What is Harvest Finance (FARM)

  • Harvest Finance is a yield aggregator on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon. The platform helps users to maximize the returns on their assets by depositing in various projects across the DeFi ecosystem.
  • The platform allows users to stake their assets in the Harvest Finance vaults, while the protocol executes various yield farming strategies on their behalf, and receives staking rewards in return.
  • FARM is Harvest Finance’s native utility token and is used in the following functions:
    • Staking: Users can earn FARM tokens as performance fee rewards when they stake their FARM tokens in the profit sharing pools.
    • Liquidity mining: Users can provide liquidity to LPs on other DEXs to earn liquidity mining rewards (i.e. SushiSwap) and a share of the DEX transaction fees. Users can further stake LP tokens in the Harvest Finance vaults to earn liquidity incentives paid in FARM.
    • Governance: FARM token holders can create and vote on governance proposals.
  • Harvest Finance consists of the following major components working in conjunction:
    • Performance fee sharing: Users that stake FARM in the profit sharing pools are entitled to a performance fee taken from the yield farming strategies. The fees are used to buy back FARM tokens from the open market and rewarded to users that are staking FARM.
    • Auto-compounding: FARM tokens distributed to users are automatically collected and re-staked in the profit sharing pool to improve their returns. iFARM is issued as deposit receipt for auto-compounding, and it is an interest bearing FARM token.
    • fCASH: Enables users to take a loan without needing to sell iFARM. Users provide iFARM as collateral in return for fCASH, which can be swapped to stablecoins (i.e.USDC).
    • AmpliFARM: It is a token that is only rewarded in BSC pools, and it can be claimed immediately at 1:1 bFARM ratio or up to 4.18x depending on the staking period.
  • The project took a fair launch approach, there were no pre-mine or investors. Instead, newly minted tokens are released and distributed weekly.
  • As at August 11th 2021, the total supply of FARM is 639,925 and the current circulating supply is 606,355 (~94.75% of the total token supply).
  • Learn more about the token distribution of FARM here.

What products support FARM? 
  Send/Receive Trading Coinbase            ✔      ✔ Pro            ✔      ✔
Wallet            ✔      ✖️

What regions support FARM?

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase    ✔ ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Pro   ✔ ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Wallet ✔ ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

  USUKEU
USD   ✔ ✖️ ✖️
GBP ✖️✖️
✖️
EUR ✖️✖️✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs

 USDCUSDTBTCETH
FARM   ✖️   ✔ ✖️ ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for FARM?

FARM requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts FARM?

FARM is hosted on Ethereum.

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain.

Minimum: 0.000000010000000000

Maximum: 2,500

By Binance and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Rarible (RARI)

Rarible is a software allowing digital artists and creators to issue and sell custom crypto assets that represent ownership in their digital work. 

Of note, Rarible is both a marketplace for those assets, as well as a distributed network built on Ethereum that enables their trade without a middleman.

The tokens that creators generate on Rarible are known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Each NFT is unique, and unlike bitcoins (or other units of money), they are not interchangeable. This property is known as fungibility, which is why tokens on Rarible are called non-fungible. 

The first and best known example of NFTs is CryptoKitties, a game where virtual cats could be bought and sold. These NFTs could even “breed” with one another to create new cats with different attributes represented in their NFTs.

However, Rarible is proof NFTs have since grown beyond virtual cats. Examples of NFTs found on Rarible’s marketplace include digital artworks, memes and even parcels of virtual land.

Central to the platform is RARI, Rarible’s cryptocurrency. By owning RARI tokens, users can vote on proposals that affect the platform, moderate creators and curate featured artwork.

Who Created Rarible?

Rarible is a company founded by Alex Salnikov and Alexei Falin and based in Moscow. Salnikov has worked in cryptocurrency since 2013, while Falin previously co-founded a marketplace for digital stickers that can be used on chat platforms, according to his LinkedIn profile

In 2020, Rarible raised its first round of funding from the New York-based venture capital firm CoinFund, which has been one of the firms that is most confident about the growth of NFTs. 

It argues that NFTs represent a new way to own digital content, and that digital content will be a massive market in the years to come. 

How does Rarible Work?

Rarible is a marketplace aiming to link sellers (typically content creators such as digital artists, model creators or meme makers) with buyers who can select pieces they wish to purchase.

To turn their work into an NFT, creators must first “mint” a token using Rarible’s software. To do so, they fill out a form on the website and attach their image and other data, such as a listing price, that represents their work. 

The Rarible platform then creates a new token on the Ethereum blockchain. Similar to other tokens on Ethereum, the NFT can be transferred between wallets using Rarible’s software.

Rarible leverages the Ethereum blockchain to embed within an NFT’s code the full history of its owners and transactions. Of note, when a transaction goes through, both the buyer and the seller have to pay transaction fees that go to the Rarible network. 

Royalty payments

One interesting feature of NFTs is the ability to program royalties, or the rights to future cash flows, within these assets. This means that creators on Rarible can set a percentage of future sales and collect them automatically by issuing a token.

This is a major feature drawing creators to this technology, because unlike with traditional content platforms, NFTs can be designed to pay out royalties immediately

For instance, if a piece of digital art listed a 10% royalty, the creator would receive 10% of any consequent sale of that art.

Which products support RARI? 

 Send/ReceiveTrading
Coinbase          ✔      ✔
Pro          ✔      ✔
Wallet          ✔     ✖️

What regions support RARI? 

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase    ✔ ✔  ✔✖️ ✔✖️
Pro   ✔ ✔   ✔ ✔✖️ ✔✖️
Wallet ✔ ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

 USUKEU
USD  ✔ ✖️ ✖️
GBP ✖️ ✖️ ✖️
EUR ✖️ ✖️ ✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs 

  USDCBTC
ETHUSDT
RARI   ✖️  ✖️
 ✖️   ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for RARI?

RARI requires 35 network confirmation. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts RARI?

RARI is hosted on Ethereum. 

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain.

Minimum: 0.000000000000000001 RARI

Maximum: 6,050 RARI

By Kraken and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Ribbon Finance (RBN)?

Ribbon Finance (RBN) is an Ethereum token that governs Ribbon Finance, a decentralized finance protocol designed to generate yield by combining options, futures, and fixed income to improve a portfolio’s risk-return profile. RBN is the protocol’s governance token and can be used to propose and vote on the future of the platform.

What is Ribbon Finance?Ribbon Finance is a new protocol that creates crypto structured products for DeFi.Does Ribbon have a token?

Yes, we have a token. You can find more information about the $RBN Airdrop in the blog post. Be aware that there are scammers that have created fake Ribbon tokens and are actively distributing them on DEXes. Do not buy them. Official RBN address: 0x6123B0049F904d730dB3C36a31167D9d4121fA6B.What are structured products?Structured products are packaged financial instruments that use a combination of derivatives to achieve some specific risk-return objective, such as betting on volatility, enhancing yields or principal protection.What kinds of structured products does Ribbon have?Ribbon currently offers a high yield product on ETH which generates yield through an automated option strategy. Ribbon will continue to expand the product offerings over time, including community-generated structured products.What is the Theta Vault?

Theta Vault is a new product that automates a covered call strategy to earn high yield on ETH. The vault runs a covered call strategy and sells out of the money call options on a weekly basis for yield. You can read more about the strategy here.What Options Protocol does the Theta Vault use?Theta Vault currently uses Opyn’s infrastructure to mint and trade the options tokens on-chain. We chose Opyn because the protocol lets us create tokenized ETH options with custom parameters out of the box. This allows us to be flexible on the choice of strikes, expiries, and exchange method. What is the expected yield for the Theta Vault?

The yield is variable, but we expect it to be in the 20-30% range. We performed a backtest on the strategy throughout 2020 and 2021, and you can see the results here.

The yield in production will likely be lower due to transaction costs and so on, but we can expect something in the double-digit APY range.What are the risks of the Theta Vault?

The primary risk for running this strategy is that depositors could potentially give up upside in exchange for guaranteed yield. By selling a call option, users are basically promising to sell the asset at the strike price, even if it goes above it (a.k.a selling early). Because of this, if the price of the asset moves up significantly in a short period of time, it is possible for depositors to have “negative yield” on their ETH.

