Staking rates are variable and may change at our discretion, including if network conditions change. More information at our Staking Program Terms.

Your crypto rewards will start accruing following a preparation period, which is typically four days.

The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) represents a projection of the total rewards you will earn on that staked asset. This takes into account the effect of compounding those rewards by letting them accumulate over time. 

APY for crypto assets is variable and fluctuates based on supply and demand in each of the blockchain's different protocols. This is determined differently and can change at any given moment.

Uphold charges a 15% commission on any staking rewards received by Uphold from the network or other staking partners. To ensure full transparency to our users, the APY rate you see is the APY rate you get. Our commission is net. For more information, please refer to our terms & conditions.

While ETH cannot be unstaked on the blockchain until the migration of ETH 2.0 to a Proof-of-Stake network is complete, Uphold endeavors to offer users the ability to do so, where possible, at a discounted market rate, reflecting prevailing spreads.

Rewards will be credited to your Uphold staking account weekly, every Thursday.

Reward rates are set by each crypto network and are calculated against the amount of crypto actively staked; the more you stake, the more you can earn.

It can take a few days for your staking account to be ready. For example, if you started staking on a Friday, your staking account might only be ready on the following Tuesday. Reward payouts happen on Thursdays, therefore, on your first weekly cycle, you will only receive a proportion of your staking rewards.

On the following weekly cycles, the payout will be processed as normal, and the staking rewards will be in tune with that staking APY, respectively.

Uphold expects to process unstaking requests within 3 business days.

Under certain market conditions, this could extend to the timeframes dictated by the underlying blockchain, per our terms & conditions.

To stake assets, you must have your identity verified and reside in a location where staking is allowed. Staking services are not currently available in Japan or Singapore, or in other jurisdictions in which Uphold does not generally make its services available. For more information, please refer to our terms & conditions.

As with any financial operation, staking is not risk-free. The most common risk associated with staking is incurring “slashing” penalties charged by the network. This is when the protocol believes validator misbehavior has occurred. Uphold protects against uptime-related slashing risk and monitors staked assets 24/7 to avoid downtime-related slashing. 

Uphold will make every reasonable effort to provide you with the ability to unstake your assets upon request via our flexible staking feature. In times of unusually high demand, however, you may not be able to unstake (and thus trade, send or withdraw) your assets until the end of the relevant network's unbounding period. This period varies, depending on the underlying network, and is typically set at up to 30 days, but may be longer. 

Upon unstaking, the assets you staked will be returned to your Uphold account, but during the unbounding period, the value of the asset may change.

In the case of ETH, users run the risk of not being able to unstake until the network migrates to 2.0, which is out of Uphold’s control.

For more information about staking and any risks involved, please refer to our staking terms & conditions.

Uphold aims to give you the most flexible staking experience. However, to stake or unstake will depend on the order flow, therefore, you may need to wait for the full warm-up or unbounding periods to do so.

In times of unusually high demand for unstaking, you may not be able to unstake (and thus trade, send or withdraw) your assets until the end of the relevant networks’ unbounding period, which may be from 3 to 30 days, depending on the asset.

Download the latest version of the Uphold app (iOS and Android) or go to the web wallet.

Access staking via the ‘More’ section and create and fund your staking account.

Get your rewards credited into your staking account every Saturday.

Put your digital assets to work and enjoy your crypto rewards.

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Join the waitlist and we’ll let you know when you can start earning up to {{ DOT }}% a year on Polkadot and {{ ETH }}% on Ethereum.

Start staking today and earn up to 19.5% APY on your staked crypto. Download the app, put your digital assets to work and enjoy your crypto rewards with Uphold.

Crypto Staking | Earn up to 19.5% with Staking Rewards | Uphold

Sign up on the web or in-app (iOS or Android) and find the staking feature.

Select an asset and stake any amount you like (min. applies).

Sit back and enjoy! Once you start staking, you will receive weekly rewards.

