James Bachini

Blockchain

  • Marketing Psychology in Web3

    Marketing Psychology in Web3

    This article delves into the key aspects of marketing psychology that are unique or particularly relevant to the Web3 ecosystem, exploring how trust, community engagement, scarcity, fear of missing out, attention economy, and behavioural economics intersect with this innovative space. Trust and Credibility The blockchain sector has been plagued by numerous fraud & scams, making…

  • Meridian 2024 Takeaways

    Meridian 2024 Takeaways

    Key Innovations and Infrastructure Developments from Meridian 2024 The recent Stellar Meridian conference and its preceding hackathon showcased significant developments in the Stellar Network’s ecosystem, highlighting how the platform is revolutionizing blockchain infrastructure and smart contract capabilities. From innovative on/off-ramp solutions to ground breaking smart wallets, Stellar is positioning itself as a formidable player in…

  • Creating MultiSig Wallets with Solidity

    Creating MultiSig Wallets with Solidity

    MultiSig wallets have become increasingly popular due to their enhanced security features. In this article, we will delve into the key components of a MultiSig wallet, how to write a MultiSig wallet contract using Solidity, deploying the wallet, and handling deposits and withdrawals. Note that the code provided here is for educational purposes only. If…

  • Prediction Markets Solidity

    Prediction Markets Solidity

    Prediction markets are decentralized platforms where participants can bet on the outcome of future events. For example, people could bet on the outcome of a presidential election or a sports game. In this tutorial, we will walk through a smart contract built on Ethereum, which allows users to create and participate in prediction markets. The…

  • Incorporating Bitcoin In A Treasury Strategy

    Incorporating Bitcoin In A Treasury Strategy

    Cash Savings in Treasuries Treasury managers face a significant challenge in preserving the value of their reserves. Traditional cash savings, once considered a safe haven, have become increasingly unsuitable for long-term corporate savings. This shift is primarily due to the ongoing dilution caused by money supply growth, as central banks worldwide engage in quantitative easing…

  • Stellar Soroban Boilerplate

    Stellar Soroban Boilerplate

    In this tutorial I’m going to go through the code for a boilerplate which connects a Soroban smart contract to a React dApp. Note that for a more full featured demo app you can check out the excellent Scaffold Soroban at: https://developers.stellar.org/docs/learn/interactive/dapps/scaffold-soroban There is also this from the guys at Palta Labs:https://create-soroban-dapp.paltalabs.io/ James On YouTube…

  • Decentralized Lending Pools | Blend Capital

    Decentralized Lending Pools | Blend Capital

    Overcollateralized lending has emerged as a cornerstone in the decentralised finance ecosystem, providing a secure and efficient way for users to borrow and lend digital assets. Blend Capital leverages this mechanism on Stellar’s Soroban smart contract platform, introducing a robust protocol for overcollateralized lending and borrowing. This article delves into how overcollateralized lending works, explores…

  • Encrypting Private Keys in .env

    Encrypting Private Keys in .env

    It has become very normalised to store Ethereum private keys in plain text within .env files. While this is convenient, it’s a disaster waiting to happen when working in production with wallets that contain real funds. Today, I’ll show you a better way to manage your hot wallet keys using AES encryption. Full code for…

  • Balancer v3 Hooks

    Balancer v3 Hooks

    For the Balancer v3 Hookathon (yep it’s a hackathon to create DeX hooks) I had the idea to try and create a fair launch memecoin platform. It’s the kind of thing that could bring utility to the ecosystem as we’ve seen recently with the wave of memecoin trading on Solana. The target is to create…

  • Creating WASM Files Using Rust and Running Them in the Browser

    Creating WASM Files Using Rust and Running Them in the Browser

    In this tutorial we will be writing some code in Rust, compiling to web assembly (WASM) and then running that code in a browser. This enables high performance applications to be run within a web dev setting. In this tutorial I’ll be using windows subsystem for Linux. Let’s first install Rust and wasm-pack (more instructions…

  • Enums In Solidity

    Enums In Solidity

    Enums are one of the most useful and underused data types in Solidity. I think because they aren’t widely used in Javascript and web dev, they often get overlooked in contract development. In this article I’ll make my case for why enums deserve a place in your tool kit and smart contracts. Enums in Solidity…

  • WebAuthn PassKey Smart Wallets

    WebAuthn PassKey Smart Wallets

    In this article we will take a glimpse into the future of account abstraction where web3 can offer walletless, passwordless authentication to web applications. I’ll be connecting a Stellar Soroban smart contract to a web3 frontend and verifying signatures from biometrics on your phone. Welcome to the future. The full source code used in this…

