Monday 30 July 2018

THE WOMEN INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCY

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Research from eToro, a cryptocurrency exchange, indicates that the cryptocurrency market has been male-dominated, with women making up only 8.5% of all investors while men account for 91.5%. Others have estimated the number of women investors and users of cryptocurrency to range between a mere 1% to 5%. This gap mirrors the general lack of women in tech and finance.
According to senior business analyst Agnes de Roeyer of the London Block Exchange, that trend could now be changing:
“There’s still a common misconception that cryptocurrency is a game for men, but we’ve seen hundreds of women sign up for our exchange in the last few months and some of the most inspiring and knowledgeable investors, leading the way in the industry are female.”
It will be interesting to see how having more women in the crypto space could shape the industry. According to Perianne Boring, founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a D.C.-based trade association for the blockchain industry: “...people don’t understand what Bitcoin is. The perception is skewed, and it won’t be accepted as a legitimate technology unless we find a way to get this imbalance sorted.”

BARRIERS TO WOMEN PARTICIPATION 

Unfortunately, raising money has been a tall hurdle for women founders. According to a Babson College report from 2014, just 6% of partners at VC firms are women, and only 15.8% of startups worldwide have at least one female founder. And when it comes to venture capital, women have been getting only a fraction of what male founders are given. This has resulted in an imbalance of power that has even played out in abusive ways.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are presenting a way to bypass this imbalance. Through ICOs, the public funds new projects so that entrepreneurs do not need to rely on just investors to raise capital. This method is showing much promise, especially with the successful funding of $3.6 billion in ICOs in just this past year. One of the largest raises this year— the $232 million ICO of Tezos — was co-led by a woman. Although ICOs might not be for everybody, Boring thinks that they “can allow for the democratization of ideas.”

CRYPTO GAINS TRACTION WITH WOMEN 

The good news is that female involvement in cryptocurrency is growing steadily. In 2017, four of the 30 cryptocurrency ventures that led the largest fundraising rounds had female co-founders, double the number of women leading the 30 technology companies with the largest initial public offerings last year, according to Bloomberg. And in just the past 6 months the amount of women who are interested in investing in cryptocurrency has increased more than twofold from 6% to 13%.
“There are Women in Bitcoin groups popping up all over the world, with more established branches in San Francisco and New York boasting 381 and 986 members respectively. Some female cryptocurrency investors also see blockchain technology as a solution to common financial problems that women face, such as raising money to start a tech business."
A report from UK cryptocurrency exchange London Block Exchange that conducted market research shows that the cryptocurrency industry is most popular with millennial women. It could also be possible that women would invest differently from men, as the research suggests that women take a more strategic approach; they are being shown to be 50% less likely than men to suffer from a “fear of missing out” (FOMO), suggesting they would make fewer decisions based on impulse or an emotional urge to act in the moment.
Lastly, the report indicates that women are more collaborative than men, which is potentially tied to having a twofold greater likelihood of consulting with friends and family about any potential investments compared to men, who are statistically more likely to act independently. In reality, there is a wide range of characteristics and tendencies among women alone, and among men themselves; the likely scenario is that there will be varying investment behaviors among either group, but widening the pool of citizens involved in shaping the evolution of digital currency would help shape a financial system that benefits everyone in society.

WOMEN TO KNOW IN CRYPTOCURRENCY 

While the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency has been deemed a man’s game thus far, Connie Gallippi, the founder of the first Bitcoin nonprofit BitGive, notes that there have actually been many women in it all this time, but the problem is that “they’re just not given the same level of exposure or recognition.” Margaux Avedisian, one of the first influential female bitcoin leaders, mirrors Gallippi’s sentiments on how the industry should be giving more recognition to women’s accomplishments. While the Polycon18 conference hosts a Women in Blockchain panel, this is a segregated group and a limited audience.
When it comes to Cryptocurrency conferences, the lineups are almost exclusively all-male speakers — a trend that has frustrated Gallippi enough to send conference organizers lists of qualified and talented women in the space who they could leverage for their events. Avedisian has also argued that there are plenty of women with years of experience whose insights would benefit a much wider audience — one that is not limited to just women. For example, the founders of the two biggest ICOs — Bancor and Tezos — are females. Surely, they have insights that would benefit men just as much as women. Especially since, according to Gallippi, women are filling some of the top posts in cryptocurrency.
Below are some of the names that everyone should know in the cryptocurrency game

