‘Sweet coin of mine’ isn’t going to be Guns N’ Roses next hit single, but their former drummer Matt Sorum has been putting a great deal of effort into the launch of a new crypto payment solution, called Artbit.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who was also a member of Velvet Revolver, is helping launch the payment crypto for artists, which is built on top of Hashgraph and works via blockchain technology.
The aim of Artbit is for artists to receive their fair share of money after a gig and for that payment to be made into a digital wallet, without any middlemen involved in the transaction.
Although it is still a little sketchy with the details, Artbit has announced that it will work using gamification and augmented reality. It is thought that artists and bands can generate income by posting and hosting live performances. The curating public will also have an option to take home a share of the pie.
Sorum told Yahoo finance that he feels that this new currency is an essential development within the music industry.
He said: “My interest is in cutting the middleman,That’s been something on artists’ minds for years. There’s all these people you got to pay along the way. With blockchain, imagine if you bought a song online for 99 cents and that money was automatically distributed straight to all the contributors—the producer, all the writers of that song.
“With this technology, the money can go into everybody’s wallets automatically, it doesn’t go into a bank account where somebody’s making all that money and interest.”
Sorum added that he believes the current industry isn’t working hard enough for the artists, but cryptocurrencies can change all that.
He added: “Any new or young artist has really got to work really hard to even get on the front page of a platform like Spotify—and even at that point you can’t really monetize your art.
“With Artbit, we’re going to have direct access, people are going to be able to get online right away, not be served a bunch of ads, and have a direct community to be able to monetize their craft now, with no middleman, direct payout, with a wallet, with crypto, and a community that’s safe and secure, powered by Hashgraph.”
There will be a token sale, but no details regarding the ICO have yet been released. Artbit hopes to launch by the end of this year.
Kyber Network, a highly anticipated decentralized cryptocurrency exchange who conducted one of the most successful crowdfunding events of 2017, has today announced that their public beta is open to the public. The company hopes to provide a trustless, fully decentralized exchange that provides a high level of liquidity for users, an industry first.
“This is an incredible milestone that is a testament to the incredible team we have built at Kyber Network,” said Loi Luu, co-founder and CEO of Kyber Network. “There is a need for more decentralization in the cryptocurrency trading markets and we feel that what we have built will become one of the primary trading hubs for crypto assets over the coming year.”
The public launch of Kyber Network comes at a time when there is increasing scrutiny about the transparency of centralized exchanges and security is as big of a concern as ever. Kyber Network is a fully decentralized exchange, meaning it exists entirely on the blockchain, is trustless and holds no user funds.
Kyber Network is a new type of decentralized exchange because it addresses one of the primary issues plaguing decentralized trading marketplaces today: liquidity. A system with high liquidity would enable instant transactions on the block time that can be achieved securely and completely decentralized for any type of asset.
Kyber Network solves this issue by introducing a new system for any user to trade any token instantly and completely securely with guaranteed liquidity. Their approach is through the utilization of reserve managers, who are incentivized by monetizing their otherwise idle assets. By serving trade requests from users, reserves earn profit from the spread determined by reserve managers. As the network gains more traffic through collaborations with wallet providers and various other token projects, reserve managers will benefit directly from the trading volume due to network effects within Kyber Network.
Since launching their platform on the Ethereum mainnet, the exchange was made available to whitelisted addresses only. By limiting the number of users that access the exchange, they have improved the platform in a controlled environment. This testing period has unfolded with great success, and after slightly more than a month of constant feedback and improvement Kyber Network is ready to release our platform to the public.
Kyber Network raised 200,000 ETH in a public crowdsale in September 2017. On Monday the 19th at 3pm (GMT+8) the public mainnet beta stage will begin. The company has stated that all users should keep in mind that as our platform is still in beta testing, there are areas in need of improvement and to report any issues to the company here.
Online sports betting has been growing in popularity over the past few years and is now the leading form of online gambling in the world. An interesting niche within the world of online sports betting has also been growing and, while not yet quite as popular, is set to explode in 2018!
Betting on E-Sports at Crypto Casinos
If you are looking to get in on some hot ESports betting action at one of the emerging or established online crypto casinos you may find the pickings slim to say the least. This is because no crypto-based online casinos currently offer any sort of E-Sports betting, with one exception. Zeroedge online casino, a cryptocurrency-based online casino with its own unique cryptocurrency (ZeroCoin) is offering exclusive E-Sports betting opportunities, which no other crypto casino is able to do as yet. Even better, Zeroedge is offering an unheard of and unprecedented 0% commission for all their games!
