Make your crypto work for you and earn passively while holding.

Despite the crypto market’s wild volatility, holding cryptocurrency long term has proven to be an effective trading strategy when it comes to making a return on investment. According to Lookintobitcoin data, holding bitcoin has been profitable for 3,825of its 4,377-day lifespan (87.4%) – hard to believe, but true.

While some capitalize on market volatility by actively trading crypto, many are simply looking for a more hands-off way to grow their portfolio. Among the options available, staking assets is considered one of the top ways to earn passive income for crypto holders.

What you need to know

Before you get started, it’s important to note that staking can be done only with certain cryptocurrencies whose blockchains use the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This system selects transaction validators – people who voluntarily help add new data to the blockchain – based on the number of coins they lock up as opposed to how many mining machines they possess (known as proof-of-work, which is used by the likes of Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin).

The proof-of-stake method offers faster transaction speeds and is easier to use, and it also has a much lower impact on the environment compared with proof-of-work-based assets – something that’s becoming increasingly more desirable as nations around the world tackle climate change.

So, if you’re interested in learning how to stake your assets to earn a passive income, here is everything you need to know about leading PoS cryptocurrencies you can start staking today.

SOLANA ($SOL )

Solana (SOL) is a blockchain-based smart contracts platform specifically designed for deploying decentralized applications (dapps). Solana’s native SOL cryptocurrency is a stakable token that is used to facilitate on chain transactions and pay for network fees.

Solana's staking requirements

Solana staking rewards can be earned by users participating in the network as validators or delegated stakers. Validators are responsible for processing transactions and maintaining the Solana network. Delegated stakers are SOL holders who delegate their tokens to stake pool operators for staking rewards using Solana wallets like Phantom.

Validators are required to run and maintain a validation node (called a “Cluster”), which requires consistent uptime and hardware with sufficient specs. Solana implements slashing, which occurs when validators act maliciously or suffer poor performance. To offset the costs associated with maintaining a cluster, validators can collect commission fees from delegators.

Solana blockchain breakdown

Solana is unique from other notable PoS blockchains because it uses a timestamping system known as a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus. By combining PoS and PoH, Solana is able to clock an incredibly fast block time of 400 milliseconds. By comparison, Cardano’s block time is 20 seconds, and Ethereum produces a new block every 13 seconds.

SOL’s yearly inflation rate started at 8%, but is decreasing by 15% every year until it hits a rate of 1.5%. SOL added into the ecosystem through Solana’s inflation schedule is distributed to delegated stakers and validators every epoch (two days).

How profitable is Solana staking?

The rewards structure for validators and delegators on Solana is mutually aligned. Validators with more SOL delegated receive more opportunities to record transactions on the blockchain, which provides more rewards for both the validator and delegator. In turn, validators may reduce their commissions earned from delegators in order to stay more competitive against other validators. Further, both validators and delegators are affected by slashing, which gives delegators an incentive to stake with the best-performing validators.

Both validators and delegator staking rewards depend on Solana’s adjusted staking yield. Under the staking dilution structure, staking rewards are dynamic and change relative to the amount of tokens staked out of the total current supply of SOL.

According to Staking Rewards, the current annual percentage yield (APY) for delegated staking is around 5.28%. Assuming you are staking 1,000 SOL, you would earn around 52.8 SOL next year. Based on SOL’s 52-week high of $259.99, you would be staking $25,999 for an annual profit of $2,129.32.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA) is regarded as a “third-generation” blockchain platform and is designed for building and running smart contracts. ADA, the native cryptocurrency of Cardano, is a staking token that is used to incentivize network security and facilitate transactions on the network.

Cardano staking requirements

Staking rewards on Cardano can be earned through stake delegation and running a stake pool. Stake delegation lets ADA holders delegate their ADA into staking pools and doesn’t require network participation like running a node or any specific hardware. ADA holders looking to stake their tokens can get started with staking pools using IOG’s Daedalus wallet or Emurgo’s Yoroi wallet.

Stake pools are run by stake pool operators. Those are individuals who can run a network node with consistent uptime in order to keep the network secure. The Cardano network uses game theory to determine which stake pool will create the next block on the chain where the probability of getting selected as a "slot leader" increases by the total amount of ADA staked. Every time a pool is selected as slot leader and validates a transaction block, it receives a reward that is distributed among stake delegators. Time is divided into five-day sections called “epochs,” where each epoch contains 420,000 one-second “slots."

Staking rewards are distributed to stake delegators at the end of each epoch and are equally distributed based on the delegator’s total ADA staked 25 days before the end of the cycle.

