Kozminski Techblog

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Most of us indeed were in a situation when we were delighted with a level of service in a restaurant, bar, etc. Then wanted to reciprocate for such a pleasurable treatment. We got the bill, and suddenly we realized that we had no cash on us. At this point, many of us probably resigned to leave a tip being simultaneously a lit bit confused. We wanted to reward somebody for being kind to us, but on the other hand, we didn’t have the opportunity to do that conveniently. You can admit that it isn’t a pleasing feeling.

And now…. you do not have to feel like that anymore. At this moment, a new app called TipTip goes on the stage! The main aim of this application is to make giving a tip as straightforward as possible. So let’s go through the usage of it. In the beginning, anyone, who wants to be given a financial bonus for their service, has to download the app from AppStore or Google Play. Next, they have to set up their account by submitting necessary data and agreeing on the bylaw of TipTp. And that’s it. In the next few days, they should receive their business card with a unique QR code. Ever since, whenever they serve a customer, they can share this business card with the client and hope that their service has deserved a reward.

On the part of a client, there is even less fuss. You simply have to scan the QR code on the business card or use an NFC reader on your phone. Then you can choose an amount that you want to tip, and the whole process is finished. You don’t have to have the app even to take advantage of its boon.

Besides the ease of its use, the app has several other benefits. It has a very intuitive and helpful interface that displays how much money you receive on a particular day. The transactions are secured because they are processed by a well-known company called tPay. And finally, the time of waiting for your money is equaled only to one day! That’s great.

According to the information delivered by the company, whose name is TipTip, too, the app currently has 336 satisfied users that so far carried out 9027. The average amount of tip that is left equals 14,66 zł. I would have supposed that the amount was about 5 zł, so it surprised me how generous we can be. The enterprise is currently available only in Poland when recently granted the status of the small payment institution.

The app hit the right note at the time of the pandemic and the process of gradually giving up on cash. It bodes a promising future and great chances for further development. But the times are very unpredictable, so we cannot be sure what will be the fate of TipTip.

Sources:

https://www.cashless.pl/11155-mip-rejestr-knf-tiptip

https://fintek.pl/kolejny-fintech-z-licencja-mip-ulatwia-wreczanie-napiwkow/

https://tiptip.com.pl/

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According to experts on the automotive fuel market, the future fuel will belong to hydrogen fuel cells. They are an alternative to electric vehicle technology. The fuel cells are driven by an electric motor, unlike BEV (short for Battery Electric Vehicle). Hydrogen cars generate electricity themselves instead of using an in-built battery that recharges from external power sources like electric or plug-in hybrid cars powered by an in-built battery that recharges from external power sources. Hydrogen cars have their efficient power plant – a fuel cell (FCEV). In the case of fuel cell technology, there is a process called reverse electrolysis. In a fuel cell, hydrogen from one or more sources reacts with oxygen from the surrounding air, generating electricity which, depending on the needs, is directed to the electric motor and/or battery which charges until use, and produces heat and water that turns into steam as fumes.

Advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen-powered cars for users and the environment

Benefits are following:
• the drive is purely electric,
• driving resembles that of an ordinary electric car,
• hydrogen cars can recover braking energy like other electric cars,
• no engine noise as the fuel cell is purely electric,
• quick start,
• fast charging time (these cars are ready to drive again in less than 5 minutes, and for electric vehicles, the total charging time is from 30 minutes to several hours depending on the charging station and battery capacity),
• more extended range (a full tank is enough for about 480km (300 miles) than pure electric cars – they are independent of temperature (they do not spoil in cold weather),
• use of renewable energy,
• Hydrogen can be produced wherever there is access to electricity and water – even at gas stations,
On the other hand, there are also some downsides:
• high price (the few available models cost about 80,000 USD for a medium or higher class vehicle – that’s 2 times more than an electric or hybrid car),
• high operating costs which are not only dependent on the fuel price (now about 2 times higher than for electric cars).
Summing up, I think that cars powered by hydrogen cells are a potential alternative to far-famed electric vehicles. We should take a closer look at them because we can witness a new, unexpected trend on a worldwide scale.

