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"Pornhub models can now accept the US dollar stablecoin Tether (USDT) as payment. In a recent statement, Pornhub said that adding the cryptocurrency was a direct response to PayPal’s decision to cut off payments to models in November 2019.
According to Tron CEO Justin Sun, it will use the TRON variant of USDT, building on Pornhub’s existing partnership with TRON.
“This is a brilliant way to support the victims of centralized payment platforms like PayPal,” tweeted Sun..."
https://tothemoon.blog/cryptocurrency/pornhub-utilizes-crypto-to-bypass-paypal-ban/
Today we're going to take a look at a new contender in the marketplace of crypto wallets and managers that is poised to become among the most widely used Dapps and the new face of Web 3.0. We'll learn why it's going to help revolutionize the accessibility and usability of cryptocurrency, usher in cryptocurrency adoption, and why it in fact takes the title of Best Dapp.
Conceived originally as a competitor to purely Ethereum network based Metamask, Equal is a browser based wallet extension that "aims to solve the problem of the lack of blockchain interoperability by being blockchain agnostic and therefore truly integrated with Web 3.0" (David Di Stefano, CEO). In addition to multi chain support, the Equal Wallet will introduce a much needed improvement in user experience to crypto users, inexperienced and experienced alike.
Having used crypto and its related applications since summer 2017, I remember coming back to Metamask after not using it for some time, only to find a recently updated version that left me more confused than ever. I had never really understood it very well in the first place. I was amazed at how cumbersome crypto still is. I'm not completely tech illiterate, and yet this wallet extension was still so foreign to me. Serious knowledge barriers persisted.
I remember thinking..."If after all this time, I still have this much trouble using something which is designed to make crypto easy, what chance is there the average person will ever adopt crypto in daily life?" It seemed obvious that the crypto space was in dire need of a more intuitive version of the Metamask concept. This must be exactly what the founders at Equal were thinking when they started the project. And they have boldly set about solving this issue ever since.
Metamask also so far only supports the Ethereum network, unnecessarily limiting the reach of the application. After all, if you're leaving out a huge chunk of all cryptocurrency transactions, you cannot be the face of Web 3.0, and you certainly cannot be the Best DApp! Equal on the other hand is building a crypto agnostic interface, and already offers multi-chain support including BinanceChain in addition to Ethereum, with support for Bitcoin and other chains on the way. It seems like an obvious step and yet one Metamask so far doesn't seem very ambitious about.
In addition, many people continue to have issues with Metamask hosted transactions not going through. I've personally gone to increase the gas fee and the extension won't allow me to change it for whatever reason. Then I have to cancel the transaction, incur the associated fee, and start the whole process all over again, only to have another issue with adjusting the gas fee. Others have had this and similar issues.
Equal was designed to integrate seamlessly with various Dapps and DEX's with the goal of making crypto users' notoriously cumbersome experience less so, and being the go-to application for users the world over to interact with the emerging decentralized web.
Divided by categories such as Finance, Social, Games, and Marketplaces--right within the extension is a Dapp store with links to Dapps that have already been integrated, with more to be added in the future. Hopefully the team will decide to stick with only quality Dapps that people actually use regularly so as to keep the interface uncluttered. After all, the goal here is a pleasant user experience, and no one wants to use a wallet that's overcrowded with junky apps no one even uses.
Some of the popular Dapps currently included that you might already be familiar with are: Binance DEX, IDEX, BountyOx, Nexo lending platform, MakerDAO, Cent, CryptoKitties, and Request. I decided to see what happened when I clicked on IDEX, and was pleased to see that once I landed on the IDEX login page, all I had to do was select IDEX's software wallet login option and it automatically linked to my Equal wallet. I was set to trade any funds I had in my Equal wallet with only two simple clicks.
Next I decided to see what happened when I clicked on Cent, a somewhat popular Ethereum based social media platform. I haven't used a wallet in conjunction with Cent often, but I found my way to 'settings' and there it told me that my "current wallet is not authorized." But I could see that the current wallet it was referring to was indeed my Equal wallet. So all I had to do was click one button to affirm that I wanted it authorized for use and I was ready to use my Equal wallet with the Cent platform. Nice! So far the "seamless integration" claim has held true twice.
