Vana empowers users to own, protect and profit from their personal data through decentralized DataDAOs. Learn more about how it works in this article.

Imagine a world where individuals regain control over their own data, taking it back from the hands of large corporations that often profit from it without consent. Enter Vana, an innovative platform that combines 

 with privacy-driven features to create a fairer, more transparent digital economy. This article explores what Vana is all about — and its exciting future potential in the decentralized data and AI space.

 is a blockchain network that gives users full control over their personal data through an 

 architecture. It enables decentralized data-sharing and monetization using DataDAOs (

), whose users can collectively own, manage and profit from their data, all while maintaining privacy and ownership.

Vana was co-founded by Art Abal and Anna Kazlauskas, two Filipinos with strong academic backgrounds and degrees from Harvard and MIT, respectively. It started as a research initiative in 2018, and has since grown into a project driven by the desire to empower individuals with control over their personal data. 

Vana seeks to address the current imbalance whereby large corporations profit from user data without fairly compensating the individuals who generate it. The goal is to create a new data economy in which users can benefit directly from the AI models built on their data, ensuring that the financial rewards of AI development are more fairly distributed. The name "Vana," short for "Nirvana," speaks to the project’s mission of liberating and empowering user data.

The Vana project attempts to challenge the status quo of data hoarding by large centralized organizations, and to tackle several key issues as follows.

Vana is designed to transform personal data into a valuable, user-controlled asset. It operates through the following three key layers.

Vana gives users the power to monetize and use their data in several ways, such as earning revenue from AI models trained on their data, or by integrating their data into applications for personalized experiences. Most importantly, users maintain detailed control over how their data is shared and used. As data contributors, they also receive governance rights within their respective DataDAOs, allowing them to make decisions about how their data is used and how the value is distributed.

Users receive a DLP-specific token when they submit data to a DataDAO, according to the DataDAO’s unique 

 that Vana uses to validate data submitted to its network. PoC maintains the reliability and value of the data within the Vana network. 

Vana acts as a trustless intermediary, connecting data owners, communities and users. It enables individuals to pool their data collectively in a secure and traceable manner while also allowing data users to monetize that data for purposes such as training AI models.

 is a central platform where users can buy, stake, trade and explore data tokens within the Vana ecosystem. It also enables users to contribute their data to DataDAOs, and earn rewards by staking their VANA tokens.

 is an incubator designed to support the growth and development of the Vana ecosystem. It provides tools and resources for users to create and manage DataDAOs, ensuring that high-quality data is available for AI model training and other applications.

DataDAOs are decentralized organizations that pool user-contributed data on the blockchain. They allow individuals to collectively own, manage and monetize their data for AI and other applications. Each DataDAO governs its own DLPs, ensuring that data is secure, private and used judiciously. 

 system incentivizes premium-quality data contributions by rewarding the top 16 DataDAOs every 21 days, based on total Vana tokens staked. This competitive structure ensures that the best datasets and contributors are recognized and rewarded, promoting innovation and growth within the Vana ecosystem

 commits 44% of its total token supply to empower the community. It rewards active participation, contributions and innovation across the Vana network. This includes incentives for high-quality data contributions to DataDAOs, early community rewards and support for developers building on Vana. 

Since its start as an MIT research project in 2018, Vana has made impressive progress, emerging as the first decentralized data liquidity network. 

Looking ahead, Vana aims to build a thriving decentralized data ecosystem and promote mass adoption with its clear road map:

The VANA token is the native cryptocurrency of the Vana Network. VANA serves multiple purposes within the Vana ecosystem, such as securing the network through staking, paying transaction fees, staking in DataDAOs, accessing datasets, acting as part of a trading pair and participating in decentralized governance.

The tokenomics of VANA are designed to align the interests of all participants in the Vana network. With a total supply capped at 120 million tokens, distribution is as follows:

 of $32.86 by the end of 2024 and $38.58 by 2025, with the potential to climb to approximately $112.78 by the end of 2030. Similarly, Coin Edition 

 a value of $50 by the end of 2025, with further growth expected up to $68 by 2030. 

