cryptocurrency

Join the deBanked Team in NYC for a Night of Networking in Web3 & Crypto

The team behind deBanked is hosting a 3-hour open bar in New York City this Wednesday night on May 11th from 6-9pm. It’s called deCashed. deBanked readers interested in Web3, NFTs, and crypto are welcome to attend the event being held at The Refinery Rooftop.

Sponsored by Artchive and designated as the first in-real-life meetup for enthusiasts of the Ethereum Name Service’s recently formed “10KClub,” deCashed intends to bring crypto-capable folks together for a night of fun, networking, and cocktails.

“I think there is a big misconception among folks who associate crypto with things like the value of bitcoin,” said Sean Murray. “In my opinion, cryptocurrencies are not investments. They’re payment tools and a means of identity. If you’ve soured on crypto because you were told a coin was going to go up and then it went down instead, that is unfortunate because the actual use-cases for crypto are just starting to be used and are on the verge of mass adoption. You don’t need to invest in any coins, just be knowledgeable of the infrastructure.”

Twitter, for example, has already implemented a limited Web3 mechanism in which ethereum-based NFTs can be used as profile pictures for users that connect their wallets. Instagram too is slated to roll out integrations with ethereum, solana, flow, and polygon THIS WEEK as social media the world over begins its slow evolution forward. Coinbase too rolled out its own social network last week. Similarly, a handful of non-bank lenders have already pivoted to smart-contract-based loans in which lenders are effectively 100% insulated from loss.

Seven years ago there was a big rush for small business lenders to incorporate social media activity into the underwriting process with the premise that much could be learned by what businesses say, share, and present themselves as on social media. Today, social media users are slowly gravitating toward a blockchain-based experience connected to their digital wallets in which their bank statements and their online photos are effectively accounted for in the same system. Do you know how to examine that?

See you at the deCashed three-hour open bar this Wednesday night in NYC at The Refinery Rooftop from 6-9pm if Web3 and crypto appeals to you. Please register in advance. If you need help, e-mail events@decashed.com or call 917-722-0808.

Flash Loans: The Seemingly Risk Free, Instantly Repaid Lending Trend Taking Over DeFi

It’s a loan that can never be defaulted on, is paid back in seconds, and brings massive return potential. There are no qualification minimums for the borrower, no collateral needed, and minimal risk for the lender. That’s because the loan is funded and repaid in the same transaction.

This type of lending is highly prevalent in the NFT market, where JPEGS are being bought and sold for hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars, according to a source close to deBanked.

The source, who recently made the switch from nearly a decade in traditional finance to being a major proponent in the web3 online community, said that this type of funding is particularly dominant with the purchasing of CryptoPunks—  a collection of ten-thousand NFTs that can cost upwards of $10 million each.

A flash loan is atomic, meaning that it is indivisible. In computer science, things are atomic when they must be executed in full in-order for a particular thing to take place.

Due to the way smart contracts on the blockchain work, if the contract is broken, it’s nulled. With flash loans being written on smart contracts, the funds are immediately sent back to the lender if anything out of the ordinary occurs in the funding process. Thus, the loan can never be defaulted on. 

A hypothetical real-world example of this could be an auto dealer flipping vehicles. If a dealership borrows money to purchase two-million dollars of inventory that they already have buyers for, they could work it into the contract with the lender that the only way the funds would be released is if every car in that inventory is sold for a predetermined amount. If the lender, dealer, and buyers all hold up their end of the deal, the funding can instantly take place and then be repaid.

In what some have called ‘lending on steroids’, the movement of money in flash loans is tremendous. According to Aave, an open source and non-custodial liquidity protocol, flash loans as high as $200,000,000 have been reported as funded and repaid.

It’s seemingly a lender’s dream, a set-it and forget-it smart contract that does all the work without risk. But the purpose of the loan may not be known. For example, a flash loan for $532 million last October had the appearance of being used to finance the most expensive NFT purchase in history. The problem? Both the borrower and the lender were the same person.

Which all begs the question, why is a loan necessary in the first place if the borrower can repay it in the same transaction? Perhaps because it eliminates counter-party risk in a type of transaction considered among the most risky, crypto. The cost of a flash loan, borrowing funds for mere seconds, is probably more attractive than a flash loss, in which the other side doesn’t live up to the terms of the deal and in a flash… is gone.

HODL! How Crypto Can Make IRAs Attractive to Young People

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I have had a client under the age of 25.”

Tom Tantillo, an IRA Specialist with NuView Trust, thinks that cryptocurrencies can be the way to finally get younger people excited about investing for retirement. As the emergence of web3 has opened up the door to parts of the financial world for many who would otherwise had never have taken part, Tantillo believes that the same can now be mimicked in IRAs.

“Everyone loves paying less taxes, and everyone loves giving less money to Uncle Sam,” said Tantillo. “[However] the main thing is getting young people excited to save for retirement, because it’s not sexy.”

According to Tantillo, a self-directed IRA with digital assets creates a perfect balance of risk and reward for a digitally native investor. Much like mutual funds or traditional stocks, crypto packaged alongside other conservative investments can create big returns in portfolios.

“If you put 2-3 percent of your portfolio into crypto, just the top ten ones off market cap, not going crazy or anything, you can boost your portfolio returns past the S&P 500 average and up to 16 percent.”

After NuView’s investor’s retreat last week, Tantillo claims that after inquiring about feedback from clients, the highest rated panel at their event was the three hour panel dedicated to digital assets. “Clients were like, ‘this cryptocurrency stuff, I don’t know much about it, but I’m interested and I want to get started.’”

Not only do digital assets provide a trendy appeal to retirement investing, they also provide the technology element that younger people see as a sense of legitimacy in a financial product. Tantillo believes that although the potential for digital assets is astronomical in terms of changing the investment mindset of younger people, he also is aware that the current system and demographics in retirement savings are holding the innovation back to a certain extent.

“The whole reason why I educate myself on this is so I can stay ahead,” he said. “That’s what I encourage everyone to do. I don’t want to be that old parent asking their son or daughter how to use tech, I don’t want to fall behind.”

With the maximum contribution in most IRAs being no more than $6,000, Tantillo argues that it’s almost a no-brainer for a financially intelligent crypto enthusiast to bank on digital assets for retirement. “You can do quite a lot of damage with $6,000,” he said. “If you put $6,000 of Bitcoin in an IRA six years ago, you’d be chillin.”