  • Value Investing In DeFi

    Value Investing In DeFi

    For value investors the goal is to find assets priced below their intrinsic value, providing a margin of safety and potential for significant future growth. Could applying this principle to DeFi help identify underappreciated projects that are gaining significant traction. Let’s find out… Market Cap, TVL & FDV Market capitalization is the total value of…

  • 7 Problems That DeFi Solves

    7 Problems That DeFi Solves

    Last month Vitalik caused a stir when he suggested that DeFi “can’t be the thing that brings crypto to another 10-100x adoption burst” In this article I’m going to share my thoughts on why DeFi is still the no.1 most important use case for Ethereum. Lack of Financial Inclusion In a world where millions remain…

  • Building Rust Smart Contracts On Stellar Soroban

    Building Rust Smart Contracts On Stellar Soroban

    Soroban is the smart contract platform that allows developers to write and deploy smart contracts on the Stellar network. This tutorial will guide you through the process of building a simple smart contract using Rust and deploying it to Soroban. I recently took on the role of Developer in Residence with Stellar and this is…

  • Pump.fun Clone In Solidity

    Pump.fun Clone In Solidity

    Pump.fun is a token factory that lets users create and trade memecoins on Solana with dynamic pricing along a bonding curve. In this article I’ll show how I went about converting this concept to Solidity and deploying it on Ethereum. Full code for this is open source at: https://github.com/jamesbachini/Pump.sol Token Factory Contract At the core…

  • Over-Collateralized Lending In DeFi

    Over-Collateralized Lending In DeFi

    Decentralized finance has opened up many possibilities for holders of digital assets. One of the products which has gained traction over the last few years has been over-collateralized lending which is now a $30+ billion dollar industry. In this article I’m going to look at how over-collateralized lending works, why would someone want to do…

  • Creating Your Own Oracle Solidity & NodeJS

    Creating Your Own Oracle Solidity & NodeJS

    In this tutorial I’m going to go through the steps to setting up your own oracle service to bring data on-chain. We are going to be deploying a simple smart contract, then setting up a NodeJS client to fetch the price of Bitcoin, then uploading this to the contract. Full code for this is open…

  • The Future Of Bitcoin, Ethereum & Web3

    The Future Of Bitcoin, Ethereum & Web3

    In this article I’m going to discuss where I think the industry is going over the next decade and how emerging developments will affect the following: Bitcoin Bitcoin, the pioneer and household name of crypto, has not evolved significantly from its origins as a digital currency. It is becoming increasingly recognized as a mainstream financial…

  • What Are Blockchains Good For?

    What Are Blockchains Good For?

    This article explores the strengths, limitations, and potential applications for blockchain technology. I will delve into six primary areas where blockchain technology shows promise: Transparency Blockchains are inherently transparent, making it a powerful tool for enhancing trust, accountability, and security in various applications. This transparency is evident in how transactions are recorded on a publicly…

  • How To Calculate Gas Costs For Solidity Contracts

    How To Calculate Gas Costs For Solidity Contracts

    Deploying Solidity smart contracts can be expensive because the code needs to be stored on the shared storage of a decentralized peer to peer blockchain network. The dollar cost of deploying Solidity smart contracts is dependent on a number of variables: I’ve previously provided code to analyze the bytecode size of contracts, you can also…

  • NFT Token Vault Solidity

    NFT Token Vault Solidity

    This was inspired by the CryptoKitties WG0 token vault which accepts gen zero CryptoKitty deposits and mints 1 ERC20 token for each. Users can then buy tokens on exchange and claim NFT’s from the vault. The code is open source and available at: https://github.com/jamesbachini/NFTvault How The NFTvault Contract Works When you deposit your NFTs into…

  • Creating an UpOnly ERC20 Token

    Creating an UpOnly ERC20 Token

    In this tutorial we are going to create a ponzi game in the form of an ERC20 token that has an internal marketplace function. The idea is to increase the price over time so that early buyers get to dump on late buyers at a higher price. The last buyer will have no liquidity to…

  • Solidity Encrypted Messaging dApp

    Solidity Encrypted Messaging dApp

    This morning Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, was arrested at a French airport for refusing to provide backdoor access to the messaging application. This tutorial will demonstrate how to use Elliptic Curve Diffie Hellman (ECDH) cryptography to establish a shared secret and encrypted messaging across a insecure communication channel, in this case a public blockchain.…

