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Blockchain Versions Explained: A Guide for Beginners

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Blockchain Versions Explained A Guide for Beginners

Are you a beginner in the Blockchain space? Want to get started with this futuristic technology? This article talks about various versions of Blockchain, providing a clear understanding of exactly what this technology is all about.

Table of Contents

  • What Exactly is Blockchain Technology?
  • Types of Blockchain Versions
            * Version 1.0: Cryptocurrency
            * Version 2.0: Smart Contracts
            * Version 3.0: Introduction to dApps
            * Version 4.0: Blockchain for Industry
  •   Wrapping Up 

What Exactly is Blockchain Technology?

A Blockchain is a peer-to-peer (P2P), decentralized, distributed ledger technology with a continually growing public ledger that keeps a permanent record of all the transactions securely and immutably. A blockchain is a network of information-containing blocks where each block tracks all recent transactions and, once done; it is stored permanently on a Blockchain network.

It is different from the traditional database because Blockchain is decentralized because there is no intermediary or mediator, and it is fully confidential. 

The technology has gained a lot of public attention since 2009, and since then, it is continually growing and developing, and now it is more than bitcoins and cryptocurrency. Its demand is because of its ability to offer decentralization, immutability, transparency, and privacy.

Are you a beginner in this domain? Want to get started with Blockchain and become a Certified Blockchain Expert? Get started today!

Types of Blockchain Versions 

As we have understood what exactly Blockchain is, let’s delve deep into the evolution of this technology, including blockchain progression from version 1.0 to version 4.0.

  • Version 1.0: Cryptocurrency 

The implementation of distributed ledger technology led to its first-ever application, and that was the introduction of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. After Bitcoin, various other cryptocurrencies were introduced to allow financial transactions based on Blockchain. 

Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a different person or persons who invented Bitcoin, wanted to create a “trust-less” cash system by removing third-party intermediaries, unlike in traditional systems that require mediators to perform digital monetary transfers.

  • Version 2.0: Smart Contracts

After Bitcoin, version 2.0 extends the concept of Bitcoin beyond cryptocurrency. 

There were several challenges that came with Bitcoin, and those were wasteful mining and lack of network scalability. To deal with such issues, version 2.0 introduced smart contracts. Smart Contracts are autonomous computer programs that execute automatically when the desired conditions are satisfied. Such contracts run on the blockchain network without any plausibility of downtime, fraud, or error.

The aim of the smart contract is to provide security while processing transactions and reduce excess transaction costs and time. Unlike traditional contracts, smart contracts maintain complete transactional transparency, offer security and confidentiality by making use of cryptographic algorithms. 

Smart contracts can be applied to trade finance, supply chain, property ownership, and many other domains. 

  • Version 3.0: Introduction to dApps

dApps are Blockchain-based apps, or we can say that dApps are a part of the software that communicates with the Blockchain, which manages and controls the state of all network actors. Unlike centralized apps that run on a single computer, blockchain-based apps run on a P2P network.

Such applications use decentralized storage and communication, and most have their backend code running on a decentralized network, unlike centralized applications that run on centralized servers. 

A few of the top-ranked dApps are ForkDelta, CryptoKitties, Bancor, Ether Shrimp Farm, PoWH 3D, Moon, Inc., among others. 

  • Version 4.0: Blockchain for Industry

Although the value of Blockchain in industries is yet to be defined, there are still some areas such as finance, supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, including others in which this technology provides prospective benefits. Technology 4.0 demonstrates the strategies that make Blockchain available to business requirements.

Various organizations, industries, enterprises, and businesses are willing to adopt Blockchain technology for their efficient operations. Due to their decentralized nature, distributed ledger technologies like Blockchain can easily resist malicious attacks and frauds. With continuous efforts, Blockchain developers and technocrats are trying to build a scalable, adaptable, and affordable Blockchain for the world. 

Wrapping Up 

Undoubtedly, Blockchain has made a lot of progress since its invention. Those who have understood its potential are ready to go beyond the paradigm of a central system for anything and everything. Due to its decentralized nature, technology can easily resist malicious attacks and can execute transactions instantly. The latest upgraded version that is version 4.0 is leading us towards faster processing and sustainable technology in terms of immutability, anonymity, privacy, secure transactions, and cost-efficiency. But still, there is a call for a safer and more robust Blockchain.

