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Social network Zion onboards users to the Lightning Network to free them from big tech censorship, revenue restrictions and data collection.

Announced earlier today, Bitcoin-based social network Zion has launched with the mission of eliminating reliance on large tech companies for content creation and sharing, providing an alternative that does not collect user data, censor speech or withhold portions of payments meant for content creators.

“With Zion, technology companies are completely eliminated and users interact in a secure, censorship-resistant, private utility that facilitates free and open flow of content and payments between users and their audiences,” according to a press release from the platform. “There is no way to manipulate how users experience the network and absolutely no data is collected, ever.”

Social Media Built On The Lightning Network

According to its website, Zion offers a mobile app on which users can post content like videos and memes, add comments, join communities, send encrypted messages and access a non-custodial bitcoin wallet. To leverage the platform, users must maintain their own nodes for the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s second layer platform that enables near-instant micropayments by establishing channels between users and only settling the balances of these channels on the main blockchain once they are closed.

Zion uses LND, an open-source Lightning Network implementation created by software developer Lightning Labs. Zion users have the option of setting up their own nodes or renting them from the upstart social platform itself.

“We have two ways for people to get on the network: Renting a node or configuring your own LND node with our relay software,” Zion creator Justin Rezvani explained to Bitcoin Magazine. “These nodes also include a pre-set up channel that allows you to use LND right away and use the app as seamlessly as any normal social media app. Our nodes, which are non-custodial, also allow you to be hassle free, as we take on the headachaches of node management. We’ll tackle things like backups, networking and version upgrades for you.”

Zion currently runs more than 1,000 Lightning Network nodes on its network and it plans to double capacity each month. It expects to use $1 million raised in seed investment to hire additional engineers and Lightning Network developers.

Ultimately, hosting these nodes and facilitating the Lightning Network payments between users is how Zion’s team expects to collect revenue in the absence of advertisements, data collection and the other revenue streams employed by Silicon Valley’s tech giants.

“We have two revenue models: hosted nodes and network routing fees,” Rezvani said. “One thing to clarify though is that every single user has full control of their funds, as they are the ones who manage the private keys. They are running their own nodes and have full custody of their bitcoin. Whoever controls your private keys controls the nodes.”

Freeing Professional Content Creators Through Bitcoin

The ability for users to reward content creators directly with bitcoin through the Lightning Network is a founding principle for the Zion team and a feature that it believes will solve a fundamental problem with social platforms today.

“There’s a number of problems with value transacting that myself and other creators run into with the old paradigm of social media,” JP Sears, Zion’s founding creator, told Bitcoin Magazine. Sears’ “AwakenWithJP” YouTube page has nearly two million subscribers and his videos regularly satirize self-serious progressives and wellness advocates. A recent video of his, titled “A Federal Hate Crime To Criticize Fauci? BREAKING NEWS!,” has received more than 345,000 views as of this writing.

“Fans want to support a creators’ work, yet the big tech platforms always want a large cut of revenue that is ultimately earned,” Sears added. “Another problem is that most of the existing social media platforms are designed to extract value from viewers and fans through personal data collection, manipulative algorithms and selling the audience’s attention to advertisers. As a creator, it doesn’t feel good knowing big tech’s method for allowing them to support me necessitates that their privacy and psychology be violated.”

Sears said that his own journey to embracing Bitcoin involved the all-too-common initial belief that it was a “giant pyramid scheme.” But after author and life coach Tony Robbins (who is an investor in Zion) sent him the video of an interview he did with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Sears’ outlook on Bitcoin changed.

“I quickly began to see bitcoin as not just an investment, but as a powerful way to store value,” Sears recalled. “Then, as I began to better understand Bitcoin technology and the Lightning Network, I realized that Bitcoin can empower people in even more important ways than just financially. It can be the facilitator of freedom and sovereignty for them.”