MARGAUX AVEDISIAN

Executive vice president at Transform Group LLC and partner and co-founder at CooLPool Fund, Avedisian was among the first female bitcoin leaders to gain influence in 2012. Since then, she has co-founded multiple cryptocurrency exchanges.

ELIZABETH ROSSIELLO

Rossiello, who is running one of the most widely known companies in the cryptocurrency space, has been viewed as a model of the potential that the cryptocurrency revolution holds worldwide. She founded a foreign exchange, and payment platform in Africa called BitPesa in 2013. The company uses bitcoin and blockchain technology to make faster payments between African currencies and the rest of the world with greater ease. It's an evolution on what mobile money is today. Rossiello had a lot of momentum in raising capital after a successful series-A round of funding, which also saw a healthy amount of participation from billionaire investor Tim Draper. Today, BitPesa is in seven African countries, Europe, and the U.K.

KATHLEEN BREITMAN

The co-founder and CEO of Tezos, Breitman raised a record-setting two hundred and thirty-two million dollars for her cryptocurrency project during a public crowdsale last July. The idea for Tezos was sparked by her frustration with the “glacial pace” that it took for Bitcoin to evolve. Tezos presents a solution to this by giving voting power to everyone who owns “tezzies”— the system’s coins— so they could democratically choose upgrades to the network. Breitman and her husband had been iterating on this idea for years before she finally made the plunge to leave her day job as the senior strategy associate and go all in on this venture. Since then, she has developed most of the company protocol and provided the brawns to overcoming challenges such as lawsuits and a feud with the president of the foundation.

TAVONIA EVANS

She has created $GUAP, a new cryptocurrency that is specifically designed for black consumers. It rewards spending behaviors that keep the money circulating in an ecosystem of black-owned businesses. Additionally, all $GUAP transactions will be available for analysis on a public blockchain. This will allow Evans to build insights on the ways in which black consumers spend their money and the spending power that black consumers have at-large. Now, her greatest challenge is getting consumers to adopt the new currency.

CONNIE GALLIPPI

The founder of BitGive, the first nonprofit in bitcoin, Gallippi got the idea for her venture at a bitcoin conference in 2013. Her “aha” moment was noticing that the cryptocurrency world needed a philanthropic organization. Today, BitGive is the number one place to go if you have Bitcoin and you want to donate some of your digital cash to charity.
Most recently, Gallippi is aiming for even greater impact with a new platform called GiveTrack. The platform, which will live on the BitGive website, holds charities more accountable for the donations they receive through Bitcoin technology. It will use bitcoin’s public records of all transactions to reveal how money that has been donated is truly spent.

AMBER BALDET

Excited by the potential for social good with blockchain, Baldet left her eight-year career at J.P. Morgan to work on a startup developing software for businesses exploring blockchain. She has not yet made a formal announcement about the new company and has kept quiet about any other details.
During her time at J.P. Morgan, Baldet helped the firm to recognize the importance of Bitcoin and the movement in cryptocurrency, and she helped lead the Blockchain Center of Excellence for over two years. In that time, she was exposed to “a breadth of perspectives,” including startups, investment banks, central banks, and hardcore blockchain developers, which will now prove to be invaluable in her new venture.  

