Let’s Talk DeFi

New marketing direction, new AtomicDEX releases, new community discussions.

Monthly Newsletter In this edition, we will walk you through our DeFi vision and invite you to join our community discussion about DeFi. We would also like to invite you to give feedback about our newsletter! KOMODO'S DEFI VISION NEW ATOMICDEX FEATURES NEW MARKETING DIRECTION August Highlights From AtomicDEX to AtomicDeFi By Kadan "ca333" Stadelmann Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, is currently on everyone's lips. For over six years, we at Komodo have been building what can be categorized as DeFi technologies.  In case it is not clear yet, Komodo is DeFi! Our long-term vision is to be the ultimate cross-protocol platform for all things DeFi. We aim to provide developers with the infrastructure necessary to launch decentralized applications for derivatives, synthetic assets, non-fungible tokens, real-world assets, and much more. With this in mind, our team has decided to expand AtomicDEX to AtomicDeFi.   Read The Full Story of Our AtomicDeFi Vision ↗ Major AtomicDEX Releases By Tony Lysakov We have released AtomicDEX Pro v0.2.1 alpha for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The AtomicDEX Pro user experience is continuously improving with each new release. We are building an application that is appealing to serious crypto traders.  Download the latest release and share your feedback! In v0.2.1, we added a CEX-like order book view, support page, detailed rewards information, and much more. These are features that the Komodo community has been interested in seeing, so we are excited to deliver them. New Features CEX-like order book view  Support page Detailed rewards information Detailed swap progress Notifications Popups Fiat currency setting Added $THC, $tBTC and $VRA Download For Desktop We also released AtomicDEX Mobile v0.2.19 beta for iOS and Android. New Features New sliding menu Privacy button Address book Listed $THC & $tBTC Notifications for swaps, transactions, news & available updates Download on iOS Download on Android New Marketing Direction & Community Discussions By Audo Kowitz We have a new direction for marketing.  Komodo is a decentralized open-source project, and our most valuable asset is our community. We are going to play into our strengths, and our marketing team is now looking to make incremental changes to guide our marketing back to its community roots – so that we become a truly community-driven project. That means we will have a lot more community discussions, community collaboration, and increased transparency.  We already have that in our culture, and it's just about switching the lights back on. The most exciting aspect of this is that this decision has caused a lot of excitement within our entire Komodo team. DeFi discussions have been running hot on our Discord. We hosted a dedicated discussion channel to clarify what this all means for Komodo. We also have an active internship program. Our interns are looking to host various community discussions and brainstorm new ideas to expand our community. We will be actively sharing marketing updates on a new Komodo marketing channel. If you want to stay on top of what's going on, come visit our headquarters on Discord. Join the Komodo Discord Discussions ↗ Other News & Updates CHIPS Is Hiring CHIPS is looking to hire someone to coordinate the project's marketing efforts and create a recognizable brand identity in order to help CHIPS become the go-to poker application for professionals and beginners alike. If you would be like to be involved in showcasing CHIPS to the world, join the CHIPS Discord (if you haven't already) or contact NutellaLicka for more details! Komodo Community Podcast Launch In episode #4 of the Komodo Community Podcast, Satinder talked about Shurli, the subatomic swap protocol he is actively developing for Komodo. "Subatomic" swaps are P2P payment channels, suitable to exchange value between two partners who don't necessarily trust each other. Previous episodes of this new podcast series feature RedFOX Labs, Marmara Credit Loops, and Pirate Chain. Check out all the episodes on YouTube!   BPSAA Partnership Komodo joined the Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance (BPSAA), a registered nonprofit organization facilitating cross-platform cooperation between projects. Members of BPSAA are driven by the common ethos of interoperability, and the organization is heavily focusing on education. Question of The Month 'Monthly Newsletter' isn't a very catchy name, is it? That's where we need your help!  What would you like to call Komodo's newsletter? Please share your ideas on the #newsletter-discussion channel on our Discord. We'd also like to know what you think about the content, structure, and frequency of our newsletters. We want to hear from you — the community. Have ideas, feedback, or questions? Please let us know. Join the Komodo Discord, and let's start a discussion.   Join Komodo Discord Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

🖥[NEW Webinar Series] How to Value Bitcoin

Sign up to attend live, every Tuesday Sept. 15 - Oct. 6 at 10:30 a.m. ET!

