In brief

Its been a long time coming, but Ethereum 2.0 is finally on the horizon. The major update aims to address the networks scalability and security through a number of changes to its infrastructuremost notably, the switch from a proof of work consensus mechanism to a proof of stake model.

Ethereum 2.0, also known as Eth2 or Serenity, is an upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain. The upgrade aims to enhance the speed, efficiency, and scalability of the Ethereum network so that it can process more transactions and ease bottlenecks.

Ethereum 2.0 is launching in several phases, with the first upgrade expected to launch towards the end of 2020.

While Ethereum 1.0 uses a consensus mechanism known as proof of work (PoW), Ethereum 2.0 will use a proof of stake (PoS) mechanism.

With blockchains such as Ethereum, there is a need to validate transactions in a decentralized way. Ethereum, like other cryptocurrencies, currently uses a consensus mechanism known as proof of work (PoW).

In this system, miners use computer hardware processing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles and verify new transactions. The first miner to solve a puzzle adds a new transaction to the record of all transactions that make up the blockchain. They are then rewarded with cryptocoins. However, this process can be energy-intensive.

Proof of stake (PoS) differs in that instead of miners, transaction validators stake crypto for the right to verify a transaction. These validators are selected to propose a block based on how much crypto they hold, and how long theyve held it for.

Other validators can then attest that they have seen a block. When there are enough attestations, a block can be added to the blockchain. Validators then are rewarded for the successful block proposition. This process is known as forging or minting.

The main advantage of PoS is that it is far more energy-efficient than PoW, as it decouples energy-intensive computer processing from the consensus algorithm. It also means that you dont need a lot of computing power to secure the blockchain.

One of the main reasons for the upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 is scalability. With Ethereum 1.0, the network can only support around 30 transactions per second; this causes delays and congestion. Ethereum 2.0 promises up to 100,000 transactions per second.This increase will be achieved through the implementation of shard chains.

Did you know?

The current Ethereum set-up has a blockchain consisting of a single chain with consecutive blocks. This is secure, but very slow and not efficient. With the introduction of shard chains, this blockchain is split up, enabling transactions to be handled in parallel chains instead of consecutive ones. This speeds up the network, and can scale more easily.

Ethereum 2.0 has been devised with security in mind. Most proof of stake networks have a small set of validators, which makes for a more centralized system and decreased network security. Ethereum 2.0 requires a minimum of 16,384 validators, making it much more decentralizedand hence, secure.

However, according to Lior Yaffe, co-founder ofJeluridaand lead core developer of theArdorandNxtblockchains, there is a potential vulnerability that focuses on the level of participation rates in the network.

Security audits of Ethereum 2.0 code are being carried out by organizations including blockchain security firm Least Authority.

The Ethereum Foundation is setting up a dedicated security team for Ethereum 2.0 to research possible cybersecurity problems in the cryptocurrency. In a tweet, Ethereum 2.0 researcher Justin Drake stated that the research will include fuzzing, bounty hunting, pager duty, cryptoeconomic modelling, applied cryptanalysis, formal verification.

Following a series of testnet launches, Topaz, Medalla, Spadina and Zinken, the full roll-out of Ethereum 2.0will take place in three phases: Phase 0, 1, and 2 (developers like to count from zero). Phase 0 is aiming for a 2020 launch date, with the other phases coming in the following years.

Phase 0 sees the implementation of the Beacon Chain; this stores and manages the registry of validators as well as deploying the proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism for Ethereum 2.0. The original Ethereum PoW chainwill run alongside this so there is no break in data continuity.

Phase 1, due in 2021, will see the integration of proof of stake shard chains. The network is expected to launch with 64 shards (enabling 64 times more throughput than Ethereum 1.0) though at launch they won't support accounts or smart contracts.

Phase 1.5, an interim update due in 2021, will see the Ethereum mainnet officially becoming a shard and transitioning to proof of stake.

Phase 2, slotted to launch in 2021/22, will see shards becoming fully-functional and compatible with smart contracts. It also involves adding Ether accounts and enabling transfers and withdrawals, implementing cross-shard transfers, and contract calls. It will build execution environments for scalable apps that are built on top of Ethereum 2.0.

September 2020 brought news that the Spadina testnet had run into problems on its launch, forcing at least one more "dress rehearsal" before launch. Spadina is a short-term testnet designed to trial genesis, or the creation of the first block, on Ethereum 2.0. It is distinct from the larger Medalla testneta general sandbox that represents the up-and-running version of the network. Issues with the Spadina testnet included low participation, coupled with "confusion" and "invalid deposits."

Ethereum 2.0 is on track for a November 2020 launch, according to one developer on the project, but what will the future hold for the cryptocurrency?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has laid out a roadmap of how the next five to ten years could pan out for Ethereum 2.0. He says that over the last two years there has been a solid shift from "blue sky" research, trying to understand what is possible, to concrete research and development, trying to optimize specific primitives that we know are implementable and implement them.

He says that the bulk of the challenges is now increasingly around development, and development's share of the pie will only continue to grow over time.

In June 2020, Buterin noted that Ethereum 2.0 will need to rely on current scaling methods such as ZK-rollups for at least two years before implementing shard chains.

Excerpt from:

What is Ethereum 2.0 and Why Does It Matter? - Decrypt

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is progressively restoring its services after suffering a hacker attack last month.