  • CryptoKitties Investment Thesis

    CryptoKitties Investment Thesis

    Below I have outlined the reasons why I invested my kids college fund into pictures of cats and why CryptoKitties are my highest conviction bet in the NFT space. Historical Significance CryptoKitties hold a unique place in the history of blockchain adoption and NFTs. It was the first time I remember the Ethereum network becoming…

  • 7 Incredible Use Cases For ChatGPT

    7 Incredible Use Cases For ChatGPT

    ChatGPT has become an invaluable tool since it’s release in 2022. Here are seven amazing use cases which you can take advantage of today. Language Partner Learning a new language can be challenging, vraiment difficile, but ChatGPT can serve as an invaluable language partner. ChatGPT’s chat feature can be utilized as a voice tutor, it…

  • Solidity Virtual Pet

    Solidity Virtual Pet

    Let’s create a virtual pet in Solidity and deploy it to the blockchain. Full frontend and contract code for this tutorial can be found here: https://github.com/jamesbachini/Solidity-Virtual-Pet Demo here: https://jamesbachini.com/misc/SolidityPet/index.html Smart Contract Our pet is going to have two attributes for hunger and happiness. Hunger should increase over time and happiness should have a mechanism where…

  • Calculating Bitcoin Fair Value With Rust

    Calculating Bitcoin Fair Value With Rust

    In this tutorial, we will create a Rust script that: Instructions Rust Code The code is open source and available on Github: https://github.com/jamesbachini/Bitcoin-Fair-Value We’ll start with the async fetch_klines function to fetch Bitcoin price data from the Binance API. The Binance API provides various endpoints for accessing market data, and we’ll use the /api/v3/klines endpoint…

  • AI Is Not Decentralized

    AI Is Not Decentralized

    Can AI solve centralization issues for blockchain projects? There’s more hype than ever around “AI on the blockchain” and while this still isn’t a thing I’d like to look at one particular use case in this article. Can machine learning be used to address centralization issues, is it enough to trust a model where true…

  • Can ChatGPT & Keras Predict The Price Of Bitcoin

    Can ChatGPT & Keras Predict The Price Of Bitcoin

    I get asked a lot if ChatGPT can be used for trading and I normally say “no, it’s a language model which isn’t designed to find market patterns in numerical price data”. ChatGPT works more like predictive text in a search engine or on your phone but what it is good at is writing code…

  • Calculating CAGR in Python & JavaScript

    Calculating CAGR in Python & JavaScript

    The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is a useful measure for assessing the mean annual growth rate of an investment or business metric over a specified period longer than one year. Unlike other growth metrics, CAGR smooths out the volatility, providing a clearer picture of how investments grow over time. In this guide, I’ll show…

  • Web3 Social Network

    Web3 Social Network

    Today I’m going to explore what a web3 social network could look like and try to figure out what we want from social networks and where they might be going in the future. Let’s first look at some existing social networks and what makes them popular The thing that all these products have is targeted…

  • How To Check Token Balances Using Python

    How To Check Token Balances Using Python

    To check a wallet token balance on the Ethereum blockchain using Python you will need the following: Once we have our API key ready and Python installed we can install web3.py using the following command Now let’s create a file called balance.py and add the following code. Note the code is also available in the…

  • DeFi Whale Watching Tutorial & Code

    DeFi Whale Watching Tutorial & Code

    Imagine if you could tap into the strategies of top investors and see where the smart money is allocating capital? Welcome to the world of DeFi whale watching, where tracking high net worth wallets can give you the edge and open up new Whale Watching Explained DeFi whale watching involves tracking the investments of “smart…

  • DeFi Analysis With Rust

    DeFi Analysis With Rust

    In this tutorial I’m going to provide some code and show you how to monitor the number of depositors to Eigenlayer over the last 24 hours. We will be using Rust with the Tokio and Ethers libraries along with the Infura API which you can get a free key from here. The first thing we…

  • Structured Products DeFi

    Structured Products DeFi

    We all remember the 2008 financial crisis, a global upheaval sparked in part by complex structured products like collateralised debt obligations. These financial instruments are still widely used in traditional finance to manage risk and enhance returns. But what if we could reimagine these products in DeFi? In this article, we’ll explore how decentralised structured…

  • Web3 vs Cloud Computing

    Web3 vs Cloud Computing

    Have you ever wondered if decentralised data storage can truly rival the convenience and efficiency of traditional cloud services like AWS? Web3 devs today face several significant challenges. On-chain data is currently slow, expensive, and often comes with a poor user experience. However, with the rapid advancements in technology, the future could look very different.…

