It goes without saying that cryptocurrencies and sports are starting to go hand-in-hand. We saw a wide range of partnerships between leading crypto platforms and some of the biggest football clubs across the world.

As the cryptocurrency industry grows into becoming a legitimate and regulated space, it’s only natural to expect that this relationship is only going to strengthen.

First Eleven is a new digital marketplace and platform for crypto and football fans. The platform features the latest football news, live scores, fixtures and brings together the worlds of crypto and football.

Harnessing the power of blockchain, they are creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of their fan experience. These digital tokens allow fans both to have a user experience as a spectator as well as certain rights that enables them to take part in the action.

Users will even be able to vote on football matches with a chance to win NFTs and F11 Tokens – the native cryptocurrency that powers the entire ecosystem – it is both on the Ethereum blockchain and Binance Smart Chain.

A Closer Look at the F11 Platform

Cryptocurrency has been the fastest-growing investment class around the world. Annualized over the past two years, the crypto market has gained 573% per year. Investors from the largest of institutions down to individual retail investors can no longer ignore this sector.

The F11 platform unlocks access to the blockchain and crypto markets for sports fans. It has evaluated its customer base and planned a tailored incentive structure. They will provide a number of additional features for NFTs owners.

This includes staking, which will help investors to stake their tokens and earn fan tokens of their favorite team listed on the F11 launchpad. The launchpad, which is right on the platform, is designed to assist football clubs to develop their own NFT collections.

This, combined with a pool on the F11 app to act as a liquidity provider, is supposed to assist in financing activities by borrowing from their fans through blockchain technology.

Crypto and Sports

Sports are a big business and historically have been some of the best investments in the world, especially over the past three decades.

Investments in teams have delivered some of the best returns in history. For example, the NBA’s Chicago Bulls were purchased for $16 million in 1985. They are currently valued at over $3.3 million.

The San Francisco 49ers of American football were purchased for $13 million in 1977. They are now valued at $4.18 billion.

This is something that sports and crypto appear to have in common.

In the short history of NFTs, sports NFTs have already made a big impact. In football alone, numerous digital trading card NFTs have sold for $100,000. These NFTs feature the likes of Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Not surprisingly, “The Golden One,” a Lionel Messi NFT, sold for over $1.1 million.

Sports fans are also a big market, and they want crypto if we crunch up the numbers.

In recent surveys, it was found that 47% of sports fans stated that they were familiar with cryptocurrencies, and another 27% of sports fans stated that they currently own crypto.

More numbers include the fact that 66% of sports fans (who described themselves as avid) and 72% of those that bet on sports stated that they’re familiar with crypto. And if that isn’t enough, sports fans are about twice as likely as non-sports fans to say they are familiar with cryptocurrencies, per an article from CNBC.

2022 and  the F11 Plans

The First 11 platform has been built for fans so they can receive a premium fan experience. They will have access to the top-level NFT collections of their favorite football clubs and players.

F11 is creating a community for lovers of football. An elevated football experience with live scores, in-app games, an F11 Fantasy Champions League, and fan engagement through their digital marketplace. The year will also reveal serious partnerships.

Cryptocurrencies have taken center stage in the fintech industry throughout the past year mainly because of their explosive growth and unparalleled bull market.

Reaching a total market capitalization of almost $3 trillion in 2021 cemented the industry as something that can no longer be ignored or written off lightly. With this came tremendous demand for cryptocurrency exchange services.

And while there are many centralized trading venues currently available, most of them require rigorous know-your-customer (KYC) verification processes and many other procedures that can be quite tiresome.

This is where LetsExchange steps into the picture – a multicurrency exchange aimed at those who don’t want to register anywhere.

LetsExchange brings forward a one-stop multicurrency exchange service. It’s built by a team of cryptocurrency experts with over ten years of experience in fintech and blockchain.

Quick Navigation

LetsExchange: Quick Swaps to Crypto Users Worldwide

One of the first to consider when using LetsExchange is that there’s no requirement for registration. In essence, this allows users to start trading and exchanging quickly, so long as the current rate is right for them. The exchange process is fully automated, and it’s quick to execute various swaps.

The interface is easy-to-use, and it’s pretty quick to get used to it. It’s designed for an effortless swapping experience as all you have to do is pick a currency pair, enter what amount you want to swap, your address, and hit the exchange button.

