While early stage crypto investors have multiplied their investments, many people who have started a couple of months ago have suffered heavy losses in their crypto portfolios. Cryptoprofiler bridges the gap of investor protection framework between traditional investment world and crypto space, by transferring investor risk profiling into the latter. In addition, the product risk classification provides insights into market risk, liquidity risk and product risk of cryptocurrencies.

The beta solution provides a light version of the suitability assessment to determine investor’s knowledge, experience, risk capacity and risk tolerance. The more comprehensive and in-depth assessment will become shortly available to users in the login area. Learning resources covering crypto risks and behavioral biases are aimed to enhance investor understanding of the dynamic crypto market. The latest feature is a portfolio risk analysis tool with alert function.

Aside from clearly risk focused approach, users are welcome to plugin with their Twitter account to unleash their potential topics of interest in crypto space with the help of Cryptoprofiler proprietary algorithm as well as to get an insight into public opinion of certain cryptocurrencies through social sentiment analysis.

While various platforms are providing data about cryptocurrencies, Cryptoprofiler is the first provider leveraging banking-grade investor risk profiling to focus on the investor as individual and providing actionable insights. Enhanced risk metrics about cryptocurrencies and comparison function are saving time for investment research and empower better investment decisions.

About Cryptoprofiler

Cryptoprofiler is bringing banking-grade investor risk profiling and product risk classification into the crypto space to help investors to make sound investment decisions in the ever-changing and ever-growing crypto market. Cryptoprofiler is powered by Riskifier a MiFID II compliant suitability assessment for banks and wealth managers which has been included in the list of RegTech 100: The world’s most innovative RegTech companies by FINTECH GLOBAL. The Swiss start-up was born in a hackathon and has successfully completed accelerator programs in Switzerland, Germany and Asia.

Alluma, the leading cryptocurrency exchange for the emerging market of India, has announced the launch of its Beta platform offering crypto-to-crypto trading, with Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] as the base currencies. In addition, the Alluma Beta exchange will also support the trading of other coins such as Ripple [XRP], Bitcoin Cash [BCH], and the FUEL token by Etherparty. The exchange is also currently testing 10 more tokens which will be added to the platform during the course of the beta launch period.

Alluma is also the first exchange in India to introduce the FUEL token by Toronto-based Etherparty, to trade in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Etherparty is a tool that allows users to create smart contracts on the blockchain. It removes the complexity of creating, managing and executing smart contracts on any blockchain network, allowing non-domain experts to build smart contracts with ease. Fuel is the token offered by Etherparty that supports the creation of these smart contracts.

Boasting a simple, intuitive user-friendly interface, Alluma’s exchange promises a smooth and hassle-free trading experience to Indian traders. It offers a superior liquidity through partnerships with other leading exchanges, a loyalty program powered by the proprietary LUMA token, and best-in-class compliance and security frameworks. The platform is supported by a six-layered security architecture, as well as robust localized KYC & AML [Anti Money Laundering] policies based on financial industry international best practices, and a multi-layered corporate governance structure.

Akash Aggarwal – Founder & CEO, Alluma said

After several months of product development and enhancements, we are proud to launch our Beta exchange for Indian cryptocurrency traders. With the launch of the platform, we have aimed to solve one major problem crypto traders face in India is the time it takes from account registration to first trade, which we have brought down to as little as 5 minutes. Alluma’s fast, paperless Know Your Customer [KYC] process has got some great initial feedback. The platform has also been well-received by customers and we look forward to adding many other tokens and token pairs over the next few weeks.

Kevin Hobbs – CEO, Etherparty said

Fuel has been a successful token targeted at helping ICOs create smart contracts. While looking for potential exchanges for the distribution of our token, we found Alluma’s team, vision and the quality of the product they have created is particularly impressive. Asia is a key market for us and we are pleased to work with Alluma in introducing the token into the Indian market, helping us to expand our global reach.

Alluma connects traders with a global order book to trade multiple currencies quickly and competitively. Traders have access to advanced trading options such as limit and stop orders not found on many domestic platforms.

About Alluma

Alluma is the emerging market exchange for cryptocurrencies, which has been specifically designed for the needs of Indian and Southeast Asian users. It is an institutional grade crypto to crypto and fiat to crypto platform where a wide portfolio of cryptocurrencies can be traded, with fast, simple e-KYC functionality, as well as 24-7 monitoring, multi-signature wallets and cold storage for coin security.

About Etherparty and the Fuel token

Etherparty is a tool that allows users to create smart contracts on the blockchain. It removes the complexity of creating, managing and executing smart contracts on any blockchain network, allowing non-domain experts to build smart contracts with ease. Fuel is the token offered by Etherparty that supports the creation of these smart contracts.