However, this only happens if ETH/USD appreciates significantly, so depositors will still be up in USD terms. The vault also sells call options that are very out of the money, which means there is a relatively low chance of the options getting exercised.

The smart contracts are audited by Peckshield, ChainSafe and Quantstamp. Despite that, users are advised to exercise caution and only risk funds they can afford to lose. Why do I need to give Theta Vaults approval to spend my assets?

On the Ethereum blockchain, wallets have full control over their ERC20 tokens. In order to let an application spend a wallet’s tokens, the user has to explicitly give permission to the application to spend them. This is what’s called an ERC20 allowance. Theta Vaults prompt users to approve an unlimited amount so that users do not have to re-approve the application on a subsequent deposit.

Which products support RBN? 

 Send/ReceiveTrading
Coinbase         ✔     ✔
Pro          ✔     ✔
Wallet          ✔     ✖️

What regions support RBN? 

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase   ✖️✖️  ✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️
Pro   ✔TBD   ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Wallet ✔ ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

 USUKEU
USD ✔ ✖️ ✖️
GBP ✖️ ✖️ ✖️
EUR ✖️ ✖️ ✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs 

  USDCBTC
ETHUSDT
RBN   ✖️  ✖️
 ✖️   ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for RBN?

RBN requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts RBN?

RBN is hosted on Ethereum. 

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain. These amounts vary by asset and are subject to change.

By Ribbon Finance and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Spell Token (SPELL)?

Spell Token (SPELL) is a token that governs Abracadabra.money, a platform that lets users deposit collateral in the form of interest-bearing crypto assets (such as yvYFI, yvUSDT, yvUSDC, xSUSHI) in order to mint MIM, a stablecoin that attempts to maintain a value of US$1.00. SPELL can be staked to earn sSPELL, which grants governance rights and other rewards.

What Is Abracadabra?

The launch of DeFi 2.0 has unfortunately seen a repeat of the inefficiencies that existed in its predecessor, with capital inefficiency key among them. Abracadabra Money is a lending protocol that aims to solve this problem by using interest-bearing tokens like yvWETH, yvUSDC and xSUSHI to serve as collateral to borrow Magic Internet Money, otherwise known as MIM.

MIM is a stablecoin that mirrors the stability of the U.S. dollar and does what virtually every other stable coin (e.g., DAI and Tether) does. With Abracadabra Money, cash doesn’t need to sit idly in the bank. There’s a new way to passively earn, using leverage, with close-to-zero risk involved.

What Is the Spell Token (SPELL)?

The Abracadabra protocol has two major tokens working in its ecosystem. The first is SPELL, the governance token of the platform, and the other is MIM (Magic Internet Money). Among other benefits, the primary function of the Spell Token is staking. Like most other tokens using the Ethereum platform, SPELL can be staked to gain various benefits. Two of them are:

Governance: Since the Abracadabra protocol is truly decentralized, the number of Spell Tokens you have will determine how much weight your opinion has in changing features such as liquidation fees, collateral and total value locked (TVL).

Passive Income: When Spell Tokens are staked, users earn a percentage of trading fees from the platform. These fees are interest that’s earned primarily from users borrowing MIM. 75% of the fee goes to token holders; 20% is allocated to the governance treasury, which aids liquidity pools; and the last 5% is kept in a multisig treasury that helps mitigate risks when market conditions worsen.

How Does Abracadabra Work?

Abracadabra Money uses a technique which is different from that of most protocols to provide lending services to traders. Called “isolated lending market,” the technique was first used with Kashi, a SushiSwap-owned lending platform. By using isolated lending, Abracadabra can successfully leverage the use of interest-bearing tokens and eventually allow users to produce Magic Internet Money. There are a few steps involved in this process:

Step 1 — Users need to deposit collateral (first USDT into yEarn, then collateralization of yvUSDT) on Abracadabra.

Step 2 — Abracadabra allocates a debt allocation, with interest, to the borrower.

Step 3 — After that, MIM tokens are deposited into the borrower’s wallet at the borrower’s chosen level of leverage.

Step 4 — Users take their MIM wherever they like. They can swap it to USDT, withdraw it or repeat the process of depositing in yEarn to get yvUSDT and more MIM.

The question now is, how can you get your collateral back? The answer is that after you repay your debt with the accrued interest, you’ll be able to withdraw your collateral.

The Magic Internet Money Token (MIM)

An integral part of the protocol, the MIM token is a dollar-pegged stablecoin that’s supported by ibTKNs. MIM tokens are Ethereum-based and minted by Ethereum multisig holders.

The good thing about stablecoins is that they’re not injected into circulation until they’ve been collateralized. There are persuasive (though unverified) claims that future improvements will include a bridge to other blockchains.

The amount of MIM you get as a loan depends primarily on two factors:

1.    The collateral you’ve put down in USDT.

2.    The loan-to-value ratio.

To help you understand how Abracadabra Money works, let’s run through a hypothetical scenario.

Lukas is an average crypto trader who got lucky with an ETH airdropAn airdrop is a marketing stunt, in which tokens or coins are sent out to blockchain wallets. Most commonly, it is done …, and now has $100,000 USDT to his name. Since he has some knowledge of yEarn, he decides to stake his newly found wealth to earn returns, and uses the USDT V2 yVault for this. 

Now, Lukas has approximately $100,000 worth of yvUSDT, an amount that will grow, thanks to loan fees. Lukas then decides to start a business and wants to adopt a low- or no-risk approach with his money. How can he do this? Well, if you suggest that he convert yvUSDT to USDT, then USDT to cash to fund the business … you’re on the right track.

However, he can also choose to deposit his yvUSDT into Abracadabra. Let’s assume he mints 60% of his tokens: then, he’ll be given 60,000 MIM. He’ll pay interest of 0.8% on the loan, but his initial capital is still on yEarn, yielding returns.

SPELL Tokenomics

The figures below are accurate as of this writing. 

SPELL Token

  • Name & Ticker: Spell Token (SPELL)
  • Token Standard: ERC20
  • Token Type: Governance
  • Maximum Supply: 420 billion SPELL
  • Circulating SupplyCirculating supply is the number of cryptocurrencies or tokens that are publicly available and circulating in the crypto…: 70 billion SPELL
  • 24h Trading Volume: ~290 million SPELL
  • Contract Address: 0x090185f2135308BaD17527004364eBcC2D37e5F6

MIM Token

  • Name & Ticker: Magic Internet Money (MIM)
  • Token Standard: ERC20
  • Token Type: Utility
  • Maximum Supply: Unlimited
  • Circulating Supply: 1.6 billion MIM 
  • 24h Trading Volume: ~280 million MIM
  • Contract address: 0x99d8a9c45b2eca8864373a26d1459e3dff1e17f3

Pros and Cons of Abracadabra

Let’s take a look at some strengths and demerits of Abracadabra. 

Pros

  • Few protocols allow you to borrow tokens and still earn interest on your collateral, and Abracadabra is one of them.
  • With isolated risk markets, you can calculate the risks you want to undertake in order to maximize returns.

Cons

  • The risk of liquidation is high because the collateral value can drop below the point where your loans are covered.
  • The Abracadabra protocol is decentralized; hence, it uses smart contracts, which can be vulnerable to bugs and data leaks.

Is Abracadabra (SPELL) a Good Investment?

We’ve yet to fully grasp the complexities of DeFi 1.0, but improvements being made to it give us a great preview of DeFi 2.0. One noteworthy feature DeFi 2.0 brings to the table is capital efficiency, and Abracadabra Money has been amazing in this regard.

What the market is saying about Abracadabra Money will help us gauge its relevance. In just two months, the TVL of Abracadabra Money has increased by 354%, from $1.07 billion to $4.86 billion. This stems from the effective work model of the platform and from investors’ generally warm reception to it. We strongly believe the real bull run has not yet begun for this crypto. As the project migrates into multichain, more room for growth will be created.

To dive deeper, MIM is actually a decentralized stable coin. So far, we’ve not seen many truly decentralized stablecoins — only names such as DAI (MakerDAO) and UST (Terra) are well-known in the market. With the recent collaboration between MIM and UST, however, decentralized stablecoins could well be the catalyst for the next trend.