Founded in 2014, Tezos broadly speaking is an open-source platform for assets and applications. Look below the hood, and you see it’s a self-amending decentralised ledger backed by a global community of validators, researchers and builders.

Tezos facilitates peer-to-peer transactions, and also the establishment of decentralised applications (DApps) on the network. The network utilises smart contracts to automatically execute the terms of a buyer-seller transaction agreement.

Network participants use proof-of-stake verification to come to a consensus on whether that block comprises a valid transaction. 

This all sounds pretty similar to other blockchains that use smart-contracts, such as Ethereum. Where Tezos exhibits a stark difference from other blockchain-based transaction networks is with regards to its governance.

XTZ is the governance token adopted by the network for voting on upgrades to the underlying Tezos protocols.

Tezos epitomises democratic on-chain governance. Any participants on the platform can stake XTZ in smart contracts to participate – or select someone else to participate on their behalf – in deliberation and formalization of agreements on protocol upgrades. This enhance-as-we-go process is known as self-amendment. 

With some other blockchains, protocol amendments are proposed and agreed upon; major amendments can result in forks. 

But with Tezos, the changes arise fluidly then automatically take effect. No forks, no ecosystem fragmentation. 

Ultimately, self-amendment governance aims to promote democratic stakeholding, and keep upgrade costs in check. 

Seamless governance is the foundation supporting the potential for constant growth of the intrinsic value of Tezos’s network.

Since new upgrades can be made on a continuous basis, the protocol is able to incorporate new technologies to fulfill the needs of a larger client base. 

XTZ gets introduced into the marketplace through mining i.e. validation and endorsement of the blocks comprising transaction records on the ledger. 

Those who mine and endorse blocks are required to purchase bonds – security deposits that mature at the end of each mining cycle –beforehand. 

At the end of each cycle, bondholders are compensated with different rewards of XTZ (varying, depending on their status as either a miner or endorser). 

Ultimately, miners yield 33% on their security deposit bonds. These serve as an effective counterweight to any potential validation fudging – if you give inaccurate information, then you lose your security deposit. The current mining structure implies an annual nominal inflation rate of around 5%; but this can be subject to change, given that over time stakeholders potentially can vote on operational changes.

Cryptoassets are very high risk, speculative investments. You should be aware and prepared to potentially lose some or all of your money. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding cryptoassets is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. Additional risk warnings are contained on Uphold’s Legal page.

May not be available in all jurisdictions.

This content is correct as of January 2022.

Note: this cryptocurrency is not available for withdrawal to external crypto wallets. It can be bought, held, and sold on Uphold.

XTZ launched via ICO in July of 2017 and raised around $232 million to put it in the category of one of the largest token issuances of all time. Unfortunately, a dispute among its creators subsequently emerged, ultimately delaying the launch of the network until June 2018. However, since this debacle, Tezos has seen remarkable gains as it caught tailwinds of DeFi hype beginning around November 2020. Its year-to-date performance currently (as of early May 2021) sits around +174%, with the token at about $5.75. 

Average daily trading volumes have come down from their peak in mid-February, but an appetite for XTZ ownership has certainly picked up from last year, especially considering how just about anyone can participate in the proof-of-stake verification method and thereby be entitled to receive compensation. 

With Uphold, you can buy digital currencies in just 11 clicks - even if you don’t have an account yet. Nothing could be easier.

2. Enter your email address and personal details. 

3. Click the link we send you and create a password

Tezos

Buy XTZ - Buy Tezos - Uphold

An ERC-20 (built on the Ethereum blockchain), SAND is the utility token used throughout The Sandbox, a community-driven platform where creators can create their own virtual worlds. Within them, participants (creators and invited guests) can monetize assets and have gaming experiences – on the blockchain.

SAND facilitates all interactions and transactions in this decentralized virtual gaming world. SAND is also a token for governance. Holders call the shots and dictate direction.

