May 272020
 

This is a sponsored post by Sharleen Ross

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Gold BitCoin standing on a computer keyboard

If you weren’t a germaphobe before 2020, you probably are now. Being more aware of germs and how they spread is going to help future generations better handle virus outbreaks and disease pandemics, but when it comes to the world of finance and transactions, there are some helpful things you can do now to slow the spread of germs. 

Stop the Spread

Cryptocurrency is gaining more popularity every year and many predict it will be the way of the future. In times like these, going crypto can be especially helpful. Physical currency is ranked among some of the dirtiest objects around. It goes through thousands of hands and places before it reaches your wallet and gets passed on again. In trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases, using virtual currency may be one of the most health-conscious choices you can make. 

In addition to slowing the spread of germs and the virus specifically, cryptocurrency can also help lower your taxes. Donating crypto is not taxable in the United States and many other countries. That’s good news for you and the millions in need at this time of trouble. There are many who are unemployed, sick or don’t have money to purchase food and other necessities. You can use cryptocurrency to make donations to your favorite charity, count it as a tax deduction and even prevent the spread of COVID-19. It’s a win-win, win! 

Safe Transactions

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Padlock wrapped around a laptop.

Cryptocurrency is also an extremely safe way to make transactions due to the numerous verifications each exchange must go through. Cryptocurrency is checked by people called “miners” and their job basically is to confirm that the transaction is legitimate and meets all necessary standards. As transactions accumulate, you build what is referred to as a blockchain. Blockchain is like layers of verification on where the currency has been; it is protected by virtually thousands of eyes and monitors, which is more security than banks and credit union s can offer. 

Hectic times like this can also be vulnerable times. Criminals trying to hack bank accounts is a legitimate concern and you should do all you can to stay protected. Cryptocurrency can keep funds safe and secure. 

Globalization

Another benefit, besides helping with taxes is the speed and fluidity of transactions across borders. The world is more globalized than ever and from the looks of things, it will continue to move in that direction. Transactions will not only influence the U.S., but also the global economy. The future holds a lot of new possibilities and crypto currencies are a great tool to keep up with changing times. 

Stay Safe

The ultimate goal of course right now is to keep yourself and your families safe. It is vital that we take every precaution necessary to beat the virus that has taken over. Cryptocurrency is another way we can help avoid the spread of germs and fight this thing together. Of course cryptocurrency will help you with your taxes (there are even helpful cryptocurrency tax guides out there), make for safer transactions and keep you moving in a fast-paced world, but the most important thing is you. You and your loved ones can’t be replaced, so be smart and stay safe. 

Apr 282020
 

This is a sponsored post

Have you decided to enter the “wonderful world” of cryptocurrencies? Taking the plunge and buying your first cryptos is not a trivial act and requires being aware of the risks and having a minimum of knowledge, which of course, will grow as you gain experience.

Getting into cryptocurrencies is the start of a great adventure made of discoveries, but also of doubts and questions. Indeed, between familiarization with technical jargon, learning new tools, questions that invade the mind, it is not always easy to manage your emotions.

Because beyond the mastery of technique, psychology and discipline are important elements when it comes to dealing with cryptocurrencies. Whether you are a long-term investor or a short-term trader, starting out in cryptocurrencies supposes respecting certain rules that will allow you to approach this experience serenely.

Training: essential for a serene entry

Nothing is more stressful and risky than embarking on a new adventure without preparation, and this is especially true when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Preparation is most important to learn how can you day trade bitcoin and other currencies.

Information and training, an essential preliminary step

The reasons for investing in cryptocurrencies are numerous and vary according to each one. Some will want to get started out of simple curiosity, others to speculate, and others, rarer but more and more numerous, are in a perspective of long-term investment or wealth management.

Really born with Bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies are a whole new class of assets from a young sector in constant evolution and full of prospects. Created and secured thanks to the blockchain, they guarantee their users security, transparency, and a certain discretion.

