It's not what you lack that holds you back; it's failing to use what you have.

Lessons come from the things you fail to learn

The corrupt have a price, but the honest hold values.

Cheating someone doesn't make them a fool—it shows they trusted you more than you deserved.

Honesty is a rare and costly gift; never expect it from those who are cheap.

If yesterday's achievements still seem great, you haven't accomplished enough today.

Build your own dreams, or you'll end up building someone else's.

You can't enjoy the view of the plains without climbing the mountain.

Don't let your brain sit idle—put it to use.

Brains aren't rewarded for existence but for being used wisely.

Challenges add intrigue to life; conquering them gives it meaning.

Victory holds no joy without the risk of defeat.

A path without obstacles leads to nowhere significant

The past is worth revisiting but never staying in.

You can't create a better tomorrow while dwelling on yesterday

Embrace risks in life. If you win, you lead; if you lose, you guide

People are defined by their actions, not their words—judge them accordingly.

When someone causes you pain, remember the sweetest fruit-laden trees attract the most stones.

Take all you can from life, for when it starts taking, it leaves nothing behind.

Stones thrown on the path to success can either become a wall or a bridge—it's your choice.

I saw it, then thought it nice to put it out here for us creatives and for everyone who is unique but the world has stigmatized.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

strategy

Strategy

mentalhealth

Mental Health

humanresources

Human Resources

Quotes For a Strong Mind

Alright, so this is like a behind-the-scenes…a look at what actually inspired me to write the Battledogs article yesterday. I completed the sixty-something-tweets thread in less than five hours—sixty-six, sixty-seven-tweets threads in total…something like that. First off, when we finished playing…by 3 PM, we were done, and of course, Blockchain Club Unilag won against iBlock Community. We got trolled hard in the WhatsApp group for the Battledogs competition. I mean, I felt the pain—seriously, I did.

Failure is a part of learning, so I embrace it.

But there's something different about me; I’m not one to brood or complain when things don’t go my way. I don’t dwell on failure, wondering how it could have gone differently, because growing up, I learned to accept that I won’t win everything.

But this wasn’t really a failure. If you look at the stats, it’s not just to make us feel better, but the truth is, <a href="https://www.x.com/iblock_web3">iBlock Community </a>scored half of what <a href="https://www.x.com/bcu__">Blockchain Club Unilag</a> got. To put it in perspective, imagine Blockchain UNILAG going against Blockchain UNN; I doubt their score would even come close to one-tenth of what <a href="https://www.x.com/Blockchainunn">Blockchain UNN</a> would get. iBlock is just a small offshoot of UNN with far fewer members. So, achieving that score was impressive for our size.

But rather than getting angry about not winning, I thought, “What’s the next step?” “What can I make of this experience?”

I saw it as raw material I could transform into something valuable. I had already been interested in reviewing Web3 products, trying them out, and providing feedback, but never found the time.A lot of people struggle with Web3 products, and I was even nervous about how I’d handle the game. Yet, once I was there, I kept telling myself I’d take note of everything, just in case I needed to onboard someone into the game later. So, after the game, I thought, “Why not write about my experience?

It could be a review, a guide, anything to teach people how to use it. I just went for it, sitting on my bed, putting it all down. Another thing about me is, I talk to people a lot, but usually on social media.Face-to-face, I don’t have much time for casual chats because of school, work, family, and all my other engagements. On WhatsApp, I can easily type or send a lengthy VN, so the person can open it whenever they’re free. It saves time, keeps the connection alive, like killing three birds with one stone …3 birds because my lengthy VNs kill more than 2.

I also talk to myself a lot—not because I’m crazy, but because it helps me process things. When I feel overwhelmed, I remind myself of everything I want to achieve, and it keeps me on track.

It’s something my mom and my school mother encouraged, and it’s made a difference for me. So, I started talking to myself about the game, about connecting my MetaMask and signing transactions, even though I was nervous. Halfway through, I realized I was speaking as if on a podcast, like someone was listening...call it a one-person podcast or whatever. So, I started writing right away before I forgot any details. That’s what you see on my status, on <a href="https://www.x.com/hackeraktech">my X timeline</a>, DeepStash, Facebook, and very soon on Telegram too. As for the images—they’re beautiful, right?

