That’s the most significant number we’ve seen when referring to Bitcoins.

The token’s price was around USD 20k by then, so the hackers got away with trillions of dollars. And, to make things even worse, not a single Satoshi was recovered. So the unavoidable happened, and every member of the managing team had to resign.

Incredibly, and unlike most stories of this kind, the company survived. It remained in business and was able to rescue what was left of its heavily damaged reputation. They’re still in business trading BTC and other digital assets.

Final thoughts

There is something to learn from these stories.

The cryptosphere can be lucrative in the extreme. But “gainful” always means risky as well. If you take on too many risks, you’re going to have to pay the price, sooner or later. So take advantage of your opportunities, but remind yourself of staying safe and use prudence. We wouldn’t like to know that you become part of a story such as the ones in this article.

Disclaimer: Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Central Banks follow Russia and China in going for gold instead of USD

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Any Forex trader worth his or her salt will tell you that gold and the USD are inversely correlated. That means that traders and investors buy gold when the USD looks weak (thus driving the gold’s price up) and vice versa.

Well, now the World Gold Council has published numbers that show some of the world’s central banks bought 145.5 tons of gold during the year’s first financial quarter. The organization added that it expects demand to stay up for the next 7 months at least. This is not your usual gold/USD scenario, as the American currency has performed well so far in the year. It’s about countries trying to de-dollarize their central banks so they can limit their dependence on the American economy.

The gold acquisitions by central banks are the highest in six years. The operation signals that they’re getting rid of their USD reserves in favor of gold. According to the same organization, on a report published on last Thursday, the global gold reserves are higher by 68% compared with the previous year.

Russia is the largest gold buyer. It’s also decreasing its US Treasury holdings. Both moves show that the Russian central bank is moving towards de-dollarization. Alistair Hewitt said,

“We’ve seen a continuation of the strong demand from central banks,” in the words of the World Gold Council’s head of market intelligence,”

Alistair continued,

“We’re expecting another good year for central bank purchases, although I’ll be pleasantly surprised if they are to match the level seen in 2018.”

Gold in central banks is not a novel idea. In the past, currencies were backed by gold, but that’s beside the point. Central banks all over the world have been complementing their reserves with gold for some time now. Only last year, from January to October, they bought 351.5 tons of gold, which was 17% more than the same period in the previous year.

During 2019’s Q1, Kazakhstan and Turkey (which are frequent consumers) bought gold as expected. But also Ecuador joined the club and included it on its reserves for the first time in five years. Colombia and Qatar also bought significant quantities of the yellow metal.

The rationale behind that move is to be less dependent on the USD, which those countries are because they hold less gold reserves than, say, Western European central banks. Not to mention that Western Europe is in the Eurozone which is the only currency in the world that can rival the USD as a wealth storage resource.

Could Bitcoin become the next reserve asset?

Russia, China, Turkey, and many other countries trying to gain independence from the USD is not a new development. It’s been on the works for some time now, and it’s slowly increasing in speed. Choosing gold instead of USD for reserves is merely an example.

So gold is having a bullish run. It’s usually a safe haven asset that investors and shrewd ordinary people buy when things get hard. But we’ve also seen Venezuela being denied its 1.2 billion in gold.

When it comes to wealth storage, Bitcoin is even better than gold. And, unlike gold, nobody (governments and international institutions included) can take it away from you. It’s immune to international economic sanctions and boycotts.

The rumor is floating around that Russia is buying Bitcoin already for that purpose. Which is just not right. If an institutional player of that caliber were in the market, we would have seen dramatic increases in trade volume and prices. When an elephant comes into a room, you notice it. You may not talk about it, but you notice it for sure.

But the future could be like that. Russia and other countries looking to de-dollarize could turn to Bitcoin or other digital assets to store their wealth in reserve.

As Bitcoin grows in value but lowers in volatility, it would be only natural for the world’s central banks to use it as a hoarding resource.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

The ultimate Tron (TRX) price prediction for 2019

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Tron is a third-generation blockchain platform that allows you to develop, deploy and store smart contracts and decentralized applications. It also facilitates the process of publishing content (especially multimedia) and data. That set of features makes this blockchain particularly attractive as an entertainment platform. It also makes the network very versatile and ensures that plenty of applications and use cases are available for the blockchain and its native token, Tronix (TRX).

The newest blockchain projects are very much about new use cases and applications for the blockchain technology, and they’re not exclusively centered on supporting a cryptocurrency (like it happens for Bitcoin, Litecoin, or many other blockchain networks).

That being said, cryptocurrencies are still investment assets as well, and it behooves any potential investor, such as you and me, to look into any specific digital coin in that way to figure out if it’s the right choice for investment or not. In this article, we’ll try to answer that question for Tron’s TRX.

Tron price predictions for the current year

Investingpr.com expects TRX to reach USD 1.00 before a lustrum. Some would say that’s quite a conservative forecast, but it would make Tron a good investment option as it represents a 3800% increase in price over its current level.

The driving force behind Tron’s rise in value will be the platform’s usefulness, user base, and future extended usage. More developers are expected to adopt the platform (it’s grown incredibly fast already) to deploy their projects, and all those new contracts and applications will attract new users, increase trade volume for TRX thus supporting the token’s appreciations.

Tron is also engaged in making sure that developers have an easier time publishing content. We’re talking about one of the very few blockchain networks which facilitate content publishing without any restrictions. That’s how versatility is promoted in the application menu available in the platform.

More applications mean more usability. Which, in turn, means more users, more circulation for the token. And all those factors boil down into higher market prices. So the platform holds immense technological potential which will support an equally vast potential for the currency.

So if you’re interested in becoming a Tron investor, this could be the right time to get in the game as the price is currently meager at $0.026159 and rising in value overall. Mind you; the rising trend is for days, not for hours, so don’t go in if you’re looking to use TRX as means to do day-trading. At least not in the current circumstances. But Tron’s potential for future growth is indeed very high, so it’s worth examining the project and its market position.

