Posted on

Polkadot and its use cases: the second day of Polkadot Decoded

Polkadot Decoded: What are DOT and KSM for?

What are DOT and KSM used for? The second day of Polkadot Decoded focusses on Polkadot use cases in everyday life

The second and final day of the Dotsama ecosystem conference took place on 30 June. While the first day of Polkadot Decoded dealt with DeFi, gaming and Metaverse, the most talked about topics on the second day were the sustainability and usability of Web3. Let’s take a look at the most interesting speeches that attempted to answer the question: what is the network of DOT and KSM actually for?

Fighting climate change with Polkadot

One of the strands of the second day of Polkadot Decoded was sustainability. In particular, two speeches described the most interesting projects in the green efforts of the Dotsama ecosystem. Climate change is one of the hottest topics of these years and blockchain could be an important tool to combat it. Miroslav Polzer, speaker of the NFT Digital Art 4 Climate project, spoke about the potential of ‘digital innovation’ for a real and measurable impact on climate problems. This digital art project is an initiative to transform art into digital assets freely exchangeable on blockchain, directing the proceeds towards the sustainability goals identified by the United Nations. Digital Art 4 Climate chose to use NFT technology because blockchain has all the credentials to “improve inefficient supply chains, and give a new idea of communication to communities through decentralised technology”. 

Two other natives of this ecosystem expressed their mission to make Polkadot a leader in sustainable innovation. Bitgreen and Sequester together put forward the proposal to convert the micro-fees of parachains into carbon credits. Sequester’s Brendan Edelson explained that parachains are fee-optional. In a nutshell, the relay chain provides Polkadot parachains with its validators for at least 2 years, so theoretically to validate parachain transactions there is no need to pay fees. In reality, there are micro-fees that the parachains have implemented for security reasons. However, these small fees are not a cost to be covered, Sequester’s proposal is to use them to buy carbon credits through Bitgreen’s marketplace.

Adam Carver of Bitgreen cited Polygon as a virtuous example of combating emissions, even though Polkadot already has an advantage in this mission because its energy footprint is minimal, the intention is to make the ecosystem not only neutral but also positive, taking concrete action and becoming part of the solution to the environmental problem. In this project, Sequester will calculate micro fees, exchange them into carbon credits, and issue a certification in the form of NFTs.

The spread of the Web3 depends on its value in everyday life

What is the use of the DOT and KSM ecosystem? Another use case of the network concerns the facilitation of access to Web3, a decentralised reality, without the control of large technology industries. However, Web2 still has one major advantage over the decentralised web: usability. Although Web3 has many plus points, it is still difficult to use and it is reserved for a small niche of experts. However, according to Agyle, the anonymously-identified CEO of the Talisman Wallet Project, the Web3’s lack of usability is only a small part of its deployment problems. One of the main issues with Web3 is that many projects have no real use in real life. Indeed, a favourite argument of blockchain detractors is that ‘it is a technology that solves a problem that does not exist’.

At Polkadot Decoded, Agyle explained that the user experience certainly needs to improve but the real challenge is to give Web3 value and usefulness in everyday life. Because if a tool is really useful, people will also make that extra effort to learn how to use it. If a service is both useless and difficult to understand, it is doomed to fail. What is Talisman’s contribution in terms of usefulness? Talisman aims to be a ‘universal login’ for Dotsama’s multichain system (which is called Paraverse). On Talisman you can manage all the passwords, keys, logins of your apps on the DOT and KSM network.

Web3 Google? On Polkadot!

A simple definition of Web3 is ‘an internet of blockchains’. If we think of everything we do on the internet, searching for information is one of the major activities. The blockchain, however, does not particularly lend itself to being ‘queried’: it records all the data on the Web3, but users would have to go through it block by block to find a specific piece of information. To overcome this problem, the blockchain is integrated with knowledge graphs, which organise all data (on chain and off chain) and make them available for consultation, guaranteeing their reliability. For example, knowledge graphs can be asked about NFTs or smart contracts. OriginTrail, from August on Polkadot, deals precisely with this combination of collecting information on blockchain and organising it with knowledge graphs.

The Web3 content landscape now looks like an iceberg, there is little afloat but in the future there will be more and more data and information to record. In this respect, a project must prepare itself to answer users’ questions. How does OriginTrail work? It has a layer 1 token composed of multiple blockchains (Ethereum, Gnosis, Polygon and soon Polkadot), on which are built layer 2 tokens, composed of knowledge graphs. On this latter structure, it will then be possible to build dapps, which exploit the features of both layers. One of the current applications of OriginTrail is in the field of pharmaceutical supply chains that follow the production and distribution of drugs in order to combat theft.

The PolkaOscars, the final event of Polkadot Decoded

Icing on the cake? At the end of the second day of Polkadot Decoded, a very special event took place: the Polkaoscars! During the ceremony held in Berlin, awards were presented to the content creators who contributed to raising awareness of Polkadot and Kusama’s vision and mission. The prize, a cute figurine, was created in the Metaverse and printed with a 3D printer.

Content creators, ambassadors and community leaders: active members on all social networks to build a solid community that shares the same vision as Polkadot and Kusama. Among the ambassadors is Irina Karagyaur, one of the minds behind the Digital Art 4 Climate project, who encouraged everyone to follow in their footsteps. “We need all of you to grow the ecosystem,” she said on stage.

Posted on

Polkadot Decoded: a summary of the first day of the event on Web3

Polkadot Decoded: what happened at the Web3 event

From the first day of Polkadot Decoded, the annual conference dedicated to Gavin Wood’s network, the latest news from the parachains for Web3!

