MX is an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token, it operates on the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) blockchain and relies on the Proof-of-Stake ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos)) consensus mechanism. Additionally, MX TOKEN has been audited by [SlowMist](https://www.slowmist.com/security-audit-certificate.html?id=101639593fa19126eb8e83988ef9a7cae2338a9266f27d6f92cd2a40da55cc9b), a blockchain security firm specializing in cybersecurity audits and protection.

MX TOKEN (MX) is a crypto asset deployed on the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) blockchain as an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token. MX holders get exclusive access to community activities and promotions, as well as the right to participate in voting (related to business issues, project listing, team elections). In addition, MX use cases include payment of trading fees and MX DeFi mining. MX TOKEN (MX) has a total supply of 450,000,000 coins with 100,000,000 MX in circulation, as of June 2023.

MX TOKEN (MX) is deflationary, MEXC uses a part of the collected trading fees to buy back and burn tokens, reducing the overall supply. MX enables the growth and expansion of MEXC and incentivizes token holders to contribute to the development of the ecosystem. The core products of MEXC are: Launchpad, a platform where users can invest in projects at an early stage; Kickstarter, a pre-launch event where users vote with MX to launch projects on MEXC; MX-DeFi, a mining reward program that allows users to stake MX tokens and receive rewards; M-Day, an activity that allows users to purchase newly issued digital tokens through a lottery.

The company was established in April 2018 registered in Seychelles. The exchange was co-founded by Sheen Xin Hu (CEO), Aaron Wagener (COO), and Piotr Brzezinski (CTO). Besides starting the MXC Foundation, Sheen Xin Hu is also the founder and CEO at MatchX. Sheen Xin Hu holds a dual master's degree in Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications from Technische Universität Berlin, and in Network and System Administration from Université Pierre et Marie Curie. He has 10 years of tech development experience, worked at Airfy and Relayr as a hardware engineer and at ASUS as a marketing assistant. Nowadays, Sheen Xin Hu is LPWAN, Docker and Blockchain evangelist and the core developer at MXC zkEVM. Currently, MEXC is run by a Singaporean businessman, John Chen, who took over as CEO in 2021, the same year the MXC Exchange was officially rebranded to MEXC Global, now MEXC Official.

MX TOKEN (MX) is the native cryptocurrency token released by [centralized exchange](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/centralized-exchange-cex) (CEX) MEXC in 2019. MX powers the MEXC ecosystem and provides its holders with access to unique functionality and other benefits of the platform. Holders have the right to vote on business decisions, team elections and gain priority participation in activities and more. MEXC is a crypto exchange and [P2P](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/p2p-dex) platform that provides access to spot, margin and futures trading. The exchange offers a versatile digital asset trading service, passive investment staking, [DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi) tools and more. MEXC supports buy/sell transactions using fiat through the P2P market.

[Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) is available on [Huobi](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/huobi-global/), [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/gate-io/), [Uniswap (V2)](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/uniswap-v2/), [KuCoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kucoin/) and [OKEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/okex/).

Besides following a unique approach in combining an adapted proof-of-work consensus mechanism with proof-of-time, [Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) is governed by a traditional corporate structure. It eschews the crypto-native model of a [decentralized autonomous organization](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-autonomous-organizations-dao) (DAO) in favor of being a traditional joint-stock corporation. Chia Network intends to list the company's equity on a stock exchange, as it believes that this model aligns incentives better than other models. As such, ownership of coins has no influence on the [governance](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/governance) of the Chia blockchain, which is a distinct approach to the model of other public blockchains.

The current supply of XCH is 22,582,025. 21 million XCH were pre-farmed to help fund the creation and administration of Chia. According to the [Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) whitepaper, farming rewards follow this schedule: * 64 chia will be created every 10 minutes for the first three years after launch * 32 chia will be created every 10 minutes in years four through six after launch * 16 chia will be created every 10 minutes in years seven through nine after launch * Eight chia will be created every 10 minutes in years ten through 12 * Four chia will be created every 10 minutes for every year after year 12 That means the network itself controls most XCH and only 21 years from mainnet launch, the farming rewards will catch up with the size of the strategic reserve.

[Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) improves upon [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) (PoS) and [proof-of-work](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow) (PoW) by using a less electricity-intensive consensus mechanism. The network achieves Nakamoto consensus by combining proof-of-space (PoS) with proof-of-time, (PoT) which both function in distinct manners. Proof-of-space requires [miners](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/miners) to keep unused storage on their hard disk drives. In this scenario, miners install special software that allocates free space, which is then used to solve a challenge – similar to puzzle-solving in [proof-of-work](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake) (PoW). The software stores a collection of cryptographic numbers on the miner's disk and, upon [block](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/block) creation, a challenge number from the previous block is taken. Miners scan their numbers to check if they have a number close to the challenge number that is required. On the other hand, proof-of-time demonstrates the passage of time through Verifiable Delay Functions, in a way that is similar to the [Solana](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana/) (SOL) blockchain. The Timelords – nodes that document time – ensure that time is correctly documented for solving the proof-of-space functions. In addition, Chia Network has its own programming language called Chialisp. This is an on-chain programming language that is smart contract-compatible and takes most important components of [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) (ETH), Solidity, and Bitcoin Core but keeps Bitcoin's UTXO model. Doing so allows for simultaneous transactions instead of sequential, making Chia Network a faster and more energy-efficient blockchain compared to its rivals.

[Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) was established in Delaware in 2017 by Bram Cohen, the founder of the popular peer-to-peer file sharing platform BitTorrent. The project is headed by an experienced senior management team, including former NASDAQ CEO Gene Hoffman as chief operating officer (COO) and former Overstock.com CEO Mitch Edwards as chief financial officer (CFO). Chia Network is also backed by an illustrious list of [cryptocurrency](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-cryptocurrencies)-focused venture capitalists. It raised $61 million in funding in May 2021 with the participation of leading VCs that included Andreessen Horowitz, Slow Ventures, Naval Ravikant, Galaxy Digital and others.

[Chia Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chia-network/) (XCH) is a [layer 1](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/layer-1-blockchain) [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain) that uses its own custom-designed programming language called Chialisp and a novel [consensus mechanism](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus-mechanism) called proof-of-space-and-time (PoST). The combination of these two allows the blockchain to use less energy without compromising network security. In contrast to most other blockchains, Chia Network is a public, for-profit, open source company that aspires to become listed on NYSE or NASDAQ. Its blockchain is aimed at enterprise use, which is why Chia Network plans to have XCH on its balance sheet in case of a listing. Chia Network’s first proof-of-time function was released in 2019, with the first beta version of its blockchain launching in 2020. Chia Network achieved full functionality, including wallet functionality, transactions and [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract), with its [mainnet](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/mainnet) launch in 2021.

Kusama (KSM) is currently available to trade on dozens of popular exchange platforms, including [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/), [OKEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/okex/) and [Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/huobi-global/). The most liquid trade pairs for KSM are currently KSM/USDT, KSM/BTC and KSM/ETH. To learn more about buying cryptocurrencies with fiat, see our [comprehensive guide](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/).

Kusama is built using a nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism. This uses a network of nominators (KSM stakers) who elect nodes to participate in the transaction validation process. These nominators receive a fraction of the inflation reward if their nominator is selected on the next rotation. Validators that act dishonestly or don't meet performance requirements can have their stake slashed. Additionally, Kusama uses a simple queuing mechanism based on Merkle trees to resolve cross-chain transactions. Relay chain validators are responsible for moving transactions from the output queue of one parachain to the input queue of the target parachain — this is a secure, trustless process that uses the same validators on each chain to pass the messages.

As of November 2020, Kusama has a circulating supply of 8.47 million tokens, and a total supply of 10 million tokens. Unlike some other blockchains, this maximum supply is not fixed. Instead, it increases at an inflation rate of 10% per year. The proportion of KSM that are [staked](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/staking) changes how the newly minted KSM tokens (from inflation) are distributed. If exactly half of all KSM are staked, then Kusama validators receive 100% of newly minted tokens, whereas if it is above or below 50%, then some of the inflation rewards will go to the Kusama Treasury. Kusama initially launched as an airdrop to those that participated in Polkadot (DOT) token sale. These were distributed at a 1:1 rate, while those without DOT were able to obtain KSM by using a frictional faucet — this has since been decommissioned. Unlike Polkadot, Kusama has not undergone redenomination to increase its circulating supply.

Kusama is unusual among blockchain platforms since it is predominantly built for developers that want to launch bold, ambitious projects, with a fast-evolving pace of development. It is built on a multichain, heterogeneously-sharded design that uses a nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus system — an alternative [consensus](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus) mechanism to the energy intensive [proof-of-work](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake) (POW) scheme employed by several other blockchains. This system enables it to perform rapid on-chain upgrades without a fork, and support cross-chain message passing (XCMP) to enable communication with other parachains on the Kusama network. Like Polkadot, Kusama features on-chain governance capabilities. This on-chain governance is both decentralized and permission-less, allowing anybody with Kusama (KSM) tokens or parachain tokens to vote on their respective governance proposals, which might include putative upgrades, changes to the protocol, and feature requests. This on-chain governance procedure is roughly four times faster than that offered by Polkadot, with a combined voting and enactment period of just 15 days — leading to the rapid pace of development for projects built on Kusama. The project serves projects that want to hit the ground running, launching updates and improvements without the need to implement a fork to do so — thereby ensuring maximum community cohesion.

