Top 20 Cryptocurrency Wallets A cryptocurrency wallet is a place to store your cryptocurrency using either a software programme, an online platform, a mobile app or a physical device, with varying degrees of security. Wallets hold your ‘private’ and ‘public’ keys that you use to send and receive various blockchain cryptocurrency tokens. However, a wallet does not hold your cryptocurrency; it only shows a record of all your transactions and allows you to view your balance. In…
@Heath in April 2021
Top 10 Decentralised Cryptocurrency Exchanges Decentralised exchange (DEX) is a way of exchanging cryptocurrencies or other blockchain-based assets without a centralised agency or intermediary. The key features of the open platforms that facilitate such exchange include censorship resistance, no KYC, immutable data and high security. To understand how trustless exchange or decentralised exchange is facilitated by free software and public blockchains, you can read our…
Top 10 DeFi Based Cryptocurrencies Decentralised Finance (DeFi) is one of the fastest-growing industries in crypto and it promises financial products and services such as automated loans, savings accounts, insurance, investment accounts, will become accessible to anyone in the world with a smartphone and internet connection using smart contract blockchains, such as Ethereum. Smart contracts are running programs on the blockchain, designed to be automatically executed when…
LocalBitcoins 2021 Review The peer-to-peer crypto marketplace LocalBitcoins is based in Finland. The platform allows users from all around the globe to exchange their local currency for Bitcoins. More than that, the site actually specifically looks for advertisers in a user’s area, so that the currency and payment method will be more familiar. The site holds seller’s Bitcoin in escrow to ensure the fairness of transactions and to eliminate scammers. The platform facilitates…
Paxful – P2P Platform Review Rather than operating as an exchange or traditional centralized trading platform, Paxful brings something very useful and friendly to the DeFi and P2P sector. Their peer-to-peer marketplace is famous for enabling more than 360 different payment options to ensure that nobody is excluded from their service. Paxful has more than five years of successful operations and is widely used in Africa, South America and other emerging markets. Essentially,…
Top 5 Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces ‘Peer-to-peer’ (P2P) or ‘decentralised’ exchanges are operated and maintained exclusively by software. P2P forms of trading or value exchange take a decentralised approach to interactions between ecosystem participants. This approach has been used in computers and networking (peer-to-peer file sharing), as well as with currency trading. Below we look at some of the popular peer-to-peer marketplace in the world, in no particular order. **1)**…
Cream Finance – decentralized peer-to-peer lending platform As more and more unique applications are introduced into cryptocurrency’s DeFi space, the demand for a one-stop-shop has been increasing. Enter Cream Finance, a rapidly growing DeFi platform which seeks to be that one-stop-shop for DeFi applications. https://cream.finance/ Cream Finance offers decentralized lending and borrowing, cryptocurrency staking, and even offers two unique decentralized exchange applications.…
Top 10 Popular Sites for Crypto Jobs 1) Crypto Careers https://www.crypto-careers.com/ Created by a team from Germany & Bulgaria, Crypto Careers is a platform built from scratch exclusively for the crypto and blockchain industry. They use advanced machine learning, natural language processing and web crawling to go through millions of jobs and deliver the unique mix of career opportunities from all kinds of companies across the globe. Their technology also provides job…
Bitpanda crypto exchange review 2021 Bitpanda hails from Vienna, Austria, and since launching in 2014 it has become one of the most reliable options for Europe-based traders looking to purchase Bitcoin. Formerly known as Coinimal, Bitpanda is one of the continent’s most prominent brokers, built by three crypto-enthusiasts who experienced first-hand how hard it was to buy crypto in Europe in 2013. https://www.bitpanda.com/?ref=499956647283662461 **The Positives** Bitpanda is…
Top 7 Popular Marketplaces for NFTs, Crypto Art & Digital Collectibles 1) NFTfi https://nftfi.com/ NFTfi is a simple marketplace for NFT collateralized loans where users can put their NFT assets up as collateral for a loan, or offer loans to other users on their non-fungible tokens. Borrowers can use their NFTs as collateral by putting any ERC-721 token up for collateralization. Other users can then offer the borrower a loan. If the borrower accepts a loan, the ETH gets paid…
CoinCola OTC, P2P crypto marketplace & exchange 2021 review CoinCola is an over-the-counter (OTC), peer-to-peer (p2p) cryptocurrency marketplace and digital currency exchange. Though based in Hong Kong, CoinCola provides trading and exchange services to users across the globe with Africa and other developing markets being areas of interest. It has gained a reputation within the crypto industry for having some of the market’s lowest fees and an easy-to-use, integrated…
