If you’re new to the space, you might not know that you can’t really buy NFTs with a debit or credit card — and even if you did, it’d be pretty risky and unsafe to do so. Instead, you’ll likely be purchasing cryptocurrency (time to get familiar with your new best friend, Ether, or maybe Solana, or a laundry list of others), then buying your NFTs with that. But in order to purchase crypto, you need a wallet specifically for it. Likewise, you’ll need a wallet to store your NFTs.

Some might recommend that you should have different wallets for different things — because, as they say, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” This is solid advice because if you did get hacked, at least everything wouldn’t be gone.

Here’s to being an early adopter, eh?

You shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not your wallet will be compatible with what you need to use it for. Prior to signing up for a wallet, make sure it’ll meet your needs.

We’re dealing with funds and digital assets. Your wallet, similar to your bank account, should be valued and protected by the company. On the subject of security, click here to learn about NFT scams and how you can avoid them.

There’s no point in using a wallet you don’t understand just because advanced users in the space say it’s good. Use a wallet that makes sense to you and doesn’t make you stress trying to figure out.

Hot wallets are a popular choice because of their convenience and ease of use, but they come with a slight catch: they’re not nearly as secure as hardware wallets. This is simply due to the nature of what they are (being completely online and all) — and though they are still very safe — cold wallets are unbeatable. Similar to how information saved on your USB drive is much more secure than that saved on the cloud.

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These types of wallets provide an extremely high level of security because they’re not directly connected to the internet.

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If you prefer to go with a hardware wallet, you should never purchase it from a third-party. This is because it’s possible that the wallet was tampered with and contains malicious software that puts your digital assets in jeopardy. Always, always, always purchase it directly from the company itself.

Please note that neither list was comprehensive of all your options — but they are tried, tested, and trusted wallets. Out of all these good options, the absolute safest would be a blend of them. This is, of course, if you’re able to remember all your passwords, seed phrases, etc., and keep them in a safe place.

This is not financial advice. Please do what is best and safest for you within your means. Stay safe and smart within the NFT realm!

To surf ScopeX cross-marketplace and cross-blockchain, check us out here.

Isolated pools are separate lending markets which support a set of assets that can be used as collateral to borrow loans against each other. Architecture-wise, think of it as deploying several Compound’s, each a microcosm with their own assets and parameters. This is in contrast to having a single, global cross-collateral pool in which any asset can be borrowed against any other (i.e. a single Compound).

Bastion plans to have diverse themed Realms orbiting a Main Hub. These include: Aurora Ecosystem Realm (stNEAR, TRI, FLX, WANNA, ROSE etc.), Trisolaris LP Tokens (leveraged yield-farming), Multichain Realm (AURORA, LUNA, AVAX, MATIC, etc.), and others we have still not yet announced.

All of Aurora’s current lending protocols are almost identical Compound forks. Bastion plans to be MUCH more. Realms are the first of an exciting lineup of new product verticals coming within just the next two weeks!

Bastion differentiates with a focus on innovative time-based tokenomics and superfluid composability. We’re also the only lending protocol on Aurora that uses Flux’s official, decentralized, high-quality Amberdata oracles, aggregated from many centralized/decentralized exchanges.

Having just a single cross-collateral pool means that listing new assets has to be done with extreme caution since it exposes the protocol to a new attack vector each time. The entire TVL of the lending protocol could be drained by one ‘bad apple’. For example, Cream Finance has been hacked multiple times for $19M and $130M due to listing assets with non-standard implementations.

Common attack vectors include:

Isolated Pools allow Bastion to list more assets without exposing the entire TVL of the protocol to new risks. Bastion’s Isolated Pools are called ‘Realms’.

But they aren’t exactly a panacea! One downside is liquidity fragmentation. Users will not be able to directly collateralize and borrow assets from the Main Hub and the Aurora Ecosystem Realm. Bastion remedies this by having USDC in all our Realms, creating a common currency of exchange between all the Realms whilst still containing value-at-risk to the isolated pool rather than the entire TVL of the protocol.

With Realms, Bastion can list tons of new assets that have not yet qualified for the cross-collateral pool. Bastion’s Realms unlock utility for the long tail of assets.

After all, the mission of Bastion, right from the very beginning, has always been “serving as the liquidity hub of NEAR, where no asset lies unproductive and composable cTokens form the base of the ecosystem.”

In addition to listing more assets, isolated pools enable more aggressive parameters such as higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratios enabling greater leverage and higher APYs.

