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

社区团购和会员店能取代传统零售吗

零售行业每次发生代际交替,都是一场革命,充满了创新和混乱。而眼下,中国正在经历第三次零售革命。

第一波浪潮是连锁超市和家电零售(2000~2010年);第二波是电商(2010~2020年);第三波则是新零售(前置仓、社区团购、会员店)。

消费者的钱包是有限的,每一次革命中新巨头的崛起都是对老巨头的血洗。这点在第三次革命中,呈现的尤为极致。

第一代的永辉,2021年前三季度亏损21.78亿元,增加207%。同期苏宁亏损75.68亿元,增加1483.29%。第二代的阿里,2021年7-9月收入2007亿元,同比只增长29%。预计全年总收入增速只有20-23%,创下自2014年上市以来新低。

而这第三次战争,新势力也同样付出了高昂的代价。

2021年第三季度,美团的新业务收入为137亿元,增加66.7%,经营亏损109亿元,增加437.5%。同季度,叮咚和每日优鲜合计亏损41亿元。

零售乱战之中谁能胜出,是每个从业者、老板和投资者的终极问题。

通过分析这三次零售革命的内在逻辑变化,我们找到了一条主线。依据这条主线,我们发现社区团购和会员店将是第三次革命的赢家,但超市和电商并不会消亡,而会自我革新,最终新老零售巨头将共存。

最令我们惊讶的发现是,美团和拼多多等电商巨头现在的亏损其实并无太大意义。

01 概述

在具体解释我们的发现之前,我们先得回溯下前两次革命,理清一下其中脉络。

打个比方,第一、二代的零售巨头模式类似于渔民,都是通过织网捞鱼的模式来盈利。

连锁超市和电商都是坐拥线下或线上流量,然后依靠丰富的商品,将人流/流量转化成销售额。

超市是一张小网,只覆盖附近3km的消费者,其网眼也稀释,每个人走过的路径都是一样,触发购买概率低。电商则是一张巨大的网,覆盖全国消费者,网眼也更加密,每个人看到的商品都不一样,触发购买的概率更高。

织网捞鱼模式的关注点是:流量、转化和交付。在通过算法、快递/骑手将转化和交付的门槛降至极低后,只要有了流量,谁都可以做电商。虽有阿里和京东矗立于前,后继者还是前仆后继的涌入,社交的拼多多、短视频的抖音快手、外卖的美团,阿里和京东挡也挡不住。

第一、二代零售的重点都是场和货,而第三代零售关注的则是人——即针对特定的消费者,零售商作为产品经理为其开发质优、价好且消费者无法抗拒的商品。

第一二代零售是商品多、客单低,第三代则是商品很少、客单极高。根据我们估算,消费者一年在永辉的消费金额为3800元,淘宝为9200元,中国山姆会员店为3万+。

如果放到全世界看,前十大零售商里,三代都有代表性玩家。

  • 超市-数万SKU:Walmart、Kroger、家乐福
  • 电商-数亿SKU:亚马逊、京东
  • 会员店-3千SKU:Costco、Lidl(Schwarz)、Aldi、山姆会员店(Walmart)

注:Lidl和Aldi并不收取会员费,但都是一样经营思路,为了描述方便将其归纳到会员店类型。

接下来我们先回顾下前两次革命,借此才能明白为什么永辉、阿里能成功,而其成功又为什么会在第三次革命时变成了致命的障碍。(能明白上述零售逻辑的朋友可以直接跳过下面超市和电商部分)

02 第一次零售革命:超市

改革开放后,为了解决居民住房严重不足的问题,上海市政府在曲阳地区建设了大面积的曲阳新村。1991年9月,上海第一家连锁超市——联华超市在曲阳开业,拉开了中国连锁超市大发展的序幕。到了2010年,连锁超市开始全国化。以永辉为例,2010年收入123亿元增长到2020年的931亿,门店从135家增长到1017家。10年涨了6.5x。

开一家超市的第一步,找一个人口密度高的位置,签下15~20年的低价租约。第二步将货架租给供应商,第三步,做活动吸引周边3~5公里的消费者。等到消费者建立认知后,这家店就稳了。接着,这个超市在一个区域内,不断重复这个开店过程,以此,连锁超市通过门店和商品所织的一张网,覆盖住本地的消费者。

这种商业模式极度依赖线下的选址,在形成一定区域内的密度后,对手很难进入。这塑造了中国分散的超市零售格局,每个城市都有自己的零售小霸王。

但也因为这种区域化选址的特征,即使强如永辉也只是借助生鲜的优势实现了4个区域的连锁,并不能算是真正的全国性连锁超市。

2020年永辉收入近1000亿。相比之下,Walmart在美国小镇附近找空地就可以开店,没有选址障碍,其收入5500亿美元,是永辉的30多倍。

我们再看下称霸山东的家家悦的门店布局,其在山东很多地市都未渗透进去,就更能理解选址在中国零售业的重要性。

03 电商:从阿里到抖音

2012年的双十一,天猫创造了191亿的销售额,所有快递公司的仓库都出现了爆仓。自此,中国电商行业开始进入黄金发展期。阿里的GMV从2012年的0.67万亿到2020年的7万亿,8年增长了6.5x。

电商的优势在于三点:1)无限的货架提供了无限的选择(供给),2)全国的消费者(流量),3)数据+算法提高两者的匹配度(AI)。

前两者都很好理解,淘宝有一段时间的口号是“只有想不到,没有买不到”,而淘系拥有8.9亿用户,占到全国人口的61.8%,几乎是城镇人口的全部。两者都有了,关键是如何让消费者能看到对眼的商品成交。由于两者量级都是数亿,不可能依靠人工推荐,必须依靠数据+算法。对不同的消费者展示不同的商品,以此来提高其购买概率。

阿里的难题是没有足够数据。淘系卖的是长尾商品,消费者购买十分随机。通过买双袜子、买件裙子、买只口红的购买记录,阿里根本猜不出这个消费者还想买啥?只能再推荐一支口红或裙子。

有限的数据养出的算法,必然会产生信息茧房。

为了获得更多数据,阿里在2013年忽然all in移动社交。在所有人都看不懂的情况下,推出挑战微信的社交软件——来往;另一方面,还入股收购微博和友盟。来往不出意外的挂了,但入股微博、友盟还是带给阿里丰厚的数据。微博代表的是社交数据,友盟代表长尾APP用户的行为数据,其意义在于:

拿到多维度的消费者的数据后,阿里开始利用AI对消费者进行尽可能精准的画像,最终在2015年第一次推出基于算法和大数据,为用户做大规模的、个性化的商品推荐,即“千人千面”。

以前消费者画像不清晰,只有几十个竞价的卖家,消费者浏览一次几厘钱至几分钱。现在消费者画像清晰,竞价的卖家多达几百个,一次CPC可高达2毛。价格翻了几倍。换成人话的意思是,阿里终于可以以更高的价格把消费者拍卖给卖家了!