If you are a beginner but want to master this futuristic technology, Blockchain Council is here to assist you!

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online Blockchain Certifications, check out Blockchain Council. 

Blockchain Versions Explained: A Guide for Beginners

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Grifter season in DeFi-land, and Uniswap v3 is here! Finance Redefined 4/28-5/05

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Lots of cons, no artistry

It’s grifter season: scams and opportunists run amok, and it’s harder than ever to tell who to trust.

Case and point: over the weekend, an influencer by the pseudonym “Crypto Spider” was found to have pumped-and-dumped a meme coin, $SELON — while publicly claiming that he had joined his followers in taking a loss.

The drama jarred me personally, despite the fact that I didn’t have any exposure to the failed shitcoin. The reason being is that I quoted Crypto Spider in a piece from January. Had I unwittingly aided a scammer?

I’d gotten his name from a trusted colleague. Part of my beat is emerging projects, and I’m always open to hearing from anon teams and sources — other cryptomedia outlets ignore them to their detriment, given that the largest digital asset in the world was founded by an anon.

When we spoke he told me about an algo stablecoin project, and I now realize that it was likely an effort to use the Cointelegraph platform to pump his bags. Thankfully, I did my due diligence while researching the project: the developers were clever and intrepid, but ultimately working in what appears to be a doomed vertical (though I suppose FEI and OHM are still giving it the old college try), and I profiled them as such.

While my reporting was unlikely to lead anyone astray, seeing Spider exposed as a fraud was nonetheless a jolt. It’s getting harder to tell who to trust out there — a point that Spider made himself.

I reached out to him over the weekend to ask for his side of the story, and he pointed to a Tweet thread from his alleged co-conspirator — one which, oddly, confirmed that he had promoted the project and then sold. He also sighed that he’d become “the target of anyone who shilled or created meme coins.”

It would take the moral nuance of a toddler to claim Spider’s actions are equivocal to the standard influencer cheerleading, but with all the money sloshing around more and more people seem to be getting mixed up with shady deals. 

Not even institutions are exempt: Alameda Research invested $20 million in Reef, part of what would have been a larger $80 million deal — but the two companies cut ties over a disagreement regarding Alameda transferring the tokens they purchased to Binance, presumably to sell. Alameda later said it was merely an OTC buy and not a longer-term “strategic investment.”

Anons lie, institutions lie, and despite the money pouring from the sky greed is still getting the better of people. Watch who you listen to and what you invest in — I know I’ll be even more careful going forward.

But here’s one principle that hasn’t led me astray yet: anonymity by nature encourages and enables both the best and the worst in crypto. An anon with integrity can be a guiding light in these choppy waters.

Uniswap v3 mewls out of the gate

After months of anticipation, Uniswap v3 is finally here. It may take a while before it gets its sea legs, however. 

In the first few minutes after launching the protocol had attracted $1.3 million in total value locked; at the time of publication it has since risen to $24.3 million. The majority of liquidity is in bread-and-butter trading pairs such as ETH/stable pairs, but specifics are hard to come by; while a blog post from Uniswap says that their info site has migrated to displaying v3 statistics, their top pools are still for Uniswap v2. 

Aside from the interface stumble, there is not yet sufficient liquidity to swap at any significant size. Quotes for ETH/stablecoin pairs led to double-digit slippage quotes on orders over 10 ETH or so, and the interface often suggests better prices on v2. (Cointelegraph has a policy in place prohibiting writers from making trades during business hours, so I’m only relaying the quotes I got for the trades).

The low liquidity woes may soon be ameliorated, however. As multiple Twitter observers pointed out, Uniswap is making it simple to migrate liquidity pools to v3 — including Sushiswap LP positions in what some have dubbed a “reverse vampire attack.”