They’re NFTs we minted using RWA, actually, my own personal NFTs. They’re unique, so nobody else has the same ones. They can be copied as images, but they won’t appear in anyone else’s game account. Right now, they’re just testnet NFTs, so they don’t have real value. But when Battledogs goes live on the mainnet, who knows? They might be worth something. So, that’s basically it. Thank you!🌝

...it depends solely on your mindset. What you think about what happened is far more important than what happened.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

crypto

Cryptocurrency

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

Life Lessons From Playing Battledogs Arena

From around 5 pm yesterday till nearly 1:30 am NGN time, I was on my phone, bouncing between Chrome, MetaMask, WhatsApp, and everything in between.At some point, my mom called, and I told her I’d call back because I was busy. She understood. Ever since the 2nd quarter of this year, when I decided to take Web3 seriously, she’s noticed that her son isn’t the same Akachukwu who used to spend time just calling people aimlessly.So, what was I doing from 5 pm to 1:30 am? Now, that’s the billion-dollar question, right?

Battledogs

First, let me clarify—it actually started around 5 pm, not 7 pm. I attended a two-hour pseudo-bootcamp to dive deep into the world of Battledogs—a mind-blowing Web3 game built on the Asset chain. This game is set to revolutionize things by shifting from the pay-to-play model of Web2 games to the play-to-earn model, all powered by the Gamified Finance sector of blockchain technology.Now, before we continue, come closer…yes, lean in because I need to tell you a secret.This is supposed to be a script for a podcast—my podcast. But, honestly, I don’t know if I’m ready for that.

First, I don’t have the equipment; second, I don’t want to do it alone; and third, this inspiration hit me out of the blue. If I don’t act on it now, procrastination might get the best of me.Alright, you can pull back now—I’m done spilling. Fun fact, I’m in Enugu, at UNEC specifically, and I’m open to Tech/Web3-Web2 podcast collaborations with anyone interested.Now, back to Battledogs. It’s a game, and games are about fun, right? So, I’m not about to write this article like some rigidly professional piece.

This is a freestyle—my journey playing Battledogs for the iBlock Community from my Android phone, not iOS 🌝 😂 (I don't have that) ...you may be saying: "who asked you?" LolI asked myself, so that you can get it for me 🌝I could’ve used my MetaMask extension on Kiwi browser, but it wasn’t opening because MTN and Glo decided to press my neck lolI’m a quick thinker, so I didn’t waste time. I went straight to the MetaMask app, and thank goodness, it opened—very unlike the MetaMask I know, lol.

The first thing I needed to do was acknowledge that I’d be playing on a blockchain, specifically the Asset chain.And how?By adding the chain to my MetaMask app.First, I tapped the button that shows which chain you’re on in MetaMask, which for Android users is usually at the top of the interface (let's call it "p").It dropped down, showing my existing chains like Ethereum, Sepolia, Linea, and a button for adding more if needed(let's call it "q"

I tapped on q, and it took me to an interface displaying possible chains to add, like Arbitrum, Avalanche C-chain, Zksync, etc., plus a button in the top-right corner to add custom chains (let's call it "r")I tapped on r and was led to a page where I would enter Asset chain’s details: name, RPC URL, ID, blockchain explorer, ticker symbol, and another number.Once I filled in the details, a button at the bottom turned blue, asking me to confirm. I hit it, and boom—Asset chain was added to my MetaMask.

Not gonna lie, I felt pretty cryptic 😂, like sungacious, fantabulous, eliminiferous, peotarioisus (yeah, none of these words are in the dictionary; shoutout to Ebenezer for teaching me 😂).So I've added the chain, the next thing I needed to do was to connect my wallet to the Battledogs site.Good to know: I can't remember the on-site commands word-for-word, and I'm in no position to go do that cause I'm stressed as hell after the whole game tournament.

So, the next step was to connect my wallet to Battledog's site, which I did. Since I wasn’t using my MetaMask extension on the Kinwi browser, I had to use the MetaMask app instead. This is the process I followed to play the blockchain-based game, which is decentralized in nature.First, I went to connect my wallet and clicked the "Connect Wallet" button at the top of the site's interface. When I clicked the button, a menu came up—not a dropdown this time but rather sliding up from the bottom.

It asked me to connect my wallet, with options like connecting through email, Google, phone number, Discord, Facebook, and Apple. I chose "Connect Wallet."Remember, I wasn’t connecting my extension, and I was using Chrome browser, where I couldn’t use my MetaMask extension since it’s on Kiwi. It’s not possible to add a MetaMask extension to Chrome on Android. I haven't seen anyone do that.So, I refreshed the page and chose "Connect Wallet" again, this time intending to use Wallet Connect. Here’s a fun fact—I didn’t actually know what Wallet Connect was for until now.

