What is your field of expertise?

 

MButcho

I have established a 20+ year career in the IT industry across various positions of responsibility. My main field of expertise is operations, and everything around that. However, in the past I have also been a developer, product manager, project manager and more.

Nenchy

I have dedicated 25 years of my career to different areas of sales, which continues to be my passion and professional motivation.

My education includes a BA in Administrative Sciences and I have held roles in various business environments. I have proven skills in business networking, including two years as president of a leading entrepreneur group within the Business Network International organization. I believe I have nurtured my entrepreneurial spirit through developing strong sales management results, honing negotiating skills, and managing investment portfolios within international financial and insurance companies.

What is your goal with Elastos by the end of the next council term?

Our first goal is to propose and deliver a new enhanced version of the CR Consensus and try to garner support from the new CR Council.

Our full proposal is available here: https://medium.com/@Elastos_MN/7d7a347251b0

There will be more…

What is the main issue with ELA, looking at its market performance (dropping out of top 100, currently sitting 500+ in terms of MC)?

The main issue with ELA is its volume, the lack of a market maker, and no availability for US customers besides via DEXs. We definitely need either Kraken or Coinbase, ideally both, to open up ELA to one of the biggest markets in the world.

What should be Elastos’ killer dApp in your opinion?

A decentralized social network (Feeds) with messenger, or Elastos Essentials with decentralized messenger built-in.

Reaching Elastos DID adoption would also could be our killer utility (not dApp)

How are you going to contribute to the CR Council if you get elected?

We, as a team, will try to push required changes to CR Consensus for it to become a really helpful and fast tool to reach the right decisions. We also guarantee that we will vote on every single proposal if we get elected and, in cases where we are approached by a community member with a good suggestion, we will help it to become a proposal.

We will do our best to bring all our professional experience and connections to bridge amazing Elastos technology to real-world use cases. We have superb technology, so now it’s time to bring it out into the world!

Since you are running for your first time, please introduce yourself to a community. Tell us a little about your background, prior experience, and personal vision for Elastos and Cyber Republic.

 

MButcho

I entered the crypto space in 2017, and discovered Elastos in early 2018. I admired the vision of Elastos from day one and I saw that Elastos could be something we need in this world: #ownyourdata is a cornerstone of the Elastos future, one I wholly agree with.

In late 2018 I became a moderator in the Elastos Telegram group for Czech and Slovak community members, and, in 2020, I became part of the newly formed Guardians team. Since then I have been serving the Elastos community, helped to develop Elastos Light Wallet, led the migration of our community from Telegram to Discord (a controversial topic among the community, but I believe that this transition had to be done to reboot our community and remove toxicity), and I helped with E-Lab as a project manager.

Nenchy
I joined the Elastos community back in 2018 and I have closely followed Elastos ecosystem development for the whole period. I remain very excited about its vision and mission – it remains there for the taking!

Professionally I am not a “technical guy”, so I don’t know what it takes to code a great app or to build a network carrier. However, I am able to envision and explain technical Web3 opportunities with regards to real life utilities. At the same time it is important to instil passion for, and interest in, successful Elastos apps and products.

I live a simple “givers gain” and “walk the talk” philosophy, which led me to join this election with the hope of matching great Elastos technology to a wider global user experience. Quite simply: I’m here to help Elastos help everyone so that everyone can benefit.

Would you say the design of suggestions and proposals, and the CRC in general, has been effective? What could be improved?

The CR Consensus is a very useful tool to help to build an ecosystem. However, the past few years showed us that a new version of CRC should be introduced, which will reflect all Elastos needs, speed up the processes, and reward or punish CR council members who do not fulfill their duties.

Every Council member has the privilege and obligation to vote on proposals. We have witnessed too much antipathy and negligent conduct from some Council members; this has to change. Giving M&N the opportunity to join the council will mean we can offer a promise to vote on every single proposal. Abstaining is not an option for us, unless there is a great conflict of interest.

What contributions to the Elastos ecosystem as a whole have you made? How does your unique background benefit the CR Council?

Both of us always try to be active and constructive community members and contribute to any improvement areas where we see opportunities for a more complete, efficient, and decentralized future. Both of us have contributed to Elastos in various areas including: developer, project manager, moderator – always with the Elastos vision in mind.

In the past year both of us have been helping as community moderators/admins in four sELA core ESC projects; Glide, FilDA, ElaCity and CreDA. So we are always there to answer the questions and community concerns.