LetsExchange also uses the so-called SmartRate technology that’s designed to cherry-pick the most preferable rates across various major exchanges for every single swap. There’s also an abundance of currencies and currency pairs available.

With all that in mind, let’s have a look at how to actually use it.

LetsExchange: Step-by-Step How to Use Guide

The process is quite simple, and once you get through it the first time, it becomes rather intuitive. The first thing you need to do is pick a currency pair and then enter the amount you wish to send. In this case, we’ve used USDT and ETH:

You need to input the amount you want to send, and the interface will automatically calculate the respective amount you will receive. If you are happy with the rate, you can proceed to the next step, which is to input your receiving address for the selected coin.

This is also where you can input a promo code if you have one available.

It’s also important to select a floating or fixed rate. The important thing to consider here is that with a fixed rate, this will exclude the slippage for 30 minutes, whereas the floating rate may change.

After this, you will get a new window with the terms of the trade that looks like this:

If you are happy with the rate, all you need to do is hit the big green accept button. Once you do this, you will need to deposit the ETH to the deposit address that you will get in the next window:

The exchange will proceed once you complete the deposit. That’s pretty much all you need to do. However, there are a few more things that have to be clarified before that.

What Currencies Does LetsExchange Support?

Presently, the list is considerable as there are over 350 cryptocurrencies that users can swap between, including Bitcoin, USDT, Ethereum, Zilliqa, AAVE, Binance Coin, Fantom, and so forth.

The Execution Speed of the Transactions

This would vary from transaction to transaction. It depends on many factors because the speed of the transaction is dependent on the network load of the blockchain that you’re using. For instance, if you’re trying to swap tokens on Ethereum’s network – it would depend on the network congestion how long the transaction would take.

Therefore, it might not be the best idea for you to attempt a swap while the selected network is congested because your transaction might fail or get seriously delayed. This is not the best option for traders.

What Are the Exchange Rates?

There are so many cryptocurrencies that are available on LetsExchange, and it’s important to take a look at the exchange rate before you complete a transaction. This can happen on the official website, and users can choose whether to denominate the rate in BTC or USD:

What are the Transaction Fees?

All transaction fees depend on the network that you’re using, similarly to the transaction time mentioned above. In any case, the number that you see as final during the swap includes the network fees as well.

Is LetsExchange Secure?

LetsExchange claims that it’s a non-custodial and registration-free service that doesn’t require the user to provide any financial or private data apart from a public receiving address. As such, the assets should be secured by the user’s own wallet, whereas the trade amount is exchanged automatically without intervention.

In addition, the website itself has implemented some additional security measures such as DDoS protection, strong security protocols, and an SSL certification preventing data interception.

However, it’s worth noting that there are some users who have complained about their transaction taking a very long time to process, which might be explained by heavy network loads.

Conclusion

LetsExchange seems like a convenient way to swap between cryptocurrency assets if you don’t want to go through a centralized exchange and verify your identity online. As such, it’s a good option for people who want to remain anonymous while transacting with cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, there are some obvious drawdowns such as slower transaction speeds compared to centralized exchanges, as well as relatively higher network fees compared to the fees paid on CEXes.

Pros

• Easy-to-use interface
• Seamless swap platform
• Doesn’t require KYC (if that’s what you’re looking for)
• Cross-chain capabilities

Cons

• Slower transaction speed
• Higher transaction costs because of on-chain fees

There’s no denying that cryptocurrencies are taking over the global financial industry. Millions of people use them on a daily basis and the field has grown tremendously, especially in the past couple of years.

A lot of blockchain API platforms have also appeared on the market as a way to cater to the needs of crypto users. One platform that’s attempting to make strides in this field is Chaingateway.

What is Chaingateway?

Chaingateway is a REST API that allows registered users to interact with the Tron, Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum blockchain. Users don’t need to use e-wallets to send coins manually to a certain number of addresses as the process is automated.

It also connects with the Ethereum API to securely store and manage Ethereum funds. There are tons of services that this blockchain API provides its users with and that includes:

• Send Tron, BNB, Tokens, or Ethereum
• Check Coin and Token balances
• Get info on transactions
• Create Tron, BSC and Ethereum addresses
• Get webhooks on coin and Token deposits

The team at Chaingateway believes that there’s no need for applications to be fully decentralized. By using a bridge to the normal web, developers can integrate a simple REST API to use blockchains in any way that they want without worrying about high fees, infrastructure, or security.

