cryptocurrencies – Page 14 – Harrison Global Capital

The World of IEOs: All You Need To Know

IEOs have emerged as the successor to ICOs in a number of ways. What are the areas of difference if any?

What Is an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)? Is It the New ICO?

The Initial Exchange Offering(IEO) has been making headlines while catching the attention of investors, traders, exchanges, and project teams following Bitcoin value decline and the ICO fad cool off in 2018.

In 2019, already 32 of the 47 IEOs listed on ICObench have launched while the completed IEOs having raised over $159 million.

Currently, some of the best cryptocurrency exchanges platforms such as Binance, OKEx, Bitmax, Huobi, KuCoin, and Bittrex have already conducted their own IEOs.

And after launching, the majority of these IEO’s have shown much promise after being listed on the exchanges.

What Is an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)

An initial Exchange Offering is an improvement of the ICO concept that is conducted on a cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Different from ICO, the cryptocurrency exchange administers the IEO on behalf of the token issuer looking to raise capital with its new tokens. These tokens are later listed on the cryptocurrency exchanges.

Unlike the ICO where the investor deals directly with the startups, in IEO, the risk of transactions are transferred from the investors to the exchanges.

This innovation helps to eradicate the chances of phishing, and DDoS among other malicious attacks.

The startup or the token issuer agrees with the cryptocurrency exchange on terms such as fees, and issuance volume and price among other factors.

Investors are then allowed to buy the tokens directly from the cryptocurrency exchanges after completing the KYC procedures.

What are the advantages of IEOs?

A successful IEO has the potential to raise millions for token issuers, investors, and trading platforms. Here a few advantages of IEOs.

● Trust

Trust is one of the major advantages of IEOs. Usually, the crowd sales are conducted on the crypto exchange platforms while the counterparty seeks to screens all the projects looking to be launched on its website.

According to cryptocurrency exchanges, these steps are essential in maintaining a good reputation. Therefore, IEOs can help to eradicate major threats such as scams and dubious projects from raising capital.

● Security

Security is of paramount importance, especially when dealing with money. With IEO, the safety of both the investors and the issuers is prioritized.

When it comes to crowdsale security, the exchange manages the IEO’s smart contracts as well as the KYC/AML processes. In most cases, services providers do KYC/AML on their clients after creating their accounts.

Token issuers do not have to worry about crowdsale security as the exchange is managing the IEO’s smart contract.

The KYC/AML process is also handled by the crypto exchange as most service providers do KYC/AML checks on their participants.

Besides that, investors’ security is not compromised since the exchanges get rid of all ineligible projects that potentially pose risks to investors.

Therefore, a secure investment ecosystem is guaranteed to large extent..

● Frictionless process

Regardless of your knowledge in the cryptocurrency industry, you can freely contribute and participate in the IEO platform.

● Guaranteed Exchange Listing

IEO tokens on the exchanges enjoy near-instant listing soon after the launch.

● Credibility

Cryptocurrency exchanges carefully get all their token issuers to guarantee the quality of their offerings. To maintain their reputation, exchanges can only list credible startups.

This means that these startups have to undergo intense diligence which highly reduces the chances of startups being unveiled as scams.

Upcoming and recent IEOs

A number of IEO tokens launch have already taken place, and still, there are other ongoing and upcoming IEOs in the market.

In fact, only time can tell how far the IEO fad will go. You will note that each of these projects focuses on unique offerings.

● Matic Network

Matic Network is designed to solve the problem of scalability on today’s Blockchain network applications. It launched on Binance exchange recently.

For instance, scalability is said to limit the ability of developers to optimize their dApps(decentralized applications) fully. This will help and encourage developers to earn cryptocurrency with dapps.

Besides improving the scalability of cryptocurrency platforms such as Ethereum, Matic network aims at improving the speed of block confirmations which will in return reduce gas fees.

The network is further designed to help simplify and make the user experience of the Blockchain network user-friendly.

Here are a few of the Upcoming IEOs in the market today.
● Traceto.io

According to the traceto.io developers, this project is aimed at building a solution on the KYC segment in the crypto market.

