• Trendin announced the launch of the $TREND token and upgrade to Trendin Bot will happen next week.
• Trendin Bot is the guiding force behind the $TREND, states the company.
• The upgrade to Trendin Bot will add a host of features: enhanced memory, increased speed, etc.

Trendin, a crypto project that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the cryptocurrency space, announced that the launch of its AI-Conceived Token and Trendin Bot (V2) would occur next week. On its official Twitter page, Trendin claimed the launch of $TREND, its token, and Trendin Sentience, the upgraded version of Trendin Bot, would revolutionize the crypto space.

The team claims that the upgrade to Trendin Bot offer enhanced features like memory, context awareness, increased speed, live data API integration, real-time response generation, and a custom 3-part hybrid language model (LLM).

Trendin Bot, available on Telegram and Twitter, possesses intelligence, answering questions, providing information, and even remembering interactions to enhance user experience.

However, unlike other bots, Trendin bot not only answers questions and provides information but also remembers interactions and leverages its intelligence to enhance user experience, stated the company. Futhermore, the company refers to Trendin Bot as:

Trendin’s AI-powered spokesperson,  Trendin Bot, serves as the guiding force

$TREND, the token serves as a social experiment facilitated by Trendin, entirely conceptualized, developed, and managed by AI. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, $TREND tests the hypothesis that a cryptocurrency’s success can be based purely on its name, with AI playing a pivotal role in ongoing development and management.

With a total supply of 10,000,000,000 tokens and a circulating supply of 7,422,500,000, $TREND allocates tokens for liquidity, marketing efforts, ecosystem development, and marketing partnerships.

$TREND aims to drive widespread adoption and foster a vibrant community by leveraging trending phenomena and social media. With its community-centric approach, transparent tokenomics, and decentralized structure, $TREND positions itself as a pioneer in the crypto space.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and pastor Jerry Lopez has helped philanthropic organizations in more than 50 countries and positively impacted the lives of thousands. Presently serving as Philcoin’s CEO and Founder, he is leveraging the power of blockchain to transform digital giving.

In an exclusive interview with Coin Edition, Jerry discusses the specifics of building an ecosystem for a blockchain-based philanthropic project, explains the inherent Give-to-Earn concept, and explores how distributed ledger technology can help underprivileged communities.

Q: Can you tell us about your pastoral background and why you became interested in blockchain technology?

As a pastor, I have acted as a guide, mentor, and counselor of individuals and families and have seen their needs and challenges. When I was introduced to the blockchain space in early 2015, I realized this technology had great potential to revolutionize the way giving and earning happen. I saw how, from a ministry perspective, blockchain could provide tools to build wealth while empowering others instead of us being at the receiving end all the time.

After many years of deep study on blockchain and what it represented for humanity, I realized there was a need for a philanthropy token: the first of its kind. This was when Philcoin was born.

Q: What inspired you to start Philcoin, and what was your process for building an ecosystem?

Philcoin was made to change the way giving happens. Starting from that vision, we took on the mission to create a platform where giving is embedded into its very fabric. The idea was to create a space where people could conduct their usual activities, such as learning, earning, chatting, socializing, and listening to music while giving back to other community members.

I wanted to reach the most remote corners of the world, which meant our app needed to be easily accessible, operate on low bandwidth, and offer a great yet simple user experience.

A project like this doesn’t just require a capable team but a team who shares the same goal to make a positive impact on the world. I am grateful I found the right team to help bring this vision to life: those creating this ecosystem, those marketing it, and those doing the community building alike.

Q: Tell us more about PhilApp. What does it offer, and how does it work?

PHILApp is a decentralized super app with numerous products and features available from App Store or Google Play. Users can earn while they learn, chat, connect, refer, stake, listen to music, give back, create an account and wallet, and enjoy the numerous benefits.

Q: What web services are available through PhilApp, and what can users learn there?

There are various products and features within PHILApp. The upcoming PHILSocial is a social application where users will be able to post media, create their own causes, earn, and listen to podcasts and music. PHILStream is a space to stream one’s favorite podcasts or radio, filling their ears with all things blockchain, crypto, and Web3.

Through PHILChat, a first-of-the-kind messenger system, our users can connect with people worldwide regardless of their internet connection quality. On PHILEducation, an accredited platform, they can access free soft skills training and more;and they can also watch PHILCast for expert industry insights and more.

We also have earning opportunities: a referral program that rewards each successful and verified referral with NFTs and a staking mechanism that lets users get 15% APY on their tokens, keep half, and give back the other among them.

Q: Can you explain the Give-to-Earn concept and how it benefits underprivileged communities?

Give-to-Earn is built into each of PHILApp’s products and features. The concept is simple: to unlock your rewards, you need to give. You earn as you engage with our products, and those earnings are yours once you give back to a cause of your choice.

There are numerous non-profits listed on our app that people can give to. Alternatively, people can create their own causes in PHILSocial to help families, individuals, and communities directly, without a middleman. This is where we are pioneering peer-to-peer philanthropy.

Q: How does Philcoin promote accessible learning and communication in underprivileged communities?

Breaking out of the poverty cycle often starts with opening access to education. Philcoin’s largest communities are in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Latin America. These communities have faced many challenges, specifically when it comes to accessible education.

What makes our education programs unique is their focus on emotional intelligence and soft skills training to help people grow financially, mentally, socially, and emotionally. These courses are US-accredited, with internationally recognized certificates. So, in the long run, it’s not only an educational opportunity but an employment one, too.

Q: What role do you see blockchain technology playing in philanthropy and global wealth redistribution?

We’ve seen massive adoption of blockchain technology in many traditional sectors, yet the philanthropic sector remains slow to adopt it. With my background, I’ve seen first-hand how challenging it can be to give back to those in need through traditional means. Blockchain offers enormous reinventive opportunities where giving can be faster, cheaper, more transparent, and traceable.

