Archive for the ‘Smart Contracts’ Category

7 Must-Buy Cryptos That Can Survive Market Crashes – InvestorPlace

As markets brace for a likely recession ahead, investors search for cryptos that can survive market crashes. Uncertainty looms large over the Federal Reserves plans, elevating volatility across the board.

Against this backdrop, the crypto market stands to benefit as investors hunt for returns in a market that has exhibited an inverse correlation with traditional financial systems,

This phenomenon shows the best cryptos for portfolio diversification, drawing attention to those with high stability and security, low risk, and real-world applications.

Aspects such as smart contracts, cross-platform interoperability, and lightning-fast transaction speeds further pique the interest of both existing and potential investors.

In this evolving financial landscape, savvy investors are looking for resilient cryptos with low volatility and risk that not only withstand market turmoil but also offer valuable opportunities for diversification.

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Bitcoin(BTC-USD) is the crown jewel of the crypto world, boasting a market cap of over $540 billion, representing nearly 50% of the entire sectors capital.

After a torrid 2022, the first quarter of the year has had BTC skyrocketing from $16,000 to a jaw-dropping $28,000. The recent lull in inflation hints at a shift in the Federal Reserves hawkish stance, fueling bullish sentiments.

BTCs unrivaled crypto liquidity allows investors to trade and convert profits into real-world currency seamlessly. With the step-changes during the pandemic, a sizeable amount of institutional capital is parked in BTC, further solidifying its bull case. Hence, with these interesting advantages, its no wonder why BTC continues to steamroll its competition.

Source: shutterstock.com/BT Side

Ethereum(ETH-USD) is the second most popular crypto in terms of market cap and often mirrors Bitcoins movements.

Its no surprise that it enjoyed a robust first quarter, soaring from $1,200 to a remarkable $1,800. The platforms sheer size and magnetic appeal to institutional investors make it a safe bet during heightened volatility.

The platform has been undergoing multiple changes, boosting scalability, security, and safety. It will introduce an innovative scaling solution called roll-ups that accelerate transactions while cutting user fees.

Its much-talked-about proto-dank sharding upgrade is expected to be launched in the second half of 2023, making transactions roughly 40 to 100 times cheaper.

The recent Shanghai fork has effectively laid the groundwork for brighter future ETH enthusiasts. These cutting-edge enhancements will further cement ETHs status as an industry trailblazer.

Source: Shutterstock

Cardano(ADA-USD) is arguably one of the most popular altcoins, which is nipping at BTCs heels in the race for year-to-date gains.

Conceived by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, ADA boasts a wide variety of features similar to ETH, including a public blockchain platform, a robust proof-of-stake model, and enabling decentralized finance transactions.

Cardanos breakneck pace and powerful technology have helped it rise up the ranks of the hotly competitive crypto sphere. With its capabilities of handling one million transactions per second and minimal energy footprint, it has become one the top crypto picks of crypto investors.

With a slew of upgrades on the horizon, Cardano will bolster its security and enable seamless interconnectivity with other blockchains. Should these enhancements live up to expectations, we could witness a major rally in ADA.

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Solana(SOL-USD) is another dazzling altcoin that was one of the stand-out performers during the pandemic years.

However, like its peers, it shed a ton of value last year, dropping over 90% in value. Its been ticking in the green since the start of the year; the jury is still unsure whether Solana can sustain its upward trajectory throughout 2023.

Solana offers various applications, spanning decentralized finance, gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFT), and others. The Layer 1 blockchain network outperformed Ethereum multiple times in the past few years across all key crypto verticals.

Most recently, the platform announced its foray into the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector. Solana users can now effectively interact with the network using an open-source plugin for the AI chatbot, ChatGPT.

This development allows users to monitor wallet balances, transfer Solana-native tokens, and even scoop up NFTs. Also, it unveiled its crypto-centric smartphone, Saga, which will function as a dedicated wallet for digital currencies.