So, What Exactly is Zeroedge?
Essentially, Zeroedge is the world’s first online casino that offers two unique advantages to the general online gambling public. Firstly, Zeroedgeruns exclusively on cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin for example) although, in this case, that cryptocurrency is Zeroedge Casinos own unique cryptocurrency called ZeroCoin.
The second advantage, and by far the most significant, is the fact that Zeroedge, much like its name suggests, will be offering a true 0% house edge to its players. This essentially means that, unlike conventional online casinos, where they can enjoy a house edge (advantage the house has over the player) of as much as 10% in certain casino games, and 1% or higher in others.
The old saying that the house always wins really does apply to conventional online casinos, as they have stacked the odds in their favour, meaning that you will never ever really win your games (not for long anyway). Since Zeroedge does not make any profit from the losses incurred by players, but rather through the increased value of ZeroCoin which is the main economy driver on the Zero Edge Casino’s network.
How does Zero Edge revolutionary model work?
ZeroEdge.bet offers 0% edge Casino games. World first 0% edge games attract demand for Zerocoin, because of this, its value rises. Players can play 0% games while Zerocoin price rises. Simply put, the ultimate solution to the problem is creating a platform where playing games is “free”. Players are not required to pay any fixed amount of money to be able to play at the casino. This can only be achieved by creating a closed loop economy with its own token where players purchase the token with fiat or crypto. Since the supply of ZERO is limited, its value is directly proportional to demand.
Blockchain & Smart contract technology allow to create a fully transparent and truly fair gambling environment where players have more opportunities to participate, can completely trust the platform, and have a real chance of winning while at the same time being a part of a bigger community which fosters social inclusion and mutual values.
Pre-ICO is Live with 79% discount & low hard cap – 1500 eth!
Zero Edge is introducing its own unique cryptocurrency known as Zerocoin, the only way that gamblers will be able to participate in true 0% house edge online casino games through the Zero Edge online casino network. The value of Zerocoin is set to rise rapidly, as more and more people flock to Zero Edge to enjoy true 0% house edge games.
This is also the perfect opportunity to learn about the pre-ICO or Initial Coin Offering which is set to start on the 28th of February 2018, closing out on the 15th of March 2018. During the Zerocoin pre-ICO, Zero Edge are presenting a no soft cap,while the hard cap is initially set at 1500 ETH. https://tokensale.zeroedge.bet
Cardano (ADA) will support Ledger Nano s hardware wallets in the future
Open-source crypto wallet Daedalus is currently the safest and only supported option for thousands of Cardano users who are looking to store their ADA cryptocurrency. However, it’s been riddled with teething problems over the last couple of months. But, the good news is that Ledger support is coming in the near future.
Users seem to have no initial problems when setting up the Daedalus wallet, creating a seed or downloading the blockchain, but are later locked out of accessing the wallet when they restart the software due to the screen freezing and displaying the sprint message, “Connecting to network…”
Users have tried a plethora of potential fixes, from completely uninstalling the wallet to tinkering with firewall settings and everything in between, with no success in sight.
On the March 7th, 2018, Daedalus released version 0.9.0 and Cardano 1.1.0 but, for many, this does not seem to have not provided any solution.
We spoke to the team behind Cardano regarding the wallet problems that we have witnessed, to see if a more successful solution would be coming soon. We are pleased to say that it’s good news all round, as we can announce that users will be able to store ADA on their Ledger hardware wallets in Q3 2018.
CS: Lots of users are reporting problems with syncing the Daedalus wallet, this seems to be a common problem in the community?
The latest Cardano SL release 1.1 is designed to address syncing problems experienced recently by some users. This update was released by IOHK on the 7th March, and they are now monitoring the performance of the Daedalus wallet to assess if further action is required.
CS: When will users be able to store Cardano on their Ledger Wallets, will this be pushed in 2018?
Stage one of the Ledger integration project is complete. This means that we now have a functioning Ledger app, but this still needs to be fully tested. Stage two of this project requires IOHK to develop an interface and test it. At present this work is scheduled to be completed by Q3 2018. This will provide Cardano holders with the highest level of security by allowing users to store Ada offline.
