Autor Cointelegraph By Chris Jones

Solana and Ethereum smart contract audits, explained

Solana and Ethereum smart contract audits, explained

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 21, 2022 |

As you might expect, this depends on how complex a smart contract is. According to Hacken, this can extend to $500,000 for larger projects where there are more lines of code — not least because of the additional engineering hours it’ll take. The company argues these costs pale into comparison with the economic damage that a smart contract vulnerability can bring. Hacken cites data showing that, in 2021, 80% of the incidents affecting decentralized applications related to smart contracts — with losses hitting $6.9 billion. Breaking this down even further, and we can see that the average cost per project stands at $47 million. Somehow, $500,000 looks a lot less expensive now.  Overall, 60% of its clients have been based on Ethereum so far in 2022. And here’s the difference it can make — after an audit, at least one critical bug was uncovered in 80% of projects. But Hacken says just 75% have fully acted on an audit report in the past — with the remainder ignoring the conclusions, or only taking a small number of recommendations into account. As a result, they had a lower security score.

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Want a compelling use case for privacy blockchains? Look no further than dating

Want a compelling use case for privacy blockchains? Look no further than dating

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 11, 2022 |

The excitement surrounding Web3 is palpable — and undeniable. Projects are flooding into the space to build cutting-edge versions of the sites and apps served up by centralized Web2 rivals, covering every sector imaginable.But at this point, it’s worth taking a step back and reflecting on the challenges that the Web3 world still needs to tackle. This technology isn’t inherently private — and the transactions bouncing around on blockchains are mostly transparent.Privacy coins, and the anonymizing blockchains they’re normally based on, are normally viewed with suspicion by critics. They point to how cryptocurrencies like Monero are increasingly being demanded by ransomware attackers, and argue these digital assets only have a use case for people who are up to no good.However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s easy to forget that we already have privacy coins in the fiat world — that is, the banknotes in your pocket. If you give $10 to a friend, it’s impossible for governments to track. Some crypto enthusiasts fear the shift to digitization risks eroding rights we’ve taken for granted over decades.A consumer demanding anonymity isn’t necessarily doing something illegal — and for a potent example of why privacy needs to be protected in Web3, let’s turn our attention to the world of online dating.Love and cryptoIt’s inevitable that entrepreneurs will attempt to build a decentralized answer to Tinder and Grindr — indeed, tongues were wagging when the Lonely Ape Dating Club was proposed… despite the fact it turned out to be a prank. If it had turned out to be real, there would be some huge issues to address. There are very real dangers associated with doxxing your ETH address to strangers on a niche dating app in a largely unregulated industry. And that’s before we’ve considered how this would be blended with other attributes such as NFT profile pictures, Twitter handles and selfies.You could argue that the Ethereum blockchain hasn’t been built for such infrastructure — and that a totally different network is required to launch a dating app that blends the benefits of Web3 with the protections that users deserve. This would help eliminate incidents where people using these tools have seen their identities and locations exposed, and tackle the privacy concerns surrounding phone numbers and social media.It could also help mitigate the romance scams that have become endemic on dating sites — with fraudsters creating fake profiles and deceiving unsuspecting victims who are looking for love, often stealing their hearts and their life savings.Privacy first, use cases laterPerhaps the best approach to take is to establish a privacy-focused blockchain first — creating a safe environment where singletons can communicate.Such a network should have a secure, private place where prospective partners can message each other — and ideally, that decentralized app shouldn’t require a phone number to sign up. This can help reduce the risk of cyberstalking and harassment.It would also offer a compelling alternative to messaging on social media. While many major centralized platforms do offer privacy settings, they can be difficult to find and activate. And without them, the people you come into contact with on dating sites could end up seeing the content you post, who your friends and family are, and your movements — all without your consent.Session is an open-source, encrypted messenger that’s powered by the Oxen blockchain. It’s free and offers all of the features that we’ve just been talking about: a private platform for one-on-one conversations and group chats where phone numbers aren’t required. And it’s a tool designed for everyday users — meaning it’ll be easy to pick up for those who might be more familiar with the likes of Signal and Telegram.Oxen’s chief technology officer Kee Jefferys told Cointelegraph: “The way that the internet operates isn’t conducive to user privacy. Social media has changed how we share information about ourselves. But this is a problem which crypto has the potential to solve — and Session is a shining example.”Session aims to tackle the pitfalls of websites and decentralized applications — and protects a user’s metadata by onion routing messages via the Oxen Service Node network, which boasts over 1,600 decentralized nodes. This crucially eliminates the need for centralized servers, and ensures there’s no single point of failure.Think about the last time you changed your phone number — it was probably years ago. The social media profiles you use probably date back to when you were a teenager, too. This is understandable; not only is it a hassle to add your loved ones all over again, but your account will have a rich history of messages and photos that you won’t want to lose.Session says it gives singletons a compelling alternative — now, they can give a love interest their Session ID instead of a phone number or social media account, keeping those personal details private until they want to move to the next step. This can prevent potential abuse from unsuccessful or even overenthusiastic suiters.It’s just one use case that shows how privacy can be a force for good in the hands of law-abiding citizens.Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