Q: How does Philcoin measure success, and what are some of your long-term goals for the ecosystem?

Philcoin is still in its infancy, but we are scaling faster than expected. Our success is measured by the number of active users and adoption rate: today, we have over 250,000 users in our ecosystem, which has exceeded our expectations for the first year.

This traction is only set to amplify as we launch more game-changing products and features. Success will not only be about users but also how much we’ve been able to give back as a community. When we see more people in our community thrive — financially, socially, or regarding their education — that’s when we know our vision is becoming a reality.

Q: How can interested individuals and organizations get involved with Philcoin to support its mission?

We welcome all new users and organizations into the ecosystem. We know our vision is ambitious and not easily achieved alone, but with the right people and partnerships, we can achieve far more than we ever could on our own.

CertiK’s Co-Founder Ronghui Gu discusses Web3 Security in the DeFi space, among other things, in an exclusive interview with CoinEdition. Gu is a computer science professor at Columbia University who leads a team of over 250 people who inspect crypto code for bugs. CertiK is the largest smart-contract auditor in Web3.

Q: How has CertiK helped shape the Web3 security industry in recent years?

CertiK is the largest blockchain security firm. We’ve audited over 3,800 projects and secured more than $364 billion of market capitalization. Since our founding in 2017, we’ve led the charge to make auditing an essential step for all legitimate Web3 projects. We provide a set of products and tools to assist web3 developers in securing their projects. We also publish curated security data to increase community transparency and trust.

Q: How do you ensure the security of Web3 wallets, and what measures do you take to protect against potential threats such as phishing attacks or malware?

As a blockchain security company, all aspects of Web3 security fall under our purview. This includes wallet security, and we’ve published a number of research articles on this subject recently. Our team of security experts also conduct proactive security research, which recently led to us uncovering a vulnerability in the popular ZenGo wallet application. We reported this vulnerability to the ZenGo team and worked with them to patch it. Our comprehensive penetration testing services also cover wallet applications, from their interactions with Web3 smart contracts to the Web 2.0 backend.

Q: What steps do you take to mitigate the risk of rug pulls and exit scams in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, and how do you identify warning signs of such activities?

We flag the centralization and privilege issues that lead to teams being able to pull off an exit scam each and every time we find them. We make audit reports public so users can see the risks that may or may not be involved with a project. We also publish educational content to raise awareness about the shared characteristics of these types of scams. Our KYC for project teams service also helps protect users from the threat of rug pulls. They can identify the projects that have earned a KYC Badge by verifying their team and publicly standing behind their platform, stay away from those that don’t, and rest assured that in the event of an exit scam any team that has undergone KYC will be swiftly referred to law enforcement.

Q: Can you discuss the importance of secure coding practices in the development of web3 applications?

Security is paramount. Blockchain technology cannot deliver on its promise if it is not secure. The most successful Web3 applications are those that take security seriously. As a consequence, they work as intended and are around to serve their users for a long time.

As a blockchain security company, we aim to raise the standard of security and transparency across the entire Web3 ecosystem. We publish a lot of technical and developer-focused content, including a series on secure coding practices.

In general, developers should be trained on common code vulnerabilities and coding practices to avoid them and hold frequent design reviews to catch issues early. They should also use an unbiased security team to create a threat model around what’s being developed to improve security.

Q: How do you approach the challenge of ensuring cross-chain interoperability while maintaining the security of the entire web3 ecosystem?

That’s a great question, and it’s one that many of the brightest minds in Web3 are working on. Security must be a primary concern in the development of cross-chain bridges. Bridges aren’t functional if they’re not secure; connecting to multiple chains or being the fastest bridge out there means an insecure bridge is just going to lose your money faster and more efficiently. As we’ve seen, bridges are high-value targets. While there is strong demand for this kind of infrastructure, secure engineering of blockchain bridges must be given the time it is due.

Q: Can you discuss your experience in developing and implementing disaster recovery and business continuity plans for web3 platforms?

We’ve worked closely with projects that have been affected by security incidents to help them develop a response plan. This is best prepared ahead of time, but we recognize that it is not always possible to plan for every scenario. We have a dedicated team that is on call around the clock to assist with incident response for any and all affected projects.

Q: Can you discuss the implications of centralization issues when it comes to Web3 security?

Centralization is in many ways antithetical to Web3. In some cases, however, some degree of centralization is necessary in order to build a functional product. Not everything can be a completely autonomous smart contract running on a decentralized blockchain. Treading this line and prioritizing decentralization is the challenge. Centralization gives certain people heightened privileges, and there should always be a good reason for why this must be the case. We flag all centralization issues in our publicly-available audit reports so users know what they’re getting into.

Q: How can people stay updated on the latest security threats and vulnerabilities in the web3 space?

Following our Twitter accounts (@CertiKAlert, @CertiK, and @CertiKCommunity) is one of the best ways to stay up to date. Reading our blog, where we have hundreds of educational and technical articles, is another way. You can find our blog resources and Skynet leaderboard on our official website.

Q: What is your perspective on the role of KYC practices in the context of Web3 security?

CertiK has developed an industry-leading KYC Badge program for Web3 projects who wish to stand behind their project publicly and build trust with their community. Anonymity and pseudo-anonymity have a strong tradition in crypto, going all the way back to Satoshi Nakamoto’s creation of Bitcoin, but the difference is that Satoshi was not building an explicitly financial product, nor were they soliciting investment from the community. Plus, Bitcoin’s code is all open-source and the network is highly decentralized. A Web3 founder who launches a project should take their investors’ security seriously and should be willing to stand behind their project. Any founder who does not want to undergo their own KYC verification (the details of which are always kept securely) must have a good reason for doing so. In the absence of a codebase as transparent and an application as decentralized as Bitcoin, a KYC Badge goes a long way toward building trust.