SAND tokens facilitate LAND purchases, as well as all of the interactions with user-generated content. It can also be staked to participate in the governance of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

The Sandbox software leverages the Ethereum blockchain to track ownership of the digital LAND and NFT assets. Users further engage with its ecosystem using Ethereum wallets that hold their SAND tokens. 

Developers innovate within the Sandbox’s platform. Among the available tools: Voxel Editor. Users can create voxels, the smallest unit of three-dimensional design. They are used to digitally animate the realm. 

The result of a collaboration between Pixowl and onimatrix, The Sandbox 1.0 was first released in 2012. Six years later, game developer Animoca acquired Pixowl and announced its intentions to create a 3D world leveraging blockchain technology. 

In addition to utility and governance, SAND’s functions also include: creation and exchange of content; liquidity mining – token holders can stake them in the Sandbox pool; commission; and access to games.

According to its official whitepaper, the Sandbox platform’s primary mission is to introduce blockchain technology in mainstream gaming and facilitate the creative play-to-earn model.

As of early October 2021, SAND was roughly $0.75, or more than 2,500% higher than where it sat in November of 2020.

SAND's market capitalization is roughly $600 million, making it the 127th-largest crypto asset, as ranked by CoinGecko.

In August of 2021, SAND reached its all-time high of $1.19 but has since lost roughly one-third of its value.

SAND has a finite supply: 3 billion SAND tokens. It will not exceed this amount.

A utility token of The Sandbox’s ecosystem and the governance token of The Sandbox DAO, owners of SAND tokens get value from being able to shape the platform.

By focusing on user-generated content, Sandbox creates a metaverse of involved players contributing to the further upgrades, TheMarketPeriodical said. “Furthermore, the introduction of the SAND token by Sandbox encourages decentralized governance and enables users to share their beliefs and opinions about the project’s progress.”

According to Tradingbeasts experts, cited by SimpleSwap, the Sandbox price will continuously grow in 2022. The development of the platform will continue and the scale of development will increase more and more.

”Bearish technicals buzz the warning alarm for traders and investors,” The Market Periodical said this past spring, pointing to $0.53 resistance levels (that were later overcome in August).

The Sandbox

Buy SAND - Buy The Sandbox - Uphold

Governance token for the Axie Infinity game, AXS lets holders (as opposed to developers) shape the game’s direction and help populate its Pokémon-inspired universe of cartoon creatures. AXS is earned and staked along the way. 

An Ethereum-run ERC-20 token, AXS has risen up quickly just like the Axie project with which it is connected. Axie can be considered a non-fungible token (NFT) sales machine. Its play-to-earn model exploded in popularity during the summer of 2021, garnering one million daily users and generating more than $2 billion worth of NFT transaction volume. 

Entry into this digital domain does not cheap, as Decrypt has noted. "An NFT acts like a deed of ownership to a digital item, or, in this case, an interactive creature, or a chunk of customisable terrain." To play, you need three NFTs each costing at least $150 worth of ETH, "a sizable upfront investment that hasn’t deterred the project’s exponential growth of late," Decrypt said. 

Building a hearty platoon of Axies and conquering all comers requires an even larger investment; and players can create their own kingdoms, build empires, looping in allies, raising the potential to earn that much more. 

This NFT-based video game was developed three years ago by Vietnamese game developer Sky Mavis. In May of 2021, the startup raised $7.5 million from a group of backers that included entrepreneur/Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Blocktower, one of the first crypto hedge funds.

As of early October 2021, AXS was roughly $130, or more than  100,000% higher than where it sat in November of 2020.

AXS's market capitalization is roughly $8 billion, making it the 24th-largest crypto asset, as ranked by CoinGecko. During the course of a few days in early October, AXS doubled to a new all-time high of $155 as of Oct. 4, 2021. One day later, it fell 15%.

