WisdomTree launched its Private Credit and Alternative Income Digital Fund (CRDT), a blockchain-based product offering retail and institutional investors direct exposure to private credit.
The launch aligns with a broader industry trend of tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) to enhance accessibility and transparency. It also makes the traditionally inaccessible private credit market available to a broader audience, including retail and crypto-native investors.
WisdomTree Expands Access to Private CreditWisdomTree, a global asset manager, launched its Private Credit and Alternative Income Digital Fund (CRDT) on Friday, making private credit investments more accessible. The new fund, which tracks the Gapstow Liquid Alternative Credit Index (GLACI), operates on the Ethereum and Stellar blockchains.
It targets retail and institutional investors, with a minimum investment of just $25. WisdomTree offers the fund via its WisdomTree Prime and WisdomTree Connect platforms.
Private credit has grown into a $1 trillion asset class as companies increasingly rely on nonbank financing. Yet it has traditionally been challenging to access. Significant minimum commitments, strict accreditation requirements, and long lock-up periods limited liquidity, effectively reserving the market for institutions and ultra-wealthy individuals. But, CRDT lowers this threshold significantly by introducing tokenization and daily liquidity, opening the market to a broader range of investors.
Global Chief Investment Officer Jeremy Schwartz at WisdomTree commented on the development.
“Private credit has become one of the most talked-about opportunities in today’s market. For four years, we’ve been proud to make this space more accessible to the individual investor through our ETF, and now CRDT is able to deliver yield potential in a modern, tokenized fund.”
Tokenized Credit Market Surges Past $30BWisdomTree is expanding its suite of tokenized products to attract digital-first investors who want access to alternative assets. Will Peck, Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree, said CRDT provides “access to one of the most coveted asset classes – alternatives – directly on-chain.” He emphasized that the initiative helps investors diversify with institutional-grade assets in a compliant digital environment.
According to RWA.xyz, the tokenized private credit market has reached a cumulative loan value of $30.58 billion, with $16.72 billion currently active. Average annual percentage rates (APR) stand at 9.74%, highlighting the sector’s appeal to investors seeking yield in a high-rate environment.
The tokenized private credit market performance Source: RWA.XYZPrivate credit is increasingly migrating to on-chain. Protocols like Figure dominate the landscape, accounting for most outstanding loans, while newer entrants such as Credix and Goldfinch are also expanding. The number of originated loans has climbed to 2,598, signaling growing adoption of blockchain-based financing.
Private Credit Platform / Source:rwa.wyzThe data shows accelerated growth since early 2023, with outstanding loans nearly doubling over the past 18 months. This momentum reflects broader demand for tokenized real-world assets.
Still, these funds remain subject to traditional financial risks, including exposure to closed-end funds, business development companies, and REITs. Investors should also note blockchain-related risks such as cybersecurity threats, network congestion, and regulatory changes that may impact tokenized assets.
Japan and South Korea's stock markets opened higher, with South Korea's KOSPI index rising 2.9% and SK Hynix surging 11%.
According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index opened 1.4% higher at 70114.09. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 2.9%. South Korean stocks SK Hynix gained 11%, while Samsung Electronics rose 5%.
3 minutes ago
Trader Maji was liquidated on his 25x leveraged long Ethereum position, incurring $1.9 million in losses, and subsequently opened a new position.
According to monitoring by OnchainLens, Stanley Huang, known as "Machi Big Brother" (@machibigbrother), has had his 25x leveraged long Ethereum (ETH) position fully liquidated, incurring a loss of approximately $1.9 million. Notably, he opened a new 25x leveraged long ETH position immediately after the liquidation. Machi Big Brother’s cumulative historical losses exceed $35.4 million.
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Micron posted strong quarterly results, with its quarterly revenue and next-quarter outlook significantly exceeding market expectations. Its stock surged nearly 16% in after-hours trading, driving a broad rally across the storage sector.
According to its official financial report, Micron Technology (MU.O) reported Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, beating market expectations of $35.423 billion and surging from $9.301 billion in the year-ago period. The company issued Q4 fiscal revenue guidance of $50 billion, against market expectations of $42.915 billion. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated: "Micron’s record-breaking Q3 fiscal financial results and stronger Q4 outlook reflect the strategic value of memory chips in the AI era. We believe our multi-year strategic customer agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance." Micron’s Q3 report showed net profit of $28.24 billion, or $24.67 per share, up from $1.89 billion, or $1.68 per share, in the same period last year. Excluding certain one-time items, Micron reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $25.11, exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $20.86. Driven by the quarterly revenue and outlook that topped expectations, as of press time, Micron jumped 15.95% in post-market trading on the U.S. stock market, also lifting other memory stocks sharply: Seagate (STX) rose 10.21%, Western Digital (WDC) gained 12.31%, and SanDisk (SNDK) surged 15.77%.
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Kalshi is reportedly seeking a new round of financing, with its valuation potentially rising to $40 billion.
According to a report from the U.K.’s Financial Times, prediction market platform Kalshi is in discussions with investors for a new funding round targeting a roughly $40 billion valuation, with a potential close as early as the third quarter of this year. The development follows Kalshi’s $1 billion financing round completed last month, which valued the firm at $22 billion, with backers including leading institutions such as Coatue, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Morgan Stanley. Data shows Kalshi’s trading volume last month surpassed $17 billion, a sharp jump from less than $5 billion a year prior, with approximately 65% of that volume stemming from sports-related prediction contracts.
3 minutes ago
Polymarket integrates with Telegram via TON, enabling users to participate in prediction markets directly within the messaging app.
Polymarket has been integrated into Telegram via Predict, a native decentralized application (dApp) of the TON ecosystem. Developed by the Getgems team, the app allows users to directly participate in prediction markets covering sports, politics, cryptocurrency, culture and other sectors within Telegram. Transaction results are settled on-chain, and users retain full control over their assets. Users can participate in trades using USDT on the TON network, and pay a small amount of GRAM for gas fees. The cross-chain infrastructure is powered by STON.fi’s Omniston protocol, enabling the prediction market service to seamlessly integrate into the Telegram ecosystem.
3 minutes ago
Rubio: US and Iran to continue technical consultations at the end of this month
Multiple foreign media outlets reported on the 24th that US Secretary of State Rubio said technical teams from the United States and Iran will hold further talks in Switzerland by the end of June. (Xinhua News Agency)
Warbler Labs posted an official governance proposal on June 12 to wind down Goldfinch Prime and move the protocol to maintenance mode. A Snapshot vote is passing 100% in favor. Depositors face a two-or-more-year recovery horizon as GFI trades 99.8% below its January 2022 all-time high.
Goldfinch Finance, the a16z- and Coinbase Ventures-backed DeFi lending protocol, is formally winding down after a governance proposal posted by its core developer confirmed the protocol cannot recover from widespread borrower defaults that have stranded depositors for nearly three years.
Warbler Labs, Goldfinch's core development team, posted GIP-87 on June 12 formally proposing to "begin an orderly wind-down of Goldfinch Prime and to move Goldfinch into 'maintenance mode' solely focused on supporting the collection of remaining legacy borrower payments."
The proposal was authored by Mike Sall and Blake West of Warbler Labs. A Snapshot governance vote opened June 20 and is currently passing with 1,052,820 GFI cast, 100% YES, against a quorum requirement of 250,000 GFI. The vote closes June 23.
