Crypto. Now understandable with AI
Here we go again…
I was testing Astro Bento Portfolio + Github Pages + Github CI/CD with the resulting Web3/Crypto related microblog here.
Some time ago I was having a look to this amazing BlockChain/Solidity FreeCodeCamp course:
Practical Blockchain:
- Parties that do not know each other can exchange value without a central authority
What would Cicero Think about Crypto?
- Protection Against Arbitrary Power
Cicero’s View:
- Clear, consistent laws safeguard against tyranny or arbitrary rule.
- Without laws, society is governed by the whims of those in power, leaving people without protection or fairness.
Complexity’s Role:
- A well-designed system of rules provides structure and predictability.
- Everyone—whether ruler or citizen—is theoretically bound by these rules, leveling the playing field and reducing the ability of any one person or group to impose their will unfairly.
- Risk of Over-Regulation or Tyranny of Rules
Too Many Rules:
- Excessively complex systems can result in over-regulation.
- People may struggle to navigate the legal or bureaucratic framework, hindering personal freedoms.
- Complex rules can concentrate power among those who manipulate or interpret the system.
Inaccessibility:
- Complex rules create a divide between those who understand the law (experts, bureaucrats, the wealthy) and the general population.
- Individuals may feel oppressed or disadvantaged without the resources to navigate or challenge the system.
If there are no clear laws, we will be enslaved by the wishes of men - Cicero
My point is: I dont have any idea about Solidity, Smart Contracts or whatever code goberns crypto.
But…I think many of us know how to use AI already (particularly LLMs) - to get some ideas of what are we interacting with.
Let’s try to get clarification on some Smart Contract
Understanding SC’s with LLMs: these are are some interesting protocols
More about protocols… 🚀
Crypto Analytics
There are of course some platforms already for this.
But as this is all public, how about…exploring a BTC wallet?
Like the one offered for donations at duckdns:
And that exploration of a wallet can be done with Python!
Crypto - SelfServing Dashboards & Analytics Platforms: Dune and more 📌
I have used Dune-Analytics, together with SQL
DeBank:
- Free Tier: DeBank offers a free version that includes basic features for tracking and managing decentralized finance (DeFi) portfolios, such as token balances, transaction histories, and portfolio insights across multiple chains.
- Usage: Popular among users for its clean, easy-to-use interface and chain aggregation features.
Zapper:
- Free Tier: Zapper provides free access to basic DeFi portfolio tracking and yield farming analytics. It aggregates data from various DeFi protocols and presents it in a unified dashboardsage**: A favorite for users tracking multiple DeFi investments across different platforms, with an intuitive user interface.
Nansen:
- Free Tier: The free version of Nansen offers basic tracking features but with significant limitations, including access to limited data on wallet activity and DeFi protocols .
- Advanced features, such as more detailed analytics, deeper insights into DeFi protocols, and enhanced filtering, are available through paid plans.
Dune Analytics:
- Free Tier: Dune offers a free version that allows users to query and visualize blockchain data using SQL. However, query limits and access to certain advanced dashboards are restricted .
- Paid Features plans unlock higher query limits, private dashboards, and greater customization options for advanced users, particularly useful for researchers and developers.
Messari:
- Free Tier: Messari’s free tier provides limited access to crypto data and analysis, such as basic market insights and some reports .
- Paid Features: Forled research, advanced analytics, and exclusive reports, Messari offers premium subscriptions. These are typically used by institutional investors and analysts.
- Nansen and Messari are particularly popular among institutional investors due to their advanced data features and research reports.
- DeBank and Zapper are favored by DeFi enthusiasts for their user-friendly interfaces and portfolio tracking capabilities.
- Dune Analytics appeals to data-driven users and developers, especially those who are comfortable with SQL and need deep access to blockchain data.
For many casual users, DeBank and Zapper provide sufficient features, while Nansen and Messari are more suited for power users needing professional-grade analysis.
Exploring Protocols
Solidity is not the only language you can use with Polygon.
While it’s the most popular language for developing smart contracts on Polygon due to its compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), other languages can be used indirectly.
Here are some other options 📌
Indirectly through Compilation:
Vyper: A Python-like language that compiles to EVM bytecode, allowing you to write smart contracts in a more Pythonic style. Yul: A low-level assembly language for the EVM, which can be used for highly optimized or specific use cases.
So if the Analytics part is clear…
…and blockchain data is public?
How about exploring one protocol as an example?
Let’s give it a try to PolyMarket
- Its kind of a prediction market…place? Lets find out how many transactions are happening
About PolyMarket… 📌
Polymarket Overview: A decentralized application on the Polygon blockchain for predicting real-world events like elections and sports.