Top 6 Popular Web3 Wallets & DApp Tools 1) MetaMask https://metamask.io/ Metamask is a browser extension that makes it easier to access Ethereum’s decentralized app ecosystem. Additionally, it is also a wallet that holds ERC-20 tokens and allows one to use the services within the network.By linking to Ethereum-based decentralized apps, you can spend coins on games, stake tokens in gambling apps, or even trade them on decentralized exchanges. Read the full guide on How to use…
Coinmama digital currency exchange platform 2021 review Differing from an exchange, where users sell to each other on a trading platform, a broker like Coinmama serves the purpose of buying and selling crypto directly to and from customers. **The Positives** There are a large number of globally-recognised payment options, including credit card, debit card, online banking, apple pay, SEPA (EU), Faster Payments (UK) Sofort, Wire Transfer (US) and more. Most payment methods on…
Changelly Crypto Exchange 2021 Review Hong-Kong based Changelly has proven its position in the market since 2013 thanks to a mixture of quality, efficiency, and innovation. When Changelly started, it was a Bitcoinmining pool, and it wasn’t until 2014 that it evolved into a non-custodial exchange. After two years of slow growth, the platform then received some huge boosts and underwent a redevelopment phase in 2016. In the years since, they’ve welcomed more than 2 million…
Double-spending Problem Explained Double spending happens when the same funds are spent on two recipients at the same time within a digital cash system. A system that cannot rectify this issue is undermined since there is no way of verifying that the funds they receive have not already been spent elsewhere. With digital cash, it is vital to ensure that specific units are not duplicated. Bitcoin requires all transactions to be included in the blockchain because this makes…
Cryptocurrency Derivatives Explained A derivative is a financial product (a contract or security) that gets its value from the performance of an underlying entity such as an asset, index or interest-rate. In essence, without the underlying, derivatives hold no value. Derivatives are typically used for insuring against price movements (hedging), increasing exposure to price movements for speculation, or getting access to otherwise hard-to-trade assets or markets. The…
2021 Guide to OpenSea NFT Marketplace **About OpenSea** The OpenSea platform is owned and operated by Ozone Networks, Inc. – a company that is regulated by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission and incorporated in the state of Delaware. OpenSea was co-founded by Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah. Before OpenSea, Finzer worked at Pinterest as a software engineer and started a company that was acquired by Credit Karma. Atallah, worked at Palantir and sold his previous company…
Remitano Peer-to-peer Digital Currency Exchange Review Remitano provides a P2P marketplace that escrows funds to allow users to safely and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The UI is simple and friendly, and customer support is offered 24/7. The company was developed by a team of banking, FinTech, software, and digital currency professionals and is registered in Seychelles. https://remitano.com/btc/za/join/2656473 The exchange launched all the way back in 2014, making…
Vertex Market: P2P Digital Currency Exchange Platform 2021 Review **What is Vertex Market?** Vertex Market enables people across the globe to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Peer-to-peer marketplaces such as Vertex, Remitano, Paxful and LocalBitcoins play a crucial role facilitating liquidity in the crypto markets. Essentially, Vertex is a P2P platform that offers a universal option to exchange your local currency for Bitcoins or other…
Bittrex Cryptocurrency Exchange 2021 Review Bill Shihara, Richie Lai, Rami Kawach and Ryan Hentz launched Bittrex back in February 2014. The platform is based in Seattle, Washington, and boasts a team of developers plucked from Microsoft, Amazon, and BlackBerry. The development team prioritises security in order to provide stability and longevity in a competitive marketplace that is overrun by hackers. https://bittrex.com/Account/Register?referralCode=I3P-N0X-CVB **The…
Coindirect Crypto Exchange Trading Platform Review This is a crypto trading platform that works as an exchange and P2P marketplace and allows users to buy and sell cryptos and tokens. You can trade over 40 different digital assets through P2P or swapping. https://decentralised.africa/paxful-p2p-platform-review/ https://decentralised.africa/cryptocurrency-atomic-swaps/ Coindirect is registered in the Isle of Man and was launched in 2017. Some of the services offered on this…
KuCoin Digital Asset Trading Platform Review What is KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange? KuCoin was launched back in August 2017 and has done incredibly well to grow in popularity and reliability, becoming a top 20 exchange in a short amount of time. The Hong Kong-based exchange has won many supporters thanks to their ultra-competitive fees and trading costs. Once upon a time, the platform was purely crypto-to-crypto, but like many of their competitors, they have enabled…
Unocoin Cryptocurrency Exchange 2021 Review **What is Unocoin?** Unocoin is a cryptocurrency exchange offering digital currency trading services and enabling buyers and sellers to buy and sell Bitcoin through the platform. Unocoin was founded in July 2013 by Sunny Ray, Sathvik Vishwanath, Harish BV, and Abhinand Kaseti and is reported to be India’s first entrant in the crypto space. The company started out at Tumkur, Karnataka and later shifted operations to Bengaluru.…