Hardware wallet support for cryptocurrencies once seemed like an overzealous way to store digital assets, but it’s now become the de facto method due to exchanges being regularly hacked, phishing attempts and all sorts of weird and well thought out hacking methods which are used to steal your assets.
ZeroEdge.Bet, a start-up that is building a blockchain based online casino network, is expanding its reach and will be opening brand new offices in London. The move was prompted by unprecedented growth of business, ahead of the proposed ICO dates later this year.
The ZeroEdge team are extremely excited to meet fans and followers of the Zero Edge online casino network when their new offices open within the next few weeks. The team, comprising of a range of experts in their respective fields including online gaming, crypto currencies, marketing, support, and much more, have put out the welcome mat for gamblers in the United Kingdom.
“This is a great news for us and our community. We are delighted to have our new office in London. One of the reasons for opening an office in London, was the access to the skilled job market. Blockchain experts, gambling industry executives, marketing gurus are all there. Therefore, will be looking to grow our team to help us with our development on every aspect of the business.” – said Adrian Casey ZeroEdge.Bet CEO
UK gambling market is one of the largest in the world.
United Kingdom gambling market size exceeds £14 Billion Pounds each year. Zero Edge will launch first blockchain based gambling sites in UK market just after ICO finishes and all Zerocoins are distributed publicly.
It is not by coincidence that Zero Edge have chosen London as one of their main centres of operation. Aside from the fact that London is one of the most popular cities in the world, with a vibrant melting pot of global cultures, it also happens to represent one of the largest online gambling markets in the world.
Residents of the UK love to gamble online and do so around the clock at various top online casinos aimed at the UK market. However, up until fairly recently, UK gamblers have been facing the very same problem as gamblers in other parts of the world – playing at online casinos where, quite frankly, the house edge is out of control!
This is another reason why Zero Edge have chosen London to open their cutting edge new offices, to begin to roll out their plan to absolutely upset the entire online gambling industry with their unique 0% house edge concept, a first in online casino gambling (and gambling in general).
What is Zero Edge and How Does It Work?
Zero Edge online casino network is a brand new, revolutionary way of presenting online casino games to gamblers all over the world. While the traditional online casino focuses on making millions and millions of pounds off of your losses, Zero Edge is doing something entirely new. By offering 0% edge games demand is created for Zerocoin, which rises its value. Profits are made not from players loses, but from increased Zerocoin value. This model will disrupt the online gambling industry. Zero Edge casino are able to offer a true, guaranteed 0% house edge, making online casino games truly fair for the first time ever!
Additionally, ZeroEdge will also provide with an opportunity for entities to build and operate their own games on the ZeroEdge platform. This will allow anyone with minimal technical knowledge to run their own games and earn from the increased value of the ZeroEdge token. The game developers will be rewarded in ZeroEdge tokens for their contribution to the network depending on various factors, e.g. the popularity of game, UI/UX levels, etc. This feature will create a highly competitive environment and will ensure a wide variety of available games on the platform
Pre-ICO is Live with 79% discount & low hard cap – 1500 eth!
Zero Edge is introducing its own unique cryptocurrency known as Zerocoin, the only way that gamblers will be able to participate in true 0% house edge online casino games through the Zero Edge online casino network. The value of Zerocoin is set to rise rapidly, as more and more people flock to Zero Edge to enjoy true 0% house edge games.
This is also the perfect opportunity to learn about the pre-ICO or Initial Coin Offering which is set to start on the 28th of February 2018, closing out on the 15th of March 2018. During the Zerocoin pre-ICO, Zero Edge are presenting a no soft cap,while the hard cap is initially set at 1500 ETH. https://tokensale.zeroedge.bet
Eligma, AI-driven and Blockchain-based cognitive commerce platform, is presenting the first of its many features. EliPay system is a showcase of their ambition to take the usage of crypto payments beyond trading and exchanges and into the offline world. Partnering with BTC CITY Ljubljana, the first Bitcoin City and the largest commercial, trading and business centre of its kind, they are setting their testing lab in the heart of Europe, Slovenia, where they will offer transactions with crypto currencies in some of the selected offline stores from this April onwards. The first of many Eligma’s reveals is demonstrating how the platform will solve the problems of today’s e-commerce and asset management. Their token sale with the hard cap of 24 million U.S. dollars starts on 17 April, and their campaign promises to showcase what they have in store for the future users and potential contributors.
