Category: Crypto Introduction

2020年8 月 27 日，一个新的“Uniswap+流动性挖矿”项目 SushiSwap 上线。而就在几天时间内，Sushiswap 就席卷整个 DeFi 圈。

在带大家了解 Sushiswap 前，有必要先给大家简单介绍一下 Uniswap。

Uniswap 是一个去中心化交易所，当然，你也可以把它看做是一个自动存取款机。加密货币交易者（我们称之为流动性提供者或“LP”）会把自己的代币都存入到这台「自动存取款机」里，之后这些加密货币就像是一条条「小鱼」似的在这台机器里到处游弋，这些游来游去的「小鱼」只有一个目的：进行代币交换。

让我们假设一位代币持有人将 ETH 代币和 LINK 代币存入了这台「自动存取款机」，完成存款操作之后，这位代币持有人会得到第三个代币——也就是所谓的流动性池代币：ETH / LINK-Pool-Tokens。这个代币其实是由 Uniswap 提供的，用于表示这位代币持有人所拥有的流动性。这位代币持有人被允许使用这些流动性池代币支付 Uniswap 上的交易费用，最重要的是，所有流动性池代币都是可以移动的。

而 SushiSwap 的设计逻辑既刺激投资者把资金提供给 Uniswap 资金池，又把大批 Uniswap 流动性吸引至 SushiSwap。在此驱动下，Uniswap 锁仓资金破 14 亿美元，Uniswap 交易量超过 Coinbase，其中 SushiSwap 锁仓资金在短短 4 天内超过 10 亿美元。

SushiSwap 协议设计

1

为流动性资金提供者提供激励

许多人可能自然会想到的一个问题是： “为什么有人要为 SushiSwap 提供流动性，而不是 Uniswap？”

使用 Uniswap，流动性提供者只有在他们提供流动性时才赚取资金池的交易费。一旦他们撤回资金池中自己的资金，将不再获得相应的收入。此外，随着协议越来越受欢迎，风投基金，交易所，矿池等（更大，更富裕）资金者陆续加入协议，早期流动性提供者的收益会被摊薄。

而有了 SushiSwap，你可以向资金池中提供流动性，并以 SUSHI 代币的形式获得奖励。但与 Uniswap 不同，即使你决定不再提供流动性，那些 SUSHI 代币也将使你有权继续赚取一部分 SUSHI 协议的交易费用。作为帮助提高流动性的早期流动性提供者，你会成为该协议的重要利益相关者。

你从抵押中获得的收益将与你投入的 LP 代币数量与 LP 代币总数成正比。除非你继续提供流动性，否则你的持股量和相应的奖励收入将逐渐被摊薄。

2

代币分配

很多人都是 Uniswap 资金池中现有的流动性提供者。因此，SushiSwap 设计了代币分配机制，以使现有的 Uniswap 流动性提供者尽可能容易地开始迁移到 SushiSwap。

想为 SushiSwap 提供流动性并获得 SUSHI 代币，持有 Uniswap LP 代币的任何人都可以将这些 LP 代币放到相应的初始资金池列表中。SushiSwap 在区块高度 10750000 开始奖励。可以根据链上管理添加合格的 LP 代币列表。每个人都可以做出决定。

每区块将生成 100 个 SUSHI 代币。这些代币将平均分配给每个支持资金池的抵押者。

注意，对于前 100000 个区块（约 2 周时间），产生的 SUSHI 代币的数量将为以后的 10 倍，也就是说每个区块中生成 1000 个 SUSHI 代币。这是为了激励早期农民和参与者，并为 The Liquidity Migration 提供帮助。

3

初始资金池：

CeFi 稳定币：USDT-ETH,USDC-ETH

DeFi 稳定币：DAI-ETH,sUSD-ETH

贷款协议：COMP-ETH,LEND-ETH

合成资产：SNX-ETH,UMA-ETH

预言机：LINK-ETH，BAND-ETH

庞氏经济学：AMPL-ETH，YFI-ETH

美味佳肴（2 倍奖励）：SUSHI-ETH

SUSHI/WETH 资金池获得两倍奖励，因此请把你的 SUSHI 放到 Uniswap 里，从而有资格获得额外的奖励。SUSHI 启用后，社区可以投票添加更多资金池，或更改资金池的 SUSHI 权重。

4

奖励分配

使用当前的 Uniswap 配置，任何资金池中所有交易费用的 0.3％将按比例分配给池子的流动性提供者。在 SushiSwap 中，0.25％直接流向活跃的流动性提供者，而剩余的 0.05％直接转换回 SUSHI （显然是通过 SushiSwap）并分配给 SUSHI 代币持有者。

5

确保项目可持续性（开发资金）

为确保项目的长期可行性和可持续性。根据 LawMaster 的建议，每次 SUSHI 分发的 10％被留下作为开发和将来迭代，包括安全审核。

6

The Liquidity Migration

前 100000 个区块（大约 2 周）之后，SushiSwap 将迁移所有抵押在 SushiSwap 合约上的流动性代币。此迁移将涉及获取在 SushiSwap 上抵押的所有 Uniswap LP 代币，在 Uniswap 上赎回原来的代币，放到 SushiSwap 流动资金池上。这些新的 SushiSwap 资金池将与标准 Uniswap 资金池几乎相同，其新功能是，将把 SushiSwap 上产生的交易费用分配给 SUSHI 代币持有者。

迁移完成后，转换后的流动性将为第一批 SushiSwap 资金池提供燃料，并将使该协议立即生效。抵押者不需要做任何事情，可以继续提供流动性从而获得 SUSHI 代币奖励。

社区正在进行投票添加更多流动性资金池。

SushiSwap 推广

在协议和智能合约级别，SushiSwap 与 Uniswap 共享相同的接口。这意味着，如果你的协议当前与 Uniswap 兼容，则与 SushiSwap 集成应该很简单。SushiSwap 团队将与各种 DeFi 和其他生态系统工具一起集成 SushiSwap。

Sushi 挖矿教程

1、登陆 https://app.sushiswap.org （注：SushiSwap 从 Yam 借用了大部分 UI 代码）。

2、点击 unlock wallet，连接钱包（metamask 等，MetaMask 是一款浏览器插件钱包，不需下载安装客户端，只需添加至浏览器扩展程序即可使用。）

3、点击 menu 进入，以 Sushi-ETH Uni-V2 LP 代币为例（其他 Uni-V2 LP 代币操作和 Sushi-ETH Uni-V2 LP 一样）。

