Introduction

Welcome to Sliver.

We are on a mission to advance unrestricted financial freedom for all by making decentralized investing in digital assets easy, safe, and accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Welcome also to Beacon; with Beacon, we are on a mission to produce content singularly designed to educate, inspire, and guide you as you explore and harness the world of digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) to reach your financial goals.

In this article, we will offer an introductory overview of the following:

• Significance of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi
• Complexities of investing in cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi
• Introduction to Sliver
• Team behind Sliver
• Getting Started with Sliver

Significance of Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, and DeFi

Evolution of Money

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets represent a significant shift in our understanding of money. They are not just new forms of currency, but also a new paradigm of financial interaction. Unlike traditional forms of money, which are centralized and regulated by governments and financial institutions, cryptocurrencies are decentralized. This decentralization offers a level of freedom, privacy, and security that is unprecedented in the history of finance.

The significance of this shift is underscored by the rapid growth of the digital assets market. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies  surpassed $2 trillion in 2022, a staggering increase from only $14 billion over just 5 years.

Cryptocurrencies operate on blockchain technology, which ensures transparency and trust, making them resistant to fraud and counterfeiting. Furthermore, digital assets open up possibilities for financial inclusion, as they are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of their location or financial status.

The internet deserves a native currency. It will have a native currency. I don’t know if it will be Bitcoin or not. I hope it will be Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey, Co-founder & Former CEO of Twitter, Inc.; Co-founder, Principal Executive Officer of Block, Inc.

This sentiment encapsulates the transformative potential of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, revolutionizing the concept of money for the digital age.

Investment-grade Asset Class

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets have also rapidly emerged as a significant, investment-grade asset class, reshaping the landscape of financial investments and offering unique benefits that are increasingly being recognized by both individual and institutional investors.

One of the most compelling aspects of investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets is the potential for high returns. For instance, Bitcoin, the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, has consistently outperformed traditional asset classes over the past decade, making it one of the best crypto to invest in for many investors. Traditional savings accounts offer interest rates that are often below inflation rates, eroding the value of your savings over time. In contrast, DeFi protocols offer yield farming and liquidity mining opportunities, with annual percentage yields (APYs) that can reach double or even triple digits.

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets have also emerged as a potent tool for hedging against traditional market volatility. As global economies continue to face uncertainties, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies offers a unique diversification opportunity. Unlike traditional assets, cryptocurrencies are not tied to a specific country's economy or a company's performance, making them less susceptible to events like economic recessions or corporate failures. This unique characteristic has led many investors to include digital assets in their portfolios as a hedge against potential downturns in traditional markets. Moreover, the historical performance of cryptocurrencies has shown a low correlation with mainstream assets, further underlining their value as a diversification tool. Therefore, incorporating digital assets into an investment portfolio can provide a level of protection against unforeseen market movements, enhancing the portfolio's overall risk-adjusted returns.

Moreover, the adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets among institutional investors is rapidly increasing, further solidifying the status of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate and significant asset class. A survey by Fidelity Investments revealed that about 36% of institutional respondents in 2020 were invested in digital assets. This growing institutional interest underscores the increasing recognition of cryptocurrencies and digital assets as a legitimate and significant asset class.

Whether you're looking for the best crypto to buy now, the best crypto portfolio tracker, or the best app for cryptocurrency investments, understanding the significance of cryptocurrencies and digital assets as an investment-grade asset class is crucial.

DeFi is the Gateway to Digital Assets

DeFi has emerged as a revolutionary trend in the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, reshaping the way we perceive and interact with financial systems and offering a compelling alternative to Centralized Finance (CeFi) and traditional financial systems. DeFi leverages blockchain technology, particularly Ethereum, to recreate traditional financial systems such as loans, insurance, and exchanges in an transparent, decentralized, and permissionless manner. Unlike in CeFi, this eliminates the need for intermediaries and centralized entities such as banks or governments, enabling peer-to-peer transactions and fostering a more inclusive and accessible financial ecosystem. At its peak, the total value locked in DeFi protocols soared over $100 billion, highlighting the rapid growth and adoption of DeFi applications.

DeFi's significance lies in its potential to democratize finance. By removing barriers to entry, DeFi allows anyone with an internet connection to access financial services, regardless of their location or socio-economic status. This is particularly impactful in developing, underbanked, or unbanked regions where access to traditional banking services is limited. Furthermore, DeFi offers unprecedented transparency and control over one's assets, a stark contrast to the opaque operations of traditional financial institutions.