Cardano blockchain breakdown

Staking ADA is possible through its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism called Ouroboros. It can handle around 250 transactions per second (tps), though IOG has claimed its new Hydra layer-2 scaling protocol could boost that number to one million tps.

How profitable is Cardano staking?

Cardano offers a staking reward calculator on its website to provide users with an estimate of how much staking rewards they can expect for delegating or running a staking pool. According to its calculations, a delegate staking 1,000 ADA would earn 46.08 ADA (4.61% APY), while a delegate running a stake pool could earn up to 77,185.05 ADA (7,718.51% APY).

At ADA’s 52-week high of $3.20, this translates to around $147.46 for delegating and $254,710.67 for running a staking pool. Overall, Cardano staking can be very profitable for those who are able to run a staking pool and can keep pool-related fees well managed. It's recommended users should check stake pools regularly and move funds around to ensure they are getting the best possible rates.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot (DOT) is a blockchain interoperability protocol that connects several different chains together in a single network, allowing parallel transaction processing and exchanges of data between different chains. DOT, the native cryptocurrency of Polkadot, is primarily used for governance, staking and connecting to new “parachains.”

Polkadot staking requirements

Polkadot uses a nominated a proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus algorithm, letting users earn staking rewards as a validator or a nominator. Validators are responsible for validating transactions on the Polkadot network, while nominators ensure that validators are behaving appropriately.

Slashing occurs if a validator acts maliciously and causes both validators and their nominators to lose a percentage of their staked DOT. This is carried out automatically by smart contracts coded into the protocol.

Nominators have less responsibility than validators do, and becoming a nominator has fewer requirements to get started. There isn’t a minimum requirement for staked DOT for nominators, and there’s no need to run a node or use specific hardware. But because the network is limited to a maximum of 22,500 nominators, there is an implied minimum of about 120 DOT in order to nominate.

Earning staking rewards as a validator is a bit more complex. The total DOT required to become a validator varies and requires about 350 DOT to get going. Validators must also run a node, which typically requires launching a cloud server on Linux. To do that, it's suggested that your computer should have an Intel Core i7 CPU @ 4.20 GHz or better, 80 to 160 gigabytes of solid-state storage and at least 64 gigabytes error correcting code (ECC) of memory.

Staking rewards for DOT start to accumulate at the start of a new era, or 24-hour period. At the end of each era, your payouts from the previous era are available to claim. Usually, a validator or nominator will claim the staking rewards, which will cause all payouts to be distributed to everyone else automatically. Both validators and nominators can claim their staking rewards via the Polkadot JS wallet or through Ledger.

A full guide on how to stake DOT can be found here.

Polkadot blockchain breakdown

There is no upper limit on Polkadot’s maximum supply. New dot tokens are released into circulation in perpetuity, at a stable annual inflation rate of 10%.

Inside each 24-hour Era there are six four-hour windows called “epochs.” Each epoch consists of 2,400 six-second time periods called “slots.” One block is produced roughly every slot, though some slots can pass without a block being produced.

How profitable is Polkadot staking?

Nominators profitability depends on the validator. Validators can charge commissions for staking rewards, which is subject to change at any time. Further, only a validator’s top 256 nominators get paid out at the end of each era. Regardless of the total amount of DOT staked with a validator, nominators all split staking rewards equally.

According to Hodlpolkadot, the average APY for a nominator in the top 256 is around 13.5%. Assuming you are staking the minimum 120 DOT, you would earn around 16.2 DOT over the next year. Based on DOT’s 52-week high of $55, that would hypothetically translate to staking $6,600 for a yearly profit of $891.

All validators split payouts equally, although they can vary slightly based on era points. Era points are rewards paid out every era for completing certain positive actions on the blockchain, such as issuing valid statements for parachain blocks. Validators can receive additional rewards via tips from users transacting DOT. One hundred percent of the tips go to validators and are used as an incentive for validators to prioritize certain transactions.

According to Polkadex, validators receive an APY of 112%. Additionally, validators receive a commission from the platform's nominators. Let's say you are running a validator that qualifies for Polkadot’s Thousand Validators Program, which requires 5,000 DOT staked and a maximum commission of 3%. Not including additional staking rewards from era points, you would receive 5,600 DOT from self-staking and 124.41 DOT from nominator commissions for a total of 5,724.41 DOT. With the price at the 52-week high, running a validator would require you to stake $275,000 and would yield a return of $314,842.55 in a year.

Ethereum 2.0 (ETH)

Ethereum 2.0 is the long-awaited upgrade to the Ethereum protocol that will see the transition of Ethereum’s consensus algorithm from PoW to PoS. Among other benefits of the network upgrade, such as faster transaction speeds, Ethereum 2.0 will make mining available to ETH holders.