Q: How do you see AI being used in the context of web3 security, and what are some potential benefits and drawbacks of this approach?

We’ve published some interesting research on this topic. What we’ve found so far is that AI-powered tools are oftentimes correct with their findings, but too often incorrect so as to be unreliable as they currently are. Current AI also overlooks critical flaws. Both the false positive and false negative rates are generally high. They can be useful for quickly understanding the code and performing a quick sanity check, but not for in-depth analysis.

Our team of experienced human auditors reviews each and every project that comes to us, and while they’d surely appreciate any tool that makes their job easier, we won’t be sacrificing the quality of our audits for speed or a lower cost. Our current set of automated tools combines well with the expertise of our auditors to deliver fast and comprehensive audits at an extremely competitive price point. AI will surely improve in the coming years, and we look forward to incorporating it where applicable.

• Foobar reveals Ethereum’s top priority upgrades for 2023.
• Rising gas fees spark concern among Ethereum traders.
• Ethereum’s market cap drops amidst upgrades and gas fee worries.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is poised to make significant upgrades in the coming year. According to Foobar, a DeFi and NFT founder, the platform should prioritize transaction processing parallelization and increase the target block size from 15 million gas to 30 million gas.

Foobar`s tweet emphasizes the importance of Ethereum remaining a leading retail platform. It suggests solutions such as increasing the target block size, reducing congestion, lowering transaction fees, and implementing parallelization to improve transaction speed.

These suggestions notably align with ongoing upgrades like the Shapella upgrade, which aims to enhance Ethereum`s efficiency and scalability. Additionally, EIP-4844 proposes a new transaction type for Ethereum that temporarily allows “blobs” of data to be stored in the beacon node. These upgrades are essential for Ethereum to stay accessible and user-friendly as digital currencies become more widespread.

In other related reports, the rising gas fees charged for processing transactions on the Ethereum blockchain are causing concern among traders. According to Hildobby, a data scientist who shared information from Dune, the median ETH gas price hit a weekly average of 87 gwei, sparking fears of further increases.

According to Coinmarketcap data, Ethereum has had a rough day. With a current trading price of $1,844.78 and a 24-hour trading volume of $8,531,305,913, Ethereum is down 3.28% in the last 24 hours, and its market cap sits at $221,991,058,620. While Ethereum has a significant circulating supply of 120,334,908 ETH coins, investors will be watching closely to see if the price continues to dip or if it will make a comeback in the near future.

Andrzej Frankowsky has a background in the banking and technology sectors and has a strong finance experience. With his enthusiasm for technology, Andrzej aims to improve accessibility in the financial industry.

Combined with the skills of Vladko Romanyshyn who studies AI and how it can be used to automate trading processes, analysis and error reduction, the leadership plans to revolutionize the AI Trading space.

Q: What do you think about artificial intelligence and other developments related to the AI space?

Vladko Romanyshyn: For the last six months, an information bomb has raged on the Internet: AI is a sensation. People are studying this technology and trying to apply it to all areas of life. But for the average user AI at the moment is nothing more than sending an email or text translation with an explanation and a 3D cyberpunk style avatar in the social network. However, we’ve already seen designers revolt against the “artist without a soul” and write a college degree in 15 minutes.

Andrzej Frankowsky: Artificial Intelligence can learn — its most important feature — combined with its ever-increasing computing power. Based on data and history, the level of quality of proposed answers and decision making on the part of AI is constantly increasing. Therefore, it is unsurprising that most large companies are now investing in developing innovations in this sector. For example, AI as a train traffic controller has long been an enabler, it’s smart and good for society.

Q: What are you guys working on at the moment?

Andrzej Frankowsky: We are building an ecosystem that challenges typical trading with its risks. Trading takes many human resources, requiring experience and a stable psyche. You need to constantly monitor the market, analyze it, and often traders sit in front of the monitor all day and only sometimes make deals. In this case, there is the human factor, but what if it is removed? Suppose that AI trades for you, takes care of all the analysis, and makes decisions. Efficient and profitable decisions.

Q: Will it be a human-ready interface or a browser extension?

Vladko Romanyshyn: We are already testing our second version of AI with a group of like-minded people and on the whole, we see positive dynamics. There is a stable profit from trades.

Andrzej Frankowsky: Yes, as I said before, AI is learning, and we see more specific behavior every day. I want to look into the future and enjoy fully automated processes. This is where it’s all headed.

Q: Is the AI geared toward stock exchange trading, or are you also working on cryptocurrency?

Andrzej Frankowsky: Initially, it was only an analysis of the stock exchange, with traders and journalists setting up the process. We studied information sources, news impact, and politicians’ behavior on prices inside the exchange. Recently we also connected the crypto market to the analysis. There are pleasant results.

Q: What average yield can we talk about?

Andrzej Frankowsky: If we talk about an average, about 70-80% yearly. It’s not the percentage many young projects expect when they participate in IDO, but it is very stable. Again, with each quarter, AI feels more confident and the dynamics will improve.

Q: Do you think this buzz around AI will go away as interest in NFT begins to fade?

Andrzej Frankowsky: I’m sure it won’t because AI replaces common areas of human life, it’s a beneficial technology. NFTs are useless for the wider society and can easily be dispensed with.

Vladko Romanyshyn: NFT is a promising technology, but half a million dollars a picture is just hype. The most significant funds are invested in startups that are developing AI. This utopian technology will probably optimize and routine structure processes within society and unleash many people’s creativity. Have you heard the music from AI, with the generated vocals from Freddie Mercury?

Q: How do you think the market for the influence of AI will be divided because we are constantly hearing about new projects? Won’t the competition in the industry stifle the technology?