既有巨大的流量,又有了变现利器,阿里财报的表现就如同开挂了一样。自2015年后阿里的货币化率就不断提高,2015年为2.4%。2020年货币化率高达7.4%(from一财),这5年里增长了200%!同期阿里收入从2016财年的1011亿元,增长到2021年的7172亿。净利润从721亿增长到1505亿。

然而,撇去京东、拼多多这些跟阿里类似的竞争对手不谈,在2016年短视频兴起后,阿里的市场份额又被进一步蚕食了。作为与阿里从形态、模式上有明显差异化的短视频电商平台,我们也在此重点讨论一下。

短视频在阿里三大壁垒(供给、流量和AI)上都更有优势。抖音电商2020年全年GMV(商品成交总额)超过5000亿元,是2019年三倍。

在供给上,短视频兼容淘系、拼多多和京东的卖家。在流量上,短视频现在用户使用时长最多的APP,占到29.8%,甚至超过微信。在AI上,短视频的优势不但在于用户画像更精准,而且还在于短视频可以通过不同的内容来影响消费者的消费决策,俗称种草。

短视频积累数据多:短视频平均人均使用时间是1.5小时,一个视频只有几十秒到数分钟。这意味着用户一天可以累积下大量的浏览、观看、点赞、转发和评论等数据。当这些数据与手机通讯录打通后,对比朋友间的数据,用户的数据量会几何级别的增加。相应算法可以获得对用户非常完整的画像。

短视频能更好影响决策:这些画像精准到第三方可以借助针对性的视频内容来缓慢的、无感知的对用户洗脑,最终改变人们的想法。最为极端的例子就是剑桥分析通过针对不同人群投放不同内容,最终帮助川普从不被看好的小丑变成美国总统。最为常见的例子则是品牌商通过各路网红给用户种草,灌注消费的欲望。如小红书。

总之,用户数据值钱、精准的用户数据更值钱、能被种草的用户最值钱。

从短视频的电商购买流程也可以看出,平台希望消费者最大化冲动消费,而不要有一丝冷静。

短视频的购买流程非常简单。点击商品进入一个购买页面,消费者直接点击购买,不用比价、不用付款、不用购物车,货到付款,也称为COD(Cash on Delivery)。

这种冲动消费导致短视频电商的退货比例远高于阿里。但抖音对卖家采用OCPM的收费方式,即按照成交金额收取广告费。退货高低不关平台事,平台的佣金和广告费照收不误。这意味着商家需要把更多的成本转嫁给消费者。

同样的商品、同样的卖家,短视频卖的会更贵。

要知道COD最早起源于东南亚、印度等支付和快递不发达的电商市场,只能依靠线下收货时付现金的方式。但在2020年的中国,短视频居然沿用这种方式,完全是出于自身利益的考虑。这导致短视频卖的畅销品都带有收智商税的味道,如管道疏通剂、手掌一般的大虾等。

短视频正在试图扭转其急功近利的一面,抖音已经开始增加先付款的GMV比例,但这并不会对第三次革命浪潮产生实质的影响,因为电商已经是一个没有多少增量的内卷市场。

05 新零售,内卷下的创新

在线上流量日益枯竭(表现为越来越贵),电商日趋内卷(二选一)的背景下,创业公司和巨头都将目光重新投到线下生鲜零售,这个唯一没被电商染指的领域。外卖市场证明了消费者在本地庞大的餐饮消费可以被线上化,而将超市线上化、半小时送到家的新零售成为所有人关注的焦点。

新零售看似革新,抓到了新市场,但无形中让零售的内卷又加剧了。

2016年从京东出来的侯毅加入阿里,回到上海并开设第一家店盒马门店。盒马模式在当时十分新鲜:消费者线上下单,半小时送货到家。新零售们的创新,一是解决消费者“懒”的痛点,二是花了大力气在商品上讨好消费者。

盒马搞了巨大的水池养着龙虾等海鲜,每日优鲜上新各种网红商品,叮咚提供活鱼代杀。商品是会挑选消费者的,新零售希望通过提供的这些新的商品来吸引80-90后这批消费者。

这批诞生在中国经济增长最好年代的消费者,被认为会如美国、日本二战后一代一样,有着庞大、狂热的消费能力。但消费主义并未在中国这代消费者身上出现,至少没有在买菜上体现。

没有小孩的年轻人被996、狼性文化给绑架,压根没有时间做饭,吃外卖是他们最多的选择。有小孩的家庭背着看病贵、房子贵、上学难三座大山,在吃的上这批消费者也如长辈一代一样精打细算。

新零售的雄心是同时改进商品和服务,但这个过程的背后包含了太多的试错成本,最终高企的商品价格让吃的好一点变成了一种奢侈。为此新零售的玩家不得不通过补贴来吸引消费者,这带来大规模的亏损。2021年Q3每日优鲜 GMV同比增长47%,亏损增长88%。

新零售的两个支撑脚是“半小时送达+新商品”,到2018年之后,其中一条脚没有了,被美团抢去。

拥有外卖骑手和流量优势的美团将半小时送上门变成家常便饭,并扶植起一批新零售玩家。各种基于前置仓的暗店在美团上遍地开花,有便利店、超市、药店、宠物用品店等等。2021上半年美团闪购业务GTV(总交易额)增长估计超过100%,王兴说未来订单量会达到1000万单/日,超过现在所有新零售玩家的总和。

美团打瘸的不只是新零售的玩家的腿,也打折了超市的。如前所述,连锁超市的核心壁垒是选址。优质位置对任何线下零售商而言都是稀缺资源,但美团让线下哪里都可以开店,比如不临街的仓库,人烟稀少的门脸(前置仓)。买药不用去药店,买菜不用去超市,都是美团骑手从前置仓送来。

以往消费者在线下的流量转到了线上,直接导致线上的流量价值超过了线下的商铺价值。最直观的影响是,过去养三代的商铺现在没人要,相应美团的股价却一路上涨,直到碰到反垄断。

王兴以为闪购是新零售的终局,但他错了。

美团带给连锁超市的很多是30元左右的低价订单,当外卖骑手的成本从7元上涨到10元,并还会持续上涨时。美团主力的低价订单会相应减少,这是美团不能容忍的。

因此美团希望连锁超市如餐厅一样,通过提高售价隐形的向消费者转嫁日益高涨的外卖费,而不是直接在订单最后向消费者收取额外的外卖费。但连锁超市的商品同质化程度很高,一瓶可乐多少钱,消费者心里门清。这种撸羊毛的行为一旦被消费者察觉,连锁超市将永久损失客户。

虽然这是杯毒酒,很多连锁超市还是喝下去了,并且美团的补贴让其负面效果没有那么快显现。但未来美团一旦停止补贴,超市用户大量流失,闪购的GMV和订单都将会出现下跌。

不论美团如何,新零售和连锁超市寄望于线上订单翻牌的希望是不切实际的。对于连锁超市而言,消费者的口袋就只有那么大,美团并没有帮助他们扩大市场规模。

幸或者不幸,新零售整个的试错成本由资本来买单,而不是消费者。

06 被巨头扭曲的社区团购

当流量增量见顶,用户数据受到保护,算法效率难以提升时,连锁超市、电商两大零售业态开始不断内卷时,行业必然要经历剧变。

选择一是进入新市场,选择二是走向深耕,将市场进行细分。

前者包括下沉市场和海外,后者则意味着替消费者筛选出针对的、优质、价美的商品,让消费者认可零售商是在为自己服务,而不是把自己卖给广告商。

在新零售玩家还在存量市场为会员打磨商品时,针对增量的下沉市场,提供少量物美价廉商品的模式,却被一个开小卖部的湖南老板给跑通了,其名字叫“兴盛优选”。

兴盛优选所代表的社区团购模式兼具了选择一和选择二的特点,立刻被巨头瞧上了,成了他们必争的战场。

社区团购与连锁超市和电商最大的区别在于:SKU少。社区团购只有1000个商品,远少于一般商超的1.5~3w个。

如果按连锁超市和电商的流量+变现的模型,只有1000个商品的社区团购变现难度极大。如果将商品看成网,流量看成鱼,社区团购这张网要比超市稀疏很多,更无法与电商相提并论。

兴盛优选的成功是基于经过数年打磨,摸清楚了本地消费者的口味,选择好了商品组合,打磨好了与供应商、物流商的合作等所有环节,精准的抓住了消费者的每分钱,才终于在湖南实现了盈利。

如果说兴盛的成功是来自精准的消费者+精准的商品组合,那么这种模式与电商巨头流量+变现的模型完全不同。这种慢慢积累的成功无法满足电商巨头为了快速建立第二增长曲线,对大规模、高增长的GMV的需求。于是社区团购变成了一个扭曲的游戏。

在这个扭曲之中,GMV是第一位,消费者要的必需品做不好不关键,消费者需要怎样的百货和零售也不重要。

比如肉类:上游的工厂缺乏小包装加工能力,压根找不到供应商,社区团购只能自己做。但管理一帮在零度工作十几个小时的工人队伍明显不是零售商擅长的,更别提做在办公室的电商。

为了GMV规模的疯狂增长,巨头不得不背负高达20%的亏损率。2021上半年的单个巨头每月的亏损高达20亿。相比之下,打车、共享单车大战都是小儿科了。

社区团购各家采用了不同的方法来降低亏损,但出乎意料的是,真正符合上述商业逻辑的反而是没有一点电商基因的橙心优选。在烧了一年钱后,橙心优选大刀阔斧的进行了改革。

  • 以小店为核心客户,向其批发商品(即大件货),链接品牌商和小店,借此搭建不亏钱履约体系。
  • 砍掉多个省份,砍掉一二三线城市,砍SKU,只专注下沉市场2C的团购,集中精力和资源为该消费群体选购商品。

虽然美团和拼多多的规模虽然日均达到了4100万件和3500万件,单件价格从3元提升到8元。但美团和拼多多在社区团购上没有实现0到1的突破。

不客气点说,巨头目前在进行社区团购业务时动作剧烈走形,这是因为电商将消费者作为商品卖给商家,而社区团购需要把消费者当做上帝。

07 会员店会是零售业的救赎吗?

我们曾怀疑过,独立思考的王兴、天才的黄铮难道真没有看透社区团购的本质?老大们的认知难道已经如此固化?是不是大概率是我们看错了?

直到我们深入看清了会员店的投资机会,这种疑虑才被打消。

我们发现社区团购的本质与会员店无异。SKU都很少,兼做批发和零售。只不过一个针对下沉市场,一个针对中产阶级。而会员店已经诞生了Costco、Lidl和山姆会员店等多个世界零售10强企业。

中国社区团购其实是美国会员店在中国的电商版本。

在2019年开出中国上海开出第一家店的Costco是全球仓储式会员店的老大,2020年收入1632亿美元。Costco前身是美国会员店的鼻祖Price Club,而Price Club则是在抄袭德国的Cash&Carry(超市批发购物模式,类似麦德龙),改进的更偏零售。

在Costco开始时,其目标客户是餐厅、加油站等小店的老板,并满足其在生意上和生活上的需求,如做生意的消耗品纸巾。个人消费的电视。在后续的发展中,Costco针对这群消费者,逐渐扩展了个人消费的商品。

当时Costco开始时,西雅图是连锁超市Safeway的天下,其拥有60%的垄断性市场份额。超市内主要卖的非食品。而当时欧洲超市买食品非常好,非食品不行。但美国消费升级对食品的品质要求比较高,所以Costco整合了两者的优势推出会员店。

在服务会员至上的思路指导下,会员店形成对其他零售业务的差异化竞争。

会员店的核心逻辑可以分解为几步:

第一步是收会员费,不是为了收费,而是为了筛出精准的客户。

第二步是关注会员续卡率,而非收入和利润,以此保证自己的选品和定价切合消费者的需求。

第三步是集合消费者的需求,向上建立最大的采购能力,获得最好品质、最好价格。

第四步是只收取极低的加价率,将利益最大程度反馈给消费者。

这就是Costco不断成长的飞轮逻辑。这套逻辑不但在国外适用,在国内也同样是。2021年9月,Walmart在上海开出全球最大的山姆会员店。这是近两年的时间内,山姆开出了第11家会员店。

逻辑说起来容易,做起来极为艰难。电商巨头并不是没有尝试过。阿里有淘工厂、拼多多有拼工厂、创业公司有必要等都曾做过尝试。但这种投入巨大,见效慢的情况下,投入产出比不高,最终都被巨头给放弃了。上市后,华尔街每个月要看利润,收广告费和坑位费才是王道,见效慢的事情哪里顾得上。

在规模不大时,要做到集采是非常艰难和漫长,Costco也是经历了供应商不愿意定制,到接受贴牌,最终到量大到可以让生产商按其设计进行代工。在中国如何突破生鲜的地域限制,找到可以畅销全国的商品,山姆会员店也是经历了数年的低潮,终于在2019年靠烘焙和预制菜翻盘。

在国内零售行业内,阿里盒马花了数年时间来搭建这种能力。阿里整合的淘菜菜也号称在致力于此。但从结果看,似乎盒马在形式上做到了,但底子却差点远。这体现在:

