#And all of these guys need a healthy interaction with their respective legacies that does not involve heroing

[ravenpureforever]

On one hand, Young Justice is kind of neglected by the actual superheroes that should be looking out for them in a lot of crucial ways and very much failed by the adults around them

But on the other hand Red Tornado straight up hosts a parent-teacher conference where their respective legal guardians all show up, barring Batman who’s in traffic so Nightwing fills in instead because Robin’s dad does not know he’s a vigilante which is objectively hilarious

[salvatoreschool]

‘Legacies’ 2×06 Review: “That’s Nothing I Had to Remember”

Legacies Season 2 Episode 6 “That’s Nothing I Had to Remember” is yet another amazing episode for the show’s sophomore season. It has all of the things that drew fans to the TVD Universe in the first place, while also making sure Legacies stands on its own feet.

“That’s Nothing I Had to Remember” has so many great callbacks, character team-ups, and monster hi-jinx that it’s difficult to pick a favorite part. Whether it’s Lizzie and Landon’s brilliantly-paired comedic timing or Josie visiting a very familiar face for The Originals fans, this episode has it all.

A Pretty Little Liar

“That’s Nothing I Had to Remember” let viewers in on a bit of the very attractive and mysterious vampire Sebastian’s backstory. However, MG is a little too quick to understanding, especially since that leads him to reuniting Lizzie and Sebastian.

It is understandable that MG would want to give Sebastian the benefit of the doubt and believe the best, rather than the worst, but there should have been more resistance. Sebastian initially tells members of the Super Squad that he has killed multiple people, and it is known that he used Wade to revive his desiccated body, but none of those things set off alarm bells after Sebastian tells the story about him and Cassandra.

Yes, the story of Sebastian reeking bloody havoc on a town could be a reconstruction of his memories to account for missing Malivore monsters, but it seems suspicious that his memory would construct Sebastian as the monster of the tale. This posits that some part of Sebastian is capable of doing such a thing, if Sebastian is able to present that story to others with such conviction.

In that sense, Sebastian makes for a perfect foil for a character like MG. They live completely different lives and are products of completely different social standards and cultures. As interesting as it will be to see Lizzie interact with what she believed to be her literal dream guy, it will also be quite compelling to see the Sebastian and MG’s respective ideologies go head to head.

Always & Forever

This episode reunites Hope Mikaelson with her incredibly beautiful, powerful, and smart Aunt Freya (Riley Voelkel). There really aren’t enough compliments for Freya Mikaelson. She is truly a force to be reckoned with, and her few scenes in “That’s Nothing I Had to Remember” solidify that.

Fans of The Originals probably feel right at home at Rousseau’s, which is where Josie finds the infamous witch. Josie even sees the wall of Freya’s loved ones, some who have sadly passed away due to the events of The Originals. The recognition of those characters is the perfect reminder to fans that Legacies exists inside of such a rich universe with even richer stories.

This sentiment becomes even more obvious when Freya tells Josie that her wife, Keelin, is watching their son Nik that night. That’s right! Freya’s son is named after the legendary Klaus Mikaelson himself. Here’s to hoping that he doesn’t take after his mischievous uncle too much.

Though, the most emotional of Freya’s scenes comes near the episode’s end. Hope is all alone at the Commonwealth Day celebration, watching families and loved ones spend quality time with each other. Even after everyone’s memories are restored, Hope is still alone. At least, that’s what she thinks.

Freya appears just in time to give her niece the hug she so desperately needs. It gives Hope the chance to break and feel relief for once. Hope could crumble a bit in Freya’s arms and know everything would be okay.

The way Legacies seamlessly weaves Freya into this episode proves the strength of the TVD Universe. The Legacies characters have such strong bonds with so many different characters from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals that it is easy to let them interact. One can only imagine what will take place when Kai Parker pays Mystic Falls a visit in some way, shape, or form. Similar to Matt Donovan and Freya Mikaelson, these cameos only enriches the stories of everyone involved. They don’t feel self-serving; they’re organic, and that’s beautiful.

Self Love Isn’t Selfish

Josie goes through quite the journey in this episode, and a conclusion can be drawn from it. It’s not a new or remarkable one, as it has been relevant since Legacies’s series premiere. Josie needs to love herself before she can love anyone else. This is the same for a lot of the characters on the show, but for the purpose of this review, it is prevalent with Josie and Rafael in “That’s Nothing I Had to Remember.”

Josie doesn’t believe that Landon would ever choose her over Hope. This signifies that Josie doesn’t think she could be worth loving over Hope, that she wouldn’t measure up. While Hope and Landon have a sweeping romantic past, that does not erase what her and Landon had or even have.

Josie never gives herself the benefit of the doubt, and for her to truly be with someone, she needs to realize that she is a catch. Josie and Lizzie have been the most independent than they’ve ever been this season, and that has only influenced their individuality in good ways. Josie is clearly a girl with a giant heart who is too afraid of getting hurt to let herself fall too fast. This is only going to continue now that everyone’s Malivore’s memories are back.

If Landon does make the decision to break things off with Josie, it would only be beneficial for Josie to take the time that follows to get to know herself, to truly love herself.

Josie may even find some comfort in talking with Rafael, who once again subordinates his own feelings to benefit that of his best friend. Rafael always steps back when the situation can benefit Landon, and as admirable and lovely as that is, Rafael needs to put himself first every once in a while.