Sources:

https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This article is devoted to investing in gold and other tangible commodities such as lead using cryptocurrencies.

Introduction to stablecoins

In the beginning, I should explain to my readers the concept of “stablecoin.” We can define “stablecoin” as a cryptocurrency that should illustrate the value of something else. It can be a real currency, a commodity, or even a stock index. The first stablecoin was developed due to the volatility of the cryptocurrencies market. Let’s take such an example. You invest in Bitcoin, and the chart is soaring. You guess that this prosperity can end before long, so you want to escape your investment position. Unfortunately, when you cash your investment, you will have to pay the tax. You want to avoid it, and now You have to think of how to exit Bitcoin and at the same time avoid the tax. Such a situation was quite often in the past. Then some people figure out that they can take advantage of it by creating a cryptocurrency that denotes roughly one dollar. It was a breakthrough because until then, the hallmark of cryptocurrencies was their volatility. People didn’t have to wait long until new cryptocurrencies, which were supposed to reflect values of other national currencies, were created.

Reasons for buying gold on the blockchain

The main benefits of investing in gold using the blockchain are:

• A much easier way to come into possession of it.
• You can buy it and pay in cryptocurrencies.
• It can be cheaper. There are no fees for holding your position or costs of storing gold in some protocols.
• Gold, thanks to it, is PROGRAMMABLE.

In my opinion, the last point deserves most of our attention.  Since gold can now be programmable, there is a chance that in the future, we will be able to use gold in the same way as we use money now. I mean by it that there will be the possibility of taking a loan in gold and getting interest from gold.  

Current possibilities of buying “digital” gold

Nowadays, we have four options if we want to buy gold on the blockchain.

• Digix Gold Token
• PAX Gold
• Synth sXAU
• Tether Gold

I want to describe each of these possibilities shortly.

Digix Gold Token was the first stablecoin of gold. It is registered in Singapore, and also in this country, gold is stored. One token is equaled to 1 gram of gold. You can buy this token using a well-known decentralized stock exchange called Uniswap. Users have to pay 0.13% for each transaction with this token. There is also a fee regarding storing physical gold, which is 0.6% of the gold value.  The biggest downside of using this protocol is its small capitalization.

On the other hand, we have PAX GOLD which value should be precisely equal to 1 oz of gold (31,1 g). This token doesn’t have any fee for holding it. There exists a commission for creating it from gold and for exchanging it for gold. It ranges from 0.125% to 1%. For each transaction with PAX GOLD, 0.02% is charged.  The main benefit of this coin is safety because its issuer is a company under the regulations of the New York Department of Financial Service. For this reason, the company’s vault is checked each month. Anyone has access to the report from this control which is published on the project’s website.

Synth sXAU is the most interesting coin from these, which were listed. Why? Because its issue is entirely decentralized. There is no actual gold stored, which is supposed to maintain the token price in the correct range. Synth sXAU is created in a unique ecosystem managed by smartcontracts. If you are interested, you can find more information here.

The last option is Tether Gold. This coin is issued by the same company responsible for Tether USD, one of the most popular stablecoin in the world. There is no need to elaborate on it because it is pretty similar to investing in the first two. The difference is regarding charges. The only fee is imposed on creating a token and exchanging it in the reverse direction for gold. However, to do that, your minimal investment has to be equal to 75 000 USD. If your pocket is not so deep, you can buy this token on the market.  There are charges neither for each transaction nor for holding your investment position. You can now guess which option among mentioned is the cheapest.

Summary

Summing up, the industry around crypto is still growing up.  I strongly advocate for it, but I am not blind to prospective traps. We should remember that this market is unregulated, and due to this fact, there is a risk of fraud. In most cases, we cannot control the issuers of stablecoins and their vaults, so theoretically, we are not sure about its real value. For this reason, I favor decentralized projects such as sXAU because there is no need to trust anyone. Unfortunately, in such systems, especially when they are still young, there is a danger that some hackers will discover vulnerabilities in smartcontracts that are responsible for the whole ecosystem. Everyone who wants to use such novelties should be prudent and not invest in something that might seem obscure.

Sources:

Złoto na blockchainie