2022 - Page 2 of 2

Reimagining Your Business In A Time of Blockchain

As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been picking up steam, the focus has turned to blockchain – the underlying distributed ledger technology (DLT) that powers these digital currencies.

Blockchain technology is simple to understand at its roots. The tech exists as a shared database filled with entries that must be confirmed by peer-to-peer networks and encrypted.

It’s helpful to envision it as a strongly encrypted and verified shared Google Document, in which each entry in the sheet depends on a logical relationship to all its predecessors, and is agreed upon by everyone in the network.

Blockchain and its characteristics can provide multiple advantages to businesses — whether they’re using a public blockchain network or opting for private or permissioned blockchain-based applications.

While market forces may compel companies to transform themselves, disruptive technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence provide a powerful catalyst for change. Just as leading organizations integrated the web into the fabric of their businesses during the internet era, modern companies need to adapt with today’s emerging technologies in mind.

Experts identify the following as the top blockchain benefits:

1. Trust

Blockchain creates trust between different entities where trust is either nonexistent or unproven. As a result, these entities are willing to engage in business dealings that involve transactions or data sharing that they may not have otherwise done or would have required an intermediary to do so. The enablement of trust is one of blockchain’s most cited benefits. Its value is evident in early blockchain use cases that facilitated transactions among entities that didn’t have direct relationships yet still had to share data or payments. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, are quintessential examples of how blockchain enables trust between participants who don’t know each other.

2. Decentralized structure

Blockchain proves its value when there’s no central actor who enables trust. So, in addition to enabling trust when participants lack trust because they’re unknown to each other, blockchain enables sharing of data within an ecosystem of businesses where no single entity is exclusively in charge. The supply chain is a case in point: Multiple businesses — from suppliers and transportation companies to producers, distributors and retailers — want or need information from others in that chain, yet no one is in charge of facilitating all that information sharing. Blockchain, with its decentralized nature, solves that dilemma.

3. Improved security and privacy

The security of blockchain-enabled systems is another leading benefit of this emerging technology. The enhanced security offered by blockchain stems from how the technology works: Blockchain creates an unalterable record of transactions with end-to-end encryption, which shuts out fraud and unauthorized activity. Additionally, data on the blockchain is stored across a network of computers, making it nearly impossible to hack (unlike conventional computer systems that store data together on servers). Furthermore, blockchain can address privacy concerns better than traditional computer systems by anonymizing data and requiring permissions to limit access.

4. Reduced costs

Blockchain’s nature also can cut costs for organizations. It creates efficiencies in processing transactions. It also reduces manual tasks such as aggregating and amending data, as well as easing reporting and auditing processes. Experts pointed to the savings that financial institutions see when using blockchain, explaining that blockchain’s ability to streamline clearing and settlement translates directly into process cost savings. More broadly, blockchain helps businesses cut costs by eliminating middlemen — vendors and third-party providers — that have traditionally provided the processing that blockchain can do.

5. Speed

By eliminating intermediaries, as well as replacing remaining manual processes in transactions, blockchain can handle transactions significantly faster than conventional methods. In some cases, blockchain can handle a transaction in seconds or less. However, times can vary; how quickly a blockchain-based system can process transactions depends on multiple factors, such as how large each block of data is and network traffic. Still, experts have concluded that blockchain typically beats other processes and technologies in terms of speed. In one of the most prominent applications of blockchain, Walmart used the technology to trace the source of sliced mangoes in seconds — a process that had previously taken seven days.

Other benefits include Visibility, Immutability, Individual control of data and innovation.

As organisations start to reimagine their futures, they have the opportunity to explore ways blockchain technology can drive growth.

4 Min. Read/May 26, 2022/by Team Descasio

Lifestyle

10 Things You Need to Know About NFTs

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTS) are arguably the most interesting product in the blockchain space at the moment. Since the first-ever NFT, Quantum – sold last year for $1.4 million – was minted by Kevin McCoy in 2014, no one would have predicted, even with the clearest of a crystal ball, that the total value of all NFT transactions would significantly increase by 21,350% to more than $17 billion in 2021, from $82.5 million within the last one year from 2020 – 2021.

