CoinBene Review 2020

A trading cryptocurrency guide must provide reviews of all of the top crypto exchanges out there, so that you can find the best cryptocurrency exchange site for you. This review of CoinBene consists of four parts: general information, fees, deposit methods and security.

General Information

CoinBene is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore. Singapore is one of Asia’s biggest birth givers to cryptocurrency exchanges. CoinBene, however, is one of the world’s leading trustworthy crypto assets platforms with users coming from more than 200 countries worldwide.

This exchange also has a mobile application. You can download it for free on AppStore or Google Play.

US-investors

US-investors may not trade here. The reason for excluding US-investors are primarily regulatory reasons. The US-legal regime imposes obligations on many companies accepting funds from US-investors. Don’t be too sad though, there are other venues that offer the type of trading this exchange does. Use our Exchange Finder to find out which alternatives you have.

Coinbene Trading View

The below is a picture of CoinBene’s trading view. It follows a format that most cryptocurrency investors are used to with the diagram in the middle, and buy/sell-boxes low far right. The trading view seems intuitive to us, but you should always decide what suits you best based on your own personal preferences.

CoinBene Fees

CoinBene Trading fees

There are a number of top crypto exchanges who don’t charge different fees between the takers and the makers. Usually, you say that such exchanges’ trading fees are “flat”. CoinBene is one of those exchanges. It offers a flat trading fee of 0.10%. The exchange does accordingly not distinguish between takers and makers. The flat fee of 0.10% is below the industry average. The industry average is arguably around 0.25%.

Users at this exchange can also pay an even lower trading fee. This is possible if they hold a sufficient amount of “Coni” (trading symbol CONI). Coni is CoinBene’s own cryptocurrency. This model is to incentivize people trading at the exchange to buy a large amount of Coni. If you exceed the ownership threshold required (we have not been able to find information on the number of Coni-tokens required), you receive a 50%  discount on all trading fees during year 1, 20% discount on all trading fees during year 2 and 10% discount on all trading fees during year 3 (no discount from year 4).

The fees at this exchange constitutes a competitive advantage against the majority of other top crypto exchanges in the market and maybe even makes this exchange the best cryptocurrency exchange site for you.

CoinBene Withdrawal fees

CoinBene only charges the network fee when you make a withdrawal and does not charge anything on top of the network fees. This withdrawal fee model is also far below the industry average. Good job, CoinBene!

Deposit Methods

CoinBene does not accept any other deposit method than cryptocurrencies, so new crypto investors are actually restricted from trading at this exchange. If you don’t have any crypto but want to start trading here, you will first have to purchase cryptocurrencies from another exchange and then, as a second step, deposit them at CoinBene.

To find another exchange accepting purchases with fiat currency (regular money), just use our Exchange Finder. The rest is easy!

CoinBene Security

This exchange’s security score is F, when performing the test at Observatory by Mozilla (https://observatory.mozilla.org/). This is below industry average when it comes to top crypto exchanges. However, it should be noted that in absolute numbers, F is the most common score among all cryptocurrency exchanges in our Cryptocurrency Exchange List. CoinBene also has a lot of other security features in place to the benefit of its users.

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Should you switch to the Brave Web Browser?

“You fought in the Browsers Wars?” asked Microsoft Edge. “Yes. I was once a Web Browser, the same as your father, ” said Internet Explorer 6. OK, that doesn’t quite have the same dynamic as Luke’s and Obi Wan’s conversation in a New Hope. However, the browser wars were a thing at one point. I also (wrongly) thought they were over, except for a few skirmishes. But once in a while someone, somewhere says to themselves, “What we need is another web browser.” At that point I would normally groan and move on. However, things are a little different with the Brave browser.

Historically a “new web browser” meant some nerd wanted to write a better HTML/CSS rendering engine and a super-fast JavaScript engine and then wrap a UI around it. The “engine
” wars are basically over with the Chromium engine, called Blink, basically powering everything (Chrome, Opera, Edge, Vivaldi). The notable exceptions are Firefox and Apple’s Safari.

The Brave browser uses Blink, so it isn’t special in that regard. What makes it special is its emphasis on making privacy and safety front and center. Let’s take a look at what this browser brings to the table in this Brave browser review. 