The third edition of Polkadot Decoded is taking place these days (29-30 June 2022) in 4 locations around the world: Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hangzhou and New York. The event is dedicated to the presentation and discovery of the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems with talks by all those who are building on this network. The talks and topics were voted on by the community, in the full spirit of decentralisation! During the first day, some of the Polkadot and Kusama parachains (the Dotsama ecosystem, to use the affectionate name invented by the community) took the stage to address a topic of common interest: the decentralisation of the Internet. This is what happened at Polkadot Decoded, the Web3 event!

How does Polkadot work?

Before we get into Polkadot Decoded and go over what happened during the Web3 event, let’s review how Polkadot works and how its network is structured. Polkadot, considered one of the most interoperable blockchains in the crypto landscape, is a network composed of a collection of different blockchains. Polkadot’s aim is to make blockchain technology scalable by providing a large set of chains, each of them specific to an application. Polkadot’s network is highly scalable precisely because its chains finalise transactions simultaneously and in parallel. There are two types of blockchain: relay chains and parachains. The former is the heart of Polkadot, providing security and coordinating the entire network structure. Parachains, on the other hand, are the chains with specific applications, connected to the relay chain and customisable. In this system, DOT, Polkadot’s native cryptocurrency, serves to pay fees, participate in governance and connect the parachains to the relay chain according to the bonding mechanism. To become a Polkadot parachain, the various projects participate in auctions. Polkadot’s expansion and development increasingly depends on the wealth and innovation of its parachains. Kusama, on the other hand, is Polkadot’s so-called canary network, i.e. a testing and experimentation chain.

Acala, Polkadot’s defi hub

Winner of the first Polkadot parachain auction, Acala has been online since 18 December 2021. Since its conception, Acala’s network has been conceived as a ‘dapp store of decentralised finance’, and after a few months of operation, its projects maintain this specialisation. Acala is a parachain designed for DeFi, a stablecoin, dapp and liquid staking services have been developed on it. Acala USD (aUSD) is Polkadot’s native stablecoin pegged to the dollar. It is decentralised and backed by cryptocurrencies such as DOT and KSM. aUSD is Acala’s flagship product and aims to become the stablecoin of choice for DeFi in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem. Dan Reecer, from the Acala team, explained during his speech at Polkadot Decoded how, in the future, Acala’s role will be the gateway to Web3 and DeFi for the masses and companies. To do this, dapp on Acala will have to respond to the needs and problems of the off-chain world. The network itself will offer decentralised and hybrid services for companies and institutions that want to evolve from Web2. Thus, services designed to meet KYC and AML needs as well. Among the interesting and developing projects mentioned by Reecer are Pike, Alluvial and Project Venkman.

Pike is a lending, yield farming and financial services platform for Polkadot-Kusama tokens. On the other hand, Alluvial provides liquid staking services for companies and institutions, while Project Venkman will enable loyalty programmes on blockchain, converting points into ERC-20 tokens. Project Venkman recently collaborated with actor Bill Murray to produce 1,000 collectible NFTs based on his career.

Astar: shaking up the Web3

On the main stage of Polkadot Decoded in Berlin, Hoon Kim, CTO of Astar, another of the parachains that won the first auction together with Acala, also spoke. Kim started his speech with the assumption that the entire Web3 today is stagnant and not growing for at least 6 reasons:

  1. tribalism whereby each team believes that its blockchain will be the definitive one, capable of rendering the others obsolete;
  2. People stay away from blockchain technologies because they are perceived as too difficult or incomprehensible;
  3. Everyone works on the same things, there are no original, fresh ideas;
  4. Web3 projects are based on often ineffective business models, such as token sales and ICOs, which, according to Kim, are only functional in the launch phase of a project but do not guarantee a constant incentive;
  5. Little interoperability and communication;
  6. Lack of safety standards.

Astar seeks to bring solutions to these Web3 difficulties, specifically in the aspects of interoperability and how to incentivise blockchain projects. In this regard, Astar offers dapp staking in which users can block their tokens on their favourite decentralised applications and earn tokens for developers. The mechanism is similar to the staking of validators in the Nominated Proof-of-Stake. In this way, it is the people who evaluate the best projects, encouraging the growth of useful dapps. According to Kim, usefulness is still not considered a parameter for measuring success. There are too many projects on the Web3 that are photocopies of something that already exists and do not fulfil a real need. With dapp staking, the most appreciated projects can be financially rewarded and continue their work supported by the community.

Web3 and gaming on Ajuna Network

Ajuna is a decentralised gaming platform developed on Polkadot and Kusama. As explained by Nicholas Douzinas, CBO and Co-Founder, Ajuna’s focus is on actively listening to players. If you want to build video games on the Web3, you cannot overlook the potential of the community, which is not made up of passive consumers (as is the case in most traditional video games) but of co-creators. Ajuna, by listening to the voice of users, realised that engagement is provided by a curated user experience and gameplay. The flagship game coming soon to Ajuna is Dotmog, set in the universe of the Mogwais, an ancient alien species.

Momentum: a practical Metaverse for workers

With its founder Chrisel Sieling, Polkadot Decoded was also presented with Momentum, a Metaverse on Dotsama active from the 24th of May 2022. For Sieling, the Metaverse must have a purpose and serve a purpose: ‘the metaverse is bullshit if you are not solving a problem’. The goal of Momentum is to create a digital space in which group work can be done in a simple and intuitive way.