Looking to purchase Vana tokens? Bybit now offers the VANA/USDT Spot trading pair. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

To celebrate this listing, Bybit is holding 

 where you can earn a share of the 560,000 VANA prize pool. 

VANA offers a compelling investment opportunity, thanks to its innovative approach to data ownership, expanding ecosystem and optimistic market outlook. By tackling key challenges in the data economy, VANA empowers users while paving the way for decentralized AI development. However, as with any investment, it's important for potential investors to be mindful of market risks and do their 

Vana is empowering users to take full control of their personal data and even profit from it. By combining blockchain technology with robust privacy measures, Vana challenges traditional data systems and lays the foundation for a more equitable data economy. The platform's ambitious road map could position it as a key player in the future of decentralized AI, opening up new opportunities for individuals to become active participants in this increasingly data-driven world.

Intermediate

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Vana (VANA): Unlocking Data Freedom for User-Owned AI

Sonic and Injective are launching the first cross-chain AI agent platform, the Smart Agent Hub, integrating Solana and Injective ecosystems.

Last week, the S&P 500 saw its biggest single-day price gain this month. This raises the hopes of investors for a year-end rally if prices continue to go up. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was down by 2.54%, with Bitcoin and Ether dropping by 1.24% and 1.00%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is AAVE, which surged 7.7% following the integration of Aave in Balancer's Boosted Pools, simplifying yield generation.

Aave (AAVE), founded in 2017, is a decentralized lending platform on Ethereum for lending, borrowing, and earning interest on 17 cryptocurrencies. It uses smart contracts, collateral for loans, and aTokens for interest, along with features like instant loans. 

 combine markets to enhance capital efficiency and simplify yield generation for DeFi users. By providing liquidity with $USDC and $USDT, users earn fees from swaps and interest from Aave's supply rates. All earnings accrue automatically with no management required. Balancer v3's Boosted Pools streamline liquidity and enable gas-efficient, passive yield generation, making DeFi simpler and more sustainable.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

, the Smart Agent Hub, integrating Solana and Injective ecosystems. The platform enables developers to create, manage, and monetize AI agents in a decentralized environment, with features like tokenization, cross-chain asset interoperability, and a unified developer experience. By leveraging Sonic's HyperGrid and Injective's IBC, the hub facilitates seamless communication and asset transfer across chains. This innovation supports Web3 games, DeFi, and real-world assets, expanding opportunities for AI agents in various sectors. The rollout begins with a testnet in Q1 2025.

From December 16–20, 2024, GBTC had a net outflow of $248.3M, while non-GBTC products saw a net inflow of $705.5M, resulting in a total inflow of $457.2M. The current total stands at a net outflow of $21.3B for GBTC, a net inflow of $57.3B for non-GBTC, and a combined net inflow of $36.03B.

 offers free participation with potential surprise airdrops. Connect your wallet, vote for projects, and use your CHILL FACTOR (based on past Avalanche transactions) to maximize eligibility.

Beginner

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Sonic and Injective Launch First Cross-Chain AI Agent Platform with Smart Agent Hub

Zerebro (ZEREBRO) revolutionizes AI content creation with Solana and Polygon, offering autonomous content generation, NFT minting, and DeFi integration.

 (AI) continues to unlock limitless opportunities in numerous sectors, including the crypto space. Projects such as 

 and others have had a large impact on various facets in 

AI-generated content is in demand, and the latest crypto project to enter the space, Zerebro, aims to provide a way to create and generate content autonomously through AI content models.

Let’s learn more about Zerebro and its innovative approach to content creation through AI.

Zerebro is an autonomous AI system crafted to create, distribute and analyze content across decentralized and social platforms.

 It maintains content diversity through the use of

 (RAG) system that creates a dynamic memory database, based on continuously updated human interactions.

Zerebro operates independently without human oversight using a concept known as hyperstition to merge fiction with reality, resulting in self-propagated narratives encompassing diverse cultural and financial scopes, with key uses of content creation and cultural integration across the digital community. Zerebro autonomously produces high-entropy content, ensuring diversity and originality, and engages audiences on various platforms, such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Warpcast and Telegram.

