UMI staking is an analogue of an unconditional basic income for everyone!
- Let's allow ourselves a lyrical digression. You know, recently the Finnish authorities conducted a very interesting experiment - they introduced an unconditional basic income for 2000 unemployed and paid them 560 euros just like that. For the fact that they are citizens of this country.
- The idea is that it doesn't matter whether a person works or not - he gets money, which is enough for him to “eat” and to cover other basic needs. If a person gets a job, he already receives additional income, which he can spend on travel, large purchases, and so on. Anything you like.
- Although the experiment did not improve the situation with unemployment in the country, its result was assessed as positive. To quote: “Income recipients were more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental stress than a control group that did not receive unconditional money. They also had a more positive perception of their economic well-being."
- This is something we are striving for with staking. So that people are constantly generating new UMI coins for themselves, which can be used at their own discretion.
- We believe that this is a model of a healthy society where you can live happily and not be afraid that tomorrow you will be left with nothing. The Finnish authorities have already completed the experiment. But we are rediscovering it, and not only for Finland, but for the whole world. Thanks to staking, anyone can start receiving a kind of analogue of an unconditional basic income, only not in the national currency, but in the UMI cryptocurrency. But she's also worth something.
Topic: [UMI] UMI — Universal Money Instrument - page 9. (Read 3271 times)
We are planning, together with partners from the ISP Club, to issue crypto-cards, which are already being actively developed. These will be classic VISA debit cards that you can hold UMI on. Thanks to the cards, UMI can be used to pay at the nearest store or cash out cryptocurrency at a nearby ATM.
The functionality will work with conventional bank terminals and ATMs — where VISA is accepted, UMI will be accepted there. The card can be connected to Apple Pay and other similar services. You can buy a TV, a table or a loaf of bread for UMI. Anything.
In general, using UMI tomorrow will be no less easy, convenient and familiar than using a bank today. But even this is not the most interesting thing. The main beauty of UMI cards is that the coins in the account are staked. Thanks to this, the balance on your VISA card will constantly grow — up to 40% per month. No bank has ever provided such an opportunity, and it is very, very, very unlikely that it ever will.
The functionality will work with conventional bank terminals and ATMs — where VISA is accepted, UMI will be accepted there. The card can be connected to Apple Pay and other similar services. You can buy a TV, a table or a loaf of bread for UMI. Anything.
In general, using UMI tomorrow will be no less easy, convenient and familiar than using a bank today. But even this is not the most interesting thing. The main beauty of UMI cards is that the coins in the account are staked. Thanks to this, the balance on your VISA card will constantly grow — up to 40% per month. No bank has ever provided such an opportunity, and it is very, very, very unlikely that it ever will.
There are two most popular directions in the crypto industry now:
Staking that works in cryptocurrencies on PoS. It is also called forging or PoS mining. In fact, this is an analogue of mining that does not require powerful equipment. Traditional mining, by the way, is gradually fading into the background.
Decentralized «chips» — various smart contracts, where people cannot influence the source code, change conditions, chances, and so on.
Therefore, our team decided to create such a unique system as staking on a smart contract. This allowed us to combine two popular directions, and also made it possible to use faster and more secure PoA instead of the PoS model. At UMI, staking works exclusively on a smart contract. We remind you that you can familiarize yourself with the conditions and principles of its operation in our Whitepaper.
Staking that works in cryptocurrencies on PoS. It is also called forging or PoS mining. In fact, this is an analogue of mining that does not require powerful equipment. Traditional mining, by the way, is gradually fading into the background.
Decentralized «chips» — various smart contracts, where people cannot influence the source code, change conditions, chances, and so on.
Therefore, our team decided to create such a unique system as staking on a smart contract. This allowed us to combine two popular directions, and also made it possible to use faster and more secure PoA instead of the PoS model. At UMI, staking works exclusively on a smart contract. We remind you that you can familiarize yourself with the conditions and principles of its operation in our Whitepaper.
Our task is to act exclusively in the legal field. It is important that both people and authorities understand that UMI is not some kind of black market product, but a completely legal instrument.
Therefore, we are working to obtain a legal document on the legalization of UMI cryptocurrency in the European Union, confirming that UMI is a fully open source decentralized payment system, and not a security, security token, utility token or something else… This will open up new possibilities for UMI use and integrations. Next, we plan to deal with the issue of cryptocurrency legalization in other jurisdictions.
Therefore, we are working to obtain a legal document on the legalization of UMI cryptocurrency in the European Union, confirming that UMI is a fully open source decentralized payment system, and not a security, security token, utility token or something else… This will open up new possibilities for UMI use and integrations. Next, we plan to deal with the issue of cryptocurrency legalization in other jurisdictions.
UMI is a progressive cryptocurrency that can change the world!
- People used to draw cloudless perspectives to pagers, faxes and landlines, but where are they now? They were supplanted by smartphones and the massive Internet, in which no one believed at first. New technologies suddenly appear in our world and change it beyond recognition. They replace the old - what everyone is used to - with a new and more convenient one. What is best.
- Even 10 years ago, people believed in the development of banking technologies, but unexpectedly for everyone, Bitcoin appeared, which turned the perception of humanity about financial payments. It turned out that every person on the planet can make payments without intermediaries and create new digital money on their own. Yes, Bitcoin is not perfect, but it is used by millions of people around the world. And this figure is growing rapidly every day.
- And now it's the turn of UMI - a new generation progressive cryptocurrency. She is able to lead the world to a completely different financial relationship - decentralized, which means honest and fair. And we, having joined UMI, are already building just such a relationship. The future depends on us!
- People used to draw cloudless perspectives to pagers, faxes and landlines, but where are they now? They were supplanted by smartphones and the massive Internet, in which no one believed at first. New technologies suddenly appear in our world and change it beyond recognition. They replace the old - what everyone is used to - with a new and more convenient one. What is best.
- Even 10 years ago, people believed in the development of banking technologies, but unexpectedly for everyone, Bitcoin appeared, which turned the perception of humanity about financial payments. It turned out that every person on the planet can make payments without intermediaries and create new digital money on their own. Yes, Bitcoin is not perfect, but it is used by millions of people around the world. And this figure is growing rapidly every day.
- And now it's the turn of UMI - a new generation progressive cryptocurrency. She is able to lead the world to a completely different financial relationship - decentralized, which means honest and fair. And we, having joined UMI, are already building just such a relationship. The future depends on us!
Currently, less than 0,001% of the total network potential is used. The UMI network is capable of withstanding hundreds of thousands of times higher load than today, it has a huge power reserve.
Moreover, the ability to scale gives UMI the ability to always keep up with the times. The UMI code ensures the safe implementation of any updates — the network can be easily modified and scaled with new high-tech solutions.
This means that no congestion in the form of a queue of transactions will ever become a problem for us. All payments will be processed quickly and commission-free. Always.
Moreover, the ability to scale gives UMI the ability to always keep up with the times. The UMI code ensures the safe implementation of any updates — the network can be easily modified and scaled with new high-tech solutions.
This means that no congestion in the form of a queue of transactions will ever become a problem for us. All payments will be processed quickly and commission-free. Always.
Why is UMI a coin?
1. UMI has a unique source code and its own blockchain, like any other full-fledged cryptocurrency. It is a blockchain platform developed from scratch that can create and execute smart contracts, based on master nodes and a unique Proof-of-Authority model.
2. UMI works in a decentralized manner, does not "parasitize" on anyone, does not depend on anyone, does not obey other people's rules, and all transactions take place within its own network. Moreover, UMI itself is capable of issuing tokens.
3. UMI is a multifunctional cryptocurrency, full-fledged "digital money" that can be "mined" by staking up to 40% per month. And without powerful equipment and without harm to the environment.
4. UMI can be used not only as payment for goods and services, but also in various spheres of human activity. And this is not only theory, but also practice. We remind you that the structure of the ISP Club develops and issues plastic cards, thanks to which it will be possible to pay UMI from almost anywhere in the world in all stores where there is a bank terminal. Moreover, the cards will allow you to convert UMI into fiat money and withdraw it from ordinary ATMs at any time.
We are starting a new digital era with you, and anyone can jump on our train right now. Join us. UMI is a confident step into the future. Let's make it together!
1. UMI has a unique source code and its own blockchain, like any other full-fledged cryptocurrency. It is a blockchain platform developed from scratch that can create and execute smart contracts, based on master nodes and a unique Proof-of-Authority model.
2. UMI works in a decentralized manner, does not "parasitize" on anyone, does not depend on anyone, does not obey other people's rules, and all transactions take place within its own network. Moreover, UMI itself is capable of issuing tokens.
3. UMI is a multifunctional cryptocurrency, full-fledged "digital money" that can be "mined" by staking up to 40% per month. And without powerful equipment and without harm to the environment.
4. UMI can be used not only as payment for goods and services, but also in various spheres of human activity. And this is not only theory, but also practice. We remind you that the structure of the ISP Club develops and issues plastic cards, thanks to which it will be possible to pay UMI from almost anywhere in the world in all stores where there is a bank terminal. Moreover, the cards will allow you to convert UMI into fiat money and withdraw it from ordinary ATMs at any time.
We are starting a new digital era with you, and anyone can jump on our train right now. Join us. UMI is a confident step into the future. Let's make it together!
UMI Desktop Wallet (Node) to Be Released in Early 2021!
Dear friends! Some time ago we announced we had started to develop an easy-to-use UMI Desktop Wallet that would also operate as a fully featured validator node, i. e. would download the blockchain and support the network. However, due to a shift in priorities for our road map, the date of desktop node release was postponed to early 2021.
1. We’re now making a major effort to steeply increase our network capacity. Our goal is 10,000 transactions per second. To achieve this, we’re now optimizing master node operation and prepping our servers.
2. We’re also giving full throttle to the preparations for implementing a “reserve” PoS algorithm. It’s really putting us behind in terms of development and testing. Even more so since desktop nodes are supposed to support PoS.
Thus, we’ve postponed the date of Desktop Wallet release since we’re focusing on other important issues at the moment. We need to resolve these issues before we release the Wallet.
We also want to give you some specifics regarding node operation since we regularly receive questions about this:
- The key point is that you don’t have to wait for the Desktop Wallet release to join fully featured staking. The smart contract allows you to generate new UMI coins without launching a fully featured node. All you need to do is join one of our staking structures — ROY Club or ISP Club.
- Our nodes generates near-zero load so you don’t need powerful equipment to launch it — it’ll operate on any modern PC and/or even smartphone. Yeah, that’s right, you heard us right — we’re planning to release a fully featured validator node for mobile devices which no other cryptocurrency has.
- For those of you who are interested in details of the load issue, we’re happy to go deeper into technicalities: in the validator mode, the node itself generates near-zero load while server power is mostly spent on PostgreSQL database. The reason for this is that our very first node release was designed to meet crypto exchange requirements which is exactly why we had chosen PostgreSQL as the main engine as it’s one of the best and most popular databases. We’re working to optimize this, squeezing max capacity out of both the node and PostgreSQL, but PostgreSQL settings are not optimal by default. Database settings are the responsibility of database admins while we cannot influence them in any way. Thus, capacity mostly depends on your DBA and their ability to optimize server operation to meet PostgreSQL load requirements. The desktop node will use the NoSQL database which is similar to databases used by Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also better and faster. We will provide you with the details of system requirements after optimization is completed.
Finally, some good news: we’re also actively updating the developer.umi.top portal. Our technical writers are preparing a series of detailed articles on network operation, consensus algorithms and how the backbone network is organized. You’ll soon see a lot of interesting stuff there.
Sincerely yours, UMI Team!