The EliPay system, the platform’s cryptocurrency transaction system, is set to enable the cryptocurrency transactions be it offline or online. In their early development and testing phase and during the crowdsale campaign, which Eligma is currently running, the team announced to showcase the usability of EliPay in the offline world in their testing lab – BTC CITY Ljubljana in mid-April. This early feature amongst Eligma’s many advantages is especially promising to early adopters, crypto enthusiasts and potential contributors: it backs up the team’s promise of a truly usable ELI token, which is to be released at the start of the project’s crowdsale on April 17th.
Jože Mermal, Chairman and CEO of BTC d.d.: “The BTC d.d. company strives for the development and implementation of the latest technologies into its business environment. As a strategic partner of the Eligma company, we will therefore enable the testing of Eligma’s EliPay system in a real environment at selected business partners in BTC CITY Ljubljana. EliPay will enable the use of cryptocurrencies both online and in the physical world, creating a modern, transparent and simple shopping experience for our visitors and business partners.”
The team of experts and e-visionaries, supported by highly experienced advisors from areas of business development, AI, blockchain and ecommerce, announced another Eligma’s ambition, which they presented this week. As believers in the future of blockchain technology and crypto currencies, they are set to launch easy crypto transactions through their system, called EliPay. “We are lucky in partnering with BTC d.d., a company which runs an esteemed Slovenian retail, logistics, business and entertainment centre called BTC City Ljubljana, with over 60 years of tradition. Its area, which spreads over 475,000 square meters, annually attracts more than 21 million visitors. With its unique ecosystem and more than 450 stores, BTC CITY hosts more than 4,000 business partners; they are an ideal testing lab, where we plan on testing EliPay and launching the first version of Eligma by the end of 2018,” stated Dejan Roljič, founder and CEO of the start-up behind the idea.
Entering a market which reached 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in sales last year, the team is planning to develop Eligma to offer simple solutions for problems which are present for all online shoppers. Harnessing the power of machine learning and AI technology, they are building a platform that will save its users time and money by providing them with the best search results, based on the specifications of the product they are looking for online. This will be enabled through Eligma’s discovery feature, with which users will be able to access the plethora of different goods online from one account. Single log-in will be a unique feature that will simplify the on-line shopping experience. There will be no need to sign into several online stores for price or product comparison because Eligma will provide you with best deal for your next purchase.
With a first-stage roadmap and milestones spread over the next three years, the Eligma team is planning to develop a complete technological solution for resolving the drawbacks of commerce and e-commerce and simplifying the shopping experience. The start-up will be selling 300,000,000 ELI tokens with the hardcap of 24 million U.S. dollars through a public crowdsale, starting on 17 April, with the pre-sale for early project believers and contributors starting on 20 March. To learn more about the AI-driven blockchain platform that has a vision of transforming online shopping experience, visit www.eligma.io.
Join the Eligma Group on Telegram – https://t.me/eligma.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Antoni Trenchev, Managing Partner at Nexo, in an exclusive CoinSpectator.com interview, to find out more about one of the most exciting crypto startups we have come across this year.
Not heard of Nexo? They are the world’s first instant crypto-overdrafts service, which enables anyone to access traditional fiat without selling their digital crypto assets. The whole process is powered by blockchain technology.
Although new to the blockchain industry, the team behind Nexo is no stranger to the world of finance, with its ten years of expertise and innovation running Bulgarian FinTech firm Credissimo.
CS: What are the benefits of having asset-backed lending on the blockchain?
Nexo’s primary mission is to enable the community to enjoy its crypto-wealth without selling it. You simply place your crypto asset in an Overdraft Wallet and instantly start using a credit line based on their value. With Nexo’s product, you have the cash to spent whenever you might need to while keeping the upside potential of your crypto. We have been in the consumer lending space for over 10 years now with our successful European FinTech Credissimo, so we are in an excellent good position to offer a unique proposition to the blockchain.
Please see our short video explainer:
CS: Who is providing the FIAT funds for the loans? Is this accredited lenders on the NEXO platform or will it come from NEXO reserves?
Here is where we differ from other services that are mostly P2P and borrowers have to match willing lenders. Nexo bridges that gap and makes the product more efficient, ensuring constant supply and liquidity. That is why almost all funds from the Token Sale will be used to fund our Crypto Overdrafts. We are also in advanced talks for the acquisition of an FDIC Bank, which would allow Nexo to extend even more overdrafts and even offer interest-rate bearing deposits.