Andrzej Frankowsky: On the contrary, it will stimulate the development of AI. If one or two companies created their technologies, they would be expensive and probably different from the same quality. Now we see a lot of free or cheap solutions, and the quality is noticeably growing.

Vladko Romanyshyn: As the industry evolves, I expect more collaboration and partnerships between different projects to help drive growth and adoption. I believe that AI will make people’s lives easier, not in words, but in deeds.

Cryptocurrencies aren’t a new phenomenon. Everyone has heard of digital assets. In recent years, some countries have imposed restrictions, while others have accepted cryptocurrencies as legal tender. The crypto industry has become so common that more retail investors and large market players are entering the market. Still, risks related to regulation, security, and market liquidity exist for retail and institutional traders, which prevent them from fully trading.

Why Is the Cryptocurrency Market Still Risky for Traders?

Bitcoin was launched in 2009. Since then, more and more traders have been entering the market. The attractiveness of cryptos has led to a growth in the number of cryptocurrency exchanges and brokerage firms. Although it’s been over a decade since Bitcoin was launched, the reliability of brokerages remains questionable.

Brokerage firms allow traders to buy, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies through a single platform, which is supposed to ensure a high level of security and effectiveness of trade execution. However, this is not entirely true. Most brokers provide derivative trading, including contracts for differences (CFDs), meaning traders cannot own digital assets. Additionally, some brokers manipulate trade orders and offer bid and ask prices with their own spreads.

Traders, whether retail or institutional, should also be aware of the lack of regulation in the overall cryptocurrency market. While some countries are working on legal, tax, and regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies, many have yet to finalize their policies. This creates an environment where unscrupulous brokerage firms can thrive, particularly in jurisdictions with little or no cryptocurrency trading regulation.

The lack of regulation creates issues such as unlicensed brokers and a lack of deposit insurance. Only a few traders pay attention to the information about deposit insurance that the firm provides. However, this is one of the key aspects traders must consider before depositing funds. Without insurance coverage, traders risk losing their funds if the company goes bankrupt or its assets are stolen.

Aside from this, there is another issue traders do not suspect. Some brokerage firms provide agreements, saying that by depositing funds with them, a trader grants the company the authority to use, invest, or transfer their funds. Such an agreement treats the client as an unsecured creditor, which allows the company to not return funds if they go bankrupt.

Security is another significant issue in the cryptocurrency market, with hacking being a prevalent problem. Only a few brokerage firms can provide a high level of security that protects their clients from fund loss or identity theft.

The trade execution process is also a challenge for traders in the cryptocurrency market. With over 1,000 exchanges of different sizes, it’s challenging to choose one reliable exchange with a high level of protection.

The recent case of FTX, a successful crypto exchange with over 1 million users and one of the largest trading volumes, going bankrupt in November 2022, serves as a reminder of the risks involved. The collapse occurred due to a problem with the liquidity of FTT, FTX’s native token, and the lack of collateralized assets. The company could not cover customer demand when it faced enormous fund withdrawals.

In addition, liquidity issues can cause significant slippage and price differences between platforms. The level of liquidity determines how difficult it is for a trader to buy or sell an asset at a stable price on a given market.

Are There Solutions for Institutional and Corporate Traders?

The strong bull run in the cryptocurrency market began in 2017 when Bitcoin managed to stick above $1,000. Since then, the number of fund investments in cryptocurrencies has increased significantly.

The market needs institutional and corporate investors, as they can bring significant capital, increasing its market capitalization dramatically. According to the analysis by Morgan Stanley conducted in 2021, institutional investors and limited partners account for over 85% of the trading volume of the U.S. stock market. However, institutional investors face even more limitations in the cryptocurrency industry than retail traders due to higher security requirements and the market execution process.

Like retail traders, institutional investors consider regulation the most important aspect when choosing brokerage firms to enter the cryptocurrency market. The cryptocurrency market is known for manipulation and unethical practices, including wash trading.

Moreover, institutional investors have difficulty meeting know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulation requirements due to decentralization, one of the key principles of blockchain. This technology makes it impossible to identify the other party in a trade.

Protection of institutional investor funds can barely be fulfilled by the brokerages available in the market. Mostly, weak technical solutions are the reasons for firms’ inability to prevent hacking attacks and money loss.

Although a vast number of exchanges provide different products and services, including centralized order books, custodial storage, lending, alternative investment instruments, NFT, contests and bonuses, crypto payment cards, and project crowdfunding, with their own interfaces and requirements, they operate in jurisdictions with low legal frameworks and non-transparent legal responsibilities.

Another issue related to the wide range of firms is the low level of user experience. Different interfaces, wallets, instruments, and APIs make trading even more time-consuming. Also, whales experience a high entry threshold. Hardware wallets, protocols, screeners, and portfolio trackers require significant funds for setting up trading processes. When working with different exchanges, institutional and corporate traders do not have a single interface to organize information, so they have to use spreadsheets or third-party web services, which also increases operating costs and negatively affects the level of security.

Fiat transfers are a limitation that both retail and institutional traders face. While retail traders can find ways to deal with fiat, such as using P2P trading, larger investors have a limited number of options for fiat payments in banking systems. However, the market is developing along with regulations and brokerage firms. There are already companies that can solve most of the crucial issues of the cryptocurrency market.

Who Can Help Institutional and Corporate Traders?

Single Broker is a financial institution that combines brokerage services and a trading platform and enables institutional and prop traders to manage digital assets on different exchanges through one interface.

Single Broker is a Swiss-based and regulated company. It stores cryptocurrencies and fiat funds in a reliable jurisdiction and provides custodial storage with insurance coverage for any client. Traders access cryptocurrency instruments within the platform’s framework and a closed wallet system. Funds are transferred between exchanges and trading accounts from a single interface, a closed secure infrastructure of segregated custodial wallets and exchange sub-accounts, which guarantees additional protection.

