Optimism the layer-2 scaling solution
Optimism is a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum that uses optimistic rollups to increase transaction throughput while decreasing fees and latency. The goal of this protocol is to give users a smooth experience while keeping the Ethereum network safe and decentralized. In this essay, we’ll talk about how the Optimism protocol works from a technical point of view and how it meets its goals.
Optimistic Rollups
Optimistic rollups are a layer 2 scaling solution that lets Ethereum handle more transactions by combining them into a single transaction that is then sent to the Ethereum network. This is called “rolling up.” A smart contract that runs on the Ethereum network checks the rollup to make sure that it follows the rules of the network. The process of validating optimistic rollups is what makes them safe.The Optimism protocol gives Ethereum the ability to grow by using optimistic rollups. In optimistic rollups, transactions are first verified off-chain. Then, all of the transactions are put into a single rollup and sent to the Ethereum network. This lets Ethereum handle more transactions per second while keeping the network safe and not relying on any one person or group.
Fraud Proofs
Fraud proofs are used to check the rollup transactions to make sure the Optimism protocol is safe. Fraud proofs are used to find transactions that aren’t valid and to make sure that the rollup follows the rules of the Ethereum network. If an invalid transaction is found, the fraud proof is sent to the Ethereum network and the transaction is rolled back. This makes sure that the Ethereum network’s security and integrity are not broken.The Optimism protocol’s way of stopping fraud is based on the idea of the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM). The OVM is a virtual machine that simulates the Ethereum network and runs off-chain. It is used to check if a transaction is valid before it is sent to the rollup. If a transaction is found to be invalid, a fraud proof is made and sent to the Ethereum network. The fraud proof is then used to roll back the transaction and keep it from being added to the rollup.
Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM)
A key part of the Optimism protocol is the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM). It is a virtual machine that simulates the Ethereum network and runs off-chain. Before being sent to the rollup, transactions are checked by the OVM. This makes it possible for the Optimism protocol to provide scalability while keeping the Ethereum network safe and not centralized.The OVM is made to work with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) (EVM). This means that smart contracts written for the EVM can be run on the OVM without any changes. This makes it easy for developers to put their apps on the Optimism protocol.The OVM makes it easy to do transactions off-chain without using a lot of gas. Gas is the fee that miners get paid to do transactions on the Ethereum network. By running transactions outside of the blockchain, the Optimism protocol lowers the gas fees users have to pay, making it cheaper to use.
Conclusion
The Optimism protocol is a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum. It uses optimistic rollups to make scaling possible while keeping the Ethereum network secure and decentralised. Using fraud proofs and the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM) makes sure that rollup transactions are valid and that the security and integrity of the Ethereum network are not compromised.The Optimism protocol gives users a way to do transactions off-chain that uses less gas. This lowers the amount of gas fees they have to pay. This makes it less expensive to use and makes it easier for people to use.
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Square Enix to Launch Gamified Art Collecting Experience on Polygon Network
Square Enix, the Japanese video game publisher behind iconic titles like Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider, has announced a collaboration with Polygon, a major Ethereum-based blockchain platform, to create an NFT art project. The collaboration will investigate the convergence of blockchain technology, gaming, and digital art, showcasing the potential for novel applications in the fast growing blockchain ecosystem.
The cooperation will result in the creation of one-of-a-kind NFTs based on original artwork from Square Enix’s games, which will be minted on the Polygon blockchain. Polygon was selected as a partner because of its scalability and cheap transaction fees, making it a perfect platform for producing and trading NFTs.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are one-of-a-kind digital assets that may be bought and sold on a blockchain. They can represent several types of digital content, such as artwork, music, and video games. As a means of proving ownership and authenticity in the digital realm, NFTs are gaining popularity as a new way for artists and producers to commercialise their work.
The collaboration between Square Enix and Polygon is not the first of its kind; other gaming firms and blockchain platforms have also investigated the convergence of gaming and NFTs. The relationship is noteworthy, though, because of Square Enix’s standing in the game business, with the company having a vast and committed fanbase worldwide.
