Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and More. What are these blockchains, and how do we access them?
Traditional Ledger vs. Blockchain Ledger
Traditional - handwritten or digital, centralized, editable, difficult to access, not anonymous. (traditional tool of the stockmarket.) (Mutable, opening up more room for corruption)
Blockchain- a distributed digital ledger of transactions. Immutable, transparent, anonymous, decentralized, secure, programmable, time stamped, encrypted. (Network is held on a wide spread of decentralized computers, ensuring safety from network attacks and node failure.)
Why do blockchains do for crypto?
- Cryptocurrencies operate atop of blockchain technology.
-Blockchain "mining" (validation) process facilitates the minting of cryptocurrencies.
-Cryptocurrency transactions are immutable, verifiable, public, and anonymous on the blockchain ledgers. (REAL transparency.)
-Allows for innovation and development by the global community. (permissionless, any person can join the network and add value.)
Some Blockchain Specifics-
Ethereum Mainnet- (ETH)
who uses it- Everyone. Especially in the US.
gas- Ethereum. (Must have to complete transactions on the network)
token format- ERC-20
advantages/disadvantages- reliability, security, long history, innovation resources, NFTs! /// Slow, very expensive gas.
(Oldest and most well known, more secure and reliable, however, its popularity is what runs up the gas price.
well established protocols/dapps- AAVE, Curve, Compound, MAKER, Uniswap, Yearn. Finance, most NFT marketplaces.
- Binance Smart Chain- (BSC)
who uses it- Globally used, less U.S. involvement vs Ethereum
gas- BNB
token format- bep-20 (similar to ERC-20, can be used in EVM compatible
advantages/disadvantages- much lower gas fees, quick transactions, high TVL liquidity. /// hacks/ exploits, flashloans due to high TVL, indirectly controlled by Binance
well known protocols/dapps- Pancake Swap, Venus, Ellipsis Finance, Alpaca Finance, MDEX
Polygon- (MATIC) (layer 2 ETH scaling solution)
who uses it- originally for degens, but becoming increasingly used by institutions.
gas- MATIC
token format ERC-20-
advatanges/disadvantages- low gas prices, degen speed, many defi/ farming opportunities/// bot or DDOS attacks, easiest way to move funds through ETH
well known protocol/dapps-Quickswap, Aaavegotchis, Sushiswap, major ETH dapps
To add a new blockchain to your Metamask wallet, click the Network drop down menu.
Click "Add Network." If the network of your choice is not shown among the given options, click " Add network manually. "
The pertinent information of every blockchain can be found with a quick google search. Once the form is filled out, the blockchain is accessible through your wallet!
Remember, you'll need the native currency of each network to run transactions on the blockchain, (ETH for Ethereum, MATIC for Polygon, etc.) The most common way to do this is to buy the needed currency, and send it from your CEX account to the desired network. Always ensure you're sending the right currency to the right network!
Remember, every d'app and protocol run on a network, and you'll have to be connected to the same network to interact!
Full tokengated lessons originally created by Omakasea
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