The platform has just announced its users can now make deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether. It should be noted the USDT is available for withdrawal on all compatible blockchains: Tron, EOS, Omni and ethereum. KuCoin has been working to improve the security of the respective wallets.

KuCoin has pointed out the platform's deposit addresses have been updated. All deposits sent to the above addresses will be redirected to the users' accounts, however, the exchange does not recommend their use.

KuCoin suspended all deposits and withdrawals of assets after the attack.

KuCoin's CEO Johnny Liu reported over the weekend the exchange had identified the suspects in the recent platform attack in which the hackers stole around $280M.

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KuCoin Resumes Operations with Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT - ihodl.com

In an interesting development, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed in a tweet thread on Oct 05 that the Eth2 roadmap is getting an update and the scaling improvements might arrive sooner than previously anticipated. The relatively new concept is called rollups and it will be combined with sharding to create a synergistic effect to turbo-charge the Ethereum network capacity.

Vitalik Buterin squashed the rumors that sharding was being cancelled for Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, because of the complexity and increasing delays. The suggested rollups can arrive by deployment of Ethereum 2.0 Phase 1 (introduction of sharding and data storage on shards without transaction processing). They can increase the existing 15-45 TPS capacity to 1000-4000 TPS a 100x increase!

They would work, Vitalik argued, because even though sharded applications require fully deployed Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. The same isnt true for sharded rollups, which can work effectively with only Ethereum 2.0 Phase 1, since rollups only need the chain for data storage and not computation.

Currently, we have ~15-45 TPS. Rollups offer a ~100x increase in throughput. Sharding offers a ~64x increase. These two stack multiplicatively; rollups *on top of* sharding offer a ~6400x (!!) increase in throughput.

So, rollups on top of sharding can eventually bring the Ethereum network capacity to 25,000-100,000 TPS an increase of 6400x from this point. However, that itself is likely years away, but we might see the rollups in action as early as 2021.

So it's not "rollups instead of sharding", it's "rollups on top of sharding". That said, rollups are already here or coming soon even before sharding, and rollups without sharding still offer that 100x increase in throughput. So get on a rollup today!

A Rollup is essentially a Layer-2 scaling solution for blockchains. Its a sidechain connected to a rather smaller contract on the mainnet. It allows for processing off-chain and only using the mainnet for final settlement, relieving network congestion and reducing processing time / fees.

Ethereum 2.0 is the next big upgrade for the Ethereum network. It will bring Proof of Stake (POS), eWASM and sharding. It will reduce the resources, required to run the Ethereum network, as well as bring scalability and performance improvements.

The Eth2 upgrade will be implemented in three phases, with the first Phase 0 Beacon Chain, expected by the end of Q2 2020, which will introduce the staking facility. This will be followed by the Phase 1 in Q1 2021, which will introduce sharding and allow data to be stored on shards, however transactions cant still be processed.

The Phase 2 will make the Ethereum 2.0 truly complete and the network operational, after its introduction at some point in 2022. It will bring the Ethereum WebAssembly (eWASM) replacing the now operational Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Only after the Phase 2 has been rolled out, proper execution of smart contracts and transactions can commence on the new Eth2 chain. The Eth1 and Eth2 chain will gradually merge with each other.

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Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the next big trend after the DeFi craze. They have been growing in popularity and

The blockchain field and the crypto-verse are witnessing a revolution. This time, its the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) facilitated

The massive global online hackathon will explore Blockchain technology's potential to respond to social, healthcare, and economic challenges posed by

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Ethereum 2.0 - Updated Roadmap - CryptoTicker.io

Source: cryptostock- Pixabay

The market for crypto-derivatives, e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and other cryptocurrencies has taken a severe hit. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned its trading for retail customers. In the official announcement, the regulator declared that the above products are harmful to consumers for 5 main reasons.

Firstly, the regulator stated that the underlying assets do not have a reliable basis to protect their value. Second, the FAC believes that abuse, illegal activities and financial crime are widespread in the secondary crypto market. In addition, the FAC argues that cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and that end-users do not have a sufficient understanding of the underlying assets. Finally, the FCA claims that investing in derivatives of cryptocurrencies is harmful investment. The regulatory authority states:

These features mean retail consumers might suffer harm from sudden and unexpected losses if they invest in these products () which includes well-known tokens such as Bitcoin, Ether or Ripple (XRP). Specified investments are types of investment which are specified in legislation. Firms that carry out particular types of regulated activity in relation to those investments must be authorised by the FCA.

The UK regulator claims that the ban on crypto derivatives will save UK consumers around 53 million a year. In addition to the ban, the FCA has determined to prohibit the distribution and marketing of any derivatives to UK consumers. Specifically, the FCA mentions the following derivatives: options, futures, contracts for difference (CFDs), and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

The measures apply to companies and firms operating within or outside the United Kingdom. The Executive Director of Strategy and Competition for the FCA, Sheldon Mills, stated:

This ban reflects how seriously we view the potential harm to retail consumers in these products. Consumer protection is paramount here.

Significant price volatility, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing cryptoassets reliably, places retail consumers at a high risk of suffering losses from trading crypto-derivatives. We have evidence of this happening on a significant scale. The ban provides an appropriate level of protection.