Rafael cannot continue acting as if his feelings don’t matter. It can’t be healthy for him to internalize all of that, especially as he grapples with being in his body again.

Let these two kids love themselves so they can love others, please and thank you.

Hypocritical Hero

Ric hasn’t been up to all that much this season, but what he does in “That’s Nothing I Had to Remember” doesn’t bode well for his character. Ric asks Kaleb to compel Sheriff Mac to forget that Ric told her about the supernatural world.

Ric has done this before to other characters over the course of the series, but it seems especially wrong now. This is not to say that Ric victimizing humans to compulsion without their consent at any point is a good thing. It just to say this the newest and most relevant case of this.

Ric was voted out of the position of Headmaster because the kids believed there needed to be change. That’s fine and fair. However, Ric has always stood by his beliefs and his rules. He is someone who has always believed in truth, knowledge, and justice. Those beliefs become flimsy when he manipulates them to benefit his situation.

Ric knows to keep his distance from Sheriff Mac even though he likes her and believes she would make a great partner in all of the supernatural-crime fighting, but he is honest with her. Then Ric compels that moment of honesty away in a deceitful action. He takes her agency from making a decision on the facts she knows and what he shared with her, because it is what Ric believes to be the best.

In a show that looks to tell supernatural stories with nuance and care, Ric’s journey this season looks to be telling quite an interesting story. Ric is someone audiences are meant to side with and root for as a hero. He is a renowned vampire hunter, historian, and general badass, but he also makes mistakes. He doesn’t always follow what he believes, and that is hypocritical.

This makes him an exciting character to watch this season. He’s blurring a lot of lines, which only proves there is still so much to learn about a character that has been on some fans’ TVs for a decade.

Other Spelltacular Moments

All of Lizzie’s nerdy references are perfectly delivered.

Hope saying, “Democracy isn’t what it used to be,” is a great moment of not-so-subtle shade.

How long had Lizzie been hiding under that table?

Sebastian better call everyone turnips forever.

Kym is an official member of the Super Squad now, right?

“I had a crush on Josie for a week when we were 14.” – Hope Mikaelson making the internet explode

MAYOR DONOVAN. It’s what Matt deserves. Although, it can’t be easy being Ric’s lawyer.

Legacies is new Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

[jbuffyangel]

Another great, in depth, article from Wendy Mericle!

The lingering question after the midseason finale involves the circumstances of Laurel's return — if indeed it is Laurel. How much will we be seeing her for the rest of the season?

We'll be seeing her when we come back in the first episode. Then, as always with Katie, if we find the right story, we bring her back and we want to have her on the show as much as possible. It has been proven by the recent events that she's obviously a huge fan favorite, and we love working with her. That said, she won't factor hugely into the back half of the season, but I think the way we brought her back and the twist and the reveal, will really help set the tone for the back half of the season for Oliver and Felicity emotionally, and also for how Prometheus operates.

This just cracked me up. Translation: Yes, we know all you comic book fans love her and we tossed you a few crumbs, but no. She’s done for the season. The placating game is strong.

The episode description for 510 says that Oliver is grappling with the fear that he's really a killer at heart, but that the seemingly miraculous return of Laurel offers him a ray of hope. How does her reappearance shift his perspective?

We really explored the question in Season 2 of "to kill or not to kill?" We don't want to repeat that or retread that territory, but what we do want to do is have Oliver ask these questions in the context of his legacy. He killed Prometheus's father, and that has given birth to one of the worst villains he's ever gone up against. There's no way he's going to go through the rest of the season and not be questioning that. It's a fundamental part of the season; him wondering “was this the right thing to do” and is he truly honoring his family legacy by doing it?

Again, they aren’t trying to rehash the kill or not kill (although they kind of are), but the ultimate goal is to push Oliver to this “better hero.” The ultimate goal is to make him the fully evolved Green Arrow.

It's refreshing that Felicity isn't blaming Oliver for Malone's death. It's a surprisingly healthy approach, even in the worst circumstances. But she just lost a guy that she demonstrably cared for, so how is that motivating her moving forward?

Felicity's gone through a lot. She inadvertently killed a bunch of people — 20,000, give or take — in Season 4. We wanted to do a little bit of a reset with her at the top of the season, and she was very happy with Malone. I think there's no way this is not going to take her down the darkest path we've seen her on, on the show. To us, in a lot of ways, this season is her island. She's going through things that she's never been through before. She's got, I think most importantly, a new understanding and appreciation for Oliver's sense of the dangers of this life and the dangers of having a personal life while doing it and the consequences of that in a really direct way now, because ultimately Malone wouldn't have been in the crosshairs if it weren't for her. She knows that.

WALKING IN OLIVER’S SHOES!!!! And I think this may be the first time Wendy has officially said they are sending Felicity to her island. I don’t think they ever said that before, even with the paralysis. Again, this is hugely important. Felicity was always accepting of Oliver’s darkness. However, she needs to understand it on a deeper level by recognizing her own darkness. It’s going to lead Felicity to do morally questionable things. Felicity will ultimately deceive Oliver because of it. This is all an echo of what she experienced with Oliver in S4. She fears the part of him that will always go back to the island. 

Now it’s Felicity who will be going it alone. It will be Felicity who is hiding things from Oliver. What Felicity needs to understand is that we all have an island in us - even her. And that will help lessen her fear with Oliver, allow her to take that leap into the big unknown, and give him another chance. Coupled, of course, by seeing Oliver IN ACTION overcoming his island again and again, being a more honorable and trustworthy man. When Felicity wants to “go it alone” it will be Oliver who is the one who will try to reach her... a stark departure for their relationship and something Felicity needs to see.