  • How To Lookup An ENS Name In Python

    How To Lookup An ENS Name In Python

    To check a wallet token balance on the Ethereum blockchain using Python you will need the following: Once we have our API key ready and Python installed we can install web3.py using the following command Now let’s create a file called enslookup.py and add the following code. Enter your Infura API key on line 5.…

  • The Future Of Cryptography

    The Future Of Cryptography

    Have you ever wondered how the world of cryptography will evolve in the next two decades? As technology races forward, the landscape of data security is set to undergo dramatic transformations. From quantum resistant algorithms to biometric encryption, the world of cryptography is evolving. Let me take you through the fascinating journey of where we…

  • Bitcoin Censorship Resistance

    Bitcoin Censorship Resistance

    Imagine a world where your transactions are dependent on government approval. A central authority has the ability to cut off your right to trade for any reason they see fit. We aren’t far from this already and we’ve things like sanctions and freezing of assets by governments around the world. This primarily targets the banking…

  • The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade

    The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade

    Imagine your everyday Ethereum account could temporarily transform into a powerful smart contract wallet. This is exactly what EIP-7702, a core part of the Pectra upgrade, promises. This new feature will allow normal Ethereum account addresses (EOAs) to act as smart contracts during transactions, only to revert to their original state afterwards. This upgrade has…

  • Building A Portfolio Tracker In Python

    Building A Portfolio Tracker In Python

    In this tutorial we will be building a digital asset portfolio tracking tool using python and the Coinbase API. You’ll need to install python and the following library to make requests. The code for this is open source on Github at: https://github.com/jamesbachini/Python-Portfolio-Tracker Put this in a file called portfolio.py or fork the repo above. Then…

  • Apple Tap To Cash

    Apple Tap To Cash

    Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote unveiled Tap to Cash to simplify p2p payments, simply tap one iPhone to another to send money via Apple’s wallet. Why should you care about a minor tech upgrade from Apple? Because this one could be the first step towards a wider change in how we handle personal transactions. Dive in…

  • Interest Rates, FOMC & Crypto

    Interest Rates, FOMC & Crypto

    Ever wondered why crypto traders are obsessed with FOMC meetings and what the Federal Reserve are planning next? Interest rates set by the Fed impact the price of Bitcoin and other digital assets alongside stocks, shares and bonds. What if you could anticipate long-term price movements just by understanding a few macro economic principles? Let…

  • Building a Career in Web3

    Building a Career in Web3

    Web3 represents the future of the internet, where developers can deploy permissionless code on a decentralized network. Building a career in this space requires a combination of technical skills, practical experience, and a strategic approach. This article outlines the key steps for anyone looking to forge a career in Web3, from learning Solidity to launching…

  • Frontrunning Crypto Catalysts For Fun & Profit

    Frontrunning Crypto Catalysts For Fun & Profit

    There is opportunity in crypto markets if you can get ahead of the next narrative and allocate capital prior to mass of market participants. Staying ahead of the curve often means keeping an eye on emerging trends and strategic moves that can significantly impact a project’s market perception and value. In this article I’m going…

  • Ethena USDe | DeFi Analysis Report

    Ethena USDe | DeFi Analysis Report

    Ethena Labs has introduced USDe, a synthetic dollar on the Ethereum blockchain. USDe is designed to be crypto native, stable and censorship resistant. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Ethena or USDe at time of writing. Do your…

  • Creating A Solidity Escrow Smart Contract

    Creating A Solidity Escrow Smart Contract

    In this tutorial, we will create an Escrow contract using Solidity and deploy it to an Ethereum testnet. An Escrow contract is a financial agreement where a third party (the arbitrator) holds and regulates payment of the funds required for two parties involved in a given transaction. It helps make transactions more secure as it…

  • Starknet STRK Tokenomics

    Starknet STRK Tokenomics

    Starknet is a layer 2 zero knowledge rollup which uses a STARK cryptographic proof and Cairo based smart contracts. A few days ago they released the STRK token and in this article I’ll dive in to the tokenomics. Currently at time of writing the token trades at $1.91 and has a $1.39 billion dollar circulating…

  • How To Create ERC404 Tokens Solidity Tutorial

    How To Create ERC404 Tokens Solidity Tutorial

    An ERC404 token is a digital asset that combines the characteristics of ERC20 fungible tokens and ERC721 non-fungible tokens (aka NFT’s) to enable fractional ownership of an NFT. In essence, ERC404 tokens represent divisible parts of an NFT, allowing multiple individuals to own shares of a single NFT. This approach is designed to enhance the…