What ‘gaming’ metaverses such as Decentraland or The Sandbox lack is the ability to work together remotely. Momentum offers office features such as video calling, chat and screen sharing. Sieling explained that metaverses exploded along with and after the Covid-19 pandemic, in response to the need to meet and collaborate in 3D from home, but not all of them actually met this second need. Momentum is perfect, however, for hosting hackathons and training programmes.

Polkadot Decoded continues tomorrow, stay tuned to the Young Platform blog for updates and news from Polkadot and Kusama’s Web3 event!

Posted on

Tether expands with a new stablecoin pegged to the pound sterling

Tether: GBPT arrives, the stablecoin pegged to the pound sterling

Tether, the company behind USDT, has decided to create a new stablecoin pegged to the pound sterling, in anticipation of a boom in the UK crypto market

Although USDT is the most widely used stablecoin in the crypto ecosystem, its market cap has declined since the shake-up caused by the collapse of Terra (LUNA). The market cap of USDT is 66 billion, but just behind it is USDC, with 55 billion and an upward parabolic trend. The solution of Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether? Expand into other markets! The new frontier for Tether is the UK, and GBPT is the new stablecoin pegged to the pound sterling and based on Ethereum. Will gbp on blockchain be an antidote against the bearish market?

A new stablecoin pegged to the pounds sterling for the UK market

GBPT is a stablecoin pegged to the pound sterling that will be released in early July by Tether. In addition to the primary stablecoin USDT, Tether already has other cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies. What are they pegged to? The Euro, Chinese yuan and Mexican peso. However, these cryptos in total have a very low market capitalisation, under $1 billion. Although these ‘minor’ stablecoins do not reach USDT levels, Tether has nevertheless decided to release the new GBPT stablecoin.

The motivation? According to Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether, the UK will be the next frontier of the crypto market. The pound is one of the most widely used fiat currencies in the world and the UK is a world economic power. What’s more, the UK parliament has announced that it is working on a series of laws and regulations that could foster the development of crypto technologies. “Tether is ready to work hand-in-hand with UK lawmakers towards this goal, and we are excited to continue the expansion of Tether-signed stablecoins,” Ardoino announced.

According to Tether, the launch of a stablecoin pegged to the pound will make the crypto market better, i.e. more dynamic, facilitating transactions not only in the UK but worldwide. The Bank of England is looking into the possibility of creating a CBDC of the pound, but some critics have blamed the bank’s slowness. Tether fits right into this market gap with its GBPT.

Will stablecoin pegged to the sterling help Tether?

The idea of a stablecoin pegged to sterling was born during a bearish market phase, with the intention of reviving the use of Tether’s signature stablecoin ecosystem. USDT reached a record market cap on the 11th of May, during the collapse of Terra (LUNA), surpassing $84 billion in capitalisation. On 28 June, after just under two months, USDT’s market cap stands at USD 66 billion. A drop of about 20%!

The causes of this decline are many. Besides the arrival of the bearish market, the very transparency of Tether has been called into question. According to some critics, in fact, the company’s reserves would not guarantee a 1:1 ratio with the USDTs currently circulating on the blockchain. Tether was quick to deny the allegations, releasing the numerous third-party audits confirming its reserves, but the rumours were enough to call into question the stablecoin’s primacy. “These unfounded rumours contribute to panic in the market, probably to take advantage of an already stressed market,” responded a Tether spokesperson, warning those holding USDT on their wallet.

Picking up the slack from USDT is first and foremost USDC, Circle’s stablecoin. Over the past month, USDC has increased its market cap by 4%. At the same time, a new algorithmic stablecoin, Tron’s USDD, has emerged, which has stolen percentage points from USDT by relying on those who still have faith in algorithmic stablecoins despite the Terra disaster.

Will the move to create a stablecoin pegged to sterling prove successful? According to Tether, the GBPT stablecoin will be released at the beginning of July on Ethereum, but it will take a few months to see if the stablecoin will prove equal to USDT or if GBPT will end up being used by a small niche.

Posted on

Solana launches a smartphone for crypto and blockchain

Solana’s new Smartphone: Saga, the Android crypto phone

Blockchain in the palm of your hand? Solana announces the development of a flagship Android smartphone integrated with crypto

Want to always have blockchain and crypto at your fingertips? Solana, in collaboration with OSOM, has announced a brand new Android smartphone with cutting-edge technical features, fully integrated with the crypto world. The mobile phone, called the Solana Saga, is designed to make access to Web3 simple and straightforward. The Solana Saga is a future-proof device, find out what the Solana smartphone, the Android mobile phone designed for crypto and Web3 enthusiasts, is all about!

An Android smartphone for crypto and Web3: this is what Solana Saga is and how it works

Did you buy a smartphone with 5G thinking it was state-of-the-art? Technology has just churned out something even more futuristic! In collaboration with Osom, Solana has announced Saga, a crypto- and Web3-proof Android smartphone integrated with blockchain and compatible with all decentralised applications. The manufacturing company, Osom, is a start-up created by some employees of the now defunct company Essential, which designed smartphones dedicated to privacy and security. Now they have decided to push the boundaries: here is Solana Saga!

The technical features of the Solana Saga are respectable and are no match for other top-of-the-range devices. The 6.67-inch OLED screen has a refresh rate of 120Hz, ensuring no blurring even in the most frantic videos. It also has 512 GB of memory, and 12 GB of RAM to run even the heaviest dApps. Highlights are the 50 MP main camera and the excellent Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen1 processor, which is the latest addition to the market and guarantees user privacy. In fact, thanks to the capabilities of this processor, Solana Saga is able to keep private keys and seed phrases safe, but at the same time make them interact with decentralised applications should the need arise. Solana works to ensure that your privacy is not compromised!