I think you guys have acknowledged the fact that you feel like you probably broke Oliver and Felicity up too soon last season. In terms of bringing Malone on and then dispatching him so early in Season 5, can you talk about the motivations behind that, and where it leaves Oliver and Felicity moving forward? Because obviously neither of them are in a place for a relationship right now, but there's still a lot of history there.

That's true. I think for us, the decision to have Malone be in the crosshairs and die when he did was more motivated by what we wanted to do with Felicity this season, independent of Oliver. Regardless of whether we get them back together or not down the road — and I know there's a huge controversy out there about which way that should go — I think for us, our promise at the start of the season was to see what their lives would be like without that romantic relationship. That's really what we wanted to do.

For us going forward, and for Felicity too, it's really about, "what does this loss mean?" What it means for her and Oliver I think is a question we will have to address in the future, but ... I think at the earliest, it will be towards the end of the season. She's a great character, and she deserves to have her own storylines. Emily Bett Rickards is amazing. That's been the goal this season, and that's why we've been going the way we have.

Finally, a reporter actually acknowledging that Marc and Wendy have both acknowledged that breaking Olicity up was a mistake. Wendy is very blunt. They are exploring the last vestiges of the will they/won’t they. We’ve seen Oliver and Felicity not in a romantic relationship before (S2 and S3). However, we’ve never seen them not be together after having a relationship. This is a common “milk it” trope many shows do and Arrow is just one among many.

It’s really important to note that Wendy said they will address those big Olicity questions towards the end of the season. Again, this is complete alignment with what Marc told me back at SDCC: this is a SEASON LONG journey. They are promoting the middle block of episodes (10-15ish) and anyone expecting a reunion NOW can stop. They are going to push this all the way to the end, which, is what I’ve expected all along mostly because Marc told us that’s what they were going to do. However, “towards the end of the season” doesn’t mean season finale. She’s talking about the final block of episodes (18-23). That’s when they’ll start dealing with Olicity on a more romantic front I believe. And for Felicity, “what does this loss mean?” means that she’s only understanding Oliver and herself on a deeper level... which leads to forgiveness and a desire to try again. Again, this is all code for “they are getting back together.”

I’m also pleased that Wendy is acknowledging that before Olicity can get back together, they need to let Felicity deal with her emotions and that requires an independant arc, separate from Oliver, which is EXACTLY what they are going to give her.

The description for episode 511 previews Felicity hacking the NSA to try and help free Diggle, but her mission brings her up against an unknown online adversary. Is that someone new or someone we've met before?

I can tell you it's new and that we're very excited about it. In keeping with what we were just talking about with Felicity and Oliver, we really wanted Felicity to go down her own path this year. Even though it is a new organization and it's a completely new set of characters, we are going to come to find out later in the year that she unwittingly had a part in their inception. We're excited about that.

I love that this is a whole new set of characters for Felicity to interact with and I firmly believe this is all about launching Smoak Technologies. 

That episode introduces another vigilante, Tina Boland (Juliana Harkavay). What should we know about her?

She is a total badass, basically. I love her character. She's a former cop who has gone off the deep end because of tragic events that really sort of set her on this dark path. What I like most about her is she's a fully-fledged fighter. She is Oliver's equal in many respects. She's a grown-up, and she's just basically a total baller. I think she's going to be kind of a fun, cool addition to the show. The actress we've cast is fantastic.

Same talk about Tina. She’s Oliver’s physical fighting equal. I don’t see any hints of romance in this promotion, so I’m still at teammate with these two.

The recruits are finally starting to come into their own and form a cohesive unit — what can we look forward to in their storylines?

Then for Rene, we've sort of hinted that he has a bit of a tragic backstory, and we're going to be delving into that with a lot more specificity. We love Wild Dog, and I know that there's a little bit of a mixed reception with the fans, but hopefully when we see where he came from and what his origins are, we'll get some people on his team.

Then with Ragman, there's a really cool story coming up for him in episode 512 that we're really excited about that will set him on a slightly different path, but ultimately he'll still be kind of working with the team.

It’s great that Wendy finally recognized our distaste for Wild Dog. Doesn’t mean they are getting rid of him for sure, but at least they’ve heard the feedback. I think his origins are tied with Tina and this is all about getting her on the team.

Very interesting about Ragman. “Still be KIND OF working with the team.” Hmmm... looks like they are trying to thin the herd a bit and rotate some of the newbies out, so the main cast can have an increased focus. This is good. I’d prefer they’d rotate Wild Dog out more, but that could be coming. I love Ragman, and want him to stay, but his rags really lower the stakes so that can only take the show so far.

Diggle is in a very precarious predicament at the moment — where do we find him in the back half of the season?

I can tell you that he is no longer going to sign off on any sort of jailbreak. That's not going to happen again. Part of Felicity's dark path that she's going to be heading down will be ... It'll be kicked off by her drive to save him. It'll be a very complicated, we hope, story between Felicity and Diggle for the back half of the year.

What’s that you say Wendy? DIGGLE AND FELICITY ARE GETTING A STORY TOGETHER???!!!! 