Blake West, co-founder of Warbler Labs, the development firm behind Goldfinch, said the protocol spent six years testing approaches to onchain private credit without finding durable demand. Its most recent product, Goldfinch Prime, drew a tepid response despite launching across three chains, partnerships with Plume and R2, and a marketing push, he said. West said there was no clear path to traction short of a major pivot the protocol could not fund on its remaining runway.
He said the team opted to wind down in a way that preserved enough resources to keep operations running for years while remaining borrowers repay, and pointed to a new trust set up to maximize what the community can recover. West also rejected accusations of fraud, saying Warbler spent $7 million of its own money to repay lenders, returned more than $1 million in revenue toward repayments, and sold more than $2 million in GFI from the treasury for the same purpose. He said he personally lost money in Goldfinch's earlier V1 deals.
"There is no "good time" to shut down. It's been 6 years since we started Goldfinch. We tried a lot of things. It's pretty clear that normal crypto investors don't really want private credit,” West said in a June 14 Discord post. "And please, can we stop with the accusations of scam or fraud? It's just nonsense.”
Depositor ClaimsThe wind-down was first surfaced publicly a week after the governance post, when a depositor posted Friday on X reporting more than $50 million in outstanding loans across eight borrowers, two in default and six in restructuring. GIP-87 confirms that many borrower pools "experienced serious performance issues" and places total original loans at approximately $100 million; the depositor's $50 million figure likely reflects his portion of the book.
The depositor said he deposited in September 2021, added capital twice in 2022, requested a withdrawal in August 2023, and has recovered only 30% of his principal, estimating an additional 10% may return over the next one to two years.
The onchain picture confirms the withdrawal freeze. DefiLlama shows Goldfinch holds $56.15 million in outstanding borrowed capital against $1.63 million in total value locked on Ethereum, leaving nearly all deposited capital tied up in loans. GFI, the protocol's governance token, traded at $0.0663 Sunday, down 99.80% from its all-time high of $32.94 reached in January 2022, per CoinGecko. The token's market cap stands at $6.18 million, down roughly 52% over the past 30 days.
The Official Wind-Down PlanGIP-87 lays out a detailed wind-down structure. Warbler Labs will immediately stop new protocol development, new growth initiatives, and marketing campaigns. A new U.S. trust entity will be established with Ted Gavin, the current Chief Restructuring Officer, as trustee to continue recovery-related work. Warbler Labs will receive $150,000 For wind-down services: $100,000 from the DAO treasury and $50,000 repurposed from the existing operational budget.
The legacy Goldfinch app will remain available for at least six months after the final expected borrower payment so depositors can collect repayments. GIP-87 sets the recovery horizon at "two or more years."
The forum drew angry depositor comments in the days after posting, with commenters calling the proposal "outrageous" and the outcome "utter incompetence." Goldfinch Prime, the newer iteration of the protocol, "has not achieved the level of adoption needed to justify continued investment," according to GIP-87.
Goldfinch launched in 2021 as a decentralized credit protocol channeling crypto capital into real-world loans in emerging markets. Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures backed the project on a pitch of 10% APY yields backed by actual economic activity. The model routed USDC through "backers" and "senior pools" into loans made by off-chain credit firms in Nigeria, Kenya, and Southeast Asia, with collateral held off-chain in each borrower's jurisdiction.
The Model's WeaknessRamneek Ahluwalia, a former Cross River Bank employee who analyzed emerging-market lending, said Saturday on X that the protocol was "making loans against motorcycle collateral in countries with low governance and no credit bureaus." He said the team had "impressive resumes but no actual lending experience." His broader point: technology cannot replace core credit underwriting standards around capacity, collateral, and character.
Ahluwalia had flagged the same structural concern as early as 2023. In an October 2023 post, he wrote: "Goldfinch takes the worst of FinTech lending and puts it on chain. Just b/c something is on chain doesn't make the underlying activity (lending) less risky."
The collateral problem is acute in markets where physical recovery of assets is difficult. "Imagine making a loan against collateral where the borrower can literally flee," Ahluwalia wrote Saturday.
Broader PatternThe Goldfinch collapse follows the broader wave of RWA lending protocols that raised capital in 2021 and 2022 on the thesis that DeFi could intermediate real-world credit at scale. The model required trusting off-chain borrowers in jurisdictions where legal recovery of collateral is slow or impractical. Radiant Capital, a cross-chain lender that once held more than $300 million in deposits, wound down to a $2.21 million husk in June 2026, though in that case the cause was a $50 million hack linked to North Korea rather than loan performance.
Centrifuge, one of the largest onchain real-world asset platforms by TVL, hit the same wall in 2023, when roughly $5.8 million of loans across two pools went overdue — most of it in a pool financing consumer microloans in France, which ultimately unwound and ended in litigation.
With the GIP-87 Snapshot vote set to close June 23, the formal end of the protocol is now a governance formality.
PANews, June 23 – According to Cryptopolitan, the a16z-backed decentralized credit protocol Goldfinch has announced it will gradually wind down. Last Friday, an investor under the pseudonym Edward Morra publicly accused the protocol of mismanagement, resulting in over $50 million in user fund losses, claiming that borrower defaults and failed loan restructurings have made it nearly impossible for depositors to recover their funds. Just one day after the post was published, the project announced it would enter a gradual shutdown phase. The protocol’s native token, GFI, has fallen from its January 2022 peak of $32.94 to below $0.07, a decline of 99.8%, with its market cap dropping from over $390 million to less than $6 million.
Goldfinch was founded in 2021 by former Coinbase employees, aiming to connect crypto capital with credit businesses overlooked by traditional banks. a16z led its $25 million funding round in January 2022. Problems began to surface within months of the funding: Kenya-based motorcycle financing company Tugende Kenya defaulted; two underlying positions in a $2 billion loan portfolio at U.S. credit fund Stratos were nearly wiped out; and Singapore-based borrower Lend East could only repay 58% of the principal. As the loan portfolio deteriorated, the protocol pivoted to institutional credit funds, but ultimately could not reverse the situation.
Japan and South Korea's stock markets opened higher, with South Korea's KOSPI index rising 2.9% and SK Hynix surging 11%.
According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index opened 1.4% higher at 70114.09. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 2.9%. South Korean stocks SK Hynix gained 11%, while Samsung Electronics rose 5%.
3 minutes ago
Trader Maji was liquidated on his 25x leveraged long Ethereum position, incurring $1.9 million in losses, and subsequently opened a new position.
According to monitoring by OnchainLens, Stanley Huang, known as "Machi Big Brother" (@machibigbrother), has had his 25x leveraged long Ethereum (ETH) position fully liquidated, incurring a loss of approximately $1.9 million. Notably, he opened a new 25x leveraged long ETH position immediately after the liquidation. Machi Big Brother’s cumulative historical losses exceed $35.4 million.
3 minutes ago
Micron posted strong quarterly results, with its quarterly revenue and next-quarter outlook significantly exceeding market expectations. Its stock surged nearly 16% in after-hours trading, driving a broad rally across the storage sector.