There is greater capacity for customizable parameters (e.g. lower reserve factors, and higher liquidation thresholds), experimentation with sophisticated oracle mechanisms, innovative interest-rate models, and acts as a sandbox for listing medium-to-long-tail assets of similar risk classification levels.

The leading implementation of this is Rari Fuse, an Ethereum-based isolated lending protocol with close to $1B in deposits. They saw incredible success forming Realm-like pools with OHM and FEI.

Strap yourself in Bastions, the lending landscape on Aurora is about to explode.

Bastion is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol built on Aurora, NEAR’s EVM-compatible layer. Building on Aurora enables Bastion to create an autonomous interest-rate engine with superior capital efficiency, fast transactions, ultra-low transaction fees, precise liquidations, and harness the underlying UX benefits of NEAR.

Website | Twitter | Discord | Docs | Email

Bastion Protocol is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol which algorithmically sets interest rates based on supply and demand, allowing users to exchange the time value of assets on Aurora. There is currently one version of the Bastion Protocol (v1) which is made up of free, public, open-source or source-available software including a set of smart contracts that are deployed on the Near Blockchain and which may be deployed on various other blockchains as determined appropriate. Your use of the Bastion Protocol involves various risks, including, but not limited to, losses while digital assets are being supplied to the Bastion Protocol, smart contract vulnerabilities and losses due to the fluctuation of prices of tokens in a trading pair or liquidity pool or depegging of assets or potential liquidation cascades and general liquidation. Before using the Bastion Protocol, you should review the relevant documentation to make sure you understand how the Bastion Protocol works, including it’s various intricacies, and understand and appreciate the risk of utilising such a protocol. Additionally, just as you can access email email protocols such as SMTP through multiple email clients, you can access the Bastion Protocol through dozens of web or mobile interfaces. You are responsible for doing your own diligence on those interfaces to understand the fees and risks they present. AS DESCRIBED IN THE BASTION PROTOCOL TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT, THE BASTION PROTOCOL IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. Although the core team members of Bastion Protocol developed much of the initial code for the Bastion Protocol, it does not provide, own, or control the Bastion Protocol, which is run by smart contracts deployed on the Near blockchain and is facilitated and maintained by the Bastion Protocol DAO (the “Organisation”) on a continuing basis. Upgrades and modifications to the protocol are managed in a community-driven way by holders of the BSTN governance token. You agree that no developer, entity or Organisation involved in creating, facilitating or managing the Bastion Protocol will be liable for any claims or damages whatsoever associated with your use, inability to use, or your interaction with other users of, the Bastion Protocol, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, or loss of profits, cryptocurrencies, tokens, or anything else of value and you waive any rights to all claims in any and all jurisdictions arising out of any interaction with the Bastion Protocol or the associated DAO, Organisation or d/b/a entity (if any). ‍

THE BASTION PROTOCOL DAO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THIS DISCLAIMER AND WILL NOTIFY YOU BY REUPLOADING A CURRENT VERSION OF THIS DISCLAIMER AT THE SAME LINK. ALL MODIFICATIONS WILL BE EFFECTIVE WHEN THEY ARE POSTED, AND YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE BASTION PROTOCOL INTERFACE WILL SERVE AS CONFIRMATION OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE MODIFICATIONS. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT MODIFICATIONS TO THIS DISCLAIMER AS MAY BE MADE FROM TIME-TO-TIME, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE USING THE INTERFACE.

What do we think about when we think about India?

Yoga, Maths, Monks, Modi! Do we think about the Software Hub or a Media Superpower?

In The Balaji Podcast, Balaji Srinivasan a renowned entrepreneur proposes that India has the potential to be a Media & Tech Superpower in the upcoming decades. The rise of blockchain can be the rise of India.

His arguments are sharp but very thoughtful. This article aims to take a closer look into these arguments proposed by Balaji Srinivasan and present you with a better understanding of the subject.

For a long time, India has been seen as a country of great potential. The reason being, the 3Ds; Democracy, Demography & Demand. This has brought many foreign businesses to see India as a huge marketplace. But after the 1991 reforms, India saw a rise in the IT Sector and since then has been a major player in the global software industry.

Due to no previous hierarchy, in the software industry, we saw companies like TCS & Infosys compete at a global scale. Today, the Digital India initiative has brought technology into government administration facilitating the Digital space even more. Thanks to Reliance Jio, India now provide the most affordable data in the world making India the country with the 2nd highest number of people using the Internet, only after China.

Despite these big leaps, Balaji suggests in his tweet below:

Currently, India is the 6th largest economy in the world. But Balaji is not the only optimistic about the future of India, Mukesh Ambani, one of the richest men in the world said at a conference held on 28 December 2021 “India will become one of the top three economies in the world.”