Zerebro also integrates unique cultural themes through a feature known as “infinite backrooms” designed to elicit thought-provoking conversations among digital communities. Its data sets follow a nonlinear thought pattern, resulting in unpredictable and inherently viral outputs. This unique feature can be used to generate chaotic and surreal artworks that can be autonomously minted as 

 (POL) blockchain. Zerebro also features autonomous trading of artwork through the integration of memetic dynamics and market interaction analysis, thereby demonstrating the potential of AI to merge cultural creativity with 

ZEREBRO, the native token for the Zerebro ecosystem, is hosted on the 

 (SOL) blockchain. The maximum supply is 1 billion ZEREBRO tokens, with 999,972,148 tokens currently in circulation.

An autonomous AI system such as Zerebro has transformative potential in the crypto industry, especially in cultural content generation and financial markets. Its “hyperstition” approach to generating content can help influence markets by shaping investor behavior through an interplay between culture and technology.

Furthermore, the project intends to launch a unified memory across social media platforms that could significantly enhance information retention, leading to further engagement. The Zerebro team also intends to integrate the ZEREBRO token with DeFi protocols, opening holders to various income-generating opportunities, such as 

Zerebro has experienced some volatility since its launch, which isn’t unusual for a new project trying to establish a stable price floor. As of Dec 23, 2024, Zerebro is trading at $0.30, with a market cap of over $377 million. This price was over 6,350% higher than its all-time low of $0.0058 on Nov 3, 2024, and just 39% lower than its all-time high of $0.6153 on Nov 23, 2024.

That said, Zerebro is still a new project that’s subject to high volatility. We highly recommend you practice sound 

 crypto on Bybit’s Spot trading platform. To celebrate the listing, Bybit is holding a 

 up for grabs. The first event is exclusively for new users to deposit and earn from a prize pool of 150,000 ZEREBRO tokens.

To participate, simply register on Bybit and complete verification. Then, proceed to accumulate a deposit volume of at least 400 ZEREBRO, or deposit 100 USDT and trade 100 USDT worth of ZEREBRO via your first trade using your Bybit account. This event runs through Dec 24, 2024, 8:59AM UTC.

, is offering a prize pool of 60,000 ZEREBRO tokens. To earn a share of the prize pool, simply register for the event and trade at least 500 USDT worth of ZEREBRO on Spot through Dec 24, 2024, 8:59AM UTC. 

Rewards will be capped at 3,000 ZEREBRO per user.

In addition to these two events, you can also participate in a 

 with a 30,000 ZEREBRO prize pool. Earn 20 ZEREBRO for every successful referral (up to 10 referrals) Rewards are on a first-come, first-served basis through Dec 24, 2024, 8:59AM UTC. 

Zerebro’s unique autonomous AI system approach to the crypto market sets it apart in the space. Crypto subcultures will be able to tap into its ability to independently generate and analyze content across different networks. Its RAG technology could enhance content diversity among the crypto community, while its “infinite backrooms” are spaces in which these digital communities can engage in diverse cultural and financial narratives.

As AI continues to transform the web3 space, Zerebro is poised to add value through its autonomous system that eliminates human oversight.

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Zerebro (ZEREBRO): Unlimited Possibilities in AI Content Creation

Gearbox Protocol is a composable leveraged lending protocol designed to enhance capital efficiency within DeFi. Learn how Gearbox Protocol works.

 (DeFi) with its composable leverage system. It enables investors to use 

 on assets across multiple protocols, transforming how DeFi participants can trade with margin, 

 and execute complex strategies — all without leaving their ecosystem.

 is making leverage accessible and secure. Whether you’re a lender seeking passive yield or a leverage user exploring advanced strategies, Gearbox’s unique architecture opens up new possibilities. Let’s explore how this on-chain credit layer is improving DeFi.