All of these are good reasons to be interested in cryptocurrency trading platforms, but it’s a big world – and to enter it serenely, it is recommended to train and educate yourself to understand the principles, mechanisms, and fundamentals of the currencies in which you want to invest. Behind every cryptocurrency, there is a project: before investing, it is important to make sure that you understand and appreciate the concept, but also that the team behind it is solid. This information can be found on the official cryptocurrency website, which should not be hesitated to study in-depth (technology, possible uses, potential demand, founders and team, etc.). As far as possible, it is advisable not to listen to “pseudo-experts” who are, for many, “influencers” with a biased opinion… when they don’t recite a speech pre-concocted with the founders of the project. We can’t say it enough: the key is to do your own research.

Fundamental analysis? Technical analysis? Or both?

For a long-term investor who will have put a little of his savings in one or more crypto, knowing the fundamentals and believing in their philosophy may be enough. But for those who want to take advantage of short-term price movements like stock marketers on traditional markets, it is important to train in technical analysis in addition to having a fundamental analysis of projects.

Technical analysis is a way of studying price movements in financial markets based on the historical charts of an asset. It is based on the idea that if an investor can identify market trends, these can be a fairly accurate prediction of future price paths. Fundamental analysis, for its part, focuses on studying demand, competition, and technology. While fundamental analysis focuses on the true value of an asset, technical analysis is purely based on the charts of an asset. Before intervening in the markets, it is necessary to have both a fundamental and a technical vision.

In the internet age, there is a multitude of tools online that are gold mines for training. Be careful to sort the wheat from the chaff if you want to use paid training, and remember for all intents and purposes that everything you need to know can be found for free on the internet. But this represents time and a minimum of commitment for those who will put in place a serious “training plan.”

Determine your investor profile

As we all have our own personalities and character traits, we do not all have the same way of understanding the markets, the risks they involve, the stress they can induce, and the emotions that arise from a winning or losing position. However, it is important to know yourself in these situations in order to put in place strategies that correspond to us. Being “risk-phobic” or “risk-loving” will condition the way we enter the markets and manage our positions. Likewise, we do not all have the same resilience to stress, and this also affects how we respond.

To determine your investor profile, ask yourself these questions: Am I a long-term investor or a short-term trader? Am I risk-loving or not? Am I rather stressed or calm by nature? This should lead you to answer the following questions: what is my budget for long-term investing and short-term trading? If I intervene in the short term, what is the maximum loss I can afford per day, per week, per month, per year?

When you have defined your investor profile with the risk budgets, you can claim to go to the markets with confidence, provided you are disciplined and respect the investment and trading plans as well as the risk management that you have imposed on yourself. For example, if your daily risk budget is completely consumed, you will not be able to enter into trade for the rest of the day. Likewise, taking a break after a big win or loss is important so as not to enter a vicious circle which, through the play of emotions, will turn your trades into rash bets and risk aggravating your losses or reduce your earnings.

Is there a good time to get started?

You’ve read everything about Bitcoin, opened an account on a trading platform, and are ready to go, but there’s this little question in your head that is nagging you: is this the right time? The answer will depend on a number of criteria: a long-term investor will not enter at the same time or in the same way as a trader who enters the markets every day.

The right time to take a trading position

As we have seen, there is not really a good time for a long-term investor. The latter could be satisfied with entries by fractions to smooth the risk over time and disregarding short-term movements. For traders either, there is no magic formula, and everything will depend on the profile of the investor, the tools used, and the analysis he has made of the market.

Getting into cryptocurrency is not a decision to be taken lightly and requires good preparation. Training remains the most important and time-consuming step, but thanks to the internet, there is a multitude of free tools to take your first steps in this new world. The rest comes with experience! Do not forget to set yourself rules of discipline and not to give in to the sirens of huge profits, gains without the contribution and effort, and rewards beyond measure. Many beginners lose their feathers because of these extraordinary promises.

Apr 052019
 

This is a sponsored post

Stellar is a platform for real-time cryptocurrency transactions. Stellar supports any currency, and also has its own decentralized exchange, where it is possible to trade assets.

