Earn $5 worth of Polkastarter, here are the answers
Hey everyone,
Here's your chance to earn $5 worth of $POLS tokens of Polkastarter.
This campaign just kicked off in less than an hour ago, and I compiled the answers for you.
First, visit CoinmarketCap Earn,
https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/learn-about-polkastarter-to-earn-5-of-pols-tokens
and here are the questions and answers for you:
***- What is Polkastarter?***
***A launchpad protocol to kickstart early-stage crypto projects.***
***- What type of fundraising occurs on Polkastarter?***
***IDO***
***- What does IDO stand for?***
***Initial Decentralized Offering***
***- What are the benefits of a Polkastarter IDO to the projects that are fundraising? Select all that apply.***
***All of the above***
***- Which of these chains is Polkastarter not live on?***
***Avalanche***
***- What primary role does the POLS token play in a Polkastarter IDO?***
***Participants must hold POLS to be whitelisted for an IDO.***
***- What is the minimum amount of POLS you have to own to be eligible for a Polkastarter IDO whitelist?***
***250***
Note that you will need a Binance account as any earn campaign on Coinmarketcap requires Binance User ID. If you don't have Binance user account, you can register here:
https://www.binance.com/en/register?ref=48542908
Stay tuned for more free crypto and faucets.
Thanks for the read and good luck!
M.
Deep dive into '0x protocol'
You might have heard of 0x but perhaps you didn't know that some of the most known and used paltforms and tools rely on its protocol, namely Metamask, 1inch, Matcha, Zapper, Zerion, DeBank, DeFi Saver, DODO, Rari Capital, dYdX, Paraswap.
The list goes on.
What is 0x protocol then, let's have a look.
0x is a protocol that facilitates the peer-to-peer exchange of Ethereum-based assets. The protocol serves as an open standard and common building block for any developer needing exchange functionality. 0x provides secure smart contracts that are externally audited; developer tools tailored to the 0x ecosystem; and open access to a pool of shared liquidity. Developers can integrate with 0x at the smart contract or application layer.
**Off-chain relay, on-chain settlement**
0x protocol uses an approach we refer to as off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement. In this approach, cryptographically signed orders are broadcast off of the blockchain through any arbitrary communication channel; an interested counterparty may inject one or more of these orders into 0x protocol's Exchange contract to execute and settle trades directly to the blockchain.
**A non-custodial exchange protocol**
There have been over $1.5 billion stolen from centralized exchanges in the last 10 years. In response to this, the 0x protocol enables developers to build non-custodial exchanges; ones that never take custody over traders assets.
Instead, the assets are settled directly between the two trader's wallets when an order is filled.
0x uses a modular system of Ethereum smart contracts which allows each component of the system to be upgraded via governance without affecting other components of the system and without causing active markets to be disrupted.
Protocol fees and LP incentivises in the 0x protocol:https://github.com/0xProject/0x-protocol-specification/blob/master/v3/protocol-fees.pdf
Taker's fees will partly be allocated in community treasury to fund development of 0x ecosystem. The remaining fees revenues will be paid out to 0x market makers as a liquidity rebate, based on the liquidity they provide as well as their stake of ZRX tokens.
Protocol fee that the taker pays is pegged to the gas fee, for example, if the taker pays $0.10 gas fee in ETH, would also pay $10 for the protocol fee. But note that a taker can set up a trade for a specific gas fee, meaning can wait for the order to settle for a range of gas fees.
Fees will be used for in three major motivations:
- Ongoing development
- Incentivise ZRX ownership
- Create a dynamic element to limit order pricing
In essence, the fee and rebate scheme should ensure that the distribution of rebate income remains consistent over time even as market conditions change.
More info here: 0x Staking Specification (v3)
https://0x.org/docs/guides/v3-staking-specification
**Utility of Stake**
Token holders stake their ZRX to unlock utility within the 0x ecosystem. This includes earning liquidity rewards through market making on the 0x protocol and participating in governance over the protocol.
**Audits**
0x protocol’s contracts are open source and extensively tested by 0x core team’s internal protocol team and by external auditors (Consensys dilligence, Trail of Bits).
**The future**
Although 0x protocol is yet only utilised in Ethereum, 0x has ambitions to enable trading on and between all major blockchains.