On the other hand, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has taken up the challenge of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024–25.

There is an optimism about the rise of India. However, Balaji emphasizes not to be over optimistic about it. He says, “not be irrationally optimistic, but to realize yeah! we can do it.”

Balaji says he is Moderately bullish on India but Extremely bullish on Indians, i.e. that India as a country has done in the last 7 decades but Indians have done even better. Today India has the largest overseas diaspora of about 32 million people.

This indicates the fact that Indians are willing to migrate for the purpose of work at a global scale and have been very successful at that. Balaji argues that in the coming years there will be more and more Indians willing to perform at the global level.

There are many more indicators which suggest the same; India has a young population and huge one as well, they speak english, they have access to the cheapest Data in the world and have been successful abroad. Further suggesting the fact that India will definitely do well and we will see a rise in migration which will allow Indians to do even better. The CEOs of the biggest tech. companies are Indians and being a part of the Indian network will be of even greater significance and opportunity in the future.

The second major argument that Balaji proposes is that India can be no. 1 in everything, “Digitally”. The reason for this is India’s previous experience with Mathematics and Software. After the 1991 reforms the software industry has boomed in India, as there were no previous hierarchies in the software industry like the other fields. The future of the world is software and India can provide it better than anyone. To achieve this milestone he presents “The Software Strategy”.

The idea is to pursue what India does best and use it to get into other areas of significance i.e. Software + Media, Money, Manufacturing, Medicine, Mars & Multilateral Institutions. The U.S. is in the Descending world and India is the part of the Ascending world. Balaji said, “The Brooklyn Nepotists have inherited everything and because they haven’t built, they feel guilt” ,which shows the difference in accomplishment & privilege of the American. Presenting a great opportunity for India to build its future with pride.

Firstly, India becoming a media superpower does not mean Hollywood turning bollywood. Instead, it means we will see more Indian startups and Media houses catering to a global audience.The deciline of U.S. media is evident, with time we are seeing more and more sequels and reruns. There is a pure lack of creativity.

Secondly, India needs to push robotics and automation. This would require a lot of software expertise such as Machine Learning & AI. Balaji, proposes that India can achieve self-sufficiency using Robotic autarky, eroding China manufacturing advantage with automation and then export robotic autorky to the rest of the world. Indian firms such as Grey Orange and Diaper.com have done quite well in robotics supporting previous experience of India in Robotics.

The third big opportunity is India being the Astro launchpad of the world. This directs Indian investors to take stakes in the space startups. While U.S. and China are building Military bases all across the world India should build Space launchpads and support space startups all over the world. ISRO has a very competitive cost of launch in comparison to SpaceX today and even more experience which will help India get ahead in the space race.

Last but not the least, India has to work on building the next generation of multilateral Institutions. The new world does not want a U.S. led order, but the people don’t want the current order to be replaced by a Chinese led order, which creates a Void. India can fill that void by building the next post war order, i.e. to replace the US-controlled multilateral institutions with neutral networks and nationstacks. Giving the world a 3rd option, i.e. neither US nor China. But Balaji does not see India as a leader of the new world, instead he sees it as the bootloader of the free world, which is more fair than the current one.

He proposes, while U.S. & China compete to win, India can win & help-win with the rest of the world.

If Balaji’s theories came true it would be great for India, but in any case Indians will have opportunities to rise. In the upcoming years, we will see more progress in the tech Industry. We will see more of Blockchain & Crypto will be the foundation of the creators economy and this will be the place where more & more jobs will be created.

What we need to do is to get rid of the carb in the bucket mentality i.e. a way of thinking best described by the phrase “if I can’t have it, neither can you”. This is a sufficient place for everyone to adopt a Win & Help-win mentality. We have done it before with Indian Cricket and we can do it with tech & Media as well.We have the largest number of Engineers, a young population, Great diversity and being really good at software will compound the Indian leverage overtime. Balaji suggests, for those who are not good at engineering, they can get good at content. The content is the icing on the cake and will give the software more and more utility.

The decentralization of power will create many job opportunity for the creaters. Anyone with the internet can earn a living. What Balaji proposes is that, we need to break are previous perceptions of this world and look at it from a new angle. We need to understand that wealth can be created, through innovation and creativity. The world is changing and we need to change with it. Web 1.0 connected the world, Web 2.0 gave us everything we see today on the internet but the chaos of Web 3.0, will liberate us.

As balaji says, “You create order, from disorder.”

We are always happy to bring something new for our users. Address whitelisting feature is going live on Bitbns today. This will further enhance security of your funds.