TESS RINEARSON

When Rinearson learned about the game-changing potential of bitcoin, she decided that she wanted to help shape this future. She then made it her goal to get a job at Chain, a company that partners with other organizations like Visa and Nasdaq to build blockchain networks for their financial services. Currently, an engineering manager at Chain, Rinearson works on developing Sequence, a product that takes the blockchain technology and securely puts it in the cloud. With women accounting for only 26 percent of Chain’s employees, the male domination of the industry stays top of mind for Rinearson. She is committed to encouraging more women involvement. Her projects include working with high school girls through Girls Who Code to educate them about bitcoin and teaching a program at the MIT Media Lab about blockchain technology. Her blog on medium also translates the complexity of blockchain and cryptocurrency into layman terms to make the industry more accessible.
Other women to watch out for in the crypto industry include Galia Benartzi, Meltem Demirors, and Elizabeth Stark.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If cryptocurrency and blockchain are the future of our financial system, then it is even more crucial that the people developing this system are an accurate representation of the global society for which they are creating — that means involving both men and women.
According to Elizabeth Stark, the CEO of Lightning Labs, which has recently launched a cutting-edge software designed to make Bitcoin transactions faster, cheaper, and more private: “There’s a massive opportunity here to change the global financial structure, to change a lot of ways that society interacts with technology... And it is crucially important that women participate.”
In Stark’s view, today’s blockchain technologies are similar to the early times of the Internet:
“Women need to be building this new frontier... There’s way too much of the prior generation of the Internet that was not built by a diverse group of people... I want to see broader participation... broader perspectives contributing to better problem-solving.”

Digital Currency Regulations Should Be Among Congress’s Top Priorities, Says Prominent Lawmaker

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Regulations within the crypto industry needed

Bill Huizenga, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, recently stated that lawmakers should become more proactive in regulating the “muddied and fairly opaque” digital currency market, especially digital tokens trading and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
A contender to head the committee should his party retain control of the House, Huizenga said on Thursday that Congress should come up with a regulatory framework to protect crypto investors. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is tasked with regulating the options and futures market, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), would get powers to oversee the process. He said this during an interview at his Capitol Hill office.
However, the main challenge lies in classifying cryptocurrencies. This classification will have a significant impact on how they are going to be regulated.
Classifying them as a currency would subject them to a different set of rules than categorizing them as a stock. Their tax filings would be done differently, for example, and different entities would be allowed to trade in crypto.
However, cryptocurrencies’ multifaceted and decentralized nature makes them hard to regulate. This development comes in the wake of a growing number of hacks and scam ICOs backed by little more than rhetoric, leading to substantial losses among investors.
Consequently, lawmakers on both sides of the divide are pushing for greater transparency within the industry, a move that would see major investments come in. Transparency would also give digital currencies greater legitimacy.
Huizenga, who heads the Financial Services capital markets subcommittee, said that he will address this issue next year if he is appointed the chairman. He and other lawmakers will be contesting for a shot at heading the panel, which oversees the U.S. banking and financial sector.
The news coincides with a major development within the crypto and capital markets scene in the form of a Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) proposal rejection by SEC.
According to SEC, the application filed by Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. (BZX) proposing to trade Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust shares was rejected due to the lack of sufficient evidence proving that bitcoin and its market is resistant to manipulation.
The SEC also found the traditional fraud measures outlined in the proposal were not enough to support an affirmative conclusion.
According to the commission, the proposal failed to share information related to surveillance-sharing agreements between BZX and a significant regulated market that deals with bitcoin. These measures are to prevent fraud and price manipulation.
Had it been approved, the ETF would have been the first of its kind in American history.

SEC Commissioner Supports Digital Currency ETF

Following the SEC rejection, SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce published a statement of dissent in regard to the ruling. He termed it as stifling to progress in the cryptocurrency market, which needs more regulated industry players to achieve wider acceptance and growth.
In his view, BZX should have been allowed to proceed with the ETF, adding that the commission’s focus was not on the shares when considering the fraud deterrent measures, but on the bitcoin market itself.
He argued that the SEC move would subsequently deter innovation in the nascent industry.
This article by ELIZABETH GAIL was originally published at "CoinCentral.com: https://coincentral.com/lawmaker-pushes-for-digital-currency-regulations/

Monday 23 July 2018

AMAZON JOINS THE BLOCKCHAIN INDUSTRY WITH KALEIDO

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In what has been referred to as the age of blockchain, more innovative applications continue to emerge. New needs are arising, and large corporations have been jumping on the bandwagon for a chance to fulfill those needs. This is evident in the formation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, made up of companies that have adopted Ethereum in one way or the other. Such companies include J.P.Morgan, Mastercard, and even Microsoft.