Below listed concepts will give us an idea how much adoption 0x protocol could potentially gain in the future:
* A decentralized exchange for X asset on Y market
* An Ebay-style marketplace for digital goods
* A market making or arbitrage trading bot
* A DeFi protocol that needs liquidity and exchange to function (e.g., a derivatives, lending or options protocol)
* An over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk
In addition, 0x can also be integrated into any existing application where exchange is a feature, not the core purpose of the application. These applications include:
* Games with in-game currencies or items
* Digital wallets whose users want to exchange tokens
* Portfolio management platforms
***Pretty wide use case, if you ask me.***
André Derain: The Dance and The Dancer
**Who is this?**
A French chap, a chap of Matisse.
**Matisse? I heard of him, and why the chap is so significant now?**
Well, they co-founded the movement called Fauvism which helped major movements of 1900s to emerge; although the movement itself only lasted 5 years. Before you ask an example, he helped shaping Cubism of with Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
**Like** ***fauvisme*****, isn't that wild animal in French?**
Exactly so, but it was supposed to be derogatory and coined by the critic Louis Vauxcelles when he saw the work of Henri Matisse and André Derain in an exhibition in Paris, 1905. The paintings were the results of the summer they spent together in the south of France.
**Do you have a fun fact about the chap?**
Certainly. Derain actually served in the military twice between 1901 and 1919. He fully committed himself to art when he returned and Europe decided to take a breather.
**I see, French humour, I see! I'm interested, show me some of his work, will you?**
As you wish.
**Hold on, isn't this Thames?**
It is indeed. In fact, after the served his first military duty, he travelled to London in 1906 where he produced some of his most famous works.
**But how about all these colours, the shapes, the .. everything seems a bit..**
Non-naturalistic? Bold?
**Yes! Unrealistic!**
Well I was about to say, Fauvism makes their work appear quite abstract in way of forms of the subjects were simplified. They were rather interested in colour theories invented in the nineteenth century - particularly those relating to complementary colours.
**You what, sorry?**
Oh. Complementary colours refer to pairs of colours appear opposite each other on scientific models such as the colour wheel, and when used side-by-side in painting make each other look brighter.
**How did they come about this?**
He was influenced by the technique of his friends Matisse and Vlamick, as well as by impressionism and divisionism.
**Divisionism? Can we talk about it?**
Let's stick to Fauvism now, shall we!
**Alright alright, show me something else!**
**I suppose this is 'The Dance'?**
Clever, you're getting it fast aren't you!
It was painted in 1906, a large decorative composition of three women undulating in a luxuriant forest. Derain was inspired by a poem by Apollinaire and called it L’Enchanteur pourrissant (the rotting magician) about three fairies looking for Merlin’s tomb. The gestures of the dancers are reminiscent of Egyptian and Indian art, and could have inspired Nijinsky’s choreography. The mysterious vegetation and the hidden meaning of a snake and a multicolored parrot infuse the ritual scene with symbolism.
**How did he end up influenced by all this?**
It relates to the time he spent in Montmarte where he moved from London to be closer to his friend Picasso and other notable artists who lived in the artsy area.
In Montmartre, he began painting with more muted tones versus the loud, bright colors that were common in Fauvist work. Derain began showing an interest in African sculpture and was exploring the work of Paul Cezanne.
**Will you show me 'The Dancer' before you leave?**
I shall
**She's certainly not dancing, is she?**
Good point! Her pose, with crossed legs and upper body leaning forward, with that alluring and powerful gaze, raises the question of whether the figure was a dancer or actually something else entirely.
**I knew I was right!**
Well then. Why don't you cover next week's topic, Matisse?
**I rather listen.**
Alright then.
FRENCH PAINTER, WRITER, SET DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR, AND SCULPTOR
Born: June 10, 1880 - Chatou, France
Died: September 8, 1954 - Garches, France
Movements and Styles: Fauvism, Neo-Impressionism, Cubism
***Hope you enjoyed the read!***
I write about Blockchain: at DeFi.library
about obscure music: Obscurities in Music
and for art, food and other pleasures at: Taste.in.Life https://www.publish0x.com/defilibrary https://www.publish0x.com/obscurities-in-music https://www.publish0x.com/tasteinlife
So, is it Altcoin Season then?
