My homework submission for professor @imagen which is about Bitcoin Trajectory.

---

How many times has Bitcoin been "halved"? When is the next expected? What is the current amount that Bitcoin miners receive? Mention at least 2 cryptocurrencies that are or have halved.

---

Bitcoin halving is a mechanism to reduce the mining rewards to half every four years or after mining of 210 000 blocks. Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 halving has taken place thrice. Initially the mining rewards on the Bitcoin were 50 Bitcoins per block. After its first halving that took place on 28/11/ 2012 mining rewards were reduced to 25 BTCs per block. Second halving that took place in 09/07/2016 reduced mining rewards to 12.5 BTCs per block. After the last mining that took place on 11/05/2020 , Bitcoin rewards were reduced to 6.25 Bitcoins per block. So the current rewards of BTC mining are set to 6.25 Bitcoins per block. Next halving of Bitcoin is expected in 2024.

Bitcoin mining is a procedure that results in release on new coins in circulation. So halving of rewards is an inbuilt inflation mechanism to keep a check on supply of BTC as well as price. With this mechanism the total supply of Bitcoin that caps to 21 million is expected to be released by 2040.

An interesting and much needed phenomenon has been seen post halving and that is rise in Bitcoin price that is mandatory for integrity of bitcoin network. As mining is carried out with the help of nodes with very high computational power, so they consume huge amount of energy and the cost of the nodes itself is a huge burden on the miners. So if halving of rewards is not followed by rise in price then the number of miners will be reduced and that will disrupt the integrity of the Bitcoin network.

Litecoin and Dogecoin are two other coins that follow halving mechanism. Dogecoin had only one halving in Apr 2014 where mining rewards were reduced from 500 to 250 Dogecoins. Litecoin had undergone two halvings so far where in mining rewards were halved from 50 to 25 LTCs per block and than 25 to 12.5. So currently it is 12.5 LTCs per block

---

What are consensus mechanisms? How do Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Staking differ?

---

Consensus mechanism is a set of rules to arrive at an agreement between various participants in the network so as to ensure that all the transactions performed are genuine. Keeping the decentralized and dynamic nature of blockchain in view, it is necessary to have an efficient, fair, real-time, functional, reliable, and secure mechanism in place which is followed by all the participants of this public ledger system to maintain the integrity of blockchan. Integrity would mean accuracy in verifying and validating transactions, efficient storage mechanisms and mining rewards distribution protocols.

Proof of Work

Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism adopted by certain crypto currencies like Bitcoin. PoW consensus mechanism involves use of computers technically known as nodes with a very high computational power to solve the complex mathematical puzzles to find a unique solution for verification of transactions on the network. The node that first solve the puzzle correctly verifies that transaction and then distribute the same across all the nodes involved in the ledger for independent verification and record. In this way, it ensures highest level of transparency and security. The validator node is rewarded newly generated coins for this tedious task. Although miners don't solve theee puzzles manually but they do so by making use of computational power of nodes.

As PoW consensus mechanisms involves use of powerful computers with very high computational power, these hardware devices consume huge amount of electricity. Moreover, BTC mining is specifically linked to some other environmental hazards as well. So PoW is energy inefficient mechanism.

Proof of Stake

In Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, mining rights are conferred based on share of tokens staked. So to participate in mining, miners have to stake the tokens. Mining rights are proportionate to percentage of tokens staked. For example, a 10% staker is entitled to mine 10% blocks.

PoS mechanism evolved as an alternative to tackle certain issues of PoW mechanism. The issues that it address are related to energy , scalability and security. PoS is energy efficient and has higher scalability than PoW. PoS is less susceptible to 51% attacks because the reward system for 51% Stakers is disadvantageous. However, decentralized nature of PoS nerworks is questionable because of stake weighted mining rights. PoS is followed by DASH, NEO, TEZOS , PEERCOIN while PoW is followed by BTC, ETH , MONERO, Litecoin etc

---

Enter the Bitcoin explorer and indicate the hash corresponding to the last transaction. Show Screenshot.

---

There are many Bitcoin explorers which can be used. I'll use blockchair for this task.

