Coinbase Generates $1.9B in Transaction Revenue

Cryptocurrencies have yielded countless technological advancements, with fraud and identity theft prevention being just one — something that abounds when it comes to traditional banks and fiat currencies. Fraud is so prevalent in these sectors, that it’s estimated that businesses lose somewhere in the region of 5% of their total revenue to fraudsters each year, and over 16 million people annually fall victim to identity theft in the United States alone. However, these problems are almost totally eradicated by blockchain and DAG-chain technologies. With a regular bank account, the bank will hold all your personal and banking information and provides you with a card to spend and withdraw cash. So what’s the solution here? Fortunately, blockchain, DAG-chain, and other analogues almost eradicate these problems entirely. If you’re unsure as to how, consider your standard brick-and-mortar bank. The bank holds all your personal and banking data, then provides you with a method of spending your capital. All of this can be compromised through hacking, mail interception etc. With cryptocurrencies, only you, the user, has access to owned currency and personal information, none of which is disclosed when making a transaction. With external bodies cut out of the equation, the issue of fraud is almost eliminated. While this is one of the reasons many champion cryptocurrencies, a great amount of trepidation is felt by those who may have fallen prey to some commonly shared misconceptions around them. Let’s dive in. Where Perception Currently Lies It is very fair to say that over the last 10 years people have become increasingly aware of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. However, often for all the wrong reasons. Hardly a day goes by without a news story or criminal conviction regarding the use of cryptocurrencies to buy or sell illegal items on the dark web, such as the story regarding 2 businessmen who were using their own online cryptocurrency exchange business to launder the proceeds of marijuana sold on the dark web. However, these are not the only negative stories seen by the public. Go back just two years to the euphoria that was being placed around Bitcoin and its ever-increasing price and the huge amounts of money that could be made by investing. Sadly, we all know how this ended. Despite reaching a high of almost $20,000 on the 17th of December 2017, just 5 days later, the price of Bitcoin had fallen to a little over $13,000. This tumbling price generated mass panic and sales of the coin, sending the price tumbling yet further, all the way to $6000 by the start of February – just 5 weeks later. Leading ultimately to many of those new investors losing money, some, their entire life savings. And in that comes the majority of people’s views about cryptocurrencies in general - their instability. It is this instability that draws in traders - people trying to profit from the fluctuations in the prices of these coins. Large coins like Bitcoin can go up or down many hundreds of dollars each day, and smaller altcoins potentially 100’s of percent. So, what we have is a mass public who see cryptocurrencies as being used by those trying to avoid the law and by traders to make a fast buck. All leading people a long way from the original intention of these coins, to be… Money of the Future We mentioned above the increased security benefits that cryptocurrencies bring for their users, but that is not all. In one of our last posts (Helping you get a Credit History), we wrote how the poorest 2 billion people in the world are unable to open a bank account because the banks simply do not see them as profitable. Cryptocurrencies give anyone with a smartphone the chance to use them. Giving people their first alternative to cash, and a safe place to store, save and spend their money. And, in the process, create a credit history that they can use to borrow if they wish. Providing billions of people with an opportunity to improve their lives without restrictions. Because banks ultimately seek profits, this also makes them expensive to use. The cost of making a bank transfer can be anywhere from 1-5% along with a separate transaction fee. Cryptocurrency transactions cost anywhere from 0.1-1.5%, with no added fee. This means that people could save almost 5% per transaction. No small chunk of change! We mentioned earlier how fraud costs businesses 5% of their total revenues, when you add the cost savings of using crypto (another 5%), a business in a loss (perhaps on the verge of bankruptcy or layoffs) could suddenly break even or make a profit. And, for those companies already in profit, could result in better wages for employees and/or cheaper products for us – the end consumers. These reasons for using cryptos are fantastic, and there are a whole host more. To read more about the benefits of using cryptocurrencies click here. Dagcoin takes this aim of a better form of currency and makes it a reality by removing the current fears held by the public. The volatility in prices caused by trading is removed simply by not making Dagcoin available on any trading platform - making it impossible to trade the coin. In turn, by making all transactions visible on its ledger it is much harder for criminals to hide their illegal activities and profits than any other cryptocurrency. Conclusion Cryptocurrencies bring with them many great technological advancements. However, these are all too often lost due to the misconceptions created by the media. For the general public, their knowledge of cryptocurrencies revolves largely around the instability of prices, the huge gains or losses that could be made by trading or investing, and the convictions of those who are using them illegally to avoid detection when conducting criminal activities. However, cryptocurrencies: — Provide a safer and more secure place to store and spend your money than traditional methods, freeing you from the stresses and worry of fraud and theft — Cut the costs of transfers dramatically, and slice down transfer times from days (at worst) to mere seconds (when it comes to Dagchain currencies). — Allows those blockaded from building a credit history by banks the opportunity to take control of their financial lives and do just that. The list goes on, and while we could sit here all day discussing it, one thing is amply clear — cryptocurrencies are the future, and thankfully, they’re here to stay.