History and the team

The Stellar platform was founded by Jed McCaleb in 2014. It was originally an offshoot of Ripple and ran on its protocol. The separation of Stellar came after serious accusations of Ripple completely centralizing the network. Indeed, most of the XRP tokens are owned by the creators, giving the cryptocurrency market a chance to be manipulated.

Stellar was launched in 2015. The developers position the platform as an analogue of a financial system – unlike bitcoin, which works only with cryptocurrency, Stellar is designed for transactions with any currency.

The nonprofit Stellar Development Foundation was created to fund the platform. It exists on donations and at the expense of leftover 30 billion XLM tokens, which over time will also enter the financial system.

Main Features

Stellar uses its own protocol, the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), which was the first real application of the Federated Byzantine Agreement (FDA) in practice. Stellar is not based on blockchain, but uses a distributed registry. Special quorums are used to check updates in the registry and enter new transactions. The creators claim that unlike PoW (proof-of-work), SCP is configurable, fast and efficient and helps achieve network consensus. 

The Stellar network is considered a direct competitor to the Ripple network because they originally shared a protocol – Stellar split off after claims in Ripple Labs’ centralization. To avoid such a thing, Stellar’s developers keep only 5% of XLM tokens to pay off the network’s internal costs, while Ripple holds about 60% of all tokens. Also, unlike the Stellar network, a third-party user cannot become part of Ripple without the approval of Ripple Labs, which again raises suspicions of centralization.

Since Stellar is a platform for financial transactions, there are several usage scenarios:

  • Ability to work with payment applications for different crypto- and fiat currencies;
  • The ability to make micropayments – for example, to pay for electricity;
  • The ability to exchange tokens within the platform.

Stellar is largely for developers, and has a support function so that you can easily understand the system and start helping the project right away.

What is the Stellar Lumen (XLM)? 

Stellar Lumen (XLM) is an internal token of the Stellar platform. According to the developers’ idea, it is required to have at least a small amount of Lumen in each account – 1 XLM is enough. Commissions for transactions within the network are 0.00001 XLM regardless of the amount.

The currency reached an all-time high on January 4, 2018, when the XLM token was worth $0.938144. Lumen’s minimum value was recorded on November 18, 2014, at $0.001227.

Early April 2021, the total stock of Lumens is 50,001,806,812 tokens (this number is almost constant, as all Stellar tokens are issued initially, and there is no additional issuance). XLM cryptocurrency ranks 16th in CoinMarketCap, with a total market value of $10,514,050,160 USD. One XLM token is worth about $0.4584.

How to buy and where to store XLM 

You cannot buy Stellar Lumens tokens for fiat money directly, but you can do it on cryptocurrency exchanges like Poloniex, Binance, Bittrex, and Kraken. After buying Lumens on an exchange, withdraw them to your wallet. Otherwise your funds can be lost due to hacking, theft, and the bankruptcy of the exchange itself.

If you have nowhere to store XLM, we advise you to create an online wallet on this service. This option is convenient because it allows you to do without installing any additional software on your PC, and you can start working with Lumens in just 1 minute.

You can also choose one of the options presented on the official website of Stellar:

  • Trezor and Ledger Nano S hardware wallets – separate physical, encrypted devices that provide additional security for cryptocurrency;
  • desktop and mobile wallets – downloaded to your devices and working with a network connection, usually allowing you to store multiple cryptocurrencies;
  • Coinbase web wallet – is a service where you can see your account balance as well as make transactions.

Development prospects

In July 2020, Samsung announced Stellar support for Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Smartphone owners can now securely store Stellar wallet private keys right on their phone. App developers will be able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Stellar network. Such deals are extremely good for the company’s reputation. The partnership can attract new users for both Samsung and Stellar.

In December 2020, it became known about the launch on the Stellar blockchain by Germany’s oldest bank, Bankhaus von der Neudt, of a stabelcoin backed by euros. According to the bank’s CEO, the choice of blockchain was dictated by the ease of issuing and managing assets online.