CS: As you are probably aware lots of banks are unhelpful let’s say when buying/ selling cryptocurrency. Do you expect any problems with clients receiving fiat and having to explain where that money has come from if they mention crypto?
It is true that not all banks yet accept the inevitability of cryptocurrencies and blockchain solutions. That is one of the reasons we are looking to acquire a bank, we want to operate a company that understands what crypto assets are all about. Of course, KYC and AML are important for us and the community in general, so the source of funds is a must for larger amounts, but that should not interfere with the customer experience.
As for the Crypto Overdrafts – they are purely fiat transactions so we have solid banking partners even today. Starting April 2018, our clients will have a seamless experience and get access to cash in just a few clicks, all the while retaining full ownership of their assets.
CS: Similar companies are utilising asset-based lending such as “Salt Lending” “ETH Lend”, what benefits does Nexo have over these?
The Nexo Overdrafts are instant and automatic, as we fully appreciate the fact that speed is of the essence when a client needs liquidity. Nexo’s overdraft terms are standardised, so unlike P2P platforms, there is no back and forth between borrower and lender and the process is much more user-friendly.
Furthermore, Nexo is very flexible with regards to the crypto you can keep in your Overdraft Wallet. We will be revealing more details soon. Nexo offers a variety of options: besides fiat, you can also use crypto at market prices to make instant repayments. There are no geographic restrictions at Nexo, you can be anywhere in the world and still receive a Crypto Overdraft from us.
Nexo’s Overdrafts have fixed interest rates and the same Loan-to-Value for everyone and availability is instant and automatic. P2P platforms take а commission in the interest of each loan. Nexo’s income is the interest rate on the overdraft, we do not make money from anything else. An important aspect is that no minimum overdraft repayment is required if the outstanding overdraft balance is within the available overdraft limit.
Bottom line, Nexo’s Overdrafts are simple, extremely flexible, cost-efficient and with the customer in mind.
CS: Can Nexo overdrafts/ loans be used for purchasing property or mortgage purposes?
Of course, everyone can spend their cash the way they please.
CS: What regulatory hurdles do you still need to overcome?
Nexo’s model as a whole does not face any particular hurdles. But the crypto space has its challenges and in general what we would expect to see is more regulation kicking in. This could be either positive or negative. Some countries, like Switzerland, are very good at giving broad enough rules so that companies that bring value to the community, can operate with a higher degree of certainty. Rules are good, but concise, unobtrusive and business-friendly ones, and we hope for that.
We believe that security tokens are the future – most tokens are security tokens anyway, pretending to be a utility token, obviously, this is unsustainable. That is why we have opted for a security token with Nexo. It is interesting to see how exchanges will adapt to the new circumstances.
We are quite bullish and believe that crypto and tokenized assets will become a multi-trillion industry that will bring immense and exciting opportunities for all of us.
CS: According to a report by Morgan Stanley the p2p marketplace will be worth $150 to $490 billion by 2020. Does Nexo aim to take a large slice of this?
At Nexo we aim at delivering the best possible Crypto Overdrafts to the widest possible audience. We would like to convince the clients of our unique proposition by letting the users experience the ease of use and that will lead to market share that is satisfactory. For this reason we are launching the product prior to listing the NEXO Tokens on exchanges.
CS: Do you expect a high number of interest from companies as opposed to regular users?
Actually, we are experiencing a growing interest on all fronts.
CS: How do you plan to tackle money laundering, as you can appreciate around new technology you will always have a 3rd party trying to taking advantage. What markers do you have in place to stop someone using stolen/ hacked crypto to take out a loan?
In our 10+ years experience with Credissimo we have always adhered to the highest security and regulatory standards. We continue to do the same with Nexo, utilizing in-house solutions where we have the necessary expertise and contracting leading third party providers where this makes sense – escrow/custodian accounts and parts of our KYC/AML/CFT processes, for instance.
CS: The NEXO sale has been cancelled due to raising funds privately from investors, can you mention any institutions or firms that have invested?
It is part of our agreement with investors that they should make the first step and disclose their involvement with Nexo. Just like Michael Arrington, Founder of TechCrunch and the Arrington XRP Fund chose to do.
CS: You state that the overdraft benefits from not liable to capital gains tax (which is the case when selling crypto profits) but what if the borrower took out an overdraft but defaulted on the interest payments. In this scenario would any taxes be applicable?