In today’s world, based on the way things are, keeping your personal and financial information safe when roaming the Internet is crucially important. You know that, and we know that. But the thing is, despite this being a relative no-brainer, it’s still a major stumbling block for a lot of people. The reason is likely that it doesn’t really feel that dangerous. Not everyone’s info gets compromised, and we might not even know anyone from our close social circle whose data has ever been under attack.  But then it happens. Then it turns out that it’s more frequent than it is rare.  There’s a lot of data about us, and everyone else, that’s stored on this ‘imaginary’ cloud. At the end of the day, we all want to feel secure in this bizarre new reality that’s offering so much yet keeping us on our toes at the same time.  Down below is a vivid example of the level of security cryptocurrency provides in contrast to credit card payments. Let’s dive in. A true story of safety Let’s say you’re out shopping. You’re purchasing something extraordinary and hand over your credit card to the merchant. At that moment they (the businesses) are provided with access to the full credit line (even when the amounts are small) of your card. As a process, it means that the store “pulls” the designated amount from your account, into their account. The point is that by using this method, the merchant has access to your credit card information, which also means others have access to your private information.  Enter the hero. Cryptocurrency works in a completely different way: you as an owner of digital money “push” a certain amount of coins to the merchant or recipient. No extra information whatsoever is used or needed.  Therefore, no access to the credit line is needed, and no information can be stolen. It guarantees complete privacy of your sensitive data. Your online identity is protected. Your funds are safe.  To break it down: when you use a credit or debit card to make a purchase (especially online), you provide the vendor information that third parties could theoretically steal. It happens all the time. More and more so, sadly, as technology keeps advancing.  This means if your financial information gets stolen from the vendor, your money is at risk. Be ahead of the curve. Be safe Cryptocurrency transactions are unique each time. This applies even when the parties involved are the same (let’s say you buy stuff from the same merchants over and over again). But how, you may be asking? The exchange of information means use of a “push basis” method. It means you decide upon the information you want to send to the other recipients. The traditional exchange system uses the “pull basis” method mentioned above.  If you’ve been reading our blog for a while now, you know that cryptocurrencies provide a lot of benefits: small transaction fees, fast international payments, etc. We’re delighted to say that there are more pros than cons that come with the use of cryptocurrency.  Do the maths.  Want to know more? Reach out!

