Finance Bulls Club - Personal Finance | Stocks

Is investing in US stocks from India a good idea?

Are you looking to invest in US stocks? If so, there are a few things you need to know before making your decision. First of all, it’s important to understand that the US stock market is different from the Indian stock market. The US market is much larger and more diverse, so it can be more volatile. That means that you could see some big ups and downs in your investments.

Things to know before Investing in the US Stocks

Before investing in US stocks, you should also research the company you’re considering investing in. Make sure you understand their business model and financials. It’s also a good idea to read up on the latest news about the company to get a sense of how they’re doing. Once you’ve done your research and you’re ready to invest, there are a few ways to do it. You can open a brokerage account with a US-based firm, or you can use an online broker that supports international trading.

Investing in the US stocks: Risky or Rewarding?

Investing in US stocks can be risky, but it can also be very rewarding. If you’re willing to take on the risk, it could be a great way to grow your portfolio. Consider these three points to help you decide if this is a good idea or not.

Three points to consider when investing in us stocks from India

Taxation

The first point to consider is the issue of taxation. When you invest in US stocks from India, you will be subject to Indian capital gains tax. This tax can be quite high, depending on the amount of money you have invested.

Currency Risk

The second point to consider is the issue of currency risk. When you invest in US stocks from India, you are effectively investing in US dollars. If the value of the dollar falls against the rupee, you could lose money on your investment.

Political Risk

The third point to consider is the issue of political risk. There is always the possibility that the US government could take action that negatively impacts the value of your investment. For example, if the US implements a new law that makes it difficult for Indians to buy US stocks, your investment could decrease in value.

Final Thoughts: Should You Invest In US Stocks?

When it comes to making investment decisions, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Each person’s circumstances are unique, and what may be a good investment for one person may not be right for another.

That being said, if you’re thinking about investing in US stocks from India, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, the Indian stock market is very different from the US stock market, so you’ll need to do your research to make sure you understand how the two work.

Second, there are some risks involved in investing in US stocks from India, so you’ll need to weigh those against the potential rewards.

Ultimately, whether or not investing in US stocks from India is a good idea for you will come down to your personal circumstances and goals.

If you’re comfortable with the risks and feel like you have a good understanding of the market, it could be a great way to diversify your portfolio and potentially earn some good returns.

However, if you’re not comfortable with the risks or don’t feel like you have a good handle on the market, it might be better to steer clear. It is advisable to start with Indian stocks to build a stable portfolio first before dabbling in international stock markets Everything said in this article is a personal opinion of the writer and not to be treated as financial advice.

Pro Tip: If you want to invest in the US Stock market, the best industry to invest in is Technology. Invest in tech US Stocks, and US is far ahead of India in terms of technology and innovation. Some of the US bluechip stocks are: Apple, Microsoft, Meta, etc.

Can China’s Real Estate Crisis Bring Down the Global Economy?

The real estate market in China has been on a roller coaster ride in recent years. After years of explosive growth, prices started to cool in late 2017 and have been falling ever since. This has led to fears that the Chinese real estate market could be headed for a crash – and that this could have serious repercussions for the global economy.

What is China’s real estate crisis?

The Chinese real estate market is closely linked to the country’s construction sector, which is a major driver of economic growth. A sharp slowdown in the real estate market could therefore lead to a sharp slowdown in the economy as a whole. The root cause of the crisis is still disputed, but several factors are thought to have contributed to it. These include the Chinese government’s policies on housing, the country’s economic slowdown, and the rise in housing prices.

The crisis has had a devastating effect on the lives of many people in China. It has also led to a decrease in China’s GDP and an increase in its debt. The Chinese government is working to resolve the crisis, but it is still ongoing.

In addition, the Chinese real estate market is also closely linked to the global economy. A crash in the Chinese real estate market could therefore have serious ripple effects on economies all over the world.

So, what does the future hold for the Chinese real estate market? And can it bring down the global economy?

How could China’s real estate crisis affect the global economy?

China is the world’s largest real estate market, and a slowdown in the Chinese market could have a significant impact on the global economy. This has caused many economists to worry about the potential for a global economic crisis.

If prices continue to fall, it could lead to a sharp decrease in global trade and investment as investors pull their money out of the market. This could cause a ripple effect around the world, leading to a sharp decline in economic activity and a possible recession.

It’s still too early to tell how serious the situation is, but it’s something that analysts are keeping a close eye on. If the Chinese real estate market continues to cool off, it could have major implications for the global economy.

What measures are being taken to prevent or mitigate the crisis?

The Chinese government has taken a number of measures in recent months to try to calm the real estate market. These have included implementing a new policy on home purchases by consumers, lowering the amount of loans that banks are allowed to give, and making it easier for investors to sell their property.

The government has also announced a number of measures to stimulate the economy. These include cutting interest rates on some government debts and increasing spending on infrastructure projects.

What does the future hold for China’s real estate market?

In recent months the Chinese real estate market has continued to slide. In May 2019, prices dropped once again, and were down by an average of 2.3% compared to the previous month.