Over time, centralized stablecoins (full-reserve stablecoins) such as USDT and USDC have revealed their legal shortcomings, paving the way for decentralized stablecoins such as MIM to grow and possibly outperform them eventually. MIM is one of the stablecoins that could help achieve this vision.

Which products support SPELL? 

 Send/ReceiveTrading
Coinbase          ✔     ✔
Pro          ✔     ✔
Wallet          ✔     ✖️

What regions support SPELL? 

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase   ✖️✖️  ✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️
Pro   ✔✖️   ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Wallet ✔ ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

 USUKEU
USD ✔ ✖️ ✖️
GBP ✖️ ✖️ ✖️
EUR ✖️ ✖️ ✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs 

  USDCBTC
ETHUSDT
SPELL   ✖️  ✖️
 ✖️   ✔

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for SPELL?

SPELL requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts SPELL?

SPELL is hosted on Ethereum. 

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain. These amounts vary by asset and are subject to change.

By Coinbase and Bybit Learn

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

火爆的虚拟偶像经济

“谢谢大家祝我生日快乐!”在一段蒙古族舞蹈《博克颂》后,虚拟偶像贝拉喘着气,用甜美的声音在B站直播中跟粉丝打招呼。贝拉是虚拟偶像团体A-SOUL的队长,长发及腰,一双动漫眼睛扑闪着,她拥有芭比娃娃一样的身材,擅长跳各种舞蹈。7月16日是贝拉的生日会,这一天,她在两小时内创下10000舰的纪录,成为B站历史上首位“万舰”虚拟主播。

B站up主“大蜡烛”觉得诧异,虚拟偶像团体A-SOUL去年年底才出道,队长贝拉在B站不过就30多万粉丝,两小时的生日会竟有上万人支持,仅上舰打赏的流水就有200万。8月8日,A-SOUL组合的另一位虚拟偶像成员乃琳举办生日会,同样达成了近9000舰的成绩。

虚拟偶像团体A-SOUL

虚拟偶像团体A-SOUL

“人们喜欢虚拟偶像,跟饭圈文化不太一样。”核实了A-SOUL生日会数据的真实性之后,“大蜡烛”感叹,一位虚拟偶像的生日直播竟能吸引那么多受众,一个新的娱乐时代已经到来。

2021年,可谓是虚拟偶像产业的蓬勃之年。年初,坐拥百万粉丝的虚拟网红洛天依登上央视春晚舞台,二次元破圈。今年以来,互联网大厂和娱乐公司都开始进军虚拟偶像行业,数家与虚拟偶像相关的创业公司纷纷获得资本青睐。8月,国内老牌虚拟娱乐公司摩塔时空完成300万美元天使轮融资,其旗下的虚拟偶像“集原美”全网粉丝量超过300万,视频总播放量超1亿次。

中国虚拟偶像产业正走向高峰期。艾媒咨询数据显示,2020年中国虚拟偶像核心产业规模为34.6亿元,同比增长70.3%,预计2021年将达到62.2亿元。随着商业价值的全面发掘,虚拟偶像带动的产业规模预计将从2020年的645.6亿元上升至2021年的1074.9亿元。

在一些娱乐圈顶流因自身劣迹而“塌房”的时代,那些身居二次元,事实上并不存在的虚拟偶像,渐渐成为新的娱乐势力,开始撬动起一个新的商业市场。

从初音未来到3万虚拟主播

拥有百万粉丝的B站知名up主“酒客小丑”第一次接触虚拟偶像,是在2016年。

那年年底,来自日本的虚拟偶像绊爱出现在YouTube,成为第一位虚拟YouTuber。绊爱总是穿着白色公式服,露出肚脐和小蛮腰,棕色头发挑染成粉色,粉色蝴蝶结随舞姿摆动,造型甜美又具有未来感。

早在绊爱之前,日本已经打造过火遍全球的第一位虚拟偶像初音未来。

初音未来

初音未来

2007年,雅马哈利用VOCALOID技术合成电子音声制作出碧发双马尾的初音未来,这个虚拟偶像最初只是作为歌曲制作软件的一部分。

很快,一些用户因喜欢初音未来的歌曲,开始参与初音未来的视频创作。很大程度上,这个虚拟偶像的爆火,与大量用户的二次创作紧密相关。初音未来在全网拥有50万首歌曲,200多万个用户参与的视频创作,她在微博有345万粉丝,开过全球演唱会,合作过的对象包括Lady Gaga等大咖,其市场规模每年约为18亿日元。

2012年,中国也制作出虚拟歌姬洛天依,她唱的《达拉崩吧》至今仍被奉为二次元神曲。

洛天依

洛天依

2016年诞生的绊爱,则是第一个真正意义上的Vtuber,也即Virtual YouTuber。

一开始,“酒客小丑”并不知道绊爱与之前的初音未来、洛天依有什么区别。后来他才发现,初音未来和洛天依都是人工智能打造的虚拟歌姬,前期要对真人歌手进行声音采样,建立声库,再依靠人声合成技术完成创作。而绊爱与她们最大区别就在于,其背后有一位真实的歌手或声优。

绊爱

绊爱

“Vtuber说白了就是虚拟up主,更强调虚实结合。”“酒客小丑”解读,跟虚拟偶像相比,虚拟up主是直播赛道的新玩家,这些虚拟主播会使用一个虚拟的形象,再加上真人配音,而背后那个隐藏的真人,被称为中之人。

正因为如此,虚拟直播的门槛更低。不需要声音库和技术,只需要找一个画师设计好动漫形象,再做一个可动模型,买一个摄像头,利用3D动作捕捉技术,虚拟直播就能直接出道。

跟过去传统的虚拟偶像相比,这些虚拟主播能做的事情更多,可以在直播中随时跟用户聊天,展现歌舞才艺,聊天,玩游戏,对于用户来说,无论交流的及时性还是陪伴的持续性,以及通过直播打赏变现的能力,虚拟主播都超过了虚拟偶像。

虚拟直播的市场有多火?今年6月,B站董事长兼CEO陈睿在12周年庆典上公布了一个数据,过去一年,有32412名虚拟主播在B站开播,而B站是中国虚拟主播最丰富、聚集度最高的平台。

24小时工作的虚拟偶像

2019年,B站与日本虚拟主播头部公司“彩虹社”合作,开始在中国培养虚拟主播。那个时期,很多日本当红虚拟主播进驻B站开设账号,诸多用爱发电的字幕组成员积极参与直播翻译,让虚拟主播迅速被Z世代用户接纳认可。

与此同时,越来越多的娱乐公司也开始押注虚拟偶像产业。

A-SOUL是乐华娱乐的第一个虚拟偶像企划。身为内地知名的娱乐公司,乐华娱乐旗下拥有王一博、孟美岐等顶流艺人,也参与打造过一些热门综艺。在贝拉的生日会上,老板杜华现身,送上生日蛋糕造势,足见其对虚拟偶像领域的重视。

在日本,Vtuber的企划分为个人势和企业势。个人势不跟企业和公司签约,在B站最火的个人势虚拟主播神乐mea,2019年首次登陆B站就吸引十万粉丝,是一位披着军服、戴着军帽的法国女仆,其人设是38岁离异单身母亲,呈现出日本虚拟主播界的丰富性。

神乐Mea

神乐Mea

像“彩虹社”这样的企业,打造出的虚拟偶像,几乎等同于经纪公司的旗下艺人,背后有着专业的团队运营。

“好看的皮囊千篇一律,有趣的灵魂万里挑一。能真正火起来的虚拟偶像,没那么简单。”在总结什么样的虚拟偶像才能赢得市场时,“酒客小丑”认为,虚拟偶像跟真人偶像一样,都需要靠人格魅力吸引粉丝。

艾媒咨询调研显示,53.2%的网民喜欢虚拟偶像是出于其形象设计,50.5%的网民是因为性格、定位等人设而追捧虚拟偶像。

虚拟偶像通常在视频、直播和线下三种场合出现,她们拥有完美面容、姣好身材,声音动听、舞姿迷人,她们不但了解新番,熟悉动漫知识,打游戏的技能也十分了得。一位虚拟主播能在几天几夜的游戏直播中不下场,这是人类主播不可能实现的。