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As one of the top Layer 2 scaling solutions, Polygon(MATIC-USD) swoops in to address the speed-related issues that impact first-generation crypto protocols such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

It primarily caters to the Ethereum network and has emerged as a vital cog in the platforms machine. Its future hinges on Ethereums dominance and sluggish transaction speeds. Given the Ethereum networks current speeds, Polygon will remain relevant in the crypto sphere.

Polygon secured a whopping $450 million investment from Sequoia Capital in growing its network. The company spent $1 billion in 2021 and early 2022 to add new firms to its network and expand its offerings.

Though the bear market has dampened investor sentiment, a revived bull market could ignite another major lift-off. Likewise, if more projects flock to the Polygon network, the outlook for MATIC will be bullish.

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Dogecoin is certainly a fan-favorite in the crypto realm, but many would argue that it is both a blessing and a curse.

With a massive and loyal online community behind it, DOGE will remain relevant despite its risk.

Though it does not have the same utility as other cryptos mentioned in the article, Dogecoins status as a leading crypto cannot be argued with.

Throughout the year, DOGE has witnessed several days where daily values have increased by 10%, enticing investors to capitalize on long-term gains. It has become a magnet for speculative crypto enthusiasts who want to capture lofty gains fueled by volatility.

Furthermore, it boasts a daily liquidity volume of more than $230 million, roughly 24 hours preceding this article, further highlighting its appeal to investors seeking a dynamic crypto asset.

Source: Stanslavs / Shutterstock.com

Chainlink(LINK-USD) is another popular altcoin that is essentially a powerful blockchain network of oracles.

Oracles efficiently connect real-world data with decentralized systems. Chainlink is essentially revolutionizing the smart contract real by delivering critical data capacity to various blockchains.

Also, as a major catalyst for Web 3.0 development, the platforms dynamic exits optimize smart contract efficiency.

Effectively bridging the gap between on-chain and off-chain data sources, Chainlink provides crucial input for smart contracts.

Though the LINK token took hiding last year, its future gleams with promise. The token is up an impressive 30% since the years onset, showcasing the tokens long-term potential for growth and survival in unconducive markets.

Chainlinks spectacular progress signals its unwavering commitment to driving innovation in its sector.

On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines

Muslim Farooque is a keen investor and an optimist at heart. A life-long gamer and tech enthusiast, he has a particular affinity for analyzing technology stocks. Muslim holds a bachelors of science degree in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University.

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7 Must-Buy Cryptos That Can Survive Market Crashes - InvestorPlace

GALA price rallies 5% ahead of Version 2 tokens airdrop – FXStreet

The decentralized Gala Games ecosystem has announced the launch of its Version 2 (V2) and the corresponding airdrop for all GALA Version 1 (V1) token holders. With the snapshot for the airdrop less than ten hours away, the token is rallying, yielding nearly 5% gains for holders overnight.

Also read: Lido Version 2 rollout on the Ethereum mainnet likely to be a sell-the-news event

GALAs Version 2 airdrop is scheduled to occur on Monday, as the games ecosystem prepares for the event. All holders of GALA V1 tokens will receive a 1:1 airdrop of the V2 token following the snapshot.

Gala Games ecosystem asked users to ensure that their V1 tokens are held in their private wallets or wallets of exchanges that support the Version 2 rollout.

Developers asked users to remove their GALA tokens from liquidity pools or smart contracts before snapshot on May 15 as there is no guarantee that tokens dropped to liquidity pool contracts will be recoverable.

Countdown to GALA V2 token snapshot

Ahead of the token airdrop, the protocols token yielded 5% gains for traders in a 24-hour timeframe. GALA price could correct in response to the airdrop, given the token has been rallying for a week in anticipation of the event.

If the event turns out to be sell-the-news, GALA price could pullback to support at $0.028.

GALA price is in a downtrend that started in February 2022. The token started its recovery in the beginning of 2023 with a 217% gain in the first week of January and 68% rally in the second week of March. With a definitive close above the descending trendline, GALA price could be poised for a similar price rally in May.