The government has yet to prevent a slump in the market. This downturn could continue for some time, and could also lead to a sharp increase in unemployment. If the Chinese economy continues to slow, then the real estate market could suffer a serious slump. This would cause a sharp drop in China’s GDP and would have major implications for the rest of the world. We will still have to wait and see the long term effects of this crisis and monitor the situation closely.

Is the world headed for a recession? 6 signs

Global Recession? The world economy is going through rough patches right now. From the fall of the Chinese stock market to the United States’s unexpected move to raise interest rates, businesses around the globe are seeing their profits and sales take a hit. Despite these setbacks, there’s also plenty of reason to be optimistic about the coming months and years as well.

There are several indicators that point to an upcoming economic downturn in the near future, but not necessarily a full-blown recession. If you’re worried about your personal finances in this scenario or know someone else who might be, read on for six clear signs that point towards a recession down the road.

Interest Rates Are Starting To Rise Again

With the Federal Reserve starting to reduce its balance sheet and the U.S. economy looking a bit weaker than expected, the central bank has begun to hike interest rates again. This is a sign that the economy is improving and companies are more confident. But while the Fed is hiking rates, they’re also continuing to reduce the size of their balance sheet.

This mix of tightening and more rate hikes is a good sign that the economy is getting back on track. But it’s also a sign that the Fed is getting ready to reduce their balance sheet and bring rates down again. If interest rates keep rising in a steady but noticeable way, you should be more optimistic about the economy’s future.

Unemployment Is On The Upswing

The Fed is hiking rates and reducing the size of their balance sheet and the U.S. economy is looking a bit stronger. But all of this comes with one big downside: unemployment is rising. In fact, the Department of Labor reported that unemployment rose to 4.6 percent in the most recent month, putting it at its highest level since August of 2008.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. After all, higher unemployment often means that more people have jobs and are earning more money than they were before. If you’re looking for a sign that the economy is improving, this is a good one.

Stock Markets Are Falling Again

After rising for years, the stock market is now starting to fall. This is a sign that investors are growing nervous about the future and trying to protect their wealth. It also usually happens when confidence in the economy is waning. And in the United States, it all comes with a side note: economic growth.

Stock markets are falling because the government recently announced that the economy is growing at a measly rate of just 1.4 percent. This is a sign that the economy is slowing down and investors are worried about the future.

There’s A Tightening Credit Market

While stocks are falling and unemployment is rising, one good sign is that credit markets are becoming a little tighter. This is because when people put money up as collateral to get loans, they’re not getting as high of a rate of return. And when credit is easy to come by, it means that people are borrowing more money.

The combination of falling stock markets and rising unemployment is a sign that credit markets are becoming more difficult to borrow money in. This is a sign that the economy is slowing down, but it’s not a bad thing.

Consumer Confidence Drops

When interest rates are rising again and the stock market is falling, it’s not hard to predict that consumer confidence is going to drop as well. Consumer confidence is a good indicator of how consumers feel about their finances and their future.

When confidence falls, consumers might start to pull back on spending, which can have a domino effect on the economy. Consumer confidence is a good sign because even when the economy is struggling, people still want to buy things. But when confidence drops, consumers might start to think twice about spending money.

Weird Things Start Happening In The Economies Of Key Nations
This one is a little more subtle. When consumer confidence drops, people start to pull back on spending. But when they do so, they also start to be a little more careful where they spend their money.

This is a good thing, but it can also mean that certain industries are going to suffer a bit more than others. For example, when consumer confidence declines, people start to be a bit more cautious about spending money on vacations. This means that travel companies see a bit less sales than usual.

Conclusion

A recession isn’t necessarily a bad thing and is an inevitable part of a healthy economy. Still it helps a lot to be prepared to go through it smoothly and come out on the other side with no major financial hit to you or your business.

How to Protect yourself from Demat Account Fraud in India?

One of our worst fears is returning home after a long day and finding out that somebody has broken in and stolen our goods and belongings. This fear is so prevalent and real that we have appropriate security measures in place such as locks, CCTVs, security guards, gated societies etc.

We keep our valuable possesion in high security lockers situated in banks. When it comes to banking frauds such as caller scams, credit card frauds etc. we have been made aware of them in recent times as well. But the third kind of scam/fraud that most people are not even aware that can happen with them is a demat account fraud/scam.

I know it sounds surprising and confusing but in recent times such frauds are becoming increasingly more common. Hackers have now found new ways to hack your account and drain it of your hard earned money.

However after all is said and done the good thing is that we as the users still have more than enough control in such situation to avoid getting hacked in the first place itself. In this article we will be outlining all different ways in which you can greatly increase the security of your demat account and ensure that there is little to no chance of it being hacked by someone else.

How Do Hackers Hack Your Demat Account?

The way hackers go about this is kind of similar to credit card frauds.

The victim usually gets a call from the hacker who poses as your broker. They will express concers towards you such as your account turning dormant or that you need to update your email, re-authenticate your KYC etc etc.

In doing so they will either try to get you to give them your password or get an OTP which can then be used to access said account.

After this the hacker can buy, sell or do whatever he wants with the shares that you have and in doing so take the money out of your demat account and transfer it to another by buying worthless shares or doing risky trades.

How Can You Protect Yourself from Demat Card Hack?

Now let us talk about the steps you can to better protect yourself against such fraud.

