Moneybox 2.0: a new way of hodling

The Moneybox section gets a makeover for an increasingly flexible and customised crypto hodling experience. Discover the promo!

With the new crypto Moneybox, your buy and hold strategy is easier and more customisable. 

Keeping up with the market is stressful for many, who instead find it more comfortable to buy little amounts regularly. Studies confirm the validity of this approach on both traditional markets and cryptocurrencies. Thus was born the Moneybox 2.0 – discover all its new features and the dedicated promo!

Crypto Moneybox: what it is and how it works 

Young Platform’s crypto Moneybox is a separate wallet from the one you use to store your cryptocurrencies normally. It is used to put virtual currencies aside for a long time and avoid spending them on everyday or frequent transactions.

The cryptocurrencies compatible with the feature are as follows:

Already available

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Young (YNG)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Polygon (MATIC)
  • Dogecoin (DOGE)
  • Polkadot (DOT)
  • Uniswap (UNI)
  • Decentraland (MANA)
  • The Sandbox (SAND) 

Newly added

  • Aave (AAVE)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Avalanche (AVAX)
  • Axie Infinity (AXS)
  • Basic Attention Token (BAT)
  • Solana (SOL)
  • Pax Gold (PAXG)
  • Fantom (FTM)

New: Multi-crypto Moneybox

There are now 3 ways to create a crypto Moneybox:

  1. The Single Coin Moneybox
  2. The Curated Bundle
  3. The Bespoke Bundle

The ‘Single Coin Moneybox‘ is the standard mode: simply create a Moneybox in which to set aside a single cryptocurrency via recurring purchase.

Things get even more interesting with the ‘Curated Bundle‘: these are ready-made cryptocurrency mixes that can be purchased on a regular basis. These sets contain coins similar in application and sector, designed for those interested in specific crypto applications:

  • Web3 (DOT, LINK, UNI, BAT, MANA)
  • Metaverse (SAND, MANA, AXS)
  • PoW (BTC, LTC, DOGE)
  • Smart Contracts (AVAX, ADA, ETH, DOT, MATIC)
  • DeFi (AAVE, UNI, LINK)
  • Popular (BTC, ETH, YNG, XRP)

Want to put your own spin on it? Now there is also the possibility of creating a ‘Bespoke Bundle‘: select between 2 and 5 cryptocurrencies to include in your moneybox (from those available) and choose the percentage for each. 

Whereas for other Moneyboxes you can create one per currency or per curated bundle type, in this case there is no limit: you can create as many bespoke bundles as you want.

The real icing on the cake? Until 30 June, all purchases made for the bundles will be 100% commission-free. The promotion will not apply to the single coin moneybox.

How do you create a crypto Moneybox?

The Moneybox is a section of the Young Platform app and web version, which you can find in the main menu.

The creation is guided step by step and will allow you to choose in order:

  1. What kind of crypto Moneybox to create
  2. Which cryptocurrencies to include
  3. The percentage in which to distribute cryptocurrencies, if it is a bundle (minimum 10%)
  4. The frequency of recurring purchase
  5. The amount of each purchase, which in the case of bundles indicates the total amount of Euros with which all cryptocurrencies are purchased together. 

For each type of bundle, a different minimum amount is indicated, which is based on the minimum amounts of the individual cryptocurrency markets. The maximum amount, on the other hand, is always €250.

We understand this better with an example of a bespoke bundle:

  • You selected the monthly purchase of 10% of A, 40% of B and 50% of C.
  • You entered €100 as the amount of the recurring purchase
  • This means that each month you will get €10 of A, €40 of B and €50 of C in a single bundle.

As your Moneybox grows, you will have richer and richer statistics to monitor the performance of each crypto or bundle.

In case you want to change your strategy, you can always close the crypto Moneybox and recreate it, or deactivate and reactivate the recurring purchase with different settings.

Remember that when you close any Moneybox, your cryptocurrencies are only transferred to your spot Wallet, they are never sold unless you sell them.

Please note: for those who, prior to the launch of the Moneybox 2.0, already had active Single Coin Moneyboxes with recurring purchases, their balances were moved to the Spot Wallet, but they are still active. Those who, on the other hand, had Moneyboxes without recurring purchase, they have been closed and the cryptocurrencies stored in these have been moved to the Spot Wallet. More info on the Support page.

Discover the new crypto Moneyboxes now and make the most of zero purchase fees before 30 June!

Investment strategies compared: how to make time work in your favour 

The best investment strategies? 5 types of investing compared

Comparing the best investment strategies: should we wait for the right moment to invest or buy regularly?

The first thing to consider when choosing your investment strategies is time: is there a right time to invest? If you too have thought at least once about making your savings pay off, without knowing when to start, there is good news: you can start now and get results even without being a financial guru and spending all day interpreting numbers and charts. 

According to research by Charles Schwab, a multinational financial services company, waiting for the right time to enter a market is very expensive. In other words, buying an asset by trying to calculate ideal market conditions is less convenient than relying on a recurring purchase. 