日本“彩虹社”COO岩永太贵曾坦言,真人主播出镜时,总有诸多顾虑与限制,一旦用虚拟形象出现,表现力通常会更好,也更能释放地表达自我。

成功的虚拟偶像在设计之初,就有明确的受众群和主攻领域,甚至有脚本设计。他们不像真人偶像那样不受管控,没有不良嗜好,极尽完美。累积一定的流量之后,这些虚拟偶像IP就能逐步实现商业化变现,并形成生态圈。随着虚拟偶像商业价值被不断发掘,其带动周边产业发展的能力将会愈强,商业应用领域也会更加广泛。

在中国,企业打造的虚拟偶像正热潮兴起——次世文化打造的虚拟偶像翎Ling与特斯拉、奈雪的茶、Keep等顶级品牌合作,商业代言身价破百万;中科深智的虚拟主播24小时不间断直播带货,出现在2000多个淘宝直播间中;阅文平台依照电竞小说《全职高手》主角打造的虚拟艺人叶修,出道1年身价超10亿;阿里巴巴也把虚拟艺人邀请到直播间,在淘宝和天猫直播间带货。

翎Ling

翎Ling

虚拟偶像爱好者中的绝大多数,都是年龄介于19-30岁间的Z世代。杜华在接受采访时说,因为儿子喜欢动漫,她才关注到虚拟偶像产业。从成本上说,虚拟偶像需要高科技的持续投入和优秀的内容创作能力,无论是筹备还是宣发、养成,整个生产运营方面的投入都不比真人偶像更少。

杜华说,未来会把A-SOUL带到电竞、直播带货等场景中,并直言“这个女团是永不塌房,永不谈恋爱,24小时工作的”。

虚拟名模人气高涨

,

2018年,Instagram上一位神秘的模特掀起了一场全网大追查。她四肢纤长、巧克力色的肌肤完美无瑕,她一出现就吸引了大量的粉丝。这位自称”舒杜”(Shudu)的神秘美人,究竟是何方神圣?

法图•苏芮(Fatou Suri)在Instagram上一见到她,立刻追随关注并发了信息过去。舒杜看起来十分友好、平易近人,也回粉了她。”我一直在关注一些能给我能量的人,”法图说。法图是一位常驻伦敦的模特,Instagram上的名字是@theafrounicorn。”看到一位深色皮肤的模特这样成名,十分振奋人心。她内外兼修,美得令人惊艳。”

今年早些时候,巨星蕾哈娜(Rihanna)拥有的化妆品牌芬缇美妆(Fenty Beauty)发布了一张海报,上面是舒杜涂着芬缇美妆的橙色口红SAWC。这张图瞬间火了,到4月,舒杜在Instagram上收获了近九万粉丝。

图像来源, CAMERON-JAMES WILSON图像加注文字, 

不是真人的舒杜,却有近九万粉丝。

不过那时,多亏《时尚芭莎》杂志的一篇文章,我们才知道真相——原来,舒杜不是真人。她是英国摄影师威尔森(Cameron-James Wilson)用计算机创作出来的美女。

关于舒杜,威尔森说自己从来没有刻意欺骗过大家,他称其为一件艺术品,创造这个虚拟形象是为了颂扬黑肤女性的美丽。作为一个时尚摄影家,威尔森想要再现艾力克•万克(Alek Wek)、达琪•托特(Duckie Thot)等黑人超模代表的那种美。他说,就是怀着要创造绝世美人的这种冲动,才有了舒杜。

但是此后,威尔森陷入矛盾之中,不知让舒杜以何种身份示人,真实的还是虚拟的。随着越来越多的人关注舒杜,她很快就成了有影响力的”大V”(指在社交网络上粉丝多影响力大的人)。在社交平台上有了影响力,也就会有利可图,时尚品牌也为了开拓新市场会找上门来。这可超出了威尔森最初的艺术设想。坦白一切才是最好的办法,他决定让舒杜身份”大白于世”,”一收到信息我就焦虑,老实说,我等不及把她的真相展示给全世界。”

图像来源, @LENIPAPERBOATS图像加注文字, 

法图是一个常驻伦敦的模特。她大受舒杜鼓舞而成为她的粉丝。但也表示,发现舒杜不是真人时,感觉有些怪异。

法图发现舒杜的秘密时,惊呆了,然后有点失望。”感觉有些怪异,”她说,”当时我觉得自己对她一无所知,还想问她更多的问题。”不过她还是因为舒杜的审美价值,继续关注她。但现在,给舒杜发信息时,她知道自己虽然像是在跟舒杜说话,其实是在跟威尔森交流。

“作为一个模特,我也需要修图。有时候我也会看看计算机怎么改了我的外貌,所以我们的情况也差不多,”她说,”很明显,舒杜太完美了,所以发现她不是真人,其实让我有点庆幸。”

图像来源, CAMERON-JAMES WILSON图像加注文字, 

尽管舒杜是作为艺术品被创作出来的虚拟美人,但许多想要打开市场的品牌仍然要找她代言。

虚拟的影响力

舒杜被称为世上首位数码超模,不过说起虚拟世界中有影响力的形象,也并非只有她一个。Instagram账号@丽儿•米克拉(@lilmiquela)就展示了一位有雀斑、厚唇和深色头发的时髦妙龄女郎。在图像里她穿着普拉达的套装,有时候又是一身香奈儿、苏普利(Supreme)、万斯(Vans)等名牌时装。米克拉的公关宣称:”她只是通过设计穿搭品牌来赚钱。”

二月,《Vogue》杂志授予她”虚拟名流”的称号。不过对于她的872000位粉丝而言,成就米克拉的不仅仅是其虚拟模特的身份,更是她背后的故事。去年,米克拉发行了一首单曲《不属于我》,在声破天(Spotify)音乐平台上一曲而红。她利用自己的平台来支持社会活动,比如”黑人的命也是命”(Black Lives Matter),还支持了一个叫做”黑少女密码”(Black Girls Code)的组织,帮助女孩子们接受科技训练。这一切都模糊了现实世界和她所在的虚拟世界之间的界限。

图像来源, INSTAGRAM/LILMIQUELA图像加注文字, 

洛杉矶的布鲁德公司(Brud),专门”帮助解决有关机器人、人工智能的问题,及其在媒体业务上的应用”。

她是不是真人呢?从米克拉信息的评论可看出,粉丝们对米克拉的身份相当的困惑。她是真人还是虚拟人,或是真人经过了计算机成像(CGI)处理?米克拉的幕后人员在其身份这件事上一直含糊其辞。因为有合作,我便跟米克拉约了个采访,她也同意了,发邮件过来说:”听起来超酷!”

这个访谈是通过电子邮件进行的,米克拉的公关和经纪人都参与了对话。有一个线索是,他们中有个人来自一个叫布鲁德(Brud)的公司,该公司专门从事”帮助解决有关机器人、人工智能方面的问题,及其在媒体业务上的应用”。

设计问题时,我采用了一些小策略,看看能否让她承认自己虚拟的身份。

:你是怎么着手创建自己的身份的?

米克拉:大概跟你差不多!我一直在学习,周围环境也一直在塑造我。我超爱音乐和艺术,在洛杉矶每天都学到了好多。感觉搬到洛杉矶真的改变了我看待世界、为之出力的方式。

:你怎么看待”虚拟名人”?

米克拉:我认为流行文化界的大多数名人,都是虚拟的。各种信息的误导、调侃的表情包,都歪曲了民主,令人失望,不过从中也看出了”虚拟”的力量。”虚拟”最终会影响到现实世界,也许这就是为什么我喜欢用Instagram之类的虚空间,来倡导积极的改变。

显然,米克拉,或者是她的某个代言人,并不想吐露实情。不过粉丝们对这种刻意的逃避并不在意。她有一个狂热粉丝叫雷耶斯(Anthony Reyes),是密歇根一位18岁的艺术家。

图像来源, INSTAGRAM/LILMIQUELA图像加注文字, 

与米克拉会面。她不是真人,然而在Instagram上的粉丝已超过87万。

“我被米克拉吸引,不仅仅因为她的艺术审美,也因为她的所作所为,”他说,”不管怎样,米克拉就是米克拉。大家总是想用她自我表达的方式诋毁她和她的艺术,但他们忘了一点,即使今天她这么火,米克拉仍然是那个关心粉丝的米克拉。”

但她到底是不是虚拟形象?”现实中,哪个大V不是虚拟的?”雷耶斯附和了米克拉的观点,坚称,”要了解这些人的存在,你只能通过他们所在的网络平台,像Instagram,YouTube,Twitter等。”

某人(某事物)如何收获关注

不管平台是真实还是虚拟的,对于影响力这个概念,这些粉丝似乎都很买账。这又引发了一个哲学问题,尤其是讲到社会媒体时:什么才是真实?