Kusama was built by the same team that created Polkadot, a company known as Parity Technologies. Its founder is Dr. Gavin Wood, a world-renowned computer scientist and programmer, who also co-founded Ethereum. Parity Technologies has an extensive team comprised of some of the world's most successful blockchain engineers, and has over 100 employees in total spread throughout the world. In addition, Kusama is funded by grants from the Web3 Foundation, which was launched to help "nurture and steward technologies and applications in the fields of decentralised web software protocols." The Web3 foundation also supports Kusama with research and community development thanks to its growth team.

Self-described as "Polkadot's wild cousin," Kusama is an experimental [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain) platform that is designed to provide a massively [interoperable](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-karura) and scalable framework for developers. Kusama is built on Substrate — a blockchain building kit developed by Parity Technologies. Kusama has almost the same codebase as Polkadot — one of the most successful interoperable blockchains. By deploying on Kusama, fast-paced projects gain access to a highly scalable, interoperable sharded network, with features that are not yet available on Polkadot. To that end, Kusama describes itself as a “canary network.” The platform is designed to provide a testbed for developers looking to innovate and deploy their own blockchain and can be used as a preparatory network before launching on Polkadot — though many projects opt to stick with Kusama for their final product. Kusama benefits from a low barrier to entry for deploying parachains, low bond requirements for validators, and is most commonly used by early-stage startups and for experimentation.

Pax Gold is an ERC-20 token, which means it can be bought on many established exchanges and can be stored in a wide variety of cryptocurrency wallets. Some of the top recommended exchanges for trading Pax Gold are [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/), [BitZ](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bitz/) and [Kraken](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kraken/). It is important to note that while Pax Gold is backed by physical gold bars, there still is risk associated with investing and trading PAXG. [Find out more here](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/) about buying cryptos.

In the official whitepaper, Pax Gold CEO Charles Cascarilla explains that the PAXG protocol is created entirely on the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) blockchain and is secured by the proof-of-work ([PoW](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow)) model. However, PAXG is not exclusively tied to Ethereum and can be launched on other blockchains as well. Proof-of-work protocols represent a classic approach to cryptocurrency mining, [Bitcoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/) being the most prominent example. Ethereum has, however, recently begun its transition to the proof-of-stake ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos)) model, aiming to reduce the resources necessary for token mining, among other things.

Pax Gold tokens have a one to one ratio with the gold storage backing it. This means that there is a PAXG coin for each ounce of gold in rotation covered by the Pax Gold protocol. In this sense, the amount of PAXG tokens in circulation changes frequently. At the moment of writing, there are about 60,161 PAXG coins in circulation. However, the number of coins shifts almost by the minute as new investors are introduced, and Pax Gold increases the available gold supply for backing.

With a growing number of ERC-20 tokens available for purchase, Pax Gold stands out because it is backed by an already established commodity. One of the main goals for Pax Gold is to make investing in gold more accessible. The official whitepaper states that “more than USD 3.5 trillion of the total gold available today is used solely for investment purposes;” however, a large portion of it is unavailable to small-time investors. This is where Pax Gold comes into play. Each PAXG token is backed by a fraction of a piece of [London Good Delivery](http://www.lbma.org.uk/good-delivery) gold bar, stored in Brink’s gold vaults, which is the approved storage company by the London Bullion Market Association. Through combining the security and liquidity offered by blockchain-based cryptocurrency, and the established name of gold as a physical commodity, Pax Gold brings a new investment opportunity to traders. PAXG has inspired other cryptocurrency developers to create gold-backed tokens as well.

[Charles Cascarilla](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/) is the founder and chief executive officer of both Paxos Standard and Pax Gold. Cascarilla has an extensive career in capital management, which is what led him to explore the vast possibilities cryptocurrencies offer. After acquiring a degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame, he co-founded Cedar Hill Capital Partners in 2005. This was the start of his career in finance and capital management. Since 2005, Mr. Cascarilla has participated in several traditional and blockchain-based venture capital projects.

Pax Gold (PAXG) is a gold-backed cryptocurrency, launched by the creators of Paxos Standard (PAX) in September 2019. As an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token operating on the Ethereum [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain), Pax Gold is tradeable on a large variety of exchanges and has become an accessible way for traders to start investing in gold. The main goal behind Pax Gold is to make gold more tradable, as the physical commodity is not easily divisible or flexible in terms of transport. This is why [Paxos Standard](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/paxos-standard/) decided to create a cryptocurrency entirely backed by gold. According to the [official whitepaper](https://www.paxos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PAX-Gold-Whitepaper.pdf), Pax Gold was created to allow investors to buy indefinitely small amounts of gold through the cryptocurrency, thus virtually eliminating minimum buy limits for the commodity.