GALA/USD 1-day price chart

The immediate resistances are at $0.0592, $0.0879 and $0.1320, key levels for GALA throughout the second half of 2022. In the event of a decline, GALA price could nosedive to $0.0200, a level previously seen in the beginning of 2023.

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GALA price rallies 5% ahead of Version 2 tokens airdrop - FXStreet

Upgrade to Bring Bitcoin Cash Smart Contracts, Ted Cruz on BTC … – Bitcoin News

Software developer Jason Dreyzehner says smart contracts comparable to Ethereum, but remarkably more efficient will be made possible by the May 15 upgrade coming to the Bitcoin Cash network. In other news, the worlds largest regional organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) plans to switch to settlements in national currencies, moving away from the U.S. dollar. This and more, just below, in the latest Bitcoin.com News Week in Review.

Pro-freedom technologies advocate and software developer Jason Dreyzehner recently spoke with Bitcoin.com News via email about the upcoming Bitcoin Cash network upgrade on May 15. One of the most talked about improvement proposals set to go through on that date which proponents view as a boon to economic freedom is the Cashtokens CHIP. Beyond UTXO-level token creation, the upgrade will allow for advanced on-chain applications like higher-security vaults, decentralized exchanges, and bridged sidechains, comparable to ethereum, more scalable, and cheaper, according to Dreyzehner.

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A China-led regional organization that covers more than half of Eurasia intends to transition to settlements in the currencies of its members. While the plan is to abandon the U.S. dollar in mutual payments, participating nations are yet to consider a common currency.

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BRICS nations can lead efforts to abandon the U.S. dollar in international settlements, according to President Bashar Assad of Syria. At a meeting with Chinas top diplomat for the region, the leader of the war-torn Middle Eastern country called for using the Chinese yuan for cross-border trade.

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United States Senator Ted Cruz has said he remains incredibly bullish on bitcoin which he described as the alpha in the crypto sphere. According to Cruz, people are attracted to bitcoin because they see it as a hedge against inflation and also as an important check against government spending.

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What are your thoughts on this weeks developments in crypto and global finance? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.

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Upgrade to Bring Bitcoin Cash Smart Contracts, Ted Cruz on BTC ... - Bitcoin News

Smart Contracts Market Glorious Opportunities, Detailed Analysis of Current Industry Trends 2023-2030| IBM, AW – openPR

The Smart Contracts Market Research Report 2023-2030 will provide complete market analysis, statistics, different trends, drivers, opportunities, restraints, and up-to-the-minute market data required for estimating the market's revenue, factors driving & growth. The top-down and bottom-up approaches were employed to keep the Smart Contracts market analysis precise and error-free while providing unique suggestions in thoughtful specifics regarding the development factors. For the collection of data and its analysis, our skilled analysts have used a wide range of primary and secondary research approaches.

The research includes the most recent revenue and market development trends as well as all relevant and accurate venture statistics. Along with a summary of the global Smart Contracts market, classification, definition, and market chain structure, it offers prevention and planned management. The Global Smart Contracts Report discusses factors such as gross margin, cost, market share, capacity utilisation, revenue, capacity, and supply that have an impact on the global market for Smart Contracts. It also emphasises the potential of the global market for Smart Contracts in the ensuing years. The analysis makes precise predictions about the market's current and future size and volume.

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IBM AWS Oracle Infosys Solana Nem Waves RSK Algorand GoCoin Avalanche Stratis Tata Consultancy Services Monax Industries Chainlink

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Financial Government Insurance Healthcare Supply Chain Others

The Middle East and Africa (Turkey, GCC Countries, Egypt, South Africa)

North America (United States, Mexico, and Canada)

South America (Brazil etc.)

Europe (Germany, Russia, UK, Italy, France, etc.)

Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

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Worldwide Reports is your one-stop repository of detailed and in-depth research reports compiled by an extensive list of publishers from across the globe. We offer reports across virtually all domains and an exhaustive list of sub-domains under the sun. The in-depth analysis by some of the most vastly experienced analysts provides our diverse range of clients from across all industries with vital decision-making insights to plan and align their strategies in line with current trends.