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This is what's standing in the way of DeFi's 'NFTification'

This is what's standing in the way of DeFi's 'NFTification'

Uverejnil používateľ | jún 22, 2022 |

Ask someone what an NFT is, and they’ll instinctively think of digital art — the CryptoPunks, Bored Apes and Ether Rocks that have sold for eye-watering sums.In some circles, nonfungible tokens have been dismissed as a vehicle for speculation, with critics lamenting that demand for such assets is fueled by greed.But this argument doesn’t give us the full picture. We’re barely scratching the surface of what these one-of-a-kind tokens can achieve — and new use cases are continually emerging.The music industry is tentatively exploring what NFTs have to offer. Live Nation, one of the world’s biggest entertainment companies, has started offering digital versions of ticket stubs — giving fans a virtual memento of the gigs they’ve attended. Other platforms are allowing consumers to invest in new music and receive a share of the royalties. TV shows and films are being funded through NFTs too — and despite a backlash from players, gaming brands are also dabbling in this technology.NFTs also have the potential to improve existing crypto services, with DeFi being one of them. What if this technology could be used to unlock access to specific permissioned services… and could we see popular crypto collectibles be widely used as collateral? While the “NFTification” of the decentralized sector is seen as inevitable in some crypto circles, there are some hurdles that need to be overcome. Let’s explain why.NFTs cost a mintInevitably, any discussion of what’s holding NFTs from playing a bigger role in the DeFi ecosystem needs to begin with the cost of minting such tokens.Even on a robust Layer 2 network, transaction fees mean it’s often uneconomical to create, distribute and trade NFTs. This particularly explains why these crypto collectibles are so exorbitantly priced — not to mention why new use cases for nonfungible tokens are only being explored at a glacial pace.As traders impatiently wait for Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake network to launch, this blockchain has become unaffordable for many everyday users. While faster, cheaper and more scalable rivals have emerged in recent years, some have been blighted by repeated outages — bringing their reliability into question.But what if users could be offered a completely gas-free experience while transacting? Could this be the silver bullet that attracts tens or hundreds of millions of users to the space — people who would be drawn in by the development this would encourage?Such an approach would be beneficial for NFTs and the DeFi sector alike, giving crypto enthusiasts the freedom to transact how they wish without worrying about the cost. But from an infrastructure perspective, there are other issues that need to be taken into account.Innovating in DeFiRight now, high gas fees mean trading and farming is financially impractical for smaller users — while slow bridges that connect the Ethereum mainnet to Layer 2s cause frustration. A lack of stickiness has also emerged in the DeFi space — with users frequently moving from platform to platform in search of the best short-term opportunities.Of course, an even bigger barrier involves getting people to see what decentralized protocols and automated market makers (AMMs) have to offer. A poor user experience — and more sophisticated features on centralized platforms — often give investors little incentive to make the jump into DeFi. The downside here is consumers end up relinquishing control over their own crypto as a result.But it doesn’t have to be this way — and one team says it has built the first NFT-powered AMM that has been designed “from the ground up to solve a series of critical problems for DeFi.” A gem of a productRuby.Exchange is building its infrastructure on SKALE, which is described as a powerful, multi-chain solution for Ethereum. SKALE’s chains have zero gas costs — and boast a fast, decentralized and secure bridge to the mainnet where transfers in either direction can take minutes, rather than hours or even days.And while the value of NFTs can be uncertain, with limited ways they can be used, Ruby offers gemstones — “beautiful, generative artworks that drive loyalty by embodying real utility as well as artistic value.” These assets have a starring role within its AMM. This exchange says it delivers a feature rich and gamified user experience where NFTs are minted for user profiles, as vouchers for trading fee rebates, and to ensure customers can access the premium features they’ve come to expect — native charting and advanced analytics among them. Yield farming boosts are another use case.What’s more, a gamified trading and farming experience delivers that elusive “stickiness” that DeFi protocols currently lack — rewarding long-term engagement and benefitting all users by helping prevent capital from migrating elsewhere, which affects liquidity.Looking ahead, new classes of NFT gemstones are going to be created — and as Ruby’s analytics and liquidity provider management dashboard is established, ownership of nonfungible tokens will be key to unlocking access.NFTs and DeFi have shown so much promise in their early days, transforming the worlds of art and finance. Ruby.Exchange is now determined to show how powerful the “NFTification” of decentralized finance can be.Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