Many asked the question of whether Amazon would also make its grand entrance into the industry. Finally, that question can be answered and all doubts can be laid to rest. Amazon has officially carved a place for itself in the blockchain industry through its cloud subdivision —Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS will be partnering with Kaleido — a new startup by ConsenSys, the blockchain platform. The partnership aims to create ease-of-access for the implementation of blockchain technology by enterprises and businesses.

KALEIDO BLOCKCHAIN BUSINESS CLOUD PLATFORM

For the progression and mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain as a whole, it is vital that enterprises begin to adopt these technologies. Blockchain is an incredibly complex concept which is still changing. As such, so much work is still going on in the field concerning structure and security. This makes it difficult for businesses to create fully customized private blockchains on their own. The partnership seeks to solve this particular problem.

The Kaleido blockchain business cloud platform will simplify and speed up the use of blockchain for business and customers. It will also run on the AWS marketplace and ensure that companies can experiment with blockchain creation.

According to a press release by Amazon, “Kaleido provides a full solution for those ready for something more than do-it-yourself scripts or templates, streamlining the process of standing up secure, private blockchain networks without sacrificing the ability to customize the environment. The private networks offer all the benefits of the underlying blockchain technology while maintaining the necessary levels of security and performance.”

WHAT DOES KALEIDO DO?

Kaleido was created explicitly for enterprise and business owners looking to diversify. For this reason, it focuses on specific problems that this target market faces. According to Kaleido co-founder Steve Cerveny, the simple platform is mainly focused on helping users of Amazon Web Services to use blockchain networks. These are some of the solutions that Kaleido offers.

Kaleido eliminates the performance and security issues that enterprises face when participating in shared blockchain networks. It provides an excellent way for enterprises to carry out onboarding of their members. The simple platform will allow all members to have easy ways to participate in the blockchain and will reduce the amount of time enterprises spend onboarding members.

Blockchain technology is filled with so many technical terms and complex concepts that can be difficult for the average person to understand. Kaleido simplifies the entire blockchain process by doing most of the back-end work. This way, users only have to set their preferences to create their private networks.

HOW DOES KALEIDO WORK?

Consensus is the backbone of blockchain technology, and without it, the process cannot truly be decentralized. Kaleido is structured in a way that users can easily choose which consensus mechanism they would rather use. Options like RAFT, Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT) and Proof-of-Authority (POA) are available. The platform also offers two blockchain protocols that users can choose from.

Geth Protocol
This is an open source Ethereum blockchain protocol which also implements a pluggable consensus engine. Geth is one of the most popularly used implementations of nodes on the Ethereum platform. The protocol also supports the proof-of-work and proof-of-authority consensus as well as several others. Kaleido currently runs Geth version v71.7.3 nodes.

Quorum Protocol
Quorum is an open source blockchain protocol by J.P.Morgan which enables enterprises to create and use smart contracts. It was designed by modifying the Geth protocol to make it more enterprise-based.

The Quorum protocol is mostly used on a private blockchain network where a single member owns all nodes. For example, a company's private blockchain where its employees and clients interact with smart contracts.

It was also designed for situations where several enterprises each own their portions of the network. For example, corporations that have partnered together but are not merged may share a network. Some essential features of Quorum include:
  • Flexibility: Quorum supports multiple consensus options including RAFT and IBFT.
  • Peer Permission: The Quorum protocol offers options for peer permission configuration. This type of configuration ensures that all nodes are listed in a permission list. As a result, no foreign nodes can add blocks to the blockchain. An example of this situation is one in which high-level clearance is needed to view and manipulate the contracts.
  • Transaction Privacy: Nodes on networks where Quorum is used can easily address and send private transactions. These transactions can be sent to only specific nodes without other nodes viewing the messages. This is a necessity in enterprise-owned blockchain networks where information is classified according to clearance level.