Of all the ways we will be mentioning some of them are built-in features in the applications that you use to manage and run your demat accounts.

If the service/app that you are using does not provide these features it is highly advised that you ditch it and change to one that does have these security features.

Be Aware Of Such Frauds

If you actually think about it, it seems pretty conusing as to why your broker will contact you incase of any kind of problems such as updating your email id. It is simply not a cost effective move for the company and matters like these require you to contact your brokers or a support team, which is why a general rule of thumb is to never believe such calls and always treat them as another person trying to trick you into a scam.

TOTP (Time based OTP)

TOTP apps allow you to effectively change your password every 15secs. This means that even if all your accounts across any platform have the same password you are still going to need a 6 digit code which changes every 15 secs making your accounts very secure

Don’t Link Your Account

On a lot of 3rd party websites/apps you have the option to automatically sign in using your Google or Facebook account. Some apps do the exact same thing but with your demat account, in such cases do not link them together since if the 3rd party app or website gets hacked it may lead to personal and valueable information about your own account to be in the wrong hands.

Know What You Want To Invest In

Usually when we as users open an account both online or offline our broker wants us to open all types of investment accounts such as currency, equity, commodity etc. Our advice would be to avoid this, only open those investment accounts that you will actually be using to invest in. For example if you are going to only invest in stocks then you should only have an equity account active and the the rest should be dormant. This helps in the case where in if a hacker might get access to your demat account he/she cannot sell your stocks and then buy risky things such as future options which can cause you to take a loss.

Revoke POA And Use T-PIN

If you have given your broker/broking app the POA or Power Of Attorney to buy/sell your shares it is a good idea to revoke that and instead use a T-PIN system wherein every time you have a buy or sell order it generates an OTP which need to be put in as well to successfully execute the order. This can save you from any kind selling or buying from hackers and if you detect suspicious activity then you can use a kill switch to pause all activities in your account.

Avoid Keeping Idle Funds

Do not keep funds that you do not need in your demat account. Only add funds when you want to buy something and only add how much you need at that time. These days through the use of UPI it takes less than 2 mins to add funds to your account.

Conclusion

These were some of the ways to better protect yourself against frauds or scams. It is also a good idea to spread awareness about such scams especially to older people as they are more prone to online frauds.

What are Crypto Airdrops and how to Spot Them?

Imagine you got a good amount of crypto tokens for just using a blockchain protocol. Well, this is not something out of the world, this is called a crypto airdrop.

Crypto Airdrop is a marketing strategy undertaken by a new cryptocurrency company, where they send tokens to the active blockchain users or active crypto wallets for free or in exchange for some minimal task such as retweeting a tweet, sharing some post, etc.

This is primarily done to promote the coin in the market by making acquaintance with the active users and by making their name in the headlines through airdrops.

From the surface, airdrop looks really cool and seems like an easy way to earn money instantly with just some luck, but it has many strings attached to it.

Let’s dive deeper and learn everything about it.

How do Crypto Airdrops work?

Talking about the process, the first node is traced back to the point in a startup where the company decide that they need an airdrop. This decision may be influenced by various factors such as a marketing strategy, a hard fork in the network, or to regenerate the interests of the existing investors.

The next node in this process tree is to launch the public campaign. This begins with the data collection of the interested/ deserving party. Sometimes this data is limited to wallet address and sometimes it includes the email address and other contact details.

After deciding the list of beneficiaries, the company make a smart contract to facilitate the airdrop. Companies often publicize the transaction block to ensure transparency.

Considering the second step of the process mentioned above, there can be many ways to choose whom to send:

Companies determine a small task or set of small tasks to use as the eligibility criteria. Users complete the task and got selected for an airdrop.
Companies distribute the tokens axiomatically, to the users holding a certain amount of tokens or simply assets.
Companies take a random snapshot of the blockchain at an earlier point in time and then invite those randomly selected users to claim their airdrop.

Types of Airdrops

Standard Airdrop

In this type of airdrop, the interested user shows their interest in receiving an airdrop. The individual has to provide a valid wallet address as a mandatory field and the rest is upon the company having airdrop. In this type of airdrop, the number of tokens to be given away as well as the limit of tokens to be sent to each interested user is fixed and hence makes this a time-sensitive airdrop. This is the much popular due to its simplicity.

Bounty Airdrop

To raise awareness and name of the projects companies often assign some tasks to interested users. These tasks are as simple as putting a post on your social media about the company, retweeting the tweet, bringing followers to the company’s social media handle, etc. As per the task performed by the user, the company assign some points to the user describing what amount of work is done by the user, and later, according to the points, they distribute tokens.

Holder Airdrop

This type of airdrop is automatically depending on who is holding assets and how much? Being a part of a publicly distributed ledger, the wallet and other blockchain information are publicly available. It might have a drawback. There might be some users who don’t want any kind of airdrop but they had qualified the criteria for Holder Airdrop.

Exclusive Airdrop

This is a specialization of Holder Airdrop. This is rolled out to handpicked exclusive members. The criteria of selection here are not the amount they hold in their wallets, but some criteria like time spent on blockchain projects, money spent on non-token activities or simply interest.