What is NFT?

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs as it is mostly called are unique decentralized tokens stored on the blockchain (mostly on the Ethereum blockchain) and cannot be exchanged with something else like fungible tokens like Bitcoin. They are digital versions of physical assets that can be sold and traded on the public blockchain.

There are over 5 million NFTs traded daily under different categories. Some of the categories include music, artwork, collectible items/trading cards, sport, fashion, gaming, memes, and more. Last year, the average price of an NFT rose from around $150 to $4,000 as interest in the digital world of art auctions exploded.

To paint a more vivid picture of the burgeoning NFT market, 2.4 million NFT were sold on the OpenSea platform alone, the biggest NFT marketplace, in January.

Examples of NFTs include CryptPunk, the popular digital collectibles of unique characters, NBA Top Shot, collectibles of top Basketball videos, collections of digital artworks like Beeple’s “Everyday: The First 5000 Days”, GiFs like Nyan Cat, Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet which was sold for $3 million, Decentraland, CryptoKitties, Cryptovoxels and millions more.

NFT Misconceptions

There’s been a lot of distrust towards NFT reminiscence of the early 90s dot.com boom. This has created growing myths and misconceptions around the NFT space. Fortunately for NFT advocates, these myths have by no means derailed its adoption.

Here are 10 misconceptions about Non-Fungible Tokens that you should stop believing:

1. NFT is a Type of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are fundamentally different from NFTs. Their singular similarity starts and ends as a blockchain creation. As earlier stated, NFTs are Non-fungible, that is they cannot be exchanged, replaced, or divided. They are unique in their identity. For example, a digital painting of the Last Supper is a unique asset that cannot be replicated or exchanged. The same goes for any other artwork, music recording, or gaming items.

On the other hand, cryptos are fungible assets. That is they can be exchanged and replaced. Examples include Bitcoin and Ethereum. Their singular units can be exchanged for an equivalent amount of the dollar which currently goes for $42,000 and $3,000 respectively.

2. NFTs are Another Fraudulent Ponzi Schemes

Like cryptocurrency assets including Bitcoin and others, the idea behind NFTs is to decentralize the structure of owning digital artworks. Unfortunately, the millions of dollars some of these NFTs go for has made some unsuspecting victims fall for swindlers who push the false ‘get quick rich’ narrative with NFTs. This has given NFTs a somewhat bad reputation.

But if you are familiar with how blockchain technology work, it is practically near impossible for anyone to create an artwork, mint it as an NFT, give it a high price tag and sell it for thousands or millions of dollars! Most valuable NFTs are created by established artists who are known for their physical artworks.

3. NFTs Are Complex to Understand

The buzz around NFTs has created some form of complexity for potential new users to keen observers who are interested in riding on the trend. But it is easy to grasp the fundamentals of NFTs you need to stay above the noise.

NFTs simply work like owning a physical asset where ownership is determined by the rules governing the blockchain. You own a physical house based on deeds of titles just the same way you own a digital asset based on unique identifiers on the blockchain that gives the asset value and security.

4. NFTs Are Bad Investments

It’s easy to jump to this conclusion due to the highly speculative nature of most of the NFTs traded. Popular NFTs have seen their prices skyrocket to an all-time high that investing in them isn’t such a good idea. But there are still loads of NFTs that are still in their infancy and will give you increasing value on your investment in the long run.

5. NFTs Production ar Harmful to the Environment

There’s a bit of truth in this. The blockchain NFTs are created to consume quite a lot of energy. For example, the Bitcoin network generates so much energy that amounts to the emission of emitted an estimated 41 metric tons of CO2.

But not all NFTs are created on the part of the blockchain that consumes this huge energy. NFTs produced on the Ethereum blockchain consumes way less energy. Besides, Bitcoin emits way less CO2 than the production of heavy metals like gold.

6. The NFT Market is Easily Accessible With a Phone or Computer

While most NFTs are built on the Ethereum cryptocurrency, the second largest after bitcoin, some are built on newer cryptocurrencies that are not as popular. If the underlying cryptocurrency is abandoned, then there will no longer be anyone “mining” it or providing computational power to create new transactions or entries in the ledger.

