What is HedgeTrade?
HedgeTrade (HEDG) is an Ethereum token that has the goal of revolutionizing social trading using blockchain technology. It aims to become an all-inclusive platform where the world’s best traders come together to share their knowledge. Traders post their predictions into a smart contract-powered blueprint that users can purchase or unlock in order to access. Traders are rewarded with HEDG if their blueprint turns out to be accurate forecast; otherwise the user’s purchase is refunded. HedgeTrade also provides users with a variety of Crypto Traded Indices (CTIs), which are baskets of cryptocurrencies that will track reference indices, which they can then trade.
History of HedgeTrade
HedgeTrade was released on October 17th, 2018, and conducted a quiet ICO where tokens were on sale for $0.02 each. Not much is known about the founders of the project, or the specifics of its ICO, however, the HEDG token has become one of the fastest moving coins in 2019 thus far, surpassing a market cap of $200 million by July 2019.
How HedgeTrade Works
HedgeTrade’s goal of increasing the quality of trading predictions by holding forecasters accountable for their forecasts is accomplished through keeping track of such forecasts on immutable blockchain records, such as Ethereum. The Ethereum blockchain also allows HedgeTrade to develop a unique smart contract staking model which ensures that tokens staked by forecasters and users can be adequately protected and fairly distributed. To get started, a user buys HEDG tokens from an exchange or the platform itself, peruses a database of forecasts, then stakes tokens into a contract representative of the forecast they want access to. If the forecast proves to be correct, HedgeTrade “oracles” release the staked tokens to the forecaster; otherwise, tokens are returned to the users.
Why HedgeTrade?
HedgeTrade is a novel use of the blockchain and smart contracts in that it is the first of its kind to revolve around “social trading.” As a platform based around predictions of crypto prices, it has several benefits to offer the crypto trading public, some of which include:
- Aligned interests. In the HedgeTrade system, both predictors and followers are working toward the same goals. Traders can only earn rewards if the predictions they submitted are accurate. Users can follow traders whose predictions they trust and make the same trade, profit alongside the prediction-making trader.
- Staking model. Platform users can browse HedgeTrade’s selection of predictions made by traders who staked tokens, representing their having put skin in the game, which helps to add confidence in and accountability to their forecasts.
- Profit focused. The HedgeTrade platform is designed to let users hedge their risk while maximizing their profitability through their ability to access valuable market data directly through the platform.
- Unique trading instruments. In the future, HedgeTrade plans to incorporate derivative instruments, margin accounts and the ability for its users to take short positions, giving them access to crypto opportunities they might not be able to find anywhere else.
