Tether (USDT) launches on Kusama

Tether (USDT), whose market capitalisation of over $82 billion makes it the world’s largest stablecoin, has launched on the Kusama network.

The launch on Polkadot’s “canary network brings the pioneer dollar-pegged stablecoin to yet another blockchain.

Currently, USDT is live on ten major blockchain platforms, including Ethereum, Tron, Solana, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Algorand, and Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol.

Powering transactions on Kusama’s Statemine

Kusama, a scalable multi-chain network of specialised blockchains, provides a platform upon which developers in the Polkadot ecosystem can run experimental projects. The network’s first parachain, which is an individual blockchain that runs parallel within the broader Polkadot ecosystem, is Statemine.

USDT will now be used to power transactions on Kusama’s Statemine parachain, Tether said in an announcement.

Statemine is a sort of “public-good parachain” designed to allow for balance-keeping of all the fungible and non-fungible tokens deployed within the network. With Statemine, developers can deploy various assets, including tokenized artwork and stablecoins.

Mainly, the parachain has helped bolster the Kusama network’s scalability and security. It’s also instrumental in enhancing the interoperability of blockchains.

Beneficial to developers

Tether’s launch on Kusama is a milestone for the stablecoin as well as the cryptocurrency platform. It’s a move that’s set to open up the blockchain to developers, allowing them to explore interoperability to the fullest.

We’re excited to launch USD₮ on Kusama, offering its community access to the most liquid, stable, and trusted stablecoin in the digital token space,” Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said in the release.

He added:

For those who believe in the importance of decentralized, permissionless ecosystems, Kusama is a perfect representation of that ethos. It is a platform built to put the control in the hands of its users and we are looking forward to becoming an essential asset in its growing ecosystem.”

With USDT’s usability and accessibility, developers can now tap into multi-chain capability and build trustless applications usable across blockchains.

Kusama (KSM) was trading at $161 at the time of writing, about 4.1% up in the past 24 hours.

The post Tether (USDT) launches on Kusama appeared first on Coin Journal.

Should I Buy Ethereum? 5 Things You Should Consider

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence today. CoinGecko tracks 13,000 of them while CoinMarketCap follows over 18,000 of them. 

Ethereum is the second-biggest of them with its market cap of over $367 billion. It is also one of the most popular cryptocurrencies globally. So, if you are wondering whether you should buy Ethereum, here are the top things to consider.

Learn how to buy Ethereum with our in-depth guide or invest with our recommended platform below.

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1. Ethereum is transitioning

One of the most important things you need to know when investing in Ethereum is that it is going through a transition. 

For starters, Ethereum is a proof-of-work (PoW) platform that enables developers to build their blockchain projects. As a PoW cryptocurrency, it means that all coins are generated through mining.

Like with Bitcoin, this process is usually highly expensive and inefficient. Therefore, developers are currently working on ETH 2.0, which will transition to become a proof-of-stake (PoS) network. 

The goal of this transition is to make it faster and more energy-efficient. Instead of using complex miners, the system uses validators to verify transactions. 

The transition process is going on and analysts expect that the merge between Ethereum and the Beacon chain will happen in the third quarter of 2022. Therefore, there is a likelihood that the Ethereum price will likely keep rising towards and after the merge.

2. Ethereum will have a sharding mechanism

Another thing you need to know about Ethereum is that the network will embrace the sharding mechanism. Sharding is a technology that was first introduced by Zilliqa. The idea is relatively simple. Instead of the network processing blocks in all sizes, it divides them into smaller pieces known as shards. 

The goal of using sharding is to make a blockchain network significantly faster and highly scalable. As a result, sharding will help increase the overall speed of the network from less than 20 transactions per second (tps) to more than 1,000.

Zilliqa, the first network to embrace sharding, now has over 2,500 tps. Other networks like Near Protocol and Elrond that use sharding handle thousands of transactions per second. 

This sharding mechanism will be integrated with the network after the merge of Ethereum and the beacon chain happens in June this year. Therefore, there is a likelihood that the network will see more activity after the merger happens.

3. Ethereum is handling competition well

If you are considering investing in Ethereum, it is important to note that the network is facing stiff competition. It is seeing substantial competition from other blockchain networks that have better speeds, lower costs, and more interoperability.

There are many blockchain projects that seek to become the default platform for developers. In general, there are two main types of these networks: layer 1 and layer 2. 