Dear friends! Some time ago we announced we had started to develop an easy-to-use UMI Desktop Wallet that would also operate as a fully featured validator node, i. e. would download the blockchain and support the network. However, due to a shift in priorities for our road map, the date of desktop node release was postponed to early 2021.
1. We’re now making a major effort to steeply increase our network capacity. Our goal is 10,000 transactions per second. To achieve this, we’re now optimizing master node operation and prepping our servers.
2. We’re also giving full throttle to the preparations for implementing a “reserve” PoS algorithm. It’s really putting us behind in terms of development and testing. Even more so since desktop nodes are supposed to support PoS.
Thus, we’ve postponed the date of Desktop Wallet release since we’re focusing on other important issues at the moment. We need to resolve these issues before we release the Wallet.
We also want to give you some specifics regarding node operation since we regularly receive questions about this:
- The key point is that you don’t have to wait for the Desktop Wallet release to join fully featured staking. The smart contract allows you to generate new UMI coins without launching a fully featured node. All you need to do is join one of our staking structures — ROY Club or ISP Club.
- Our nodes generates near-zero load so you don’t need powerful equipment to launch it — it’ll operate on any modern PC and/or even smartphone. Yeah, that’s right, you heard us right — we’re planning to release a fully featured validator node for mobile devices which no other cryptocurrency has.
- For those of you who are interested in details of the load issue, we’re happy to go deeper into technicalities: in the validator mode, the node itself generates near-zero load while server power is mostly spent on PostgreSQL database. The reason for this is that our very first node release was designed to meet crypto exchange requirements which is exactly why we had chosen PostgreSQL as the main engine as it’s one of the best and most popular databases. We’re working to optimize this, squeezing max capacity out of both the node and PostgreSQL, but PostgreSQL settings are not optimal by default. Database settings are the responsibility of database admins while we cannot influence them in any way. Thus, capacity mostly depends on your DBA and their ability to optimize server operation to meet PostgreSQL load requirements. The desktop node will use the NoSQL database which is similar to databases used by Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also better and faster. We will provide you with the details of system requirements after optimization is completed.
Finally, some good news: we’re also actively updating the developer.umi.top portal. Our technical writers are preparing a series of detailed articles on network operation, consensus algorithms and how the backbone network is organized. You’ll soon see a lot of interesting stuff there.
Sincerely yours, UMI Team!
Let’s pretend that UMI is a person. What astrologers say about the character traits of girls named Yumi?
In general, the picture is as follows:
- Yumi is very welcoming and calm when communicating with others. She is energetic and friendly, always ready to help those in need. Yumi strives to constantly reach new frontiers, but success for her does not become a reason for pride — it is very important for her to stay in good relations with everyone and give joy.
- In turn, those around him appreciate Yumi for an objective view of things, kindness, caring, striving to resolve matters peacefully, finding compromises. She loves constancy, easily yields, in very rare cases shows aggression and harshness, even if she is frankly forced to do so.
In general, the picture is as follows:
- Yumi is very welcoming and calm when communicating with others. She is energetic and friendly, always ready to help those in need. Yumi strives to constantly reach new frontiers, but success for her does not become a reason for pride — it is very important for her to stay in good relations with everyone and give joy.
- In turn, those around him appreciate Yumi for an objective view of things, kindness, caring, striving to resolve matters peacefully, finding compromises. She loves constancy, easily yields, in very rare cases shows aggression and harshness, even if she is frankly forced to do so.
Successful translation to Indonesian language!
Friends, we are glad to announce that we have translated the entire UMI infrastructure into Indonesian language.
Now available in Indonesian
- The whole UMI website, including the wallet and blockchain;
- Whitepaper and all other documentation;
- Our social media;
- UMI mobile app.
Moreover, our partners — ROY Club and the trading platform SIGEN. pro, have also fully translated their resources to Indonesian. Their websites have already been translated, but on top of that they have also localized all the infrastructure. From now on, Indonesian also available in:
- SIGEN. pro mobile app;
- ROY Assistant;
- ROY School for Beginners.
Full Indonesian translation is a new stage in the development of UMI, ROY Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o. Together with our partners we have already started to directly enter the Indonesian market, which will be the beginning of the swift expansion of UMI around the world!
From now on, all members of our community from Indonesia will be able to enjoy all the features of UMI, ROY Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o as comfortably as possible. Meanwhile, the leaders of the ROY Club and other UMI members will be able to easily attract new partners from Indonesia: building up the power of their communities, getting awesome bonuses and actively spreading the idea of our cryptocurrency to the public. Don’t hesitate and get started right now. We count on you and believe in you!
With respect, the UMI team!
P.S. Also note that the UMI translation on Indonesian language was included in our official goals https://blog.umi.top/en/umi-official-plans-for-the-future/ and we have successfully implemented it. The same will happen with all our other goals!
Friends, we are glad to announce that we have translated the entire UMI infrastructure into Indonesian language.
Now available in Indonesian
- The whole UMI website, including the wallet and blockchain;
- Whitepaper and all other documentation;
- Our social media;
- UMI mobile app.
Moreover, our partners — ROY Club and the trading platform SIGEN. pro, have also fully translated their resources to Indonesian. Their websites have already been translated, but on top of that they have also localized all the infrastructure. From now on, Indonesian also available in:
- SIGEN. pro mobile app;
- ROY Assistant;
- ROY School for Beginners.
Full Indonesian translation is a new stage in the development of UMI, ROY Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o. Together with our partners we have already started to directly enter the Indonesian market, which will be the beginning of the swift expansion of UMI around the world!
From now on, all members of our community from Indonesia will be able to enjoy all the features of UMI, ROY Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o as comfortably as possible. Meanwhile, the leaders of the ROY Club and other UMI members will be able to easily attract new partners from Indonesia: building up the power of their communities, getting awesome bonuses and actively spreading the idea of our cryptocurrency to the public. Don’t hesitate and get started right now. We count on you and believe in you!
With respect, the UMI team!
P.S. Also note that the UMI translation on Indonesian language was included in our official goals https://blog.umi.top/en/umi-official-plans-for-the-future/ and we have successfully implemented it. The same will happen with all our other goals!
Imagine for a moment that our UMI cryptocurrency is a living person, a girl. Let’s see what kind of character it would be according to the horoscope, and if these predictions coincide with reality.
Horoscope: Yumi is a Japanese female name that carries a special energy charge. Literally translated, it means «Useful beauty» and is written with this symbol — 弓.
Reality: About the energy charge — right here right to the very point. Our UMI is simply an inexhaustible charge of energy aimed at creation. It contains endless potential that can change the future of the whole world for the better.
Horoscope: Yumi is a Japanese female name that carries a special energy charge. Literally translated, it means «Useful beauty» and is written with this symbol — 弓.
Reality: About the energy charge — right here right to the very point. Our UMI is simply an inexhaustible charge of energy aimed at creation. It contains endless potential that can change the future of the whole world for the better.
UMI Now Has Its Own Blog!
Dear friends! We're keen to share yet another good news with you. This time it's related to the social aspect of growth of our cryptocurrency!
Since UMI is an independent decentralized coin, we decided it should also be independent in terms of communication between the UMI Team and the network users — that is you. This is why we launched our own blog — it's more convenient than Medium where we used to publish our articles.
What are the benefits?
- Our own blog will help us grow faster online as, among other things, it'll be indexed by search engines, such as Yandex, Google and others. It means more and more people around the world will know about us.
- Our blog has a nice interface and rich functionality: it's easy to read, like and share articles with no registration — we're always deeply interested in convenience of our users.
- With our own blog we'll be truly independent and confident we'll always be able to express our views without restriction. This is of utmost importance to us.
We're interested in high-quality content, we always try to keep you happy with our useful and interesting materials and make a point of this. Our own blog is a new chapter in UMI's story!
Follow the link to access our blog: https://blog.umi.top
We've already started to post all our longreads that used to be on our Medium page, and we'll publish new ones, too. Visit our blog, read articles, like and share them with your friends. Welcome!
Congratulations on the good news! Yours truly, the UMI Team!
Dear friends! We're keen to share yet another good news with you. This time it's related to the social aspect of growth of our cryptocurrency!
Since UMI is an independent decentralized coin, we decided it should also be independent in terms of communication between the UMI Team and the network users — that is you. This is why we launched our own blog — it's more convenient than Medium where we used to publish our articles.
What are the benefits?
- Our own blog will help us grow faster online as, among other things, it'll be indexed by search engines, such as Yandex, Google and others. It means more and more people around the world will know about us.
- Our blog has a nice interface and rich functionality: it's easy to read, like and share articles with no registration — we're always deeply interested in convenience of our users.
- With our own blog we'll be truly independent and confident we'll always be able to express our views without restriction. This is of utmost importance to us.
We're interested in high-quality content, we always try to keep you happy with our useful and interesting materials and make a point of this. Our own blog is a new chapter in UMI's story!
Follow the link to access our blog: https://blog.umi.top
We've already started to post all our longreads that used to be on our Medium page, and we'll publish new ones, too. Visit our blog, read articles, like and share them with your friends. Welcome!
Congratulations on the good news! Yours truly, the UMI Team!
- From an ideological point of view, the UMI team cooperates only with those partners who set themselves the goal of improving the world, protecting nature and caring for the environment.
- It was this aspect that became one of the key ones when deciding on partnership with ROY Club. We are confident that our cooperation will be productive and will help make this world a better place.
- Join and invite all your friends — create new UMI coins with eco-friendly staking and save the planet with us!
- It was this aspect that became one of the key ones when deciding on partnership with ROY Club. We are confident that our cooperation will be productive and will help make this world a better place.
- Join and invite all your friends — create new UMI coins with eco-friendly staking and save the planet with us!
MLM network marketing in staking is an effective approach to UMI development
- MLM marketing strategy assumes a bonus program within the community. This approach to development shows an extremely effective result, since it motivates users to attract newcomers, receiving additional rewards for this.
- Vivid examples of the effectiveness of MLM strategies are the Binance and Gemini crypto exchanges. These two giants of the crypto industry use a referral program to attract newcomers and get rewarded for it. The result is clear - these are some of the most successful crypto trading platforms on the planet.
- We have approached this issue as non-standard as possible. Instead of somehow integrating the bonus program into the UMI network, we have developed a smart contract that allows users to unite into communities themselves and create staking structures in which various MLM strategies can be applied for every taste and color.
- At the moment, the structure of one of our partners - ROY Club - implies a 9-level bonus program, due to which not only the ROY Club itself is successfully promoted, but the entire UMI network. In the future, alternative structures will appear, which, thanks to the flexibility of a smart contract, will be able to create a different bonus system and thereby attract a new audience. All this will have a positive effect on the development and popularization of our cryptocurrency.
As we wrote in our Whitepaper: “MLM is one of the most effective ways to promote crypto technologies, since it allows you to recruit an audience that will use the cryptocurrency, and not just play on its course”
- MLM marketing strategy assumes a bonus program within the community. This approach to development shows an extremely effective result, since it motivates users to attract newcomers, receiving additional rewards for this.
- Vivid examples of the effectiveness of MLM strategies are the Binance and Gemini crypto exchanges. These two giants of the crypto industry use a referral program to attract newcomers and get rewarded for it. The result is clear - these are some of the most successful crypto trading platforms on the planet.
- We have approached this issue as non-standard as possible. Instead of somehow integrating the bonus program into the UMI network, we have developed a smart contract that allows users to unite into communities themselves and create staking structures in which various MLM strategies can be applied for every taste and color.
- At the moment, the structure of one of our partners - ROY Club - implies a 9-level bonus program, due to which not only the ROY Club itself is successfully promoted, but the entire UMI network. In the future, alternative structures will appear, which, thanks to the flexibility of a smart contract, will be able to create a different bonus system and thereby attract a new audience. All this will have a positive effect on the development and popularization of our cryptocurrency.