The digital asset is performing ok in the crypto markets so far. The blockchain’s mission is to decentralize the web. No central servers, no central authorities. It would be something like the web running on the BitTorrent network (which is already owned by Tron, by the way). The result would be a free planetary international content platform (probably heavily focused on entertainment) that will allow people to send, upload, download, retain, share or store all kinds of content.

Tron was founded by Justin Sun, who serves as the Tron Foundation’s CEO. Most of the Tron’s activity is centered in Mainland China, but the Foundation is a not for profit organization established in Singapore, which is a country/city in which many other members of the blockchain industry have set up shop to take care of their Asian operations.

Most of Tron trading takes place in Binance. About 75%. This is no surprise as Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and it’s one of Tron’s most important strategic partners. They’ve launched several projects together (like the BitTorrent Token initial offering, which will be the digital asset fueling the new BitTorrent network that will run on Tron’s blockchain).

Tron’s TRX is currently ranked at the eleventh spot in the world by market capitalization which is quite a feat for a project that’s barely 1.5 years old.

So the project has a lot of potential both as a technology and as a crypto coin which is why many analysts are forecasting exponential growth for the token during this year. The forecasts come in all shapes and sizes, and we’ll share some of them with you.

Some analysts are talking about USD 3,75 in the upcoming 90 days. Some are even predicting a peak value of USD 12,00 sometime during 2019. Long-term analysis done in the same spirit by other experts points out to USD 52,19. This would be fantastic news indeed, but we find all of the predictions in this paragraph to be a little bit too optimistic. Not because Tron lacks potential, but because each of those forecasts implies an explosion in value that’s probably never been seen in the crypto verse in such a short time.

Tron’s strategic partnerships strategy

Meaningful strategic partnerships go a long way in any industry, and Tron is working very hard to secure many exciting partnerships that enhance its project’s potential. And it already has many of those under its belt.

Further project development

The project’s leader, Justin Sun, is on the record announcing that Tron already has more distinctive addresses than EOS, and more new addresses in first ninety-five days after it launched its main net than Ethereum during the same period. Mr. Sun also announced Odyssey 3.1, which will be an update for the blockchain. According to the promised specifications, it is going to be faster than ETH (200x) and cheaper than EOS (100x). Sounds too good to be true?  Maybe. But Tron has us used to delivering in every promise, always on time, and ever as expected.

Tron’s technology includes a virtual machine (TVM – Tron Virtual Machine) which is a plus. This enables developers to write their code in any programming language they fancy, then let the virtual machine deal with the details in making it work on Tron’s blockchain. This is a far cry from Ethereum’s developmental process that requires developers to learn how to write code using Ethereum’s very own native programming language. Talk about openness and versatility.

So the network has developed significantly over the last few months, and we’ve just scratched the surface. For instance, we haven’t gone into detail about Project Atlas (BitTorrent’s integration), or about the Tether re-deployment of the USDT stable coin as a Tron-based cryptocurrency that will now run on Tron’s blockchain just to mention a couple of milestones that have been commented extensively in the crypto verse.

The project’s adept management, superior technology, and bullish community increase Tron’s potential even further. That makes for rock-solid fundamentals that can only mean that the coin’s price will reflect the network’s success very shortly.

Mr. Sun is also in excellent terms with many of the world’s leading exchanges (Binance, BitForex, ShiftMarkets, and OTCBTC, for instance). The BitForex partnership will be particularly relevant when a bullish run comes to Tron, and we’ve already referred to joint work done with Binance.

So TRX is slowly but steadily acquiring authority as a cryptocurrency, and it’s been a profitable option. Its low price makes it very accessible for retail investors, and while its use cases remain mainly limited to the decentralized applications in the network, the Foundation is working in expanding its payments system so you will soon be able to use it to pay for your groceries at brick-and-mortar stores near you.

2.78 USD by coming September

That’s what many reputed crypto analysts we know think. Analysts are assuming that September will see Tron’s price at USD 2.78 because of the strong fundamentals supporting the coin. Besides, Tron’s definitely been trending upwards during the year.

There are further predictions, but before we delve into highly speculative forecasts (and make no mistake, that’s what they are), we will start by talking about the big elephant in the room. The cryptocurrency market remains very volatile, so price predictions are an incredibly difficult task, even if you’re an expert in technical analysis or in any other traditional speculative market (stocks, forex, commodities or whatever).

We will give you a series of predictions by several organizations and personalities in the crypto verse for the sake of completeness, but you should have a grain of salt ready for every prognostication.

New investors will arrive from the payment platforms (think PayPal), and that will make the token’s value go up to USD 1,5.

Potential for mergers: Mr. Sun is Jack Ma’s close friend and protegé. He studied under him at Ma’s Hupan university. And a little help from Alibaba could go a long way in establishing Tron as one of the crypto world most relevant players. This is not written in stone. Neither Tron nor Alibaba has ever announced plans to collaborate in any way at all, but the close relationship between the project’s founders keeps the doors open for anything to happen.

So what will make Tron grow?

Partnerships. Some massive names in the entertainment industry are already Tron’s partners. Game.com, Bitmain, UPLive, oBike have all signed up already. They are enhancing the network’s popularity and user base. That, in turn, will bring attention to new potential partners. It’s a virtuous circle. In the past, partnership declarations have influenced the TRX price.

Good PR and Marketing. Mr. Sun is very adept in implementing marketing, and public relations strategies as it’s shown by how he uses his Tweeter account. He’s also been listed in “30 under 30” of Forbes, and he already boasts a proven successful track record as a tech tycoon being Peiwo’s founder which is the leading messaging service in Mainland China where it’s giving a run for its money to Snapchat and other Western competitors. His close ties with Alibaba’s Jack Ma are not precisely hurting his influence and reputation either.

Speculation: the TRX price went up by 3.650% from December 9th to January 9th, 2018. That is more significant because of timing. It happened as the crypto winter was arriving (December 18th, 2017) so this was a token that managed to grow in value as the whole of the market was receding. The rise came about because of rapid growth, mainly.

