The Keep Network is a software aiming to incentivize a global network of computers to store private information that can be deployed on public blockchains via smart contracts.
Many decentralized applications (dapps) running on public blockchains, like Ethereum, require the use of private data (such as health records, credit scores and financial information) to operate.
To protect individual user’s privacy, the Keep Network enables private data to be stored outside the blockchain in “keeps”, which are containers that allow smart contracts to manage and use pieces of the stored data without exposing it to the public blockchain.
In order to operate a keep, nodes must stake KEEP tokens, Keep Network’s native cryptocurrency, to be selected by the Keep Network. These nodes are awarded KEEP for successfully maintaining keeps.
The first application built on the Keep Network is tBTC, which serves as a bridge between Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin holders deposit their BTC funds to a smart contract and receive tBTC, an Ethereum token of equivalent BTC value, used to access various dapps on the Ethereum blockchain.
Users seeking to stay up-to-date with the Keep Network’s progress can bookmark its blog. For more information on tBTC, you can read our “What is tBTC?” guide located in our Learn Center.
Who Created Keep Network?
Keep Network was founded by Matt Luongo and Corbin Pon in 2017. They previously co-founded Fold, a bitcoin shopping app, in 2014.
Keep Network sold $20 million worth of KEEP tokens in two rounds in private sales to investors, which include noted venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and noted cryptocurrency investors Polychain Capital, Fenbushi Capital and Paradigm.
How Does the Keep Network Work?
Keep Network’s key feature is its ability to store private data, called secrets, outside the blockchain systems in keeps.
Keeps allow blockchain-based applications to interact with secrets without fully exposing their contents through the use of smart contracts, who, when a specific criteria is met, can provide data, encrypted files or verification of a user’s identity to the application.
Computers, or nodes, who maintain keeps are known as keep providers and are assigned fractions of a secret using the random beacon protocol, an advanced cryptography technique for trustless randomization.
When a user wishes to purchase a keep, they publish a request to the Keep Network, who, in turn, divides and mixes their secrets, sends shares of them to different keep providers, and returns keys to the users to access the content of their keeps when needed.
Keep providers must stake a certain amount of KEEP that can be retrieved by the protocol should they be unreliable or negligent with the keeps. However, providers incentivized through KEEP rewards for their services, including providing encryption, computation and storage services.
NEAR Protocol is a smart contract capable, public Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that was conceptualized as a community-run cloud computing platform. Built by the NEAR Collective, NEAR was designed to host decentralized applications (dApps), and strives to compete with Ethereum and other leading smart contract-enabled blockchains like EOS and Polkadot. NEAR’s native token is also called NEAR, and is used to pay for transaction fees and storage. NEAR tokens can also be staked by token holders who participate in achieving network consensus as transaction validators.
NEAR Protocol is focused on creating a developer and user friendly platform. To accommodate this mission, NEAR has incorporated features like human-readable account names as opposed to only cryptographic wallet addresses, and the ability for new users to interact with dApps and smart contracts without requiring a wallet at all.
Projects building on NEAR include Mintbase, a non-fungible token (NFT) minting platform, and Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and more.
NEAR Protocol Technology
As dApps have grown in popularity, the crypto community has faced a growing scalability problem. Scalability in this context refers to a blockchain’s ability to handle a large number of transactions with reasonable speed and cost. Ethereum has particularly faced scalability challenges due to the high demand for its usage, and while some people advocate for scaling solutions to be built on top of Ethereum (Layer-2 solutions), other projects like NEAR have decided to build entirely new blockchains with different architecture.
NEAR Protocol’s proposed solution to this scalability problem is the implementation of sharding. Before diving into what this means, it’s useful to identify the three main functions of blockchain nodes: they process transactions, communicate validated transactions and completed blocks to other nodes, and store the state and history of the entire network. As network congestion increases, these tasks become more and more demanding for the nodes.
Sharding lessens the computational load by splitting or partitioning the network into shards (or fragments). With this tactic, every node is not required to run all of the network’s code — just the code that’s relevant to its shard — so shards can conduct computation in parallel with one another, thereby scaling the network’s capacity as the number of nodes in the network increases.
To achieve consensus among the nodes in the network, NEAR uses a PoS system. With PoS, nodes who wish to become transaction validators must stake their NEAR tokens to be considered for participation. Token holders who do not want to operate a node can delegate their stake to validators of their choice. NEAR uses an auction system to choose validators every epoch (approximately every 12 hours), and validators who have larger stakes have more influence in the consensus process.
Some validators are responsible for validating “chunks” — an aggregation of transactions from a shard — while others are tasked with producing blocks, which contain chunks from all the shards. Other nodes, called “fishermen,” observe the network and detect and report malicious behavior. If a validator behaves badly, their stake will be slashed.
NEAR Token Economics
The NEAR token is primarily used to pay transaction fees and as collateral for storing data on the blockchain. NEAR also rewards several stakeholders in the blockchain with NEAR tokens. For their services, transaction validators receive a NEAR token reward every epoch that amounts to 4.5% of the total NEAR supply on an annualized basis.
Additionally, developers who create smart contracts receive a portion of the transaction fees that their contracts generate. The remainder of each transaction fee is burned, increasing the scarcity of the NEAR token. NEAR has also established a protocol treasury, which receives 0.5% of the total NEAR supply annually, for the purpose of reinvesting in the development of the ecosystem.
NEAR Protocol is capable of supporting tokens that are “wrapped” from other chains in addition to NFTs. Likewise, NEAR has constructed a bridge with Ethereum, allowing users to transfer ERC-20 tokens from Ethereum to NEAR.
NEAR Platform Governance
Resources allocated to the protocol treasury are distributed by the NEAR Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit dedicated to protocol maintenance, ecosystem funding, and guiding the governance of the protocol. Technical upgrades to the NEAR crypto network are carried out by the Reference Maintainer, which is selected by the NEAR Foundation board, though all nodes in the network must consent to updates by upgrading their software. Eventually, oversight of the Reference Maintainer will be conducted by community-elected representatives.
NEAR Protocol aims to pull ahead in the crowded race to provide the infrastructure for Web 3.0 and has sought to distinguish itself through its unique developer and user friendly features.
Where and how to buy NEAR?
If you want to get involved with NEAR or begin using any dapps built on the NEAR platform, then you’re going to need to get your hands on some NEAR tokens.
Though it’s possible to earn these by participating in development bounties, staking, and operating a NEAR community, the simplest way to get some is by buying it from a supported exchange platform—such as Binance, Huobi Global, or OKEx.
Below, we’ll cover how to buy these with Tether (USDT) on Binance—currently the most liquid exchange for NEAR.
Step 1: Register on Binance and top up your account with USDT or another supported asset. Right now, Binance supports conversions for NEAR against Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), Binance USD (BUSD), and Binance Coin (BNB).
Step 2: Head over to your designed NEAR market on the Binance spot exchange, e.g. NEAR/USDT or NEAR/BTC.
Step 3: Here, you’ll find the Binance trading interface. At the bottom of the page, select the ‘Market’ option from the order panel.
NEAR/USDT. (Image: Binance)
Step 4: Enter the amount of USDT you want to spend and click ‘Buy NEAR’—this will automatically execute your order at the best available price. Your NEAR will then be deposited to your Binance account balance, ready to withdraw or trade.
Curve DAO (CRV) is the utility token of the Curve.fi DeFi protocol for exchanging stablecoins and other ERC-20 tokens. Curve’s main goal is to connect users who want to exchange ERC-20 tokens and stablecoins with exchange protocols. Curve’s financial platform is non-custodial, which means that users are in charge of their own tokens.
The system makes sure to enable low slippage and low fees by finding the best routes for users’ exchange requests. To achieve this system of exchanging, Curve uses liquidity pools which are backed with liquidity tokens. Liquidity pools encourage liquidity providers to deposit their tokens into the pools, to keep the price at satisfactory levels so they can benefit as well. Liquidity providers are rewarded for depositing their tokens into pools.
CRV is the protocol’s utility token and is used to incentivize liquidity providers, while holders can also use CRV to participate in network governance.
How Does Curve DAO Work?
The Curve DAO token powers the Curve.fi financial platform, which acts as an exchange and automated market maker. AMMs enable a different model of trading where assets can be exchanged permissionlessly and in an automated manner. Instead of relying on order books, trading is conducted automatically through liquidity pools.
Liquidity providers are incentivized to create pools and deposit tokens. Each pool contains certain token pairs which are supported within that liquidity pool. Pools contain similar assets to minimize impermanent loss and provide greater chances for returns.
The exchange market is based on liquidity pools, while the protocol connects users to various exchange markets to find the best fee rates. That way, Curve.fi ensures low slippage and enables traders to maximize their returns. Every time a network user makes a trade on the Curve network, liquidity providers are rewarded with a share of the trading fee for their participation.
Who Are the Founders of Curve DAO?
Curve DAO was founded and launched in 2020 and is one of the latest projects in the sector of decentralized finance. The Curve DAO Token was developed and created by Michael Egorov, a Russian scientist.
Michael Egorov has experience with blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, as he co-founded NuCypher and served as its CTO. NuCypher is focused on building privacy-oriented protocols and infrastructure.
What Makes Curve DAO Unique?
The Curve DAO token is a relatively new project that has already achieved great success thanks to its utility. Curve DAO experienced serious growth in the second half of 2020, providing users with low slippage and low fees for exchanging similar stablecoins and ERC-20 tokens.
Curve DAO is unique thanks to its technology and technical capacity, which makes Curve.fi an attractive exchange in the sector of DeFi. Instead of relying on order books, Curve forms liquidity pools based on smart contracts that work as an automated market maker. Users are connected with the best routes for their exchanges, while trading of tokens and stablecoins is conducted between traders and exchange protocols. Thanks to its technology and capacity to exchange tokens and stablecoins at the best rates, Curve has become synonymous with decentralized finance.
What Gives the Curve DAO Token Value?
The Curve DAO Token derives value from its technology, technical capacity, use cases, and mainstream use, i.e., popularity among crypto users and traders. The intrinsic value of CRV and Curve.fi is defined by its technology and features that enable traders to get low slippage and low trading fees for their exchanges. The overall functionality and utility are what provide Curve DAO Token with a real-life value. Factors such as upgrades, updates, developments, an increasing number of users and other important news and events can also affect the value of CRV and define its market value.
The intrinsic value often doesn’t match the market price of CRV. CRV is subject to frequent changes much like any other digital asset, except stablecoins which are pegged to fiat values. This is why CRV price can change dramatically in a relatively short period.
How Many Curve DAO Tokens (CRV) Are in Circulation?
There are currently 391,958,099 CRV in circulation out of a max supply of 3,303,030,299 CRV CRV. Curve DAO Token has a limited supply, much like Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency assets often limit the total supply of tokens to create an anti-inflation mechanism, which means they may be a good store of value in the long term.
Network participants may be able to propose changes to the total supply through decentralized governance of the network. The number of coins in circulation multiplied by the current CRV price equals the market cap. The market cap ranks the crypto in comparison with its peers and determines its market share.
Other Technical Data
Curve consists of liquidity pools that are created with smart contracts hosted on Ethereum. Many liquidity pools on the Curve.fi protocol are supplied to other liquidity protocols such as Compound. That is why liquidity providers may receive additional interest aside from the trading fees paid to the Curve.fi network.
When explaining the technical anatomy of liquidity pools, it is important to note that liquidity pools are actually smart contracts that contain tokens. If you were to create a pool with two similar tokens where the comparable value of these tokens is in a 1:1 ratio, DAI and USDC for example, when someone exchanges a certain amount of DAI for USDC, the USDC balance would be decreased by that amount. Despite the fact that there is less USDC, the difference in the amount would make USDC slightly less valuable in comparison. This mechanism encourages traders to exchange USDC for DAI, which is how the value will become even.
How is the Curve DAO Token Network Secured?
Curve DAO Token is secured through regular audits of smart contracts that are used for creating liquidity pools. The smart contracts are hosted on the Ethereum network while being operated by the Curve.fi protocol.
Curve DAO Token runs on the Ethereum network, which is currently transitioning from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. PoS is a more cost-effective and energy-efficient protocol than PoW. CRV tokens can be staked and locked for voting to enable holders to participate in network governance.
How to Use Curve DAO Token
Curve DAO Token is the utility token of the Curve.fi protocol that powers the network. Curve.fi is used as an automated market maker and a decentralized exchange based on liquidity pools to allow users to easily swap tokens and stablecoins.
Curve DAO Token can be used as a governance token to take part in the voting process on the network but is also used as an incentive for network participants and liquidity providers. CRV can be traded in the crypto market, while traders may make a profit based on the difference between the buying and selling prices.
How to Choose a Curve DAO Token Wallet
As an ERC-20 token, CRV can be stored in any wallet that supports Ethereum and the type you choose will likely depend on what you want to use it for and how much you need to store.
Hardware wallets or cold wallets like Ledger or Trezor provide the most secure option for storing cryptocurrencies with offline storage and backup. However, they can require more technical knowledge and are a more expensive option. As such, they may be better suited to storing larger amounts of CRV for more experienced users.
Software wallets like Lumi provide another option and are free and easy to use. They are available to download as smartphone or desktop apps and can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. While convenient, they are seen as less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to smaller amounts of CRV or more novice users.
Online wallets or web wallets are also free and easy to use, and accessible from multiple devices using a web browser. They are, however, considered hot wallets and can be less secure than hardware or software alternatives. As you are likely trusting the platform to manage your CRV, you should select a reputable service with a track record in security and custody. As such, they are most suited for holding smaller amounts of cryptocurrencies or for those making more frequent trades.
Buying and selling CRV, or trading it for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.
Curve DAO Token Staking
Curve DAO Token can be locked into the Curve DAO to receive vote escrowed CRV, or veCRV. Holders of veCRV can participate in governance and receive staking rewards. Users can decide how much CRV to lock up and for how long, receiving more veCRV for locking up larger amounts for longer periods. Once the CRV is locked, these parameters can’t be changed.
Conclusion
Curve DAO and Curve.fi have become an important part of the decentralized finance sector in a relatively short time since the project’s inception in 2020. Curve.fi makes exchanging ERC-20 tokens and stablecoins easy and cost-effective as users can take advantage of some of the best fee rates and low slippage.
As the DeFi sector becomes more popular, Curve DAO might become an integral part of the growing crypto economy.
Join the crypto revolution and start your Curve DAO token journey today.
Does Curve run only on Ethereum?
In addition to Ethereum, traders can also use Curve on the Fantom and Polygon networks.
What Is 3CRV?
This is the name of the liquidity provider token for the 3Pool or TriPool. Trading fees on Curve are distributed in 3CRV.
Which products support CRV?
Send/Receive
Trading
Coinbase
✔
✔
Pro
✔
✔
Wallet
✔
✖️
What regions support CRV?
US
NY
CAN
EU
UK
DE
SG
JP
Coinbase
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✖️
Pro
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✖️
Wallet
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✖️
Crypto to fiat trading pairs
US
UK
EU
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.
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.
Fantom is a decentralized, permissionless, open-source smart contract platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and digital assets — one of many blockchain networks built to provide an alternative to Ethereum. The Fantom blockchain mainnet went live in December 2019 and its network architecture intends to provide a viable solution to the blockchain trilemma by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.
Like other Ethereum alternatives, Fantom intends to provide more scalability and lower costs than the legacy first-mover smart contract platform is able to provide in its Ethereum 1.0 iteration. Fantom’s infrastructure is tied together through its Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT)Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which maintains the operational efficiency of the entire network. The aBFT network structure is designed to preserve network security while maximizing speed.
Fantom Network Structure
Fantom operates atop a bespoke “leaderless” PoS consensus mechanism dubbed Lachesis that secures the Fantom network and ensures both transactional speed and security. Lachesis is an aBFT consensus mechanism, which means that network data can be processed at different times, and the network can tolerate up to one third of participants engaging in faulty or malicious behavior without causing undue harm to network processes.
Lachesis also boasts near-instant finality. This means that transactions are confirmed and finalized in an average of one second, without the need to wait for laborious block confirmation as experienced in Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks. By avoiding the relatively lengthy block confirmation process, this aBFT system is much faster and more scalable than many of its Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) counterparts.
Diving deeper into how Fantom’s Lachesis functions, we see how each network node contains its own Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), which records the chronology of “event blocks” and respective transactions, with each node achieving internal consensus independently. Confirmed batches of events blocks are then compiled into finalized blocks that are confirmed on the wider Fantom network. Finalized blocks, which form the base layer Fantom blockchain, are composed of confirmed event blocks from the independent nodes.
While independent Fantom nodes will occasionally communicate with one another about transactions and events, they do not confirm finalized blocks or the overall state of the network. This architecture results in a system that processes transactions quickly, and achieves finality within seconds. Fantom stresses that its PoS mechanism is leaderless, which means there are no block leaders and no participants have a special role in its operation. Anyone can join or leave the node network at any point, and all nodes hold equal weight in the consensus protocol.
Fantom Blockchain Mainnet: Opera
The Lachesis consensus apparatus servers power Fantom’s mainnet deployment platform — Opera — which hosts dApps operating on the network. Opera is a permissionless and open-source environment for development. It boasts the full range of smart contract capability that Ethereum has due to its support of the Solidity programming language and integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Applications built on Fantom can be designed to be interoperable with platforms built on Ethereum, while still maintaining the transactional efficiency of the Fantom network.
A proprietary software development kit (SDK) known as the Fantom Virtual Machine will eventually be released for native Fantom-based development alongside continued support for the EVM — a strategy meant to entice Ethereum-based dApp developers to make an easy transition over to building applications on Fantom.
Fantom Staking, FTM Token, and DeFi Suite
Fantom’s native utility token — FTM — powers the entire Fantom blockchain ecosystem. FTM tokens are used for staking, governance, payments, and fees on the network. There is a total supply of 3.175 billion FTM coins, with 2.5 billion in circulation as of March 2021. The remainder will be distributed as Fantom staking rewards. FTM is available as a native mainnet coin, an ERC-20 token in the Ethereum ecosystem, and a BEP-2 token in the Binance ecosystem.
Anyone can participate in Fantom staking with a minimum stake of 1 FTM by using Multichain to swap their ERC-20 FTM or BEP-2 FTM tokens for Opera FTM coins. Also, to operate a validator node on Fantom’s permissionless network at least 1 million FTM must be staked (valued at over $1 million USD as of March 2021).
Fantom provides a fairly dynamic and lucrative staking structure for users. Users can stake their FTM at-will with a validator node for a 4% annual percentage yield (APY) staking reward, which is a common staking model. However users can also take advantage of Fantom’s Fluid Rewards by choosing to lock up FTM for a predetermined period of time — ranging from two weeks up to a year — to secure higher reward rates up to 12% APY.
Fantom also employs a feature called Liquid Staking, whereby stakers can mint sFTM at a 1:1 ratio to their staked FTM to be used as collateral in Fantom Finance, which is a suite of DeFi apps provided by Fantom, thus allowing users to get more use out of their staked FTM. Some of the DeFi offerings that Fantom provides include:
fUSD: a Fantom-based stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar
fSwap: a synthetic asset decentralized trading platform
fLend: a liquidity pool from which users can lend or borrow
Fantom’s approach to the DeFi and dApp landscape is innovative — as is its staking reward program structure. Further proposed use cases for Fantom’s highly scalable smart contract platform are dApps related to supply chain management, payments, and smart city programs, some of which are already being piloted around the world.
As the first of its kind with its complex and unique infrastructure, Fantom’s approach to fast, scalable dApp development is still establishing its place in the wider blockchain ecosystem. Although there is already much competition in the burgeoning dApp sector, the speed and interoperability benefits that Fantom offers dApp developers are notable, and the platform is poised to gain further traction.
Coinbase currently doesn’t support Fantom trading. However Coinbase confirmed the integration of FTM and now the wallet enables users to carry out transactions in one second with near-zero fees. Over a million users have installed the wallet app and this integration will give them access to Fantom’s secure and fast DeFi ecosystem.
Fantom has extended Coinbase Wallet support within the Fantom fWallet. Users can sync their Coinbase Wallet account to their Fantom fWallet and conduct a number of activities such as stake FTM and earn rewards.
Coinbase Wallet users can easily access and use the Fantom network, and engage with a number of Fantom dapps. Coupled with the streamlined interface of the Coinbase Wallet, fast transaction speeds and low fees on the Fantom network ensure an excellent user experience.
Connect Fantom to the Coinbase Wallet
Connecting to the Fantom Opera network is simple
Log into the Coinbase Wallet mobile app
Simply click the Settings icon
Select Active Network, and select Fantom Opera
Getting started with Fantom and fWallet
Once connected to the Fantom network on the wallet mobile app, users can get started by connecting Coinbase Wallet to the Fantom fWallet
Fund your wallet with FTM or any compatible asset like DAI or fUSDT
Once assets are available, you can begin to explore the many opportunities available on Fantom
Connect to a Fantom Dapp
Explore the world of Fantom dapps!
Make sure on your Coinbase Wallet mobile app Settings, that you’re connected to Fantom Opera in your Active Networks
Head over to a Fantom dapp such as Screamer (lending and borrowing), Tomb (algorithmic stablecoin), SpiritSwap (DEX), and SpookySwap (DEX) – more to come
Click on Connect Wallet and select the Coinbase Wallet option
Once you get a pop-up, confirm the authorization by clicking on Connect
Play around with the dapp! Lend out some fUSDT or DAI and earn an interest
Developers can Integrate their dApps with Coinbase Wallet
Fantom developers can easily add support for Coinbase Wallet users by integrating the WalletLink SDK, which lets users sign into dApps with Wallet. Get started here.