4、选择进入，批准存入 MasterChef 合约，完成。

5、如果你没有 Sushi-ETH Uni-V2 LP 代币，需要把 Sushi/ETH 提供给 Uniswap Sushi-ETH 资金池。

6、进入 Uniswap，选择 Swap。

7、买入 Sushi，Sushi 合约地址：0x6b3595068778dd592e39a122f4f5a5cf09c90fe2

8、现在你已经有了 Sushi，可以为 Sushi-ETH 资金池添加流动性。在 Uniswap 选择 Pool，点击 Add Liquity。

按当前比例添加 Sushi-ETH 流动性，确定后你会获得 Sushi-ETH Uni-V2 LP 代币。

9、回到步骤 3、4 抵押 Sushi-ETH Uni-V2 LP 代币。

现在你就是 Sushi 农民了，坐等收益。

By 区块链24小时

6月26日，麦佳（化名）知道的受骗者已经达到了21人，“统计下来的被骗金额已经到了1500万。”

2个月前，麦佳落入了一个以谈恋爱为名的数字货币“杀猪盘”骗局。她从婚恋网站上认识的一名男子，一步步引导着她进入了一个数字货币交易APP。3天时间里，她亏损了70多万元，其中大部分为贷款。当初和她在微信上规划未来的男子消失了，而交易APP后来再也无法打开。

据蜂巢财经了解，与麦佳有类似遭遇的女性多达20名，她们因为在社交平台上曝光被骗经历而联系到彼此。受骗者分布在全国多个城市，她们分别从相亲名片、珍爱网、百合网等婚恋平台上接触到陌生男子，在对方网聊的嘘寒问暖中，被诱骗至黑平台上操作数字货币搬砖套利或期货交易。

这些黑交易平台多以手机APP形式存在，全部为测试版本，受骗者被爆仓亏损后的半个月到一个月内便无法打开。

6月27日，新京报报道了《婚恋平台“杀猪盘”调查》，揭露了婚恋平台上实名账户的黑产链条。近几年，婚恋平台成为“杀猪盘”温床，以往诈骗者多以投资理财和赌博设骗局。如今，数字货币交易也成为陷阱之一，感情骗子们借由婚恋平台、社交软件“养猪”后，将女性引入黑数字交易平台“杀猪”。

麦佳们痛恨欺骗了她们感情的那些男人，但更现实的疼痛来自于各自背负的数十万元的贷款债务。她们再也不敢相信任何陌生人，“数字货币”这几个字也成了他们的集体噩梦。

嘘寒问暖间引导下载黑平台

2个月前的那场噩梦将麦佳推向了抑郁的边缘，她一边吃药调整，一边努力工作，50多万元的贷款压得她喘不过气，而那个自称方浩文的男子再也没有回复过她的消息。

她和方浩文是从婚恋网站世纪佳缘上认识的，4月13日，两人互加微信，开始了线上沟通。方浩文自称35岁，单身三年，有北京户口，和朋友合伙经营一家互联网公司，居住在北京朝阳区芍药居附近。

当天，仅用了下午5个小时的时间，方浩文就用“霸道总裁”般的人设规划起和麦佳的未来，并要求麦佳和他一起卸载婚恋APP，美其名曰“从一而终”。

“现在想来，应该是为了他后续玩消失铺路。”之后的3天里，麦佳从对方编织的甜蜜中堕入梦魇。

就在当天晚上，麦佳向方浩文了解他的工作时，对方称，他的副业是区块链，“我做的是区块链小幅度涨跌幅双向收益。”随后发来一张数字货币期货交易的K线界面图。

麦佳知道比特币，去年还用个人电脑尝试挖过比特币，“纯体验，我知道它可以用来买卖、投资，但是太贵了，我不会去买，就挖着玩。”至于期货，大学时辅修过财会专业的麦佳略微知道期货交易的机制，“买多一个标的，涨了赚钱；买跌，就是跌了赚钱。”这些经验，都让麦佳觉得自己和方浩文多了一个微信聊天的话题。

方浩文在与麦佳的沟通间歇，常会告诉她“要去看一下走势”。麦佳为了持续双方的话题，也会在方浩文回到线上后问问他投资的情况。

一来一回的微信沟通中，方浩文开始向麦佳灌输投资数字货币可以实现“钱滚钱的赚钱之道”。当天晚上8点，方浩文说要带着麦佳体验一把。他甩给她一个火币交易所的APP下载链接，开始一步步引导她注册，一来一回的截图、画图，他引导她在火币的OTC交易区下单了价值2000元的275个USDT。USDT是一种锚定美元发行的币圈主流数字货币，麦佳记得，当时一个USDT价值7.25元左右。

方浩文引导购买USDT，麦佳表露过拒绝之意

麦佳向蜂巢财经提供的聊天记录显示，这期间，她一直以“不太会弄，下次再操作吧”、“先观望一下，不着急买”为由试图婉拒，但耐不住对方“做一件事情不要轻易放弃”的鼓励，以及“你做事情喜欢半途而废吗”的质问。

“当时就是为了给他留下一个好印象，了解一个他喜欢的事。”出于此种考虑，麦佳选择按方浩文说的“尝试一下”，没想到就此进入了对方的圈套。

准备好USDT后，方浩文引导麦佳下载、注册了一个名为IMF的所谓数字货币搬砖套利平台，之后几乎是手把手地教她把275个USDT从火币充入了IMF，并要求她用250USDT在IMF上买入LTC的看多期货合约。

仅5分钟，方浩文带着麦佳做的这单交易盈利了66 USDT，价值478元。对方还教她从IMF把USDT连本带利提回火币，卖成人民币。

也正是能把本金和收益变现这一步，让麦佳对这种投资多了些许信任，“至少投进入钱都能到手。”而这一步在方浩文之后两天引导麦佳的操作中，被对方以“提来提去太麻烦”为由而省略了。

一天内70万元资金爆仓归零

4月14日，麦佳在方浩文嘘寒问暖、憧憬未来的甜言蜜语中，提出再做一次操作。他称，有两波走势不错，通过计算出来的数据显示适合操作2万USDT和5万USDT，“收益下来都是本金的20%左右，我们一起做5万USDT的吧。”这一次，麦佳在方浩文引导操作下，以5000 USDT投入赚取了12%左右的利润。

很快，方浩文提出了次日一起操作“本金8万USDT下来收益在1.2万到2.6万USDT”的交易。

为了凑这8万USDT，麦佳不仅拿出了这几年20多万元的积蓄，还被对方催促着从银行、支付宝及微信等平台的借贷产品上借出了50多万元，“4月15日下午4点到5点期间多，这70多万元分批从火币买完USDT后，充进了IMF，总共10.34万多USDT，做多了QTUM，交割时间选了1天。”

在黑平台做单一日全亏 

4月16日下午4点，麦佳如同经历了一场噩梦，“全亏了，IMF上我的账户里只剩40多个USDT，这些也根本无法提到火币上。”而方浩文同时告诉她，他也亏了。

欠着50多万贷款的麦佳着急了，希望方浩文能借些钱给她，先帮她还部分贷款。此时，对方告诉麦佳，他的现金流断了，在想办法凑钱继续做单，把两人亏了钱都赚回来。

一切都开始变得不对劲起来。麦佳催促方浩文帮她解决还贷问题时，对方反而埋怨她不关心他；当她提出见一面时，对方称“没脸见”；她索要他的电话号码时，对方以各种理由死活不给。

