Stellar Lumens: How to Store XLM Safely and Types of XLM Wallets

Lumens (XLM), the native cryptocurrency of the Stellar blockchain had created quite a buzz when it changed its name from ‘Stellar,’ in 2015. However, as per the developers, the change was needed to avoid confusion between the currency and the network itself.

Similar to any other cryptocurrency, Lumens are built into a network and can be stored in specially-created wallets. XLM, like any other digital asset, has to be stored securely to avoid any, otherwise ordinary, hacking activities targeting your coins.

How to Store XLM Safely

New users are usually concerned about how to store their XLM; however, it is more important to focus on how to store XLM safely. Although the most convenient place to keep your assets is on the exchange’s wallet, it is not the safest option you should choose.

Leaving your XLM on the exchange is risky because the coins are practically in the trust of someone else. And since that entity might not be working in your best interest, your assets could be be subject to one of the common attacks that have as a target crypto coins.

The only way to keep your XLM safe is to be the only one to have access to the private key of the wallet address where you stored the coins. Simply put, on a desktop, mobile or hardware wallet, not on an exchange platform.

Once your coins are safely deposited into your wallet, ensure you have at least one backup of the private key. It is best to place your backups in different places, so if you lose one, you can always get the other.

You should keep in mind – at all times – that if you lose your private key, you lose all your coins as you won’t be able to access your wallet anymore.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) Wallet Types

Similar to any other cryptocurrency, XLM can be kept in personal digital storages known as wallets. There are three different types of wallets that allow users to store their coins: Lumens desktop wallets, Lumens mobile wallets, and Lumens online wallets.

Here is what you need to know about these three types of wallets:

Lumens Desktop Wallets

As the name implies, these wallets can be stored on your desktop device. Depending on the type of computer, these wallets can be further divided into Mac wallets, Windows wallets, and Linux wallets. This type of wallet is the most secure out of the ones we’re discussing because it allows users to set up 2FA and other protections.

Mac wallets include the Stellar Desktop Client and Stargazer. Windows support the Stellar Desktop Client, Stargazer, Ledger, and Stellar Portal wallets. Finally, Linux offers support for Stellar Desktop Client wallet, Stargazer, and Stellar Portal wallets.

Lumens Mobile Wallets

Mobile wallets are for those users on the move as they can be accessed in no time from a smartphone. And since they are based on mobile devices, they are further subdivided into Android wallets and iOS wallets.

While Android supports more Lumens wallets, such as Lobstr, Centaurus and Stargazer, iOS  supports the Lobstr wallet.

Mobile wallets are great because they are easy to access and offer some more privacy and security than online wallets on various exchange platforms.

Lumens Online Wallets

Although on an exchange, these wallets are personal but are more prone to be hacked than desktop and mobile wallet apps, mainly because they are online.

You can store your XLM on these wallets, including Ledger, eBitGo, Stronghold, BlackWallet, StellarTerm, Lobstr, LuPoEx, SAZA, Stellar Portal, Stellarpay, Papaya, and Luuun, but you mustn’t ignore the risks of keeping your coins on these exchanges.

The Bottom Line

XLM has numerous wallets supporting it besides the dedicated one. But as we stressed through the article, online wallets are not as safe as desktop and mobile wallets. Besides offering 2FA and other means of protection, desktop wallets are by far the safest and closest to hardware wallets, which are the best storages for cryptocurrency.

When on the go, mobile wallets are another great option that gives you the change to check your coins and prices with a few taps. These wallets are also protected by a PIN code you need to set up.

Stellar (XLM) – What You Should Know Before You Buy It

The Stellar network is an open-source, distributed, and community-owned system used to ease cross-asset transfers of value. Its aim is to help facilitate these transfers at a fraction of a penny while trying to be an open financial system that offers people of all income levels access to affordable services.

Using the platform’s intermediary currency, Lumens (XLM), an individual can send any currency they own to anyone else in a different currency. Stellar is also a payment system that aims to connect financial institutions and significantly reduce the cost and time needed for cross-border transfers.