Is market timing the best investment strategy?

The purpose of Charles Schwab’s 2021 analysis, which we will present in this article, is to understand whether market timing works. That is, to seek an answer to the question: is there a right time to invest? The term ‘market timing’ refers to the attempt to find the best time to buy or sell an asset. You can consider market timing as one of the investment strategies adopted by investors who try to anticipate market movements and, for example, sell before a fall and buy before a rise. For the company’s analysts, market timing does not help to make one’s savings pay off. Let’s see how they came to this conclusion. 

The 5 investors’ thought experiment 

Charles Schwab scholars conducted a thought experiment on five different investment strategies. Each investor was given a $2,000 budget per year to invest in the S&P 500, the most important US stock index, for twenty years, from 2000 to 2020. 

  1. Peter Perfect

Peter is the perfect market timer, that friend who is always successful at what he does. By skill or luck, he has managed to place his annual $2,000 by always finding the right time to invest. For example, in 2001 he waited until 21 September, the lowest closing level of that year for the S&P 500.

  1. Ashley Action

Her investment strategy is simple and consistent: each year she invested $2,000 in the market on the first day of the year. 

  1. Matthew Monthly 

Matthew divided his budget into 12 equal shares that he invested at the beginning of each month, with a strategy called dollar cost averaging that can be implemented with recurring and automatic purchases.

  1. Rosie Rotten

The fourth investor had poor timing and a lot of bad luck: she placed $2,000 each year at peak market times. For example, Rosie invested her first $2,000 on 30 January 2001, the highest closing level of that year for the S&P 500.

  1. Larry Linger

He, waiting for the right time, never invested in stocks but kept his budget in cash or Treasury bonds. 

At the end of twenty years of investment, the profits are as ranked below: 

  1. Peter Perfect: $151,391
  2. Ashley Action: $135,471
  3. Matthew Monthly: $134,856
  4. Rosie Rotten: $121,171
  5. Larry Linger: $44,438

So what was the best investment strategy?

The best results of course are Peter’s who waited and planned his annual investments perfectly. But the most surprising and least expected results of the study concern Matthew and Ashley, the latter coming in with only $15,920 less than the first ranked and Matthew with only $16,535 less. Matthew’s recurring purchase approach performed well. The difference in profits is relatively small, considering that he simply invested regularly without calculating timing or market forecasts.

Another obvious consequence of the research is that even bad timing still wins out over inertia. Although Rosie lost $14,300 compared to Ashley (who did not try to predict the market), Rosie still made almost three times what she would have made if she had not invested at all.

To sum up, the experiment shows that it’s worthwhile to invest now, and not to wait for supposed better times. And that putting one’s savings in motion even in a difficult market moment is still better than not investing at all. 

Charles Schwab examined 76 other 20-year periods and almost always found similar results in the ranking of investors for their returns. Even in periods with unexpected rankings, those who invested early never came last. 

What all this means for you

If you have a budget to invest in some market and do not know the best time to do so, starting now and on a regular basis could be the winning choice. 

The benefits of market timing do not stand out; this investment strategy only pays off for those with the skills or luck to anticipate trends. Regularity is less risky and more efficient. 

The winning choice of recurring purchase 

If you do not have the possibility or do not feel like spending your entire annual budget at once, consider recurring purchases. This way you can place smaller amounts more frequently. Recurring purchase has the advantage of: 

  1. Preventing laziness: this research shows that the ‘I’ll do it later’ or ‘maybe it’s better to wait’ approach does not work at all; 
  2. Minimise the stress of those who seek the perfect moments at all costs and the regrets of large investments that have failed; 
  3. Untie your profits from the timing of the market and its volatility

The best investment strategies? There is no such thing! The research concludes that, given the difficulty of predicting the market, the most realistic strategy for most investors is to set up recurring purchases. 

The fourth edition of the Reply Investment Challenge with Young Platform kicks off 

Reply Investment Challenge

Turin, 11 April 2023 – Young Platform announces its partnership with Reply to launch the fourth edition of the “Reply Investment Challenge”. Aimed at students and young professionals. The international online competition in 2022 reached record numbers with 13,750 participants from 95 countries, with a total volume of 36,000 transactions carried out.  

The online trading competition will focus this year on a very topical subject: cryptocurrencies. The objective of the Challenge, which will take place from Monday 8 May to Friday 19 May 2023, will in fact be to invest in cryptocurrencies and participants will be asked to implement profitable investment strategies, making tactical choices based on the fluctuations of the crypto market. 

In addition to deepening their trading knowledge, the competition will enable participants to broaden their skills on cryptocurrency market dynamics and blockchain technology through exclusive e-learning content which will be provided by Young Platform and MIP, and made available, in the month before the competition, on the Challenge platform. MIP, which will thus support Young Platform in providing high-level materials for the preparation of the competitors, is the Graduate School of Business of the Politecnico di Milano, active for more than 40 years in the provision of management training programmes for graduates, professionals, companies and institutions.