Consistency is something we will bring to CR Council if elected.

Who else would you endorse for being on the Council with you?

It is not that much about individuals, but what any CR council member is capable of achieving within a team. During the past three years, we witnessed the great efforts of many talented people and teams. This year, as M&N, we have decided to join up as a team, as we both share many similar views and help as community leaders/admins in core ecosystem projects. I am sure we can form a perfect link between community and the CR’s decision-making responsibilities.

We hope the community will take into account past performance of all candidates and select those who will help Elastos the most, through either their agenda or by voting records for proposals.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We take pride in our determination to undertake challenges that aim to surmount the “impossible”!

 

This article originally appeared on the Cyber Republic Blog

The Elastos Info Team collected community questions for the core development teams to answer. Translations are printed below in their entirety.

When will Carrier 2.0 be complete? Can you explain what Carrier 2.0 is and why it is both important and an upgrade over Carrier 1.0?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

Carrier 2.0 is one of our main focuses, and it is currently in the development stage. We aim to complete the development of the core component in Q2 and release the technical preview in early Q3. Following up on Carrier 1.0, Carrier 2.0 brings a number of improvements:

Are there any plans to create a fully functioning messaging dApp with notifications?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

We are mainly focused on the development of Carrier 2.0, and there is no development plan for a messaging dApp at present. However, Instant Messaging (IM) could be part of our plan for specific application scenarios. As for a general messaging dApp, we will make a decision following the release of Carrier 2.0’s technical preview.

How will you incentivize people to run a Carrier Node?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

Carrier 2.0’s economic model has taken into account many considerations. Carrier has a clear supply and demand model, and we aim to combine its demand-supply dynamics with the design of its economic model. Carrier Super Nodes can receive benefits from providing services, and will attract interest on that basis.

How is the progress on DPoS 2.0, and do you have a specific launch date?

Shunan, Head of Gelaxy Team

DPoS 2.0 is currently in the test phase, which includes a functional test, stress test, and test network commissioning. DPoS 2.0 is slated to go online Q4 2022.

Can we expect more SDKs, specifically a Python SDK?

Shunan, Head of Gelaxy Team

At present, the wallet SDK for C++ is mainly used to provide Essentials with support for interactions with main chain and side chain nodes. There is no plan to develop a Python SDK.

It seems like the Core Dev Teams are alienated from the western community. We don’t know much about each team member. I understand there are language barriers, but can we use a Cyber Republic chat forum (built-in translator) to communicate with each other?

Li Heng, Executive EF Board Member

As the founder and promoter of the Elastos Smartweb, the EF has worked with 10+ community teams around the world over four years. Since its establishment, the EF has been committed to infrastructure development of the Elastos Smartweb in alignment with Web3 principles. At the beginning of the project, the EF promoted some community construction. Since Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC), Elastos’s third-level consensus, went online, Cyber Republic has become the representative of the Elastos community. 12 members elected by communities from different regions of the world lead the community via CR operations and CRC. At the same time, as a member of the community, the EF actively participates in the community and makes every effort to contribute to it. Each development team cooperating with the EF regularly publishes its own development roadmap and participates in various activities organized by the community, such as this AMA. It must be pointed out that the infrastructure development tasks of Elastos SmartWeb released by the EF are different from the application projects for end users. These infrastructure development tasks serve to support the operations of the foundational layer of the Elastos Smartweb. The cooperative teams and engineers who undertake these development tasks take on heavy engineering work within a predetermined period. After each functional development and corresponding testing is completed, the corresponding technical documents need to be rearranged and reviewed to enable application developers to consult the documentation, and ultimately use the technologies. These engineers cannot communicate in real time as they do with end users. If community members or application developers have questions, they may ask questions, leave messages, or use AMA documents on Discord. A reply will be provided after cooperative teams complete a node according to the project plan.

What happens when the EF dissolves – do core dev teams shift development over to the community? Speaking on this, why is it that each team does not hire more developers across the globe to help speed up development?

Li Heng, Executive EF Board Member

The EF has been adhering to the non-profit principle to fund cooperative teams and ecosystem projects, and does not participate in their operation or management, nor does it pursue or receive profit from them. Each cooperative team organizes and recruits its own team according to its infrastructure development tasks and engineering plans. Members of cooperative teams come from different regions and speak different languages, and are very much global in nature.