With support for an already robust and ever growing list of supported tokens, Equal will also automatically update your token portfolio for you. No more needing to manually add tokens to your wallet. I purposely sought out a very obscure token with almost no exchange volume, and after sending to my wallet, Equal found and displayed the name and amount in my portfolio automatically!
Equipped with both light and dark modes, the team at Equal has also clearly put a lot of thought and design effort into the extension as it has a much warmer, less clinical look than Metamask and is just generally much more aesthetically appealing. Considering that it's well known that the attractiveness and layout of applications and websites plays a large role in attracting regular users, this alone should go a long way toward encouraging growth of cryptocurrency use.
Another great--and let's face it, ultimately necessary--feature Equal has included, is an automatic gas fee calculator for all your Ethereum based transactions. I've always felt setting gas fees was a huge turn-off to new crypto users. It's just so much fuss to go through to make a simple transaction when we're all used to just swiping a card or letting Chrome automatically enter our account numbers and then hitting the purchase button. Equal has taken care of this, as there is now no need to look up the current average gas price to make sure you're not overpaying in fees. Or even worse, underpaying, resulting in a transaction that gets stuck for days, or even fails entirely. Ain't nobody got time for that! Equal has put an end to the gas fee guessing madness as it will find and automatically apply the best fee for you.
The Equal Wallet will set the standard of product development that all Equal powered services should be aiming to reach, in regards to ease of use, design and an overarching goal to allow for the mainstream adoption of simple to use crypto services.
In addition to adding support for additional chains, Equal's roadmap includes
Metamask may actually currently have a slight edge on Equal in one regard, and that is ENS support. As many are already aware, ENS stands for Ethereum Name Service, which is a service that connects Ethereum and other blockchain addresses with a human readable address name. So rather than users providing each other addresses which are a long string of random numbers and letters, they can use an address which is user friendly, such as "Publish0x.ETH."
However the recently reorganized Equal team has announced that support for another reputable human readable name service, Unstoppable Domains, is coming soon. Unstoppable Domains currently offers support for more than fifty cryptocurrencies, with more to be added. And while it hasn't yet been announced, there is no reason ENS support can't be integrated down the road.
Also one thing I still find cumbersome about crypto wallets is the constant automatic sign outs. I can appreciate that it's a security measure, but it is indeed frustrating to be logged out after only a few minutes of inactivity. Of course our banks do the same thing, but whereas my bank gives me about twenty minutes, Equal gives users closer to five. Plus when I do online banking, I'm usually in and out, without significant periods of inactivity. With crypto, you may be doing many different things at roughly the same time. For instance you might log in just to check your balance. Then a few minutes later you want to connect to a DEX or a social media platform, only to find you're already signed out and have to do it again. It can be a real hassle and a barrier to mass adoption as far as I'm concerned.
Despite these minor issues, and even with Equal still being a Beta product, so far my experience with it trumps Metamask significantly. It shows great promise in achieving what it has set out to do--improve upon the browser extension wallet concept, but also expand on it. For this reason it is easy to nominate it for Best D'App.
Browser extension wallets offer a level of accessiblity in managing and sending and receiving our crypto that no other type of wallet allows, and for this reason are bound to play a vital role in cryptocurrency adoption. But without advancements in their design and implementation, new potential crypto users may get turned off by an otherwise overly cumbersome experience. It is time one of the main entry points into crypto gets a user experience overhaul, and an aesthetic make-over with more mass appeal.
Equal is a great management tool with a team that not only has recognized this need, but has executed their vision accordingly. Equal seems to simply suffer from a lack of awareness and perhaps marketing at the moment. It seems like almost no one even know about it. But often this is a sign of a project that has got its head down and is more focused on building than showing off. Equal gives me new hope that crypto may indeed make it into the daily lives of people everywhere, and for that reason, it is my pleasure to submit it as the Best Dapp for 2020 and beyond.