麦佳此时才发现她根本不了解方浩文这个人，“他住哪，电话，甚至名字是不是真的，我都不知道。”从网上一搜，她意识到，自己这是碰上婚恋“杀猪盘”骗局了。

此后，她多次联系方浩文见面，但对方均拒绝。4月24日上午，麦佳斥责对方为骗子后，方浩文再也没有回复过她的信息。

5月11日，那个叫IMF的交易平台软件也无法打开了。

多个黑平台已无法打开

如果不是上网搜索，麦佳不会知道，和她一样由婚恋网站而落入数字货币“杀猪盘”骗局的人不在少数。 

5月11日，也就是她发现IMF软件无法打开后，她联系到在网上曝光类似经历的另一名受骗者，“当时我只知道有10个人被骗。”接下来的一个多月里，彼此联系的受骗者人数不断增加，截至6月26日，包括麦佳在内已经有21人，“全部都是女生，只有1人有过炒币经验，其他人在受骗前，都没投资过数字货币。”

据蜂巢财经了解，21名受骗者分别来自北京、深圳等多个城市，经统计，汇集起来的被骗金额超过了1500万元，多数人遭遇了被对方引诱着从银行或网络平台上贷了款的情况。 

她们相互沟通后发现，几乎所有人都经历了相同的套路：在婚恋网站上与陌生男子相识，没多久，聊天就从婚恋平台上转移到微信等通讯工具上，“杀猪者”获得她们的信任后，开始在日常沟通中透露出自己在做数字货币投资或搬砖套利中赚过大钱，提出带着女生体验，诱骗她们在火币、OKEx等知名数字资产交易平台上购买USDT，然后再引诱她们将真金白银买来的USDT充入一些黑交易平台。

所有被诱骗的女性起初都有小小盈利，之后“杀猪者”开始以高本金投入、高回报的话术包装，引诱她们投入更多的USDT，在她们爆仓亏损后，这些原先向她们展示过光鲜背景的男子或再也不回复信息，或将她们拉黑了事。而那些黑交易软件也会在短期内出现打不开或再也下载不了的问题。

受骗者被诈骗的平台包括ABS Group、IMF、Morgan Stanley等平台，这些平台无一可通过正常的APP商店下载，下载地址多为私有链接的测试版。其中，在ABS Group软件上被骗的女性人数最多，有些人还经历了一个软件失效后又被引入另一个黑软件上继续被割的遭遇。

IMF黑平台界面

李乔（化名）就是在ABS Group上被骗走了将近14万元。4月3日，她在微信小程序“相亲名片”上认识了一名男子。认识他之前，李乔从未听过数字货币。“因为是以恋爱为前提交往的，他骗取了我的信任，让我投资时，我是极不情愿的，但是为了跟他在一起，才会去迎合，没想到是骗局。”

麦佳也对蜂巢财经表示，她从不是一个胡乱投资的人，虽然日常生活中也有理财经历，但钱都是放在余额宝之类的平台获得固定的利息，最多买买银行推出的保本付息的理财产品，“我是一个对钱、投资特别保守的人，就是因为想和他有一个可以相互沟通的话题，才一步步配合他。”麦佳如今想来，与方浩文每日的聊天中，对方都会有意无意地透露他投资数字货币的爱好，“逐渐被渗透了。”

婚恋平台存实名制漏洞

无论是麦佳还是李乔，受骗者们落入陷阱的第一步便是婚恋平台，涉及到的平台包括相亲名片、珍爱网、百合网。她们中有一些人加到的“杀猪者”，原本在婚恋平台上显示为实名。但在女生们被骗后，当她们找平台索要诈骗者的信息时，遭遇了重重障碍。

麦佳提供的信息显示，方浩文在世纪佳缘上显示的正是实名。在对方骗了她消失后，世纪佳缘上的方浩文也消失了。她曾将自己的遭遇反映给世纪佳缘平台，希望能通过平台获得方浩文的个人信息，但平台客服告诉她，因为双方的沟通从平台转移到了微信，所以无法提供帮助。 

6月27日，新京报发布了《婚恋平台“杀猪盘”调查》，揭露了婚恋平台上实名账户买卖的黑产链条。据报道，QQ等社交平台上，存在买卖婚恋平台实名账号的群组，一个账号的售价在100元-450元不等。

据新京报报道，一些账号虽然是实名认证，但真实使用者和账号认证者并不是同一人。有送餐平台的跑腿小哥称，他曾接到寻找某个年龄段小哥的单，实际联系后，有自称婚恋平台工作人员的下单者会花钱找接单者，但事实上，他们的真实身份是从事实名账户售卖的人员。售卖者让接单小哥用他们个人身份证信息注册珍爱网、世纪佳缘等婚恋网站，“靠跑腿一个月挣几千的我，成了月入数万的成功人士。”曾被安排注册的跑腿小哥说。

从事婚恋平台实名账号销售的人员称，这些账号大多卖给了做“杀猪盘”的人。设骗局的人多数转移到了东南亚，他们买好账号在平台上“引流”，通过加微信或QQ添加好友后“养猪”再“杀猪”。有销售百合网、真爱网实名账号的人员透露，一些实名认证账号，一般使用两三天就被封，“但这已经很不错了，你知道这几天能引流多少人吗？一天能几十人。” 

出现这些现象后，各个婚恋网站上审核实名认证的流程也广受诟病，这些平台成了“杀猪盘”骗局的引流温床。

过去几年，见诸报端的“杀猪盘”骗局多存在于境外的赌博网站或理财黑平台。从2019年开始，数字货币也成了“杀猪盘”设骗局的泛滥之地。

相比赌博网站入金靠法币转账，数字货币交易平台的入金多了一道币流程，充入这些黑平台的价值币存储在一串随机生成的数字加字母表示的地址中，尽管这些地址可以在浏览器中用于追踪查询币的转移流向，但地址的所有者的真实身份则因为数字货币交易的匿名性特点而得隐匿。 

有区块链安全机构人员向蜂巢财经介绍，他们也曾处理过相关被骗案的地址追踪溯源，查到过被骗资金去哪里变了现，但最终还是需要警方介入才能追查到诈骗者是谁的问题，此类“杀猪盘”案件的处理，仍需要受害者先报警。

麦佳自被方浩文骗了之后，她出现了抑郁倾向，需要靠药物才能睡得着觉。这场“杀猪盘”骗局让她失去了对人的信任，“每次微信上有陌生人加我，我都会觉得恐惧，连现实生活的中的陌生人都不敢多搭话。”而将麦佳拖入现实的深渊的还有她身上背负的巨额债务。