As we wrote in our Whitepaper: “MLM is one of the most effective ways to promote crypto technologies, since it allows you to recruit an audience that will use the cryptocurrency, and not just play on its course”
Cryptocurrencies and Money Laundering: To What Extent They Are Actually Connected
We often hear authorities, banks and mass media say that cryptocurrencies are a tool for the laundering of money obtained by criminal means and must, therefore, be strictly regulated or, even better, prohibited.
In fact, however, money is mostly laundered using conventional payment systems and cash while cryptocurrencies only account for less than 1 % of this practice. Let's review whether cryptocurrencies can actually be used for money laundering and whether they are popular among criminals.
What is money laundering?
Money laundering is making money obtained illegally “clean”. Criminals pass “black” money through a sequence of transactions to make it seem like “honest earnings”. It's widely believed that the term was coined in the US in the 1920's. Members of the Mafia started laundromats where customers paid in cash. The actual number of customers was hard to know, so criminals added their “black” money to the earnings and passed them off as revenue from customers. The criminal underworld has evolved since then. Today, to launder money, criminals also use ghosts and companies, foreign and offshore accounts, rogue firms, ATM thefts — and cryptocurrencies, since recently.
In English, the fight against money laundering is called Anti Money Laundering, or AML. The key international organization that works out measures against money laundering and terrorist financing is the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, or FATF. It was founded in 1989 and includes 37 member countries, including Russia. FATF designs international AML standards and assesses how these are adhered to by its member states. In June 2019, FATF published guidance for regulating cryptocurrencies.
How much money is laundered through cryptocurrencies?
Qualifying cryptocurrency transactions as a method of income laundering is legally complicated due to their undefined legal status. Naturally, there is no precise data on the amounts of money laundered by criminals via cryptocurrencies. However, there are a few unrelated reports that agree on the order of magnitude.
Let's have a look at the three most recent reports:
- According to the 2020 Crypto Crime Report by Chainalysis that tracks crypto transactions, criminals have laundered about $ 2.8 bln in cryptocurrencies in 2019. In 2018, this amounted to about $ 1 bln. According to Chainalysis analysts, most criminals launder money through curbstone brokers — agents or firms that run transactions between sellers and buyers outside crypto exchanges.
- According to the July data by the analytical firm Peckshield, about 147,000 BTC, which is equivalent to about $ 1.5 bln, has been laundered via big crypto exchanges since the start of the year.
- According to Eliptic, a company that detects illegal activity, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the share of illegal bitcoin transactions now amounts to 0.6–1 %. This number, though, goes down year on year.
These numbers only seem enormous before we compare them with the amounts laundered by criminals via other means.
According to the estimates by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UN ODC), criminals launder 2 % to 5 % of the global GDP annually. It amounts to $ 800 bln or $ 2 trln, or even up to $ 4 trln (!), by some estimates. In comparison, $ 1–3 bln laundered in cryptocurrencies is just a drop in the ocean.
Now, let's make a calculation. Capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $ 340 bln, that of bitcoin is $ 197 bln. First of all, it means that no more than 0.3–1 % of digital assets is used for criminal purposes. Second, capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined is several times (!) lower than the amount of money laundered with fiat money.
According to Chainalysis data, one dollar laundered with BTC corresponds to 800 dollars laundered with fiat currencies. In other words, bitcoin only accounts for 0.125 % of the total amount of laundered money.
Cryptocurrencies are ill suited to money laundering
As a tool for money laundering, cryptocurrencies are a lot less universal and convenient than bank payments and cash.
Unlike cash transactions and bank transfers, transactions in decentralized blockchains are easily traceable. Cryptocurrencies are transparent in nature — all transactions are recorded and publicly accessible. If you can accumulate considerable volume of data, you can determine who's behind a bitcoin address used for money laundering. Besides, you cannot use the BTC network and other cryptocurrency networks to transfer a large amount of money — such a transaction would be immediately brought to attention of law enforcement.
The experience of fighting against the Darknet (the illegal Internet) shows that states can fight against cyber crime while anonymity of cryptocurrencies is greatly exaggerated. Legal cryptocurrency platforms have demonstrated a long-standing trend of using KYC principles (provision of complete information about a user) — exchanging currencies anonymously is getting harder. Special services can connect transactions to specific users, sometimes using the blockchain technology itself to do it.
Super anonymous coins that encrypt transaction data (Monero, Dash, ZCash and others) cannot save criminals either — there are methods that can be used to break down these transactions. However, some experts state that cryptocurrency technologies evolve really fast and will soon become completely untraceable. In any case, to withdraw cryptocurrencies and turn them into fiat money, you would have to “burn” your actual bank accounts, thus reducing the entire anonymity level.
It is often mentioned that criminals use the so-called “mixers” — software and services where transactions can be run by mixing your coins and coins owned by other users to maintain confidentiality. It allows you to hide your withdrawal data and addresses, as well as your real identities. However, according to the above mentioned Chainalysis report, most users prefer to use mixers to ensure confidentiality and not to conduct illegal activity. This method is only used to launder 8 % of all money passing through.
Moreover, special services can track transactions passing through mixers which makes them suspicious by default. This is why criminals are not overenthusiastic to use them — cash and banks are more secure.
As you can see, cryptocurrencies are not all that convenient for criminals though it may seem so. They are an excessive intermediate since actual laundering requires cashing out and it's getting harder to do so anonymously by the day.
Banks are the key “laundromats” of the criminal underworld
Let's turn to the best part now. Criminals launder most money via regulated banks seen as ideal by the states. They can annually launder up to $ 2 trln. Think about it: trillions of dollars laundered through the banks.
Many of the world's biggest banks have been involved in money laundering schemes and fined for this. For instance, Wells Fargo, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co and the Bank of America, Standard Chartered and others. Last year, it turned out that Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Raiffeisen had helped criminals launder $ 8.8 bln over a period of 7 years. It's only three bank conglomerates seen as strongholds of honesty and security. Imagine how much money has been laundered via other banks, including “shadow” banks.
In 2019, various companies around the world were fined for being involved in money laundering schemes worth of the record $ 8.14 bln. It's twice as much as in 2018. Two thirds of the fines were attributed to banks — $ 6.2 bln, and 17% — to gaming and gambling organizations. The best joke is that these fines are a drop in the ocean for the banks while money laundering cannot be undone.
According to the August report by the Mexican Finance Intelligence Unit, local criminals still prefer to launder money using conventional financial institutions, mostly banks, as well as brokerage firms and exchange companies. Seven biggest and most regulated Mexican banks that control 80 % of all assets in the national financial sector run the biggest number of transactions with black money (no specific amounts are given).
Moreover, Mexican banks have long been known to deal with activities of this kind. In 2012, one of them — HSBC — paid a record $ 1.92 bln in fines to the US authorities after the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels were caught using this bank for laundering drug-related money.
A short time ago, the international payment system SWIFT used by all of the world's banks published a report drafted in partnership with the financial research firm Bae Systems. The report noted that cryptocurrencies are rarely used for money laundering — with criminals preferring the more conventional ways. These include: using the so-called “money mules” — intermediaries who allow to use their accounts for transferring illegal money; hacking bank accounts, bribing bank officials, using shell companies and casinos.
The report also lists examples of laundering big amounts of money using cryptocurrencies while also noting that only few cases have been registered. These include use of intermediaries, prepaid crypto cards, purchase of physical assets, such as real estate or expensive cards, for cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies do not launder money — they fight against money laundering
As you can see, while cryptocurrencies can be used for money laundering, they are ill suited to this purpose. Moreover, they actually work the other way around by increasing transparency, security and speed of payment transactions and giving users more independence. Coins like UMI are building an alternative financial system accessible to anyone, not a shadow market for laundering illegal money.
The fact is that today 99 % of laundered money passes through other channels, not cryptocurrencies. Criminals still prefer using fiat money for this purpose. Banking institution are their key accomplices, and the amounts of money they hide outmatches the overall capitalization of the cryptocurrency market. However, no one is threatening to prohibit banks.
At the same time, we hear all the time that cryptocurrencies should be banned or strictly regulated. Unfortunately, financial regulators and law enforcement agencies all over the world are sometimes obsessed with the idea of putting spokes in wheels for the usual people who use cryptocurrencies while also allowing bankers to launder trillions of dollars. Isn't it ironic?
UMI is fighting against this state of affairs. We're building a new, alternative and completely transparent financial system where any person on the globe can generate digital money and make instant, fast and free-of-charge payments.
To sum up, don't trust the negative publicity for cryptocurrencies Trust the facts. The negative publicity is mostly generated by people who are not happy that the existing financial system based on banks is gradually become a thing of the past while cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly. At any rate, the key point is that decentralized cryptocurrencies which belong to users from across the world cannot be banned, even from the technical point of view. Thus, there's nothing to fear and progress cannot be stopped.
Sincerely yours, UMI Team!
We often hear authorities, banks and mass media say that cryptocurrencies are a tool for the laundering of money obtained by criminal means and must, therefore, be strictly regulated or, even better, prohibited.
In fact, however, money is mostly laundered using conventional payment systems and cash while cryptocurrencies only account for less than 1 % of this practice. Let's review whether cryptocurrencies can actually be used for money laundering and whether they are popular among criminals.
What is money laundering?
Money laundering is making money obtained illegally “clean”. Criminals pass “black” money through a sequence of transactions to make it seem like “honest earnings”. It's widely believed that the term was coined in the US in the 1920's. Members of the Mafia started laundromats where customers paid in cash. The actual number of customers was hard to know, so criminals added their “black” money to the earnings and passed them off as revenue from customers. The criminal underworld has evolved since then. Today, to launder money, criminals also use ghosts and companies, foreign and offshore accounts, rogue firms, ATM thefts — and cryptocurrencies, since recently.
In English, the fight against money laundering is called Anti Money Laundering, or AML. The key international organization that works out measures against money laundering and terrorist financing is the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, or FATF. It was founded in 1989 and includes 37 member countries, including Russia. FATF designs international AML standards and assesses how these are adhered to by its member states. In June 2019, FATF published guidance for regulating cryptocurrencies.
How much money is laundered through cryptocurrencies?
Qualifying cryptocurrency transactions as a method of income laundering is legally complicated due to their undefined legal status. Naturally, there is no precise data on the amounts of money laundered by criminals via cryptocurrencies. However, there are a few unrelated reports that agree on the order of magnitude.
Let's have a look at the three most recent reports:
- According to the 2020 Crypto Crime Report by Chainalysis that tracks crypto transactions, criminals have laundered about $ 2.8 bln in cryptocurrencies in 2019. In 2018, this amounted to about $ 1 bln. According to Chainalysis analysts, most criminals launder money through curbstone brokers — agents or firms that run transactions between sellers and buyers outside crypto exchanges.
- According to the July data by the analytical firm Peckshield, about 147,000 BTC, which is equivalent to about $ 1.5 bln, has been laundered via big crypto exchanges since the start of the year.
- According to Eliptic, a company that detects illegal activity, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the share of illegal bitcoin transactions now amounts to 0.6–1 %. This number, though, goes down year on year.
These numbers only seem enormous before we compare them with the amounts laundered by criminals via other means.
According to the estimates by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UN ODC), criminals launder 2 % to 5 % of the global GDP annually. It amounts to $ 800 bln or $ 2 trln, or even up to $ 4 trln (!), by some estimates. In comparison, $ 1–3 bln laundered in cryptocurrencies is just a drop in the ocean.
Now, let's make a calculation. Capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $ 340 bln, that of bitcoin is $ 197 bln. First of all, it means that no more than 0.3–1 % of digital assets is used for criminal purposes. Second, capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined is several times (!) lower than the amount of money laundered with fiat money.