一是过高的加价率。

以正大的虾肉馄饨为例,盒马为29.9元/144g,山姆会员店为105元/750g,正大优鲜(美团闪购店)为39.5元/255g——每100g的价格分别为20.7元、14元和15.4元。盒马分别贵了48%和34%。盒马的商品价格普遍要比连锁超市和会员店贵,这背后也许是盒马的供应链比较弱,也许是基因的问题。

Costco的创始人说了一个关于基因的例子,曾经Costco搞到一批Lee的牛仔裤,加了$1卖$29.99/条。很快卖完后,没想到又以更低的$21.99搞到一批。如果还卖$29.99可以多赚$8。前者毛利为3%,后者为27%。但Costco还是只加了$1卖了,因为赚这$8就像吸毒一样,干过一次就会上瘾。

二是团队建设薄弱。

Costco企业内部有产品经理级别的采购团队。完全围绕目标会员群体日常消费需求开发定制产品,全面降低SKU数量并在部分品类通过PB商品去品牌化,显著提升产品品质及性价比。

这种人才即使拿着高薪,培养也需要时间。而Costco员工的平均工作年限30年,6%的流失率。Costco不但有医保和退休金,薪水比walmart高60%。公司曾答应给员工提供90%的医疗报销,但只做到了88%,创始人兼CEO发现后自掏腰包补上了2%。

全商业犯罪调查科级的廉政团队。全链条下无限接近于0的内部贪腐程度,从根本保证会员所花的每一分钱都是为产品本身。

对比看盒马,除了店长,员工签的外包公司劳务用工合同。加班是常态,都不止996。具体大家自己去搜吧。

会员至上的理念,以及所有内功,最终都会体现在财务指标上。从财务上看,Costco全面碾压连锁超市,更不用说新零售了。

更有趣的财务细节是,Costco常年的毛利率只有11~12%,而Walmart是25%、永辉是19%、大润发是26%。这来自于Costco创始人订了一个奇葩的规律:所有商品的加价率不能超过15%。

这意味Costco所有商品的收益都返还给会员。这条规定不但约束了公司对提高毛利率的渴望,也约束管理层给自己发高工资和期权,或给股东大额分红。

事实上,Costco的创始人的工资+期权只有美国CEO平均的1/3,其股权身家只有几十亿美元。作为全球第二大零售商Costco的创始人从来没有进入过福布斯的排行榜。

08 第三次零售乱战何时能尘埃落地?

在第一、二次革命兴起时,玩家们面对的都是一个新市场,采用的是一种平地起高楼的打法。通过针对消费者一个痛点、搭建粗暴高效的团队、烧足够的钱、摆平几个对手可以短短数年获得成功。

但第三次革命时玩家面对的是一个老市场,是要采用对旧房升级改造的打法。这需要解决消费者从品质到价格的全部痛点,搭建精耕细作又了解现状的团队,并要不被烧钱的数据给扭曲的、联合行业内现有的大部分人,才能获得成功。

在完全不同的打法下,巨头过去的成功反而成为现在最大障碍。

那具备新的能力的企业,会在什么细分行业里最先跑出来?他们的业态具体是啥样子?

这其中关键在于这个细分市场目标消费人群是否够多了,能支撑起一个足够体量的业务。如果不够,则业态还不成熟。

以连锁便利店为例。日系连锁便利店爆发是1980年后,当时日本人均GDP为9138美元,相当于现在的17万人民币。而2020年中国人均GDP超过15万人民币的城市只有10个,要达到1980年日本的水平仍需要数年的经济增长。消费人群的差异导致体现在连锁便利店的单店收入上。2020年全家在内地的单店流水只有8673元/天,而台湾地区为1.35万/天。

最后,我们根据不同业态的目标消费者是否够多,分析了第三次革命下的各个细分市场,有如下发现:

  • 第一个跑出来:针对下沉市场的社区团购。根据《阿里巴巴2020“十一”假期消费出行趋势报告》,“十一”期间,53%的电器卖向县域市场,48%的购买者来自小镇用户。没有三座大山的县域经济,已成为中国消费持续增长的新动力。
  • 第二个跑出来:针对城市中产的会员店,如山姆会员店。这块市场的增长十分明确。根据汇丰预测中国中产阶层的数量将增长逾45%,从2021的约3.4亿人增至未来的5亿人以上。当然玩家也众多,山姆会员店计划未来2年新开26家电,国内也有物美麦德龙、永辉、Fudi等。
  • 需要5年以上跑出来的:针对城市年轻单身的连锁便利店,如全家。全家自2004年进入中国,花了16年时间做到2967家。2020年实现收入92.9亿,预计仍是亏损。同样711等日系便利店、国内的便利蜂也都是实现盈利的长路漫漫。
  • 还看不清的:针对城市白领的咖啡和新茶饮。类似瑞幸的案例在国外是有成功案例的,如台湾定位平价而精致的路易莎。但这类零售需要较强的文化来卖出附加值,这个是国内玩家都还缺少的。
  • 暂无人做的:针对城市普通消费者的低价连锁超市,如Lidl。Lidl只有1300个SKU,90%以上自有品牌。国内暂时还未有对标,大概率是现有连锁超市的企业会有转型做的。

By 彭程柚子

滴滴创下中概股退市最快纪录

众说纷纭的滴滴退市一事迎来实质性进展。

12月3日早间,滴滴发布微博称:经认真研究,公司即日起启动在纽交所退市的工作,并启动在香港上市的准备工作。

上市5个月便启动退市,滴滴创下了中概股最快退市记录。

北京时间6月30日夜间,没有大张旗鼓,没有敲锣仪式,滴滴于纽交所挂牌。闯关上市不足48小时后,滴滴被启动网络安全审查,暂停新用户注册。两天后,25款与滴滴出行相关的APP被全部下架。两周后,滴滴迎来了包括国家安全部在内的七部门进驻。

上市后,滴滴股价最高跳至16.4美元(以收盘价计,下同)。但被启动调查后,股价一路下跌,最低达到7.2美元,接近腰斩。上两个交易日,滴滴股价均出现高开低走的情况,如昨日晚间美股开盘,滴滴盘中涨幅超过10%,但收于微跌0.15%,报7.8美元。

一家9年间累计获得超过200亿美元风险投资的公司,一个看似压制了整个行业的胜出者,在资本簇拥下选择上市,又在不体面的退市中上演了一场无限接近“失败”的资本故事。

退市面临“两条路”,能否平移到港股仍存问号

一系列风波之后,美股退市后在港股上市,对于滴滴来说并不是最差的选择。

资深投行人士王骥跃对搜狐科技分析称,在退市上,摆在滴滴面前的有“两条路”。

一是直接从美股私有化退市,再去港交所上市。这种方式下,滴滴需要按照“市价”或接受部分溢价从市场上回购股票。

中国社科院金融所金融科技研究室主任尹振涛对搜狐科技解释称,美股退市需要经历多个环节,在确定价格时,大股东之间比较容易形成统一意见,但难度在于拿回二级市场上流通的中小股东手里的股票。