I am over the freaking moon. #DelicityForever #OTA

[cryptswahili]

Platinum Q DAO Engineering – creators of real stablecoins USDQ, KRWQ, CNYQ, JPYQ – explains why Tether’s USDT is not the choice

Martin Saldamando is a Strategic Partnerships Manager in Platinum Q DAO Engineering. Having a bright experience in B2B marketing, writing about technological innovation and building customer-inspired products and services. He writes regularly for international publications on crypto, fintech, regulatory compliance, blockchain, cloud computing, machine learning, and other topics. The team is currently developing USDQ, a fully decentralized stablecoin that makes it easy to collateralize Bitcoin for margin trading and hedging.

Martin sees Q DAO, an ecosystem for USDQ, as a potential driver for tremendous growth. He’s convinced that the team’s plans to launch other stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, such as JPYQ, KRWQ, SGDQ, HKDQ, CNYQ, RUBQ, will attract attention from wider trading community.

Over the last quarter, the crypto market has had its fair share of fluctuation. But the USDQ stable coin is looking to hold its peg against its $1 price per coin. Moreover, KRWQ – a stablecoin pegged to Korean Won will be attached to Q DAO family. This will not only make a huge impact on the local Korean market but also to the whole Asian region

The stable asset known as USDQ is a cryptocurrency backed Bitcoin and top 10 cryptocurrencies in future. It is different from other stable coins which are referred to as legally-backed crypto. Unlike scandal and failed Tether (USDT), the USDQ stable coin does not rely on having US dollars in a bank account to back every single token. The USDQ coin uses ETH and BTC collaterals to back its price and maintain its peg in relation to the US dollar.

How the USDQ Stable Coin Works

First, the concept of pooling cryptocurrencies, in this case, BTC, is the first step towards understanding how the Q DAO ecosystem works. Users that want to have USDQ stablecoins will first have to pool and reserve their cryptocurrencies first so that USDQ are issued. So, by definition, no USDQ can be issued without it being collateralized and backed against existing crypto.

The entire Q DAO ecosystem is run by a smart contract. The contract determines if at any point is necessary to liquidate BTC reserves it will do it to stabilize the USDQ token at exactly $1 always. The actions taken by the smart contract system are also determined by the community of Q DAO token holders. The main governance token for the Q DAO and the USDQ frameworks.

USDQ is an ERC20 token and can be stored on any ERC20-compatible wallet, like MyEtherWallet or Mist.  Users can now trade USDQ and Q DAO on BTCNext.io, a popular crypto exchange. It’s convenient that all trading pairs at BTCNext.io will be listed with USDQ as the basis currency.

USDQ Performance Against Crypto Volatility

The following scenarios have been run and analyzed to predict the performance of USDQ and how it would react along with its entire framework and security protections. Can the USDQ hold its peg? Let’s find out.

Let’s assume how USDQ would act if it was around before. For this, we will analyze the price of BTC which had a reduction in price towards the last quarter of 2018 and beginning of 2019.

Looking at the beginning of November through mid-December we first find the BTC price dropping from approximately $6300 to around $3200 or lower in some exchanges.

At this time what would happen is that the collateralized positions, known as CDCs will auto-liquidate. This basically means they are quickly sold to the highest bidder on internal auctions available to Q DAO token holders. Logically the supply of USDQ would see a reduction.

What would happen next is that enough demand for USDQ will surge to become higher than the supply. Making the USDQ price potentially fluctuate above its target price of $1.

Q DAO token holders can use their stake to raise more cryptos to create USDQ stable coins and recover the supply. The token holders could perform a vote to change something called the stabilization fee which is the interest charged to the CDCs. In short, this would be an attempt to make it cheaper to create CDCs and more USDQ.

And voila! The price of USDQ would return to its $1 peg.

Why this works.

First, you have to consider USDQ supply increases along with demand for CDCs. The governance framework for Q DAO token holders can use incentives such as changing the stabilization fee to motivate more demand for CDCs. The relation between the demand for USDQ stable coins and demand for CDCs results in a user surge, as Q DAO token holders are restrained by market forces from charging excessive fees.

The USDQ stable coin and the Q DAO framework is a legitimate system based on transparency that allows a different more trustworthy stable asset to coexist in a completely decentralized ecosystem.

Key Conclusions

USDQ supply is meant to always scale along with demand for CDCs.

Also the Q DAO voting system to change the stabilization fund is a highly effective system to stabilize the price of USDQ however it is important to have a healthy rate of participants per each vote. The percentage may vary but it should be around 10% or more of the circulating supply of Q DAO tokens.

Can Negative Rates Help USDQ?

If USDQ would ever trade at less than $1 for a long period of time it would make the price of CDCs to go down. This could be beneficial for some parties but it would compromise the brand of USDQ and future growth, so, therefore, it is important for its peg to maintain and not allow negative rates.

The interaction between the demand for USDQ and for CDCs results in an excedent of users, for example, Q DAO token holders will be plenty and they would be restrained from charging excessive fees.

Additional challenges for the future could be including Oracles, on-chain governance that would not require its smart contract and finding better collateral options.

USDQ is not the only stable coin

According to data from the Blockchain company, there are a total of 34 stable coins available to the public. While USDQ is not the only option available it certainly is the most transparent one, by far.

Afterword

Maybe you heard about the project MAKER DAO and their DAI?

I want to praise these guys – they are first to create a decentralized stable coin.

We occupy an honorable second place at this race, and basically, we were inspired by the technologies of MAKER`s DAI.

