Having trouble finding ways to pay to market your company in cryptocurrency? Us too! Today Richard & Adam discuss some of the unorthodox marketing strategies they are using to get their content in front of as many people as possible.
*Disclaimer. None of this information is financial advice.
When you think cryptocurrency, chances are you think of the zeitgeist of the 2017 boom: Bitcoin soaring to $20,000 after opening the year at $1,000, with “Altcoins” (any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin) following closely behind on the exponential rise. It seemed like everyone and their cousin was buzzing about cryptocurrency and looking to make a quick buck.
As cryptocurrency markets have cooled in recent months, that chatter from newcomers and inexperienced players is absent. In a sense, that’s cause for celebration; it’s silences like these that yield the best investment opportunities. By the time mainstream media outlets publish the next headline about a cryptocurrency bull run, buying in will come at a markup.
In August 2017, I decided to channel my passion for cryptocurrency into a full-time practice. I spent countless hours teaching myself how to analyze and predict cryptocurrency market trends. I learned how to leverage this knowledge in cryptocurrency exchanges to turn triple-digit percentage profits in a day. And for the first few months, I taught myself using only free online resources. This is the future: an increasingly digitized world where P2P exchange and information-sharing is the norm, where I can learn the complexities of an entire trade without setting foot in a classroom.
Cryptocurrency is a tool molded for this kind of future: it’s a publicly verifiable, decentralized information-hosting network controlled not by any central governing body but made up of a network of global nodes. Computers around the world verify every transaction and lock them into an immutable public ledger called a blockchain, thereby eliminating fraud or mismanagement by a single player.
Cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous (or at least pseudonymous, transacted with 30-character identifier codes), yet the open ledger of the blockchain enables radical transparency. Some have called this next-generation paradigm “triple-entry bookkeeping,” as cryptocurrency transactions consist of a debit entry, a credit entry and an entry into the blockchain. Had blockchain been the standard in 2001, Enron’s fraud might not have escalated into the then-largest corporate bankruptcy in American history.
Cryptocurrency’s remarkable computational power allows nearly instant transfers, whereas traditional banking solutions take several business days to finalize the transaction. From our current vantage point, it’s difficult to envision a reality in which we are no longer beholden to financial intermediaries like banks. However, try time-traveling to the 1970s when the military was using primitive packet-switching to communicate between computers — and then explain how consequential the Internet and connected devices are in our daily lives. Cryptocurrency represents a paradigm shift that enables nearly immediate currency transfers, even across international lines, that incur no processing fees and require no middlemen.
Every time you use your credit card, whether you’re buying a car or a bottle of water, you extend the merchant access to your entire credit line. The vendor initiates the payment and “pulls” from your account once you’ve provided the info. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency model returns the power to the consumer with a “push” model. Pay the designated recipient exactly how much you intend and retain the autonomy of your account.
No other electronic cash system grants you the power to own your own account. PayPal and Venmo can place a freeze on your account for a variety of reasons, and so can banks. These services can alter their terms and conditions at will. Even non-electronic money management systems are debatably not your own; fiat currency is created, controlled and manipulated by sovereign governments and their central banks. In 2013, this governmental oversight ran amok in a belly-up Cyprus; the central bank wanted to seize uninsured citizen deposits larger than $100,000 to help recapitalize the island. While central banks can increase or tighten the money supply at will, most cryptocurrencies have a fixed supply.
The autonomy inherent in the cryptocurrency model and the incorruptible security of blockchain suggest consumer privacy implications. Lessons learned from cryptocurrency could take some of the onus of consumer data protection off of businesses, dodging costly disasters like the Equifax hack of 2017. IBM reports that the average data breach in 2018 is nearly $4 million, but many major enterprises spend nearly that much on prevention.
Cryptocurrency has myriad applications beyond use cases like international payments and data privacy. The true potential of blockchain remains relatively untapped; its ability to secure intellectual property, financial assets and sensitive data spans industries. In healthcare, blockchain could keep patient data secure but accessible. In manufacturing and supply chain management, blockchain can facilitate reduced fraud, improved inventory management and immediate status updates.