As long as the client does not default, no tax liabilities kick in. If however we are forced to liquidate an asset, all depends on the price. Should the liquidation price be higher than the purchase price, capital gain tax will be owed to the relevant tax authority on the profit made.
The Cointrade team clearly sees the imperfections of existing crypto exchanges and will create a new generation exchange, which will adhere to the highest standards of quality, comfort, and security.
The analyst team of Cointrade has highlighted the main issues of existing crypto trade platforms which stand as serious barriers for the inflow of significant investment volumes to the industry from the masses.
High commissions
Unreliable storage of personal data
Risks of storing funds
Lack of trading pairs
Difficult to understand interfaces
Vulnerable to hack attempts
Unstable exchange operations
Collectively, all of these problems create an impassable barrier, making large investment volumes into the crypto industry inaccessible. The Cointrade team will eliminate these issues by adhering its product to the highest standards of quality.
Solutions offered by Cointrade:
A friendly and easy for anyone to understand interface will be developed, alongside with educational materials and videos. The platform can even be used by people who have never tried themselves in trading before.
Special attention will also be placed upon the development quality and testing of the platform, the maximum amount of potential errors will be worked through and resolved. Additional, platform stability will be guaranteed thanks to an advanced DDoS protection system.
Cointrade will offer maximum security for assets and user personal data. The project team has eliminated all possibilities of hacker attacks and will protect user funds. Cointrade will use Blockchain and smart-contract technology to protect user data, automate trades, and to increase trust in the platform.
Around the clock, multilingual support will help satisfy client needs in real time, increase loyalty and trust in the platform.
Cointrade will reject all types of hidden commissions and will decrease fees twofold in comparison to competitors.
The widest range of trade pairs will be available, users will not have to pay double commissions in order to execute trades in pairs that interest them.
The listing of new assets on the platform will be simplified and made transparent.
The system will be split into a few independent components, which will allow for maximum reliability to be achieved.
About the ICO and token
The Cointrade token (CTT) complies with all necessary ERC20 standards, there will only be 236 110 000 CTT tokens released. The platform plans to attract a considerable amount of investors who have not previously had the opportunity to fully invest their funds, the platform will grow as well as demand for the token alongside with the platform’s audience.
About Initial Coin Offering
Base price: 1 CTT = 0.24 USD
Pre-ICO
Start: 1st April, 2018
End: 20th April, 2018
Pre-ICO price: 1 CTT = 0.20 USD
Main ICO
The main ICO will start in July 2018
ICO price for CTT will vary between 0.22 and 0.24 USD depending on the stage.
With new ICO’s being launched everyday the industry is thriving but it is becoming harder and harder to identify high quality, sustainable and investor friendly projects.
This has been compounded by the general bearish trend that has surrounded the space since the Decembers bull run where virtually every coin reached new all time highs (ATHs). The main reasons for this recent downward trend however have included: China confusion, hacks, Tether woes, Binance fud and more recently the dumping of roughly 35,000 Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash onto the market by the Mt. Gox trustees which correlated perfectly with the drops we can see on the charts.
Image riverflop Reddit user.
With the market now showing signs of stabilization this is the perfect buy-in opportunity to invest in high quality projects at a fraction of their worth.
So without further ado check out our top upcoming ICO’s and cryptocurrencies we think will provide a good return on investment throughout 2018.
P.s Why listen to us? Because we have a proven track record in recommending high quality, very profitable projects. Take a look for yourself here and here.
XYO Network
XY, the firm behind XYO Network have built and currently expanding one of the worlds largest decentralised location tracking protocols with GPS beacons and Bluetooth.
The result? Tagging and monitoring the movement of physical objects (including humans) anywhere in the world.
For example in the future governments and agencies could potentially use the technology to ensure everyone is registered and able to move around legally and freely through selected jurisdictions with no additional need for verification, passports etc. It can also help with realtime tracking of lost, missing, wanted people or objects.
Another use case would be ecommerce. Given the amount of parcels that go missing with no resolution/ accountability companies can use the tracking to manage their shipping and supply chain needs resulting in full transparency and accountability. For example an ecommerce store only takes payment once an item has been received by the customer.
XYO Network powers the service through its mining kits and enables anyone with a location tracking device such as Bluetooth, GPS, LPWAN (LoRA), Low Earth Orbit LEO Satellites to contribute. As referred to in the Whitepaper these Sentinels, Bridges, Archivists and Diviners are also rewarded with XYO Tokens based on their interactivity/ helpfulness.