According to the FCAs announcement, the prohibitive measures will take effect from 6 January 2021. The regulator has asked companies and firms that trade in crypto derivatives to stop their operations before this date. In the meantime, the regulator advises investors to stay alert for crypto-scams. From now on, they qualify all companies offering crypto derivatives products to retail consumers as possible scams.

In a separate document, the FCA also clarified that its measures will affect firms that issue or create crypto derivatives, firms that distribute them (brokers, financial advisors, and investment platforms), marketing firms that reference the referred derivatives, traders, consumers, and retail consumer organizations. With regard to consumers, the FCA states:

Retail consumers with existing holdings can remain invested following the prohibition, until they choose to disinvest. There is no time limit on this, and we do not require or expect firms to close out retail consumers positions unless consumers ask for this.

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Breaking: UK bans sale of Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP derivatives to retail consumers - Crypto News Flash

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Ethereum: The "Black Swan" Event Didn't Keep this Phoenix From Rising - Elliott Wave International

Quick take:

Veteran Bitcoin Analyst, Willy Woo, has shared his most recent analysis of BTC in which he states that all Bitcoin fundamentals are in moon mode.

According to Mr. Woo, Bitcoins on-chain data and metrics from infrastructure players point to BTC awakening in 2021. He explains that the current Bitcoin market environment is similar to mid-2016 and before the impressive bull run that resulted in BTCs all-time high of $20k in December 2017.

Mr. Woo shared his analysis of Bitcoin via the following tweet.

Back in late Septemeber, Will Woo had also suggested that Bitcoin is in the process of decoupling from the traditional stock markets as a result of Bitcoins internal adoption. He explained:

Bitcoin will decouple from traditional markets soon, but driven by its internal adoption s-curve (think startup style growth) rather than changes in perceptions as a hedging instrument by traditional investors. Fundamentals of user adoption have already broken all time highs.

To further demonstrate the said Bitcoin internal adoption, Willy Woo shared the following chart, courtesy of Glassnode, which shows the number of active Bitcoin addresses since mid-2016, charted alongside price.

Additionally, Willy Woo pointed out that Q4 might be a great one for Bitcoin based on the compression of BTCs difficulty ribbon. To further demonstrate the probability of a great Q4 for Bitcoin, Mr. Woo shared the following tweet by the team at Glassnode which includes a chart that has the bullish difficulty ribbon.

Summing it up, Willy Woo has suggested that Bitcoins fundamentals are in moon mode with a possibility of a bullish Q4, 2020. Additionally, next year will also be a positive one for Bitcoin in terms of gains as the current Bitcoin environment is similar to mid-2016.

In terms of market performance, Bitcoin has now shrugged off a total of four mega-events that would have traditionally caused panic selling. The first was Bitmex being charged by the CFTC for operating an illegal derivatives exchange.

Secondly, President Trump tested positive for COVID19. Thirdly, the UKs FCA banned crypto derivatives from retail traders. Fourthly, President Trump rejected a stimulus bill late yesterday that caused a massive pullback in the stock market.

However, Bitcoin is still holding its head above $10k and is currently battling to retain the $10,600 support zone. If this were 2018 or 2019, Bitcoin would have already dropped below $10k and declared dead once again.

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BTC Analyst: Bitcoin's Fundamentals are in Moon Mode - Ethereum World News

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Xfers Launches Fully-Regulated Digital Singapore Dollar on Ethereum and Zilliqa - Crypto Briefing

In summary:

On the first of this month, the MimbleWimble protocol on the Litecoin (LTC) network went live on the testnet. The event was highlighted on Twitter by several Litecoin community members as can be seen below.

However, the highly anticipated launch of the Litecoin MimbleWimble protocol on the testnet was eclipsed by the two major events of the CFTC charging Bitmex with operating an illegal derivatives exchange and President Trump testing positive for COVID19.

According to the main MimbleWimble Developer, David Burkett, the code for the protocol can be found on Github. Therefore, any developer interested in checking out and running a testnet node can do so.

Mr. Burkett also explained that his main focus now was making MimbleWimble on the testnet more accessible to regular Litecoin users to start testing it out as well. This includes improving the automated builds, better documentation, and starting to build out wallet support.

He also gave 2021 as a rough timeline for the full activation of MimbleWimble on the Litecoin network.

Below is a statement from David Burkett further elaborating on the future of Litecoins MimbleWimble.

Right now, there are a number of areas in the code that are fragile or lack the necessary validation around edge cases, so Ill also be taking some time this month to harden the code, and start validating any remaining consensus rules we missed.

Once Im confident everything is working as designed, Ill start looking for ways to break the testnet, to make sure we find and resolve any security or stability weaknesses.

Next month, Ill share a detailed plan of all of the remaining work necessary to get MWEB (Mimblewimble Extension Block) merged to the main repo, so that miners and node operators can start signaling for activation sometime in 2021!

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Litecoin's MimbleWimble is Live on Testnet, Full Activation in 2021 - Ethereum World News

Quick take:

The digital asset of ChainLink (LINK) continues on its massive correction from its mid-August all-time high value of $20. Earlier today, LINKs value dropped below the crucial $8.80 support level to post a local low of $8.38. At the time of writing, ChainLink is trading at $8.82 and looks set to dip further in the days to follow.

The main reason $8.80 is a crucial level for ChainLink, is the fact that this was the last organic all-time high value before LINK marines heeded the call to liquidate Zeus Capital. ChainLink hit this value on the 15th of July and would only revisit it two weeks later on August 2nd. The latter date is also when LINK marines joined forces to begin their campaign of liquidating Zeus Capital.

