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Tips and Guides on Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies

Top 7 Privacy Coins for 2021 – Best Private Cryptocurrencies

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Have you heard of Privacy coins? If not, are you aware of the term cryptocurrency? Of course, that’s a hot and trending topic these days. And, here we will be discussing the Top 7 Privacy Coins for 2021 and their rising popularity.

One of the reasons why cryptocurrencies have gained traction is because of the privacy and anonymity it promises. A most important step from a cybersecurity perspective as users safeguard their wallets, encrypt all sensitive information while concealing their identities.

Here, we look at some of the top privacy coins that will rock 2021. They boast amazing built-in features that offer privacy and security. 

Before diving in, let’s learn what exactly is private cryptocurrency?

What is Private Cryptocurrency or Privacy Coin?

As the name suggests, they are private cryptocurrencies. This means every transaction activity, balances, wallet addresses are private to the user and are untraceable. Privacy coins ensure complete privacy as users can hide their identity and origin of information while making transactions. 

Why Should You Use Private Cryptocurrency?

While many think that the well-known BTC is private it is possible to trace every transaction related to your wallet’s address. Bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous. It can protect your information, but not all of it. 

For instance, everyone can still see the transaction details, including balance, size, and destinations. Even though observers might not know the identity of each wallet owner. All it takes is a tech-savvy, skilled in all things cryptocurrency expert to track all your transaction information and link it to your identity.

This is where private coins come into play. The creators believe everyone has the right to the utmost privacy. They take bitcoin to a whole new level that makes transaction information private without leaving any traces. This doesn’t mean they are transacting in secrecy or have anything under their sleeves to hide. They still operate on open public ledgers while empowering users by making anonymous transactions and keep every detail away from the prying eyes. 

Private cryptocurrency advocates also believe that all transactions will go digital in the future. To prevent everyone’s private financial information from being easily exposed, private coins become important.  

Top 7 Privacy Coins for 2021

Here are the trending privacy coins that you must know about:

1. Monero

This is one of the most popular private coins on the planet. By market cap, it is also one of the widely used private coins that anonymize users, untraceable, and unlinkable transactions. It is powered by ring signatures, stealth addresses, and ring confidential addresses. This makes it difficult to trace the parties involved in the transactions and the transaction details. 

Moreover, when you share your recipient address or make it public, it doesn’t disclose the transaction amount, thanks to the Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT). Hence, providing more privacy. 

2. Dash

Dash is the first-ever privacy coin to emerge and the name DASH simply means digital and cash. It was launched in 2014 and was built on a blockchain that bitcoin uses. It seeks to address areas of bitcoins’ weaknesses which include anonymity and privacy. 

This currency provides the option of whether you want a transaction to be private or not through the PrivateSend feature. Choosing to use the PrivateSend feature can attract some fees. 

Dash has won the heart of many because it offers better privacy and a speedy transaction process((InstantSend), than bitcoin. This is achieved through powerful servers called master nodes. 

3. Zcash

Many believe Zcash is by far the most private coin and this is further buttressed by its description “If Bitcoin is like HTTP for money, Zcash is HTTPS”. This coin seeks to address the issue of taking advantage of privacy for illegal activities. This is because, like bitcoin, a transaction is posted on a public blockchain, while your personal information and transaction details remain confidential.

It makes use of a technological tool called Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive or simply zk-SNARKs. This keeps participants shielded, allowing for anonymous trading. Users have control over their transactions and they can hide or reveal their address. 

One of the cons is that Zcash doesn’t provide privacy by default and there are different types of transactions with varying degrees of privacy. 

4. Verge

Verge is described as a coin that is built for people and everyday use. This open-source, decentralized cryptocurrency claims to give importance to the privacy and anonymity of those using it. Verge uses anonymity -centric networks such as The Onion Router (TOR) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P).

The Onion Router (TOR) runs across multiple different networks across the globe to conceal the user’s location. Invisible Internet Project (I2P) on the other hand, encrypts the data before it is sent through. This way, the location and Ip address are obfuscated which makes the transaction and identity of the user untraceable. 

5. Beam

Having been launched in 2019, Beam is one of the newest private coins. Beam takes pride in its scalable and confidential privacy coin without compromising performance. While other private coins require an opt-in, Beam provides privacy by default. This means users have complete control over personal data and no private information is stored on the blockchain. 

It also offers advanced scalability by keeping its blockchain compact and lean, allowing online and offline transactions, and supporting escrow and atomic swaps. 

6. Zcoin

Zcoin is a privacy-centric coin based on Zerocoin protocol to provide anonymous transactions in a scalable way. Zerocoin was originally designed to be an extension of bitcoin to promote anonymity-enhancing transactions. However, it is currently not compatible with bitcoin. 

It uses the most advanced cryptography and pseudonyms to provide maximum protection and prevent information leakage. The zero-knowledge proofs, pass-thrus, tested encryption, help to create a barrier to information that even modern computers find hard to peek through. Hence, preserving the privacy and integrity of users. 

7. Horizen

This is also another coin that aims to provide users total control of their transactions. It is developed as a hard fork from the privacy-focused coin, Zcash. It has the largest node networks in the industry powering the ecosystem and offering enhanced security. It offers two kinds of addresses that are Z-Addresses and public T-Addresses.

Privacy Coins – A Final Take

Privacy and anonymity is an attractive feature in the crypto world. That is why many are coming up with private coins that help fulfill these much-needed features. However, some of these private coins can be a target for criminal activities if they are left unregulated. 