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WEBINAR SERIES TUESDAYS, SEPTEMBER 15 - OCTOBER 6, 2020 10:30 AM ET HOW SHOULD YOU VALUE BITCOIN? How to place a value on bitcoin? Its data is unfamiliar territory for many investors. In a recent investor survey by a well-known financial institution, nearly half said a lack of fundamentals keeps them from participating. Join us for the launch of How to Value Bitcoin on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 10:30 a.m. ET, a webinar series aimed at exploring fundamental Bitcoin metrics. Each episode will air weekly on Tuesday, and feature a presentation with live Q&A from one of the industry’s most renowned analysts.  SIGN UP TODAY SERIES OVERVIEW Guest: Rafael Schultze-Kraft, CTO and Co-Founder of Glassnode Episode 1 On-Chain Transactions September 15, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET We're joined by Rafael Schultze-Kraft, CTO and co-founder of Glassnode, to talk about on-chain transaction data. We’ll look at the structure of a Bitcoin transaction and what blockchain data can reveal about transaction count, value transferred and velocity.   Guest: Philip Gradwell, Chief Economist, Chainalysis Episode 2  Addresses September 22, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET   We're joined by Philip Gradwell, Chief Economist at Chainalysis, to unpack the novel accounting method used in Bitcoin and explore how entities are represented and transact upon the network. We’ll look at the structure of Bitcoin addresses and wallets, how exchanges operate and how ownership and transaction data can be interpreted by investors.   Guest: Lucas Nuzzi, Network Data Product Manager, Coin Metrics Episode 3  UTXO-based Fundamentals Part I September 29, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET   In this episode, we're joined by Lucas Nuzzi, network data product manager at Coin Metrics. We look at a set of metrics based on Bitcoin's UTXO accounting structure: specifically, market value to realized value ratio (MVRV) and spent output profit ratio (SOPR). What do these mean and how should they be applied?   Guest: Yan Liberman, Co-Founder, Delphi Digital Episode 4  UTXO-based Fundamentals Part II October 6, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET   We're joined by Yan Liberman, co-founder of Delphi Digital, to examine further metrics based on Bitcoin's UTXO accounting structure, such as collective profit & loss taking (CPLT), hodlwaves and in/out of the money analyses.  SIGN UP TODAY Copyright © 2020 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences here.