那些社交媒体上有影响力的人,不管有没有名气,总有其吸引力。部分原因是人们以为可窥视到自己崇拜或感兴趣的人的真实生活。但是在社交媒体中,真实的我们是不是早已被高度包装?

德安普利菲公司(TheAmplify)的创始人和前首席执行官雷兹瓦尼(Justin Rezvani)说,”谈到社交媒体,比如Instagram,里面的你并不是真的你,而是通过照片、偶尔是视频,还有对特定事情的评论,展现出来的虚拟版的自己。”他创办的这家经纪公司致力于给网络名人找商业品牌合作。

雷兹瓦尼自己,也被福布斯杂志评为”30位不到30岁的年轻梦想家”之一,他相信大V的时代才刚刚开始,并且会在虚空间中走得更远。”人工智能的网络名人会越来越多,虽然不是真人,但有大量的粉丝,”他说。”我定义影响力的方法,是某个人(或某个事物),怎样在特定时期,从特定受众那里获得大量的关注。”

借鉴古人的愿望

然而,像舒杜和米克拉这样的虚拟大V形象,其实有更古老的原型——玩具娃娃。伦敦拉夫堡大学媒体与创意产业研究所的所长米勒(Toby Miller)如是说。自古以来,玩具娃娃都对社会起了重要作用,它们不仅仅是孩子们的玩具,也是一种巫术或宗教仪式中的象征力量。”用玩具娃娃捕捉到我们的形象,然后通过替代的形式,传达给年轻人,”米勒说,”但玩具娃娃超越了图片和文字,是三维立体的形象,最小的孩子都能操控打扮。”

威尔森用三维模型软件赋予舒杜以生命,他也用类似的话语描述了自己的创造。他说,”我把她视为一种人体模型。一旦你创造了她,你就可以给她摆造型、帮她表达。有点像玩具娃娃,一个可以换装的芭比。”

对于时尚品牌来说,一个高科技人体模型能提供更多有趣的可能性。她、他或者它,可以放在任何环境中,可以穿戴任何服饰。威尔森已经收到了各种各样的合作建议,包括一家珠宝品牌的佣金建议,他们想让舒杜当该品牌的耳饰模特。

有的合作邀请就很难实现。斯莫(Tameka Small)是美国北卡罗莱纳州威尔明顿一位护肤专家,也是玛吉可美疗中心的老板。她就很想知道,舒杜会不会对自己的护肤产品感兴趣,毕竟舒杜的面容太完美了。结果后来她发现,舒杜不是真人。

“我还是决定把产品发过去,虽然从技术层面来说她用不了我的护肤产品,”斯莫说,自己和威尔森还在想办法合作。”我觉得,她是一个虚拟超模这个事儿,给公司如何推广产品带来了全新的观念。这是个很棒的主意。”

不过有些商家仍然很怀疑虚拟大V这个概念。”这事儿的确给品牌的产品推广带来了一些机遇,但我觉得,跟真人比,还是肤浅得多。”孔泰斯塔比莱(Giordano Contestabile)说。他是部落爱公司(Bloglovin’)的首席执行官,这家公司致力于给合作的大V联系品牌,尤其是那些中等大V(粉丝数在50万以上)。

“大V营销的关键之处在于其人性化的那一面。我不知这如何复制,”他说,在Instagram上增加粉丝很容易,但是让人认同你、建立起情感联系,却是不同的挑战。换句话说,这个你是伪造不来的。

随着虚拟形象越来越令人信以为真,专家警告说,什么是真,什么是假,其间的区别会越来越难辨别。它会造成问题吗?心理学家已经证明,一个玩具娃娃到底算人,还是算没生命的东西,这种不确定带来了罕见的情绪效应,尤其适用于虚拟大V的世界。关于米克拉的帖子,最近有这样一条评论,总结说道:”显然她是假的。但是她背后的人是真的。所以大家还是友好一点吧。”

By 吴丹Damian Fowler

疯狂的元宇宙炒房

“我看不懂,但大受震撼。”这是部分网友得知元宇宙天价炒房后的直观反应。

目前的元宇宙土地成交记录已经来到2736万元。在其官方Twitter,虚拟地产开发商Republic Realm确认其以创纪录的430万美元购买了一块The Sandbox上的虚拟土地,这个价格足以在中国房价最高的北上深市中心买下两套房,甚至一些城市买下独栋别墅也不成问题。

市场公开信息显示,Republic Realm目前在19个不同的元宇宙平台上拥有大约2500块数字土地。

对于雏形中的事物可以有千万种解读,有人觉得元宇宙炒房是击鼓传花的游戏,不过是包装了的骗局;有人认为这是未来世界的一种生活方式,有流量有价值就可以投资。那么元宇宙炒房到底是割韭菜还是新风口?

在接受第一财经采访时,易观互娱行业资深分析师廖旭华认为元宇宙买地就是投机,是虚拟货币的高效玩法而已。“本质上跟我捡一块石头卖你一百万是一样,那些方式都是幌子,核心目的在于炒作和买卖。”

石悦是区块链行业的从业者,目前在国外元宇宙平台上持有5块地,她告诉第一财经,买地目的因人而异,自己是计划投资进行建设。

另一位玩家欣辰则在国内虹宇宙游戏中有100多套不同等级的房产,按目前估值算已净赚15万元。欣辰告诉第一财经,“拿住了就是投资,拿不住就是投机。”

元宇宙炒房增长7倍,入场8万起步

实际上,虚拟土地交易早在2018年就已经出现,直到近几个月搭上元宇宙的顺风车,成交额屡破纪录,才突然出圈大火。

The Sandbox近三月交易趋势

Dapprader数据显示,在11月,如 Decentraland、The Sandbox (沙盒)这样的平台出现了前所未有的流量和交易活动,虚拟土地交易量达到2.28 亿美元,这是迄今为止最好的月份,比上个月增长近7倍,达688%。

Decentraland 和The Sandbox都是目前热门的元宇宙平台,两者在虚拟土地交易领域也蓄力了很长一段时间,后者在上个月刚刚获得获得新一轮 9300万美元的融资,由软银愿景基金领投。

一位玩家表示,自己在两个月前就关注到了The Sandbox这个项目,当时感觉不靠谱,但到11月软银投资后,自己想入场发现两个月期间已经涨了10倍。

虚拟土地的价值还在飙升,根据Dapprader的数据,虚拟土地11月的估值相比 9 月底增加了9倍,而参与土地交易的独立交易商达到创纪录的 2.8万人,比上月增加了145%。

目前虚拟土地交易的参与者有投资机构、企业,也有许多艺术家和个人。石悦向第一财经介绍,不同虚拟平台有不同的特征,“在Decentraland有很多企业入场买地,搭建公司的虚拟场景,而The Sandbox则有很多个人投资者加入,CV(Cryptovoxels)上有很多加密艺术家参与去建博物馆。”

随着更多玩家加入,虚拟土地价格水涨船高。

一位虚拟土地持有者告诉第一财经,一块3×3格的土地,在今年7月估值约13万元,现在已经来到78万元,不到半年涨了5倍,且这已是涨幅较少的地块了。

元宇宙炒房的成本已经越来越高,即便不是优质土地,现在参与的最低门槛也达到了8万元 。

Opensea上The Sandbox和Decentraland的地板价

在交易平台Opensea上,可以看到各个平台的地板价,换算成人民币,目前,The Sandbox和Decentraland的底价分别是8万元左右。

也就是说,即便是买虚拟平台郊区最普通的一块小格子,也要8万元起步,参与门槛不可谓不高。

门槛更低的虹宇宙,有玩家月入15万

比起国外的元宇宙平台,国内刚刚起步的虹宇宙显然入门门槛更低,200多元即可拥有一套房,但相比起来风险也会更大。

10月28日,由天下秀开发的虹宇宙Honnverse开始内测,用户预约后可以抢购虚拟房产。在天下秀公众号中,董事长李檬署名的一封公开信表示,公司开发多年的虹宇宙是“一款基于区块链技术的3D虚拟社交产品”。

