Month: November 2020

Decentralized data storage is emerging as a potential disruptor to centralized cloud storage and could represent a significant shift in the way organizations distribute and store data in the future. Numerous companies already offer decentralized storage options, some of which use blockchain technology to facilitate storage operations and validate transactions across a distributed network.

With decentralized storage, data is encrypted and stored across multiple locations, or nodes, that are run by individuals or organizations that share their extra disk space for a fee. Only the data’s owner holds the encryption key; storage providers cannot access the data. In many cases, the files are also sharded and spread across multiple locations, providing yet another layer of security.

Decentralized data storage products often use blockchain to track storage transactions. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that can automatically synchronize and validate storage transactions across distributed nodes. The blockchain ledger might record shard hashes, data locations, leasing costs or other transaction-specific information. Blockchain can also match users looking for storage with hosts that are offering it.

Decentralized storage has been gaining traction in recent years, and numerous options are already on the market. Most of these products rely on blockchain to support their storage strategies, including three of the four we cover below. However, blockchain and decentralized storage are not one in the same, and one can exist without the other. Here are four up-and-coming decentralized data storage products to consider.

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Editor’s note: Startup Spotlight on Mondays features an emerging entrepreneurial company in N.C. Today we offer an analysis of an emerging technology – blockchain – and our electoral process in the view of Nick Jordan, CEO at Smashing Boxes in Durham. Jordan’s firm focuses on software product development firm with an emphasis on healthcare, blockchain and Internet of Things.

DURHAM – The electoral process in the United States is broken.

Even amid one of the most highly contested and divisive elections in history, one thing we can all agree on is that something needs to be done to fix the process in which Americans elect their representatives on the local, state, and federal levels.

Take the most recent election for example – though this issue isn’t exclusive to 2020 – in the months leading up to early voting there were claims, on both sides, that voter fraud, hacking, and other abnormalities were going to invalidate or “steal” the election.

To make matters worse in 2020, there was a record number of mail-in ballots due to the pandemic. When we struggle to get it right and protect voter security and identities, this election was a recipe for disaster.

In an era where we can talk to our watch and have it tell us the temperature in any city in the world, there must be a better way. But what is it?

Blockchain.

Blockchain is essentially a database that stores information in
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PRESS RELEASE. Centralized exchanges have been the backbone of the cryptocurrency market for years. They offer fast settlement times, high trading volume, and continually improving liquidity. However, there’s a parallel world being built in the form of trustless protocols. Decentralized exchanges (DEX) require no middlemen or custodians to facilitate trading.

Due to the inherent limitations of blockchain technology, it has been a challenge to build DEXes that meaningfully compete with their centralized counterparts. Most DEXs could improve both in terms of performance and user experience.

Basically, MoonDeFi has two main elements: Swap and Staking (Farming). And when users participate in any of the above activities, they will receive a certain profit.

What is the MoonDeFi Protocol?

MoonDeFi is a protocol on Ethereum for swapping ERC20 tokens. Traditionally, token swaps require buyers and sellers to create liquidity; MoonDeFi creates markets automatically. Unlike most exchanges that charge fees, MoonDeFi was designed with a very low fee structure without any fees.

Traders can exchange Ethereum tokens on MoonDeFi without having to
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PRESS RELEASE. The past decade has witnessed a revolution in traditional finance led by the utilization of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology has shown greater use cases since the development of leading coin Bitcoin.

It has been used in different sectors of world economics including, health, agriculture, supply management, finance and many more. However, one sector that is in need for blockchain application is the online marketplace industry.

Freelancing has become popular with more skilled workers preferring the flexibility of freelance jobs than the restrictive nature of traditional office jobs. This has led to a unique industry where people work remotely and get paid for their services. Traditional freelance marketplace like Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.com allow workers from across the world in a conducive environment.

However, these platforms are not perfect and have major flaws. They typically charge workers high commission fees with Fiverr and Upwork charging up to 20%
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NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ApexDao, a decentralized asset management protocol based on the ethereum blockchain, has gone operational. The protocol enables DeFi investors to take complete control of their digital assets and at the same time exposing them to the best investment options available in the DeFi ecosystem.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has grown over the last two years into a range of platforms on the Ethereum blockchain. This allows lenders, borrowers, and investors to manage bank-related transactions without the need for banks acting as a mediator.

DeFi operates on accounts that can be accessed by anyone around the globe with just an internet connection. Investors can create, store, access, and transfer any financial product without the need for banks, politics, or brokers. The only thing that investors need is an open-source digital wallet.

Today, around $2 million is secured in the DeFi market. With 205 DeFi projects listed, 193 are operated on Ethereum. Lending dApps have the biggest market share. Moreover, a few platforms permit users to hold leveraged positions, leveraging tokenized trading and margin lending.

