Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges are on the rise after the well-publicized hacks of centralized trading platforms.
The growth of the cryptocurrency market is one thing. Last year the industry grew exponentially and this year, it is expected that the market overall will reach new heights. New currencies are being introduced daily. The market cap of both individual cryptocurrencies and in sum also continues to rise globally.
As a result of this unprecedented development, there is more of a need than ever for people to be able to effortlessly obtain many different kinds of cryptocurrency (via purchases using other cyber or even fiat currencies).
The most obvious way to navigate an increasingly complex currency environment is through a fairly traditional “exchange” – similar to more traditional fiat money exchanges. And so far, that has been the focus of crypto exchange development. The biggest platforms are also now, ironically, the repository for hundreds of millions of dollars.
As more money has poured into the crypto space, of course, criminals have taken note. And in turn, have also targeted these centralized exchange platforms where investors bought, exchanged or swapped crypto and or fiat assets.
Why are the exchanges so vulnerable?
Because they store private keys if not “coins” in a central place. And both private keys and actual coins have been heisted over the last several years resulting in dramatic losses for investors and coin holders, not to mention have also generated a lot of bad PR for the cryptocurrency discussion generally.
Decentralized exchanges, in contrast, and by definition, do not store coins or private keys on central servers.
They are also, increasingly seen as the future of both cryptocurrency and the integration of the same into a world where fiat money is not going to disappear overnight.
According to a December 2017 article by MIT Technology Review, “if the future of money is decentralized, most of today’s cryptocurrency exchanges are still stuck in the past.”
The reality of the market in 2018 and beyond? Smart contract enabled P2P crypto and fiat exchange, driven by the relative ease (in particular) for Ethereum-based development is now not only possible but moving into reality.
Streamity aims to establish an early mover presence in the decentralized exchange space.
Their Streamdesk platform is being built, from the ground up, to facilitate a transparent, low cost, Ethereum-based smart contract interface which will allow users to exchange cyber and fiat money at the best current global spot price. This will also enable real-time, cheap, cyber-to-cyber exchange securely and without a centralized “exchange.” Instead, users will be able to buy and sell directly via the use of smart contracts between each other, with instant, prevailing global market exchange rates at the time of the money transfer.
The “exchange” in other words, is “merely” one of smart contracts to swap currency, not actual “coins.” Another way to think of this service is a smart-contract enabled payment processor. A user could be an individual with many different cryptocurrency “tokens” they have to manage and buy via a payment of traditional fiat sources. For a certain fee, every month, they will be able to automate all payments required and access market rates for every individual exchange.
In addition to the exchange service, the Streamity dApp will also provide up to the minute market information, crypto capitalization, and ICO schedules.
A user/member of the Streamity service will be able to instantly buy and sell/send any crypto or fiat currency they want based on real-time market prices and demand.
Membership costs are based on volume. The higher the number of exchanges a month, the lower the costs of each transaction. Each individual exchange is performed manually and in real time to ensure best-of-market rates.
For example, a user wants to exchange 1 BTC for 10 ETH.
The user would enter 10 ETH in the “buy” window and 1 BTC in the “sell” window of the Streamity platform.
They will then enter both wallet addresses – in other words, both the address of their ethereum and bitcoin wallets.
Upon accepting the terms, StreamDesk will issue the smart contract to perform the exchange and transfer the coins between wallets.
Users can also send both fiat and cyber-currencies to other parties in multiple cyber and fiat currencies.
The Streamity Exchange is designed for all currency – There will always be demand for the services of the exchange – no matter what the conditions of the cryptocurrency market, and whether people are using exclusively cyber or a combination of cyber and fiat currencies.
Steady and growing demand – Not only is there growing market demand for the services already proposed, but the team will continue to build out services. This will create an ongoing demand and turnover of STM, the system’s own “cryptocurrency”/smart contract token.
STM tokens will be traded on the major exchanges – STM tokens will be traded on the largest existing exchanges (even conventional ones) – allowing their easy entrance into the existing crypto space globally.
Low costs – The Streamity service is highly cost effective. This means that it will be cheaper to convert fiat money to STM tokens on regular exchanges than using their traditional services as “crypto exchanges” between fiat and cryptocurrencies.
Market prices – The service will provide real market globally, cross exchange prices for all the major cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. This means that users and investors will get the best prices for their fiat to crypto exchange.
Bulk discounts – Users possessing more than 1,250 STM tokens will see volume discounts on exchange services and additional system privileges.
A staggered package membership fee structure – Fees are based on the total dollar amount per month that is exchanged. For example, the top package which costs $5,000 a month, allows unlimited exchange services. Those who will exchange, swap or send less than $1 million per month will be charged $1,500 for this access. Membership fees, however, start as low as $1 per month.
Robust KYC – To qualify as a user of the exchange, users have to complete a fairly traditional proof of identity process (passport, bank account, and utility bill provision).
Here are the details of the upcoming Streamity token sale:
Token name: STM
Token base: Ethereum (ERC-20 compliant)
Token supply: 186 million total (110,200,000 to be sold during ICO)
Pre-Sale: January 22nd – January 28th, 2018 (30% discount)
Token sale duration: March 12 – March 25, 2018
Token sale target: USD $2.8 million
Token exchange rate: USD $.20