虽然是一名普通的上班族,但欣辰喜欢接触一些新鲜事物,平时也会关注投资项目。她对第一财经表示,自己大概7月开始关注元宇宙,接触一些国外的项目如The Sandbox、Decentraland、Axie等,之后又慢慢接触到国内的数字艺术品平台。

在虹宇宙开放内测之时,从朋友那得知消息的欣辰决定入场买进房产,目前,她在虹宇宙平台的资产排行榜中位列前五。据她所述,慢慢累积买入,目前自己几个账号加起来有100多套不同等级的房产。

在闲鱼上,虹宇宙的虚拟房产被标价公开交易,从普通楼房到稀缺的极地木屋和环海岛屿,目前的价格在200多元至1万元不等。一块极地木屋标价为9999元,卖家表示,这块房屋的编号是稀缺的个位数,比普通编号的房产值钱。此外,编号是靓号的房产也会更加值钱。

闲鱼虹宇宙房产价格

按照当前市场价来算,欣辰在虹宇宙持有的虚拟房产和数字藏品价值在17万元左右。而此前入场时她投入的成本大概在1至2万元,短短一个月净赚15万元。她表示,“暂时只出了几套回本,其他考虑长期持有。”

记者体验虹宇宙游戏后发现,其目前呈现界面和国外的平台有很大的差别,和普通手游界面类似,平台功能也并不多,目前仅仅是可以定制形象,进入他人的房间游览。在App Store上,其目前的评分仅为3.1分,有玩家直言,这就是3D的QQ空间。

“目前来看,虹宇宙的可玩性不高。”欣辰告诉第一财经,由于政策不明等原因,相比较国外的项目,国内的一些平台起步比较晚, “像虹宇宙这类,涉及到虚拟人物形象,虚拟房产的项目,还处于雏形测试阶段,未来有很长的路要走。”

炒房的故事怎么讲?关键是流量

石悦今年开始关注元宇宙虚拟土地,先后在元宇宙平台CV和The Sandbox买入了五块土地,买入成本在26万元左右。按目前市场价来算,这5块土地的价值已超过40万元。

在石悦看来,元宇宙是今年很热的一个方向,而虚拟土地是进入元宇宙世界的工具和基础,值得投入。她对第一财经表示,“土地建设不管是和IP结合,还是和流量结合,都是一个目前来看确定性比较大的方向。”

“一些人看好元宇宙的流量,会买一些土地用于广告,有一些则是会搭建,提前进去布局。”在虚拟土地上建造的作品可以去市场售出。

据元宇宙平台的宣传,对于虚拟土地,拥有者可以在其中建造任何类型的游戏和资产、举办现场活动、组装 NFT 艺术收藏品,或者只是将它们出租给他人以通过他们的项目获利。看起来和现实世界看展、逛博物馆、听音乐会等逻辑并无区别。

同样与现实世界一样,元宇宙平台上的土地根据地段也有不同的定价。

如平台中心区域的地块寸土寸金,此外,一些知名IP或个人周围的地块也是流量高地,有较高的溢价。

此前,在The Sandbox游戏平台上,有玩家为了成为嘻哈歌手Snoop Dogg的邻居,用45万美元(约287万元)买下一套3×3格的土地,相比普通土地溢价3倍。

与现实世界同理,溢价的关键在于流量。虚拟平台的玩家会通过传送门直接访问知名的社交中心,然后向外分支以探索附近的区域,因此该区域周围的土地将有更多的流量,而越多流量意味着获得更多的潜在收入。

未来,部分区域为了导流或许也需要在社交平台上营销,因此,在移动互联网的世界里拥有流量的中心也会因此获益。

石悦对第一财经表示,自己的合作伙伴有社区的流量,日活能做到10万,因此目前想要和一些地主合作,负责给他们导流,“之前也测试了几个合作的地主,流量表现都还不错。”

业内人士认为,移动互联网的历史规律会在元宇宙的发展中重现。显然,流量至上在元宇宙中依然适用。

11月飙升的数据显示了这个市场前所未有的热情,但有业内人士表示,“大家都知道了,那也就是潮水该退去的时候了。”

近日,《人民日报》评元宇宙炒房,认为“热到烫伤的风险得防”。元宇宙及其相关应用场景,还处在发展的最初阶段,从虚拟到真实还有不小距离,还需要冷静三思。

与市场投资热情相对的是,即便是目前走在最前面的这些元宇宙平台,以完成度和开发进度而言,离一个体验完整、可玩性丰富的元宇宙世界也差得很远。

By 刘晓洁

What is eCash (XEC)?

eCash is a digital currency that was developed after a hard fork of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. At the time of the hard fork to the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. eCash was initially referred to as Bitcoin Cash ABC with the ticker symbol BCHA.Since Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Cash ABC token shares several similarities with the top digital asset Bitcoin; For example, the Bitcoin Cash ABC token had a total supply of 21 million tokens. Additionally, both digital assets have adopted the same consensus model for their operations.A dispute between members of the Bitcoin Cash ABC developers led to the creation of the eCash token.

Disagreement arose over the 1 MB token’s block size and payment method, with each side advocating different approaches. The split became official after both teams disagreed on the Bitcoin Cash ABC token’s payment method.An additional part of the problem that led to the split was the 8% miner’s tax dev team wanted to impose on every purchase that involved Bitcoin Cash ABC tokens. As a reward, a newly mined cryptocurrency coin is given to miners on the Bitcoin Cash ABC blockchain, however, because both teams disagreed with regards to the method of payment. A split in the network became inevitable.

E-Cash’s token was redenominated to 1:100000 before its launch and was officially launched in July 2021. The redenomination of the token will see the decimal places of the eCash coin reduce from eight to two. The ticker symbol for this new token is XEC, and it currently has a market cap worth over $3 billion.The tokens market cap and acceptance places it among the top 50 digital currencies in the world. The token’s total supply is capped at 21 trillion coins, while its current circulating supply is over $18.7 trillion.Despite being a hard fork of the Bitcoin Cash ABC token, the eCash has implemented several upgrades to improve the overall quality of the network. For example, this digital asset uses a 1 TB block size for transactions on its network. Additionally, the network plans to move to a Proof-of-Stake consensus layer called “Avalanche,” allowing holders of XEC coins to stake their tokens to earn rewards.

Furthermore, this upgrade will increase the speed with which transactions are linked to the network. Finally, the move to a Proof of Stake consensus will allow the eCash project to access the DeFi ecosystem and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Compatibility with the EVM indicates the team at the project is working toward interoperability with Ethereum-based projects.

eCash Coin Price

When the eCash token was launched in July 2020, its opening price was set at $0.00002. Towards the end of August, the coin price hit $0.00008, marking some token value growth. By September 4, the coin’s price had reached an all-time high of $0.0004 per token. The coin is currently priced between $0.0002 and $0.0003, which is an excellent potential price for a young coin. As of Dec 14, 2021, the price is $0.000104.

Endorsements and Partnerships

Although relatively new to the digital space, the eCash project is available on many top crypto exchanges. These include popular crypto exchanges like Binance, Huobi Global, Mandala, Upbit, and Okex.The eCash token has been adopted as a payment option by Weownomy, a new social network company located in Delaware, USA. Weownomy aims to provide a social media platform that is built to reward users for joining the platform. Weownomy says the eCash token will be used to pay their users and creators of content on their platform. This move further exemplifies the primary use case of eCash, i.e., a fast and inexpensive payment option.