Chaingateway and Its Features

By connecting to the Ethereum, BSC and Tron API, Chaingateway features many functions such as sending and receiving cryptocurrencies automatically, getting the latest exchange rates on ETH/Euro, TRX/USD, TRX/Euro and ETH/USD, generating Tron addresses, get info on Ethereum blocks by number or hash, and so on.

All Tokens that follow ERC20, TRC20, TRC10, TRC721, ERC721, BEP-721 or BEP-20 standard are supported at Chaingateway.

All of the requests to this blockchain API are made and returned in JSON by using HTTP POST. The API key is used by Chaingateway to see who is accessing it and to count the account’s requests.

The solution is compatible with a majority of stablecoins and the team is doing a lot to make sure that it’s updated.

Fees and Security

Fees are undoubtedly an important part of transacting and trading and some of the blockchains, such as Ethereum, are known for their notoriously high fees. The Chaingateway API charges relatively small fees which is a considerable advantage. THere’s a monthly subscription for using the API and no subsequent transaction ees.

In terms of security, it’s important to note that for the transaction to execute, it has to be signed with a private key or a password – both of which the user is the sole owner of. Therefore, regular security tips apply.

In Conclusion

It’s worth noting that should the user has any question, the customer support is there to help and address all potential issues. Registering for the API is also quite easy and can be done through the official website.

Once completed, users are able to connect with the BSC API, the Ethereum API, as well as the Tron API to use all of the services of the platform.

Over the past few years, the popularity of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has rapidly increased, leading to permeation into the mainstream financial sector.

For developing countries, adoption of cryptocurrency, while considered relatively volatile as compared to, say the USD, has the potential to stabilize underdeveloped economies with wildly unstable currencies and hyperinflation.

For these country’s citizenry, alternative secure banking on the blockchain may provide the first real opportunities for savings, as compared to native currencies that devalue so quickly making it prohibitive to do so.

For example, countries like Zimbabwe, which have experienced hyperinflation for decades, and Venezuela, a nation with such severe inflation, its handbags, made of actual woven currency can sell for 10,000 times the value of the currency they are made from, could see a significant benefit to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. Venezuela has already taken big steps toward adoption with over 20,000 retailers, including Pizza Hut and Burger King now accepting cryptocurrency as payment.

Enter Other Avenues

Along with the potential for economic stabilization due to access to native currency alternatives, evolving technologies unique to the blockchain offer other benefits to those living in developing countries.  The increasing number of Play to Earn (P2E) Gaming options provide the opportunity for additional income streams for those in financial hardship.

Play to Earn Gaming models that reward participants with cryptocurrency or saleable NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) for playing games they otherwise would play for free are on the rise in popularity and development.

One such example is Axie Infinity, currently one of the most popular platforms for P2E gaming.  Axie Infinity allows users to build up a collection of “Axies” they can use across the company’s ecosystem of games.  From there, users are rewarded via the blockchain for taking part.  However, to participate in P2E, users will first need to purchase Axies to get started, some costing $1000.00 USD or more which creates a barrier to participation for many.

Kitty Inu and Its Potential

However, Kitty Inu, a relative newcomer in the crypto space and P2E Gaming is currently in the development of a Mario Kart-style racing game called KittyKart on the Ethereum blockchain and doing so with inclusivity as a top priority.

Kitty Inu is intent on breaking down the financial barriers that can lead to exclusivity in the gaming space. In KittyKart, utilizing Kitty Inu’s native token KITTY, users will be able to mint their own free basic NFT avatar through gameplay. NFT avatars can also be purchased in the game marketplace or can be brought in by the user (with supported NFT collections).  During gameplay users will select the avatar they would like to race with and during single and multiplayer game modes, the avatars will build up skill points, thus increasing the avatar’s in-game abilities and presumptively the saleable value of the avatar in the NFT secondary marketplace.

By combining Free-to-Play (F2P) and Play-to-Earn (P2E) Kitty Inu will provide a platform where all users with internet access across the globe will have the potential to supplement their income streams. With no financial barriers to participate, Kitty Inu looks to bring “serious FUN” and earning which may be of additional benefit to those in developing countries who may otherwise have limited income options.