What is 0X?
0x Protocol (“zero-ex”) is an open protocol designed for decentralized exchange built on the Ethereum blockchain. A protocol represents a system of rules that dictates how procedures are to be followed, which used by 2 or more parties to enable efficient communication. 0x is a protocol that doesn’t request from the exchange of all tokens issued on the Ethereum blockchain (ERC-20 tokens) to go through the control of a centralized exchange or the shortages of an on-chain decentralized exchange.
0x was founded by Amir Bandeali and Will Warren in October 2016, believing that all assets will be traded eventually on the blockchain. The platform was developed to facilitate the trading between Ethereum tokens using off-chain orders that decrease gas costs, transaction fees and other fees which are generated by on-chain transactions.
The 0x Platform
0x is a modular system, and different parts of it can be upgraded without disturbing active markets or altering other components. Since business logic responsible for making trades is unconnected to governance logic and trading balance access controls, both can be removed without affecting each other.
Along with this, as an open-source platform, 0x’s protocol charges no fees, contrary to centralized exchanges, which has steep operating costs. This is possible due to the fact that orders are transported off-chain, which greatly diminishes gas costs while also reducing blockchain congestion. In its place, relayers collect a fee by helping broadcast orders and easing trades.
By sharing a basic API, relayers can cumulate liquidity pools, generating network effects that combine as more relayers join in.
As a trustless exchange, 0x works as a distributed network without a centralized point of failure and experiences zero downtime. Because of this, each trade is settled atomically (linearizable or indivisible) and without counterparty threat.
The ZRX Token
The ZRX token is used by to pay transaction fees to relayers that host and manage public order books. Since orders are made off-chain, relayers are essential to broadcast these orders, gathering a fee for their tasks.
Those that pay the transaction fees are makers. These are considered to be market participants who make the orders. Those that consume orders are takers.
0x Relayers
The tokens are also utilized for decentralized governance over 0x protocol’s update mechanism, which enables the replacement of its smart contracts, allowing them to be improved over time. Since 0x is created on top of Ethereum, its protocol smart contracts can access user funds and DApps that plug into 0x smart contracts.
Because of this, decentralized governance is needed to make sure the update mechanism is secure and will disrupt the network as less as possible.
It also functions as a decentralized system of governance for the upgrade system of the 0x protocol. In effect, ZRX token owners have involvement in the protocol and their capacity to make improvements to it directly proportional to the amount they have in their possession.
How to Purchase ZRX
The main exchange for buying ZRX is Binance, which currently has the largest trading volume. ZRX can be traded mainly for BTC, ETH, USDT, and very few other altcoins.
ZRX is available on the following exchanges: Upbit, Bittrex, BitMart, OKEx, Poloniex, ABCC, Airswap, BIlaxy, BitBay, BitBNS, BITBOX, Bithumb, BitMart, Bittrex, C2CX, Cobinhood, Coinone, CoinTiger, Crex24m DDEX, DigiFinex, EtherDelta, Ethfinex, Fatbtc, FCoin, Gate.io, Gatecoin, GOPAX, HitBTC, Hotbit, Huobi, IDEX, Independent Reserve, Iquant, Koinex, Kucoin, Liqui, Livecoin, Mercatox, OTCBTC, Radar Relay, Stellar Decentralized Exchange, Tokenomy, Vebitcoin, WazirX, ZB.COM, and Zebpay.
The high number of the exchanges on which 0x is featured makes it an accessible asset.
How to Store ZRX
ZRX can be stored in any wallet that is ERC-20 compatible such as Coinomi, MetaMask, and Myetherwallet.
However, to ensure the maximum of security, you should store your ZRX on hardware wallets.
0x Token Price History
0x’s token launch was back on August 15, 2017, managing to raise $24 million worth of ether. It was initially sold for $0.048. At that time, 50 percent of the total supply was made available to investors, with 15 percent being kept by 0x, 15 percent stored in a developer fund, 10 percent kept by the founding team, and 10 percent being allocated to advisors and early backers.
0x slowly dropped to around ~$0.20 throughout September. It stayed at this level during the month of October and had a relatively uneventful November in a time when most altcoins were going through a growth phase.
At the beginning of December, 0x made saw a surge in price, peaking at a high of $1.30 on January 5th.
By the end of January, the token continued growing to $2.37. It also saw an increase after news of its prospective listing on Coinbase, to $0.97 on July 14th, 2018.
Since then it’s had its ups and downs, its last highest value being on July 17th at $1.28.
0x is currently trading at $0.678156 USD, with a market cap of $366,122,780 USD, ranking 26th on Coinmarketcap. It has a circulating supply of 539,879,757 ZRX out of a total of 1,000,000,000 ZRX.
Conclusion
The 0X protocol has made significant progress in its development, and it shows a lot of promise in becoming a solution to the issues that plague both decentralized and centralized exchanges.
The token is performing very well according to market cap, and its use will grow once the platform will be finished.