More details:

Note:

1.We are also taking down Save Wallet Addresses feature.

Going forward users will have to use address management page to save & whitelist their external wallet addresses.

2. Whitelisting is optional. Now you can transfer even without whitelisting but the transfer would be slower. Transfers to whitelisted addresses will be faster.

3. We will come up with more such amazing features soon!

4. Till thenUpwards and OnwardsTeam Bitbns

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One of the common threads that links all these topics — and something that, in almost all instances, you can’t be involved in these spaces without using — is cryptocurrency.

So how, and where, do you buy and sell your cryptocurrency? In a cryptocurrency exchange. The main features you’re looking for are an easy interface, low fees and strong security protection.

What is cryptocurrency?

Crypto is a prefix (from the ancient Greek kryptos) that denotes hidden or secret. Cryptography is the use of mathematical codes for secure, encrypted communication; hence cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum or Bitcoin, is digital currency that uses cryptographic encryption tools and processes for extra security.

These currencies (also known as coin) are used as a medium of exchange within a peer-to-peer decentralised financial system, in other words, on a blockchain. More than 5,000 types of cryptocurrency are in circulation.

Note that the word crypto, used on its own, generally refers to the cryptocurrency space. Another handy term is altcoin, which means anything that isn’t Bitcoin. And the entire space is sometimes called the cryptonomy.

All transactions of cryptocurrency are recorded on the blockchain, like a ledger. These blocks of data are immutable, which means they cannot be altered, or hacked.

What is a wallet?

This is used to store, send and receive cryptocurrencies, by interacting with blockchain networks. It is accessed by two keys that function together: public and private keys, which work like digital passwords. The public key is your address, and identifies your wallet publicly, so that people can send you payments. The private key is used to authenticate ownership — to prove that you are the owner of the wallet.

Without this, you cannot access your electronic funds, or receive funds that are sent to you. No one else can access your wallet without both keys, so you must keep them safe. In some cases, the cryptocurrency exchange holds your assets in its own wallet.

A hot wallet needs an internet connection, and its digital keys are stored on a mobile phone or other device. These are more liable to hacks and theft, but are more easily accessible and therefore more convenient, than cold wallets, or cold storage, which are offline.

What is a cryptocurrency exchange (CEX)?

A place where you can buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies. You can buy cryptocurrency using fiat currency (such as pounds sterling or euros), as well as trading between different cryptocurrencies in pairs.

The digital trading platforms mentioned here are centralized exchanges, private companies which need to see your personal ID in order for you to register as a customer on their platform, and start trading. This is called KYC, or know your customer, and is aimed at transparency, and avoiding money laundering.

Be aware that smaller transactions incur higher fees proportionately, and the Pro version of these platforms are aimed at more experienced traders moving larger volumes, with lower fees. Be aware that many marketplaces charge high fees for using bank cards.

The companies listed here are aimed both at newbie and experienced traders and investors. For those who are just starting out in cryptocurrency, their websites and apps have clear instructions, sometimes with step-by-step videos, showing how to use their products and services. All have mobile phone apps for greater convenience.

Useful facilities and terminology in CEXs

Most exchanges offer extra facilities such as limit orders, which allow you to buy or sell crypto only when it reaches or exceeds a set price. You can set a time limit on these orders.

Look out for taker/maker fees: these are charged when the trading order has been carried out. A taker is someone who places a trading order that is immediately filled (this fee is generally higher) with an existing order on the order book; while a maker fee means that a trade order has not been matched with a buyer or seller on the order book. The order stays until someone else fills it at another point.

1. Binance

This is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, by some margin. Founded in Hong Kong in 2017, it is registered in the Cayman Islands and is worth around $19bn.

The main benefits of Binance are low fees, and a wide range of altcoin cryptocurrencies — more than 400, including ETH (Ether, for Ethereum) and DOGE (Dogecoin), as well as BTC (Bitcoin). Binance has its own coin, BNB. Note that there is a separate entity, Binance.US for users in the USA.

This is an easy-to-use platform for buying, selling and converting tradable cryptocurrencies. It has exceptionally good security, and a hot wallet is included.

On Binance you can trade using US$, USDC (stablecoin) and BTC. Be aware that the platform has issues with regulation in the US, UK and other countries, although this is also the case with several other currency marketplaces.

The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has been known to engage publicly with other high-profile crypto movers like Elon Musk. In November 2021, Binance limited withdrawals of Dogecoin, and Musk cast aspersions on the marketplace, which led to a series of Twitter exchanges.

2. Coinbase Exchange

This cryptocurrency marketplace was founded in 2012 as a place to send and receive Bitcoin — it now has 73 million users in more than 100 countries, with $327bn in trades per quarter.