  • Aggregated Blockchains and Polygon’s Agglayer

    Aggregated Blockchains and Polygon’s Agglayer

    Polygon is gearing up to launch its AggLayer v1 mainnet with an event later today at 14:00 UTC Feb 23rd “Aggregation Day 2024”. In this article I’ll look at what aggregated blockchains are and how Polygon’s Agglayer works. What Are Aggregated Blockchains? The idea of aggregated Blockchains is to facilitate developers in bridging different blockchains…

  • Adversarial Simulation Testing For Smart Contract Developers

    Adversarial Simulation Testing For Smart Contract Developers

    I recently read Gene Kranz’s first hand account of the Gemini and Apollo Nasa missions. He talks about the rigorous simulation testing that flight directors had to partake in prior to a mission. Simulation testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the preparedness of astronauts and flight controllers for spaceflight. This process is managed by…

  • Javascript Smart Contracts

    Javascript Smart Contracts

    As an experiment I converted this Vyper token contract to a Javascript/Typescript syntax to see if we could make it easier for web developers to get up to speed with smart contract development. Solidity is the most popular smart contract language and it is already based losely on Javascript but there are plenty of syntax…

  • Vyper Tutorial | Learn Vyper In 24 Hours

    Vyper Tutorial | Learn Vyper In 24 Hours

    Vyper is a pythonesque smart contract language that can be compiled and deployed on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. 90%+ of blockchain devs use Solidity but there are some big projects such as Curve using Vyper and it’s growing in popularity and tooling compatibility. The best way to get started with Vyper is to head…

  • Using Vyper With Remix

    Using Vyper With Remix

    You can now use Vyper (a smart contract programming language similar to python) with remix to build and deploy contracts on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. The first step is installing the Vyper plugin at https://remix.ethereum.org/ where you’ll find a list of plugins using the icon in the bottom left. You’ll then get an extra…

  • Sell Me This Pen.sol

    Sell Me This Pen.sol

    What happens when you ask a blockchain developer to sell you a pen? Etch your words permanently on the Ethereum blockchain where they will outlive you & create an everlasting record of your thoughts, contemplations & predictions. This is your chance to leave an eternal mark and express your presence in the digital age while…

  • LRTs | Liquid Restaking Tokens

    LRTs | Liquid Restaking Tokens

    I’ve previously discussed Eigenlayer and how restaking works but let’s look at what this will look like for the majority of users. Liquid Restaking Tokens are the equivalent of stETH for restaking where users can deposit assets to gain exposure to yield from restaking using a simple ERC20 token. This is a write up of…

  • Crypto Market Thesis 2024

    Crypto Market Thesis 2024

    The crypto market has experienced significant recovery this year, with Bitcoin’s value surging from $16,500 to over $40,000. Growth was shadowed by increased regulatory scrutiny, particularly impacting centralized exchanges. The Bitcoin halving in April 2024 is poised to be a pivotal event, historically triggering market rallies. The potential January approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs could…

  • Nixon Shock | The Beginning Of The End

    Nixon Shock | The Beginning Of The End

    In a bold and controversial move in 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon instigated what is now known as the “Nixon Shock“ Faced with soaring inflation, Nixon implemented drastic measures including wage and price controls, import surcharges, and ending the U.S. dollar’s gold convertibility. This move effectively dismantled the Bretton Woods system, an international monetary framework…

  • Midjourney vs Dall-E (ChatGPT) | Best AI Image Generator Tests

    Midjourney vs Dall-E (ChatGPT) | Best AI Image Generator Tests

    I currently have a subscription to both Midjourney and ChatGPT but find myself using Dall-E more and more often for image generation tasks. I wanted to carry out some tests to decide if I still needed the Midjourney subscription. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/mf1kWjzlsqI |Subscribe Midjourney vs Dall-E | The Differences Interface Dall-E…

  • How To Deploy A Website Or dApp To IPFS | Fleek Tutorial

    How To Deploy A Website Or dApp To IPFS | Fleek Tutorial

    Gm, in this tutorial we are going to be deploying a website to IPFS to create a decentralized frontend. To do this I’ll be using Fleek which has a free tier and which suits our needs. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/https://youtu.be/DmpXbmjnpec |Subscribe We will start by getting our site on Github. We can…