Arweave: Decentralised Data made easy

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If you have created a smart contract on ethereum and your code ends up storing a  lot of data on ethereum you would have realized how costly and inefficient it is. Ethereum and most other blockchains are state machines and processing powerhouses hence are not the best way to store data. So anyone who is building an app will need a way to interact with external databases if the app/user needs to interact with large content.

As blockchain services gain in popularity and more and more app development starts happening on blockchains . Need for a low-cost, scalable and reliable way of storing data keeps going up

Arweave (earlier known as  Archain) is a blockchain-based platform that provides scalable low-cost on-chain data storage.

4 Key Pillars of Airweave

  • Blockweave is the blockchain structure behind Arweave’s project that allows for a low-cost on-chain storage. As the amount of data stored increases, the amount of hashing needed for consensus decreases, which reduces the cost of storing data. The main benefits of storing data on-chain is that it becomes part of the consensus mechanism, but most importantly, it gives Arweave’s users the ability to pay once and store forever.
  • Proof of Access: a new consensus mechanism. Instead of competing who can solve puzzles (tasks) and use the exponential amount of electricity (as in common PoW consensus mechanism), miners will compete who can replicate the most data, which assures that the energy (electricity) used while mining will decrease over time.
  • Wildfire– it’s an incentive mechanism that stimulates miners to share data with each other. The faster data is stored and shared with other miners in the network, the easier it will be for a miner to build a positive reputation. As nodes in block weave networks require fast access to data in order to mine in an efficient way, they are incentivised to share data to other members of the network quickly and continuously, autonomously improving the sharing experience by making it much faster.
  • Blockshadows: Arweave’s goal is to create long-term on-chain data storage and to make that possible, the network has to support unlimited sized blocks. Arweave uses a system that decouples transaction distribution from that of block distribution in the network. Only a “shadow”(important basic information like transaction hashes, wallet list hash) of the block is moved around the system instead of the full block itself. This allows for higher speed and scalability topping at around 5000 transactions per second. Think of shadow blocks as blocks that contain valuable, yet very low in size, information that can be moved in the system allowing for high speed and no congestion.

Key Use cases:

  • Decentralized data storage: personal and corporate files can be stored for a single fee instead of monthly subscription. The price of AR tokens can be cheaper than the monthly fees paid for competitors such as Filecoin (blockchain space) or AWS. Data availability is almost instant due to the design of the blockchain incentive mechanism
  • Decentralized data sharing: content can be uploaded anonymously and shared with anybody. Math pricing function that allows for load-balancing demand and supply at fair prices.
  • Decentralized data collaboration: Allows for availability of experimental databases for review meaning anybody can challenge and/or confirm its quality. The academic publishing market is around 25 billion USD and Arweave has already partnered with Charité (check partners) in that regard.
  • Decentralized data Identity/Protection: Content created online can be timestamped and provide proof of ownership
  • AR (native token) is utility token. AR’s primary use is to add data to the blockweave

Competition:

Some of the key competitors are

  • Sia,
  • Storj,
  • Filecoin,
  • Bluzelle,

Filed Under: ICO

Sentinel Chain : Blockchain Solutions for Farmer Distress

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According to data available, more than 70000 farmers committed suicide in India in the year 2016. While the numbers are not very high as compared to other demographics what is striking is unlike other demographics majority of suicide as per data available with NCRB are due to economic distress. Below graph captures the stark difference between reasons behind farmer suicides and others

 

Source : NCRB

Some of the key reasons for increasing farmer distress are:

  1. Increasing cost of inputs resulting in farming becoming unviable
  2. Low access to formal banking systems and loans resulting in farmers taking money from money lenders and falling in a debt trap
  3. No or very low penetration of Crop insurance
  4. No direct access to markets for selling crops

A country of 1Billion plus like India where the majority of the population is still involved in farming or farm-related activities farmer distress is a real problem.

Some of you guys will be surprised how come a blockchain and Crypto focussed blog discussing social issues like Farmer Distress.

Well the Reason is I stumbled across a new product Sentinel Chain

Sentinel Chain is trying to use blockchain to provide financial inclusion to unbanked, especially farmers. Sentinel Chain is led by Roy Lai.

And as per their website:

“The Sentinel Chain is a B2B marketplace specifically designed to provide affordable and secure financial services to the unbanked.”

Checkout the video to understand problem Sentinel Chain is trying to solve

 

Sentinel Chain plans to offer a SENC token with following utilities.

  1. Insurance Marketplace where insurance companies can publish livestock insurance based on livestock available on cross pay blockchain
  2. Loans available from local finance companies based on loan agreements on CrossPay Blockchain hedged on livestock collateral.
  3. RFID tagging  livestock to ensure adding these as assets in financial economy
  4. Peer to Peer funding for lock microfinance companies based on sentinel blockchain
  5. epayments using Sentinel tokens

Looking at stress Farmers in India and across many other countries in Asia are facing we need innovative and out of box solutions to help farmers and nothing better than creating value out of existing assets and connecting them with the global marketplace.

Details of the Sentinel Platform

Sentinel Platform constitutes following key components

• Livestock Identification Tag

  1. Livestock ID Tag is an RFID enabled tamper-proof and theft-proof tags which can store data and interact with Cross pay blockchain.
  2. Livestock tag holds geolocation and timestamp data and is single use only and gets destroyed on removal

 CrossPay Mobile Application

The CrossPay Mobile application is designed to deliver financial services over mobile and will allow transactions and access to balances etc at the last mile i

CrossPay Blockchain

The CrossPay Blockchain is a B2C financial ecosystem specifically designed for the unbanked. Managed and operated within a local geography, it is accessible via the CrossPay Mobile application – a simple mobile interface built for Android.