I come across this topic on various Twitter accounts very often, through which I am still not sure about the answer to:
- Is it Altcoin Season?
I believe people who were around in 2017-18 have experienced seasons-in, seasons-out firsthand, however I do believe things are not really the same anymore; sure, we will have the sense of familiarity, we've seen similar patterns and all.
In 2021 however, we have seen institutional players coming into crypto and perhaps they are now dominating the sphere, whether we see it or not, Bitcoin's dominance naturally doing down, which in fact does not mean Bitcoin is weakening, it's just there are really, really good alts out there and they are claiming their space. I personally believe this will keep going, even in the last 12 months, some amazing projects fruited, some of them are still not on main-net, and it seems that they will be around.
At the time I was writing this, BTC and ETH dominance of the market are as follows:
Having said all of these above, there is an index based on a calculation that determines [at least helps to fire out] the Altseason!
**- What is an Altcoin Season?**
**If 75% of the Top 50 coins performed better than Bitcoin over the last season (90 days) it is Altcoin Season.**
Now the following graphic helps us to see relevant top-50 coins and how they performed last 90 days:
In which case we apply the following:
**What is an Altcoin Month?**
**If 75% of the Top 50 coins performed better than Bitcoin over the last 30 days it is Altcoin Month.**
You can refer to the graphic below where coins that performed better than Bitcoin could be found:
Note that above graphics exclude Stablecoins that are in top-50 (tether, DAI ...) and asset backed tokens, such as WBTC, cLINK ...
Thanks for stopping by!
Let me know if you agree with the Altcoin Index. If you believe it is Altseason, else we're not there yet?
Music for your ears: Nino Ferrer - Looking For You [France, 1974]
Released in 1974, France.
Album: Nino and Radiah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68e2TWauk7w
Nino Ferrer was Italian-French musician, born in Genova, Italy. He recorded 15+ albums and numerous singles but he was also a very good painter, notable poet, generally quite an interesting persona to say the least.
When I first heard 'Looking For You', I was totally mesmerised. I shared the music with my friends; they were, too, mesmerised.
The tracks is from his 1974 LP on B side, track III, called 'Nino and Radiah'. It was recorded in Trident Studios in South London in 1973, but originally released in France.
We need to mention the amazing LP cover as well, it's hot, sexy and quite a nice piece of art in general. As someone who really likes LP covers from 70s and 80s, this one certainly stands out. It's incredible that nudity could be in everyday life and and in everyday art [displayed] but sometime in the future (well, today), that is not the case. We live in a censorship era without knowing it.
Anyhow, cover art was big in 70s and before and after, I still enjoy these [more to come in this blog for sure..]
I hope you enjoy it!
For more obscurities, check my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHpWky3d8I0uqnXngxI_0YQ
Lyrics:
I'm looking for you
I'm looking for you
Don't know where to go
Don't know what to do
I walk along the street
Between a million people
That I don't see
May-be they think
That I am mad
I fell in love
I'm in love with you
La la la la la la la la la la
I made this song
Cause I love you
I made this song just for you
I made this song deep in my heart
I was thinking of you
Because time runs so fast
And it never comes back
And that's all
I can keep with me
That sweet love that you gave me to
I'm looking for you
what happened last week in crypto? [Weekly Recap]
Hello folks,
This post is intended to be a weekly series called, erm, you guessed it: Weekly Recap.
While this might not contain all and every important update occurred during the period, it aims to bring you some information you might have missed.
Let's go.
***"CNBC’s Kate Rooney reports on how decentralized finance is the next venture capital buzzword and how it plays into crypto."***
CNBC: New face of crypto-economics, DeFi
If you've been in crypto for a while now, that is, even for about six months, I assumed you experience the potential and drastic evolution of DeFi and its related tech in the sphere; once you listen to such media coverage, don't you feel you're ahead in the game? Use it, my friend.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/04/15/heres-what-decentralized-finance-or-defi-means-for-crypto.html
I also came across an article where a comprehensive research paper is released named as:
***"Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain- and Smart Contract-Based Financial Markets"***
https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/2021/02/05/decentralized-finance-on-blockchain-and-smart-contract-based-financial-markets?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SM&utm_content=stlouisfed&utm_campaign=d9fc1bf3-e70c-42e9-8b72-e2bf29ec662c
I'd certainly recommend this a read, have a cuppa T and sit back and play some audio on your headphones and delve into this. It is very well written and you may indeed find facts that you don't find in Twitter posts about DeFi and crypto.