Value is something marvellous we strive for in everything. Both in our personal and professional lives. When you think about it, everything is about value, efficiency, and optimization these days.  So, now, more than ever, people (including you and me) are aware of the existence of cryptocurrencies. Plus ‒ we’re all becoming even more knowledgeable about the benefits crypto is able to bring in the future, i.e., on the government level, education-wise, all-around better quality of life, etc.  But for the master plan to work, it’s absolutely vital that there be a simple solution to exchange fiat currencies into crypto, as well as the reverse. The price of this “digital money” should not, nor need be, based on supply and demand. Read about the subject of value in one of our previous blog posts about price vs valuation. Don’t dwell on the past. Look to the horizon. Back when it all kicked off, we witnessed massive fluctuations in the prices of all of the cryptocurrencies. This issue is precisely the reason that was keeping merchants away from accepting non-fiat currencies. What also happens is when crypto prices rise, folks become super active, engage in crazy promotions, and provide ridiculous promises. Then when the price falls they get scared and step on the safe side, and become extra cautious.  Fluctuation, of course, slows down, firstly, the spread, and secondly, the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, the value should depend on real measurables, not on the currently agreed-upon ones.  We believe that cryptocurrencies should be treated as money, not as financial instruments. We’re absolutely convinced that the value should be based on the users, merchants, and usability. So, if you want to be a winner, well, then start accepting dags.  The more possibilities there are for using the coins, and the more people that have and use them, the more valuable it becomes. Value adds even more value. Simple.    The magic word is usability (and time) A strong indicator for evaluating cryptocurrency is its usage – meaning the number of transactions performed using the coins. This doesn’t include transactions done on the exchanges, aka trading platforms, but ones completed in real life, for example., sending funds between people and buying items from the merchants.  However, coin usage shouldn’t be taken into account just yet, as the world has only just started to see the whole picture, trusting it, and therefore moving closer to adopting it.  Time-wise, it’ll take a few years for the coins (and using them most and foremost) to start making proper sense to the masses. - As a result, there will be, thanks to a large number of people who’ve adapted to cryptocurrencies, real stability on the market. How delightful would that be?    - Moreover, even the majority of merchants are going to accept the coins and will be able to cover their full supply chain with cryptocurrencies.  - There will be many possible financial services available for cryptos, and without the ridiculous costs which we’re all (still) experiencing today via fiat currencies. But, before all of the above will commence, we need to focus on spreading this info, and communicating to the masses the real benefits of using cryptocurrencies. We need to get people and merchants involved and continue building the ecosystem around the currency.  With this strategy, we believe dagcoin will be one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the future. The sky's the limit. So, what are you waiting for? Jump aboard, and let’s forge the future of currency, together.

As of today, around 650,000 people are now using dagcoins, and this number is continuously on the rise. But for those of you who are new to cryptocurrencies, or Dagcoin in particular, just how and where do you get dagcoins? How do you store them? And, finally, what exactly can you do with them? Let’s find out… How to Buy Dagcoin? Off the bat, let’s talk about obtaining coins in the first place. Buying dagcoins couldn’t be easier or more straightforward. All that’s really required is a quick visit to SwipeX and a short sign up process. To protect you from identity theft you’ll need to go through a quick verification process. A copy of your ID card, passport, or proof of address will be needed here, so be sure to have one of the above on hand. Once you’ve signed up, we’d highly recommend enabling 2-factor authentication. This works in a very similar way to most banks and Facebook in that it doesn’t just require a username and password, but also confirmation from your phone in order to gain access. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to your finances. With that all out of the way, there’s just one thing left to do before beginning your Dagcoin journey — buy some dagcoins. However, if you’re a very lucky individual who’s received a Dagcoin Gift Card from a friend or relative, you can simply redeem this instead. Get your Dagcoin Wallet Now that you have dagcoins, you’ll need somewhere to keep them. In the same way you need a physical wallet to store regular money, you need a digital wallet to store your dags. For that reason, you’ll need to click here to download your free Dagcoin wallet. It doesn’t matter if you use Android or iOS, PC or Mac, there’s a wallet version for you (even you, Linux users!). If the idea of a wallet stored on a physical device doesn’t work for you, then you can set up a web wallet which is accessible via any device that can access the web. Now that you either have the DagWallet app or the online web wallet, you not only have somewhere to store your dags, but the possibility to send and receive them too. Just send your dags to your wallet, and you’re all set. - You can save them with Dagcoin Grow! Dagcoin Grow works in a very similar way to a fixed bond. For those unfamiliar with a fixed term bond, you choose the timeframe you want to invest for, and you receive a guaranteed percentage as a return at the end of the period. With Dagcoin Grow you can invest your dags for 12, 24 or 36 months. The length of time you invest for and the amount you invest will dictate how many extra coins you receive at the end of your investment period. To learn more about Dagcoin Grow, click here! - Spend them at one of the 1,500 merchants who accept Dagcoin! There is nothing many of us like more than to spend our money. With Dagcoin’s Merchant Finder site it couldn’t be easier to find the best place to spend your dags. You can search to see which stores and businesses accept Dagcoin in your local area or by category, for example, groceries, clothes or restaurants. If you are looking for something, in particular, you can simply type in the search box the kind of business you are looking for. Depending on the type of business you may be able to order online, visit the business in person, or do either. At all of these businesses, you will be able to pay in seconds with your Dagcoin wallet for Dogecoin Card. To see what kind of businesses are on the Merchant Finder, click here! - Spend or earn dags at the Dagmarket or Dagitally! Dagmarket is a place where people can sell items that they no longer want or need, very similar in many ways to websites like eBay and Gumtree. However, on Dagmarket Jobs, people also can sell their services too. This is the perfect place to find web developers, copywriters, graphic designers, and other freelancers. Dagmarket is somewhere where you can buy and sell anything. But what about if you just want to buy or sell something that’s digital? Say a piece of software, digital artwork, or presentation template? That’s where Dagitally comes in, and it works just the same as Dagmarket! - Call anyone at any time with Dagtelecom! Dagtelecom is an app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets that allows users to make and receive calls and SMS messages, and pay for these using their dags. Dagtelecom users can call each other free of charge too. - Bet high or low with TwiceDice! TwiceDice is an online casino and betting platform that features hundreds of different games, from casino games, to slots, to esports, you name it, it’s there. TwiceDice utilising a specialised token known as Dagchip, which can be converted from dagcoins via SwipeX. It’s safe to say this is the way to make some serious extra coins for those of you that are bold enough.  All the options above are just the tip of the iceberg of what it is possible to do with your dags. A quick scroll through our blog will show you a whole stream of different options, along with many that are in development and are due for release in the near future, so watch this space! Conclusion Buying dagcoins and getting started couldn’t be easier. All you have to do is create an account with SwipeX and buy your dagcoins. Once you have your dags you will need somewhere to store them. Simply download the DagWallet app to your phone, tablet or computer and you are ready to go.  The question now is what are you going to do with your dags? You could invest them into Dagcoin Grow, and in 12, 24 or 36 months see a fixed return on your investment. You could also go to the merchant finder and search for businesses in your local area or beyond where you would like to spend your dags. In turn, you could also go to the Dagmarket and see what second hand or unwanted items you might want to buy. There are many other things that you can do with your dagcoins that we did not have time to mention here, and many more that are in the final stages of development such as Dagtelecom, Dagcoin Games, and the online content portal Dagitally. Whether you are looking to send money cheaply and quickly around the world, take your business to the next level, or a viable alternative to cash and fiat currencies, the Dagcoin ecosystem is the place for you. Join the growing community utilising the currency of the future, today.

In order to achieve a more accessible currency globally, the cryptocurrency sector needs a serious change of direction. It is right and natural for each country to have its own currency based on crypto technology and transparent solutions. Currencies and money that aren’t nationally issued, can exist alongside cryptos. These can be “people’s money” that is based on community and people’s trust.  These alternative currencies, i.e. cryptocurrencies, however, will not be anonymous Wild West-type payment methods. They have to be transparent, providing assurance to the country that its people cannot use these monies for participating in or supporting criminal activities, avoiding taxes and hiding assets. Individuals’ transactions, as well as governments’ transactions using national cryptocurrency, need to be transparent. In this way, we can move towards a society in which we can talk about having trust in government and monetary policies, as the technology behind cryptocurrency can offer the necessary transparency. Today, even legendary Estonian banking and finance experts have publicly admitted that if sooner or later, an alternative to money will be found and a cryptocurrency with the right goals will be taken into use, then it’s better to be the one to take the bull by the horns. Estonia has the capability to take the initiative as the interest in developing different versions of cryptocurrency in a digital country like Estonia is enormous. What might be the solution? Dagcoin’s community is mainly in developing countries where the need for cryptocurrency is greater. We’ve been guided by the principle of smaller amounts of crypto to larger numbers of people, in order to avoid the accumulation of capital to only a few individuals. To avoid price fluctuations caused by a volatile market, we’ve also created a new way of pricing cryptocurrency. The price is based on fundamental values, which are the number of users and the number of vendors. The more or fewer there are users and vendors, the higher or lower the value of Dagcoin. As a result, the currency will have a more transparent value and users and vendors needn’t worry about the price fluctuating from hour to hour, day to day or week to week.  Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Dagcoin is not after anonymity. This is best shown by the analytics we’re currently developing, which will, in the future, provide regulatory bodies the opportunity to check that the currency is not being used for unlawful transactions. At the moment, the cryptocurrency world is like traffic without traffic lights and traffic signs. Dagcoin wishes to change this, but still maintain people’s right for making transactions freely and comfortably.  In order to achieve this, Dagcoin is using directed acyclic graph technology (DAG). The operating principle of DAG-chains differs from blockchains, as validating transactions doesn’t require expensive mining, instead each new transaction helps validate previous transactions. Thanks to our technology, Dagcoin is faster, has inexpensive (almost non-existent) transaction fees, and is more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin. Thanks to affordable transaction fees and accessibility, Dagcoin is going to make digital currency and banking available to nearly 2 billion people, who have, so far, not had these opportunities. Dagcoin has the largest number of users in developing countries like India, Indonesia and Columbia. Today, we’re already changing the way in which these countries’ communities trade with the rest of the world and how they sell their products and services. For example, it is now also possible for an Estonian to buy Columbian design services using dagcoins. A Columbian design company can then use those same dagcoins to pay their employees, who can go on to use dagcoins to buy food from the local café or shop. The food vendors can, in turn, buy produce like meat and cheese from local farmers using dagcoins. Farmers can then pay their employees in dagcoins. Building similar payment chains, we’re changing the economic system of the world. It is undeniable that the cryptocurrency market still needs a lot of work to achieve the goal for which the currency was initially created – usability. It is important for people to notice the problem and not see cryptocurrency as just a financial instrument.

More and more often, the opinion is heard that cryptocurrency will start to replace our current fiat money (i.e. legal tender backed by a central government) because all transactions, including international ones, will be faster and more affordable than what the current banking system can enable. It is not possible to “print” more cryptocurrency and people have full control of their transactions.  While people living in Europe, for example, find making bank transfers and instant payments in a matter of seconds over smartphones to be commonplace, there are about 2 billion people in the world who have no access to banking at all, which means they also have no access to digital currencies. They have no credit score to show financial institutions, telecommunications or even insurance companies their creditworthiness. Therefore, if they wanted to apply for a loan to advance their life or business, financial institutions would not be able to provide it. They can buy and sell products or services only on the limited local market for cash, leaving them without access to greater product choices or a larger client base.  The way cryptocurrencies are designed, gives these people access to digital currency, as anyone with access to the internet can create their own cryptocurrency wallet and then make transactions. Access to the internet varies regionally but it is only a matter of time until it spreads everywhere in, for example, Africa. However, as infrastructure and general societal preparedness is simply not quite ready for cryptocurrencies to be taken into daily use, the internet still has time to spread wider. Bitcoin is often thought of as digital gold. While not its primary goal, Bitcoin has set a course for the financial world and future digital currencies. Of course, today, ten years later, there are better and faster solutions and a different financial model available for this. Bitcoin will likely never be this kind of “people’s money” to help those 2 billion we mentioned earlier, but at best, it could become “people’s gold”. There is no cryptocurrency today that is truly and widely usable and proper competition for our everyday currency. Depending on the cryptocurrency, you might be able to purchase products and services here and there, but more often than not, this process goes through a third party, i.e. a platform that converts the cryptocurrency from the client into fiat money, like the Euro, that the provider then receives into their account. This service tends to carry huge fees or use terrible conversion rates. Cryptocurrency should properly be used without a conversion process. The vendor should accept cryptocurrency and use it to pay their supplier. Today, we’re at a point where this is implausible for many, as price volatility has made vendors very cautious. Merchants don’t want to accept money whose price fluctuates day-to-day.

