Techfastly November 2021 by Techfastly

NOV | 2021

w w w. t e c h f a s t l y. c o m

In Conversation with

PREETAM RAO Co-founder & CEO QuillHash Technologies

Crypto Currency SPECIAL EDITION

Bitcoin’s ATMs Barkha Seth

Automated Trading and AI in Crypto Market

Is Cryptocurrency A Safe Haven For Money Laundering?

Ragini Agarwal

Toulika Das

What’s Inside p.4 The Truth about

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Adoption Technologies Rehan Hussain

p.14 The NFT Craze in

Cryptocurrency: Wealth Opportunities for Creators and Collectors

p.42 In Conversation with

Preetam Rao,

Co-founder & CEO QuillHash Technologies

p.53 Bitcoin’s ATMs Barkha Seth

p.60

Ragini Agarwal

Anju Nambiar

p.20 Market Actors

Who Shapes The Cryptocurrency Market? Vibha Soni

p.28 Vital Factors that Determine

Cryptocurrency’s Volatility Saipriya Iyer

Automated Trading and AI in Crypto Market

p.68

Machine Learning: How Effective Is It in Cryptocurrency Trading? Randrita Sarkar

p.76 Is Cryptocurrency A

Safe Haven For Money Laundering? Toulika Das

p.82 DeFi: A Growing Arm

Behind NFT

Rehan Hussain

p.90 Cryptocurrency

For Business

by Abhishek Mitra

p.96 5 Effective Ways to Protect

Your Crypto Assets Utsav Mishra

Editor’s note

Dear Readers Currency as a medium of monetary exchange has undergone a plethora of changes for centuries. Ranging from coins to notes and now digital money, the concept has been through quite a transformation. The latest on this radar is cryptocurrency. Although crypto has been going around for a while now, it’s only in recent times that it has become a buzzword. In the last several months, Bitcoin’s price has risen to an all-time high, and regulatory discussions are underway that may have significant ramifications for the sector. While everything has been going on, interest in crypto has risen dramatically this year, owing to everyone from seasoned investors like Elon Musk to that kid from high school you ran into on Facebook. According to Dave Abner, head of global development at famous cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, the first half of 2021 has been a “breakthrough” in many respects. Cryptocurrencies are on the verge of rising. It is not very far that we would be saying cryptos have taken control over conventional currencies. Cryptocurrencies indeed appear to be a godsend for criminals seeking ransom payments from companies with weak cyber security or terrorists looking to purchase illicit goods on the dark web, but do parents want to pay insurance premiums with them? In this issue, we focused majorly on cryptocurrencies. The articles would talk about the absolute truth behind cryptocurrencies and their adoption by the current generation. Another interesting article talks about the volatility of cryptocurrencies, and the growing craze of NFTs. An exciting piece of write-up shows the importance of machine learning and cryptocurrencies- this article holds an important place in today’s world. In our interview series, we had the founder and CEO of QuillHash Technologies, Mr. Preetam Rao. His team is motivated to make DeFi and NFT Platforms more secure. During the conversation, he also shared his thoughts on how decentralized finance will transform mainstream finance. As far as cryptocurrencies are concerned, the tide looks to bet against them right now, but that appears to be changing. When the tide turns, it will be interesting to see if any of the current trends of cryptocurrencies is still floating. We would appreciate your feedback and are always open to suggestions. Here is your edition. Do read it, enjoy it, and nourish in the knowledge. Happy reading!

Srikant Rawat

Chief Operating Officer, Techfastly

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The Truth about

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Adoption Technologies by Rehan Hussain There are a lot of structures in our economic, legal, and political systems that are defined by contracts, transactions, and records of those transactions. They safeguard company assets and impose restrictions on the organization’s activities. Their job is to check people’s identification and keep a journal of what’s happened.

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Blockchain is at the heart of bitcoin (and other virtual currencies). Transactions can be automatically triggered by programming the ledger.

hey set the rules for how countries, organizations, communities, and individuals interact with one another. These principles guide management and social action. Despite this, the digital transformation of the economy has lagged behind the development of the necessary technologies and the bureaucracies to manage them. A Formula 1 race vehicle is being held hostage by them, much like how rushhour congestion can be. Our regulatory and administrative control methods must adapt to the digital age. This is a problem that blockchain claims to be able to address. It’s an open, distributed ledger that records transactions between two parties effectively, verifiably, and permanently. Blockchain is at the heart of bitcoin (and other virtual currencies). Transactions can be automatically triggered by programming the ledger. As a result of blockchain, we may see a world where contracts are digitally encoded and kept in shared databases that can’t be altered

or tampered. A digital record and signature would be attached to each transaction and agreement in this future world so they could be recognized, authenticated, and shared. Lawyers, brokers, and bankers may no longer be required as intermediaries. An open and frictionless marketplace would be created where people of all kinds may do business without restriction. As you can see, blockchain holds a lot of promise. Almost everyone has heard the assertion that blockchain would transform business and reshape economies and organizations. We’re excited by its possibilities, but we’re wary of the marketing hype. But we’re worried about more than simply hacks and exchange failures (such as the 2014 collapse of one bitcoin exchange and more recent ones) these days. Our research into technology innovation tells us that numerous technological, governance, organizational, and even societal barriers must be removed if there is a blockchain revolution. Making hasty decisions on blockchain innovation without considering the long-term implications would be foolish.

There are still several years until actual blockchain-led corporate and government change occurs. This is since blockchain is not a “disruptive” technology that can swiftly overrun existing businesses and attack a traditional business model with a lower-cost alternative. With its potential to establish new economic and social underpinnings, blockchain is a fundamental technology. It’ll take decades for blockchain to permeate our economic and social infrastructure, whatever huge the effect. As waves of technical and institutional change acquire speed, adoption will be gradual and steady rather than abrupt.

Adoption Patterns of New Technologies First, let’s consider what we know about technology adoption and, in particular, the transformation process characteristic of other fundamental technologies before going into blockchain strategy and investment. The adoption of TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) paved the way for creating the internet and is a prime example of distributed computer networking technology.

The network’s edges may have intelligent transmitting and receiving nodes that could decode and decode the data in the packets. Dedicated private lines and an extensive

First used for e-mail on ARPAnet (the U.S. Department of Defense’s internet predecessor), TCP/IP gained traction in a single application in 1972. Because of “circuit switching,” connections between two persons or machines had to be re-established and maintained during an exchange before TCP/ IP was used as the underlying architecture. Telecom service providers and equipment manufacturers have spent billions on establishing dedicated lines to ensure that any two nodes may interact with each other. TCP/IP flipped the script on that model. Information was transferred via the new protocol in tiny packets, including address information that was digitized and broken apart. Packets launched into the network might take any path to their intended destination once they’re out in the wild. 6

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infrastructure were not required. TCP/IP developed an open, shared public network with no centralized authority or entity in charge of its upkeep and enhancement. One generation of firms used the low-cost connection to create internet services that were appealing replacements for established enterprises once the fundamental infrastructure had reached critical mass. CNET facilitated the dissemination of information over the internet. Compared to other bookshops, Amazon has a more fabulous selection of books for sale. Online travel

agencies like Priceline and Expedia have made it simpler than ever to book airline tickets. By offering low-cost ways for newcomers to achieve broad reach, conventional firms like newspapers and brick-and-mortar stores have been put under tremendous strain. The following generation of firms built innovative, game-changing applications that reshaped how organizations create and capture value by relying on widespread internet access. Their peer-to-peer design allowed them to coordinate scattered networks of users and create value. Consider how Napster revolutionized the music business, Skype altered telecoms, and Google changed web search by utilizing user-generated connections to deliver more relevant results. Think about how eBay changed online shopping through auctions.

Blockchain is already being used by businesses to track products as they move through various supply networks. With today’s internet-driven, platform-based business models, more than half of the world’s most valuable public businesses, our economy’s fundamental underpinnings have shifted. Economic leaders increasingly operate as “keystones,” proactively organizing, influencing, and coordinating vast networks of communities, users, and organizations.

Bitcoin- A new framework for adoption Bitcoin, a virtual currency without a central authority for producing cash, transferring ownership, or verifying transactions, was proposed in October 2008 with the New Architecture Blockchain as part of a peer-to-peer network on top of the internet. The first use of blockchain technology was in Bitcoin. TCP/IP and blockchain have a lot in common. In the same way that e-mail allowed for two-way communication, bitcoin allows for two-way financial transactions. Like TCP/IP, blockchain development and maintenance are open, distributed, and shared. A global community of volunteers maintains the core software. Like e-mail, bitcoin was initially adopted by a small but vibrant group of users.

A typical stock transaction, for example, can be completed in microseconds or less, frequently without the involvement of a human. 8

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The first use of blockchain technology was in Bitcoin.

The settlement, on the other hand—the transfer of stock ownership—can take up to a week. There is no way for the parties to automatically check whether or not the assets belong to one of them and maybe transferred. So instead, a chain of intermediaries acts as surety for support while the transaction’s records move through different organizations and ledgers. Several similar databases make up a blockchain system, and each one is managed and hosted by a different entity. When a modification is made to one copy, it affects all of the other copies simultaneously. As a result, all ledgers have permanent records of the value and assets traded during transactions. Verification and ownership transfer do not necessitate the involvement of third parties. A blockchain-based system would settle a stock transaction quickly, safely, and verifiably.

The Truth About Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin evolved in complexity, speed, and cost as its user base expanded. Most bitcoin transactions take around 10 minutes to validate, and the cost has been around $20 on average this year. Because of its erratic value, Bitcoin is now an unusable medium of trade for most people. If you have $10, you may purchase a beer one day and a nice wine the next with it.

It’s also been established that Bitcoin doesn’t provide complete anonymity. There have been increased concerns regarding the security of Bitcoin transactions following the government’s success in identifying and recovering some of the Bitcoin ransom paid to the hacking collective DarkSide during the Colonial Pipeline ransomware assault. Despite the fact that Bitcoin’s declared goals were not met, it has still turned into a speculative investment. This baffles me. In other words, it’s worthless on its own. The value of Bitcoin is derived from the fact that there are only a finite number of digital currencies in circulation (nearly 19 million have been created so far). However, scarcity cannot be a source of value on its own. To make money from a Bitcoin investment, all you need to do is locate someone who will buy the item at even a higher price.

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Orienting Your Blockchain Investment Strategy What role should leaders play in their firms when it comes to blockchain? Lets discuss about this.

Single-use applications are an excellent place to start for most people because they aren’t brand new and need little cooperation with other parties. Adding bitcoin as a payment method is one option. Adopting bitcoin would need blockchain capabilities in a wide range of areas, including IT, finance, accounting, and sales and marketing. Using blockchain internally as a database for asset management, documenting internal transactions, and authenticating identities is another low-risk method to using the ledger.

This may be an excellent option for firms with trouble bringing their many internal databases into harmony. Companies may learn the skills they need for sophisticated apps by using single-use applications first. Experimentation has never been more straightforward due to the advent of blockchain-based cloud services from start-ups and major platforms like Amazon and Microsoft. Transformational situations are the last to take off, but they are the most valuable. Largescale public identification systems, such as passport control, algorithmic decision-making to prevent money laundering, and complicated financial transactions involving numerous parties are two areas where they might have a significant influence. We believe it will be at least a decade, if not more before

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these applications gain widespread use and critical mass.