Raffle Airdrop

Generally, the number/ amount of token a company want to airdrop is less than the number of interested users. So the company may give a raffle ticket, but one has to earn it. A user may earn a raffle ticket in various ways such as by holding tokens, storing points through various tasks, or just by showing interest.

Some Famous Airdrops

deCRED

- - Date: Jan 2016
  - Amount: 258000 DCR
  - Peak airdrop Value: 32,500 USD

Bitcoin Cash

- - Date: Aug 2017
  - Amount: 1 BCH to everyone who held 1 BTC
  - Peak airdrop Value: 2947 USD/BCH (peak)

Oyster

- - Date: Nov 2017
  - Amount: 2227 PRL
  - Peak airdrop Value: 11,000 USD

Minereum

- - Date: Jan 2016
  - Amount: 32000 MNE
  - Peak airdrop Value: 440,000 USD

Stellar

- - Date: Jan 2016
  - Amount: 1000 USD worth of XML/BTC
  - Peak airdrop Value: 125,000,000 USD

Uniswap

- Date: September 17, 2020
- Amount: 400 UNI
- Peak airdrop Value: 17800USD @42USD per token

Are Crypto Airdrops safe?

Although it sounds like a dream deal to receive tokens for free, it has some hidden risks involved in these airdrops.

Pump-and-Dump

The market has seen several airdrops which were just pump-and-dump stunts. The company issuing the token expect sizzling hype for the same but doesn’t get the same response. Once the trade of tokens starts, the creator sells the sizeable portion of tokens they hold, which eventually crashes the prices.

Dusting Attacks

Unlike the above, the scammers out there possess the risk. The scammer will credit a minimal amount of tokens into someone’s wallet and invade their privacy. The scammer will then trace the transactions of the wallet and deanonymize the user or firm operating the wallet.

How to spot Crypto Scams?

The first and most important requirement to avail of an airdrop is owning a private crypto wallet which is compatible with the token the user is interested in.
To get updates regarding crypto airdrops, one needs to keep updated with crypto news from reputable crypto sites such as CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, CryptoBullsClub etc. to get the information about the upcoming crypto airdrops.
When you find an airdrop about which you have researched enough to be sure and safe, you have to follow the instructions and eligibility criteria posted by the admin. You might need to do some tasks as mentioned in the above sections.
Once you have qualified for the airdrop, you have to wait for the official date and should check your crypto wallet on the date of drop.

What is Dogecoin? Should you buy Dogecoin?

If you are exposed to the internet, you must have seen a Shiba Inu(a Japanese dog breed) staring at you from the edges of his eyes and often looks funny. Whether you have seen them in some meme where they are intended for humour or you have seen it in the context of the crypto market, well, it’s interesting to know in both the context the doge has had a fair share of fun. Dogecoin has been one of the most famous and defamed coins at the same time. While it has made many investors rich on one hand, it has broken many of their nerves. So, let’s get into the interesting case of Dogecoin, should you buy it?

What is Dogecoin?

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency made by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, two software engineers who created it for fun and aimed the market with investors beyond Bitcoin. Launched in December 2013, this is a P2P, open-source currency, which was made as a joke making fun of the bizarre speculation in the crypto world at that time. The coin was forked from Litecoin which essentially means it has a major portion of code similar to that of Litecoin.

The logo itself has an interesting history as it was a photograph from 2010 which later got viral as a meme in 2013. It was entitled “top meme” by Know your Meme in 2013.

Dogecoin is an altcoin which has some amazing features such as the use of a scrypt algorithm. Scrypt is basically a password-based key derivation function. Basically, the algorithm that is highly used in cryptography, makes it costly for the attackers to hack on a high scale. This makes DOGE a safe coin according to the resources and market scenario of 2013. It also provides low prices and unlimited supply.

History of Doge

Initially, the company used a randomized reward for block mining but was changed to static mining the very next summer. DOGE saw an amazing jump of 300% within just two months of its launch, supported by China’s laws to stop centralized associations, such as banks, to invest in cryptocurrency.

Also when we talk about the history of this coin we cannot forget to mention the name of the new CEO of Twitter, which also owns Tesla, SpaceX and many companies. Elon Musk is a name tightly associated with the history of DOGE. He often kept tweeting about dogecoin and due to his influence in the market dogecoin prices increased drastically, also he bought a huge volume of DOGE for Tesla and that was another reason for the sudden boost in the terms of popularity as well as the price for dogecoin.

Looking at the price history it has been a fun ride for the coin

Tracing back from the data available from Jul 2017, dogecoin opened at 0.002 USD with a volume of 222 Million. It ended the year at the highest price of 0.011 USD but it saw a huge jump in volume as it grew to 62.84 Billion in Oct 2017.

In 2018, it opened at 0.008 USD and touched its highest price of 0.019 USD in Jan. It didn’t show many dramatical curves this year. The volume varied between 5.43 Billion as the lowest and 69.53 Billion as the highest in 2018.

Likewise was the next year 2019. It oscillated between the price of 0.001 to 0.004 USD. But it crossed the 100 Billion mark in terms of volume in the month of May and ended the year with a volume of 114.1 Billion.