Solana also put another important building block on the theme of increasing the accessibility and usability of its network in March 2022, with the partnership between Dialect (Web3 messaging protocol) and Solana Mobile. The goal of the collaboration? To launch a Whatsapp-style, but decentralised, open source messaging application for the Solana Saga Android smartphone.

All this technological power will be used to make decentralised applications and the Web3 work stably and smoothly. Solana Saga  will be integrated with the Solana blockchain and all other realities of the new Internet, thanks also to the new open-source marketplace that will be installed on the device. Solana Mobile Stack replaces the Play Store (installed by default on Android smartphones), allowing developers to develop their own decentralised applications and publish them on the open-source marketplace. “The world needs hardware companies that focus on supporting Web3,” reported Jason Keats, CEO and founder of Osom. “Building the ecosystem of the future without being tied to the past is really exciting.”

Why buy a Web3 and crypto-proof smartphone? Solana’s founders answer

Is Solana’s smartphone, an Android phone integrated with crypto and Web3 really necessary? According to the founders of Solana, definitely yes! Indeed, they hope to be pioneers and lay the foundations for a revolution that is now imminent. “Almost 7 billion people use smartphones worldwide and more than 100 million of these people own digital assets, and these numbers will continue to grow,” said Anatoly Yakovenko, one of the founders of Solana, confidently. ‘Solana Saga wants to create a standard for all hardware devices that interface with Web3’. Yakovenko’s words are clear: the question to ask is not whether a smartphone integrated with blockchain is useful, but when we will all get to have one in our pockets!

“We chose the name Saga because we believe the crypto story is still in its infancy,” said Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana. “This smartphone is a step forward in history, and we believe it is critical to improving the understanding and adoption of this new technology,” he continued. Thanks to Saga, understanding and using the blockchain will be as easy and intuitive as downloading an app from the Play Store or making a payment using your smartphone’s NFC.

Privacy and technological innovation: Solana Saga is an Android smartphone projected into the future and integrated with Web3 and crypto. It could be the first in a long line of next-generation mobile phones. Imagine transferring cryptocurrencies, paying for pizza and shopping online all from the same interface and in a completely decentralised manner. Does the future of blockchain pass through smartphones? We will find out in March 2023, when Solana Saga finally hits the market!

Solana Saga pre-sale 

It is already possible to pre-order the Solana smartphone. To do so, simply log on to this site, enter your details and pay a deposit of 10 percent of the final price of the smartphone, exactly $100. Solana has announced that pre-ordering the device will provide additional benefits, including limited edition NFTs, merchandising and other benefits that are as yet undisclosed. 

Users interested in obtaining one of the first examples of Solana’s Android smartphone were able to purchase an NFT called the ‘Saga Pass’, which grants them the right to be the first to receive the Saga, as well as the right to airdrop and participate in exclusive events. These NFTs went on sale on 31 October 2022. 

Posted on

Meta and The Fabricant, 2 ways of understanding digital fashion

NFTs and fashion: The Fabricant and Meta explain digital fashion

The future of fashion is digital. The dilemma: will blockchain be involved, yes or no? All the most famous brands are converting to the combination of NFTs and fashion!

For fashion brands, the Metaverse is proving to be an opportunity to experiment with expressive languages and to think up new products. More and more brands are developing digital collections, including Zara, Lacoste, Adidas and Gucci. However, not all of them choose to make digital fashion on blockchain: The Metaverse has different forms and can be centralised or decentralised. This duplicity also describes two different ways of understanding digital fashion. For some companies, such as Meta, virtual fashion is not in the form of NFT while for others, such as The Fabricant, digital fashion is to be built on a blockchain. Let’s take a look at these two different approaches to digital fashion!

Meta: a Metaverse dressed in Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), announced a few days ago during a live broadcast on Instagram that the digital clothing boutique ‘Avatar Store’ for the Metaverse ‘Horizon Worlds’ is about to open. The launch will be celebrated by partnering with some high fashion brands namely Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne. “I’m really grateful and proud that these brands are joining us to kick-start fashion in the Metaverse,” Zuckerberg said. The digital fashion marketplace for all Meta and Facebook users will be available next week, starting in the US, Canada, Thailand and Mexico. Initially, garments for sale on the Avatar Store will be priced between $2.99 and $8.99. Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Brown will therefore be the first brands to sell in Meta’s marketplace. However, Zuckerberg’s idea is to start a marketplace in which everyone, not just designers by training, can make and sell digital fashion. At the moment, it has not yet been revealed how the rewards will be distributed between the Meta marketplace and the virtual haute couture creators.

The Fabricant and the decentralised fashion model

What is The Fabricant? The answer is ‘a Digital Fashion House’, one of the pioneer projects of digital fashion on blockchain. The Fabricant is not a real fashion NFT marketplace, but a virtual fashion incubator. The platform is built on Flow, a blockchain chosen by the founders for its sustainability and speed. Compared to Meta, we are dealing here with NFT fashion, a case of decentralised digital fashion built on the blockchain. The creators of The Fabricant do not create simple garments as digital objects but real NFTs. For The Fabricant’s team, blockchain is ideal for building the fashion of the Metaverse. First of all because it is able to give value to the data and ownership of digital objects. According to co-founder Adriana Hoppenbrouwer-Pereira, The Fabricant is “creating a business for the time when our digital wardrobe will be our wardrobe“. Having a set of clothes in the Metaverse will not be such an absurd concept when there will be more and more digital experiences on offer. Changing one’s clothes and adapting them to each occasion will become as spontaneous as changing clothes in real life: one outfit for the gym and one for an elegant dinner. When this happens, there will be so many digital clothes to make that only blockchain will be the right tool to scale production.