Market capitalization of DeFi will reach $600B in 2030 at 46% projected CAGR from 2023 to 2030.

Grand View Research

Tokenized securities market could reach $4 trillion, and the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) circulating value could reach $5 trillion by 2030.

Citi & Blackrock

Retail demand for Bitcoin will remain strong ahead of the halving event in Apr 2024, when the cost to mine a Bitcoin will double to ~$40K, implying structurally that the price of Bitcoin will be at least ~$40K.

JP Morgan

As DeFi continues to mature and evolve, it holds the promise of a more inclusive, transparent, and profitable financial future.

Complexities of Investing in Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, and DeFi

Understanding the Challenges

Investing in cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi, while promising, is complex and intimidating for most users. It involves understanding advanced technological concepts such as cryptographic algorithms, digital wallets, public and private keys, blockchain nodes, among others. The user experience in the blockchain ecosystem is often discouraging, preventing most users from engaging with it. Additionally, high gas fees (transaction charges) associated with DeFi, combined with the steep learning curve, further deter most users from participating in it, even though they believe in the long-term potential of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Labyrinth of Jargon

The world of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi is a labyrinth of complex jargon and unfamiliar concepts, especially for those who are new to it.

From managing browser extensions, seed phrases, and private keys, to understanding decentralized applications (dApps), transaction approvals, and gas fees, the learning curve is steep and often insurmountable for most users. Even seemingly basic concepts such as wallets have critical nuances such as DeFi wallets, hot wallets, cold wallets, hardware wallets, amongst others, that escape most users. Moreover, the news is rife with stories of scams, rug pulls, and users losing money, further discouraging potential investors.

Many perceive DeFi as unwelcoming and unapproachable – this is particularly true for those accustomed to traditional investment or neo-banking platforms and services and who seek the best, user-friendly apps for cryptocurrency investments or the best cryptocurrency portfolio trackers, only to be met with websites and services that are esoteric, confusing, and beyond their comprehension.

Lack of Awareness and Decision-Making Difficulties

The challenges extend to understanding the different types of digital currencies available. With countless options, from mainstream assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to  more niche assets such as Polygon (MATIC) and Pepe Coin (PEPE), deciding on the best cryptocurrency to invest in, can be overwhelming. Beyond simply the core assets, there are countless DeFi protocols and investment vehicles with their own unique properties and risk profiles that not only contribute to the general lack of awareness of the opportunities but also make decision making for most users almost impossible.

Furthermore, the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, coupled with the high gas fees associated with Ethereum transactions, poses significant barrier for many potential investors. The concepts of gas fees, gas price, and their impact on the profitability of transactions can be confusing to newcomers.

Finally, the process of buying and selling digital currencies is not as straightforward as managing traditional assets. Concepts such as liquidity pools, yield farms, and liquidity mining are intimidating for those accustomed to more conventional forms of investment.

Security, Performance, and Interoperability Concerns

In addition to the aforementioned challenges, security issues pose a significant risk to DeFi. Vulnerabilities in DeFi applications can lead to hacks and exploits, resulting in substantial financial losses with no recourse due to blockchain finality. The lack of guidance on regulatory compliance in DeFi also makes the system susceptible to fraud and other malicious activities.

Scalability and performance are also concerns for DeFi dApps. Compared to centralized financial systems, DeFi solutions often suffer from slow transaction speeds and scalability issues, which affect the overall network performance.

Furthermore, blockchain interoperability poses a significant challenge in DeFi. Different DeFi platforms operate on different blockchains, creating fragmented environments. Users cannot freely access services across different blockchains, inevitably leading to increased costs and limited capital efficiency. Achieving seamless interoperability between various blockchains is crucial to ensuring the smooth functioning and growth of the DeFi ecosystem.

To summarize, while cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi offer the opportunity to build generational wealth, they also present significant challenges that need solving.

Introduction to Sliver

At Sliver, we are on a mission to advance unrestricted financial freedom for all by making decentralized investing in cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi, easy, safe, and accessible to everyone, everywhere. We believe that everyone, regardless of their technical savvy, should have the opportunity to grow their money with the speed, ease, security, and privacy that cryptocurrency, digital assets, and DeFi have to offer.

Problem

We have identified three key challenges in a user's journey that make cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi daunting and inaccessible to them.