Participants will have a virtual capital of $1,000,000 to invest in real time in the cryptocurrency market. On 8 May, the participants’ wallets will be credited and the challenge can begin. Participants will be ranked and evaluated according to their investment choices, and only the top three, those who have maximised the most in terms of profit, will win the competition. This year players will also be able to choose between two different interfaces: a simpler and more intuitive one and a more comprehensive and detailed one, respectively Young Platform and Young Platform Pro.

This year’s Reply Investment Challenge will have Young Platform, Italy’s largest regulated cryptocurrency platform, as a partner. Young Platform is a Turin-based scale-up founded in 2018 with the aim of making the cryptocurrency market accessible to everyone. The platform acts as a reference point for those who want to use cryptocurrencies in a simple, transparent and effective way, even without having specific skills in the field. It stands out for its focus on the security and privacy of its users, guaranteeing the use of cutting-edge technology to protect data and transactions. 

Join the Crypto Investment Challenge by Reply

Register from 4 April to 5 May to take part in the Reply Investment Challenge for free and win Apple products!

In collaboration with Young Platform, Reply is launching one of its famous challenges: the Investment Challenge, which this time is purely crypto-themed. In fact, the competition will take place on the demo version of our exchange, so participants can test their strategies with virtual money! The international competition in 2022 reached record numbers with 13,750 participants from 95 countries, with a total volume of 36,000 trades executed.  

Who is Reply?

Reply is among the largest Italian consulting companies in the field of digital services and technological innovation, with a main subsidiary in Germany and stakeholders from all over the world. In order to be able to support so many companies in digitisation and technological development, it has a large research area, but does not limit itself to developing in-house knowledge. 

The company also promotes innovation externally, organising many different international challenges throughout the year: from software development to creativity challenges.

Small history trivia: we are fellow citizens! In fact, the company was founded in 1996 in Turin, just like Young Platform. 

What is the purpose of The Challenge?

Reply organises these challenges not to create competition, but rather with an educational intent. These events open up access to theoretical resources, opportunities to put them into practice and learning through confrontation in a young, international environment. 

The Investment Challenge, specifically, aims to promote financial awareness, and this is its fourth edition, following the one in 2022.

On this occasion, the team chose to give participants the opportunity to learn more about the trend of cryptocurrencies, blockchain and their application in trading.

What prizes are up for grabs?

  • For 1st place: MacBook Pro M2
  • For 2nd place: iPad
  • For 3rd place: AirPods

How to participate in the Investment Challenge?

  • Registration: Registration starts today 4 April and closes on 5 May
  • Duration of the challenge: The challenge will last from 7 a.m. UTC on 8 May to 4 p.m. UTC on 19 May.
  • Access: Participation is completely free of charge.

To register, simply create an account and complete the registration from the Challenge page. 

How does the Investment Challenge work?

Here are the terms of the competition:

  • It opens at 7 a.m. UTC on 8 May and closes at 4 p.m. UTC on 19 May.
  • You will have a total balance of €1,000,000. Of course, this is not real money, but a simulation.
  • You will be able to trade on selected cryptocurrency markets.
  • You can participate on both Young Platform and Young Platform Pro, even switching platforms while the challenge is already in progress.
  • During the game week, the Reply Team will publish useful clues for your in-game decisions on the “Your Challenge Page”.
  • Each day, the global and daily rankings will be updated. 

What are the criteria for moving up in the rankings?

The ranking algorithm follows a bonus/malus logic: thus some results earn points to move up in the rankings, others imply a fall in position.

Bonuses/malus are determined by the sum of 4 positive or negative values:

  • Profit & loss (P&L): the profits and losses generated by ‘investments’.
  • Average number of trades made daily during the Challenge. A bonus is awarded if the trades fall within the ‘optimal range’, i.e. a number that reflects a trading strategy that lies between long-term investment and high-frequency trading, and exceeds the minimum amount indicated. A malus is applied if the number of trades is below or above the optimal range
  • Diversification index: this metric cross-references the number of daily trades with their value in Euros. Higher diversification earns a higher bonus and vice versa. 
  • Beware of hints: players who follow the team’s ‘hints’ during the challenge will receive a bonus.

How to prepare for The Challenge?

  1. Demo – From the moment you register until 7 May at 4 p.m. UTC, you will have access to the Young Platform Demo in order to test the trading platform with a virtual balance of €1,000,000 already available. From 4 p.m. UTC onwards, you will no longer be able to log in until 7 a.m. UTC the following day, which is the start time of the challenge and the time when the balance will return to €1,000,000 after your trials.
  2. Support – before and during the competition, you can ask any questions or concerns you may have at the chat available on the Reply Challenge platform, by providing your username.
  3. Educational content – created in cooperation with Young Platform Academy and enriched by materials produced by the POLIMI Graduate School of Management, is accessible from the Learning section of the Challenge from 4 April, but we give you a preview of our content so you can start preparing:
    1. What does investing mean? A beginner’s guide 
    2. Bull vs Bear Market: what they mean and their difference
    3. Technical Analysis: How to Draw Trendlines 
    4. Technical Analysis: How to Identify Support and Resistance 
    5. Technical Analysis: How to Read Candlestick Charts 
    6. What’s the Order Book and how to read it? 
    7. Buy limit and buy stop: what is the difference and how to trade with them 
    8. The meaning of stop loss and take profit: the art of closing 
    9. Limit orders and stop orders: trading on Young Platform Pro 

Read the regulations.