Blockchain is also beneficial for the digital fashion industry because it keeps track of royalties and distributes them equally between creator and owner. In an interview, Hoppenbrouwer-Pereira said that blockchain and the Metaverse will bring fashion back to its dimension of play and fun. Dressing in the Metaverse will be a modular experience, highly creative and expressive of people’s personalities.

What makes an NFT fashion really useful?

NFT fashion must be fully adaptable to the avatars of the various metaverses and transferable between them to be of real use. The Fabricant’s challenge at the moment is to translate its fashion creations into the styles of the major virtual worlds. The Sandbox for instance is more pixelated than Decentraland, the same NFT outfit must be able to be worn anywhere. The other side of this challenge is to provide a cross-chain experience where NFTs built on a blockchain like Flow can be transported and used anywhere. Especially on Ethereum where the main metaverses are developed.

 

Are the metaverse and digital fashion worlds really just around the corner?

In order to conceive the usefulness of digital fashion, you may first ask yourself whether the Metaverse is really a technology capable of predominantly entering our lives. The success of the Metaverse will be dictated by its ability to attract attention and engage users. However, we are only at the beginning. one can consider that Decentraland hosted 40,000 people at its first Metaverse Fashion Week. The results in this respect look promising, the record of MANA‘s metaverse is very high for the blockchain to be able to accommodate so many users. Fashion companies that have chosen NFTs on The Fabricant include Adidas, Under Armour and Puma.

Posted on

Navigating the Bear Market in a crypto company

Crypto exchange layoffs? Young Platform is hiring!

Young Platform looks beyond the current market trend and continues with its recruitment plan. We’re here to explain why this is not a crazy move

The days at Young Platform move quickly. So too does the world of crypto. With everything moving at the speed of light, we try to keep up and make this universe accessible to everyone. It all starts with our colleagues in front of the coffee machine. We all work in crypto, but we specialise in many different areas. The Trading room shares crypto memes with the Social network team and the Developers listen to behind-the-scenes gossip coming from Customer Support. In this environment, we also see our wallets slipping more and more into the red. With a pat on the back, we say to newcomers: “first time?”. Your first bear market, just like your first Bitcoin, will never be forgotten.

The economic conditions in recent months have changed rapidly. The crisis in the crypto market (and beyond) is leading many companies in the sector to cut their recruitment. For some, the answer to this crisis is to cut labour costs through layoffs, and some may even regret having hired too much when the market was growing.  But at Young Platform, our hiring plan is tight and we intend to stick to it. It is not a reckless choice, and we are here to explain why. By the end of 2022, 52 more colleagues will have joined and maybe a single coffee machine will no longer be enough.

Bear markets pass but Young Platform’s mission remains

At Young Platform there are many open positions, a bear market (however long it lasts) will not stop our growth. We have decided to switch the perspective by taking advantage of this delicate moment to think outside the hype that overwhelms us when the market is going strong. We can ask ourselves with a clear mind: How are we working? Why do we do what we do? Young Platform’s mission will always remain the same: to facilitate the use and understanding of crypto and blockchain technology. We know what these tools can do for the world as we know it. We know that they can improve people’s lives. That is why in the face of it all, we have to keep building, and even in current conditions, the team needs to expand.

An example of this spirit is the listing of our token. YNG was launched on the market even when the market itself was not the most welcoming. Is that a bold move? No, the same reasoning also applies here: bear and bull markets will succeed each other, but the values behind Young Platform and its community will remain unchanged.

The invaluable value of the Young Platform team

When you join Young Platform you’ll have a lot to learn. You don’t have to be a great expert to start, but crypto education is a necessary tool and it has become our bread and butter. When you join Young Platform, you are aware that the industry is evolving and you cannot stand still. That’s why the talent Young Platform gathers comprises some of the most curious and active minds around. The Young Platform team is always ready to take cues from the swirling crypto world and to get involved at the most challenging of times. Working in crypto is not a job like any other, and it’s our mission that guides us through the difficulties. The inestimable value of Young Platform’s team lies in confrontation that leads to growth. Between the corridors of our office and our video calls that connect colleagues all over the world, peer-to-peer education is key. There is no such thing as crypto education.

The capital increase and our recruitment plan

On the 13th of June 2022 Young Platform closed a €16 million investment round led by Azimut, one of Europe’s leading independent asset managers. Banca Sella and United Ventures also participated in the round. This support for Young Platform’s growth will be visible in its recruitment plan. The forecast is to have a team of 110 crypto workers by the end of 2022.

You can view our open positions.

Posted on

Young Platform is officially registered with the OAM

Young Platform: registration with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori

Young Platform is among the first Italian companies in the crypto industry registered with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori

With the 13th of January, 2022 decree of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, a requirement was issued for companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector in Italy to register with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) and provide quarterly reports. The registry for virtual currency operators was made public on the 27th of May, 2022, and Young Platform is the first officially registered company out of 14 on this date, as indicated by the registration number “PSV1.” Another 28 companies have pre-registered. 

What is the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori?