This would make that market entirely inaccessible, even if two willing parties wanted to make a trade.

7. An Original NFT Cannot Be Copied

It is impossible to steal an original NFT, but nothing prevents anyone from copying the file to which the NFT put up for auction is linked and creating another NFT copy. These copied NFTs are traded on specially created marketplaces.

8. When You Buy an NFT, You Are Buying a Digital Work of Art

When you buy an NFT, you are not buying a digital work of art or that $3 million Jack Dorsey tweet, you buying a token certificate, which may guarantee your exclusive ownership rights, or may not guarantee anything other than the ability to own a unique digital token.

9. NFTs are Expensive and Unaffordable

There is no doubt that the prices some of these NFTs go for are astronomical; A Coin for the Ferryman, an artwork created by an artist known online as Xcopy was sold for a $6 million work of Ethereum in late 2021, CryptoPunk #7804, a digital art collection of unique characters went for 4200 Ethereum, about $7.6 million at that time, Human One, another artwork that was sold for close to $30 million last year and a few others.

But these expensive NFTs are only a fraction of the NFT ecosystem. There are still a lot of NFTs that are very affordable to purchase by all.

10. NFTs are All About Artworks

It’s easy to think that NFTs are all about digital artworks like paintings, GIFs, memes, and Tweets with mispronounced words given the amount of hype and money behind digital art NFTs right now.

NFTs cut across virtually other sectors including sport, music, films, gaming, and even the adult film industry. And these sectors are beginning to gain massive traction with tokens like Axie Infinity, WarNymph, and NBA Top Shot sold for millions.

Conclusion

NFTs are the real deal in the blockchain space at the moment. If you are a newbie looking to invest in the growing and disruptive crypto space, look no further than NFTs and the misconceptions around them shouldn’t stop anyone from jumping on the NFT bandwagon.

7 Min. Read/May 11, 2022/by Team Descasio

Everything You Need to Know About 5G Technology and How It Can Be Beneficial to Your Business

One technology that is going to accelerate growth across several industries in the next decade or two is the fifth generation of technology, also known as 5G technology. From transportation to the banking, gaming, sports and even the public sector, 5G will greatly enhance productivity in ways we have never with previous iterations.

Brief History of the Evolution of 5G

The evolution to 5G by telecom companies has been in the making in the last half a decade as the demand for data by businesses and regular internet users has steadily increased.

But to understand the evolution of 5G technology, we must first understand where it evolved from.

The first generation of mobile technology, 1G, built in the late 1970s and 1980s, was all about voice — the ability to use a phone in a car, while shopping or away from home really took root here.

The second generation, 2G, built in the 1990s, was digital, making it possible to encrypt calls, make more efficient use of the wireless spectrum and deliver data transfers on par with dialup internet.

The third generation, 3G, built in the early noughties, ushered in the evolution of smartphones. The move from 2G to 3G provided the core network speed for these smartphones making regular folks access the internet from anywhere and at any time – albeit at a slow speed – without the need for a computer.

And the fourth generation, 4G, built in the 2010s, gave us high-speed internet connectivity and birthed the era of online services leading to widespread job creation and disruption of conventional means of running businesses.

And now, we have 5G technology. The first country to adopt 5G on a large scale was South Korea, in April 2019. Since then, the growth has been somewhat exponential with more countries (Nigeria is set to adopt 5G technology in the coming months this year) adopting at scale.

What is 5G Technology and Why Should We Be Excited About It?

As with all the latest technology of the 21st century – blockchain, the Internet of Things, Self-Driving Cars, Virtual and Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence – the concept behind 5G (ease and convenience) isn’t much difficult to decipher.

5G is the fifth generation of wireless mobile technology with the capacity to deliver faster download speed (as much as 10 times faster than your regular 4G network), much lower latency (capacity to stream 4K high definition videos without a whiff of buffering or slow speed), massive network capacity (support for millions of devices per square kilometre), increased availability and a more uniform user experience to more users.