In general, the interest in the Stellar platform from companies, developers and users is constantly growing, which opens up excellent prospects for it. According to many experts, Stellar Lumen has a high chance of renewing its historical high in late 2021 or early 2022.

Conclusion

Stellar is a cryptocurrency that aims to do more than create decentralized digital money. The developers’ ambitious intentions are so far on track, and many large firms are cooperating with the company. At the same time, XLM token, which is a very promising cryptocurrency, is not lagging behind.

Feb 242018
 

Pop into any cryptocurrency casino or Bitcoin betting site, and you should hope to find a wealth of casino bonuses available to claim. Crypto casinos have grown to such an extent that they are now almost identical to FIAT casinos in terms of the services they can provide. Unsurprisingly, this means that there are bonuses and promos aplenty ready and waiting for you. Join us as we explore some of those right here for you.

Can Bitcoin Bettors Claim Casino Bonuses?

Is it possible for Bitcoin bettors to claim casino bonuses when playing online? Of course, it is. Moreover, you won’t just be eligible to receive one-off bonuses. Most of the best crypto casinos will be carrying a proper, full-on array of deals, just like any FIAT casino should. Let’s start by looking at the most obvious bonus up for grabs at virtually all cryptocurrency casino sites – the welcome bonus.

The All-Important Welcome Bonus

The all-important welcome bonus will often come as a single offer, provided when you deposit at a casino for the first time as a new player. However, if you choose to play at some sites, such as at Rollers.io Casino, you can claim a welcome bonus that spans your first three deposits, sometimes more. The purpose of this bonus is to provide you with bonus cash when you deposit into your account. Some may also offer free spins to boot.

Free Spin/Cash-Based Reload Bonuses

Most free spin bonuses are usually awarded as no deposit deals or as part of welcome bonuses. However, some crypto casinos may choose to hand them out whenever you deposit, with or without bonus cash attached. These are then known as reload bonuses. Reload bonuses at casinos work in the same way as welcome bonuses, but they are valid for all existing members of a casino when they deposit.

Tournaments and Competitions

Tournaments and competitions are becoming increasingly important in crypto casinos across the net. Here, you’ll be fighting against other players, trying to acquire as many points as you can by completing objectives such as winning and betting. At the tournament’s completion, the highest-scoring or ranking players in the table will win larger shares of a cash pot.

No Deposit Bonuses

No deposit bonuses aren’t as common as they used to be. However, these bonuses effectively allow you to claim either a small sum of cryptocurrency or free spin without a deposit being made. In many ways, they form a part of a VIP club or loyalty program, so let’s look at those next.

VIP Clubs and Loyalty Programs

The VIP Club or loyalty program is the staple of the online casino world. Here, you can wager on your favourite games and be rewarded for doing so. Most have a tier-based structure that can see free spins, cashback, bonus bucks or other goodies handed out to members of a cryptocurrency casino based on their gambling habits. Some have tiers reserved for big spenders, and these high rolling membership levels offer the biggest and best VIP/loyalty rewards of the lot.

Calendar Specials

Some cryptocurrency casinos now offer what are known as calendar bonuses or special offers. These may be offered daily, weekly, or monthly. They may also be tied to specific seasons. Either way, they will be bespoke, one-off deals that have short lifespans and may require promo codes. Check the promos page at any cryptocurrency casino to see the latest special offers that are available.

Aug 242016
 

This is a sponsored post

Nobody wants to sign up for an online casino that is not safe and secure. With hundreds, potentially thousands of casinos out there to choose from, why take a risk? While the rules governing licensing and regulation in conventional online casinos are straightforward, it is sometimes less so for cryptocurrency casinos. What kinds of things should you be looking for? Join us as we explore the types of regulation you should expect to see in cryptocurrency casinos in 2021.

A Gambling License

Of course, not all cryptocurrencies are licensed, but they should be. While cryptocurrency sites struggle to obtain licenses from the UKGC or MGA, the Government of Curacao’s gambling licensing authority is prepared to license top domains like Bitcoin Casino. While a Curacao license legally allows you to offer crypto games to players, it does not come with much regulation, though. For that, we need to look elsewhere.