李乔的网上“男友”消失后，她陷入了自我质疑中，“都是我自己不好，太相信人了，没有把自己放在第一位，总是为别人考虑。”与人为善、站在别人立场上想问题的价值观，放在正常的社交生活中原本都是好品质，如今成了她落入圈套的致命弱点，“很难再相信别人了。”

当币圈创业的交易平台们绞尽脑汁营销引流，指望着新人入场将行业圈层向外再拓展一圈时，骗子们捷足先登，将数字货币投资的小白们率先扼杀在了骗局里。

By 问道-蜂巢财经

比特币交易所由于在国内不被承认，所以都没有做到合规，这就导致币圈新用户选择交易所经常遇到不靠谱的交易所，而不靠谱的交易所经常会有非常大的危险，杀猪盘屡禁不止：

• 跑路：创世团队携款跑路，你放到里面的数字货币就都取不出来了，所以这是非常危险的。
• 被黑客攻击：这也是非常危险的，小交易所由于技术不好，不重视技术，导致非常容易被黑客攻击，而一旦被黑客攻击，小交易所是没有很多钱的，所以也就只能倒闭，作为用户放到里面的数字货币也就都无法使用了
• 各种暗黑操作：比如有的交易所在你提币时让你交税，20%的税，这已经很高了，太坑了。还有的交易所根据你的操作来在背后暗地里操作，故意爆你的仓位，导致你损失资金。

以上只是不靠谱交易所的冰山一角，他们还有很多办法让你损失资金。

所以，币圈用户一定要选择靠谱的交易所，作为在币圈呆了5年的老人，只推荐国内三大交易所，火币、OKEx、币安。

如上图是三大交易所的全球排名，他们每天的赚的手续费都有很多钱，所以完全没有作恶的必要，买卖数字货币选择这三个交易所就可以了。

点击注册火币网Huobi

点击注册币安网Binance

点击注册OKEx

除了这三大交易所没有作恶的必要，其次他们的产品用户体验也非常好，UI优美，交互合理，拥有APP、web端、电脑客户端等全平台客户端，在哪里使用都非常方便。

By ToTheMoon-人人都懂区块链

Monero (XMR) is a cryptocurrency which focuses on being untraceable and private. Its design differs from Bitcoin’s in a few key ways, but it should be understood as a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin – it can be used to buy and sell things, and can be exchanged for other  coins or tokens.

So Monero XMR is a cryptocurrency focused on privacy and anonymity. Bitcoin is actually pseudonymous and BTC transactions are still traceable, but XMR transactions can be fully anonymized like physical cash. It is a fork of Bytecoin, the original privacy coin.

Of course, each physical dollar has a serial number on it that’s traced by FDIC-insured banks and governments. But it’s not necessary to see someone’s bank account balance to accept their dollar bill. In the same way, retailers only need to verify you have enough to cover your transaction when you use a debit or credit card.

Monero uses ring signature cryptography to reduce the amount of information used in cryptocurrency transactions. This gives the sender and receiver of XMR transactions the ability to verify the transaction in privacy.

Strong encryption, a streamlined blockchain, and infinite supply make Monero a strong privacy coin with a solid future ahead of it. Before diving into the nuts and bolts of the project, let’s look at the crypto market performance of the Monero XMR crypto coin.

XMR’s Crypto Market Performance

The peak price of XMR so far was $494.16, which occurred on January 6, 2018. As mentioned above, there’s no total supply cap, but over 16,500,000 XMR are in circulation.

Like BTC, XMR is a Proof of Work cryptocurrency. Unlike BTC, however, it uses a variation of the CryptoNote cryptocurrency mining algorithm, which making it more CPU-friendly. In fact, Monero continues updating its blockchain protocol to be ASIC resistant, much to the chagrin of ASIC rig manufacturers like Bitmain. It hard forked in both 2017 and 2018 in its war on ASICs.

Monero opposes ASIC mining because of its centralization of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are now moving toward Proof-of-Stake. It spent much of 2017 and 2018 continuously upgrading both ASIC resistance and privacy on the network. These are great signs of development support in a blockchain market filled with vaporware.

This caused a lot of Monero forks, including Monero Original (XMO), Monero 0 (ZMR), Monero Classic (XMC), and MoneroV (XMV).

Monero is traded on a variety of cryptocurrency markets, including Bithumb, Binance, HitBTC, Poloniex, Bitfinex, and CoinEx. It has a ton trading pairs, including BTC, BCH, USDT, LTC, ETH, EOS, DASH, and even fiat currencies like USD and EUR. Over $25 million worth of XMR is traded on a daily basis.

The Monero community built wallets for pretty much every OS, and a hardware XMR wallet is on the way. In addition, third-party wallets like Cake Wallet, Monerujo, My Monero, and Ledger’s hardware wallets support XMR.

Behind the Veil of Anonymous

Anonymity online is a hot-button issue that’s important for everyone. Every time you log in to your Samsung device using Google’s OS to connect to AT&T’s network and browse Amazon’s app, a lot of hands are touching, monitoring, and even selling your data and habits. Tech-savvy people use VPNs, proxies, and TOR networks to avoid being traced.

However, financial transactions and other personal information were used to track people centuries before we walked around with the internet in our pockets.

Using XMR for dark-web transactions, you have the best chance at anonymous online transactions…at least that’s what they say.

Monero aggressively defends its platform’s privacy, pointing out a CryptoNote bug that affects privacy coins like Bytecoin. But privacy and anonymity online are never guaranteed, even with Monero’s dedication.

Monero still uses a similar two-key authentication method for transactions on other blockchains. It just adds an extra step. Your public key is used by the sender to generate a random one-time key, and the receiver uses a private key to receive. Brute-forcing such a system would be difficult, even with quantum computing, but no matter how much you encrypt an individual transaction, metadata holds answers.

This is where ring signatures come in to make things even more difficult. Essentially every output also has multiple false outputs to trick the system. Picture the most complicated bank vault you ever saw in a major Hollywood movie, multiply by ten, and this is what Monero promises.

Tor traffic has long been monitored by government watchdogs like the NSA using the Navy’s powerful networking tools. And even reducing transactions to minimal data hasn’t stopped researchers from reportedly using big-data analytics to trace over 80 percent of XMR transactions on the Monero blockchain.

While the actual transaction itself is being veiled, all the contextual information around it can help pinpoint transactions. In addition, if your private key is compromised, someone could trace all your individual transactions, so it’s vital you keep your private Monero key secure.

Still, the anonymous core development team led by Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni and David Latapie built a lean, secure, and efficient blockchain-based cryptocurrency. He’s also quick to point out shortcomings in other crypto projects like BAT.

Disparaging the security of a system like Monero isn’t exactly fair, as it’s still more secure than most blockchains and at least as secure as systems used by Bank of America, Visa, Wall Street, and other financial institutions. It’s using government-grade encryption, and that’s good enough for now.

Privacy coins are in the crosshairs of regulators, and even though transactions can be secure on their blockchains, most market trades are required to be logged.