Benefits of XLM

Stellar aims to be a blockchain network that provides financial access to people in all regions of the world, more so those in the unbanked and underbanked areas. The major benefits of XLM are the low transaction fees, fast transaction speeds for cross-border transfers, and tight security.

Is XLM a Fork of XRP (Ripple)?

Because of the similarities between these two cryptocurrencies, some people assume that XLM is a fork of XRP (Ripple’s token). However, the consensus protocol of the two networks is rather different – while Ripple relies on voting, with transactions approved by over 80 percent of the nodes, XLM allows its nodes to become validators.

Moreover, the two differ in their target audience. XRP is known for offering services to banks and other financial institutions, while XLM focuses on providing transfer services to individuals.

How Does XLM Work?

XLM runs on the Stellar Consensus Protocol, which is a decentralized network of peers that operate independently. The decentralized servers system on the blockchain syncs and reaches consensus, creating the network and enabling the ledger to be divided evenly and as widely as possible.

The Stellar Consensus Protocol allows the network to reach better speeds and be more efficient in comparison to most blockchains operating on Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocols.

Stellar uses what we know as ‘anchors,’ which are entities that people trust to take care of their deposits and distribute credits into the blockchain for the deposits made. The anchors operate as bridges between various currencies and the Stellar blockchain. All the transactions carried out on the Stellar network, besides XLM transactions, are performed in the form of a credit issued by the anchors.

The anchors on the blockchain help with currency transfers; for instance, if you want to send USD for EUR and there are no available trading pairs, the network will trade the USD for XLM and then trade the XLM for EUR. If this option is difficult to process, the network will consider another option – it could exchange the USD for Bitcoin (BTC), then the BTC for XLM, and then the XLM for EUR. Overall, the network always finds the friendliest and fastest way to facilitate the transfers.

How to Buy and Store Lumens (XLM)

To use the Stellar network, you need XLM. Fortunately, the crypto coin can be purchased from various cryptocurrency exchanges and is also available for trade directly on the Stellar blockchain.

After buying XLM, we don’t recommend you to keep them on the cryptocurrency exchange because such platforms are relatively vulnerable to attacks. Rather, you can store them on hot or cold wallet storage units such as Ledger or Trezor. After storing your XLM, make sure you keep your private keys safe so that you don’t lose access to your wallet permanently.

The Bottom Line

Stellar Lumens (XLM) is one of the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. It is a popular digital asset that helps facilitate cross-border transfers. Still, unlike Ripple, which focuses on banks and other financial institutions, the Stellar network offers its services to individuals. The Stellar network also facilitates rapid and safe cross-border transfers with low transaction fees.

John McAfee Indicted by DOJ Over Alleged Cryptocurrency Fraud Charges – Bitcoin News

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Tech entrepreneur and former anti-virus tycoon John McAfee has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on money laundering and fraud charges. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI unsealed the indictment charging McAfee and his associate Jimmy Watson with securities fraud.

John McAfee Indicted by US Law Enforcement for Fraud and Money Laundering Tied to Crypto Schemes

According to a press release published by the DoJ on March 5, John McAfee has been indicted for a number of charges tied to his cryptocurrency operations and his so-called “McAfee Team.” The Federal Attorney, FBI, and DoJ also charged McAfee’s alleged partner Jimmy Watson, who purportedly served as an “executive adviser” to McAfee’s alleged cryptocurrency squad.

John McAfee Indicted by DOJ Over Alleged Cryptocurrency Fraud Charges

McAfee and Watson have been charged with “conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy offenses stemming from two schemes relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities,” according to the DoJ announcement published on Friday.

Last Friday, Janice McAfee (John’s wife) was requesting legal assistance from a lawyer from Tennessee. One that can work with her husband’s Spanish lawyers and they need to have a strong understanding of cryptocurrency, she said. But this was seven days before John’s indictment on Friday, and she hasn’t spoken on the indictment formally on social media. Federal prosecutors say that John McAfee leveraged his social media presence to engage in “age-old pump-and-dump schemes.”