CVX is available on [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/), [OKX](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/okx/), [Bitget](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bitget/), [Mandala Exchange](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/mandala/), and [Hotcoin Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/hotcoin-global/).

Convex was audited by MixBytes, and the results can be found [here](https://docs.convexfinance.com/convexfinance/faq/audits). Its treasury is secured by a 3 of 5 multisig consisting of the following parties: * C2tP - Convex Finance * Winthorpe - Convex Finance * Charlie - Curve Finance * Tommy - Votium * Sam - Frax Finance However, a [bug](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/03/04/convex-finance-bug-causes-cvx-token-to-sink-on-forced-token-unlock/) in one of the [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) at the beginning of March 2022 forced the team to re-deploy the vote-locking contract and caused a price drop in CVX.

CVX has a [total supply](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/total-supply) of 100 million CVX according to the following distribution: * 50% Curve LP rewards _Rewarded pro-rata for CRV received on Convex_ * 25% Liquidity mining _Distributed over four years. (Incentive programs, currently CVX/ETH and cvxCRV/CRV)_ * 9.7% Treasury _Vested over one year. Used for future incentives or other community driven activities_ * 1% veCRV holders _Instantly claimable airdrop_ * 1% veCRV holders who vote to whitelist Convex _Instantly claimable airdrop_ * 3.3% Investors _Vested over one year. 100% of investment funds used to pre-seed boost and locked forever(no cvxCRV minted)._ * 10% Convex Team_ Vested over one year_ cvxCRV are minted at a 1:1 ratio for every CRV staked. CVX tokens can be used to participate in proposals in the Convex Finance protocol.

Convex Finance plays a key role in the Curve wars thanks to its unique incentive structure. Its sole use case is to accumulate as much TVL as possible to achieve the protocol’s goal of controlling as big a stake of Curve Finance as it can. In other words, Convex Finance targets only CRV holders and Curve liquidity providers and does so in two ways: 1. CRV holders receive [cvxCRV](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/convex-crv/) for staking the CRV. 2. Curve LPs receive boosted rewards for staking their LP tokens with Convex. Curve Finance issues veCRV (vote-escrowed CRV) for staked CRV that liquidity providers receive as a reward. In short, veCRV are time-locked CRV tokens with boosted voting power and rewards, which are both a function of the lock-up period of the underlying CRV. You can read more about veCRV [here](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-solidly-exchange-features-tokenomics-and-price-prediction). CRV rewards can go as high as 2.5X of the initial rewards, but the higher the liquidity deposited, the more difficult it is to attain the maximum rewards. Put differently, it is nearly impossible for any one party to stake enough liquidity to attain the maximum boost, which is where Convex Finance comes in. Convex acts as a cartel that pools the assets of individual stakers and benefits from their aggregated liquidity. Even low-level investors can stake their Curve Finance LPs with Convex and receive boosted rewards that would otherwise not be attainable. They receive: * The interest rate on their provided liquidity. * A share of the Curve trading fees. * The boosted rewards from Convex. * CVX tokens Furthermore, you can stake your CRV tokens and receive cvxCRV to receive: * veCRV rewards * Convex trading fees * CVX tokens * Airdrops going to veCRV token holders

Convex Finance was developed by a team of anonymous developers. However, unlike many [shitcoins](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/shitcoin), Convex Finance is considered one of the most important and influential protocols in decentralized finance and thus a fairly low-risk investment.

[Convex Finance](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/convex-finance/) is a [DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi) protocol that allows [Curve](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/curve-dao-token/) [liquidity providers ](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-provider-tokens-lp-tokens)to earn a share of trading fees on Curve without [staking](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/staking) liquidity there. Instead, LPs can stake with Convex and receive boosted CRV and liquidity mining rewards. This provides CRV stakers with better capital efficiency and positions Convex Finance as an important player in the [Curve wars](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/curve-wars-and-the-emergency-dao). Convex has entered a competitive race to obtain as much control as possible of the Curve Finance [stablecoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/stablecoin) exchange. The more CRV tokens a protocol has, the more influence it has over interest rates on [Curve](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/get-ready-for-a-curveball-a-deep-dive-into-curve-by-flipside-crypto), which is the largest [DEX](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-exchange-dex) in the world by [TVL](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/total-value-locked-tvl). Consequently, the “Curve wars” are an ongoing race for influence over what is probably the most important protocol in [DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi).

Arkham (ARKM) is an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token issued on the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) blockchain. The blockchain is secured through the [Proof-of-Stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) (PoS) [consensus mechanism](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus-mechanism). Validators stake 32 ETH to participate in consensus and validating transactions.