Third-Party Auditors

Top casinos like Bitcoin Casino will also be regulated. As mentioned, a Curacao license brings some but nowhere near as much regulation as a typical UKGC or MGA license. Therefore, we need to look further afield. Top sites such as BitcoinCasino.io are instead regulated by third-party auditors. These ensure that the casino is honest, transparent and has fair practices regarding security, fair play, and player protection. Do not trust cryptocurrency casinos that claim to regulate themselves.

RNG Certification

On top of the above items, a reputable cryptocurrency casino should also be RNG certified. This entails having its games checked to ensure that they have fair RTP (return to player) rates and that the random number generators that govern each hand or spin are truly delivering random events. RNG certificates come from iTech Labs, TST, eCOGRA, Provably Fair (specific to Bitcoin casinos) and others.

Financial Authority Approval

Any top crypto casinos will also need to be approved when it comes to finances and banking. A separate regulator should monitor and check transactions, to ensure that payouts are occurring and that they are processed safely. Information regarding this should be visible on the casino’s homepage, on their “About Us” page, or in the privacy policy.

Access to Responsible Gambling Programs

It is not just regulation and licensing that you need to see at top crypto casinos. The best Bitcoin betting sites will also offer player protection. Most of the time, this comes in the form of responsible gambling tools. In short, a renowned site should provide you with the ability to cap what you deposit, to withdrawal without limits, and to self-exclude or take breaks from gameplay whenever it suits you. They should also be affiliated with problem gambling programs that can provide additional support to troubled gamblers.

It may sound like a lot to ask for in a cryptocurrency casino, but it is not. The absolute best sites can put together a package that features all the above, and it is at these crypto casinos that you want to sign up and play.

Aug 132015
 

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Despite its lower profitability compared to Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) mining attracts farm owners. The lower mining complexity and the information that Vitalik Buterin decided to remove the PoW mining option for Ethereum make miners pay attention to the promising coin. Let’s understand what you need to mine Ethereum Classic and consider the technical nuances of mining this cryptocurrency.

Features of the ETC coin

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is not just digital money, but a platform for running decentralized applications (dApp). ETC and ETH coins appeared in the spring of 2016 after the hardfork of the popular Ethereum cryptocurrency. It was made after a blockchain hack in which hackers managed to steal more than $50 million. Some users did not support the rollback of the blockchain, which the developers decided to apply to eliminate the consequences of the attack. Proponents of the conservative approach continued to use the old blockchain, from which the ETH branch broke off.

ETC and ETH mining applications use the same mining algorithm and work with the same hardware. The only difference is that Ethereum Classic has a smaller DAG file and can be mined on video cards with up to 3 GB of RAM.

Advantages

Despite its lower price and popularity than Ethereum, ETC has certain advantages:

  • The principle of code supremacy underlying Ethereum Classic guarantees the inviolability of the ETC blockchain and ensures the decentralized operation of the network.
  • The project’s open source code, which allows enthusiasts to develop ETC and create their own applications on its platform.
  • Good feedback, ensuring upgrades based on consolidated decisions of the community and the three development teams,
  • High block closing speed, providing a faster network performance compared to BTC and ETH.
  • Ability to mine ETCs on video cards weaker than those required to mine ETH.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of Ethereum Classic include the following points:

  • Low activity of the development team.
  • Vulnerability to “51% attack”, typical for PoW algorithms.
  • Using a blockchain that was successfully attacked in 2016

How to mine Ethereum Classic

To mine ETCs you need equipment: an ASIC, a computer with a powerful video card or a farm with a lot of video cards that will provide a high profit margin. You will also need special software and a wallet to withdraw and store the earnings.

Ethereum Classic, like Ethereum, can be mined through a pool or in solo mode. However, solo ETC mining is not profitable. To increase efficiency, miners work through pools that distribute the task of calculating block signatures. This allows for stable profits and increases the profitability of each participant’s farm.

Mining Pools.

