What is cryptocurrency Augur (REP) and how does it work?

What is AUGUR (REP)?

Launched in 2018, Augur is an open-source, decentralized protocol that allows users to create prediction markets where they can speculate on the outcome of events. Augur also functions as a decentralized oracle by verifying real word events and encoding the outcomes on-chain. 

Augur functions as a set of open-source smart contracts, coded in solidity, that can be deployed by users on the Ethereum blockchain. Interactions with these smart contracts allow users to speculate on real-world events and settle payments for prediction markets in ETH . 

Augur is supported by The Forecast Foundation, a group of developers who contribute to the maintenance and development of the protocol, but do not own or control it. The foundation does not receive fees from the protocol and has no role in the operation of created markets among other restrictions.

How does Augur work? 

Augur contracts use two cryptocurrencies – Ethereum, and Augur’s native token REP. Reputation (REP) is a staking token used by reporters on the Augur platform to clarify disputes or outcomes of the prediction market. Reporters report on a market by locking their tokens in escrow, staking the REP tokens on a possible outcome. The consensus of the market’s reporters is considered truth and is what allows Augur (REP) to act as a decentralized oracle.

When a user wants to speculate on the outcome of a real-world event, they will submit a transaction to the Augur smart contracts for the market. The rules for the market of each event are specified as the market is created. Once a market is live, users may trade in the market until the event has occurred. Once the outcome is finalized and determined via Augur’s oracle system, traders close out their positions and collect any potential payouts. Augur (REP) uses a complex incentive structure that rewards reporting on correct outcomes, penalizes reporting on incorrect outcomes, and penalizes passive holders who don’t stake for disputes and forks. 

Who Are The Founders of Augur? (History of REP)

Augur was founded in 2014 by Jack Peterson and Joey Krug. Jack and Joey sought to create a shift away from traditional centralized prediction markets and biased rulings. Their goal was to realize a marketplace where users could speculate on outcomes with an impartial and trusted judge. 

Augur was built to realize their dream by eliminating the risk of self-interested behavior, corruption, and theft with a blockchain-based decentralization of the prediction market.

What Makes Augur (REP) Unique?

Augur is unique for its decentralized, open-source contracts with a governance model that allow any user to participate in fair speculation. 

Augur is managed by the Forecast Foundation who does not participate in the governance of the platform and only maintains the open-source code. 

What Gives Augur (REP) Value?

Augur is a decentralized oracle and P2P prediction market platform built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It was one of the first decentralized applications (dApps) developed using Ethereum.

Users realize value by participating in the markets on the Augur platform. By owning REP and participating in the accurate reporting on the outcomes of each event, users are entitled to a portion of Augur’s market fees. Each REP token entitles you to 1/22,000,000 of Augur’s total market fees.

How Many Augur (REP) Coins Are in Circulation?

Augur (REP) has a total maximum supply of 5,934,228 REP tokens. All tokens are currently in circulation. This supply will never increase.

In 2015, Augur facilitated one of the first initial coin offerings (ICO) on Ethereum and raised over $5 million through the sale of REP tokens. Augur sold 8.8 million REP (80% of total supply) during its ICO, in order to raise these funds. The sale was conducted in four rounds, and the price paid was dependent on the final price of the token sale and a discount depending on which round the tokens were purchased. 

The True Augur round, round one, lasted Aug. 17-22 during which participants received a 15% bonus. The Prophet round, round two, lasted Aug. 22-28 and offered a 10% bonus. The Nate Silver round, round three, offered a 5% bonus from Aug. 28-Sept. 5. The Nostradamus round, the final round, offered no bonus.

The remaining 20%, 2.3 million REP, was allocated to the Forecast Foundation, the founders and advisers.

How is Augur (REP) Secured?

According to Augur’s whitepaper, “There is a strong relationship between the market cap of REP and the trustworthiness of Augur’s forking protocol. If the market cap of REP is large enough, and attackers are economically rational, then the outcome that wins the fork should correspond to objective reality. In fact, it would be possible for Augur to function properly without using designated reporters and dispute rounds. Using only the forking process, the oracle would report truthfully.”

If Augur does need to fork it will be highly disruptive and time consuming for REP holders using Augur markets. A fork can take up to 60 days to resolve a single market and only one market can be resolved at a time. During the 60 days that the market is being finalized all other non-finalized markets are put on hold.
A fork will only occur as a last resort for finalizing a market.

Augur has recently launched V2 of their smart contracts. They run a public bug bounty program to detect vulnerabilities which can be located here.

Augur is free, public, open source software, portions of which are licensed under the General Public License (GPL) and portions of which are licensed under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) license.

Other Technical Data

Reporters – users who own Augur’s native token “Reputation” or REP. Users who hold REP have the power to affect the outcome of Augur’s Markets via a decentralized vote. 

Market – a temporary smart contract on the Augur platform where users can speculate on a real-world event. 

Smart Contract – a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code.

How To Use Augur

REP is primarily used to facilitate transactions and speculate on outcomes inside the Augur Platform. Additionally, REP can be used as a speculative investment tool and a form of payment.

Augur markets can be used through the official website, Augur.net, via a Metamask connection. Once a user has connected their wallet, they may begin to trade in any of the available and open markets on the Augur platform.

For additional assistance with Augur smart contracts or the REP token users may refer to the documentation inside the Augur Help Center.

How to Choose an Augur Wallet

The type of Augur (REP) wallet you choose will likely depend on what you want to use it for and how much you need to store.

Hardware wallets or cold wallets provide the most secure option with offline storage and backup. Both Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets offer storage and staking/voting solutions for REP. Hardware wallets can involve a bit more of a learning curve and are a more expensive option, however. As such, they may be better suited to storing larger amounts of REP for more experienced users.

Software wallets provide another option and are free and easy to use. They are available to download as smartphone or desktop apps and can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. While convenient, they are seen as less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to smaller amounts of Augur (REP) or more novice users.

Online wallets or web wallets are also free and easy to use, accessible from multiple devices using a web browser. They are considered hot wallets and can be less secure than hardware or software alternatives, however. As you are likely trusting the platform to manage your REP, you should select a reputable service with a track record in security and custody. As such, they are most suited for holding smaller amounts or for more experienced frequent traders.

Kriptomat offers a secure storage solution, allowing you to both store and trade your Augur (REP) tokens without hassle. Storing your REP with Kriptomat provides you with enterprise-grade security and user-friendly functionality.

Selling and buying REP, or exchanging them for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.

Augur (REP) Staking

Reputation (REP), ReputationV2 (REPv2), DAI (DAI), and Ether (ETH) may be used for staking/voting on outcomes and trading on the Augur marketplace.

Looking Forward

Augur is a well-established cryptocurrency that has encountered and passed numerous obstacles. It offers a unique value proposition in terms of speculation, which many investors may find alluring due the lack of barriers for entry. 

By allowing users to create their own marketplaces in a decentralized fashion Augur has created a unique value proposition as an oracle managed entirely by it’s users. 

Augur (REP) FAQ

Is REP a competitor to Ethereum?

No. Augur (REP) was designed to enhance the capabilities of the Ethereum network by providing a decentralized oracle and speculative marketplace. 

Augur REP

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Bitcoin BTC

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Ethereum ETH

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When will staking be released?

Staking is already released for REP in the form of markets. Users may stake on the outcome of any market they wish to participate in. REP does not offer yield farming. 

How to Buy Augur (REP)

Buying REP is as easy as visiting Kriptomat’s how to buy Augur page and choosing your preferred method of payment.

How to Sell Augur (REP)

If you already own REP and hold it on a Kriptomat exchange wallet, you can easily sell REP coins by navigating the interface and choosing your desired payment option.

Augur’s Price

Several factors influence Augur’s price & market cap, including exchange inflows and outflows, sentiment, technical and fundamental developments, the news cycle, and the general economic environment.

Like Bitcoin, the price of REP is decided at any given moment by the cumulative buying and selling of millions of participants worldwide. You can keep up to date on the latest price action and news using crypto exchanges like Kriptomat or one of the many different cryptocurrency tracking services.

The current Augur (REP) price is EUR.

The 24-hour trading volume of REP is EUR. REP is currently ranked of all cryptocurrencies by total market capitalization, with a market cap of $ EUR. It has a circulating supply of REP.

Register now to begin your journey into the world of Augur and cryptocurrencies with Kriptomat!

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