If you haven’t started swapping tokens on GalaSwap yet, we’ve got the perfect incentive to get you into the action.
A recent GalaSwap update brought in a new Starter Pack item called the Trader Profile Badge.
After purchasing this NFT Badge for $1 using a credit card, users will instantly receive 95% of the purchase price back as $GALA, giving them a tidy little pile of tokens they can use to create or accept swaps.
While the NFT Badge has no utility or intrinsic value, we think you’ll get a lot of use out of the $GALA awarded as a rebate for the purchase.
Create and Accept $GALA swaps – Every token in the GalaChain ecosystem can be swapped to and from $GALA. Create offers or fill offers swapping either to or from $GALA for any other ecosystem token, including the numerous project tokens that have been created by the community.
Create Project Tokens – In just a few minutes, you can burn $GALA to create a brand new project token of your own on GalaChain. Once the Gala Founder’s Node operators (who get a portion of the token as an operator reward) approve your project token via governance vote, your token will be available on GalaSwap and it will be yours to distribute as you please.
Collect $GSWAP – $GSWAP is the built-in reward token of GalaSwap, distributed daily to users who create and accept swaps.
Transfer tokens – Using the Transfer interface, users can easily send or receive GalaChain tokens, including $GALA, $MUSIC or any other token held in a GalaChain wallet.
Start Swapping
Everyone is eligible to buy the Trader Profile Badge and receive the $GALA rebate. You’ll find a purchase option at the top of the GalaSwap page.
Watch the project token markets and get swapping on GalaSwap, where each swap only costs 1 $GALA to create or accept. This is the power of DeFi on GalaChain, delivering endless possibilities and rewards.
Stablecoins have emerged as an important part of the web3 world, playing a crucial role in providing financial stability to a typically volatile cryptocurrency market. For those new to blockchain and crypto, stablecoins might seem like a complex concept, but they’re actually quite simple.
Think of them as a “digital version of the dollar” or other traditional currencies, designed to maintain a steady value rather than fluctuating like Bitcoin or Ethereum. In this blog, we’ll break down the concept of stablecoins, why they exist, how they work and their importance in the growing web3 world.
What Are Stablecoins?
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is pegged to the value of a stable asset, typically fiat currencies like the US dollar or Euro. Unlike Bitcoin, which can experience dramatic price swings, stablecoins aim to stay steady. It should be noted however that no financial asset is perfectly stable, but stablecoins are comparatively stable to most cryptocurrencies.
Imagine you’re traveling to a foreign country and you exchange your money for local currency. When you return home, you expect your leftover foreign currency to hold roughly the same value. This is the idea behind stablecoins—they are designed to ensure your digital assets don’t lose value overnight, especially in the often volatile cryptocurrency world.
Why Do Stablecoins Exist?
Cryptocurrency is known for its wild price swings. Bitcoin, for example, can rise or fall by thousands of dollars in just a day. While this can be exciting for traders, it’s risky for businesses and individuals looking for stability. Enter stablecoins—designed to minimize this volatility by pegging their value to more stable assets.
Here’s why stablecoins are essential:
1. Price Stability for Transactions:
In a world where cryptocurrencies are becoming more common as payment methods, having a stable unit of currency is vital. Imagine buying a coffee for $5 worth of Bitcoin in the morning, only for that Bitcoin to lose value by the time your payment processes. With stablecoins, the value of your purchase remains consistent, making them ideal for everyday transactions. Depending on many variables (complexity, blockchain, amount), web3 transactions can take time. Vendors must rely on knowing that the price paid for a product or service is consistent with their asking price, even if the purchase takes a variable amount of time to fulfill.
2. Cross-border Transactions:
Traditional banking systems often charge high fees for international transfers and can take days to process. Stablecoins make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and easier. Since stablecoins are based on blockchain technology, you can send money across the world in minutes without worrying about the value changing dramatically during the process.
3. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) Applications:
Stablecoins have become an integral part of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, where people can lend, borrow and trade assets without relying on traditional banks. In these systems, having a stable currency to work with makes it easier to manage risks and avoid the extreme price swings common in other cryptocurrencies.
How Do Stablecoins Work?
There are a few different types of stablecoins, each using different methods to maintain their stable value. Here are the three main types:
1. Fiat-collateralized Stablecoins:
These stablecoins are backed by actual reserves of fiat currency (like US dollars) held in a bank. For every stablecoin issued, there’s an equivalent amount of fiat currency sitting in reserve. One of the most popular examples is Tether (USDT), which is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. So, for every USDT in circulation, there should be a dollar in reserve.
