Token teams playing for volume | Explaining Sidechains | Coinbase ZRX listing draws scrutiny
Bitcoin $6,552
▼
Ethereum $207.54
▼
Crypto Mkt Cap $211B
▼ BTC Dominance 53.70%
Token teams are paying for inflated volumes, but this tech company is helping traders spot them
Coinbase’s $ZRX listing draws new scrutiny to the company’s token addition process
The Block perspectives featured on Anthony Pompliano’s ‘Off the Chain’ podcast
“We think airdrops have the power to decentralize networks without the investment risks inherent in ICOs and the complexity inherent in mining. Using Blockchain Airdrops, crypto creators can supercharge network effects and crypto users can try out new tokens for free. It's a win-win for the ecosystem” — Marco Santori, President Blockchain
The Big Block
In crypto, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and market data.
It’s an open-secret in the spine-tingling volatile market that aggregators of trading data don’t paint the best picture of the market, ignoring phenomenon like wash-trading and pay-for-play arrangements between small cap coins and digital currency exchanges.
Wash trading, the creation of artificial trading activity, is illegal in some jurisdictions, including the U.S. And it impacts more than 67% of the cryptocurrency market, according to the Blockchain Transparency Institute. Some firms are even selling services to token teams and exchanges to inflate volumes, according to marketing materials reviewed by The Block.
“We make volumes on any exchanges where you are listed,” marketing materials by one firm said. “Your project becomes more and more prestigious because of good trading volumes and CoinMarketCap listing.” One firm, Token Boost, offers wash trading packages. A token team can purchase up to $100,000 worth of volumes a day for $4,000 a week from the firm, according to its website.
Read More on The Block (3 Minutes)
Around The Block
Crypto Simplified: Explaining Sidechains
The launch of Blockstream’s Liquid Network brings with it a resurgence of questions surrounding sidechains. As with everything we do here at The Block we are going to take a “Crypto Simplified” approach at explaining sidechains.
In simplest terms, sidechains are a separate blockchain attached to the main blockchain, or main chain, through the use of a two-way peg. Through this two-way peg system, sidechains can issue an asset that is backed at a fixed exchange rate to a main-chain asset. In the case of the Liquid Network, Liquid Bitcoin (LBTC) is pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio to bitcoin (BTC). Users of sidechains will typically be required to prove that they own the assets they are trying to peg. They do this by sending their assets to a custom blockchain address for miner confirmation. Once an asset’s ownership verified, a sidechain can issue its pegged asset to the user. The original main chain asset will be locked in the address until the user redeems their sidechain asset. — More
Coinbase’s $ZRX listing draws new scrutiny to the company’s token addition process
Coinbase new token listings continue to court controversy amidst heightened scrutiny due to previous hiccups and questions surrounding the company’s token listing process and criteria. Coinbase launched trading of $ZRX, the token associated with the 0x project, on Coinbase.com products on October 16, 2018 after launching on Coinbase Pro on October 11, 2018. The token represents the 6th that Coinbase has made available for trading, following $BTC, $ETH, $LTC, $BCH and $ETC. — More
Cryptocurrency wallet provider Blockchain announces airdrop program — More
ZRX is up 38% since Coinbase announced it will list it — More
BitMEX Research analyzes Bitcoin client implementations and announces its own client — More
The Block perspectives featured on Anthony Pompliano’s ‘Off the Chain’ podcast — More
CME Group saw a 41% increase in average daily volume for bitcoin futures in Q3 2018 — More