During a roughly three-month stretch (mid-May 2021 through early August) as major coins, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, fell sharply, AXS began to climb steadily. On Sept. 4, 2021, AXS reached an all-time high of just above $93. Then it sold off sharply. Late August/early September was a period when crypto at large began to regain momentum which waned later in September against a backdrop of global macro forces that left BTC down 7% for the month of September, in contrast to AXS which remained flat.

Public and private sales of AXS took place at the end of 2020. As a result, AXS has a circulating supply of 58 million coins, out of a total supply of 270 million. It is one of two tokens in the Axie universe, with Smooth Love Potion (SLP) being the other. That humorously named coin gets used purely for in-game rewards. Supply is unlimited. Any collected SLP gets burned by the Axie treasury.

As for AXS, and its limited supply, competitors earn it, and use it to fund the breeding of their cute cartoon combatants; AXS has seen growing demand, and, owing to the limited supply, its price can greatly fluctuate.

AXS token supply distribution, per its website, is as follows: 49% for in-game rewards by either playing or staking AXS; 8% for community growth and development; 21% for Sky Mavis and the team; 7% for advisors; 15% for the AXS private and public sales. 

“Axie’s play-to-earn model unlocks new types of work around digital Metaverse economies, just as Uber, Airbnb, and DoorDash created new types of jobs and professions. In the Philippines, the rewards from the game are worth multiple times the minimum wage.” - Venture Beat

”As the platform acquires more players and the staking program goes live, we can expect it to cross the $100 by the end of the year.” - BeInCrypto

Coinquora said: "With upcoming partnerships and developments, Axie reaching $200 is undoubtedly feasible for the near future."

A Bunicorn.com thread explained the inflation rate of the Axies: "Each Axie can breed 7 times, and there is no way to reduce the number of available Axies in the game. If there are fewer new users in the future and the number of Axies keeps increasing, it will either reduce its valuation or collapse."

"There is a bearish scenario for Axie Infinity price that would terminate any near-term bullish sentiment – and the move on the short side is considerably larger than any upside potential." - FXStreet.

"AXS, which had a massive sell-off in early September 2021, could crash again in weeks to come. The crash could worsen if AXS breaches below $67.61." -iTech Post.

Axie

Buy AXS - Buy Axie - Uphold

An Ethereum-based (ERC-20) token, SUSHI facilitates the governance of the SushiSwap protocol, a network of decentralised liquidity pools enabling users to earn yield (from a host of ERC-20 based tokens). 

When it forked off of (and cloned all aspects of) Uniswap in late August of 2020, the upstart decentralised exchange (DEX) was dubbed a "vampire mining pool," having, via incentives and social media fanfare, drained some $800 million from its rival.

Adding to the strange and mysterious origin tale is the role of SushiSwap's anonymous creator, "Chef Nomi," who, soon after the launch, left excited and took $14 million in SUSHI tokens with him, but then returned them as key developers figures and financial backers came together to rescue the project – at the time, primarily a community-driven automated market maker (AMM)/smart-contract liquidity management system. -- and, eventually, led by a second influential, pseudonymously named project leader, 0xMaki, became a much more multi-faceted ecosystem. OxMaki, in late September 2021, also stepped away. 

Not surprisingly, first-mover Uniswap is much larger, more closely synonymous with decentralised finance ("DeFi"), and still dominates Ethereum-based DEX activity; but right there, sitting in second place, is the SushiSwap AMM.

Since the start of 2021, SUSHI, which bills itself the "home of DeFi," has introduced a slew of new features and innovations: Multi-chain AMM; Kashi Lending & Leverage (a margin trading system); BentoBox dApps; xSUSHI staking; Miso, a token launch platform; and Onsen, a liquidity provision reward system for staking a rotating menu of relatively new tokens. 

SUSHI’s integration with Yearn finance is seen as putting SushiSwap in a position to serve as a default exchange platform tying in other Yearn-related applications. 

As of mid-September 2021, SUSHI was roughly $13, some 40% lower than its all-time high reached in March. SUSHI's market capitalisation is roughly $2.8 billion, making it the 62nd-largest crypto asset, as ranked by CoinGecko. 