The profit made by mining Ethereum Classic as part of a group (pool) depends on its characteristics. Each pool has its own commission, but you should not focus only on this parameter. It is better to determine the profitability by experience. To do this you need to connect to several pools for the same period of time (at least 12 hours) and evaluate the profitability of the farm. 

You should pay attention to the following pools that support ETC mining:

  • Ethermine is one of the first pools, characterized by high reliability. However, on the web there are mixed comments about the profitability of the resource.
  • Nanopool is a relatively new project, which managed to get ahead of the competition in a short time. The pool is characterized by low commissions and favorable terms for cooperation. However, the technical support of the site leaves much to be desired.
  • P2pool is a pool with high profitability and support of ETC mining in solo mode.
  • ETC 2miners is a new resource that supports a large number of cryptocurrencies. Thanks to the low commission and high reliability of work, the site since its opening in 2017 has managed to win a large number of fans,
  • Supernova – a well-known resource, distinguished by a high degree of security, user-friendly interface and excellent technical support.
  • MinerGate is a convenient, reliable multilingual resource for mining cryptocurrencies, which managed to win the trust of the community.

Equipment for mining Ethereum Classic

Not only ASIC or top-of-the-line video cards can be used for ETC mining. The main thing is that a DAG file of over 2 gigabytes can fit into the GPU’s RAM. However, older graphics cards have low power efficiency (ratio of performance to power consumption). Coins mined on such devices may not even be enough to pay for electricity. This also applies to attempts to mine ETC on a CPU.

Ether is being mined on AMD and Nvidia video cards. However, mining on Nvidia, such as Geforce GTX 1050 Ti, brings less income for equal investment. The reason lies in the different architecture of the GPU, which affects the power consumption. Therefore, it is preferable to use AMD cards of the latest generation for ether mining.

Where to Store Coins

To store ETC coins, you can use software and hardware wallets, accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges.

If you intend to accumulate significant amounts of Ethereum Classic, it is worth looking at hardware devices (Trezor, Ledger Nano S and similar). Web wallets are less reliable, but much more convenient for withdrawals, exchanging cryptocurrencies for fiat money and conducting quick transactions. An example is Ethereum Classic Wallet. This service is extremely easy to use, and it takes literally seconds to start working with it.

Technical nuances and mining software

Setting up ETC mining starts with choosing an application to work with the pool. The most popular program for mining Ethereum Classic is Claymore.

To configure the settings, unzip the miner file and edit Start.bat. In the latter you need to specify the pool IP and port, as well as the Ethereum wallet address you want to output the coins to. After that, run the file and start mining Ethereum.

The initialization parameters are available in the corresponding section of the mining pool website. There are also links to recommended miner programs.

What is a Claymore S Dual Miner

The Ethereum Classic S Dual Miner allows you to effectively use the capabilities of your video card and mine not only ETCs. Dual mining allows you to mine coins using two different algorithms simultaneously. Together with ETC, whose hash calculation loads the RAM of the video card, you can mine Decred or other processor-intensive GPU coins. This increases the profitability of mining with a small increase in power consumption.

Claymore DuaL is considered the best miner for regular and dual-mining.

Pros of the application (utility):

  • simple user-friendly interface,
  • high performance,
  • stable work,
  • mixed support for farms (with AMD and Nvidia cards),
  • Linux and Windows versions.

Cons of ether dual-miner:

  • the program does not work on 32-bit OS,
  • Some of the video card resources are spent on secondary coin, slightly reducing ETC hashrate.

Why do we need the bat-file?

Start.bat is used to start an application and it contains the parameters of its work. Their priority will be higher than that of the options prescribed in config.txt. So the easiest way to configure the program is to create a bat-file and put in it the key information about the wallet and the pool server.

Profitability

ETC mining profitability depends on the following parameters:

  • mining speed (hash rate),
  • Power consumption of the farm,
  • channel reliability (if the connection is unstable, the calculated hashes can be lost).

To calculate the profitability of Ethereum mining equipment in advance, it is worth using online mining calculators. The most authoritative one is whattomine.com, which allows calculating a farm’s profit based on its hash rate and equipment power consumption.