New platform-level actors will emerge from transformative apps, and these players will coordinate and manage the unique ecosystems they create. These are the future generation’s Googles and Facebooks. To take advantage of such possibilities, you’ll have to be patient. There is still value in creating the necessary foundations for them—tools and standards— even if investing heavily in them now would be premature. www.techfastly.com

Conclusion TCP/IP has undoubtedly paved the path for blockchain acceptance by serving as a blueprint. Taking advantage of the lower costs associated with experimenting, blockchain applications are being developed on top of TCP/IP, the ubiquitous digital data, communication, and computation infrastructure. We’ve created a methodology to help business leaders find out where to begin using blockchain capabilities in their organizations right away. Ensure that your employees learn about blockchain, build company-specific applications across the four quadrants we’ve defined, and invest in blockchain infrastructure. Given the time horizons, adoption obstacles, and sheer complexity of getting to TCP/IP levels of acceptability, CEOs should consider carefully the risks associated with blockchain experimentation. Naturally, starting small is an excellent approach to get the knowledge and experience needed to dream large. However, the investment amount should be determined by the company’s and industry’s specific circumstances.

Companies in the financial services sector are well on their way to adopting blockchain technology. It’s not in the manufacturing industry.

The NFT Craze in Cryptocurrency Wealth Opportunities for Creators and Collectors by Anju Nambiar

FT (Non-fungible tokens) have created quite the frenzy in the crypto world. Mainly because people want to know how to make big bucks out of it. More importantly, artists are rejoicing because they can unleash their creativity on digital art and auction it off for a big amount. They no longer have to wait for their canvas paintings to be physically sold at a gallery. Art has taken a digital route with NFTs. Creating wealth through NFTs is non-standardised as yet. It’s also a very novel and innovative method for wealth creation that has gotten stakeholders very excited.

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Works of art, video and audio clips, musical compositions, and even doodles qualify as NFT assets and can be sold.

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The Basics of NFT Trading ‘Non-fungible’ essentially means that the tokens cannot be exchanged for real dollar bills or any other currency. NFT is essentially a piece of digital asset that possesses artistic appeal and intrinsic value and is bought and sold in exchange for cryptocurrency. Social media users, developers, media reps, designers, creators, and basically anyone can buy and sell NFT. Works of art, video and audio clips, musical compositions, and even doodles qualify as NFT assets and can be sold. NFT marketplaces have sprung up at top speed in India including those by India’s top crypto exchanges like WazirX and Binance. Exchange of NFTs ride on the concept of universal tokenization.

Use Case of How NFTs Are A Massive Wealth Opportunity One of the very first NFTs to be launched, a portrait of Homer from the The Simpsons as Pepe the Frog was initially valued at $500. However, one year later, this NFT was sold at $38,000 to a buyer.

Everything You Need to Know About NFTs Although NFTs cannot be exchanged for real money, they are unique tokens. NFT tokens are encrypted. NFT technology was initially launched on smart contracts of the Ethereum cryptocurrency. NFTs are digital assets represented by code on a decentralized digital ledger (also called a ‘blockchain’). NFT can be bought and sold, just like physical assets. However, the blockchain enables and tracks the ownership and validity for them. NFT tokens are created on the Ethereum blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain allows the tokens to store information about the asset linked to it.

Trading in NFTs - Various Approaches

You can independently create tokens by digitizing your artwork and then selling it.

You can also receive/ purchase a ready-made NFT from a developer.

You can also win free giveaways or airdrops of a unique NFT.

Repercussions of the NFT craze: As with crypto trading or any other form of trading, the craze can eventually turn into a gamble. Chasing NFT tokens eventually becomes similar to a raffle draw. It’s important to stay safe online and protect your tokens from cyber criminals through end-to-end encryption.

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How Does NFT Exchange Work on Marketplaces? On popular NFT marketplaces, creators list their pieces for auction. Each of the items are available for ownership in exchange for cryptocurrency. You can also see the equivalent dollar value of the NFT. Bidders can place their bids for a particular NFT and the best bidder is transferred ownership.

The biggest brands including the likes of TikTok, Lakme, DC comics, are active in the NFT space.

Artists and Creators Can Create Wealth with NFT Digital Art Coders and creators as young as 12 are selling their NFT digital art for millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. Some of the pioneering NFT marketplaces in India like WazirX sees talented artists, photographers, and graphic designers auctioning their best work to collectors who are willing to exchange cryptos to take ownership of these digital assets.

Brands and Businesses Foraying into NFT The biggest brands including the likes of TikTok, Lakme, DC comics, are active in the NFT space. Also, the biggest personalities like celebrities, and even governments are minting NFT tokens. NFT sales have surpassed and skyrocketed all expectations with prestigious auction houses like Christies and Sotheby’s also benefiting from sales.

Benefits for Brands and Businesses From Investing in NFTs The main reason why big brands are choosing to invest in NFTs is to gain engagement and an audience with new-age talent. With hundreds of millions coming in from auctions, they are no doubt a massive wealth creation opportunity for creators and collectors within the NFT community. They also want to usher in a new generation of collectors as well as promote expansive and inclusive markets for art.

2 Governments are utilising the growing

crypto and NFT craze to promote national tourism.

The biggest brands in the fashion and design industry are venturing into NFTs to sell their work in the form of digital assets, something that’s still very novel to these industries. Also, it will mark the merger of fashion and technology and encourage designers and artisans to move ahead in the world of NFTs. It will also be a gamechanger for the industry as well as a way to tap into new segments with NFTs. Independent designers will benefit from the new, additional revenue stream that NFTs provide.

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Another big reason why brands and businesses are catching on to the trend is because crypto assets have value independent of market conditions. Size estimates for the NFT market vary. Sales on ‘NFT art’ at auction houses are considered ‘off-chain’ and are hence not a part of the data, but add to the size of the market.

5 Celebrities and investors are following

this trend which leaves no room for brands and businesses to stay out of it.

6 Since NFTs are such a novel way of

engagement, brands are going this way to unlock new ways of getting audiences to interact with their products and services. NFT giveaways are now the best way to attract audiences both online as well as for physical events. NFTs are thus part of the new-age marketing strategy for brands and businesses.

7 For any business, NFTs are an

opportunity to earn additional revenue outside their business. As an entrepreneur, smart wealth creation strategies are necessary and NFTs provide that channel

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to earn extra income outside the business. NFTs are a boon from the possibilities of the internet which businesses cannot afford to lose out on. NFTs are thus a modern wealthbuilding method for individuals, entrepreneurs, and brands.

8 Cryptocurrencies and NFTs are two

exciting wealth creation opportunities and passive income streams that almost anyone can venture into. You can build an

investment portfolio with NFTs that will pay off in the long-term. They are the newest in blockchain technology and the full-scale of opportunities they present are yet to come to light. NFTs are being used in multiple industries to certify authenticities which widen their scope in terms of the possibilities. Artists creating NFTs on marketplaces can use them to turn their passion into a full-time revenue source.

Conclusion The traditional methods for wealth creation including savings and real estate stay but the avenue for wealth building are continuously improving and expanding. Investing in NFTs provides a sense of instant gratification and have ignited excitement among the masses regarding the innovations around money. NFTs are a technological advancement that allows for transfer of value in a very freeing, and hassle-free manner. There’s also a subtle hint of culture around the ownership of certain NFTs which make them more appealing as an investment asset. With upcoming technological improvements in NFTs, we can expect a future where items of cultural significance have intrinsic value and provide an authentic wealth creation opportunity.

Market Actors

Who Shapes The Cryptocurrency Market? by Vibha Soni The leading market research company, IMARC, predicted that the global cryptocurrency market has already reached a value of $364.5 billion in 2020, and it would grow at a CAGR of 60.8% during 2021-2026. This single line is enough to rationalize the popularity of the cryptocurrency market.

Introduction Have you heard the word social collectives? According to Christian von Scheve, social collective could be defined as “It is a group of actors that affect and are affected by others or by a specific object or situation and eventually share a common situation-specific understanding of the self as part of a collective”. Social collectives have various social formations, and their actions, behaviours, and emotions impact any market. We can also refer to them as market actors as their actions affect the market. In other words, how different group of ordinary people and their activities shapes the market and economy. It also applies to the cryptocurrency market that ordinary people and their actions influence.

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Dr. Christoph Briedbach at the University of Queensland, Australia, researched the cryptocurrency market fluctuations. He found how people’s power has been shaping the future of financial service. The research gave specific names to groups of social collectives that shape the cryptocurrency market. These groups include Freshman, Fortune Hunter, Idealist, and Trailblazer. But, to understand how it is happening, the article will discuss market-shaping, the roles of each actor, and how they are impacting the cryptocurrency market.

Regarding the cryptocurrency market, various market-shaping strategies lead to the growth/loss of the market. All these strategies enable the market actors to assist in analyzing the stability or instability of this market. In this case, these actors are people who invest in cryptocurrencies. Without investment in any business, there will be no business growth.

Relation between Market Shaping and Market Actors We are aware that the cryptocurrency market is high risk and high reward market, and the market is growing every day. According to an Allied Market Research study, the global cryptocurrency market will reach $4.94 billion by 2030, only $1.49 billion in 2020. This means it is growing with a CACG of 12.8% from 2021 to 2030. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin market, has risen above $50,000 in September this year. Not only developed countries but developing counties also found drastic changes in the adoption of cryptocurrency. According to the Economic Times, the Indian cryptocurrency market has become the world’s fastest-growing crypto region and is growing at 641%. The larger business organization are investing in the Indian cryptocurrency market. A similar growth rate has been identified in other Asian and European countries. Regardless of the market type, any exchange and practice play a critical role in shaping the market. Understanding that market shaping is always the first requirement for an organization. Market shaping reveals the truth, complexities, and facts about the market. Market disruption, market reduction, market widening, and market maintenance are standard market-shaping strategies to understand market stability and get output. These strategies have many activities that enable the market actors to get a specific market outcome.

Four Market Actors The market actors are not factors or conditions, but they are actual human beings who have an interest in cryptocurrency. The researchers have already termed it “social collectives” because human beings establish a society, and the activities and decisions of human beings directly impact the community. In the same way, the people belonging to the cryptocurrency market impact all factors, including pricing, demand, standards, and rules.

1 FRESHMAN

The first category of the market actor is those who do not know the details of the cryptocurrency market but are keen to learn it. As per the name of “freshman”, these people are freshers and new in the industry. These people could be individuals, the general public, or retired people who want to spend some time learning about the interesting cryptocurrency market. This is the largest group that is trying to acquire knowledge from available resources and communities.

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2 FORTUNE HUNTER The second category of the market actor is those who know cryptocurrency and are looking for investment to get high cash returns. The hunter word suits these people as they like hunting and take the risk to get maximum profits. They keep trading knowledge, initial coin offerings, decentralization concept of blockchain, and other relevant taxation factors. But, they have only one aim to get monetary benefits from the cryptocurrency.