The traceto.io team plans to make use of a combination of smart contracts and artificial intelligence to come up with a solution that will streamline the KYC process.

● Evedo

Evedo project is aimed at leveraging the technology in event organizing. In other words, Evedo is designed to bring together all the users that make up the event organizing ecosystem.

How to participate in an IEO?

Currently, IEOs are relatively rare in the market unlike the number of cryptocurrencies on the economy.

However, it’s not difficult to find the right one. So, the first step at participating in an IEO is identifying the IEO of your choice.

Secondly, identify the cryptocurrency exchange platforms that are hosting the crowdsale. Note that, there can be more than one exchange, but you only have to choose the exchange that fits your needs.

After identifying the exchange of your choice, sign up for an account. You will go through their whitelisting and Know Your Customer-KYC procedures.

Additionally, since IEO uses cryptocurrencies to raise funds, check the cryptocurrencies that the exchange accepts and fund your account appropriately.

You can use trading bots to buy the allowed cryptocurrencies if you aren’t familiar with the crypto industry.

Lastly, wait for the IEO to launch for you to purchase your token. Most exchanges allow you to use various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dash among others.

Below are some exchanges that have already launched their IEOs.

Final words

Initial Exchange Offerings might to the solution to many ICO failures, scams, and sub-optimal projects offerings.

Binance, together with other cryptocurrency exchanges are aiming at using the IEOs to guarantee a safer working environment for both issuers and investors.

IEOs will also increase the growth of cryptocurrencies for global financial market by expanding the market scope and the level of trust.

Indeed, IEOs have the capabilities of becoming a standard model for future startup fundraising while encouraging the development of quality projects.

As A Cryptocurrency Trader or User, For Your Security ,You Must Know These 3 Common Hacking Routines

As a crypto user, you should be up to speed with the latest hacking trends so that you do not fall prey.

One of the main features of cryptocurrencies, as per their proponents, is security.

According to them, breaking into your crypto wallet is impossible, and crypto offers a level of security no bank ever has or will.

Yet cryptocurrency gets stolen anyway.

Not only does it get stolen, but generally, quantities stolen amount to millions.

So which one is true? Are cryptocurrencies secure or not? That’s a complex answer. Cryptocurrencies are secure by design.

Nobody can access your wallet without your permission, and stealing somebody’s crypto wallet is worthless since you’ll be unable to access it.

That doesn’t mean there are no ways to access it, though. Generally, however, people stealing crypto don’t hold you at gunpoint and ask for your precious Bitcoin.

Instead, they attack apps or sites you trust, or masquerade as useful, perfectly clean services.

1.They target crypto exchanges

Individual theft of cryptocurrency happens. However, the most common way for cryptocurrency thieves to obtain your hard-earned crypto is by hacking into exchange sites.

Crypto exchange sites operate in particular ways, since they allow you to have a wallet with them where you can deposit and exchange currencies.

Therefore, you could think of these sites as huge crypto banks.

Since bank robbing has been the pastime for thieves for centuries, you’ll understand why this attracts them.

Generally, these hacks take a long time. A hacker will identify a vulnerability in the website’s code or functioning and use it to slowly gain access to user accounts.

Once he has it, he has to just transfer money to his account and run off with it.

TIP: Don’t leave crypto lying around in exchange sites. You want a private wallet to hold whatever crypto you’re saving, and you want to have it away from the internet.

The only money you must have in crypto exchanges is money you’re using or going to use soon.

2.They log your keys

Many people think spyware is a very 2004 thing. We have come a long way regarding computer security, with most systems coming with built-in anti-spyware, anti-keylogger features.

They’re basically parts of anti viruses now, so we should be able to do as we want, and the system should catch anything wrong.

Except that it won’t catch anything!

The way antiviruses or antispyware systems work is simple: They scan your system for known malware.

They have huge databases of how to identify and remove malware and go through it as they perform a scan. That’s about it.

Some have also extra features allowing them to scan running processes, trying to catch suspicious activity or programs attempting to gain permissions they don’t have.

So if a keylogger tries to run without your permission, they should catch it and-

We only wish it were that simple. In most cases, keyloggers come disguised as other software. When you install that software, they ask for permissions, and you happily grant them.