Kindly note that if you want to make gains in crypto, you need to hold better insight than the next person, to do so, having valuable information is one way to achieve it.
The point of all this is the fact that I wish you see the direction of where this is heading towards; not thinking of tomorrow, or next week and not the next month; try to think of the evolution of this beautiful tech most of us now somehow us in the near and far future; then position yourself for a long term.
**Polygon shines**
Projects like Aavegotchi, Aave, Paraswap and Pooltogether already do transact on the low fee and fast network. Seemingly we have Instadapp, Curve and DeFiSaver are the next to join the club and [away from Etherium loyalty punishment scheme]
**Binance Chain**
There have been concerns about BSC's lack of opaqueness in DeFi-sphere:
This flood provides great information:
*"Some might overlook the influence Binance Chain has over Binance Smart Chain's validator set.*
*BSC has 21 active validators, making it more centralized than most platforms.*
*This validator set is determined daily by Binance Chain, a network managed by just 11 validators."*
*"BSC's active validator set resets daily based on each validator's voting power (staked BNB + any delegations).*
*All BNB staking and delegation takes place on Binance Chain through a staking module.*
*Binance Chain validators manage this module, thus all BSC validator accounts."*
*"Binance launched each chain with "a few trusted nodes" in the validator set.*
*BSC now supports several third-party validators, although at least 5-6 others have close ties to Binance.*
*The distribution of validator accounts is far less clear for Binance Chain."*
*"It's hard not to presume that each Binance Chain validator is in some way connected or tied to Binance.*
*They each take turns producing blocks in a seemingly predefined order.*
*There doesn't appear to be any stake-weighted mechanism to determine which one produces the next block."*
*"For those using BSC, take the time to understand the topology of the network.*
*Sure, the fees and speed (both UX factors) are undoubtedly preferable.*
*But strong censorship resistance and fault tolerance are not part of the package."*
Note: Wilson Withiam is a doing research for Messari.
**Lido Finance**
While we've currently seen almost 4 million ETH is locked in ETH2.0 staking contract, about 5.5% of this staked through Lido, which provided decentralised staking opportunities for everyone.
**dYdX : On-Chain Perpetual & Margin**
As you probably know, dYdX has integrated their L2 solution recently, in line with this, their transaction in volume grows steadily. They also added more instrument to transact with after the UNI and AAVE addition.
**mStable: Autonomous and non-custodial infrastructure for pegged-value crypto assets.**
mStable offers approximately 70%-80% APY for wallets that hold BTC and wants to make some gains.
Compare this to APY in Celsius: Currently 6.20%
- Coingecko released "Q1 2021 Quarterly Cryptocurrency Report"
https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/q1-2021-quarterly-cryptocurrency-report?utm_source=coingecko&utm_medium=annoucement&utm_campaign=2020-Yearly-Report
- DeFiLama now displays Avalanche on their platform therefore Etherium, Binance Smart Chain, Solana and Avalanche TVL values could be seen on a single platform.
https://defillama.com/home
- QuickSwap and Cometh announced that they will incentivise use of Polygon network, as they will grant users MATIC.
https://twitter.com/0xPolygon/status/1381976570579972100
- YearnFinance will buy back about 300k worth of $YFI as part of their Buy Back and Build inititative.
https://twitter.com/iearnfinance/status/1382348946215993347?s=20
- Stake DAO V2 announced, which brings together gamification with in-platform NFTs, an array of staking protocols, a sleek decentralized exchange, more strategies and ways to log in, one-click staking, cross-chain functionalities, and more, all designed with the goal of making it effortlessly easy for anyone to supercharge their crypto returns.
https://stakedaohq.medium.com/stake-dao-v2-f2af9e411059
- MatterLabs announced they could implement finality in providing 20k TPS through zkPorter.
https://medium.com/matter-labs/zkporter-a-breakthrough-in-l2-scaling-ed5e48842fbf
That's all folks!
I appreciate your time and would appreciate even more if you let me know what can I better, and/or if you have feedback!
Stay well!
papa4enko
@papa4enko