In addition to investigating the possibilities of NFTs, the collaboration will explore the usage of blockchain technology in gaming. Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the gaming business by enabling new types of games such as decentralized gaming and player-owned economies.
Square Enix and Polygon’s collaboration demonstrates the growing interest in blockchain technology among established firms and industries. We should expect more collaborations between traditional firms and blockchain startups as the promise of blockchain technology becomes more publicly recognized.
One of the primary advantages of blockchain technology is its ability to increase transaction trust and transparency. This is especially significant in the gaming sector, where concerns like fraud, cheating, and ownership and authenticity disputes are widespread. Blockchain technology allows for the creation of a tamper-proof and transparent record of all transactions, which makes it easier to assure fair and equal gameplay.
The collaboration between Square Enix and Polygon is also significant in terms of the potential for NFTs to establish new revenue streams for artists and creators. NFTs give a new opportunity for creators to monetise their work and establish an audience by producing unique digital assets that can be bought and traded on a blockchain.
The usage of NFTs in gaming is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to transform the industry by allowing players to interact with games in new ways and producers to monetize their work. The collaboration between Square Enix and Polygon is just one example of the numerous use cases that are emerging in the blockchain ecosystem.
We should expect more cooperation between established organizations and blockchain startups, as well as more new use cases for blockchain technology, as blockchain technology evolves and matures. The collaboration between Square Enix and Polygon is an exciting step in this quickly expanding field, and it will be interesting to see how the initiative evolves and what new prospects it generates for the gaming business and digital art.
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Understanding the Basics of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) Before Examining zk-STARKs and zk-SNARKs
Ethereum now has privacy thanks to zero-knowledge proof technologies, specifically zk-STARKs. But before we can assess zk-STARKs, it is important to define a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP).
Understanding the Basics of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)
A ZKP is a cryptographic technique that enables a prover to confirm another person’s assertion without disclosing any supporting data. zk-STARKs and zk-SNARKs are two of the most compelling zero-knowledge technologies available today, standing for zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge and zero-knowledge scalable transparent argument of knowledge, respectively. These technologies allow one party to demonstrate their knowledge to another without actually revealing the knowledge, making them both scaling technologies, as they can enable faster proof verification, and privacy-enhancing technologies, as they reduce the amount of information shared between users.
zk-STARKs, specifically, enable users to communicate validated data or carry out computations with a third party without the other party knowing the data or results of the analysis. They are an advancement over zk-SNARKs because of their reduced algorithmic complexity, making them easier for even crypto experts to find mistakes in. These types of knowledge testing tools are primarily used to build highly private and secure systems that are decentralized and can only be accessed under specific, difficult-to-obtain conditions, such as those found in cryptocurrencies. These systems not only secure the network but also protect and anonymize users.
Comparing zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs
There are a few main differences between zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs. Firstly, zk-SNARKs require a reliable configuration phase, while zk-STARKs create verifiable computing systems without trust using publicly verifiable randomness. Secondly, zk-STARKs are more scalable in terms of speed and computational size when compared to zk-SNARKs. And thirdly, zk-SNARKs are vulnerable to attack by quantum computers, while zk-STARKs are currently immune. However, it is important to note that STARKs have larger proof sizes than SNARKs, meaning they take longer to verify and require more gas. In addition, the STARKs developer community is smaller and has less documentation compared to SNARKs.
Support from the Developer Community
Despite these differences, both the SNARKs and STARKs communities have support from developers. The Ethereum Foundation, in particular, has shown support for Starkware, a company using STARKs, by awarding them a $12 million grant. While documentation for STARKs is currently less comprehensive than that for SNARKs, the technical community has recently created more resources for those interested in the technology.