Monero Summary

Monero XMR is a privacy coin that forked from Bytecoin to become one of the highest ranked cryptocurrencies by market cap. It’s widely used in darknet marketplaces instead of Bitcoin because it promises anonymity instead of pseudonymity. Monero’s success depends on these key factors:

• Monero XMR uses ring signatures to mask randomly-generated authentication keys and keep transactions both secure and slimmed down to only pertinent information.
• Mining XMR can still be done on home PCs. In fact, the Monero community aggressively upgrades its network to remain ASIC resistant.
• Monero has a lot of trading pairs, making it easy to get into and out of. This accessibility will help it maintain high trading volumes for years to come.

So long as Monero and privacy coins like it don’t come under regulatory fire, XMR is a solid cryptocurrency that’s seen a lot of use since its inception. An active development team and community make this privacy coin one to watch for years to come.

门罗币的起源要追溯到2014年，当时有一位极客为了改善比特币的匿名性，发布了一个CryptoNote协议，不久之后，基于这个协议诞生了首个匿名币——字节币（Bytecoin）。

与比特币相比，字节币的匿名性更好，更注重隐私保护，因此，一经推出，也受到不少极客的热捧，几周后，字节币的GPU矿机诞生。

但很快有些人发现，开发者竟然预挖了82%的代币！这在崇尚去中心化的数字货币世界，无疑会遭到许多人抵制的。

于是，社区直接对字节币进行硬分叉，2014年4月18日这天，门罗币正式诞生，英文名称为Monero，简称 XMR 。

与比特币类似，门罗币同样采用了工作量证明机制 ( POW )，但没有采用 SHA-256算法，而是 CryptoNight 算法。

在比特币中，由于区块链账本的公开及可追溯性，任何一个人都可以通过比特币区块链浏览器的公开信息，顺藤摸瓜查出来所有和它有往来关系的比特币账户，因此，比特币的匿名性并非是无懈可击的。

门罗币则采用了环签名和混淆地址的方式来保证匿名性。其交易不仅隐藏交易双方地址，而且还可以隐藏交易金额，默认情况下交易细节完全不可见，隐私性极强。所谓环签名，就是当一笔交易发生后，系统自动生成几组同额度当交易，通过这种“真假混合”的方式，让你根本查不出来到底这个币去了哪个地址。

此外，门罗币没有上限。

不同于比特币有总量上限（2100 万），门罗币会一直通胀下去，但每区块的挖矿奖励会逐渐降低直至 0.6 门罗币（预计发生在 2022 年下半年，当前的每区块挖矿奖励约 2.5 XMR）。

比特币平均每 10 分钟一个区块，门罗币平均每 2 分钟一个区块，区块没有固定的大小限制。为了防止矿工通过超大区块堵塞系统，门罗币设置了一个挖矿奖励惩罚机制（Reward Penalty）：

每一个新生成的区块，如果超过了 300000Bytes，而且还超过了最新的 10 万个区块大小的中位数（去年 3 月份分叉之前，是最新的 100 个区块大小的中位数），就会受到区块奖励减少的惩罚。

门罗币隐身的秘诀

门罗币运用了三大技术，分别是：环签名、混淆地址、环机密技术。

在交易环节，主要涉及［发送方］［接收方］［交易额度］三个数据，门罗币对应的三项技术，正是从这三个角度着手。

环签名 – 发送方，不可追踪性

打个比方，大家联名上书提意见的时候，怎样让外界难以猜测发起人是谁？上书人的名字可以写成一个环形，环中各个名字的地位看上去彼此相等，因此难以猜测发起人是谁。假设，A发送门罗币给 B，设定混淆交易数量为5。网络在转账时会自动生成5笔转账交易，除了A发送给B的这笔，另外的4笔都是用来瞒骗外界观测者的“诱骗交易”，这样达到隐匿发送方的目的。

混淆地址 – 接收方，不可关联性

混淆地址是为了打破输入输出地址之间的关联，以此隐匿转账的来去关系。每当发送者要发起一笔转账的时候，这笔资金不会直接打到接收方的地址，而是打到一个系统临时生成的地址。例如，A向B转账时，A作为发送者用B的公钥私钥加上一些随机数，生成一个独一无二的、一次性的地址，系统给这个临时地址转账。A和B自己都能看到这个临时地址，但都不知道地址里的钱属于谁。

那么B怎么知道有人给自己转账，怎么收到这笔钱呢？B的钱包会用私钥进行搜索功能，查看区块链上的临时地址是否有属于自己的钱。当B的私钥（仅有接收方B自己的私钥能够）识别出自己有权认领的临时地址，就能使用这笔钱。

环机密 – 交易金额的隐匿

在A向B转账时，在 RingCT 的交易中, A 不会直接公开给网络转账的金额，而是提供一个数字rct，作为交易金额输出。rct= 随机数 + 真正的交易金额。随机数是用来为真实金额遮盖的，由钱包自动产生。网络可使用这个rct值去验证交易输入是否等于交易输出的金额，以确认没有额外的 Monero 被伪造产生。 然而，对于其他人而言，无从得知实际交易金额。

对抗矿霸

门罗币天生为了不公平而战斗。

2018年，比特大陆推出了门罗币ASIC矿机，门罗币开发团队立马表示抵制，并不惜用硬分叉修改算法，以防止ASIC大范围抢占矿机生态。

为什么抵制ASIC？ASIC矿机的算力非常强大，如果大家都买ASIC，就容易被供应商控制，或者比特大陆自己成本价用ASIC挖，那又回到算力独大导致所谓中心化的问题了。

门罗币社区的激烈反应令比特大陆始料未及，如果新版的算法不支持ASIC矿机，那么ASIC矿机将成为一堆烂铁。

作为曾经叱咤加密货币市场的王者，比特大陆自然不能坐视不理。

2017年曾推动比特币分叉，并产生比特现金，这次故伎重演。

比特大陆马上招募技术团队，对门罗币进行分叉，于是门罗经典(monero-classic)诞生，门罗经典支持ASIC矿机，比特大陆一再宣称，门罗经典才是正统。

但就在分叉后不久，门罗经典由于缺乏社区支撑，最终江河日下，一蹶不振。

相反，门罗币就像一个战士，越战越勇，目前在市值20亿美元，排名 14 。

资料来源：https://www.bixiaobao.com/cn/coinlist/monero

在门罗币的官网上可以看到，门罗币目前一共有 7 名核心开发者，此外，自门罗币创始以来已经超过500名开发者为其贡献代码，从这点来看，门罗币社区确实十分强大。

为了对抗矿霸与黑客，门罗币平均每六个月就升级一次算法，门罗币最初使用的是CryptoNight算法，后来在对抗ASIC矿机中升级了RandomX算法，在对抗黑客的过程中加入了防弹协议（bulletproofs）。