Compliance as the key to cryptocurrency adoption

There are several reasons why, at Young Platform, compliance with local regulations is the top priority. It is not only a question of ethics and respect for the law, but above all of user protection, which in turn must be the very purpose of financial laws.

Furthermore, we believe that regulation is the key to the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, and that the first step in this direction is the harmony between crypto players and their reference legal system from the outset.

The events of the last year underline this message more than ever: the failures of Terra-Luna and FTX are certainly not the result of virtuous behaviour. While some regulators are particularly alert and wary of cryptocurrencies, the responsibility for proving that there is no reason for this lies with those who work in the industry.

From day one, Young Platform has always put compliance first, with a collaborative attitude towards regulators and law enforcement in defining and controlling a new sector like cryptocurrency in the Italian and French markets. Our Anti-Fraud and Anti-Money Laundering team continues to develop up-to-date solutions to manage the risk of financial crime, with a specialisation in blockchain.

This commitment can be seen, for instance, in the procedure required by law from all exchange users: the Know-Your-Customer, i.e. the Identity Verification managed through specialised providers. 

User protection also concerns the service itself, which is why no cryptocurrency derivatives or other high-risk trading instruments such as leverage are offered on the exchange. In addition to this, all the educational resources necessary to use the service and explore the sector with awareness are provided, both to protect one’s own accounts, to properly guard one’s funds, and above all to avoid scams that exploit the cryptocurrency trend. A section of the official website is also dedicated to frequently asked security questions for users of our products.

Not only that, Young Platform was the first company to be registered with the Italian Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), an obligation that came into force in January 2022 following an enactment by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Also when entering the French market, the first step was to obtain registration as an operator of digital asset services (Prestataire de Services sur Actifs Numériques, or PSAN) under number E2022-60 from the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF).

These practices, unfortunately, are not a given: even basic information such as the registered headquarters is not always known in the industry. In the case of Young Platform, this is public information, available on any page of the official website. Overall, you can find our legal documents.

However, the contribution of exchanges is not enough. The road to mass adoption requires the joining of all forces: if service providers need to be compliant, their customers must use them legally. This scenario requires in turn that governments work on legislation that favours both financial freedom and investor protection.

Polygon zkEVM: mainnet beta is live. The most eagerly awaited tech news of the year

Polygon zkEVM: the mainnet beta is live. What do you need to know?

Everything you need to know about Polygon zkEVM, Ethereum’s Layer 2 that exploits zero-knowledge technology

We’re live: the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta went online on 27 March. MATIC‘s blockchain team announced on 20 July 2022 the development of an innovative scalability solution for Ethereum (Layer 2), capable of improving the performance of the entire industry. Thus, the Polygon zkEVM was born, combining zero-knowledge (ZK) technology and compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine

The project has become the most eagerly awaited tech news in recent months, so much so that 2023 has been dubbed the year of ‘zero-knowledge’.  

Now that the mainnet beta is live, here’s everything you need to know about Polygon zkEVM, Ethereum’s latest scalability innovation!

Polygon zkEVM: blockchain focuses on zero-knowledge

For Ethereum, there is no more pressing challenge than scalability. The increasing amount of dapps and DeFi services using its network are testing its efficiency. The number of transactions to be processed increases day by day and according to Polygon, the most promising solution to meet this challenge are Layer 2s based on zero-knowledge technology. Which allows so many transactions to be processed at once and at a reduced cost. 

One type of Layer 2 derived from this technology are rollups. These aggregate a series of  off-chain transactions into a ‘rollup’ that is transferred to the reference Layer 1 blockchain with one and only one proof of validity for all transactions (zero-knowledge proof). In other words, transactions are not verified one by one, transferring a large amount of data to Ethereum. Everything is reduced to a single step.

This makes the finalisation of transactions and the amount of data that ends up on the blockchain lighter. Polygon zkEVM rollups allow instantaneous transactions unlike other types such as optimistic rollups, chosen as a scalability solution by protocols such as Arbitrium and Optimism

Zero-knowledge rollups: pros and cons

Although promising, zk rollups are an underused technology as a scalability solution for Ethereum. In general, these take a long time to develop and are expensive to integrate. Most importantly, in most cases, they are not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and are therefore not interoperable with Ethereum

Compatibility is crucial because it allows different projects to be standardised and interchangeable with each other, facilitating the exchange of information and value

Polygon decided to work precisely on this weakness of zk rollups: ‘We knew that Ethereum needed to scale. We knew that ZK Proofs were the best way to do so. We knew that EVM-equivalence was the secret sauce that would empower both devs and users. So we built Polygon zkEVM”. 

The Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta that went online on 27 March is thus a zero-knowledge Layer 2 solution for scaling Ethereum, that is fully compatible with the EVM. 

Polygon zkEVM: why it’s really news

Zk rollups yes, but compatible with Ethereum. This is Polygon‘s project that is finally a reality! Basically, not being EVM compatible is a big disadvantage, it means not being able to use the same programming language as Ethereum (Solidity), its code or development tools. The problem with zk rollups is therefore one of usability. 

Polygon zkEVM however is a Layer 2 that can be used exactly like Ethereum. Developers and users can find the same security and decentralisation of the ETH network but more speed and convenience. 

Polygon zkEVM: what changes now for blockchain

To summarise, the advantages of Polygon zkEVM are: 

  • More scalability and security for the network;
  • Lower transaction processing costs;
  • Faster transaction finalisation times;
  • Compatibility with Ethereum, the most widely used smart contract platform.

So what is going to change with the arrival of the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta? The first immediate consequence according to the project team is that the cost of transaction fees on Layer 1 (i.e. on Polygon itself) will decrease by 90%

Moreover, thanks to full compatibility with EVM, Web3 developers who want to improve the performance of their dapps built on Ethereum can simply transfer the execution of existing smart contracts to Layer 2. 

Polygon zkEVM: first applications

The Polygon team explained that the main applications of Polygon zkEVM will be in the field of DeFi dapps, NFTs, blockchain gaming and payments. 

One of the first projects to have chosen the Polygon zkEVM to scale its activities is ImmutableX, the blockchain dedicated to crypto gaming that has always used zk rollups since its foundation.  

Earlier this month, Polygon unveiled a new product built on its zkEVM: Polygon ID. It is a service for verifying one’s digital identity, in which users can register credentials in a wallet via smart contract. The owner of a café, for instance, could verify the age of a customer even without documents. Or developers could build decentralised solutions for KYC

After the launch of the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta on 27 March, we will see further applications of the new scalability solution. Which has all the makings of setting new tech standards for blockchain and its development. 

Gautam Adani: the financial scandal that brought down the world’s third richest man

Gautam Adani and the collapse of the Adani Group: what happened?

In just a few days, billionaire Gautam Adani lost a large part of his fortune. What happened to the Adani Group? 

The collapse of the Adani Group was a major blow to the Indian economy. In just a few days, billionaire Gautam Adani’s empire lost significant shares, estimated at around $100 billion. 

Adani Group: the collapse and financial scandal

What triggered the collapse of the Adani Group were the serious allegations made by the US firm Hindenburg Research. On 24 January 2023, the Indian giant was accused of using tax havens, tax fraud, share value manipulation and unsustainable debt. Hindenburg placed the main emphasis on the high debt. 

Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh called the Hindenburg report a ‘malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, unfounded and discredited allegations’. Singh stated that the company has always complied with all laws and suggested that the allegations had a devious purpose. 

Singh was referring to the upcoming IPO (Initial Public Offering) of Adani Enterprise, the flagship branch of the group, which was to be listed on 27 January with the aim of raising USD 2.5 billion. According to the CFO, Hindenburg would have exposed itself at a crucial moment, just in time to block the IPO. Which indeed happened, the Enterprise’s IPO was cancelled, marking the peak of Adani Group’s collapse. 

Hindenburg’s accusations had immediate effects. The group’s seven listed companies lost a total of $10.73 billion in market capitalisation in one day. Just as Gautam Adani’s net worth dropped from $126.4 billion to $120 billion. Moreover, a large number of investors abandoned Adani Group.

Finally, the Indian market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), started an investigation (still ongoing) to confirm or deny the validity of the allegations made. 

Adani Group vs Hindenburg Research

In the early stages of this affair, Adani Group hinted that it would take legal action against Hindenburg. The latter in turn commented on Twitter: 

Who is behind Hindenburg?

Hindenburg Research is a forensic financial research firm that analyses equities, credit and derivatives, founded in 2017 by Nathan Anderson. On its website, Hindenburg says they look for “man-made disasters” such as accounting irregularities, mismanagement and suspicious transactions. And on Twitter they specify ‘we burst bubbles where we see them’. 

The firm was named after the Hindenburg airship disaster that caught fire in 1937 while flying towards New Jersey. 

After identifying potential wrongdoing, Hindenburg publishes a report explaining the case and bets against the targeted company, hoping to make a profit. According to its website, Hindenburg has reported at least 16 companies since 2017. 

Gautam Adani, who is the Indian billionaire?

Before the collapse of Adani Group, Gautam was the third richest person in the world. According to Forbes, he is now at the 32nd position in this ranking. 