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Impact of DeFi on the Cryptocurrency market of 2021
Short for decentralized finance, DeFi is a new wave taking over the world’s financial market; the cryptocurrency world. DeFi is the conception that entrepreneurs can provide traditional financial institutions functions through a decentralized medium. There are cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the former of which has been causing significant ripples in the crypto-world since the last quarter of 2020 and the beginning of this year.
Although Bitcoin and Ethereum are the forerunners of DeFi, newer and somewhat better altcoins are coming into view. An example is Dai, a bitcoin-resembling digital token that hopes to remain independent of the world’s central banks’ influence. Unlike centralized finance and traditional banks, DeFi takes away all the cumbersome operations, go-betweens, and high costs often involved. This it does via smart contracts and to the benefit of the end-user. The closure of many industries during this era of the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a wake-up call to consumers of fiat currencies on the futility and loss of value of such coins.
This wake-up call has been occurring in places where the government has been pumping more money into their economies even though they have taxes to be paid. Such practices make the value of such currencies questionable. As a result of such act, fiat currencies’ values have been seen to fluctuate and fall considerably, often leading to inflation. An example is in Venezuela’s economy where inflation has risen by more than 1,000,000% due to the influx and pumping of more bills into the economy.
Often, the influx of newly minted bills into the economy does not mean these bills will get to such currencies’ end-users. These often serve as injections into the banking sector. But when they come as benefit checks and government aids, this inflation in money supply results in taxes. Also, they help boost the stock market and the stocks of the top 1%, rather than help the thousands and millions of individuals and businesses that need such aids.
The Impact of DeFi in the cryptocurrency market
The increasing dissatisfaction and discontent with traditional banks and centralized financial systems are momentous. The high availability of information about the growing offers in the crypto sector is finally providing people with better alternatives to traditional banks. These alternatives come in the form of DeFi (decentralized finance) where people can now take part in a mode of operation that will work for them. This means that people’s money will now work for them instead of the other way round.
Investing in the cryptocurrency market is becoming more comfortable and more widespread than when it first emerged with Bitcoin as its forerunner. As the first DeFi system, this paved the way for other altcoins, including Ethereum, Tether, Polkadot, XRP, and Cardano. These cryptocurrencies have come a long way and have become potential collaterals when taking out traditional bank loans. These loans can be collected regardless of what your credit score is. They serve as a way of getting cash when you need it irrespective of the availability of physical collateral.
The influence of cryptocurrency is rising steadily in developing countries where inflations often caused by government policies and central bank cash injections result in the loss of value of people’s savings and business capitals. Buying and investing in DeFi systems has provided a remedy to that, whereby the value of fiat currencies that have been converted to cryptocurrencies experience growth and provide means of decentralized financial transactions with relatively low costs from traditional banks.
Opportunities and Growth
The opportunities created by cryptos seem even better in developed countries. Large amounts of money are readily available and can be invested in trusted cryptosystems where stable profit and immense gain are assured. This steady return has been made evident in Bitcoin and Bitcoin price prediction, which has been steadily increasing more than fiat currencies. Its independence from centralized financial systems has served as a contributing factor rather than a deterring factor.
Amidst the use of DeFi systems by individuals and some businesses, there is a need to increase its development and efficiency to encourage its adoption by institutions. Through this, the DeFi industry will rise from the position now as a Billion-dollar transaction pathway to a trillion-dollar one, where the costs of transactions go down while profits and investment increase. This aim of getting institutions into the DeFi industry is already in motion. Individuals and groups are coming together to develop decentralized financial apps that are better and more decentralized than their forerunner. Such a better DeFi system could come in the form of large and small security circles where a single user cannot overturn the currency’s stability, and a central body cannot determine a price change.
With this growth in the use of DeFi systems and the coming in of institutions into the crypto market, real-world assets can be brought into the blockchain, which will help and promote the growth of DeFi. This would include transferring trillions of fiat currencies and precious stones such as gold or silver onto the blockchain. And their movement can be done at the cost of no more than a nickel and no intermediary fees and liquidity limits. With DeFi as an alternative to centralized financial systems, governments will have little to no control over the wealth that cannot be generated by individuals that make use of the system.