According to its official financial report, Micron Technology (MU.O) reported Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, beating market expectations of $35.423 billion and surging from $9.301 billion in the year-ago period. The company issued Q4 fiscal revenue guidance of $50 billion, against market expectations of $42.915 billion. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated: "Micron’s record-breaking Q3 fiscal financial results and stronger Q4 outlook reflect the strategic value of memory chips in the AI era. We believe our multi-year strategic customer agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance." Micron’s Q3 report showed net profit of $28.24 billion, or $24.67 per share, up from $1.89 billion, or $1.68 per share, in the same period last year. Excluding certain one-time items, Micron reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $25.11, exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $20.86. Driven by the quarterly revenue and outlook that topped expectations, as of press time, Micron jumped 15.95% in post-market trading on the U.S. stock market, also lifting other memory stocks sharply: Seagate (STX) rose 10.21%, Western Digital (WDC) gained 12.31%, and SanDisk (SNDK) surged 15.77%.
3 minutes ago
Kalshi is reportedly seeking a new round of financing, with its valuation potentially rising to $40 billion.
According to a report from the U.K.’s Financial Times, prediction market platform Kalshi is in discussions with investors for a new funding round targeting a roughly $40 billion valuation, with a potential close as early as the third quarter of this year. The development follows Kalshi’s $1 billion financing round completed last month, which valued the firm at $22 billion, with backers including leading institutions such as Coatue, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Morgan Stanley. Data shows Kalshi’s trading volume last month surpassed $17 billion, a sharp jump from less than $5 billion a year prior, with approximately 65% of that volume stemming from sports-related prediction contracts.
3 minutes ago
Polymarket integrates with Telegram via TON, enabling users to participate in prediction markets directly within the messaging app.
Polymarket has been integrated into Telegram via Predict, a native decentralized application (dApp) of the TON ecosystem. Developed by the Getgems team, the app allows users to directly participate in prediction markets covering sports, politics, cryptocurrency, culture and other sectors within Telegram. Transaction results are settled on-chain, and users retain full control over their assets. Users can participate in trades using USDT on the TON network, and pay a small amount of GRAM for gas fees. The cross-chain infrastructure is powered by STON.fi’s Omniston protocol, enabling the prediction market service to seamlessly integrate into the Telegram ecosystem.
3 minutes ago
Rubio: US and Iran to continue technical consultations at the end of this month
Multiple foreign media outlets reported on the 24th that US Secretary of State Rubio said technical teams from the United States and Iran will hold further talks in Switzerland by the end of June. (Xinhua News Agency)
HAVAH users can now enjoy native cross-chain asset swaps and borrowing against tokens on Balanced, thanks to ICON’s Cross-Chain Framework. This development marks a significant step in HAVAH’s integration with other blockchains, expanding the horizons for seamless value transfer across integrated chains.
According to a report from the firm, on July 22, 2024, Balanced officially launched on HAVAH, providing new options for native cross-chain swaps and stablecoin loans. HAVAH, the first blockchain built on ICON SDK to integrate with Balanced, joins several blockchains across the EVM and IBC ecosystems. This integration enables smooth value movement from the HAVAH blockchain, enhancing the DeFi experience for its users.
Seed Liquidity and User Experience To ensure a positive user experience, the ICON Foundation has provided seed liquidity for the new HVH/sICX pair on Balanced. This support is crucial for maintaining the platform’s cross-chain functionality. HAVAH users can swap native assets between integrated chains, transfer HVH to the ICON chain for liquidity, or borrow bnUSD against their assets.
Aligned with ICON’s vision of promoting cross-chain development, Balanced plans to extend its services to additional blockchains as they become available through ICON GMP. Users can expect updates on these new features as they roll out, further enhancing the cross-chain capabilities of the HAVAH and Balanced integration.
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The recent crypto purchase of United States Congressman Mike Collins has triggered a significant surge in the trading volume of Velodrome (VELO).
Politician Signals Support For Velodrome Velodrome Finance is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) on Optimism. It utilizes VELO as the utility token earned by liquidity providers. Community members who wish to participate in governance can lock the VELO tokens in order to do so. Voters are also rewarded with protocol trading.
BREAKING: Representative Mike Collins just disclosed a purchase of a cryptocurrency called Velodrome.
The coin appears to have a market cap of less than $100M.
This is the first time we have ever seen a politician trade it. pic.twitter.com/lydptNO5Bq
— Quiver Quantitative (@QuiverQuant) June 17, 2024
According to CoinMarketCap data, Velodrome’s trading volume hit $2.4 million after bagging more than a 67% increase within the last 24 hours. This spike was discovered after Representative Collins announced that he has purchase the digital asset. His purchase makes him the first documented politician to ever engage with the cryptocurrency that has a market capitalization of less than $100 million.
Collins stated that he purchased VELO on May 15, the time when the digital currency was around $0.13. His purchase is pegged to be round $1,001 and $15,000, suggesting that he may have acquired as much as 100,000 units of VELO. Since the time of the Congressman’s purchase, the crypto has seen some fluctuations that eventually led to a downtrend in its price.
At press time, VELO was down by 4.33% and currently trading at $0.09653. The surge in trading volume, which reflects increased investors’ activities, is likely to contribute to a price recovery in the near future. This might be complemented by other events like a broad crypto ecosystem bull run.
U.S Politicians Rally Round Cryptocurrencies Notably, Velodrome Finance is not Rep Collins first crypto purchase as he is largely known for his appetite for digital assets. He once highlighted his Ethereum (ETH) purchase which he said was worth $65,000 at the time of acquisition.
With the 2024 presidential elections only about five months away, more politicians have adopted cryptocurrencies. Donald Trump now sees himself as the “Crypto President” after moving against the asset class for a very long time. He has plans to support crypto companies once he is elected into office. Trump’s campaign team is open to accepting crypto donations.
Similarly, President Joe Biden who is also an aspirant in the upcoming elections has launched his crypto outreach. His campaign team is now approaching crypto industry leaders, seeking guidance on proactive crypto policies moving ahead.
Overall, there is a growing interest for digital currencies amongst United States policymakers and politicians.
Read More: Shiba Inu (SHIB) Exec Touts Important Industry Collaboration, Will This Reboot Price
Velodrome Finance (VELODROME) has witnessed a remarkable 170% surge following its listing on Binance. The decentralized exchange (DEX) token, which has gained significant attention in recent weeks, will now be available for trading on the exchange. As the liquidity hub for the Superchain, its listing marks a crucial milestone in its growing ecosystem, increasing visibility and investor interest.
Binance Listing Boosts Velodrome’s Visibility and Market Potential On December 13, Binance unveiled its decision to feature Velodrome Finance, a decentralized exchange (DEX) known for its role as the liquidity hub for the Superchain. This pivotal step aims to improve accessibility for traders and investors while driving deeper engagement within the platform’s ecosystem.
The platform introduces a new spot trading pair, VELODROME/USDT, with deposits open ahead of trading. Trading will go live at 14:00 (UTC), and withdrawals will begin on December 14 at 14:00 (UTC). This initiative is expected to boost liquidity and increase visibility for the DEX’s growing decentralized finance (DeFi) operations.
The exchange has also applied a Seed Tag to the token, signifying its innovative potential but higher associated risks and volatility. To trade such tokens, users must pass a risk-awareness quiz every 90 days. Additionally, within 24 hours, advanced trading features such as bots and spot copy trading will be enabled. As a result, users will have access to enhanced tools that ensure a seamless trading experience.
Velodrome Finance continues to establish itself as a major player in decentralized finance, delivering scalable and efficient liquidity solutions. With its inclusion on Binance, the platform is set to attract significant attention, boosting its adoption and strengthening its foothold in the competitive DeFi market.