Functionality: Users buy shares based on their predictions; share prices fluctuate with user confidence. Correct predictions yield profits, while incorrect ones result in losses. Prediction Examples: Includes political outcomes (e.g., presidential elections) and pop culture events (e.g., TikTok’s potential ban in the U.S.). Liquidity Providers: Essential for market function; they deposit funds into a share pool and earn rewards, including weekly payouts in USDC. Important Considerations: Not available in the U.S.; users should verify local laws. Distinction between actual probabilities and market opinions is crucial. Key Takeaways: Users can profit from accurate predictions. Liquidity providers ensure market efficiency. Awareness of local regulations is necessary before participation.
People have created what?
The Code - BlockChain Transaction Analyzer
How about taking the best of 2 worlds?
Lets use AI (LLMs and vibe coding techniques) to see how good are they at understanding the code of some public DeFi Protocols.
Because…why not!
Crypto Resources
BlockChain Scanners
Blockchain explorer for Ethereum based network and a tool for inspecting and analyzing EVM based blockchains.
Interesting Crypto Stuff I found lately
Lending Protocols
I mean Lending&Borrowing Protocols:
https://de.fi/explore/borrow-lending/cat/stablecoin
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/mnzv1c/defi_explained_lending_borrowing/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/nletmi/defi_explained_the_full_guide/#:~:text=Decentralized%20Finance%20(DeFi)%20is%20a,protocols%20that%20work%20without%20intermediaries.
Staking Protocols
I was always confused by staking vs lending.
More Web3 Stuff
I was writing about web3 here.
https://www.reddit.com/r/defi/comments/1dl9ecu/most_reputable_respected_and_definitive_guides_on/
Full-Stack DApp Boilerplate for Substrate and ink! Smart Contracts https://github.com/scio-labs/inkathon?ref=statichunt.com
Top Protocols per Chain (for example Ethereum) - https://defillama.com/top-protocols
AAVE v3 is the most popular lending protocol for ETH at this moment - https://defillama.com/protocol/aave-v3?medianApy=true
Some dApps
Open Source, Permissionless & privacy conscious DeFi portfolio tracker
Start visualising and tracking 434 protocols across 17 blockchains.
Stable Coins
Example stable coins are: USDT, USDC, DAI, USDS…
- https://defillama.com/stablecoins
- https://defillama.com/stablecoin/dai
- https://defillama.com/stablecoins/Polygon
ERC20
What cool things can be done with ERC20? USDC USDT DAI Transfers
It is possible to receive USDT, USDC, and DAI into an ERC-20 (Ethereum) wallet:
- DAI Contract Address: https://eth.blockscout.com/token/0x6B175474E89094C44Da98b954EedeAC495271d0F
- Tether (USDT): https://eth.blockscout.com/token/0xdAC17F958D2ee523a2206206994597C13D831ec7
- USDC: https://eth.blockscout.com/token/0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48
All three of these are commonly issued as ERC-20 tokens, meaning they operate on the Ethereum blockchain and are compatible with Ethereum addresses.
ERC-20 Compatibility:
- USDT, USDC, and DAI are designed to adhere to the ERC-20 token standard. This standard defines a set of rules and functions that allow these tokens to interact with the Ethereum blockchain and other ERC-20-compatible wallets.
- Therefore, any Ethereum wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens can receive and hold these cryptocurrencies.
Wallet Addresses:
- Your Ethereum wallet address is the same address you’ll use to receive all three tokens. You don’t need separate addresses for each.
Important Considerations:
- Network Fees (Gas): When sending or receiving ERC-20 tokens, you’ll need to pay Ethereum network fees (gas). These fees fluctuate depending on network congestion.
- Wallet Support: Ensure your wallet fully supports ERC-20 tokens. Most modern Ethereum wallets do, but it’s always good to double-check.
- Correct Network: It is vital that the sender of the tokens, sends them on the Ethereum network. If they send them on another network, such as the Tron network, the funds will most likely be lost.
- Contract Addresses: While you use your regular Ethereum address to receive these tokens, each token has its own unique contract address on the Ethereum blockchain. This contract address is used by the blockchain to identify the token. You do not need to use the contract address to receive the tokens.
You can confidently use your Ethereum (ERC-20) wallet address to receive USDT, USDC, and DAI.
For example, the aave token is ERC20:
Conclusions
I got to know this defi app called MetaLend that consolidates what you have in a wallet: https://app.metalend.tech/#earn
Its a Defi Aggregator, as seen in Reddit.
They can tell you some ideas on where to lend (sorted by %).
Similarly to what you can learn at DefiLLama: https://defillama.com/protocols/lending
Which is where I got to know about Fluid: https://defillama.com/protocol/fluid
I also got to learn about another lending protocol called Morpho and Lulo:
From where it can detect what I have lended via Aave, my open positions.
ChainList is a list of EVM networks. Users can use the information to connect their wallets and Web3 middleware providers to the appropriate Chain ID and Network ID to connect to the correct chain.