Layer 1 is a project that is built from the ground up to help developers build applications. Examples of these networks are Avalanche, Solana, BNB Chain, Cronos, and Near Protocol among others.

Layer 2 networks, on the other hand, are built with the goal of accelerating and supercharging the speeds of Ethereum applications. They are simply sidechains that use Ethereum but then transact outside of Ethereum. Some of these networks are Polygon, Mina Protocol, Immutable X, and Loopring among others.

However, while Ethereum is facing a lot of competition, it has managed to maintain a market share. A good example of this is in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. DeFi is an industry that is attempting to disrupt traditional finance by introducing products like lending, investing, and trading. Some of the most important applications built using Ethereum are AAVE, Curve, and Uniswap among others.

Ethereum has a total value locked (TVL) of more than $116 billion. This means that it has a market dominance of 55.3%, considering that all DeFi apps have a TVL of more than $211 billion.

Ethereum also has a leading market share in the NFT industry. While there are many blockchain platforms in the industry, it has a commanding lead. For example, it has been used to build the biggest NFTs in the world like Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Imposters Genesis Aliens, CloneX, and Cryptopunks, among others.

4. Ethereum is offered by most exchanges

Another thing to know when you want to buy Ethereum is that it is one of the easiest coins to buy. That’s because it is widely offered by many exchanges and financial platforms. For example, Ethereum is provided by all exchanges ranging from well-known brands like Coinbase and eToro to smaller ones like CEX and Gate.

Second, it is offered by various online wallets like PayPal, Skrill, and Revolut. All you need to do is to have money in your account and then execute the trade. In most cases, the process of buying and storing the coin will take less than 5 minutes.

Third, you can buy Ethereum using one of the most popular forex and CFD brokers. These companies let you buy digital coins using leverage. A CFD is simply a financial asset that tracks the price of Ethereum.

5. You can stake Ethereum 2

Finally, like many other proof-of-stake tokens, it is possible to stake the second version of Ethereum. Staking is the process of buying a cryptocurrency and delegating it to one of the validators. You will then earn some money every month. According to Staking Rewards, investors have staked Ethereum worth more than $32 billion. They are earning an APY of about 8%, making it a good investment.

The post Should I Buy Ethereum? 5 Things You Should Consider appeared first on Coin Journal.

Highlights April 13: Crypto markets steady, Shiba Inu soars

The crypto market as a whole was steady today. The majority of top 10 cryptos registered gains over the past 24 hours, following several days of being in the red. 

Top cryptos

Bitcoin was seen flat this morning, trading above $40,000 at time of writing, while Ethereum, Cardano, XRP and Solana were up around 1%, and outside the Top 10, Shiba Inu jumped around 16%. 

The canine-themed meme coin has gained more than 35% since being listed on popular global exchange Robinhood. NEAR is down around 5% after a steady rally over the past few days. 

Top movers

The majority outside the top 20 was stable too, with fluctuations of +/- 1 to 3% in the value. At the time of writing, ApeCoin was up by around 4%. 

Coinbase is making a movie about it and a few days ago, industry leading Bitcoin ATM operator Coin Cloud announced it was adding APE to the Coin Cloud Network fleet-wide. Finally, Compound is up around 7%. 

On the other end, Waves has lost another 10%, bringing its weekly losses to over 30%. The token, which got a lot of support at the beginning of the Russian invasion, is rapidly reversing gains.

Trending

The biggest gainer of the day is Luniverse, a platform building spaces to connect projects with investors in the form of AMA spaces. It is adding functionality to have P2E mini games inside the space. 

Luniverse features an NFT collection called Lunicorns, which is reflective and provides 7% rewards in BNB. They also provide a 10% buyback and burn to the token, LUNI, which is up 2,225% today. 

The post Highlights April 13: Crypto markets steady, Shiba Inu soars appeared first on Coin Journal.

Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu: Which meme coin is a better buy?

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are the biggest meme coins in the world. The two have a combined market capitalization of $33.3 billion. This makes them bigger than well-known companies like Carmax, Chegg, Wayfair, Carvana, and SoFi among others. Dogecoin price has crashed by over 81% from its all-time high while Shiba Inu has fallen by over 70%. So, which is a better buy between DOGE and SHIB?

The case for Shiba Inu

There are several reasons why the Shiba Inu price is a better buy than Dogecoin. First, SHIB seems like it is more popular than Dogecoin. Data shows that SHIB is the second most popular cryptocurrency in social media platforms after Bitcoin. It is also one of the most held cryptocurrencies globally. Therefore, there is a likelihood that these users will help push it higher in the future.