Perhaps coolest of all however is that a long list of Uniswap v3 pool positions, which are represented as NFTs, are now on sale on Opensea. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams bragged about his, the first-ever v3 position. I expect a interesting market to develop over the comping days for early pool positions, and the first positions in culturally important pools may come to have significant value. What would the first EMN-DAI position NFT be worth now?

In all, a mixed-review launch. But that’s to be expected for a protocol only open to the public for the last few hours, and as Framework Venture’s Vance Spencer puts it, once it’s attracted significant liquidity v3 may well represent a new “era” for capital efficiency in DeFi:

Major stories this week

Balancer and Gnosis team up for Uniswap v3 rival Cowswap

Inverse Finance acquires Tonic in possible first-ever protocol merger

Lido looks to go cross-chain

Federal Reserve says DeFi may lead to “Paradigm Shift”

Grifter season in DeFi-land, and Uniswap v3 is here! Finance Redefined 4/28-5/05

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Where to buy Gold-Backed Cryptocurrencies in 2021

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If you want to get involved in the gold-backed cryptocurrency space, you’re probably debating on where the best place to buy them is. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we’ll go over the best places to buy such assets.

Gold Backed Crypto Exchange

A gold-backed crypto exchange is pretty much the best place to invest in such assets. For one, these are the platforms that generate stablecoins. They offer the most value for your investment, often providing quality-of-life trading features and wallets for storage. Some also enable you to invest anonymously.

Not only this, but these exchanges often allow you to redeem your digital gold for physical bullion. Of course, you may have to reveal your identity for this, so they can provide it to the right person.

Such platforms generally audit their holdings and make the results publicly available for trust’s sake. Some are even available 24/7 for the ultimate ability to check their legitimacy.

Specific exchanges allow you to invest in fractional amounts of gold, too, increasing the asset’s accessibility. You can put in as little or as much as you’d like – an option not possible on traditional exchanges.

Binance

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world regarding market cap. It offers support for thousands of cryptocurrencies, many of which being gold-backed stablecoins.

On Binance, you can fund your account with a bank or other crypto and convert nearly any asset into a stablecoin. It’s all up to you, assuming the asset is listed. The platform offers various trading features as well, making it ideal for both beginner and expert traders.

If you’re a big investor, you can earn BNB, the platform’s stablecoin, which helps cover some trading fees. Saving you money, a dedicated stablecoin works wonders for many traders.

If you’re interested in branching off from stablecoins, Binance has tons of detailed documentation on the crypto industry for you to consume. Finally, this exchange has a wallet for you to store your assets within as well. While Binance isn’t a dedicated gold-backed cryptocurrency exchange, it’s definitely a decent alternative.

Coinbase

Based in San Francisco, Coinbase is a popular mainstream cryptocurrency exchange. Because of this, it’s much more selective in its offerings. Still, the underlying support makes it a great space to buy gold backed cryptocurrencies.

Like Binance, Coinbase has a wallet for online storage. It also contains a ton of documentation for learning about stablecoins and other crypto industry staples. If you live in the UK, there’s even a physical debit card, Coinbase Card, for spending on the go.

Beginner traders have more than enough features to make an educated purchase. However, if you’ve been in the space for a while, Coinbase has a pro exchange with more information than Binance. Just note that Coinbase has more expensive trading fees than most other exchanges. It’s a reliable platform, however, which is what you’re paying for.

Gemini

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss Twins of Facebook fame. The project is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. It’s often undergoing bank exams and audits as well. These regulations make it a great platform for trading gold-backed cryptocurrencies.

They’re the first crypto platform to hold the SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance certificates as well. Gemini even offers hardware keys and insurance coverage for all assets stored on the platform.

Gemini offers various products such as its mobile app, a custody platform, an earn space, and even its own stablecoin. That stablecoin, the Gemini Dollar, is tied to the value of USD. It can be used to trade with gold-backed stablecoins, among other assets, similar to Binance’s BNB asset.

Otherwise, signing up on Gemini is relatively easy, though it does require you to verify your identity, among other things. If you’re looking for anonymity, this isn’t the platform for you. It does list a fair amount of gold-backed cryptocurrencies, however.