Some cryptocurrencies enable “smart contracts”: digital contracts that self-execute given provided conditions are sufficiently met. Smart contracts can improve traceability, accountability and security of transactions with vendors and clients. Smart contracts could also empower small businesses to compete on a more level playing field with larger competitors; self-executing contracts reduce time and resources otherwise devoted to invoicing, settling interest fees, managing fulfillment, filing, verification, arbitration and legal processes.
Granted, crypto still has some problems. User interfaces are convoluted and not user-friendly; it would be hard for most people to imagine their parents navigating the transaction process. It takes an expert trained in analysis of financial markets and with an understanding of the crypto ecosystem to navigate and interpret candlesticks and trend lines. Plus, as any cryptocurrency skeptic will leap at the chance to tell you: The market is risky, speculative and volatile.
That same volatility can be an asset that skilled traders can leverage to their advantage. I’ve built my love of cryptocurrency into a hedge fund called Astra Network that creates wealth for clients across New Orleans and beyond. Cryptocurrency is here, not only to stay, but to revolutionize the financial sector as we know it. I’m excited to see how the market changes as cryptocurrency matures beyond these Wild West days of deregulation and becomes a standard. Whatever’s next for the cryptocurrency space, I’m along for the ride — but I’ll be driving.
Will you?
Noah Pollack
To put it simply, they are contracts that are executed automatically without the help of a third party. You can think of it as actually a mini computer program stored inside the blockchain.
Smart contracts use “if this, then that” logic and work much like a digital vending machine. If you agree to put money in the machine and make a selection, then the snack you chose will be distributed to you automatically. This transaction is an automated agreement between human and computer and does not require anyone else in order for the contract to be executed.
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Everyday uses of automated “If this, then that” contracts. Â
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Computer Scientist Nick Szabo first coined the term in 1994 when he described smart contracts as “a computerized transaction protocol that executes the terms of a contract. The general objectives of smart contract design are to satisfy common contractual conditions, minimize exceptions both malicious and accidental, and minimize the need for trusted intermediaries. Related economic goals include lowering fraud loss, arbitration and enforcement costs, and other transaction costs.
An easy example of how smart contracts can be used right now in real world situations is for improved crowdfunding solutions. Currently, companies like “Go-Fund-Me” and “Kickstarter” act as third party intermediaries to make sure the money being raised by their members actually gets to them in a safe way. For this service, they take a percentage of the money raised. A smart contract solution could be as simple as an agreement that says that if enough money is sent to a certain address before a certain date, then the funds will be released to the address that is asking for the crowdfunding. There could be any number of conditions included in this contract, all following the “if this, then that” logic.
The main reason is because the contract is stored on the blockchain, and that fact guarantees it two special properties that will keep you and everyone else involved safe and treated fairly. Blockchains are immutable and distributed. The benefit of smart contracts being immutable is that that once it is written, it cannot be changed, it is essentially “tamper proof”. The benefit of smart contracts being distributed is that the output has to be validated by everyone on the network. No one person can force the release of funds, or the rest of the network would mark it as invalid.
Right now the most widely accepted smart contract blockchain is Ethereum. Ethereum was created specifically to support smart contracts. One of the most common usage of a smart contracts are decentralized exchanges (DEX). Users can create simple sale contracts that says if someone pays me X, they will be sent Y. These trades can be executed for an extremely low cost because no third party has to verify the transaction. Bitcoin also has some smart contract application but it is much more limiting.
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Check out one of the first DEXs, Etherdelta
With smart contract technology we might one day live in a world when you pay for the product you ordered only AFTER it has it has a delivery confirmation. That same world will leave you with a lot more money in your pocket as the need for all third parties facilitators will drop drastically and so will the cost of doing any type of business. Smart contracts have many real world applications that can start being used right away in a number of different industries from banking to real estate and even postal!
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Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
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Propeller Incubator –Â 4035 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125
The Crypto Current MeetUp is meant for all cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiasts. Whether you know nothing about crypto, know enough to hold a conversation, or think of yourself as an expert, this is a great environment to network and discuss the latest industry news.
Crypto Current was founded to give access to information to everyone on current events occurring in cryptocurrency and blockchain in a digestible way. Since its creation, Crypto Current has created content that impacted thousands of people through its daily newsletter (powered by artificial intelligence), podcast, blog, and social media.