If you'd like to learn more about Equal you can do so here.
Earn OXT (Orchid Protocol) and EOS on Coinbase Earn if you haven't already
The title contains a sort of odd proposition. Why are Facebook and Twitter being lumped in with a seemingly very different platform like Patreon as potential disrupt-ees by the same new platform?
What is Flote anyway?
Flote is a sort of hybrid social network and crypto-monetized marketplace. With backing by Boost Venture Capital, Flote.app acquired crypto focused Patreon contender Bitbacker.io early in 2019. Led by lead developer Kingsley Edwards, Flote consists of a small four person team effort to bring integrity back to the monetization of online content. By now, most of us have heard at least one story of a content creator who had spent countless hours over the course of years developing a following on YouTube, Patreon, or other monetized platforms -- only to be suspended, banned, de-monetized, or otherwise de-platformed, often without warning and with little to no explanation or sensible justification. This experience can completely blindside and be quite traumatic for people who have come to rely on their channel or account as a regular source of income, in many cases, their main income. This increasingly common problem was the inspiration that led to the vision and development of Flote.app.
Market Disruption Potential
Sometimes billing itself as a decentralized, censorship resistant alternative to Patreon, Flote also sometimes is seen by its community members as a potential alternative to even Facebook and Twitter. Probably that's because in addition to the paywalled features of Patreon, the UI/UX is a lot more social media oriented, and blends many of the characteristics of Facebook and Twitter into a very crisp, clean, intuitive interface. Flote incorporates many features we're used to, such as re-sharing content, liking (indicated on Flote with a Star icon), and a very easy to access livestreaming feature--in addition to some unique features we've seen before, but perhaps not in a while, such as audio upload capability with an mp3 player (MySpace anyone?). So in theory, you could even throw Soundcloud or podcasting type platforms into the potential disrupt-ees mix. And yet somehow, Flote seems to be doing all this without creating an overly busy interface. In fact, it's among the most simple, clean looking interfaces I've ever had the pleasure of using.
Our goal is to deliver a fun, engaging social experience where information and payments can flow freely
Features
With that introduction out of the way, let's take a look at this robust list of some of Flote's most unique selling points. Many of these features are not yet available, but in the meantime, the app is still very functional with ever increasing user activity. That said, being a Beta product, there are occasional bugs.
Summary
With this many features and advantages over more centralized social media and marketplace channels, perhaps the greatest obstacle to Flote adoption is the relatively still obscure use of cryptocurrency (sources give varied information, but worldwide crypto ownership appears to be roughly 5%). But Flote certainly is an impressive step in the right direction in terms of disrupting the legacy platforms which seem, almost by the day, to take more and more advantage of the very people who give their platforms value in the first place.
And after trying over a dozen crypto monetized social platforms over the past two years, I believe that due to its simple no-fuss interface, familiar feel, and unique selling points, Flote (along with Publish0x) is among the most likely contenders to have mass appeal to the yet most untapped market -- people with little to no experience with cryptocurrency.
Go here if you want to try Flote. Be sure to follow me @jmbsol, and after using it a bit, come back here to tell us what you think!
Billing itself as a "next generation search engine powered by the community," PreSearch aims to disrupt the hold the likes of Google have on search engine users by building a community driven, decentralized alternative that rewards its users.
Existing users of PreSearch are likely to know that to date, when you sign up for PreSearch and use the extension for your online searches, you've really been using your choice of existing search engines like Google or DuckDuckGo. It was a way for PreSearch to gather data and also a user base while they worked on building their own decentralized search engine. And users got to be rewarded tokens for their organic searching behavior.
Well recently PreSearch has announced the launch of their native search engine called DSearch. And to help promote the launch and get existing users to switch over to DSearch as their default search engine, they will be paying all DSearch users twice the usual amount of tokens when using the search function legitimately and naturally. PreSearch has a sophisticated algorithm to detect unnatural search behavior and assigns users levels accordingly. Users then are only able to withdraw the percentage of tokens earned according to the merit level assigned to them. So it's in your own best interest to only use the engine as you normally would and not fall prey to any temptation to do fake searches in an effort to get more tokens.