With its move to a PoS protocol, Ethereum 2.0 will have a much lower barrier to entry for mining. Prior to the update, significant upfront investments in hardware were required to participate in mining. With the switch from PoW, prospective miners will no longer need to purchase graphics cards and run up a high energy bill.

Ethereum blockchain breakdown

The new upgrade of Ethereum – which is no longer called Ethereum 2.0 – will see improvements to the blockchain and its validation time in addition to its switch to PoS. Ethereum’s speed will improve from 24 tps to speeds potentially as high as 100,000 tps.

This massive increase in speed will be made possible as Ethereum introduces sharding, or the breaking up of the blockchain into several (64 in the case of Ethereum) different shards. Validators can run their own shards, spreading out the requests for validation and improving the workload for validator’s devices.

How profitable is Ethereum staking?

Ethereum 2.0 staking rewards vary and depend on the total amount of ETH staked. When there is more ETH staked, rewards are reduced and vice versa. Additionally, staking ETH also gives participants network rewards, which are a portion of daily transaction fees.

The current annual percentage rate (APR) for staking on Ethereum 2.0 is 5%. If you were holding the minimum 32 ETH to run a validator, you would see a return of 1.6 ETH at the end of the year. At ether's 52-week high, that would hypothetically result in a gain of $7,826.72.

Tezos (XTZ)

XTZ is the native cryptocurrency of Tezos, which is an open-source smart contract platform used to issue new digital assets and create dapps. XTZ fuels the Tezos platform and enables holders to participate in voting on Tezos protocol proposals.

Tezos staking requirements

Holders of XTZ can commit their tokens in exchange for the ability to validate blocks, winning rewards for doing so in a process known as “baking.” Participants who stake at least 8,000 tokens on the network also get voting rights, which allows them to weigh in on the project’s governance. Unlike traditional PoS platforms, Tezos lets holders delegate their XTZ to “bakers,” which enables users to participate in on-chain governance without the required 8,000 tokens.

Tezos blockchain breakdown

It takes about five weeks in order to start receiving rewards for staking. That's because you must first wait 21 days (seven cycles) in order for your XTZ to become eligible for rewards. After your XTZ becomes eligible for rewards, you need to wait an additional 15 days (five cycles) for the rewards to be paid out. After you have waited for a total of 12 cycles, staking rewards will be paid out once every three days (one cycle).

How profitable is Tezos staking?

Baking profitability can be different depending on whether you are a solo baker or are delegating your rewards. Solo bakers can earn 16 XTZ for every block baked in the system, or an 8% APY. Endorsers (network participants who validate the blocks created by bakers) are randomly selected to verify the last baked block and can receive an endorsement reward of up to two XTZ per verification.

For delegation, the current APY is about 6%, less the total fee charged by the validator. For example, Tezos staking is made available on Coinbase, which requires only a minimum balance of 0.0001 XTZ and an APY of nearly 5%.

Disclaimer please note that this article is for educational purpose and not a financial advice always do your own research

The best crypto portfolio. What is it, and does it even exist? This is a question that all of us investing in the cryptocurrency market have thought about at one point or another. Which projects such we buy, and which ones should we avoid? Should we maintain a highly-concentrated or well-diversified portfolio? How many coins are the right about to own? Is it better to invest in safer projects, or take on more risk? Are you hoping to simply HODL, or also earn a passive income? These are questions that you need to be asking if you want to have any chance at being successful in the crypto space.

The first factor you need to know is that everyone's situation is different. This means that what is perfect for you, may not be a great fit for someone else, and vice versa. Things that could have an effect on your portfolio are your current financial situation, future goals, age, and health, if you have a family, appetite for risk, and the list goes on.

In the following, I will be talking about my own crypto portfolio. It has worked perfectly for my own needs and could be a good example for you. But it's only an example, and you need to make the decisions for work best for you.

High concentrated

The first decision that I made was that I much prefer to have a highly concentrated portfolio. This means that I keep a very small amount of crypto projects in my portfolio; focusing on a very select few.

When I first began buying crypto, I kept an overly-diversified portfolio. During this time 1 found it took much longer to accumulate substantial positions in projects. I also ended up owning a lot of junk that I didn't have confidence in.

Therefore I filtered my portfolio down to only a few projects with most of the focus being on Bitcoin and then Ethereum. Not only did it allow me to accumulate at a faster pace, but my profits increased as well. Sometimes having a highly-concentrated portfolio gets a bad reputation. But I just view it as having much more confidence in certain projects.