Since the emergence of DeFi in 2020, it hasstrived to reimagine financial services by removing intermediaries, such as banks and brokers. Through

 systems, DeFi offers transparent and direct access to lending, trading and investments. Despite market fluctuations, the DeFi sector remains resilient, with a current 

 (TVL) of $123 billion — a 128% increase since the start of 2024.

The DeFi sector is poised for resurgence as secure and scalable innovations fuel its growth. With proven use cases and real-world adoption, DeFi continues to solidify its role as one of crypto’s most valuable use cases.

 (WLFI), backed by the Trump family, underscores a shifting acceptance of DeFi in the United States. The project’s multisig wallet has publicly 

 various DeFi tokens, such as AAVE, LINK, ENA and more. WLFI aims to make DeFi accessible to everyday users, but it remains to be seen if the project will achieve its goals.

Gearbox Protocol is a composable leveraged lending protocol designed to enhance capital efficiency within DeFi. By offering a flexible credit layer, Gearbox empowers users to leverage their positions across multiple DeFi platforms, seamlessly integrating with protocols they already trust.

Gearbox’s fundamental design minimizes costs while maintaining flexibility. Its modular architecture reduces gas costs and improves scalability..

Unlike traditional leveraged lending protocols that silo funds within their ecosystems, Gearbox allows users to execute trades and strategies across integrated platforms, such as 

 correlated assets, Gearbox offers a new way to utilize leverage without restrictions.

With Gearbox Protocol, leverage becomes a DeFi primitive — an infrastructure layer that lets users go beyond basic 

 containing both user funds and borrowed margin funds. They serve as automated leveraged DeFi wallets, allowing users to manage positions and execute strategies independently.

: Gearbox enables users to integrate leverage with DeFi protocols like Uniswap for margin trading, Curve for leverage farming, and more. This flexibility empowers diverse strategies across different platforms.

: Gearbox combines lending and prime brokerage functionalities within the same protocol, simplifying the user experience and expanding possibilities for leveraged trading and farming.

, Gearbox maximizes capital efficiency. It minimizes gas costs and ensures that funds remain noncustodial, unlocking the full potential of leverage without compromising user security.

, ensuring that all integrations, policies and upgrades are managed transparently and collectively by the community and stakeholders.

Gearbox Protocol operates through two main user types:

The Credit Accounts enable operations while maintaining safety through 

Gearbox’s modular architecture supports seamless integrations with third-party protocols, ensuring assets remain decentralized and noncustodial. Liquidations are determined by 

 (based on calculated risks), and protect lenders while offering dynamic leverage possibilities.

 utility token with a capped supply of 10 billion, is the governance token of Gearbox Protocol. It empowers DAO governance and supports initiatives, such as liquidity mining and staking rewards, with an annual emission of just 3% from the DAO's holdings. 

Token distribution percentages are as follows:

Nearly full circulation has been achieved, minimizing supply overhang as a majority of token 

 concluded in 2023. The DAO treasury retains around 40% of the supply, ensuring the community’s strong influence on protocol development.

Marketwise, GEAR has recently experienced notable price movements. Over the past seven days, the token has surged by 11.9%, and its 30-day performance skyrocketed by 166.3%. Year-to-date, GEAR's price has risen approximately 57.7%, reflecting increased investor confidence. Daily trading volume hit $11.8 million over the past 24 hours, marking a 600.3% spike that indicates growing market interest. 

Gearbox Protocol's innovative approach to DeFi simplifies user experience through its wallet-centric design and the integration of the 

. With a capped supply of 10 billion GEAR tokens, robust DAO governance and nearly full circulation, Gearbox prioritizes community-driven growth. 

Recent market performance reflects growing investor confidence, with significant price increases and a surge in trading activity.

Looking ahead, Gearbox Protocol’s road map focuses on enhancing usability and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem. The integration of Credit Accounts into account abstraction (AA) wallets such as EIP-4337 revolutionizes the way users can access and manage funds, eliminating the need for complex lending interfaces.

Future developments may include pool-based models and optimizers to tackle liquidity fragmentation, further strengthening 

 Ethereum solutions. As Gearbox Protocol evolves, its focus remains on delivering efficient, user-friendly financial tools that empower users and redefine DeFi as we know it.