The year 2020 was no different in terms of price as 1 DOGE cost between 0.001 to 0.1 USD and this was the highest of all time for the coin. Its volume crossed the mark of 1000 Billion in April 2020 which made it to the headlines that year.

It was 2021, and fortune was knocking at the doors of DOGE. This was the year which spread the name of the coin worldwide. Witnessing a jump of 689% in the first month, the coin which was at 0.004 USD in Dec 2020, was now at 0.03 USD in Jan 2021 with a volume of 658 Billion. Later in April 2021, it again saw a jump of 526% and reached its all-time highest of 0.4 USD. But this was not the bar, the coin went up to 0.7 USD in the next month. With an uncertain but best year in its history, DOGE closed at 0.17 USD in 2021.

2022 has not been as good as the previous year for the coin but it is still in a better place when compared to the early years. It opened at the price of 0.17 USD and touched the highest of 0.21 USD. Its volume dropped from 100 Billion and has not touched that mark till the date of drafting.

Table — Historical summary of DOGE(July 2017- Sep 2022)

Drafting in the last week of October, DOGE is at 0.1025 USD with a total supply of 136.67 Billion, also, It has a market capitalization of 13.52 Billion USD.

Future of DOGE

The future of DOGE is a controversial topic among market experts. Some of them predict the optimistic days ahead whereas some see it going towards the end.

Analysing the market sentiments and views given by the experts of the domain, dogecoin will witness a gradual rise in 2023 and by mid of the next year, it would cross the 0.1 USD mark and go up to 0.2 USD and can suffer a down to 0.06 USD.

In 2025, it is expected to reach the 0.6 USD bar as high and might see a depression of 0.2 USD. The price would revolve around 0.4 USD in 2025.

Experts predict its rise nearly to 1 USD in 2030 and would have an average price of around 0.8 USD.

Different price predictions of various agencies are

GOV Capital
- 0.162 USD in one year
- 0.867 USD in 5 years
Digital Coin Price
- 0.08 USD by the end of 2022
- 0.13 USD by the end of 2025
- 0.29 USD by the end of 2030
Price Prediction.net
- 0.37 USD by the year 2025
- 2.42 USD by the year 2030
Trading Beast
- 0.08 USD in 2023
- A highest of 0.12 USD in 2023

Should you buy DOGE?

Dogecoin has seen a glorious rise and a heartbreaking fall but isn’t this the basic rule of the market? It involves risk but dogecoin holds the potential of a good return on investment. So, in my opinion, DOGE should be bought again, not for a short-term return of investment over a small volume of money, but for a long term and that too on a considerable capital.

Is Bitcoin Really Used for Illegal Activities?

With the name Bitcoin, a wave of thousands of thoughts just ran through your mind. The popularity, whether it’s constructive or destructive made it so.

Today, Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency holding more than 40% market share of the whole crypto market and it has been growing for years now.

It has single-handedly kept the market in control for so long that a subtle movement in its graph causes a tremendous market mood change.

With so much power, there also comes its misuse and dark side. It is so often blamed for its use in illegal activities.

A naive user always wonders how such a financial asset can be used in crime. Well, there are several purposes served with the help of this market messiah, like-

Ransomware blackmail cases
Tax Evasion
Money Laundering
Terror financing
Drug and arms dealing
Human trafficking and other dark web tradings.

Where on the surface web is a great market for investing money, on the other hand, it is the spine of the dark web economy which is unknown to the governing bodies.

According to an estimation by Chainalysis, the Bitcoin used for illegal activities is worth 10 billion USD.

But what are the possible reasons to use it for such things?

Reasons to use Bitcoin for illicit activities

Anonymity

One of the most vital advantages of crypto transactions is you can send it without being exposed to the authority. You need not have KYC at some bank and submit all your documents. You can operate your money while being anonymous and that’s the most attractive feature for criminals.

0 trust issues

Unlike bank transfers, no third party is involved in the transactions and lesser the nodes more secure the transaction.

High Access and Speed

Transactions for bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies need just the internet and a device. You can send millions of dollars in a few seconds at your fingertips.

Easy to store and Transfer

Imagine Pablo Escobar in today’s era. He need not store his cash underground, he would have just needed a digital ledger to store and deal in millions. Well, that’s how today’s new Pablo’s dealing.

Easy global trade

Conventionally, global trade is considered a headache, but the problem is solved by Crypto.

Talking about the illegal cryptocurrency trade we must mention Monero another more anonymous token which is getting popular in the illegal mafias and is being predicted to cross bitcoin in the same in the coming few years. It is even less traceable than bitcoin. Yes, you read it right even Bitcoin leaves a faint trace behind and could be traced.

But,

Is Bitcoin just used for illegal activities?

The answer is yes, but the amount in negligible and is decreasing.

According to a report by Chainalysis, only 2.1% of total Bitcoin transactions is used for Illegal activities in 2019, which however is equivalent to 21.4 Billion USD.

But the figure drastically falls to 0.34% (10 Billion USD) in 2020 and the same downward trend is expected in future.

Concluding, Bitcoin is used for unlawful business but that’s the not only purpose it serves. It brings the new era where finance and technology come together to make a change. It is still in an evolving phase and sooner or later the misuse of the same could be controlled. It’s pointless to blame the currency.