VELO Price Rallies Amid Latest Move VELO price saw massive increase, currently trading at $0.39 following Binance’s decision to support the token. This marks a remarkable 365% surge over the past month and an impressive 500% rise year-to-date, signaling strong investor interest. With a market cap of $357 million and $42 million in 24-hour trading volume, its recent performance reflects growing confidence in its utility and ecosystem.
The exchange backing provides Velodrome Finance with enhanced liquidity and accessibility, crucial factors for sustaining its current bullish momentum. As the token gains more interest, its market presence will likely grow. This will further strengthen its position in the crypto ecosystem.
Binance Expands Support for Velodrome Finance Crypto exchange Binance will also add Velodrome Finance to multiple products and services, as per an announcement. The exchange will add VELO to Simple Earn, “Buy Crypto”, Convert, Margin, Auto-Invest, and Futures offerings.
It has launched USD-M VELO perpetual contract today, offering up to 75x leverage. Coinglass data indicates the Velodrome futures saw a massive increase in open interests on Friday.
The price surge echoes the performance of KOMA, which experienced a 136% increase after receiving support from Binance. This highlights the exchange’s ability to boost a token’s visibility and trading activity. It also drives significant interest from the broader crypto community.
Key NotesVelodrome Finance saw a 113% surge following its Binance listing.VELO price has risen 527% year-to-date, reflecting strong investor confidence. Velodrome Finance (VELO), the decentralized exchange (DEX) token, has seen a massive 113% surge in its value after recently listing on Binance. This means that the token is now available for trading against Tether (USDT).
The listing represents a major achievement for the DEX, which has been designated as the liquidity hub for the Superchain. Other than the massive exposure and visibility that this brings, listing on Binance also does a lot for Velodrome’s growing ecosystem and the interest that investors will now have in its VELO token.
Binance Listing Brings Key Upgrades for Velodrome Traders On December 13, Binance officially announced its decision to list Velodrome Finance. Seizing the opportunity, the exchange also introduced the new VELODROME/USDT trading pair, opening deposits for the pair ahead. Trading, however, will only begin at 14:00 (UTC), with withdrawals set to start on Saturday, December 14, at the exact same time.
Meanwhile, acknowledging the risks and volatility that are more than likely to come with the token, despite its huge potential, Binance has applied a “Seed Tag” to it. So, to ensure that traders are safe, users dealing with VELO must complete a risk-awareness quiz every 90 days.
Binance added that it will also enable advanced trading features, including trading bots and spot copy trading. That is, within the first 24 hours of listing.
All these efforts are, without a doubt, geared towards ensuring that users are able to enjoy top-notch trading experiences.
Velodrome Finance’s inclusion in Binance is a major boost to its accessibility and liquidity. These both are key factors in establishing its presence and preserving its continued growth within the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
VELO Price Surge Mirrors KOMA’s Success As expected, the recent announcement by Binance has had an immediate impact on VELO. The token saw a whopping 113% price jump in the past 24 hours to be trading at $0.3243. It has also seen a 273% increase in just one month and a 527% rise since the beginning of the year.
With a growth so obvious, it might be fair to say that investors are getting increasingly confident in not just Velodrome’s utility but also its potential within the DeFi sector.
VELO currently has a market capitalization of $285 million and a 24-hour trading volume, which has surged nearly 3,500% in 24 hours to $227 million.
Interstingly, VELO’s performance is similar to that of KOMA. Another token that soared 170% after affiliating with Binance.
If nothing else, these trends show that Binance wields such a great influence in the market. This influence becomes immediately noticeable through a token’s visibility and trading activity.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
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Mayowa is a crypto enthusiast/writer whose conversational character is quite evident in his style of writing. He strongly believes in the potential of digital assets and takes every opportunity to reiterate this. He's a reader, a researcher, an astute speaker, and also a budding entrepreneur. Away from crypto however, Mayowa's fancied distractions include soccer or discussing world politics.
Velodrome Finance price surged and reached the year-to-date high after getting listed by Binance.
Velodrome Finance (VELO), one of the biggest players in Optimism’s (OP) ecosystem, jumped to a high of $0.0335, up by 810% from its lowest level this year. Its rally brought the total market cap to over $282 million.
VELO’s jump happened after Binance, the biggest crypto exchange in the industry, listed its token with a seed tag. That listing will give it exposure to millions of customers who use the Binance platform.
Data by CoinGecko shows that most VELO tokens are traded on exchanges like MEXC, OKX, Gate, and XT. As such, because of Binance’s scale, the odds are that its volume will rise in the next few days.
Historically, cryptocurrencies rally when they are listed by major exchanges. These gains, however, are often short-lived as the hype eases.
Velodrome has become a top player in the decentralized finance industry. Its total value locked has risen to over $100 million, while the DEX volume in the last seven days stood at over $700 million. This makes it bigger than other popular Optimism DEX networks like Uniswap (UNI), WOOFI, Beethoven, and Curve Finance.
Velodrome Finance has handled over $20 billion in assets cumulatively, a trend that may continue as the crypto bull run accelerates. Most DEX networks, led by Raydium and Uniswap, have seen a sharp increase in volume this year, with their November volume rising to over $371 billion.
Velodrome Finance price has more gains to go VELO price chart | Source: crypto.news The daily chart shows that the VELO price has been in a strong uptrend in the past few months. It has recently retested the important resistance level at $0.030, its highest point on May 10.
This was an important level since it was the upper side of the cup and handle pattern. It has even completed forming the handle section. C&H is a popular bullish continuation sign.
Velodrome price has also moved above the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. Therefore, there is a likelihood that the token will continue rising in the longer term. By measuring the depth of the cup, we can estimate that the VELO price will eventually jump to $0.054, which is about 109% above the current level.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) altcoin Velodrome Finance (VELO) is skyrocketing following a new listing from the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
Earlier today, Binance announced the addition of VELO to the crypto exchange.
[adinserter block="1"]
“Binance is excited to announce that Velodrome Finance (VELODROME) will be added to Binance Simple Earn, ‘Buy Crypto’, Binance Convert, Binance Margin, Binance Auto-Invest, and Binance Futures at the respective dates and timings listed below.”
According to the announcement, Binance’s Simple Earn will list VELO Flexible Products for subscription today. Binance users will be able to purchase VELO on Monday, December 16th.
VELO has almost doubled in value in the last 24 hours. The DeFi token is up 90.3% on the day at time of writing, currently going for $0.292.
Velodrome is a trading and liquidity decentralized exchange (DEX) marketplace built on Optimism (OP), a leading Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 blockchain, making it Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible. According to CoinGecko, Velodrome is currently the top DEX by 24-hour trading volume.
Velodrome has also spawned a popular fork on Base called Aerodrome Finance, in which Coinbase has been heavily investing.
“Coinbase Ventures historically do six-figure venture deals and seldom went beyond $1 million investments until recently. And now we have the largest-ever investment made on a liquid token (>$20 million) bought from the open market like every other market participant. Think about why they are so bullish and still buying more.”
Decentralized finance (DeFi) altcoin Velodrome Finance experienced a remarkable increase in value after being listed by Binance. The inclusion of the VELO token on Binance’s platform captured the attention of traders.