Blockchain Bites: 3 Reasons Bitcoin Tanked Thursday

Tether's dispute, Vitalik's solution and more

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September 4, 2020 By Daniel Kuhn HOLIDAY NOTICE: Blockchain Bites will publish next on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Happy Labor Day to our U.S. readers. To stay up to date over the long weekend, check in with www.coindesk.com. If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Top shelf Tether disputes allegations of market manipulation brought in court, Vitalik Buterin proposed a solution for Ethereum's high gas fees and Voatz weighed in on whether a longstanding federal law over computer access is overly broad. Tether disputes Tether and affiliate exchange group iFinex have called for a market manipulation lawsuit to be dismissed because plaintiffs, they say, cannot prove $3 billion worth of unbacked stablecoins actually entered the market. Five crypto traders are suing the companies for incurred monetary losses after buying cryptocurrencies at prices they claim were inflated by Tether’s manipulation of the market. Plaintiffs claim Tether issued billions of dollars worth of dollar-backed cryptos, which Bitfinex then used to purchase cryptocurrencies on the open market to prop prices up during market downturns. Defendants' lawyers argue the claim USDT is not properly backed is based on "unfounded allegations, and that it hasn’t been proven cryptocurrency prices were indeed artificial at the time in question.  New pairs BitMEX announced plans to introduce futures markets for two cryptocurrencies, chainlink (LINK) and tezos (XTZ), the first new coins to appear on the exchange in over two years. These two cryptos have seen triple-digit year-to-date returns. BitMEX last listed a new token in June 2018, when it announced a TRON/BTC futures market. Shortly before that announcement, the exchange removed six altcoin futures markets, including ethereum classic (ETC), zcash (ZEC), and monero (XMR). Notably, the new altcoin futures will trade against tether (USDT) instead of bitcoin (BTC). In Friday's announcement, BitMEX said the reason for this is because “USDT pairs account for over 60% of overall altcoin volume.”  Fee fixes? Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin released an improvement proposal (EIP 2929) Tuesday in a bid to ameliorate soaring network fees. Average network fees reached $15.21 on Wednesday, up 660% from $2 a month ago. The surge in fees is likely being driven by the growing use and number of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Buterin’s proposal would make “heavy” contracts, which update the Ethereum state, more expensive by a factor of three. This repricing proposal could break some smart contracts already operating on Ethereum, Buterin wrote, adding developers “have had years of warning” about potential changes. Necessary consensus to vote the proposal in could take weeks or months.  International regulation Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said regulators have to come together for a "global response" to stablecoin issuance. Speaking Thursday, he said the international nature of stablecoins, which can be based in one country and operate in another, meant failure to coordinate could result in confusion and regulatory fragmentation. While admitting stablecoins could reduce frictional costs, even becoming the primary means for purchasing goods and services, regulators must ensure they maintain their 1:1 backing with fiat currencies. Further, Bailey called bitcoin unsuitable for payments and multi-asset backed crypto-dollars like libra premature. The BoE is actively researching a “digital pound.” Quickening research Brazil’s chief central banker Roberto Campos Neto said Wednesday that his country could be ready for a digital currency (CBDC) by 2022. By that time, the Banco Central president said, Brazil will have an interoperable instant payments system and a "credible" and "convertible" international currency - "all the ingredients to have a digital currency," he said at a Bloomberg event covered by local outlet Correio Braziliense. Campos Neto also was reported to have said that CBDCs are the consequence of fast-digitizing financial systems such as Brazil's.  Quick bites Craig Wright Trial Over a Fortune in Bitcoin Moved to 2021 (Dan Palmer/CoinDesk) BitClub Promoter Pleads Guilty for Role in $722M Fraudulent Mining Scheme (Zack Voell/CoinDesk) US Air Force and Raytheon Are Studying How Distributed Ledgers Could Help Command the Skies (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk) SEC Faces Stiff Test in Regulating DeFi, Says Hester Peirce (Robert Stevens/Decrypt) DeFi Protocols Don’t Do “Lending” (Jake Chervinsky/Bankless) At stake Is the CFAA overly broad? Blockchain voting startup Voatz weighed in on a longstanding ruling about improper access to a  “protected computer.” Appearing in a “friend of the court” brief before the U.S. Supreme Court, the startup argued that bug bounty programs concerning cybersecurity should be operated under strict supervision. The case, Van Buren v. United States, is centered around whether it is a federal crime for someone to access a computer “for an improper purpose,” if they already have permission to access other files on that computer. Nathan Van Buren, the petitioner in the case, is a former Georgia police officer who was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), which is often used to  prosecute computer hackers. Enacted before the establishment of the internet, the CFAA prohibits accessing a “computer” without permission as well as the unauthorized deletion, alteration or blocking of privately stored data. Some, like prominent lawyer Tor Eklend, believe the law is overly broad and outdated.  For his part, Van Buren claims a lower court ruling upholding his conviction could be taken to mean that “any ‘trivial breach’” of a computer system could be a federal crime. He was given permission to look up a license plate for an acquaintance. In its brief, Voatz says the CFAA does not need to be narrowed, and some breaches of computer systems are necessary.  However, the firm argues researchers looking into potential vulnerabilities should specifically check with the companies they are evaluating prior to doing so, and should only proceed with authorization from the companies.  Late last year, a University of Michigan student or students participating in a security course likely accessed Voatz’ systems. In its brief, Voatz said the “students’ ill-advised activity” was reported to West Virginia officials, prompting an FBI investigation, because the company could not distinguish between their research and an actual hostile attack.  “Regardless of the particulars, however, the West Virginia incident illustrates the harm caused by attacking, or ‘researching,’ critical infrastructure without proper access or authorization especially in the middle of an election,” Voatz wrote. Non-malicious researchers trying to break into digital tools “imposes significant additional costs” to organizations, Voatz said, and could harm public confidence. Monthly report CoinDesk Research's latest Monthly Review features 15 charts that highlight bitcoin’s performance relative to macro assets, its relationship to the dollar and other fiat currencies, and Ethereum’s growing congestion problem. Download the report. Market intel Reasons why Bitcoin prices fell below $11,000 yesterday for the first time in a month. First Mover Editor Bradley Keoun spoke to market analysts for their take on why the market tanked. Here are the three most common responses.  1. Bitcoin is tracking traditional markets “There could be an overlap between equity sellers and digital currency sellers. The largest equity market decliners this morning are tech stocks, including retail trading darlings, Tesla and the FAANG names [Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet, once Google]. It is unclear if this will push into a continued broader crash in equity markets, which could put more pressure on digital currencies, or if it is just a short-term correction," John Todaro, director of institutional research at the cryptocurrency analysis firm TradeBlock, said. 2. DeFi cascaded into bitcoin The total value locked (TVL) in all DeFi applications dropped to $9.1 billion from $9.5 billion, over the past few days, according to the website DeFi Pulse. This may be related to drops in both ether and bitcoin's price.  "Also, an aggressive unwind of the very crowded trade across Uniswap token related positions in the wake of a number of tokens, namely PIZZA and HOTDOG, dramatically collapsed from $6,000 to $1 in a mere few hours. This is likely because the same assets (bitcoin, ether and others) are used aggressively to structure collateralized positions," Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the crypto prime broker BeQuant, said. 3. Miners sold some of their bitcoin Blockchain-data analysis firm CryptoQuant found major bitcoin-mining pools have increased the amount of bitcoin they're transferred out, potentially as a de-risking maneuver. “Miners are good traders. I think they are just looking for selling opportunities, not capitulation. I think it’s going to be the war of miners between those who want a bitcoin price rally and those who don’t. Some Chinese miners already realize their mining profitability (ROI), and they might not want new mining competitors joining the industry because of the bull market," Ki Young Yu, founder of CryptoQuant, said. Risk off? Bitcoin isn’t likely to see a quick rebound from the double-digit price drop over the last two days, CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports. Bitcoin fell by over 10% on Thursday to $10,006, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index, the biggest single-day percentage decline since March 12 when prices crashed around 40% amid a major sell-off across the equities markets. Though up slightly, Matthew Dibb, Stack COO, thinks bitcoin will track traditional assets during “this 'risk-off' period.” "Macro factors are currently at play,” Dibbs said. First Mover First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. They follow the money so you don’t have to. You can subscribe here. Tech pod Wallet forks Wasabi Wallet has hard-forked the wallet Thursday to address a vulnerability  for a hypothetical attack the team assumes has never been carried out. Discovered by a team member at Trezor, a leading maker of hardware wallets, the vulnerability would have interfered with the wallet’s implementation of CoinJoin, a privacy protocol. Users need to upgrade to the latest version of the wallet if they want to continue using the CoinJoin feature. “The flaw’s discovery is another example of the open-source community’s camaraderie and cooperation,” CoinDesk’s Colin Harper reports.  Live Webinar: What to Expect When Phase 0 Launches Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is expected to undergo a radical system-wide upgrade to improve network scalability and efficiency this by early next year. Join CoinDesk Research on Sept. 10 at 1:30 p.m. ET for a live discussion as we examine the potential market impacts of the launch of what’s known as Ethereum 2.0.  Due to its sheer complexity, Ethereum 2.0 will be rolled out in several phases starting with Phase 0. Don’t miss the opportunity to understand the risks, benefits and predictions for the next phase of this technology. Op-ed Stablecoin opportunity Nic Carter, a CoinDesk columnist and partner at Castle Island Ventures, believes the billion-dollar stablecoin market presents an opportunity for the United States, not a threat. “If the U.S. chooses to marginalize crypto-dollars and punish their issuers, not only will they suppress a burgeoning American industry, they will also push users into even less accountable alternatives,” he writes. Podcast corner DeFi degens The latest edition of The Breakdown looks at the burgeoning DeFi market and its “degenerate” players.  Who won #CryptoTwitter? ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Blockchain Bites A newsletter from CoinDesk See previous editions Copyright © 2020 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences here.

BTC Drops by Over 10% ⤵️

September 4, 2020	View in browser

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This week in a nutshell

• On September 3rd, BTC plummeted 14% and ETH dropped a whopping 18%.

• On September 3rd, Apple's ($AAPL) market cap decreased by $179.92 billion. This made Apple the company with the largest one-day market cap drop in history.

• the Swiss Canton Zug announced that they will begin accepting BTC and ETH for tax payments beginning in February 2021.

• On August 29th, Ethereum Classic (ETC) suffered a 51% attack that resulted in a 7,000 block re-org; This is the third 51% attack on ETC in just one month

• Bithumb, South Korea's largest digital currency exchange, has been raided and seized by police because the exchange has allegedly committed fraud.

• CipherTrace has become the first company in the world with the ability to trace Monero (XMR) transactions. 

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