5G’s connectivity goes beyond just mobile devices. It will essentially be the network that will boost the development of modern technologies like autonomous vehicles, IoTs and Virtual Reality and quickens their adoption. This invariable means, in a nutshell, that 5G is a gamechanger for the future of technology. Even emerging technologies like Metaverse will depend on 5G technology to run smoothly.

5G speed and other connectivity benefits are expected to make businesses more efficient ( and give consumers access to more information faster than ever before.

Global Impact of 5G Technology

According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in 2019, 5G is projected to add about $1.3 trillion to the global economy by 2030 with the healthcare sector contributing about half of that amount.

This is also expected to add 4.6 million jobs within the same period. This is not surprising when you factor in the industries that will be relying on the 5G network.

Already smartphone companies like Samsung, Apple, Tecno, Huawei and even Google have launched devices that support 5G capabilities. Back home, network giant, MTN are also preparing the groundwork to ensure that Nigeria is ripe for 5G technology.

Benefits of 5G Technology on Businesses

It is so easy to see the beneficial effects of 5G, especially for businesses looking to scale. Industries like Healthcare, Entertainment, Agriculture and Transportation are already seeing significant gains from the adoption of 5G connectivity. In the long run, all industries will benefit from the adoption of the 5G network once the technology becomes widely spread as oxygen in the atmosphere.

But the underlying question remains. What are the specific benefits for businesses of all sizes? We highlight the 3 most beneficial effects of 5G technology on businesses below:

Better Customer Experience

Speed is by far the most beneficial effect of 5G for businesses. The current average 4G browsing speed runs at an average of 56 Mbps, 5G would bump that speed up to 490 Mbps (almost 10x the speed of 4G). This makes you download heavy videos or files in an instant ensuring delivery of services to customers at lightning speed.

In meetings, advanced capabilities such as virtual reality, which will be powered by 5G connectivity, could become the norm for presentations. Immersive augmented and virtual reality experiences could show customers and others your new product, enabling them to view it virtually, from any angle.

Or you might leverage your customers’ smart home environment to develop new services and applications that make full use of all the data that surrounds them.

More Productivity

Many of the benefits of adopting 5G technology for your business stems from low latency and high capacity which result in high productivity for your employees.

With a much more reliable network, your employees will spend less time fretting about connectivity and more time focusing on important tasks.

More Opportunities For Your Business

5G opens the door to new business models that you can create and new products and services you can offer. The ability to collect more data, more quickly, and put it to work for your business and your customers is one of the benefits of 5G for businesses of every size—and may even be the genesis for a transformation of your business model.

Conclusion

The 5G technology era is here, introducing the next generation of smart business applications just as organisations plan how to emerge stronger in the post-pandemic world.

The potential for impact across industries is enormous, but to realise these gains, companies will need a strategic approach—one underpinned by a clear view of the use cases that will deliver the greatest value over time.

This is true for both of the key stakeholder groups shaping the future usage of 5G: enterprises and policy-makers.

6 Min. Read/April 13, 2022/by Team Descasio

Uncategorized

How Crypto Currency Has Changed the Landscape of Technology Globally

It wasn’t so long ago that the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin made its way into our consciousness becoming by far the most revolutionary digital innovation in the 21st century. The digital coin, created under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, was launched in 2009 as a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis that caused a recession.

Since its inception, its (Bitcoin) price has swung from a lowly $0.0008 to a massive high of over $60,000 in 2021. To put in a mind-blowing context, if you bought 100 Bitcoins in 2010 which was worth a paltry 8 cents then and kept it till now, that Bitcoin will be worth a whopping $4.7 million! Such massive returns within a very short period are almost impossible with conventional investment

READ: 11 Cryptocurrency Acronyms And Terminologies You Must Know In 2022

What Is Cryptocurrency

As earlier stated, the epic financial crash in 2008 has pushed folks to sort for other less controlled financial options which inevitably heralded the era of cryptocurrency. The idea behind cryptocurrency is to create a decentralised system (completely independent of centralised organisations like banks and government) for financial transactions using digital currencies. Over the years, there has been an explosion of digital currencies with different use cases

Before Bitcoin, there had been previous attempts at creating decentralised digital currencies with ledgers secured by encryption. For example, B-Money and Bit Gold were formulated but never fully developed.