Noah Pollack
Ethereum Request for Comment: Non-Fungible Token Standard # 721. Better known as ERC-721 tokens, or just Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs); are Tokens on the Ethereum blockchain that can offer unique characteristics which make them different from one another and digitally scarce.
Before we dive into the what, or the why regarding NFTs, it is important to know the difference between fungible and non-fungible assets.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fungible as “capable of being substituted in place of one another” The easiest-to-understand real world example of fungible assets are dollar bills of the same denomination. If I loan you a $1 bill, I will not care which of the other 11 billion $1 bills I get in return because the value of those two bills will always be exactly the same. All cryptocurrencies are fungible assets too, if you are receiving a payment in bitcoin, it makes no difference which of the individual bitcoins end up in your wallet because, although the value of bitcoin may change, 1 BTC will always equal 1 BTC. The same is true with gold, other commodities, and shares of a company.
Non-Fungible assets, on the other hand, do differ from “thing” to “thing”. Take paintings as an example. An original painting and an exact copy appear to be identical when you look at them, but everyone knows the value of those two things can differ massively because of information about the original. Art has value based on the unique characteristics each piece holds, such as; the artist, the past owners, and how much it has sold for it in past transactions. Another example of a non-fungible item is a plane ticket. Two plane tickets look the same at first glance, but the information stored in the plane ticket gives each one a unique purpose and value. More examples of non-fungible assets are anything with value that can not be exchanged for goods at a store such as; baseball cards, antiques, or even sneakers.
Now that we know the difference between fungible and non-fungible assets, let’s look take a look at non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Although other chains have started implementing their own non-fungible protocols, the most widely used is the ERC-721 that runs on the ethereum blockchain.
Why would anyone want a non-fungible token if you can’t spend it? Because non-fungible tokens are not a currency, NFTs represent a unique asset on the blockchain as smart contracts.
Smart contracts are computer programs that act only after specific conditions are met. The best example would be calling it a digital vending machine. With a real vending machine, you put money in, choose what you want and it comes out. This all happens with complete trust and without a third party facilitating the transaction. In the case of NFTs the smart contracts are used to record specific information about each individual token, mostly to validate the origins. Â
Digital collectables are the most common usage for NFTs right now. The most popular of these are Crypto Kitties. Crypto Kitties were actually the inspiration for the ERC-721 proposal, in December 2017 when Crypto Kitties was releases as a decentralize app (dApp) they quickly gained popularity as everyone wanted to get their hands on these valuable, one of a kind, digital cats. While transactions took place in cryptocurrencies, and that data was imprinted on the blockchain, the actual unique data about the Crypto Kitties did not exist on the chain. The popularity of these digital collectibles led to the ERC-721 proposal which now lets us store a ton of specific data about each token, in smart contracts, on the ethereum chain. The highest price ever paid for a Kitty was 600 eth ($170,000 at the time of sale)
Crypto Kitty #1 owned by Eth Address: 0x79bd592415ff6c91cfe69a7f9cd091354fc65a18
All Crypto Kitties and other ERC-721 token can be viewed on https://etherscan.io/ just like any ERC-20 token transaction. You can check out a huge ERC-721 wallet full of Crypto Kitties here. https://etherscan.io/address/0x79bd592415ff6c91cfe69a7f9cd091354fc65a18#tokentxnsErc721
The data stored in the ERC-721 tokens can be anything about the asset, such as; when it was created, who created it, who the different owners were, or how much it as previously been sold for. This could lead to huge breakthroughs in verification for art, collectables, medical records, and even identification (like passports and state IDs). Although may be many years away from having the deeds to our homes or our birth certificates being turned in Non-Fungible tokens; at least for now you can take advantage of this world changing technology to grow a sweet collection of super rare digital cats!
This is the first ever same day recorded same day launched episode. After a crazy night in the market, Adam and Richard discuss what happened and why Tether might be in trouble.
*Disclaimer. None of this information is financial advice.
Today we have Will Haynie, the CEO and founder of Pelicoin. He discusses how we started this Cryptocurrency ATM service as well as some altcoin projects he is looking out for.
*Disclaimer. None of this information is financial advice.
Today we have our first ever debate on the show about Bitcoin vs. Altcoins. Our guest Kevin McCarty makes a strong case on why bitcoin is here to stay and why other coins just do not match up.
*Disclaimer. None of this information is financial advice.