Comparison Of eCash With Other Tokens

Compared with other digital currencies, the eCash token holds its own and offers several excellent features that holders will enjoy. A comparison of eCash with Bitcoin Cash helps to highlight this point well.Following the hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain in 2017, Bitcoin Cash was born. The Bitcoin Cash operates on a proof-of-work consensus just like Bitcoin. As a result, this digital currency does not support many decentralized features like the staking of tokens for rewards. Similarly, the Bitcoin Cash token is not yet integrated with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), meaning that the token is not compatible with Ethereum-based projects.Even though the eCash token still uses the proof of work consensus, the devs team is currently working to shift to a proof of stake consensus while also integrating with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. These upgrades will significantly upscale the transaction speed of the token and allow the eCash to merge with several Ethereum-based projects and can be used as a payment option for these projects.

By Adegbasa Timothy

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is DFI.Money (YFII)?

  • DFI.Money (YFII) is a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform which aims to build products on aggregated liquidity provision, leveraged trading, automated marketing making, and more.
  • DFI.Money (YFII) is a fork of yearn.finance (YFI), after yEarn Improvement Proposal #8 (YIP-8) which proposed to prolong the minting of the platform utility token YFI by another 2 months and with a weekly-halving emission curve was rejected.
  • The YFII token is the native utility token of the DFI.Money platform. Users can earn it by contributing liquidity to DFI.Money’s aggregated liquidity pool, and use the token for platform governance.
  • DFI.Money currently provides a profit optimizing service for lending providers, moving providers’ funds between lending protocols such as Aave, and Compound autonomously for highest return. Future strategies are being developed in its vaults section.

What products support YFII?

 Send/ReceiveTrading
Coinbase           ✔     ✔
Pro          ✔     ✔
Wallet          ✔    ✖️

What regions support YFII?

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase   ✔✖️  ✔ ✔✖️ ✔✖️✖️
Pro   ✔✖️  ✔ ✔✖️ ✔✖️✖️
Wallet ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

  USUKEU
USD  ✔ ✖️✖️
GBP  ✖️ ✖️✖️
EUR  ✖️ ✖️✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs

 USDCBTCETHUSDT
YFII    ✖️  ✖️  ✖️   ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for YFII?

YFII requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts YFII?

YFII is hosted on Ethereum.

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain.

Minimum: 0.000000000000000001 YFII

Maximum: 31 YFII

By Binance Research and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Paxos Standard (PAX)?

Paxos Standard Token (PAX) is an ERC-20 token issued on Ethereum blockchain. As a regulated stablecoin collateralized by the U.S. dollar, it brings benefits of the blockchain technology and stability of fiat currencies together.

It results in a steady cryptocurrency which offers:

  • Instant worldwide transactions
  • Immutability
  • Decentralized accounting
  • 24/7 transactions

On top of that, every PAX token is fully backed by the equivalent amount of U.S. dollars, meaning it can also be redeemed for USD at any time. However, according to U.S. Law, Paxos Standard isn’t a security.

PAX Standard was established in the light of the infamous Tether controversy, where the leading market stablecoin has come under scrutiny for printing Tethers out of thin air during the early 2018 crypto market bull run. Paxos team has noticed the opportunity and made an extra effort to be as transparent as possible. Paxos issues and burns its tokens using an audited smart contract, inspected by smart contract auditor Nomic Labs. Withum, one of the top U.S. auditing companies, regularly verifies the reserves.

Who Is The Team Behind Paxos?
Paxos team consists of seasoned professionals from diverse backgrounds, including former Wall Street and Silicon Valley employees. The company is led by its co-founder and CEO Charles Cascarilla.

Paxos Vision
Paxos team sees a future in which blockchain isn’t a part of a major financial revolution, but an essential element of its evolution. In the big picture, the company wants to improve the economic ecosystem by developing a global frictionless network for simple, mobile and instant exchange of assets.

How Does Paxos Standard Token Work?

Paxos Standard is designed to have growing use cases. Today, it’s primary use case is to limit crypto asset volatility, remove friction from cross-border transactions, and become a reliable payment vehicle for crypto assets and other blockchain assets.

In the future, Paxos expects to be used for consumer payments and the stable store of value for people outside the U.S., especially in countries with unstable national currencies.

Here’s how tokenizing USD to PAX works:

1). A user sends USD to the token issuer’s bank account.
2). The issuer creates the equivalent amount of PAX using PAX smart contract.
3). The freshly minted PAX are delivered to the user while the USD is held in the bank account.

The same but reversed process is used to redeem PAX for USD. Every Paxos Standard token can be purchased and redeemed using Paxos.com. Upon PAX token redemption, the tokens are immediately burned and taken out of the circulation.

It’s worthy to note the company doesn’t charge any fees for both converting and redeeming PAX tokens. The minimal conversion amount starts at $100.

Paxos uses third-party auditors for proving they hold the corresponding amount of dollars. The monthly attestation reports can be found here.

Is Paxos Standard Token Different From Other Stablecoins?

The Paxos website emphasizes the following features of PAX:

  • Regulation. Paxos is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
  • Guaranteed cash deposits. Every collateralizing deposit is held at FDIC-insured U.S. banks.
  • Audited. Every Paxos Standard bank account is overseen by U.S. auditing firm Withum.
  • Security. Paxos employs additional transaction monitoring and surveillance partners for an extra layer of compliance.
  • Daily purchase and redemption windows. PAX tokenization and redemption requests are processed in regular windows that facilitate free and frequent fund movement. Every operation is usually done within one business day
  • No fees. Paxos Standard tokens are issued and redeemed without any extra charges.

These features make PAX like the other recently emerged stablecoins – USD Coin (USDC), TrueUSD (TUSD) and Gemini Dollar (GUSD). All of them are fully redeemable regulated ERC-20 tokens backed 1:1 which are backed by U.S. Dollars, uses Ethereum smart contracts to issue and burn tokens, and are overseen by the U.S. auditors and regulators. Besides, none of these platforms charge transaction/conversion fees (despite few exceptions).

The most significant difference between PAX and its rivals are different partner organizations and more efficient operations due to its “processing windows.

All the fresh stablecoin projects are designed to decrown the longstanding market leader Tether (USDT). It employs a similar model but has refused to conduct regular audits and provide credible attestations. Yet, most USDT coins are issued on Omni protocol.

The only fundamentally different stablecoin within top 100 coins is DAI. This Maker’s project isn’t fiat-collateralized but still strives to retain value relative to USD.

Here’s a brief overview of four different types of stablecoin projects:

  • Fiat-collateralized. These include all stablecoins pegged to reserved fiat value. All fiat-collateralized coins are centralized by design. Examples: Tether (USDT); TrueUSD (TUSD); Gemini Dollar (GUSD); Paxos Standard Token (PAX); Digix Gold (DGX); USD Coin (USDC).
  • Crypto-collateralized. These are the stablecoins whose value is pegged to reserved crypto assets. Examples: Makercoin (MKR & DAI); Havven (nUSD & HAV).
  • Algorithmic non-collateralized. Software-based economic models that seek to provide price stability without any collateralized assets. Example projects: Basis; Kowala; Fragments.
  • Hybrid. The stablecoins which rely on a blend of the approaches listed above. Example projects: Carbon.

BitBay, another crypto stablecoin project, recently has shared an interesting crypto comparison matrix, which sheds some light on how the most popular stablecoin projects stack up. Although, the axes of “enforceability” and “decentralization” are vague.

Where to Get Paxos Standard Token?

Paxos keeps on landing new partnerships with popular exchanges. Some of them are:

Binance (paired with BTC, USDT, ETH, XRP, EOS, XLM, BNB).
Bittrex (paired with BTC, USDT).
DigiFinex (paired with USDT).
OKEx (paired with BTC, USDT).
ZB.COM (paired with BTC, USDT, ETH, ETC, LTC).
CoinBene (paired with USDT).
CPDAX (paired with BTC).
Hotbit (paired with BTC, USDT, ETH).
BCEX (paired with USDT).
Coinsuper (paired with USD, BTC).
Gate.io (paired with USDT).
UEX (paired with BTC, USDT).
Bitrue (paired with BTC, ETH, USDT, XRP).
Kucoin (paired with BTC, ETH).
Bit-Z (paired with BTC, ETH, USDT).
Upbit (paired with BTC).
ABCC (paired with BTC, USDT).
OKCoin International (paired with USD).
FCoin (paired with USDT).