Since November of 2020, SUSHI has risen more than 2,600%. Even when a SUSHI-connected platform, Miso, got stung (Sept. 17) by an NFT-related scheme (resulting in the theft of $3 million worth of ETH), the blowback in terms of impact on the token was relatively minor.

The total supply of SUSHI tokens has been capped at 25034 million tokens; the release of new tokens decreases each month.

The circulating supply is estimated to be at around 190 million. New SUSHI tokens are created, or "emitted," via incentivised liquidity pools on the SushiSwap platform.

SUSHI holders are thought to number in excess of 150,000. The token trades on major exchanges. Roughly $1 billion worth of SUSHI changes hands every 24 hours, as of mid-September.

SushiSwap aggregates a daily transaction volume of $305 million.

Traders use exchange volume as a proxy for assigning a valuation to its native token.

"If you're considering buying it, it would be good to pay attention to similar tokens in the DeFi space and read up on possible regulatory changes," The Ascent's Emma Newbery has said. "A solid understanding of decentralised finance will help you to get the most out of the token."

Based on SushiSwap transaction volume, and contrasting it to some rival exchanges, the token, at $13, could be considered as trading at a major discount, roughly 33% lower than where it should be, Cointelegraph said on Sept. 1.

Indeed, SUSHI could be considered the most undervalued crypto-token, according to Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at crypto investing firm Arca, tweeting in May when the token was starting to fall below $20, per MarketRealist.

“The more blockchains Sushi branches out to, the more fees generated by users," said DeFi analyst Kris Kay pointing out SushiSwap is currently the fifth highest-earning protocol after Ethereum, Uniswap, Binance Smart Chain, and Aave.

Uniswap has clearly dominated the DEX platform space, with its total value locked beating SushiSwap’s significantly, AMBCrypto said, noting that a scenario in which SushiSwap ever upends said pecking order "doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon."

Spelling out a potentially bearish scenario -- if crypto falls out of favor and bears take over price discovery -- the price of SUSHI might decrease toward $6, according to analysts at Coin Quora.

The Economic Forecast Agency predicts SUSHI’s price will remain volatile, dropping to below $7 in the next two years.

SushiSwap

Buy SUSHI - Buy SushiSwap - Uphold

XLM or Stellar Lumens is the cryptocurrency of the Stellar blockchain network. It can be used to represent any form of currency or value transacted on the network, as well as pay for transaction costs. 

Launched with 100 billion lumens, the total supply was reduced by half in 2019, leaving approximately 20 billion lumens on the open market and 30 billion in a development fund. 

XLM as a transaction technology is outstanding - allowing users to transfer almost any amount of value across the world in seconds, for a tiny fee. 

Read an in-depth Briefing Note on XLM, here.

The price of Stellar Lumens (XLM) can change rapidly, as the crypto is traded 24/7/365 all over the world.

Just like any traded asset, the price changes based on supply (how many XLM are available for sale) and demand (how many XLM people want to buy). 


With Uphold, you can set up an account, verify your identity and buy crypto with ease.

1. Go to Uphold.com and click ‘Sign up’

2. Enter your email address, phone number and your personal details

3. Tell us how you plan to use Uphold and provide some basic financial information (e.g., employment status and source of funds)

4. Verify your identity by providing an ID document and taking a ‘selfie’

Stellar Lumens

Buy XLM - Buy Stellar Lumens - Uphold

Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) is a decentralised public network seeking to put an end to the long-standing tradeoff between speed and security. 

While decentralised in terms of its consensus-reaching protocol, there are at present over 17 companies involved in the Hedera Governing Council, the body that is charged with overseeing governance of the platform, which include  Boeing, Deutsche Telekom, Google, IBM, LG Electronics, and Tata Communications.

HBAR is the network’s native coin. It serves as “fuel” (used to pay traction fees incurred by users) and as means for securing the network. HBAR holders can stake their tokens to the network in order to partake in the transaction validation process. As a reward, these “stakers” receive a cut of transaction fees. 