Sticking to the blue-chip cryptocurrencies

Most people forget how risky the cryptocurrency market is. The truth is that it is the most volatile financial market that you can invest in. Only a select few projects have real merit and will likely be around for the long term. For every Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are thousands of projects that are junk and get-rich-quick-schemes. Unfortunately, it is your job to be able to differentiate the two.

With that in mind, my focus has always been to accumulate as much Bitcoin and Ethereum as possible. In my opinion, thos are the only two assets that matter.

Together they make up over 95% of my cryptocurrency portfolio. While many people in the crypto market view them as conservative investments that are near the top of their price potential. The truth is that the crypto market is still incredibly young, which gives these two projects a lot of room to run.

With the remaining 5% of my portfolio, I do take on some risk. Particularly in projects that I'm a fan of the technology or ambition. But I still stay far away from meme projects, even if it means on missing out on potential short-term profits.

Long term

I choose to take a long-term approach to my portfolio. I'm not concerned about short-term price movements, or even making short-term gains. I'm more concerned about maintaining value and building a portfolio that stands the test of time. While meme projects like $PEPE and $FLOKI have been soaring recently. Most people probably wouldn't have a large amount of confidence that they will still be around ten years from now. You wouldn't invest in penny stocks expecting them to become the next Apple.

In the past, I was a fan of lending out Bitcoin to earn a passive income from services like BlockFi, Celsius, and Nexo.

However, due to recent events that is no longer something I would recommend. It is similar to picking up pennies in front of an oncoming freight train. It just isn't worth it, especially when you are holding onto an asset that could someday be worth millions. Instead, my focus has shifted towards taking self-custody and surviving the market.

Safe passive income

While my focus has shifted to surviving the market, that doesn't mean I have given up on earning a passive income with my crypto. I now focus on staking through blockchain protocols that allow me to retain custody. Staking projects such as Ethereum, Polkadot, ICP, and the list goes on. There are still ways to make incredible passive income in the crypto market, but you just need to be very responsible about it.

$This is my crypto portfolio strategy, but it doesn't mean that it is the best for you. The truth is that there is no perfect crypto portfolio. The market is still incredibly young, and no one knows for sure where we'll be ten years from now.

Key Takeaways

Cryptocurrency trading pairs let you exchange one asset for another. Traders can place buy and sell orders for each asset in a trading pair with the counter asset.

The base asset in a trading pair presents a measure of value relative to the current value of the quoted currency. 

Arbitrage trading takes advantage of how these values might differ on different exchanges.

In centralized exchanges, the paired assets make up the order books for both the sell and buy sides. On decentralized exchanges, liquidity providers supply both assets to the liquidity pool.

Both centralized and decentralized contemporary cryptocurrency exchanges place two tradable assets ‘side-by-side’ on their platforms. Any trader who holds one asset can (directly) exchange them for the other with a few clicks. But this system is a sustainable design developed from traditional markets and tailored for digital exchanges. These assets put up against each other are known as trading pairs.

What Are Crypto Trading Pairs?

From a pool of thousands of crypto assets, crypto trading pairs narrow down the exchange options available to traders to a mix of two assets each. The pairing system makes for an organized trading pattern and takes a leaf from the earliest trading systems – barter trading and the relatively modernized trading systems that use legal tenders.

In both systems, one commodity can only be exchanged for another, at a time. However, in contrast to the barter system, this pairing lasts longer and is static until they are delisted by the exchange or routed differently.

Assets in a trading pair could be any combination of stable (or pegged) assets and normal crypto assets. In any case, both assets present a visual comparison of their values. Apart from being a comparison of values, trading pairs present a comparison of financial viability through liquidity structures and trading statistics.

Trading pairs are indicated with the paired assets’ tickers. For example, the bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) pair are listed on exchanges as BTC/ETH.

Base Currency

The base currency is the first cryptocurrency in a trading pair, so in a BTC/ETH trading pair, bitcoin will be the base currency. The base currency is the reference currency in a trading pair, where orders are made with respect to the base currency.

Quote Currency

The second half of a trading pair is the quote currency, so in a BTC/ETH trading pair, ETH will be the quote currency, which means it's the price of the base currency in the quote currency. 

In the chart below, this means that 1 BTC was worth 15.89 ETH at the time of the screenshot. Most price charts, like GeckoTerminal, will let you toggle between the quote currency of the pair and USD. 

How Do Crypto Trading Pairs Work?

The functionality of cryptocurrency trading pairs is a synergy of economic approaches and technological work-throughs. Both are put together in developing pairing systems for centralized and decentralized exchanges.

On centralized spot exchanges, order books are designed to support only both assets. Traders can only place buy and sell orders for any of the two assets. The underlying technology takes a record of the orders made and organizes them according to the purchase or sale price chosen by the trader.