CONSENSYS AS A DRIVER OF BLOCKCHAIN INNOVATION

It comes as no surprise that ConsenSys facilitate Amazon's foray into the blockchain scene. The platform has been an avid force in the development of Ethereum-based applications and start-ups.

Since 2014, it has made it its goal to revolutionize the way Ethereum is applied to businesses and society. In 2015, ConsenSys released Ethereum Blockchain As-A-Service (E Baas) with the use of Azure, a Microsoft cloud-powered service. The project was an early attempt to combine blockchain and business. It provided users with tools that would help them to build their blockchain apps.

Kaleido, however, is a significant improvement on E Baas in terms of functionality. Instead of giving its users scripts to let them do all the work, it goes a step further: It comes as a fully completed customizable platform on the AWS marketplace. Kaleido is the first of its kind to be built on the Ethereum platform. This may set it apart as a significant player in the future of how business is carried out.

Joseph Lubin, the founder of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, has stated that he holds a firm belief that Kaleido will soon be seen as the default standard for business. It will also be placed as the global blockchain business platform as well as a solid foundation. This partnership is part of a more significant effort to increase the adoption of blockchain by customers of Amazon Web Services.


FINAL THOUGHTS

The adoption of blockchain technology by a tech and commerce giant like Amazon is a sign that its progression is occurring fast. The new partnerships and adoption strategies by large corporations all constitute a joint effort to encourage mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency.
In the past, there has been no hope for users without knowledge of software development to create their blockchain networks. Amazon is changing that with the help of ConsenSys. Together they bring reliability, good network performance and ease of transaction to the average businessman.

Hopefully, other tech giants will follow in the footsteps of Amazon and diversify their operations to incorporate blockchain. While its concept may be a difficult one to understand and even get used to, blockchain has proven that it can be a great solution to so many problems.

Origina post: https://www.mintdice.com/blog/amazon-joins-the-blockchain-industry-with-kaleido

Cryptocurrency App Checklist for 2018: Take your Game to the Next Level

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cryptocurrency app
In this cryptocurrency app roundup, we take you on a journey through the information platforms keeping traders, enthusiasts, developers, speculators and casual observers alike clued into the world of virtual currencies. While most of these tools are available for desktop and laptop setups, we want to focus on the mobile versions for professionals and amateurs always on the go.
Decentralization is not just happening within cryptocurrency tech but across different sectors of the world economy, too. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects are driving decentralized revolutions in renewable energy, telecommunication, and workplace environments, to name a few. With record numbers of people working remotely, there has perhaps never been a more important time to have the right virtual tools available at your fingertips.

Charting Apps

TradingView

The company behind the incredible web application now has a mobile version. Before becoming a cryptocurrency app, TradingView (TV) started out as a charting and idea platform for traditional markets. You can still find just about any stock, bond or currency pair in the world on this platform.
Of course, not wanting to miss out on the newest asset class, they’ve added a whole bunch of cryptocurrency pairs into the mix as well. TradingView has agreements in place with most of the major exchanges out there including Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase. So you’ll never be stuck without the latest price feeds.
Three screencaps of the TradingView app . The first is current coin rates, the second an ETH-USD graph, and the third is relevant news.
An inside look at the TradingView app
The best part about TV is that it’s basically free. And the free version has a bunch of goodies bundled with it. The advanced trader will want to check out the additional features that come with the paid version.
If you are looking for something a bit meatier, take a look at our TradingView Primer for an in-depth discussion on the platform. TradingView is currently only available on iOS, but an Android version is in development for an unknown date in 2018.

