Need For Speed Blockchain Comparison – How Fast Is Steem?

by Will Long | Jan 23, 2018 | blog, Cryptocurrency, Facts, News, Steemit

As demand rises and blockchains grow, they must be able to scale. When doing a blockchain comparison there are several aspects that should be looked at. The speed of blockchain transactions is one of the most important aspects when considering scalability and usability.

The first ever blockchain, Bitcoin is now over 8 years old. It still functions well as a store of value, but the rise of transactional and speculative demand of Bitcoin has severely slowed down the database.

A few weeks ago, community members of Steemit launched a Thunderclap comparing The blockchains STEEM, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin.

The results are staggering. STEEM transaction speed is lighting fast compared to the other blockchains. The Thunderclap included the following GIF made by Steem user @kyriacos. Check it out:

If you think STEEM if fast, wait till EOS launches in June 2018! Many of the developers that built BitShares and STEEM are now working on EOS. We believe that everything they learned and perfected on the first two iterations will help EOS be the best blockchain yet.

Learn More About STEEM & EOS:

Americans Can Pick Up EOS Tokens On BITFINEX

by Will Long | Jul 17, 2017 | blog, EOS, Ethereum, News

Many people believe the EOS project will help create a new and better path for decentralized ecosystems and economies. EOS tokens have the ability to take cryptocurrency to new heights.

EOS has been described as the “Ethereum Killer” and will “build on more than 4 years of continuous development and innovation from the BitShares and Steem community”. Source

From the EOS WhitePaper:

The EOS.IO software introduces a new blockchain architecture designed to enable vertical and horizontal scaling of decentralized applications. This is achieved by creating an operating system-like construct upon which applications can be built. The software provides accounts, authentication, databases, asynchronous communication and the scheduling of applications across hundreds of CPU cores or clusters. The resulting technology is a blockchain architecture that scales to millions of transactions per second, eliminates user fees, and allows for quick and easy deployment of decentralized applications.

Source: Block.one

Dan Larimer is leading the EOS project as the CTO. He brought many innovations to the distributed ledger scene with BitShares and Steemit and his blockchain advocates say he will do even more impressive things with EOS.

There Are Now 3 Ways To Pick Up EOS Tokens

Pick up EOS tokens on exchanges like Bitfinex or Kraken.
Via the EOS ICO windows on Ethereum.
Via the Exchange in the Exodus Wallet.

For Block One’s protection, US citizens and residents are not technically supposed to purchase EOS tokens via the ICO window, although many will by using VPNs.

Bitfinex is allowing EOS trading for US residents. We know this for a fact because we tested the process with US resident credentials on Bitfinex.

The Ethereum ICO (initial coin offering) for EOS will last an entire year. The first 20% of tokens were released during the first five days of the ICO. Another 70% of the token supply will be distributed in equal amounts everyday over the remainder of the year. Each day you can participate in the ICO window and purchase EOS. The last 10% of tokens are being held by EOS.

Any EOS picked up in 2017 is likely to produce huge returns over the next 5-10 years. We have high hopes for this blockchain project.

*If you do pickup EOS on the exchanges, you will need to make sure you have extracted your tokens to an Ethereum wallet before the real EOS token release next year. Moreover, this wallet must allow you to hold the private keys. This is very important. You will want to claim the real tokens on the EOS blockchain. What is out right now is the ICO crowdfund token on Ethereum.

Learn More On EOS

EOS Consensus Presentation May 2017

Buy Bitcoin To Buy EOS

Learn About Bitcoin Mining Contracts

EXODUS Bitcoin Wallet Review

by Will Long | Apr 3, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, Dash, Ethereum, Facts, Wallets

In order to obtain and store digital currency, you will need a wallet. For this post we will focus on a popular desktop wallet application for storing multiple types of cryptocurrency. Here is our EXODUS Bitcoin Wallet Review:

In layman’s term a wallet is simply software program that can communicate with a blockchain. It must have unique addresses to receive and send cryptocurrency (virtual tokens).