  • TradingView Pine Script Examples | Master Pine Script With 6 Real World Examples

    TradingView Pine Script Examples | Master Pine Script With 6 Real World Examples

    TradingView’s Pine Script coding language has emerged as the leading tool for traders looking to craft custom indicators and strategies with accuracy and ease. In this Pine Script tutorial I’ll provide a practical gateway into the intricacies of this coding language, tailored with useful examples to get you started. Whether you’re a novice coder or…

  • Solidity Proxy Contract Tutorial With Example Code

    Solidity Proxy Contract Tutorial With Example Code

    This Solidity proxy contract tutorial delves into the concept of upgradeable proxy contracts in Solidity, specifically utilizing OpenZeppelin’s proxy contract template. We’ll start with an understanding of how these contracts work, the compromise of immutable decentralization vs upgradeability and then dive into practical code examples. Proxy Contract Video Tutorial In this video I provide an…

  • Web3 Session Keys

    Web3 Session Keys

    We are going on a journey to seamlessly integrate session keys into a web3 dApp, striking a balance between autonomy and ease of use that your users are yearning for. The goal is to enable users to authenticate with a digital wallet and store a session key on their device. This session key will provide…

  • ATOM Cosmos Analysis | A Deep Dive Into The Cosmos Ecosystem

    ATOM Cosmos Analysis | A Deep Dive Into The Cosmos Ecosystem

    This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to ATOM at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Is Cosmos Cosmos is a decentralized layer zero network of independent blockchains, designed to enable scalability and interoperability between…

  • Ethers-rs Tutorial | The Rust Web3 Library

    Ethers-rs Tutorial | The Rust Web3 Library

    In this tutorial we will be setting up a Rust script to connect to a smart contract on a blockchain network to display on-chain data using the ethers-rs library. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/FA7WFGtyri8 |Subscribe Let’s start by setting up a new Rust project (you’ll need rust installed on your device and I’ll…

  • GEAR Gearbox Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report

    GEAR Gearbox Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report

    Gearbox Protocol introduces a framework for both passive lenders and active borrowers. It empowers traders with leverage that can be used to scale up trades and yield farming strategies on decentralized exchanges such as Unsiswap and Curve. With an emphasis on composable leverage, zero funding rates, and permissionless strategies, Gearbox Protocol is an compelling microcap…

  • Rainbow Wallet vs Metamask

    Rainbow Wallet vs Metamask

    When it comes to cryptocurrency wallets, two names often emerge as key players for users looking to navigate the blockchain sector with ease and security: Rainbow Wallet vs MetaMask. In this article, we dive into a comprehensive comparison between Rainbow Wallet and MetaMask, dissecting each platform’s core features, security architecture, user experience and community support.…

  • Asymmetry Finance | DeFi Analysis Report

    Asymmetry Finance | DeFi Analysis Report

    Asymmetry Finance has emerged as a significant player in the liquid staking wars, offering an aggregated liquid staking token. This article explores the core functionalities of Asymmetry Finance and its core product safETH. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure…

  • WAGMI Tutorial | The Web3 React Framework

    WAGMI Tutorial | The Web3 React Framework

    WAGMI is a set of Typescript React hooks for web3 which enables developers to connect to smart contracts on blockchain networks. In this tutorial we will look at how to install and setup a boilerplate in WAGMI and then build a simple read query. WAGMI in 3 Mins [Video] James On YouTube Watch On YouTube:…

  • Emergent use cases for self-sovereign identity in DeFi

    Emergent use cases for self-sovereign identity in DeFi

    Abstract The DeFi sector is facing increased regulatory pressure to de-anonymize certain transactions and user profiles, while simultaneously dealing with flagging user confidence in terms of their individual rights to data privacy. This is providing fertile ground for innovative companies to try to allow end users to be the sovereign of their own identity and…

  • How I Track Developer Activity For Crypto Projects

    How I Track Developer Activity For Crypto Projects

    In this article I’m going to share how to track developer activity for crypto projects for fundamental analysis. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/DTI7ELSA6CA |Subscribe Understanding the Crypto Development Ecosystem Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as the majority of blockchain projects are fundamentally software. They are applications that run on a decentralized…

  • eBTC How To Trade The Flippening

    eBTC How To Trade The Flippening

    eBTC is an over-collateralized digital asset pegged to the price of Bitcoin which can be minted using stETH as collateral. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to eBTC at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice.…

  • MUX Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report

    MUX Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report

    MUX is a decentralized trading platform offering slippage free trades and 100x leverage. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to MUX at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. The first thing that jumps out about…