Conclusion
With the growth of decentralized financial systems in the last two decades, the move from fiat currencies to cryptocurrencies seems irreversible. And that’s a good thing since, through DeFi systems, the distribution of wealth among crypto-users can be regularized and stabilized. This would ensure equal wealth distribution on the platform, which can only be influenced by cryptocurrency owners when they invest more fiat currency into the platform.
BIO John Edwards
John Edwards is a writing specialist who works at The Writing Judge. He is looking for ways of self-development in the field of writing and blogging. New horizons in his beloved business always attract with their varieties of opportunities. Therefore, it is so important for him to do the writing.
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Ethereum Miners Raked in Nearly $300 Million Last Month as Hashrate Breaks New Highs
Can you imagine the speed required to make 250 trillion attempts to solve a puzzle in one second? Stop imagining! We already have the answer figured out for you!
On 6th October 2020, the Ethereum-mining hash rate made a new record by reaching a figure of 250 trillione hashes per second. Ether miners are more active than ever before, and the Ethereum network is now more powerful than ever before.
To your surprise, Ethereum is not a mineral found in the mountains. Miners have made $300 million without even stepping outside their homes. Without confusing you any further, let me explain how ETH mining can make you a millionaire.
What is Ethereum?
It is a platform that makes use of a blockchain database to allow developers to create applications on it. The apps that are built on Ethereum are decentralized; Any computer that connects to the Ethereum network can access these apps. You can make online payments, trade cryptocurrency, and sell products without the involvement of third parties like banks.
Ether (ETH) is Ethereum’s cryptocurrency that has $40 billion worth of market capitalization in 2020.
What is Hashrate?
It indicates the overall health or power of the Ethereum network. The combined computing power of all the mining machines is directly proportional to the hash rate; When power increases, the hash rate goes up. This means that the miners play a vital role in strengthening the cryptocurrency network.
Initially, low-power machines were used, but as the popularity of the network grew, more users jumped in, and more powerful mining rigs were introduced. This caused the hash rate to reach trillion hashes per second and enhanced the network’s security.
What is the hype all about? How are the hash rate and mining rigs related to money? Let us find out!
What are the Mining Rigs?
People spend thousands of dollars on building powerful mining rigs that can generate more ETH in less time.
Mining rigs are basically computers with an extremely powerful graphics processing unit. Application-Specific Integrated Circuits have now been introduced for mining purposes. Mining is not an easy task, so it requires a lot of energy in the form of electricity.
The main reason behind using GPUs and ASIC instead of simple CPUs is to lower energy consumption.
Components of a Mining Rig
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Power Supply Unit
The capacity of the supply unit (in watts) must be greater than the total power consumption of all the units of your rig. If you have 4 GPUs that consume a total of 800 watts and other units consume 200 watts, a supply unit of at least 1000 watts is needed for the smooth working of the rig.
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Hard Drive
Your SSD requirement depends on the operating system of your rig. A 120 GB hard drive is required for mining rigs that run windows. For Linux users, 60 GB SSD would get the job done.
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Motherboard
The number of PCIe slot connectors in a motherboard corresponds to the number of GPUs that can be installed. ASRock H110 Pro BTC+, Asus B250 Mining Expert, and Gigabyte GA-H110-D3A are some of the best motherboards for mining. The average cost of these motherboards is around £110.
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RAM
Your rig’s processing speed depends on the size of its RAM. At least 4GB RAM is required for fast calculations.
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GPU
GPUs are the actual driving force in a rig, so make sure that you have plenty of them. GeForce GTX 1060, RTX 2080 Ti, and RX Vega 56 are some of the most popular graphics cards on the market.
Let me link all the dots here!
The Role of Mining Rigs
A powerful mining rig can make more attempts at solving puzzles in one second. More attempts mean that there are high chances of working out the right answer. When the right answer is generated, a new block is added to the chain, and the miner gets ETH as a reward. It would not be wrong to say that ETH is sitting in the coaxial cables of your rig.