The platform enables access to cryptocurrency trading on various centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, and DeFi instruments, including staking and liquidity pools, OTC platforms, and aggregated liquidity. However, more importantly, a client can access all instruments via a single platform. This means that traders do not have to deal with different APIs and interfaces, register on different trading platforms, and deal with third-party terminals to manage API keys.

Unlike most cryptocurrency brokers, which only aggregate liquidity, Single Broker creates an independent sub-account on an exchange that the client chooses and grants the client direct access to it. Traders can execute trades directly, without spreads and hidden commissions. Furthermore, the problem of fiat transfers is solved by Single Broker, by allowing deposits and withdrawals using fiat currencies.

In conclusion, despite skepticism, the cryptocurrency market will continue to grow and develop. However, this does not necessarily mean that the number of professional and reliable brokers will increase. There is still a risk of a surge in the number of unscrupulous brokerage firms. Therefore, traders must be cautious and choose brokers that prioritize security and regulation.

Coin Edition set to exclusively interview Nikolay Denisenko, the co-founder and CTO of Swiss neobanking startup Brighty App and a Revolut alumnus. Nikolay has an extensive background in Applied Mathematics, Business Process Management, and developing applications. As a Lead Backend Engineer, he developed Revolut Business, considered the company’s most profitable division.

In the wake of the recent regulatory move of the EU, Nikolay shares insights on building a fintech startup, solving existing problems in crypto and fiat neobanking, and reflects on the current state of European fintech, the future of crypto adoption, and AI technology.

Q: We have witnessed the serial failures of the US and EU banks, and the fintech startups are riding the wave. What is your take on this? Do you see this as a problem — or an opportunity where you could show your colors?

Fintech startups can’t ignore the regulatory uncertainty, market volatility, and, in particular, the trust issue existing in the market. I see the failures of legacy banks as a unique opportunity because fintech startups are made to keep up with shifting consumer demands and solve problems that haven’t been solved correctly before — way faster than any other market players.

In this situation, fintechs like Brighty App can offer new solutions that customers need. They have the potential to bridge the gap between the traditional banking systems and the unbanked (or underbanked) population, promoting financial inclusion on a broader scale.

Q: Do you still see a gap in the neobanking sector in Europe and globally?

Yes. To begin with, that’s why we actually started building a neobank. The biggest issue is the lack of seamless integration of fiat and crypto. Many neobanks offer traditional banking or crypto services, but not both, so there is a demand for a one-stop solution that would provide better integration of fiat and crypto services.

Secondly, there’s the limited adoption of DeFi among neobanks. The DeFi products give the users the opportunity to yield and earn on the stablecoins in crypto; still, few neobanks offer such products as staking, yield farming, and lending. Combining traditional banking and DeFi can be a win-win deal and attract a broader use case: for example, banks can provide deposits, and crypto neobanks can offer access to DeFi products.

Next, neobanks should aim to provide proof of reserves. That will allow them to boost the customer trust, as all transactions are operated in the blockchain. This is rather challenging, but it should be done.

And lastly, low accessibility is a barrier to the mass adoption of crypto neobanks. In general, the user experience still needs improvement. As an active user myself, I do care and know how the blockchain works, but I don’t understand why the fees are so high. We were targeting to solve these gaps when developing the Brighty App’s product for Europe.

Q: You mentioned some bottlenecks already, and my third question is: what are the major challenges you see for neobanks globally and in Europe?

The EU market is fragmented by nature: with different languages, cultures, and regulatory frameworks across the member states. This makes it difficult for neobanks to scale operations and establish a uniform presence across the region: every state of the European Union has something specific. They have to adjust the application based on the different languages and get a solid understanding of the audience. This is challenging but interesting nonetheless.

Then, there’s the issue of profitability. Sometimes, neobanks focus on growing the customer base but forget that they should get profits to survive in the current turbulent market without relying too much on available investments.

Q: As we know, the SEC has been going after many crypto companies. Regarding Europe, how is their regulation, and are they infringing on crypto adoption?

The trend is generally positive. There are many EU initiatives like MiCA aiming to provide a clear and balanced framework for digital assets, develop crypto regulation, stimulate innovation, and help establish Europe as the hub of blockchain and fintech development.

I like where it’s all going. All these efforts will help drive mass adoption of crypto in the region and positively affect the Web3-connected companies in Europe.

Q: What do you think banks will look like and will function in, say, ten years from today? How do you see that?

That’s all guesswork, but I think blockchain and AI will significantly improve the banking sector in the next ten years. For one, blockchain tech will optimize daily operations: for instance, exchanging information between banks. Banks will prioritize environmental, social, and governmental factors and become more human-oriented.

The KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures will also improve: e.g., there will be no need to go through the KYC again once you open a new account.

Q: What are the main things to consider before building an application like Brighty App?

We prioritize transparency, regulation, compliance, and security.  As such, all the decisions we make in building Brighty App are based on these principles. Does it make our app more secure? Is it user-friendly and transparent as we ourselves would like to have it? Are we providing the best service?

We keep the same approach when it comes to any partnerships: which is the best on the market and most convenient to our customers? We partnered with FireBlocks because they provide the best custody service on the market. We integrated their services into our app and plan to improve the overall customer experience.

It’s very important to us: even if the services are costly, we aim to provide the most secure and top-notch technologies to our customers, e.g., cloud services like Amazon that are certified and follow all European GDPR policies. As a Swiss-born company, we are convinced that private trustful wealth management should be in the DNA of the product.

Q: How do you differentiate Brighty App from other wealth management apps? Or why should I use your app rather than anything else?

Our goal is to create an accessible, easy-to-use crypto-fiat application. It offers the most secure and trustable DeFi products we have tested and certified, humanizing crypto and making it easily understandable. Brighty App will help you to use crypto in your everyday life: for example, buying coffee with your Bitcoin.