艾媒咨询首席分析师张毅介绍道,一般而言,投资者能接受的私有化溢价在20-30%之间。但这并非定论,举例来说,近期私有化的雷蛇溢价率仅有5.6%,华人置业的私有化溢价率则达到了83.5%。

滴滴上市时发行价14美元,募资44亿美元。如果按照市价7.8美元进行私有化,不计上市融资相关费用,那么滴滴甚至可能退市中“获利”约19.5亿美元。

不过,张毅表示,理论上讲,通过退市来“赚钱”并不会很轻松。鉴于滴滴在上市后不到2天内就被网络安全审查,涉嫌“虚假披露或隐瞒重大信息”,或将面临SEC的处罚,以及来自美国律所的集体诉讼和巨额赔偿。

另外,据报道,已经有美国Rosen、Labaton Sucharown、Schall等多家律师事务所宣称将代表股东对滴滴发起集体诉讼。不过,对于滴滴具体的赔偿金额,市场仍未有定论。参照此前深陷财务造假丑闻的瑞幸咖啡,和解费用约为1.8亿美元。

因此,也有传闻称滴滴或将以发行价格购回股票。

无论以市价还是发行价,私有化退市都需要大笔资金流出。截至2021年一季度末,滴滴账上现金及现金等价物约为234.5亿元人民币,短期理财约为239.7亿元,两者合计474.2亿元。

考虑到滴滴上市后积极拓展社区团购等新业务,且近三年来均大额亏损,净亏损分别达到149.8亿、97.3亿和106.1亿元,至少约24.5亿美元((7.8/14)*44亿美元)的资金流出将对其产生不小的现金流挑战。

另一种做法是,直接将美股股票转换到港股,即现有股东直接到香港联交所登记。

目前看来,滴滴更倾向于此。滴滴在最新公告中称,从纽交所将ADS摘牌后,将在确保ADS持有人的选择下,转换为未来港股上市的自由流通股。上述决议仍待召开股东大会进行表决。另据凤凰网科技消息,滴滴将在明年3月左右在香港提交IPO招股书。

实际上,滴滴不是没考虑过香港上市,首次被传IPO时目的地就是港股。但不久后,市场就有声音称,滴滴因合规问题被港股拒之门外,紧接着就传来了滴滴美股秘密递表的消息。

网约车做到完全合规,需要“三证”齐备:司机拥有《网络预约出租汽车驾驶员证》,车辆获得《网络预约出租汽车运输证》,平台在各地方拿到《网络预约出租汽车经营许可证》。根据交通部公布的最新数据,10月份,滴滴的合规率仅为43%,且在近期以来提升有限。

也有私募投资人士曾对搜狐科技表示,港股上市所说的合规是“大合规”的概念,也有可能是滴滴在数据权限等问题上没解决好。截至目前,滴滴的网络安全审查仍未结束。

但无论是何种问题,都很难在短时间内得到解决,这无疑给滴滴股票从美股平移到港股增添了变数。

对于急于解套的大股东来说,滴滴上市也没有给他们带来期待中的脱手机会。据了解,美股上市的解禁期一般为180天,如今尚未达成。更进一步来说,由于上市后遭遇审查,以及中概股整体走势不佳,滴滴股价一蹶不振,已经跌破在软银、苹果等在2016年40亿美元战略融资时的成本价9.5美元,这也是滴滴获得的最大的一笔风险投资,约占总融资额的1/5。

“IPO就是扒层皮”,滴滴美股5个月游花掉超6亿元

经历美股上市、退市再经港股上市,这其中涉及到的中介费磨损巨大。

市场上常有“IPO就是扒层皮”的说法。筹备上市时,公司通常需要组建以CFO为代表的财务团队,同时在保荐、承销、法律咨询等多个环节付出成本。

根据滴滴的招股书,本次滴滴上市时,不包括承销折扣和佣金,总费用预估应达到了1480万美元。承销折扣和佣金为8870.4万美元,两者合计超过1亿美元,约合人民币6.4亿元。

与上市相关的费用

滴滴上市时的承销折扣及佣金

不过,对于滴滴来说,急于上市的背景下,更重要的损失可能不是资本,而是消失的增长空间。

滴滴停止用户注册的5个月的时间里,网约车市场“群雄逐鹿”。美团打车、高德打车采用各种免佣策略抢占市场,曹操出行、T3出行等更是分别获得了38亿元及77亿元的大额融资。

张毅对搜狐科技表示,滴滴出现问题后,第二梯队的这些企业基本都是受益者,但从实际执行角度上来看,没有明显的谁比谁更厉害,只能说有些公司在细节方面做得更好。

从数据增长上来看,交通部公布的数据显示,在6月至9月,除7月外,滴滴订单量环比均在下跌。环比数据分别为-13.40%、13.10%、-21.1%和-0.6%。但很难说,这些下跌是受市场环境影响还是滴滴因APP下架所致,因为同期美团打车订单量也在下滑,分别是-16.70%、23.80%、-1.10%和-8.10%。

滴滴退市尘埃落定,闯关上市没带来意料之内的好结果,反而于己、于投资人、于行业都留下一地鸡毛。是赚是赔,不言而喻。

By 尹莉娜

What is Klaytn (KLAY)?

The origination of Klaytn started through South Korea’s largest publicly traded tech firm, Kakao. This highly reputable firm in South Korea is renowned for its diverse services and the many users in the country.

Kakao decided to venture into the crypto sector after the 2017 bull run caught its eye being a multi-service firm. In that context, the firm was inspired to create a cryptocurrency, which resulted in the innovation of Klaytn.

The efforts to actualize the Klaytn initiative were nearly altered as the firm encountered many backlashes from the nation’s financial regulators, which is similar to the system used in Facebook’s Libra.

Nonetheless, the crypto vision of the company’s CEO, Yeo Minsoo, was in the end actualized in mid-2019. The firm dived its way through multiple restrictions and hindrances with the assistance of its blockchain-based subsidiary known as Ground X. Later on, it successfully unveiled the Klaytn blockchain.

Core Technology Of Klaytn

The blockchain utilizes an enhanced version of an Instanbul BFT that substitutes for other blockchain’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-Work (PoW). With that in mind, the network implements Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) with the modifications to operate with the integrated blockchain performances it has.

Nonetheless, it allows beginners to use a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Hence, it powers a limited number of validators. This blockchain network is a business-oriented network that functions nearly like the Ethereum (ETH) network.

It takes up an unaltered clone of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for its smart contracts that quicken transactions with a high speed. In its uniqueness, the blockchain can process 4000 transactions per second.