To purchase the base currency, a trader must have the quote currency in their possession. They indicate the price at which they wish to buy and the amount of the quote asset they are willing to commit to the trade. Sellers indicate the price (of the base currency) at which they wish to sell their assets and the number of assets they wish to sell.

Sale requests are arranged in ascending order (lowest to highest sale price) while the buy orders are arranged in descending order (highest to lowest price). When a trader’s requests are met, their asset is swapped for the other.

Other trading systems like Forex and derivative trading use similar technology in addition to other features like leveraging.

For decentralized exchanges, the asset pairing system is powered by the liquidity pool and Automated Market Maker protocols. The liquidity pool is designed to accept only the two paired assets. Liquidity providers are expected to commit equal values of both paired assets. With the two assets in the pool, the Automated Market Maker (AMM) serves trade requests and updates the sale price of the base currency after each trade.

Learn more about decentralized finance (DeFi), Liquidity pools and the AMM.

Stablecoins and Crypto Trading Pairs

The value of stablecoins is fixed. Stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies are being paired with other volatile assets on exchanges. Like the traditional market, holders of the stablecoin are equivalent to buyers who wish to swap their fiat currencies for cryptocurrencies.

Like fiat, stablecoins pairs create a standard measure of value. As the other asset trades against the stablecoin, variation in value represents a change against a base or quote currency (depending on the pairing pattern) that doesn’t or hardly shifts from its known value. Traders who wish to verify general price variations for a particular asset consult the stablecoin pair(s). This however is only an extra utility of stablecoin pairs.

The main purpose a stablecoin pair serves is to provide an avenue for interconversion between a volatile and stable asset. Stablecoin pairs present to traders a means to switch to a non-fluctuating asset and preserve their profit or minimize their losses.

Thanks to these reasons, stablecoin pairs generate a notably huge amount of trading activities across exchanges. They post one of the highest trading volumes as most assets on exchanges have a stablecoin pair. Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar (USDT, BUSD, USDC) are widely used.

Stablecoins are also paired with each other (like USDT/USDC, BUSD/DAI, and USDT/FRAX) to allow traders to switch to a stablecoin they consider more technically advanced, relatively more stable, or just as a route to trading other assets.

Crypto Trading Pairs and Arbitrage

Due to certain factors, the value of an asset may show slight and usually short-lived variations across different exchanges or trading pairs in the same exchange. This variation is known as arbitrage. Differences in orderbook density and spread could cause an asset to attain a different value relative to the standard value (value of the stablecoin pair) or the derived value, for assets paired with other volatile assets. 

This variation is expected to resolve in a short time as arbitrage traders rush to exploit the gap. To exploit an arbitrage, traders buy the asset from the pair or exchange where it trades at a lower value and sell it where it trades at a higher price. Depending on the magnitude of the arbitrage and how long it lasts, arbitrage traders can make tangible profits by swiftly trading against the gap. These factors (arbitrage gap and duration) are in turn, dependent on the liquidity and spread in the pairs’ orderbook.

Just in case you are considering venturing into arbitrage trading, it is important to take note of the factors that might affect the profitability of the trade. Learn more about arbitrage trading and how it works.

Examples of Crypto Trading Pairs

Many cryptocurrency trading pairs are associated with a stablecoin, such as USDT or USDC, which is one reason why these fiat-backed stablecoins have such high market capitalization. Other common crypto trading pairs may include popular cryptocurrencies, such as BTC/ETH, or related cryptocurrencies, such as BTC/BCH.

Bitcoin and Ethereum (BTC/ETH or ETH/BTC)

Undeniably the two most popular and important cryptocurrencies to date. The BTC/ETH trading pair puts together the two assets that dominate the cryptocurrency sector. Bitcoin and Ethereum share between themselves, over 50% percent of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, an excess of 150 million holders, and a combined dominance of 62.4% of the crypto market at the time of publication. With most cryptocurrency investors holding and actively trading at least one of the two assets, the pair records high trading activity and solid liquidity relative to other pairs, regardless of the exchange on which they trade.

The Bitcoin and Ethereum pair record a high of over $100 million in 24 hour trading volume on the most popular exchange for the pair. Apart from being one of the most active trading pairs, the BTC/ETH pair generate much interest from cryptocurrency investors due to two reasons – general price development and “bitcoin flippening”. Investors believe that Ether is the only asset capable of dethroning bitcoin, in terms of total market cap.

The BTC/ETH pair shows how they perform against each other and Ether continuously gaining against bitcoin means the overtaking might happen. Regardless of the feasibility of this, investors are glued to the famous pair. Also, Ether gaining against bitcoin has over the years proven to be a positive sign for other cryptocurrencies (altcoins).