I’ve been using it, but I hadn’t realized definitively that Wallet Connect is essentially a gateway or API that lets a site connect directly to a wallet app and enables switching between the wallet app and the site. When I used Wallet Connect, all my crypto wallets appeared, and I realized the purpose of Wallet Connect.I clicked MetaMask, and it took me straight from the site to my MetaMask app. I used my fingerprint to unlock MetaMask, waited, and then a pop-up appeared, asking me to sign a transaction

I signed the transaction and answered a few security prompts, like confirming I wanted to connect.Oh, and I should mention—the network I added is actually a testnet because the mainnet isn’t live yet. The asset chain is still in development, so we’re operating on a testnet.After connecting my wallet to AssetChain, an essential step before starting the game, the next task was to acquire some AssetChain NFT tokens. Since AssetChain is in a testnet phase, getting its NFT token didn’t require real money; instead, we could get it from a crypto faucet.

In case you’re not familiar, a crypto faucet is an application that gives out free crypto tokens, typically for test purposes.For AssetChain, the faucet provides free tokens specifically for testing the testnet. I received the link from my community lead, Ekeson, and went to the faucet with their and Amani’s guidance.At the faucet, I needed to mine $RWA, the native token of Asset Chain. $RWA will serve as a utility token, used for payments within the AssetChain ecosystem, and is required for playing the game.

By mining at least 2 $RWA, you have enough to play since each transaction on the blockchain requires only a tiny fraction of $RWA as a gas fee.To start, I copied my wallet address and pasted it in the space provided to begin mining $RWA tokens.While doing this, I discovered something important about wallet addresses in MetaMask. I had two accounts on MetaMask and realized that, regardless of the blockchain network (Ethereum, Sepolia, Linear, AssetChain, etc.), each account has one public address.

This single public address is used to receive assets across different chains, appearing on that specific chain within your wallet. The only difference lies between accounts: each has its own unique public address and private key, represented as a 12-word mnemonic phrase, as we discussed with BIP-339 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal).Once I pasted my public address, I began mining $RWA on the faucet. The faucet allowed me to increase workers up to 32, which I did to speed up mining. Once the tokens mined reached a threshold, around 0.5 $RWA, I stopped mining and claimed the tokens.

Upon opening my MetaMask app, I confirmed that the $RWA was now in my wallet.With $RWA in my wallet, the next step was to mint an NFT on Battledog’s site. Having attended a pseudo bootcamp on Battledogs’ NFT minting, I was familiar with the process, so I minted a substantial number of NFTs. On the site, I used a “QuickMint” button, which directed me to an interface displaying a series of dogs, the characters in the game. At the top of the site (the home page), there’s also a button to enable tutorial mode, which I activated.

This mode provides helpful pop-ups for each action, guiding users on what each button does and possible interactions.In the QuickMint interface, I entered a name for my NFT (for instance, “Creepy”) and clicked the “Spawn” button. This action initiated a blockchain transaction, which I needed to approve in my MetaMask app since I was using WalletConnect rather than a MetaMask extension. Each time a transaction was initiated, a menu appeared with various crypto wallets. Selecting MetaMask took me directly to the app to approve the transaction, showing a minimal gas fee in $RWA.

After approval, I returned to the site, where my NFT was minted, and a banner appeared saying, “Creepy arrived,” with a slightly pinkish color. Alright, so we’ve minted the Battledogs, and our Battledogs have arrived. The next step is to go and fight with them. But before that, we need to carry out some other processes. We have to activate our Battledogs, as activating them is essential to use them in battles within the Battledogs arena.So, how do we activate it? Just click on activate. You’ll go to your arsenal, and from there, select the Battledog you want to activate.

All the Battledogs you've minted will be shown in your arsenal. You can access your arsenal from the home page by clicking on the “arsenal” button, where you’ll see all the Battledogs NFTs you’ve minted. When you click on the Battledog NFT you want to activate, another interface will slide up, and you'll see an activation button for your NFT. To activate the NFT, you’ll need Wrapped RWA $wRWA. You already have $RWA, which is the native token, from the crypto faucet on Asset Chain. While you have RWA in your MetaMask wallet, you need wrapped $RWA.

To get it, use the convert button found at the bottom of most pages in the Battledogs arena. The convert button, displayed in color with forward and backward arrows, lets you convert $RWA to Wrapped $RWA depending on the amount in your wallet. Since your wallet is already connected to the site, everything you hold will be displayed, so just convert a portion of it, as you need $RWA for other things as well. After choosing the amount to convert to Wrapped $RWA, click on convert, and it will trigger an on-chain transaction.

A pop-up will appear, you’ll confirm it in MetaMask, sign the transaction, and then you’ll return to the site, where it shows the conversion has completed. There’s also a note near the convert button confirming the converted amount.But before activating your Battledogs using the converted $RWA, you need to approve the Wrapped $RWA amount you want to use in the game. You can approve all of it or just a portion. The approve button, a whitish-reddish button near the convert button, allows you to do this.<a href="https://x.com/HackerAKTech/status/1856774429063192727">Check here to complete the full article</a>Thank you 🙏

When I was playing this game I thought to myself,  "I will get myself acquainted with this game so that I can write about it revealing the innovative web3 solutions of Nigeria and Africa at large".

creativity

Creativity

entertainment

Entertainment

product

Product & Design

Battledogs Arena (G2)

Satoshi Nakamoto proposed a revolutionary idea in 2008: a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash. This vision allowed online payments to be sent directly from one individual to another without relying on traditional financial institutions or banks. This idea was the genesis of Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency.