Some Q DAO functionality is similar to MAKER DAO, so we decided to use Maker`s terminology because we do believe – their technologies should be a reference for creating any decentralized stable coins.

Why we are using BTC as collateral? 1) Bitcoin is a most liquid digital asset 2) we have many friends who are big Bitcoin holders (BTC whales) or Bitcoin OTC traders.

We hope even so big guys like Brothers Winklevoss (Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss) will start to use Q DAO. They have a lot of Bitcoins, but they don’t want to sell it. So if they need money – they can pawn their bitcoins to Q DAO and immediately get USDQ.

Why we built Q DAO based on Ether smart contracts, but not Tron (by Justin Sun) and not EOS ( by Daniel Larimer)?

Our genius engineers are love ETHEREUM because of mass adoption of this blockchain, also we respect the approach of Vitalik Buterin (we met him a few times). Maybe in the future, we will consider using TRON or EOS, in case their foundations can provide enough funds to proceed with development.

USDQ is decentralized stablecoin, which uses smart algorithms to offer higher stability and reliability. Fully on-chain and monitored by high-speed AI robots, ecosystem offers reliable defences against malicious acts and attacks. First run in line of fiat-pegs, USDQ is brought by Platinum Q DAO Engineering team, looking to edge together innovative solutions in collateralization, using stabilizing mechanisms and neural networks for high-endurance stablecoins. Soon there will be even more fully backed stable coins: JPYQ, KRWQ, SGDQ, HKDQ, CNYQ, RUBQ under USDQ brand. Fully anonymous, USDQ breaks limits out of this legacy world.

BTCNEXT Exchange – next generation spot and margin trading platform by the PLATINUM Q DAO ENGINEERING team.  It is the first Strategic business partner of USDQ stablecoin that is based on a DAO technology. All pairs will be listed with USDQ. BTCNEXT customer service will be happy to answer all of your questions.

The Platinum Q DAO Engineering team strives to help budding startups figure out their options for blockchain architecture, fundraising options and marketing strategies. Connect with the team right now in Telegram or Facebook. Blockchain up your business.

This overview may not be fully exhaustive and does not assess the viability of any project, nor its team legitimacy. Readers should conduct their own due diligence before using or investing in any of the listed Stablecoins. This article represents the author’s opinions only and should not be considered investment advice. All described functionality in the article is still under development, it can be changed/processed. Please follow the updates.

The post Platinum Q DAO Engineering – creators of real stablecoins USDQ, KRWQ, CNYQ, JPYQ – explains why Tether’s USDT is not the choice appeared first on ZyCrypto.

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

[cryptobrief]

Martin Saldamando is a Strategic Partnerships Manager in Platinum Q DAO Engineering. Having a bright experience in B2B marketing, writing about technological innovation and building customer-inspired products and services. He writes regularly for international publications on crypto, fintech, regulatory compliance, blockchain, cloud computing, machine learning, and other topics. The team is currently developing USDQ, a fully decentralized stablecoin that makes it easy to collateralize Bitcoin for margin trading and hedging.

Martin sees Q DAO, an ecosystem for USDQ, as a potential driver for tremendous growth. He’s convinced that the team’s plans to launch other stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, such as JPYQ, KRWQ, SGDQ, HKDQ, CNYQ, RUBQ, will attract attention from wider trading community.

Over the last quarter, the crypto market has had its fair share of fluctuation. But the USDQ stable coin is looking to hold its peg against its $1 price per coin. Moreover, KRWQ – a stablecoin pegged to Korean Won will be attached to Q DAO family. This will not only make a huge impact on the local Korean market but also to the whole Asian region

The stable asset known as USDQ is a cryptocurrency backed Bitcoin and top 10 cryptocurrencies in future. It is different from other stable coins which are referred to as legally-backed crypto. Unlike scandal and failed Tether (USDT), the USDQ stable coin does not rely on having US dollars in a bank account to back every single token. The USDQ coin uses ETH and BTC collaterals to back its price and maintain its peg in relation to the US dollar.

How the USDQ Stable Coin Works

First, the concept of pooling cryptocurrencies, in this case, BTC, is the first step towards understanding how the Q DAO ecosystem works. Users that want to have USDQ stablecoins will first have to pool and reserve their cryptocurrencies first so that USDQ are issued. So, by definition, no USDQ can be issued without it being collateralized and backed against existing crypto.

The entire Q DAO ecosystem is run by a smart contract. The contract determines if at any point is necessary to liquidate BTC reserves it will do it to stabilize the USDQ token at exactly $1 always. The actions taken by the smart contract system are also determined by the community of Q DAO token holders. The main governance token for the Q DAO and the USDQ frameworks.

USDQ is an ERC20 token and can be stored on any ERC20-compatible wallet, like MyEtherWallet or Mist.  Users can now trade USDQ and Q DAO on BTCNext.io, a popular crypto exchange. It’s convenient that all trading pairs at BTCNext.io will be listed with USDQ as the basis currency.

USDQ Performance Against Crypto Volatility

The following scenarios have been run and analyzed to predict the performance of USDQ and how it would react along with its entire framework and security protections. Can the USDQ hold its peg? Let’s find out.

Let’s assume how USDQ would act if it was around before. For this, we will analyze the price of BTC which had a reduction in price towards the last quarter of 2018 and beginning of 2019.

Looking at the beginning of November through mid-December we first find the BTC price dropping from approximately $6300 to around $3200 or lower in some exchanges.