Finally, just like Binance and Coinbase, Gemini has its own offering of learning documents to educate yourself further on the cryptocurrency industry.

Where to buy Gold-Backed Cryptocurrencies in 2021

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China’s Central Bank Addresses Digital Yuan Privacy Concerns

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The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) deputy director Mu Changchun has addressed privacy and anonymity concerns over its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) project.

Changchun spoke at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Saturday.

Limited Anonymity Of CBDC

According to Changchun, it would be difficult for the digital currency to be fully anonymous. He said that the Central Bank needs to balance privacy for users with international consensus in risk control.

He elaborated the use of digital yuan not only as a payment method but also as a high-level financial surveillance tool.

The Central bank head said that the digital Yuan would provide privacy, but it would be limited. He said that the CBDC would have even more privacy than commercial payment products like bank cards, WeChat, or Alipay, tied more closely to the banking system.

China Cracking Down On Crypto Crimes

While giving reasons to why the digital Yuan would not be fully anonymous, Changchun said too much emphasis on anonymity would raise the cost of fighting crime and could bring severe consequences.

On the flip side, if the apex bank controls anonymity, it would mean that it will observe and monitor transactions taking place while the transacting parties would remain private. This way, PBoC still has the chance to analyze transactions to monitor crimes.

“A completely anonymous central bank digital currency is not feasible as it would violate anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, and anti-tax evasion regulations,” Changchun said.

China has shown its commitment to tackling crimes, especially when it comes to the use of crypto to launder money. Beijing’s extensive crackdown on internet crimes has seen several young people sentenced to prison for laundering  Bitcoin using platforms like Kucoin.

The country was said to have convicted almost 100 people since November 2020 for knowingly using USDT to launder over $30 million through OTC desks.

Meanwhile, China continues to lead major countries in developing and piloting a central bank digital currency (CBDC). However, the project has raised concerns around the amount of insight it would give authorities into users’ financial data and behavior.

In January, 100,000 Chinese received $31 million digital yuan via lottery for free in the Shenzhen region. Residents in the region can now use ATMs to convert digital yuan to cash on a test basis. The Postal Savings Bank of China is also developing physical wallet cards on which to store digital yuan.

China’s Central Bank Addresses Digital Yuan Privacy Concerns

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China’s digital yuan will offer best privacy protection, says official

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Chinese authorities are willing to ensure maximum user privacy for the country’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, according to an official at the People’s Bank of China.

Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s digital currency research institute, spoke of China’s digital yuan privacy capabilities at the 2021 China Development Forum on Sunday, local news agency Sina Finance reported.

Mu stated that a completely anonymous CBDC “is not feasible” because a national digital currency must meet requirements related to Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing and anti-tax evasion. However, that doesn’t mean that China’s digital yuan lacks user privacy, he assured.

The so-called “controllable anonymity” approach is a key feature of China’s digital yuan, meaning that the government is providing certain tools to ensure maximum user privacy and financial security in conjunction with AML measures, Mu said. He stressed that telecom operators — which are involved in the research and development of the digital yuan — are not allowed to disclose personal data and phone numbers of users to third parties, including the central bank.

Third parties like e-commerce platforms are also not able to access the personal data of digital yuan users, as customer payment information is encrypted in the form of a sub-wallet, Mu explained. Additionally, the digital yuan features a wide number of technical capabilities to ensure privacy, including ID anonymization technology and a personal data protection system and internal control management mechanism in accordance with relevant Chinese laws, the executive noted.

In order to protect “reasonable” anonymity needs, the PBoC is also planning to adopt a CBDC design that enables anonymous digital yuan transactions in small amounts, Mu reportedly claimed. “The digital renminbi adopts a design of small amounts anonymous, keeping large amounts traceable,” he said.

“In short, the protection of user privacy by digital renminbi is the highest among the current payment tools,” Mu concluded.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, many global jurisdictions like the United States have considered user privacy issues as one of the biggest problems of a CBDC. According to the European Central Bank’s digital euro public consultation, user privacy is the top requested feature for a European CBDC, followed by security and pan-European reach.

China’s digital yuan will offer best privacy protection, says official

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