The Genesis

A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

Traditional banking is convenient but it has its own limitations which include card readers breaking, bank fees piling up and compromisation of financial privacy and a host of others.All these obstacles constitute what digital cash aims to overcome, providing a secure and direct form of online payment that doesn’t rely on a central authority.

Why Digital Cash?

When you “own” bitcoins, what you possess is actually a Bitcoin address (akin to a bank account) and a unique private key (like a PIN). This private key is what makes your Bitcoin truly yours, ensuring only you have control over your funds. So in actual sense, you don't own a “coin” per se sitting on a Blockchain somewhere.

What You Actually ‘Have’ with Bitcoin

A Bitcoin wallet stores your private keys. Typically, it’s a program that generates and manages your addresses, keeps track of balances, and enables transactions. You can create new addresses and their associated keys whenever you wish for added security. Notice that a wallet does not store your “bit-COIN” but your keys.

The Role of Wallets in Bitcoin

There are two main types of Bitcoin —I’d rather say “crypto”— wallets: hot wallets, which are connected to the internet (think of them like a checking account for quick access), and cold wallets, which are stored offline for added security (similar to keeping cash in a safe). Cold storage can involve storing keys on USB devices or even on paper, minimizing the risk of online theft. Most of the time, hot wallets are used interchangeably with software wallets and cold wallets synonymous with hardware wallets.

Hot vs. Cold Wallets

Losing your private key means losing access to your bitcoins forever, as there’s no way to recover it. If any other individual gets your key, they control your bitcoins. Transactions are also irreversible, so any mistakes—such as sending to an incorrect or nonexistent address—are permanent. Many people entrust their bitcoins to exchanges, despite the security risks, for ease of use. On the other hand, remember, “not your keys, not your coins” as Andreas Antonopoulos eloquently put it highlighting that leaving your cryptocurrencies with custodial Exchanges is quite risky.

Bitcoin Security

Bitcoin transactions are grouped into blocks, each with a unique cryptographic hash, a number that serves as a secure “check value” for the data in that block. Any change in the block’s data will produce a completely different hash. This concept secures Bitcoin, as every block is linked to the one before it, forming a chain (hence, blockchain, a chain of blocks). This structure creates a tamper-evident, public ledger that is "secured by math."

Blocks and Hashing

The Bitcoin blockchain holds every confirmed transaction from 2009 onward, growing continuously. By June 2017, it reached over 120 gigabytes, expanding by about 4GB per month.A new block is created, carrying a reward for the miner (currently 3.125 BTC after halving in April this year, 2024), approximately every ten minutes. The reward halves every four years, and mining will eventually stop in 2140, when the maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins is reached.This reward, along with transaction fees, incentivizes miners to maintain the network.

The Ever-Growing Blockchain Mining and Rewards

Miners bundle transactions into blocks, add the hash of the previous block, and include an arbitrary “nonce” value. What is a nonce value? Just think of it as that unique value that miners compete with each other to find in the Blockchain which will allow them to add a block in the chain of blocks. They then calculate the hash for the new block. If the hash meets the required difficulty level, the block is valid and broadcast to the network. If not, miners try a new nonce until they succeed.

The Mining Process

By June 2017, Bitcoin miners collectively processed 5.5 quintillion (5.5x10^18) hashes per second—an immense computing effort securing the network. This number is enormous, really.Many early adopters, like Roger Ver, were drawn to Bitcoin for its philosophical potential as a currency that will not depend on government control, projecting a world where individuals had financial autonomy.

The Power of Bitcoin's Network

We saw Bitcoin as a way to separate money from the state.

Initially, Bitcoin aligned with the dot-com ideal of building wealth by creating something innovative. However, as its popularity grew, Bitcoin also became a means of speculation, where users could "get in early" and potentially amass wealth, even without building a product or service. Though this idea is liable not to work in our time, in my own personal opinion, we have returned to Bitcoin's innate dot-com idealism especially in Nigeria and Africa. For me this is more sustainable.

From Cyberlibertarianism to Profit Motives

Before Bitcoin, there were other digital payment systems like PayPal, e-Gold, and Liberty Reserve. These platforms aimed for private, sometimes anonymous transactions but eventually faced regulatory hurdles with some failing completely as they latched tightly onto their idealism and others like PayPal continuing to thrive by letting go of their initial drive. Bitcoin drew lessons from these systems, creating a decentralized model free from centralized control.