Building trust amongst node operators lies at the center of Hedera’s mission. It’s not a traditional blockchain in the same vein as, say, the Bitcoin network; rather, it is a distributed ledger that reaches consensus through complex Hashgraph cryptography, viewed as able to provide the security of a proof-of-work (PoW) system without sacrificing on transaction speed.   

Current blockchain technologies operate sort of like a vigilant landscaper constantly trimming branches of blocks so the network appears as one continuous chain. In more technical terms, if two blocks of transactions are created at the same time, legacy blockchain networks, such as Bitcoin, must pick one and run with it, while “chopping off” the branch containing the discarded block. Hence, there is the appearance of a lone, continuous chain of blocks. 

Hedera, by contrast, leans into consensus-reaching chaos, representing not a manicured hedge row but more of an unruly jungle albeit one that is underpinned by a complex ecosystem. Hedera doesn’t aim to curate a single chain of blocks. Rather every new block is incorporated into a web-like series of branches intertwining, forming the network’s distributed ledger. No new blocks are deleted, meaning the network operates at near perfect efficiency, helping to cut down on transaction costs in the process. 

In terms of network utility, Hedera Hashgraph isn’t all that different from legacy chains like Ethereum. The network allows developers to run smart contract-laden decentralised applications with use cases ranging from open APIs for healthcare data to music streaming, and file storage/sharing. The network’s Hedera Token Service (HTS) allows developers to mint their own native fungible and non-fungible tokens, all without the need to deploy a smart contract. Ultimately, Hedera Hashgraph hopes to be the platform from which major multinational corporations launch their own unique dApps. 

As of early May 2021, HBAR is trading at $0.33, up nearly tenfold since the start of the year. There are currently upwards of 8.2 billion HBAR in circulation, giving the coin a market cap of $2.7 billion, good for 52nd globally. According to the networks HBAR Economics Whitepaper, HBAR has a maximum supply of 50 billion coins which will be distributed via a slow and measured release schedule set by the networks governing board (roughly 18% of all HBAR will be in circulation by the end of 2021).

In mid-April of 2021 network co-founder Dr. Leemon Baird announced that the Hedera Hashgraph mainnet had reached one billion transactions in just 19 months since its public debut in September of 2019. With its role in facilitating crypto adoption amongst a number of the world’s leading corporations, HBAR could be poised to gain momentum even in the medium term.

With Uphold, you can set up an account, verify your identity and buy crypto with ease.

Hedera Hashgraph

Buy HBAR - Buy Hedera Hashgraph - Uphold

EOS is a decentralised blockchain with the ability to power applications on a global scale, including decentralised applications (dApps). EOS held a year-long initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, with a total of 200 million (20% of the tokens) distributed during a five-day period, 700 million more (70%) were distributed over the rest of the year, and 100 million (10%) held in escrow for block.one.

EOS is the native token of the EOSIO blockchain.

The aim is to process fast and ‘free’ transactions for users. There are many other blockchain projects that you can build dApps on via smart contracts, but the gating-factor is speed. EOS hopes to set new standards for processing power. 

EOS remains an early-stage project and is not yet fully developed and built.

You could dumb this down to a simple sentence. EOS is often referred to as ‘The Ethereum killer’ by its supporters. It aims to do everything Ethereum does, but better. On paper, both networks are similar and host dApps, but EOS is shooting for speed and processing power. Like all blockchains, scalability is key. 

The EOS blockchain will use a new consensus model called Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). This could fix many of the problems Ethereum is wrestling with using Proof-of-work (PoW). EOS doesn’t need a node permanently connected to the network to reach consensus and transaction approval. 
The EOS approach uses a ‘Witness’ to keep the EOS network secure on a paid basis. If they don’t perform they’re voted off the network and a backup witness used. This reduces the centralization and red tape that holds some blockchains back.