Potential: Tron vision’s and mission’s ambition is just tremendous. It’s to create a web in which the usual central authorities (Apple, Google, Youtube, Facebook, Microsoft) become irrelevant and powerless. Sounds like too much? Well, it is, to be sure. But keep in mind that we’ve seen this kind of revolutions several times over in the digital environment.

Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, all seemed quite inoffensive in the beginning and turned out to disrupt the technology world, the internet, even the world itself in meaningful ways. Tron could follow in those steps. Is that the most likely thing in the world? Maybe not. But it’s possible for sure.

What could hamper Tron’s growth?

Focus on a single individual. Yes, Mr. Sun is a competent administrator, and he’s become something of a charismatic leader. But some critics believe that Tron’s actions rely a little too much on the founder’s prestige.

If Mr. Sun was to be involved in some kind of scandal and his reputation was questioned, the effect on the project could be lethal. This was close to happening not too long ago as the Tron community was divided about the delivery of a Tesla car as the prize for a competition.

By contrast, Satoshi Nakamoto (Bitcoin’s founder) holds a heroic status, but he’s remained silent for the best part of a decade. Another example? Linux is an example of a disruptive project, led by a founder (Linus Torvalds) who is still in charge of the kernel development process but keeps a rather low profile. There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Sun enjoying a little attention and being on the limelight. But he gets lots of attention and is on the spotlight all the time.

Perception of marketing. As stated before, Tron’s marketing is very effective, but some people find it irritating or controversial, to say the least. Even bullish community members are not always on board with the Foundation’s marketing schemes. Overhype tends to get people’s attention and create manias, which are good while they last. But then comes a correction, which is like a hangover.

Plagiarism: This is old news, but it happened. On January 2018 some allegations surfaced about Tron’s white paper being plagiarized from IPFS and FileCoin. Mr. Sun did some damage control through his Tweeter account by arguing that the lack of references (among other issues related to the white paper) resulted from translation errors.

It’s been a while, and while there was some damage to the public’s perception, it’s been mostly irrelevant so far. But it’s the kind of thing that could come back to haunt the project in the future.

Lack of adoption: adoption will be the key for every single cryptocurrency and blockchain network on the planet. The game is all about bringing the asset and the technology into the mainstream and have otherwise crypto phobic users involved. Tron’s objectives mean that its competition is not going to be Bitcoin or any other blockchain project. Not even Ethereum nor EOS. It’s going to be about facing and beating Google Play, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at their own game. It’s a tall order.

The competition

Tron’s aims may be huge, but they’re not unique, as other platforms (some of which are also blockchain-based) are trying to do the very same thing. Tron’s network is superior in the crypto verse, but how it compares to a handful of crucial other projects will be very important for the future. Here are Tron’s competitors:

The value of Tron (TRX) in the months and years to come will, in part, be driven by how Sun-led blockchain compares to other rivals in the entertainment content market online. The leading entrants worth watching closely include:

The usual suspects: there is no shortage of content platforms on the web (and we mean the desktop and the mobile web). Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube.

It’s not even a remotely extensive list, just the most prominent names that control the best part of the industry’s traffic (thus deciding how content creators can monetize their work). Each and every one of those platforms is quite powerful, and it’s not going to welcome any competition readily. Tron will be burdened with offering itself as a viable option.

LBRY: it’s a community-run marketplace and digital media library built around the central aim to fight censorship and authority centralization. Users can upload their own content, set their very own fees and decide how their work is propagated through the network.

Po.et: also based on blockchain technology. It enables creators and publishers to manage their digital media while awarding them with indisputable ownership proof so that there’s no confusion about attribution.

SingularDTV: something of a blockchain-based YouTube clone platform.

Tron and the future

The next few months will be determinant for Tron’s future just as the care you give to a plant is crucial for the adult’s plant condition.

Mr. Sun’s performance will be critical as well. He’s something of crypto celebrity who inspires only black and white opinions. Either he’s a genius; as influential and important as the great Elon Musk is for Tesla or a text plagiarist with a taste for deceitful marketing. Love him or hate him, Mr. Sun has been Tron’s driving force since its foundation and evolution.

But no factor is going to be more relevant for the project’s success than mass adoption. Adoption for the TRX token, for sure, but also for BTT within the re-branded BitTorrent network and of USDT-Tron. Tronix (TRX) may be the project’s original digital asset, but as the project has developed and expanded into new directions, the performance of the other two coins will be critical as well. The three will influence each other because TRX is the base currency for the other two, and the three will be the currency in the whole Tron network, or at least in some specific sectors, especially BTT.

But adoption also goes to technology. Tron will have to attract bloggers and YouTubers to do their thing using Tron’s platform instead of the usual centralized websites. And as they come and try it out, the network must remain fast, reliable and cheap to use.

So you put all that information together and trying to see Tron’s future clearly turns out to be very complicated. While there’s no doubt about the solidity in the project’s fundamentals, it’s also true that the project aspirations are formidable which means the challenges that must be overcome are every bit as significant. And chances are that they will be hit and miss, partial advancement is welcome as part of the process, but not as a final result.

And as all that is in the process of becoming a reality, the Tron Foundation and its leader must find a way to stay away from any kind of controversy even if that means to sacrifice a fraction of the attention they both get from the crypto verse.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of promise in Tron as a platform and as a cryptocurrency too. But the road ahead is going to be bumpy. So far, everything has been peachy. Even the white paper scandal didn’t make much of a dent in the boss’ and the project’s reputation. The new Main Net worked great from the beginning, and it’s gained new users, deployed new apps and contracts at higher speeds than any other project.

Tron has made no mistakes, and it’s going forward with a steady pace, growing at a time in which most other blockchains are shrinking, and delivering on every promise in a timely way while meeting expectations. If they keep on going like that, things look bright.

BitTorrent will be merged into Tron’s network soon thus turning it into the world’s largest decentralized P2P network. We are talking about hundreds of millions of users scattered everywhere on the planet. Most of them don’t care all that much about crypto, so chances are they will stay away. But even if just a few realize the changes in the network and become interested in Tron, their sheer force in numbers could propel Tron beyond Mr. Sun’s wildest dreams.