Global Cryptocurrency Ownership

At the end of 2021, cryptocurrency users across the world grew to almost 300 million. If crypto users were a country, it will be the 4th most populated country in the world behind China, India and USA. The global user base of crypto has massively increased by nearly %58000 between 2016 and 2021. It is expected that the total users could explode to 1 billion by the end of 2022 based on projections.

These numbers show the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency for payment transactions and investment purposes over conventional payment methods. It also shows the middle finger given by people to the financial establishment.

Top Cryptocurrency Countries

India has the highest number of cryptocurrency users in the world. The South-East Asian country has more than 100 million users – 33% of the total global users – at the moment. This is followed by the USA, Russia, Nigeria and Brazil with 27 million, 17 million, 13 million and 10 million users respectively according to data made available by Triple-A, a cryptocurrency payment platform based in Singapore.

The data also reported the countries with the highest percentage of users per population. The number country on the list is Ukraine with 12.73% users followed by Russia, Kenya, USA and India with 11.91%, 8.52%, 8,31% and 7.3% user base respectively.

The ease and

African Cryptocurrency Users

The continent of Africa has seen the most adoption of crypto among developing countries across the world. The continent has seen a 1200% ($105 billion in market value) increase in cryptocurrency payments from 2020 to 2021. This is not unexpected as Africans daily seek alternate means to bypass the ubiquitous and expensive traditional banking services.

The cost of remittances to Africa remains the highest in the world. It cost about $18 for an African living abroad to send $200, about 9% on average. The cost within Africa is higher, going up as much as 20%. Thanks to Crypto, Africans have found cheaper and faster means to send money to their loved ones. Remittance has been the rocket that has propelled the growth of cryptocurrency in Africa.

Another reason Africans have embraced cryptocurrency is the unavailability of foreign exchange to merchants who do business with their foreign counterparts. The forex crunch experienced by some African countries like Nigeria has driven merchants to source them elsewhere prompting them to create accounts on peer 2 peer crypto platforms like Paxful, Remitano and Binance.

The rate of cryptocurrency adoption is expected to be sustained despite the restrictions placed by some African governments. Talking about government restriction on crypto…

Cryptocurrency User vs Central Banks

The reaction of some African governments toward the explosive growth of cryptocurrency in their backyard has been nothing but hostile. Early last year, the central bank Governor of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crypto market by size, restricted the use of crypto by ordering financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions in the country.

This hasn’t deterred die-hard crypto users as the rate of adoption rose by 10% points to 42% by the end of 2021 effectively rendering the restriction impotent.

Other countries where crypto has been restricted or fully banned are Algeria (complete ban), Bangladesh, (complete ban), Egypt (partial ban), Bolivia (complete ban), China (complete ban), Columbia (partial ban), Iran (partial ban), Indonesia (complete ban), India (complete ban), Iraq (partial ban), Russia (partial ban), Turkey (complete ban) and Vietnam (partial ban).

Big Companies Jumping on the Cryptocurrency Wagon

With over 300 million cryptocurrency users around the world, it’s no surprise big companies across industries from -Big tech to Insurance – are joining the revolution by adopting digital currencies like Bitcoin as a payment method. Even modest companies aren’t been left out in the revolution. According to a 2020 study by HSB, a cyber insurance and inspection company, 36% of small and medium businesses accept cryptocurrency payments.

PayPal users in the US can now buy, sell or hold a select few cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. They can also pay with any of these aforementioned cryptocurrencies on the Fintech platform. On Amazon, you can buy vouchers with crypto through a cryptocurrency exchange. Tech giant, Microsoft accepts Bitcoin for its Xbox store credit. Credit companies like Visa and Mastercard recently announced deals with cryptocurrency giants Crypto.com and Coinbase. Social microblogging platform, Twitter allows its users to be tipped in Bitcoin.