People often think about Bitcoin’s aptitude to facilitate freedom strictly as an alternative to restrictive legacy financial services. But as a sovereign payments rail, Bitcoin can also empower free speech, content creation and exchange of ideas on a platform like Zion.

“As a content creator and comedian, I’m hungry to throw away the big tech filter that all of my creations currently have to go through,” said Sears. “My content is often heavily censored just to be able to reach my fans. But with Zion, I’m most excited about having full creative freedom to give my fans my real work, my best work, without fear of censorship. Being able to connect directly with my fans in our Zion community to exchange ideas and information in an atmosphere of freedom is what I’ve been wanting.”

But while many creators doubtlessly seek to interact with their fans directly and exclude tech giants from their revenue streams, Bitcoin and the Lightning Network still present technical and philosophical hurdles for many. Sears believes that Zion clears those hurdles, while maintaining the unique offerings of the technology.

“One of the reasons I was so resistant to bitcoin for so long is because I didn’t know how to buy it and anytime I’d ask people, the technical jargon that didn’t land in my frame of reference became a barrier to entry,” Sears said. “Fortunately with Zion, that’s not the case. It’s built by engineers for the common person with an easy-to-use interface. Though Zion is a fantastic tool that Bitcoin enthusiasts have already fallen in love with, you don’t have to be a Bitcoin enthusiast to use it.”

The Dogecoin crypto establishment has recently re-branded its company. This re-establishment venture is taking place for the first time since its launch in 2014. The revamping of the crypto organization is followed by a refreshing new business intent to assist the functionalities of the Dogecoin industry, business associates, and to advance the blockchain system of Dogecoin. 

Presently, the association of Dogecoin with its renewed business intent is centering its focus on enriching the company’s growth. The business improvements will assist the cryptocurrency network on its journey to a profitable future. The technical improvisers of the Dogecoin crypto network will form a comprehensive support system to accommodate and present the FinTech firm with a seamless renewed market launch. 

The future of Dogecoin will endure good faithful operations if novel financers support the vision of its innovative business plans. Moreover, the crypto establishment will not interfere in the performance of the “Core Wallet” business plan. The Core Wallet operations will be the sole responsibility of the “Dogecoin Wallet”. 

Additionally, Dogecoin has chalked out a prospect of their entire marketplace. It will soon introduce and declare innovative business project insights that blend well with the ongoing Core Wallet business intentions. 

Some of the proposed offerings will be to facilitate more accelerated links and seamless API functionalities. These services by the FinTech firm Dogecoin will be beneficial to associates wanting to employ the crypto network for projects in the business, cultural and charitable expanse. 

The victory of the cryptocurrency network for this rebranding venture will be accomplished through expansive international domination and appropriation of its digital currency services. The main purpose at the moment is to center on business plans that will develop Dogecoin’s main intent to the next level. 

In recent months, the Dogecoin brand has been corrupted in various ways, which has put a damper on its business prospects and the intention of clients to utilize them for their benefit. The cryptocurrency firm is working on the core principle that will imbibe the values of “Doing Good Daily,” which will help the establishment pave the way for a more reliant nature regarding its growth ventures. 

Ultimately, the FinTech firm believes that to progress further, it requires the recognition of associates who can champion the setbacks and ordinary business responsibilities to keep the torch of Dogecoin’s business prospects viable.

TL;DR Breakdown

• Uniswap price analysis is bearish after correcting from $28 to $25 overnight.
• As of this writing, the coin is trading at $26.89.

Uniswap Price Analysis: General price overview

Uniswap price analysis is bearish today after the coin corrected from $28 to the $26 range. The coin could likely correct even lower in the next 24 hours. 

Overall, the virtual assets market is trading bearishly. Bitcoin has traded at a consistent loss for the past day, shedding at least 3.47 percent. Ethereum, on the other hand, lost 5.20 percent. Meanwhile, the majority of cryptocurrencies have remained within the red zone. 