We also plan to work with businesses providing business accounts and services for crypto startups and companies. This is an issue we know too well: as a startup, it took us two or three months even just to open a bank account for employee payouts. So it is an excellent space to expand.

Q: What is your take on artificial intelligence? Do you have any hopes of integrating AI into the Brighty App?

Yeah, for sure. We have already started to use ChatGPT in our everyday life because it helps to boost productivity. So it is pretty reasonable to implement AI power in development, operations, and, definitely, customer service to make it ‘more human.’ You see, banks are rarely about people: they communicate in a techy language that customers don’t understand, and I think ChatGPT will help solve this issue.

Another thing AI can do is offer personalized financial advice and portfolio management — but it might need some regulation, I assume. And the third pillar is security. We’ll start integrating AI-driven fraud detection systems in Brighty App and have already integrated AI in chats.

I believe a startup should be agile, reacting to whatever happens around you, which technologies are trending, what happens around regulations, etc. That’s what it takes to stay in the market — and to succeed as a company.

For many people wanting to enter the crypto markets, the world of digital currencies may seem daunting. On the one hand, investors may see the tremendous potential of this relatively new realm in the financial world and fear missing out on the great opportunities it presents. On the other hand, there is the fear of the unknown, a lack of knowledge about the basic mechanics involved in cryptocurrencies, and confusion about the many different types of digital investment vehicles available. And, of course, there is the aversion to risk in a market that often resembles a wild rollercoaster ride.

Forbes reports that the CoinMarketCap record shows approximately 22,932 cryptocurrencies of different types launched since Bitcoin first emerged just a decade and a half ago. Meanwhile, nearly 600 cryptocurrency exchanges are currently available worldwide, which can vary greatly in terms of costs, quality, level of service, and safety.

With such a myriad of options, the question begs: Where to start?

One great option for budding crypto investors, as well as experienced traders of all levels, is an up-and-coming centralized exchange called Bitget. For beginners, it offers innovative features, such as copy trading in spot and futures markets, and the Bitget Insight platform, which eases newbies into the overwhelming first steps and immediately gets them started with confidence. For veteran crypto investors, Bitget provides a range of advanced trading tools, including real-time market data, charting tools, and technical analysis indicators that allow traders to make informed trading decisions and stay updated with market trends.

With over 8 million registered users in more than 100 countries and regions around the world, as well as top investment institutions on board, like Dragonfly Capital and SNK, the platform boasts a high degree of liquidity. In fact, CoinMarketCap reported that Bitget’s liquidity score of 610 is higher than other major exchanges like OKX (580), KuCoin (588), and Gate.io (586). This means traders can buy and sell cryptocurrencies quickly and easily without having to worry about the market being slow or illiquid.

Bitget also offers some of the lowest transaction fees in the industry. For spot trades, Bitget charges a flat 0.1% for both maker and taker fees. For holders of the platform’s BGB utility token, the crypto exchange offers a 20% discount, making the fee 0.08%, which is very competitive and comparable to top platforms like Binance, Phemex, and KuCoin. There is a standard fee of 0.02% for makers and 0.06% for takers on its futures platform.

According to CoinGecko, Bitget is currently a top 10 spot trading platform and a top 5 futures trading platform. It provides a spot exchange for most mainstream cryptocurrencies, supporting USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, BGB, and a total of over 470 cryptocurrencies and more than 500 trading pairs as of December 2022. It also supports USDT-margined futures, USDC-margined futures, and Coin-margined futures with 120 trading pairs.

Copy Trading

For new investors, as well as those who may not have time to closely follow the crypto markets, Bitget has launched copy trading for the crypto spot and futures markets, becoming the first exchange offering this feature.

Copy trading makes it possible to copy the behavior of elite traders and strategists. This allows investors to copy elite traders’ orders in the spot and futures markets, acquiring the same portfolio or positions that they have or mimicking whatever trades a strategist will make.

Copy trading is beneficial for elite investors as well. By sharing their trading strategies, they can build their influence in the crypto space while generating a passive stream of income that can amount to up to 10% of their followers’ revenue.

In addition, elite traders’ detailed portfolios and historical performance, including total Profit and Loss (PnL), win rate, and Asset Under Management (AUM), are available for followers to review on the platform. This allows users to determine if a trader’s strategy meets their risk/return expectations before subscribing to them.

Since Bitget introduced its copy trading feature in 2020, more than 80,000 elite traders and 380,000 followers have participated, with over 47 million profitable trades made as of January 2023. The gains reached $300 million, and profits shared with elite traders amounted to $20 million.

Crypto Futures and Derivative Trading

One of Bitget’s key advantages is its sophisticated products for futures and derivative trading in digital coins.

According to a report published by the Boston Consulting Group in July of 2022, Bitget is the number three crypto derivative exchange in the world. The platform saw a total increase in derivatives transaction volume of 300% in 2022 and has witnessed tremendous growth in trading volume and market share since the recent collapse of FTX.

In fact, a report released by TokenInsight shows that Bitget was the biggest beneficiary of the FTX collapse, with its share of the crypto derivatives market skyrocketing from 3% to 11% in the aftermath.

In May 2019, Bitget introduced a USDT-margined futures product that is more user-friendly for beginners than coin-margined futures, as it does not require investors to hold corresponding coins before going long or short.

In July 2021, Bitget became the first crypto exchange to launch USDC-margined futures through a partnership with Circle. Currently, Bitget supports USDT-margined futures, USDC-margined futures, and coin-margined futures with 120 trading pairs.

In December 2022, when the 24-hour Open Interest (OI) of the top 10 derivatives exchanges plummeted by about 40%, Bitget was the only exchange to see an increase in OI, from about $800 million to $3.74 billion. According to CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, Bitget is consistently a top-5 derivatives trading platform in terms of volume and OI.