Further taking a quick look at the daily LINK/USDT chart above, the following can be observed.

Summing it up, ChainLink is still very much in a downtrend. Earlier today, LINK dipped below the crucial $8.80 support zone that could ultimately open the doors to a $7 ChainLink. The latter price level provides sturdy support as this is also where the 200-day moving average lies.

As with all analyses of ChainLink, traders and investors are advised to use stop losses and low leverage when trading LINK on the various derivatives platforms.

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ChainLink (LINK) Losing its $8.80 Support Opens the Doors to $7 - Ethereum World News

In brief

Transaction volume on the Ethereum blockchain reached $119.5 billion in Q3 2020, surging by nearly 1,200% compared to the previous quarter, according to DappRadars industry report published today.

Per the report, Ethereums transaction volume amounted to only $10.2 billion just a few months agoin Q2 2020. Such a sharp increase became possible mostly thanks to the ongoing decentralized finance (DeFi) craze that keeps attracting yield farmers.

Among the 13 blockchains listed on DappRadar, Ethereum accounted for 96% of the total transaction volume, retaining its mantle of the biggest network by far. At the same time, the DeFi ecosystem was responsible for 99% of those figures.

We spot that the DeFi ecosystem is not only the number one category but also holds 99% of the value within the Ethereum blockchain in Q3 2020, DappRadar noted.

As Decrypt reported, the DeFi boom led to a major drawback as transaction fees keep growing rapidly. Over the past couple of months, Ethereum miners have been regularly setting new records in terms of their profits, successively earning $500,000, $800,000, even $1 million per hour in transaction fees alone. In September, miners even earned more from transaction fees than from block rewardsfor the first time in Ethereums history.

But that doesnt seem to bother the DeFi train. After all, people flock to yield farming to make more money on their funds, so high transaction fees are part of the spiel. But overblown fees began to choke other decentralized apps (dapps) besides DeFi, DappRadar noted.

In Q2 2020 we witnessed a tremendous drop [in the Games category] and the trend has continued into Q3 2020. The reason behind it is still high Ethereum gas prices and looking at the prevailing trends of the DeFi ecosystem, it doesnt look like that situation is going to change anytime soon, said the report.

Apart from gaming, marketplaces, collectibles, gambling and other dapps are also struggling with high transaction fees, although some of them are slowly but surely joining the DeFi hype, DappRadar added.

So, not only is all of DeFi pretty much on Ethereumbut all of Ethereum is now DeFi too.

Originally posted here:

Ethereum Dapp Volumes Hit $120 Billion in Third Quarter - Decrypt

MetaMask recently announced a new add-on to its browser which can facilitate decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions for Ethereum-based tokens.

Token Swaps on MetaMask

The cryptocurrency wallet announced that token swaps will now be a feature that will be available on its browser extension. This function is ready to be leveraged by Firefox users, but MetaMask developers are working on providing the token-swapping feature on other browsers as well as on MetaMask mobile.

Token swaps directly from MetaMask will enable investors to swap and trade crypto assets they hold for any ERC-20/DeFi tokens they want across different decentralized exchanges (DEX), directly from the comfort of its browser. The feature operates like an aggregator by measuring different exchange rates across various crypto exchanges to come up with the best conversion.

MetaMask User Growth Surges

MetaMask, which is owned by ConsenSys and is arguably the most popular Ethereum wallet, recently recorded over a million active monthly active users on its platform, an achievement that is partially due to the recent launch of its application MetaMask Mobile. The application has served to onboard new users worldwide and has gained popularity in the USA, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

With the rise in popularity of the DeFi protocol industry, Uniswap, Yearn, Curve, Maker, and Aave are among the top projects leveraged by MetaMask users to invest, sell, lend, and borrow digital assets.

The launch of the token swapping feature on MetaMask is a huge achievement, as it provides a seamless trading experience for investors. Most DeFi protocols run on Ethereum blockchain and the new addition on MetaMask goes in stride with the DeFi boom, with the largest project by market capitalization being attributed to Uniswap.

Though the DeFi protocol has recorded a dip on DeFi Pulse, it still dominates with a total value locked of $2.22 billion, as of press time.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Ethereum-Based Wallet MetaMask Adds Token Swaps to Its Features - Business Blockchain HQ

Visual representations of cryptocurrency Ethereum and Bitcoins are placed on Japanese 10,000 yen ... [+] notes in this photo illustration on January 13, 2018, in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)

Endaoment, the first provider of donor-advised funds on the Ethereum blockchain operating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit is publicly launching today. Run by CEO Robbie Heeger, Endaoment is also the first project incubated and launched out of Framework Labs, the sister technology studio to Vance Spencer and Michael Andersons investment firm Framework Ventures. Donor-advised funds (or DAFs) have been one of the fastest growing areas of charitable giving the past few years, with a 2019 report from the National Philantropic Trust showing a sharp 55% rise of individual DAFs year over year.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

With over 700,000 DAFs active today, the model is a great fit for crypto-natives interested in giving back. The crypto industry has suffered from bridging the gap between optimism and use cases, with only a few dominant financial use cases as yet proven. One important use case with proven demand that has often gone overlooked is charitable giving. So far, the friction hasnt been on the supply side, with plenty of newly-wealthy crypto holders, or the demand side (charities would love more donations) but on bridging the technology gap. As of now, donating via crypto required getting set-up with a major administrator of DAFs such as Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab, or going to each charity individually.