During the whole month of December, users that use Dsearch as their search provider will receive 0.5 PRE tokens per search instead of 0.25 PRE tokens. With this promotion we hope to encourage people to give Dsearch a shot, while also enabling our users to easier earn the max. number of rewards per day without gaming the system
If you're new to PreSearch, you can simply register and install the extension here and DSearch will automatically be selected as your default search engine. Then all you need to do is use the search function naturally, and for the duration of December you will earn double the usual amount of tokens which are rewarded.
If you're an existing PreSearch user, you will need to go here and change your default search engine to DSearch. It's easy. Just make sure you're logged into your account, and at the top of the screen under "Default," you'll see icons for the various engines you can use. Just drag the DSearch icon to the left until it fits in the box.
That's it. You're all set to be doubly rewarded during the month of December!
PreSearch is currently listed on HitBtc and Probit. If you don't already have PreSearch, you can use my link to get it here and help support my writing in the process.
Normally use presearch. Have been a member since 2017.
The title contains a sort of odd proposition. Why are Facebook and Twitter being lumped in with a seemingly very different platform such as Patreon as potential disrupt-ees by the same new platform?
What is Flote anyway?
Flote is a sort of hybrid social network and crypto-monetized marketplace. With backing by Boost Venture Capital, Flote.app acquired crypto focused Patreon contender Bitbacker.io early in 2019. Led by lead developer Kingsley Edwards, Flote consists of a small four person team effort to bring integrity back to the monetization of online content. By now, most of us have heard at least one story of a content creator who had spent countless hours over the course of years developing a following on YouTube, Patreon, or other monetized platforms -- only to be suspended, banned, de-monetized, or otherwise de-platformed, often without warning and with little to no explanation or sensible justification. This increasingly common problem was the inspiration that led to the vision and development of Flote.app.
Market Disruption Potential
Sometimes billing itself as a decentralized, censorship resistant alternative to Patreon, Flote also sometimes is seen by its community members as a potential alternative to even Facebook and Twitter. Probably that's because in addition to the paywalled features of Patreon, the UI/UX is a lot more social media friendly, and blends many of the characteristics of Facebook and Twitter into a very crisp, clean, intuitive interface. Flote incorporates many features we're used to, such as re-sharing content, liking (indicated on Flote with a Star icon), and a very easy to access livestreaming feature--in addition to some unique features we've seen before, but perhaps not in a while (MySpace anyone?), such as audio upload capability. So in theory, you could even throw Soundcloud or podcasting type platforms into the potential disrupt-ees mix. And yet somehow, Flote seems to be doing all this without creating an overly busy interface. In fact, it's among the most simple clean looking interfaces I've ever had the pleasure of using.
Our goal is to deliver a fun, engaging social experience where information and payments can flow freely
With that introduction out of the way, let's take a look at this robust list of some of Flote's most unique selling points. Many of these features are not yet available, but I can assure you that in the meantime, the app is still very functional with ever increasing user activity. That said, being a Beta product, there are occasional bugs.
With this many features and advantages over more centralized social media and marketplace channels, perhaps the greatest obstacle to Flote adoption is the relatively still obscure use of cryptocurrency (sources give varied information, but worldwide crypto ownership appears to be roughly 5%). But Flote certainly is an impressive step in the right direction in terms of disrupting the legacy platforms which seem, almost by the day, to take more and more advantage of the very people who give their platforms value.
And after trying over a dozen crypto monetized social platforms over the past two years, I believe that due to its simple no-fuss interface, and its familiar feel, Flote (along with Publish0x) is among the most likely contenders to have mass appeal to the yet most untapped market -- people with little to no experience with cryptocurrency.
Go here if you want to try Flote. Be sure to follow me @jmbsol, and after using it a bit, come back here to tell us what you think!
Still in Beta, I've recently been enjoying TokenTuber and I suspect some here would as well. The concept is simple so this will be a short review. I'll explain what I like about it after summarizing the concept.