The problem is Ad Tracking

Most browsers do a good job of keeping you secure while browser. There is universal support for secure HTTP connections, support for incognito tabs (useful when you are using a public computer and not your own), and various levels of sandboxing support that stops one tab stealing data from another. However, one area where privacy has been slowly eroded is advertising.

To be effective advertising needs to be targeted. It is pointless showing me ads about rock climbing equipment or baby strollers, but show me an advert for the latest bit of tech and maybe, just maybe I will click. To send the right ads to the right people advertisers build up virtual profiles about your web browsing activities and start to hone in on your likes and dislikes. That in itself sounds harmless enough, even useful. However, the tracking techniques that advertisers use are getting more and more invasive.

Online advertising is big money. Google has an annual revenue measured in the billions of dollars, $161 billion for 2019. Most of that money comes from advertising. Sure, it sells apps and movies, offers cloud services, and sells Pixel smartphones and Google Home smart speakers. But most of the money comes from advertising. That is a lot of dollars invested in selling ads based predominantly on a model where money changes hands if, and only if, an advert is clicked.

As with most business ventures, the lines between ethical behavior and the relentless pursuit of profit seem to blur the bigger the sums of money. For a long time the advertisers were winning. But consumers have started to rebel. While initiatives like “Do Not Track” and the EU’s GDPR have attempted to clip the wings of advertisers, they have generally been badly conceived and badly implemented. For most people, the GDPR just means they have to click an “I accept your cookies” message every time they visit a new website.

The most drastic option available to users is to completely block data-collecting trackers, which in turn, means blocking most adverts.

Take back control with Brave browser

There are lots of options available for those who wish to block trackers, but Brave browser makes it easy and it is the default behavior. Most advertising platforms use techniques to try to identify you and track you as you move across the web. Brave browser blocks all this, allowing you to browse freely. As well as the privacy advantages there is also a performance boost. According to Brave’s internal testing, the Brave web browser can load the major news site up to six times faster than Chrome, Safari and Firefox on mobile and desktop. Why? Because all the extra images, JavaScript, and tracking data is no longer needed.

But won’t that harm publishers who rely on advert income?

The simple answer is yes, and for me that is a huge downside. From the hobbyists who need to fund their websites or YouTube channels, to the independent websites free of corporate shackles  – like Android Authority – advertising income is essential. Until now I haven’t used an ad blocker because I know that good content isn’t free. Everyone needs to eat. But Brave has a surprising answer to this problem – Brave Rewards.

Rather than tempting you to click on adverts, Brave anonymously calculates the amount of attention you give the sites you visit. Once a month, the Brave Rewards program will compensate the sites you’ve visited. You can also tip creators directly and remove any sites you don’t want to support.

Brave has a surprising alternative to traditional advertising: Brave Rewards.

The twist is that the currency behind Brave Rewards isn’t the US dollar, or the Euro, or even the Chinese Yuan, but a cryptocurrency called BAT (Basic Attention Token), which itself uses the Ethereum blockchain. The idea is that blockchain digital advertising can offer a decentralized, transparent digital ad exchange.

Stage one in replacing the traditional advertising model is to bring the Brave browser to the mainstream along with its built-in use of BAT. Stage two is for users, publishers, and advertisers to use BAT as the means of funding advertising and attention-based services. As the name implies, the value of the token is derived from — or denominated by — user attention, the one commodity you have to spend while using the web.

BATs, Uphold, and tips

Like all crypto-currencies you need to keep your tokens in a wallet. Brave includes an anonymous wallet that is stored locally on your computer or mobile device. In a future update you will be able to sync the wallet across your devices using an online wallet service. As a side note, the syncing of bookmarks etc. is currently disabled in Brave browser because the current system is flawed. The developers are working on Sync V2, which will be compatible with Google’s official sync protocol.

You can earn tokens by viewing Brave Ads. Ads presented are based on your interests, as inferred from your browsing behavior. However this time, no personal data or browsing history ever leaves your browser. When you click on an ad you earn a part of a BAT.

When you see something you like online, you can support the content’s creator by sending a tip, as a thank you. Verified creators get paid their tips during the first week of each calendar month. You can also set a monthly recurring contribution.