  • How I Built A Smart Money List On Twitter

    How I Built A Smart Money List On Twitter

    X formerly known as Twitter includes two features which allows us to create a list of accounts from people that frontrun narratives and successful trades. tl;dr if you just want to see the final list it is here: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1712044491618545903 James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/4qYraarbsYs |Subscribe Step 1. Collecting Project Data My main focus…

  • Investing In Real World Assets Through DeFi

    Investing In Real World Assets Through DeFi

    Real world assets (RWA) are tokenized digital forms of traditional finance assets. A centralized entity will raise capital by selling tokens and investing the proceeds in to an underlying asset or strategy. This has become particularly popular with bonds and treasuries due to recent rises in interest rates. The market leaders in this field by…

  • Brine Finance | DeFi Analysis Report

    Brine Finance | DeFi Analysis Report

    Brine Finance is a decentralized orderbook exchange built on Starkware. They recently raised $16.5m at a valuation of $100m in a round led by Pantera Capital. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Brine at time of writing. Do…

  • OpenZeppelin 5 Solidity Common Errors

    OpenZeppelin 5 Solidity Common Errors

    OpenZeppelin have just released version 5 of their Solidity smart contract libraries and there are some breaking changes that are going to cause errors. The two main ones are the Ownable.sol import which allows devs to create onlyOwner functions and the token hooks on ERC20, ERC721 & ERC1155 contracts. Ownable Constructor If you are getting…

  • Radix DLT | DeFI Analysis Report

    Radix DLT | DeFI Analysis Report

    Radix is a layer one blockchain which has recently gone live on mainnet enabling developers to deploy scrypto smart contracts. In this report I’ll explore the novelties of the technology, dive into the scrypto programming language, look at the excellent developer resources, analyze the tokenomics of the native XRD token and draw a conclusion on…

  • HyperLiquid | Decentralized Perpetual Futures Trading

    HyperLiquid | Decentralized Perpetual Futures Trading

    Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange that specializes in perpetual futures contracts. It’s seen modest growth through a difficult bear market and has a frontend remarkably similar to FTX. Let’s dive in. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to HyperLiquid…

  • Understanding RFQ in Crypto | Request For Quote Systems

    Understanding RFQ in Crypto | Request For Quote Systems

    Uniswap recently announced they are developing an RFQ (request for quote) system that will change the way we swap digital assets. In this article we will look at RFQ in crypto and how it works. How RFQ Works RFQ works when a buyer invites sellers to bid on specific amount of an asset. The buyer…

  • Hardhat Solidity Tutorial

    Hardhat Solidity Tutorial

    Hardhat is an extensive framework for developing, testing and deploying solidity smart contracts. In this Hardhat Solidity tutorial you will learn how to set it up, how to create hardhat unit test tricks, working with hardhat scripts and finally some Hardhat tips and tricks for Solidity developers. Hardhat Easy Setup Hardhat is built on NodeJS…

  • NEAR BOS | Blockchain Operating System

    NEAR BOS | Blockchain Operating System

    Near BOS is a complete framework designed for creating, testing, deploying and distributing decentralized application frontends. Developers can create Javascript based dApps with the frontend code stored and distributed from a blockchain. It is blockchain agnostic so you can store data on Near and EVM chains. BOS is a collection of components, blockchains & gateways.…

  • VEGA DeFi Derivatives Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report 🔍

    VEGA DeFi Derivatives Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report 🔍

    VEGA is a dedicated appChain built for decentralized derivatives such as futures and options contracts. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to VEGA at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. Vega is a infrastructure layer…

  • Celestia | Modular AppChains

    Celestia | Modular AppChains

    Celestia is one of the most widely used scaling solutions for projects that need high throughput, cheap transactions on a dedicated decentralized public blockchain. The aim is for “developers to deploy their own blockchain as easy as deploying a new smart contract” This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not…

  • Premia Finance | DeFi Analysis Report 🔍

    Premia Finance | DeFi Analysis Report 🔍

    In this analysis we will be looking at Premia Finance and the potential of DeFi options protocols. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Premia at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Are…

  • Smol dApp | MultiSafe MultiChain MultiSig Wallets

    Smol dApp | MultiSafe MultiChain MultiSig Wallets

    Smol dApp is like a swiss army knife of useful tools for DeFi. Their main offerings are: The product we are going to look at todays is their flagship MultiSafe wallets. This is a GnosisSafeProxy contract which requires a set number of wallets to sign off on a transaction before it goes through. For example…