At this time what would happen is that the collateralized positions, known as CDCs will auto-liquidate. This basically means they are quickly sold to the highest bidder on internal auctions available to Q DAO token holders. Logically the supply of USDQ would see a reduction.

What would happen next is that enough demand for USDQ will surge to become higher than the supply. Making the USDQ price potentially fluctuate above its target price of $1.

Q DAO token holders can use their stake to raise more cryptos to create USDQ stable coins and recover the supply. The token holders could perform a vote to change something called the stabilization fee which is the interest charged to the CDCs. In short, this would be an attempt to make it cheaper to create CDCs and more USDQ.

And voila! The price of USDQ would return to its $1 peg.

Why this works.

First, you have to consider USDQ supply increases along with demand for CDCs. The governance framework for Q DAO token holders can use incentives such as changing the stabilization fee to motivate more demand for CDCs. The relation between the demand for USDQ stable coins and demand for CDCs results in a user surge, as Q DAO token holders are restrained by market forces from charging excessive fees.

The USDQ stable coin and the Q DAO framework is a legitimate system based on transparency that allows a different more trustworthy stable asset to coexist in a completely decentralized ecosystem.

Key Conclusions

USDQ supply is meant to always scale along with demand for CDCs.

Also the Q DAO voting system to change the stabilization fund is a highly effective system to stabilize the price of USDQ however it is important to have a healthy rate of participants per each vote. The percentage may vary but it should be around 10% or more of the circulating supply of Q DAO tokens.

Can Negative Rates Help USDQ?

If USDQ would ever trade at less than $1 for a long period of time it would make the price of CDCs to go down. This could be beneficial for some parties but it would compromise the brand of USDQ and future growth, so, therefore, it is important for its peg to maintain and not allow negative rates.

The interaction between the demand for USDQ and for CDCs results in an excedent of users, for example, Q DAO token holders will be plenty and they would be restrained from charging excessive fees.

Additional challenges for the future could be including Oracles, on-chain governance that would not require its smart contract and finding better collateral options.

USDQ is not the only stable coin

According to data from the Blockchain company, there are a total of 34 stable coins available to the public. While USDQ is not the only option available it certainly is the most transparent one, by far.

Afterword

Maybe you heard about the project MAKER DAO and their DAI?

I want to praise these guys – they are first to create a decentralized stable coin.

We occupy an honorable second place at this race, and basically, we were inspired by the technologies of MAKER`s DAI.

Some Q DAO functionality is similar to MAKER DAO, so we decided to use Maker`s terminology because we do believe – their technologies should be a reference for creating any decentralized stable coins.

Why we are using BTC as collateral? 1) Bitcoin is a most liquid digital asset 2) we have many friends who are big Bitcoin holders (BTC whales) or Bitcoin OTC traders.

We hope even so big guys like Brothers Winklevoss (Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss) will start to use Q DAO. They have a lot of Bitcoins, but they don’t want to sell it. So if they need money – they can pawn their bitcoins to Q DAO and immediately get USDQ.

Why we built Q DAO based on Ether smart contracts, but not Tron (by Justin Sun) and not EOS ( by Daniel Larimer)?

Our genius engineers are love ETHEREUM because of mass adoption of this blockchain, also we respect the approach of Vitalik Buterin (we met him a few times). Maybe in the future, we will consider using TRON or EOS, in case their foundations can provide enough funds to proceed with development.

USDQ is decentralized stablecoin, which uses smart algorithms to offer higher stability and reliability. Fully on-chain and monitored by high-speed AI robots, ecosystem offers reliable defences against malicious acts and attacks. First run in line of fiat-pegs, USDQ is brought by Platinum Q DAO Engineering team, looking to edge together innovative solutions in collateralization, using stabilizing mechanisms and neural networks for high-endurance stablecoins. Soon there will be even more fully backed stable coins: JPYQ, KRWQ, SGDQ, HKDQ, CNYQ, RUBQ under USDQ brand. Fully anonymous, USDQ breaks limits out of this legacy world.

BTCNEXT Exchange – next generation spot and margin trading platform by the PLATINUM Q DAO ENGINEERING team.  It is the first Strategic business partner of USDQ stablecoin that is based on a DAO technology. All pairs will be listed with USDQ. BTCNEXT customer service will be happy to answer all of your questions.

The Platinum Q DAO Engineering team strives to help budding startups figure out their options for blockchain architecture, fundraising options and marketing strategies. Connect with the team right now in Telegram or Facebook. Blockchain up your business.

This overview may not be fully exhaustive and does not assess the viability of any project, nor its team legitimacy. Readers should conduct their own due diligence before using or investing in any of the listed Stablecoins. This article represents the author’s opinions only and should not be considered investment advice. All described functionality in the article is still under development, it can be changed/processed. Please follow the updates.

The post Platinum Q DAO Engineering – creators of real stablecoins USDQ, KRWQ, CNYQ, JPYQ – explains why Tether’s USDT is not the choice appeared first on ZyCrypto.

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WrestleMania 33 Q&A with Randy Orton: 'I’ll wrestle for another 10 or 20 years'

After winning the Royal Rumble in January, WWE Superstar Randy Orton is headlining WrestleMania 33 in a WWE Championship match against Bray Wyatt. (Image courtesy of WWE)

Prior to this Sunday’s WrestleMania, Yahoo Sports had a chance to speak with WWE Superstar Randy Orton, who will be headlining the event in Orlando, Florida when he takes on Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship.