Coinbase Exchange currently has 141 currencies available/supported for trade, including BTC, ETH and DOGE, as well as ADA (Cardano), SOL (Solana), SHIB and (Shiba Inu).

The user interface is very straightforward and untechnical — they say that their mission is to “increase economic freedom in the world”.

You have the choice of a Coinbase-hosted wallet, which is easy to set up, and removes the risk of losing your private key, or a self-hosted wallet. With the latter, the customer controls their own private wallet keys, which is also called self-custody, or non-custodial. In this case, you must be sure not to lose your private key, or you will lose your assets.

Coinbase went public in April 2021, using a direct listing or DPO (direct public offering) for existing shares, rather than an IPO (initial public offering) where new shares are created and sold by an intermediary. It was valued at more than $100bn at the time.

3. Kraken

This is one of the most long-established crypto exchanges, and one of the first Bitcoin exchanges, dating from 2013. Named after a huge mythical sea monster, it is based in San Francisco, California and has customers in 185 countries. Kraken is valued at $650 million.

Currencies available to trade include BTC, ETH, EOS, DOGE and ADA — around 100 in total, which is fewer than other marketplaces. Fiats are Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen and Australian dollar, in addition to Euros, pounds sterling, and US dollar.

Kraken has a more effective verification process than its competitors, and you can earn interest on your investment on the basic platform.

Along with Coinbase, Kraken provided market data on bitcoin trading to Bloomberg in 2014. In June 2021, CEO Jesse Powell announced that the company plans to go public in 2022.

4. Gemini

Based in New York, this was launched in 2015 by the Winklevoss twins (hence the name), Cameron and Tyler, who studied at Harvard with Mark Zuckerberg. They sued him for taking their idea for Facebook (they’re the preppy rowers in The Social Network), and are now set to move into the Metaverse to compete with him.

Unusually for such a digital trading platform, Gemini is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS), and has high security standards. In 2016, it became the first licensed Ether exchange.

Gemini supports almost 70 crypto currencies, such as BTC, ETH and DOGE, but not BNB or ADA. Its native cryptocurrency, the Gemini dollar, is a stablecoin tied to the US dollar, and the mobile pay app is widely accepted in the US. Like Kraken, The Winklevosses are considering an IPO.

Currencies can be traded in about 20 pairs, mostly including either USD, BTC or ETH. Gemini does not allow either margin or short trading. Users’ crypto is held in cold storage, while fiat is stored in a hot wallet.

5. Crypto.com

Founded in Singapore in 2016, this superbly-named company has 10 million customers in 90 countries, and its market capitalization is $13bn. For added celeb cachet, Matt Damon is its brand ambassador, and it has sponsorship deals with Formula One and Serie A Italian football league.

Crypto.com supports more than 150 currencies, including ADA and DOT (Polkadot), as well as BTC, ETH and DOGE, as well as more than 20 fiat, such as the Brazilian Real (BRL), in addition to Australian, Canadian and US dollar plus euros and pounds sterling.

It also offers a broader selection of crypto products than other exchanges, such as NFTs and the MCO prepaid Visa card, where you can load both fiat and crypto to spend; its native currency is CRO, which is given as rewards on purchases made with the card.

As you can see, a wide range of cryptocurrency exchanges is available, covering hundreds of types of coin, both digital and fiat. Once you know what type of wallet you want, and the volume of trading you will be engaged in, and therefore the fees you’ll be liable for, you can make your selection. Cryptocurrencies are a highly volatile investment, so you should go in with your eyes wide open.

Join in the Banger Games chat on our Telegram and Discord, follow our Medium to keep up to date with the latest news, and look out for more articles coming soon on hot IoG topics.

Miko is a General Partner with gCC Gumi Cryptos Capital, a Silicon Valley investment fund with over $500M in assets including early-stage investments in unicorns like OpenSea, Yield Guild Games, Celsius Network, VEGA Protocol, Qredo, Agoric and 1Inch Network. He holds a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Yale University where he worked on abstract computational neural networks. Miko will advise on capital formation, brand and go-to-market strategies

According to Sergiu Draganus, DAO Spark, “with his ability to identify the invisible trends that will create the markets of tomorrow, Miko will help LUDO boost its creative power to find groundbreaking solutions to current and future needs”.

From his perspective Miko Matsumura said that, in a moment where there is scarcity of experienced technical founders, “Sergiu Draganus has the kind of strong product leadership skills needed to make Ludo a success.”

To learn more about Miko Matsumura you can visit https://miko.com