CWC Newsletter #22 (April 13, 2020)
By Taylor Ryker, Analyst
Top 10 Headlines of the Week for EOSIO
Rest assured that the EOSIO ecosystem and especially the EOS mainnet is still thriving, developing, and pushing towards crypto mainstream adoption. Although the mainstream cryptocurrency media--Coindesk, Messari and Cointelegraph--has recently in the past year only heightened the rumor that EOS is a scam, I hope that this post cuts through the misinformation and provides a more in-depth look inside the EOSIO ecosystem.
Below are the top 10 headlines of the week for EOSIO:
(1) Voice Social Media Platform hires a new Director of Mobile Engineering
(2) Inter-blockchain communication on EOS via BOScore
(3) kChat, an EOS Video Chat Service, is launched on Testnet
(4) Block.one's Public Blockchain Engagement and Upcoming Vote
(5) Launch of token-liquidity maker deWeb on EOS mainnet
(6) Decentralized Exchange announces Newdex Swap
(7) pixEOS launches Platform that trades Digital Artworks
(8) EOSArgentina releases trading pair market EvoDex
(9) Leading Exchanges begin to reward users for staking EOS
(10) Recent Developers Tools make it easier to launch Decentralized Applications.
1. Voice Social Media Platform hires a new Director of Mobile Engineering
This past week, Voice Social announced that they hired Hernan Arber, formerly of EOS Israel and EOS decentralized application Platin. Arber has much experience in mobile application development and the EOSIO community was excited by the news on social media. Arber penned his own thoughts about the power of Voice during a time of misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
The importance of this announcement is that it quells criticism surrounding the beta launch of Voice since mid-February. Currently, Voice beta has only been inviting users from the US and EOS holders outside of the US have been clamoring for the opportunity to have access to it. In addition, Arber's hire indicates that (1) Voice is still committed to launching their finalized product in Q1 of 2021 and (2) a more concerted push for a mobile version of Voice is in the cards.
2. Inter-blockchain Communication on EOS via BOScore
Currently, in the cryptocurrency space the need for more inter-blockchain communication is a high priority. In a nutshell, inter-blockchain communication allows for different blockchains to transact with other blockchains. Why this is important is that currently, many blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are unable to "speak" to each other. To grow the crypto-sphere, inter-blockchain communication will allow for a web of different blockchains to provide a better user experience, more scalability, and the ability to harness the strengths of particular blockchains.
BOScore, a sidechain of the EOS mainnet, announced this past week that they released version 4.0.0 of their inter-blockchain communication. To demonstrate their new release, the developers at BOScore showed that they were successful in transferring tokens between the Telos and EOS blockchains.
This sets up the stage so that tokens will be able to be sent to different EOSIO blockchains, such as Ultra, Worbli, EOSForce, and Wax, to name a few. This is a positive step in bridging the gaps between EOSIO blockchains in order to provide users with a seamless experience while interacting in the EOSIO ecosystem.
3. kChat, an EOS Video Chat Service, is launched on Testnet
EOS Rapid, a top 21 Block Producer, this past week released a minimum viable product (MVP) of their video chat service called kChat. The first reviews of kChat is promising and developers around the EOSIO ecosystem see the immense potential of having a video chat on the EOS mainnet.
kChat uses the EOS mainnet by allowing users to authenticate their sign-ins with EOS private keys and it seems like kChat is fully decentralized. By utilizing the EOS mainnet to allow authentication, users will have to interact with EOS wallets. This is a good thing to promote mass adoption to the EOS mainnet.
4. Block.one's Public Blockchain Engagement and Upcoming Vote
Recently, the EOS community has asked for more leadership and guidance by Block.one, the creator of the EOSIO source code. More specifically, many community members have demanded that Block.one begin to vote for Block Producers who are providing needed services and technological advancements for the EOS mainnet.
This past week, Block.one announced that they will begin to vote in May, launch an EOS Foundation for leadership and guidance, and create a division called the Public Blockchain Engagement. The community received the news with open arms and renewed excitement. In becoming more active in the EOS mainnet, Block.one will align the incentives of Block Producers, developers, investors, and users.