US Prosecutors Discuss McAfee ‘Tweeting to Hundreds of Thousands of His Twitter Followers’

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss discussed how McAfee’s Twitter account held a strong amount of evidence.

“As alleged, McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” Strauss said. “The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to publish messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers touting various cryptocurrencies through false and misleading statements to conceal their true, self-interested motives,” she added.

Strauss and U.S. prosecutors claim the ostensible McAfee team allegedly took in over $13 million from investors. “Investors should be wary of social media endorsements of investment opportunities,” Strauss warned during the announcement.

After the DoJ published the indictment against Watson and McAfee, the news went viral on social media. “John McAfee did nothing wrong,” one person tweeted on Friday evening. Others jokingly discussed McAfee’s famous million-dollar BTC bet he had going for a while.

“We were promised something John Mcafee never delivered,” one person teasingly tweeted sharing screenshots of McAfee’s humorous wager. The charges against McAfee and Watson derive from investigations that took place in 2017 during the crypto bull run and expanded in 2018 prosecutors note.

What do you think about the U.S. indictment against Watson and McAfee? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

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Audrey Strauss, Bitcoin, Charges, Crypto Schemes, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency, department of justice, Digital Assets, DOJ, FBI, Federal Attorney, indictment, Janice McAfee, Jimmy Watson, John McAfee, John McAfee Team, news, U.S. prosecutors, US Law Enforcement

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, justice.gov/usao-sdny

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This bullish Bitcoin options strategy lets traders speculate on BTC price with less risk

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Historical data shows that it is nearly impossible to consistently predict Bitcoin’s price action and many traders that attempt this end up losing money. Now that Bitcoin trades near $50,000, the ultimate goal for most traders is to hold on to their current holdings and incrementally add to them in a way that is not terribly risky. 

Options strategies provide excellent opportunities for traders who have a fixed-range target for an asset. For example, using leveraged futures contracts might be a solution for a scenario where one expects a price increase of up to 28% over the next month. Of course, using a tight stop loss lessens the viability of the trade.

On the other hand, using multiple call (buy) options can create a strategy that allows gains that are four times higher than the potential loss. These can be used in both bullish and bearish circumstances, depending on the investors’ expectations.

The long butterfly strategy allows a trader to profit from the upside while limiting losses. It’s important to remember that options have a set expiry date; therefore, the price increase must happen during the defined period.

The Bitcoin (BTC) calendar options below are for the March 26 expiry, but this strategy can also be used on Ether (ETH) options or a different time frame. Although the costs will vary, its general efficiency should not be affected.

Profit / Loss estimate. Source: Deribit Position Builder

The suggested bullish strategy consists of buying 1 BTC worth $48,000 call options while simultaneously selling double that amount of $56,000 calls. To finalize the trade, one should buy 1 BTC worth of $64,000 call options.

While this call option gives the buyer the right to acquire an asset, the contract seller gets a (potential) negative exposure.

As the estimate above shows, if BTC is trading for $48,700, any outcome between $49,380 (up 1.5%) and $62,630 (up 28.6%) yields a net gain. For example, a 10% price increase to $53,570 results in a $4,000 net gain. Meanwhile, this strategy’s maximum loss is $1,350 if BTC trades below $48,000 or above $64,000 on March 26.

This allure of this butterfly strategy is the trader can secure a $4,050 gain, which is 3x larger than the maximum loss, if BTC trades from $53,550 to $58,460 expiry.

Overall it yields a much better risk-reward from leveraged futures trading considering the limited downside.

The multiple options strategy trade provides a better risk-reward for bullish traders seeking exposure to BTC’s price increase and the only upfront fee required is the $1,350 which reflects the maximum loss if the price is below $48,000 or above $64,000 at the expiry date.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.