3 IDEALIST

The third category of the market actor is those people who are seeing themselves as cryptocurrency market consultants. These people do not want to earn but wish to teach others using their knowledge. That’s why they are called an idealist. These people could be IT professionals, researchers, students, and experts who enjoy researching and exploring the technology and become experts. They do not aim for monetary benefits.

These people could be IT professionals, researchers, students, and experts who enjoy exploring the technology and become experts. 24

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4 TRAILBLAZER

The last and fourth category of the market group is a narrow group of people already trading cryptocurrency. These people could be called thought leaders who have deep knowledge about cryptocurrency. They have two aims, including monetary benefits and supporting the community by sharing their knowledge. That’s why it is also known as the combo of fortune hunters and idealists.

Big Indian players like CoinDCX, WazirX, Zebpay have already declared that their companies are looking for people who have passion and intrigue about cryptocurrency.

The Techtelegraph also interviewed the researcher of these market actors and highlighted how it impacts and raises the bitcoin pricing. All these groups must have one common trait: a passion for cryptocurrency. The companies working in this market were looking for both freshers and experienced.

How Their Actions Shape The Cryptocurrency Market? We have already discussed the four market actors. These are individuals who are building different types of communities to shape the cryptocurrency market. All these actors perform specific actions to bring out changes in the market, but what are those actions and how they are affecting the market trends and pricing of cryptocurrency. These actions include creating an ideal market, sharing knowledge, finding resources, determining standards or codes of ethics. It is a fact that all these actions are common in any business market.

The four groups also follow the same principles and take these actions to shape the cryptocurrency market. For instance, a fresher always try to locate resources and share their knowledge after learning it. In the same way, when a freshman learns from the authentic resources and expert groups, they try to share it. For example, learning from the internet resources (webinar, podcast, interview, or web research) and sharing the information about cryptocurrency apps and trading sites and how it works could be considered actions. These actions would increase awareness

about the cryptocurrency, which will directly impact the market. Indoctrination is another action that impacts the market. This word dictates: accept something (beliefs/system/rule) without knowing it or questioning. Assuming something without rationalizing also influences the market. It mostly happens in the uncertain market of cryptocurrency. Most of the time, fortune hunters take this action and enforce someone for trading. We can say that traders, miners, or investors are doing these things to acquire financial gains quickly. Except for freshmen, all three groups and their people share their knowledge, rules, and norms required for trading. Sometimes, they also develop the regulations and standards related to trading. By doing these, they try to increase the market efficiency for exchange. In this way, simple actions of individuals are affecting the market directly and indirectly.

Final Thoughts Digital currency trends, smooth business operations, demand for data security in electronic transactions, transparency in finance operations, and remittances are common factors driving the cryptocurrency market. Although, this high-risk market is limited to banking and financial organizations. Lack of awareness, guidance and expensive implementation costs cannot attract small ventures in the cryptocurrency market. Accurate information and strategic investment can only help people to understand the lucrative opportunity of future investment. These people’s behaviour and actions are only affecting the cryptocurrency market. Besides, the availability of free trading apps and digital transactions are also encouraging people to explore this highrisk -high return share market. These people’s curiosity is one major contributor to shaping the cryptocurrency market. So, with calculated risks, you can also become part of any of these groups and assist in market shaping.

VITAL FACTORS THAT DETERMINE

Cryptocurrency’s Volatility by Saipriya Iyer

urrency as a medium of monetary exchange has undergone a plethora of changes for centuries. Ranging from coins to notes and now digital money, the concept has been through quite a transformation. The latest on this radar is cryptocurrency. Although crypto has been going around for a while now, it’s only in recent times that it has become a buzzword. A cryptocurrency, in essence, is a virtual form of currency that people use to purchase goods and services. It deploys an online ledger embedded with strong cryptography to ensure that transactions conducted online remain safe and secure. Pretty much a major part of the interest in these unregulated currencies is used for trading.

According to popular market research firm CoinMarketCap.com, over 10,000 different cryptocurrencies are traded publicly.

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Cryptocurrency – An Introduction

As mentioned, cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency – a kind of payment that one can exchange online for goods. Many firms have issued their own currencies. These are called tokens, and they can be traded for the goods or services the company in question provides. This may sound very much like exchanging tokens for a ride at the arcade or obtaining chips for gambling operations at casinos. You have to note that you do need real, viable currency to exchange for the cryptocurrency so as to purchase the goods. The concept functions by means of blockchain – a decentralized, highly secured technology that records crypto transactions. A blockchain is basically a public digital ledger that records transaction information and enables a secure way for people to deal with each other, sans the interference of a third party. This list of transaction records or blocks is connected using cryptography. Data once recorded cannot be changed.

You have to note that you do need real, viable currency to exchange for the cryptocurrency so as to purchase the goods.

Why Do Cryptocurrency Prices Change? Cryptocurrency is quite volatile, and the price of coins can increase or decrease unpredictably. Enlisted below are a few plausible reasons for sudden price fluctuations:

INVESTORS LOCKING PROFITS

When the prices of coins rise for a consistent period, investors may decide to start selling them. If many of them sell at the same time and lock in their profits, the price of the coil may drop dramatically.

PERIODIC UPGRADES

Coins undergo periodic upgrades, such as a coin burn or a crypto fork. When this happens, prices may fluctuate, as the introduction of new features or similar impacts the confidence level that affects the coin price.

CHANGE OF SUPPLY & DEMAND

This is one of the most popular reasons for price change. In layman parlance, it’s referred to as ‘market manipulation’. Sometimes, when wealthy investors purchase or sell too many coins at once, there is a considerable alteration in the supply and demand dynamics. If less-priced coins are bought together, for instance, there would be a considerable change in the overall price.

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NEWS

Cryptocurrency-related announcements on social media or online communities can have a considerable impact on the demand for coins. The announcements may pertain to new crypto initiatives, alliances, or team members. The reception of such news by the community can have a far-reaching impact on coin prices.

HACKING

Despite blockchain being highly secure, hackers are still likely to compromise the system, which may lead to a fall in the currency.

RUMOR MILLS

Rumors can majorly affect coin prices. Before a project team decides to make an official announcement, there are always rumors about what it entails. In consequence, people try to buy and sell based on these rumors, which may lead to the final price being either overwhelming or underwhelming.

In April 2021, Bitcoin hit USD 65,000 and fell rapidly in May, while in recent weeks it has picked pace and is valued at around USD 45000.

FACTORS

Impacting Cryptocurrency Prices

1 2

SUPPLY & DEMAND Cryptocurrency prices are driven by how available they are. So the more it is available, the lesser its price. In contrast, the lower the supply, the higher the demand, and consequently, the higher the price. The demand for a particular cryptocurrency depends a great deal on its popularity. Bitcoin, for example, is one of the most commonly known cryptocurrencies, yet, it has had volatile price fluctuations. In April 2021, Bitcoin hit USD 65,000 and fell rapidly in May, while in recent weeks it has picked pace and is valued at around USD 45000.

MINING DIFFICULTIES Miners form a crucial part of determining cryptocurrency prices as they help verify transactions and create a secure network. If a cryptocurrency depicts difficulties when mining and consequently costs miners more, it disincentivizes miners to verify transactions. If miners are not a part of the process, the cryptocurrency is viewed as having lesser value as it holds less security. This encourages investors to set a lower price for the cryptocurrency to compensate for their loss or the increased risk. Thus, the more the mining difficulties, the lesser the demand and lower the prices.

FIAT CURRENCY INFLATION During inflation, the valuation of fiat currency increases, and its buying power is reduced. This consequently impacts the price set for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. For instance, if the valuation of a fiat currency reduces, the price of Bitcoin is likely to soar with respect to that currency. The reason for this is that you will be able to get more of that currency with Bitcoins. Political and economic events are likely to push investors to lose their faith in fiat currency, which encourages them to turn to cryptocurrencies, further pushing up their prices.

MASS ADOPTION Cryptocurrency has become a viable means of investment for many people due to the blockchain. As more and more people begin to adopt cryptocurrencies, their prices are liable to be set at a higher figure. Increasing public interest leads to higher demand, raising the price of crypto coins. As long as cryptocurrency applications are subject to a suitable scaling of some sort, people are liable to depict consistent interest. As the application of crypto coins and recognition of the same becomes more commonplace, not to mention, the ease in the regulatory scenario, it will open up new streams of investments, triggering the public to adopt cryptocurrency and consequently raising its value.

SCAMS Cyberattacks and scams cause massive changes in cryptocurrency prices. Sometimes, even the team supporting a cryptocurrency may act as the scamming party – the latter increases the price to get more people to invest; once they do, the scammers reduce the prices. These types of scams make this market even more volatile. When a new coin is subjected to scandal, it can be potentially derailing for the crypto exchange. As soon as it is known to be a scam, a kind of domino effect can occur; that is to say, its price quickly comes down – faster than ever in fact, as traders want to take home the profits they have already made. This kind of event does not just impact one cryptocurrency, but many like it. For example, a reduction in the value of Bitcoin can impact the entire cryptocurrency market.

NEWS RELATED TO THE MARKET News can severely impact cryptocurrency prices. How one reports a piece of news majorly affects investors, who then decide to either pour in their coffers or withdraw from the race, depending on the news. Say for instance, if the media reports news about a crypto exchange scam, investors are likely to pull off their money from the exchange real quick. On the other hand, if the news pertains to a coin’s rising adoption, prices will see a major increase. The impact of media frenzy and how it affects cryptocurrency prices is evident from several reallife instances. Take the instance of the ICO ban by China in September 2017. There was so much panic regarding the situation that the price of bitcoin fell from USD 5000 to USD 3000. In yet another instance, in early 2018, the price of bitcoins and altcoins fell further, due to the hostility in the exchanges between South Korean and Chinese authorities. On the other hand, NEO observed a rise due to the impact of positive coverage in China.

FEAR FACTOR Manipulating the public through fear is a clever tactic to impact prices. Major market leaders leverage FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and FOMO (fear of missed opportunity) to control price rates. Ambiguity and fear usually lead to cryptocurrency prices skyrocketing. By leveraging the fear factor in the public, wealthy investors are able to swing the prices of cryptocurrencies. This forms the mood of the majority, which is able to encourage people to buy or sell their assets impulsively. In the case of cryptocurrency, the fear factor can impact rather quickly, since the field is quite new to many people. With time, public sentiment may begin to have less of an impact as the market matures. However, presently, cryptocurrency prices have a huge chance of fluctuating due to the fear and uncertainly ingrained among the masses. 36

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COIN UTILITY The usefulness of a coin is a major factor impacting cryptocurrency prices. Digital coins that have no practical use are seen as devalued currency. That’s why it’s vital to use the coins to buy something in the exchange. If utility is zero, the price of that coin will witness subsequent ramifications. With regards to usefulness, another point to be taken into consideration is the extent of utility. There are, after all, numerous cryptocurrencies in the market today; many of them have very little value, solely for the reason that they are not unique; they do not bring anything different to the public. A significant number of them are merely duplicates of the popular bitcoin. The lack of a unique utility consequently reduces the market value of the cryptocurrency and its price deteriorates rapidly.