Blockchain Apps

The blockchain platform offers excellent services for all types of users mainly enterprises. It owns and hosts over 50 blockchain applications. The applications have many functionalities since they have diverse duties to perform on the blockchain network.

Klaytn also extends its hostage to diverse crypto gaming networks and a variety of staking services. To name several of these blockchain applications that are hosted on the platform, there are Quotabook, Tessa, Orbit Bridge, Makestar, and many others.

It also hosts several gaming apps including Games Knight Story, Crypto Sword, Crypto dragon, and many others.

The Governance Council

Being an enterprise-oriented blockchain platform, Klaytn has delegated most of the operations about the improvement and activities within the ecosystem to several multinational organizations and businesses.

The governing council members comprise multinational enterprises and organizations. Therefore, the council members have the right to vote and propose any adjustments about the performances of the platform and its node network.

More particularly, the council members are now responsible for guaranteeing the growth and development of the platform’s thriving ecosystem.

Klaytn Improvement Reserve (KIR)

By description, Klaytn Improvement Reserve (KIR) is a mechanism the project adopts to provide reward services to the users that contribute to the growth and enhancement of its entire ecosystem.

Whenever the qualified users submit proposals on activities for example community incentives, making adjustments on the platform, and enhancing its user, they can get subsidies or rewards for their contribution to the ecosystem via the KIR program.

Klaytn Improvement Reserve enables partner developers to innovate, deploy and execute smart contract-based applications with excellent speeds alongside the extremely cheap fees. That is because the platform had incurred some fee policy which implies that Klaytn will be fully responsible for all the transaction fees that the developers are subjected to.

KLAY Token

KLAY is the native token that powers the Klaytn blockchain. This token is used for all transactions that take place on the blockchain network and all other blockchain applications on the network.

It mainly works as a means of payment and exchange for app applications that run within the Klaytn ecosystem. Based on data acquired from the first quarter of 2021, more than 2 billion KLAY tokens were in circulation in the cryptocurrency market, gaining a growing rate of enthusiasm and increased recognition in the crypto sector.

Use Cases

This platform is designed to offer a gross development avenue that empowers various levels of blockchain development for a plethora of use cases. Klaytn blockchain is mainly bringing blockchain to businesses.

In simple terms, it serves enterprises, including small-scale and large-scale businesses. The main purpose was to provide them with a chance to integrate their technological infrastructure with a blockchain network.

Furthermore, the supported businesses enjoy the service of a public and private blockchain through Klaytn’s ecosystem. Many users prefer this platform since the private blockchain functionality of the network guarantees discreteness. Furthermore, it guarantees the maximum security of sensitive data which increases the scalability nature of the network.

In the meantime, the public blockchain within Klaytn’s network supports the decentralization of data and ensures the distribution of governance. It accommodates all the important mechanisms that can make the platform as scalable and user-friendly as possible.

Advantages Of Using Klaytn

This blockchain comes with several benefits for the institutional and retail clients that it serves. Some of them include:

  • Low Cost – all of the services offered by the nascent platform have a fixed unit price. It means that each transaction is handled equally and always assured execution when its time comes. Furthermore, the users do not need to struggle to determine the right unit price and the blockchain helps users save the cost of gas fees by paying some of it.
  • High Transactions Speed – the design of the blockchain ensures that transactions on the platform are completed quickly. Users say that they experience nearly instant transactions within a fraction of blockchain time. Klaytn’s main net handles up to 4 transactions per second.
  • The platform is developer-friendly – the API services of the network have a variety of functions that developers can use to create some useful apps. Additionally, the platform is designed to support the solidity programming language and in that context, Ethereum developers can readily migrate to Klaytn without requiring to learn any new language.
  • User-friendly – users report that they enjoyed engaging with this platform since it is designed in a manner that using it feels easy like sending and receiving text messages. The users can access their assets and wallets from smartphones through their Klaytn account. Every wallet is printed with an integrated QR code address that can be scanned with a phone camera. With that code, users can receive assets into their crypto/blockchain wallet. Thus, users do not have to memorize any private keys.
  • Business development – another significant benefit of Klaytn is that it supports businesses’ technical operations that are a push forth for businesses. With the blockchain’s flexible scalable nature, it provides businesses and developers the ability to follow the fast-moving world of blockchain. Therefore, businesses can easily and readily venture into the blockchain sector and enjoy the benefits that come with it.

Disadvantages Of Klaytn

Although the blockchain platform has many advantages, some shortcomings plague its operations.

  • Kakao is developing a series of apps that are designed mainly for use on the Klaytn blockchain. Among these apps is Peatix, which is a ticketing service that has a built-in customer base. It could give Kakao’s other services an advantage over startups aiming to compete with Kakao for users.
  • Kakao is the only firm that has announced the intention to launch a project on the Klaytn blockchain. It might be problematic since it might limit the growth potential of the blockchain and its in-house cryptocurrency.
  • Once the blockchain launches, Kakao is expected to take a huge fee off of each transaction. That adds to the gas fee that users will also have to pay. That might be a challenge for the startups launching on the blockchain since it will reduce the profits from token sales.
  • The communication is quite bad. At first, developers seemed quite confused about what they needed to be talking about. Although the platform is thriving, there are a few operational challenges that still exist but developers are striving relentlessly to resolve them.

By JOHN WANGUBA

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Request (REQ)?

Request crypto has been around since 1997. But for most of its existence, it had mostly traded for just a few cents per token. However, a major boost in interest came from it being added to the Coinbase exchange. This was welcomed news for traders and long-term holders. And it was further proof of the big shift in Coinbase’s philosophy.

Illustration showing Request crypto buying process

Not long ago, a listing on Coinbase equaled a major stamp of approval. To get listed on Coinbase, crypto engineers had to jump though a lot of hoops. In the process, they really had to prove to Coinbase thier token was worthy of a listing. In this way, the exchange acted as a sort of crypto gatekeeper.

More recently, though, Coinbase has changed its tune… as you can see in this tweet from its CEO:https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=investmentu&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1409555338836078592&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Finvestmentu.com%2Frequest-crypto%2F&sessionId=58dbe1e9b652d6fb671109bb87528294fe521d03&siteScreenName=investmentu&theme=light&widgetsVersion=f001879%3A1634581029404&width=550px

He went on to mention that beyond the exchange’s listing standards (regarding safety and legality), this was a move toward freer markets. And, as he concluded, it was the way to make Coinbase more innovative. It also happens to be a way that can make Coinbase more money. After all, the more tokens it lists, the more opportunities there are for trades. And charging trading fees is a big part of how Coinbase makes its coin.

So no complaints from the peanut gallery here. Coinbase is a publicly traded company now. It’s beholden to its shareholders. And increasing profits is one of the easiest ways to keep shareholders happy.