Other companies that have adopted the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment include Tesla (they recently stopped accepting bitcoin as a method of payment), Starbucks, AT&T, AXA Insurance, Expedia, KFC, Twitch, Wikipedia, Travala, Dallas Mavericks, Burger King and so much more. Even countries are getting in the groove as well with El Salvador becoming the first country ever to unprecedentedly make Bitcoin the official legal tender.

This level of acceptance by these companies across all industries has shown how cryptocurrency has evolved over the last two decades.

The Future of Cryptocurrency

With innovative concepts like Metaverse and Web 3.0 set to dominate the cryptocurrency space, the future of cryptocurrency is as bright as the desert sun. The market valuation is expected to double by 2030.

One of the driving forces for the crypto market at the moment is the exciting virtual collections of digital arts known as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The NFT market has seen astronomical growth in the past two years as the total value exchange peaked at almost $25 billion at the end of 2021. This growth is now inching closer in value to the traditional art market.

Another driving force is decentralised Finance (Defi) which has disrupted the entire centralised financial system operated by banks, Insurance companies and the government. These financial operations include earning interest, borrowing, lending, buying insurance, trading derivatives, trading assets, and so much more.

DeFi typically uses smart contracts which are automated enforceable agreements that do not need intermediaries to execute and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.

Examples of some of these DeFi projects that have sprung up in the last few years include Aave, Fantom, PancakeSwap, MakerDAO and Compound.

Conclusion

This is the right time for you to take advantage of the innovations happening in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space by adopting some of the solutions that will digitally transform your business in more ways than one.

7 Min. Read/March 31, 2022/by Team Descasio

Business Model, Lifestyle

5 Ways to Safeguard Your Business Assets During a Time of Uncertainties

“In the Midst of Chaos, there is also Opportunity”

Sun Tzu

The words of Sun Tzu above, legendary Chinese master military strategist, ring eerily true with the world seemingly in turmoil at the moment.

The Ukraine – Russia war is currently putting (no pun intended) the entire world rightly in a massive frenzy with businesses across industries affected directly (Russian business owners read Oligarchs who have been barred by Western countries) and indirectly (businesses that are affected by other variables like high gas prices as a result of the war), after just recovering from one of the most devastating pandemics in history. As a result of the war, Oil prices are spiralling out of control, same as commodities like wheat, Russia and Ukraine together exported more than a quarter (25.4%) of wheat in 2019, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

The story is equally not savoury back home, the price of diesel has more than doubled in the last fortnight. The country is also currently under its usual siege of petrol queues as a result of petrol scarcity. These issues coupled with the country’s mounting debt profile and a spate of insecurities have made it imperative for business owners to start thinking of possible bunkers somewhere to crawl into.

Bunkers aside, how do business owners protect their assets during these wild uncertain times? How would they form a massive moat around their assets and insulate them from this chaos? Not to worry, we’ve put together 5 great ways you can secure these assets and none of them includes hiding somewhere in that bunker.

1. Put it in the Cloud

If you haven’t stored your business’ or company’s assets/data which include important business documents, projects documents, email communications, etc… on the clouds, you could be casting a dark cloud in the long run over your business or company. The concept of storing data in the cloud using cloud computing software has been around with us over the last three decades since the inception of the internet and it has grown astronomical.

Last year, cloud computing marketing was worth over $370 billion (N153.9 trillion) and is expected to more than double by 2025 with the top three Cloud computing companies (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud) having a combined market share of about 60%. These staggering stats prove that businesses across all industries are adopting cloud computing technology at a fast pace to safeguard their data, especially during these uncertain times.

Thankfully, we offer cloud computing services to help small and big businesses like yours manage their data and assets more efficiently.

2. Subscribe for That Cybersecurity software Now If You haven’t Yet

One of the most popular tools deployed for modern warfare during a time of uncertainty is cyberwarfare. It’s no surprise the use of cyber warfare tools grew at the height of the pandemic two years ago and is set to continue the upward trajectory as the war in Ukraine rages on.