Although the documentation is much better than a few months ago, as a dev/engineer, it’s frustrating trying to understand the lack of documentation. Are there plans to improve this?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

Yes, there are. Although our documentation is much better now than before, there are still some problems, as well as some gaps concerning the needs of community developers. We will continue to supplement and improve the documentation. In addition to continuing to supplement the documentation content, our development team will be working on improving the original content, and missing content will be filled in according to the suggestions and needs of community developers.

Hive Vaults store application data, but theoretically would it be possible for Vaults to also work as personal cloud storage for images and files (Think iCloud, Google Drive, etc.)?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

Yes, Hive can be used in similar applications as iCloud to store files. In fact, a similar application can be developed based completely on Hive. In addition, a decentralized HiveHub webApp is being designed and developed by the Hive Team. Ordinary users can choose a Hive Node which is credible and runs well on HiveHub to create a Vault, and to view and manage their own Vault data. Users can also build and run Hive Nodes by themselves, and may register them on HiveHub for other users to use.

Are there new sidechains planned? 

Shunan Head of Gelaxy Team

Presently, there is no development planned for any new sidechains.

On the topic of sidechains, is a Cosmos Sidechain or any other cross-chain network possible?

Shunan, Head of Gelaxy Team

From a technical point of view, Elastos’ sidechains can support Cosmos, although development would be required for a new sidechain based on the Cosmos SDK. A Polkadot Sidechain is also feasible, but again, it would require the development of an additional, parallel sidechain.

What kind of TPS is ESC currently running at? Any plans to make it even faster?

Shunan, Head of Gelaxy Team

The TPS of the ESC Sidechain is currently around 45, and there is no plan to further improve this index at present.

Is it really necessary to have a different token for the ESC? Can’t we find a way to make it work with the ELA mainchain token?

Shunan, Head of Gelaxy Team

The ratio of ELA on the main chain to ESC is 1:1, so as to realize the mutual transfer of ELA between the main chain and sidechains. This mechanism is integral in enabling the expansion of the Elastos ecosystem. The transaction fee on ESC can be paid directly in ELA cross-chain, and ELA can also be used to participate in ecosystem projects directly. The ELA obtained on sidechains can be transferred back to the main chain to complete the closed loop, so there is no need for additional tokens. Of course, the ESC supports Ethereum smart contracts, and ecosystem projects may choose to issue their own tokens via its contracts.

What sort of use cases does the development of Carrier 2.0 and Hive 2.0 open up? Can you provide an example of a unique application that could be built using these technologies? Or explain the two technologies in layman’s terms and how they compare to traditional communication/storage technologies?

Jingyu Niu, Head of Elastos Fusion

It is hard to say that a particular application must depend on one technology. In most cases, there are alternative technical implementation schemes, which may offer different advantages and disadvantages, and confer unique characteristics. As far as Carrier and Hive are concerned, we aim to build a dApp communication model and a dApp storage model to support Web3 applications – in other words, to support the Elastos vision. For example, the new version of the Feeds application uses Hive and Carrier in combination, and relies on the decentralized storage service provided by Hive. Compared with Feeds’ previous version, user experience has been greatly improved, especially because it is no longer dependent on a dedicated device, which greatly lowers the user’s usage threshold. When it comes to the difference between traditional communication and storage models, the core idea is to give users the right to choose. This way, users can control their data, unlike on platforms operated by traditional service providers.

What is the strategy behind implementing Lightning Network capabilities for ELA mainchain? What utility / use cases does that create?

Yipeng Su, Chief Architect

At present, we do not have a plan to implement Lightning Network for the Elastos main chain. However, the team is investigating a solution to support direct BTC transfers between the Bitcoin Lightning Network and the Elastos Smart Chain (ESC). Via this feature, users will be able to leverage their BTC on both Lightning Network and ESC in both Lightning and Elastos ecosystem applications.

What are the roadmaps like for the Essentials Wallet? Can you make an option to simplify the wallet? Like simple mode: only showing portfolio. Professional mode: showing everything. Something like this?

Benjamin Piette, Head of Trinity Team

Elastos Essentials Roadmap items for 2022 are as follows:

In regards to simplifying the wallet, we are open to brainstorming new solutions. I would like to discuss this topic openly on Discord in the Essentials channel – please come by!

Having a “Simple Mode” similar to what you have described may be quite useful. However, we do need to clarify what exactly users consider to be imperative, features they would like to be included in such a “Simple Mode.”