I could not resist to try few protocols (under my own risk).
So…does the code explanations match what happened in reality?
Crypto Example 1
Lending with Aave.
I lended ETH, which gave me aEthWETH
mapped 1:1 with the amount deposited.
After some time, i started getting new ETH (?)
The AAve ETH Staking smart contract: https://etherscan.io/address/0xd01607c3c5ecaba394d8be377a08590149325722#code
Crypto Example 2
This relates with: https://instadapp.io/
The Unified Platform for Everything DeFi
Lending with FLuid: https://fluid.io/lending/1
I tested it with lending USDT
.
See USDT https://etherscan.io/token/0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7?a=0x52aa899454998be5b000ad077a46bbe360f4e497 with ~8M holders
Placed 40$ in, and the transaction cost me some gas (2.11$ in USDT or 1.29$ in ETH == 2.363828823 Gwei)
You can pay in different tokens:
I got 34.684249 fUSDT
mapped to it, in theory to a ~7% interest:
And now it appears:
NetAPR examples:
To recover your initial investment of $40 after it dropped by 13% and then grew at an annual rate of 7%:
Value after the drop: Your investment of $40 dropped by 13%, meaning it became $40 \times (1 - 0.13) = 34.80.
Required growth to recover: To get back to $40 from $34.80, your investment needs to grow by a factor of 40/34.80 approx1.1494.
Time to recover: With an annual growth rate of 7% (0.07), it would take approximately 2.06 years to recover your initial investment.
See fUSDT: https://etherscan.io/token/0x5c20b550819128074fd538edf79791733ccedd18 with ~1k holders
See in your wallet transaction details
But I really didnt get the drop to 34 (-13,3%), despite showing 40$ value on the UI…
As we are here for the code and how AI can interprete it, this is the fluid Smart Contract: https://etherscan.io/address/0x5C20B550819128074FD538Edf79791733ccEdd18#code
Crypto Example 3
I could not resist to go back to aave v3 and lend the rest of USDT for comparison: Here with a ~3.26% interest.
8 USDT supplied, ~0.44$ usd paid in gas fees via eth (2461719711 wei)
But something went wrong, and the gas was spent, yet the 8 USDT werte still at my wallet.
So i tried again with 5USDT (and slow speed to safe some gas, as i have to pay again 0.456722383 Gwei)
Then, i got aEthUSDT
https://etherscan.io/token/0x23878914efe38d27c4d67ab83ed1b93a74d4086a with a ~3,26% interest
If someone borrow, it will do 4,72%
After spending some eth in these transactions, this is how the asset looks like:
FAQ
Chain Comparison
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Polkadot: A Comparative Overview
Feature | Bitcoin | Ethereum | Solana | Polkadot |
---|---|---|---|---|
Primary Function | Digital currency | Smart contract platform | High-throughput blockchain | Interoperable blockchain network |
Consensus Mechanism | Proof-of-Work (PoW) | Proof-of-Stake (PoS) | Proof-of-History (PoH) + Proof-of-Stake (PoS) | Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) |
Transaction Speed | ~7 transactions per second (TPS) | ~30 TPS (pre-Merge) | Up to 65,000 TPS | Up to 1,000 TPS |
Transaction Fees | Relatively high | Can vary significantly | Low | Low |
Smart Contracts | Limited | Supports complex smart contracts | Supports smart contracts | Supports parachains for custom blockchains |
Scalability | Limited | Improving with layer-2 solutions | High | High |
Interoperability | Limited | Improving with bridges | Limited | High |
Programming
- Solidity is primarily used for developing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
- Other blockchains, like Solana, have their own programming languages (e.g., Rust for Solana).
- Polkadot, being a network of interconnected blockchains (parachains), allows for diverse programming languages depending on the specific parachain.
Open-Source Wallets
- Bitcoin: Electrum, Bitcoin Core, Mycelium
#flatpak install flathub org.electrum.electrum
- Ethereum: MetaMask, MyEtherWallet, Trust Wallet
- Solana: Phantom, Sollet, Solflare
- Polkadot: Polkadot.js, Talisman
Crypto Concepts
- Impermanent Loss (IL)
This can happen when the value of 2 assets deposited in a pool diverse: https://app.beefy.com/vault/nuri-cow-scroll-wbtc-weth-vault
beefy is a Multichain Yield Optimizer
- You can Stake using Smart Contract Protocols like Aave: https://app.aave.com/
And you receive some tokens while your assets are staked: https://etherscan.io/token/0x4d5f47fa6a74757f35c14fd3a6ef8e3c9bc514e8
- Sample wallet
https://portfolio.metamask.io/stake?tab=pooled
You can find your wallet address / transactions and so on at https://etherscan.io/address/
- DeFi space is huge and full of information