门罗币的监管风险

门罗币的匿名性既是其最大的优势，也是其最大的弱点。隐匿有价值，但它也可以使非法活动不受惩罚，加大了监管的难度。

2018年3月，Coincheck称将下架 XMR、DASH 和 ZEC 三大匿名加密货币。另外许多韩国与日本的交易所也相继下架诸如 XMR、ZEC、DASH 等等这些具有匿踪匿名传输与交易功能的货币，据推测，这些举措和政府监管有关。

除了监管问题外，门罗币的隐私保护措施也并没有那么强大。WIRED杂志早些时候发表了一篇关于门罗币隐私弱点的文章，来自不同大学的研究人员指出了门罗币的交易混合算法中的缺陷，该缺陷破坏了其无法追踪的特性。针对这些问题， 门罗币的开发人员对门罗币进行了定期和持续的改进。不过， 隐私不是一蹴而就的，会是一场持久的战斗。

不可否认，门罗币在不牺牲去中心化的情况下为加密货币引入了隐私，使用创新技术来确保交易不可关联，无法追踪，并且发送的金额被隐藏起来，还是值得肯定的。目前门罗币的开发人员也在针对存在的扩展性、被黑客攻击以及数据滥用等问题进行改进，但是政府的监管还是不能忽视的不确定因素。

参考资料：

1.门罗币价格：https://www.bixiaobao.com/cn/coinlist/monero

2.维基百科：门罗币

3.门罗币官网：www.getmonero.org

4.市后诸葛《门罗币：你有矿机你有钱，我换算法还不行吗？》

5.白话区块链《门罗币是什么》

By 链得得-币小宝

Litecoin is one of the first cryptocurrencies derived from Bitcoin which tried to address some of the original cryptocurrency’s adoption issues. Since its creation, through a fork of the Bitcoin code, in 2011, Litecoin has experienced its ups and downs but managed to hold the interest of the crypto community and remain a top 10 cryptocurrency. Even so, it faces stiff competition from other protocols such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV in its positioning as a viable protocol for mass on-chain transactions.
 

Beginnings

Litecoin (LTC) is a peer-to-peer digital currency based on a decentralized, open source blockchain network. It was created in 2011 by the MIT graduate and former Google employee Charlie Lee.

Lee designed Litecoin based on the Bitcoin code and protocol, with some modifications that he believed addressed certain barriers to its wider adoption. Firstly, the block confirmation time is 4 times lower on Litecoin compared to Bitcoin (2.5 min vs. 10 min) which allows Litecoin to confirm transactions much faster. Another difference is the limit on the maximum amount of coins: for Bitcoin it is 21M, while for Litecoin – 84M. Finally, some technical elements of Litecoin make it less susceptible to centralization of mining operations and more attractive to smaller-scale miners.

Litecoin was one of the first altcoins to spring from the Bitcoin protocol. It was initially marketed and is still often referred to as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold”. Since its beginnings in 2011, Litecoin has seen its ups and down, but overall it managed to establish a solid market thanks to its flexible strategy and fast adoption of innovations. In 2017, Litecoin was a first-mover in adopting Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network. Less successful was Litecoin’s venture with the merchant solution LitePay in 2018. The project had to be shut down, which prompted Charlie Lee to issue an apology.

The development of the Litecoin project is overseen by a non-profit Singapore-based Litecoin Foundation, with Charlie Lee as a managing director. Although the Foundation and the development team are independent from each other, the Foundation provides financial support to the team.
 

Uses

Litecoin functionality is overall quite similar to Bitcoin, i.e. it is meant to be a digital currency which is free from any centralized influence. The LTC philosophy is formulated by the Litecoin Foundation on their website, “We Believe That When It Comes To Your Money, You Deserve 100%”. The statement generally refers to the promises common to most cryptocurrencies: constant availability and absolute control of the funds by the owners, and the accessibility to everyone.

LTC can be purchased on any major crypto exchange, and stored in digital wallets, specialized hardware, or crypto custody providers. Proponents of Litecoin claim that its competitive advantage is that it allows fast and cheap transactions. Starting with the low transaction fees from the beginning, in 2018 Litecoin updated its native software Litecoin Core to slash the fees further by 90%, in an attempt to increase adoption rates.

Speed and low fees should make it attractive for individuals to use Litecoin for peer-to-peer transfers and digital purchases, and for businesses – as a payment system. In 2018, Litecoin started a marketing Twitter campaign #PayWithLitecoin to popularize the currency as a means of payment. However, the list of businesses accepting it remains limited.

As most crypto assets, LTC experienced some serious price volatility since it started trading. The price has reached its peak above $300 in the end of 2017. During 2020, LTC was mostly trailing just below the $50 mark. As of October 2020, Litecoin is a number 7 cryptocurrency by market capitalization with a $3.6B market cap (for comparison, Bitcoin’s market cap is $256B).
 

Outlook

In 2020, one of the most interesting trends in Litecoin development is the work on MimbleWimble.. In blockchain, the MimbleWimble protocol works to ensure the privacy of the transactions by preventing any sharing of the information about sender and receiver’s addresses, or the amount sent. Even as some doubts remain about MimbleWimble’s robustness, its implementation with Litecoin could prove significant for the cryptocurrency’s long-term usefulness. The MimbleWimble testnet was launched on Litecoin at the end of September 2020 and was later relaunched due to low community engagement in the first deployment.

Another interesting development that could influence the future of Litecoin is its venture into the gaming industry. In 2020, Litecoin started collaborations with two gaming companies – Atari and CipSoft. Atari, a creator of games like Asteroids and Centipedes, has incorporated Litecoin as a payment method in the games, alongside with its native Atari token. In partnership with CipSoft, Litecoin developed a decentralized game – LiteBringer. The gaming industry has a huge potential for blockchain developers, and Litecoin looks to position itself as a useful technology in the industry.

On the whole, Litecoin’s development and usage trails that of other top ten cryptocurrencies as the industry grows beyond a simple focus on payments and looks towards the wider horizons of Web 3.0.