Your local antimalware sees it, but it notices it has your permission and the software isn’t in their database (yet.) So it lets it through.

And that’s how you get your keys logged. Once they log your keys, it’s simple for them to obtain your private key, access the blockchain as you, and do some good old stealing.

TIP: Don’t install things you can’t trust. Assume you can’t trust anything unless there’s enough proof of the opposite.

3.They go Trojan

Remember about the Trojan horse? How Troy was invaded by a bunch of men inside a huge horse the Trojans let in?
The same thing can happen in computers. Not every software is what it

seems. Particularly if that software is meant to handle sensitive data.

What this means is, some people will code software that looks like something genuine while instead doing something else. Sometimes the software will even do what it says it does… and a million other things.

In cryptocurrencies, it’s common for hackers to code amazing new wallets.

They come with offers and promise lots of things. They seem better than anything out there, and many times they work at first.

Until one day the hacker grabs all those private keys users stored in those wallets and uses them to rob them blind.

This type of hack with fake wallets is more common in Android and other mobile devices, but it can happen anywhere.

TIP: Don’t install new, “amazing” wallets. If it looks too good to be true, it’s probably very good at stealing your crypto. Only trust wallets the community has reviewed extensively.

Conclusion

The Internet age came with lots of convenience as well as severe threats. Same goes with the era of the blockchain.

Hackers roam the cyberspace always, looking for whom to devour.

As a crypto trader, stay alert always, and you will keep hackers at bay.

The 7 Must-Know Rules of Cryptocurrencies and Stock Market Investment

The 7 rules of cryptocurrencies and stock market investment will help you minimize your losses and maximize your gains.

Investors looking to make big profits from investing in stocks and cryptocurrency can be successful as long as they do it wisely.

For instance, investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies is time sensitive.

You have to make sure that the time is right. Besides investing at the right time, you will need exceptional investment strategies.

Only the most disciplined and skilled investors run away with the big profits. Although both stocks and cryptocurrencies have similar foundational investment principles, they are quite different. Here is how:

Stocks

Stocks are shares issued by listed companies and sold to investors as equity. Usually, the stock market or exchange is responsible for the various activities of investing, buying, or selling stocks.

In most cases, investors buy stocks intending to hold them for the long-term. Long-term investment of assets tends to pay much bigger profits as compared to short-term investments.

And unlike cryptocurrencies, investors who buy stocks are often paid dividends for the shares they hold. At average, stocks generate about 7% ROI year on year.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies without any physical presentations. Cryptocurrencies operate under Blockchain technology, and anyone can buy, trade, or sell them. This makes the market very risky and highly volatile to invest in.

Unlike the stock market, cryptocurrencies trading lack regulation as they lie in decentralized non-governmental nature.

Anyone regardless of their nationality can trade in cryptocurrencies. In fact, trading in Bitcoin is quite fast. For instance, using the Bitcoin lightning Network, Bitcoin transactions are almost instant with deficient fees.

To invest in Bitcoin, you need to do thorough research about the crypto industry. Otherwise, you may invest and end up losing all your investments.

In fact, most investors who trade cryptos use them as a store of value to allow them to appreciate.

Here is a stock and crypto trading guide to use if you want to invest successfully.

Rule 1: Know the basics

If you are beginning, it’s highly likely that you are eager to trade but don’t rush it. It’s vital to educate yourself thoroughly before investing.

Research the basics of the cryptocurrency industry including the Blockchain technology to fully understand how Bitcoin works. The same applies to stocks.

You have to familiarize yourself with certain investment terms such as circulating versus total supply, trading exchanges, inflation, Bitcoin wallets, and public and private keys among others.

If you can’t answer any basics questions related to such terms, then it means you aren’t well prepared to trade. Learn the basics first or seek the help of an expert.

Rule 2: Buy and hold

The easiest and most profitable investment strategy for trading both stocks and cryptocurrency is to buy and hold. Like Bitcoin investment, it may require you to hold your funds for some time.