According to Chainalysis data, one dollar laundered with BTC corresponds to 800 dollars laundered with fiat currencies. In other words, bitcoin only accounts for 0.125 % of the total amount of laundered money.
Cryptocurrencies are ill suited to money laundering
As a tool for money laundering, cryptocurrencies are a lot less universal and convenient than bank payments and cash.
Unlike cash transactions and bank transfers, transactions in decentralized blockchains are easily traceable. Cryptocurrencies are transparent in nature — all transactions are recorded and publicly accessible. If you can accumulate considerable volume of data, you can determine who's behind a bitcoin address used for money laundering. Besides, you cannot use the BTC network and other cryptocurrency networks to transfer a large amount of money — such a transaction would be immediately brought to attention of law enforcement.
The experience of fighting against the Darknet (the illegal Internet) shows that states can fight against cyber crime while anonymity of cryptocurrencies is greatly exaggerated. Legal cryptocurrency platforms have demonstrated a long-standing trend of using KYC principles (provision of complete information about a user) — exchanging currencies anonymously is getting harder. Special services can connect transactions to specific users, sometimes using the blockchain technology itself to do it.
Super anonymous coins that encrypt transaction data (Monero, Dash, ZCash and others) cannot save criminals either — there are methods that can be used to break down these transactions. However, some experts state that cryptocurrency technologies evolve really fast and will soon become completely untraceable. In any case, to withdraw cryptocurrencies and turn them into fiat money, you would have to “burn” your actual bank accounts, thus reducing the entire anonymity level.
It is often mentioned that criminals use the so-called “mixers” — software and services where transactions can be run by mixing your coins and coins owned by other users to maintain confidentiality. It allows you to hide your withdrawal data and addresses, as well as your real identities. However, according to the above mentioned Chainalysis report, most users prefer to use mixers to ensure confidentiality and not to conduct illegal activity. This method is only used to launder 8 % of all money passing through.
Moreover, special services can track transactions passing through mixers which makes them suspicious by default. This is why criminals are not overenthusiastic to use them — cash and banks are more secure.
As you can see, cryptocurrencies are not all that convenient for criminals though it may seem so. They are an excessive intermediate since actual laundering requires cashing out and it's getting harder to do so anonymously by the day.
Banks are the key “laundromats” of the criminal underworld
Let's turn to the best part now. Criminals launder most money via regulated banks seen as ideal by the states. They can annually launder up to $ 2 trln. Think about it: trillions of dollars laundered through the banks.
Many of the world's biggest banks have been involved in money laundering schemes and fined for this. For instance, Wells Fargo, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co and the Bank of America, Standard Chartered and others. Last year, it turned out that Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Raiffeisen had helped criminals launder $ 8.8 bln over a period of 7 years. It's only three bank conglomerates seen as strongholds of honesty and security. Imagine how much money has been laundered via other banks, including “shadow” banks.
In 2019, various companies around the world were fined for being involved in money laundering schemes worth of the record $ 8.14 bln. It's twice as much as in 2018. Two thirds of the fines were attributed to banks — $ 6.2 bln, and 17% — to gaming and gambling organizations. The best joke is that these fines are a drop in the ocean for the banks while money laundering cannot be undone.
According to the August report by the Mexican Finance Intelligence Unit, local criminals still prefer to launder money using conventional financial institutions, mostly banks, as well as brokerage firms and exchange companies. Seven biggest and most regulated Mexican banks that control 80 % of all assets in the national financial sector run the biggest number of transactions with black money (no specific amounts are given).
Moreover, Mexican banks have long been known to deal with activities of this kind. In 2012, one of them — HSBC — paid a record $ 1.92 bln in fines to the US authorities after the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels were caught using this bank for laundering drug-related money.
A short time ago, the international payment system SWIFT used by all of the world's banks published a report drafted in partnership with the financial research firm Bae Systems. The report noted that cryptocurrencies are rarely used for money laundering — with criminals preferring the more conventional ways. These include: using the so-called “money mules” — intermediaries who allow to use their accounts for transferring illegal money; hacking bank accounts, bribing bank officials, using shell companies and casinos.
The report also lists examples of laundering big amounts of money using cryptocurrencies while also noting that only few cases have been registered. These include use of intermediaries, prepaid crypto cards, purchase of physical assets, such as real estate or expensive cards, for cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies do not launder money — they fight against money laundering
As you can see, while cryptocurrencies can be used for money laundering, they are ill suited to this purpose. Moreover, they actually work the other way around by increasing transparency, security and speed of payment transactions and giving users more independence. Coins like UMI are building an alternative financial system accessible to anyone, not a shadow market for laundering illegal money.
The fact is that today 99 % of laundered money passes through other channels, not cryptocurrencies. Criminals still prefer using fiat money for this purpose. Banking institution are their key accomplices, and the amounts of money they hide outmatches the overall capitalization of the cryptocurrency market. However, no one is threatening to prohibit banks.
At the same time, we hear all the time that cryptocurrencies should be banned or strictly regulated. Unfortunately, financial regulators and law enforcement agencies all over the world are sometimes obsessed with the idea of putting spokes in wheels for the usual people who use cryptocurrencies while also allowing bankers to launder trillions of dollars. Isn't it ironic?
UMI is fighting against this state of affairs. We're building a new, alternative and completely transparent financial system where any person on the globe can generate digital money and make instant, fast and free-of-charge payments.
To sum up, don't trust the negative publicity for cryptocurrencies Trust the facts. The negative publicity is mostly generated by people who are not happy that the existing financial system based on banks is gradually become a thing of the past while cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly. At any rate, the key point is that decentralized cryptocurrencies which belong to users from across the world cannot be banned, even from the technical point of view. Thus, there's nothing to fear and progress cannot be stopped.
Sincerely yours, UMI Team!
- Among the most significant disadvantages of Bitcoin is the centralization on the part of mining pools.
- In the pursuit of profit from mining, the greed of the participants in the decentralized network forces them to join in pools, which violates the idea of decentralization and leads to centralization.
- Today we have a situation that if several leading BTC pools decide to merge, they will capture most of the network’s capacity and be able to carry out a 51% attack. As a result, pools will be able to send non-existent bitcoins, confirm incorrect transfers and, roughly speaking, do whatever they want with the network.
- Having traveled a path in more than 10 years, Bitcoin has proven that the idea of decentralization as it is implemented there does not work.
Therefore, in UMI, decentralization is implemented at a different level, and users, joining in pools (staking structures), on the contrary, help the development of the network and support its efficient operation, without threatening security.
- In the pursuit of profit from mining, the greed of the participants in the decentralized network forces them to join in pools, which violates the idea of decentralization and leads to centralization.
- Today we have a situation that if several leading BTC pools decide to merge, they will capture most of the network’s capacity and be able to carry out a 51% attack. As a result, pools will be able to send non-existent bitcoins, confirm incorrect transfers and, roughly speaking, do whatever they want with the network.
- Having traveled a path in more than 10 years, Bitcoin has proven that the idea of decentralization as it is implemented there does not work.
Therefore, in UMI, decentralization is implemented at a different level, and users, joining in pools (staking structures), on the contrary, help the development of the network and support its efficient operation, without threatening security.
Why UMI is better than Bitcoin?
Bitcoin has proven itself to be a reliable payment system, although it has several significant drawbacks. Among them:
- The network speed is limited by the network itself. In the best case, users have to wait for the translation for several tens of minutes, but it often happens that the wait is delayed for tens of hours or even for several days.
- High commissions. During periods of high network load, transfer fees skyrocket. In 2017, there were cases when the transfer fee reached $ 40. In "normal" mode, of course, everything is not so bad. But commissions of a few dollars are common for Bitcoin users.
- UMI, in turn, is based on the same proven technologies as Bitcoin, removes its disadvantages
- The network does not resist the speed of block creation, but on the contrary - in every possible way encourages their rapid creation and growth of throughput.
- New cryptographic algorithms reduce the load on the network nodes, which allows more transactions to be carried out in the same unit of time with lower computational costs.
- The UMI network is capable of processing all 500 million transactions created in the Bitcoin network over 12 years in a few days. And every translation will be completely free!
Bitcoin has proven itself to be a reliable payment system, although it has several significant drawbacks. Among them:
- The network speed is limited by the network itself. In the best case, users have to wait for the translation for several tens of minutes, but it often happens that the wait is delayed for tens of hours or even for several days.
- High commissions. During periods of high network load, transfer fees skyrocket. In 2017, there were cases when the transfer fee reached $ 40. In "normal" mode, of course, everything is not so bad. But commissions of a few dollars are common for Bitcoin users.
- UMI, in turn, is based on the same proven technologies as Bitcoin, removes its disadvantages
- The network does not resist the speed of block creation, but on the contrary - in every possible way encourages their rapid creation and growth of throughput.
- New cryptographic algorithms reduce the load on the network nodes, which allows more transactions to be carried out in the same unit of time with lower computational costs.
- The UMI network is capable of processing all 500 million transactions created in the Bitcoin network over 12 years in a few days. And every translation will be completely free!
UMI: Official Plans for the Future
Dear friends, The UMI cryptocurrency keeps growing by leaps and bounds. It's going really well now: with the number of users growing, infrastructure developing rapidly, staking generating coins at the rate of 25% a month, and UMI's buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o exceeding $800,000. But what about tomorrow? Many users wonder what our plans for the future are. What will happen in 2, 5, 10 years or more? What do we want to achieve? We've prepared this article with answers to all your questions — specially for you. Spoiler alert: tomorrow's going to be even better than today. We're happy to present official plans for the future from the UMI Team.
Platform Scaling and Future Outlook
To understand the future outlook, we need to consider the project's strategic vision. UMI was not created just for fun — we created it to offer people new opportunities to improve their quality of life. These include, in the first place:
- Free, safe and instant financial transfers.
- Ability to “print” cryptocurrency in your smartphone at the rate of up to 40% a month, with no complexities or risks.
- Provision of new solutions for the business and economy in general. It's possible because UMI is a fully-featured blockchain platform that can execute smart contracts of any level of complexity. It can be used anywhere, in any domain of human activity.
Transactions:
But — first things first. UMI is based on the Proof-of-Authority technology that provides for the fastest transactions and operation of master nodes. The latter, with super-high requirements to operating speed and network capacity, are given to prominent UMI partners and teams that are actively engaged in promoting the project. Currently, the network's capacity is about 4,500 transactions per second, with the latest tests showing a value of up to 5,000. It means we're faster now than at the start (just to remind you, our ceiling value was 4,369 transactions/second).
In the near future, we intend to continue network optimization in order to bring its capacity to as many as 10,000 transactions per second. It will bring us as close to VISA and MasterCard as possible and, beyond all doubt, will spark interest in the crypto community.
In fact, 10,000 transactions per second is far from being the final frontier. According to the technical department of the UMI Team, we still have room for response improvement. We plan to use tools such as cybernetics and optimize certain points in terms of programming languages and smart contract. Accordingly, in the future (maybe even within a year) we have a chance to improve capacity to 1 mln transactions per second. No one has reached such capacity so far.
It's true that UMI network now runs 2,000–5,000 transactions per day and this capacity may seem “excessive”, but our project has been around for 4 months only and already has over 40,000 active users who make transfers within the network. In the future, UMI's scale of operation will change. We will try reaching new audiences to take over the new heights. That is when the high speed will come in really handy as it will guarantee that UMI network will not face something Ethereum is currently facing or Bitcoin has faced multiple times — they have fallen victim to their own popularity, with transactions becoming too slow and too expensive. The high network capacity will ensure that UMI transactions are always free and instant regardless of the load on the network.