Welcome to 2022, the year where it costs more to buy a digital mansion than a real one.

Even if splashing the cash on a plot of land in the metaverse isn’t your type of thing, you must be wondering what on earth digital real estate is. And spoiler alert: it’s not on earth at all.

That’s right. The clue’s in the name. Digital real estate — or virtual real estate as it’s often called — exists solely online. It’s a type of real estate that exists in a digital world, accessible through virtual reality or augmented reality headsets.

You may have heard that virtual property has more than quintupled in value over the past several months and suddenly found that your house isn’t quite as appealing any more.

Don’t pack your bags just yet. Buying virtual land in a digital world has its benefits, but you can’t actually live and sleep in virtual reality.

At least, not yet.

And hopefully not ever.

 

What is virtual real estate?

Digital real estate is technically anything that can earn you money online, such as websites, domain names and URLs. In the dawn of web 3.0, however, the term has garnered a more specific use case regarding metaverse real estate.

 

 

You can buy virtual land in a virtual world that you can only visit through a virtual reality headset. This ‘real estate’ is similar in name to physical real estate — for example, you can own billboards, buildings and even gas stations. However, as these types of property exist solely in virtual worlds, they’re a far cry from the real estate you’re familiar with.

For starters, like with the majority of cryptocurrencies, the price of digital real estate is highly volatile. Mark Stapp, professor and director of real estate theory and practice at the Arizona State University, has warned against virtual real estate investing, saying, “It is most likely going to be a bubble. You’re buying something that isn’t tied to reality.”

While there’s no denying the truth of his words, the fact that Meta and other future brands are investing millions into metaverse tech, proclaiming it to be the next iteration of social media, is a fairly promising sign that the metaverse and digital real estate will be around for years to come.

However, that’s not to say that the virtual land for sale today will necessarily be here tomorrow. Sandbox and Decentraland are hot right now, but like all cryptos, digital real estate companies will come and go. It’s impossible to call what will happen to the market in the future.

If you’re completely lost, check out our guide to the metaverse here.

Digital real estate investing

Just as yield farming and DeFi protocols did in 2020, the metaverse and its virtual world properties exploded in popularity and price in 2021. This was largely due to Facebook’s rebranding to Meta, but it had been on the cards for a while. For example, Decentraland’s MANA token rocketed from $0.08 in January 2021 to $1.49 by May, a full 5 months before the announcement of Meta.

The increased popularity of a blockchain-based metaverse was also a side effect of the forced quarantines worldwide. People spent more time online and companies saw an opportunity. If we could socialize in virtual worlds with ownable digital assets, then we wouldn’t need to leave.

It really has been a crazy few years.

How do you own metaverse land?

 

The way all this futuristic tech works is through the use of non-fungible tokens, a.k.a NFTs.

NFTs are a special type of blockchain-based technology that prove digital ownership. When you purchase a plot of land, you will be able to verify that you own it on the blockchain. If you sell it, the transaction will be recorded and the new owner will be able to verify that they own it instead.

Technically, we should call it a virtual real estate NFT, but that just sounds way less cool.

Can I live next to Snoop Dogg?

Yes.

And yes, this is as bizarre as it sounds.

People are paying big bucks to move in to a new virtual crib next to their favorite celebrity. Snoop Dogg (also known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, Snoop Lion, or good ol’ fashioned Snoop) recently purchased a huge plot of land in the Sandbox metaverse. He’s building his own crypto empire, known as Snoopverse.

This is not a joke.

In fact, Sandbox has a full page dedicated to Snoop Dogg and the NFT collections he’s launched, including 10,000 next-gen metaverse avatars, known as Doggies that were “designed and crafted with tha Doggfather himself.”

As funny as all this might sound, people are paying up to $450,000 to be Snoop Dogg’s neighbor. And that’s not a typo.

So if you can afford to spend more than the average American home on a digital home that you can’t actually live in, then you’re welcome to do so. Snoop Dogg and his army of Doggies will welcome you with open paws.

The digital land rush

Just like the rush for gold, people are fomoing into virtual real estate. Even the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most prestigious NFT collections and communities, just announced plans to sell virtual land. Yuga Labs, the company behind BAYC, is expecting to rake in almost half a billion dollars in revenue from selling virtual land this year.

In most digital worlds, Metaverse land is most expensive in the most crowded areas. This includes the ‘start area’ where most people enter the metaverse.

This bustling area is also where major events are held, including music concerts. Today’s pop sensations are already earning from the metaverse: Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Nas, Cardi B and more have all been getting familiar with creative ways they can interact with fans through NFTs and the metaverse.

Zara Larsson, a Swedish singer, has pocketed almost €1 million since joining Sandbox less than a year ago. She labelled the metaverse as “freaking insane,” referring to the fact that “streaming services [like Spotify and Youtube] don’t pay the most.”

The metaverse is meant to be decentralized (we’re looking at you, Meta), which enables far higher income for content creators. This is just one of the many advantages of decentralization.

Zara Larsson is not the only Swedish artist to dive into the metaverse either. ABBA are all set to go on (virtual) tour, performing from their virtual stage as ABBAtars.

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Digital real estate marketing

The entry point of the metaverse is a prime target for big brands too. Advertisers have decided that it’s a genius idea to buy digital real estate signs and billboards to make sure that their brands are visible from the get-go.

 

 

However, if you were savvy enough to get in early, you could have bought a billboard yourself and rented it out to the brands for passive income. You could’ve been Nike’s virtual landlord. While still possible, it’s getting increasingly expensive.

The good news is: there’s no upkeep or maintenance for these billboards. You can polish your pixels but it won’t make much of a difference.

While Sandbox and Decentraland have all the attention right now, there are plenty of other metaverses. If you’re wondering where else you can buy metaverse land, there’s also PolkaCity which has got people earning thousands of dollars per week just from owning an NFT gas station.

Wilder World is another metaverse project which enables you to buy kicks for your avatars, as well as cribs, wheels and land. It has a GTA-esque vibe compared to most of the cartoony avatars in other metaverses.

As mentioned earlier, the market is highly volatile and none of this is financial advice. Your best bet is to do your own thorough research and come to your own conclusion.

One way to beat the crowds to the best plots of land is to get into projects when they first launch. This isn’t a guaranteed route to success, however, as most metaverse projects will inevitably fail.

 

 

Digital Real Estate on Elastos

There are two metaverse projects on Elastos as things stand: Elacity and the Elaverse.

 

 

Elacity already has its map drawn up with plots of land due to be available for purchase and ownership in the future.

The Elaverse team have confirmed that digital assets will be available such as spaceships and space suits.

Both projects are still in their early days, but they’re worth checking out.

 

Why invest in digital real estate?

As digital real estate is just code, it enables you to build, renovate or redesign your plots of land. Snoop Dogg is recreating his California mansion as part of Snoopverse. You can build the home of your digital dreams too.

But more likely, you want to make money. As most investors will tell you, ROI is their core motive.

With proof of ownership in the metaverse, you can do some pretty nifty things to earn some extra cash.

Earning from a digital real estate NFT

After purchasing a plot of land in the metaverse, investors can build whatever they want. Imagine getting a website; there are endless possibilities for what you can create and how you can make money.

You could create a performance venue that hosts music events and gathers money from ticket sales, or you could create a billboard and rent it out to brands as discussed earlier. You could even flip land that you predict will be popular in the future.

Grayscale, a crypto asset manager, recently estimated that the metaverse may grow into a $1 trillion business in the near future. It’s under $25 billion at the time of writing. Facebook (Meta), a single company, peaked at over $1 trillion last September.

 

How to invest in digital real estate: for beginners

Step 1: Get a digital wallet

You’ll need cryptocurrency to buy land or metaverse real estate. Decentraland, the most popular metaverse, uses MANA to buy and sell virtual real estate. Sandbox, the second largest by market cap, uses SAND.

Metamask is usually the first wallet for crypto beginners, but Elastos Essentials is an even better option. You can access the dApps of over 10 different chains directly from your wallet. Don’t know what a dApp is? Read our beginner’s guide.

Ensure you write down your seed phrase and keep it safe. Remember, this is crypto. You own your own money and you are responsible for it. We have a post on data security that outlines why this is essential.

Step 2: Choose your platform

Once you’ve researched and chosen your platform to buy land on, buy some cryptocurrency on an exchange and swap it for the native token of your chosen platform.

You can buy your digital real estate directly on their native platform, or you can use a third party like OpenSea. On these platforms, you can see how much money it translates to in dollars which may be easier for newcomers to gauge the price of something.

Step 3: Purchase your land

Unlike real estate in the real world, simply click on the piece of land you want and select buy.

Depending on the platform, you may be able to negotiate on the price and make bids, but otherwise, it’s a fairly straightforward process.

 

Don’t forget to keep your head in the physical world

While this can be exciting, or bewildering depending on which way you look at it, remember that digital real estate is a new type of investment and its future is uncertain. Prices have ballooned and plummeted all within the last six months, so it’s impossible to tell what the future holds.

Invest wisely and do your own thorough research before parting with your money.

 

This article was written by Matt Leppington

While the crypto community might be welcoming to newcomers, it sure seems difficult to keep track of all the jargon. If you’ve heard the term ‘dApps’ or ‘dApp’ thrown about, you might be wondering what on earth it means.

We’ve got your back.

What is a dApp?

DApp simply stands for ‘decentralized application’.

Everybody is familiar with regular (read: centralized) applications. Whether it be Instagram, Uber, or Skyscanner, apps are an increasingly important part of modern life. Even banks and other financial institutions are predominantly accessed via their apps.

They all work, more or less, in the same way. You download the app, create an account (another one), and then you make use of whatever it offers. Maybe you book a hotel. Maybe you check your bank balance. Maybe you send an email. Every action you take on these apps takes place via centralized servers.

But there’s a digital revolution happening right before our eyes. Prepare for the app-laden world of today to be relegated to the pages of history, replaced by a more secure, more private, and fairer suite of dApps.

DApps, or decentralized applications, use a different base layer for their technology. They are still digital applications, but dApps operate on a blockchain network or peer-to-peer network instead. This means that no company, business or central authority will oversee the dApp — it’s free from centralized control and lacks a single point of failure. Essentially, the more users on a dApp, the more secure it becomes.

If you want a deeper dive into how peer-to-peer networks work and why they’re important, then check out our article on P2P networks.

Why are dApps better than our current apps?

Today’s wonderful world of apps might seem like an amazing feat. Millions of dollars have gone into creating, updating, and maintaining them, but there are fundamental flaws with our current applications that are all-too-often overlooked.

Firstly, the vast majority of apps are run by a company that cares more about profit than they do about their users. In a business, it’s understandable that there are certain priorities; but wouldn’t it be better for the end-user to have an application that puts the user first?

We think it would. After all, what are dApps for if not to return digital autonomy to the user?

There are a few main reasons why dApps with smart contracts are better than regular applications.

Data corruption

Free-to-use apps are only free because they collect and sell user data. In a decentralized web 3.0, users will own their own data and realize the true value of their data too. Currently, apps collect more personal data than most people are comfortable with. It’s then sold on to advertisers unbeknownst to us — we don’t see a single cent.

The data storage of these apps is cause for concern too. If the centralized entity is subject to a hack, all of our personal data is at stake simultaneously.

Decentralized data storage is being worked on side by side with decentralized applications to ensure that this is not a problem that dApps will face. Elastos even incorporates decentralized data storage into its suite of technologies for developers to seamlessly integrate it with their dApps.

Censorship

With a centralized entity governing the app, they can restrict users that they disagree with politically or otherwise. They can censor posts on social media, and block your account or restrict your access if you break their rules.

On top of this, governments can ban certain apps, or operating systems can refuse to add them to their platforms (like the Apple App Store). While this can still affect the distribution of decentralized applications, it can’t stop them entirely. There are no centralized servers to shut down.

With smart contracts, dApps such as those on the Ethereum network cannot discriminate. They are free for all to use, regardless of race, nationality, location or personal beliefs. It’s written in the backend code.

Where do dApps come in?

Decentralized applications (dApps) usually operate on a smart contract platform such as, in the case of the Ethereum network, the Ethereum virtual machine. However, a dApp can technically exist without smart contracts, and even when it does employ them, it’s not an indicator of how decentralized it is. It just means that the decentralized app becomes automated, and therefore free from the need of authority.

Namely, they are free from censorship, control of a single central authority, and data misuse. Because they rely on a decentralized network, they act similarly to BitTorrent in that they grow stronger as they accrue more active users.

Consider a social media platform where users can publish posts that can never be removed or taken down by a governing body. Imagine too, that users own their own data and can retain the same log-in across all decentralized apps. This is called a decentralized identity (DID), and you can read all about their part in the digital revolution here.

DIDs, data ownership, and decentralization are prominent features of the Elastos blockchain. You can check out the future of social media by creating your own DID and trying Profile, a social media app that merges aspects of Facebook with LinkedIn in a completely decentralized manner.

 

The benefits of dApps

Because dApps function on smart contracts, they are able to provide benefits that regular apps simply can’t provide. While dApps struggle to compete with the user interfaces of mainstream apps, that’s because the technology is still in its infancy whereas normal apps have been around for several years. With time, they will be as smooth and seamless as the apps you use daily.

Here are just some of the benefits of using decentralized applications (dApps).

Decentralization

If you haven’t read our article on the advantages of decentralization then make sure you check it out. In short, decentralization makes apps immune to censorship. If a central authority decides to ban Twitter, they can literally force the headquarters to close down. With a decentralized app, that’s impossible. There is no headquarters. They can try to enforce a ban on people using a dApp, but they can never stop it from existing.

This is because dApps run on a decentralized network which could be hosted by millions of nodes. Every single one of those nodes holds a backup of the dApp. If one fails, the rest continue. If one thousand fail, the rest still continue. Not only does this prevent censorship, it minimizes security risks too.

A blockchain network is supported by a consensus mechanism rather than a single entity. The need for a majority consensus drastically reduces the likelihood of a dApp heading in a malicious direction. This, however, can also cause problems when trying to fix a minor bug, for instance.

It’s no surprise that DeFi dApps were the first to explode in popularity. Financial institutions can’t compete with the perks of decentralized finance. Not only are the interest rates far higher in DeFi, but you own your own money. That was what the rise of Bitcoin was all about — being in charge of your finances. Now, we can utilize the same underlying technologies to provide ownership of data and much, much more. Just look at all the potential NFT use cases to understand how early we actually are.

Because dApps are accessible 24/7 in all countries, it makes them ideal for essential applications in health and finance. You can even find a dApp for a decentralized credit service; take CreDA for example, it aims to be the first application to use smart contracts to facilitate loans using off-chain data. This means you will be able to use your real-life credit score to take out a loan in a completely decentralized way. Read more about this innovative idea on CreDA’s website.

Blockchains often reward users who launch a node (and consequently, a backup of a dApp or dApps). In a proof-of-stake blockchain, this is achieved through staking rewards. You earn a cryptographic token for supporting the network and voting on nodes.

This is different from proof-of-work (like Bitcoin), which rewards users for completing complex algorithms with their computing power, securing the network through mining instead.

Other blockchains and dApps are based around community governance, letting the users decide the destiny of the platform. By holding the dApp’s governance token, they are able to vote in a DAO.

Elastos isn’t content with just one consensus mechanism. For maximum security and decentralization, it has proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, and a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Trustless

Because they rely on open-source smart contracts, dApps don’t need to be trusted in the same way a person or business would need to be. They cannot falter so long as the code is sound. These smart contracts automatically carry out the agreements you and the other users make.

Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Glide Finance reveal this most obviously. When you buy or sell a cryptocurrency, you don’t need to trust anybody to give you what you paid for. The smart contract takes care of it for you.

Having said that, it’s important that the dApp itself is safe. If the code is faulty, the smart contracts could be compromised.

Open source code

The vast majority of apps today are not open source. DApps, generally speaking, are. Developers, or anyone else with the know-how, can read the code for themselves to ensure that it’s safe. It makes it truly transparent in that you can ensure there is no fishy business going on regarding your data or money.

If users dislike what they see in the code, they are able to ‘fork’ it and create an alternative with new features or fixes. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have been forked several times. A lot of DeFi platforms are also forked to work on the Ethereum virtual machine of other blockchains. For example, FilDA is a fork of Compound, one of the big Ethereum applications in the DeFi space.

This can also be a double-edged sword as open source code enables potential hackers to scour the smart contracts in search of possible exploits.

The downside of dApps

DApp development is still in early stages. The user interface isn’t quite up to par with modern apps, but it will get there with time. That said, for people to make the switch from apps to dApps, they will need to rival the user-friendly interface of the apps we’re all used to.

Some people raise issues with how well dApps will scale. On Elastos, it’s possible to have infinite sidechains, meaning there will never be a problem with scaling. A new chain can be created before network congestion ever becomes an issue.

DApps have also been criticized for the difficulty in making changes to the smart contract once it’s been deployed. As they are built to be immune to interference, it makes bug fixes and updates more difficult to employ than with regular applications.

