Welcome to Issue 19 of Popular Crypto, a newsletter about the mainstream products and services taking crypto to the masses.
In this issue:
- PoolTogether sets records for participants & prize money
- Set Labs launches social crypto trading on Ethereum
- TokenSoft simplifies security token investing
- Sablier adds real-time invoicing
- P2P exchanges support Ethereum Name Service
We also cover Opendime, a disposable hardware wallet that lets you spend Bitcoin like cash.
All that and more in this week’s issue. But first, here’s some…
🚀 Updates From Nomics
- #1 Nomics data reveals surprising truths about exchange tokens: In a report entitled Exchange Tokens: Neither a Great Investment Nor a Great Market Indicator, CoinDesk cites data from Nomics to show that exchange tokens like Binance Coin (BNB), Huobi Token (HT), UNUS SED LEO (LEO) and OKEx Utility Token (OKB) have not only underperformed as investments but fail to indicate much about their parent exchanges. They’re also a weak signal of speculative demand. They tell us no more than the price of Bitcoin (BTC), with which 3 of the 4 have become increasingly correlated.
- #2 Transparency upgrades for Binance JEX, Dcoin, TOKOK & Bibox: This week, crypto exchanges Binance JEX, Dcoin, TOKOK, and Bibox were all upgraded to “C” Transparency Ratings. This means that each now provides us with recent candle data, which we’ve made available on Nomics.com and via our market data API. To learn more about our crypto exchange rating system, check out the following essay.
- #3 State of Crypto M&A: How It’s Shaping the Industry: Flippening episode #68, State of Crypto M&A: How It’s Shaping the Industry, is live on our blog. In the episode, we’re joined by Ricky Tan, founder of TokenData, a research organization focused on token sales and crypto mergers and acquisitions. We discuss the state of crypto M&A and consider the future of crypto M&A markets.
And now, let’s see what the cryptocurrency world has brought us this week.
Clay Collins
Nomics Co-Founder
🙏 Thanks To Our Sponsors: Nexo.io & CryptoTrader.Tax
🏇 This Week’s List
#1. PoolTogether Sets Records for Participants & Prize Money
PoolTogether, a weekly lottery that runs on Ethereum (ETH), has shattered its own records for participation and prize money. This week, the no-loss “savings game”, which is funded by the interest earned on Dai (DAI) deposited by participants, attracted 1,600 entrants and paid out more than $1,400. The previous high payout, set the week before, was just $719. [Link]
Since its September 2019 reboot, PoolTogether has been growing rapidly – and for good reason. According to research by TokenAnalyst, the ROI on PoolTogether is higher than lending DAI on Compound, which offers 7% interest. Probabilistically, you should earn 1.4 times more playing the savings game!
Of course, you could deposit your DAI in PoolTogether and never win. In that case, you’d earn nothing. You’d just get your DAI back.
#2. Set Launches Ethereum’s First Social Trading Platform
Set Labs, the company behind TokenSets, a marketplace for “robo” or automated crypto trading strategies, now offers Social Trading, strategies authored by human traders, which, like the automated strategies, run entirely on Ethereum. Every time a trader enters or exits a position, the transaction – and their rationale for it – are recorded on the blockchain. Followers’ portfolios are then automatically rebalanced.
Social Trading Sets are publicly listed and sortable by market cap, number of followers, and performance. Traders who author Sets earn fees of up to 5%, which are re-invested into their strategies. Fees are payable in ETH, USD Coin (USDC), Dai, or Sai (SAI). [Link]
For more on how Social Trading works, try the how-to guide.
#3. TokenSoft Simplifies Security Tokens
TokenSoft, a platform for issuing and servicing security tokens, has released TokenSoft Investment Accounts, self-managed wallets that rely on a secure, multisig key model yet offer an online brokerage-style UX. The interface, which includes automated dividend reinvestment, strikes a balance between state-of-the-art security and a familiar user experience that could attract non-technical investors to the security token space. [Link]
#4. How to Use Opendime & Spend BTC Like Cash
An Opendime or “Bitcoin stick” is a USB drive that can be spent like cash. Think of it as a disposable hardware wallet. You simply load it with Bitcoin and hand it over. The recipient then unseals the device, plugs it into their computer or phone, grabs the private key, and “sweeps” the Bitcoin into their wallet.
From the recipient’s perspective, it’s safer to receive an Opendime than a paper wallet because the private key, which is generated secretly inside the device, does not appear until the seal is broken.
A recipient could also leave the seal intact (and verify that it is intact), check the balance, and forward the Opendime to someone else. [Link]
For more on how Opendime works – and to see the device in action – check out the following video.
#5. Sablier Adds Real-Time Invoicing
Sablier, an Ethereum-based protocol for “streaming money”, has launched real-time invoicing. As soon as a payor deposits funds and chooses a payment duration, a stream goes live on the “Details” page, where an employee, service provider, landlord or other recipient can monitor it. [Link]
Sablier has also added a KyberSwap widget to their site, enabling users to easily exchange ETH for DAI. At present, Sablier is only compatible with ERC20 tokens like DAI and USDC.
#6. P2P Exchanges Support ENS
Peer-to-peer crypto exchange LocalCoinSwap has announced support for Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a non-profit that lets folks register human-readable addresses for sending money and interacting with smart contracts. Users of LocalCoinSwap can now purchase ETH or ERC20 tokens and send them to any .eth address. [Link]
Meanwhile, LocalCryptos (formerly LocalEthereum), one of the original P2P cryptocurrency marketplaces, has added support for multi-coin ENS addresses, enabling users to set the same human-friendly name for all their LocalCryptos wallets. [Link]
🏆 Our Poll
In our last poll, we asked you about obstacles to mass crypto adoption. Here are the results:
This week, we want your take on blockchain-based gaming. We covered PoolTogether, which is one type of game. There’s also fantasy card trading, casino games, virtual reality, and others. In your opinion, which type of blockchain-based game will bring the most people to crypto in 2020?