If you want to turn traditional currency into BATs you can fund your wallet using Uphold.com. Uphold is a digital money platform with over 1 million users, covering over 50 currencies and four commodities. I am skeptical of “digital money platforms” in general, as buying the coins/tokens is easy, however converting them back into real cash has been – in my experience – a challenge.

To test Uphold, I linked my Brave wallet to an Uphold account. I went through the verification process, which included identity checks etc, and then funded my wallet to the grand sum of £10. This was then turned into 71.785044215959870653 BAT. You need to wait 1 day before you can withdraw the money. After 24 hours, I paid my 71.785044215959870653 BAT into a Euro account. In less than 4 hours the money was in my account! So it seems that real-world to crypto to real-world exchanges work!

I lost about €1 in the process. Uphold does promise 0% trading commissions, 0% fees on credit & debit card deposits and 0% bank and crypto withdrawal fees, but I guess I lost out in the exchange rates!

Uphold is going to release a debit card linked with your account. You’ll get a physical chip-and-PIN card and a virtual card to buy stuff online. It is a Mastercard, which means it will be accepted at millions of merchants and ATMs across the world. I have joined the waiting list and I am number 28,492 in the queue. Apparently I can skip the line by referring friends. The more people I refer, the earlier I get your card. So, for the sake of good consumer reporting, please consider taking a look for yourself, and then when I get the card I will be sure to make a video about it on Gary Explains.

But Chrome is a memory hog!

Even with revolutionary talk of overthrowing the advertising industry, Brave browser still needs to be a decent web browser to gain any traction. Thankfully, it is. I tested the JavaScript speed of Brave and it is faster than Chrome and Firefox but slower than Microsoft Edge. When it comes to memory use Brave uses less memory per tab than Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. These are good signs. Since it uses the same internals as Chrome and Edge the browsing experience is as expected and I couldn’t detect any difference or anomalies in rendering etc.

Brave combines better privacy and safety with a browsing experience that's faster Chrome — despite being Chromium-based.

Another advantage of Brave’s Chromium roots is that you get access to the Chrome Web Store. When you click on “extensions” you get taken directly to Google’s web store, not even a copy or cheap replica, but Google’s actual store. That means that migrating to Brave browser is very simple for Chrome or Edge users. You can also import your bookmarks from Edge, Chrome, Firefox or a HTML file. I didn’t spot a way to import saved passwords (which I guess is a good thing), but if you are using a password manager like LastPass or Dashlane then that won’t matter.

Read more: How to install web extensions with Brave browser

Will you switch?

Brave browser has quickly become part of my normal workflow. I have been using it for some sites/tasks every day and the reasons for not migrating to it fully are, well, non-existent. Brave is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. I have tested it on all 5 and the experience is as consistent as any other browser across such a diverse set of platforms. Sadly there is no support for ARM processors either on Windows for ARM devices like the Surface Pro X, or for boards like the Raspberry Pi. However, that is forgivable at this stage in the browser’s development.

That’s it for this Brave browser review. If you want to give Brave a try, and I recommend that you do, then use the link below.

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Publish0x Review: Earn Crypto Daily for Reading and Blogging

This Publish0x Review is aimed at providing you with everything you need to know about the “crypto” based publishing platform that is poised to displace Medium as the number one destination for top writers and readers.

The number of “blockchain” blogging platforms aiming to give users the opportunity to earn free crypto and monetize their content has been on the increase in the past few years.

This shift is mostly attributed to the poor compensation or incentive package and incessant censorship campaigns of the traditional centralized content sharing platforms.

One such project that’s making waves and disrupting the content space is Publish0x.

And in this Publish0x Review, we hope you will get all the important information about this platform so you can decide for yourself if it’s a good place to read and publish and earn some crypto.

What is Publish0x?

Publish0x is a crypto-based blogging platform where both readers and writers earn crypto for reading and publishing content.

The platform was founded by Dan Bainbridge in December 2018 with a handful of private members and in less than two years there are about 100,000 members (as at the time of writing this article).

For the record, Publish0x is pronounced as “Publish”. The “0x” in the name, according to the Team is silent. So you don’t have to bite your tongue just to call the name.