5. Launch of token-liquidity maker deWeb on EOS mainnet
A partnership between EOS Nation and Bancor has birthed an innovative way of creating decentralized applications and an easy way to launch cryptocurrencies.
deWeb allows for developers, operators, and marketers to come together in a decentralized manner to launch blockchain applications. Rather than needing a large team or company to launch applications, deWeb makes it possible for talented people from around the world to focus on their specialties whether that be developing code, operating data centers or marketing new applications. This is a significant development because most blockchain applications come out of highly-funded and large companies, and now it is possible for smaller teams and individuals to compete.
In addition, the creation of cryptocurrencies and tokens has never been easier now with the launch of EOS Nation deWeb. This is an important development because now anyone can create tokens, provide liquidity, and decentralize cryptocurrencies from relying on centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, or Kraken. Centralized exchanges are the gatekeepers in the crypto community and they can decide which ones become legitimate and which ones flounder.
6. Decentralized Exchange announces Newdex Swap
Newdex, the most popular EOSIO decentralized exchange, launched Newdex Swap, a platform on their exchange that allows users to trade tokens between each other. This will allow for a more seamless experience in trading between EOSIO based tokens. Rather than converting tokens into EOS and then trading that EOS into another pair, Newdex Swaps allows for the user to bypass this and trade with other tokens. Newdex Swaps may seem like a small addition to EOSIO trading but it is nonetheless an important addition in the building out of decentralized finance on EOSIO.
7. pixEOS launches Platform that trades Digital Artworks
The trading of non-fungible tokens (NFT) and digital art is a growing field in the cryptocurrency space. The decentralized nature of blockchains allows for independent artists and creators to profit off of their works while taking out the middle-man.
pixEOS, a digital art marketplace on the EOS mainnet, launched a marketplace gallery where artists and creators can easily sell their artworks. Although the marketplace gallery is in beta, there are many digital art pieces for sale and it seems like there is much activity. If you are interested in reading more about pixEOS, take a look at this. The launch of pixEOS's digital art marketplace and the warm response indicates that by leveraging the EOS mainnet, future marketplaces in other industries are possible to be successful.
8. EOS Argentina releases trading pair market EvoDex
EOS Argentina, a Block Producer for the EOS mainnet, released Evolution DEX on the Kylin testnet. Evolution DEX is a "smart contract for EOSIO that allows anyone to create and launch their own trading pairs in a decentralized exchange and collect the gains from trading fees by adding liquidity to the token's liquidity pool. This smart contract facilitates the decentralization of exchanges and offers an interesting financial position for the liquidity providers."
The release of Evolution DEX is a welcoming development of the decentralized financial space on the EOS mainnet. With Newdex Swaps, deWeb, and BOScore inter-blockchain communication, the EOS mainnet's decentralized finance is becoming a growing threat to usurp the dominance of Ethereum's decentralized finance market. With EOS's superior scalability, free transactions, and smart contract upgradeability, it is only time when investors and users will be persuaded to switch over.
9. Leading Exchanges begin to reward users for staking EOS
The push towards staking rewards for EOS holders is taking a foothold on major cryptocurrency exchanges. Recently, Binance and Bitfinex announced that they would be supporting staking rewards for EOS token holders. In short, users receive staking rewards for staking their EOS to the EOS mainnet whether that be for voting rewards and/or leasing rewards.
Brendan Blumer, the CEO of Block.one, received the news with open arms and is excited to "see Bitfinex supporting deeper level network engagement to empower and drive value back to EOS holders. EOS's simple yet powerful governance is wired to relentlessly operate in the best interest of its holders."
10. Recent Developers Tools make it easier to launch Decentralized Applications
Klevoya, an EOS blockchain developing company, released Hydra this past week. Hydra allows for developers to not need to spin up their own node to deploy and test their own smart contracts. Hydra is an important developer tool that makes it much more accessible to beginner developers and hopefully it spawns more decentralized applications in the EOSIO ecosystem.
Since last month, EOS Rapid has released many tools for developers to easily create, test, and launch their own decentralized applications: (1) MyEOS is a library that makes it easy for developers to add EOS functionality to web apps, (2) Adappt 1.4.0 IDE that is an easy way to install, compile, and deploy an EOS smart contract in less than 8 minutes, and (3) eosjs-light which allows developers to incorporate data from an EOSIO compatible blockchain and without the overhead of EOSJS. These are all great developer tools that I know will be appreciated by the EOS developer community. Take a look at these effective tools if you need assistance in deploying EOSIO smart contracts.
Disclaimer: KJ Kingsley is not a financial advisor and holds the digital tokens or cryptocurrencies represented in the content above. This content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this post constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by myself to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the author’s employers.