Uphold Digital Money Platform 2021 Review **Uphold – the company, leadership and business model** Uphold HQ Inc., Uphold Europe Limited, Uphold Worldwide Ltd. and Uphold International Equities, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Uphold Ltd. Uphold HQ Inc. is a FinCEN Registered Money Services Business (MSB) in the United States. Uphold Europe Limited is registered with the FCA as an EMD Agent of Optimus Cards UK Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Fiat currencies and digital…
What are the benefits of blockchain technology? As the age of blockchain ushers in a wave of new innovative businesses, the question on most people’s minds remains – how will this technology impact my industry? But before we delve into some examples of industries that are currently being disrupted and some that will be affected by this technology in the future , it’s important to highlight some of the benefits of adopting blockchain. Blockchain creates an opportunity for…
Making a blockchain-powered insurance industry reality Insurance involves a risk transfer mechanism that entails a company taking a potential risk from a customer in form of a loss or damage caused by events beyond the control of the customer and in return the customer pays a fee called premium. These premiums are typically then reinvested which subsequently generates better revenue return for the insurance company. The insurance industry has been a key component of the…
Blockchain, Financial Markets & Trading Systems Technology makes it possible for stock markets to be more efficient. Today, stock trades are often executed in milliseconds by algorithms. With artificial intelligence powering these algorithms, large volumes of market data, brokerage reports, company annual reports and results are able to be processed to make ‘smart’ decisions in high frequency trades. Settling trades involves co-ordinating payment and delivery and then…
The Rise of Decentralised Media New tech is changing the media and entertainment industry. New business models are being generated to cater to consumers who are increasingly expecting media and entertainment providers to deliver better choice, convenience and value packaged in personalised and customisable experiences made available on demand and on a cross-platform basis but with little to no advertising backed by strong data protection frameworks. Media and entertainment…
Blockchain, IoT, & Critical Infrastructure Security Cyber-security is a top concern for many organisations, especially those handling and processing sensitive data. Data remains a primary target for attackers. Microsoft predicts that by 2020, data volumes will be 50 times what they are today. It is estimated that approximately 111 billion new software codes are produced every year which translates to billions of vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Gartner’s research…
Transforming the Supply Chain Landscape with Blockchain It is estimated that the supply chain industry represents over $50 trillion in annual GDP globally. In a 2017 report by Statista, the global blockchain technology market is predicted to reach 339.5 million U.S. dollars in size and is forecast to grow to US$2.3 billion by 2021. The supply chain management software industry was worth US$12.2 billion in 2017 according to Statista and the market is predicted to exceed $19…
Commercial Real Estate in a Digital Asset Economy Historically, the real estate industry has lagged in adopting new technology. However, research shows that implementation of blockchain technology can have a range of benefits for the sector going into the future. According to Deloitte blockchain technology has recently been adopted and adapted for use by the commercial real estate (CRE) industry.…
Creating Value for Future Markets with IoT Innovations The excitement around IoT’s capabilities can also create a sense of uncertainty about the future for many businesses, which are forced to confront the challenges of understanding this emerging technology and utilising it to enhance competitive advantage. In a world of big data, companies must be favourably positioned to collect, analyse and capitalise on enormous amounts of data from customers, suppliers and even…
Blockchain and digital currencies key to future trade, education, financial inclusion A look at the burgeoning blockchain industry through the lens of ecosystem players on the continent of Africa Blockchain came onto the scene in its functional form about a decade ago as the basis of the Bitcoin protocol. The combination of cryptography and distributed systems initially made it possible for value to be transferred almost as speedily as the internet transfers data. And as the…
Coinbase Exchange 2021 Review Arguably the biggest crypto platform in the U.S., Coinbase recently made its public debut on a traditional exchange, arriving via a direct listing rather than a more traditional initial public offering. Coinbase’s market cap exceeded $100 billion after its debut on Wednesday morning, 14 March on the Nasdaq, though the stock fell later in the day. Coinbase shares began trading at $381 each, up 52 percent from a reference price of $250, eventually…
Three Simple Tips For Successful Cryptocurrency Trading To become a profitable digital currency trader, you need to do so much more than simply plan your trades; trade your plans or minimise losses. In order to increase your odds of succeeding in the highly volatile crypto markets, you need to start by understanding the fundamentals of trading and specifically trading digital assets. For example, it’s common knowledge that as a cryptocurrency trader or investor one must…
