Introduction

With the growth and diversification of cryptocurrencies, nowadays, there are many companies dedicated to the exchange and trade of cryptocurrencies. However, most face many problems that weaken the credibility of the platform and end up failing due to the abandonment of users who avoid taking risks.

Not only do they face hacker attacks, but there are also dubious exchange platforms that are closed for reasons of illicit use of funds.

In the present article we will expose the main features of the Blockchain.io platform, which will be an opportunity for users and institutions since it is supported by Paymium, a company that has been dedicated to the exchange of crypto and fiat for many years, and that complies with European government regulations as we will see later. This gives users enough security to trust an exchange platform.

Internet of Value

Source

Just as the Internet of information makes possible the transfer of all types of information among users, the appearance of Bitcoin and blockchain technology make it possible to transfer securities without the need for an intermediary or banking institution.

Blockchain technology allowed communities to create their own cryptocurrencies values. These are digital currencies or tokens, are programmable currencies and can represent assets, goods, services, etc. The internet of value will allow users to trade with assets, services, goods in a global way with low commissions, which help keep the system running.

For 2017, ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) reached around $ 5 billion. The internet of value will allow the creation of an economic system more accessible to all people, even those that do not have a bank account.

However, the internet of value is built on different platforms or networks, completely different from each other, depending on the cryptocurrency and the consensus model they use (BTC, ETH, LTC, QTUM, BYTE). Every day there are more and more cryptocurrencies and unfortunately, the exchange between them is often impossible.

The main mission of Blockchain.io is to make possible the trading of values through all these different platforms. Thus becoming a marketplace to list a careful selection of cryptocurrencies and allow their negotiation.

Crypto Exchanges problems

A good exchange should offer good custody services, trading facility and provide sufficient information about the behavior of cryptocurrencies. In general, it must offer a reliable and safe environment, as we must remember that it is money that is being managed.

Among the most prominent problems in the world of exchange are:

Security Breaches: Constantly hackers and other malicious entities are continually trying to violate these platforms. There are many exchanges that have been victims of the attacks caused by these criminals, causing damage of more than 120,000 BTC (about $75 million).
Non-compliance: Many exchanges do not comply with the corresponding government regulations, so they end up suspending their operations and therefore, users lose control of their assets.
Opacity: Many times cryptocurrencies, not regulated by banking institutions, lend themselves to laundering money or other illicit actions; There are some exchanges that lend themselves to these actions, those whose operations and management are opaque and are generally characterized by poor customer service. Many of these platforms have been closed by governments or stop working because they are a risk to their users, who decide to stop using the service.
Outages: Many exchanges suffer from sudden service outages, without apparent reasons, which destabilizes the markets and creates mistrust in the users, for which cryptocurrencies suffer from high volatility.

Blockchain.io has the function of fixing this type of problems.

Blockchain.io

Blockchain.io is a platform based on blockchain technology, which allows the exchange of cryptocurrencies for both individuals and companies, from different blockchains without the intervention of a centralized intermediary. Blockchain.io makes use of a mechanism called 'atomic swap' to allow trading through different blockchain platforms.

Blockchain.io not only relies on Paymium's infrastructure and trading technology, which has been tested since 2013; It also takes advantage of all its experience in regulatory processes and procedures to comply with the standards of European authorities and make use of Paymium's experience in safe and reliable exchanges.

Source

As we can see, Paymium is responsible for allowing exchanges from crypto to fiat and vice versa. Blockchain.io comes to complement Paymium, to allow all people worldwide to have access to the Internet of value.

It is no accident that Blockchain.io uses Paymium, Pierre Noizat, founder and CEO of Paymium, is also founder and CEO of Blockchain.io. In 2011, Pierre created PAymium as the first European exchange that allowed exchanging fiat for Bitcoin and vice versa. It currently serves 170,000 users and complies with all European statutes. Blockchain.io will only serve to exchange cryptocurrencies, however, in conjunction with Paymium, the perfect gateway will create the Internet of value.

Main Functionalities

Blockchain.io aims to become the trusted exchange for all people globally, combining technologies that accelerate tradings, on a decentralized environment and using secure protocols that allow the communication of different blockchain platforms. The main functions promised by Blockchain.io are:

Highest Security, Reliability, and Accountability Standards

Blockchain.io will apply the highest standards of security and reliability, based on its advanced knowledge and understanding of the crypto sphere, experience acquired for many years through Paymium.

Blockchain.io is committed to complying with the standards and requirements of the European Anti-Money Laundering Banking (AML) along with the application of KYC (know-your-customer) procedures.

Blockchain.io strongly believes that cryptocurrencies will be regulated by different government agencies of each country; however, anticipating this, Blockchain.io is the first exchange that fully complies with the most relevant regulations nowadays.

Aiming for European Leadership

Taking advantage of the good reception that Paymium had in Europe, Blockchain.io is determined to take control of the cryptocurrency market in Europe. Even though Europe represents 7% of the total volume of cryptocurrency exchanges for the year 2018, there are many individuals and institutions with a great appetite for BTC, ETH, and other European ICOs. These factors are evidence of the growth of the European crypto market.