Drawbacks with the major administrators for cryptonatives include high fees, limited cryptocurrency donation rails, and friction in the ultimate conversion of crypto to USD for the end donation. Working with charities individually offers its own issues, as they would need to be set-up with a wallet and linked bank account allowing them to accept a certain amount of limited tokens. Once thats done, the ongoing burden of managing cryptocurrency, converting it, accounting, and cashing out to USD for use in daily operations is high for organizations with limited resources and technical know-how.

With Endaoment, that model is turned on its head. Says Heeger, "Endaoment is a new community foundation built specifically for the decentralized finance community. Effectively what we're doing is providing people the opportunity to have a dedicated account that is specifically geared toward their or their families charitable giving." Those interested in donating now simply need to go onto the Endaoment platform, create and fund a DAF. Then they provide guidance to Endaoment on where they want those funds to be directed, while Endaoment does the leg work of contacting the charity to let them know about their allocated funds and providing instructions to take delivery. The charity can receive the donations in USDC if they want to work with Endaoment on opening up direct crypto rails, but if not, Endaoment has partnered with Circle (the issuer of USDC) to use the Circle API to wire payment in USD directly to a charity.

"What we've built at Endaoment is basically two smart contract factories. One that creates a smart contract called a fund, or a donor-advised fund, and one that creates a smart contract that's called an organization. Each time somebody searches for an organization using endaoment.org, and they go to create a grant from that fund to that organization, we create an organization escrow contract on-chain. That basically serves as a smart wallet for that organization. It is a smart wallet that is effectively custodianed by Endaoment." The contracts have been audited by security research firm Open Zeppelin, with results available publicly.

Not only are they pioneering a new DeFi native model for giving, but Heeger has worked diligently to re-align the revenue generation mechanism for Endaoment from what he thinks is a broken traditional model. He sees the current DAF landscape as unduly profiting the major custodians, with funds deposited at major administrators of DAFs such as Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard recycled back into the system while they await disbursal. With average disbursal times of around 24 months from donation to disbursal, this incentivizes holding funds longer, while generating fees for the other side of the managers business on top of a fee for assets under management. Endaoment is attempting to fix this by charging fees only upon entry and exit from a DAF account that is weighted towards collection when funds are actually disbursed to charity, and no fee for assets under management.

Endaoment will take advantage of the progress made by automated market maker Uniswap in creating infrastructure to handle the long tail of cryptotokens being developed. Explains Heeger "We accept any Uniswap token with over $100k in liquidity, lifetime. We have unlocked a list of about 135 tokens and will continue to unlock more as Uniswap's liquidity deepens and more tokens come on-line to Uniswap."

While initially focused on providing the infrastructure for DAFs, Heeger sees a larger role for Endaoment as the Community Foundation for crypto, with crypto-native governance and operating protocols. The long term vision is to seamlessly integrate the technological advantages afforded by this new infrastructure to remake philanthropy at the community level in a way that accords with cypherpunk principals. Community Foundations are public charities that must be majority funded by the public, with a mission to support a specific region or community with targeted services.

At Endaoment, we aim to be the standard-bearing Community Foundation for the Decentralized Finance industry. Our first philanthropic service were offering is the Endaoment Donor-Advised Fund. Down the road, well look to emulate and develop other services like Community Endowment Funds, Issue & Org discovery tools and community powered governance controls. This will put Endaoment and its decisions, values and policies into the hands of its user base; its community. Says Heeger via email.

A long-time friend of Spencer and Andersons, Heeger is the bright, energetic, loquacious face of the future of charity. By taking a tech-first approach and thinking deeply about creating fundamental incentive structures to encourage best practices, he has a chance to build a powerful platform for giving in the digital age. As more and more financial activity moves onto DeFi, the wealth generated by these protocols and the early users can at times be enormousand happen fast. With Endaoment, a proven crypto use case of charitable giving finally has the organizational development its long needed to lower frictions for use. As time goes on, it will be fascinating to watch whether now that the model is being better developed if it can gain greater traction to become a force in the philanthropic world.

Disclaimer: Rory is an active trader and investor holding positions in several cryptocurrencies as well as equities and other private investments at any point.

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First Ethereum Based Donor-Advised Fund Provider Launched By Investors In Chainlink And Synthetix - Forbes

As the price of Ethereums native digital currency, Ether (ETH), has been showing massive strength recently, the path seems to be continuing toward new highs. Ether price ran from $220 to $445 in the previous five weeks, and this is one of the biggest surges for the altcoin in the past 18 months.

However, as the rally didnt provide many opportunities for laggards to hop on the train, is $500 the next target for Ether? Lets examine the technical setup.

Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360

As Ether broke through the magical barrier of $340 to $360 as crucial resistance, it was crucial for the bulls to flip this area into a new support zone.

ETH/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

The chart proves this levels significance, as the $340$360 zone became support throughout the previous bull market. However, the breakdown in August 2018 led to a two-year accumulation range.

Similarly, a previous test at the $340$360 range in July 2019 failed to break through this crucial resistance zone. Recently, a renewed breakout led to a breaker, as the chart confirms the support/resistance flip.