Max Vorovski (32) is probably one of the most undervalued athletes in Estonia. He began practising martial arts at the age of eight but has had to put up with poor financial support and a series of unfortunate events throughout his career. Nonetheless, he has managed to create a name for himself in the world of kickboxing, and over the past few years, Dagcoin has continued to have his back. In his own words, his teenage life wasn’t easy. “I got easily irritated and I couldn’t control my emotions, nor my reactions. I had the tendency to get violent once provoked, and of course, I followed the steps of my older friends, even when it would have been wiser not to. Therefore I sometimes find it difficult to express the gratitude I owe to kickboxing. So many of my beliefs are based on what I learned through this sport, mainly, of course, self-discipline and respect for others.” Max is the polar opposite of the image that comes along with his choice of career and sport. Instead of a murmurous, harsh-handed, and unpredictable martial arts professional, he’s a restrained, humble and utterly down to earth man sitting across the table. All this despite (or thanks to) a rather difficult emotional and professional path. Every professional kickboxer in the world probably dreams of making it to the kickboxing elite league, Glory. Max was close to getting a contract signed twice, but life had other plans for him. Before getting a chance to take part in Glory, things took a tragic turn as Ramon Dekkers, the kickboxing legend, trainer, and friend, suddenly passed away in 2013. Max had been living in Breda, Holland for three years and training under Dekkers when the tragic event occurred. The incident had such a severe emotional impact on Max that he returned home to Estonia and decided to turn down the offer from Glory. The second time Glory offered Max a chance to compete, he was struck with unfortunate health problems. After the first unsuccessful attempt to make it big, Max decided to start training and competing on his own. Instead of a professional team, he had friends and family accompanying him to competitions. He managed to win six consecutive matches against ruling world champions. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by Glory, who for the second time offered Max a chance to compete. On the day of the fight, Max woke up with a 39-degree fever and tonsillitis. Only through pure willpower he managed to force himself to the ring but lost the fight to Yassine Ahaggan 1:4. “Kickboxing has taught me that self-pity doesn’t create value in your life. Being unhappy and not doing anything about it doesn’t take you anywhere. You have to collect what’s left of you and force yourself through hardships. What needs to be remembered is what got me to where I am, and to have a clear vision of what’s next and how to get there. This doesn’t only apply to sports but to life in general,” states Max, on why he has never surrendered to any sort of pain in his life. One thing Max always does after a fight is thanking the opponent: “A dignified winner knows what his opponent will have to go through after the match. To see your wife or mother in tears because of the injuries or for your child not to recognize you, how you handle that and still find the strength to return to the ring is what shapes a real winner.” That is why Max finds the bashing culture very problematic. In his eyes trash talk should not be tolerated by the sports community, as for him, kickboxing is first and foremost about respect and discipline, not about showing off and clout. In his opinion success doesn’t come from the perfect routine and fast reactions, but rather from a smart strategy and mental balance. “My aim is never to seriously hurt or cause permanent health damage to another. In my training, I never let pupils who do not have professional ambitions fight against each other. Also, I no longer react physically to a provocation because I know what this might cause. As an athlete, your aim can never be to deliberately hurt someone. The person you are actually facing in the ring is yourself. It all starts and ends with one person and that’s you. How you leave the ring, whatever the result, will determine who you are as a person and what is it you still need to work on yourself,” says Max. This is why Max also finds it extremely important to talk about bullying at schools. In his eyes, the perfect people to touch these topics are athletes like himself. “You have to bring the bully to the ring so they’d know what it means to get hurt. And the ones being bullied, need to learn how to protect themselves.” This, however, is only one way to approach the problem of bullying. In reality, it’s a multi-faceted situation where the bullies normally come from difficult families, or the issue is rooted in something deeper. Practice, however, can offer a support system to a child. Students need to be disciplined, but not only that, they also need a friend who’ll listen and be there to give advice. “I was lucky enough to have trainers who grew to be my confidants and through that, I found purpose in life,” says Max on the importance of dedicated trainers. This makes it all the more surprising that Max has come to a decision to quit kickboxing and turn to classical boxing. “I have been a professional kickboxer for 17 years and I feel it’s time for a change,” he says, adding that today he has grown even more fond of boxing. “Traditional boxing requires cleverness. If in MMA and kickboxing you’ll have an advantage based on pure physical strength, then in boxing you need to have a