Source

• Last block no : 703982

• Hash of the block is
  000000000000000000052300fc395eda0cc5abfdd17ce36c2915ee899932f8da
  
  

---

What is meant by Altcoin Season? Are we currently in Altcoin Season? When was the last Altcoin Season? Mention and show 2 charts of Altcoins followed by their growth in the most recent Season. Give reasons for your answer.

---

In our day to day life, when we attach the suffix season to something, it means that thing is going well like our business men are waiting for tourist season for their businesses to flourish. In similar content, Altcoin season would mean the time period during which Altcoins are performing well. Technically, Altcoin season is defined as a period of 90 days where 75% of the top 50 altcoins outperform Bitcoin.

Normally we see that Altcoins pump after pumping of BTC and vice versa. However, during Altcoin season, market capitalisation of Bitcoin decreases where as market cap and price ot altcoins increase. Some of reasons believed for Altcoin season are:

• Booking of profit by BTC holders and investment into Altcoins.

• Popularity of some Altcoin based projects like NFTs and ICOe.

• Favourable news in market for Altcoins.

• Negative news for BTC.

---

The current Altcoin season index is 47. So we are not in Altcoon season now. Last altcoin season has passed this year and is believed to have been between March and june 2021.

Source

---

Here i am sharing a graph of last Altcoin season showing percentage gains of coins in bars as well as graphs.

Source

---

---

Source

---

I'll be checking performance of 2
Altcoins during last Altcoin season and they are FTM and AXS.

FTM

^{FTM/USDT chart during last Altcoin season}
As we can see in the bar diagram above that FTM was the best altcoin of last season that showed growth of 803.2% . As forr coinmarketcap current status is concerned, FTM price at the time of writing this post is $2.10 and rank is 36. FTM has shown 29% growth in last 24 hours.

AXS

^{AXS/USDT chart showing sharp rise or AXS coin}
As we can see in the bar diagram above that AXS was the second best altcoin of last season that showed growth of 620% . AXS was launched at price of $0.15. As for coinmarketcap current status is concerned, AXS price at the time of writing this post is $121.14 and rank is 26.

---

Make a purchase on your verified account of the exchange of your choice of at least 15 USD in a currency that is not in the top 25 of Coinmarket (SBD, tron ​​or steem are not allowed). Why did you choose this coin? What is the goal or purpose behind this project? Who are its founders / developers? Indicate the currency's ATH and its current price. Reason for your answers. Show Screenshots.

---

I'll be purchasing WRX token from Binance worth 15USDT. Before proceeding, I'll share details of my verified account.

^{Verified Binance account}

WRX stastics

Source

---

Source

---

WRX has current price of $1.20 and made all time high of $5.94 on Apr 05 , 2021.

---

Purchase of WRX from Binance

---

---

Reason for choosing WRX.

• WRX is utility token of WazirX and wazirx is one of the leading exchange of my country. I use wazirx for trading and use WRX as trading fee because with this token, i get 50% discount. As i perform trading on WazirX, so i can transfer wrx there. As my all funds are in trade on wrx, so i did purchase here.

• WRX is recognized globally and is available on other platforms like FTX, Gate.io, and HitBTC etc.

---

Goal of project.

Nischal shetty is an indian born crypto enthusiastic who founded the project. Being a country where crypto is not legalized, users had to face mamy problems in performing crypto trades. Nischal shetty was in crypto trading since launch of BTC. He was himself frustrated with the scrutinizing process of the exchanges . So to create a frictionless and global platform, wazirx was created. As for my experience on Wazirx is concerned, It has good liquidity for most of the trading pairs that i trade in. Moreover, it supports majority of the well established trading pairs. And good thing is that, it supports Fiat deposition and withdrawal with ease.

---

Conclusion

---

Bitcoin is the parent digital asset that laid the foundation stone of digital currencies. Since its launch by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 and its tremendous success has paved way for launch of number of other digital coins known as Altcoins. Some of the Altcoins claim to have born to address issues linked to BTC and worth mentioning are scalability and energy leaching. At times, altcoins in combination perform better than BTC but BTC is still king of crypto space.