Already, it is estimated that almost 60% of small companies go out of business within the first six months according to data gathered by National Cyber Security Alliance, a nonprofit organisation. This is quite telling as hackers tend to focus on startups without the necessary security structure compared to much more entrenched companies. But this is not to say big companies are not susceptible to cyberattacks.

Making it even more imperative for companies of shapes and sizes to protect their online assets with the best cybersecurity software we have on offer.

3. Adopt a Digital-first Approach

This is an obvious no brainer, especially in an age where everyone is talking and experimenting with the concepts of having their social identities in a virtual reality world read Metaverse. But the right structure must be put in place for a successful digital-first approach adoption.

For example, companies that have gone fully remote have put in place the right interactive and collaborative software to aid seamless interaction among employees outside the office. At the moment, no thanks to the pandemic, more than 16% of companies worldwide are fully remote, this is according to a study carried out by Owl Labs in collaboration with Global Workforce Analytics. Some Ukraine based software companies didn’t have their services disrupted by the war as they already had the remote structure in place.

We can help you make that transition if you haven’t hopped on the digital train yet by signing up on this link.

4. Don’t Panic!

So much negativity from tumbling revenue numbers for businesses due to high oil prices to the high cost of commodities like gas, high inflation cost by these growing costs and economic downturn will be aired repeatedly by news outlets across the media like TV and podcasts during these uncertain times. It is very important as a business owner, you practise the art of calmness by switching your focus to other relaxing and meditative activities. You can also visit places with rich natural habitats that will refresh your thought process and improve your emotional intelligence to avoid making rash decisions.

And remember this as a rule of thumb; whatever choices or decisions you make during these moments, make sure you avoid pushing that panic button!

5. Diversify Your Assets

This is probably the most essential safeguard of all especially if you want to come out on the other side of these uncertain times smiling. Thankfully, there are so many investment opportunities to try out; from the conventional ones such as stocks and real estate to disruptive ones like cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and others), the much talked about NFTs and Metaverse.

There are a million more ways you can diversify your investment, but it is very crucial to note that whichever way(s) you choose to helps you limit your exposure during a time of crisis.

Conclusion

These safeguards are not cast in stones and should not be seen as the only way to protect your assets in a time of chaos, as there are several other means of safeguards. But this article will help in guiding you to make the best decisions for your business during uncertain times.

6 Min. Read/March 21, 2022/by Team Descasio

Information Technology

11 Cryptocurrency Acronyms and Terminologies You Must Know in 2022

One of the biggest buzzwords in the technology space at the moment has to be Cryptocurrency. So big, the entire cryptocurrency space is currently worth $1.72 Trillion as of the time of writing the article. If the cryptocurrency market was a stock market operated by a country, it will be the 18th largest stock exchange by market cap in the world.

But very few know how cryptocurrency works or what it’s used for. According to a recent survey done by Cardify, only 16.9% of investors who have bought crypto “fully understand” the value and potential of cryptocurrency, while 33.5% of buyers have either zero knowledge about the space or would call their level of understanding “emerging.”

Even fewer know about the larger ecosystem that exists beyond the cryptocurrency space which includes Blockchain, Decentralised Finance, Web3, Smart Contract and so much more.

In this article, we will break down all the terminologies and jargon around the cryptocurrency space into much simpler and more digestible bits using related anecdotes.

ALSO READ: 7 Business Automation Tools To Subscribe To In 2022

Cryptocurrency Acronyms and Terminologies You Must Know in 2022

Nakatamo Satoshi
Blockchain
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Blockchain Wallet
Address
Alt Coin
Shitcoins
Cryptocurrency Exchange
Tokens
Decentralised Finance

Let’s go!

Nakatamo Satoshi

What better way to start than with the man who is presumed to be the brains behind the creation of Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency. Many folks in the crypto space believe he’s a pseudonym that represents the original creator(s) of Bitcoin.

Whatever and wherever he is, dead or alive, the name has made history as being the pioneer of the most disruptive technology innovation at the moment.

Given the price of BTC today, Satoshi would be a billionaire.

In addition, the poor (rich) lad also exists as a token called Satoshi and currently trades on the Coinmarketcap with the price set at $0.000412.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a combination of computer networks that transparently stores all the information about a crypto transaction. Visualise several series of blocks which contain the information in a space connected by endless chains.