Also Read:

QNT Price Prediction 2022 to 2030: Will QNT cross 1000USD?

Although many improvements took place in the world of blockchain since the first blockchain, Interoperability still is a major concern to investors as well as developers.

Every blockchain is made with some uniqueness which hinders its interoperability and affinity to other networks.

These blockchains cannot share data among themselves without going through a process that demands high time, energy and other resources.

The Quant Overleged operating system is the first gateway for distributed ledger technology. It is an interoperable communication protocol providing a network for developers and enterprises. The overledger operating system is at the heart of the Quant Network and helps it achieve interoperability and scalability at the same time.

Gilbert Verdian when working with the UK and Australian governments identified the problems related to interoperability and later discovered how useful distributed ledger technologies could be in solving the problem and launched quant in 2018.

Quants further launched its own token QNT which has been in the headlines recently due to its pump.

QNT Price History

The coin opened at $ 2.12 in Jan 2019 with a volume of $57 million. Soon with a flowing curve, it opened at $ 8.61 in Jul 2019 with a volume of $386 million. Due to the pandemic era, the coin suffers deprivation and reach as low as $3.3 in March 2020 with a volume of $74 million only.

But the graph was soon to witness a slope which would never look back. Starting the next month, April 2020, the coin started to rise rapidly from $ 4.01 and reached the mark of $ 41.08 within a year in April 2021. The market volume which was $74 Million in March 2020 reached a mark of $292 Million in Jan 2021.

This was not the best time for the coin. Later in August 2021, the market volume crossed $1 Billion which multiplied 5 times just the next month and have seen its highest volume of $5 Billion in September 2021.

2021 was the golden year for the coin as it opened at $11.23 in Jan 2021 and $ 201.61 in Dec 2021. It reached its highest in September 2021, which is, $ 428.38 with a volume of $5.02 Billion.

The coming year was not that pleasing for the token due to the market crash in Jan 2022. The whole market suffered a downfall of $ 2 Trillion. QNT too was affected. In the first month of 2022, it opened at $178.85 and closed at $ 96.89.

Reflecting the uncertainty in the market and fear among the buyers, its graph has been fluctuating like an ECG. It has seen the lowest rate of $ 41.16 in June 2022 and the highest of $ 226.09 in October 2022. The volume too is oscillating. The highest volume recorded was $2.1 Billion in July 2022 and the lowest was as low as $239 Million on Oct 18, 2022.

QNT Future Price Prediction

Different prediction agencies see the future of QNT very differently. Some platforms see the future as very bright whereas some see it pessimistically.

Given below is a price prediction for coming years:

How to Buy QNT?

QNT can be traded on many exchange platforms such as

Bilaxy
Bithumb Global
Bittrex
1Inch Exchange
Uniswap
Hotbit, etc.

The token could be exchanged with a number of cryptocurrencies like

Bitcoin(BTC)
Ethereum(ETH)
Tether(USDT)

Moreover, it can be traded against a flat currency like the Euro.

Given below is a guide to buying QNT from Binance App

Create an account on Binance
Choose the method of payment to buy QNT Assets.
Confirm your order at the current price within a time period of 1 minute.
QNT has been credited to your wallet. You can trade with it now.

FAQs

Q: Will QNT cross the mark of $1000 by 2023?

No, according to a number of analysing platforms mentioned above, $1000 is way too far mark to reach for it by 2023. But, the crypto market is unpredictable and hence this is worth our patience and watch.

Q: Is QNT a good investment?

Looking at the data mentioned above regarding the future of the coin, Yes, it is a good investment for the long term. Looking at its history, it has witnessed a drastic increase in just 2 years. It has the potential to return a good profit in long term.

Q: What would be the price of QNT in 2030?

Many agencies predicting its fall predicted it to go down to $97 but the majority of agencies predict it up to the mark of $334 by the end of 2030. But again, it is necessary to mention the uncertainty in the market.

Q: Where to buy QNT?

QNT is an easy-to-find cryptocurrency. One can buy it from various platforms like Binance, Coinbase, Bilaxy, Bithumb Global, Bittrex, 1Inch Exchange, Uniswap, Hotbit, etc.

Q: Is QNT promising?

The data coming from predictions and history shows the consistency and long-run potential of the token. It is not impossible for this coin to reach the thousand-dollar mark in 5 years. It looks quite promising.

Q: What is the market cap and circulating supply of QNT?

QNT has a market cap of $2.3 Billion Dollar as on Oct 2022. It has a circulating supply of 12 Billion which can scale up to 14.6 Billion.

Q: What makes Quant Project so unique?

The Quant Overleged operating system is the first gateway for distributed ledger technology. It is an interoperable communication protocol providing a network for developers and enterprises

What will be the future of Bitcoin?

Satoshi Nakamoto, a name that is equally famous and infamous at the same time. It was starting of the year 2009 when he published a white paper and officially released BITCOIN. Although it was not the first cryptocurrency unlike eCash (developed by Digicash), this was the one which brought on the fintech revolution across the world.

The very next year, in 2010, he handed over the project to the community by making it open source.

Since then it has seen highs and lows but maintained to survive in the market to retain the title of “Oldest Surviving Currency”.