The OAM is the body that brings together professionals in the field of financial activities and credit brokers operating in Italy. The mission of the OAM is to protect consumers by guaranteeing the professionalism of companies and overseeing that their work complies with current regulations. The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori collects reports of information and data from professionals and companies. Specifically, for virtual currency operators, it will collect quarterly data on operations carried out in the territory of the Italian Republic. 

Why is registration with the OAM important?

Being registered with the registry for virtual currency operators is a prerequisite for legally providing crypto services in Italy. In fact, the exercise of services on Italian territory related to the use of cryptocurrencies and the provision of digital wallets (wallets) is reserved exclusively for registered entities. With its registration with the OAM, Young Platform is in line with the legislative decree and will be subjected in full transparency to the necessary controls to ensure a positive experience for users.  

Posted on

Young Platform: new €16 million investment round from Azimut

The fintech company Young Platform closes a €16m investment round led by Azimut to simplify and expand the access to the world of cryptocurrencies

Milan, 13 June 2022 – Azimut, one of the leading independent asset managers in Europe with over EUR 83 billion total assets, participated as lead investor in the EUR 16 million capital increase of Young Platform, an Italian fintech platform that simplifies the access to the world of cryptocurrencies.

Among Italy’s leading fintech scale-ups, Young Platform aims to simplify the access to the world of cryptocurrencies through a digital product platform and intensive educational and popularization activities on blockchain technology and its applications. Among the top three cryptocurrency trading platforms in Italy with 36% market share, the company had over 1 million users at the end of the first quarter of 2022, equal to 11 times the previous year’s volumes. It aims to become a smart digital bank with a focus on new digital services. 

Azimut’s EUR 11 million investment was made through a consortium formed by the Digital Asset Opportunity Fund VCC, launched in collaboration with SBI and SYGNUM, the Azimut Digitech Fund created through a partnership with GELLIFY, and the Luxembourg-based vehicle Azimut Direct Investment Young Platform SCSp. This allowed the Group’s High Net Worth (HNW) customers, served by the network of financial advisors and wealth managers in Italy, to gain exposure to a constantly growing sector.

A pool of investors including Banca Sella, United Ventures and Abalone Venture also participated in the Azimut-led round to support the international expansion of Young Platform.

The cryptocurrency market almost tripled its capitalization in 2021, from $772 billion on the 1st of January to $2.19 trillion on the 31st of December (CoinMarketCap data) and is entering a new phase of development with growing interest from retail investors, as well as institutional investors. In particular, young Italians are among the most enthusiastic in Europe with 14% between the ages of 18 and 34 stating that they have bought or sold cryptocurrencies. Globally, more than a third of millennials believe cryptocurrencies will soon replace cash and cards (Deutsche Bank data).

The new capital investment will support Young Platform’s development plans, starting with the expansion of the team, from 41 to 110 members by the end of 2022, and geographic expansion into new markets such as Spain and France. 

Giorgio Medda, Chief Executive Officer and Global Head of Asset management & Fintech at Azimut Group, comments: “Despite the volatility, cryptocurrencies are emerging as a new asset class reflecting a new digital dimension of the economy that will be increasingly significant for generations Y and Z. Young Platform has developed crypto exchange capabilities in combination with gaming and educational verticals that are particularly valuable as we plan to grow a market segment for a new generation of investors who are looking to the future with financial perspectives based on non-traditional instruments. The Young Platform team uniquely combines technological capability and vision. From our perspective as global venture capital investors, with the experience of SBI and the support of GELLIFY, we believe there is great potential for its development in the European markets. This investment aims to be the cornerstone for the development of joint projects through which we can integrate blockchain and decentralized finance into our asset management platform as new investment and operational opportunities in the digital transformation of our industry, transcending market dynamics in the short term.”

Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform, comments: “We want to help people seize the new opportunities that technology offers to the world by attracting the best talent from technology and finance, or any other industry where the smartest people in the world are to be found, and grooming them to be innovative in this new industry. There are no defined rules in this industry, which means we can help write them. This is a huge chance that requires extremely creative problem solving and a true desire to change the status quo in every aspect, from marketing to tech to customer support and design.”

Posted on

FAQ: the future of the YNG token

YNG Token: FAQs and roadmap on the Young Platform token

What will be the next challenges for the YNG token? What does the Young Platform team have in store for its project?

With all the excitement of YNG’s first week in the marketplace, came avalanches of questions about the future of the token and the entire ecosystem. In this article, you will find a list of the hottest questions the community asked the Team about the YNG token during this launch period. Here’s everything you never dared to ask about YNG. Check out the trivia and the roadmap of Young Platform’s token!

Listing, Market and so on…

Why does the price of the YNG token now fluctuate?

After its launch on the market on the 1st of June, the price of the YNG token began to vary according to supply and demand in the market. You can check its price in the Markets section of Young Platform.

This means that the value of YNG is no longer fixed at 0.24€, but it varies depending on how many people want to buy, sell or hodl it.

Thus, the Euro value of the YNG rewards you receive in the Step wallet now also vary according to the market price.

When will YNG be listed on other exchanges?

Listing procedures on other exchanges have been initiated, but we are waiting for the right moment. The summer has proven to be a historically difficult period for the launch of new projects and for markets in general.

The good news? We are working with the largest international exchanges, also with a view to running promotions in collaboration with them.

Can YNG be deposited and withdrawn on other exchanges?

As long as YNG is not listed on exchanges other than Young Platform, YNG cannot be deposited on other exchanges. ‘Listing’ is in fact also understood as the ability to technically ‘support’ a token, i.e. to make an exchange compatible with a currency.

Currently, you can only withdraw YNG to self-custody wallets, which can be apps like Metamask or devices like Ledger.