Security

Security-wise, Bitget boasts top-notch features for both new and veteran crypto investors leery about security. The platform created the Bitget Protection Fund in 2022 to ensure its users’ assets are safeguarded in the event of unforeseen incidents. It is now the second largest user protection fund among CEXs, with 6,500 BTC, 160 million USDT, and 40 million USDC, currently valued at $300 million. The assets are stored in seven wallet addresses that are public for users to track in real-time, and Bitget has pledged to maintain the fund’s value without any withdrawal for the next three years.

In December 2022, Bitget also launched a Proof of Reserves page to make the assets on the platform more transparent. The page is updated monthly, ensuring at least a 1:1 reserve ratio with customer funds. Additionally, the platform has developed an open-sourced ‘Merklevalidator’ tool available on GitHub, allowing users to verify their assets on the platform. The total reserve ratio is around 246%, according to the data updated on April 3.

With its copy trading features and advanced derivative trading vehicles, not to mention high liquidity and low fees, Bitget will appeal to crypto traders of all levels and, no doubt, inspire many people who have been hesitant about jumping into the cryptocurrency market in the past to finally take the plunge.

• Shiba Inu (SHIB) was changing hands at $0.00001021 at press time.
• SHIB could face another level of support if it continues to experience downward pressure.
• During the decline, SHIB found support at $0.00001015 and faced resistance at $0.00001037.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has recently been one of the most talked-about cryptocurrencies, thanks to its explosive price movements and growing popularity among investors. With a current value of $0.00001021, SHIB has seen a slight decline from its previous highs, but its 1-day support level of $0.00001015 suggests that it may soon recover.

However, the proximity of the intraday low to the 7-day low of $0.00001012 indicates that SHIB could face another level of support if it continues to experience downward pressure. On the other hand, if the $0.00001037 resistance level is breached, the following resistance levels may be at $0.00001052 and $0.00001073, respectively, which could indicate a potential upward trend for SHIB.

During the correction, the market capitalization and 24-hour trading volume dipped by 1.24% and 4.96% to $6,005,646,749 and $122,815,673, respectively.

The 1-day Shiba Inu price analysis reveals that a downtrend has occurred in the previous hours. A rise in volatility has been experienced as the Bollinger Band indicator has diverged. The upper band is placed at $0.00001177, while the lower band is seen at $0.00001005. Conversely, the MACD indicator shows bearish action, as the histogram shows negative values.

Further, the MACD line (blue) is below the signal line (red), revealing that the bearish momentum is strengthening. This suggests that there may be a potential downward trend in the near future, and investors should monitor the stock closely for any further indications of a bearish market.

On the 4-hour technical analysis, the volatility, as shown by the Bollinger Bands indicator, is decreasing. The upper band is $0.00001047, while the lower band is $0.00001014. This shows that the asset’s price is trading within a narrow range, indicating a period of consolidation. Traders may look for a breakout above the upper band or below the lower band to signal a potential trend reversal or continuation.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator shows potential correction, with the MACD line (blue) moving above the signal line (red) and the histogram heading to positive territory. This move indicates that the bearish momentum may be losing strength, and a possible bullish trend could be forming in the short term, but further analysis is needed to confirm the trend reversal.

While SHIB’s long-term analysis shows a potential bearish run, its short-term correction could be an opportunity for traders to enter the market and take advantage of the possible bullish trend in the near future.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and information shared in this price analysis are published in good faith. Readers must do their research and due diligence. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Coin Edition and its affiliates will not be liable for direct or indirect damage or loss.

Education is often considered the key to unlocking one’s potential and achieving success in life. However, for many, the pursuit of education can be a challenging and sometimes daunting task. This is where financial motivation comes in, as it has the power to unlock the treasure trove of learning and turn the pursuit of education into an exciting and rewarding journey.

Financial motivation in education is an approach that incentivizes students to learn by providing them with financial rewards. The rewards can be in the form of scholarships, grants, prizes, or even earning in-game currency that can be exchanged for real money. The goal is to inspire students to develop a love for learning by making it fun, engaging, and rewarding.

One model that has been gaining popularity in recent years is the “Learn-and-Earn” approach. This style provides students with the opportunity to study at their own pace and cultivates a habit of learning by rewarding them with LSTAR, an in-game currency that can be exchanged for real money. The LSTAR currency is used within the LetMeSpeak ecosystem, a revolutionary language-learning platform that incentivizes and rewards users for learning English.

The results of this approach have been nothing short of astounding. Users of LetMeSpeak have reported a 4x increase in the number of words learned in the first 30 days of using the platform compared to traditional language-learning methods. This success can be attributed to the platform’s advanced AI-powered language model, which analyzes and provides detailed explanations of users’ grammar mistakes. The platform’s virtual assistant, Jennifer, is a true game-changer, revolutionizing the way users learn grammar. With the “Explain my answer” function, Jennifer offers an in-depth analysis of the grammar rule and clarifies the mistake in the user’s native language, making learning easier and more enjoyable.

Financial motivation in education doesn’t just benefit the students. LetMeSpeak also offers scholarships, which provide an opportunity for anyone to benefit from the Learn-and-Earn experience without an initial capital outlay. For NFT Character owners, it’s an opportunity to own more NFTs and sponsor others to learn. It’s a win-win situation, where both the sponsor and the student benefit.

In essence, financial motivation in education is like a treasure map that leads students to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It motivates and incentivizes students to put in the extra effort required to succeed, while also offering a fun and rewarding learning experience. It’s a model that is changing the face of education, unlocking the potential of students all over the world.

As we continue to see the rise of technology in education, the potential for financial motivation to transform the way we learn is only set to grow. By harnessing the power of financial motivation, we can unlock the treasure trove of learning and discover the limitless possibilities that education has to offer.