Basically, it's a platform with crypto-centered only content which focuses exclusively on simple, easy-to-understand explainer videos. For instance I just watched Andreas Antonopolous' excellent "Introduction To Bitcoin" (highly recommended video!) and another called "What are Dapps?"-- but there are also more niche and specialty topics, such as another one I've just watched-- an explainer about what VeChain's Automobile Digital Maintenance Book is. I recently watched another explaining "What Is Tezos?."
Obviously this isn't going to be a YouTube disruptor, (it's in no way meant to be) but it fulfills a need. It sort of reminds me of a video version of Uptrennd (while Uptrennd is still crypto-only focused anyway) but with the caveat that they curate content for the most simple, easy to understand concept explainer videos, which I find very useful. I can open it up, and without having to filter and search through dozens of videos, immediately find easy to understand, short, simple explanations of dozens of interesting topics.
Introduction to Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopolous
Also there's a bit of earning potential, especially for creators, who can upload their videos and earn TUBER proportionate to the number of upvotes they receive. Viewers, on the other hand, are rewarded by upvoting content early on that ends up going viral or semi viral. If you upvote something that ends up just getting a typical number of upvotes, you won't earn much. However, if you upvote something early in its existence on the platform that ends up getting a lot of upvotes, you will earn much more Tuber. You can also share videos and will earn a certain percentage of what anyone who goes on to sign up and use the platform earns.
However, as someone who curates quality crypto earning ideas, I don't see or use it primarily as an earning platform. I personally am motivated to use it for the informative and educational content, and the earning is just a nice little bonus. Creators however may find there is significant earning potential there if some of their content ends up going viral, or semi-viral at least. It is listed on CoinMarketCap, but as yet no exchanges or data are included. I expect they are forthcoming as this is a very new platform.
That's pretty much it. Like I said, this is not the next decentralized YouTube. It's a very simple basic platform and concept, but one I have found fills a very useful niche. To join, just click on this excellent Andreas Antonopolous video link
With Ecommerce expected to account for 95% of all purchases by 2040, there is no market more ripe for disruption by blockchain than ecommerce. That's because, just as with legacy social platforms like Facebook, the current ecommerce giants have just as little respect for our data and participation in the online economy. And when people are presented with alternatives which make use of blockchain technology and which show them more respect, they will certainly avail themselves of it. Enter Permission.io and Pi Network.
As it's the one further along in its development, we'll start with Permission.io. Permission is helmed by CEO Charles Silver, a seasoned business veteran who got his entrepreneurial start in the quick oil change business in the 80's. After some success he sold his businesses for a good sum and became interested in the newly emerging internet. His next endeavor was also successful, a website I personally remember using many years ago called RealAge.com. His many years as an internet entrepreneur, and the otherwise strong team, give Permission.io a bit of an advantage over the Pi Network in their respective ambitions of building a successful ecommerce platform in my opinion.
One thing both Permission and Pi have in common is they will be attention based marketplaces. Much like Brave's popular Basic Attention Token concept, it simply means that, rather than users being bombarded with ads they didn't ask to see, they opt in to ad exposure, and in exchange for their attention are rewarded the respective platform's native cryptocurrency. When you shop on Permission, you earn Permission's native ASK token in exchange for seeing ads, making purchases, taking surveys and more. Along with promises to secure privacy of data via encryption, this fosters a greater sense of trust between the platform and its users. Users in turn will be able to spend ASK and other cryptocurrencies on the Permission platform.
Built on its own independent blockchain (a fork of Ethereum actually), Permission also has an SDK in the works for developers to build Permission based apps... "that allow any business to adopt the Permission model and use ASK to meet consumers’ increasing demand for rewards. Widespread use of permission-based apps will incentivize the currency’s growth and enhance its compounding effect." In theory this could be huge. Shopify, or even Amazon huge.
Pi network meanwhile, has been in development for significantly less time. But as they are creating somewhat different products, I'm not sure there will be a great deal of overlap in competing for their respective markets. Permission looks sharp and is led by some very experienced people with plenty of connections in the ecommerce world. Getting a later start, and not having the same caliber of business leaders on their team, I believe Pi will have their work cut out for them. Certainly onboarding a few million users to their pre-product launch app will help. While right now that number is closer to 1.5 million, there is no reason to think they won't have several million by the time they launch their attention based platform some time next year.
