You seem to have left out WAVES - it has the biggest budget I think at $15m raised from the ICO.
One of the central platforms they are developing is a decentralised exchange and asset trading platform. Ask @fyrstikken - he said that "if Bitcoin is the replacement for money then WAVES is the replacement for Dao Jones" - or something along those lines.
Funny... Waves was my second crypto investment, though I actually didn't fully understand it - and my attention turned all over to Steemit so haven't kept up at all with their developments, other than seeing their asset price tank.
Is it still in development or functional? Have you used it already? Looking promising?
Looks to be finally getting going now. It was disappointing at first. I would urge you to follow the Slack for the latest updates (ask Twiggy Smile in Bitcointalk if you need an invite - DM him). I think it could actually prove to be very big.
I have given up on Bitcointalk for now. Too many trolls and idiots and it is too easy to get swept up in their empty headed arguments about why the coin hasn't done an x100 already. They don't understand that a truly stable and secure platforms take a long time to develop.
No guarantees of course - it's crypto but they are about to release the full nodes and asset exchange platform together and it is getting close.
As I understand it they are finished and undergoing security testing. That has been the main reason for delays.
Given the amounts of money that could be floating around on the WAVES platform they don't need a theft or security breech.
I commend them for taking security so seriously because the pressure to rush on this was immense given the amount of money involved.
They are also going to have Bioviva - the worlds most controversial anti-ageing bitotech company as one of the first companies to use the crowd funding part of the platform.
That should get it big media attention when it happens.
Whatever you think of Bioviva they know how to make headlines.
Worth mentioning AFAIK BitSquare is the only one that can deal with fiat currency and all those messy bank payment methods that it entails.
Worthy mention is also ShapeShift. Though not decentralised, it's anonymous and immune from tradition hacks on customer funds as the exchange doesn't hold any.
Excellent write up, as always! I do think decentralization (on so many levels) is the future.
There is, however, own fatal flaw I see in any decentralized approach: USD
While we still believe the myth of authority, we follow government decree concerning which tokens of value human beings are allowed to use. If someone wants to get into crypto and out of fiat, can any of these decentralized exchanges help them? What solutions (is localbitcoins all we have?) exist for this? For those USD exchanges which are unfortunately centralized due to legal requirements, why as customers, are we not demanding more publicly verifiable proof of reserves mechanisms?
essentially, he's saying the USD is being used now because of the value of its FAMILIARITY. people are already familiar with the instrument of a dollar, so it's the most easily-relatable thing for them to compare these cryptos with.
in time, things can shift - but for now, using such a comparative/pegged model is a simplification tool to help new users who aren't highly financially literate to get into the game.
as to your other questions, I'm really not sure. the decentralized exchanges could help keep off the Fed map to a degree - though inevitably, opting out altogether would require more merchants accepting cryptos.
I suppose the closest now would be to send Steem (Dollars) to a decentralized exchange, from which you could spend via a Bitcoin/crypto debit/credit card - though there's still that final conversion taking place as it goes into the merchant's account.
i'm also curious about the answers to those questions of yours...
I enjoyed that video as well. Because I run a company supporting 2k+ merchants, and I've been into crypto for three and a half years trying to get them onboard, I get how myopic our views on crypto adoption can be. Most people, unfortunately, don't care at all. I think the USD peg is brilliant and will certainly help, but I've been discouraged over the years trying to facilitate mass adoption. Hopefully Steemit can help with that too. Ultimately, for new people to join up, they need to exchange USD for crypto or they need to build the entire supply chain in crypto (vendors, employees, customers all demanding payment in crypto). That requires stability and trust. I hope posts like this can help people find more trustworthy, decentralized solutions.
Good point.
Conventional centralized exchanges are still necessary to trade Fiat into Crypto.
They are the "friction point" between both worlds, and despite their flaws, unfortunately they will still be around and needed for a long time to come.
hmmm. I haven't been trading alot of pairs at higher amounts, so haven't experienced any issues with volume. I guess it depends on which pairs you're trading.
are you still trading on centralized exchanges, or which of the decentralized options have you found have the greatest volume?