The entrepreneur, originally from Gujarat in western India, built his empire from scratch after starting his career as a commodities trader. He was born on 24 June 1962 into a large family, consisting of his textile dealer father, mother and seven siblings.

After compulsory schooling, Adani enrolled in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Gujarat, but dropped out after two years. He then moved to Mumbai with just over a hundred dollars in his pocket, where he started working as a diamond selector for Mahendra Brothers. After three years in the diamond business, he opened his own company, but the real turning point came when his older brother asked for his help in handling a large shipment of plastic that he had purchased. From there, he began his career in the commodities business that led him to found the Adani Group in 1988. 

This is not the first time that Gautam has ended up at the centre of a scandal. He is in the spotlight mainly because of his friendly relationship with Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister. The latter, as a supporter of Adani, found himself in trouble in the face of Hindenburg’s accusations. This is why the issue also took a political turn.  

The most recent controversy that has engulfed Adani concerns the protest of some fishermen against the construction of a $900 million port in Kerala, southern India. 

Also in Australia, environmental activists have been protesting for years against the Carmichael coal mine project by Adani in Queensland, over carbon emissions and damage to the Great Barrier Reef.

Adani Group: what does it do? 

Adani Group is a conglomerate, i.e. a company that operates in several sectors through separate subsidiaries. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The company operates in various sectors, including energy, transport, agriculture, logistics and utilities. Some branches of the group are the aforementioned, Adani Enterprise, Green Energy, Power, Ports & SEZ.

The group is one of the largest private power producers in India, with a renewable energy generation capacity of over 18,000 MW. 

Its growth has been large and remarkable over time thanks to a strategy of diversification and acquisitions. It has a global presence and also operates in Australia. United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Myanmar. 

By November 2022 it was the second largest conglomerate in India. 

But the company does not only have industrial interests, the company also owns several sports teams such as the Gujarat Giants of the Pro Kabaddi League and the Gulf Giants of the Cricket League.  

Simple allegations, which have not yet been confirmed, led to the sudden collapse of the Adani Group. However, this is not a definitive exit or bankruptcy. Until the investigations are concluded for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the game is still open. 

Arbitrum news: guide to the ARB token airdrop

Arbitrum airdrop news: guide to the ARB crypto eligibility and drop

All eyes on the Arbitrum airdrop news: ARB token coming soon

It’s all over the news: the Arbitrum airdrop (ARB) is coming on 23 March! Arbitrum is one of Ethereum’s most popular and widely used Layer 2s, i.e. networks built on existing blockchains that allow transactions to be executed outside the main networks in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. In recent months, its popularity has increased significantly, and consequently, so has its use.

This is evident from the high number of transactions processed by the network. This Layer 2 was created in 2018 by Off Chain Labs, a New York-based startup founded with the aim of developing scalability solutions for Web3. ARB will be distributed to users who have interacted with the Layer 2 in the past months on 23 March. Here you will find everything you need to know about the Arbitrum airdrop news or, more specifically, the ARB token release.

How to get the arbitrum airdrop: eligibility requirements

23 March was the day chosen for the Arbitrum airdrop, i.e. the token launch: users who have interacted with the Layer 2 over the past months are eligible to claim the ARBs to which they are entitled. You can already check your arbitrum eligibility and how many ARB tokens you will receive by linking your crypto wallet to the Foundation’s website. The quantity is calculated based on the number of transactions executed on the network and the frequency with which they were made. 

The number of Arbitrum tokens a user receives will increase if they have executed transactions on the Layer 2 regularly during the past months. The ARB airdrop had been announced in January via Twitter by the project’s co-founder, Steven Goldfeder: “the appetiser always precedes the main course,” referring to the main competitor’s airdrop, Optimism, that had just taken place. 

In these hours, most Crypto Twitter users are wondering about the Arbitrum airdrop price, and wondering whether its countervalue in dollars will be comparable to that obtained with Optimism’s airdrop. OP’s free distribution in April 2022 was worth between $3,000 and $30,000 to users who had interacted with the network, depending on the quantity and complexity of interactions. No one can, as of today, know whether the airdrop of the Arbitrum token (ARB) will be as generous.

Arbitrum airdrop: price and distribution

The initial supply of the Arbitrum token will initially be 1 billion ARB, distributed in this way:

  • 12.75% to the community through airdrop; 
  • 42% will be owned by the Arbitrum DAO, to finance governance decisions and the most widely used dapp;
  • 29.94% to Offchain Labs, the startup developing Arbitrum;
  • 17.54% to the investors who financed the project.

The circulating supply of the Arbitrum token has not yet been disclosed, and it is therefore impossible to predict the Arbitrum airdrop price. However, should the market capitalisation be similar to that of its main competitor Optimism, i.e. around 0.7 billion, the price of ARB could be close to the dollar.

What can I use the Arbitrum token (ARB) for?