Predecessors to Bitcoin

David Chaum pioneered the idea of cryptographic money in the early 1980s, founding DigiCash in 1990. Later, concepts like Hashcash and BitGold by Cypherpunks —tweak of “cyberpunks”— like Adam Back and Nick Szabo laid the foundation that Satoshi Nakamoto would build upon to create Bitcoin. Although, it suffices to say that Satoshi Nakamoto started building Bitcoin without prior knowledge of these individuals and their innovations until later on.

Early Cryptographic Money

Bitcoin’s "secured by math" framework aims to eliminate central control, even at the cost of massive electricity consumption for mining. This is also another form of Cryptoeconomic security because it will cost a decent amount of money to purchase mining machines like ASICs and the rest. However, mining has naturally centralized over time, with large pools controlling significant portions of mining power. Security on Bitcoin depends not only on cryptography but also on maintaining decentralization and user vigilance.

Bitcoin’s Decentralization Philosophy

..pseudonymous. Every transaction is recorded on the blockchain, meaning law enforcement can trace transactions if motivated as already been seen with some cases of crime with Bitcoin. Services like coin mixers or converting between cryptocurrencies can increase privacy, but they come with risks.Although initially promoted as "no-fee" and instant, Bitcoin's scalability is limited. Its 1-megabyte block size restricts transaction capacity, causing delays and high fees during peak periods. The segregated witness saga and the introduction of layer 2s like the Lightning Network aim to address....

Despite early perceptions of Bitcoin as anonymous, it's actually

...these issues.Being your own bank means assuming full responsibility for securing your Bitcoin. While Bitcoin’s cryptography is solid, managing a wallet securely requires technical knowledge that can be daunting even for IT professionals. As a result, many users store their Bitcoin on exchanges, despite the risks of hacks and poor security. Plot twist, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallets are already being tailored to be easy to use, plus the fact that there are tons of tutorials for using crypto and Bitcoin wallets media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, X etc.

Bitcoin's maximum processing capability is around 7 transactions per second (TPS), vastly lower than Visa’s 56,000 TPS or PayPal’s 115 TPS. Proposed solutions like off-chain systems are being implemented and while they offer solutions to the scalability challenges of Bitcoin, they still face their own challenges.

Limitations Compared to Traditional Payment Systems

Bitcoin’s ecosystem has evolved considerably, but the core vision of a decentralized, digital currency with a trustless public ledger remains a transformative concept in finance. Despite its complexities and limitations, Bitcoin has redefined the idea of money, inspiring new technologies and movements within the digital world.DYOR You can purchase the book yourself and read about it.Additionally, you can do well to check out other articles I have curated concerning tech especially cryptocurrencies....and as a topping, you could give me a follow do you get 1st hand notifications when I write.

Summary

Ummm, I don't know what to say but bear this in mind : the curations here are just from 12% of this book. I read from MoonReader, so the EPUB version is numbered as percentages and not pages.

An experimental new Internet-based form of money is created that anyone can generate at home; people build frightening firetrap computers full of video cards, putting out so much heat that one operator is hospitalised with heatstroke and brain damage. A young physics student starts a revolutionary new marketplace immune to State coercion; he ends up ordering hits on people because they might threaten his great experiment, and is jailed for life without parole. Fully automated contractual systems are proposed to make business and the law work better; the contracts people actually write are unregulated penny stock offerings whose fine print literally states that you are buying nothing of any value. The biggest crowdfunding in history attracts $150 million on the promise that it will embody “the steadfast iron will of unstoppable code”; upon release it is immediately hacked, and $50 million is stolen. How did we get here? David Gerard covers the origins and history of Bitcoin to the present day, the other cryptocurrencies it spawned including Ethereum, the ICO craze and the 2017 crypto bubble, and the attempts to apply blockchains and smart contracts to business. Plus a case study on blockchains in the music industry. Bitcoin and blockchains are not a technology story, but a psychology story. Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. “A sober riposte to all the upbeat forecasts about cryptocurrency” — New York Review of Books “A very convincing takedown of the whole phenomenon” — BBC News

history

History

books

Books

cybersecurity

Cybersecurity

David Gerard

Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain

I always get excited when I see projects that integrate both blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. Now, I’m feeling even more intrigued because I came across a project that not only merges blockchain and AI but also involves the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. It’s interesting! I’m going to explore Aperture Finance and see how it is working to revolutionize the DeFi space. To understand Aperture Finance, we first need to grasp the concept of AI-powered intents. In the DeFi sector, many processes can be quite complex.