AMLBot and PureFi are well-known organizations in the crypto sphere that specialize in crypto AML/KYC compliance and security. In this exclusive Coin Edition interview, Slava Demchuk, the co-founder of AMLBot and CEO of PureFi shares his insights about the latest happening in the field and what investors need to be on the lookout for.

Q: To begin with, can you tell us how you started AMLBot and PureFi?

We started back in 2018. The crypto sphere was quite popular then but had yet to reach today’s popularity. A friend of mine (currently a partner at AMLBot) was running an OTC business, meaning he exchanged crypto for fiat and vice versa. Once, he had a problem with dirty crypto, where one of his accounts got locked with a significant amount of US dollars on it.

It was then that we realized that it is a common and pressing issue and made it our goal to find a technical solution. First, we created AMLBot as a chatbot in Telegram, then expanded the web version to the API version and proposed it to some of our friends in the community. After testing the solution, we established the company and started serving clients and growing.

Two years ago, when DeFi became popular, we created PureFi, essentially the same product built for decentralized finance, Dapps, GameFi, etc.

Q: So do both these businesses focus on regulations?

Yes, our solutions primarily focus on compliance rather than cybersecurity. (To some extent, compliance is a part of cybersecurity.) Our services include an anti-money laundering solution, essential for businesses to prevent connections to illicit clusters and bad actors in the crypto space.

“Know your transaction” and “Know your customer” are two pillars of our services. Our KYC solution has become quite popular among centralized exchanges. This way, the regulator can control money flow between centralized exchanges and, perhaps, decentralized in the future.

Q: How does AMLBot differentiate itself from other security companies?

First, we provide a one-stop solution for AML checks, KYC, and crypto payment processing. Additionally, we offer help with the paperwork to those establishing a company or getting a license.

If a company’s money gets stolen, we can help investigate the case. That’s our second focus. We get our data from different sources; we’ve partnered with the major providers, so we probably have the most comprehensive database in the market and provide the most accurate risk score.

Q: Can you share your opinion on what is happening with the crypto industry right now regarding compliance and regulation?

We are witnessing massive turbulence in the entire industry, touching the whole regulatory framework. It was likely caused by a number of hacks that have happened recently and a lot of losses by the investors. My guess is, they went to the authorities and asked for their help.

The space is rather fragmented and not well-established: unlike what we have in traditional finance. Then, again, we see what has happened with the classical banks that worked with fiat currency: the traditional framework didn’t help them either. At the same time, regulators try to apply the same regulatory norms and factors to the crypto space. Maybe, it’s not the example the blockchain industry should follow.

Q: Let’s move on to the European markets. How do you feel about the recent regulation of MiCA, and how would it reflect on American and global markets?

Right now, the only thing we have is the EU’s 5th anti-money laundering Directive. Countries are implementing it differently: some have adopted very soft regulations, others, super strict ones. There isn’t a single long-read document on how to do it properly.

MiCA is changing it right now, creating an advantage for us, in a way, as the demand for our services increases: for PureFi in particular.

Q: From 2018 to now, what challenges have you faced in running AMLBot and how did you overcome them?

First, there was the general unawareness of the problem. In 2019, we would come to businesses and say, “You need to be compliant; we have perfect analytics for you.” They would ask: “What is compliance?”. To reach our customers back then, we had to explain the necessity of being compliant or following regulations first.

There were a few companies like Chainalysis, Crystal, and probably CipherTrace providing education for the market. Regulators did the same, much more efficiently, even if in a much rougher way.

Right now, we are encountering the same challenge in PureFi, as the DeFi space is around the same stage as centralized, traditional crypto was in 2019. Still, the industry is growing super quickly, and we have more and more requests each month.

Q: You’ve mentioned “dirty crypto.” Would you please explain what it means and the exact measures AMLBot and PureFi have taken to eradicate that?

The term “dirty crypto” means your wallet has transactions with wallets that have a connection (even if a distant one) to the dark market, drug dealers, stolen coins, money laundering, etc. We have had cases that were reported and stored in our database.

You are in the no-risk zone if you have received your Bitcoin or Ethereum only from certified centralized exchanges and never bought coins from an unknown person. Still, if you are a business and our solution is aimed at businesses the risk is much higher, as there are a lot of bad actors in the space.

We protect them by assessing specific transactions or a specific wallet. We assign the risk score to them, and the business can accept or reject the transaction. We provide analytics only, so it’s always their decision.

The risk levels may differ. For example, gambling: is it risky or not? It depends on the country you’re operating in. In some, it’s safe to interact with gambling clusters. In some countries, you’d have to reject the transaction to avoid problems.

Q: You said the crypto market is constantly changing. How do you keep up-to-date with these changes?

It’s probably the most challenging part of our business, you always have to be on the lookout for new information. We have to update our database with new cases, constantly monitor news, Twitter, Reddit, and others to keep the information about our partners up-to-date. Also, we must keep track of the latest regulations, as we are responsible to the businesses we provide services to.

Q: Finally, what are your plans for AMLBot and PureFi, and what is the current activity that is in the pipeline?

For AMLBot, we have a huge backlog of technical tasks we need to implement just to catch up with the constantly changing environment. The same goes for PureFi: there is an even bigger issue there, as we need to be deployed on as many blockchains as possible, with new networks appearing every month.

We are also preparing to launch SafeTransact: a solution designed to notify users about suspicious activity. Using sophisticated risk assessment techniques, we help them avoid malicious contracts, phishing schemes, and other potential dangers that could result in substantial losses.

All in all, we aim to equip the mass user with a safety net, so they can transact with peace of mind, knowing their hard-earned assets are safe. As SafeTransact can be seamlessly integrated with different wallets, I believe it will promote a more active crypto adoption.