So Tron’s path so far has been excellent. Achievements have been great as well, but challenges are on the same scale.

So, should you become a TRX holder? We haven’t got the slightest idea because it’s up to you. You will need to carry out your own research (starting with this article, maybe) and keep up with Tron’s news to make an informed choice.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Sharia-certified digital assets exchange Rain lists XRP on its trading platform

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The Ripple effect! Ripple’s XRP is slowly but steadily stumping its presence in the Middle East.

XRP is Sharia compliant (potentially)

Bahrain-based exchange Rain, which is Sharia compliant one, now supports XRP on their platform. Previously, the exchange was supporting Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum (ETH) as per the sharia certification.

Rain’s primary focus is becoming a fully sharia-compliant exchange and therefore, it has completed all the regulatory procedures with the Central Bank of Bahrain’s’ Regulatory Sandbox (CBB) and obtained Sharia-compliance certification from the Shariah Review Bureau (SRB). It means that the exchange works as per the Islamic rules as well as regulations for investment and trading.

The process involved SRB examining Rain’s brokerage service whereby it was satisfied that the exchange’s sales, purchase as well as custody services all comply with Sharia principles. However, the certification is currently only applicable to three cryptos that include bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum.

At the moment, XRP has been listed in different pairs – XRP/SAR, XRP/BHD, XRP/KWD,  XRP/AED, XRP/OMR, and XRP/USD. SAR, BHD, KWD, AED, and OMR are local currencies of Saudi, Bahrani, Kuwaiti, United Arab Emirates, and Oman respectively.

The exchange is now in beta version until they get the full license from Bahrain’s Central Bank. Although the compliance is currently based on the three coins, it is looking to obtain the certification for XRP. Therefore, the process is as good as done.

XRP on the Right Path

Getting listed in the Middle East platform is a big boost that will undoubtedly positively impact its price more probably. Currently, alongside all the top ten cryptocurrencies, XRP trades in slightly red numbers (down by 0.55% in the last 24 hours). But that could change soon now.

As more cryptocurrency players in the Islamic states slowly enter this revolutionary market, (becoming a crypto-friendly region) XRP stands a chance of a mass adoption as well as its price rising. Nevertheless, even though they haven’t gotten the license for XRP, it’s pretty clear that XRP is now Sharia compliant.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

TronCrush is Going to Revolutionize Crypto Gambling

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With the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, its underlying blockchain technology has found its way into almost every industry. Interestingly, one of the modern industries that blockchain has crept into is the gambling industry.

According dapp.com 2018 dapp market report, betting dapps took over the dominating role in the market since Q4 last year. There was a total transaction volume of almost $3 billion in Q4, nearly 44% of the total amount in 2018.

However, problems like boring gameplay, short lifetime, always decreasing dividends also show up and are getting severe. Aiming to resolve these issues and offer players brand new gaming experience, TronCrush is introduced.

TronCrush is a unique betting game built on the TRON blockchain. Inspired by Candy Crush, it has both metrics of entertainment and profitability where players can have fun, win, and continuously receive dividends.

There are a total of 3 dices in the game. Players need to play them one by one. When a dice is played, the payout will be instantly sent based on the result and the odds. And when all three dices are played, a round is completed. Players will then be able to receive an extra bonus according to their lucky number combo.

TronCrush

Crush Bonus – Provides Entertaining Gameplay

Similar to Candy Crush, when a player manages to get 2 same lucky numbers in a round, corresponding dice will be crushed. The player will get 10x token rewards of the round. And when there are 3 same lucky numbers, all dices will be crushed. The player will then be rewarded with 100x tokens and TRX in the Crush Bonus pot.

Tron Crush

Mega Jackpot – Keeps the Volume up

The main reason why most dapps had a short lifetime is that players stop playing as soon as the FOMO fever is over. To avoid this from happening, TronCrush creatively set up a Mega Jackpot to keep the volume up. With this design, TronCrush is able to offer always increasing dividends. Here is how it works:

  • Part of game revenues will be put into the Mega Jackpot.
  • There is a 2 min countdown timer in each round.
  • For every bet over 200 TRX, 10s will be added to the timer, but will never exceed 2 min.
  • When the timer reaches zero, the last person to place a bet over 200 TRX wins the Mega Jackpot.

It is believed that with this unique design, TronCrush will be having a healthy and sustainable growth.

Provable Fairness – Offers Worry Free Gaming Experience

The fairness of TronCrush is guaranteed by cryptography and smart contracts. Players don’t need to be an expert of these disciplines to find out, as a handy verification tool is provided in game to ensure players are never cheated.

  • Players can enter their customized seed to the TRON blockchain. It could be a combination of letters and numbers of any length. It’s optional.
  • Then the smart contract will generate a random SHA-256 HASH, the timestamp of the current bet, and the previous block-hash will be mixed to create a random hash.
  • The seed generated from the smart contract and the seed provided by the player will then be mixed to generate a random LUCKY number.

VIP System – An Effective Incentive Approach

VIP systems have been playing an essential role in traditional games to reward those who have contributed a lot to the game while they are rarely seen in dapps, which is a wrong approach. Therefore, the TronCrush team decided to design a new VIP system to reward players based on their contribution made.

TronCrush will go live next week and is now holding a Pre-registration event, join now to enjoy 1.1x mining at launch.

Site: https://troncrush.com/

Telegram: https://t.me/troncrush

Twitter: https://twitter.com/troncrush

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Welcome to Tron (TRX): The beginner’s guide

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Tron is a third generation blockchain platform with a clarity of purpose that most other blockchain projects lack: “Decentralize the web.” In other words, Tron is focused on using its state-of-the-art blockchain technology as a substratum to develop a global market that will include entertainment, media, and all kinds of content, except that it will be 100% decentralized.

That means that the current Internet central authorities (which also function as middlemen for creators) will be left out of the loop (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, YouTube, Google, Facebook, etc.). That will allow content creators to profit from their work directly from users without risking demonetization due to not following a company’s policy.

Among the many exciting features that are unique in Tron is their governance model for achieving consensus. It’s called Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). The consensus is essential in any blockchain network because that’s how you know that the network’s ledger (which is distributed among many nodes in the world) agrees in the way the network is moving forward.

Every node has the exact same copy of the whole blockchain, and every node agrees with every other one in that they all do. That’s the heart of decentralization. But Tron’s model allows for additional features such as voting for the “witnesses” that keep the network honest and receive compensation for processing transactions and creating new blocks.

Young as it is (not even two years old) the Tron network is already very well populated with all kinds of decentralized apps for users to enjoy. And, as the Tron Foundation bought BitTorrent a few months ago, and it’s about to merge it into Tron’s Network (Project Atlas), it is about to become the world’s largest decentralized network.

Join us as we tell you all you need to know to get started with Tron and to enjoy the apps, the token and the community.

What’s under Tron’s hood?

In short, if you see under Tron’s hood, you’ll find one of the most innovative and well-designed blockchains. This is the nerdy part, so feel free to move on to the next section if you’re interested in the more practical aspects of Tron, or in how to get started quickly. But we’d suggest for you to keep reading because knowing a project’s fundamentals is a good way to understand why it’s more valuable (or not) than others.

The network achieves governed decentralization and cost-efficient and very rapid transactions among members by using a classic three-layer architecture. The first layer is for storage. It manages how the data is recorded in the chain’s blocks, and how the system retrieves it for practical purposes.

Then there’s the core layer. This is where you’ll find all the data that keeps some of Tron’s most specific functionalities going. Here is the module that enables smart contracts, account management, consensus, and voting.

The Tron Virtual Machine (TVM) also works in this second layer. The TVM is a translator of sorts that developers can use to create decentralized applications and deploy them using any programming language they fancy.

Last but not least is the application layer. This one is more on the surface and allows developers to create their own dApps and smart contracts, along with the network’s tokens.

The Tron environment is unique as well. Most of the work (that means, creating new blocks) is done by 27 nodes that have been voted to become Super Representatives by TRX holders.

Other users can also help those nodes and even get some passive income as a reward. The Super Representative elections are an ongoing process that never stops. The idea behind the permanent elections is to keep the network inexpensive and with very high transaction speeds. It’s the competition that keeps the network performing well.

Getting Started with Tron

So you’d like to join Tron, huh? Well, first of all, you need to decide how you would like to join it. The simplest, most direct way, to join is quite simple: to own and hold a few Tronix (TRX) tokens.

That enables you to participate from the moment your wallet is populated, and it gives you a few additional advantages. TRX holders can use the network’s dApps; they can vote for Super Representatives (current or candidates) and suggest changes to the protocol.

But maybe you have more of a creative personality, and you want to join as a developer — not a bad choice. Few blockchains are as friendly for developers as Tron because the network offers lots of resources for them to use and, you don’t need to learn any native programming language for Tron, as you do in other blockchains. You’ll find repositories of developer resources scattered all over the web, but you can also use Tron’s own guides.

But if you want to be a normal user or a developer, the first thing you need to do to join is to buy and use some TRX tokens. For that, you need a wallet that can hold TRX.

Getting a Tron Wallet

This is another advantage in Tron. Setting up a TRX wallet is quite painless, and you can find several links at the Tron website that will enable you to do that quickly and easily.

You just need to go to the website, find the Wallet webpage, and you’ll find all the options available for community-developed wallets. Some of them can hold Tron or Tron-based tokens only. But there are some (Ledger, for instance) that can hold other cryptocurrencies as well.

Among the choices when it comes to best Tron wallets, you’ll have are Ledger Nano S (which is not Tron, but it’s a popular, affordable, hardware wallet, Exodus, Trust Wallet. Those are multi-coin. Other options, more focused on TRX are Tron Wallet iOS, TronLink Chrome (which is especially popular) and iTRON Wallet.

All those options are safe, reliable and can be deployed from your desktop computer, your internet browser, a mobile device of your choice or even a hardware wallet devices which looks just exactly like a USB-stick.

If you’re on the developing side of things, you can even come up with your very own wallet to use with Tron Block Explorer. But you’ll have to be approved and listed.

We’ll tell you how to use a TRX wallet known as TronLink Chrome. There are several good reasons for that. First of all, this wallet is a Chrome extension, so installing it is a walk in the park, and it takes fewer than 60 seconds and clicking a few links (assuming Chrome if your browser of choice, of course).

  • You start here: https://tron.network/wallet
  • Find “TronLink Chrome” and click “Download.”
  • You’ll be redirected to a Google Chrome Extensions webpage. Click on the Add to Chrome button. Your browser will install the extension, and the TronLink icon will appear on your browser’s extensions bar.
  • Click on the icon. That will pop a menu that allows new users to create a password (which should be a strong one, ofc). Type it again for confirmation.
  • You’ll have to choose between restoring an existing TRX wallet or creating a new one. If you’re going to restore one, you’ll have to provide your secret key or phrase. But since we assume you’re new on this, we click on “Create Wallet.”
  • Create a username. A popup will tell you what conventions you should follow.
  • Come up with a 12-word phrase. That’s the secret phrase that will enable you to restore your account if you should need that in the future.
  • Tron will ask you to click on a series of words, in the same order as your key phrase. After that, you confirm, and you’re all set with a new Tron wallet.

And that’s when the game begins. Open your wallet again by clicking on your TronLink icon, and you’ll see a popup that lists your accounts, your wallet addresses, transaction history, Tron dApps, token balances and more.

TRONScan: So you want to find a node?

TronScan is Tron’s block explorer. It’s an interesting tool. You can think of it as Tron’s Yellow Pages meet Tron’s Annals. It lets you explore individual blocks, transactions, and addresses in the network.

If something has ever happened in Tron, it’s there somewhere. If a node is online, you can find it there too. This is probably for hardcore developers who like to find patterns in the network’s flow of information. Remember that tokens are also a form of information, so the financial flows in Tron can also be consulted there.

But maybe you’re just interested in finding a Super Representative node in the Tron network (you know, the guys who do all the hard work). That will allow you to create a node of your own so you can help a given node of your choice.

And according to each node’s specific policy on payment structures, you could be rewarded for sharing your resources. Let’s be clear about something: this is not mining, Tronix is not a minable digital coin, but the chain still needs new blocks to be created all the time. You could say that this is as close as Tron comes to mining, and you can join. And for that, you first need to choose a node.

Super Representative nodes welcome extra help with open arms because the DPoS system encourages it. If those nodes are not willing to spread the wealth a little, they will have a much harder time earning votes from TRX holders.

Here’s how you find a node near you (or anywhere else) in the Tron network:

  • You start at https://tronscan.org/
  • Click on the blockchain tab. It’s the one on the left side of the top menu.
  • You’ll see a dropdown. Click on “Nodes.”
  • You’ll see a zoomable map in which you can browse around the world and find SR nodes everywhere on the planet. This will help you to chose which SR you’d like to vote for and join.
  • Clicking on the map’s pins will show you each node’s IP address. Entering that address in the site’s search bar (top of the page) will tell you all you want to know: number of tokens in the node, number of completed transactions, uptime, efficiency, and other essential stats.

So you want to buy some TRX?

As mentioned before, this is how it all starts (once you have a wallet).

Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation have a very aggressive and adept PR and marketing policy for a good product. So TRX has become a popular cryptocurrency in a short time. By popular we mean that it’s listed in most of the world’s most important exchanges, but also in several that are not so famous.

If you know Huobi, OKEx, Upbit, or Binance, they all carry TRX. But these are all crypto-to-crypto exchanges, which means that you can’t use your fiat currency through your debit or credit card to buy coins there. To use those websites you already have to own a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, most frequently) and then trade it for TRX.

So you’ll need to start with a crypto exchange that supports fiat-to-crypto pairs. That will need for you to sign up, verify your account, link your bank account or card to the website. Among the best sites for this kind of operation are Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, because they’re among the safest and more reliable in the market.

  • Once you have some cryptocurrency (BTC is the one that you can really trade everywhere), you’re almost there. Sing up for an exchange that includes TRX trading pairs (say, Binance). Verify your account. Find your BTC wallet for the site.
  • Click on “deposit,” and that will get you a deposit address for the Bitcoin network. Copy to your clipboard.
  • Then go to the site where you bought your BTC initially, find the “withdrawal” button or link. Paste the address and click “send.” They could ask you for confirmation using a Two-Factor verification device (usually your mobile phone). Congrats, you’ve made your first BTC to BTC transfer!
  • Now you need a bit of patience. Keep in mind that Bitcoin is not currently the fastest network in crypto, but it’s very reliable so the transfer will be done. But it could take a few minutes (10-30) and sometimes even more.
  • Once the BTC is in your Binance BTC wallet you need to find the TRX/BTC pair (not the BTC/TRX one, that’s what you would do if you owned TRX already). Most often you’ll find the link at the top of the site. Click on BTC to find the trading pairs based on Bitcoin. Then find the TRX/BTC pair and click on “Buy TRX” and enter the number of BTC tokens you want to convert to TRX. Click “Buy.” That’s it! Congrats now you own some TRX and can start using Tron’s dApps!

How to develop your own dApp

Feeling creative? Few other projects offer their developers more resources (in both quantity and quality). The first place to go would be https://developers.tron.network. Most of your questions related to software development on Tron are answered there, but you can also find other Tron devs to talk with and learn from their expertise.

What do you need to know? Well, anything you know in terms of computer programming is enough. When Tron launched its new Main Net, everything was Java only. Now, the TVM allows you to write code in any language of your choice, and the TVM executes it in Tron.

Lots of developers do the work on Ethereum because it’s been along for a longer time as a programmable platform, and then they just port the work to Tron so it can be integrated into the network. It could be more practical, but that’s up to every developer.

Once your app compiles using Solidity, you can use Yarn (which is free) to take your app to Tron.

Consensus: Here’s how it works

One of the most interesting aspects of owning TRX is the Super Representative electoral process. It has a huge turnover. In order to vote you need to freeze your TRX for some time.

Freezing your tokens is useful because that gets you two cryptocurrencies of sorts called “power” and “bandwidth” which you will need so you can dance around the network more comfortably. And, also, it gives you the right to vote.

Don’t worry about freezing your tokens. You can’t use them as long as they’re frozen, but you won’t lose them. And having some power and bandwidth in your wallet will make your life easier.

Here’s how it goes:

  • Go to TronScan, log in.
  • Make sure you have TRX in your wallet. You need just a single token, but you must have something.
  • If TronScan is not aware yet about your wallet, click on Open Wallet (top right) and enter your wallet’s private key. If you have it as a keystore file on your computer, that works too.
  • In your wallet click on “Freeze” and choose how many of your TRX you want to freeze.

The freeze lasts for 72 hours, and you can’t use them in the meantime. After those three days, you get your TRX will become available and active again. Go to the Tron SR tan, and click on Votes. The page will show you your balance of power, TRX, and a timer that’s counting down until the next round of voting begins. Only 27 nodes can be Super Representatives at any given time.

You’ll see who they are, and you’ll find links to their respective websites. In those websites, you’ll find out what’s each individual node’s policy about helpers. That way you can figure out which SR suits you better and vote accordingly.

Click on “Click here to start voting,” and that will show you a slider next to each SR and candidate. That slider represents the amount of power you want to use for voting, and who will get your vote.

If your candidate wins or remains an SR, you can join that node as a supporter and begin getting some rewards for helping the network.