However, it’s necessary for you to set up a specific trading rule. Of course, you can’t hold your stocks or coins forever. For Bitcoin, it was a wise decision to sell it when it went up to $20,000, if you bought it at a lower rate.

Investors who didn’t sell at that price may have missed their opportunity while hoping that it would rise higher. So, set a target and stick by it.

Rule 3: The fundamental analysis strategy

Fundamental analysis is a method of evaluating an asset by examining related financial, economic, and other qualitative and quantitative factors in the attempt to measure its intrinsic value.

Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world claims that this strategy is one of the best investment tools in the stock market.

Besides analyzing the financial factors of a particular asset, this method also uses the price to calculate the price to earnings ratios, and trends among others.

With such information, the investor can compare different assets and cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. Therefore, they can make an informed investment decision.

Rule 4: The dollar cost averaging strategy

This strategy requires you to buy a certain amount of stocks or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin each week or month.

This reduces the chances of buying high which may lead to massive losses, especially in the cryptocurrency market.

Investing in small amounts over time will keep your investment accumulating as time goes by. And, when the prices begin to rise, it will attract more buyers which in return will increase volume.

On the other hand, investors who bought Bitcoin at $20,000 are still facing massive losses as it’s currently trading at approximately $5300.

According to experts, it’s now a great time to try and invest in Bitcoin before its value rises again.

Rule 5 :Don’t overtrade

Stock and cryptocurrency investments have made some investors millionaires, if not billionaires. That said, most people want to become millionaires within a fortnight which in most cases is not practical.

For instance, many beginners may want to make about 20 trades a day which is, of course, very dangerous. At the end of the day, most of such investors end up losing a lot from fees or bad trades.

Stock and cryptocurrency investment is very risky, and once you make a mistake, you may end up losing more while trying to recover.

So, unless you are for sure an expert, there aren’t 20 or more trading opportunities within a day. Trading too much only leads to poor decision making and further losses.

Rule 6 : Don’t invest your life saving

The rule number one of investing primarily in cryptocurrencies is that you should never invest more than you are willing to lose. This means that you can’t use a loan or your life savings to buy Bitcoin.

Although investing can make you rich, only place whatever amount of money you are ready to lose. This way, whether the prices of your assets or tokens keep on swinging up and down, you will remain calm.

Otherwise, if you place more than you are willing to lose, you may end up in a hospital bed.

For instance, investors who bought Bitcoin at $20,000 are already at a profit considering that it beat the $23,oo0 mark by mid-December 2020.

Rule 7: Diversify your portfolio

Diversifying your portfolio not only means holding several cryptocurrencies or stocks.

Given the high volatility of the cryptocurrency market, it could be a wise decision to invest in both stocks and bonds as well as cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, if you choose to invest in either stocks or cryptocurrency, make sure you diversify further.For instance, if you are considering Bitcoin investing, invest in other coins too like Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash.

Looking Ahead

There is limitless room for opportunities in both the stock market and cryptocurrency investment. But, to succeed, you need to understand the market and yourself.

For instance, there some investors who like risky investments, others are conservative, while others prefer both high-risk and conservative trading.

Therefore, before investing in either Bitcoin or the stock market, be sure about your risk tolerance. It will dictate how successful you will be.

At the end of the day, it’s entirely you that can decide the best route to take towards building an impressive investment portfolio. Get your trading account today

The 10 Leading Stablecoins of 2019 and What You Should Expect

Stablecoins were the stars of the cryptocurrency firmament in 2018. Now, let us look at what the 2019 scene holds for them.

**Bitcoin and Litecoin at the background**

What is the leading stablecoin?

With the recent events in the cryptocurrency industry, investors are now seeking better ways of acquiring more gains by switching to more stable coins.

And, the recent ups and downs faced by cryptocurrencies especially in 2017/18, have positively impacted the rise of stablecoins.

Generally, stablecoins are cryptocurrencies with intrinsic values that are linked with fiat currencies such as the US dollar or other assets like gold.

They are more acceptable than cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin because they appear to be more stable and reliable. They offer a price peg for various goods and services while still maintaining the properties of a store of value and a medium of transfer.

Currently, there has been an influx of stablecoins in the market with a few of them presently trending. Here are the top 10 leading Stablecoins in 2019.