But the concern is, until when? When will it fall? What would be its future? To find all these answers, let’s dig in.

What development has Bitcoin made?

In his 9-page white paper, Nakamoto started with the title “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. The heading itself says a lot about the purpose behind its development. As an organisation, it has innovated as-

Control against fraud

In 2022, cryptocurrency worth 2 Billion USD has already been stolen by hackers. BTC also have a good share of loss in the same. Hence the company focus on a high level of security to protect its user from frauds like chargebacks. It also provides hardware wallet support which makes it even more difficult to steal or lose.

Cost Efficiency

The direct contact between the sender and receiver eliminates the middlemen’s time and cost which makes it more cost-efficient to trade with. It looks forward to reducing poverty by cutting the transaction charge on workers’ salaries.

Multi-signature accounts

Multi-signature allows a transaction to be accepted by the network only if a certain number of a defined group of persons agree to sign the transaction. This has enhanced the functionality of BTC and expanded its reach further to firms where payment is approved by a board of members.

Bitcoin Roadmap

The company witnessed a great journey in its history of 13 years.

The Whitepaper – Oct 2008

Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin Whitepaper.

Genesis Block – Jan 2009

The genesis block(Block 0) is the first block upon which the rest of the blocks are added. In Jan 2009, the genesis block of Bitcoin was mined

M-of-N Standard Transaction- Oct 2011

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal numbered 011 (BIP 011) facilitates secured wallets, escrow transactions, and multiple signature payment use cases.

Pay to Script Hash- Jan 2012

BIP 016 implemented a new standard for the BTC scripting system and added new rules that were applicable only to new transactions

Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets- Feb 2012

BIP 032 introduced HD Wallets which allow for multiple cryptocurrency wallets to be generated from a single seed phrase.

A Finite Supply for Bitcoin- April 2014

BIP 042 introduced a finite supply of Bitcoin after identifying the bug that would result in an infinite volume of bitcoin.

SegWit- Aug 2017

BIP 148 proposed a transaction format where the witness information would be removed from the input field of the block.

Taproot- Jan 2020

BIP 341 is considered the most revolutionary BIP to date and we will know why in the next section.

Bitcoin Upgrades

As the market is growing, there is a growth in competition every day. To sustain the competition like all the other cryptocurrencies, bitcoin too has regular upgrades. Upgrades are a way of enforcing new features in any cryptocurrency protocol. The most recent upgrade from bitcoin is Taproot Upgrade.

Taproot Upgrade

Earlier, the verification of bitcoin transactions was comparatively slow as each digital signature was validated against a public key. The time was directly proportional to the number of inputs and signatures in the case of multi-signature transactions.

To resolve this problem, the Taproot upgrade allows multiple signatures and transactions to be batched together. This reduced the latency drastically and became a revolutionary bitcoin upgrade. A team of Pieter Wuille, Jonas Nick, Tim Ruffing and Anthony Towns developed the Taproot.

Now talking about the relationship between the market and bitcoin, it has been a roller coaster ride and for the same reason, famous market enthusiasts fear its end be soon.

Is fluctuating market would result in the end of Bitcoin?

Chakib Bouda(CTO, Rambus- a payment firm) said, “We expect in 10 years time, bitcoin will become mainstream and have a remarkably different reputation. ”

There is a clear division among crypto enthusiasts on the future of bitcoin due to the fluctuation seen in the previous 2 years. However, the arguments in favour of the survival of bitcoin sound more reasonable.

Since the launch of bitcoin in 2009, it has been almost a decade. In just one decade, cryptocurrency has gained a market of 2.02 Trillion USD, greater than the economy of many countries and the credit of the revolution still goes to bitcoin. It is predicted that the market would gain a worth of almost 5 Trillion USD by 2030. Imagining such a huge market without Bitcoin is unfair and quite far from reality.
Seeing the potential in the market many big firms already have invested in bitcoin even after the collapse. Paypal has brought crypto custodian Curv, whereas, on the other hand, Tesla bought bitcoin worth 1.5 Billion USD.

Expected Future of Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the most headline-seeking cryptocurrency of all time whether it comes to its illicit use, its controversial rise, its uncertain future and its power to collapse and lift the market.

But the following are some predictions made by various statistical agencies over the future of Bitcoin:

On reading the trendlines of waves of Bitcoin prices, it is predicted to cross the mark of 1 million USD per bitcoin by the end of 2030.
Looking at the 295 Million cryptocurrency users in 2022, the prediction is being made for 1 Billion crypto users by 2030. If we consider the market share of Bitcoin users, there would be more than 300-400 Million users of Bitcoin by 2030.
In 2022, 2.5 lac bitcoin transactions are performed daily which will scale to more than 10 lac transactions per day by 2030.

According to my opinion made after studying the view of many economists, industrialists, tech enthusiasts and statisticians, I believe:

Very soon it would be centralised.
It has a dazzling future with huge profit margins for its holders.
Mass-market will embrace crypto payments like UPIs today
Countries across the world would approve Bitcoin as a legal tender.
It would be one of the most technically developed, efficient, fast and secure cryptocurrencies of all time.

What are Bridges in cryptocurrency and why do they often get hacked?