But now back to the important information on Request crypto (REQ).

All About Request Crypto

In a nutshell, Request crypto is a utility token. It was created to ensure the stability and performance standards of the Request Network. This network is an Ethereum-based decentralized payment system. It allows folks to request a payment and receive money in a secure way. It also removed third-party oversight requirements. This is an important detail… because it’s one of the quickest ways to reduce transaction costs.

The other key benefit of the Request Network is that it works with currencies all around the world. It’s not limited to just crypto. It’s not limited to fiat currencies. It transfers dollars to the Korean won and just about everything in between. It’s a robust network with an impressive amount of capabilities.

This process works by having one user create a payment request – or invoice. The invoice needs to include the address the payment should be sent and the amount it should be in. The terms of payment can also be included here for business transactions. Then, the request is delivered to the payer of the invoice. All the while, each and every step of the process is stored on the Request Network. This makes it easy to keep track of transactions, both for the payer and the payee.

The last thing worth mentioning about the Request Network – which is powered by Request crypto – is that it has incorporated laws from all around the world. This, it hopes, will keep it compliant with the various trade laws of every country around the world… an impressive feat in of itself.

There really is some exciting engineering behind both the Request Network and the Request crypto that powers it. But as far as payment systems go, it does have a lot of competition. And not just from the likes of Visa (NYSE: V), Square (NYSE: SQ) or PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL).

The Competition Is Stiff

Beyond the legacy payment processing companies mentioned above, there are lots of other companies operating in the crypto space now. Circle, which issues the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), has been in the payment processing game for close to a decade. Incidentally, it was the first company to receive a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Request crypto also faces competition from Solana crypto and, to a lesser extent, Telcoin. Then of course there is Coinbase Commerce, Electroneum, BitPay or CoinGate, among others. But specifically for business-to-business applications, Request crypto and the network it supports still manage to stand out. What it boils down to though is adoption.

This could be an exceptional tool for freelancers who pick up jobs around the world. Business consultants, writers, web designers and recruiters could all make good use of this type of payment system. And it has the possibility of cutting down on the paperwork needed for quarterly tax filings… since payments are vetted though international trade laws.

The Bottom Line on Request Crypto

As an experiment, there’s a lot to like about the Request Network. As an investment, there’s reason for both excitement and pause. It’s a penny crypto, after all…

Since its inception in 2017, it has yet to break the $1 mark. In fact, not long ago, you could pick it up for less than $0.05 a token. But trading volume has changed all of that. With the Coinbase listing came a lot of interest. Around 200% more interest than usual. If trading volume stays anywhere near that level, anything’s possible. And with the more recent spike, Request crypto looks as if it could finally launch past the $1 any day now… But that’s far from certain.

As a buy-and-hold play, Request crypto could be worth a gamble. If the Request Network does begin to catch on, you could see a slow but steady rise in value. But that’s a very big “if.” That being said, it’s a token we’ll be keeping a close eye on. A little momentum and an uplisting to Coinbase could be enough for companies to take notice of Request’s underlying capabilities.

Which products support REQ? 

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

What regions support REQ? 

 USNYCANEUUKIEDESG
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
REQ    ✖️  ✔ ✖️   ✔

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 REQ?

REQ requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts REQ?

REQ 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 REQ

Maximum: 250,000 REQ

By Matt Makowski , Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is PlayDapp (PLA)?

PlayDapp (PLA) is an Ethereum token that powers PlayDapp, a blockchain gaming platform and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. PLA acts as the primary token for processing transactions on PlayDapp. Game developers can also receive PLA when users make in-game purchases.

What products support PLA? 

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

What regions support PLA?

 US NY EUUKCASG
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
PLA   ✖️  ✖️ ✖️ ✖️

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 PLA?

PLA requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts PLA?

PLA 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: 700,000

In Oct 2021, fast-rising Blockchain gaming platform PlayDapp has revealed the addition of a Play-to-Earn feature on its flagship game ‘’Along with the Gods: Knights of the Dawn’’. This development is expected to build on the existing features offered by PlayDapp.

Play-to-Earn gaming is a rising phenomenon that has gathered steam in recent months. This is due to the positive benefits, as gamers have more freedom to build the gaming economy and receive rewards for transacting in-game assets. 

PlayDapp’s flagship game, Along with the Gods’’ Knights of the Dawn already has massive traction with thousands of gamers competing for rewards in NFTs. Players can earn on the flagship game by collecting Hero and Rune NFTs and selling them to other players for PLA tokens and other cryptocurrencies. 

Adding the Play-to-Earn feature will expand the potential for earning, and gamers can now stake PlayDapp Town NFTs for daily and weekly rewards in PLA tokens. To be eligible for daily rewards (5 PLA), players will need to stake three SR grade PlayDAPP TOWN NFTs, while weekly rewards require staking one SSR grade PlayDAPP TOWN NFT and competing in PvP to earn up to 5,000 PLA.   

The P2E staking feature on PlayDapp is lossless as gamers receive rewards in PLA tokens while still having control of their staked NFTs. In addition, to ensure the proper transition for gamers, PlayDapp has announced the launch of a P2E pre-staking period starting from October 20th, 2021. This will help players get ready to start earning when the game update releases on October 27, 2021. 

Interested players can load their NFTs into PlayDapp’s Item Manager in-game to ensure they can earn from the moment the P2E launches. 

A Fast-growing ecosystem 

PlayDapp is regarded as one of the fastest-growing blockchain gaming platforms and has achieved several milestones since its launch. In recent months, it has established strategic partnerships with top tech and blockchain platforms, including Samsung, Polygon, Chainlink, Portis, Klatyn, and LINE. 

PLA token has also witnessed major adoption and is available as a trading token in blockchain games like League of Kingdoms and COMETH. The token can also be traded on global crypto exchanges such as Upbit, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and more. 

PlayDapp’s core team consists of persons with vast experience in the gaming and tech industry. Some team members have worked in top platforms like Netmarble, Naver, Microsoft, ItemBay, and NCSOFT, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the gaming platform. 

PlayDapp team has revealed that it intends to launch a couple of features and products in the future. Some of these include, Along with the Gods Play2Earn specialized server launch, an SDK plugin launch on Naver Gamepot operation service, migrating to the popular Binance Smart Chain ecosystem, and a PvP tournament system. 

By Coinbase and Anjali Sriniwasan

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto

What is Alchemix (ALCX)?

DeFi Lending and Alchemix Crypto Loans

Alchemix is a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform that differentiates itself in a highly competitive field with flexible loans that automatically repay themselves over time. Built into its design, Alchemix automates the process of paying back crypto-backed loans so that, with ample time, all loans on the Alchemix crypto platform should be sufficiently paid back and liquidations should never occur. While many stablecoin-backed DeFi lending platforms exist, most leave it up to the user to manage keeping the loan collateralized and paying it off. Alchemix seeks to automate this process for users interested in receiving stablecoin-backed loans. 