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From Morgan Stanley to crypto world: in a conversation with Phemex founder

From Morgan Stanley to crypto world: in a conversation with Phemex founder

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 8, 2022 |

Founded in 2019 in Singapore, Phemex has been operating as a crypto derivatives exchange. The platform rose to the “top 10 global exchanges in less than two years, with a daily peak trading volume of more than $12 billion.” Cointelegraph talked to Jack Tao, founder and CEO of Phemex, about the difficulties and risks of running a crypto exchange and where he plans to take Phemex next.Tell us about the story behind the exchange and what it was like to launch a trading platform during the crypto winter?The story behind Phemex is one that seeks to provide solutions to the many issues I witnessed in traditional finance. When I initially discovered crypto, I was really excited because it seemed to be a way that would allow me to address the inefficiencies traditional finance has.One technology solution, in particular, is blockchain. Because it offers many possibilities, my initial motivation was just to try it out and learn more. This led me to setting up a few modest mining operations and experimenting with various exchanges and trading platforms.My first venture into cryptocurrency ended in significant losses. Despite the enormous promise that cryptos presented, I realized the sector still had a long way to go. The exchange I was using at the time had a lot of technical issues, which resulted in frequent outages and hacks. There were no standards in place, and there was little trust. To fix this, I sought to discover a solution by combining my financial and technological expertise gained on Wall Street.The end result is Phemex, a powerful and efficient platform that, despite its partial Wall Street background, is dedicated to assisting everyone, not just a select few, in achieving financial independence. Phemex is great because it leverages traditional finance standards and tools while remaining true to cryptocurrency’s values of financial freedom and self-empowerment.How does a decade-long experience at Morgan Stanley help you manage your company?Before co-founding Phemex, I held the position of global development VP of Electronic Trading (MSET) Benchmark Execution Strategies (BXS) at Morgan Stanley. My experience in finance gave me the fundamental skills and insights that made it possible to launch Phemex.Because I had over ten years of experience building high throughput, low latency, large-scale algorithmic trading platforms, I was able to pinpoint the primary problems that faced the TradeFi sector. Because I could recognize the problems, all I needed to do was find the solutions, which was to build Phemex as one of the most reliable cryptocurrency and derivatives platforms.I’m proud to say that Phemex has grown exponentially since its launch, and we now offer a variety of crypto spot markets and derivative contracts with up to 100x leverage. We’ve risen to the top 10 global exchanges in less than two years, with a daily peak trading volume of more than $12 billion.What are the most difficult aspects of operating a crypto exchange? Does location play any role in it?Operating a cryptocurrency exchange is not an easy task. Major challenges include safety and security concerns to make sure we are providing the most trustworthy and safe platform to our users. System and user account security are one of our highest priorities, and we have designed and implemented a Hierarchical Deterministic Cold Wallet System, which assigns separate cold wallet deposit addresses to each user.All the deposits on Phemex are periodically gathered in the company’s multisignature cold wallet via offline signature. Based on our sophisticated Wall Street risk control experience, we are able to detect any malicious actions and quickly act to protect our users’ assets and the platform. Qualified withdrawal requests are also processed via offline signature, thereby, all assets remain 100% stored in a cold wallet system with all operations conducted offline.With regards to location, choosing where to operate a cryptocurrency exchange is not so different from choosing where to operate a normal business. The considerations