Binance Listing AnnouncementBinance announced that it would integrate Velodrome Finance’s VELO token across various services. The future of VELO on platforms such as Simple Earn, Buy Crypto, Convert, Margin, Auto-Invest, and Futures was highlighted.
Following the announcement, VELO’s value nearly doubled within 24 hours, surging to $0.24 with a 70% increase at the time of writing.
Coinbase’s InvestmentsVelodrome stands out as a decentralized exchange built on Optimism. It has also established a fork called Aerodrome Finance, which received significant investment from Coinbase.
“Coinbase Ventures historically engages in six-figure venture deals and recently invested over $20 million in a liquid token acquired from the market. Consider why they are so optimistic and what more they might purchase.”
With its Optimism-based structure, Velodrome Finance creates an ecosystem compatible with Ethereum $1,623. According to CoinGecko data, Velodrome currently ranks as the top DEX in terms of 24-hour trading volume.
The agreement with Binance is not only attracting investor interest but also impacting market dynamics. Binance users will have the opportunity to purchase VELO on the specified date.
VELO’s rapid rise may positively influence other DeFi projects in the market. The future of Velodrome and Aerodrome Finance remains a significant topic of curiosity among crypto investors.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Velodrome Finance’s token continued its strong rally this week as volume on its platform jumped, coinciding with the launch of Optimism’s SuperStacks rewards.
Velodrome Finance (VELO) rose to $0.01740 on Wednesday, July 16, its highest swing since March 3 and 105% above its lowest point this year.
The VELO token climbed as third-party data showed rising volume on its decentralized exchange this month. The platform has handled over $597 million so far in July, up from $1.1 billion last month. If the trend continues, July’s volume could surpass June’s.
VELO’s volume is likely to remain strong amid a broader crypto market rally that has lifted most digital assets. Historically, both centralized and decentralized exchange volumes tend to rise during bull markets.
VELO price also jumped after Optimism (OP) launched the SuperStacks rewards program, designed to incentivize users across its decentralized finance ecosystem. More than $200 million was contributed during the program, with over 50,000 users participating. A total of 20,545 Velodrome users have begun claiming their rewards.
Further supporting the rally, Velodrome’s developers recently launched Superswaps, a platform that allows users to swap assets across multiple chains within a single interface.
Still, VELO faces potential risks. The share of tokens held by whales has dropped 65% over the past 30 days, while smart money holdings are down to 4,915. Meanwhile, the supply of VELO on exchanges has climbed to 344.6 million.
VELO price technical analysis Velodrome Finance price chart | Source: crypto.news The daily chart shows that Velodrome Finance’s token bounced back this month, climbing from a low of $0.01160 to its highest level since March.
VELO broke above a key resistance level at $0.01575, its May 10 high and the neckline of a double-bottom pattern. It also moved above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages, signaling bullish momentum.
VELO’s Average Directional Index has climbed to 20 and is trending upward, indicating sustained momentum. The Relative Strength Index is approaching the overbought threshold at 70.
Given this setup, VELO will likely continue rising as bulls target the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.02372, approximately 36% above current levels. A drop below the $0.015 support would invalidate the bullish outlook.
Key Takeaways How does the token distribution work in the Aero merger? Aerodrome holders receive 94.5% of the new AERO token supply while Velodrome holders receive 5.5%, reflecting the massive disparity in total value locked between the two protocols.
What makes Aero different from other Layer 2 DEXs? Aero combines Velodrome V2’s vote-lock governance model with Aerodrome’s optimized emissions engine to create the first large-scale DEX unified across multiple Layer 2 rollups.
In a major DeFi milestone, Aerodrome and Velodrome Finance have merged under Dromos Labs to form a new cross-chain decentralized exchange — Aero.
The merger brings together the dominant trading protocols on Base and Optimism, aiming to unify governance, liquidity, and incentives across multiple Layer 2 networks.
A lopsided but strategic merger According to the reports, existing Aerodrome (AERO) holders will receive 94.5% of the new token supply, while Velodrome (VELO) holders get 5.5% — a sharp disparity reflecting each platform’s current weight.
Aerodrome holds roughly $479 million in total value locked (TVL), according to data from DefiLlama, compared with Velodrome’s $55 million.
The newly merged platform will initially operate across Base, Optimism, and the OP Superchain, before expanding to Ethereum mainnet to deepen liquidity.
It will also integrate Circle’s Arc network, leveraging USDC’s $73 billion circulation for frictionless fiat-to-crypto bridges.
Technical upgrades and roadmap Aero builds on Velodrome V2’s vote-lock model while incorporating Aerodrome’s emissions engine — designed to optimize reward distribution and gauge voting efficiency.
The upgrade also introduces “Slipstream V2,” a concentrated liquidity model similar to Uniswap V3, designed to reduce slippage and enhance capital efficiency.
By merging liquidity pools across Base and Optimism, Aero aims to capture 10–15% of the combined Layer 2 DEX volume, equivalent to more than $2 billion in monthly trading activity.
A contrast to troubled mergers The smooth execution stands in stark contrast to the recent collapse of the Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Protocol alliance, where a dispute over $100 million worth of FET tokens derailed the partnership and triggered a sharp price drop.
While that conflict highlighted governance breakdowns in multi-protocol integrations, Aero’s transition appears coordinated, transparent, and technically unified under one development team, at least for now.
Why it matters The Aero merger signals a new phase of DeFi consolidation, where collaboration and interoperability are replacing fragmented ecosystems.
As Layer 2 networks mature and liquidity becomes more fluid, Aero could emerge as the first large-scale DEX to unify on-chain trading across multiple rollups.
TradingView data shows that Velodrome [VELO] was trading at around $0.042, with an over 13% decline, while Aerodrome [AERO] traded around $1.1 with an over 3% decline.
Ternoa, a cross-layer protocol using confidential computing to further secure blockchain, has recently introduced a new project. As per the platform, it is unveiling zkEVM+ which is a privacy and security-centric layer 2 that Polygon has developed on Ethereum. The testnet launch of the respective project on Ternoa offers censorship resistance through integrity proofs.
Ternoa Releases zkEVM+ Testnet to Enable Native Privacy and Integrity Proofs The platform took to its official social media account on X to announce this endeavor. Additionally, it published an exclusive blog post on Medium to provide the details of the project. It noted that zkEVM+ provides users and builders in the Ethereum ecosystem with native privacy. Polygon CDK is responsible for developing the project. zkEVM+ combines Avail Data Availability and hybrid coprocessor facilities in an exceptional architecture.
Avail and Polygon’s co-founder Anurag Arjun also commented on this project. He, as an advisor to zkEVM+, labeled it as a significant contribution to assist Ternoa in scaling the roadmap of Ethereum. The platform already comprises one of the biggest France-based blockchain infrastructure-related communities. The company is also collaborating with big corporate accounts in France like Stellantis and Caisse des Dépôts & Consignations.
The respective accounts also take into account gaming companies like Tap Nation and Japanese studios such as Toho. The release of the project reportedly takes place after the launch of a privacy stack in the form of a Polkadot sdk layer 1 chain. Ternoa has been making huge endeavors to back enterprise adoption through its partnerships with the top players.
The Platform Facilitates EVM Developers with Exclusive Initiatives At the moment, many decentralized applications like “Time Guardian” are using the privacy stack of Ternoa. Time Guardian operates as a mobile application focusing on the management of digital inheritance. Moreover, an abstracted wallet “Keeper Defi” also leverages the privacy stack. It reportedly gives exclusive DeFi-related opportunities. Currently, it is providing a CAPS incentive project.