The market through the forces of supply and demand. Simply put, like most assets, the value of EOS is based on how much someone is willing to pay. 

Global distribution means the price of EOS is determined globally. There can be slight variations between exchanges, but big differences can’t arise because traders are always on the lookout for arbitrage opportunities.

There are 933,893,927 EOS tokens on the open market, with a total supply of 1,020,593,938 EOS.

Competition:
There's more than ever. Not just Ethereum. With NEO making progress and Cardano speeding ahead, EOS needs to start winning over developers to build useful dApps on their blockchain.

The product:
With the biggest ICO in history ($700million), it’s surprising that EOS doesn't have a fully-working product yet. This has given many investors cold feet.
The age-old debate that plagues many cryptocurrencies also haunts EOS. Many start out with promises of centralization as per Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper. In the end, compromises are often made in the interests of scalability, partnerships, and a viable product. The small number of block producers as well as the risk of low voter turnout calls the principle of democratic governance on the EOS platform into question. The fact that users can’t audit the network without running a full-node analysis also makes decentralization claims questionable.

Speed:
Speed is one of the big selling points of the EOS blockchain with the goal of handling millions of transactions per second.

Developer platform: 
EOS is developer-friendly with a web toolkit and built-in functions such as role-based permissioning. 

Zero fees:
The EOS network is designed for fixed-rate inflation of 5% a year. This will be used to pay miners for validating transactions and producing blocks, as well as to sponsor 3 dApp proposals that are chosen by consensus. As a result, fees are practically eliminated for users.

Buy EOS - Uphold

Launched in 2017, Polkadot (DOT) is a blockchain protocol created by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood. It’s one of the most widely held digital assets associated with the burgeoning decentralised finance, or "DeFi," sector. DeFi, a bustling space within crypto at large, is aiming to, along with fintech startups, disrupt traditional banking, insurance, asset management and trading.

Polkadot is described as a scalable heterogeneous multi-chain technology.

What this means, essentially, is that the network will act as a relay chain through which a number of user-developed parallel chains (parachains) are hosted. 

Parachains form the backbone of Polkadots’s appeal. Users are able to develop customised decentralised applications that run on an independent, private blockchain, while maintaining the computational resources (used to authenticate transactions) and security benefits of the larger Polkadot network.

Also central to the protocol’s appeal: interoperability. That's the ability for private and public blockchains to share information and transact seamlessly.

Using Polkadot, developers are able to create decentralised applications, or "dapps," on private parachains but able to connect with large public blockchains i.e. Ethereum. 

For many tech community members envisioning a "web 3.0" (in which personal data is better cordoned off) Polkadot would seem poised to help underpin it, acting as an intermediary that fosters the ability for legacy chains, as well as private parachains, to communicate.

Three years in the making, DOT’s debut on public exchanges finally occurred in August of 2020. Since then, DOT has (as of mid-January 2021) seen its price increase by nearly 400%.    

During the second week of January 2021, DOT rose to hit a series of new highs. On Jan. 16, DOT reached nearly $17. Between August and early January, DOT climbed from about $3 to about $10 and made a sharp, nearly straight-up (or “parabolic”) move between the start of January and the middle of the month.

DOT is heavily traded across most global exchanges, recording strong 24-hour volume levels. Some $6 billion worth of DOT change hands in any given day around the world.

Polkadot

Buy DOT - Buy Polkadot - Uphold

Dogecoin was born in December 2013. It's often referred to as the ‘meme’ crypto and for good reason. Doge was created as Bitcoin started to be taken seriously and got valuable. 

The creators of Doge thought that crypto should be a laugh and not so uptight.  So they came up with an alternative coin whose goal was to make the industry fun again.


Dogecoin took the community spirit of crypto to new levels. Followers of Dogecoin call themselves Shibes. They even have their own Shibe language made up of funny broken English phrases like, “such amazing”, “much grateful” and “many works”.