The Exodus Wallet Fully supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. It is rumored that they will soon support Factoids, the digital token for Factom (a project that stores digital records on the blockchain).

Exodus is rated quite well on CryptoCompare. It currently has a 4.8 out of 5 rating.

We prefer Exodus because of the beautiful user interface, private key control, and multi asset support.

Built In Exchange

The Exodus wallet leverages the ShapeShift digital currency exchange. It is conveniently built into the wallet.

No longer do you have to risk keeping your funds on an exchange. You can get great exchange rates from within the wallet.

Full Control Of Private Keys

“Exodus encrypts private keys and transaction data locally for your eyes only – no accounts, no servers, no data sharing.”

Additionally you can easily keep your wallet safe and backed up with the Exodus backup wizard.

Exodus Bitcoin Wallet Review Video:

Download & Start Using The Exodus Wallet.

Exodus.io

How To Purchase Bitcoin With Coinbase

by Will Long | Apr 3, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, Facts

In this post, we will show you exactly how to purchase Bitcoin with Coinbase.

TL/DR [Too Long, Didn’t Read]

Go to Coinbase.com
Signup and create a digital currency wallet.
Connect your bank account, debit card, or credit card.
Purchase either Bitcoin or Ethereum, easily and securely.

About Coinbase:

Coinbase is a reputable digital currency platform. Founded in 2012, the company is currently based out of San Francisco, California.

Coinbase is well known for allowing people to buy Bitcoin, but as of 2017 Coinbase fully supports Ethereum. This is great news, as the company has announced that they want to support even more cryptocurrencies in the future.

Is It Secure?

Yes Coinbase is secure. It is worth noting that the majority of their digital assets are in secure offline storage.

Coinbase technically holds the digital assets for you. If you want complete control of your digital currency tokens. We suggest the more advanced Exodus Wallet.

Coinbase also offers wallets for Android and iPhones. This allows you to access your account securely from different devices, which can be handy. Coinbase utilizes the authy app to complete 2-factor verification.

Customers of Coinbase can be at ease. All the digital currency stored on Coinbase servers is covered by an insurance policy.

Several members of the Bitcoin Shirtz team use Coinbase. We have yet to have an issue with the Coinbase platform / company. And we don’t expect to.

Video Tutorial:

Start Using Bitcoin With Coinbase Today!

Try Coinbase

Coinbase Will Support More Cryptocurrencies In 2017

by Will Long | Jan 19, 2017 | Bitcoin, News

It has been announced. The US based Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange, Coinbase will support more cryptocurrencies in 2017!

Co-founder and CEO at Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, announced the news in a recent blog post:

“As we kick off 2017, I think it’s important for Coinbase and GDAX to continue supporting more crypto currencies. We are no longer just a Bitcoin company. We are a digital currency company.”

He went on.

“It’s incredibly difficult to predict the future and the digital currency industry is no exception…Rapid change seems to be the only certainty. For this reason, you’ll see Coinbase and GDAX continue to support more crypto-currencies in 2017. As the most popular retail exchange (Coinbase) and institutional exchange in the U.S. (GDAX), we want to make it easy for people to use all types of digital currencies.”

“I think an open payment network is where the greatest potential lies for digital currency to improve the world (hence our mission at Coinbase: to create an open financial system for the world). But I’ve come to accept that Bitcoin may not fill this role, and that is ok. It is still a very valuable technology in the world as an asset class, and that is perfectly fine”

“Our goal going forward is to not play favorites, or support one digital currency more than any other, but simply to make it easy for customers to buy and sell whatever digital currencies they want. In this way, we can help support growth of the entire digital currency industry”

It is clear that the crypto industry is still in it’s infancy. And it is good that the people at Coinbase realize this.

Bitcoin is not the end all be all. Ethereum is shaping up to be a competitor, but the market will bring many more blockchain based currencies to fruition. Coinbase is prepping to provide more value to a larger number of people. We commend them for this.