are actually quite simple: you want a good business and supportive policy environment, a growing economy, a city or cluster with talent that is innovative and entrepreneurial, as well as other business-friendly regulations and compliance structures.Singapore is one place that matches these criteria. Singapore has emerged as a major cryptocurrency hub in Southeast Asia. Singapore not only has a strong financial sector and geopolitical position, but the city has also created a crypto-enabling environment, which has been essential to Phemex’s growth in such a short time. We are rapidly expanding our team in Singapore, and I’m excited to see what the future holds. How does doing this business in 2022 differ from doing it in 2019?The cryptocurrency and blockchain business has definitely changed from 2019 to 2022. I’ll give you a few examples.In 2019, the crypto market cap ended the year under $200 billion. Right now, the market cap is at $1.6 trillion, and at one point in 2021, it reached $3 trillion. So the difference in this regard is quite obvious. There’s more attention to the industry, there’s more investor interest, both retail and institutional, and there’s greater adoption. So doing business in this environment now where there’s more demand than before has been very beneficial. Another difference now compared to 2019 is the actual cryptocurrencies on the market. An interesting exercise I’d recommend any curious reader do is keep a yearly tab on the top 50 cryptos from whatever base year and compare it to the next. It’ll feel like comparing different technology epochs. But despite the rapid changes in the industry, we at Phemex will continue to move forward, and we will continue to launch new products and give our investors access to the best cryptocurrencies on the market.“Many businesses claim to embody the ideals of crypto and blockchain, but the reality is that they’ve simply implemented the same old models, driven by profits and self-interest, to a new space. Our slogan, “Break Through, Break Free” – what do you mean by this statement?After working in traditional finance for over a decade, I became disillusioned by the many limitations and injustices I witnessed. The industry is plagued by unreasonable fees and inefficient systems. In various ways, these all serve to favor the wealthy and suppress the underprivileged. This is why I said that many businesses today only imply the basic principles of crypto and blockchain. However, many of these businesses merely apply the same old profit-driven and self-interested endeavors to their own business models.Our slogan, “Break Through, Break Free,” encapsulates our company’s principles and objectives. Phemex has everything a person needs to break into a better system where true financial autonomy is not only encouraged but embedded into the system’s core. We believe that any individual can have the power to change their own lives and choose their own reality.What’s next for Phemex? What should your community and users expect in 2022?From a basic new currency to facilitating decentralized transactions to reconstructing practically the whole traditional financial system on-chain, we’ve come a long way. We will recreate and invent any imaginable service or process in the next phase, not only financial ones.I’m also enthusiastic about some of the recent patterns I’ve seen. Specifically, the metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have sparked my interest. The current surge of NFT collectibles and art, while possibly inflated, nonetheless points to a promising future. We’re rethinking what ownership entails, and we’re just getting started with new uses for on-chain assets. Similarly, the metaverse contains innovative GameFi, play-to-earn, and wealth distribution mechanisms that have the potential to profoundly alter our digital activities. And this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s possible and what lies ahead.Phemex has aided the growth of the metaverse by listing assets such as AXS, MANA, YGG, SAND, SLP and many more to come. We’ll continue to keep a careful eye on this powerful megatrend.Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

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How a game engine for DeFi could facilitate accelerated development