 Sentinel Chain

The Sentinel Chain is designed to be a B2B marketplace platform for financial inclusion services based on the use of livestock as collaterals. t Sentinel Chain and the CrossPay Blockchains creates a hub-and-spoke ecosystem specifically designed to provide a low-cost cross-border financial infrastructure.

Sentinel Chain-Token

The Sentinel Chain-Token (SENC) will be an ERC20-compatible token on the public Ethereum blockchain that allows global financial service providers and cryptocurrency holders to participate in the Sentinel Chain marketplace. So SENC will drive all the transactions on Sentinel Chain platform.

My Analysis

Sentinel Chain looks to be an interesting project and if they can create an infrastructure to help financial inclusion of farmers it can be a game changer. Obviously it needs to be seen how they roll out and how they integrate and partner with local financial players to ensure they deliver value on the ground we will be tracking this project and I am also trying to reach out to their team to understand this project more and hopefully update this post.

Filed Under: ICO

Tomocoin: Scalable Blockchain for Scalable Consumer Apps

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The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with a mathematical proof that something happened.              
Adam Draper
 Public Blockchains are rearchitecting the very basics of the internet. Decentralized Applications come with many advantages which have been well documented and agreed upon. Some of the key features of decentralized Apps are
  1. Immutability – A third party cannot make changes to data its all public and replicated at multiple nodes.
  2. Corruption & tamper proof – Apps are based on consensus-based and hence censor-proof and governed by mathematical laws.
  3. Secure – With no central point of failure and secured using cryptography, they are hack-resistant
  4. Zero downtime – No central server hence apps never go down

Some of these are great advantages creating decentralized systems also comes up with its own set of problems and one of the biggest problems decentralized systems have faced is Scalability. The belo graph shows how Ethereum pending transactions shot up when a viral Ethereum DAPP Cryptokitties got released, Just one viral app brought the system to its knees.

Key Challenges of Blockchain Platforms like Ethereum

As Cryptokitties and many times, multiple ICO events at the same time have shown Ethereum and all other blockchain platforms have a real scaling issue. High Network congestions another ancillary problem of high fees purely governed by economics with people ready to pay more GWEI to get their transaction through which it attracts more miners until we have some equilibrium and as transaction queue reduces

So to support multiple commercial apps on the network Public blockchains have to scale multiple times from current levels and not just scale they have to scale in a way that transaction costs remain affordable, we do not just want decentralized Visa but we want decentralized Visa at lower costs.

Enter Tomochain…

Tomochain wants to mainstream decentralized consumer and social apps, and bring low-cost( free) instantaneous transactions on blockchain to solve the scalability issues and usher in a new era of decentralized consumer apps.

You can check out the detailed roadmap of Tomochain here

Below is the basic flow of How Tomochain plans to go about creating a blockchain for Distributed consumer apps.

TomChain On Mainnet Launch

Tomochain at main net launch will introduce a network of chains with will support decentralized apps with following key features

  1. Super Scalable with instant confirmation for transactions
  2. Interoperable with ethereum blockchain and uses atomic cross chain transfers
  3. Zero fee for transactions
  4. Decentralized public blockchain
  5. Tomcoin will be the currency/transaction protocol for the network
  6. Proof Of Authority (POA) to build consensus on different nodes.

Tomochain Versus Ethereum

Here is a Summary of comparison of Tomochain with Ethereum

So How is Tomochain looking to realize its Vision

Tomochain is following a different approach to building the blockchain network.They are building first a consumer side app TomaoAPP It is a social question answer app basically a Decentralized Quora .

So Tomoapp will be the test bed of Tomochain. TomoApp will directly compete with Steemit  and Quora ( PopCentralizedlized Question Answer platform)

So essential Roadmap for Tomochain platform is opposite how ethereum or other blockchains got built they are starting with an APP and then building a network which supports these APPs and fast transactions followed by a wallet and set of API’s.

 

 

Tomocoin ICO Details

Basic information:

Homepage: tomocoin.io

ICO date: March 01

Total supply: 100 million TMC

Token: Smart Contract based on Ethereum (ERC20) platform. Symbol: TMC

Hardcap: $8.5 million

Token price: 1$ = 4 TMC

Tomochain Leadership Team

Long Vuong: CEO of TomoChain and founder of Tomo app,

Erstwhile co-founder and the former project lead of NEM blockchain (New Economy Movement).

Son Nguyen : Chief Technology Officer, Director of Engineering of Tomo app.

Experience Blockchain leads developer founder of the Blockchain Developer group with more than 700 developers.

Tung Hoang Front-end Engineering Manager, Co-founder of Tomo app; product manager,

Minh Chu is Blockchain and Product Leader, Chief Cloud Architect of VCCloud . Security expert.

 

Filed Under: ICO

What is an ICO? ICO Meaning and Definition

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ICO(Initial Coin offering)  is a mechanism to crowdfund Startup projects or existing projects using cryptocurrency tokens. ICO started as a way to crowdfund blockchain projects using platform tokens but is now being used to raise money for all kind of projects new projects or existing projects by issuing tokens which can have some utility on the platform or simply be a token to raise money. ICOs are disrupting the existing venture investment and are creating a brand new way of raising money

 

Here is what some of the best thinkers in the world are telling saying about ICOs

Structure of ICOs

ICOs are structured in some of the following ways.