very thorough strategy. You can not win only by hitting someone.” Also, the fact that boxing offers more opportunities and higher competition funds. Classical boxing is an Olympic sport and has a different kind of audience. “Boxing tends to be loved by a more colourful and mature audience. While in MMA it’s acceptable to hit your opponent who is already lying on the ground, in boxing this is prohibited. So there’s less violence and more sport,” says Max on why he came to the decision to quit kickboxing after 17 harsh, but successful, years. Today, more than ever, he feels that certain sports have lost the essence of respect for the opponent as for sport in general. Instead, we see a parade of big but vulnerable egos playing a dangerous game. This might be one of the reasons why very often, martial arts are seen as a violent sport. However, the violent seeming blows and kicks are mainly polished techniques and decisions which have to be made within a fraction of a second which will then determine the further course of the match. Max, however, believes that people who are happy and satisfied with their lives should not think about going professional at all. “Within these sports you need willpower. Not only in the ring but in life in general - willpower to live. This willpower comes mostly from hardships. Kickboxing gives you the opportunity to use this power consciously and purposefully. Not on the streets.” Over the last 10 years, the popularity of kickboxing has consistently been growing in Estonia. There are world-class fighters such as the sibling duo Mosairs, Kevin Renno, Edvin-Erik Kibus, Andra Aho, and others. Despite all this, financing is still poor and there’s a lack of professional trainers, managers, teams et al. Max says, on one hand, this is caused by the poor reputation and on the other hand the lack of work within the community itself. “Firstly, kickboxing is not an Olympic sport. Secondly, we as athletes need to show the public that we’re not animals. If you cannot control your emotions like a professional, you’ll never be successful. Of course, sometimes the emotions get the best of you, but what you should learn in practice is to not pay attention to them.” Max says that if this kind of level in kickboxing has been reached within the current conditions then it can only get better from here. That’s why he is thankful that Dagcoin has been supporting his journey for the last few years and believing in his mission. In addition to changing his path in sports, together with Dagcoin his dream of a sports school will come true. “I want to become a trainer. I have dedicated my whole life to kickboxing and now I want to pass this knowledge on.” Max is a father to a five-year-old daughter, who, for the sake of her parents, has chosen dancing over kickboxing. “I’m not familiar with any professional kickboxer who’d want their children to choose the same path and go professional,” he laughs. He’s happy that his daughter is into dancing but if she decides to start (kick)boxing, she’ll have the full support of her father. In Max’s words, sport is akin to meditation which forces you to live in the moment, 100%. Understandably you need to take good care of your health but if you love what you do and strongly believe in achieving anything you want, you’ll push through whatever obstacle lies on your way and in the end, leave the ring of life as a champ.

Alvar Johannes Alev is a 27-year-old Estonian cross-country skier whose results have been adversely affected by the poor winters at home, a lack of supporters, and the scandals that have torn through Estonian skiing circles in the past few years, making a career in skiing an even more difficult undertaking. However, Alev has a brighter outlook towards the future, as he has secured two training seasons with the Norwegian ski club, Heming. For nearly half a year now, Alev has been training with Heming, one of the best ski clubs in Norway and as a part of Team OBOS Norway. The skier knew that if he wanted to accomplish anything in the field he loves, he’d have to look further afield from Estonia. That’s how he ended up choosing between four Norwegian ski clubs and finally picking Heming. “Norway is the best skiing country in the world, so who better to learn from than the best? Secondly, the conditions here are great with regards to weather and there are still things to learn from Norwegians about technique,” says the young skier, optimistic about the future. Taking into account what has happened in the Estonian skiing field in the past years, both formal and private financial support for skiers has practically dried up. Thus, Alev has had to deal with his career on his own. Looking for training and competing opportunities, financial support and everything else that goes with this profession. Inevitably, this will have an effect on skiing results and as it is, his results have remained below his true potential. Because the athlete gets to focus mainly on the sport itself while training in Norway (the club is responsible for administrative tasks) Alev is hopeful, “Thanks to coming to Norway, I can at last focus almost only on the sport itself and I hope that with the support I have behind me, I can show some results in the 2021 WC and the 2022 Olympics.” Dagcoin and Alev crossed paths or, more appropriately, skis, in the spring of 2020, when Nils Grossberg, the owner of the company, saw that despite the poor state of Estonian skiing, Alvar Johannes hadn’t let his wish to ski and dream of making it to the Olympics fade. Therefore, it was decided to support the determined athlete