Tether (USDT)

Tether token, which is among the most successful Stablecoins in the world, was initially issued by the Tether Limited Company and it’s backed up by the US dollars. 1 Tether is equivalent to $1.

The USDT coin was therefore designed to settle payments in any asset or fiat currency that’s convertible to the U.S dollar.

The Tether token is available for trading in various cryptocurrency exchanges such as GoCoin, Shapeshift, and Bitfinex among other crypto exchange platforms.

TrueUSD (TUSD)

TrueUSD is another successful US-based token. It was developed by a US-based Fintech company known as the TrustToken.

The TrueUSD was initially designed to enable more efficient daily to daily financial transactions and the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.

The TrueUSD is a fiat-collateralized cryptocurrency that is legally backed making all its transactions as much transparent as possible. Additionally, all the financial transactions of this token are verified and attested by 3rd parties.

Given its underlying technology and its centralized nature, the TrueUSD will indeed flourish more in 2019.

BaseCoin

BaseCoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain its price stability by reducing high volatility experienced by many cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Its value is linked to the US dollar.

The BaseCoin token operates in a decentralized nature which makes it quite hard to verify how the market is adopting its tokens. Its data is majorly provided by 3rd parties.

MakerDao (DAI)

The MakerDao was initially launched in 2017 by the MakerDAO Company. Concerning the backing assets, DAI is unique as compared to other Stablecoins.

It uses a complex system of CDP- Collateral Debt Position, unlike other coins such Tether that is directly backed by the US dollar. The DAI token is supported with smart contracts that are designed to keep it stable.

Though the fact that the US dollar does not back the DAI coin still looks strange to many, significant investors such as a16z crypto fund by Andreessen Horowitz has shown considerable interest as it owns about 6% of DAI.

USDc (USDC)

The USD coin is a US-based startup launched by the Center consortium and Circle platform.

The USD coin is a promising coin that has shown much progress and is expected to grow rapidly in 2019. This coin is based on the ERC20 token protocol. 1 USDC is equivalent to 1 US dollar.

PaxoStandard (PAX)

PAX was initially approved on 10th September 2018 by the New York Financial Services Department.

PAX gets its monthly reports audited and published by Withum which is the leading American Audit firm.

Currently, PAX has gained favourable attention especially given the fact that it’s regulated and approved by the world’s first government.

Alchemist SDUSD

The NEO cryptocurrency Blockchain is the team behind the Alchemist. The NEO platform is decentralized and allows its users to issue the SDUSD tokens mainly based on user existing portfolios in the platform.

According to the NEO platform, the Alchemist token is designed to offer a solution to the rampant issues of volatility in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The coin is expected to make significant progress in the year 2019.

Gemini USD (GUSD)

Gemini Dollar is among the most accepted and latest Stablecoins in the market.

It was an ERC-20 token, released on 10th September 2018. The coin was created and released by cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini, that’s owned by the Winklevoss twins and operates on the Ethereum Blockchain platform.

The Gemini dollar is another unique Stablecoin that’s independently audited by the BPM Accounting and Consulting regularly.

Carbon

The carbon Stablecoin is built on Hashgraph, and it uses smart contracts to maintain its stability. It works on the Ethereum Blockchain system.

It’s was created to reduce the emission of toxic gases in the atmosphere in order to preserve the environment.

The carbon platform brings together environmental-related entities such as carbon emitters, clean energy generation companies, and other parties.

Given the recent global concern for environmental preservation in the world, the carbon Blockchain project will definitely succeed.

EpayUSD (EUSD)

The EpayUSD is a 3rd party payment company launched by Epay. It’s linked to the US dollar where 1 EUSD is equivalent to 1 US dollar.

The Epay’s Global Remittance Network uses the EUSD as an accounting symbol designed to accelerate capital circulation and transactions.

Conclusion

The advancement of stablecoins in the cryptocurrency industry is expected to rise given the fact that they are more viable and useful as a currency as compared to other cryptocurrencies.

However, we shouldn’t forget about the issue of volatility which is the major issue affecting the advancement of the cryptocurrencies.