ECONOMIC PARAMETERS Economic factors such as devaluation and inflation have a massive impact on fiat currency, leading to shaky financial stability worldwide. This leads to people looking for alternative investment methods, involving cryptocurrencies. Although cryptocurrencies are popular, they are still not a centralized or nonvolatile mode of monetary transactions. This makes it difficult to be considered as a reliable means in the economic system. Unlike conventional financing, cryptocurrencies are not conservative in the way they function. For years, the conventional fiat system has remained the same in its approach – restrictions in conditions, centralized management, issues in micro-transactions, etc. Although the advent of new technologies can simplify certain internal structures, the basic principles still remain the same. Unlike the traditional approach though, cryptocurrencies have the ability to transform the economic system.

Cryptocurrencies have the ability to transform the economic system.

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SECURITY PROBLEMS AND BANKRUPTCY Although blockchain helps secure crypto transactions, security problems still persist and can be one of the major factors influencing cryptocurrency prices. Closure of crypto exchanges and system breakdowns on wallet platforms may lead to holders losing millions of funds, leading to a market collapse. Even if such events occur with a single exchange, they trigger off a chain reaction that can disrupt the entire market. The cryptocurrency industry runs across numerous exchanges, platforms, and wallets. A violation in code or operations even in any one of the systems may lead to a slight disturbance in the overall ecosystem. www.techfastly.com

TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS

SPECULATION Speculation can either pull up the price of a product or destroy it completely. This is more of a may-or-may-not happen situation. Speculation can cause wealthy investors to invest millions and sell off instantly, raising the overall coin price or deflating it, leading to a huge imbalance. As per observation, cryptocurrencies having small trading volumes are subject to speculation the most. A lot of speculative investors hope to make money out of cryptocurrencies, and may accordingly buy and sell quickly, causing a profound impact on the market.

Increasing technological progress may have a mixed consequence on cryptocurrency prices. The introduction of new platforms and the requirement for anonymous, faster, and secure transactions may cause crypto prices to rise significantly. Not only will technological advancements make it easier and faster for users, but will make the business more transparent and efficient as well. However, technological improvements may have a negative impact on crypto prices, depending on the existing market situation. As technologies pertaining to cryptocurrency become more developed and sophisticated, hacking methodologies are also on the rise, leading to more and more adverse events.

Technological improvements may have a negative impact on crypto prices, depending on the existing market situation.

There are plenty of new entrants in the cryptocurrency market. The advent of new, advanced technologies in the market usually impacts the demand for older ones. So far, bitcoin has been a leader in the industry. However, it does have a rigid protocol and if that is not dealt with sooner or later, the network may reach a critical point. This will lead to individual cryptocurrencies taking center stage.

The presence of a stringent regulatory spectrum and its changing norms majorly impact cryptocurrency prices. Changes in regulation and corresponding announcements can raise or reduce crypto valuations. For example, in April 2017, Japan announced the legalization of bitcoin which led to a 3% rise in the bitcoin value in a day, hitting USD 1,130.

INTERNAL COMPETITION

Say, for instance, there are already many alternatives to Ethereum that not only provide solid platforms for blockchain projects but also provide scaling opportunities. The more these appear by the day, the more internal competition there will be, leading to massively fluctuating prices.

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REGULATION

The change in a political regulatory framework can deliver a crushing blow to the cryptocurrency market. Say, for instance, the ban on crypto mining in China. Ideally, the mining sector in this country has a huge share in the total number of pools. This means that quite an amount of capital is concentrated here, but due to the restrictions in regulations, this has led to considerable market imbalance and stagnancy in the regional cryptocurrency industry. www.techfastly.com

How Do Changing Crypto Prices Impact The Global Market? Cryptocurrencies have a global appeal. Although they are more commonly used in the U.S. and certain other developed nations, they are slowly cropping up to be a vital investment avenue across other countries worldwide as well. Fluctuating cryptocurrency prices will thus impact the investment portfolio of all the people buying crypto coins. At the end of the day, there is a dependency on fiat currency to buy crypto coins, and fluctuations in global economic stability will impact the cryptocurrency market as well, which in turn will affect conservative investment methods, creating a never-ending vicious cycle. Despite their popularity, the response to cryptocurrency as a payment medium has been a little less than cold. Some organizations worldwide are supportive; the majority, however, including central banks, treads on eggshells around cryptocurrency, given the extremely volatile nature of the market. There have also been issues with tax evasion and similar problems that have led to concern regarding their mainstream adoption. Experts opine that changes in cryptocurrency prices may have a massive effect on the wider market, like how mortgage-backed securities lead to an economic downturn.

MAKING

Defi and NFT Platforms MORE SECURE

In Conversation with

PREETAM RAO Co-founder & CEO QuillHash Technologies

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ABOUT QUILLHASH QuillHash is a blockchain studio based in India and leads the adoption of blockchain technology worldwide. It offers private and public blockchain platform solutions, blockchain security audits, smart contracts development, and tokenization solutions.

ABOUT PREETAM Preetam Rao is the co-founder & CEO of QuillHash technologies, one of the leading blockchain development & consulting company. He has extensively worked on cutting-edge blockchain projects worldwide. He has previously worked with Times Group, one of the largest media groups in India.

Could you tell us about QuillHash? What exactly do you have to offer?

QuillHash is an emerging leader in the adoption of blockchain technology globally. We explore and build products based on disruptive technologies such as Blockchain, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things. We help scale traditional businesses become more efficient, streamlined, creative and innovative by assisting them in realizing the potential of the latest technologies.

How did your journey begin? How important is it to have a strong team during the initial days?

My journey began five years ago when I came across a Bitcoin whitepaper and got fascinated by the idea of decentralized disruption. After that, I decided to quit my job and started working full time on this, thus began QuillHash. Teamwork is an essential component that helps solve problems. Collaboration & brainstorming within a group can help solve challenging problems and provide the team with creative ways of handling issues and come up with solutions.

What are the ways in which businesses could utilize cryptocurrencies apart from payment methods?

Apart from being a highly efficient means of payment, cryptocurrencies can also be used to - safely store values for lending and borrowing and asset tokenization in the form of NFTs. In the gaming industry, it also paved the way for decentralized storage created through the use of blockchain. In such a system, anyone can rent out their free storage space using cryptocurrencies.

Can you share your thoughts on how decentralized finance will transform mainstream finance?

DeFi, as a radically decentralized technology, has a great disruptive potential, hampered in the short term by technical limitations and lack of understanding. Transaction banking based on DeFi boosts the existing trend where services are automatized, financial management relies more on technology, workflow management, and risk arbitrage for credit opportunities. DeFi does value addition in terms of permissionless access with a huge emphasis on interoperability.

Using decentralized technology, you launched QuillTrace in the times of Covid for patient tracking. How did it work?

The proposed blockchain solution was designed to accommodate three different stakeholder perspectives — Patients, Hospitals, and Government. Essentially, they all are looking and generating insights from the same data, often called a single source of truth. FOR PATIENTS: Patients can use it to monitor home quarantine. It can also be extended to self-report symptoms to the nearest hospitals/government authorities. FOR HOSPITALS/DOCTORS: Hospitals can use it to monitor patients admitted for facility quarantine. FOR GOVERNMENT: Governments can use the data updated by individual patients under home quarantine or the hospitals conducting facility-based quarantines.

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Taking steps toward decentralization can produce major results when a company opts for the right level of decentralization to carry out its operations.

One of the major advantages of fractionalizing an NFT is to maintain asset liquidity.

Do you assist organizations while switching to a decentralized network? How?

I assist organizations stepping into decentralized markets to make quick decisions & to overcome- implementational changes.

Fractionalized NFTs are becoming more common in the crypto world. What are the problems/ advantages of owning FNFTs?

With NFTs being sold at huge prices, digital assets have become of high value now. The

According to reports, 25% of businesses are estimated to have been victims of cryptojacking. Can you share some measures to protect their crypto assets?

Although it’s laborious to find out when your computer system has been compromised by cryptojacking, still here are some preventative measures you can take to protect your computer and networking systems and your own crypto-assets: • Your IT team should be trained to understand and detect cryptojacking. • Employees should also be familiar with cybersecurity, and they should avoid clicking on links in emails that can execute cryptojacking code. • Use Anti-Crypto Mining Extensions • Use Ad-Blockers • Disable JavaScript

Employees should avoid clicking on links in emails that can execute cryptojacking code. 46

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disadvantage of this is that - as prices keep soaring, sales tend to slow, and gradually the market becomes illiquid. Fractionalization could help overcome this by allowing investors with less capital to stake partial ownership of some of the items with high value.

On the other hand, fractionalization starts to raise a number of questions, such as people who are participating in the purchase through fractionalization ultimately functioning like an ‘investment syndicate’ where they’re expecting a return on their investment The concern is that NFTs are high-risk assets. F-NFTs are tokens based on those high-risk assets, making them even more volatile.

QuillAudits was recently named as the top 3 auditors of DeFi audits by DefiYield Apps. Can you talk a bit about the audits?

When we started to audit smart contracts, the numbers of audits concluded were in single digit for the first few months. But gradually, we have gained momentum, and at present, we

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have completed more than 300 smart contract audits and secured $15B. In the last few years, we have successfully built authenticity and trust for our diversified portfolio of clients worldwide. In our journey, we have gained our clients’ trust and have partnered with various renowned platforms and launchpads such as Unicrypt, Pathfund, Kross Chain, and more.

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Many claims that crypto will gradually take over the world and replace fiat currency. What do you think?

I believe that digital assets would be a strong alternative to replace fiat in the next five to ten years. In fact, in a recent survey by Deloitte, various participating stakeholders see a positive

benefit to their businesses from a range of assets -such as stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs; algorithmderived stablecoins; and enterprise-controlled coins.

Also, a recent survey by crypto experts with 54% penalists agreeing to “hyperbitcoinization” — the moment that Bitcoin overtakes global finance — will happen by 2050.

Could you tell us something about your future goals?

In the near future, we will be focusing more on QuillAudits. We are planning to launch more features so that clients can easily manage their smart contracts. They go through proper smart contract analytics and set the monitoring alerts for any suspicious transactions so that it will be a full-fledged cybersecurity sort of solution for the blockchain products.

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What are the major challenges you face and what are the possible solutions?

When you are working in such a dynamic industry & thriving to make things better, challenges become a part of your routine. As this industry is still in its nascent phase, sometimes we find it hard to onboard experienced & competitive blockchain developers and smart contract auditors.

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When you’re working on critical projects where valuations over millions are at stake, we cannot afford to compromise with any of the parameters associated with the project. Hence, we follow a very rigid process to hire blockchain developers as well as smart contract auditors. Apart from that, we keep our team abreast with the latest happenings around the blockchain so that they can incorporate those findings while carrying out smart contract audits.

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Bitcoin ATM’s

by Barkha Seth

Making buying BTC & other digital currencies easier for the mainstream Revolutionary innovation constantly expands possibilities. They spawn new business models while simultaneously touching and influencing the lives of millions. For instance, the internet facilitated e-commerce. The smartphone and GPS made ride-sharing a reality. Similarly, advancements in batteries gave way to electric-powered vehicles. Bitcoin, the first of the digital currencies, is no different. The range of merchants that accept it is small but growing; look for the telltale ₿ symbol at the cash register.