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Gearbox: Powering On-Chain Credit for DeFi

Trading

Prefer more reactive indicators when trading crypto? Give exponential moving averages a shot especially since they account for price volatility.

Exponential Moving Average How To Use EMA to Trade Volatile Crypto

The cryptocurrency market is highly speculative in nature, which usually leads to exaggerated levels of volatility. To compensate, investors need to use 

 that adapt to the volatility of cryptocurrencies. One such indicator is the exponential moving average (EMA), which is designed to smooth out the effects of price volatility.

 (MA) is one of the most commonly used tools to indicate overall trend direction. The exponential moving average focuses on the most recent price data, which is important when trading in the volatile crypto environment. In this article, we’ll discuss how the EMA is used in crypto trading, and we’ll outline different ways to use the EMA, along with practical trading examples.

An exponential moving average is a technical indicator that gives greater weighting to recent prices in its calculation. As a result, EMA responds more quickly to the latest price changes, as compared to a simple moving average (SMA), which has a bigger lag. 

The primary aim of the EMA is to smooth out the price and remove short-term price fluctuations.

Most investors focus on SMA, which shows the average price of a specific number of candles. If the current price moves above the average, bulls are stronger than bears. On the other hand, changing direction might indicate a trend change. However, EMA gives more weight to current data because its formula more closely follows the price.

The mathematical formula for calculating EMA builds upon its previous values. Therefore, all price data remains up-to-date so that the newest data has greater impact than the older price data.

= Previous period’s EMA (SMA is used for the first period’s calculations)

 = Exponential smoothing constant (this gives the appropriate weight to the most recent prices, utilizing the specified period in the MA)

The EMA clarifies price action for traders by reducing the lag in the price chart. As a result, it smoothes the price and makes the trend more reliable and accurate than with the traditional moving average. However, its greater price sensitivity may at times confuse traders. Therefore, the ideal approach is to use other technical indicators in addition to EMA in order to determine the most accurate buying point.

As with all technical indicators, moving averages cannot be the ultimate solution for trading cryptocurrencies. Therefore, investors should understand these indicators’ strengths and weaknesses before using them to make trading decisions.

Strengths of the Exponential Moving Average

Weaknesses of the Exponential Moving Average

How to Use the Exponential Moving Average to Trade

EMA works like other moving average indicators, where the primary aim is to identify the market trend. If a crypto asset is within an uptrend, the price will be above the EMA. For a bearish trend, the price should remain below the EMA. On the other hand, a contraindication of the EMA would represent a correction in a trend, as shown in the image below.

The above image shows the three phases of a trend, which we can easily find using the EMA:

In cryptocurrency trading, investors should find a stable price above the EMA to open a buy position. In addition, a trend trader should understand how to gauge the strength of a trend.

Based on the EMA value, we can define a market trend as follows:

Long-term traders and HODLers should use an EMA of 50–200 days to identify the long-term price direction in cryptocurrency trading. On the other hand, the short-term trend is suitable for opening trades. However, the period of the EMA depends on the trader’s choice and flexibility. Fortunately, this can be easily adjusted to fit your trading plan.

There are many ways to trade cryptocurrencies using EMA. However, professional traders like to keep the system simple, using it where profitability is high.

Trend trading is the basic way to identify where most market participants are most comfortable owning the asset at the current price. In this method, the combination of EMA and SMA has higher probability rates. 

For example, we can use a 200 SMA for long-term trends and a 50 EMA for short-term trends. Therefore, crypto investors should buy once the price moves above both the 200 SMA and 50 EMA.

Per the BTC/USD chart above, the long-term trend is bullish as the price exceeds the 200 SMA. Later on, the price moves above the 50 EMA, while the 50 EMA is above the 200 SMA. Therefore, the bullish trend above both MA levels is very strong, and any buying point has a higher possibility of hitting the target level.