XYO Network will be running a token sale this March. Whitelist restrictions apply and you can take part by visiting their website.
Data ownership has become a hot topic these last couple of years with many unaware that corporations, governments and other 3rd party entities are profiting from what many consider to be their personal data.
According to research studies in 2017 digitally generated data amassed roughly $1 trillion dollars in revenue last year, none of which is seen by the individual whom it concerns.
Blockchain startup Essentia wants to change this by developing a way for everyone to decide and control who has access to their data, what it can be used for and receiving a fee for its use.
The infrastructure model can be split up into three sections. These are:
User Data
Essences – This is the container that holds and controls the flow to the users data
Essentia Network – This is the decentralised network that manages the Essences in a clean, interoperable and secure manner.
Third parties and dApps can easily access user data as pluggable oracles based on what information users wish to release. Developers can also build on top of the Essentia framework to create data management tools, identity solutions, data exchanges, decentralized CRMs etc.
For example using Essentia’s eLogin users can authenticate and login to compatible websites without the need for any password. This move away from insecure and sometimes cumbersome passwords means more security, privacy and a cleaner interface to manage identity and authentication across every service that the user wishes to use.
The firm has an impressive advisory board which includes:
European Commission and certified business coache Erik van der Staak
Thomas Graham who is a managing partner at crypto advisory firm TLDR;
Francesco fusetti who raised $19 million with his charity project AidCoin
Yann Marston with 20 years experience in business, he is responsible for strategic sales at Motorola Solutions.
Esentia is running an initial coin offering to raise funds enabling investors to purchase ESS tokens which will power the technology. The price is set at 1 ETH = 15000 ESS and they aim to raise $31,900,000.
HOQU aspires to be the world’s first decentralised marketing platform enabling affiliates and merchants to work together directly without the need for a middleman. This ensures both parties are treated fairly with all actions completed through transparent smart contracts.
The global advertising industry is estimated to be worth some $200 billion dollars per year with the USA, China and United Kingdom dominating the market. HOQU hopes that a large proportion of these transaction will be running on their blockchain in the near future.
It’s no secret that this industry is centralised with the affiliate networks controlling a large number of merchants and affiliates. In doing so they are able to set high fees and low commissions, all the while enforcing unjustified and overpriced account maintenance charges.
Startups are also often priced out of joining the networks with insanely high barriers placed in their way. HOQU removes these barriers with smart contract technology and fair fees for all.
This technology creates a win win scenario for both merchants and affiliates by reducing fraud, ensuring fair payouts and lower all round costs. All whilst streamlining the whole process.
HOQU’s Initial coin offering raised $18.7 million and at the time of writing HOQU (HQX) was trading at $0.083164 on IDEX and ForkDelta.
Gems is a decentralised mechanical turk powered by blockchain technology. It builds on the shortcomings of traditional Mechanical Turks such as Amazons MTurk and Crowd Flower.
A traditional MTurk is a crowdsourcing Internet marketplace which enables individuals and businesses (also known as requesters) to hire others to perform microtasks that computers are currently unable to do.
However current providers are very inefficient, implement costly verification techniques (consensus by redundancy), charge exorbitant fees and are unavailable to a large portion of the workforce who don’t have access to bank accounts.
By using blockchain technology Gems is able to eradicate all these issues.
Gems is currently being advised by a range of industry heavyweights that include Medium and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Augur co-founder Joey Krug, reCAPTCHA co-founder Ben Maurer, Aragon co-founder Luis Cuende and co-founder of NEO Global Capital Roger Lim.
At the time of writing Gems is trading at $0.018616 on Gate.io and IDEX for both USDT and ETH pairs.
Peer-to-peer file sharing is a phrase most of us are familiar with. It was once one of the most popular ways to share files across the internet and through the use of torrents still is even today.
It is however starting to show its age and limitations. One of the biggest being a massive disparity between file downloads and availability ratio.
This is due to the lack of seeders who have no incentive to share content other than as a hobby or possible notoriety.
Upfiring tackles the root cause of this problem by offering seeders compensation (payment in UFR) for their contributions.
By adding incentivisation in to the mix seeders rise to a higher calibre and become more abundant, resulting in faster access and downloads for users.
The process is as follows:
A seeder shares a file through the Upfiring network
The file is encrypted by the platform
A downloader requests access to the seeded file but can only download once they have paid using the currency of the network which is UFR tokens.
Once downloaded and paid for in full the file can be decrypted.