Next to that, Ether is rallying above the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, which are crucial for bullish momentum. As long as Ether sustains support above these moving averages, further bullish continuation is likely to expect.

The smaller timeframes signaled an apparent trend reversal, as the chart shows.

ETH/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

First of all, the crucial higher timeframe support zone between $340 and $360 provided support once again.

This support confirmed support through the double-bottom structure on smaller timeframes, signaling a potential bottom confirmation.

As a trader, the next confirmation youd like to get is a new higher high, which was confirmed once the price of Ether broke through the high at $408 (the red line). This breakthrough led to a further surge of the price, which is almost a new yearly high.

ETH/USDT 4-hour bullish scenario chart. Source: TradingView

The price of Ether is currently fighting the final hurdle before new highs. If that happens, a renewed rally toward$500 is very likely to occur.

However, the crucial area to hold for ETH price can be found in the lower green box. As long as Ether sustains support at the $396$410 area, further continuation is likely.

As a breakthrough in the recent high at $445 is crucial for continuation, the new targets can be defined through the Fibonacci extension tool.

Using this tool, a new target at $500 can be drawn, and its very likely to be hit once ETH breaks through the recent high.

ETH/USDT 4-hour bearish scenario chart. Source: TradingView

The same areas are also crucial in the bearish scenario. If the price of Ether rejects at the current resistance zone and fails to hold the $396$408 area for support, a further decline is very likely to occur.

The targets for a downtrend structure can be defined using both the Fibonacci extension and price action. Its very likely to expect a failure of the $360 support area if the price of Ether gets to that level again.

If the price of ETH drops towardthe $360 area, its more likely to expect a further decline, and then the eyes are focused on the $310$320 area.

However, in the current climate and the current strength, the bearish scenario is a lot less likely than the bullish scenario.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Ethereum: This price resistance stands in the way of ETH hitting $500 - Cointelegraph

Ethereum may be vulnerable to frontrunners according to Dan Robinson, a research partner with the crypto-asset investment firm Paradigm.

Robinson said in a blog post, the design of Ethereums mempool, or a set of unconfirmed transactions, is where the vulnerability lies. He said arbitrage bots monitor pending transactions in the Ethereum mempool and attempt to exploit profitable opportunities created by them.

Arbitrage bots typically look for specific types of transactions in the mempool (such a DEX trade or an oracle update) and try to front-run them according to a predetermined algorithm. Frontrunners look for any transaction that they could profitably forward trade by copying it and replacing addresses with their own. They can even execute the transaction and copy profitable internal transactions generated by its execution trace.

Robinson explained that he devised a plan to extract the money in cooperation with a team of smart contract engineers and another team of Ethereum security engineers. The plan was to confuse the transaction so that the bots could not detect that there was a connection to the Uniswap spouse.

But despite the efforts made, the plan did not succeed, and the money was seized by the frontrunners.

He concluded his post by stating the lessons he learned from the experience and also warning miners of a similar fate if they do not pay close attention.

More here:

Ethereum vulnerable to frontrunners: Researcher - Cointelegraph

Ethereum remains in a pivotal position as it moves into the typically low volume weekend, with it trading below the $400 level of resistance despite a 5.52% recovery over the past 24-hours.

The worlds second largest cryptocurrency also seems to be forming an ominous head and shoulders pattern, which is known to be a clear reversal signal.

A measured move if the head and shoulders pattern plays out would plunge Ethereum to as low as $325, with potential to slide even further depending on the amount of liquidated long positions on margin exchanges.

However, that would only be confirmed if the neckline is broken at $365, at which point the cryptocurrency market may be suffering a wider sell-off.

ETHUSD chart by TradingView

While the prospect of a bearish reversal edges closer, its worth noting that the pattern may well continue to play out for at least another week, in which time it will also likely test the level of resistance at $409.

If price reaches this level and is met with a spike in sell-volume it will likely be investors opting to open short positions at a previous point of rejection with downside price targets of $325.

If, however, Ethereum breaks above $409 it would invalidate the aforementioned head and shoulders theory while opening up a serious bullish case that would see it almost certainly topple its yearly high of $445.

For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, clickhere.

Ethereum was launched byVitalik Buterinon July 30 2015. He was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine and he initially wrote a whitepaper in 2013 describing Ethereum.

Buterin had proposed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language. He decided to develop a new platform with a more general scripting language when he couldnt get buy-in to his proposal.

If you want to find out more information about Ethereum orcryptocurrenciesin general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Please check the below article:

https://coinrivet.com/ethereum-adopts-erc-1155-as-an-official-standard/

As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not.

You may be interested in our range ofcryptocurrency guidesalong with the latest cryptocurrencynews.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice.

Read the rest here:

Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD) - Yahoo Finance

Its no longer news that crypto traders and investors are rushing into Yearn.Finance.

However, what has recently astonished most major players in the crypto industry is the fact that Yearn.finances native token YFI has gained more than 75% in the last 24-hours, achieving a new all-time high at over $38,500.

Some leading crypto experts believe this is just the beginning for yearn.finance, meaning it could reach billions of dollars in the mid-term, as analyst Tyler Reynolds suggests the possibility of a $15 billion market cap based on cash flow analysis. He said:

500k $YFI = $15B market capitalization If it traded at 50x FCF, then it would need to generate $300M for holders Its already generating $20M and that will go up as yUSD/yCRV grows. Add in other new arb opportunities & products (eg insurance) and were not far from $300M in FCF.