for the following two seasons, without which, the skier admits, he’d only have been able to participate in the preseason training. Alev is really making the most of this sponsorship, with training hours clocking in at nearly a hundred a month and competitions every weekend. “I’m not complaining, but living in the moment and being happy that I still get to ski today,” says Alev, currently a student of Physical Education and Sport at the University of Tartu, who has also previously studied and skied in the USA. “In light of the current situation, I can see an opportunity to rebuild the skiing field in Estonia. Of course, athletes themselves will have to show good results but they still can’t do it alone. If, in addition to the physical and mental preparations, you have to take care of the administrative tasks, then inevitably, in a field where every hundredth of a second counts, your results suffer,” Alev says, explaining why support for athletes is so important. On our part, we wish Alvar Johannes success in and determination for the upcoming and following seasons and we hope that the best in Estonian skiing is yet to come!  Alvar Johannes Alev is an Estonian champion in both the 15 km freestyle and the 15 km + 15 km skiathlon. Additionally, he has placed 2nd in the 20 km mass start freestyle of the esteemed North-American students’ NCAA Championships. He has won the Balkan and Slavic Cups in, respectively, 10 km and 15 km Classical, and 10 km freestyle events. His results also include an 11th place in the Scandinavian Cup classical-style sprint and a 20th place in the FIS Junior World Ski Championships 10 km freestyle event in Liberec. He has been a member of different Estonian teams since 2012. He has taken part in the Lahti WC and represented Estonia on several occasions in both the Junior and U23 Championships.

Cryptocurrency is the better, simpler, and inexpensive version of our regular everyday currency, which is mainly used for interpersonal transactions. Most people have, unfortunately, misunderstood the idea behind cryptocurrency. It is often thought to be similar to stocks and only meant for trading on the stock exchange – buy cheap and sell for profit. According to Kris Ress, the strategist and visionary behind the Estonian cryptocurrency Dagcoin, “(...)if we don’t change this attitude and continue to ignore the significant benefits of alternative currencies, then the future of cryptocurrency will become uncertain.” In September 2019,  a short and snappy news title announced: “Bitcoin Chaos Continues”. The contents were ominous – “Cryptocurrency values have collapsed this week and bitcoin has lost nearly a fifth of its value. Bitcoin currently costs 7,346 Euros. As recently as on Monday, the cryptocurrency was valued at over 9,000 Euros.” If you weren’t familiar with the background, you’d think that it was indeed an awful story. Someone will have lost a lot of money. Sadly, this is just another news story that adds to an already distorted picture of cryptocurrency as something to be traded. How has this image developed? We’ve all heard incredible stories in the media of people becoming millionaires almost overnight by investing in the right cryptocurrency at the right time, or the kinds of price changes this or that crypto has undergone. A large part of mainstream media focuses primarily on price changes and money-making. We’re also told that institutional investors, consisting of investment funds, venture capital funds, pension funds, insurance companies and commercial banks, are just about ready to enter into the crypto market, explaining that when this happens, cryptocurrency will become real money, causing a huge buying craze and a price increase. They paint a hopeful picture to get more and more people to start buying crypto right away so that when institutions do finally enter the market, their investment values will be increased. In reality, it isn’t known if, when and in what direction institutions will enter the crypto market as it will be influenced by future regulations and global developments. However, if these investments are made and funds buy up large amounts of coins, the division of crypto assets will change from what has already been criticised as a very concentrated distribution, where large amounts of assets or coins are held by a small number of people, to even more condensed distribution. As a result, the danger of volatile crypto prices will increase even more, as holders of large amounts of coins can flood the market, causing a great rise in offer and decrease in price, which in turn can cause serious financial losses to many people. Ideologically speaking, the holders of one cryptocurrency should be quite dispersed and hold small sums to guarantee stability and wide distribution. However, as cryptos are currently seen as investment options, everyone looks for opportunities to increase the value of their investment portfolio. There’s no room here for wide distribution and use. In addition to the media, training courses and crypto chat groups are very one-directional: how to trade better with crypto? When to buy and when to sell? Which project to invest in? How to read graphs and patterns? What news to follow and what not to take seriously? On the other hand, groups and courses that talk of long-term holdings, the true uses of projects or cryptocurrencies and real value creation, are like the proverbial needle in a haystack. The future of cryptocurrencies is uncertain if things go on like they have, with the mainstream media and instructors talking of crypto as a financial instrument.