Bitcoin and USDT (BTC/USDT)

Tether introduced the USDT stablecoin as a way of improving the liquidity on cryptocurrency exchanges and also to make it easier for mainstream institutions or individuals looking to invest in cryptocurrency. USDT presents a tokenized version of the US dollar. To achieve its goal of improving liquidity, USDT is paired with crypto assets, including bitcoin, on exchanges to allow these institutions to easily swap the USDT issued to them for bitcoin and also enable traders to evade the volatility of other cryptocurrencies by switching to a more stable asset. The BTC/USDT pairs record up to $4 billion in trading volume daily.

Ethereum and USDT (ETH/USDT)

Just like the BTC/USDT pair explained earlier, Ethereum’s stablecoin pair creates a standard value and allows tokenized fiat holders to trade their stablecoins for Ethereum and vice versa. Ethereum holders can also convert to a more stable asset using this pair. The ETH/USDT pair records up to $600 million in 24hrs trading volume.

Tether USD and Circle’s USDC (USDT/USDC)

USDT and USDC are the two most popular stablecoins in the crypto space. They split a market capitalization of over $105 billion, each controlling over $40 billion in stablecoin. USDT and USDC are issued by Tether Inc. and the Centre consortium, respectively. The issuing process is similar; however, cryptocurrency communities shift their holdings from one to the other depending on market sentiments. Traders convert between the two stablecoins mainly as a step in their trading route as most assets don’t have both stablecoin pairs.

A good percentage of traders swap between both stablecoins to switch to the asset they consider safer and more technically advanced. The USDC/USDT pair records up to $20 million in trading volume per day.

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu (DOGE/SHIB)

Dogecoin is a pioneer figure for meme coins. The dog-themed cryptocurrency has since transformed into a very important cryptocurrency and has enjoyed mainstream interest. Following its success, many similar projects have emerged, most of them retaining the dog nomenclature introduced by Jackson Palmer’s project. Like Doge, a handful of them have seen tangible success, one of them being Shiba Inu.

Issued on the Ethereum blockchain, Shiba Inu rose to prominence following some marketing breakthroughs. It has since then climbed the charts and gained a huge community and historically overthrew dogecoin in terms of market cap, it has since returned to levels below Dogecoin. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu communities are of interest, and with the stiff competition between the two assets, cryptocurrency exchanges have moved to pair them together to allow direct trades between the two biggest meme coins.

DOGE/SHIB pair records an average of $3 million per day in trading volume. Learn more about the Shiba Inu ecosystem, including ShibaSwap and Shibarium.

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Forks (BTC/BCH and BTC/BSV)

The famous fallout in the early Bitcoin community led to a three-way split. BSV and BCH were created as a result. Along with Bitcoin, these two assets operate the core Bitcoin blockchain code but apply a few changes, mainly in administration.

The communities behind the two popular Bitcoin forks wrangle constantly as they look to succeed over each other and hopefully emerge as the true electronic cash system envisioned by Satoshi. The latter hasn’t really worked, but exchanges recognize the relationship between these three assets and have moved to create trading pairs with them. 

The pair of bitcoin and its forks bring the split communities together as they trade their assets for the other. Each pair has seen active trading, each raking in millions of dollars in reported daily trading volume.

Final Thoughts

Arranging tradable assets in pairs serves a purpose for traders and also exchanges. The platform and the general market attain a structure as the listed assets are organized in pairs. Spot and derivatives traders can plan their trading routes, track price developments, and also obtain certain other information that helps their trading journey. Arbitrage opportunities are also a good one to look out for as a low-risk trading practice.

Planning a crypto trade? Always do your own research before investing in any cryptocurrency. This article is for educational purposes not a financial advice.

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A meme coin frenzy has ensued on Coinbase’s layer 2 blockchain even as the network is not officially live yet.

The lack of a two-way token bridge, a clunky decentralized exchange (DEX) experience, and a network being closed to the public have not deterred crypto traders from finding their way to Coinbase’s layer 2 blockchain in the hopes of unearthing a fortune.

Base, built by crypto exchange Coinbase on OP Stack, launched its testnet in January and opened to builders in mid-July basis the submission of applications to Base. Traction was scant, so far, as only a few DEXs went live on Base.

The tides shifted late on Saturday. Crypto Twitter user @cheatcoiner seemed to first tweet about meme coin bald (BALD) – funded by coinbase staked ether (cbETH) – on Base network, stating they picked up 2% of the supply.

What followed was a bull market speedrun: In less than six hours, bald tokens amassed a $50 million market capitalization as their popularity picked up among trading circles. It ran up to $85 million capitalization late on Sunday - netting @cheatcoiner over $1.4 million from an initial $500 investment.

