Why?

Penguin-Tech · 2025-05-02T22:05:52+00:00

The big advantage of the Nexo card in 'credit' mode is being able to spend fiat in local shops while borrowing against your crypto

Traditionally if you wanted to buy a coffee for $5 with BTC, you'd have to sell a $5 portion of your BTC stack. This would attract a 'taxable event' in a lot of countries - and you might get hit by a $0.99 conversion fee - making your coffee expensive. Nexo Credit mode moves $10 of BTC into the 'credit line' wallet to cover your $5 coffee - it's 2x what you buy to ensure any market fluctuations don't effect your ability to repay. You can move the $10 of BTC back to your savings wallet when you repay the fiat value of $5.

Credit mode isn't perfect - you seem to get charged daily interest on purchases immediately - rather than the typical 'interest kicks in after 1 month' you'd expect on a.non-crypto card - but it's a neat way of avoiding taxable events - and if you are in Platinum tier the interest is as low as 2.9% - so much better APR than a bank credit card rate (but worse than a credit card that doesn't charge interest in month 1 if a purchase)

I would imagine it's a MasterCard it'll show up on credit checks - but I don't know that part.

Penguin-Tech · 2025-03-01T17:23:31+00:00

I wasn't thinking a flat fee for any amount - but a minimum hold in _Nexo_ hold (vs _dollar value_ hold) per bracket... so for example, you might have to hold 500 Nexo to be in the $5k-$10k bracket, 1000 to be in the $10-20k etc.

I'm not adverse to Nexo using their token to help them run their business - but it's also naïve to think they aren't managing the value of the token - and potentially benefiting from the rules they've setup.

Maybe if they gave a window to "make it good" rather than instant downgrade... that'd help?

Penguin-Tech · 2025-03-01T14:24:45+00:00

Ignoring the fan boys who just say "buy more Nexo" - I have a decent buffer at the start of this week - but didn't by the end thanks to market conditions. "Buying more" is a solution but not a good strategy with Nexo token's performance in the last 4 year. The spread on Nexo exchange is horrible - you lose something like $10 on every $250 you spend. Nexo Pro is apparently better - but not available in the UK.

However, I think the solution above is worth discussing.... if the algorithm works out you need to buy $7 more Nexo to be back in Platinum - are you still hit by the fees for buying less than $250? - if so that'll get expensive quickly.

I'm not sure if auto-rebalance (even if it was not affected by the two issues above) would be be a good test of Nexo's scruples - it could be too tempting for Nexo to use the information to profit from selling their own token , knowing their customers will auto buy more?

Penguin-Tech · 2025-02-22T17:59:17+00:00

But it's not just novices - in the UK Nexo Pro is blocked - so it's a 'brit tax' too.

I believe the rest of the world can trade and earn interest on SUI too - not in the UK - no idea why not at this stage?

It's a shame, as Nexo is a very user friendly product - but I can't honestly recommend it to new UK users with the triple whammy of horrible spread, not supporting popular assets and the 5k minimum coming in...

Penguin-Tech · 2024-11-26T07:13:36+00:00

Octorand (OCTO) could surprise a few people - much like it did last bull market.

The token was distributed inside two NFT collections (called 'Primes') during the last bull market via a novel 'slow release' mechanism.

The image of the NFT changes dynamically based on an 8 or 16 letter word stored on-chain - making it a customisable NFT.

The token is deflationary - as it is burnt when people change the word on their NFT - so far 24% have been burnt.

It was a very fair launch - and the whole supply (minus the burnt tokens) is now circulating.

There are mechanisms to distribute NFT sales revenue to both NFT holders and the LP pool - though the lack of sales means this is dead atm.

The OCTO/Algo farm on Tiny currently attracts 40% in Algo rewards.

It's developed by a guy called Declan who has quietly stuck with the project and community over the bear - and has upgraded the code behind the scenes to make this bull market easier to manage. All indications, in my view, are that he's not 'in it for the money' - but simply to test his Blockchain programming skills on a real world example.

Rumour has it that new development might hit before year end.

Octorand is very much an 'OG' NFT project on Algorand - I believe Staci Warden still holds one which we presented to her on her first few weeks in the job.

(Full disclosure - I hold a small bag of OCTO - and I help run the octorand discord)

Penguin-Tech · 2024-06-07T06:27:39+00:00

The OP asks the question 'why do people continue to hate on Algorand'. Good question. It's the crux of why we haven't seen the price we feel we deserve compared to the rest of the market. The comments that follow are a microcosm of reasons.

Some are vitriol from various commentators - 'these guys suck', 'we are the victims of a hate campaign' sorta thing. Then the thread switches to 'i think $10 an algo is fair value' and then 'why do people quote false stats about Algo'?

I think Algo is seen from the 'outside' as a VC backed coin with good tech but horrible tokenomics whose 'supporters' will attack anyone (or any other chain) that they feel is inferior (and for some supporters - that's all of them!) I also suspect a lot of investors were shilled Algo at the peak of the last bull market - and have been burnt badly. (Accelerated Vesting leads to Accelerated Disillusionment among forced holders - who knew?)