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Smart Contracts Market Glorious Opportunities, Detailed Analysis of Current Industry Trends 2023-2030| IBM, AW - openPR

Beware Of Flatcoins, Crypto’s Inflation Busting Fad – Forbes

These coins are designed to protect stablecoin holders from inflation. But they are complicated and its not clear whether they will actually work.

Stablecoins are digital tokens created to mirror the value of hard currencies like the U.S. dollar. They are critical for liquidity in the $1.2 trillion crypto market because investors need a steady, predictable place to park cash, in part because bitcoin, which will swing as much as 10% in a single day, has largely failed as a store of value. There are $120 billion in stablecoins outstanding. Unfortunately, their history is anything but stable.

In May 2022, TerraUSD, a stablecoin dreamed up by a Stanford-educated South Korean programmer named Do Kwon, famously collapsed because its value was based on an algorithm that proved to be unreliable in the face of an asset run. More than $45 billion in market value evaporated in a single day setting off a crypto market plunge. After being on the lam for nearly a year, Do Kwon was recently arrested in Montenegro. Then, there is the worlds largest stablecoin issuer Tether, which has $80 billion outstanding, but has long avoided even the most basic disclosures (like where it is located) and has been in trouble with regulators numerous times. On several occasions Tethers U.S. dollar coin (USDC) has broken the buck and dipped below $1.00 in value.

Even the most regulatory compliant and transparent stablecoin, Circles USD Coin (USDC), which has $30 billion outstanding, has disappointed investors. When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on March 10, USDCs Boston-based issuer Circle admitted to having $3.3 billion on deposit at the bank, mostly uninsured. The price of USDC lost its peg, nosediving to $0.88 cents on March 11.

But stablecoins are still essential for serious players in the digital asset world, and hope springs eternal in crypto, so a new product has hit the market called promising an inflation-adjusted version of stablecoins. Dubbed flatcoins these new tokens are designed to to maintain purchasing power parity with a basket of goods by keeping up with inflation.

So far only about $100 million in flatcoins have been minted but with inflation stubbornly stuck at 4.6%, demand for these novel tokens is growing. Already Coinbase is actively looking to seed flatcoins on its new Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain Base.

We are fascinated by the deep thought were seeing in decentralized stablecoin design and are particularly interested in flatcoins stablecoins that track the rate of inflation, enabling users to have stability in purchasing power while also having resiliency from the economic uncertainty caused by the legacy financial system, wrote Coinbase in a recent post.

Flatcoins are the brainchild of former Coinbase Chief Technology Officer Balaji Srinivasan and an Iranian born programer Sam Kazemian, who came up with a stablecoin protocol named Frax in 2021, and an inflation tracking index called Frax Price Index (FPI).

The term flatcoin was basically meant to signify by me and Balaji that it stays flat to a standard of living, " says Kazemian who notes that his new flatcoin would be partially backed by collateral like USDC, and partially stabilized algorithmically.

Here are the basics mechanics of the new inflation-protected stablecoins. The first thing the Frax programmers set out to do is identify a targeted standard of living to track. Kazemian built a feed with a blockchain data provider called Chainlink to publish each months CPI from the Federal Reserves Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) onto the Ethereum blockchain. With the current 12-month trailing inflation rate at 5%, Frax has a set of smart contracts programmed to automatically conduct algorithmic trading with a goal of profiting enough to match the monthly inflation print sent from Chainlink.

In theory, this would mean that if a single tether or USDC is still worth $1.00, in a 5% inflation world an FPI would be redeemable for $1.05 of collateral. In order to earn the necessary amounts to cover the inflation premium, Kazemians team invests collateral in DeFi lending protocols such as Aave and Convex, which primarily focus on stablecoin markets. These DeFi protocols earn yield for letting borrowers access their tokens. These returns then become available for FPI minters to withdraw. However, FPI is run by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, which could make changes to its risk parameters in the future.

If this sounds complicated and risky, it is, especially relative to simply owning a stablecoin like USDC and simultaneously hedging with something like a gold ETF or even Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), where the U.S. government effectively covers the inflation risk.

