The next 100 million crypto investors.

Health, Wealth, and Happiness

August 15, 2022

"I have concluded that wealth is a state of mind, and that anyone can acquire a wealthy state of mind by thinking rich thoughts."

- Andrew Young

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Today’s most important story for crypto investors.

Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride (Wall Street Journal): As a bitcoin or crypto business, getting a traditional bank account is difficult (trust us on this one). The big guys turn you away as soon as you mention "crypto."

Over the past year, a number of smaller banks began opening their doors to crypto businesses not to store crypto (that's still legally prohibited for most banks), but to issue simple business banking accounts.

What these banks are learning is what all of us long-term crypto investors have learned: the crypto market is volatile.

This article covers which banks planned ahead (diversifying their portfolios), and which did not (currently in financial trouble).

Isn't it refreshing to see that even banks have to learn the crypto investing lessons we've all been through?

Investor takeaways: We created our Best Bitcoin Bankssection for those who are looking for blockchain and crypto bank accounts, as well as those who want to invest in the high-growth banks of the future.

For starters, check out Signature Bank (SBNY), Silvergate (SI), and Customers Bancorp (CUBI).

Top 7 Smart Contract Platforms

by Danielle Greving

Summary: Blockchain-based smart contracts are the technology that powers cryptocurrencies, DeFi, and Web3 applications. Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has become the king of smart contracts, but for crypto investors, Ethereum isn’t the only game in town. Here are the top seven, rated and reviewed.

What are Smart Contract Platforms?

Smart contracts are just agreements, like traditional paper contracts but using software instead. “Signed” between two or more parties, these contracts execute once predetermined conditions are met.

A smart contract could execute:

After someone sends money to you
When a certain date has passed
When a certain thing has happened (a price is met, an event is decided, all parties have signed, etc.)

Typically, smart contracts are used to automate the execution of an agreement so parties can have an immediate assurance of the outcome. Smart contracts can also automate workflow, triggering an action once certain conditions are met.

Smart contracts follow “if/when…then…” statements, written into code on the blockchain. Once predetermined conditions have been met and verified, a network of computers executes necessary actions. These actions may include:

Releasing funds to the appropriate parties
Sending notifications
Registering a vehicle
Issuing a ticket

Once a transaction is complete, the blockchain is updated. Thereafter, the transaction cannot be altered. Like a paper contract, it’s binding.

A smart contract platform refers to the blockchain platform that hosts smart contracts. As these are the “operating systems” that run the world of crypto, DeFi, and Web3, we believe smart contract platforms are among the most valuable investments today.

Our thesis is that the industry will eventually consolidate into just two or three major smart contract platforms, just as the PC industry has consolidated into macOS and Windows, the smartphone industry into iPhone and Android, etc.

To find these early winners, we’ve rated and reviewed the top smart contract platforms available today.

Ethereum

Investment token: ETH

Ethereum was the first smart contract platform and still ranks as the top platform for many developers today. It has a massive network of users and is known for being incredibly reliable. While it's a bit slow and expensive due to its popularity, there are various “Layer 2” chains speeding things up, even while Ethereum moves to proof of stake. We give it a score of 5.0 for its dependability and the fact that it's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. (BMJ Rating: 5.0)

Solana

Investment token: SOL

Solana was created by a group of engineers from Intel, Qualcomm, and Dropbox in 2017. Its main focus is scalability. It has already achieved a record-high of 65,000 transactions per second. Due to its scalability potential, we give Solana a score of 4.5. (BMJ Rating: 4.5)

Algorand

Investment token: ALGO

Though a fraction of Ethereum’s size, Algorand hosts a number of DeFi projects and has made some traction with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It boasts some technological improvements that give it high marks on speed, scale, and environmental friendliness. We give Algorand a score of 4.5 for its innovative design and low cost. (BMJ Rating: 4.5)

Avalanche

Investment token: AVAX

Avalanche claims to be the quickest smart contract platform in terms of finality (processing and finalizing transactions faster than any other platform). It uses three blockchains to achieve fast finalization while keeping fees low and ensuring scalability. (BMJ Rating: 4.0)

BNB Chain

Investment token: BNB

BNB Chain, created by the largest crypto exchange Binance, supports smart contracts and is EVM compatible. The platform uses a “proof of staked authority” consensus mechanism to reward stakers and process transactions. We give Binance a score of 4.0 for its low fees and interoperability. However, it has a low number of validators, making it more centralized. (BMJ Rating: 4.0)

