MapleChange Crypto Exchange Hacked

Ledn, First in Canada to Offer Crypto-backed loans.

As per a post on twitter an exchange MapleChange said – that “due to a bug,” an unnamed group of individuals managed to withdraw funds, adding that it is conducting a “thorough investigation” and will be unable to make refunds.”

After the “investigation,” MapleChange decided that it would be unable to pay its users back, divulging that “the exchange has to close down, unfortunately. This includes all our social media.” While the first part of the statement is logical, the second comment led many to raise their eyebrows, so to speak, in suspicions that this hack isn’t cut and dried.

EurekaPro, First Fiat to Cryptocurrency Exchange in Singapore

Singapore and Thailand are shaping up as welcoming destination towards cryptocurrencies. While the Singapore Monetary Authority partnered with leading brands like Deloitte, NASDAQ, and Anquan to build and launch solutions. Thailand made strong moves in regulating the space, by classifying cryptocurrencies as both securities and currencies. Taking a step further, EurekaPro is all set to be the first fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange that will launch in Singapore, providing easy access to the cryptocurrency market for both businesses and consumers.

The exchange will allow people to purchase cryptocurrencies with different Asian fiat currencies such as the Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit, Indonesian rupiah, and others alike.

Crypto Margin Trading – Is it Profitable?

What are Crypto Wallets and How Crypto Wallets Work?

The traditional method of trading cryptos i.e. buy and sell digital currencies in an exchange using your own fund has been in place for some time. But Crypto Margin Trading has been a new concept that is picking its pace with more platforms/exchanges offering the trade and traders keen to explore it.

The major difference between a margin trade and regular trade is that in former the individual could borrow money from an exchange to boost his buying power and opening gates to higher gains/losses. On the other hand the regular trade an investor buys coins/tokens at the market price and holds it until the price shoots up, either over the long or short term to sell them for a profit.

While regular trade sounds like a simple concept with sure shot profit, margin trading is riskier and need lots of research and intelligence to gain profits. Are Crypto Margin Trades anytime profitable? Lets have a closer look –

Crypto Margin Trading – Is it Profitable?

Margin Trading is based on the power to leverage. While lenders play safe and lend you the money to trade, the traders/investors use that money to open positions in the market. Many investors consider it a double sword game as a trader need to pay the interest on the amount borrowed and also in case drop in the market, there is a risk of margin call.

However, with all this some experts love Margin Trading and earn profit as well. Here are few considerations an investor should bear in mind before approaching for a margin trade.

Availability of Margin for Trading

The whole game is based on margin, and is directly proportional to your gains or losses. While the average leverage is about 3:1, other platforms and exchanges offer 2:1, 4:1, 5:1, 3:33:1 or even 1000:1. Lets pick an example –

So you are planning to buy $10,000 worth of Bitcoin

With borrowing 50% Or leveraging 2:1 or 2x

Then you would only need $5000 to purchase a bitcoin worth $10,000.

So while the purchasing power is 1/2 and deal seems profitable, consider when the prices fall and there is a risk of margin call.

Interest Rates Applied on the borrowed amount

Continuing with the same example above, if the amount $5000 that you borrowed has a very high interest rate then it wouldn’t sum up to be a profitable trade, so choose a lender/exchange with nominal interest rates. In crypto margin trading the interest rates are calculated on daily basis, and with price fluctuating you need to top up your account to avoid lender from credit risk, in case market is going steep down. So make sure to account for the interest rates so as to know the amount exactly you need to pay back to the exchange.

Value of Crypto

The value of cryptos is different in each country and is never pegged to USD or any other fiat currency. However the price is still determined in a fiat used by a specific country. Just for example if you search Bitcoin price on Google, it might return in USD as it takes the price from Coinbase API that provides results in USD.

So in Crypto margin trading an investors profit/loss is calculated with respect to the underlying coin i.e usually Bitcoin. So if you are trading a pair of ETC/BTC, so the price movement is not only based on the coin you have invested in but also the price fluctuations of the crypto that it is based on.

References – Ambcrypto, Investopedia

October 10, 2018

Crypto Exchange’s – issues of “transparency, fairness, and security” in crypto trading.

A months-long investigation by the New York Attorney General’s office found that cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to market manipulation and fall short on consumer protection.a 32-page report published Tuesday, the attorney general’s office highlighted issues of “transparency, fairness, and security” in crypto trading. The “Virtual Markets Integrity Report” said that in many cases, exchanges are not doing much to stop unfair market practices. according to the report by Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s office ” The industry has yet to implement serious market surveillance capacities, akin to those of traditional trading venues, to detect and punish suspicious trading activity,”

Top Five Cryptocurrencies as per Market Cap

Nexo Lending Platform Adds Bitcoin Cash Support

Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Cardano, Ether, Dogecoin, Tether, Titcoin, Potcoin, Auroracoin, Primecoin, Swiftcoin just to name a few of exploding cryptocurrency market. As per investing currency list, there are 2260 cryptocurrencies listed on the market as of 14-Sept. As of 15, March 2018 there were 1658 cryptocurrencies, a whooping upward growth. While launching a crypto may not be much of significance, but getting a position in the market is indeed a tough job.

As of March, the cryptocurrency market capitalization was under $369 billion, that indicates that each of the cryptocurrency in March was worth of ~$222 million. However, that’s not the fact – the top 20 leading cryptos account for 89% of the total market — the other 1,638 cryptocurrencies are worth a combined $39.6 billion.

In fact, if you try listing cryptos with the largest market capitalization, here are the top five cryptos as of writing this article –

As experts recommend while placing your bet choose the one with the market capitilization[total coins that will ever be produced times current value], the coins potential to survive in the market and the ease with which a coin can be traded for fiat currency like the US dollars.

While market cap, its potential to survive and ease to convert are some of the best bets, Traders owning cryptos other than Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum; Bitcoin Cash also find it hard to trade them for actual fiat. Most of the coins could be traded at online cryptocurrency exchange, and individuals could also buy stuff online, but converting it into a fiat means –

First converting it into a significant cryptocurrency [like BTC or ETH]
Then get USD against it.

So even though a USD value is listed against each of the cryptocurrency, that does not signify you can liquidate it as per your wish.

September 14, 2018