Aperture Fore-play🔹

Often, users have to switch between different platforms to complete trades or manage other financial tasks. This can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Aperture Finance addresses this challenge with an innovative solution called AI-powered intents. But what exactly are AI-powered intents? They are designed by Aperture Finance to simplify the complex processes involved in decentralized and digitalized finance. Instead of needing to jump between multiple platforms, AI-powered intents streamline these actions, making the user experience much smoother and more efficient.

AI Powdered Intents

In essence, these intents abstract away the complexity, allowing users to focus on their financial activities without dealing with the technical hurdles. So, with Aperture Finance, you’re not just getting access to DeFi—you’re getting a seamless experience where complex processes are made easy. It removes the need for users to worry about the technical details, making DeFi more accessible to everyone. For example, Liquidity Intents allow users to specify parameters like price thresholds and acceptable swap impacts when interacting with liquidity pools (such as Uniswap V3).

💠💠💠

Noteworthy is the fact that these techniques cut across advanced execution and pricing mechanisms previously reserved for professional trading firms. Aperture’s system then automates the execution, finding the most favourable results via AI-driven simulations.

🔷 🔷 🔷

Manning Aperture's system is its AI-powered solver network, consisting of : Decentralized Network of Solvers, the network that receives user intents (such as adding liquidity or swapping tokens) and proposes transaction flows. Each transaction flow is simulated and ranked by Aperture’s smart contracts based on parameters like pricing and execution efficiency. AI-driven smart solvers perform these simulations, finding the best route for a transaction, ensuring that each user’s financial goals are met optimally, without them having to manually manage the complexity of each trade.

At The Heart

In the list of their innovations is another one in a higher echelon. It is no other than the IntentsGBT, an AI powered User interface simplifying interactions with DeFi protocol. Thus innovation basically allows users to make natural Langage inputs. Users can articulate their financial goals in plain language, and the system translates these into a domain-specific language (DSL) that solvers can understand. Example: A user might state, "I want to add liquidity if ETH drops to $1,800," and the system will translate this intent into the necessary DeFi operations to achieve that.

(don't mind the rumpy-dumpy word😂).

I don't know if anything is clicking in your memory right now, I mean…you should be seeing how helpful this is…😉 —this approach democratizes advanced DeFi strategies, making them accessible to both expert traders and newcomers alike. Aperture finance takes their innovation extra mile, by offering a suite of advanced tools designed to streamline DeFi interactions: Intent API, allowing developers to integrate Aperture’s intent framework into their own applications, creating hassle-free DeFi solutions.

Advanced Tools

Uni V3 Tools: tools that leverage Uniswap V3’s advanced liquidity features, providing users the opportunity to set dynamic parameters like price range rebalancing.

🟦🟦🟦

The native token of Aperture finance is $APTR, and it is a utility token. What are the use cases?Governance$APTR token holders can stake their tokens to participate in governance. Their individual voting power depends on both the amount of staked tokens and their staking history. Governance decisions include:<ul><li>Adjusting platform fee parameters.</li><li>Partnerships and token swaps with DeFi protocols.</li><li>Tokenomics and distribution schedules.</li><li>Deployment of Aperture DAO treasury capital.</li><li>Incentives for community builders and third-party developers.</li></ul>

$APTR

Payment for Platform Fees $APTR tokens can be used to pay fees where users will be offered a 5% discount compared to payments in Ethereum or other tokens. These tokens are burned immediately after use, and periodic reports will disclose the total number of burned tokens. Solver Slashing Third-party Solvers (Solver DAOs) must stake $APTR tokens to deploy on the Aperture Solver Network. Solvers with the best performance are rewarded. On the other hand, those involved in malicious acts or failures will be penalised by slashing their staked tokens.

Risk Coverage Liquidity provision in risk coverage pools on platforms like Nexus Mutual, InsurAce, and Unslashed is incentivised by Aperture finance. This is to mitigate potential risks like bridge failures or security vulnerabilities. Aperture aims to enhance its DeFi ecosystem by fostering growth, transparency, and community engagement, with the launch of $APTR.

It is also worthy to note that Aperture’s revenue model is based on fees, with two main solutions currently: 1. Liquidity Intents (Uniswap V3, PancakeSwap V3)Fee: $0.15 + 0.07% of the swap amount required for automated rebalancing, recurring rebalancing, reinvestment, and position management. 2. Swaps (ApertureSwap)Fee: 0.15% on specific pairs (Manta L2).Revenue is allocated thus:20% to $APTR token stakers.80% to the Aperture DAO treasury. This fee split can be adjusted based on governance decisions or community feedback that is, before governance launches.

Revenue

Aperture Finance is committed to revolutionizing DeFi through AI-driven innovation. They plan to further develop their in-tent GPT and enhance their SolverDAO, continuously pushing the boundaries of blockchain and DeFi innovation to create seamless user experiences.