Entrepreneurial Bitcoiners are working to make it much easier to use the currency, building everything from point-of-service machines, a.k.a the Bitcoin ATM to even coming up with PayPal alternatives. For crypto evangelists, the dream is finally coming true. A recent trip to downtown Toronto showed how much cryptocurrencies and their many offerings had finally proliferated everyday lives. From small mom & pop shops, displaying neon boards of ‘Ethereum Sold Here’ to finding a Bitcoin ATM emphatically tucked away in the corner of a mainstream café, right beside – mind you – a conventional ATM. The going hasn’t been easy for Bitcoin. After a relative slumber over the past years, the pandemic infused furore in the stock market saw Bitcoin rapidly rise to its highest levels. And like much of what goes up, it’s also seen a bit of a tumble in recent days. But one thing is for sure; digital currencies seem to be here to stay (for the near future), and with it stays all its bells and whistles.

Bitcoin ATM’s So, where exactly does the Bitcoin ATM fit in? With widespread interest in Bitcoin over the recent years, companies hope that these ATM’s can make purchasing and withdrawing digital currency a whole lot easier. The world’s first Bitcoin ATM was installed at a Vancouver, Canada, coffee shop owned by Waves Coffee House in October 2013. 54

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Almost 29,000 crypto ATMs have already been installed, according to CoinATMRadar

The ATM was manufactured by Las Vegasbased Robocoin and supplied by Bitcoiniacs. Customers could insert cash into the ATM and receive Bitcoins or convert Bitcoins to cash, with currency conversion taking place through a Canadian Bitcoin exchange. Since then, almost 29,000 crypto ATMs have already been installed, according to CoinATMRadar, of which the lions share are located in the USA and Canada. The rapid expansion of the ATM’s is oft based on one critical argument – ATM’s give quick access to crypto vs an exchange. For Bitcoin or any similar currency to be accepted as an alternative to traditional paper money, Bitcoin ATM could be the most convenient distribution channel available to consumers. In May 2021, an article in Newsweek revealed that about 46 million Americans now own at least a share of Bitcoin – that equals about 17% of the adult population. With the hype generated in the recent months by influential names like Elon Musk and Twitters Jack Dorsey, it might be safe to say that these numbers are only set to increase. However, the ambiguity or the perceived difficulty of opening a digital wallet and converting physical money into digital currency has left the majority of baby boomers and millennials on the fence about its adoption. That’s the gap major providers are looking to fill with the hopes that many people looking to get started with crypto value the tactile element of a physical machine, such as an

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ATM. Aiming at the group of unbanked and underbanked, major ATM vendors try to make the crypto ATM the most straightforward way of purchasing crypto. With no waiting times for verification, ATM’s let you have your share of Bitcoin even before you reach your parked vehicles. Broadly speaking – everyone understands an ATM and crypto ATMs are not too unique of a concept.

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Understanding Bitcoin ATMs Yes, the use of the acronym “ATM” might be a contradiction. If it wasn’t already evident, Bitcoin ATM’s help, you buy and sell cryptocurrency. But, the machines don’t actually dispense physical cash. Instead, they are kiosks that connect to the Bitcoin network and allow customers to purchase crypto tokens with deposited money. Digital currency buyers need to scan a quick response (QR) code corresponding to their digital wallet address, much like an account number. Purchased coins are transferred to the wallet in a matter of seconds. For first time buyers, especially those without a wallet, a new one can easily be generated. After the purchase, a record of the Bitcoin gets created.

The online ledger is also formed, and the digital currency proceeds to appear in the customer’s wallet. The two types of Bitcoin ATM’s are

ONE-WAY

TWO-WAY

Termed as fiat to crypto - Fiat money is legal tender whose value is tied to a government-issued currency. These machines help users exchange cash by using your bank card, for Bitcoin

These don’t just allow you to purchase Bitcoin, but it also helps ‘Cash-Out’ your existing digital currency

BITCOIN ATMS

For novice users, these ATM’s provide an ideal touchpoint into the web of crypto. Using the traditional bank card or cash unlocks access to an expanding world of digital currencies. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender paving the way for 200 ATM’s across the country to do the heavy hauling. Miami, too recently announced its plan to pay government workers in Bitcoin. NFL has brokered deals with some of its star players in Bitcoin, and who can forget NFT’s and the unconventional marketplace for digital art.

Miami recently announced its plan to pay government workers in Bitcoin. 58

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Breaking Down Banking Barriers This increase in adoption demonstrates the advancement of digital payments. Could this be the transition to real-world financial models that crypto enthusiasts were hoping for? Perhaps. Ideologically speaking, cryptocurrency ATMs are an ideal stepping point to solving one of the world’s biggest problems - banking barriers. A 2017 study by World Bank showed that approximately 1.7 billion people worldwide and roughly 56% of adults in the developing world don’t have a bank account. Yes, the study is a

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bit old, but how far could we have come? Did the pandemic serve to accelerate an already prevalent condition? Now here is another interesting fact. Many of these unbanked folks do have a cell phone, which allows them to have a digital wallet to store cryptocurrencies. Crypto ATM vendors are actively looking to target this section of society. The concept of Bitcoin ATMs is pioneering in itself. Taking it a step further to help break down traditional banking barriers is what the original creators of Bitcoin hoped would one day happen. The increased worldwide use would reduce the dependence on centralised banks and give way to currencies like Bitcoin, which can be instantly managed via an internet connection in any part of the world. From there,

cryptocurrency ATM models enter the scene, with crypto holders using their digital assets to cash out and convert to physical currency when needed. Of course, much like anything around us, there is always a flip side. The risk of hacks and digital thefts is already on the rise. KYC (Know Your Customer) compliance, created initially by banks to put a dent in money laundering, is still unavailable, giving way to a darker use of the currency. And we can put up the climate change impact of Bitcoin mining for a later discussion. Yes, the future of Bitcoin and its ATM’s seems to shimmer with possibility. But, for now, my grocery store only accepts debit or a credit cards. So most certainly, serious adoption is still a while away.

Automated Trading and AI in Crypto Market by Ragini Agarwal In today’s world, cryptocurrencies have become the most fascinating buzzword. Digital currency, which has drastically gained popularity and has expanded to a greater extent. It has become a highly effective financial medium, capable of yielding enormous profits on cryptocurrency exchanges or while investing in these assets over time.

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Brokers with coding abilities and programming expertise can build their crypto robots or improve their existing ‘Expert Advisors’ to make sophisticated coin trading more efficient. There is now an exact increase in consumer rates in digital money transactions, and it isn’t difficult to identify a solid pattern and benefit greatly from this value growth. Automation has now deepened its roots in almost every aspect of human life and a fastgrowing industry like the crypto market, the potential to automate the trading interaction is more appealing.

But, the question is how AI can be used in the crypto market? Brokers with coding abilities and programming expertise can build their crypto robots or improve their existing ‘Expert Advisors’ to make sophisticated coin trading more efficient. The robot will exchange cryptographic resources on its own, providing its owner with a great profit. Despite this, there is a major danger that newbies and unskilled crypto-merchants are mostly ignoring for unknown reasons. Hundreds of trading instrument calculations are now frequently available on the Internet, with little concern for their real quality. It’s not easy to make a mistake in their settings or to immediately start a wasteful bot. As a result, the business will close quickly. As a result,

crypto robots should be approached with caution, and various tests on trial accounts should be carried out. It’s critical to be vigilant and choose a trading consultant intelligently when it comes to crypto-trading. Otherwise, you risk taking up a viral miner and losing money. Traditional financial markets are being aggressively examined using machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, some businesses have been forced to close owing to issues that we will investigate further. As a result, similar technology may be employed in the crypto-trading space. What are the differences in telecommunications between using ME (mathematical expectations) and AI (artificial intelligence)? The tremendous volatility of cryptocurrencies increases the risks of cryptocurrency trading while simultaneously making it more profitable than any other kind of investment. Prices change often throughout the day, allowing traders to earn steady profits provided they are properly estimated. Massive amounts of data must be analyzed to evaluate the patterns of the always-changing cryptocurrency market, which artificial intelligence and machine learning systems can help with. 61

The Main Advantages of AI and ML ABILITY TO ANALYZE LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA

Artificial intelligence is currently being utilized to manage billions of dollars in traditional assets like stocks and bonds. Though the use of ME and AI is not that widespread, it is expected that the use of these technologies in the crypto market will gain new heights in the future.

LEARNING ABILITY

HIGH WORK SPEED

ACCURACY

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Forecasting The Cryptocurrency Market Using AI Augur’s decentralized technology for creating peer-to-peer prediction markets is based on the expertise of its network members. It does, however, allow it to make quite accurate bitcoin projections. The Forecast Foundation, a non-profit organization, established Augur to make public forecasting more accessible. In contrast, the NeuroBot platform is based on the work of neural networks rather than human experience. With their help, it creates projections about the behavior of the bitcoin market. The system monitors and compares currency rate fluctuations, as well as forecasting future changes. The inventors of NeuroBot claim that their technology can appropriately assess changes 90% of the time. By combining technical and basic analysis, the system’s creators hope to enhance it. Such platforms can make life much easier for rookie cryptocurrency traders who haven’t yet had the chance to learn everything there is to know. Of course, prognostic systems can’t predict everything, but they can handle the vast bulk of technical market research and do it with remarkable precision.

Market Sentiment Finding Parties To Analysis Using AI Make Deals The examination of a huge quantity of data is required to calculate the sentiment of the bitcoin market. This holds for articles, blogs, forums, and even the comments left beneath them. Senno, a blockchain-based artificial intelligence platform does the analysis automatically and responds quickly. The system also employs machine learning in its operation. Senno has also partnered with CryptoScanner, a platform that utilizes artificial intelligence to anticipate market sentiment and then shares the results with traders to help them create trading strategies.

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One of the concerns is the lack of liquidity in the bitcoin market. Digital currencies are inappropriate for business payments due to their extreme volatility. Exchanges and banks often compensate for the supply-demand imbalance by charging high fees. To address the issue, platforms such as TradeConnect, which uses machine-learning technology, are being used. It uses a side-matching system to help consumers choose the right broker and bank for them, allowing them to trade directly and save money. Individual companies specialize in developing artificial intelligence solutions for the bitcoin sector. The Money Token team, for example, created Amanda, an AI assistant who will lend to bitcoin users. From the time the loan is applied for until it is fully repaid, the virtual assistant will be able to offer loans against bitcoin collateral and provide complete support.

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Security When Using Crypto Bots You must be cautious when entrusting someone with the API keys to your exchanges. Only trustworthy services are worthy of this distinction. After all, an API key is a form of permission that allows you to access your account, including trading and fund withdrawals. The fact that any bot needs the API to work isn’t a sign of deception.Give any platform a careful investigation before you start working with it. Always use two-factor authentication to limit account access.

Always use two-factor authentication to limit account access.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Using a Crypto Bot ADVANTAGES OF CRYPTO BOTS

ROUND-THECLOCK TRADING A bot never gets tired or bored of doing the same task 100s of times.