You could argue Dogecoin was created as a joke - but the crypto has a huge following and community members ‘tip’ each other Doge for content. 

The developers of Dogecoin haven’t made any changes to the crypto since 2015. There are three developers who work as part-time volunteers. Apart from security updates, the core code remains the same

The goal is to become the defacto standard fun cryptocurrency with a strong community. Elon Musk says Dogecoin is his favorite crypto.

Simply put, like most assets, Dogecoin derives its value from how much people are willing to pay for it. 

Since Dogecoin is stored and transferred online, the price is determined globally. It’s the same wherever you are. Any price differences between exchanges are soon arbitraged out by traders. 

There are 125,297,665,179 Doge tokens on the open market, but supply is unlimited. 

Unlimited supply:
If a currency has unlimited supply then in theory it can never materially rise in value.

Dogecoin founder is bearish:
Jackson Palmer has said he thinks there is too much hype and that alone underpins Dogecoin’s value. 

It was created as a ‘Joke’ coin:
Never designed to solve problems or become the next Bitcoin. There’s no roadmap with lofty ambitions. So why would you invest?

High profile:
Even now, when you think of cryptocurrencies you can name and that your kids know because they’ve seen the memes - Dogecoin is up there. Could its high profile and celebrity fans woo developers and lead to something useful.  

Cost of entry:
Doge costs less than a cent. Speculators like to see the potential for plenty of upside.

Dogecoin

Buy Dogecoin - Buy DOGE - Uphold

DigiByte is a cryptocurrency focused on security, speed, and decentralization. It started back in 2013 and is one of the older crypto projects. 

Despite its age and ongoing development, Digibyte has kept below the radar compared with the hype-train of some competitors. 
Digibyte supporters reckon DGB is the ‘Sleeping giant of crypto.’ 

Digibyte is a faster, more secure version of Bitcoin and is only created (like Bitcoin) by mining. Its USP; a currency to be used online as a payment method, but also as a store of value. 

In May 2019, DigiByte launched DigiAssets, their scalable second-layer architecture, which sits on top of the DigiByte blockchain offering decentralised issuance of DApps and smart contracts.

Like most altcoins, Digibyte was created to fix the deficiencies of Bitcoin. The core issue for Digibyte is security. Virtually everything we now do is online – real-time information, data, finances etc. 

Although there have been countless attempts to improve online security, none has really succeeded

DigiByte aims to provide absolute security for data, information, and resources, as well as decentralization for users. Most cryptos are not wholly decentralised as they are controlled by individuals and private companies rather than the community. 

Digibyte’s open-source mining system is widely considered to be among the most decentralised in the business. Its latest mining algorithm, Odocrypt, rewrites itself every ten days. MultiShield followed real-time adjustment mechanism DigiShield, and both are regarded, in the cybersecurity industry, to be groundbreaking.

DGB is in plentiful supply. There are 13,465,726,269 DGB in circulating supply. The total supply is 21,000,000,000.

Trouble at the top?
Back in May 2020, Jared Tate, the founder of Digibyte, stepped down from the day-to-day operations of the project, citing too many investors in the space abusing crypto and just using it as a mechanism to profit. 
This could worry investors, but Digibyte is still a project to watch in the short to medium term. 

Hype & volatility:
Sometimes it can be hard to get behind a project when the hype train is going full steam ahead. In early 2020, the token rose over 900% in price and then crashed into bear territory. Volatility of such magnitude scares off investors.

Security:
Security is a massive USP for Digibyte. This could be the key to attracting new partnerships to enable the project to scale. 

Community:
Remember, Digibyte has been around for a long time compared with the new kids on the block. With this comes a loyal fanatical following.
How did they get a community so loyal? Because their project is truly decentralised and their mission has always been to create a project centered on people and social values. 

Scalability:
Digibyte can support over 48 million transactions a day – that’s ten times the current transaction volume of the top 50 blockchains by market cap. There is a lot to be positive about if they can get adoption.

Digibyte

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