  1. Private pre-sale followed by public pre-sale followed by public flash sale
  2. Prive pre-sale followed by public sale
  3. Only a public sale
  4.  Dutch type public sale with prices determined public

History of ICOs( Initial Coin Offerings)

While crowdfunding as a means of financing has been around for many years. With many different models tried and used in the market. Some of the popular models for crowdfunding are :

  1. Donation
  2. Equity
  3. Interest
  4. Reward

ICO or Initial coin offerings do not neatly fit into any of these models. So any crowdfunding project cannot be called an ICO.

ICO is a very recent phenomenon. One of the first major tokens which were offered in an ICO to the public is Ripple.Ripple offered tokens to the public back in 2013. As is typical with Crowdsale of ICO the tokens were used to help build the Ripple platform.

Another early ICO was erstwhile Mastercoin now named as Omni which was designed as a cryptocurrency and communication platform on top of bitcoin platform. Master coin raised 500k in the first round and about 550 k subsequently in 2014. Mastercoin was later rebranded as OMNI.

One of the earliest popular ICO was for Ethereum.Ethereum tokens were launched in July 2014. The initial price of ethereum was pegged to BTC and was set at 2000 ETH per BTC. Ethereum raised about 20 million from the ICO and was the biggest ICO at its time. Since then many big ICOs have launched with Bancor launching in mid of 2016 and raising about 15o million USD.

Some of the popular cryptocurrencies which launched with an ICO include Stratis, Lisk, Stellar. Neo is one of the biggest and foremost cryptocurrencies to launch from China.

 

Top Blockchain Platforms  enabling ICOs

Ethereum is the most popular platform powering token sales and ICOs. An ERC20 token is the most popular token used for ICO by different projects. ERC20 has become a standard for issuing tokens. In fact, ICOs have surprisingly turned out to be one of the most popular applications of ethereum platform.

Neo is the other popular blockchain platform which is being used for ICO tokens. Most of the ICOs project built by Chinese and East Asian entrepreneurs are being launched on the NEO Platform.

Stratis and QTUM are other platforms which are trying to crack the ICO use case.

Differences Between ICO and IPO

ICO is an offering of token which can be utility or non utility while IPO refers to

1. ICO is a token offering IPO is an offering of securities within a company.

2. Tokens offered in ICO do no have any legal backing, securities or stocks offered in IPO have a legal backing.

3. ICO or token sale does not give you any ownership or any other right in the company, Stock IPOs give you ownership of the company

4. IPOs are strictly regulated by the stock market regulator in all countries like SEC does in the United States. So if you go and do an IPO there are myriad guidelines and rules you need to follow. In case of ICOs, there are no regulations and not many rules you need to follow. So regulators provide reasonable protection for investors from any fraudulent offering.

Legality Of ICO

Depends on what jurisdiction you are talking about. At present participation in most of the ICOs in the US is illegal. Similarly, in China all ICOs are illegal. Most of the countries have taken an ambivalent stance to ICOs. SEC has recently come with guidelines where they have differentiated between utility tokens and other tokens. Utility tokens give holders of these token access to a particular product or protocol. SEC has clarified Utility tokens are not financial security. while other ICOs whose sole purpose is to pump up value speculatively they are under the scanner

Top performing ICOs till Date

Some of the best performing ICOs till date are

  1. Ripple
  2. Ethereum
  3. Stratis
  4. Stellar Lumens
  5. Dash
  6. Monero

How to evaluate an ICO

ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a risky asset hence you have to be careful in investing in ICO. Evaluating ICO is also a  tricky exercise and no standard models are available to evaluate ICOs. So if you are looking to invest in ICOs here are some key parameters you should look at

  1. Team: As ICOs are offered for projects which are in very early stage and in most cases do not have a working product or an traction it is very important that it is backed by a competent team. Do review the quality of the team, what they have done in past, their LinkedIn profiles, github commits etc.
  2. Developer and Community: How many developers from the community are contributing to the code. Non-Open source projects might not be the best projects to bet on.
  3. Blockchain Requirement: Some of the ICO projects have nothing to do with blockchain and only use blockchain as marketing gimmick check stay away from such ICOs.
  4. Valuation: At the end, you also should worry about valuation that a project is looking at. Are the founders trying to raise more money then they require or should be raising?
  5. Token Utility: What is the utility of the token in the ecosystem

 

Filed Under: ICO

Dogecoin(DOGE) Wallets: Best wallets for Dogecoin

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So Finally you decided to invest in Dogecoin(DOGE) but not sure of the wallet to keep your Dogecoin safe ? Worry not, you have come to the correct post, here will look at the best Dogecoin/DOGE wallets that you can try to store your Dogecoin. Here is the list of best Dogecoin wallets

Dogecoin Wallets:

Dogecoin has established the fact that ‘Wonders will never cease’ and has unanimously joined the league of top rated crypto-currencies. Find out the wallet options to keep your Dogecoins safe and secure.

The available types of wallet to store the Dogecoins extends to five type of wallets i.e desktop wallet, mobile wallet, web/online wallet, paper wallet and Hardware wallet.

    • MultiDoge: 
    • Dogecoin Core
    • Holy Transaction
    • Cryptonator Online Wallet
    • QoinPro
    • KeepKey: KeepKey is a hardware wallet that supports the various types of digital currencies. Items in the list of currency include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Dash etc. The wallet is wonderfully designed that projects a sophisticated OLED display. Secured by the Pin/Password for the device, Keepkey ensure the protection of the private key.
    • Trezor T:
    • Ledger Blue:
    • Ledger Nano S: Ledger Nano S is a compact electronic device to provide a safe custody to the private keys of your crypto coins. It is compatible with the Windows, Linux and Mac hence can be brought to function by plugging it into the system via USB. It has an OLED display that projects the sensitive content, keeping it away from the reach of the cyber-criminals that could possibly obtain an unauthorized access to your web, mobile, and desktop.The experts have always recommended the use of hardware wallets to keep the crypto-currency, and Ledger Nano S is one prominent choice for it.