Validator Node:
As we’ve announced, we're soon releasing a desktop wallet for users that both allows you to submit/receive transactions and operates as a validator node. It's a fully featured node that will support all functionalities and features except block generation (this functionality will remain with master nodes only). By installing the wallet and launching the validator node, users automatically improve security, stability and reliability of the UMI network.
In fact, all interested users will be able to support the network without any complications. You don't have to navigate to GitHub, understand the code and settings, etc. Launching a node will be as easy to do as installing Microsoft Word, Telegram or a game. Obviously, the algorithm we use creates no extra load on your PC. It'll just work in the background and will be invisible for you.
PoS Integration:
The next major step in terms of technical development is the addition of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm — the most popular in the crypto industry. It may seem strange as we use the Proof-of-Authority algorithm, but we'll explain everything. The UMI network will continue to efficiently use Proof-of-Authority while PoS integration will be an additional protection measure. What's the point? In case of any problems with master nodes (and, consequently, with PoA operation) PoS-nodes will come online.
Obviously, in this case transactions won't be as fast since you'll have to wait for multiple confirmations, but still, it guarantees network security even in the most unexpected circumstances. If all master nodes suddenly go offline (clearly, chances of such an occurrence are slim to none, but we need to consider all possible risks), nothing will happen with the UMI network. It will keep operating and processing transactions as usual, just a little more slowly. While the system operates using PoS, master nodes will have the time to resolve problems and go back to normal PoA-based operation.
PoS nodes will be owned by the same users who installed the desktop wallet and launched the validator node. Theoretically, it may be millions, even billions UMI holders all over the world.
Fully Featured Offline Transactions:
We'd like to note that technically all transactions in the UMI network are created offline. It's basically completely analogous to a cheque book, should you need a clarification. Therefore, in reality UMI can operate without the Internet connection.
Submitting transactions online is the most convenient way to go at this time, but it's not the only one. For instance, you can submit a transaction in a text message using your cell phone.
In case you're wondering, the length of a UMI transaction is 150 bytes. It equals 1,200 bits of data.
Standard length of a text message is 1,120 bits (140 bytes). It means we would need to send 2 texts.
Our plans include a transaction variant signed secp256r1 to support legacy chips in bank cards that would actually fit a transaction into a text message.
However, it's not limited to text messages. In fact, UMI allows you to use a validator node to create any transaction offline (i.e. without the Internet connection) and send it to the network by any available means — via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or even a radio wave. We're currently looking at various options. So if humanity loses the Internet connection as a result of a global cataclysm, the UMI network will be able to easily “evolve” and keep operating in new conditions.
Legalization and Audit:
Our goal is to comply with applicable law at all times. It's important that both people and authorities understand that UMI is not a product of the black market — it's a completely legal tool.
Therefore, we're working on obtaining a legal document that would legalize UMI cryptocurrency in the European Union and confirm that UMI is a decentralized payment system with a completely open source code and is not a security, security token, utility token or something else. It will open up new opportunities to use and integrate UMI. After this, we plan to work on legalizing cryptocurrency in other jurisdictions.
Moreover, when cryptocurrency passes the “endurance test” — once it reaches the milestone of 1 mln users — the UMI Team or one of our partners will register technology patents and obtain certificates.
In a related move, we'll soon address the issue of auditing UMI's source code. We're going to entrust this task to credible organizations who do not just audit “on paper”, but are reputable professionals. We've drafted a preliminary list of a few auditor companies we would like to collaborate with. We're mostly leaning to the firms who audited RandomX code for Monero: Trail of Bits, X41 D-SEC, Kudelski Security and QuarksLab.
DeFi, DApps, DAO, DEX:
Look at the hype surrounding the DeFi sector. If you're not familiar with the topic, in brief and in simple terms: DeFi or decentralized finance are blockchain-based financial instruments, services and apps operating as smart contracts. It's a very promising sector, but still very raw. To begin with, it has huge security problems and a strong dependence on the Ethereum network that makes all DeFi transactions too slow and expensive due to its massive overload.
UMI, on the other hand, is a new-generation cryptocurrency that, among other things, is a fully featured blockchain platform capable of generating and executing smart contracts at any level of complexity, including DeFi protocols. In the future, we plan to join this sector and support development of big DeFi projects that will be faster, safer and more multifunctional than the ones based on Ethereum.
We also intend to deploy a UMI-based family of decentralized apps (DApps) and decentralized exchanges (DEX). Our DApps will be the same apps you're using today, with the only exception — you'll be confident of their honesty and security as they won't belong to any particular company. It's a completely decentralized product. For instance, you'll know exactly that your personal data is not collected or passed along to third parties. You'll be confident that no one will withdraw funds from your account, etc. It's the same with DEX. It's a completely decentralized trading platform where you can trade in UMI and other cryptocurrencies, without fearing for security while also enjoying protection from all problems characteristic of centralization.
Moreover, we plan to deploy multiple projects based on DAO principles (decentralized autonomous organizations). In the simplest terms, DAO is an independent decentralized company that is in fact a multifunctional set of smart contracts that allow users rather than management (partially or fully) to run the company. It offers vast opportunities since in essence ensures actual democracy that is backed by cryptographic code rather than words.
Future of Staking and Smart Contracts
Let's continue discussing UMI-based smart contracts as applied to more specific points such as the current key concept behind the coin.
As you know, there are two most popular areas in the crypto industry:
1. Staking used by PoS-based cryptocurrencies. It's also called forging or PoS-mining. It's basically similar to mining, but does not require powerful equipment. Speaking of traditional mining, it's gradually fading into the background.
2. Perks of decentralization feature various smart contracts where people cannot influence the source code, change conditions, chances, etc.
This is why our team decided to design a unique system — staking based on a smart contract. It would allow us to unite two popular areas and substitute the PoS model with a faster and safer PoA algorithm. UMI staking is exclusively based on the smart contract. Please, remember that you can review terms and conditions and principles of operation in our Whitepaper.
Staking based on the smart contract allows you to generate new UMI coins 24/7 while earning up to 40% a month — without the need to install nodes, configure software, etc. To start staking, people don't need to understand the technical aspect. It's very convenient for regular users with basic computer or smartphone skills who just want to turn on a ready-to-use “coin printing machine” and don't want to assemble it from scratch.
We intend to promote and popularize UMI staking all over the world to bring as many people as possible into our community. We believe that staking based on the smart contract is ideal for encouraging users. We're confident that, as the community grows, we will one day see a structure that will generate earnings of 40% a month.
However, as we mentioned above, our smart contracts won't be limited to staking. Since ideas of decentralized finance (DeFi) and generation of coins by users on certain blockchains are now gaining popularity, we're considering creation of various UMI blockchain-based tokens, including stablecoins, as one of our next steps.
In other words, we're encroaching on the DeFi market by allowing for the creation of both tokens and smart contracts of various types. Users can then trade in these tokens and earn on price fluctuations. One of the options is also staking of such tokens based on a smart contract. It means that any user, not just the UMI Team, will be able to create a UMI-based token with a price, liquidity and staking conditions. They will also be able to create a community around it. You must admit it's just awesome.
We also plan to issue a multitude of specialized multifunctional smart contracts that could change a lot of everyday things, including the established commerce sector. UMI is capable of replacing/improving the popular services of eBay, Avito, OLX and other platforms by providing users with a more secure, rapid and efficient way of making deals.
In the immediate future, we intend to design HD wallets and a universal smart contract for various trading platforms. HD wallets will allow you to easily create addresses without the private key while the smart contract will act as a guarantor in a deal freezing UMI coins until closure of the deal, among other things. With this functionality, UMI will be easily added to online stores and service delivery platforms. Smart contracts will make trading and cryptocurrency integration even more secure and convenient. Most importantly, though, it will offer innovative solutions and new possibilities for the commerce and service delivery sectors that are currently non-existent.
Our plans include the issue of a smart contract for crowdfunding (fundraising for projects) that will allow us to create an easy-to-use No Reliance system with a guarantee that no one will con anyone. It's because in this case people, in a manner of speaking, are not needed in this system — all actions are based on a smart contract with mandatory and complete adherence to all preset conditions. Notably, this crowdfunding will be quite different from the services offered by the existing platforms. Right now, people simply raise money/cryptocurrency to be invested in a project. What we offer also includes staking that will allow the project to earn even more.
In fact, staking opens up lots of opportunities in crowdfunding. For instance, staking allows us to deploy a system that will allow people to get back, let's say, 70% of coins invested in crowdfunding in case of success or even failure. There're special algorithms to this end that we will soon start to actively use in real-case scenarios.
Additionally, we and our partners from the ISP Club intend to issue crypto cards that are being developed right now. These will be traditional VISA debit cards that can store UMI. Cards will allow you to use UMI to pay in the nearest store or cash out cryptocurrency in a nearby ATM. It will work with the usual terminals and ATMs — where VISA cards are accepted, UMI will be accepted, too. You will be able to connect your card to Apple Pay and other similar services. You will be able to buy a TV, table or a loaf of bread for UMI. Anything.
In a nutshell, using UMI tomorrow will be as easy, habitual and convenient as using bank services today. But that's not the most interesting part. The key perk of UMI cards is that coins stored on your account are also used for staking. As a result, the balance on your VISA will always grow — at the rate of 40% a month. No bank has ever offered such an opportunity and is really unlikely to ever offer one.
We also plan to release various types of NFC wallets specifically for contactless payment that can be used to pay for goods with cryptocurrency in any terminal. The Faster Payments System will allow the seller to immediately receive payments in fiat money — in 15 seconds. This is maximum. Obviously, NFC wallets will also allow using coins for staking.
In a nutshell, we're actively working on various projects in order to offer people an alternative system of financial payments along with a passive increase of their balances. In general, the main cause for aversion to many blockchain projects is that they are hard to understand. In fact, users don't really see how this or that project can solve their problem. We're the game changers — we look up to things everyone is used to, but we also present them in a more refined form. UMI resolves pressing issues only, doing it as clearly and efficiently for everyone as can be.
Let us speak aside. In Finland the government has recently conducted a very interesting experiment — they introduced basic income for 2,000 randomly picked unemployed participants who received an unconditional monthly basic income of 560 euros. Just for being a citizen of this country. Unemployed participants spent their income on food and other basic needs. If an unemployed person started working, they could spend the income on traveling, big-budget purchases, etc. Anything they liked.
Even though the experiment didn't improve the situation with unemployment in Finland, its outcome was evaluated positively. "The basic income recipients were more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental strain than the control group. They also had a more positive perception of their economic welfare."
This experiment is the role model we want staking to achieve. We want people to generate new UMI coins for themselves, and use them as they see fit. We believe that this is a model of a healthy society where people can live a happy life with no fear of losing everything tomorrow. Finland has already completed the experiment. But we are starting it again and it will involve not only Finland, but the entire world. Staking allows any person to receive a kind of unconditional basic income like in Finland but unlike Finland, it will be paid in the UMI cryptocurrency. But it has a value too. ;-)
Geolocation: Where and How UMI Will First Be Developed
UMI intends to conquer the entire world. Obviously, it is impossible to do instantly. And no one needs it –– a smooth development is much more important for any product. Gradual growth and winning new audiences step-by-step will make the project more powerful and sustainable. Moreover, all these COVID-related issues distracted people from new technologies. Therefore, the immediate outreach of a large audience is not the best idea. We opted for smooth development which will allow us to get stronger before we enter new markets.
- First of all, we need to consolidate confidently our position in the CIS market. Our priority countries are Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
- $1 mln in the buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o, which supports the UMI rate, will become a signal that UMI's liquidity is high enough to enter China, Latin America, Indonesia and India. By the way, we are already preparing for this. Our official website, mobile app and all the other content have already been localized in Russian, English, Spanish (LA), and Chinese. Now all the content is localized in Indonesian. We also run UMI promoting social media in different languages. It is not a poor machine translation, translation only by professional translators. We should also mention that we have already laid the groundwork for entry into the above-mentioned countries. We won't let all the secrets out, except for the one that we've already made useful contacts and reached certain agreements with some partners.