Second, and most importantly, Shiba Inu has transitioned from being just a meme coin to a DeFi platform. In 2021, the developers launched ShibaSwap, an all-in-one platform for swapping coins and generating returns through staking and providing liquidity. 

According to the platform, it now has more than $100 million in total value locked (VL). This amount is slightly below that of Cardano, which is a bigger platform with over $300 million. Also, people can mint and trade NFTs in the platform. Therefore, there is a likelihood that this DeFi platform will keep doing well.

Further, Shiba Inu developers have announced plans to launch metaverse tools in a bid to expand its engagement. These initiatives will likely push the Shiba Inu price sharply higher. Most importantly, Shiba Inu holders are more evenly spread.

The case for Dogecoin

On the other hand, there are several reasons why Dogecoin is a better investment than Shiba Inu. First, Dogecoin is viewed as a pioneer in the meme coin industry. As a result, many people believe that it has a better chance for global acceptance than Shiba Inu. They cite the success of Bitcoin to back their case. Consider what Mark Cuban said about DOGE:

“And then you got dogecoin, which is just fun. But the weird part about it [is that] it went from being a cryptocurrency joke to now becoming something that’s becoming a digital currency.”

Further, Dogecoin is promoted by Elon Musk, the richest person in the world. The fact that he holds the coin is seen as a way of validating its existence. However, Shiba Inu advocates see this as a negative catalyst for the coin since he can change his mind.

Therefore, in my view, I see Shiba Inu as being a better investment than Dogecoin because it has expanded its use case.

The post Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu: Which meme coin is a better buy? appeared first on Coin Journal.

You can buy Shiba Inu, which added a fifth to its value today: here’s where

Shiba Inu Coin

Shiba Inu gained 35% after it was listed on Robinhood, one of the leading trading platforms globally. In addition, the team announced that its land sale on the metaverse is live. The coin gained another 20% today. 

Look no further than this short article for all the details about Shiba Inu: what it is, is it worth investing in, and the best places to buy Shiba Inu now. 

Top places to buy Shiba Inu now

As SHIB is such a new asset, it’s yet to be listed on major exchanges. You can still purchase SHIB using a DEX (decentralised exchange) though, which just means there are a few extra steps. To buy SHIB right now, follow these steps:

1. Buy ETH on a regulated exchange or broker, like eToro ›

We suggest eToro because it’s one of the world’s leading multi-asset trading platforms, an exchange and wallet all-in-one with some of the lowest fees in the industry. It’s also beginner-friendly, and has more payment methods available to users than any other available service.

2. Send your ETH to a compatible wallet like Trust Wallet or MetaMask

You’ll need to create your wallet, grab your address, and send your coins there.

3. Connect your wallet to the Uniswap DEX

Head to Uniswap, and ‚connect‘ your wallet to it.

4. You can now swap your ETH for SHIB

Now that you’re connected, you’ll be able to swap for 100s of coins including SHIB.

What is Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu is an Ethereum-based altcoin that features the Shiba Inu Japanese dog breed. Shiba Inu is widely considered to be an alternative to Dogecoin. Its supporters tout it as “the Dogecoin killer.”

Like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu is a meme coin. It was created in August 2020 by a pseudonymous individual or group called Ryoshi.

According to the white (“woof”) paper, Shiba Inu was conceived of as a cryptocurrency project 100% run by its community. Its founder attributes its origins to an “experiment in decentralized spontaneous community building.” 

According to him, the power of collective decentralization can build something stronger than a centralized team ever could create.

The purpose of the project was to create something out of nothing. It was not founded from a pre-gathered team or an existing community. The love of Shiba Inu dogs also had a lot to do with it.

Should I buy Shiba Inu today?

Nothing can substitute doing your own research. Any investment decision you make should be based on your market expertise, your attitude to risk, and the features and spread of your portfolio. Also, consider how you would feel about losing money. 

Shiba Inu price prediction

According to Business2Community, Shiba Inu will reach $0.000030 this year. At the end of 2023, it will trade for $0.000040. Within two years, the Shiba Inu community is expected to grow even more and SHIB will cross $0.0001.   

Shiba Inu on social media

The post You can buy Shiba Inu, which added a fifth to its value today: here’s where appeared first on Coin Journal.