While some may have questions or concerns about Aperture Finance, there’s optimism around its potential. Personally, I’m bullish on Aperture because simplifying processes will make DeFi more accessible to both newcomers and experienced traders. This focus on ease of use will help democratize their products, ensuring they aren’t controlled by a small group of experts, but available to a wider audience. Dyor<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aperture-finance/">CoinMarketCap</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@aperturefinance/apertures-litepaper-5c988ead5b78">Aperture on Medium </a><a href="https://youtu.be/sJQ4Uj8OvfM?si=dadyshAn1VLkh4PX">Aperture on CoinMarketCap YT video</a>

NFA :: DYOR

I got so thrilled by this project, I couldn't resist learning about it.

artificialintelligence

Artificial Intelligence

softwareengineering

Software Engineering

Aperture Finance (41)

BIP 39 stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39. When you hear BIP 39, think of mnemonic phrases or seed phrases. It's either you choose to think of mnemonics or you choose to think of seed phrases. Initially for Bitcoin, BIP 39 was and still is a proposal, as the name suggests, outlining the standards for creating and backing up a cryptocurrency wallet using a mnemonic (memory-friendly) phrase. That's a definite definition. Think of it as a strategy to ensure that private keys are easily stored and easily committed to memory if need be.

Definite Definition

Remember, I said that this proposal was originally for Bitcoin, however, because of its effectiveness and simplicity, it is now used in various other blockchains. Imagine having a bag (crypto wallet) where you store your valuables (cryptocurrencies) and the only way to open the bag and access your valuables is by knowing a randomly generated string of letters and numbers. BIP 39 makes it possible that those string of letters and numbers can be easily stored, remembered, and used to recover your wallet(s) by converting them to a list of memorable words.

BIP 39 Doings

that cryptocurrencies are not stored in wallets?If crypto wallets aren't storage spaces, then what are they? A crypto wallet is just an application that stores your private and public keys so that you can be able to access your crypto tokens in the blockchain. The private key is secret, and that is why we're always asked not to reveal our private keys. They are, in fact, PRIVATE, literally. They're the gateway to our funds. Public keys are literally, PUBLIC. They are your wallet addresses, so someone that wants to send funds to you will need your public keys…in other words, your wallet address.

Did you know...

If you have a bank account, the public key is like your account number. When someone gets your account number, they can't use it to access your account. On the other hand, your password or pin to access your account, and in most banks for making transactions, is likened to your private key in the crypto space. Of course, you don't want to share that with anyone because you know that with that they can access your account and siphon your hard-earned money. Many cases have occurred where individuals lost access to their crypto due to losing private keys (the secret string of characters).

Analogically...

This is a bad omen.And that is what BIP 39 has come to solve, helping us generate a seed phrase, which is easier to store and recover.Actually, the discourse of BIP 39 will require us to look at two different types of wallets:Deterministic and Non-deterministic walletsDeterministic wallets: As the name suggests, these wallets allow the creation of multiple crypto accounts using a single mnemonic phrase. This means that, by restoring the wallet with the same phrase on any device, all accounts linked to that phrase will be accessible.

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Think of it as rooms in a house, but they all have the same key.Reiterating, if you use BIP 39 to create a wallet on your computer today, and you switch to a phone next year, as long as you enter the same seed phrase, your accounts (like account 1, 2, 3…) will appear in the same order. Non-deterministic wallets: These wallets generate private keys for each account without using seed phrases, making it harder to back up. One will need to store each of the keys differently, and this can become cumbersome. Think of it like trying to memorize different passwords for each building in your house.

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First off, it starts by generating a random set of numbers called Entropy. The number of bits in the entropy (128, 160, 192, 224, or 256) dictates how many words will be in the seed phrase (12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words). Then, the entropy is converted to binary ones and zeros which the computer can understand. Using a predefined set of 2048 words, where words are carefully selected to avoid confusion (e.g., "there" and "their" won’t both appear on the list), each group of binary digits corresponds to a word. For example, converting "011011" to "apple," "110010" to "banana," and so on.

How does BIP 39 work?

The random binary string is then turned into a list of easy-to-remember words (the seed phrase).The last word in the seed phrase acts as a Checksum, like an inbuilt security feature. It ensures that the seed phrase hasn’t been mistyped and helps verify its integrity, meaning that the last word can’t be randomly chosen by you—it’s generated by the computer for accuracy. Once you have the seed phrase, the wallet can reconvert it back into the private keys for your crypto accounts whenever it is necessary.You can recover the same wallet on any device using this seed phrase.