Coinigy

Coinigy is the new kid on the block. They focus exclusively on cryptocurrencies and provide price feeds from over 40 different exchanges. Since specialization is their game, Coinigy has better portfolio management tools than TradingView. In addition, they provide (API) tools to connect your cryptocurrency accounts directly to your charts so you can trade at a click of a button directly from the charts.
Three screenshots of the cryptocurrency app, Coinigy. The first is the opening screen, the second shows a BTC/USD graph, and the third shows the dashboard options.
Take a look at the Coinigy trading app.
All this comes at a price, however. Coinigy’s offering is not free, except for a 30-day trial option. Of course, this is plenty of time to decide whether this kind of approach will work for you or not.

Portfolio Trackers

The following apps also provide some charting capability but are, in general, more focused on providing specialized portfolio services.

Blockfolio

Blockfolio is a comprehensive portfolio management app which helps investors and traders keep track of their favorite cryptocurrency investments. The app is well known among many in the crypto community. So well, in fact, that some celebrity users such as Ian Balina are famous for posting their entire blockfolio portfolios on twitter!
Three screenshots from Blockfolio, a cryptocurrency app. The first shows a performance tracker, the second shows up-to-date prices and analysis, and the third shows updates.
One way to keep track of your crypto portfolio is Blockfolio.
Some nice additional features include price target alerts and development updates from cryptocurrency project teams.

CoinTracking

CoinTracking is arguably the most comprehensive portfolio tracking application out there. The app analyzes your trades and creates reports in real-time. If you like using a number of exchanges and storing your coins in several locations, then using this cryptocurrency app will make accessing all that info an absolute breeze. CoinTracking is recommended for the advanced cryptocurrency user but is not particularly difficult to use.
A cryptocurrency app, Cointracking. The first panel shows the app dashboard, the second shows data for coins, and the third shows a price change alert.
CoinTracking lets you easily track your digital assets.
Real-time reports are pretty useful for traders who need access to realized and unrealized profits at short notice. The reports also include a nifty capital gains tax calculator for those who need to keep track of their IOU’s.

News Apps

The cryptocurrency app options for news are not particularly packed with features. However, when it comes to news, you’ll definitely want quality content over features. Also, make sure to check back with us at CoinCentral in the future as we hope to introduce our own app at some point.

Cointelegraph

Cointelegraph was established in 2013 and provides quality news along with their trademark cartoon-like illustrations. The app does have some cryptocurrency price conversions for major fiat pairs like the US Dollar ($), Euro () and British Pound (£). However, the functionality is not particularly that great. Again, the power of this cryptocurrency app lies less in the app itself and more in the quick access to the latest cryptocurrency news.
Three screencaps for the cryptocurrency app, CoinTelegraph. The first screen shows news, the second shows a specific news article, and the third shows the bitcoin price index.
Stay up-to-date with Cointelegraph news.

CoinDesk

Again, not the most sophisticated of apps. Despite some reports from users with regards to crashes and functionality glitches, Coindesk is recommended for users who keenly follow the CoinDesk news feed.
Cryptocurrency App, Coindesk, is a crypto news app. The first screenshot shows an Ethereum price change, the second shows the latest news, and the third shows a specific article.
Sample screens from crypto news app, Coindesk.

Personal Wallets

The main advantage of owning a personal wallet over an exchange wallet is that you truly own your private keys. As a result, this allows you to be your own bank. The following two personal wallets embrace this philosophy and are recommended by many in the crypto community.

Blockchain Wallet

The Blockchain Wallet is brought to you by the same company which runs one of the most popular blockchain explorers worldwide. The interface is simple and intuitive to use. At this time, the wallet only supports Bitcoin, Ether and Bitcoin Cash but expect more to be added in the coming months as competing wallets enter the marketplace offering more coins.
Cryptocurrency App Blockchain Wallet. The first image shows the price chart and balance for your digital assets. The second shows a transfer, and the third is a QR code for receiving funds.
Everyone needs a personal wallet app. Here you can see Blockchain Wallet’s approach.
Blockchain wallet is also slowly adding fiat-to-crypto exchanges in a number of selected countries. Hopefull,y we’ll see a majority of countries listed in future developments.