Paxos Standard Tokens can also be exchanged using Paxos.com website.

Where to Store Paxos Standard Token?

PAX is an ERC-20 token issued on the Ethereum blockchain. Therefore, it can be stored in any Ethereum wallet. The most common ETH wallet options include MyEtherWallet, MetaMask, Mint or Jaxx. If this is your first time getting involved with Ethereum, you can find guidance in one of our quick Ethereum guides.

What products support PAX? 

 Send/ReceiveTrading
  Coinbase            ✔      ✔
  Pro           ✔      ✔
Wallet          ✖️     ✖️

What regions support PAX?

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase   ✔ ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Pro   ✔ ✔  ✔ ✔ ✔✖️✖️✖️
Wallet✖️✖️  ✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

  USUKEU
USD   ✔ ✖️ ✖️
GBP ✖️✖️✖️
EUR ✖️✖️✖️

Crypto to crypto trading pairs

 USDCUSDTBTCETH
PAX   ✖️   ✖️ ✖️ ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

How many confirmations are needed for PAX?

PAX requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts PAX?

PAX is hosted on Ethereum.

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain.

Minimum: 0.000000000000000001

Maximum: 125,000

By Paxos Standard and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Bancor Network Token (BNT)?

Bancor is a blockchain protocol that allows users to convert different virtual currency tokens directly and instantly instead of exchanging them on cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase.

BNT is the Bancor Network Token, which is the primary token used within the Bancor network. As of September 2021, BNT is the 98th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap, with an aggregate value of around $1.06 billion, with one BNT trading at $4.54.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Bancor is a decentralized financial network that seeks to provide liquidity to small- and micro-cap coins and returns for liquidity providers.
  • Bancor utilizes two token layers that facilitate its liquidity pools and functionality: BNT and ETHBNT.
  • Bancor and its competitor Uniswap are the leaders in a new wave of decentralized financial systems.

Understanding Bancor

According to the Bancor website, “Bancor is an on-chain liquidity protocol that enables automated, decentralized exchange on Ethereum and across blockchains.”The protocol was initially developed in Israel in 2017 by Eyal Hertzog, Galia Benartzi, and Guy Benartzi. Their whitepaper (dated March 18, 2018) states Bancor, “enables automatic price determination and an autonomous liquidity mechanism for tokens on smart contract blockchains.”

The name Bancor was chosen as an homage to John Maynard Keynes who coined “Bancor” as the name for a supra-national reserve currency he proposed at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944.

Bancor’s Crypto Liquidity Pools

Many small crypto coins are illiquid given their market cap and whether or not they are listed on an exchange. The transaction costs can also be higher than the costs of the most liquid cryptocurrencies, like BTC and ETH.

For traders who want to deal in small- or micro-cap coins, Bancor’s smart token and smart contract technology, which are self-executing contracts with deal terms between transacting parties written into lines of code, allows these kinds of coins to be bought and sold with minimal friction and fees.

A standard cryptocurrency transaction occurring on a cryptocurrency exchange, whether a centralized exchange or a decentralized exchange involves the transfer of tokens between two parties: a buyer and a seller with the exchange acting as a market maker.

Bancor Network Token (BNT)

Bancor’s purpose is to remove the middleman by creating a virtual reserve currency, which they call Bancor Network Token (BNT), and an automatic exchange mechanism where prices and trading volumes are controlled automatically through the protocol.5

Bancor’s native reserve currency token, BNT, is the default reserve currency for all smart tokens created on the Bancor network.5 One of the promises of BNT’s ICO was that investors in the coin would gain interest on the transaction fees as other crypto coins are converted into and out of BNT.

Bancor’s protocol converts between different ERC-20 compatible tokens. Each smart token is linked to smart contracts that hold reserves of other ERC-20 tokens. The tokens are converted internally based on these reserves and depending upon the volume of user requests.

Essentially, smart tokens can be thought of as coins that hold the monetary value of other compatible virtual coins. It is the same in principle to a central bank that holds foreign currency reserves and converts between them as required.

The Bancor protocol supports all virtual currency tokens that are compatible with the ERC-20 format. Any smart token created on the Bancor network is also ERC-20 compatible, and therefore compatible with other tokens on the network.

Bancor’s ETHBNT Airdrop

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, Bancor airdropped $60,000 worth of ETHBNT into wallets holding a minimum BNT. ETHBNT is a Bancor pool token representing shares in the ETH:BNT liquidity pool. ETHBNT collects fees from ETH-based conversions on Bancor.

The move was meant to increase liquidity by increasing providers, though it is unclear how extra liquidity was added to the Bancor liquidity pools outside of Bancor investing its fiat currency reserves into their platform.

Criticisms of Bancor

Internally, the Bancor network uses the concept of Constant Reserve Ratio (CRR) in all smart token contracts, which purports to eliminate the possibility of the reserve value of smart tokens being depleted. The rate of conversion between various crypto coins is fairly maintained by various formulas and algorithms internally implemented by the Bancor network.

The claim that Bancor guarantees liquidity is contested, however. A pseudonymous blogger “bitcoinchaser” points out that “The level of cryptocurrency liquidity that Bancor has, is relative. If there is a massive run on the token or any other token under it, its price will plummet, and that 20% reserve will be wiped out in minutes. The point is that in the cryptocurrency market, any other comparable token or any new token, would be wiped out faster under similar circumstances.”

Bancor’s foundational claim that its superior technology can prevent a run on any individual coin—even its own tokens—is questionable. As its airdrop of ETHBNT shows, the liquidity on its platform is funded, at least initially, by using fiat currency reserves. As “bitcoinchaser” argues, Bancor provides liquidity for less liquid coins, but in the event of a market panic, BNT itself may become illiquid.

Bancor isn’t the only player in the liquidity pool, decentralized exchange space either. Competitor Uniswap also provides liquidity pools to small coin projects that need liquidity to grow, and an analysis of Uniswap pools argues that any negative change in the price of the underlying asset in the pool can create negative returns for the liquidity provider, outweighing the profit from fees.

Representatives of Bancor gloss over these losses and how they could undermine the exchange by referring vaguely to “arbitrageurs” who will step in to perform the magic of markets function to restore balance.

Traders Magazine puts it like this:

“The biggest problem faced by liquidity suppliers to pools like Uniswap is the risk of major relative price movements between the paired assets. It is therefore ideal to supply liquidity in terms of a stable asset, instead of a volatile one like ETH. This problem is exacerbated by Bancor’s dependence on its native token, BNT, which is even less stable than ETH. Moreover, transactions on Bancor are structured in such a way that they can incur high gas fees, and they are not presently planning to utilize layer 2 scaling technologies to alleviate those pains.”

What products support BNT?

 Send/Receive Trading
  Coinbase          ✔      ✔
  Pro          ✔      ✔
  Wallet          ✔      ✖️

What regions support BNT? 

 USNYCANEUUKDESGJP
Coinbase      ✔ ✔ ✔✖️
Pro     ✔ ✔ ✔✖️
Wallet     ✔ ✔ ✔✖️

Crypto to fiat trading pairs

  USUKEU
USD  ✔ ✖️✖️
GBP  ✖️ ✔✖️
EUR  ✖️

Note: Coinbase Wallet does not support direct bank transactions. You’ll need to transfer your crypto to Coinbase.com or send it to an external address in order to cash out.

Crypto to crypto trading pairs

 USDCBTCETHUSDT
BNT    ✖️  ✔ ✖️  ✖️

See the full list of countries that Coinbase supports for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Note: Only assets hosted on the Ethereum blockchain can be converted through the Coinbase Wallet mobile app at this time. Learn more about trading on Coinbase Wallet.

How many confirmations are needed for BNT?

BNT requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts BNT?

BNT is hosted on the Ethereum blockchain.

What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts?

Coinbase has implemented safeguards to ensure a healthy and efficient network both on-chain and through our platform.  

These safeguards include both minimum and maximum amounts for each cryptocurrency we allow customers to send through the blockchain.

There is a withdrawal minimum of 5.87 Bancor (BNT) and a maximum of 250,000 to send from Coinbase to an external address.

By Adam Hayes and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto