CWC Newsletter #24 (April 27, 2020)
By Taylor Ryker, Analyst
Top 10 Headlines of the Week for EOSIO
This past week saw more EOSIO development, a costly exit scam, and future announcements in the continued growth of the EOSIO ecosystem. Understanding that there are more than 10 news-worthy headlines, this post will also include EOSIO headlines that are outside of the Top 10 as well as top crypto headlines outside of the EOSIO ecosystem for this past week. Enjoy!
Below are the top 10 headlines of the week for EOSIO:
1. Block.one Developments--Latest testnet v.2.0.4, EOSIO Challenge, & Hackathon
2. LiquidApps' DAPP Network and Cloud-based Service Providers
3. Crypto Lions' Blockchain-based Digital Assets
4. Users lose $52 million in exit scam on “EOS Ecosystem” app
5. Blockbase Network launches Beta Version on EOS Mainnet
6. Voting and Governance on the Consortium DAC
7. EOS Nation's EOS Worker Proposal System (WPS) Update
8. Inter-Blockchain Communication Developments: ZOS-IBC, BOSCore, & Dan Larimer
9. Importance of China's Blockchain Service Network and EOS
10. Developments from Music Platform Emanate
Outside the Top 10: Other Important EOSIO Headlines
Outside of the EOSIO Ecosystem: Top Crypto News
1. Block.one Developments-Latest testnet v.2.0.4, EOSIO Challenge & Hackathon
Block.one announced the latest version of their testnet. EOSIO v.2.0.4 will assist EOSIO developers to better test their smart contracts and decentralized applications. This news is in line with Block.one's growing suite of developer tools and applications.
In a post on April 20, 2020, Dan Larimer, the CTO of Block.one, wrote about the current EOSIO Challenge to create an EOSIO Smart Contract which can store an invoke EVM (Solidity) Smart Contracts in a virtual Ethereum-like environment. The winning team will be awarded $200,000. If your team or you are interested in entering the EOSIO Challenge, please refer to the EOSIO Challenge Official Rules.
This particular EOSIO Challenge will make it possible for EOS to scale Ethereum-based decentralized applications. By solving the scalability issue that Ethereum 2.0 is attempting to remedy, Ethereum developers may view the EOSIO developer ecosystem as a more effective space in hosting their decentralized applications.
On April 24, 2020, Block.one announced their next Virtual Hackathon that will launch on May 1, 2020. The EOSIO Virtual Hackathon "Coding for Change" will call for solutions to solve challenges caused by COVID-19. The winner(s) of the Hackathon will receive $100,000 USD. If you are interested, registration is open and more details will be released on May 1st.
2. LiquidApps' DAPP Network and Cloud-based Service Providers
This past week, a post by LiquidApps detailed the potential for cloud-based service providers to offer their services and profit on the DAPP Network to create Cloud 3.0. The DAPP Network "is a decentralized marketplace for cloud-like services that allows anyone to join and offer different services on a free-market basis."
Cloud-based services would gain from the DAPP Network because "by shifting from an oligopoly dominated by tech titans to a free market populated by smaller players, the could computing ecosystem will reap the rewards of enhanced trustlessness, freedom and interoperability that result from a decentralized environment." By decentralizing memory, compute, and storage, the DAPP Network offers products such as vRAM (decentralized memory), vCPU (decentralized compute), and LiquidStorage (decentralized storage). LiquidApps just had an informative interview about the strengths of the DAPP Network.
In addition, the DAPP Network in conjunction with Chainlink would potentially provide a superior environment for developers by allowing them the ability to find the best solutions to developing issues and problems. If you are an EOSIO developer, you will possibly need the services of the DAPP Network, which has some great webinars and developer tools. The DAPP Network allows providers and consumers with a marketplace that offers "more choice, more redundancy, and more opportunity." For redundancy and security, developers would benefit from using a combination of traditional and blockchain-based cloud services.
Lastly, a reminder that LiquidApps is hosting a DAPP Network Grants Program that ends on Sept. 30, 2020 to incentivize developers and teams to integrate the DAPP Network services into their decentralized applications.
3. Crypto Lions' Blockchain-based Digital Assets
Crypto Lions, an EOSIO Block Producers, developers, and consultants, reminded the EOSIO community of their blockchain-based digital assets or non-fungible tokens. Blockchain-based digital assets can offer a better user experience in the growing digital gaming world. Crypto Lions' youtube clip explains clearly the strengths of online games incorporating blockchain-based digital assets.
Crypto Lions' blockchain-based digital assets are called Simple Assets and they allow EOSIO developers to implement a non-fungible token standard into their game designs. Other EOSIO sisterchains such as Wax have implemented Simple Assets in their blockchain games like Prospectors and ITAM Games.
In addition, Executive Chairman of Proton Fred Krueger tweeted that the Proton Chain, an EOSIO sisterchain, will also implement the Simple Assets NFT. In the tweet, Krueger commented on the fact that Simple Assets NFT is more superior to Ethereum's NFT standard, ERC-721. If you are interested in deploying Simple Assets into your blockchain game, take a look at their Github repository.
4. Users lose $52 million in exit scam in “EOS Ecosystem” app On April 20, 2020, cryptocurrency media outlets reported that "EOS Ecosystem," a centralized trading platform app, shut down unexpectedly and users lost access to their EOS tokens, which totaled to approximately $52 million dollars. Users of "EOS Ecosystem" were promised high returns for users' EOS deposits. This is an untimely incident that follows on the heels of other blockchain exploits, such as dForce's million-dollar hack that happened a couple days prior.
In an update a couple days later, Richard James Downing III replied in a tweet that he looked into the stolen funds. Downing III found out that it "appears funds were in Huobi EOS address and have been frozen (at least to an extent), and then tracking will enable inspection for further detection of [the] crime. This should serve as a display of powerful security features that are a strength of the EOS ecosystem."
If you are in need of a trusted EOS wallet that provides returns for EOS deposits, please check out Scatter, Anchor, TokenPocket, or MYKEY, and deposit your EOS into the Resource Exchange and vote for a rewards proxy for returns. EOS Nation made a good walk-through guide for the Resource Exchange. Or, if you are comfortable keeping your EOS on an exchange, take a look at staking rewards on Binance or Bitfinex.
5. Blockbase Network launches Beta Version on EOS Mainnet
This past week the BlockBase Network, the first decentralized, scalable and encrypted blockchain powered database platform, announced that they have launched their beta version on the EOS Mainnet. According to the BlockBase Network press release, the blockchain database platform will assist service requesters and service providers with a needed platform to store their databases on blockchain. Anyone can be a service provider and/or service requestor.
Service requesters who use the platform will benefit from "integrity, immutability, accountability, redundancy, and access." On the other hand, service providers "run the software to benefit financially from it, by providing the service for service requestors. Service providers are hence very similar to a distributed cloud service."
Both service requesters and service providers will have to use BBT (BlockBase Tokens) to access or provide service on the BlockBase Network. With Block.one CTO Dan Larimer's goal of creating EOSIO as the future database standard, the BlockBase Network is a contribution to that direction.
6. Voting and Governance on the Consortium DAC
The Consortium DAC is a decentralized application (dApp) "launched on [the] EOS mainnet that aims to incentivize communities to be part in their dApp's/organization's development...Consortium can provide accurate, trustworthy and incentivized method to aggregate communities' opinions/ideas. Stakeholders' ideas/opinions are valuable for organizations, since this information can be utilized continuously in general decision-making." The Consortium DAC platform uses GOVRN tokens to allow stakeholders to voice their ideas and opinions through voting.
Many popular EOS-based dApps have declared their usage of the Consortium DAC platform. eosDAC, a community-owned EOS Block Producer and DAC enabler, announced that they would use the Consortium DAC platform to assist in their governance. Vigor, a stablecoin in the growing decentralized finance sector of the EOSIO ecosystem also announced their participation in governance voting on the Consortium DAC.
By offering a governance platform, the Consortium DAC appears to respond to EOS critics who have pointed out that governance is a weak point of the EOS mainnet. This past week, a popular EOS youtuber "Colin Talks Crypto" published his thoughts on Steemit concerning the governance of the EOS mainnet in regards to Crypto Exchange as Block Producers.
7. EOS Nation's EOS Worker Proposal System (WPS) Update
The EOS WPS is a "funding mechanism for the EOS Mainnet, enabling developers and other value creators to seek funding from the EOS blockchain for their projects outside of EOS block rewards...This decentralized voting & distribution mechanism is governed by the rules coded within the WPS smart contract, which allows any EOS account to propose a budget for their specific project and Block Producers elected by token holders to vote on them."
EOS Nation announced to the EOS community that they contracted SlowMist's security team to do an audit of the WPS smart contract. From the security audit of the EOS WPS smart contract, an EOS Go tweet reported that SlowMist "found no critical or high-risk issues with only 4 medium-risk and 7 low-risk vulnerabilities with 3 enhancement suggestions." EOS Nation has resolved all of the raised issues.
8. Inter-Blockchain Communication Developments: ZOS-IBC, BOSCore, & Dan Larimer
This past week saw much development of Inter-Blockchain Communication on the EOS mainnet and with other EOSIO sisterchains. Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) is seen by EOSIO community members as a way for horizontal scalability to grow an EOSIO web of blockchains, decentralized applications, and decentralized organizations.
ZOS, an electronic discount token system offering discounts on payments for services provided by AirdropsDAC, announced that they were able to have IBC between WAX, an EOSIO sisterchain, and the EOS mainnet.
BOSCore, an EOS sidechain, announced that their developers were also successful in deploying IBC by sending EOSIO=based tokens between WAX, Telos, BOS, and the EOS mainnet. IBC on the BOSCore network is producing results with a limited budget, which was discussed in an article that revealed the effectiveness of BOSCore's IBC in relation to mainstream competitors Cosmos and Polkadot.
On April 23, 2020, the team from BOSCore announced a 3-day IBC activity scheduled between April 24-27, 2020. To demonstrate the efficacy of BOSCore's IBC, the first day will allow developers and users to experience IBC across EOSIO chains with the chance to win BOS prizes. Days 2 and 3 allowed developers and users to experience IBC through the Hub Protocol that connects EOSIO Parallel chains while winning BOS prizes.
Lastly, Block.one CTO Dan Larimer tweeted this week that his team and him have been working on IBC as well: "I'm actively implementing a product that utilizes 4 independent private chains all communicating. To achieve that we are enhancing the ways messages can be sent and validated across chains...The future is a multi-chain world!"
For more clarification in regards to the "4 independent private chains," EOS twitter commentator "Tequila" asked "unless those chains all depend on EOS in some way, we don't care. We don't own B1 [Block.one] stock. Can block.one help us understand how a multi chain environment provides value for those who participated in the token sale? Or does it just further dilute value in the original chain?" In response, Larimer tweeted that, "one of the chains is eos."
Larimer spoke to the fact that once the code was finalized with IBC, EOSIO would be poised for commercial enterprise use. Larimer tweeted that "EOSIO can be used in enterprise applications without the need for tokens and with 0.5 [second] finality. High performance database combined with deterministic business logic and audit-trail has many benefits."
9. Importance of China's Blockchain Service Network and EOS
Two weeks ago, China announced the creation of the Blockchain Service Network (BSN). This past week, EOSWriter's Senior Writer LaNgwenya wrote a thought-provoking piece on the significance of China's BSN and EOS.
LaNgwenya points out that BSN's inclusion of EOS is mutually beneficial for BSN and developers because of (1) interoperability and (2) performance. With the issue of interoperability, EOS "is versatile in that it can facilitate both public and private applications. Meaning a private organization can have their application or services accessible on the EOS 'public' blockchain while maintaining privacy of sensitive data on a private blockchain. This versatility could allow for an organization to make some processes public and accessible to the global community, while keeping certain operations private."
EOS's high performance and scalability will draw developers on the BSN into the EOSIO ecosystem and vice versa. LaNgwenya highlighted that EOS has "quicker confirmation times giving developers the freedom to build some of the most robust applications in the world;" "EOS is feeless, which makes it cheaper for all these different users and developers to build, deploy, and use applications on running on this feeless blockchain;" and "EOS is more scalable, which is especially important when considering that the BSN is a global network that's aiming to have approximately two hundred public city nodes worldwide by the end of the year."
The deployment of the BSN this year may be the best marketing of the EOS mainnet at a moment when EOS community members have voiced their strong concerns that EOS needs better marketing.
10. Developments from Music Platform Emanate
Following on the heels of five major developments from last month in March, Emanate, a music platform on the EOS mainnet, released a post detailing their accomplishments from this month.
This month, Emanate reported four major developments: (1) Emanate Distro is live, (2) Closed Alpha is over and doors are opening, (3) Licensing contract with Holon Global Investments, and (4) launch of StreamCard. Emanate Distro is an internal distribution service that allows emanate musicians and artists to reach their fans and consumers. Closed Alpha saw over 600 artists onboard over 3,000 songs and will open to more onboarding artists on April 27th. Emanate struck its first content licensing deal for online video sync with Holon Global Investments. StreamCard will allow artists to release music, get paid, and spend instantly.
Although the blockchain space writ large is primarily focused on decentralized finance, gambling, and gaming, the push to monetize music and music creation via Emanate is a promising sector in the EOSIO ecosystem and for the EOS mainnet.
Outside the Top 10: Other Important EOSIO Headlines
1. EOS Authenticator App updated
2. Attic Lab's EOSIO v.2.0.5 Release Notes
3. Binance Loans adds EOS as collateral loans
4. Block.one's Tic-Tac-Toe Game Tutorial Contract
5. Real Estate Platform Cudurru is on Telos
6. Scatter Wallet announced their new 12.1.0 release
7. EOS Voice News interview with Voice CEO Salah Zalatimo
8. BlockBastards brings crypto-gaming to Telos
9. Vertalo tokenization sandbox program invites Chintai
10. EOS-forked Blockchain Cyberway and Social Media Site Commun
11. EOS Nation partners with Universite de Sherbrooke in Canada
Outside of the EOSIO Ecosystem: Top Crypto News
1. ConsenSys, an Ethereum company, laid off 14% of staff, 2nd time this year
2. Ethereum 2.0 testnet reaches 20,000 validators
3. DForce hacker returns $25 million in stolen cryptocurrencies
4. Researchers expose privacy vulnerabilities in Bitcoin Lightning Network
5. Bitcoin Ponzi scheme steals $11 million in Bitcoin over past month
6. $6.7 million hack of stablecoin network PegNet on top of Factom Protocol
7. Coinbase announces Price Oracles via the Coinbase Pro API
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.