Publish0x is crypto agnostic in the sense that it “can” support “all” cryptocurrencies for “tipping” (paying) its users.

Unlike other competing platforms that issue their own token for rewarding users for their attention and content, publish0x does not have its own cryptocurrency nor does it have an inbuilt preference for specific cryptocurrencies.

The platform rewards its users with some of the best cryptocurrencies in the market such as the popular Basic Attention Token (BAT), Loopring (LRC), and the DAI Stablecoin with many more likely to be added to the reward pool as the platform grows.

Publish0x Review: How Does Publish0x Work?

If you are a content producer, Publish0x pays you to publish your work on their platform in return for tips and rewards in the different cryptocurrencies available in its reward pool.

Also, if you happen to be just a reader looking for some high-quality content to consume at free cost, the platform rewards you for spending your time and attention on its website.

Unlike other platforms such as YouTube and Medium where you either earn nothing for your attention or you’re even asked to pay a premium to have access to more content –Publish0x believes that your time and attention is worth something and want to reward you for it.

Their aim is to especially help people earn their first crypto without having to buy it with their own money.

Thus at the same time, contributing to educating people about crypto and the future of money and driving mass adoption of the blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.

In practice here’s how Publish0x really work:

You create a free account by submitting a very simple form with your email and chosen password.

Each registered user or member is given a specific amount say $1 daily and they can choose which author to split the money (tip) with.

Users can choose to allocate 100% of their tip to an author or take 80% and tip an author with 20% of the tip allocation.

20% is the minimum a user can tip an author. This was probably designed to keep the platform fair and balanced.

To be able to tip and also receive your reward, the user must be registered and logged in.

Each member of the platform can only tip a maximum of 6 times a day.

You can tip a single author once per day.

An author can receive a tip from multiple readers every day with no limits.

Tips are allocated using a tipping slider that works as below.

Publish0x Review: How to Earn Crypto on Publish0x

There basically 3 ways to earn crypto or make money on Publish0x:

Earn as a reader

Earn as an author

Earn as an ambassador

Earn on Publish0x by Reading Contents.

The beauty of Publish0x is that both readers and authors get rewarded –it’s amazing.

While you get unlimited and free access to some of the best content on the internet from real users, you also get paid.

According to the Publish0x Team, the tip amounts on Publish0x are actually gifted to the reader who then decides which of the authors they enjoy their content they would like to share it with.

As a reader, you can tip an author the bare minimum of 20% and keep the lion’s share or you can be more generous by giving more or all of it to the author for their efforts.

There’s no penalty or restriction on how you decide to use your tip allocation. There’s no good or bad way to tip, except that you should try and be fair with it.

However, remember that you have only 6 tips to use every 24 hours, and you can only tip a particular author once per day.

For example, let’s say you read and tip any of our posts on Publish0x today, you can’t tip any of our posts on the blog again until tomorrow even if you want to.

Earn on Publish0x by Publishing Quality Contents

As an author on Publish0x, your earning potential is limited only first by the quality of your posts and your consistency in producing top quality content.

Publishers earn the most on Publish0x as you can receive tips from thousands of people daily.

The platform promotes and rewards top quality content. To become a truly successful author on Publish0x, you need to publish high quality and valuable content that resonates with the users and gets tipped.

Tipping is a way of your readers showing their appreciation for your post and if you publish nonsense nobody will tip you.

The more valuable the content you publish on the platform, the more tips and followers you gather and the more you build up your power to earn even more with subsequent posts.

Earn on Publish0x by Becoming an Ambassador (Referrals)

You can earn passive crypto income on Publish0x by referring people to use the platform, through their ambassador program.

Promote the platform and receive 5% of every tip amount given by the people you referred to the platform.

Upon registration, you are assigned an affiliate ID and Ambassador Link with which you can use to refer people to the platform and earn 5% from every tip they generate.

Your Ambassador Link looks like this https://www.publish0x.com?a=WPe988VBdL while your affiliate ID is the last part of your link https://www.publish0x.com?a=WPe988VBdL  (highlighted).

One highly creative feature the publish0x developers have incorporated into the Ambassador Link system is that you can easily pick any article from the website, attach your referral ID (?a=WPe988VBdL) to the end of the article’s URL and share with your community.