ABSENCE OF HUMAN FACTOR It might happen sometimes that people make mistakes in performing certain operations like that of entering details into a system.

QUICK SOLUTION Quick solution or execution of an operation according to the set of instructions provided.

CONVENIENT Convenient diversification and risk-sharing.

DISADVANTAGES OF CRYPTO BOTS BOTS HAVING DEGRADED PERFORMANCE AND INEFFECTIVE STRATEGIES. Using such strategies can be a big loss to newbie users.

REGULAR MONITORING

LOW QUALITY BOTS

The bot irrespective of its work efficiency has to be monitored and updated regularly and thereby adjusted according to the function.

There are bots with lowquality software. Before choosing software for these purposes one must find out a source that is 100% authentic.

Advantages of Automated Cryptocurrency Trading During its heyday, Mt-Gox, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, made significant use of a specialized crypto robot known as Willy to manipulate the value of Bitcoin units. This bitcoin trading bot was the first to raise and then lower Bitcoin values. This happened between 2012 and 2014, when the bitcoin market, as well as all other forms of decentralized money, were largely obscure and disliked. Naturally, the current state of the crypto industry has ruled out the use of bots to influence the price of decentralized coins in this way. The bulk of robots are used to automate exchange trading. The implementation of given algorithms is the outcome of a set of advantages of the activities carried out by these crypto bots. The key advantages are mentioned below: The trader is relieved of the necessity to continually watch the virtual currency market and determine the best times to start positions.

Using crypto robots to trade digital assets removes the element of fear and emotional state from trading choices. The majority of new crypto-traders lose money owing to psychological and emotional instability, as well as a disregard for their trading strategy’s guidelines.

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Chart patterns, candlestick patterns, quote directions, and trend reversal points are all recognized by the bitcoin bot, which is frequently undetectable to the trader.

A well-tuned trading robot is more successful at analyzing charts, making more efficient trades, and looking for the ideal entry opportunities.

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These characteristics are just a few examples of how automated bitcoin trading may be beneficial. There are several more benefits to such programs that may benefit any trader.

Conclusion A variety of issues are preventing AI from becoming widely used. Information is scarce because the bitcoin market is still new compared to the traditional stock market, and AI competence is usually limited by the amount of data available to humans. Another difficulty is that very accurate and complex machine learning algorithms need costly and sophisticated computer equipment, which is only available to huge businesses. All of this, however, may be remedied by studying and practicing AI and machine learning techniques at a reputable AI school.

It’s essential to recognize that the nature of a cryptobot is defined by the connection between its performance and its true worth. Any bot that trades bitcoins on an exchange has to be trustworthy.

Machine Learning How Effective Is It in Cryptocurrency Trading? by Randrita Sarkar

ryptocurrency is a rapidly evolving concept that many people are aware of, but few understand. The fascination with cryptocurrency technology grows day by day, and machine learning research has never been more rapid. The world of cryptocurrency and blockchain is becoming increasingly intriguing, as the prices of Ethereum and Bitcoin have reached all-time highs in 2021.

The value of Bitcoin increased more than 250,000% between 2012 and 2021. The industry is still booming. For example, in the United States, only 6% of adults own or use them, and about 15% of investors are women. The number of Bitcoin users is expected to skyrocket. Following the massive rise of blockchain, entrepreneurs worldwide are constantly investing in blockchain & cryptocurrency. Nonetheless, machine learning provides some of the best tools because prior information and knowledge of

How Do Cryptocurrencies Work?

the cryptocurrency sector, other connected industries, human nature, and demographics are some of the best data to extrapolate growth tendencies. News cycles and search volume are the most powerful known correlates of cryptocurrency value. Let’s first understand the main skeleton of the crypto trading method. Hopefully, this article will provide you with a basic understanding of how machine learning is utilized in cryptocurrency trading.

Have you ever gotten a paper token instead of a little change from your next-door shop, which he would take the next time you visit him? Imagine a digital version of that token, and you have your cryptocurrency.

The main distinction is that there is no owner-issuer in this case, and it would be accepted universally, at least theoretically. Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual coin protected by encryption, making counterfeiting almost impossible. Cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology. They are digital tokens that may be used to pay for products and services on the internet. Like any other fiat currency, such as the US dollar or the Indian rupee, they have a predetermined fixed value. Their mining is time-consuming, expensive, and only seldom profitable. More or less, every cryptocurrency is supported by blockchain technology. It’s a decentralized 70

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Cryptocurrencies are mined digitally, using supercomputers to solve challenging computational mathematics tasks. public ledger or register that keeps track of every transaction that’s taken place in that coin. Instead of being maintained by a central server, the ledger is accessible to the public and may be hosted by anybody who wants to help secure it. The transactions are structured as “blocks.” Cryptocurrency miners verify these transactions to confirm their validity. This is done to minimize currency double-spending and to ensure that the input and output expenditures are equal. www.techfastly.com

Cryptocurrency and Machine Learning Searching for “machine learning crypto trading bots” on Google returns almost 12 million results. Machine learning is used intensively in the stock market nowadays for trading. As a result, it’s no surprise that machine learning techniques are being used to develop trading algorithms for the cryptocurrency markets. Those who have invested in cryptocurrencies have great difficulty in predicting the market’s trajectory. As a result, in recent years, machine learning and AI-assisted trading have piqued the curiosity of crypto investors. These investors utilize this method to rule out the possibility that the bitcoin market’s inefficiencies might be leveraged to make bizarre profits by predicting its movements.

How is Machine Learning Analytics Performed? The type of analysis used in machine learning depends on the problem statement. There are some popular types mentioned below:

SUPERVISED LEARNING

UNSUPERVISED LEARNING

Items in the dataset are classified into predefined categories, such as “successful” vs. “failed,” or which emotions are conveyed in a text message.

Items in the dataset are assigned to categories that were not created at the outset of the analysis, such as segmenting clients based on relevant characteristics during marketing campaigns.

SEMI-SUPERVISED LEARNING This algorithm is used for similar objectives to supervised learning; however, both labelled and unlabelled data are used to train the model. It is used generally when acquiring the complete labelled data became expensive, such as detecting face on a webcam

REINFORCEMENT LEARNING Trial and error are performed in this type of algorithm to determine which activities yield the biggest rewards.

Following the selection of the general type of analysis, the specific model is developed using an input dataset known as the training data. Following the development of the model, it is evaluated on one or more additional datasets known as the validation data or the test data. Validation data are sometimes defined as a subset of the training data saved from the start development of the model and used at the end to fine-tune the model. The data used to test a fully-developed model is referred to as test data. Because of the market’s volatility, they noticed that no single model was very predictive. One strategy is to combine a variety of models. According to the study, aggregations of various models are more effective and outperform the market. 72

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Smart Crypto Trading with Machine Learning 1

Examining the Flow

The study of a specific asset’s money flow is the single most effective way of determining its long-term success. Machine learning enables individuals to predict value fluctuations in an asset by studying how known entities transfer money and comparing it to previously known data sets. Investors will be able to safely leap before the disaster strikes if they are aware of this. There are

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various applications for this within the crypto sector, making machine learning something that will be extremely important to effective trading in the future.

Analyzing Trading Behaviors

Individuals may use machine learning to understand the performance of assets in the cryptocurrency market deeply. It may also be used to learn about an individual investor’s trading tendencies.

3 Fraud Detection

Machine learning is being brought to use inside the crypto sphere as one of the most advantageous techniques for detecting fraudulent transactions. This is because the nature of cryptocurrencies allows dealers to remain more or less anonymous. Because of this characteristic of crypto exchanges, any dangers posed by scammers are irreversible. As a result, a considerably more aggressive strategy to preventing fraud is required. Machine learning employs a preventive system that includes both computers and human analysts who work together in a feedback loop to solve problems. Researchers have created a novel and fast way of identifying malicious 74

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code using deep learning techniques to characterize and compare code. SiCaGCN is the name of the system, and it has shown promise in terms of detecting foreign bitcoin mining codes. The system guards against unauthorized applications abusing and misusing computer resources.

4 Intensive use of Chatbots

With several high-quality additions, such as chatbots, AI and ML have significantly added value to the daily lives of investors. Chatbots have advanced the way trading is done since it is easier for traders to engage with the chatbot and access the history of the statements. www.techfastly.com

The Disadvantages of Machine Learning in Crypto Trade 1

Unpredictable Results:

The models do not always provide such a direct correlation between their predictions and the actual results. Overfitting in machine learning refers to the practice of feeding a statistical model with more data than is required. Trading algorithms tend to be given excessive amounts of past data. That isn’t inherently bad, but overfitting can lead to inflexible trading methods in both current and future conditions.

2 Setting Parameters Can Be

Time-Consuming

Machine learning can only be used in trading following a specific pattern; machine learning is ineffective if there is no pattern.

Automation, no matter how sophisticated, is not without flaws. Experts believe that trusted algorithms would fail — and that this will result in a “series of cascade failures” for financial institutions of all sizes. It happened before during the trillion-dollar stock market crisis of 2010, which was caused by an algorithmic miscalculation. Even for smallscale transactions, a poor internet connection might be disastrous. Trading takes place in a fast-paced atmosphere, and a dependable IT infrastructure is essential for staying ahead of the competition.

The cryptocurrency market is a volatile one. To specify your approaches, which might be quite sophisticated, you will need a thorough understanding of machine learning and crypto trading. This can take a long time. Aside from that, correctly configuring and managing these technologies requires a significant amount of effort.

3 Trading All the Time

While some people prefer to trade all day and invest in many currencies or assets at the same time, others believe that this is a significant disadvantage of adopting crypto trading bots. True, they can help you increase profits, but if you’re not careful, they can swiftly empty your wallet.

Conclusion In the realm of blockchains and cryptocurrencies, machine learning has a place. The application of machine learning techniques extends beyond cryptocurrency price forecasting and trading. With such a high rate of adoption in trading, it is apparent that automation is here to stay. Its objectivity, accessibility, and quickness make it a valuable and powerful weapon for traders. Automated trading systems, on the other hand, should not be left unattended. Preventing a domino effect of algorithmic errors requires careful research and intelligence. As blockchain and machine learning continues to evolve, we should expect to see tremendous innovation in each domain. In the future years, the world of blockchain may begin to open up to Machine Learning practitioners. 75

Is Cryptocurrency A Safe Haven For

Money Laundering? by Toulika Das

Introduction The rise in cryptocurrency adoption may largely be attributed to technological advancements in the domain of blockchain. Cryptocurrencies are nothing but a type of digital money based on blockchain technology. These are largely regarded as safe, autonomous and private forms of financial transactions with the record of the activities safeguarded by encryption. 76

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That being said, cryptocurrency is not entirely secure as a means of digital money transfer. It may be susceptible to various criminal activities such as purchasing illegal merchandise, unauthorized firearms or drugs, tax evasion, money laundering, etc. Let’s take a look at how cryptocurrency can become a safe haven for money laundering and what can be done to prevent it. www.techfastly.com

Money launderers may now move enormous quantities of money around swiftly and discreetly

How Is Money Laundering Possible Using Cryptocurrency? Digital money possesses many characteristics with conventional banking. For example, the ability to be used for expenditures on the buying and selling of real goods and services are common to both conventional banking and cryptocurrency. Similarly, the ability to be migrated across places is also common to both. Some cryptocurrency examples are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, etc. Bitcoin is the most well-known of all of these. All of them can be kept in wallets or bank accounts, as per the discretion of the owner.