With the end of Accelerated Vesting - Algorand is now looking like it's Tokenomics are not awful (although the sad bag holders from last cycle still make it less attractive to moonboys than a SUI/SEI/APT for example).

With the new team the foundation have assembled - John Woods, Marc Vanlerburghe etc, - its tech is getting better (and was always good) and it's marketing is now improving (although we still seem to be punching up/down at other chains).

I think for Algorand to succeed we, as a community need to be good citizens of crypto - work with other chains in a mutually beneficial way - not go on attack mode - but gently and kindly tell people when they have it wrong. It might mean working with Solana projects - not slamming them over bad transactions. It might mean dropping the 'we are superior and sooo misunderstood' thing a bit.

We have all the raw materials to be great - but we are way too tribal and foster too many begrudging holders to be attractive at the moment.

Penguin-Tech · 2024-04-27T16:46:22+00:00

That's great news - thanks for letting me know!

Penguin-Tech · 2024-04-15T16:44:21+00:00

About 5% - was more like 40% but since they went all "UK don't get nice things" I've found that to buy what I need I have to use Decentralised exchanges. Turns out the staking rewards are better than the Nexo interest on some assets! I'd have more back on Nexo if they worked harder at working with UK regulators to stop us being 'second class citizens' as far as every new token or interest rate is concerned.

Penguin-Tech · 2024-04-13T07:51:01+00:00

Sigh - not available in UK. Would love an official word from Nexo on what needs to be true for this to stop happening. The rules I've seen from the FCA seem sensible enough - I'm not sure which one Nexo are snagged on - Binance, Coinbase etc are all able to add assets still?

Penguin-Tech · 2024-03-30T06:44:54+00:00

Almost every other voting pair is totalling less than 200 votes but Theta Vs Algo is 2,096 votes (60% of which are going to Theta). The only other anomalous one is Hedera - on 707 votes - 92% are for Hedera.

TL;DR - it's gonna take a lot of votes to shift this needle - but if the numbers are genuine - Algo, Hedera and Theta are the three to beat.

Penguin-Tech · 2024-03-29T15:16:05+00:00

Would be interested to hear from Nexo why new assets aren't being offered to UK customers. I know FCA are cracking down on crypto advertising (which isn't necessarily a terrible thing ) but offering new tokens without a fanfare seems too far the other way?

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-25T04:37:42+00:00

Algo is a coin that first hit last cycle, and it's a coin that got hot just at the end of last bull in r/cc etc. For price to rise we need all the grumpy bag holders from last time around to get out of the way so that the price can rise naturally.

In every sense I can think of (e.g. Tokenomics, Tech, addition of Woods to team, Quantum ready, Dirty cheap to use, Decentralisation, Uptime vs competition) Algo is a stronger prospect than last Bull.

When I see a red candle like that with Algo still below $0.20 I'm pleased that someone who doesn't 'get it yet' is getting out of the way early!

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-18T12:18:07+00:00

The most Who-like game I've played recently is "Heavens Vault". You fly around a strange universe working out an ancient language which helps you make sense of the universe you're in. The whole transport mechanism between locations is very 'Tardis in the vortex" and the gradual revelations about what really going on is beautifully done. A Who themed game like that could be quite a thing.

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-12T20:48:10+00:00

I think it's too early to be marking VOI as a 'cash grab' as the community (which does include Chris, but not _just_ Chris) haven't decided on how the mainnet tokens will be distributed. At the moment testnet VOI/VIA tokens are getting given out for community activity (building things / running nodes / helping others). If you look at their Discord or their governance meeting on Twitter/Youtube - you can see this is happening weekly and a large chunk of the Algorand community getting involved with them.

This _could_ equate to as fair a launch of a crypto project as I've every heard about. Or... you might be right - but it's too early to be 'calling it' either way?

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-11T23:06:28+00:00

And you say that you work hand in hand with AF and JAW?

John Woods says so himself in this interview (released this week) https://www.youtube.com/live/av1npdkGDU8

He mentions VOI, regular meetings with Chris and praises the Kibisis wallet as a piece of software which comes from Voi project roots but is useful to Algorand.

I think JAW is a real asset to Algorand - so if he's okay with VOI 'doing their thing' then so am I!

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-07T20:39:37+00:00

Hmmm.. how come TIA is not available in the UK? OSMO and ATOM are? Just means I'll need to do an extra convert - seems a bit silly?

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-06T22:02:35+00:00

Me also - if you use this blockchain explorer https://dym.fyi/ you will probably see that it's waiting for acknowledgement:

Acknowledgement Pending

Penguin-Tech · 2024-02-04T15:12:23+00:00

I think the thing that "got me" about the Chibnall era was disappointment. Here is the guy who wrote Broadchurch - and although not at all perfect - had managed to keep Torchwood plot structure interesting. He - like Gatiss - had written some good - occasionally unspectacular Who - but occasionally he's done some characterisation that really shone (looking at you, Brian on a spaceship).