How Ethereum Mining Generates Money?
Mining is not just about solving the mathematical puzzle but being the first miner to discover or guess the solution is a must for earning a reward. Millions of people are working on the same puzzle at one time, so the processing speed of your rig determines your success rate.
Today, one ETH is worth $467. An ETH miner makes money by processing transactions for the application users on the Ethereum network. ETH is a miner’s reward for solving the complex puzzle. When the miner has processed a certain number of transactions, he/she is rewarded with ETH.
Ethereum serves as the platform for the buying and selling of ETH. Miners’ task is to verify and secure transactions resulting from trading on which they also earn a transaction fee.
One important point to note here is that when the hash rate goes up, the difficulty level of the puzzle also increases to balance it out.
Is Mining Profitable?
Eth miners working with powerful graphics cards can make $15 in 24 hours, which is much higher than the profit in Bitcoin.
High profits do not come solely from ETH mining, but from the transaction fee, which is the main attraction.
The transaction fee in the Ethereum network rose to $11.61 in September 2020, producing millions of dollars in profits. Experts suggest that Ethereum is a good investment as Ether’s price is expected to grow over $2000 by the end of 2025.
Summing It Up!
Cryptocurrency is on the rise these days, and according to the experts, it is the future of online trading. Although there are security issues like double spending and 51% attacks, Ethereum and Bitcoin continue to attract investors.
If you have some extra cash lying in your bank, my advice would be to invest it in buying cryptocurrency. You do not need to go big at this point! Start with 1 token and just analyze its value in the market.
Where do you see the price of 1 Ether going in 2030?
Author Bio:
Myrah Abrar is a computer science graduate with a passion for web development and digital marketing.
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HolyTransaction supports five new crypto assets
HolyTransaction has added five new crypto assets to the platform: USDC, MANA, ENG, ANT, and LINK.
USD Coin (USDC) is a fully collateralized US dollar stablecoin. It is an Ethereum powered coin and is the brainchild of CENTRE,
Decentraland (MANA) defines itself as a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. In this virtual world, users purchase plots of land that they can later navigate, build upon, and monetize. Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND.
Enigma (ENG) is a crypto platform that’s trying to solve the problem of privacy on the blockchain by giving access to data storage and privacy while remaining scalable. Enigma aims to extend Ethereum Smart Contracts by introducing secret contracts.
Aragon (ANT) is a decentralized platform built on the Ethereum network that offers a modularized way to create and manage dApps, cryptoprotocols, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). The ANT ERC-20 token will enable its holders to govern the Aragon Network.
Chainlink (LINK) connects decentralized peer-to-peer networks and smart contracts to real-world data, events, and payments. Since blockchains cannot access data outside their network, oracles (a defi instrument) are needed to function as data feeds in smart contracts.
To create your web wallet you don’t need to have a bank account, so you can set it up in just one minute.
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HolyTransaction supports GAME Token Swap
GAME has been upgraded from a Proof-of-Work blockchain to an ERC20 Ethereum token.
Game Credits users will retain the balance of their GAME addresses, which have been migrated to an Ethereum ERC20 token with the GAME ticker symbol. Balance totals for HolyTransaction GAME users will reflect the same GAME total that they had prior to the GAME Token Swap.
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Update for Customers With Tether Stored on HolyTransaction
Please note that we have migrated your Tether balance to USDT on Ethereum (ERC20). Thank you for your continued support for HolyTransaction. If there are any doubts or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Stay tuned!