From issuance to peak, the price rise was a 4,000,000% surge.

BALD market liquidity quickly piled on as the developer of bald tokens kept adding more ether to a liquidity pool that traded bald against ether. As of Monday, the trading pair holds over $32 million in liquidity and has surpassed $100 million in volumes.

such, @Cheatcoiner wasn’t the only lottery winner. Blockchain sleuth Lookonchain said Monday that four crypto wallet addresses transferred a cumulative 0.534 ether, or just over $1,0000, to buy 50 million BALD within 4 mins of the token’s issuance.

These addresses – likely insider wallets connected to the developer – sold 37 million $BALD for 554 ether as trading volumes picked up, netting $1 million in less than a day.

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The DOJ filed a formal submission to a federal judge after declaring their intent to revoke his bond

U.S. prosecutors moved to revoke FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bond and move him to prison ahead of his October trial, alleging he has now repeatedly tried to influence witness testimony and his bail conditions are insufficient to protect the public.

Prosecutor with the department of justice filed a written submission to a federal judge Friday , following up on their Wednesday statement that they were "seeking detention" for Bankman-Fried after he shared diaries from former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison with the New York Times.

Bankman-Fried's releasing of Ellison's writings qualifies as him trying to harass her to either prevent or otherwise influence her testimony in court, the DOJ filing said.

"The defendant’s leaking of Ellison’s private writings is yet another instance of the defendant trying to intimidate and corruptly persuade Ellison with respect to her upcoming trial testimony, as well as an effort to influence or prevent the testimony of other potential trial witnesses by creating the specter that their most intimate business is at risk of being reported in the press," the filing said.

While Bankman-Fried has the right to defend himself in public, as his attorney Mark Cohen said he was trying to do in speaking with the Times, his sharing of the diary information goes beyond just making a fair comment, the DOJ said.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan, of the District Court for the Southern District of New York, ordered the prosecution and defense to prepare formal documents on the DOJ's move to detain Bankman-Fried. The defense must respond by Tuesday.

Bankman-Fried's trial is set to begin Oct. 2, 2023.

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Crypto hacks and exploits have cost people billions of dollars each year. Here’s how to make sure you’re not among them.

If there’s money to be had, con artists will try and take it from you. Crypto is no exception. In fact, crypto is a prime target for scammers who take advantage of the nascent technology and the general public’s lack of familiarity with blockchain tools to position themselves as experts or leaders in the space and gain trust.

Even though in 2022 crypto underwent a dramatic downturn, crypto scams were on the rise. According to data from CertiK’s 2022 “Web3 Security Report,” last year was the worst year on record in terms of value lost from Web3 protocols. Cryptocurrency losses due to hacks, exploits and scams in 2022 reached an all-time high of $3.7 billion – a 189% increase over 2021’s previous record of $1.3 billion.

In this article I’ve rounded up the most common scams to explain what they are and how to identify them so you can protect your wealth.

Bitcoin scams

Bitcoin scams are nearly as old as bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency and the one with the highest market cap. Of all cryptos it is the one with the most name recognition and the broadest adoption – even traditional finance firms such as Fidelity have bitcoin as part of their offerings! Because of this, bitcoin feels “safe” to many new investors and is often the entry point to crypto.

One of the most common scams to target your bitcoin is a phishing scam. The hacker often impersonates a legitimate-sounding service, company or individual in an email or text message and tries to trick victims into revealing their private keys or fool them into sending their bitcoin to the con artist’s wallet.

Avoid getting tricked by checking any sender’s email address and making sure the sites they are linking to are legit. Often, phishing email addresses will slightly misspell a real site – i.e., Gogle.cm instead of Google.com – or send you to a site that contains similar errors, such as coinbase.co instead of coinbase.com. A good habit to prevent going to malicious websites is to bookmark any legitimate sites you use for crypto and use only those bookmarks to visit those sites.

2. NFT scams

Many people new to crypto are finding their way to the space through non-fungible tokens (NFT), whether through collectible sites such as NBA top shot buying a colourful avatar for social media or via as NFT that also serve as a ticket for an event. Sometimes called "digital collectibles" by big brands including Starbucks and Instagram, there are plenty of scammers who target both newbies and old pros in the space.

One scam unique to the NFT space involves forgeries and fakes. When an NFT project, for example Bored Ape Yacht Club, begins to rise in value, scammers will target people looking to “ape” in by creating copycat collections, sometimes( stealing the original artwork and cloning the entire project)to mimic the real, valuable one. While occasionally a blue-chip project NFT gets listed (usually mistakenly) for a bargain-basement price, if you see an NFT from a project for sale at far below market rates (which you can easily check on a site like NFTpricefloo.com), chances are it’s a fake.