Following the rise in the popularity of digital currency, criminal masterminds are utilizing this virtual form of financial transactions for money laundering. Money launderers’ techniques have changed in tandem with technological advancements. Meanwhile, regulatory agencies are caught in a neverending maze of chasing any foul play, with one loophole after another opening up. The three phases of money laundering are described here and how cryptocurrency fits into each of them.

3 Stages of Money Laundering Using Cryptocurrency

PLACEMENT STAGE

The black money created through illegal methods is at first brought into the financial markets during the placement stage. At this point, cash usually refers to the currency that is being laundered. While there are a variety of ways of achieving this, it is also the stage where the launderer is particularly exposed to being discovered. The main reason for this is - depositing huge sums of money might arouse suspicion.

Cryptocurrency exchanges with poor KYC (Know-YourCustomer) regulations tolerate that kind of anonymity. As a result, cryptocurrencies permit money launderers to undertake fewer threats at the money laundering placement step.

“Chain hopping,” is where the most well-known cryptocurrencies are traded for “alt-coins,” or lesserknown cryptocurrencies. These can only be acquired at sophisticated exchanges using other varieties of cryptocurrency rather than cash. Chain hopping is a prevalent technique of stacking using cryptos. It is a method that disguises a transaction’s origins and makes it nearly hard to detect.

LAYERING STAGE

Money launderers have additional options for layering owing to the crypto economy. Money is transferred across accounts, goods, financial intermediaries, and sometimes even various nations and currencies during the layering phase. Hence, it is near to impossible to retrace the money back to where it came from.

According to the latest studies, only 270 blockchain addresses account for approximately 55% of all money laundering carried out through crypto means. The three steps of money laundering to occur are placement, layering and integration.

INTEGRATION STAGE

Finally, the “laundered” or embezzled money is returned to the perpetrator in the integration step, making the assets seem to have been obtained lawfully. Money launderers discover ways to “integrate” or “merge” their profits in such a way that they look to have been obtained lawfully. The unpredictability of cryptocurrency’s value gives a convenient justification for an abrupt inflow of immense wealth.

Why Is Cryptocurrency Becoming Increasingly Susceptible To Money Laundering Tactics? As stated clearly in an article titled “Cryptocurrencies & the Challenge of Global Governance” by Garry Jacobs, 2018, the apparent anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, the three-step laundering process of placement, layering, and integration, proves to be harder to trace.

Furthermore, although classic money laundering tactics such as smurfing or gambling at different casinos are still in practice, newer and more sophisticated methods such as employing mixers and tumblers or using unethical cryptocurrency trading are also being utilized to conceal the stream of funds. Lastly, the fast growth of digital currencies (Initial coin offerings or ICO’s) has opened up another channel for cryptocurrency money laundering.

How Can Cryptocurrency Related Money Laundering Be Prevented? The best chance for anti-money laundering and security experts is to become familiar with cryptocurrency’s latest and relevant characteristics. They should also be equipped with sufficient knowledge as to how it is recognized to be used by corrupt individuals. This is necessary so that they can adequately identify and manage any cryptocurrency-related transaction they undertake. Sufficient methods for verifying the identity of persons who deal in cryptocurrencies should be made available to the proper authorities. They must be able to link blockchain operations to actual people’s identities. This will help in establishing an end-to-end record to assist AML (anti-money laundering) investigations. Certain monitoring tools which will look into money transfers are also necessary for crypto-related AML compliance programmes of MSB’s (Money Services Businesses). This should be done in order to identify suspicious trends for further inquiry. 80

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Certain monitoring tools which will look into money transfers are also necessary for crypto-related AML compliance programmes of MSB’s (Money Services Businesses).

Conclusion To sum up, fighting cryptocurrencyrelated money laundering is not an easy feat to achieve. But thankfully, a lot of initiatives are being undertaken on a number of aspects to fix the challenges as well as provide viable solutions. The cryptocurrency exchanges are putting more effort into identifying their users, while analysts are attempting to uncover previous untraceable transactions. And at last, and probably most significantly, the criminal justice system is gearing up to battle anonymity and other money laundering strategies in cryptocurrency. Several other federal agencies are improving and changing their techniques for detecting and fighting money laundering using cryptocurrency. 81

DeFi

A Growing Arm Behind NFT

by Rehan Hussain Introduction

Current crypto market trends point to DeFi and NFTs as the two most important constituents. For the time being, the two most common uses of blockchain technology are decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens. Non-fungible tokens enable asset tokenization, while DeFi provides decentralized access to financial services. However, it is critical to consider how NFT DeFi may be used to an enterprise’s advantage.

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Conversely, it is fair to ask how NFTs will evolve as a DeFi instrument in the future. NFTs are sometimes dismissed as little more than digital collectibles or works of art that command exorbitant prices at auction thanks to the media frenzy around them. Non-fungible coins, on the other hand, can make critical long-term contributions to the expansion of decentralized finance. In the following, we will talk about getting the most benefit from DeFi’s NFT implementation.

Do you know what NFTs are and how DeFi works? When it comes to non-fungible tokens, they are merely another means to store the value that’s not interchangeable. NFTs’ value is tied to a specific asset, like gold or a dollar note. The market and individual estimates of the NFT’s worth fluctuate considerably. Nonfungible tokens cannot be readily replaced or replicated, meaning that no two NFTs are identical. Decentralized finance, often known as DeFi, is a type of blockchain-based financial system. The growth of the DeFi ecosystem is aided by several public blockchain networks, such as the Ethereum blockchain. By utilizing built-in technologies like cryptocurrencies, oracles, and intelligent contracts, DeFi paves the way for decentralized financial management. The definitions of NFT and DeFi make it evident that a connection may be found between the two terms. In other words, how do you begin to uncover the link between DeFi and NFT? NFT offers a unique manner of holding value, whereas DeFi gives an infrastructure for unlocking that value. This is evident from their definitions.

What Is the Best Way to Use NFTs to Store Value? Knowing what kinds of assets may be tokenized is necessary to comprehend the potential relationship between NFT and decentralized finance. NFTs originally appeared in the form of tokens having an actual value proposition, such as real estate. Investing in real estate was difficult because of the illiquidity and the amount of paperwork required. Using virtual tokens to represent assets on the blockchain will make it easier to indicate ownership and more flexible to transfer them. The use of NFTs may also aid in unlocking and mobilizing wealth when doing so is challenging. It is vital to consider the value of the offering while evaluating its worth. Because NFTs are a good deal, they have to be priced accordingly.

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Musicians, for example, might provide NFTs as a way to reward fans for taking part in interactive sessions with them.

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What Value Does DeFi Unlock? Further research into the concept of DeFi may yield a promising hypothesis about the basis for the application of NFT in DeFi. You should know that DeFi can operate with a wide range of financial solutions, instruments, and procedures, which is the first thing you should know. NFTs would essentially be added to DeFi’s already extensive portfolio as yet another investment opportunity. However, it is critical to identify which part of the DeFi value chain would be most affected by the introduction of NFTs. NFTs are essential assets with a high intrinsic value. As a result, they might provide the owner the opportunity to see their asset’s value rise or generate money from it. DeFi may be able to help unleash the potential of NFTs. How?

The introduction of NFTs into the DeFi Ecosystem is significant. Decentralized finance, often known as DeFi, rapidly blends with NFTs and NFT marketplaces in architectural patterns. Many DeFi initiatives, such as Rarible, provide an NFT marketplace geared primarily toward content producers. It has established the required procedures for regulation under a Decentralized Autonomous Organization and offers a governance token known as RARI (DAO). Platform improvements might be voted on by RARI token holders and those that actively moderate the marketplace, such as producers and collectors.

An NFT index has also been provided by RARI, which acts as a portfolio for NFTs and aids collectors in viewing and selecting artworks for investment. 85

Ways for DeFi in NFT

Using Non-Financial Transactions in Decentralized Financial Services

With NFTs’ capacity to reflect the commercialization of digital items and services, a decentralized NFT finance combination is immediately conceivable. The DeFi industry’s use of NFTs has grown in recent years. Ethereum, for example, has made use of ERC-20 tokens to provide a means of representing digital assets. Digital art ownership documents such as NFTs may readily be created using this technology. Creators are increasingly turning to Ethereum as a means of distributing their work and interacting with a supportive online community of art buyers. NFTs can provide great value in the DeFi sector by allowing flexible proof of ownership. Let us have a look at the many ways in which NFT may be used in DeFi.

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How to Deal with the Collateralization Issue?

The capacity to unlock value is one of the essential features of the NFT DeFi combo. While this is true, precise procedures for assessing the worth of NFTs might be challenging to come up with. The usage of NFTs, on the other hand, might assist the lender in determining the DeFi collateralization value. How? The borrower will submit a loan request with the NFT, and the NFT will act as security for the loan. The lender will look at the loan amount and the collateralized NFT, considering several criteria, including the owner’s price tag, a secondary market value, and estimates.

The collateralization issue

The combination of NFT and DeFi may make it easier to resolve the collateralization issue. It is also critical to keep an eye out for market liquidity problems. Artwork and collectibles have a wide range of monetary values. Consider, for example, a picture that’s about $1 million in price. Only if someone is willing to pay for it will the painting’s price have any real meaning. The NFT decentralized financial association may readily resolve collateralization for artwork. Collateralizing NFT art and collectibles for DeFi financing may be the best option here.

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Ownership of NFTs and the Effect on DeFi

Using DeFi platforms in conjunction with NFTs in the music business indicates that the world of art is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. In addition, NFTs have played a critical role in helping artists to retain ownership rights and profit. You may earn a steady percentage of your work’s streamed earnings, or you can sell it for its resale value to another party. A practical collateral alternative is to keep track of verifiable revenues from non-traditional means (NFTs). The usage of NFT in DeFi may also make it feasible to obtain under-collateralized loans more quickly. Art and collectibles commercialization using NFTs has become a central theme in the NFT hype story. NFTs, on the other hand, have the potential to be more effective tools for addressing issues such as royalty sharing, licensing, and ownership of copyright. In the actual world, traditional art has traditionally been used as collateral. As a result, incorporating DeFi NFTs into the mix appears to be a logical move forward. NFTs may help the DeFi industry by addressing liquidity concerns and allowing tokenization to occur. Using tokenization may make it feasible to create an illiquid asset in a short period with ease and flexibility.

Conclusion The verifiability of ownership is one of the most critical aspects of using NFT and DeFi together. For NFT holders, the DeFi sector opens up due to the simplicity of establishing ownership of their tokens. The most crucial thing to remember is that NFT may assign value to practically anything. On the other side, DeFi assists in releasing an asset’s true worth. Loans secured by NFTs are progressively becoming more common, and the expansion of NFT DeFi might mean more innovation in the future. DeFi and NFTs might change the way we think about assets, tokens, and financial services due to users’ increasing quantity and depth.