Unfortunately still centralized, I use bittrex atm. But I'm gonna give bitsquare a shot one of these days, hoping it'll pick up. Still searching for the one... :)
For me there is only one functional and fully operational exchange and that is the bitshares DEX and the best wallet provider so far is Open.ledger. Whether you choose as your wallet provider Open.ledger or freedomledger or soon moonstone or another Chinese one I think called btsabc all are based on bitshares technology. With bitshares DEX you can convert your bitcoins to bitbtc and know that they will be worth at least the equivalent btc.
bitbtc is the decentralized btc derivative. That is the decentralized asset. Open.btc is the IOU of the btc from Open ledger. If you have bit.xxxx assets whether they are bit.btc, bit.gold, bit.usd, bit.cny etc then your funds are secured (unless you are targeted, hacked, lose your password etc..) but definitely more secure than holding your cryptos in external exchanges..
Great research and thanks for the plug for MegaX @rok-sivante! Yes the Bitshares platform is a great decntralized exchange platform! (BTW one slight edit, I wasn't a co-author of the Steem 101 book... you probably just saw me plugging it before). Thanks again!
You seem to have left out WAVES - it has the biggest budget I think at $15m raised from the ICO.
One of the central platforms they are developing is a decentralised exchange and asset trading platform. Ask @fyrstikken - he said that "if Bitcoin is the replacement for money then WAVES is the replacement for Dao Jones" - or something along those lines.
Ha ha, thanks for the reminder!
Funny... Waves was my second crypto investment, though I actually didn't fully understand it - and my attention turned all over to Steemit so haven't kept up at all with their developments, other than seeing their asset price tank.
Is it still in development or functional? Have you used it already? Looking promising?
Looks to be finally getting going now. It was disappointing at first. I would urge you to follow the Slack for the latest updates (ask Twiggy Smile in Bitcointalk if you need an invite - DM him). I think it could actually prove to be very big.
I have given up on Bitcointalk for now. Too many trolls and idiots and it is too easy to get swept up in their empty headed arguments about why the coin hasn't done an x100 already. They don't understand that a truly stable and secure platforms take a long time to develop.
No guarantees of course - it's crypto but they are about to release the full nodes and asset exchange platform together and it is getting close.
As I understand it they are finished and undergoing security testing. That has been the main reason for delays.
Given the amounts of money that could be floating around on the WAVES platform they don't need a theft or security breech.
I commend them for taking security so seriously because the pressure to rush on this was immense given the amount of money involved.
They are also going to have Bioviva - the worlds most controversial anti-ageing bitotech company as one of the first companies to use the crowd funding part of the platform.
That should get it big media attention when it happens.
Whatever you think of Bioviva they know how to make headlines.
I'm glad I held on to my tokens:)
Thanks for the excellent updates.
I was subscribed to the Slack chat, but too much to keep up with all that and Steemit and everything else. I appreciate this insight of yours.
Sounds like might be worth throwing in an extra bit of investment into while the price is so low...
My thinking too. Sadly I don't have any free Bitcoin any more:)
Worth mentioning AFAIK BitSquare is the only one that can deal with fiat currency and all those messy bank payment methods that it entails.
Worthy mention is also ShapeShift. Though not decentralised, it's anonymous and immune from tradition hacks on customer funds as the exchange doesn't hold any.
Thanks for the input!
OpenLedger also has Fiat deposit and withdrawal. You can trade fiat against any other asset inside.
Excellent write up, as always! I do think decentralization (on so many levels) is the future.