- Next, we plan to fully localize the website and all other content in 18 different languages and start reaching other countries and continents. The next in turn are Europe, Asia, Africa, and eventually, the entire world. We would like to emphasize again that we are focused on gradual growth, this is why we are now closely working with CIS countries.
Current Tasks
Now let's put our long-term plans aside and talk about the key tasks that we are most focused on right now, at this very moment. There are three of them:
1. UMI liquidity. As you may have already heard, we don't take the funds generated from selling UMI for BTC and through the Crypto-By-Card service. Instead, we use them to create UMI buy orders on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o to support UMI's high liquidity and price. Thus, UMI is backed by bitcoins, and, as far as we know, no other world's cryptocurrency has this experience. In other words, this is a unique case when the team doesn't take the funds generated from selling the coin, but instead, they spend them on supporting the coin's price and liquidity. Now UMI's buy order book is over $800,000 (more than 55 BTC), apart from $200,000 buy orders on the P2P platform. It means you can now easily sell UMI for more than $1 mln with no fear of price drop. Our # 1 task for today is to continue to increase buy orders which ensure the coin's high liquidity and stability. Today, this is what attracts new users and makes them feel confident. A reliable coin grows faster and easily wins a new audience. Summing up, our number one priority is to fill UMI's buy order book. In the short term (within 1 to 2 months), we plan to fill UMI/BTC buy order book to $ 1 mln, in the long term –– to $10 mln.
2. Large-scale entry into the market. At the moment, the popularity of UMI is growing thanks to our partners from the ROY Club, who bring in new participants to their staking structure. But we are planning to increase the popularity growth rate. A large-scale social media PR campaign will be launched soon. You will see various articles about our cryptocurrency, news and reviews from top crypto-media and other popular resources. This will attract a new audience to our community: crypto investors, traders, crypto enthusiasts and regular people who get interested in new profitable opportunities. All this will help to increase UMI's popularity and improve its liquidity. This will obviously have a positive impact on all our partners, including the ROY club, ISP Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o. In the long term we also plan to get listed to new exchanges. Although some well-known exchanges have already proposed us listing on their platforms, we refused their offers. We'd like to reiterate that we are more focused on a smooth and quality-based growth. This is why the SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o is our general partner and the trading platform where we are building up the community. As soon as UMI gets liquid enough meaning gaining muscles and foothold at the market, it will be listed on other platforms, and, consequently, on Coinmarketcap. This will protect it against deliberate pressure and price fluctuations caused by some traders who just want to make money from changes in price.
3. Organizing new staking structures. Currently, only two structures –– ROY Club and ISP Club –– generate new UMI coins. As UMI grows, various large communities, cryptocurrency pools, financial project developers, etc. will start creating their own structures and set the conditions as they like. Fortunately, the smart contract for staking offers quite flexible settings. Some organizers will offer their members generous and non-standard bonus programs, the others will use zero-fee transactions and the highest possible reward as a temptation for new members. We are now negotiating with potential creators of structures. We consider this as one of the key tasks, so we are ready to help our new partners implement their UMI-based projects in every possible way.
Technical Roadmap
As a final note, we would like to present our brief roadmap of immediate technical tasks:
1. Release a full-node desktop wallet;
2. Create detailed technical manuals and "how-to" guides containing text and video guidelines on installation, launch, setting and update of wallets and nodes.
3. Develop and implement PoS consensus;
4. Integrate HD-wallet;
5. Create libraries supporting all popular languages and platforms and use them to be easily integrated into businesses;
6. Integraty hardware wallets (Trezor, Ledger, etc.);
7. Integrate accounting systems;
8. Develop a node specifically for Windows with MS-SQL support and 1C integration;
9. Develop plastic cards and NFC-enabled terminals;
10. Create libraries for mobile devices supporting NFC payments;
11. Add side-chain service: commenting on transactions;
12. Add side-chain service: sending UMI using email address, Telegram username, nickname, etc;
13. Add side-chain service: an internal messenger with images and various features support. Telegram or Viber prototype;
14.Develop and run a developer blog containing technical articles for developers;
15. Create convenient user support service through Telegram, Slack, and Stack Overflow;
16. Implement tools for convenient collection and processing users feedback, for example, Reformal;
17. Develop new smart contracts.
This is not the final list. In view of the above, we still have a lot of technical tasks. These are only primary goals, which, however, can change and be modified depending on the circumstances.
Overall Roadmap
Let's sum up all the above. In addition to the technical roadmap, please review a list of current plans for further UMI growth:
- Increase UMI's liquidity. In the short term, we plan to fill UMI's buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o to $ 1 mln, in the long term –– $10 mln.
- Enter the market: launch a large-scale social media PR campaign, get UMI added to new exchanges and monitors.
- Organize new structures for UMI staking and encourage healthy competition.
- Optimize the network to bring its capacity to as many as 10,000 and then 1 million transactions per second.
- Release a desktop wallet that will work as a validator node and support the network.
- Implement the PoS consensus algorithm as an additional security measure. This will keep the network running even in the event of any problems with master nodes.
- Improve the ability of sending transactions offline.
- Legalize cryptocurrency and audit the source code.
- Create new DeFi, DApps, DAO, DEX products and enter these markets.
- Popularize staking in all directions and implement it into mass products.
- Create various tokens based on the UMI blockchain, including stablecoins. Integrate convenient features allowing users to create their own tokens and smart contracts based on UMI.
- Create HD wallets and a universal smart contract for trading platforms.
- Develop a smart contract for crowdfunding and other smart contracts for employment, services, production, and logistics markets.
- Release VISA debit crypto card with full support for UMI and staking.
- Release UMI staking-supporting NFC wallets for contactless payment.
- Work on creating a powerful infrastructure that offers an alternative system of financial payments coupled with a passive growth of their balances.
- Develop new features, guides, and services: create various side-chain services, start a developer blog, implement new tools for processing feedback, integrate accounting systems, hardware wallets, etc.
- Promote UMI in the CIS countries with further entry into China, Latin America, Indonesia, India, and other countries.
UMI Won't Stop
As you can see, we have grandiose plans for the UMI project and great ambitions. And we are full of enthusiasm and determination to turn them into reality. UMI is not some small "one-day project" or a product for a small target audience with insignificant goals. We are a growing decentralized community that is determined to go big. Most importantly, we are really good at that.
Hopefully, we have shed light on UMI's future plans. There are new highs ahead of us — great accomplishments and achievements. Since the time of writing the Whitepaper, our priorities have changed. We are confident that UMI can be fully integrated into business and change most aspects of society. Employment, services, production, commerce, logistics, and all financial arrangements — all this can radically change with the emergence of UMI. These are our long-term goals to which we are getting closer with each passing day.
Thus, by degrees, we will achieve all our goals. Thank you for being with us. If you like the article, please clap for it and share it with others. It's no trouble for you but great support for us.
Sincerely yours, UMI team
Welcome to the future!
Dear friends, The UMI cryptocurrency keeps growing by leaps and bounds. It's going really well now: with the number of users growing, infrastructure developing rapidly, staking generating coins at the rate of 25% a month, and UMI's buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o exceeding $800,000. But what about tomorrow? Many users wonder what our plans for the future are. What will happen in 2, 5, 10 years or more? What do we want to achieve? We've prepared this article with answers to all your questions — specially for you. Spoiler alert: tomorrow's going to be even better than today. We're happy to present official plans for the future from the UMI Team.
Platform Scaling and Future Outlook
To understand the future outlook, we need to consider the project's strategic vision. UMI was not created just for fun — we created it to offer people new opportunities to improve their quality of life. These include, in the first place:
- Free, safe and instant financial transfers.
- Ability to “print” cryptocurrency in your smartphone at the rate of up to 40% a month, with no complexities or risks.
- Provision of new solutions for the business and economy in general. It's possible because UMI is a fully-featured blockchain platform that can execute smart contracts of any level of complexity. It can be used anywhere, in any domain of human activity.
Transactions:
But — first things first. UMI is based on the Proof-of-Authority technology that provides for the fastest transactions and operation of master nodes. The latter, with super-high requirements to operating speed and network capacity, are given to prominent UMI partners and teams that are actively engaged in promoting the project. Currently, the network's capacity is about 4,500 transactions per second, with the latest tests showing a value of up to 5,000. It means we're faster now than at the start (just to remind you, our ceiling value was 4,369 transactions/second).
In the near future, we intend to continue network optimization in order to bring its capacity to as many as 10,000 transactions per second. It will bring us as close to VISA and MasterCard as possible and, beyond all doubt, will spark interest in the crypto community.
In fact, 10,000 transactions per second is far from being the final frontier. According to the technical department of the UMI Team, we still have room for response improvement. We plan to use tools such as cybernetics and optimize certain points in terms of programming languages and smart contract. Accordingly, in the future (maybe even within a year) we have a chance to improve capacity to 1 mln transactions per second. No one has reached such capacity so far.
It's true that UMI network now runs 2,000–5,000 transactions per day and this capacity may seem “excessive”, but our project has been around for 4 months only and already has over 40,000 active users who make transfers within the network. In the future, UMI's scale of operation will change. We will try reaching new audiences to take over the new heights. That is when the high speed will come in really handy as it will guarantee that UMI network will not face something Ethereum is currently facing or Bitcoin has faced multiple times — they have fallen victim to their own popularity, with transactions becoming too slow and too expensive. The high network capacity will ensure that UMI transactions are always free and instant regardless of the load on the network.
Validator Node:
As we’ve announced, we're soon releasing a desktop wallet for users that both allows you to submit/receive transactions and operates as a validator node. It's a fully featured node that will support all functionalities and features except block generation (this functionality will remain with master nodes only). By installing the wallet and launching the validator node, users automatically improve security, stability and reliability of the UMI network.
In fact, all interested users will be able to support the network without any complications. You don't have to navigate to GitHub, understand the code and settings, etc. Launching a node will be as easy to do as installing Microsoft Word, Telegram or a game. Obviously, the algorithm we use creates no extra load on your PC. It'll just work in the background and will be invisible for you.
PoS Integration:
The next major step in terms of technical development is the addition of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm — the most popular in the crypto industry. It may seem strange as we use the Proof-of-Authority algorithm, but we'll explain everything. The UMI network will continue to efficiently use Proof-of-Authority while PoS integration will be an additional protection measure. What's the point? In case of any problems with master nodes (and, consequently, with PoA operation) PoS-nodes will come online.
Obviously, in this case transactions won't be as fast since you'll have to wait for multiple confirmations, but still, it guarantees network security even in the most unexpected circumstances. If all master nodes suddenly go offline (clearly, chances of such an occurrence are slim to none, but we need to consider all possible risks), nothing will happen with the UMI network. It will keep operating and processing transactions as usual, just a little more slowly. While the system operates using PoS, master nodes will have the time to resolve problems and go back to normal PoA-based operation.
PoS nodes will be owned by the same users who installed the desktop wallet and launched the validator node. Theoretically, it may be millions, even billions UMI holders all over the world.
Fully Featured Offline Transactions:
We'd like to note that technically all transactions in the UMI network are created offline. It's basically completely analogous to a cheque book, should you need a clarification. Therefore, in reality UMI can operate without the Internet connection.
Submitting transactions online is the most convenient way to go at this time, but it's not the only one. For instance, you can submit a transaction in a text message using your cell phone.
In case you're wondering, the length of a UMI transaction is 150 bytes. It equals 1,200 bits of data.