NFT marketplace OpenSea verifies that an artwork or collection is genuine with a blue checkmark on the listing page. You can also check past ownership and sales of an NFT. That’s the beauty of the blockchain – if an NFT seems to have appeared out of thin air long after the original mint, that’s highly suspicious because all past transactions are recorded. When in doubt, you can look for the original artist’s Twitter account and message them to ask if it is legit.

3. Social media scams

Many crypto scams originate on social media, especially on Twitter and Instagram. According to a June 2022 report from the U.S. federal trade commission Nearly half the people who reported losing crypto to a scam since 2021 said it started with an ad, post or message on a social media platform.

From giveaway scams to fraudulent “verified” or blue-checked accounts, social media is rife with fraud. Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter you can no longer simply glance at a blue check after a name and be sure it’s a verified account because any Twitter Blue subscriber can pay for that mark for just $8. Before you trust any advice or ideas from what seems to be a verified account, look at their other posts, how long they’ve been active and how many followers they have. A brand-new account with few followers that seems to only be shilling crypto projects is unlikely to be trustworthy.

One scam unique to social media comes from YouTube, where people set up fake livestreams to bilk viewers out of their crypto. The scammer creates a legitimate-looking YouTube livestream, often using stolen content to boost their authority, and posts links to giveaways or other seemingly tempting content. These links can be malicious phishing attempts or simply direct you to send your crypto for the “expert” to invest. Check the history of the channel, including when it started and the other videos they’ve posted, to avoid being duped. New channel with no videos? Stay away.

4. Ponzi schemes

Many critics call crypto itself a Ponzi scheme For instance, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, called crypto tokens decentralized Ponzi schemes in 2022. The definition of a true Ponzi scheme, however, is a financial fraud that promises outstanding returns and does so not by actually investing the money it receives, but instead by distributing payouts to early investors with funds from more recent investors.

Crypto is a huge target for Ponzi schemes, which often rely on the “expert” having superior knowledge of a complex and new technology. The experts promise to do the hard work with your money and remove the headache of you having to learn how something like decentralized finance (DEFI) works. One of the biggest warning signs of a Ponzi scheme is “guaranteed” returns of double-digit percentages, a promise no legitimate investment can keep. All investments carry an element of risk and crypto is more volatile than traditional financial instruments. If someone is promising you huge guaranteed returns, the only thing you can guarantee about it is it’s a scam.

5. Rug pulls

Rug pulls are a type of exit scam to which DeFi and NFTs are particularly susceptible. Combine the fact that DeFi removes the intermediaries involved in financial transactions with the relative ease of creating a new token, and you’ve built an environment ripe for scammers to exploit. Fraudsters can easily create a crypto token and get it listed on a decentralized exchange (DEX) without going through any kind of code audit or another type of background check. From January to December in 2022, over 117,000 scam tokens were created , stealing billions of dollars unsuspecting investors

Newly listed currencies often soar in price, and eager investors may use filters like “recently added” or “top gainers” to filter for new, hot coins without doing research on the projects. Once the founders of the fraudulent crypto project feel the price has peaked, they’ll make off with investors’ money, leaving holders with a worthless coin.

In the NFT space, scammers will create entire collections that copy or knock off a well-known collection to entice susceptible buyers. Mutant Ape Planet, a fake play on the legitimate Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, defrauded buyers out of nearly $3 million promising them rewards, access and other perks before making off with all their money.

The best way to prevent this is to do your research. Follow the steps to thoroughly evaluate any new cryptocurrency or NFT project, especially reading the white paper and looking into who are the founders. No white paper or previous record? Huge warning sign.

6. Crypto romance scams

A scam that didn't start with crypto but has popped up as the space has grown is a long con known as a romance scam, which netted $185 million from victims, the FTC said in June 2022. The con artist sets up fake profiles on dating sites and/or social media sites to entice targets. They may “accidentally” DM you on WhatsApp or other messaging platforms as well, and then engage in conversation. Once the mark has gotten to know the victim, the fraudster will turn the conversation to bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and convince the person to invest a little money in the token.

Often the sophisticated scam artist will create fake – but convincing-looking – websites as part of a pig butchering scam fattening up the "pig" with small deposits and pretending the victim is netting huge returns until the person is convinced and makes a big deposit. At that point, the scammer cuts ties and makes off with the money after weeks or even months of stringing the target along.

You should be suspicious of any request from someone you haven’t met in real life, but a big, common warning sign that your cyber-sweetheart isn’t in it for love is they refuse to meet face to face or via Zoom or other video conferencing app.