Bread Wallet

The Bread wallet has been around for a couple of years now and has even been recommended by such bitcoin gurus as Andreas Antonopolous. The Bread team uphold the spirit of cryptocurrency by making the wallet code open-source. Furthermore, your private keys are not held by their servers but by yourself. All transactions happen directly with the appropriate blockchain.
Cryptocurrency App, Bread Wallet. This personal wallet is showcased with three panels. The first shows your assets, the second shows your transaction history for Bitcoin, and the third lets you add wallets.
Bread wallet
Bread has the additional advantage of allowing you to purchase cryptocurrency with your debit and credit card and they even provide a Bitcoin ATM option, where available.

Exchange Wallets

Exchange apps depend for the most part on your personal preference and access in your country. The key difference with exchange apps is that most exchanges hold your private keys. In other words, they are storing your cryptocurrencies for you. If security is your primary concern, consider using a hardware walletinstead.
There are way too many exchanges for us to cover here so for the purposes of keeping things clear and brief, we’ll focus on two major exchange apps, one from the US and one from Asia.

Coinbase

Coinbase has traditionally focused only on a few coins, the core ones: BitcoinEthereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. And while they don’t currently offer a wide variety of coins and features, what they do do is provide a rock-solid cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase is probably considered to be the safest exchange in the world with insurance-backed coin storage and a regulatory friendly environment.
Cryptocurrency App Coinbase lets you stay on top of markets and secure your assets. This image shows Coinbase's market and asset screens.
A quick look at the Coinbase app.
Many investors are simply not interested in collecting a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and prefer a simple user experience. Coinbase does this and does it well, which is probably one of the reasons why the app has overwhelmingly positive reviews. If you have an account with Coinbase, this app is essential for your collection.

Binance

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with a market capitalization of $1.3 billion. They currently only provide crypto-to-crypto exchange. The slick interface and wide variety of coins provide users with plenty of opportunities to invest in smaller project tokens. For these reasons alone, Binance remains a firm favorite among cryptocurrency enthusiasts worldwide.
Leaving coins on any exchange is a riskier approach. However, if you prefer to do this then this cryptocurrency app does a great job of keeping you updated on your portfolio.
Cryptocurrency App Binance lets you stay on top of the market. Here we see three screens. One is a dashboard, one is a trading screen, and the third is a market overview.
The Binance app helps you keep up with markets and trade.
Users should be aware that there is currently no iOS app store application despite several online versions that can be downloaded manually. This is a potential security risk. We recommend iOS users use the web application for now.

Security

Google Authenticator

Any investor who’s serious about security will want this cryptocurrency app in their collection. It’s no secret that scams are commonplace in the cryptocurrency world. 2 Factor authentication (2FA) is a relatively new security feature which adds a second layer of security to sensitive accounts. 2FA is most commonly used when logging on to cryptocurrency exchanges and when authorizing transfers. However, it can also be used with your stock standard Gmail account or perhaps even your WordPress website.
Google 2FA authentication adds another level of security. This image shows the setup, sign in and authentication process for Google 2FA.
Google 2FA authentication adds another level of security.
The authenticator app will provide you with a 6 digit number combination that will be required before proceeding with your next step in a login or transfer process. This number updates every 20 seconds or so. What this means is that an attacker would need both your password and your phone to hack into your account. Hackers have been known to steal/discover passwords from halfway around the world. But, getting hold of your personal phone is a much harder task!
Google’s 2FA is highly recommended. We cover this topic in detail here.

In Closing: Cryptocurrency App Checklist for 2018

As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve many sub-industries are starting to grow along with it. This naturally provides an opportunity for innovative players to enter the space and bring their own unique cryptocurrency app to market.
Many people make the mistake of downloading apps which focus purely on tracking the price. As we have shown, there are clearly a number of apps which specialize, from news to charting to storagesecurityand beyond. You may of course only need to track the price. But, as you venture further down the cryptocurrency rabbit hole you’ll probably find yourself using several different applications to stay on top of things.
This article by RYAN SMITH was originally published at "CoinCentral.com: https://coincentral.com/cryptocurrency-app-checklist-2018/