Also a fork of another major blockchain--in this case the Stellar Network--right now the Pi app is functioning as a simple centralized database keeping track of the Pi tokens earned by their early users they have dubbed "Pioneers." The app appropriates the term 'mining' to draw users to it in exchange for what amounts to a slow but generous daily airdrop of Pi tokens in an effort to build a pre-launch base of users. Like ASK, Pi currently has no market value and is currently not listed on any exchanges (Permission, by the way, assures us they are in talks with the world's leading exchanges). The founders wanted it this way, as they wanted a more equitable distribution to users the world over regardless of their economic status, an approach I appreciate. Exchange listings are expected next year however.
Pi aims to build the world's most inclusive peer to peer ecommerce marketplace. Not exactly a small ambition, and one the details of which have been a bit slow in forthcoming. If you read their FAQ for instance, it is entirely about the introductory app, and includes literally nothing about the actual product/blockchain they are working on behind the scenes, though there is a fair bit about it in the white paper. But as white papers are difficult for most non tech literate/non crypto people to understand, this is of minimal help, especially for a product whose aim is to be inclusive of the everyday person. This has led to some confusion and lack of compelling interaction with the app, causing many who initially join to abandon it, as it isn't being made clear enough exactly what it is, and that this is not the actual product. Not being able to do anything with their Pi, many simply get bored of it and give up. Most don't even seem aware that the phone mining is not going to even be an enduring feature and will be coming to an end in the relatively near future. The tokenomics also so far seem to be completely up in the air and are to be revealed at a later date.
In the meantime, the best we can do is turn to the white paper. Priding themselves on a low barrier to entry, Pi opens with these hugely ambitious statements.
Our Mission: Build a cryptocurrency and smart contracts platform secured and operated by everyday people.
Our Vision: Build the world’s most inclusive peer-to-peer marketplace, fueled by Pi, the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency
And then goes on to outline a marketplace where users will be able to leverage their attention to earn Pi from companies who want it, which they can then use to purchase different services, as well as procure exposure for their own content, services and products. The white paper offers ideas such as virtual storefronts where users can sell anything from a spare room they have for rent, to gig economy services which avail one's talents, whether that be programming, website building or whatever other skills one may have, and claims that over time Pi's value will be supported by a growing number of these exchangeable goods and services.
Priding itself again on low barrier to entry and a fair economic distribution model, Pi aims to build a truly distributed network with plans to introduce node software that the average person could avail themselves of with a simple laptop or Raspberry Pi. They also very much believe energy consuming Proof of Work coins are old news and tout their use of the Stellar Consensus protocol as being among the most energy friendly of any crypto endeavors with large scale ambitions.
From the somewhat vague ambitions expressed by the Pi white paper, I can only conclude that while Permission will be challenging the traditional physical goods platforms like Amazon, Overstock etc., Pi Network--initially at least--will be geared more toward disrupting sharing economy and gig services platforms such as Air BnB and Fiverr with its peer to peer platform. Though they by no means rule out the sale of physical goods, the white paper does not seem to focus on it.
As we are clearly still in the very early and speculative development stages of these projects, and the introduction of cryptocurrency as a whole to the world at large, it is obviously too early to make even an educated guess as to what chance these two platforms have at disrupting the legacy enterprises who have gotten filthy rich off of exploiting us and our data, but these are two of the most promising ones I have come across. With their very experienced leadership, I personally believe Permission especially has a shot at making inroads into these markets.
Are you aware of any other blockchain based ecommerce start-ups that are endeavoring to disrupt the legacy enterprises? If so I'd love you to mention them below.
If you want join Pi network to earn some Pi (and support my writing in the process), you do need an invite. Please use mine 'CryptoScrimper' here https://minepi.com/CryptoScrimper
Interesting, but in our hearts only beat Lightning Network wallets :D