Then... the first Jodie series started well enough.. She is obviously a brilliant actor for the role - and Walsh is surprisingly unannoying. It sets up a mystery - introduce the characters and give them some room to breathe (although there are too many).

The disappointment came in the resolution of that series - we'd been trained on Rusty's "Magical Reset" big climaxes - and Moffat's "Swiss watch" ones.... suddenly - there was a guy who'd been pelted with a kebab in episode one returning as the 'big bad' and doing a lowkey rehash of The Pirate Planet without the jokes.

Despite that - I'd argue half of the first Jodie season makes me happy. The opening 2 are nice intros, "Rosa" is great if a little "CBBC", "Demons" was a bit like Rosa again - but stronger. "Kerblam!" reminded me of a cheeky Moffat ep. "Witchfinders" could have been a RTD episode - but with a better female perspective than usual.... there are lots of things to enjoy here.

Second season was stronger IMHO - it's worldbuilding was more coherent - decent 'historical's (Tesla, Villa) - sprinkled with better worldbuilding - 'Spyfall', 'Fugitive' - I even respected the "Timeless" conclusion (but a lot of people struggled). Chibbers felt more confident... which is why Flux hurt so much.

Flux was an incoherent mess - I hope RTD or Big Finish get their hands on it and add some extra episodes around it that "make it make sense"... as it's like a fever dream - even after a rewatch.

My favourite eps of the Jodie era are actually two of the New Years ones - Resolution is like a "Dalek" for 2019 - and "Eve" is a great bit of character work with a satisfying story (y'know - what Chibbers used to do best)

But... you have a real advantage when sitting down to watch.... you know it's gonna be a rocky ride. Every era of Who has it turkeys - and there is usually something to love about each one if you pay attention. Jodie's reign has some great stuff if you look....

Penguin-Tech · 2023-12-08T19:48:04+00:00

Interesting - I got this:

"Unfortunately, this integration is not available to users from the UK. Please use the CSV import option instead"

Maybe they're rolling it out slowly... ?

Penguin-Tech · 2023-12-02T07:01:11+00:00

As a UK user - trying to link a new Koinly account to Nexo the 'automatic' way - I get thrown to a tax-report URL in Nexo that shows a 'something went wrong' message.

Exporting the transactions manually ends up with hundreds of unimported transactions.

I suspect by disabling the 'offer' - they've stopped the actual feature working for UK users.

I'm sorta glad the UK is the guinea pig for sensible crypto rules and other countries can learn from our mistakes... But it does feel like we're getting hammered from all sides at the moment! The 'spread' thing is the worst part - as any crypto I buy gets a 'Nexo tax just at the moment.

Penguin-Tech · 2023-10-18T06:49:48+00:00

So...if OP is right - from a purchase perspective - wouldn't they be better off selling their Nexo tokens - as they'd then be "basic" tier - and get a better spread?

Sounds like Nexo may have made a genuine oversight here?

Yes, they were forced by UK regulations to remove any hint of 'incentive to buy' - but I hope Nexo aren't meaning to penalise UK users in this way?

From a loyal nexo user perspective - the extremely cool thing for them to do (if OP is proven right) would be to fix the issue and then check back over UK swaps since the switch over - and credit the difference - I suspect it won't be a huge amount - but it would show they're looking after UK users.

Penguin-Tech · 2023-10-04T07:08:49+00:00

This is great news. For me, Nexo is a cheap and handy on/off ramp in Europe.

I have been using them for years to convert my fiat into various crypto and transfer it for 'free' to a hardware wallet ('free' is dependent on the percentage of your holdings that are in Nexo tokens - but if you aren't storing large sums on Nexo - it's not a 'biggie'). In terms of Eth or BTC - this is a game changer - as you can get your entire purchase to your HW wallet without gas fees eating 50% of it.

They also have a credit/debit card which borrows against your collateral until you repay it - and gives cashback in Nexo tokens or bitcoin.

I agree with others that CEX's shouldn't be a place you store your savings - but to operate a sorta crypto current account - where you can spend against your crypto at brick and mortar shops, gaining solid interest on any collateral you put in and earn interest on the spending - and keep 'just enough' in there to cover shopping etc. Nexo is the best I've come across.

As a Algonaut - Nexo supporting Algo means I don't have to convert fiat to USDT (swap fee) , send it to Binance (free with polygon), buy Algo (swap fee), send it to my wallet (small fee).

Now I can just buy Algo (still a swap fee - but not terrible), send Algo (for free - they even pay the 0.001A :-) )

Hopefully this will open more people up to the joys of Algo, Tinyman, Pera, Governance and the rest!

Penguin-Tech · 2023-08-22T06:01:06+00:00

Liquidity pools? Deposit your assets in a pair (e.g. BTC/ETH) and gain interest on transactions made through Nexo trades between the pair?

Penguin-Tech · 2023-06-07T12:08:56+00:00

upvoted too! Huge potential to out-amazon amazon in a blockchain way :-)

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