Example: If you have 100 USDT, theoretically, the company behind it holds $100 in a bank somewhere to back up your digital assets and allow your tokens to maintain their precise value.
Instead of being backed by fiat money, these stablecoins are backed by other cryptocurrencies, often over-collateralized to account for the volatility of crypto. This means for every $1 of stablecoin, there might be $2 worth of cryptocurrency backing it. DAI, created by the MakerDAO platform, is a well-known example of a crypto-collateralized stablecoin.
Example: If you want to create $100 worth of DAI, you might have to lock up $200 worth of Ethereum. If the price of Ethereum falls, the system will liquidate your assets in order to keep the value stable.
These stablecoins are not backed by any collateral. Instead, they use algorithms to control their supply, automatically increasing or decreasing the number of tokens in circulation to maintain a stable value. When the demand for the stablecoin rises, the algorithm issues more coins to bring the price down. If demand falls, the supply is reduced to increase the price back to its pegged value.
Example: TerraUSD (UST) was one of the more well-known algorithmic stablecoins before it collapsed in 2022 due to its inability to maintain its peg to the US dollar, highlighting one of the most important risks associated with this type of stablecoin.
Stablecoins have become indispensable in the broader Web3 ecosystem because they serve as the bedrock for many financial activities on the blockchain. Here’s why:
Liquidity and Trading
Stablecoins are often used as a medium of exchange on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Traders use stablecoins to quickly move in and out of more volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum without needing to cash out into traditional fiat currencies.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
DeFi platforms rely heavily on stablecoins. Lenders and borrowers use stablecoins as collateral, ensuring that their loans or savings won’t lose value overnight due to market volatility.
Onboarding to Crypto
Stablecoins offer a familiar value system for people new to crypto. Instead of having to understand complex pricing of volatile assets, newcomers can start by using a digital currency that mirrors traditional money.
Safety from Market Crashes
During significant market downturns, investors often convert their holdings into stablecoins to protect their portfolios. This acts like a “safe haven” during turbulent times.
Popular Examples of Stablecoins
Let’s take a look at some of the most widely used stablecoins in the cryptocurrency space:
Tether (USDT): The largest and most popular stablecoin, pegged to the US dollar.
USD Coin (USDC): A highly regulated stablecoin backed by US dollar reserves, known for its transparency.
DAI: A decentralized stablecoin backed by crypto assets, primarily used in DeFi applications.
Because of their proven stability, both USDT and USDC are accepted as payment methods for many products sold in the Gala ecosystems. Additionally, payments are also accepted in both GUSDT and GUSDC, the GalaChain-bridged versions of these Ethereum-based stablecoins.
Each of these stablecoins offers unique benefits depending on the use case—whether it’s transparency, decentralization, or regulatory compliance.
Stablecoins are the unsung heroes of the cryptocurrency world, bringing much-needed stability to a notoriously volatile market. They are an essential bridge between the traditional financial system and the world of Web3, facilitating everything from day-to-day transactions to more complex decentralized financial activities. Whether you’re new to blockchain or a seasoned crypto trader, stablecoins play a pivotal role in making digital assets more accessible and usable.
Welcome back to another DevSpeak, where we decode the often confusing language of developers in a way that you can understand. Speaking of decoding, today we’re diving into a concept that is entirely ubiquitous in the web3 world… but not often understood. Today we’re diving into encryption!
If you’ve heard the term but are unsure what it really means, you’re not alone. Let’s break down what people mean when they say “encryption” and explore why it’s crucial for your digital safety.
Encryption, Defined
Encryption is a method of converting plain, readable information into a coded format that only authorized parties can decipher. If bad actors intercept your data, it’s gibberish to them without the proper cipher. Security measures use complex algorithms to ensure reliable encryption of information.
This isn’t just a process computers can do – you’ve probably encountered the idea of ciphers and code before in entertainment or history even if you don’t have super secret coded messages to send around.
You use a set of rules to replace each letter with another symbol or letter. To anyone who doesn’t know the code, the message looks like a jumble of symbols. But if you have the cipher, you can easily decode the message and read it as it was originally written. That’s the essence of encryption.
Remember these puzzles from newspapers? Classic encryption problems!
This is an old, old practice. In fact, one of the most classic examples of this is Cesarian Code, a method reportedly used by Julius Cesar to send coded messages to his legions.