Orton, who has been with the company since 2002, has been one of the most popular wrestlers on the WWE roster and has had one of the most decorated careers in the company’s history.

During our conversation, the third-generation star spoke about the differences between this WrestleMania and the previous 12 he has competed in, the Undertaker’s legacy at the event, and the evolution of the WWE throughout his career.

Heading into WrestleMania 33, you have been part of these for more than a decade now, how is this one different?

Randy Orton: This will be my 13th match at a WrestleMania, and I’d say one of the biggest differences for me going into this thing is how it came about. This storyline, being injured last year and coming back, having a little run with [Brock] Lesnar kind of put me back a few steps. I got a nasty concussion, got opened up, I had to get my feet back underneath me so to speak and get back used to the grind. [That opportunity] came with the Wyatt Family and what makes this WrestleMania different is that I’ve had five or six months, since October anyway, to let this story marinate.

At first I could tell peopled weren’t getting with the whole Wyatt Family thing where I became a part of their family because they knew I was going to turn and we knew that they knew that. To be able to pull those strings, make this thing go longer than expected, to win the [Smackdown] Tag Team Championships with Bray [Wyatt], and then next get [Luke Harper] kicked out of the family, get Bray alone, burn down his compound. All of that stuff that we had to do to get this storyline where it is, all of that helps it going into ‘Mania. Where we’re at in the story is the perfect culmination for WrestleMania. I think that’s what makes it different for me. I’ve had other very good angles going into ‘Mania, long storylines too, but this was different than normal from the way we do things, it wasn’t bad versus good. I infiltrated the Wyatt Family, I became close to Bray, I earned his trust and respect and to ultimately stab a knife into his back, turn on him, it was a very original thing that we did.

You mention the Wyatt Family. Being in a stable is something you’ve done at different parts of your career with Evolution and Legacy. Do you prefer when you’re working in a group or solo heading into an event like WrestleMania?

Randy Orton: I always prefer being by myself, but if you look at the teams I’ve been in, Evolution, I don’t even have to say who I was with [HHH, Ric Flair, Batista] then because everybody knows and I was around some great talent. Hunter, for instance, I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him, in more ways than one. Being around those guys and learning from them that early in the business for me was great.

Rated RKO with Edge was another example of a guy who knows his craft. It was an awesome way for a guy – I was in my mid-20s then – to learn. Then I’m with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in Legacy. These are both guys whose families were in the business just like me so I had this commonplace with them; we all grew up around the business. Cody’s brother [Dustin Runnels aka Goldust] had this bond the same way my father [“Cowboy” Bob Orton] and his brother [Barry Orton] had their bond in this business. To be able to have those similarities with your team is really good. You can do great things when you’re all on the same page and “get it” so to say.

Bray is third generation, might be through marriage, but he’s got a whole lot of wrestling greats in his family and again, another guy that I can see eye to eye with when it comes to psychology, when it comes to respect for the business and when it comes to not being selfish when it comes to the match and getting everybody over. Bray gets it. I think that being with these groups is great, I prefer being alone, but without these groups I wouldn’t be where I am.

Talking about guys who have had an impact on your career. You wrestled Undertaker at WrestleMania before. What was that like for you? How does he add to the allure of WrestleMania, especially as it seems more and more like it’s a year-by-year question of will he or won’t he?

Randy Orton: I think ‘Taker and ‘Mania go hand in hand. It’s unfortunate that he picked up a loss a few years back, I think that was wrong and I think everyone would agree with me for the most part with the exception of maybe Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. I don’t believe that that loss tarnished his career, I just hate that his streak was tarnished.

You asked about me versus Taker, that was WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, I was 25, my birthday always falls around the show, so I’m a kid, I’m a greenhorn, I grew up in the business but now I’m in a match in the biggest show you can be at, participate in as a professional wrestler, as a WWE Superstar, and I’m facing in a singles match the most legendary character that’s ever graced our presence – with maybe a few exceptions.

I was nervous, but I also knew I was in good hands. We went out there, we killed it, I reversed the chokeslam into the RKO, everybody bought it, he beat my ass and that was it. He picked up another win at ‘Mania and rightfully so because I think the WrestleMania brand and Undertaker go hand in hand. I think a lot of that had to do with the streak so I’ll never think that was the right thing to do, for him to pick up that loss, but that’s the past and we can only move on to the future here.

‘Taker is going to face Roman Reigns and that’s going to be a good one. I honestly believe that should be the last match on the card, I think that everybody will be happy with the outcome of the match. I expect the Undertaker to throw Roman Reigns around like a rag doll. Roman Reigns is going to get his, but at the same time, this is the Undertaker we’re talking about.

Will [Undertaker] be around after this? If this is his last one and there’s speculation, all I can say is I hope not. Whether it was twenty years ago or today, when he comes to the ring and the gong hits and the music plays, the energy in the arena, it’s not like that for anyone else. I don’t care if its [John] Cena, Shawn Michaels or whoever, it’s a different kind of energy and he’s got more respect from the fans than I think any character or superstar has ever had in our business.

Orton, a third-generation star and WWE veteran, says he wants to wrestler for ’10 or 20′ more years. (Image courtesy of WWE)

How have the fans changed over your career? We’re at a point where thanks to social media and the Internet, professional wrestling is consumed on a daily basis and fans are starting to go against the grain, how do you see it?