When will YNG be listed on aggregators such as CoinMarketCap or CoinGeko?

We have sent request to both of these providers to list the Young Platform exchange and the YNG token. They are currently being processed. It should be kept in mind that longer due diligence is required for centralised exchanges, however as soon as we are provided with the first listing date, it will be communicated.

Will it be possible to convert YNG to cryptos?

Yes, there are plans to add pairs with the most popular cryptos in the future, also with the aim of facilitating those who operate primarily through crypto.

Who are YNG’s market makers?

Market makers are usually liquidity providers that support exchanges by facilitating trade, as they are always willing to buy or sell to match market supply and demand.

The only market maker for YNG at present is Young Platform itself. In this respect, Young Platform tries to match supply and demand by keeping the supply of YNG balanced. That said, the company may still undertake buybacks, i.e. strategic purchases of YNG, but these will be notified in advance and the amount will not be put back into circulation in the short term.

Price changes are caused purely by ‘natural’ supply and demand fluctuations consisting of user sales and purchases.

Will tokens used to register for Clubs be returned?

After 90 days of minimum subscription duration, you can freely request your YNG back from the Club section, however, this means unsubscribing and thus forfeiting your Club benefits. 

What will happen to Young Platform Step?

There may be some rebalancing with regard to the quantification of rewards in YNG, depending on its price. However, no changes are expected in the short term. Any changes will be as gradual as possible, so as not to affect your experience with Step that you know and love.

 

YNG and Ethereum

What will happen to YNG after the completion of the transition to Ethereum 2.0?

Theoretically, nothing should happen to impede the experience with YNG and the Ethereum ecosystem, because even if something were to go wrong, it would impact the entire Ethereum ecosystem, i.e. almost the entire DeFi and NFT sector. This is why the upgrade is taking a long time: the Foundation is making sure that everything takes place in a safe and controlled manner.

Ethereum 2.0 will only provide advantages for the use of ETH and ERC-20 tokens such as YNG; namely in terms of the speed and convenience of transfers on the blockchain.

Will you lower fees for Ethereum?

In the event of a decrease in the price of Ethereum Gas, thus in the cost of transactions, the fees for withdrawals from Young Platform via the Ethereum network will also be revised.

What is the correlation between YNG and Ethereum?

The price of YNG is in no way directly related to that of ETH. You can see this by looking at the first-day performance of YNG on the market. YNG’s price increased and ETH’s price moved in the opposite direction.

The only link between YNG and ETH is structural and technical, in the sense that YNG is compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem, being an ERC-20, i.e. a token based on software created by the Ethereum team.

Thus, for example, a possible congestion of the Ethereum network may also slow down YNG transfers between wallets.

How do you check for YNG ‘holders’ on Etherscan?

Etherscan is the most popular blockchain explorer for Ethereum. Here you can see all transactions that are executed in real time on its network and other on-chain and market data.

Since YNG is an ERC-20 token, i.e. a token based on the Ethereum protocol, you can look up its smart contract and transactions on sites like Etherscan.

Just search for ‘YNG’ in the search bar and you will arrive at its page. Below the basic token data, you will find a table with all the transactions executed for YNG, the Holders and other analytics. Holders are simply the wallets that hold YNG, and are anonymous.

Before the listing, there were few holders because it was Young Platform that held them for users. In fact, being a centralised exchange, it is ‘custodial’, i.e. it takes care of the safekeeping of your cryptocurrencies by facilitating your experience with crypto wallets.

Now after the market launch of YNG, you can see that ‘holders’ are increasing because it is now possible to withdraw YNG on other Ethereum-compatible wallets.

YNG’s roadmap

When will YNG’s Earning service be available?

Currently, YNG Earning is not yet planned, as this also takes into account the current limitations of Italian legislation. However, we will soon start adding other cryptocurrencies available for the Earning Wallet in agreement with the provider Tesseract and according to users’ preferences.

Are airdrops already planned?

We are in contact with several crypto foundations, and a new airdrop is planned in the near future. The requirements for airdrops are usually set by the Foundation or the project company, as they donate their tokens. What is certain is that by being a member of a Club, the airdrop you are entitled to is increased. You can find all information about Young Clubs and you can register from the Young Platform app, under ‘CLUBS’ in the top right-hand corner.

Are you thinking of creating a Young Platform debit/credit card?

We are working on the project with several providers, with the intention of implementing a cashback model in YNG, related to clubs. The idea is to arrive at the end of the year with a first release or with a certain date for the release.

When will the next Club advantage be released?

We hypothesise a correlation between cashback with Young Platform’s card and Clubs, thus higher benefits for the higher-level Clubs. For the rest, no spoilers!

When will it be possible to transform micro-imports (a.k.a. ‘dust’) into YNG?

It is one of the next features planned for the token, however, there is no definite date yet.

Joining the Community

Why choose YNG?

YNG was not created for speculative purposes, neither as a payment currency nor to represent shares in the company in any way. Our CFO was very clear: “YNG was born as a utility token, that means it makes sense within the Young Platform ecosystem.”

The usefulness of the token is made clear by the Clubs: by locking YNG and joining a Club, you get benefits on buying and selling fees, Earning rewards, airdrops and much more in the future.

Depending on which features you use the most, you will choose whether to join a club, to simply keep your YNGs waiting for other features, or to exchange them.

How do I access Young Platform’s Discord?

As part of the token launch and product expansion, we created a Discord server, which we will maintain and develop during this year.