Mnemonic phrases are so important because writing down long strings of numbers and/or letters can lead to mistakes; however, using words can make it easier to store and remember. For instance, it is easier to remember “banana, apple, car, goat” than to remember “64523649844524.”

Significance?

BIP 39 is highly secure because no matter what device or software you use, you always get the same wallet setup if you input the same seed phrase, hence, it's deterministic. It's a one-way process, such that once the private keys are created from the seed phrase, there’s no way to reverse the process and figure out the original seed phrase. It is highly improbable that any two individuals can accidentally generate the same seed phrases, hence, it is collision-resistant.

Security Features

Despite these security features of BIP 39, vulnerabilities can arise from human errors where someone might accidentally type their seed phrase into a phishing website or store it in a place that others can access. This begs the need to keep your private keys offline and private.

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Brute force attacks can actually be used to guess someone's seed phrase. But... it is also very unlikely. Brute force refers to trying different combinations of words, and for a 12-word seed phrase, there are 5.44 by (10 to the power of 39) different possibilities.Even with the fastest computers available, it would take billions of years to guess a 12-word seed phrase by brute force.

Overall, because BIP 39 simplifies the creation and securing of crypto wallets, it has become a widely adopted standard. One just needs to keep a list of words safe instead of managing complex cryptographic keys, making crypto more accessible and user-friendly for newbies and OGs alike.PS:The height of it all is to keep 'em keys safe and secure. Write it down somewhere, keep those potatoes safe, and never share the chips with ANYONE—or you could send yours to my DM 😂. <a href="https://youtu.be/vi4cPN_4VPc?si=v4carOiCOmieAz9X">Dyor</a>

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I asked someone to write about it so that I can learn it, but he didn't, so I did.

computerscience

Computer Science

BIP 39 (J22)

Special thanks to Veritasium for making this informative video. Veritasium is a YouTube channel that is geared at finding out the truth about concepts, phenomena, and whatever there is in the world, one at a time. Do well to check it out, and subscribe—you'll surely not regret it. Quick Response (QR) codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode that store information in a grid of black and white squares.

An Element Of Truth

Unlike traditional barcodes that only store data horizontally, QR codes store data both horizontally and vertically, giving them a much higher capacity to hold information—up to thousands of characters in comparison to the 12 digits a barcode can hold. The origin of QR codes can be traced to Morse codes. Morse codes were created in the 1800s, using dots and dashes to communicate letters through electrical pulses. This basic idea of encoding information into symbols birthed barcodes in the 1950s, which used lines of varying widths to encode numbers.

Morse

As time went on, barcodes became essential for tracking and identifying products. But there was a problem… Companies that wanted to store and track more information, such as tracking where products come from or embedding URLs, couldn't do that because barcodes had limited storage capacity. Now, we will see why QR codes were invented. Sometime in the 1990s, someone became frustrated with scanning multiple barcodes on auto parts, as that was a slow and inefficient repetitive process. That individual is the enigmatic Engineer Masahiro Hara, who at the time worked in the Japanese company DENSO.

Barcodes → QR Codes

Inspired by the Japanese board game Go, he thought of extending barcodes into two dimensions, making a grid of data instead of lines. This new grid format allows for far more data storage in less space and can be scanned from different angles, leading to the creation of QR codes.

Chinese x Japanese x Korean

Now, this is the technical part of QR codes. Let's see the basic components of any QR code: The three large squares in the corners, which help the scanner know the orientation of the code, making it readable from any angle. They are called the POSITION MARKERS. The lines connecting the position squares (like zebra crossings), which help the scanner detect how large the grid is; they are called TIMING STRIPS. Small squares within the code, which help adjust for distortion when the QR code is viewed from different angles, called the ALIGNMENT PATTERNS.

Parts?

The Data consists of the rest of the small squares (black = 1, white = 0), which encode the actual information in binary (1s and 0s).

When you scan a QR code, the camera breaks it down into ones and zeros (binary code). This binary sequence is then decoded to reveal the text, link, or other information stored within the code. Each character in a QR code is encoded using an ASCII encoding system, similar to how Morse code assigns a number to each letter. For example, the word “HELLO” would be broken down into binary like this: H = 72 (in binary: 01001000) E = 69 (in binary: 01000101) L = 76 (in binary: 01001100) O = 79 (in binary: 01001111) These binary codes are then arranged in the grid of the QR code.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SCAN A QR CODE?

It's worth noting that a mathematical technique known as the Reed-Solomon error correction is used to design QR codes to be error-tolerant. (Have you read about BFT? Does this ring a bell?)This is to say that a QR code can still be scanned successfully, even if part of the code is damaged or dirty.

You Could Read About BFT, I Wrote About

When Veritasium uploaded the video on YT, I was amazed. I thought it best to write about it.

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