Top 5 Platforms To Practice Cryptocurrency Trading For Free The term paper trading dates back to the time when stock market traders had to practice with paper before risking money on the live markets. Of course back then no online trading platforms existed. A paper trader would make a record of their trades and keep track of hypothetical portfolios, trading positions, and profits or losses. These days paper trading simply refers to demo trading whereby the trader pretends to…
Blockchain in Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Industry According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 10 medical products in developing countries is falsified or substandard. The impact on personal and public health is estimated in the region upwards of **$200 billion annually**. According to a Pfizer-sponsored survey, Western Europeans spend an estimated 10.5 billion euros ($14.3 billion) a year on illicitly sourced medicines. According to Boyd **Insurance**, Medicare…
Poloniex Digital Asset Exchange Platform 2021 Review Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange offering a wide variety of digital assets. The exchange platform offers a trading environment and provides advanced charts and data analysis tools. Founded in 2014 by Tristan D’Agosta a programmer and music composer who established the Polonius Sheet Music company in 2010, the Poloniex exchange gained popularity around 2016 when it became one of the first exchanges to list Ethereum.…
GhostMarket NFT Marketplace 2021 Review GhostMarket came onto the crypto scene in 2020. A **non-fungible token** (NFT) marketplace and explorer, GhostMarket offers cross-chain support for **Phantasma** and **NEO**. Phantasma is a custom built blockchain and ecosystem and a one-stop shop for NFTs, gaming, and **decentralised applications** (dApps), and NEO - an open-source blockchain, dApp and smart contract platform. The market and NFT explorer was designed and created by…
Bitfinex Cryptocurrency Exchange Review Bitfinex is part of iFinex Inc, a group registered in the British Virgin Islands but headquartered in Hong Kong. Their digital asset exchange is well-reputed for its impressive services and high levels of liquidity. Bitfinex is one of the top 50 exchanges by trading volume, but in terms of quality, longevity, and popularity, it’s easily a top 10 overall exchange. The platform was founded all the way back in 2012 by Raphael Nicolle, a…
Top 6 Binance Smart Chain Tokens **1) Binance Coin (BNB token)** Binance Coin (BNB) is a token that was launched in 2017 through an initial coin offering, less than a fortnight before the Binance digital currency exchange platform went live. https://decentralised.africa/binance-exchange-review/ Unlike a Proof of Work (PoW) cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, you cannot mine BNB tokens since the Binance blockchain utilises the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus mechanism…
Nexo – Regulated Financial Institution for Digital Assets 2021 Review One of the primary challenges the cryptocurrency industry faces is its somewhat controversial reputation. While Bitcoin may have been used by some rogues for illicit activities in its earlier days, research shows that criminals are shifting over to privacy coins for their shady dealings. At the same time that criminals are moving away from Bitcoin, more regular people are moving in and realising the…
Top 5 Crypto Tokens Connected to the Polkadot Ecosystem **1) Polkadot (DOT token)** An open-source sharding multichain protocol, Polkadot facilitates the cross-chain transfer of any data or asset types, not just tokens. DOT is the native token of the Polkadot platform. Every activity carried out on the platform is done with the token. The DOT token ensures that everything runs smoothly and without it, the key functions of Polkadot are impotent. The DOT token has been…
Top 5 Best Bots for Automated Cryptocurrency Trading **Cryptocurrency trading bots explained simply** Crypto trading bots are essentially software programs that assist traders with automating their crypto trading strategies. According to research published by the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Alternative Finance, the number of crypto asset users exceeded 101 million unique users across 191 million accounts opened at service providers as of Q3 2020.…
OKEx Cryptocurrency Exchange Review Welcome curious crypto-heads! Let’s talk about OKEx, the popular centralised cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange’s operators are based in Malta and the Seychelles. OKEx still keeps offices in Beijing and Shanghai and allows domestic investors to trade cryptocurrencies through OTC trading. https://www.okex.com/join/1/2136301 Users can buy popular cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT from OKEx-verified merchants in a way…
Top 5 Crypto Tokens in the Solana Ecosystem Work on the Solana project began as early as 2017, even though the open source project - which is working towards implementing a new permissionless blockchain to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions - was only launched in March 2020. The project is maintained by the Solana Foundation which is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Some of the notable founding persons of the Solana team are Anatoly Yakovenko (a former Qualcomm and…