Even more complicated is another flatcoin called Nuon. Rather than simply matching the BLS inflation reading, it joined up with a sister company called Trustflation to produce real-time inflation data based on a proprietary methodology. For instance, while the BLS inflation has eight main categories: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communication, and other goods and services, Trustflation has 12. Additions include clothing/footwear and alcohol/tobacco. The company also weights categories differently than the BLS and pulls in data real-time through service agreements with various providers instead of just relying on monthly updates.

When we studied inflation we realized that it was calculated by 477 people on a monthly basis in a nebulous fashion, says Trustflation and Nuon CEO Stefan Rust. We decided to use a developer approach, take the same metrics, pull it from API's, and have it updated in real time.

While no one would argue that the collection and indexing of official inflation data doesnt have numerous flaws, including an antiquated monthly production schedule, Trustflations Moneyball-esque approach to calculating real time inflation data does not come without drawbacks.

When inflation is between 1.5%, and 2.5% per annum, it's probably a bit of overkill, but when topline inflation is 8% to 9% those numbers may be meaningful on a day-to-day basis, says Peter C. Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. I think it's interesting to capture daily or intraday inflation data, but I also think there's a lot of statistical noise.

That noise could become deafening if the data feeds which determine prices and return targets , known in the crypto world as oracles, become corrupted. Crypto forensics firms report that so called oracle manipulation attacks cost investors $362 million last year. It is not impossible to foresee a scenario where an oracle gets manipulated to force one of these platforms to employ a riskier trading strategy than anticipated.

But data collection is not the only worry flatcoin buyers need to worry about. Behind Nuons inflation-protection guarantee is a complicated and potentially risky proposition. When an individual mints Nuon, he must deposit ether in its protocol, which then automatically buys the same amount of Nuon on the open market and deposits it in a DeFi protocol such as Uniswap or Pancakeswap. Income generated from this deposit, known as yield farming, is added to a users collateral position (which is the original ether) essentially as an insurance. Thus unlike FPI, nuon positions are overcollateralized - for instance a user must deposit $1.30 worth of ether to mint $1 of nuon.

So far both FPI and nuon are having trouble tracking inflation (see charts). According to CoinGecko, FPI is currently priced at $1.08, but in its almost 12 months in existence it has traded as high as $1.18 and as low as $0.92, which would imply that in the last 12 months, inflation has spiked as high as 18% and below 1%. Nuon has dramatically outperformed inflation in its short existence; it only launched in March. Right now it is priced at $1.24, but it has been as high as $1.44.

Ifflatcoins are meant to be the next evolution of digital safe money", stablecoins biggest players have yet to sign on. Circle, which issues USDC, has no plans to issue a flatcoin. Circle already has more than $25 billion in short Treasury bills backing its USDC tokens, but it is precluded from buying TIPS, because they are not issued in durations shorter than five years. Tether did not respond to requests for comment.

Flatcoins are so new they do not yet appear in any of the current stablecoin regulation bills circulating around Capitol Hill. The bi-partisan draft introduced in April proposed a ban on new algorithmically derived stablecoins such as TerraUSD/LUNA, where the stablecoin was backed by a sister token. Flatcoins use computer algorithms to derive their valuations, however, in their current incarnation do not fit neatly into the bills specific description. Still, any new stablecoins would have to be issued by a licensed entity at the state or federal level, so these products would need a bank backer if they expect to ever go mainstream.

Rust says that there are no restrictions on users in the U.S. from minting Nuon right now. I guess, they are in a bit of a gray zone [with regards to how flatcoins fall under securities regulation]...At the moment, all the indications are that stablecoins pegged to the dollar or euro will fall under some regulation.

Forbes called various legislators and regulators involved with the recently proposed stablecoin legislation to ask about flatcoins but most hadnt even heard of them yet. Said Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), a noted crypto critic, We already have something like that. Theyre called TIPS.

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Beware Of Flatcoins, Crypto's Inflation Busting Fad - Forbes