Cardano

Investment token: ADA

While Cardano has received criticism for not delivering everything it's promised, it takes a slow and steady approach to development by testing and peer-reviewing everything before rolling it out. While it only launched smart contracts in September 2021, it already has over 100 projects in development on its ecosystem. We give Cardano a score of 4.0 as the platform’s consensus mechanism allows anyone to stake. 70% of all ADA is staked, which bodes well for long-term network security. (BMJ Rating: 4.0)

Cosmos

Investment token: ATOM

Cosmos refers to itself as the “internet of blockchains.” Its primary focus is on interoperability, meaning it ensures different blockchains can talk to one another. Interoperability will become crucial as people and organizations increasingly use various blockchain networks. For this reason, we give Cosmos a score of 4.0. (BMJ Rating: 4.0)

Smart contracts: like regular contracts, but with software.

Smart Contract Use Cases

Smart contracts are being increasingly used across many industries. Some of the top use cases include:

Trade Finance

Trade finance can benefit immensely from smart contracts as they can help with cross-border payments, the international transfer of goods, and trade payment initiations.

Smart contracts can automate approval workflows and clear calculations that are presently very labor-intensive. This automation will help dramatically reduce work hours and errors.

Data Management

Every company requires employees to keep records of their communications, transactions, and messages. Typically, employees store these records in the cloud, on company servers, or in paper form. However, when employees need to share information among different businesses or departments, they either need to send documents through the internet or deliver them by hand.

This can lead to a lot of back and forth. That's where smart contracts come in, as they can streamline the data recording process through automation.

Supply Chain Management

Smart contracts can reduce the risk of manipulation and lost items, as data transparency leads to fewer opportunities for fraud.

Smart contracts can also use sensory data to track the location of goods and record their information during delivery. Then, if an item is lost or stolen during transit, a smart contract can detect the location. Smart contracts can also automate payments and routine tasks like inventory checking and delivery timetable planning, thus saving time and resources.

Property Ownership

Smart contracts can help streamline property ownership transfers. Several countries like Ghana, Russia, and Sweden have already launched pilot projects to register property titles using smart contracts.

Mortgages

Using smart contracts in the mortgage process will allow parties to digitally agree to property sales before payment processing takes place. Once that processing is complete, the smart contract will automatically update to reflect the change of ownership and new property ownership details.

Escrow

An escrow is a legal agreement in which a third, neutral party receives and disburses money or property on behalf of the primary parties. Smart contracts can help facilitate the escrow process by making it automated and transparent.

For example, suppose a freelance writer accepts a job to write copy for a company website. Once the writer submits the work and the company verifies, a smart contract can automate payment securely without needing a third party.

Insurance

The insurance industry loses millions of dollars due to fraudulent claims each year. In addition to supporting initial insurance policies, smart contracts can help with claims processing by error-checking and determining payment amounts.

Healthcare

Smart contracts can help the healthcare industry do away with paper-based systems and non-secure data servers. They can automate the storage and transfer of personal health records across departments and institutions in a secure, private way so only relevant individuals can access information.

Voting

Fraudsters can sometimes find ways to manipulate voting records stored on computer systems. Smart contracts offer a simple, cost-effective solution for voter fraud as they can validate voter identification and record votes.

Smart Contract Platform Benefits

Automation: No third parties or intermediaries are needed to confirm an agreement.
Backup: All data is stored on the blockchain, with each node holding its own backup copy.
Security: Smart contracts are immutable, so data cannot be altered or changed.
Interruption-Free: Once the smart contract execution has begun, it can’t be interrupted or stopped.
Trustless: With smart contracts, you don’t need to place trust in other parties to carry out transactions.
Cost-Effective: Removing third parties and intermediaries from the process helps make smart contracts more cost-effective.
Accurate: By eliminating manual filing, smart contracts can help individuals and organizations eliminate errors.
Fast: Once the parameters of a smart contract have been set, it can be executed seamlessly and quickly.

Investor Takeaway

Smart contract platforms power the world of crypto, DeFi, NFTs, Web3, and much more to come. Investing in these platforms now could be like investing in Microsoft in 1996; eventually, the industry will consolidate into a handful of big winners. The key is to pick those winners now and hold on for the long term.

Click to read the full article Top 7 Smart Contract Platforms, Rated and Reviewed.

ICYMI