List of places that authenticate the Dogecoin:

  • A tipping coin in the Social Media: Dogecoin is commonly regarded as a tipping currency for rewarding the good content over the internet. Twitter and Reddit are among the prevalent communities.
  • Buying of Goods and Services: The Dogecoin is widely accepted as a valid currency in a number of places offering distinctive goods and services. A list is enclosed for your reference :

    Hosting Services:
    AllGamerFoods and Drinks:
    Strange Donuts
    Burger Bear
    Salt’s Worldwide
    SteemGoods:
    Mineral Pharmacy
    Doge Door
    Vapeurcanada

    Markets:
    BitcoinShop
    DogeStuff’s Store
    DogeEshop

    Pitfalls for Dogecoins:

Low cost: The network of Dogecoin may seemingly be growing but not its value. It currently stands for 0.00000022 against a Bitcoin. Reviewing it from an investment point, it is a daunting fact that may not promote the investment by the serious investors and bubble of temporary fan following may burst at any given point in time.

At this point, we will like to take a chance to post a bit of history for Dogecoin.

A bit of history

‘Expect the Unexpected’ should be the tagline for the ‘Celebrity Guest’ of this post (Dogecoin). Can you figure out the reasons for it? Well, I am sure, you must have concluded a few in your mind already! Allow me to present my version to the above context in this post.

Where the phenomenon of crypto-currency has added many thrills in the currency notion, the entry of Dogecoin into the list of leading crypto-currencies has left the masses absolutely spellbound, because unlike other crypto-currencies, it has certainly not been based on the preconceived notion of emerging as an internet currency.

For instance, Bitcoin was invented with a motive to run decentralized currency regime, Ethereum was designed to favor the community of millions of software developers in place of a few privileged firms, whereas the evolution of Dogecoin happened to be by chance after gaining the immense popularity that created its own network of millions of users. The Dogecoin has emerged as a Dark Horse in the race of crypto-currencies.

Let’s pursue further to dig into all the facts of Dogecoin:

What is a Dogecoin?

Dogecoin, as the name suggests, is a crypto-currency inspired by the famous meme called ‘Doge’ devised from a Japanese breed of dog namely Shiba Inu. It is symbolized as Doge or Ð. It is majorly based on Litecoin with a few changes in its structure.

Doge’ stole the people’s attention and became a hilarious sensation in a flash. Eventually, Billy Markus based in Portland, Oregon pondered over and utilized its fame by creating a coin called Dogecoin. It has successfully managed to gain the immense popularity by forming its own network of millions of users. It has reached a net worth of about $ 60 million in January 2014, and at $340 million in June 2017. The maximum supply of the Dogecoin is subjected to 100,000,000,000 DOGE.

It was initiated as a joke currency but due to the efficiency in transacting the coins instantly ensured its success. The easy transfer of funds expanded the market of Dogecoin.

Basics of the Dogecoin:

  • Founders:  Billy Markus
  • Total Coin Supply: 100,000,000,000 DOGE
  • Date of Introduction: December 8, 2013
  • Coins Mined: As at November 2017, over 111 billion coins had been mined
  • Algorithm :Scrypt
  • Value of Dogecoin against Bitcoin: 0.00000022
  • Value of Dogecoin against Dollar: 0. 00086762


What sets Dogecoin apart from the other Crypto- Currencies or prominently a Bitcoin?

The Dogecoin community is a friendly network that has been initiated on a very playful note. Let’s analyze the case of Bitcoin with regard to the Dogecoin and see what exactly sets it apart.

Bitcoin was started with an intention of creating a decentralized currency system, that should serve on the positive grounds like easy and faster fund transfer, low transaction fee so on and so forth. Eventually, with a huge leap in its value and it has become a convenient medium of money laundering, that certainly was not a planned part of the game by its creators.

On the other hand, Dogecoin embarked its journey on a light note, creating a community of fun-loving, easy-going masses. To the amazement, the Dogecoin succeded in the path of gaining immense popularity but its value is left in creeping number which stands at 0.00000022 Dogecoin against a Bitcoin. Consequently, Dogecoin has not drawn the undesired outcome of serving the people in grey shades, like the way it happened in case of Bitcoin.

Apart from it, Dogecoin is also lending active participation in the charitable activities. Doge 4 Water is one such initiative which accepts the donation (in Dogecoin) to raise the money for drinking water in Tana River Basin in Kenya for the construction of well and tanks in water deficient area.

Common FAQ’s on Dogecoin:

  • Can Dogecoin be bought from fiat currency?
    Yes, (USD and more)

We will keep updating the post with more Dogecoin wallets from time to time. Stay Tuned !!

Bitcoin Cash(BCH) Wallet: List of Top wallets and exchanges for Bitcoin Cash

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In this post, we look at Bitcoin cash(BCH) Wallets. The post reviews top wallets supporting bitcoin cash. This is a dynamic post and we will keep updating as we keep reviewing new BCH wallets. Lets jump on straight with the Bitcoin cash Exchanges and Wallets.