Final thoughts

We hope we managed to be informative and, maybe, get you interested in one of the most innovative and exciting blockchain projects in the world today. The Tron community is very committed to the project and bullish about the token. In the worst case scenario, you’ll find a lot of exciting apps, have some fun, and pick some nice chats with fellow Tron members.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Ripple approaches mainstream as now users can use it through CoinGate in 4500 businesses

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Ripple and its coin (XRP) have been a blockchain project with a very specific purpose. Unlike Bitcoin (mother of all cryptos), or Litecoin (which has been pushing hard for adoption) or almost any other cryptocurrency in the crypto verse Ripple’s XRP has never been meant as a retail coin.

That means that you and I are not supposed to use it at, say, Amazon or e-bay to buy stuff we want or to pay for our newspaper subscription, etc. The whole idea behind Ripple and XRP is to be a technology (and a coin) that eliminates the friction in international transfers inherent to the outdated (but still standard) SWIFT system. So XRP is not for you or me to use in the same sense as Bitcoin.

And it’s hard to argue with Ripple’s position on the subject because both the company and the altcoin have been quite successful by sticking to their focus. Just think about this: XRP was the most profitable coin during 2017, the year in which almost every digital asset was profitable. And during 2018, which was an unmitigated disaster for most blockchains, XRP managed to grow as the market was shrinking and losing value. It dethroned Ethereum as the second cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

But Ripple has seen the writing on the wall and it’s come to understand that being a retail-coin for “ordinary” crypto maniacs is not such a bad thing. Every use case for Ripple’s XRP (or any other cryptocurrency, for that matter) means demand for the token and it’s demand and usefulness that provides the fundamentals for any blockchain project that end up driving up the price because of authentic economics instead of mere speculative pressure.

So now there is a debit card that uses your XRP to pay for anything you want (your coffee, your cigarettes, your beer or your cart at Amazon). This shows how Ripple is expanding its horizons beyond the world’s banking system. And today, they took a further step in that direction.

Recently, coingate announced a new payment option for its merchants. And, their own words “this time it’s a big one! Due to very popular demand by the community, our next cryptocurrency on the list – XRP!”

And what does that mean? It means that if your digital wallet includes any XRP, then now you can use that currency to pay for goods and services in any of the 4,500 online shops that do business using the CoinGate platform. So you need to pay for your VPN (which you should because free VPNs are a security threat)? A video game? You name it, if it’s within the Coingate ecosystem, then you can pay for it with XRP now.

This is a wise move by Coingate. Even if Ripple’s XRP hasn’t been the most useful currency as a payment system for mortals, the community is very enthusiastic and bullish about it. They trust the system and the coin’s future as you can see for your own in many YouTubers who are sure that it will be the next big thing in Crypto (if it isn’t already). So the platform will profit by the community’s enthusiasm while, at the same time, expanding the use cases for XRP and increasing its demand and real-world utility.

And it will serve merchants well too because it’s the most important coin by market capitalization in the world after Bitcoin. So XRP holders will get more opportunities to use their digital assets and merchants will have access to customers that would otherwise not be in their radar.

The platform’s vendors will be able to settle their payments in realtime in many different currencies fiat and digital as Euros, Bitcoin, Ether. But they could also keep their revenue in XRP if they so choose.

Why XRP?

Well, according to Coingate, because Ripple is different. It’s as simple as that. How is it different, I hear you ask? Let’s see.

The XRP ledger (called “ledger history” too) is validated by several XRP Coingate validators which are decentralized and distributed all over the world! Ripple’s protocol consensus (RPCA) guarantees that every node agrees on everything as new transaction are processed.

As long as every node has the same information, the transaction is good and safe. And XRP tokens do not need mining (like Bitcoin, for instance) which means that the new blocks in the chain are produced very rapidly, and everything is verified and secured very quickly, cheaply and reliably.

Decentralization has been a contentious issue at Ripple. Let’s keep in mind that Ripple is not a non-profit project driven by a community (like Bitcoin, or Litecoin, or several others) but a private company which is trying to make a buck by implementing blockchain-based services for the banking industry. And it’s the main owner of most of the XRP in the world.

As such there’s been suspicion about the company’s intentions, about the fact that it could control every single node (which would beat the point in decentralization). But that’s actually not the case at all. Ripple cares deeply about the network’s decentralization and it has a plan to guarantee it now, and also as the network keeps growing.

In a nutshell, more new third-party validators will join the network so the ledger will be more distributed and reliable. For every two trusted and secured nodes, Ripple will remove one maintained by developers. The escalation will also improve performance and transfer speeds (which are already among the highest in the industry).

As a matter of fact, Coingate has joined the network as an XRP ledger validator in order to facilitate the decentralization process.

So what is the point in the XRP ledger, anyway?

The ledger in question is optimized for ordinary, run-of-the-mill payments domestic or international. That’s why it improves liquidity for banks and remittance services. It’s particularly well-suited to exchange money across borders when you send a particular fiat currency but the other party needs the payment to be settled in the local fiat.

Not all fiat currencies in the world have trading Forex pairs so settling that kind of transference is not always very direct. That’s where XRP becomes useful. With XRP the sender can exchange the local fiat into crypto, send the crypto over Ripple’s network, and then the receiving party just uses XRP to buy local currency.

It’s faster, cheaper, more reliable, and banks don’t need to keep lots of non-local fiat currency that they can’t use at all until an international transfer arrives. And that’s why xRapid is being so well received among Ripple’s 200+ partners.

It’s not that xRapid does something that can’t be done in some other way. There is the SWIFT system which is 43 years old and it’s still the standard among banks when it comes to international transfers. But it does it better. In minutes instead of days, for fractions of a cent, instead of 25 USD or a percentage of the transfer, and it’s a lot more reliable as well.

More than two hundred banks in the world have adopted Ripple’s technology at least at a testing stage, and a handful among them have already deployed them at the production stage. Banco Santander (which is ranked as the world’s best bank) already has a mobile app in selected countries that is powered by Ripple.

Why use XRP?

Because it’s a good way for exchanging value. It’s safe, it’s quick, it’s reliable. A payment done using XRP takes about 4 seconds to settle (Bitcoin, for instance, remains rather slow even as the new lighting network is active). The Ripple Network is good for more than 1,500 transactions per second and very few other blockchains can boast that kind of transfer speeds.