Furthermore, Ternoa is substantially facilitating EVM developers. Therefore, the builders pursuing to release their apps on a thoroughly secured infrastructure can benefit from it. For this purpose, Ternoa is initiating a CAPS grant project of nearly $500k worth. The endeavor targets onboarding the latest projects and developers while the Testnet phase goes on.
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Umair Younas is a cryptocurrency-related content writer linked with this work since 2019. Here, at Blockchainreporter, he serves as a news and article writer. He is a crypto, blockchain, NFTs, DeFi, and FinTech enthusiast. He has strong command over writing authentic reviews about brokers and exchanges and he has collaborated with our education team to write educational content as well. He has a dream to raise awareness among people about digital currencies. His works are well-researched and brimmed with information hence they provide fresh insights. Stay tuned to his posts if you want to stay up-to-date with the crypto-verse.
While most people consider every cryptocurrency transaction anonymous, that’s not the case. Bitcoin, for example, has all transactions recorded on a public ledger, which can be easily accessed. In theory and practice, it’s entirely possible to associate a Bitcoin address with an individual, especially if he has ever used a cryptocurrency exchange, which requires identity verification.
However, the apparent need for a fully anonymous payment option ultimately led to the creation of such, called privacy coins. During this week, turbulent movements, a lot of them recorded serious gains, and it’s perhaps to have a closer look.
What Are Privacy Coins? Privacy coins conceal all the information from both the sender and the recipient. They don’t provide any data on the amount of the transaction when they take place and ultimately leave absolutely no traces or records behind.
With this being said, a lot of people consider that privacy coins are generally used by criminals since the transactions are untraceable. One valid example here may come from the kidnapping of a Norwegian multimillionaire’s wife last year. The perpetrators reportedly requested a ransom for $10 million to be paid in one of the most popular private coins – Monero.
However, this report from Q2 2019 indicates otherwise. It examines cryptocurrencies’ involvement in illegal activities, and it concludes that privacy coins are responsible for just around 4% of all similar transactions.
A more popular usage is the basic need of most regular people to protect their anonymity from central authorities and governments. This is where the demand for such coins surfaced in the first place.
Notable Privacy Coins Examples As with most cryptocurrencies, there are already several well-established privacy coins in the market.
Monero is one of the most popular at the moment. It’s also one of the largest cryptocurrencies, as it’s currently situated in 11th place. Besides, it has received a lot of widespread adoption with many different outlets.
Dash is another prominent example of such a coin, which is based on Bitcoin’s software. It continues to grow over the years, and just recently, it partnered with Burger King Venezuela. Dash will be offered in 40 different locations where people can use it to purchase burgers, for instance. Its price also reacted accordingly and surged with over 80% in a day.
Dash: Focusing On Real Solutions Cryptopotato recently had the opportunity to speak with Dash Core’s Business Development Manager for LatAm, Ernesto Escalona, regarding the price movements and company’s updates. He talked about the recently released Dash Platform on EvoNet, which is a “technology stack for building decentralized applications on the Dash network.” He also mentioned Venezuela’s adoption that adds further real usage for Dash.
“We believe the recent positive price action is a reflection of Dash constantly working on fundamentals to allow real use of cryptocurrency. […] So getting cutting edge technology deployed, and focusing on real solutions seems to be getting the attention in 2020, and we will keep working to make real adoption happen!”
As a response to the above, the Dash team added that they are a “user-centric coin with a privacy feature on one wallet and not a privacy coin.”
Zcash falls under the category of privacy coins. The company is behind the Zk-SNARK protocol, which a part of the zero-knowledge proof system. Moreover, it was also recently endorsed by the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden.
A lot of people wonder why I like #Zcash despite the Founder’s Reward. Here’s a reason: that tax funds a quality team that catches and kills serious bugs in-house, before they get exploited. Some other projects learn about bugs like this only AFTER people have lost money. http://t.co/i9MD1CpeNx
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 5, 2019
Other examples for privacy coins are Horizen (ZEN), Verge (XVG), Bytecoin (BCN)< Zcoin (XZC), PIVX (PIVX), and more.
Pricing History Naturally, one can’t overlook the price for a particular coin, especially if he considers taking advantage of their potential as an investment, rather than transmitting payments.
By looking at all charts, one can get some general and conclusive information on how all privacy coins were handling the different trends. For example, during the parabolic price increase of late 2017 and early 2018, all of them reached their respective all-time high (similarly to most cryptocurrencies that existed back then.)
Monero (XMR) was to almost $500, while Dash hit $1,642 in December 2017. Then came the price crash, and all of them followed closely. Just for reference, XMR noted a 92% decline to $42 in late 2018, while DASH’s drop was 96% to $63.
Is The Positive Privacy Coin Trend Back? Despite the price crashes of 2018, most of them appear to be on an extremely positive trend as of the last few weeks. XMR recorded a 10% increase in the previous seven days. Zcash posted 66% gains, and Zcoin was up with 60% in the same timeframe.
Dash managed to surge by 140% to about $125. Besides, DASH entered the top 10 currencies by market cap at one point but it retraced since then.
These movements had the crypto community speculating on whether or not privacy coins are returning to the grand scene. They had a significant role during the previous major bull cycle, and some consider their latest increases as an indication that another one is to come. While it may be too early to conclude this theory to be valid, it’s still worth checking the possibility of actually occurring soon.
Even though all of the privacy coins declined a bit in the past couple of days, the surges were notable and it’s interesting to see whether 2020 will be positive in this regard.
Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has announced the launch of a new blockchain voting machine to enable transparency, secure voter’s votes, and curb election fraud.
According to the firm, implementing blockchain technology gives the prototype and edge over the traditional voting system.
Kaspersky Launches Blockchain Voting Machine According to a report by Verdict on Thursday, February 27, 2020, Kaspersky has introduced its first-ever blockchain-powered voting machine using Polys, an online voting system developed by the company’s Innovation Hub.
Commenting on the advantages of electronic voting, Roman Aleshkin, head of product at Polys remarked:
“From speaking to our customers, we understand the issues and inconvenience they face when organizing paper-based voting. As we see from our Polys platform, e-voting can solve some of these issues, allowing more possibilities for remote participation and even increasing turnout of younger people.”
The report further explained how the prototype work, stating that voter will get a unique QR code or token. Furthermore, this code or token will be scanned, enabling voters to vote on any of the Polys DLT-backed machines. Thereafter, the votes are encrypted and counted, and the voters can verify that their votes are recorded on the blockchain.
Kaspersky says this voting process helps to eliminate multiple votes by one voter, reduce the number of electoral officers and long queues, and also minimize cost.
While this method of voting will record more participation from voters during elections, it, however, comes with some hiccups. As the process requires a smartphone/computers and an internet connection, voters without any of the above can be disenfranchised.
Alsehkin, noting this risk, commented:
“However, if physical polling stations were to be closed completely, it would deprive and alienate certain groups of people from taking part in an election and making their voice heard. That is why we introduced our new voting machines. Working together with the online platform, they allow citizens to vote using the method they prefer, in a convenient and transparent way.”
The cybersecurity firm also partook in a DLT voting campaign in Volgograd, Russia, which recorded participation from over 82,000 people.