Standard length of a text message is 1,120 bits (140 bytes). It means we would need to send 2 texts.
Our plans include a transaction variant signed secp256r1 to support legacy chips in bank cards that would actually fit a transaction into a text message.
However, it's not limited to text messages. In fact, UMI allows you to use a validator node to create any transaction offline (i.e. without the Internet connection) and send it to the network by any available means — via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or even a radio wave. We're currently looking at various options. So if humanity loses the Internet connection as a result of a global cataclysm, the UMI network will be able to easily “evolve” and keep operating in new conditions.
Legalization and Audit:
Our goal is to comply with applicable law at all times. It's important that both people and authorities understand that UMI is not a product of the black market — it's a completely legal tool.
Therefore, we're working on obtaining a legal document that would legalize UMI cryptocurrency in the European Union and confirm that UMI is a decentralized payment system with a completely open source code and is not a security, security token, utility token or something else. It will open up new opportunities to use and integrate UMI. After this, we plan to work on legalizing cryptocurrency in other jurisdictions.
Moreover, when cryptocurrency passes the “endurance test” — once it reaches the milestone of 1 mln users — the UMI Team or one of our partners will register technology patents and obtain certificates.
In a related move, we'll soon address the issue of auditing UMI's source code. We're going to entrust this task to credible organizations who do not just audit “on paper”, but are reputable professionals. We've drafted a preliminary list of a few auditor companies we would like to collaborate with. We're mostly leaning to the firms who audited RandomX code for Monero: Trail of Bits, X41 D-SEC, Kudelski Security and QuarksLab.
DeFi, DApps, DAO, DEX:
Look at the hype surrounding the DeFi sector. If you're not familiar with the topic, in brief and in simple terms: DeFi or decentralized finance are blockchain-based financial instruments, services and apps operating as smart contracts. It's a very promising sector, but still very raw. To begin with, it has huge security problems and a strong dependence on the Ethereum network that makes all DeFi transactions too slow and expensive due to its massive overload.
UMI, on the other hand, is a new-generation cryptocurrency that, among other things, is a fully featured blockchain platform capable of generating and executing smart contracts at any level of complexity, including DeFi protocols. In the future, we plan to join this sector and support development of big DeFi projects that will be faster, safer and more multifunctional than the ones based on Ethereum.
We also intend to deploy a UMI-based family of decentralized apps (DApps) and decentralized exchanges (DEX). Our DApps will be the same apps you're using today, with the only exception — you'll be confident of their honesty and security as they won't belong to any particular company. It's a completely decentralized product. For instance, you'll know exactly that your personal data is not collected or passed along to third parties. You'll be confident that no one will withdraw funds from your account, etc. It's the same with DEX. It's a completely decentralized trading platform where you can trade in UMI and other cryptocurrencies, without fearing for security while also enjoying protection from all problems characteristic of centralization.
Moreover, we plan to deploy multiple projects based on DAO principles (decentralized autonomous organizations). In the simplest terms, DAO is an independent decentralized company that is in fact a multifunctional set of smart contracts that allow users rather than management (partially or fully) to run the company. It offers vast opportunities since in essence ensures actual democracy that is backed by cryptographic code rather than words.
Future of Staking and Smart Contracts
Let's continue discussing UMI-based smart contracts as applied to more specific points such as the current key concept behind the coin.
As you know, there are two most popular areas in the crypto industry:
1. Staking used by PoS-based cryptocurrencies. It's also called forging or PoS-mining. It's basically similar to mining, but does not require powerful equipment. Speaking of traditional mining, it's gradually fading into the background.
2. Perks of decentralization feature various smart contracts where people cannot influence the source code, change conditions, chances, etc.
This is why our team decided to design a unique system — staking based on a smart contract. It would allow us to unite two popular areas and substitute the PoS model with a faster and safer PoA algorithm. UMI staking is exclusively based on the smart contract. Please, remember that you can review terms and conditions and principles of operation in our Whitepaper.
Staking based on the smart contract allows you to generate new UMI coins 24/7 while earning up to 40% a month — without the need to install nodes, configure software, etc. To start staking, people don't need to understand the technical aspect. It's very convenient for regular users with basic computer or smartphone skills who just want to turn on a ready-to-use “coin printing machine” and don't want to assemble it from scratch.
We intend to promote and popularize UMI staking all over the world to bring as many people as possible into our community. We believe that staking based on the smart contract is ideal for encouraging users. We're confident that, as the community grows, we will one day see a structure that will generate earnings of 40% a month.
However, as we mentioned above, our smart contracts won't be limited to staking. Since ideas of decentralized finance (DeFi) and generation of coins by users on certain blockchains are now gaining popularity, we're considering creation of various UMI blockchain-based tokens, including stablecoins, as one of our next steps.
In other words, we're encroaching on the DeFi market by allowing for the creation of both tokens and smart contracts of various types. Users can then trade in these tokens and earn on price fluctuations. One of the options is also staking of such tokens based on a smart contract. It means that any user, not just the UMI Team, will be able to create a UMI-based token with a price, liquidity and staking conditions. They will also be able to create a community around it. You must admit it's just awesome.
We also plan to issue a multitude of specialized multifunctional smart contracts that could change a lot of everyday things, including the established commerce sector. UMI is capable of replacing/improving the popular services of eBay, Avito, OLX and other platforms by providing users with a more secure, rapid and efficient way of making deals.
In the immediate future, we intend to design HD wallets and a universal smart contract for various trading platforms. HD wallets will allow you to easily create addresses without the private key while the smart contract will act as a guarantor in a deal freezing UMI coins until closure of the deal, among other things. With this functionality, UMI will be easily added to online stores and service delivery platforms. Smart contracts will make trading and cryptocurrency integration even more secure and convenient. Most importantly, though, it will offer innovative solutions and new possibilities for the commerce and service delivery sectors that are currently non-existent.
Our plans include the issue of a smart contract for crowdfunding (fundraising for projects) that will allow us to create an easy-to-use No Reliance system with a guarantee that no one will con anyone. It's because in this case people, in a manner of speaking, are not needed in this system — all actions are based on a smart contract with mandatory and complete adherence to all preset conditions. Notably, this crowdfunding will be quite different from the services offered by the existing platforms. Right now, people simply raise money/cryptocurrency to be invested in a project. What we offer also includes staking that will allow the project to earn even more.
In fact, staking opens up lots of opportunities in crowdfunding. For instance, staking allows us to deploy a system that will allow people to get back, let's say, 70% of coins invested in crowdfunding in case of success or even failure. There're special algorithms to this end that we will soon start to actively use in real-case scenarios.
Additionally, we and our partners from the ISP Club intend to issue crypto cards that are being developed right now. These will be traditional VISA debit cards that can store UMI. Cards will allow you to use UMI to pay in the nearest store or cash out cryptocurrency in a nearby ATM. It will work with the usual terminals and ATMs — where VISA cards are accepted, UMI will be accepted, too. You will be able to connect your card to Apple Pay and other similar services. You will be able to buy a TV, table or a loaf of bread for UMI. Anything.
In a nutshell, using UMI tomorrow will be as easy, habitual and convenient as using bank services today. But that's not the most interesting part. The key perk of UMI cards is that coins stored on your account are also used for staking. As a result, the balance on your VISA will always grow — at the rate of 40% a month. No bank has ever offered such an opportunity and is really unlikely to ever offer one.
We also plan to release various types of NFC wallets specifically for contactless payment that can be used to pay for goods with cryptocurrency in any terminal. The Faster Payments System will allow the seller to immediately receive payments in fiat money — in 15 seconds. This is maximum. Obviously, NFC wallets will also allow using coins for staking.
In a nutshell, we're actively working on various projects in order to offer people an alternative system of financial payments along with a passive increase of their balances. In general, the main cause for aversion to many blockchain projects is that they are hard to understand. In fact, users don't really see how this or that project can solve their problem. We're the game changers — we look up to things everyone is used to, but we also present them in a more refined form. UMI resolves pressing issues only, doing it as clearly and efficiently for everyone as can be.
Let us speak aside. In Finland the government has recently conducted a very interesting experiment — they introduced basic income for 2,000 randomly picked unemployed participants who received an unconditional monthly basic income of 560 euros. Just for being a citizen of this country. Unemployed participants spent their income on food and other basic needs. If an unemployed person started working, they could spend the income on traveling, big-budget purchases, etc. Anything they liked.
Even though the experiment didn't improve the situation with unemployment in Finland, its outcome was evaluated positively. "The basic income recipients were more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental strain than the control group. They also had a more positive perception of their economic welfare."
This experiment is the role model we want staking to achieve. We want people to generate new UMI coins for themselves, and use them as they see fit. We believe that this is a model of a healthy society where people can live a happy life with no fear of losing everything tomorrow. Finland has already completed the experiment. But we are starting it again and it will involve not only Finland, but the entire world. Staking allows any person to receive a kind of unconditional basic income like in Finland but unlike Finland, it will be paid in the UMI cryptocurrency. But it has a value too. ;-)
Geolocation: Where and How UMI Will First Be Developed
UMI intends to conquer the entire world. Obviously, it is impossible to do instantly. And no one needs it –– a smooth development is much more important for any product. Gradual growth and winning new audiences step-by-step will make the project more powerful and sustainable. Moreover, all these COVID-related issues distracted people from new technologies. Therefore, the immediate outreach of a large audience is not the best idea. We opted for smooth development which will allow us to get stronger before we enter new markets.
- First of all, we need to consolidate confidently our position in the CIS market. Our priority countries are Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
- $1 mln in the buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o, which supports the UMI rate, will become a signal that UMI's liquidity is high enough to enter China, Latin America, Indonesia and India. By the way, we are already preparing for this. Our official website, mobile app and all the other content have already been localized in Russian, English, Spanish (LA), and Chinese. Now all the content is localized in Indonesian. We also run UMI promoting social media in different languages. It is not a poor machine translation, translation only by professional translators. We should also mention that we have already laid the groundwork for entry into the above-mentioned countries. We won't let all the secrets out, except for the one that we've already made useful contacts and reached certain agreements with some partners.
- Next, we plan to fully localize the website and all other content in 18 different languages and start reaching other countries and continents. The next in turn are Europe, Asia, Africa, and eventually, the entire world. We would like to emphasize again that we are focused on gradual growth, this is why we are now closely working with CIS countries.
Current Tasks
Now let's put our long-term plans aside and talk about the key tasks that we are most focused on right now, at this very moment. There are three of them:
1. UMI liquidity. As you may have already heard, we don't take the funds generated from selling UMI for BTC and through the Crypto-By-Card service. Instead, we use them to create UMI buy orders on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o to support UMI's high liquidity and price. Thus, UMI is backed by bitcoins, and, as far as we know, no other world's cryptocurrency has this experience. In other words, this is a unique case when the team doesn't take the funds generated from selling the coin, but instead, they spend them on supporting the coin's price and liquidity. Now UMI's buy order book is over $800,000 (more than 55 BTC), apart from $200,000 buy orders on the P2P platform. It means you can now easily sell UMI for more than $1 mln with no fear of price drop. Our # 1 task for today is to continue to increase buy orders which ensure the coin's high liquidity and stability. Today, this is what attracts new users and makes them feel confident. A reliable coin grows faster and easily wins a new audience. Summing up, our number one priority is to fill UMI's buy order book. In the short term (within 1 to 2 months), we plan to fill UMI/BTC buy order book to $ 1 mln, in the long term –– to $10 mln.