Blockchain is the technology that powers all cryptocurrency transactions, for without it there won’t be any cryptocurrencies in existence. Its mission is to ‘wrestle power’ from centralised and opaque organisations like banks, government, lawyers, Insurance companies, “omo oniles”, etc and put it in the safe and transparent hands of ordinary folks like you and me, hence decentralising the whole process of money exchange (a classic tale of Robinhood).

Bitcoin

As you probably have noticed, decentralisation is ironically the central theme for cryptocurrency and no other token, coin or terminology represents this theme like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a virtual or digital token that can only be used on the internet. Unlike the physical currencies e.g the US dollar and UK Pound Sterling which are controlled by the government, Bitcoin is controlled by anyone. And like the traditional currencies which are stored in physical wallets, Bitcoin can also be stored in wallets called digital wallets (We will talk more about this).

Bitcoin is the first and most valuable cryptocurrency with the price currently at $44,230.

Ethereum

Ethereum is the second most popular and valuable cryptocurrency but it has a more unique usage than Bitcoin.

The former both serves as a medium of exchange and technology within the blockchain where other decentralised applications like Defi, Smart Contracts, NFT can be built on while the latter is only used as a medium of exchange.

Think of Ethereum as the Gold of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin as the dollar.

Ethereum can also be referred to as an alternative coin to Bitcoin.

Blockchain Wallet

The blockchain wallet acts the same way as your physical wallet which is used to store cash and cards except it is used online to store digital currencies like Bitcoin.

It is very secure and can only be accessed by a key unique only to the wallet’s online (unlike the physical wallet that can be ‘accessed’ by boys under the bridge).

Address

An Address is a string of characters in a wallet that can send and receive cryptocurrency. It is synonymous with a real-life address or an email.

Just like a physical address where no two houses can share the same numbers, each address on the blockchain is unique and marks the location of a wallet.

Alt Coins

Short form for alternative coins, Altcoins refer to any type of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Altcoins were created to serve a much better purpose to cryptocurrency users than Bitcoin.

Ethereum was the first-ever altcoin created. Other examples of altcoin include Solana, Bitcoin Cash (which is the 3rd most valuable cryptocurrency), XRP, Cardano, etc.

Shitcoins

Shitcoins are altcoins that are fraudulently created and serve no intrinsic value to users. They are truly shitty by every definition of the word. Examples of shitcoins include Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Safe Moon, Magic Internet Money, etc.

Cryptocurrency Exchange

Crypto Exchanges are platforms where digital currency owners can buy or sell cryptocurrency coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Litecoin Solana and the likes. They are two types of Crypto Exchanges:

Centralised Crypto Exchanges – These exchanges are operated by trusted third-party companies where individuals have little or no control over the trading of their digital assets. They are safe but kind of defeat the essence of decentralisation. Examples of centralised crypto exchanges include Binance, Luno, Huobi, Coinbase, etc.

Decentralised Crypto Exchanges – these exchanges grant users total control over their digital assets without involving any third party, think of it as the bundle of cash you keep underneath the mattress or at the dark spot of your wardrobe and use whenever you want. Examples include Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Kine Protocol, etc.

Tokens

Tokens are simply altcoins that have no dedicated blockchain, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum. They leverage existing blockchain, most commonly Ethereum. They are essentially like coaches that only move once attached to a train engine.

One great advantage about tokens is that cryptocurrencies can be created on an existing blockchain without the need to build a blockchain, just like a coach needing to move on the rail tracks without a need to build a new train engine.

Decentralised Finance

Defi, short for decentralised finance, is the movement within crypto that removes the control banks and institutions have on money, financial products and financial services.

It eliminates the fees that banks and other financial companies charge for using their services. This means anyone can lend, borrow and other access financial services just by being connected to the internet without the need for intermediaries like banks.

More buzzwords pop up daily around the crypto space, but these 11 are some of the most useful and popular terminologies around the cryptocurenccy space.

6 Min. Read/February 22, 2022/1 Comment/by Team Descasio

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