The Arbitrum token distributed through the airdrop on Thursday, 23 March, will be used primarily with governance functions. The Arbitrum Foundation intends to entrust the most important decisions for the future of the blockchain to the people who use it, and this is where ARB comes in. At the launch in fact, the Arbitrum DAO will be set up, which will be composed of the holders of the Arbitrum token, who will be able to vote on all future decisions of the project. Users will also be able to create their own sub-networks, called ‘Layer 3’, should they receive approval from the Arbitrum DAO.

Arbitrum: excellent performance in recent months

Ethereum’s Layer 2s, in particular Arbitrum and Optimism, which together have surpassed the number of transactions processed on the ‘mother’ blockchain, have been the protagonists of the last period. On Arbitrum, the number of transactions executed daily, as of November 2022, hovers between 200,000 and 500,000. Despite the raging bear market, which has caused losses for all major crypto networks, the total locked-in value (TVL) on the network has continued to orbit around $1 billion. This allowed it to climb the ranking of the most widely used blockchains, compiled taking into account their TVL, to fourth position. We await the Arbitrum airdrop (of its token) to find out whether its blockchain’s TVL will rise further.

The last few months have been positive not only because of increasing adoption, but also because a number of important updates have been implemented. These include Nitro, which has enabled the network to process faster and cheaper transactions, and the integration of Arbitrum Nova, a sub-network dedicated to gaming and decentralised social networks. In addition, the arrival of the Arbitrum token and the birth of the Arbitrum DAO opens up a number of interesting opportunities for Layer 2 on the technological side as well. For instance, the possibility for users to create their own sub-networks.

The best dapps on Arbitrum

A portion of Arbitrum tokens will also be distributed to the most successful decentralised applications (dapp) in the ecosystem. The best known of these are those originating in Ethereum that have landed on Arbitrum in recent months. From Uniswap to Aave, from Sushi to Opensea, practically all the most famous Web3 companies have decided to integrate the blockchain of the moment, facilitated by the great similarity between Ethereum’s blockchain architecture and that of its Layer 2. 

Among Arbitrum’s most successful projects is the decentralised exchange (DEX) GMX, which originated here and on Avalanche. GMX allows its users to engage in leveraged trading through financial instruments called perpetual futures

Arbitrum’s blockchain is not only populated by decentralised finance projects (DeFi) but also by dapps dedicated to gaming and NFTs. One of the most famous of these is Treasure, a gaming metaverse that claims to be ‘the Nintendo of the Web3’ on which various play-to-earn video games can be played. Its entire ecosystem functions thanks to the MAGIC token, which allows for the non-fungible tokens needed to play and is distributed to players as a reward. 

In short, this Layer 2 is proving to be one of the most promising scalability solutions for Ethereum. The arrival of the Arbitrum airdrop news and the ARB token, could help make the definitive leap forward for a blockchain that will most likely continue to make waves in the cryptocurrency world.

New Club Benefit: cashback on card deposits

Ready for amazing news? With the new benefit, fees on card deposits, Apple Pay and Google Pay will be just a distant memory!

Cards are definitely the fastest way to deposit funds, without having to use complicated IBAN codes or other banking information. Simply enter your card details or use Apple Pay or Google Pay and you’re done!

Thanks to the new benefit, it will also become the most convenient method! 

Every Club gets its Bonus

Depending on your club membership you are entitled to:

  • Bronze: 1 €5 bonus
  • Silver: 1 €5 bonus
  • Gold: 2 €5 bonuses
  • Platinum: 3 €5 bonuses

Bonuses will be credited automatically on the first day of each month. They will be applied to card deposits made during the current month. 

Each bonus is valid for only one deposit, which means that anyone who has three bonuses will be credited back the fees for three deposits.

To make the most of this benefit, consider a few things:

  • Set up a recurring purchase with your card, Apple Pay or Google Pay: this way you can avoid paying fees every time you set aside your crypto;
  • Make a deposit for an amount that is not too low: if you are going to make a deposit, consider depositing a higher amount to take advantage of the full value of the bonus;
  • Pay attention to the first (1, 2 or 3) deposits you make in the current month: the bonus will be applied to that, so make sure you take full advantage of it.

We are happy to offer this new benefit to our Club members and hope you will make the most of it to get the most out of your operations.

Frequently Asked Questions 

When will I receive the bonus?

If you are already a member of a Club, you will receive your bonus on the first day of each calendar month. This month of March will be an exception, with the bonus being credited today! 

New members will receive it upon registration and on the first day of the month thereafter. 

Where will I receive the bonus?

In the Bonus Wallet, the section of Young Platform where you can view all the bonuses you have. In the details you can see their status, value, expiry date and for which transactions they are valid. 

For how many deposits is the bonus valid?

Each bonus is valid for only one deposit, which means that those in the Platinum Club will be able to have their fees credited back for three deposits, while those in the Gold Club for two deposits.

For which transactions is the bonus valid?

The deposit methods covered by the promotion are:

  • Deposit by payment card
  • Deposit with Google Pay
  • Deposit with Apple Pay

Also included are card deposit fees associated with recurring purchases.  