There is, however, own fatal flaw I see in any decentralized approach: USD
While we still believe the myth of authority, we follow government decree concerning which tokens of value human beings are allowed to use. If someone wants to get into crypto and out of fiat, can any of these decentralized exchanges help them? What solutions (is localbitcoins all we have?) exist for this? For those USD exchanges which are unfortunately centralized due to legal requirements, why as customers, are we not demanding more publicly verifiable proof of reserves mechanisms?
there was a key point @andrarchy brought up partially related to this concern in this last video of his...
essentially, he's saying the USD is being used now because of the value of its FAMILIARITY. people are already familiar with the instrument of a dollar, so it's the most easily-relatable thing for them to compare these cryptos with.
in time, things can shift - but for now, using such a comparative/pegged model is a simplification tool to help new users who aren't highly financially literate to get into the game.
as to your other questions, I'm really not sure. the decentralized exchanges could help keep off the Fed map to a degree - though inevitably, opting out altogether would require more merchants accepting cryptos.
I suppose the closest now would be to send Steem (Dollars) to a decentralized exchange, from which you could spend via a Bitcoin/crypto debit/credit card - though there's still that final conversion taking place as it goes into the merchant's account.
i'm also curious about the answers to those questions of yours...
I enjoyed that video as well. Because I run a company supporting 2k+ merchants, and I've been into crypto for three and a half years trying to get them onboard, I get how myopic our views on crypto adoption can be. Most people, unfortunately, don't care at all. I think the USD peg is brilliant and will certainly help, but I've been discouraged over the years trying to facilitate mass adoption. Hopefully Steemit can help with that too. Ultimately, for new people to join up, they need to exchange USD for crypto or they need to build the entire supply chain in crypto (vendors, employees, customers all demanding payment in crypto). That requires stability and trust. I hope posts like this can help people find more trustworthy, decentralized solutions.
Good point.
Conventional centralized exchanges are still necessary to trade Fiat into Crypto.
They are the "friction point" between both worlds, and despite their flaws, unfortunately they will still be around and needed for a long time to come.
Bitsquare directly accepts SEPA transactions. And the US equivalent, I guess.
I'll check it out, thanks.
While I'm sure you'll score by ending with Openledger/Bitshares, it's disappointing that you don't mention the complete lack of volume there, too.
hmmm. I haven't been trading alot of pairs at higher amounts, so haven't experienced any issues with volume. I guess it depends on which pairs you're trading.
are you still trading on centralized exchanges, or which of the decentralized options have you found have the greatest volume?
Unfortunately still centralized, I use bittrex atm. But I'm gonna give bitsquare a shot one of these days, hoping it'll pick up. Still searching for the one... :)
well people gotta use it in order for volume to pick up...
Thank you, Captain O. ;)
For me there is only one functional and fully operational exchange and that is the bitshares DEX and the best wallet provider so far is Open.ledger. Whether you choose as your wallet provider Open.ledger or freedomledger or soon moonstone or another Chinese one I think called btsabc all are based on bitshares technology. With bitshares DEX you can convert your bitcoins to bitbtc and know that they will be worth at least the equivalent btc.
bitbtc is the decentralized btc derivative. That is the decentralized asset. Open.btc is the IOU of the btc from Open ledger. If you have bit.xxxx assets whether they are bit.btc, bit.gold, bit.usd, bit.cny etc then your funds are secured (unless you are targeted, hacked, lose your password etc..) but definitely more secure than holding your cryptos in external exchanges..
Wow! So many of them!
Thank you for this review, @rok-sivante! You obviously put a lot of time and effort into this post!
I imagine there's probably more in the works, though these seem to be the ones most out in the open and accessible at this point.
yea, took some proper focus and energy pulling this all together. :-)
Great research and thanks for the plug for MegaX @rok-sivante! Yes the Bitshares platform is a great decntralized exchange platform! (BTW one slight edit, I wasn't a co-author of the Steem 101 book... you probably just saw me plugging it before). Thanks again!
Ah, my bad... thanks for the correction!
I'll vote for OpenLedger
awesome thank you rok
your welcome.
Thank you for posting. For now I'm going to still utilize GDAX but never keep coins on there.
I suppose that's another workaround - using a centralized exchange for trades, but pulling out onto the blockchains' wallets for storage...