Combining a Centralized Exchange with Decentralized Settlement

Blockchain.io uses new generation technology to guard the exchange of centralized cryptocurrencies, which will ensure low latency at the time of trading. Also, Blockchain.io will use 'atomic swap' to establish transactions through blockchain platforms of different genres in a secure manner and without the intervention of a third party.

Offering Liquidity Services

Blockchain.io will offer liquidity through three aspects:

Offering assistance in campaigns of new ICOs
Listing non-ICO tokens
Allowing the 170,000 Paymium accounts to have access to the services and cryptocurrencies listed in the Blockchain.io market.

Leveraging Advanced Cryptographic Protocols

Blockchain.io takes advantage of the most outstanding research and developments in the field of blockchain to achieve the exchange between heterogeneous blockchains.

Among these new technologies are:

Atomic Swaps (AS). As mentioned above, it allows the exchange of cryptocurrencies through different blockchains.
Hashed Timelock Contract (HTLC). It ensures the AS processes, requiring a cryptographic test of the payment before the deadline is met, otherwise the operation is canceled.
Payment Channels. To perform an AS operation, it is necessary that both blockchains support payment channels. These channels allow unlimited transactions between two participants since they are not stored in the main chain or blockchain, except when opening and/or closing a channel.
Lightning Network (LN). It is a payment channel developed for the Bitcoin blockchain. What allows to create thousands of transactions per second with Bitcoins, using a second layer called Lightning network, which is responsible for allowing transactions between two users, as long as they do not exceed the initial deposit defined when creating the channel. This protocol was developed by Tadeus Dryja and Joseph Poon in 2015.
Tumblebit. This protocol was created by Ethan Heilman, Sharon Goldberg and al. in 2016; like the previous one, it defines a secure exchange between two users of different blockchain architectures, as long as they use the same Bitcoin consensus mechanism. This protocol is more used for trusts.
RSK Sidechains. It is a technology developed by the RSK laboratories, which allows using smart contract under the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing transactions between the Bitcoin blockchain and another blockchain.

Web, Mobile & Desktop

The Blockchain.io trading platform will be available in both mobile (iOS and Android) and desktop environments (Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX). Also, there will be a web version of the application.

It is important to mention that Blockchain.io makes use of tools such as Elixir and FIX for the development of its platform:

Elixir Programming language. Blockchain.io allows the development of distributed applications (DApp) through the programming language called Elixir.
FIX. The financial information exchange protocol (FIX) is an international standard designed to improve the performance of trading, offering faster transaction execution, multi-channeling, and privacy.

Business Model

Blockchain.io will generate profits through the fees generated from trade services, loans, cryptocurrency withdrawals, ICOs promotion and assistance services: marketing, financing, planning, legal statutes, token listing, etc.

BCIO Token

The BCIO Token is the native token of the platform; It is an ERC20 token. These will be kept in the exchange wallet of Blockchain.io and will be used both for the services offered by the platform and for the exchange operations.

The uses of the token will be the following:

Fees. To perform any operation within the platform (trading, transfers, listing, borrowing, etc) or use any service thereof, it is necessary to pay an amount or fee in BCIO token or another cryptocurrency. The commissions will be deducted automatically from the exchange's wallet. If there is not enough, no type of operation will be carried out.
Discounted trading. The use of BCIO tokens for the operations of the platform will ensure a discount on the commissions. Blockchain.io will establish a token discount tier system according to the total BCIO token maintained by the user. As you can see in the following image.

Source: White paper

Survey participation rights. Users who maintain BCIO tokens may contribute with new features, platform decisions, list of tokens through participation surveys. The weight and voting rights are conditioned by the number of BCIO tokens that the user has.
Loyalty & rewards. The BCIO token will be used to encourage the use of the platform, both for Paymium users and those early users. It will also be used to reward application developers.

Token Sale

You and your friends can earn a 5% bonus if they contribute more than 100 Euros in the Blockchain.io crowdsale using the following code:

emwinVWrVCzugXiWVP3z

Follow the following steps to make your contribution:

Log in to your account on ico.blockchain.io.

On your “Dashboard”, paste the referral code that has been given to you by another Blockchain.io contributor.

Contribute an amount equivalent to at least 100€.

Benefit from a 5% bonus on your total contribution. Your dashboard will be updated on a regular basis with your referral bonus.

If you want to know more about this bonus, you can do so by visiting the following link:

https://medium.com/blockchainio/token-sale-referral-program-f5f287932fd4

Conclusion

Blockchain.io has proven to be an exchange that will not only comply with European regulations but also provide the security, confidence, and speed needed to trade cryptocurrencies from different platforms. Even though it is a new platform, Blockchain.io is backed by a team of experts in the world of the crypto sphere, who have been gathering experience with the creation of Paymium since 2011.

We can be sure that not only the support of a team of professionals will ensure the success of the Blockchain.io platform, but also the confidence of the 170,000 users that are part of Paymium.

Paymium and Blockchain.io will pave the road of the Internet of value.