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Six Cryptocurrencies to Watch in 2019
Following last year’s very well publicised crisis moment for Bitcoin, it’s very tempting to believe that the moment for cryptocurrency has passed. Confidence in these new technologies has waned significantly, and there’s a general understanding of how volatile the market is. But though it is still true that cryptocurrency is not as stable as more established currencies, the technology isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
So while you may have missed the first major boom in digital currency, there is a likelihood that we are going to see some interesting developments in 2019. Here are some cryptocurrencies to watch this year.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum works not just as a digital currency but as a platform for users to build their own cryptocurrency. Users take the building blocks provided by Ethereum’s blockchain and create their own application so that it can be used to manage things like supply chain.
At the end of 2018, Ethereum had started to show growth again after the 2017 peak. At it’s highest peak, it had grown around 3000%, the second largest after Bitcoin. “During the course of this year,” says Jay Stokes, author at researchpapersuk.com, “ Ethereum is expected to continue to rise in value, as plans roll out to improve its technology.”
Decred (DCR)
Launched in 2016, Decred has become a well regarded currency that aims to democratize its model. There’s a focus on the actual work of data mining, with partial rewards going back to those who can offer proof of work. These individuals can have a direct say in the management and direction of the project.
To facilitate this decentralized governance, the developers have created an efficient and simple voting system to achieve consensus. Utilizing smart contracts the model is resistant to any potential outside parties that would seek to influence votes being cast.
Cardano (ADA)
Founded by Ethereum’s Charles Hoskinson, Cardano works through a smart contract platform. The developers take remarkable care to maintain the platform, and seek to standardise and promote Cardano’s protocol technology.
Charles Hoskinson claims that Cardano is the next stage in evolution for blockchain technology. It is built on meticulous academic and scientific research in order to combat issues surrounding blockchain technology, including scalability, interoperability and sustainability.
Dash (DASH)
Created in 2014, Dash is a decentralized autonomous organization as well as a cryptocurrency. As an open source asset, it works on a principle of self-governance. In its early days, it was known as Xcoin, a ‘fork’ of the Bitcoin protocol, but as an altcoin, it earned a bad reputation as the cryptocurrency used on the dark web.
However, following a rebrand as Dash (Digital Cash), it ceased operating on the dark in 2016. Payments via Dash are almost instantaneous, and through user engagement protocols, the community which uses it are all geared towards improving its development.
ZCash (ZEC)
Developed in late 2016, ZEC is geared around security and transparency. The two main protocols of Zcash involve either shielded or transparent pools.
Private transactions can be disclosed to aid transparency, allowing users to prove payments in order to comply with governmental regulation and tax services. In this way, Zcash has been at the forefront of creating a sustainable future for cryptocurrency.
“The developers of ZCash have been very public in meeting with law enforcement agencies” says Carina Rodriguez, contributor to draftbeyond.com, “This, finally, is a bid to show a united front against illegal cryptocurrency activity.”
Monero (XMR)
Monero has had a somewhat controversial year. Some studies during the year showed that around 4.3% of the total supply of XMR had been mined illegally. For many, this is a worrying part of cryptocurrency. However, as the industry as a whole move towards a more legitimate, less shady mode of practice, it is interesting to note that during the time these studies were published, XMR’s value seemed to have fluctuated very little. It is based on the CryptoNight ‘Proof of work’ algorithm, pushing miners to seek legitimate sources of data.
Unlike, for instance, ZCash, Monero is developed around utter financial privacy, allowing payments and balances to remain hidden. Though it remains a controversial choice of Bitcoin, it continues to be a versatile crypto asset used across the world.
Benjamin Schmitt is an experienced lifestyle writer and app developer. He writes on app development and a range of other topics for Gum Essays and Lucky Assignments.
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Ethereum Hard Fork
Ethereum Hard Fork Please note that the Ethereum (ETH) Hard Fork is scheduled for February 28, 2019. Consequently, HolyTransaction wallet services for ETH will be temporarily suspended to perform this update. The services will be suspended from around 6:00pm UTC on February 28, 2019. Note that the time might vary depending on average block time and mining difficulty. We appreciate your understanding regarding this matter and thank you for your continued support for HolyTransaction. If there are any doubts or questions about the Ethereum Hard Fork, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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