How is the bonus used?

The bonus is applied during the deposit operation automatically. On the transaction summary screen, before confirmation, you will see a banner alerting you to the refund of fees paid. 

The refund will be made as soon as you complete the operation. 

If you have set up a recurring purchase with a card, you will not receive a notification. Deposit fees will be credited automatically to your Euro Wallet. 

How are fees refunded?

As soon as you complete a deposit, the amount of fees paid will be transferred from the Bonus Wallet to the Euro Wallet via cashback. 

You can view the refund in the transaction history. 

Will I be refunded all the fees I paid for my card deposit? 

You will be credited the amount paid up to a maximum of €5, i.e. the value of a bonus. 

If I do not use up the entire bonus with a deposit, can I reuse it?

No, each bonus is only valid for one deposit. So if you do not use the full amount, you cannot recover the excess. 

Can I decide on which deposit to use the bonus?

No, the bonus is automatically applied to the first deposit (or first deposits in the case of Gold and Platinum Clubs) you make during the month. If you want to use it on a recurring purchase, we recommend that you set it up so that it is made on the first few days of the month. To do so, simply cancel the current recurring purchase and reset it on the first few days of April. 

If I make a transfer but it is rejected or not credited, how does that work for the bonus?

The bonus does not work for deposits by bank transfer, but with deposits made by credit, debit, prepaid, Apple and Google Pay cards. 

If I change Club, how does it work?

In the case of an upgrade, you will be credited the difference that you did not receive at the previous club. So if you upgrade from Silver to Gold, you will get an extra bonus, but if you upgrade from Bronze to Silver, you will not be credited anything, because both involve receiving only one bonus. 

If I have already used the card in the past, will I still be entitled to this bonus? 

The bonus is not retroactive, it will be applied to card deposits you make from today onwards. 

General Terms and Conditions – Young Platform Currency Exchange

Young Platform launches the ‘pay-to-card’, fiat currency withdrawal service on credit and debit cards

The partnership between Young Platform, Checkout.com and Visa to bring card withdrawal service from a cryptocurrency exchange to Italy kicks off

Turin, 02/03/2023 – Italy’s leading regulated cryptocurrency exchange Young Platform, in partnership with Checkout.com and Visa, launches a pay-to-card service that will allow its customers to make instant withdrawals from the exchange platform to their credit or debit card. Young Platform thus becomes one of the only two exchanges in Europe able to provide this feature to holders of cryptocurrencies on its platform. This is a major milestone among the services offered by the crypto company, resulting from its partnership with leading players on the global fintech scene.

Checkout.com is the only payment service provider to have created an entirely new infrastructure covering the full payment value chain. Visa Direct‘s recent expansion into Italy will enable consumers to make instant financial transfers to payment cards worldwide.

The joint initiative between Young Platform, Checkout.com and Visa will therefore enable Young Platform customers to use Visa Direct integration for real-time transfers to Visa credit, debit or prepaid cards. This will ensure a secure, simple and accessible customer experience, at a time of significant growth for the real-time payments industry globally. 

According to an international survey conducted by Visa (The Crypto Phenomenon: 2022 Consumer Attitudes & Usage), public awareness of cryptocurrencies remained almost universal between 2021 and 2022, and crypto ownership even increased by 2 percentage points among respondents (to 34%). Motivations driving adoption include- among the others – the desire to participate in a financial and cultural movement And the increased awareness on how to buy and store crypto.  

According to a Visa Study on digital payments trends (https://www.visaitalia.com/visa/sala-stampa-visa/press-releases.3193090.html), the knowledge of cryptocurrencies is widespread (57% of Italians interviewed know cryptocurrencies), with 10% of Italians questioned currently owning them; 13% of the Italians involved in the research are interested in cryptocurrencies, but this rises to 2 out of 10 of those questioned among the very young Gen. Z.

As part of this backdrop, Young Platform aims to develop an entire ecosystem of applications around its exchange, with a single goal since its launch in 2018 – to make cryptocurrencies accessible to all the people who want to use them. Partly as a result of this approach, the young fintech has established itself as one of Italy’s most promising startups, garnering a large community of more than 1 million users and a €16 million first funding round led by Azimut in June 2022. Just six months later, Young Platform was granted certification by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in France (Europe’s third-largest crypto market according to Chainalysis). AMF granted Young Platform the Issuer Identification Number (Psan) reserved for financial services providers operating across the Alps.

“Young Platform’s work with digital currencies is based on its mission to create services increasingly tailored to everyday use that give people peace of mind and full freedom in managing their money,” recalls Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform. For Young Platform and its 2 million customers, pay-to-card represents another step towards opening up this exciting new world to a wider audience, securely and reliably. We are convinced that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies represent a great opportunity to create a fairer and more sustainable future. We will continue to work with passion and dedication to realise this vision with the help of prominent partners such as Checkout.com and Visa”.