DLT Utilization in Government Elections Governments and associations are gradually exploring the use of blockchain technology to improve the electoral process. This is because the system is transparent, fast, and cheap compared to the traditional system of voting.
Back in 2018, the Thai Democrat Party employed Zcoin’s blockchain to conduct its primary election. Zcoin stated that despite the large turnout of voters, the final results were released under 12 hours. The Catalan government expressed willingness to use a DLT-powered voting system for elections.
Furthermore, Utah County collaborated with Tusk Philanthropies, an advocate of mobile voting, to trial the blockchain-based voting system for its municipal primary elections held in August 2019.
Former U.S. Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party, Andrew Yang, is well-known crypto and blockchain proponent. Part of Yang’s propaganda focused on clear virtual currency regulations in the U.S. and the adoption of blockchain technology.
One of Yang’s campaign policies focused on implementing the DLT-based system of voting. According to the Democrat, standing in long queues at polling booths to vote was antiquated. Yang added that voting with blockchain will effectively reduce queues, minimize election fraud, and increase voter participation.
Recently, the Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Startups, Singapore (ACCESS) announced it was employing blockchain technology for voting, to enable transparency and anonymity.
As previously reported by Blockonomi, the botched Iowa caucus election, which used a mobile app to conduct its election, recorded errors and delays in the result. This led some blockchain proponents to push DLT as the solution to voting problems.
Privacy coins have been lauded by some as necessary to protect users’ basic right to privacy. So, what are the top 10 privacy-centric cryptocurrencies?
The Benefits of Privacy Coins Privacy cryptocurrencies occupy a sacred place in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
While most cryptocurrency transactions are traceable on the blockchain, privacy coins utilize a range of protocols to obscure the addresses of transacting parties. Some privacy cryptocurrencies are private by default. Others offer identity-preserving features as an option.
Some exchanges have even delisted many coins due to regulatory pressures to implement strict KYC requirements. But if protecting one’s identity is a highly valued commodity, it’s important to understand how each of the top privacy coins operates.
Privacy Coins By Default Monero (XMR) Monero is the privacy coin with the largest market cap, at around $1 billion at press time.
Monero uses the CryptoNight Proof-of-Work protocol to make the network ASIC resistant. The protocol also obscures wallet transaction details and user amounts on the public blockchain. A truly fungible cryptocurrency, XMR coins’ transaction histories cannot be traced.
CryptoNight uses ring signatures and stealth addresses to hide transaction details. All transactions are private by default.
RingCT (Ring Confidential Transactions), an enhancement of CryptoNight, implements ring signatures to obfuscate transactions on the network by mixing them with other spendable transaction inputs.
The blockchain displays the validity of transactions, but only the sender and receiver involved in a particular transaction can see the amount of coins transferred in a transaction.
Monero is widely considered the most important of this category of cryptocurrencies.
Zcoin (XZC) Zcoin uses a protocol known as Sigma to preserve user identity. Sigma removes the ability to link coins with transaction histories. Only the parties to a transaction have knowledge of the exchange of funds.
The privacy-focused coin has integrated Tor into its network to hide users’ IP addresses. The development team also added Dandelion++ to improve IP address protection when a transaction is broadcast.
The team is currently building toward the launch of Lelantus, an upgrade that would improve the protocol’s scalability, privacy, and ease of use.
Lelantus will usher in completely untraceable transactions. Called HOOMP, Hierarchical One-out-of-Many-Proofs, the algorithm significantly improves on the performance of the One-Out-of-Many Proofs (OOMP).
OOMP is a building block of many other upcoming privacy protocols, such as Beam, Anonymous Zether, JP Morgan’s Many to Many proofs, and Monero’s Triptych and Triptych-2.
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On average, Zcoin developers found a 10x faster proving time, as well as a reduction in verification time, using HOOMP. This feature could make it one of the most important privacy coins in the market.
Bytecoin (BCN) Bytecoin bills itself as the world’s first private untraceable cryptocurrency. To ensure user privacy, Bytecoin deploys CryptoNote technology.
The protocol utilizes ring signatures to bundle transactions as well as making addresses unlinkable through the generation of “non-repeating, one-time address.”
Bytecoin’s privacy credentials are only enhanced by the fact that the more widely known Monero is a fork of the BCN project.
Grin (GRIN) & MimbleWimble Grin is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency “without censorship or restrictions.” The project deploys two methods to ensure transaction privacy for its users.
First, the Grin blockchain does not store amounts or addresses involved in transactions. Transactions are relayed through “a sub-set of peers” prior to being broadcast.
Secondly, using Mimblewimble allows past transaction data to be erased. That not only contributes to the privacy of transactions, but it also helps the blockchain scale. Beam is another project that uses the Mimblewimble protocol.
To ensure privacy and fungibility, the Litecoin Foundation has considered implementing the protocol on the LTC blockchain. According to the foundation:
“We have started exploration towards adding privacy and fungibility to Litecoin by allowing on-chain conversion of regular LTC into a MimbleWimble variant of LTC and vice versa. Upon such conversion, it will be possible to transact with MimbleWimble LTC in complete confidentiality.”
Super Zero (SERO) Super Zero is the native token for the SERO Dapp platform. SERO uses Super-ZK for privacy, and is reportedly 20 times faster than the Sapling upgrade of zk-SNARKs.
Its protocol claims to be the first to support smart contracts that use zero-knowledge proofs.
Privacy Coins With Optional Privacy Dash (DASH) Dash, a fork of the Bitcoin protocol that began life as Xcoin in 2014, has an optional privacy feature that allows users to hide transaction details if they want to through the network’s mixing mechanism. Dash’s privacy feature is called PrivateSend.
It has become a very popular way to transact in Venezuela. The feature, an implementation of CoinJoin, mixes coins with other transactions, to obscure the origin of the funds.
Dash is not, strictly speaking, a privacy coin and does not market itself as one.
In fact, the company’s website promotes it as “instant, global, and easy to use.” Transactions cost less than one cent and are near-instant.
Zcash (ZEC) Zcash is another widely-used coin with optional privacy.
Zcash transactions can take two forms: transparent or private. In private transactions, address details are hidden.
Zcash is a fork of the Bitcoin protocol, adding a privacy layer through a cryptographic proof known as zk-SNARKs. Zero Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge allows transactions to be verified without any knowledge of the wallet addresses involved or the amounts transferred.
According to the Zcash team:
“’Zero-knowledge’ proofs allow one party (the prover) to prove to another (the verifier) that a statement is true, without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. For example, given the hash of a random number, the prover could convince the verifier that there indeed exists a number with this hash value, without revealing what it is.”
Horizen (ZEN) Horizen is “a technology platform with optional privacy features that aims to enable an application-rich and inclusive ecosystem to provide people with freedom and everyday usability.”
ZEN is the platform’s native cryptocurrency.
Like other privacy coins, its privacy features are optional, offering both T-Addresses (transparent) and Z-Addresses (private). Z-Addresses utilize zero-knowledge cryptography to allow users to obfuscate transaction amounts and sender and receiver addresses.
Komodo (KMD) Komodo was a source-code fork of Zcash, enabling the project to implement the zk-SNARKs protocol. It is not a privacy blockchain itself, and KMD is not a privacy coin. But the platform allows for the creation of privacy protocols by third parties.
If a project wishes to adopt Komodo’s privacy as a feature, it can choose whether to make it optional or mandatory. (The Komodo project itself is not privacy-centric.)