  • ApeX Pro | DeFi Analysis Report

    ApeX Pro | DeFi Analysis Report

    ApeX Pro is a non-custodial decentralized orderbook exchange which is part of the ByBit group. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to ApeX at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Is ApeX Pro?…

  • Hardhat vs Foundry

    Hardhat vs Foundry

    I started developing solidity with Truffle, then moved to Hardhat, then moved to Foundry, then moved back to Hardhat before eventually settling using both on a regular basis. In this article I’ll talk about the benefits and disadvantages of Hardhat and Foundry so you can make an informed decision about which framework is better for…

  • The Definitive Guide To Enshrined Rollups

    The Definitive Guide To Enshrined Rollups

    I believe that in the future 90%+ of transactional volume will go through enshrined rollups. So let’s take a in-depth look at what this technology is and how it is going to help Ethereum scale to a billion users. What Is An Enshrined Rollup? Enshrined rollups are a scaling solution being proposed by core developers…

  • Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Bitcoin & Ethereum

    Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Bitcoin & Ethereum

    Calculating the intrinsic value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets is challenging due to its intangible nature. In this analysis I’m going to discuss common methods of calculating intrinsic value and then create a model using a combination of the methods. tl;dr based on the models described below: Methods Of Calculating Intrinsic Value Store…

  • The Essential Checklist For Deploying A New Token

    The Essential Checklist For Deploying A New Token

    In this article we are going to look at all the things that need doing when launching a new token to create a token deployment checklist for developers and founders. At the end there is a big list of all the token listing sites that you can submit your new token to. Unit Tests &…

  • Solidity Tutorial | Gas Paying NFT

    Solidity Tutorial | Gas Paying NFT

    The challenge is to create a NFT contract that charges 1 ETH to mint but then stores the entire amount as collateral in a liquid staking token. As staking rewards come in they get distributed to the holders of the NFTs. At any time a user can burn the NFT to reclaim the 1 ETH.…

  • Web3 PWA Boilerplate | How To Create Next Generation dApps

    Web3 PWA Boilerplate | How To Create Next Generation dApps

    One of Web3’s biggest issues is getting around the centralization of app stores and their stringent terms on the commission requirements for digital asset payments and transfers. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in my opinion are the best solution as it allows you to install dApps directly on to a mobile device without using the app…

  • Chainlink CCIP | Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol

    Chainlink CCIP | Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol

    From all the announcements at ETHcc, the release of Chainlink CCIP as a direct competitor to LayerZero for cross-chain communications and bridging technology, is perhaps the most interesting. The inherent security risks associated with bridging technology means that Chainlink are in a good position to leverage their brand and security record to gain traction in…

  • Biggest Misconceptions About Crypto User Demographics

    Biggest Misconceptions About Crypto User Demographics

    Due to my blog and YouTube channel I get detailed analytics on crypto user demographics. In this article I’ve compared my own data with other accounts, studies and published demographic information. My Demographic Data Here are some screenshots from Google Analytics and YouTube. My content is almost solely focused on blockchain, web3, crypto. This data…

  • Using Ethereum To Offset Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint

    Using Ethereum To Offset Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint

    Never have I sounded more like an Ethereum maxi, but there is a point beyond the provocative title. In this post I’m going to explore the potential for investors to use carbon credit tokens on Ethereum to offset the electrical consumption of BTC mining on their Bitcoin holdings. This novel idea provides the opportunity to…

  • Friend.Tech Trading Bot

    Friend.Tech Trading Bot

    I made a few hundred dollars with this trading bot when Friend.Tech launched. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to take advantage of system trading web3 opportunities. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/SLh8SN5DRc4 |Subscribe tl;dr Takeaways Trading On Friend.Tech Friend.Tech is a web3 social trading game. You can buy shares in…

  • Spark Protocol sDAI | DeFi Analysis Report

    Spark Protocol sDAI | DeFi Analysis Report

    Does earning 8% on your DAI stablecoin holdings sound too good to be true? Let’s take a look at how Spark Protocol is offering this APR using MarkerDAO’s Enhanced Dai Savings Rate system. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any…

  • Value Averaging vs Dollar Cost Averaging

    Value Averaging vs Dollar Cost Averaging

    One of the most recognized techniques for investing is dollar cost averaging. A process where you invest equal amounts over set periods i.e. $100/month. A less well known strategy is value averaging which when compared across multiple markets and time frames is more effective. In this article I discuss the concept of value averaging, the…