By BitcoinSuisse

狗狗币的崛起正应了李笑来说的“傻逼的共识也是共识”。其实这个世界的真相是“傻逼的共识才是共识”。

狗狗币的创始人一个是营销狗Jackson Palmer，一个是码农Billy Markus，因为看不顺眼比特币被少数人垄断，这两人就做了一个发行量高达1280亿枚的狗狗币，让2100万枚的比特币在它眼里就是个小case。

狗狗币在全世界的走红有以下几点原因：

第一，好币种,要有好作者,很多山寨币，作者都不敢公开出来。可以说跟本找不到作者，或是作者本人，也只是想打一炮就走人，像国内的一些山寨币，偷挖现象非常严重。创始人Jackson Palmer和Billy Markus一直在认真推广狗狗币，在开创之初就把狗狗币定位为电子货币来发行。

第二，好币种，必需有一个好的文化背景，在小费文化的大背景下，狗狗币作为电子货币，诞生于2013年12月12日，比特币现在的价格比较高，所以更便宜的Dogecoin受到欢迎。其上线仅一周的时间，便成为第二大的小费货币。他们希望脸书能够接受Dogecoin，现在，脸书已经正式接受狗狗币做为打赏货币，这样你的朋友不仅可以点赞，还可以顺便给你点小费。Palmer也提到，Dogecoin并不像比特币那样，人们并不是为了投机才参与其中，这是一种表达分享和感恩的方式。

第三，好币种，要有比较大的成交量，我在C网上发现，狗狗币的成交量，自从上线以来，一直都是排在第一位。超过其它所有山寨币包括莱特币的成交量，只有成交量大，流通性好。才有可能成为一种货币。而且，狗狗币在所有币挖完后，每年，还有50亿狗狗币的币产出，1年后通涨是5%。20年后通涨是2.5%这样，有一定的通胀。才更符合人类货币的规律。在14年7月中旬减半以后，狗狗币的实际通涨比BTC和LTC都小。适当的通涨会稳定货币价值，不会造成通货紧缩。因为，货币在流通过程中，有可能出现其它原因，如自然丢失等，造成丢币的情况。

第四，好的币种，要有相应的应用在支持，目前来说，所有的山寨币，只有狗狗币，和比特币一样，有自己电脑钱包和手机的安卓钱包，狗狗币也有推出U盘钱包，狗狗币，狗狗币已经推出ATM机。,狗狗币的矿机也已经推出,这样的话,从挖矿交易平台和ATM机,一条完整的产业链就会出现.一个完整的产业链，才会吸引到更多的大资金来关注。

第五，狗狗币，自从推出以来，一直有大的新闻媒体在关注，并支持，从推出到现在，才用了不到3个月的时间，就在算力上已经稳定在第三，交易量，一直排在全球前三名，钱包下载量也是全球第一，狗币人气在Twitter.facebook关注人数分别排名第1和第2 ,国内与狗狗币相关的QQ群个数，百度贴吧，新闻曝光度等综合 排名第2,狗狗币人气也远远超过了所有的山寨币。比特币,莱特币,狗狗币形成三币天下的格局.BTC用来储备或大额消费，LTC和狗狗币用来流通或小额消费。

第六，狗狗币，在国内有成立中国狗狗币协会，为推动狗狗币的发展发挥巨大的力量.中国狗狗币协会官网www.chinadoge.cn。有中文论坛论坛http://www.dogebbs.com，狗狗币资讯网http://mydoge.org/。目前国内比较活跃的QQ群有：340816166 ，101375418, 341817239。而其它的山寨币，大部分只有炒作，没有应用支撑，交流的地方都没有。另外，狗狗币做为和互联网游戏相结合的电子货币，以狗狗币做为游戏币的游戏已经正式推出。狗狗币和游戏相结合，会成为是狗狗币的另一个主要应用。

详情请戳江恩-巴比特

The cryptocurrency Dogecoin was created as a joke but eventually found a purpose as a more friendly, approachable alternative to Bitcoin. The Dogecoin community has catapulted DOGE to cult status. Today it is often used as an entry-point into the crypto world. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on Luckycoin (which is, in turn, based on Litecoin). Dogecoin was originally designed to be a more approachable alternative to Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies. As such, there aren’t any groundbreaking features that set Dogecoin apart from the pack. The cryptocurrency hasn’t seen any major updates since 2015 (although it is able to benefit from improvements to the Litecoin code). The true value of Dogecoin lies in the strong and vibrant community that sprung up around it.

Six Interesting Facts About Dogecoin

• Dogecoin was originally founded as the result of a joke made by Jackson Palmer in November 2013. When he was contacted by programmer Billy Markus, they decided to turn Dogecoin into a reality.
• Dogecoin was designed to be a friendly, more approachable form of cryptocurrency that could reach users put off by the cold complexity of Bitcoin. Even its name is taken from a popular Internet meme.
• Dogecoin has one of the largest and most active communities in the cryptocurrency world. This community has come together to fund a number of charitable efforts and other projects. They even managed to sponsor a NASCAR.
• One of the most common uses for Dogecoin today is as a tipping service. Users will tip other users for posts or contributions that they believe deserve recognition. It’s similar to a “like” but with more impact.
• There have been no technical updates or developments since 2015 when Jackson Palmer left the project by declaring that he was going on an “extended leave of absence”.
• In 2021 Dogecoin saw a major price surge thanks to an influx of users chasing GME style highs. This run was given a further boost when Elon Musk began tweeting about Dogecoin, calling it the “cryptocurrency of the people”.

What’s Different About Dogecoin? The main thing that separates Dogecoin from most other cryptocurrencies is that it is an inflationary, rather than deflationary, cryptocurrency.

When a cryptocurrency, like Dogecoin, is inflationary, it means that there is no maximum limit to the number of coins in circulation. Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies are designed with a hard supply cap of coins. The potential problem with this is that once the cap is reached it may no longer be profitable for miners to continue to sustain the system. This would either lead to unacceptably high fees in order to encourage miners or very long transaction times as there would be no incentive to process network transactions.

Miners Are Rewarded With Dogecoin

Dogecoin’s creator sought to solve this problem by ensuring that miners would always be rewarded with new Dogecoin and so there would always be an incentive to mine more coins. An inflation-based approach was also designed to replace lost coins and keep Dogecoin at a stable 100 billion coins.

More details on Commedity.com

Kevin Voigt

The value of Bitcoin broke all records in February 2021.

The spot price to buy a bitcoin — the world’s first and most popular digital currency — briefly rose above $58,000 on February 21. (For context, the cryptocurrency’s all-time low is from 2013, when it was priced at $67.81.) With such a meteoric rise, many are wondering: What, exactly, is Bitcoin, and where does it get its value? Years from now, will we talk about the Bitcoin boom and bust periods as we do about the Gold Rush? Or, will it become a staple in a diversified investment portfolio and a common way to buy a pizza?

For the most part, the jury’s still out. But the past 10 years have given us a better indication of the role Bitcoin might play in the portfolios of retail investors and large institutions alike.

Definition: What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was launched in 2009 and is regarded as the first cryptocurrency. It’s a decentralized form of digital cash that eliminates the need for traditional intermediaries like banks and governments to make financial transactions. Still feeling a little confused? Don’t worry, that’s normal.

Fiat money (like the U.S. dollars in your bank account) is backed and regulated by the government that issues it. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is powered through a combination of peer-to-peer technology — a network of individuals, much like the volunteer editors who create Wikipedia — and software-driven cryptography, the science of passing secret information that can only be read by the sender and receiver. This creates a currency backed by code rather than items of physical value, like gold or silver, or by trust in central authorities like the U.S. dollar or Japanese yen.

“What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party,” wrote Satoshi Nakamoto —  the pseudonym of the mysterious Bitcoin creator, who remains unknown — in a white paper introducing the open-source technology. It’s come a long way since then, now accepted as payment by AT&T, the Dallas Mavericks and Wikipedia, among others.