Bitcoin Cash(BCH) Exchanges:

  1. Via BTC                                                                                                                                                                                           
  2. BITTREX                                                                                                                                                                                        
  3. Kraken                                                                                                                                                                                             
  4. BITFINEX                                                                                                                                                                                       
  5. KEX                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  6. BTC BOX                                                                                                                                                                                         
  7. KORBIT                                                                                                                                                                                           
  8. Toubi.com
  9. Coinfloor                                                                                                                                                                                         
  10. Hit BTC                                                                                                                                                                                            
  11. BTC POP                                                                                                                                                                                           
  12. BITSTAREX                                                                                                                                                                                   
  13. MERCADO BITCOIN                                                                                                                                                                   
  14. Huobi.com                                                                                                                                                                                      

BitCoin Cash Wallets:

As we all are well versed with the facts and types of digital wallets that serves the purpose of providing a safe custody to the keys. Here is the list of wallets that are fully in sync with the current hard fork of Bitcoin i.e Bitcoin Cash. One of the requirements to deal with the newborn hard fork thread of Bitcoin is to acquire a wallet that works well with it.

So folks, let us explore the wallet options to keep the Bitcoin Cash:

1.Coinomi: Established in the year 2014, Coinomi is a digital mobile wallet firm that secures the private keys of multiple currency types like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin etc. The wallet services are currently available for the android versions but soon will be rolled out for the IOS version as well. Coinomi can readily be installed from the Google app store that offers the robust security features for a safe custody of your currency keys. It also extends the service of Bitcoin conversion in the other currency forms (USD, EURO etc) that are universally accepted. The only lacking in this digital wallet is that it does not allow the multi-signature support.                                                                                                                  

2.Bitcoin Classic: Bitcoin Classic is prevailing as a desktop wallet to store your currency keys. It is consistent with the operating system of Windows, Mac, and Linux.                                                                                                                                                  

3.Bitcoin Unlimited: Bitcoin Unlimited is a desktop wallet that supports the Bitcoin Cash. It is fully congruent with the  Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.                                                                                                                                                 

4.Trezor: Trezor is a renowned brand of hardware wallet for keeping the private keys of the virtual currencies. Trezor is best known for its authentic and strong security features. It supports the two-factor authentication, meaning multi-signature support. Trezor is a multi-currency wallet, adaptable to the software of TREZOR Wallet, Mycelium, Electrum, Etherwall and lot more. Chrome and Firefox are the trusted browsers to carry out the transactions safely with the Trezor device.                                                                                                                                               

5.BTC.com: BTC.com is a web and mobile wallet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

6.Ledger : (hardware wallet): Ledger Nano S is a multi-currency hardware wallet, that gives a safe purview to your digital keys. Featuring a USB attachment and OLED display, the  Ledger Nano S allows a double check for each transaction with a single tap. The compatibility of the Ledger Nano S stands for the system like Windows (7+), Mac (10.8+), Linux or Chrome OS etc. Ledger Nano S establishes a quick sync with the digital wallet software of Ledger Wallet Ripple, Ledger Wallet Bitcoin, GreenBits, MyEtherWallet etc.                                                                                               

7.Electron Cash (Desktop and Mobile Wallet): Splitting the ways from original bitcoin wallet Electrum, Electron Cash is the fork for managing the keys for Bitcoin Cash, which is easily available for the Android version. Electron Cash being a desktop wallet too, operates for the systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

8.Cash Address: Cash Address is a paper wallet where all the necessary data pertaining to a particular user is enclosed in a paper. The best trait of Cash Address Wallet is the protection of the sensitive data (currency keys) from the cyber frauds. The other side of the coin is that in the event of its loss/misplacement, the key can easily be misused by the person other than the concerned party.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

9.Keepkey: Keepkey is a hardware wallet with superior features to protect the encrypted key of your currency. it supports the multiple forms of virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Ehereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Namecoin and Dash. It comes with the OLED display and confirmation button to verify the transactions. The downside of Keepkey wallet is its cumbersome built which puts the hurdle in the way of it being handy.                                                                                                                                                

10.Jaxx: Jaxx is a mobile and desktop wallet supporting Bitcoin Cash, Ehereum, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Litecoin etc. It is developed by Kryptokit. Offering simple interface, Jaxx displays the spendable balance and operates on automate updations rather than personal customisation. Jaxx is available for Windows, Apple, Linux desktop along with the Android, iOS mobile and tablet serving in the capacity of being a mobile wallet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

So before we jump to looking at the wallets which support Bitcoin cash, let us look back at the genesis of Bitcoin Cash. How the hard fork happened. And how Bitcoin cash has been doing till now

A bit of History:

If you were only looking for BCH wallets, you can drop out and just leave your comment in the post to interact :). For curious soul, we have aggregated a bit of timeline and history of Bitcoin cash, keep reading.

Time Line for Bitcoin Cash

A notable explanation to the hard and soft forks:

Andreas Antonopoulos describes the difference between hard and soft fork like this:

If a vegetarian restaurant would choose to add pork to their menu it would be considered to be a hard fork. if they would decide to add vegan dishes, everyone who is vegetarian could still eat vegan, you don’t have to be vegan to eat there, you could still be vegetarian to eat there and meat eaters could eat there too so that’s a soft fork.

Amaury Séchet revealed the Bitcoin ABC (Adjustable Blocksize Cap) project and announced the upcoming hard fork. Following the announcement, and after Bitcoin ABC’s first client release, the project “Bitcoin Cash” (BCC) was announced which came into full effect on August 1, 2017.