In this method, you move each letter back three positions in the alphabet, revealing the true letters. While this method is obviously not secure after kicking around for 2100 years, there are many variations that are still used in manual ciphers today.
When the Fuzzles were lost in the wormhole in 2022, they used a slightly modified version of the Cesarian cipher to communicate with Earth! For extra security and interplanar transmission strength, they altered the amount of position offset and converted the entire message to binary.
Why Encryption
So, why is encryption so important? The primary reason is privacy and security. Every time you send an email, make an online purchase, or log into your bank account, your personal information is transmitted over the internet. Without encryption, this data could be intercepted and read by cybercriminals, leading to identity theft, financial loss, or other serious breaches of privacy.
Consider that when you shop online, for instance, you’re entering sensitive details like your credit card number and home address – that info is being sent from your computer to a server somewhere else, then probably to a datacenter in an entirely different location! If the website you’re using doesn’t employ encryption, those details could be easily stolen by someone who’s able to intercept the data transmission. Encryption ensures that even if someone tries to steal your information, it’s unreadable without the decryption key.
Encryption also plays a crucial role in securing communications between individuals and organizations. When you use messaging apps or email services that offer end-to-end encryption, only you and the intended recipients can read your messages – they aren’t accessible by any other party during transmission. This makes sure there’s confidentiality in conversations.
Not All Encryption is Equal
It’s important to know that not all encryption is created equal. In the most basic sense, there are two main types of encryption. Their effectiveness can vary based on how they’re implemented.
Symmetric Encryption: This method uses the same key for both encrypting and decrypting information. It’s like having a single key to lock and unlock a diary. It’s fast and efficient, but the main challenge is securely sharing the key between parties. If the key is intercepted, the encryption is useless.
Asymmetric Encryption: This method uses a pair of keys—a public key and a private key. The public key encrypts the information, while the private key decrypts it. This approach is like having a public lock that anyone can use to securely send you a message, but only you have the private key to unlock it. This method enhances security, especially in scenarios where secure key exchange is challenging.
Sound familiar? We dove into the details of symmetric vs asymmetric encryption in our second article in The Guardian Papers!
While encryption is a powerful tool, it’s not foolproof. The security of encrypted data depends on the strength of the encryption method, the management of encryption keys and the overall security practices you use to protect your data.
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In a world where our personal and professional lives are increasingly dependent on digital security, a basic understanding of encryption is more important than ever. Encryption is constantly protecting your activity every day!
Uh oh, did we leave the heading encrypted? Your first test begins!
The details of how encryption works can be complicated in practice, but the basic why and how of this practice are easy to understand. It’s about safeguarding your privacy and ensuring that only you and those you choose to share your information with can access your data.
Hopefully this DevSpeak gave you enough insight to not be totally lost the next time you go out on the town with your techy friends. We know that not everyone is or will be a tech expert, but understanding the basics of these concepts is important to not only use technology to its full potential, but also prepare you for the next wave of advancements!
Let’s all be ready for the world of tomorrow together!
NOTE: The following information about the future release of $TREZ is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.
Driven by our new “tapper” genre of Telegram mini app web3 games, Gala is ready to unveil the economy plans for $TREZ, a token dedicated to ecosystem interaction and sharing.
Gala is creating one of the largest developer-friendly web3 ecosystems in the world, powered by the speed, scalability and security of GalaChain, Gala’s L1 blockchain built for entertainment and ready for anything.
Gala was launched in 2019 with a focus on ownership-enabled gaming. Gala Games quickly rose as a web3 leader in entertainment, launching Gala Music and Gala Film. In 2024, GalaChain’s doors were opened to external developers with the release of a powerful GalaChain Creator self-service portal and a public-facing SDK.
Witnessing the recent success of Telegram’s mini app ecosystem and its ability to integrate The Open Network (TON Blockchain) for seamless web3 functions, Gala began creating Telegram mini app games in Q3 2024 as a solution for enhanced web2 user acquisition across its ecosystem. By leveraging a mobile messaging platform used by nearly a billion users worldwide, it became simpler than ever to share the empowerment of web3 with the world. Today, Telegram mini apps represent the most high-powered onboarding tools web3 has ever seen.
What is $TREZ
$TREZ is the official token created by Gala Games to enrich and incentivize its growing ecosystem of Telegram mini app “tapper” style games. With the initial publication of this litepaper, these games include Treasure Tapper and Music Coin, but this list is expected to expand in the future.