READ: Earning BTCs without Having To Pay Money

However, a top crypto researcher with the pseudo name, Haus advised investors and traders to be wary of the most expensive crypto coin, as it has fundamental challenges, that include poor market liquidity. He continued by saying;

$YFI may be ripping right now, but its illiquid as hell as very little of the supply is available on exchanges. Try selling even 100k and youll tank the price by 3%.

READ: Contactless payments: What buying and selling would look like post COVID-19

For comparison, the slippage on selling $100k worth $LEND (another DeFi coin with a similar market capitalization) is 0.2%

500k $YFI = $15B mcap If it traded at 50x FCF, then it would need to generate $300M for holders Its already generating $20M and that will go up as yUSD/yCRV grows Add in other new arb opportunities & products (eg insurance) and were not far from $300M in FCF.

What you must know: There are multiple protocols providing yield (returns) on the capital that you lend. These yields vary from one protocol to the next. YFI automates & optimizes lending such that you can earn maximum value on your capital without researching each protocol.

The token is used by Yearn.finance as a tool in producing returns from stablecoin deposits such as Tether.

These returns have become so attractive to investors that hundreds of millions have been transferred to the Yearn.finance protocol.

Download the Nairametrics News App

This increase in deposits led to an increase in the value of YFI, which is representative of the value of the Yearn.finance ecosystem.

Yearn Finances advantage over Bitcoin: With a mere 30k token supply making it more scarce than even Bitcoin, $YFI is the hardest money the world has ever known.

See the original post here:

Ethereum whales on the rise, as Ether hits $420 - Nairametrics

EOS

EOS rose by 4.20% on Sunday. Following on from a 0.27% gain on Saturday, EOS ended the week down by 1.92% to $3.2598.

It was a bullish start to the day. EOS rose to an early morning high $3.2155 before hitting reverse.

EOS broke through the first major resistance level at $3.1930 before falling back to $3.15 levels.

Finding support going into the afternoon, EOS rallied to a late intraday high $3.2769.

EOS broke through the first major resistance level at $3.1930 and the second major resistance level at $3.2589.

At the time of writing, EOS was up by 0.33% to $3.2706. A mixed start to the day saw EOS fall to an early morning low $3.2522 before rising to a high $3.2741.

EOS left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

EOS would need to avoid a fall through the $3.2205 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $3.3162.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for EOS to break out from Sundays high $3.2769.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the pivot level at $3.2205 would bring the first major support level at $3.1641 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, however, EOS should avoid a return to sub-$3.10 levels. The second major support level at $3.0684 should limit any downside.

First Major Support Level: $3.1641

Pivot Level: $3.2205

First Major resistance Level: $3.3162

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $6.52

38% FIB Retracement Level: $9.68

62% FIB Retracement Level: $14.77

Ethereum rose by 7.62% on Sunday. Following on from a 0.82% gain from Saturday, Ethereum ended the week up by 9.73% to $428.94.

It was also a bullish day. Ethereum rallied from an early morning intraday low $398.24 to a late intraday high $429.9.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $392.01, Ethereum broke through the days major resistance levels.

A late pullback saw Ethereum fall back through the third major resistance level at $425.87 before wrapping up the day at $428 levels.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was up by 0.22% to $429.88. A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum fall to an early morning low $428.15 before rising to a high $430.55.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the $419 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $439.81.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out from this mornings high $430.55.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $419 pivot would bring the first major support level at $408.15 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, however, Ethereum should steer clear of sub-$400 and the second major support level at $387.37.

First Major Support Level: $408.15

Pivot Level: $419

First Major Resistance Level: $439.81

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $257

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $367

62% FIB Retracement Level: $543

Ripples XRP rose by 3.28% on Sunday. Following on from 0.80% gain on Saturday, Ripples XRP ended the week down by 0.62% to $0.2830.

It was a bullish day. Ripples XRP rallied from an early morning intraday low $0.2740 to a late intraday high $0.2838.

Ripples XRP broke through the first major resistance level at $0.2779 and the second major resistance level at $0.2818.

A late pullback saw Ripples XRP test support at $0.28 before breaking back through the second major resistance level at $0.2818.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was up by 0.53% to $0.2845. A bullish start to the day saw Ripples XRP rise from an early morning low $0.2830 to a high $0.28455.

Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ripples XRP will need to avoid a fall through the $0.2803 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2865.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripples XRP to break out from the morning high $0.28455.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level should cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $0.2803 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.2767 into play.

Barring an extended crypto sell-off, Ripples XRP should steer clear of sub-$0.27 levels. The second major support level at $0.2705 should limit any downside.

First Major Support Level: $0.2767

Pivot Level: $0.2803

First Major Resistance Level: $0.2865

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.3638

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.4800

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.6678

Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks, Bob

Excerpt from:

EOS, Ethereum and Ripple's XRP Daily Tech Analysis August 31st, 2020 - FX Empire

A long anticipated Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) which aims to tackle high network fees is currently being tested on the Filecoin network.

A proposal to change Ethereums fee structure has been in the pipeline since first being suggested in April 2019. A surge in network fees in recent months has brought the spotlight back on to EIP 1559, and it is being trialled on the digital storage platform Filecoin.

Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, tweeted an update as more information and research is piled into the proposed upgrade.

Filecoin software engineer, Jeromy Johnson, said the EIP code appears to be doing its job on an ongoing test on the network. He added that there had been a couple of spikes in base fee, which is the new network fee architecture, but there was very little delay in messages making it into the chain.

Filecoin is a decentralized storage platform that is in the testnet phase. It has targeted September for the mainnet launch according to its August progress update. Sharing technology with Ethereum makes it a good testbed for EIP 1559.

On August 22, PegaSys developer Tim Beiko tweeted that two Ethereum clients are currently privately testing the code, Vulcanize's geth fork and Besu. He added that he would personally like to see EIP 1559 implemented on a network with a large state, such as Ropsten, to see if larger blocks are an issue.

The proposal introduces the base fee mechanism that dynamically adjusts fees based on the current network congestion levels. Currently, Ethereum network fees are calculated in an auction-type system where users bid how much theyre willing to pay to have their transaction picked up by a miner. Naturally, the miners prioritize the higher bids first which leads to congestion and high gas prices under heavy load.

Under the new proposal, if the blockchain is more than 50% utilized then the base fee increases automatically, but if it is under 50% utilized, then it would decrease. Ethereum users would still be able to jump the queue by paying a tip on top of the base fee. All of the fees in ETH that are paid via the base fee are burnt and only the tip is paid to miners.

The maximum difference in base fee from block to block would then be predictable because these increments are constrained. This would then allow wallets and dApps to automatically set the gas fees for users more reliably rather than simply estimate them.

It may be a while before EIP 1559 is rolled out on the Ethereum mainnet however. ETHhub founder Anthony Sassano predicted at least 6-12 months in his Daily Gwei newsletter on August 24.

Read more:

Filecoin tests pave way for Ethereum fee restructure - Cointelegraph

Quick take:

In a recent tweet, the team at Weiss Ratings has concluded that almost all crypto projects want to connect to the Ethereum (ETH) network. Their observation and conclusion are based on the fact that the Flare Network is building a new two-way bridge that will connect XRP to the Ethereum virtual machine.

The team at Weiss Ratings went on to state that Ethereum is the new hot thing in crypto as a result of the DeFi industry. Ethereum has cemented its position as the de facto smart contract platform.

The tweet by Weiss Ratings can be found below.

Also this past week, the team at the Flare Network has announced that there will airdrop 45 Billion Spark Tokens to all XRP holders except addresses belonging to Ripple Labs and its employees. The team at Flare Network plans to carry out a soft fork of the XRP chain and a snapshot taken to determine the distribution of the Spark Tokens. The distribution will be made to owners of XRP who store their digital assets on exchanges and/or private wallets.

At the time of writing, only the Bitrue Exchange has confirmed that it will be supporting the Spark Token airdrop. The exchange announced their intention to support the Spark Token distribution via the following tweet.

According to Flare, over 5,400 XRP accounts holding over 295 Million XRP have set up to claim the Spark Token. More information on how to claim Spark Tokens can be found on the Flare Network website.

With regards as to whether the airdrop is safe or not, Bitrue supporting the event is one way of judging its legitimacy. Furthermore, the CTO of Ripple, David Schwartz, gave the following response on Twitter, regarding the safety of the Spark token distribution event.

Additionally, XPRING has made a significant financial investment in the Flare Network. Xpring is the financial investment arm of Ripple Labs.

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Everyone Wants to Connect to Ethereum (ETH) - Weiss - Ethereum World News

On Aug. 26, Ripple (XRP) partner Flare Networks revealeddetails of a proposed new bridge connecting XRP with the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Ripples CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the XRP Army have expressed support for the first two-way bridge to bring the ecosystems together.

The trustless bridge will allow XRP on the Flare Network known as FXRP to be used within the Ethereum networkwhile providing a scaling platform for Ethereum tokens and applications.

Flare is a network that integrates the Ethereum Virtual Machine in order to provide advanced smart contracts on the XRP network.

The proposal, which needs to be approved by the Ripple Foundation, will be the groups first governance proposal and has mostly beenmet withpositive feedback from the community, with Twitter user Tristancommenting, As soon as its done. Im moving all my apps andsmart contracts over.

But some users, like JGrim,questionwhethera connection to Ethereum was needed at all, saying that it will only slow down the Flare network. Ethereums fees have hit $99 for some DeFi users recently amid network congestion.

Ripples CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that Flare will offer users the best of both worlds:

From my point of view Flare is combining the best of XRP (VERY fast settlement), Ethereum (smart contracts) and Avalanche (for consensus) which helps extend XRPs utility and allows developers to create smart contracts for new use cases like lending and defi.

Flare Networks collaboration with Ripple began in November last year and was funded by Ripples Development arm Xpring. In February this year, Xpring announced its intention to develop a bridge between the two networks and sponsored three challenges during the ETH Denver hackathon, all of which revolved around a bridge between XRP and Ethereum.

Flares CEO and founder Hugo Philion is confident about this new proposal since there are already several projects that serve as a two-way bridge between other networks and Ethereum. Last week the NEAR project launched the Rainbow Bridge connecting their platform with Ethereum, and Enjin have already built a bridge connecting Hyperledger with Ethereum.

Read this article:

Flare proposes new bridge to allow XRP to be used on Ethereum - Cointelegraph