The point of the server is to allow the community already present on Telegram to evolve. The Telegram channel is currently a channel where it is possible to confront other users or the team itself and receive assistance. On Discord, this is much simpler, as its multiple functionalities allow, among other things, topics to be split up into several dedicated channels, making it easier for everyone to find information.

Register for Discord via the desktop app, the web version or the mobile app, and enter the Young Platform server.

Posted on

YNG’s tokenomics explained step by step

yng token

Like any self-respecting token, YNG is governed by a specific issuing and distribution plan. Discover its tokenomics!

The Tokenomics is the business card of every cryptocurrency, it indicates its characteristics and all its strengths. If you want to know the mission, vision and economic mould of a crypto project, its tokenomics is the right document to consult. The tokenomics of YNG Token is always available in the whitepaper and in the Academy. In this article you will find all the main information on the YNG tokenomics explained step by step!

Category: What type of token is YNG?

YNG is Young Platform’s utility token. By definition a utility token is designed to access specific services in a crypto ecosystem, the YNG token serves to enhance the user experience of Young Platform’s products. All of Young Platform’s products revolve in fact around YNG, in each of which the token has a different function. For example, on Young Platform Step, users receive YNG as a reward for crypto-related quizzes and challenges. This was the first function of YNG, the token has been distributed for free since January 2019. YNG is a token based on Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard, the most widely used to develop utility tokens. YNG is a token, not a coin, precisely because it does not live on its own blockchain but relies on a third-party chain.

Total supply: how will the YNG token be distributed?

One of the key points to consider in the tokenomics of a cryptocurrency is its total supply. From this figure, one can tell whether the number of tokens, or coins, in question is set to increase indefinitely or not. In the case of YNG, the smart contract provides for a limited supply of 100 million tokens. This means that the number of tokens cannot be exceeded under any circumstances. The Young Platform team decided to allocate these 100 million YNG for different purposes:

1. Rewards in the Young Platform product ecosystem (63.6%)

63.6 percent of the total supply of YNG goes to Young Platform users in the form of rewards. How can YNG be obtained as rewards? E.g. on the Young Platform Step app to encourage in-depth knowledge of the crypto sector, or on Young Platform as an additional reward for activities related to the Earning Wallet feature and all future initiatives.

As of the 30th of May 2022, 7.3 million YNG have already been distributed for this purpose. The remaining 56,3 million will be distributed from now onwards.

2. Sale (17.6%)

A small percentage of YNG’s total supply was reserved for sales. This is because the choice was made to favour internal incentives within the platform itself and the user experience. With the Community Sale in May 2022, 6.9 million YNG were sold/purchased while 10.75 million are in the Treasury, divided between market makers, Venture Capital and listing procedures.

3. Young Platform Team (10%)

A portion of the YNG tokens will be distributed to Young Platform employees starting in 2023. Young Platform is growing as a company thanks to people, so the YNG token will be a reward for the work of individuals who make a difference and support the company with their skills.

4. Advisors (5%) and Stakeholders (3.8%)

Young Platform also receives input and support from people outside the company. An incentive mechanism for advisors and stakeholders has been devised for this purpose.

The YNG Liquidity Management System

To regulate the liquidity of the YNG-EUR market pair on the Young Platform exchange, an algorithm will be used based on the same mathematical formulas that are normally used to manage the liquidity pools of decentralised exchanges based on automated market makers. In the specific case of YNG, the same formula will be used that allows the liquidity pool of Uniswap to function: K = x * y, where ‘x’ represents YNG tokens and ‘y’ the Euros in the pool. The purpose of this formula is to calculate the right proportion between the number of tokens bought or sold and their price; and also to keep the product between the amount of tokens in the pool and the amount of Euros constant over time. Based on this formula, the Young Platform pool will initially contain 1,000,000 EUR and 4,166,666 YNG. Contrary to DeFi protocols, there will be no major variation in the liquidity contained in the Young Platform pool for the short-medium term, however any changes in the total liquidity will be promptly communicated. This mechanism will in fact only serve to ensure adequate liquidity on our exchange through a sufficient number of limit orders on our order book, while the price of YNG will be determined by supply and demand.

Supporting the market cap with buybacks

In order to reduce the circulating supply and increase the market capitalisation, especially in the first phase after the listing of YNG, Young Platform reserves the right to use the buyback mechanism. This means that in order to support the performance of the YNG token, the company could buy back a certain amount of tokens, which would then either not be put back on the market or be burnt. Buybacks will always be announced well in advance through the official channels of Young Platform, as well as how the purchased tokens will be used.

Circulating supply as of 30 May 2022

Circulating supply represents the number of tokens that are available for purchase and sale at any given time. As of 30 May 2022, there were 16.73 million YNG tokens in circulation. Specifically, 7.1% of the circulating supply of YNG were in Step’s wallets, 63.2% in Young Platform’s wallets, 23.9% in the Liquidity Pool needed to support the Order Book, 1.2% was for external advisors, and 4.6% was distributed to stakeholders in 2019 through the crowdfunding campaign.

All use cases of the YNG token

We said that YNG is a utility token, but what exactly is its utility? Before the listing, YNG was always distributed via airdrop as a reward for quizzes and challenges on Young Platform Step. In addition, YNG holders were entitled to receive discounts on exchange service fees. After the listing, the airdrop on Step slowed down to curb the inflation, but the benefits of owning the YNG token multiplied! By locking in part of your YNG, you’re able to access the Young Platform Clubs. By joining one of the 4 Clubs, you secure exclusive treatment and all the best promotions on Young Platform products.