The advent of smart contracts has made lending faster and simpler, making the interaction between borrowers and lenders seamless.

Traditional asset management focuses on the investment and custody of wealth. Direct profit-sharing compels an asset manager to pursue returns. Further, they can hit for a distribution of
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A blockchain focused on decentralization has added 105 independent validators to its mainnet, with hundreds more to follow next month. 

More than 440 validators are set to be involved with Free TON by the end of the year, making it one of the largest and most scalable proof-of-stake networks that the industry has to offer.

Free TON’s goal is to achieve “true decentralization.” At present, the blockchain’s multi-threaded architecture delivers an average block time of just 0.2 seconds, far faster than what’s currently offered by rivals.

With 440 validators and a 0.2-second block time on the horizon, Free TON’s members shared figures that show how it compares with competitors:

• Polkadot: 239 validators, six-second block time
• Cosmos: 262 validators, seven-second block time
• Solana: 383 validators, 0.4-second block time
• Near: 152 validators, one-second block time

Validator stakes are being added to formally verified decentralized pool (DePool) smart contracts, where they will be locked for two years before going back to the governance pool. According to Free TON Community members, no one has the keys to these contracts — making it impossible to steal or manipulate the balances of staked funds.

TON Labs told Cointelegraph that these DePools are going to be run by independent validators from around the world — adding its community-driven network will be a refreshing addition to a proof-of-stake market dominated by centralized staking services.

A validator added that they are excited about the network’s plans to bring scalability to
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NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The blockchain space has exploded massively over the last few years. For the most part, this is due to the growing popularity of decentralized finance (DeFi) among cryptocurrency enthusiasts in 2019. DeFi has become so popular because it has presented real-world business scenarios, pushing to solve key problems plaguing the financial industry.

DeFi is a catchy moniker which represents a paradigm shift in our perception of what money entails. Similar to banks and other centralized financial institutions, DeFi offers the same financial products and services but in a decentralized, trustless and borderless environment.

Bitcoin was the first peer-to-peer digital currency and the first successful implementation of blockchain technology. However, blockchain has grown past Bitcoin to give rise to decentralized finance. This recent development represents a turning point for financial applications which gives users freedom to do more with their crypto assets.

The decentralized finance space is a fast-growing ecosystem of open protocols and applications serving thousands of everyday users who use financial products and services. DeFi has expanded its reach to cover various services like lending and borrowing, spot trading and margin trading — and it’s still growing fast.

According to DeFi Pulse data, the DeFi space is now worth around $12.4 billion, at the time of writing. This is up from a valuation of barely $80 million in early 2020.

What Is Apex DAO?

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Smart contracts have a lot of potential, even though they remain fairly limited in approach. Obtaining external data is impossible for a contract on its own. The future will inevitably involve decentralized oracles, which can serve many different purposes. 

The Limitations of Smart Contracts

Expanding the use of blockchain technology to forge bonds and agreements between different parties is a logical step in the evolution. I firmly believe smart contracts are the next frontier in this industry, even though they are still in their infancy stage of development. Currently, smart contracts are primarily used for a handful of use cases, most of which will never attract attention outside of the cryptocurrency community. 

To change that narrative, smart contracts themselves will have to undergo an evolution. One of their key flaws is the inability to access external information in any capacity. One option to explore comes in the form of blockchain oracles. These systems are widely considered to be core building blocks of the blockchain ecosystem. Being able to obtain external information and interface with remains a key hurdle to overcome. 

One can state that blockchain oracles
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Decentralization: It’s a word that holds so much power and promise. But over the years, it’s become painfully clear that this concept isn’t being given the respect it deserves — and the consequences can be downright dangerous.

We live in a world where DAOs aren’t DAOs, where independent validators aren’t independent, and where PR departments breezily gloss over the fact that some blockchain projects are far more centralized than they may seem.

Emotionally and financially, countless crypto enthusiasts have bought into decentralized projects — full of belief that these platforms will bring about change and hopeful that they could make a lasting contribution that would make the world a better place.

Back in September, Glassnode questioned whether Uniswap was as decentralized as it appears to be. An “immense proportion” of the total supply of UNI tokens, 40% to be exact, has been allocated to the platform’s teams and investors, and the only entity with enough UNI to submit a governance proposal is Binance, a centralized rival. Glassnode went on to accuse the Uniswap team of “somewhat deceptive” marketing, adding: “The narrative of a shift toward decentralized community ownership feels somewhat disingenuous.”

And in March, the supposedly decentralized Steem blockchain fell victim to a “hostile handover” by Tron founder Justin Sun. One major stakeholder, Dan Hensley, accused Sun of bribing his way to the top of Steem with “money, power and users” — and went on to claim that his domination “turned Steem into a centralized security.”

Enough is enough.

Lessons
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