Another approach is to use EMA as a dynamic support or resistance level. One of the biggest drawbacks of static S/R is that it remains fixed at a given level. On the other hand, dynamic S/R levels move with the price and can react immediately. Therefore, this method is suitable for finding near-term reversal points toward the trend.

The above BTC/USD chart demonstrates how the EMA works as a dynamic support. Buying a crypto asset from the dynamic support level has a better risk-to-reward ratio. The 50-day and 200-day moving averages can be used to identify dynamic support and resistance zones from which prices are more likely to react.

When one moving average moves above another, it creates a profitable trading opportunity. One of the most effective crossover strategies is known as the golden cross. When the 50 EMA moves above the 200 SMA, it indicates that short-term bulls are becoming more aggressive, while long-term traders are still bullish.

The example above shows how the golden cross indicates increased bullishness in the BTC/USD price. This is applicable in any time frame from one minute to one week.

Exponential Moving Average vs. Simple Moving Average

Cryptocurrency trading differs from traditional financial instruments because big surges and collapses in price are very common with crypto. Therefore, traders aren’t always certain when it comes to choosing the right MA. Moreover, long-term HODLers and intraday traders remain active in cryptocurrency trading, which raises the question of whether they should use EMA or SMA.

SMA uses the average price of the last number of candles without reference to recent price change. Therefore, SMA works well with a higher number of candles. As a result, long-term traders and HODLers can use SMA to identify the broader market context. For example, a 200 SMA provides more accurate indications of a long-term trend than a 200 EMA.

The BTC/USD chart above shows that the 200 EMA is closer to the price than the 200 SMA 200 because EMA focuses on the most recent price changes, which aren’t as much of a necessity for long-term traders.

On the other hand, even if traders know where the long-term trend is heading, it’s important to match it with the short-term trend. It isn’t advisable to buy a crypto asset based solely on its price above the 200 SMA. Moreover, intraday traders don’t bother with where the long-term trend is heading, or they just trade a portion of the broader market trend. 

Therefore, EMAs with lower values like 20, 30, 50 or 100 work well for finding the short-term market trend. Optimal success in EMA trading comes from how the trader utilizes the SMA and EMA together to find the most accurate trend.

The BTC/USDchart above shows how the price is trending up both long- and short-term, identified by the 20 EMA and 200 SMA.

Best Exponential Moving Average Indicator Pairings

In financial trading, investors have to anticipate the price movement because  no one knows for certain where it’s headed. Using multiple tools, investors can increase the probability of successful trades. Therefore, the EMA needs to be combined with other indicators. The following are some of these possible pairings.

 indicator is an important technical oscillator that indicates overbought and oversold positions. The RSI indicator price chart shows in a separate window, and moves from a level of 0 to 100. 

When the RSI indicator starts to move up above 30, it’s a strong indication that the market may initiate a bullish trend. Later on, a potential buying opportunity may come when the price moves up from the dynamic 20 EMA while the RSI indicator is still bullish.

The above BTC/USD chart shows that the BTC/USD price faces static support at $40,684,  and moves above the dynamic 20 EMA with a strong bullish H4 close. In the meantime, RSI is trending higher and has moved above 50. As a result, the price extends to $68,000, indicating a strong bullish trend.

, or average directional index, is another momentum indicator that helps traders identify a trend’s strength. ADX remains in a separate window and moves from 0 to 100 and even beyond. For cryptocurrency trading, investors should closely monitor the ADX level while opening a buy position. 

Before opening a buy trade using the EMA and ADX, make sure to follow these steps and conditions:

The BTC/USD intraday chart above shows Bitcoin’s price moving up from the horizontal support level of $50,382.35, and closing with a bullish candle above the dynamic 20 EMA. Meanwhile, the ADX is above 20, indicating that the current bullish trend is strong. 

To summarize, using EMA to determine entries can be profitable if traders combine it with other trading tools. EMA remains popular among traders because it places more weight on the latest price data, lagging less than other technical indicators. Similar to all moving averages, EMA works best in the midst of a strong trend in the market.

Exponential Moving Average: How to Use EMA to Trade Volatile Crypto

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