2. Large-scale entry into the market. At the moment, the popularity of UMI is growing thanks to our partners from the ROY Club, who bring in new participants to their staking structure. But we are planning to increase the popularity growth rate. A large-scale social media PR campaign will be launched soon. You will see various articles about our cryptocurrency, news and reviews from top crypto-media and other popular resources. This will attract a new audience to our community: crypto investors, traders, crypto enthusiasts and regular people who get interested in new profitable opportunities. All this will help to increase UMI's popularity and improve its liquidity. This will obviously have a positive impact on all our partners, including the ROY club, ISP Club and SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o. In the long term we also plan to get listed to new exchanges. Although some well-known exchanges have already proposed us listing on their platforms, we refused their offers. We'd like to reiterate that we are more focused on a smooth and quality-based growth. This is why the SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o is our general partner and the trading platform where we are building up the community. As soon as UMI gets liquid enough meaning gaining muscles and foothold at the market, it will be listed on other platforms, and, consequently, on Coinmarketcap. This will protect it against deliberate pressure and price fluctuations caused by some traders who just want to make money from changes in price.
3. Organizing new staking structures. Currently, only two structures –– ROY Club and ISP Club –– generate new UMI coins. As UMI grows, various large communities, cryptocurrency pools, financial project developers, etc. will start creating their own structures and set the conditions as they like. Fortunately, the smart contract for staking offers quite flexible settings. Some organizers will offer their members generous and non-standard bonus programs, the others will use zero-fee transactions and the highest possible reward as a temptation for new members. We are now negotiating with potential creators of structures. We consider this as one of the key tasks, so we are ready to help our new partners implement their UMI-based projects in every possible way.
Technical Roadmap
As a final note, we would like to present our brief roadmap of immediate technical tasks:
1. Release a full-node desktop wallet;
2. Create detailed technical manuals and "how-to" guides containing text and video guidelines on installation, launch, setting and update of wallets and nodes.
3. Develop and implement PoS consensus;
4. Integrate HD-wallet;
5. Create libraries supporting all popular languages and platforms and use them to be easily integrated into businesses;
6. Integraty hardware wallets (Trezor, Ledger, etc.);
7. Integrate accounting systems;
8. Develop a node specifically for Windows with MS-SQL support and 1C integration;
9. Develop plastic cards and NFC-enabled terminals;
10. Create libraries for mobile devices supporting NFC payments;
11. Add side-chain service: commenting on transactions;
12. Add side-chain service: sending UMI using email address, Telegram username, nickname, etc;
13. Add side-chain service: an internal messenger with images and various features support. Telegram or Viber prototype;
14.Develop and run a developer blog containing technical articles for developers;
15. Create convenient user support service through Telegram, Slack, and Stack Overflow;
16. Implement tools for convenient collection and processing users feedback, for example, Reformal;
17. Develop new smart contracts.
This is not the final list. In view of the above, we still have a lot of technical tasks. These are only primary goals, which, however, can change and be modified depending on the circumstances.
Overall Roadmap
Let's sum up all the above. In addition to the technical roadmap, please review a list of current plans for further UMI growth:
- Increase UMI's liquidity. In the short term, we plan to fill UMI's buy order book on SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o to $ 1 mln, in the long term –– $10 mln.
- Enter the market: launch a large-scale social media PR campaign, get UMI added to new exchanges and monitors.
- Organize new structures for UMI staking and encourage healthy competition.
- Optimize the network to bring its capacity to as many as 10,000 and then 1 million transactions per second.
- Release a desktop wallet that will work as a validator node and support the network.
- Implement the PoS consensus algorithm as an additional security measure. This will keep the network running even in the event of any problems with master nodes.
- Improve the ability of sending transactions offline.
- Legalize cryptocurrency and audit the source code.
- Create new DeFi, DApps, DAO, DEX products and enter these markets.
- Popularize staking in all directions and implement it into mass products.
- Create various tokens based on the UMI blockchain, including stablecoins. Integrate convenient features allowing users to create their own tokens and smart contracts based on UMI.
- Create HD wallets and a universal smart contract for trading platforms.
- Develop a smart contract for crowdfunding and other smart contracts for employment, services, production, and logistics markets.
- Release VISA debit crypto card with full support for UMI and staking.
- Release UMI staking-supporting NFC wallets for contactless payment.
- Work on creating a powerful infrastructure that offers an alternative system of financial payments coupled with a passive growth of their balances.
- Develop new features, guides, and services: create various side-chain services, start a developer blog, implement new tools for processing feedback, integrate accounting systems, hardware wallets, etc.
- Promote UMI in the CIS countries with further entry into China, Latin America, Indonesia, India, and other countries.
UMI Won't Stop
As you can see, we have grandiose plans for the UMI project and great ambitions. And we are full of enthusiasm and determination to turn them into reality. UMI is not some small "one-day project" or a product for a small target audience with insignificant goals. We are a growing decentralized community that is determined to go big. Most importantly, we are really good at that.
Hopefully, we have shed light on UMI's future plans. There are new highs ahead of us — great accomplishments and achievements. Since the time of writing the Whitepaper, our priorities have changed. We are confident that UMI can be fully integrated into business and change most aspects of society. Employment, services, production, commerce, logistics, and all financial arrangements — all this can radically change with the emergence of UMI. These are our long-term goals to which we are getting closer with each passing day.
Thus, by degrees, we will achieve all our goals. Thank you for being with us. If you like the article, please clap for it and share it with others. It's no trouble for you but great support for us.
Sincerely yours, UMI team
Welcome to the future!
UMI's Daily Trade Turnover Exceeds $150,000: Another All-Time Record!
Dear friends, UMI cryptocurrency's popularity has been swiftly growing these days:
- The number of transactions increased to 3,500 per day;
- The total number of coins in 2 staking structures is about 8,500,000 UMI;
- The total amount of buy orders UMI/BTC has crossed a threshold of $750,000 (if including the orders on p2p platform, the liquidity has increased to $950,000).
- There's more. Today we have also witnessed UMI's trading turnover marked a new maximum.
Today, for the first time, UMI's daily trading turnover has exceeded $150,000.
Not even trading volume, but the growth dynamic looks really impressive.
- A week ago, when UMI turned 4 months old, we saw the turnover of about $100,000;
- A month ago, it was about $50,000.
In other words, in just a month (4 weeks), the trading turnover increased three-fold!
Keeping in mind the fact that UMI is currently traded only on two platforms — SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o and Crypto-By-Card, where ordinary people, not professional traders, buy cryptocurrency for staking. And where everything is transparent — no artificially created trading volume.
In fact, a turnover of more than $150,000 is a luxury that most other cryptocurrencies have never seen. UMI is only 4 months old, and it's just started to make its way in the world of cryptocurrencies.
We are sure that $150,000 a day is far from the limit. There is $200,000, $500,000, and $1 million ahead. Its high growth rate and great prospects shows it's just a matter of time. Together anything is possible!
Keeping in mind the fact that UMI is currently traded only on two platforms — SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o and Crypto-By-Card, where ordinary people, not professional traders, buy cryptocurrency for staking. And where everything is transparent — no artificially created trading volume.
In fact, a turnover of more than $150,000 is a luxury that most other cryptocurrencies have never seen. UMI is only 4 months old, and it's just started to make its way in the world of cryptocurrencies.
We are sure that $150,000 a day is far from the limit. There is $200,000, $500,000, and $1 million ahead. Its high growth rate and great prospects shows it's just a matter of time. Together anything is possible!
For information: watch the detailed trading volume in real-time here: https://umi.top/volumes
Congratulations on a new record! Sincerely yours, UMI team
Dear friends, UMI cryptocurrency's popularity has been swiftly growing these days:
- The number of transactions increased to 3,500 per day;
- The total number of coins in 2 staking structures is about 8,500,000 UMI;
- The total amount of buy orders UMI/BTC has crossed a threshold of $750,000 (if including the orders on p2p platform, the liquidity has increased to $950,000).
- There's more. Today we have also witnessed UMI's trading turnover marked a new maximum.
Today, for the first time, UMI's daily trading turnover has exceeded $150,000.
Not even trading volume, but the growth dynamic looks really impressive.
- A week ago, when UMI turned 4 months old, we saw the turnover of about $100,000;
- A month ago, it was about $50,000.
In other words, in just a month (4 weeks), the trading turnover increased three-fold!
Keeping in mind the fact that UMI is currently traded only on two platforms — SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o and Crypto-By-Card, where ordinary people, not professional traders, buy cryptocurrency for staking. And where everything is transparent — no artificially created trading volume.
In fact, a turnover of more than $150,000 is a luxury that most other cryptocurrencies have never seen. UMI is only 4 months old, and it's just started to make its way in the world of cryptocurrencies.
We are sure that $150,000 a day is far from the limit. There is $200,000, $500,000, and $1 million ahead. Its high growth rate and great prospects shows it's just a matter of time. Together anything is possible!
Keeping in mind the fact that UMI is currently traded only on two platforms — SIGE[Suspicious link removed]o and Crypto-By-Card, where ordinary people, not professional traders, buy cryptocurrency for staking. And where everything is transparent — no artificially created trading volume.
In fact, a turnover of more than $150,000 is a luxury that most other cryptocurrencies have never seen. UMI is only 4 months old, and it's just started to make its way in the world of cryptocurrencies.
We are sure that $150,000 a day is far from the limit. There is $200,000, $500,000, and $1 million ahead. Its high growth rate and great prospects shows it's just a matter of time. Together anything is possible!
For information: watch the detailed trading volume in real-time here: https://umi.top/volumes
Congratulations on a new record! Sincerely yours, UMI team
Your mnemonic phrase is never transmitted to the network
✅ If you look at other popular cryptocurrencies, they have one very unpleasant disadvantage. To create a transaction through an official node, you need to upload your private key (wallet.dat file in the case of Bitcoin) or a mnemonic phrase (as in the case of NXT or PRIZM).
✅ Thus, when using the node, the mnemonic phrase / private keys are transmitted to the network. This means, for example, in the event of some kind of attack on the network or collusion of the majority of the node holders, the private keys can be compromised. Given that the blockchain should eliminate the need to trust anyone, this fact is unacceptable.
✅ Therefore, the UMI network uses an alternative solution. To provide the highest possible level of security, the UMI node does not require a mnemonic phrase to make transactions. Moreover, in fact, the network does not imply the ability to create transactions directly through the node at all. Separate libraries / SDKs are responsible for this. By the way, the availability of these tools (libraries) in the public domain greatly simplifies the process of developing wallets and other applications based on UMI.
✅ Thus, the UMI nodes do not transmit the mnemonic phrase to the network in any form. Secret data does not leave the borders of your device and remains safe.
✅ Also, just in case, we remind you that thanks to the encryption algorithm, the mnemonic phrase that you enter when you log in to the UMI wallet cannot be calculated.
✅ If you look at other popular cryptocurrencies, they have one very unpleasant disadvantage. To create a transaction through an official node, you need to upload your private key (wallet.dat file in the case of Bitcoin) or a mnemonic phrase (as in the case of NXT or PRIZM).
✅ Thus, when using the node, the mnemonic phrase / private keys are transmitted to the network. This means, for example, in the event of some kind of attack on the network or collusion of the majority of the node holders, the private keys can be compromised. Given that the blockchain should eliminate the need to trust anyone, this fact is unacceptable.
✅ Therefore, the UMI network uses an alternative solution. To provide the highest possible level of security, the UMI node does not require a mnemonic phrase to make transactions. Moreover, in fact, the network does not imply the ability to create transactions directly through the node at all. Separate libraries / SDKs are responsible for this. By the way, the availability of these tools (libraries) in the public domain greatly simplifies the process of developing wallets and other applications based on UMI.
✅ Thus, the UMI nodes do not transmit the mnemonic phrase to the network in any form. Secret data does not leave the borders of your device and remains safe.
✅ Also, just in case, we remind you that thanks to the encryption algorithm, the mnemonic phrase that you enter when you log in to the UMI wallet cannot be calculated.
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