Key Features of Bitcoin Cash

  1. PoW (Proof of work)- The PoW algorithm for BitCoin Cash (BCH) is SHA256
  2. The mining hardware for BitCoin Cash remains unchanged as that of Bitcoin,i.e. ASIC mining hardware.
  3.  The block size of BitCoin Cash has been expanded to 8 MB.
  4. The block interval time of the Bitcoin Cash is 10 minutes likewise its other forks/folks.
  5. Bitcoin Cash does not have ‘Replace by fee’ feature, meaning low-fee transactions to be rebroadcasted and include a higher fee.
  6. It does have replay and wipe out protection
  7. It does not follow the Segwit model of extended block (separate block for digital signatures)

Key Differences between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin

The evident difference between the Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash lies in the block size that allows the expeditious process of recording entries in the ledger giving room to more number of transactions in concert than it used to allow earlier. The lowering of transaction fee with the increased size of the block was yet another attractive attribute of Bitcoin Cash that worked in the best interests of the major community of Bitcoin than a small pool of miners. Making Bitcoin a more viable option for the general masses, Bitcoin Cash has effectively dealt with the fallacy of block size surfacing the progressive path of the first ever cryptocurrency i. e Bitcoin!

Conclusion: The numerous options in terms of desktop, mobile, web, hardware and paper wallets are available suiting the distinctive needs and requirements of the customers. Each category is equipped with certain pros and cons. For instance, where on one side, hardware wallets provide more advanced and superior features than the paper wallet, so is it exposed to the greater risk of cyber frauds. Similarly, where mobile wallets play its best for being a flexible mode but somewhere lacks in comparison to the desktop wallets with regard to the strict security vigil. The choice of wallet must be made keeping in view the purpose and frequency of ones indulgence in the play of virtual currency.

Ripple (XRP) Wallet: Best Ripple Wallets for 2021

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Ripple is amongst top 5 cryptocurrency by market cap currently being close to 27.4 Billion Dollars. In this post, we look at Best Ripple wallets available in the market. This is a holistic list of online, android and iOS Ripple wallets. In Short, If you are looking for a Review of Ripple wallets you have arrived a the right place. Before we jump to Best Ripple wallets, Let us have a quick introduction of Ripple.

What is Ripple 

Ripple is essentially a new payment/transaction settlement protocol built on top of blockchain which allows for real-time settlement of transactions, currency exchange, and faster remittances. Ripple protocol is a distributed open source internet protocol built on consensus ledger( Ripple blockchain) and its own cryptocurrency Ripple(XRP).

Ripple (symbolized as XRP) is a fast-growing crypto-currency that unlike its peers, works on the principle of centralized mechanism i. e it is being controlled, managed and monitored by its founder firm.

The Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple. Ripple aspires to ensure the transparency, security, and authenticity of a transaction (fund transfer). The stand out point for ripple is the 3.5 second transaction time that has led its adoption in nearly 40 banks in Japan.

We have come up with a quick and concise guide to store your Ripple Coins. Follow the post ahead to find the best wallet options.

Brief History about Ripple and Key Partnerships

Ripple is based in California and was initially called as Opencoin. The notion of the decentralized monetary channel to transfer the funds effortlessly was conceptualized by Ryan Fugger which later evolved into its own currency system. On April 2013, it acquired SimpleHoney and later in the month of September it changed its name from OpenCoin to Ripple Labs Inc. CrossCoin advanced a great support to popularise the Ripple  Labs.

Ripple also went into partnership with ZipZap and became the founding member of DATA (Digital Asset Transfer Authority).

Important Noting: Ripple Wallets block the 20 XRP’s (Ripple Coins) for the allotment and booking of your wallet address. This refrains the audience from adopting multiple wallets and sticks to the single best option to avoid the double expense.

Best Ripple Wallets for 2018

Ledger Nano S (Hardware Wallet):

Floating in the category of hardware wallet, Ledger Nano S is the preferred option by the customer to store their currency keys/seeds. It is a multi-currency wallet that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Stratis, Zcash and much more. It is a mobile option that you can carry along and which provides strong security features at the same time. The only turn down for Ledger Nano S is that it does not support the multi-signature feature. The wallet costs around 00 (US$70).

Pros:

  • Provides strong security features
  • Multi-currency wallet
  • Organic LED display
  • Cold wallet option with online wallet functionality

Cons:

  • Expensive with regard to online wallets.
  • Yet to established as a brand.

Gatehub (Website Wallet):

Gatehub is an online wallet option to store your Ripple coins with utmost ease. It is the official wallet of XRP that offers a user-friendly interface to create your account in a blink of an eye and get started with the trading. The transfer of funds (XRP) is facilitated by entering the simple details like ripple address, email address, the name of the user etc. The process includes a simple creation of account followed by KYC verification.

Pros:

  • Easy to use interface.
  • Simplified Procedure to follow.
  • Cheap mode to store the keys as compared to other modes of wallets.
  • Easy accessibility

Cons:

  • Exposed to online frauds and threats.
  • The major control over the account and keys lie with the website management.


CoinPayments (Payment System):

CoinPayments is a home to more than 70 crypto-currencies, which act as a storage house along with an exchange. It is a popular and prevalent option to store your Ripple coins. It also serves as a payment gateway in the medium of crypto-currencies.


Pros:

  • Economical way out to store your crypto keys.
  • User- friendly set up interface.
  • Hassle-free set up.
  • Can be operated from anywhere.

Cons:

  • More prone to hacking.


Poloneix (Exchange Wallet)

Poloneix is a crypto-currency exchange that is known for listing a great variety of digital currencies. It is like a super bazar of crypto-currencies where you will find the needful item under the single roof. Poloneix does not involve the participation of any fiat currency and carry out the operations solely with the crypto-currencies. It facilitates the option of storing your Ripple coins along with its trading.