UFR is currently trading on various exchanges including Cryptopia, Stocks.Exchange, IDEX and ForkDelta at roughly $0.30 and has been tipped by many as a coin that should at least rech $5 by Q4 of 2018 due to the attractive market cap.
It would be almost criminal to end the article without mentioning Cardano. This is by far one of the most exciting (albeit adventurous) projects that we will be following over the course of 2018/2019.
Founded by Charles Hoskinson, a former co-founder of Ethereum and Jeremy Wood, operations manager at Ethereum, the project takes all the best bits from previous generation blockchains and rolls them in to a peer-reviewed, institutionally backed decentralised public blockchain and cryptocurrency. In essence Cardano wants to be Ethereum but usable day-to-day e.g far more scalable, sustainable, and interoperable.
Born out of scientific philosophy with experts contributing from all over the world not only helps Cardano develop a solid, research-backed foundation but will also simplify government and legal approval when that time comes.
Their detailed roadmap can be found on the website with upcoming events such as Ledger support and the opening of a new research and development center that focuses on the Cardano blockchain Ho Chi Minh city.
p.s Last year with tipped HelloGold, Cindicator, VeChain, TRON, Request Network and Utrust. All of which not only increased in price but reached significant roadmap goals, formed partnerships and are starting to make real change across many industries with their Blockchain technology.
Zero Edge Raised 5 million USD from Private Investors
Zero Edge is set to fully revolutionize the online casino industry with its brand new cryptocurrency-based online gambling model. In its run up to Pre-ICO and ICO, Zero Edge has already attracted widescale global investment, giving it the impetus it needs to push through with their plans to turn the online gambling industry inside out.
At the time of writing, the Zero Edge online gambling model, which includes a unique cryptocurrency-based money system known as Zerocoin, has raised in excess of 5 million USD from a broad cross-section of private investors. However, more is predicted to stream in on the heals of pre-sale demand and an ever-increasing global interest in the Zero Edge 0% house edge casino model.
Zero Edge Revolutionary Model Explained
ZeroEdge.bet offers 0% edge Casino games. World first 0% edge games attract demand for Zerocoin, because of this, its value rises. Players can play 0% games while Zerocoin price rises. Simply put, the ultimate solution to the problem is creating a platform where playing games is “free”. Players are not required to pay any fixed amount of money to be able to play at the casino. This can only be achieved by creating a closed loop economy with its own token where players purchase the token with fiat or crypto. Since the supply of ZERO is limited, its value is directly proportional to demand.
Blockchain & Smart contract technology allow to create a fully transparent and truly fair gambling environment where players have more opportunities to participate, can completely trust the platform, and have a real chance of winning while at the same time being a part of a bigger community which fosters social inclusion and mutual values.
Pre-ICO is Live with 79% discount & low hard cap – 1500 eth!
Zero Edge is introducing its own unique cryptocurrency known as Zerocoin, the only way that gamblers will be able to participate in true 0% house edge online casino games through the Zero Edge online casino network. The value of Zerocoin is set to rise rapidly, as more and more people flock to Zero Edge to enjoy true 0% house edge games.
This is also the perfect opportunity to learn about the pre-ICO or Initial Coin Offering which is set to start on the 28th of February 2018, closing out on the 15th of March 2018. During the Zerocoin pre-ICO, Zero Edge are presenting a no soft cap,while the hard cap is initially set at 1500 ETH. https://tokensale.zeroedge.bet
Eligma
XY, the firm behind XYO Network have built and currently expanding one of the worlds largest decentralised location tracking protocols with GPS beacons and Bluetooth.
Data ownership has become a hot topic these last couple of years with many unaware that corporations, governments and other 3rd party entities are profiting from what many consider to be their personal data.
HOQU aspires to be the world’s first decentralised marketing platform enabling affiliates and merchants to work together directly without the need for a middleman. This ensures both parties are treated fairly with all actions completed through transparent smart contracts.
Gems is a decentralised mechanical turk powered by blockchain technology. It builds on the shortcomings of traditional Mechanical Turks such as Amazons MTurk and Crowd Flower.
Peer-to-peer file sharing is a phrase most of us are familiar with. It was once one of the most popular ways to share files across the internet and through the use of torrents still is even today.
It would be almost criminal to end the article without mentioning Cardano. This is by far one of the most exciting (albeit adventurous) projects that we will be following over the course of 2018/2019.