• Getting Started with Digital Assets: Getting started with digital assets can be intimidating. Creating a wallet to store assets often involves 10-30+ steps and 30+ minutes. Managing private keys and browser extensions further adds to the complexity.
• Discovering Legitimate Investment Opportunities: Discovering and accessing legitimate investment opportunities in DeFi can be scary and confusing. Riddled with unaudited smart contracts and malicious operators, DeFi lacks secure standards with most user touch points vulnerable to attacks.
• Interacting with Smart Contracts: Interacting with smart contracts and moving funds in and out of them can be terrifying. Depositing or withdrawing funds generally takes 5-20+ steps using 2-10+ dApps.

These key challenges keep the vast majority of humanity from investing in digital assets – in fact, less than 0.08% of the world has access to digital assets.

Solution

Sliver brings unparalleled ease and convenience to the three key challenges described above.

• Getting Started with Digital Assets: Sliver makes it easy, safe, and secure to get started with digital assets. Creating a fully decentralized wallet takes just a single tap. Managing private keys and seed phrases becomes invisible. Downloading browser extensions or apps becomes a thing of the past.
• Discovering Legitimate Investment Opportunities: Sliver makes it easy, safe, and secure to access battle-tested investment opportunities. Users access investment opportunities curated by Sliver based on a range of technical and non-technical indicators, such as time since inception, total value locked (TVL) over time, return over time (APY or APR), reputation of protocol operators, code audit levels, among others.
• Interacting with Smart Contracts: Sliver makes it easy, safe, and secure to interact with smart contracts to move funds in and out. Depositing funds into and withdrawing funds from investments such as liquidity pools, yield farms, etc, across blockchain networks, DEXs, and dApps takes just 2 taps.

Whether you are looking to invest in the best cryptocurrency to buy, track your crypto portfolio, or invest in DeFi, Sliver has you covered. Sliver makes investing in cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi, as straightforward as investing in stocks or bonds using your favorite neo-banking apps.

Team behind Sliver

Sliver is powered by a passionate, seasoned, and experienced team with over 100 years of combined experience in Web3, digital assets, investment management, fintech, and technology in general.

• Deepak, our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, has over 20 years of experience building technology products across various sectors ranging from operating systems and e-commerce to foodtech, fintech, and Web3. Deepak has held senior positions at Apple, Amazon, and Twilio, and has an MBA from Yale University and an MS in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. Deepak bought his first Bitcoin in 2012 and has been investing in DeFi since its very early days.
• Prashant, our co-founder and Chief Product Officer, has over 20 years of experience building technology products in various sectors ranging from photo and video applications to foodtech, fintech, and Web3. Prashant has held senior positions at Adobe, GoDaddy, and Twilio, and has an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BS in Computer Science from Bangalore University.
• Constance, our co-founder and Chief of Corporate Strategy & Development, has over 20 years of experience managing investments and fundraising across various asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Constance has held senior positions at Citi and Credit Suisse, and has an MS in Economics, Accounting, and Finance from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Together, at Sliver, we are committed to creating a very special experience for you, one that simplifies decentralized investing in cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and DeFi, making it easier, safer, and more accessible than ever before.

Getting Started with Sliver

To begin your journey with Sliver, simply visit our website at www.sliver.money. While we prepare for our official launch, we invite you to secure your priority access. By doing so, you will not only be among the first to access Sliver when it goes live but also enjoy waived fees at launch.

Whether you seek the best cryptocurrency to buy, want to track your crypto portfolio, need the best DeFi wallet, or simply wish to access the fastest growing asset class in history to grow your wealth, Sliver is here to guide you. With Sliver, you can explore the world of digital assets, discover potential investment opportunities, and gain insights into the market – all with unmatched simplicity and ease. And, because Sliver is fundamentally rooted in the principles of Web3, such as decentralization, permissionlessness, and trustlessness, you can invest with complete confidence and peace of mind, knowing that your assets remain safe, secure, and most importantly, in your control at all times.

Conclusion

Sliver is more than just a wallet or a DeFi protocol or a dApp. Sliver is a complete investing experience that makes decentralized investing in digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and DeFi easy, safe, and accessible to everyone, everywhere. We firmly believe in the power of digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and DeFi to advance unrestricted financial freedom, and we are dedicated to making that power accessible to all.

If you are ready to take the first step towards achieving unrestricted financial freedom, secure your priority access to Sliver today.