India’s leading bitcoin and crypto-assets exchange, Unocoin announced the availability of TrueUSD on its Unodax platform. With the current ban on INR to Crypto transactions in India, Unocoin intends to provide its users on Unodax platform with a secure and legal way of investing in digital assets. TrueUSD is the first stable coin built on TrustToken platform and 1 TUSD can be redeemed for 1 USD. The TUSD coin is listed for trading on trading exchanges globally like Unodax and is paired with a few major crypto-assets like BTC, ETH, BNB, KRW, and USDT.

Commenting on the availability of TrueUSD, Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-founder and CEO, Unocoin said

Post the RBI banning bank transfers for crypto trading and investment, we were looking for the plausible solutions to help our users continue to HODL, without any disruptions and hassles. With TrueUSD, we are excited to present our users with a long-awaited stable trading plan for crypto-assets traders in our Unodax exchange. Crypto enthusiasts may use this stable coin as a medium of exchange for other crypto-assets and minimize their risks in a volatile market.

TrueUSD provides crypto-assets traders with a stable coin to hedge as an alternative, and minimize their exposure to BTC/ETH and INR, while entering the crypto market. Presenting an alternative to traditional currency methods, TrueUSD runs on scrutinized and monitored escrow accounts, bridging the gap between real-world assets and blockchain technology.

TUSD enables mainstream adoption of digital currencies, with all transactions being legit and secure, giving confidence to the ambitious crypto traders and investors to use TUSD as an INR alternative. Considering its stability, TUSD qualifies as a secure base currency to trade cryptocurrencies. In times of price volatility, TUSD will help users hold their assets value. This, in return, will boost the intermittent cryptocurrency trading experience in India. Beyond serving as a liquidity token on exchanges initially, TUSD may also be used for e-commerce, by being available for international transfers without exchange rate risk.

TrueUSD is currently available on Unodax exchange website and on the Unodax app as well.

About Unocoin

Started in 2013, Unocoin is a Bangalore based technology startup and is India’s first entrant into the crypto-assets industry. The company operates India’s largest crypto-assets exchanges, which enables Indians to buy, sell, store, use, and accept crypto-assets. It also offers a full-featured mobile app, with 24/7 access to real-time crypto-assets market prices and instantaneous trading transactions. With over 1,200,000 customers, Unocoin processes transactions worth more than INR 2B, every month.

In September 2016, Unocoin has raised $2 million in a Pre Series-A round, the highest total raised for a digital currency venture in Indian history. Funding was sourced from well-known Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with prominent international investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, Bitcoin Capital, Huiyin Ventures and FundersClub to move faster towards its vision of Making Money Simple through its mission Bringing Bitcoin to Billions. For more information, please visit Unocoin

CoinSwitch.co, one of world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange aggregator platform announced the launch of CoinSwitch Custom Instant Exchange. In its latest offering, CoinSwitch.co is empowering crypto enthusiasts – influencers, bloggers, opinion leaders and others, to transform their website into a niche crypto exchange. In doing so, they will earn 50% of the transaction fees, thus successfully monetizing their crypto and blockchain thought-leadership.

CoinSwitch Custom Instant exchange is quintessentially a white label solution which a website can use to set up an exchange on their website. The solution requires no coding knowledge, allowing the exchange to be set up in under two minutes. Furthermore, the integration doesn’t come at the cost of the aesthetics of the website and can be best customized to accommodate the logo and colour scheme of the host’s website. Hosts also get to have the final call on the coins that they will allow on their instant exchange.

Commenting on the latest development, Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO of CoinSwitch.co said

CoinSwitch Custom Instant Exchange enables website owners to create a customized exchange on their website. This empowers them to provide their website visitors with an enhanced functionality of exchanging cryptocurrencies right from their website. And by doing so, they will be able to monetize it as well.

Any website integrating the CoinSwitch Custom Instant Exchange will be able to provide its users or visitors a robust way to invest in cryptocurrencies, right from its website. This is ensured without any redirects, and hence, the hosts don’t have to compromise on their traffic. Additionally, the hosts will receive a revenue split of 50% per transaction, thus monetizing their digital media influence.