Every user who follows that link to the website and ends up registering becomes your referral. The article you attach your affiliate ID to doesn’t necessarily have to be your own.

This is a great feature as you can always have fresh content to share with your audience and have your referral link buried within such contents – it’s neat and cleans (affiliate 3.0).

For lovers of deep tracking and analytics, Publish0x got you covered as you can easily generate additional ambassador links with Tracking IDs (TIDs) which you can use to separate and monitor the performance of different promotional channels.

For example, you can create separate TIDs for Facebook marketing, Instagram, Twitter, website, WhatsApp, Telegram, and whatever traffic sources you use in promoting your referral links.

Use this tool to help you see which traffic sources work best for you and produce the best result so you can double down on them to maximize your earning while working efficiently.

That’s not all, Publish0x hosts a monthly referral contest where the top 10 referrers on the leaderboard shares $250 worth of crypto every month.

Be one of the most active ambassadors by referring people to Publish0x and earn your share of prizes in BAT!

Publish0x Review: What You May Not Like About Publish0x

Publish0x is still not a perfect platform –and I doubt if there’s any. Below are the major things I don’t like about the platform.

1  Publish0x is NOT a “decentralized” blockchain-based blogging platform. The Team has the powers to censor (EDIT, DELETE) your contents IF they want to. However, there’s never been any case of censorship or other forms of unhealthy corporate behavior characteristic of other centralized platforms. If the platform decides to shut down today you will lose all of your articles there and any earnings that you not yet withdrawn.

2.  You can’t earn anything meaningful on Publish0x just by reading and tipping a maximum of 6 times a day. From my observation, the maximum you can make from just reading on the platform is $5 a month. So if you want to earn more, you must consider either becoming an author or dedicate to referring people to the platform and enjoy the ambassadorial rewards or you do both.

3.  Publish0x is primarily a crypto-based platform but you can also find or publish non-crypto related content there as well. However, currently, your audience will be limited as the majority of the members of the platform are crypto enthusiasts. Things might change with time, but for now, you will gain better traction focusing on producing cryptocurrency-related content.

Publish0x Review: What We Love Most About Publish0x

1.  You have the opportunity to earn multiple, highly valuable cryptocurrencies like BAT, DAI, LRC, and many more that will be added in the future. Of course, if you’re a fan of any of the tokens you receive you can swap it to bitcoin or any other crypto using our fast, secure, and anonymous exchange service

2.      The Team is the most important factor in the success of any project and Publish0x has got some really experienced and competent team, to be honest. What’s more, they connect and listen to their users and are approachable. SHOUT OUT to Igor (COO) and Dan (CEO).

3. Publish0x is arguably the most user-friendly blogging platform out there with a straightforward business model and transparent earning structure. More so, the user-interface is beginner-friendly and anyone can start register and beginning using the platform with a minimum learning curve.

4.  The platform is host to high-quality content and some of the top minds from different fields –but mostly cryptocurrency. Authors on Publish0x are manually reviewed for quality assurance and the community only favors quality and original content. Anyone can post any crap but you wouldn’t be encouraged to keep wasting your time doing that as you certainly will receive little to no tip (earnings) or followership.

Final Thought on Publish0x Review

Publish0x is the only blogging platform that pays both readers and publishers. The platform pays you with multiple high-quality cryptocurrencies such as BAT, LRC, DAI Stablecoin, and others to be listed in the future for reading, publishing, or referring people to the platform.

In as much as the platform is open to all kinds of topics of interest, cryptocurrency dominates the show there. You will make more money focusing on writing about cryptocurrency on Publish0x as that’s what the majority of the users love and want.

However, you can build your own niche community and we expect more diversity as the platform grows.

What’s more, the team is experienced and competent and that gives some of us confidence about the future of Publish0x.

For a step-by-step guide on how to register and start earning on Publish0x plus some helpful earning tips and ideas check out our most comprehensive Publish0x Tutorial.

Did you enjoy this publish0x review, please share it so others can benefit?

Have you used the platform? Are you going to use the platform, what has been your experience or opinion of Publish0x? Share with us in the comments section below. 

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