Komodo developers also built an entirely separate blockchain, Pirate Chain, in mid-2018. Pirate Chain (ARRR) has mandatory transaction privacy using the zk-SNARKs protocol. The team claims it to be one of the most private blockchains in operation.
The Komodo website outlines that Monero’s ring-signature protocol leaves traces of metadata, which the zk-SNARKs protocol does not.
Verge (XVG) Verge, originally DogecoinDark, uses an anonymous network layer and the Tor anonymity tool to hide IP addresses and user locations.
The Wraith Protocol upgrade brought the ability to accommodate stealth addressin to the Verge network. The upgrade offers senders and receivers the ability to choose to have transactions recorded to the public or the private ledger.
Not only are the locations of senders and receivers private by default, but it also offers stealth addressing.
For these reasons, Verge is a payment option accepted by Pornhub, an ideal use case for privacy coins.
Privacy Coins an Important Part of the Crypto Ecosystem Privacy coins remain an important part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the increased regulatory scrutiny of privacy-enhancing features in the cryptocurrency markets, privacy-focused projects will continue to be important tools against privacy infringements.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Paul de Havilland. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Formerly known as Zcoin, Firo (FIRO) is a cryptocurrency focused on private digital cash. The platform created the Lelantus privacy protocol, which allows users to burn their cryptocurrencies and later use new ones without any transaction history.
Before Lelantus, it was the first cryptocurrency to code and launch a practical implementation of the Zerocoin protocol, which has become one of the most widely used privacy protocols.
Firo’s Lelantus privacy protocol and its predecessor, Sigma, are based on a unique zero-knowledge proof called one-out-of-many proof, which, unlike other zk structures, does not require a trusted setup or exotic mathematical/cryptographic assumptions.
Additionally, it was the first project to deploy Dandelion++ in October 2018, a method of propagating transactions that prevents third parties from linking an IP address to a transaction.
In November 2018, Firo’s blockchain was used in the primary election of the Thai Democrat Party to elect their party leader. With over 127,000 votes cast nationwide, it marked the first large-scale political election conducted on a blockchain. Firo rebranded from Zcoin in October 2020.
Firo uses a PoW-Chainlock hybrid consensus model, which features a network-wide verifiable measure/vote of “first seen” rule conducted by deterministically selected few hundred masternodes (LLMQ) locked to the first seen block. Since no reorganization is allowed after this point, blocks are final with a single confirmation. According to statements, this also reduces 51% mining attacks, as the masternode network would need to be compromised before Chainlocks can be disabled.
Firo’s mining algorithm, MTP, is based on memory hardness to make it resistant to ASICs. It is transitioning to FiroPOW, a variant of ProgPOW specifically designed for GPU mining and more resistant to ASICs and FPGAs to promote fair distribution of the cryptocurrency.
Firo’s founder is Poramin Insom, who holds a master’s degree in Information Security from Johns Hopkins University, where he wrote a paper on the proposed practical implementation of the Zerocoin protocol. Insom is also the co-founder of Satang Corporation and served as a second lieutenant in the Royal Thai Armed Forces’ cyber warfare unit.
How to Buy FIRO Coin?FIRO Coin can be quickly and securely purchased through Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform by transaction volume.
To buy FIRO Coin, you must first become a member of Binance and then send fiat currency. After sending fiat currency like USD, you can perform a purchase transaction in the Bitcoin (BTC), BUSD, and Tether (USDT) FIRO trading pairs where
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
On Thursday, September 12, crypto exchange Binance announced that it would be supporting the hard fork and network upgrade for privacy-focused digital cash project Firo. The announcement has led to major buzz in the crypto community with the FIRO price surging by 3% in the past hour.
Binance Jacks Up FIRO Triggering Optimism According to an official announcement by Binance dated September 12, the crypto exchange will start preparations for supporting the privacy-focused platform’s hard fork and network upgrade shortly ahead. Aligning with this mover, the exchange will halt deposits and withdrawals for the FIRO token starting September 16 at 04:00 UTC. This decision comes as an approach to ensure the best user experience, the crypto exchange clarified.
The hard fork and network upgrade is set to occur at the block height 958,655, or roughly on September 16 at 05:00 UTC. Moreover, as per the coin’s community, the upgrade Firo v0.14.14.0 will mandate tokenomics changes, as voted by the community.
Following the upgrade, the new block reward distribution will be 70% Masternodes, 5% Miners, 15% Development Fund, and 10% Community Fund. Firo’s official announcement offers a detailed view of all the changes.
With Binance’s extension of support to the project’s upcoming advancements, crypto market participants speculate over its price action ahead.
Token Price Jumps 3% Today Meanwhile, FIRO price gained nearly 3% in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $1.12. The coin’s intraday low and high were recorded as $1.07 and $1.14, respectively. Today’s pumping price movements fall in line with the broader market trend and Binance’s support for the project’s upcoming upgrades. Moreover, the coin’s 24-hour trading volume surged slightly by 7%.
Notably, the crypto exchange behemoth’s expansion of offerings for cryptocurrencies has previously sparked an upward movement in prices. For context, AERGO price soared with Binance‘s enhanced offerings recently, CoinGape Media reported.
Altogether, crypto market enthusiasts speculate whether the looming developments could ignite a rally in the privacy-focused digital cash protocol ahead.
Previously known as Zcoin, Firo is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that allows users to burn coins and later redeem new ones with no transaction history, using zero-knowledge proofs.
What is Firo Coin (FIRO)?Firo developed the Lelantus privacy protocol, which supports high anonymity sets without requiring a trusted setup and relies only on standard cryptographic assumptions. Lelantus’ innovation in combining several proofs with confidential amounts has influenced protocols like Monero’s Triptych and Beam’s Lelantus-MW. Firo also employs Dandelion++ to conceal transaction source IPs without relying on external services like Tor or i2P.
Firo has developed and utilizes Merkle Tree Proofs (MTP) as its Proof-of-Work algorithm to incentivize mining with commodity hardware, aiming to be memory-hard with fast verification. The blockchain is further secured with LLMQ ChainLocks. Firo’s blockchain was also used in Thailand’s Democratic Party elections in 2018 to elect party leaders, with over 127,000 votes nationwide.
Additionally, Firo focuses on private payments. It has also developed a tokenization layer called Elysium, allowing users to leverage Firo’s privacy features for their tokens. FIRO will be used as fees for transactions on that layer.
Moreover, Lelantus allows users to burn any number of tokens and redeem new tokens with no associated history at any future time. Masternodes provide protection against 51% attacks and allow for instant block finality using LLMQ-based ChainLocks. Firo also employs Dandelion++ technology to conceal a transaction’s source IP.
MTP (Merkle Tree Proof) is a memory-hard Proof-of-Work algorithm designed to remain lightweight while being fixed in memory, promoting commodity hardware mining.
FIRO Coin can be securely bought and sold on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. FIRO Coin is traded on Binance in FIRO/BTC, FIRO/USDT, and FIRO/BUSD pairs.
To buy FIRO, users must first register with Binance. After completing registration, transfer cryptocurrency or fiat currency to the Binance wallet. Once the transfer is complete, FIRO Coin can be purchased from any of the three pairs listed above. For example, to buy from the FIRO/USDT pair, go to the FIRO/USDT interface, enter the desired amount in the limit section, and complete the purchase by placing a Buy FIRO order.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