With its upcoming token generation event (TGE), $TREZ will be a fungible token initially minted on GalaChain, TON Blockchain or a combination of the two.
$TREZ will have a max supply of 100 billion tokens.
The majority of $TREZ will be allocated for distribution to users.
Getting $TREZ
$TREZ will be accumulated by accomplishing goals and tasks in Gala’s Telegram mini app “tapper” games – currently limited to Treasure Tapper and Music Coin.
While the exact details of $TREZ accumulation within the games are still in flux, we are now prepared to share more information about not only the token’s distribution, but the initial list of criteria that will determine how much $TREZ will be received by each user with each distribution.
Part 1: Seasonal Rewards
$TREZ will be released into circulation on a seasonal basis, and season length will likely vary. For each Distribution Season, a variable (TBA) portion of the total $TREZ supply will be emitted to users.
Everything from the initial launch of Treasure Tapper to the $TREZ TGE will be considered part of Season 1. The end of each Distribution Season will be marked by a $TREZ distribution, with exact quantities per user determined using a point system based on the following criteria.
Seasonal Distribution Rewards
Here are some criteria by which seasonal $TREZ distribution per user is determined:
In-game Coins Collected
Rewards per Hour
Number of Direct Referrals
Number of Secondary Referrals
Creation of Gala Account
Number of Challenges played
Gala Store Spend
Missions Plus
Future seasons could bring the opportunity to purchase mission upgrades that will reward the upgraded player with more distribution points toward the upcoming Seasonal Distribution.
In-App Purchases
In later seasons, users may get opportunities to spend $TREZ for in-app or Gala ecosystem purchases. This type of purchase would be factored into the Seasonal Distribution.
Part 2: Daily Rewards
In addition to the Seasonal Distribution, players will have opportunities to collect daily distributions of $TREZ based on in-game tasks and challenges. Allocations of daily distributed $TREZ will typically be determined by leaderboard placement, encouraging daily competition and interaction with Gala’s $TREZ associated apps.
The majority of $TREZ distribution will be included in the Seasonal rewards.
Daily distribution leaderboards may include (but are not limited to):
In-game Coins accumulated
Daily tasks completed
Daily matches and rematches
Daily referrals
Daily play time (app open)
Powering the Future of Web3 Entertainment
As we prepare to introduce $TREZ into the Gala ecosystem, we’re setting the stage for a new wave of innovation and engagement. The tokenomics of $TREZ are designed to enhance the user experience within our ecosystem, particularly in our Telegram mini-app games.
By offering both seasonal and daily rewards, $TREZ not only incentivizes interaction but also fosters a more vibrant and active community. This litepaper is just the beginning, with more exciting developments on the horizon as we continue to expand the utility of $TREZ and integrate it further into the broader Gala ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates, and get ready to tap into the future of web3 gaming with $TREZ!
Legal Notice: This litepaper is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Additional information will be added to this document as it becomes available. All details are subject to change for any reason and without notice.
Some of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in the world are amplifying their efforts, even in the face of some of the steepest mining cost increases they have ever seen. This is a clear sign of their expectations for the future of the world’s first and largest cryptocurrency.
Following the recently released Q2 financial report from Singapore-based cloud mining company BitFuFu, analysts are observing some fascinating patterns that paint a bullish picture of large scale BTC mining operations’ outlooks for the future of the industry.
Even with a substantial increase in per-BTC mining cost to $51,887 per Bitcoin (compared to $19,344 for Q2 2023), BiFuFu has reported a scale up of 60% from its previous year’s operation.
While the massive increases in mining costs have required BitFuFu to spend more money per BTC, the company has experienced revenue growth of almost 70% ($76.3 million in Q2 2023 to $129.4 million in Q2 2024)
Seasonal Optimism
With the sell waves of Mt. GoX payouts now fading toward the distant horizon and the dust of the 2024 Bitcoin halving settling, some crypto analysts are concluding that BTC is headed for another season of growth.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck shed some light on the BTC situation, highlighting the growing connections and opportunities between AI and BTC mining, and discussing the aftermath of “forced selling” and seasonal patterns.
“This is a typical seasonal pattern where Bitcoin tends to struggle in one to three months after the halving, which was in April. And pre-election, as the market comes to grips with whatever candidate wins, we’re in for four more years of reckless fiscal policy. The history is that Bitcoin really hits its stride at that point. So we’re buyers here. We think it recovers.”