Randy Orton: It’s an ongoing evolution with social media and everything. Doing interviews with media is something we’ve always done, but there are so many different aspects to the social media life that WWE is a part of. Our social media team, they make sure we’re everywhere, so we are like a daily thing for fans, especially the kids.

I’ve got five children and my three boys, they live and breathe WWE, this is what they love. It’s amazing to go out there and be a role model for them as well as other children. When a kid smiles because you take an extra 30 seconds, minute, minute and a half to go over and ask them what their name is, give them the shirt you just wore to the ring, you just see them light up. We’ve all been kids before, we’ve all had our heroes, been fans of somebody and needed that autograph. It’s good to know that they’re going to remember that for the rest of their life. It’s a pretty special thing. I’m big with the kids, you have to start early with them and you can just tell that with this new generation of kids, not all hope is lost. I love doing what I do because I get to meet so many children, all over the world and this company does a great job catering to them and making sure that when they leave that show or turn off the TV after “Raw” or “Smackdown” that they have a smile on their face.

You’ve been part of two brand splits now. Where it used to be that every wrestler was available for every pay-per-view, we now only get that at the Big Four [Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Summerslam, Suvivor Series]. How do you think having separate brands helps elevate the kind of event that WrestleMania is, if that’s even possible?

Randy Orton: I think that it’s kind of obvious that separating the wrestlers onto different shows, it makes the competition between the brands more healthy.

I remember Survivor Series that it was Team Raw versus Team Smackdown, so there were a lot of matches that no one had seen before because of the brand split. I think the longer we’re able to stick with this brand split and not get cold feet and say “Oh crap we’ve got to combine it again,” it’s good, because there’s a lot of back and for the with that. I think what we have now is best for business so to speak.

I think that it helps WrestleMania because you have some people who like to watch “Raw,” some people who like to watch “Smackdown,” but no matter what they get to see their guy at the Big Four. You get to see interaction between the two brands and we’re not overdoing it. They get to see it in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale, the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, you get Raw versus “Smackdown” in some regard.

I think that’s healthy competition for both brands. It’s the first time in my career, I can tell, that in my locker room – the “Smackdown” locker room – is very proud of the guys and gals and how we work hard, get along, and want to be on “Smackdown” and make it great. I know “Raw” probably feels the same way, but I can’t speak to it. There’s that competition there and that’s what’s going to make these pay-per-views mean more and more. You also get a pay-per-view for each brand each month. It’s more wrestling, more product and for the people who want more it’s right there at their fingertips.

You’ve been with the company for a long time now, have you ever considered doing what some other wrestlers are doing and working a part-time schedule, or even retiring? You also mentioned your children, do you think we’ll see another Orton in the WWE down the line?

Randy Orton: I’ve got three boys and two girls so if I were a gambling man I’d bet at least one of them would be following in my footsteps and I would help them just like my father helped me. I’m very fortunate; I was around a lot of guys [who helped me]. A lot of the guys now that are getting over now that the fans are responding to, they were unheard of other than the Internet wrestling community or that underground wrestling – Ring of Honor – that’s not mainstream I don’t think, and when these guys that all of these underground fans are watching and loving for over a decade come up in our product, that just helps WWE.

As far as retiring, I’m still young in this business. I’m 36 and I feel – I’ve been saying this for five years – I feel like I’ve got another 10 years in me. I’ve never felt this good with my body health-wise. It took me a while to get there but I’ve got a good team of people back in St. Louis that kind of put me together again each week if I need it. When you take that powerbomb through the table and the spinal stenosis in your lower back and causing impingement on a nerve and you can’t walk with out a limp, now I’ve got a guy in St. Louis where five minutes with him, a massage and I see my trainer and I’m back to 100 percent. I’ve gotten to a point where longevity is key. With injuries earlier in my career, it’s kind of always been key for me. I was fortunate to have these old timers tell me “Don’t go out there every night and do all this crazy stuff because you don’t need it.” It’s not being lazy, but in order to tell a story, these fans need to digest what’s happening. At times I’ll watch a cruiserweight match and I’m very impressed at how they limit themselves with all of the acrobatics but every once in a while you’ll see a match where they’re doing things I couldn’t dream of doing, but you get lost because there’s so much. There’s a lost art nowadays that sometimes I think guys need to slow down a bit.

To be honest, I don’t see myself retiring anytime soon. The last few years with my family getting bigger and bigger, a lighter schedule, a gradually lighter schedule is nice. I’ll get a weekend off a month, sometimes two – which is by no means a light schedule, wrestling 160, 170 nights a year isn’t a light schedule – but by the time I’m 40, I’d like to see that number get a little lower. I like doing this. I want to be like an Undertaker and be around so when your music hits people go crazy because of that respect that you’ve earned over 20, 25 years of going on the ride for them. I don’t see myself leaving and I think it’s easier to talk about leaving when you’re not enjoying what you’re doing currently or having a hard time with some character development or storyline.

Talking to me right now, a couple of weeks before WrestleMania when I’m going to headline with Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship, life’s good, business is good. From that standpoint I’ll wrestle for another 10 or 20 years. I’ll always be around. WWE has given me everything, it really has. My kids will go to college because of them, I don’t have to worry about finances because of them. I was smart with my money because they have people who come and talk to us about how to not screw yourself moneywise. They’ve been a good company for taking care of us with the wellness policy. They’ve got a lot of things in effect that make sure the talent can live long and prosper as long as they give their heart and soul. I want to be part of this company for that reason. It’s a great place to work.

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