Uniswap price movement in the last 24 hours

Over the last 24 hours, UNI/USD traded in a range of $25.40 – $26.10; the tight range indicates mild volatility across the daily chart. There has been a plummet in trading volume by 9.83 percent and trading activity amounting to $596 million. While the total market capitalization stands at around $17.66 billion and occupies number 10 among the top 10 digital currencies by market cap.

Uniswap 4-hour price analysis

The $25.80 low is captured on the four-hour chart, where it seems like the price movement is facing heightened seller concentration. The bulls at this point have to wage overall market support and scatter the resistance that’s been holding them hostage for 2-days. 

Over the last few weeks, the price of Uniswap has been on an upward trend. Despite acknowledging a brief retest at a low point in July (~$14), UNI/USD quickly moved past the high swing point recently ($23.5) and towards the $30 level. 

From $23.5, the Uniswap price rally continued until it reached $29 on the 7th of August. Yesterday it was unable to set a higher high and started to retrace; it found support around 26.00 after further downsides were rejected. As of this writing, the coin is trading at $26.89.

This development in price action led to a new high, sending UNI/USD towards another rally earlier today. Over the next 24 hours, Uniswap is expected to rise, with the $30 mark as its next major resistance point.

Uniswap price analysis conclusion

Granted the bearish nature of today’s Uniswap price analysis, there is the possibility of the price correcting to form a new higher low over the next 24 hours, which would push prices towards a major downtrend during the day. The price for UNI/USD has dropped from the $30 psychological support, and there is a negative outlook for the next 24 hours.

Realm announced the integration of Chainlink Verifiable Random Function within Realm services. Realm will promote innovative digital art by enabling live NFTs, concealing in-game crypto treasure, creating NFTs pets, and providing adventure to players, thanks to this new approach for establishing transparency and randomness for smart contracts.

Realm is a user-friendly tool that allows users to create their Metaverse, referred to as realms. The whole universe can be issued as an NFT (ERC-1155) and exchanged in the secondary market. The firm’s goal is to revolutionize the way people interact with NFTs, decrease the entry for the creation of NFTs, and provide a unique gaming experience.

Chainlink’s VRF in Action

To begin, all new players receive a one-of-a-kind NFT pet, which, when paired with another pet, produces a one-of-a-kind offspring having the power to mutate and change based on their experiences and realm visits. The firm’s NFT pets, like epigenetic ones in the real world, require random inputs to generate genetically distinct organisms.

Traditional RNG solutions are inadequate and create certain problems. Using the on-chain blockhash, for example, can lead to blockchain validators manipulating the random numbers created. At the same time, off-chain methods can be opaque and give no assurance that the random numbers generated are genuinely random.

Chainlink VRF can create numbers and cryptographic proof that mixes the unknown block data when the request is made using Oracle’s committed key.

The random number will only be accepted by the contract of Realm smart contract if there is authentic cryptographic proof, which can only be accepted if the procedure is error-proof. It gives consumers the automatic and verified guarantee that every product of randomness is tamper-proof or anticipated by the oracle or the Realm team directly on-chain.

Chainlink VRF’s randomization data is incorporated into Realm’s algorithm based on genetic mutation. The outcome is a verifiable one-of-a-kind pet created from its parents’ genomes and random mutations. It is a huge step forward in NFT and technology, giving hope for a promising future.

Why did Realm choose Chainlink?

The Realm world offers consumers a unique gamified NFT using experience with exceptional fairness guarantees, thanks to Chainlink’s time-tested VRF technology. It will give users the freedom to audit the randomization data utilized in every crucial chance encounter, resulting in a provably impartial system in which no single entity will gain undue advantage.

The concept of NFTs mutating in real-time depending on their interactions and the realms they visit is a critical part of the technology. Gamers and NFT collectors experience a one-of-a-kind and ground-breaking experience, thanks to Chainlink and the inherent power of the VRF solution.