» Ready to buy? See NerdWallet-reviewed brokerages that offer Bitcoin.

How does Bitcoin work?

Each bitcoin (trading symbol “BTC,” though “XBT” is also used) is a computer file stored in a digital wallet on a computer or smartphone. To understand how the cryptocurrency works, it helps to understand these terms and a little context:

• Blockchain: Bitcoin is powered by open-source code known as blockchain, which creates a shared public ledger. Each transaction is a “block” that is “chained” to the code, creating a permanent record of each transaction. Blockchain technology is at the heart of more than 6,000 cryptocurrencies that have followed in Bitcoin’s wake.
• Private and public keys: A bitcoin wallet contains a public key and a private key, which work together to allow the owner to initiate and digitally sign transactions, providing proof of authorization.
• Bitcoin miners: Miners — or members of the peer-to-peer platform — then independently confirm the transaction using high-speed computers, typically within 10 to 20 minutes. Miners are paid in bitcoin for their efforts.

» Learn more: What is cryptocurrency? 

How does Bitcoin make money?

Bitcoin value follows the law of supply and demand — and because demand waxes and wanes, there’s a lot of volatility in the cryptocurrency’s price.

Besides mining bitcoin, which requires technical expertise and an investment in high-performance computers, most people purchase bitcoins as a form of currency speculation — betting that the U.S. dollar value of one bitcoin will be higher in the future than it is today. But that’s difficult to predict.

Storing your bitcoins: Hot wallets vs. cold wallets

Bitcoins can be stored in two kinds of digital wallets:

• Hot wallet: Digital currency is stored in the cloud on a trusted exchange or provider, and accessed through a computer browser, desktop or smartphone app.
• Cold wallet: An encrypted portable device much like a thumb drive that allows you to download and carry your bitcoins.

Basically, a hot wallet is connected to the internet; a cold wallet is not. But you need a hot wallet to download bitcoins into a portable cold wallet.

Buying Bitcoin: The pros and cons

With a speculative asset class like bitcoin, it’s better to start with why you should be wary:

Bitcoin: The cons

• Price volatility. The 2017 spike in Bitcoin’s price was driven by speculators rushing into the bitcoin market, as NerdWallet staff writers discussed at the time. The recent gains are good news if you bought Bitcoin in December 2018; those who bought in 2017 when Bitcoin’s price was racing toward $20,000 had to wait until December 2020 to recover their losses.
• Hacking concerns. While backers say the blockchain technology behind bitcoin is even more secure than traditional electronic money transfers, bitcoin hot wallets have been an attractive target for hackers. There have been a number of high-profile hacks, such as the news in May 2019 that more than $40 million in bitcoin was stolen from several high-net-worth accounts on cryptocurrency exchange Binance (the company covered the losses).
• Limited (but growing) use. In May 2019, telecommunications giant AT&T joined companies such as Overstock.com, Microsoft and Dish Network in accepting bitcoin payments. But these companies are the exception, not the rule.
• Not protected by SIPC. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation insures investors up to $500,000 if a brokerage fails or funds are stolen, but that insurance doesn’t cover cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin: The pros

• Private, secure transactions anytime — with fewer potential fees. Once you own bitcoins, you can transfer them anytime, anywhere, reducing the time and potential expense of any transaction. Transactions don’t contain personal information like a name or credit card number, which eliminates the risk of consumer information being stolen for fraudulent purchases or identity theft. (Keep in mind, though, that to purchase bitcoins on an exchange, generally you’ll first need to link your bank account.)
• The potential for big growth. Some investors who buy and hold the currency are betting that once Bitcoin matures, greater trust and more widespread use will follow, and therefore Bitcoin’s value will grow.
• The ability to avoid traditional banks or government intermediaries. After the financial crisis and the Great Recession, some investors are eager to embrace an alternative, decentralized currency — one that is essentially outside the control of regular banks, governing authorities or other third parties. (However, to buy Bitcoin on an exchange with U.S. dollars, you’ll likely need to link your bank account.)

Where can I buy Bitcoin?

There are four ways to get bitcoins:

• Cryptocurrency exchanges. There are a number of exchanges in the U.S. and abroad. Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., trading more than 30 cryptocurrencies.

» Learn more: Read our Coinbase review

• Investment brokerages. Robinhood was the first mainstream investment broker to offer Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (Robinhood Crypto is available in most, but not all, U.S. states). Tradestation, eToro and Sofi Active Investing also offering cryptocurrency trading in most U.S. states.

• Bitcoin ATMs. There are more than 7,000 bitcoin ATMs in the U.S. (search Coin ATM Radar to find one near you).
• Peer-to-peer purchases. True to its original spirit, you can buy bitcoins directly from other bitcoin owners through peer-to-peer tools like Bisq, Bitquick and LocalBitcoins.com.
• Bitcoin mining. You can earn bitcoins through mining, but the technical expertise required and computer cost puts this option out of reach for most.

Should you buy Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is an incredibly speculative and volatile buy. It’s worth remembering that stock trading can give you a similar thrill — and picking stocks of established companies is generally less risky than investing in Bitcoin. (A good rule of thumb is to devote less than 10% of your overall portfolio to individual stocks or speculative assets like Bitcoin.)

» Read our top picks for best online stock brokers

What online brokers offer Bitcoin?

Of the online brokerages and cryptocurrency exchanges that NerdWallet reviews, the following currently offer Bitcoin.

	Available for:	Learn more
Coinbase	Access to buy and sell more than 30 cryptocurrencies.	Read review
eToro	Trading platform with access to 15 cryptocurrencies.	Read review
Robinhood	Seven cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum.	Read review
SoFi Active Investing	Offers three cryptocurrencies for trading: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.	Read review
TradeStation	Offers trading for five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum.	Read review
Webull	Offers four cryptocurrencies for trading: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.	Read review

* These providers are NerdWallet advertising partners.

Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.

NFT (Non Fungible Token) 是一种基于区块链技术的数字货币，只不过相对于比特币的无差别、可互换(就像每张毛爷爷都一摸一样），每一件 NFT 都是独一无二的。比如说，这个世界上只存在一条 Jack Dorsey 于 2006 年 3 月 22 日 4 点 50 分发出的推特，将其制作为 NFT 后，除了其本身，再没有绝对意义上与其等价的物品。（相当于每一张毛爷爷都是独一无二的纪念币）

互联网时代的一切都能够通过复制粘贴，拷贝出无数份，而 NFT 则制造出一种人为的稀缺，并通过这种稀缺获得价值。换句话说，NFT 不仅包括作品本身，更附带有无法伪造的创作者认证信息，稍微类似于亲笔签名。买家购买的不是作品的版权或是使用权，而是能够证明「我确实买了这么个东西」的数字凭证。所以NFT的收藏价值被各路投机者所看好。