Cryptocurrency

for business by Abhishek Mitra

Why Should Businesses Consider Using Cryptocurrency? 90

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Cryptocurrency is a rage these days with 36% of small and medium US businesses accepting Bitcoin for financial and other transactions. What can provide more validity for the usage of bitcoins given the fact that AT&T, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Microsoft and Wikipedia are accepting them? www.techfastly.com

If bitcoin becomes the standard for 377 million active users of Paypal, the demand for cryptocurrency may see a huge hike.

Given the surge of acceptance of cryptocurrency in businesses worldwide, we can rightly say that by the next decade cryptocurrency may cover the entire globe. Recently, the financial transaction giant Paypal started offering the option to their customer to pay and accept through cryptocurrency. The demand for cryptocurrency can see a maximum surge in the markets globally if all the financial transaction companies use it as a standard of payment. Out of all the industries, cryptocurrency demand can rise maximum with the financial transactions sector accepting its usage. With two of the biggest payment making platform VISA and Mastercard accepting cryptocurrency for payment transactions, the demand is rapidly rolling up. 91

Let’s delve a little deeper into why the cryptocurrency is being widely accepted by industries

IMMUTABLE NATURE OF TRANSACTIONS Transaction data can’t be forged when cryptocurrency is used. As every change in data is replicated as a change in different blocks and needs to be validated at multiple ends before the change is accepted, tampering with transactions is almost not possible.

INCREASED EASE OF PAYMENTS

GREATER BENEFITS FOR MERCHANTS AND VENDORS

Bitcoin users can conduct payment transactions from their mobile phones from anywhere in the world just by being connected to the internet. Moreover, the customers making payments need not furnish their personal information every time as in the case of debit/credit cards.

It is a common scenario where merchants and customers conflict over fraudulent payment disputes. Payments are stuck in the pipeline of transactions creating a headache for merchants and vendors. Bitcoin payments are irreversible. So, the merchants can rest assured that they would get the payment of their products or services. There are no chargeback risks or chances of fraudulent payment disputes with bitcoin. This provides greater confidence to clients and customers and greater peace of mind for merchants. Just between the years 2019 and 2020, Bitcoin users increased by 13 million users, owing to the benefits of the cryptocurrency.

LOWER TRANSACTION FEES Transaction fees are much lower with cryptocurrency than credit/ debit cards

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How To Use Cryptocurrency For Your Organization? Forming the cryptocurrency advisory group Even before an organization inducts crypto in its operations, an advisory group consisting of members from different departments must be formed. The CFO can be the most likely team leader. The group must be tasked with finding out - The current state of payment transactions in the organization. This would include time taken for making payments, payment deadlines missed, revenue sharing time, accuracy and transparency of financial transactions and the desired gains through acceptance of cryptocurrency (One needs to remember that cryptocurrency enables real-time payments with minimum company-client disputes, accurate and real-time revenue sharing for the organization). The crypto advisory group needs to find out is how much the company would benefit from that. They also need to understand the level of crypto awareness and the level of crypto skills within the organisation.

Important Elements of The Crypto Roadmap For The Organization

The group also needs to find out how much increase in liquidity and new capital can be attained using crypto through tokenized traditional investments. The group must find answers to the following questions The level of crypto awareness and the skills training required for the adoption of crypto in the business

How the customer and employee experience will change with crypto payments being the mode of transactions

The orientation levels of crypto in the business- whether cryptocurrency would be just used for making portion or whole of payments ( payment level orientation) or whether the company can hold them on their balance sheet i.e., making crypto the means of assets, capitals, expenditures and other transactions of the company (complete financial orientation)

Once the following questions are addressed the company needs to create a roadmap for crypto induction in the organizations. The crypto induction should not be done for the whole organisation in one go.

A portion of the payment transactions of the organization must be changed to cryptocurrency first. Then the outcome must be assessed on the parameters like

Increase in transparency

Improvement in control of the process head over the financial operation

Improvement in payment time

Improvement in customer satisfaction

Improvement in control of the finance department over the capital involved in the process

Once the payment transactions are assessed on these parameters, one can slowly induct cryptocurrency for entire payment transactions in the organization.

The Volatility Risks of Cryptocurrency It has been found over the past few years that changes in market sentiment are hugely affecting cryptocurrency value. So, organisations need to be prepared for this.

What organisations can possibly do to offset the loss from cryptocurrency? Consider cryptocurrency more as stocks.

Keep an equal volume of cryptocurrency as involved in the financial transactions of the organization as your asset. At times, when crypto is nosediving (of course that shouldn’t

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Reduction in payment disputes and conflicts

Cost of training the employees in the process for usage of crypto

Volatility risks of the crypto and how it is affecting the transactions and the revenue (measured over a period of time)

be the case), hold your assets and carry your transactions as normal even if that means paying more than what you had invested earlier. When the right times come and crypto is sky rising, sell those assets to negate any loss suffered. So, the organization shouldn’t just be involved in using cryptocurrency for their payment transactions (for attaining transparency, greater control over company capital, real-time payments and others), but should also invest in keeping cryptocurrency as some of their assets. Well, what this means is that crypto would be entering your balance book.

Complete financial orientation is strategically more viable than payment level crypto orientation of the organization.

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Before going into complete financial orientation, few questions need to be answered:

1 2 3

Should the crypto be outsourced to a third party or should it be maintained by the company? Does the treasury have the necessary knowledge to monitor and manage crypto payments? Is the treasury in complete agreement before crypto is accepted?

While inducting crypto as a new asset class, it must be assessed: • Whether the institutional investors in the company are ready to accept it as a legitimate new asset class • How it correlates to other assets of the organization measured in terms of asset price inflation, volatility and performance history • What are the valuation methods for this asset as compared to other assets? • What would be the proportion of this digital asset as compared to other assets so that the balance sheet looks good? • How the financial policy for this new asset class would be framed? • What are the other measures that need to be put in place before accepting crypto as a hew asset class?

Choosing a third-party vendor to manage your crypto While choosing a third-party vendor to manage cryptocurrency transactions one must assess. The vendor’s security protocol and control over the entire process. Below, I have mentioned certain essentials that the vendors must enforce at all cost: • The digital asset must be spread in more than one digital wallet • Proper security protocols for private keys must be there • Hot and cold wallets must be used • All the cybersecurity regulations and policies must be strictly enforced • Vendor’s pricing conversions must be reliable and accurate • The vendor’s previous performance and due diligence must be excellent • Appropriate licensing and compliance

End Note Implementing cryptocurrency in your organization process is easy if you have the required crypto skills and know-how. The profit that can be attained by inducting cryptocurrency into your organization is immense. Be it international transfers, speedier processing of payments, maintaining the integrity of payments, cryptocurrency can bring a turnaround on the entire payment process of your organizations. What are you waiting for? Start priming your organization for using cryptocurrency today! 95

Effective Ways to

Protect Your Crypto Assets by Utsav Mishra

Let us go back to history. Remember how humans used to exchange goods for goods? If someone needed flour, they used to exchange rice for it. That was the primitive style of buying and selling goods. Then with time, we got introduced to gold and silver coins, and it moved forward to currency. Every nation introduced its official currency, which was then used for buying or selling things. As time progressed and digitization started revolutionizing everything, it did the same to the traditional payment exchange styles. Various platforms like Paypal, Gpay, and other UPI payment systems were introduced to make payment more effortless.

But then digitization took the world by storm when the first digital currency was launched. They were a collection of binary data that were created for the user to exchange as a digital currency. This digital currency was named cryptocurrency.

In an era of cyberattacks, security needs to be the prime concern of digital currency holders. Remember that with many types of crypto, once you lose it, it’s gone— and recovering it is quite tricky.

In this article, we are going to talk about some tricks using which one can keep their crypto assets safe.

The Crypto World of Security With institutional interest in crypto increasing, corporate treasurers evaluating bitcoin allocations, and high-valued digital assets such as NFTs entering the market, the demand for digital asset protection has never been higher. Regardless of why a company decides to expose itself to digital assets, one component stays constant: safeguarding the private keys is essential. Let us look at six ways through which we can protect our crypto assets.

1 With time crypto began to soar in the digital market. The exchange of crypto started increasing its value. Various cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, dogecoins, e.t.c came into the market, and their prices kept soaring and falling according to the market status. But, nowadays, a large population is using crypto as a mode of exchange and currency. So, like all other modes of currency, crypto, too, needs to be secure. The users need to be vigilant about how to keep their currency safe.

Do Not Keep Private Keys in Your Own Hands

The code that acts as the key to accessing a crypto wallet should never be in charge of a single individual or a single big wallet. It should also not be in the hands of a business that has proper firewalls between custody, trading, and liquidity services or combines corporate assets with customer money. An increasing number of companies are now implementing adequate firewalls, have significant resources, and have the technical expertise required to manage associated risks.

Distribute Assets Across Multiple Digital Wallets

Make use of both cold and hot wallets

Assume you are a hedge firm with $100 million in crypto tied to customer assets. It would be best if you never put all of your $100 million in a single online wallet. If someone was able to hack or breach that one wallet, they would have access to all your funds.

Continuing with the hedge fund example, imagine you oversee $100 million and wish to make some trades. You don’t need the whole account amount in the more liquid hot wallet unless you’re planning to trade $100 million in a single day.

If fraud happens, distributing funds over many wallets is a simple method to mitigate the severity of the loss. It is best to keep the size of anyone’s wallet to a minimum and work with your custodian to establish the appropriate structure during onboarding. As you expand, revisit those assumptions frequently and consider incorporating governance best practices into your entire compliance and risk management strategy.

Depending on your approach and size, you may be trading 1%, 3%, or 5% of your portfolio. It is a safer approach to safeguard digital assets if most of them do not change and can be held offline in a cold wallet. This is analogous to having a checking and savings account, where you maintain the amount you need for daily usage in your checking account and the surplus in a savings account with fewer transactional features.

This is analogous to creating several bank accounts and distributing your assets. This is especially crucial for cryptocurrencies because of their digital form, which makes them vulnerable to hackers, resulting in substantial losses.

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Engage Specialty Vendors to Assist in Asset Protection

Speak with a Specialist Insurance Broker

Hedge funds and individuals in charge of customer crypto should think about employing a vendor who has the specific controls, knowledge, staff, infrastructure, and financial standing to safeguard their assets.

Following some fundamental best practices will not only help you avoid disastrous results, but it can also serve as one of the most crucial competitive advantages you can contribute to this quickly developing environment.

Several vendors have developed that specialize in delivering ongoing anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) checks, as well as other compliance and administrative services, so you may focus on your main business.

When dealing with a disruptive sector, you need to be paired with insurance and risk management advice that is particularly customized to your unique business, which a competent broker provides. If something goes wrong, they may also educate you on the claims procedure. Furthermore, working with a broker who understands the confluence of technology and financial services can identify areas of risk that you may not be aware of.

Conclusion These are some tricks that can be used to protect your crypto assets. When you are investing online, that too in digital money, you need to be assured of its safety. In an era of cyberattacks, security needs to be the prime concern of digital currency holders. Once you are assured of the safety and protection of your crypto assets, you can keep on investing and ruling the line like no one else.

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