The Alchemix loan repayment process functions as follows: Users deposit DAI — a stablecoin built on Ethereum — to Alchemix as collateral in order to mint alUSD, which is a synthetic protocol token that tokenizes a user’s future yield. The deposited DAI is then used to generate yield in Yearn.Finance vaults, and the yield is used to pay off the loan. Depending on the depositor’s intentions, synthetic assets like alUSD can be converted back into DAI and subsequently exchanged for fiat, or they can be put to work generating even more yield in Alchemix staking pools or liquidity pools

This process of repayment — which a user must typically complete manually elsewhere — is automated on the Alchemix crypto platform. Since alUSD continuously flows in as yield that is generated from Yearn.Finance, the supply of alUSD is automatically converted back to DAI at a 1:1 ratio in order to pay off the loan as yield is accrued. Alchemix’s interconnectivity with DeFi products like Yearn.Finance and DAI is a characteristic known as composability, or the ability for a crypto product to interact with other products in the space to increase functionality. 

The Alchemix Crypto Protocol’s Transmuter

When obtaining an Alchemix loan, users deposit DAI to Alchemix vaults. Upon doing so, they can borrow funds up to a 200% collateralization ratio — or one alUSD for every two DAI deposited. This is standard practice for many DeFi lending platforms, but Alchemix’s model leverages yield farming through Yearn.Finance vaults to pay down a user’s debts automatically. Users are able to choose from an increasingly wide selection of yield farming strategies in order to repay their debt.

Once users have deposited DAI with Alchemix to mint alUSD they have an array of options. The Alchemix crypto protocol employs a pegging mechanism for the platform’s synthetic tokens called the Transmuter. It ensures that users can exchange alUSD for DAI at a 1:1 ratio. Yield generated from Yearn.Finance vaults is sent to the Transmuter and converted into DAI continually as it flows in. Users can deposit their alUSD to the Transmuter smart contract, which rewards them with DAI in proportion to the amount they have staked. When they withdraw these DAI rewards, an equal amount of alUSD is burned. Users can also use the Transmuter to swap their alUSD back to DAI, which is easier to convert to fiat currency if the crypto-backed loan was taken in order to make a purchase in fiat. 

At all times, a user’s loan collateralization ratio must be at least 200%. If the collateralization ratio drops below this level, then a user may choose to liquidate part of their collateral to retain the appropriate level of collateralization. If the collateralization ratio exceeds 200% due to yield generation, then a user can withdraw DAI or mint more alUSD until it reaches a 200% collateralization ratio again. For the sake of flexibility, users are also able to settle their crypto loans early — should they need access to their underlying collateral — by repaying their debt with either alUSD or DAI, which are treated the same in the Alchemix system. Once a user has zero alUSD debt remaining, they can withdraw all of their deposited collateral. 

Alchemix Staking and ALCX Liquidity Pools

Alchemix relies on platform participants to contribute to its liquidity pools and staking pools in order to facilitate its lending mechanism. These pools also present an opportunity for users to generate further yield on their synthetic assets like alUSD. As a reward for staking in Alchemix staking pools or providing liquidity to Alchemix liquidity pools, users can earn a proportional amount of ALCX tokens — the platform’s native governance token.

Upon the platform’s launch, there are two staking pools:

  • alUSD: Users can stake alUSD to earn ALCX. This pool exists to help establish a peg for alUSD as close as possible to $1 USD.
  • ALCX: Users can stake ALCX to earn ALCX. This pool exists to provide a less risky opportunity for risk-averse ALCX holders to earn rewards.

There are also two Alchemix liquidity pools that utilize Sushi Liquidity Provider (SLP) tokens

  • ALCX/ETH SLP tokens: Users can stake SLP tokens to earn ALCX. This pool exists to provide liquidity for the ALCX token.
  • alUSD/DAI SLP tokens: Users can stake SLP tokens to incentivize holding alUSD until the alUSD/DAI pair finds sufficient liquidity. 

Alchemix Governance and the ALCX Token

Alchemix uses its native token — ALCX — for platform governance through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). ALCX token holders have the ability to vote on protocol parameters, the development of new features, funding, and the structure of the DAO itself. The Alchemix DAO receives 10% of the entire platform’s Yearn.Finance profits, and uses the funds to pay its developers, cover infrastructure costs, award development grants, and fund other projects as determined at the community’s discretion. 

The ALCX token was initially released via a fair launch, without any early investors or the development team setting aside their own supply. The protocol is designed to function optimally when the majority of ALCX token holders are platform participants themselves. 

ALCX does not have a hard cap on its token supply, though it does adhere to a set release schedule that reduces issuance weekly over time — rewarding early platform participants most heavily for their early contributions. ALCX rewards will finally reach a flat weekly release of 2,200 ALCX per week three years after launch. It is projected according to this schedule that the total token supply will be somewhere near 2.4 million ALCX at the close of this timeframe. 

The Alchemix DAO initially received 15% of the projected token supply three years after launch, with another 5% reserved for bug bounties to reward security auditors for reporting potential bugs in the protocol’s code. The remaining 80% of ALCX tokens can be earned by staking certain tokens in the platform’s staking and liquidity pools. Through this mechanism, those who actually contribute to the platform will receive ALCX tokens and have the ability to participate in community governance. 

Alchemix Crypto-Backed Loans and the Future

Launched in March 2021, Alchemix is still a very young DeFi protocol. While the Alchemix crypto platform is relatively new, it is quickly adding compatibility with more cryptocurrencies and types of collateral, as well as offering users more ways to customize the structure of their crypto loans. Alchemix also intends to implement additional decentralized applications (dApps) to expand its ecosystem. 

Alchemix is already a platform for users interested in capital-efficient loans that allow their collateral deposits to generate yield in the background. It offers several unique features and benefits to users, such as the ability to customize their loan structure and yield strategy, borrow against stablecoins without risk of traditional liquidations, and enjoy low-maintenance lending with crypto-backed loans that amorize themselves automatically. Alchemix also presents a lucrative opportunity for participants to deposit collateral in order to mint synthetic assets that they can then stake and provide liquidity for — even if they never intend on withdrawing funds from their crypto loan.

Which products support ALCX? 

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

What regions support ALCX? 

 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
ALCX   ✖️  ✖️
 ✖️  ✔

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 ALCX?

ALCX requires 35 network confirmations. Learn about transaction confirmations.

Which blockchain network hosts ALCX?

ALCX 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 ALCX

Maximum:  307 ALCX

By Gemini and Coinbase

Published
Categorized as Hot Crypto