If that’s not enough to persuade you, then think about how much Ripple will charge you for a transference. It’s not even a cent. It’s not even a tenth of a cent. As a matter of fact, the figure is $0.00001 exactly. It’s probably the cheapest payment system available in the world today. And that’s one of the many reasons for which Coingate chose to go with XRP as the next step.

The adoption of XRP by Coingate opens new opportunities for XRP as a token, for its users, and for the platform’s vendors and clients. And it provides the cryptocurrency with 4,500 new use cases in a single go. This is an instance in which everybody involved wins.

So you need some XRP?

And more XRP-based services are available for you at this platform. It’s never been easier to get some of Ripple’s tokens.

You don’t need to buy XRP at, say, Binance and then bring them over through your digital wallet to CoinGate. That’s easy, safe but bothersome. You can buy XRP directly from CoinGate using any of their supported payment methods. You need to be a registered user for that but, if registering is too much of a pain in the butt for you, there are other ways in which you can still get the XRP you want using the very same platform. So they really give you no excuse not to own some.

Debit and credit cards are supported if you just comply with an easy KYC verification, which is becoming the rule everywhere anyway. Netteller or Skrill are also welcomed. Just give the site your XRP address, provide your credentials and get your tokens! No, it’s actually not publicity. But getting ahold of XRP coins can be such a difficult process at times that it’s worth it to tell you when it’s easy and where it’s easy.

CoinGate ended its announcement (which we have covered in full for you in this article) by asserting the belief that XRP can indeed become one of the payment’s industry biggest players. Yes, for banks and remittances for sure but also for end-users such as you and me. And the platform is trying to facilitate and accelerate the mass adoption of digital assets that can really make a difference for everybody in the world, not just for Wall Street and friends.

So make no mistake. Ripple has been unpopular among crypto fans in the past because it works along with the financial system instead of trying to undermine it (which, after all, was Satoshi’s vision for Bitcoin as he brought blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to the world). But it’s kosher, it’s decentralized, it’s valuable and it’s moving forward faster than most other blockchain projects. So even crypto purists are starting to see the point in supporting it.

XRP is at $0.303546 as we write this and it’s trading in green numbers. It’s cheap, it’s undervalued and there’s every chance that when the next bull run comes to Crypto, XRP will lead the way because developments as the one we describe in this article make the project’s fundamentals very strong even as technical price analysis can be doubtful at times.

And that is very good news indeed because it will help us all (and crypto) to bring the new digital economy forward and, in the process, make value and currencies less dependent on politics, central authorities, and the traditional financial system. Keep an eye out for Ripple. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Tron (TRX) and Electroneum (ETN) might be the FOMO coins this year

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Against a 12 month long trade, the cryptocurrency market has been gaining a bit of bullish momentum lately. It’s been going up and down in recent days. If market sentiment (which is, in the end, a meaningless jargon term) is ‘anything’ to go by (which is not) then there’s a very doubtful chance that current pump could stand, and, may turn the overall bearish trend of the last 12 months into a bullish one as the new year has started. Over the last few days, BTC volumes have gone up by more than 20%, and bullish volumes rest at 51.4%, at least for now.

So this points to an increasing demand that could end up driving the whole cryptocurrencies market up soon. If the bulls manage to hold the market and FOMO stands, then there are a few digital assets that will benefit most of all. Two of those coins are Tron and Electroneum. In this article, we explain to you why.

Tron’s Tronix (TRX)

If the bulls take over the market, Justin Sun-led Tron (TRX) is in a good position to win more than most other cryptocurrencies. One of the reasons for that is Justin Sun’s (Tron’s CEO and founder) mastery of marketing and public relations. Mr. Sun is a central element in the Tron environment.

He knows how to keep his own community (and the cryptosphere at large) at the edge of their seats by just the adept use of his Tweeter account. Significant announcements about interesting strategic partnerships, new milestones and other achievements for the Tron project are run-of-the-mill news for Mr. Sun, and the Tron community follows.

All that good marketing hasn’t managed to bring TRX’s price up for 12 months, but it managed to make TRX one of the most reliable and profitable coins during 2017 when the bulls ran the market. So when the bulls come back, chances are that Tron will be a big winner yet again, just as it was in 2017.

And that will happen because Mr. Sun’s propaganda will be backed by the market’s positive sentiment. For good or ill, marketing is a powerful force when it’s backed by driving the demand, and nobody in the cryptosphere knows that better than Tron as led by Justin Sun. When FOMO appears in a bullish market, nobody will know how to surf that wave better than Tron.

Electroneum (ETN)

Electroneum is yet another digital asset that will be benefitted from a bull run. It has very solid fundamentals (usefulness and use cases, even more than Tron’s, for the time being) and the project’s marketing is almost as good as Tron’s. The community happens to be very committed to bringing ETN to the real world. Proof of that is the robust showing of Electroneum (ETN) in the run-up to KYC feature introduction.

That characteristic is powerful on its own. Those marketing efforts by the ETN’s leadership and the community had a role in increasing demand. This gives the ETN team a major role in producing the demanding pressure about the token that can end up pushing up the price. And that could signal for the baby steps of a new bull market not just for ETN but for every digital asset.

Electroneum’s aggressive marketing which includes smartphone apps, games, easy mining, and other features that can appeal to every smartphone user in the world instead of the usual nerds or enthusiasts can make all the difference in the world (the crypto-world, to be more specific). On top of that, it could end up being really useful when it comes to instant and micropayments.

Is technology determinant in crypto? It is. Just look at Bitcoin, which is the oldest technology in crypto, but it’s solid, reliable, and it remains the mother of all blockchains. But what about marketing? Does it matter?  It does as well, and nobody does it better than Tron and Electroneum. Do you want proof? Those two coins have been the biggest winners over the last week. You think that means nothing? You’ll be surprised.

Image courtesy of PixaBay.