About CoinSwitch.co

Headquartered in Bengaluru, CoinSwitch.co is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange aggregator platform that supports transactions in over 100 cryptocurrencies in India and 300 across the globe like altcoins, tokens like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Ripple [XRP], Litecoin [LTC], etc. CoinSwitch.co aggregates multiple exchanges, facilitating transactions in all coins that are available with partner exchanges. Users can easily compare the price across multiple exchanges and opt for the best bargain. CoinSwitch.co further allows users to convert their existing crypto-assets into other pairs, supporting over 7,000 currency pairs in India and over 45,000 across the globe. CoinSwitch.co has raised USD 1.5 million from Sequoia Capital and Angel Investors. For more information, please visit CoinSwitch.co

Our lives have become connected with the digital world in many ways. Those of us that lived through the advent of personal computing, the internet, or cellular phones know how these technological advancements have changed our lives forever. Blockchain technology, the underlying architecture behind crypto-currencies is quickly changing the way we do business.

Uncertainty

‘Due diligence’ is highly recommended these days and rightfully so. Hundreds of digital currencies have failed to stand the test of time, and it’s fair to say speculation has been a monumental issue. Misinformation is something to be wary of, and it’s found in abundance. Speculation contributes to an existing issue with cryptos – High Volatility.

Unfortunately speculation has serious effects on market prices. Press releases and market conditions result in investors trading according to what they believe will profit them sooner rather than later. The fluctuation of coin prices has prompted handling cryptocurrencies like a stock or asset, instead of treating them as a currency. With some saving accounts netting below zero interest rates these days, more people have begun exploring crypto as a short term investment.

Many people in this space have been day trading, since many cryptocurrencies experience sudden unpredictable changes in their value. This is a huge problem, as the value of ANY currency is dependent on the stability of its purchasing power. Such high levels of inflation or deflation in a currency effectively make them cumbersome as mediums of exchange.

How could either party in a transaction choose the correct price if the value of the money being used is always fluctuating?? They can’t.

Crypto investors can move large amounts of money very freely, and in an instant media reports can influence prices. The ability of coin projects to consume limitless speculative money, and the subsequent trading, stamps most digital currencies as questionable exchange tools. This won’t be the case in the future.

Pegs

A centralized peg is fixing the value of a currency to the value of another currency, multiple currencies [basket], or something else of value. Many attempts to peg cryptos directly to FIAT, assets, or commodities have been unsuccessful.

Pegging to FIAT requires a coin project to hold the same amount of FIAT in reserve as issued crypto. This is difficult as external factors can diminish coin value relative to the FIAT in reserves, making the peg fail. Investors know that if a coin has a traditional centralized peg, there isn’t profit to be made buying and selling that currency.

When cryptocurrencies are converted back to FIAT, depending on the situation the options can be limited and expensive. If not using peer-to-peer solutions, investors are subject to the fees and regulations of the centralized exchanges that they are using, so a centralized hard peg to fiat is not optimal in the decentralized environment that cryptocurrencies bring.

Pegs have previously been broken by system hacks that reduce the perceived security and value of coin projects, but more concretely the centralized company that manages this centralized peg can be shutdown by governments, can decide to shutdown/run away, or can become insolvable. Centralized pegs also tie digital currencies to the actions of the institutions controlling the FIAT, such as governments and central banks. This centralization is typical of some cryptocurrencies, including those in development by national banks.

How will cryptocurrencies be stabilized in the future then?

Based on the voting results, a fraction of everyone’s Bay is temporarily frozen in reserve, leaving fewer $BAY liquid. This increases the liquid supply’s value, and conversely the voting can result in unfreezing the reserve decreasing the value of the liquid coins relative to the amount of reserve that is becoming liquid. The frozen coins can still be traded or sold, however a time lock is coded to delay the transfer until that specific period of time is over, which is one month. This dynamic peg is unique as it allows $BAY to be used as a stable medium of exchange, eliminating value concerns during the transaction process. A decentralized way to protect the $BAY currency from high volatility, hence profiting from stability, but in the long term the free market remains so the price can grow upwards.

Here’s a question that has the crypto community holding the edge of their seats

How are digital currencies going to be regulated ?

There are serious concerns how regulation could limit the effectiveness and anonymity of cryptocurrencies.This topic is quite complicated as international use and trade standards haven’t been established for this asset class.

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] has been actively seeking new ways to regulate this sector of the economy. Initially, federal agencies did NOT have the authority to request customer registration, transaction reports, or compliance with security checks. However the SEC has now defined most cryptocurrencies as securities or digital assets. Based on their own set of guidelines for securities, the SEC now subjects cryptocurrency exchanges to all applicable laws as well.

Few crypto exchanges are adhering to the SEC rules. To the SEC, labeling a trading platform an exchange implies that regulation standards are being followed which still isn’t true for many exchanges.

One of the few legal exchanges in the US, Coinbase is now required to follow the Bank Secrecy Act [BSA] among other laws. The BSA requires customer identities and transactions to be recorded.

Does that sound decentralized or anonymous ?