How a game engine for DeFi could facilitate accelerated development

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 1, 2022 |

The beating heart of any ecosystem of decentralized applications, DApps, is its underlying technology stack. For Ethereum (ETH), this is its “Nakamoto” consensus, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) execution environment, and Solidity programming language. Together, these technologies have allowed smart contract developers to propel decentralized finance (DeFi) from concept to reality.For DeFi to make the next leap – to mainstream adoption – scalability is the technological requirement that garners the most attention. But an often overlooked but equally important aspect of layer-one platforms is their approach to smart contract development. While Solidity and the EVM are the core technologies that allowed Ethereum to unquestionably be DeFi’s pioneer, pioneers are also the ones to make all the mistakes. Ever wonder why it feels like there are a never-ending series of DeFi hacks and exploits today? It’s the result of a programming approach that makes it incredibly hard to manage tokens securely. Because when Ethereum was being designed, DeFi didn’t exist.But a fix isn’t easy. Major changes to Solidity and the EVM aren’t possible as this would break the majority of DApps that have already been built. Therefore, newer platforms have a real opportunity to learn from and improve upon the developer experience –– because the improved DApps that those developers build could enable the next wave of DeFi adoption.Why DeFi development is hard on EthereumWhether it’s tokens for decentralized borrowing and lending, tokens for an NFT game or art piece, or tokens for a financial derivative, they are at the core of practically every use case in DeFi and crypto. However, the only token that the Ethereum platform natively understands is ETH. All other tokens, whether under the ERC-20, 721, 1155, or any other standard, only exist as variables (regular old numbers) inside each smart contract.The Tether token – USDT –– is a list of accounts and associated balances inside the USDT smart contract. The same goes for Shiba Inu (SHIB) and every other token built on Ethereum. This is why you can’t swap ETH on Uniswap (UNI), and, instead, you have to, bizarrely, swap wrapped-ETH (wETH), which is an ERC-20 token backed by ETH held in custody.This brings problems. You cannot “send” tokens from one person to another because the tokens don’t live in a user’s wallet. They live only as a balance associated with an account inside each individual contract.To swap USDT for SHIB, a message is sent to debit your account in the USDT contract and credit your account in the SHIB contract. But the USDT debited from your account must go to some other account in the USDT contract, and likewise, the SHIB credited to your account must have come from some other account in the SHIB contract.With the burden of implementing a new token in each and every smart contract and for developers to ensure that their contracts are safe under all possible scenarios, developers spend nearly all their time, up to 90%, on testing and validation. This leaves hardly any time left over for them to build what they actually want: DeFi functionality.With such a frustrating developer experience, is there a better way? Tokens as the core of DeFi developmentDeFi is all about tokens. This means tokens shouldn’t be an afterthought to the development experience – they should be front and center – right at the very core of the platform.That’s why the right programming language can accelerate the development of not only a single platform but an entire industry. An example of this being done is Radix, a layer-one protocol, which uses “asset-oriented” programming and is introducing it with its Scrypto programming language.How does it work? First, tokens are no longer defined inside a smart contract, as with the list of accounts and balances described above. Instead, tokens live in a separate layer, following rules that the platform enforces. Just as the Bitcoin platform enforces that BTC can’t be double spent, drained or lost in a transaction, so too does asset-oriented programming ensure these same kinds of logical behaviors but for every token created on the platform. With those rules in place, tokens gain the same properties as you would expect from a physical coin in your pocket. You can physically give it to someone else, but the platform guarantees that it is impossible for the token to be in two places at once, nor can it disappear. Given this physicality of behavior, DeFi developers can then build DeFi DApps as they would intuitively draw them on a whiteboard. Words like “take” and “put” in the programming language actually take and put tokens in places.No more defining the rules of finance within every single smart contract, from scratch, as with Solidity. With Radix, developers are provided all the tools they need to build secure code quickly –– supercharging their productivity.Ultimately whether developers flock to a new paradigm or prefer the old one depends on a fine-grained balance between the network effect of the old versus the advantages of the new.Learning a new approach to developing DeFi takes work. And this is especially risky if the ecosystem you’re building for is starting from scratch, compared to one with thousands of DApps, mature developer communities and millions of users. But as we saw over 2021, new layer ones can grow quickly. With the right execution, there’s a chance that we may see a new upstart in town. One that might very well be capable of galvanizing a community of developers laser-focused on the mainstream adoption of DeFi.Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

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