Security is the most debatable and controversial topic when it comes to cryptocurrency and it is proven to be a concern now and then. Talking about attacks, in 2022 itself, the figure of hijacked money has gone to 1.4 Billion USD.

It is quite interesting to know among this lost amount the major share of 1 Billion USD is just hijacked by Bridge Attacks.

So, if you don’t know a thing about bridge and bridge attacks in the world of cryptocurrency, then sit back, we have everything you need to know about it.

What is a Bridge in cryptocurrency?

Like the name suggest, Bridge is a middle-way. This is a mechanism for connecting different blockchains, authorizing investors to trade one kind of coin for another. Bridges also known as Network Bridge, are made to integrate two blockchains which, generally, are not designed to integrate, for example, one owns ETH in ETH network and wants to shift to some other blockchain, let’s say BNB. You can only do that using a bridge.

Using this way, you can convert your ETH to BNB directly by paying some transaction/gas fee and move your tokens from one network to the other one.

How does it work?

The working of a bridge is simple and complex at the same time. It is its working which exposes it to numerous vulnerabilities.

When you want to bridge 1 BTC to your ETH wallet, a blockchain bridge shrink your BTC and creates an equivalent amount of such token which is compatible with the desired token.

In this case, BTC will be converted into WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin) which is compatible with the Ethereum network. The desired amount of BTC one wants to port gets locked in a smart contract and the equivalent tokens are issued at the destination address.

Steps involved in Bridging

At the user end, this process may take a few steps:

Select the chain you like to bridge
Specify the amount
Deposit the crypto to an address provided by the bridge
After the deposit, the bridge mechanism will send another token to your address.

Types of Bridge

On a broad vision, the bridge is of two types:

Trust-based Bridges

Trust-based bridges (federation or custodial bridges) are centralized bridges that require a central authority or panel of mediators to work. To convert coins into another token, users have to depend on the central members of the federation to verify and confirm the transaction.

Trustless Bridges

Trustless bridges are decentralized bridges that operate on smart contracts(machine algorithms). This is used in real-life blockchains and involves no manpower at the working level. It provides a better sense of security to users.

Some recent hacks through bridges

Blockchain is becoming an important part of Web3, allowing developers to easily launch decentralised applications across blockchains, breaking down silos, which is important as the crypto space goes mainstream, but the daily news about the weak spots and regular attacks on bridges is a major concern to investors. In 2022 itself, bridge attacks suffered a loss of more than 1 billion USD.

Some of the infamous hacks are:

Ethereum scaling solution optimism hack- $ 20 Million
Salona Bridge Wormhole- $ 326 Million
Harmony’s Horizon Bridge Hack- $100 Million
Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge- $ 650 Million

Let’s look into the case of Harmony’s Horizon Bridge to understand more.

On June 25, Horizon bridge which converts Harmony to ETH, BTC, Binance USD, etc. was hacked. Although the BTC section was unaffected, the hack cost approx 100 Million USD.

Hackers stole numerous tokens including ETH, Binance Coin, Binance USD, Dai, Tether and whatnot.

The company came up with an explanation which says there are too many weak spots to cover.

Harmony also took the help of the FBI and other security agencies and kept a bounty of 1 Million USD on hackers.

Complexities are one of the reasons why bridges get hacked very often.

Why Bridges are so vulnerable?

For understanding this topic let’s take an example of two islands, one, where only petrol cars are allowed and the other where only CNG cars are allowed.

There is a bridge between the two islands which holds a functionality that allows you to drop your petrol car at one point and rent a CNG car for the other island. Your car would be parked as long you stay on the other island.

Here, the cars are cryptocurrencies and the bridge is the network bridge. Now hackers may take one car without parking the other through various malicious activities and steal it.

This might have given you some idea about the system. Now let us look at the technical language explaining its vulnerability:

They handle a ton of complex requests
Holding a lot of currency
No standard is set about how to keep everything secure.

How do hackers hack Bridges?

Although it is explained in a simple story and language, it must not be such an easy task for hackers to get through it, after all, it is the most sizzling market today. But where there is technology there exists some bug defect/bug in it. Hackers use these methods to hijack money:

False Deposit event

The bridge has a mechanism to check the deposit done by the user, but if the attackers are able to generate a deposit event without making a real deposit or making a deposit with a token with no value, they can withdraw the desired amount easily.

Fake Deposit

The smart contracts validate a deposit before allowing a transfer to occur. In this method, attackers create a fake deposit that validates as a real one and beat the validation process.

Validator takeover

Many bridges have a group of validators that poll for whether to approve a particular transaction or not. Attackers do control the majority of validators and get the fake transfer approved.

Effects of Bridge Hacks

Along with the market, the bridge attacks have a significant impact on the bridge itself. An attack results in the withdrawal of a huge amount of money without any of the deposit in return. Hence it results in a loss of money for the bridge project.
They can have complex effects because these bridges span various blockchain platforms. Attack on a bridge opens the window of hacks to multiple blockchains interweaved with it.

Coming to conclusion, bridges are technologies developed for convenience and efficiency but are not secure enough to the scale of the volume of currency they hold and hence undergo attacks quite regularly.