Some countries have even taken regulation a step further. The cryptocurrency market in South Korea is believed to be among the top in the world, but the government has already banned ICO’s and anonymous trading on centralized exchanges. Their primary goal was to hamper speculation not the market, and to prevent money laundering related crimes.

Meanwhile China has banned ICO’s and domestic exchanges as well, purportedly with plans on creating national cryptocurrency. The plan is said to digitize assets in a manner that reliably upholds accountability and standardizes blockchain use within China’s economy. More countries are expected to create national cryptos once the technology is further developed and proven. If nations create their own cryptocurrency they will be subject to all related federal regulations.

If national cryptocurrencies are happening, how will cryptocurrencies remain decentralized ?

Obviously the goal of cryptocurrencies is decentralization & monetary freedom for the people, by the people. If states create their own cryptocurrencies people will still be attracted to truly decentralized cryptocurrencies that are not manipulated by governments, especially as these cryptocurrencies were the first to establish themselves. Although it is needed to say that decentralized exchanges are also an important factor in the perennity of decentralized cryptocurrencies.

For fiat to crypto gateways the most commonly used are centralized exchanges, but there are already peer-to-peer solutions like Bitbay marketplace & websites like locabitcoins or localmonero. Decentralization of exchanges would allow things like atomic swaps for cross-blockchain trading – a swap between two different blockchains, notably using two trustless contracts, which would permit traders to trade without middlemen nor centralized control & risk.

Evolution of Markets

Blockchain technology and cryptography has created an avenue for any information to be shared privately, securely, and on the cheap. One key element is the removal of intermediaries that normally create lag and add expense to transactions.

People in impoverished or dictatorial areas need ways of sending money nationally & internationally. Family members have to pay large fees to banks or wire transfer companies. There are people living in areas where credit agencies and electronic payment systems are unavailable. This limits national or international economic connectivity through decreased market participation and access. Cryptocurrencies will eliminate the cost and liquidity problems in these situations, having positive social implications for those that have the most to gain from market access.

Contracting platforms like BitBay’s Markets Client allow users to buy, sell, trade, and create smart contracts. Beyond use for purchases, our marketplace has the ability to enforce smart contracts without intermediaries. Using a double deposit escrow system, all parties are motivated to act honestly, making business deals safer.

With BitBay, honesty is incentivized.

The accountability built into the smart contracting systems will eliminate intermediary roles and counterparty risk, streamlining the flow of information. We see so much market consolidation these days, large organizations and governments are two places where bureaucracy is detrimental. Fiduciaries and government bureaucrats will be less needed when blockchain technology develops further. Cryptocurrencies will redesign various institutions from the inside out.

Note : The article was originally published here and has been reproduced with the company’s & author’s consent.

Driven with a mission to bring transparency and simplicity in the trade of crypto-assets, Bengaluru-based CoinSwitch has launched its operations in India. CoinSwitch is a blockchain-based crypto-currency exchange aggregator platform that presents users with a one-stop solution for buying, selling or converting crypto-currencies across all partner exchanges. CoinSwitch users need not sign-up at multiple exchanges and yet, compare different prices and strike the best bargains.

The aggregator platform further helps users diversify their investments in various leading crypto-assets by supporting over 100 cryptocurrencies in India and 300 across the globe including altcoins, tokens like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Ripple [XRP], Litecoin [LTC], etc. Users can access CoinSwitch to also convert their existing crypto-asset in other pairs. The platform currently supports over 7,000 currency pairs in India and over 45,000 across the globe. Owing to its diverse offering, CoinSwitch has been successful in clocking in daily trade volumes worth over USD 1 Million.

Commenting on the milestones achieved by the company, Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO of CoinSwitch said

We have started CoinSwitch with a vision of making it easier for everyone to transact in crypto-currencies. We are further driven to bring transparency and trust in such transactions, giving the ultimate decision-making power to the consumers, aiding them with real-time charts and crypto-currency prices. The same reflects in the daily volumes that we are able to clock-in, spanning over 1 Mn per day. We owe this success to our partners and users who have decided to put their faith in our platform and are hoping for a positive response in years to come as well.

The founding team of CoinSwitch hails from established tech conglomerates like Microsoft, Amazon and Zynga.

About CoinSwitch

Headquartered in Bengaluru, CoinSwitch is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange aggregator platform that supports transactions in over 100 cryptocurrencies in India and 300 across the globe like altcoins, tokens like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Ripple [XRP], Litecoin [LTC], etc. Given its diverse offering, CoinSwitch has been driving daily sales volumes upwards of USD 1 Mn.

CoinSwitch aggregates multiple exchanges, facilitating transactions in all coins that are available with partner exchanges. For more information, please visit CoinSwitch