Pros:

  • Popular and easy wallet mode.
  • No need of additional accessories like compatible software in case of hardware wallet.

Cons:

  • The degree of security is quite compromised in case of exchange-wallets.
  • The technical errors may create unnecessary hurdles.


Rippex (Desktop Wallet):

Rippex is a trusted desktop wallet that can be exercised on the Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems. Being a desktop wallet it offers a firm security and privacy to the users.

Pros:

  • Robust security features.
  • Simple to use.
  • More control in the hands of users.

Cons:

  • Can only be accessed from the selective desktop. (restricts mobility)
  • Exposed to virus attacks.

Where can you buy the Ripple?

  1. Changelly:
    After trading your Euros and USD into Bitcoins, Changelly is one exchange where you can swap your Bitcoins into the Ripple in a couple of minutes. Headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, Changelly is among the largest crypto-currency exchanges and was started in the year 2013. The account creation is simpler in Changelly with a mere e-mail address, eliminating the need for lengthy KYC compliance.
  2.  BitStamp:

    An exchange based in Luxembourg, Bistamp offers all the possible exchange of XRPs in return of USD, Euros, and Bitcoins. Apart from Ripple, It offers the trading of universal currencies like USD, Euros, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin. Bitstamp came into existence in August 2011.Steps to buy Ripple from BitStamp:
  • Create an account on https://www.bitstamp.net/account/register/
  • Sign in and verify the account.
  • Change the password for security reasons. (P.S you may use two-factor authentication)
  • Load the funds and click on deposit.
  • An email to the registered address will verify your transaction, and you may trade accordingly with the available balance of Ripple Coins. (Buy and sell the Ripple Coins)

3. Kraken:

Popular among the masses, Kraken is a U. S based exchanged. Currently, it holds the largest account of Euros and flows in maximum liquidity.

Steps followed to buy Ripple from Kraken are described as below:

Create an account in the Kraken Bitcoin Exchange.

Verify the account by clicking the link from the registered e-mail address or by pasting the activation key in the desired column.

The verification process requires Tier 2 verification, i.e. the identity credentials (name, address and phone no.) and sometimes Tier 3 verification is needed that requires a govt approved Photo ID and Proof of Address.

Make deposits in your Kraken account and enjoy the Ripple trading in it.

4. CoinOne:

CoinOne is South Korea’s third-largest Bitcoin exchange. It also acts as a wallet purchase platform and offers the personal consultation in terms of expert advice with regard to the investments in crypto-currency. On 15 May. 2017, CoinOne announced the introduction of Ripple as a new currency in their trading list. Being a partner to the Ripple Labs, CoinOne charged zero introductory fees and applied zero percent commission until a benchmark of USD $25000. After the limit reaches to USD $25000, the normal rates would prevail thereon.

5. CoinCheck:

Coinbase is a crypto-currency exchange based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded in the year 2014, and the incorporation of Ripple as a currency in it has opened the Asia-pacific corridor for its trading.

6. Korbit:

Being the 16th largest crypto-currency exchange, Korbit is operational in South Korea. In the month of September, Korbit was acquired by the Nexon, which is a Japanese gaming company. It facilitates the trading of crypto coins including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic,  Dash, Ripple, Litecoin, Monero, Steem, Augur and  Z Cash. Korbit has raised an amount of nearly $3.6 million from the chain of investors.

7. Bitrex:


Bittrex Exchange is located in the US that regulates the trading of nearly 200 crypto-currencies. Bittrex requires a simple registration process with the mail ID but the KYC compliance is needed in the event of withdrawal of the funds. Handling one of the largest volumes of Bitcoins in the process, Bittrex allows the trade only in crypto-currency. Bittrex provides a simple interface to open the two types of accounts varying upon the withdrawal of Bitcoins per day, i.e Basic Account in the event of withdrawing up to 3 BTC/day, or Advanced Account in the event of withdrawing up to 100 BTC/ day

8. btcxIndia:

btcxIndia is first Indian crypto-currency exchange based in Hyderabad.
Steps to get started with the btcxIndia:

  • Sign up for an account at https://btcxindia.com/new-account/ and verify your email address and mobile number.
  • Sign in with the info like Email address, Client ID etc and generate the Dynamic Access Code and then click on secure login tab.
  • Fill in the KYC and other details (Bank Account, Address etc.) and submit the form.
  • Deposit the INR through the bank account and start trading the Ripple right away.

10. Bitso:

Bitso is a Mexico based exchange that offers the services like remittance and consultation facilities. The intention of the Bitso for allowing the entry of Ripple in its range is to open the channel of faster and efficient remittances between the US, and Mexico.Bitso is a member of the IRBA (International Ripple Business Association) and is an issuer of XBT (bitcoin) balances. Pablo Gonzalez is the CEO of the Bitso.

FAQ’s on the purchase of Ripple:

Q-1 Can Ripple be purchased from PayPal?
No, the easiest and cheapest way is to buy is to Bitcoins and then convert it in Ripple.

Q-2 Against which currencies can Ripple be exchanged for?
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Skrill.

 Conclusion:


Based on extensive research and wide opinion, hardware and desktop are relatively the safer modes to keep your digital currencies. Incidences like hack attempted on Poloneix in the year 2011 and loss of coins on CoinPayments, as reported by the users are the few reasons why the website or exchange wallets can be a tricky option to park the funds of your virtual currencies. Still, treating them as a short-term custody option brings no harm and they can act as a guest house for a temporary stay of your crypto-coins.