How to use dApps

For the user, dApps essentially work the same as normal apps. The difference lies in the need for a transaction to interact with a smart contract. If publishing something, making a trade, or anything else that requires the smart contract to act on your behalf, you will need to pay gas. This is how blockchains work. Always keep enough crypto in your wallet to pay gas fees.

On blockchains like Elastos, gas fees are a fraction of a cent. On Ethereum, however, gas fees for a simple transaction can often be hundreds of dollars. Ethereum 2.0 is supposedly going to reduce this cost, but it’s a very slow process – one that’s one step closer after Ethereum’s successful Merge upgrade in September 2022.. Meanwhile, a range of hyper-fast, super-cheap blockchains are competing to take market share from Ethereum. Solana, Cardano, and Binance Smart Chain are the main competitors right now, but Elastos has a growing dApp ecosystem and is a challenger in its own right.

Another difference between apps and dApps is that you don’t need to download dApps, meaning you can access them directly from a dApps browser. In the future, this could be done directly from inside the metaverse. For now, the Elastos Super-Wallet, Elastos Essentials, has a built-in dApps browser that enables users direct access to the best dApps on Elastos: Glide Finance, Elacity, Feeds, Profile and more.

Because Elastos connects to over 10 different chains, you can also access dApps from Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Fantom, Heco, Polygon, Telos and more directly from your wallet. Essentials is one of the best crypto wallets on the market.

Why Elastos dApps are better

Despite being called decentralized applications, not all dApps are as decentralized as they could be. What makes dApps on Elastos unique is that they can implement the pillars of Elastos tech: DIDs, Carrier peer-to-peer network, and Hive decentralized storage.

With these fundamentals, dApps built on Elastos are some of the most decentralized in the entire crypto space. Not just apps that utilize a smart contract like the majority of so-called dApps out there, an Elastos dApp enables you to log in with a secure digital identity on a peer-to-peer network that eliminates central authorities. You can store, send and save your data without the need to reroute it through middle-men, meaning you own your data at all times.

It’s not just a dApp — it’s an Elastos dApp.

Start your journey with decentralized apps on Elastos

Download Elastos Essentials (here for iphone users and here for android) and check out the one-stop shop for decentralized application lovers. Play with the different chains and switch from PancakeSwap to UniSwap to Glide Finance seamlessly.

You can also use your Elastos Essentials wallet to read and vote on the Elastos DAO proposals, stake your ELA, and create your very own DID.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Elastos: we’re just getting started.

The July 2021 Elastos Community Monthly is filled with important updates from teams across the decentralized ecosystem. This month saw several significant pieces of news like the release of Elastos Essentials version 2.1 for Android, Tuum Tech partnering with Mission 89 to help combat sports-related child trafficking with Elastos DIDs, the funding announcements and plans for both Elevate Finance DEX and Elabox, Cyber Republic meeting minutes, a Rong Chen interview and more.

Looking to get your team’s progress in the August issue? Email us at hello@elastos.info.

Elastos Info is a community team. We can be found at our official website elastos.info and our official Twitter @ElastosInfo

Elastos Foundation: 

The Elastos Foundation (EF) is a non-profit that provides developers with all the tools to build the Modern Internet of Elastos.

The Elastos Foundation (EF) facilitates various processes, such as resource allocation and dispute mediation, among a network of decentralized development teams that function independently, but which share the communal goal of building out the baseline code for the Elastos SmartWeb.

For all updates from the core development teams, follow the official EF blog at https://news.elastos.org. The Elastos Foundation has no social media accounts.

Updates from EF in July include:

Tuum:

A Web3 software engineering team building Elastos-powered products and services to help developers build decentralized applications and enable users to own the data they generate on the web.

Website: https://www.tuum.tech/

Twitter: @tuumtech

July was a pivotal month for the future of identity solutions powered by Elastos and built by the Tuum Technologies engineering team. With the technological advancements of Elastos Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), the team can now enhance user experience with faster identity creation and seamless onboarding in products such as Profile.

Noteworthy achievements include technical developments as well as new partnerships:

Cyber Republic (CR):

The official DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) of the Elastos ecosystem from which decisions are collectively determined and implemented regarding ecosystem expansion, development initiatives, and funding allocations.

Website: cyberrepublic.org

Cyber Republic Council Member Elation Studios interviewed Elastos Founder Rong Chen on the future of Elastos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzJoHSU2k1w

Meeting Minutes for:

July 14th

July 28th

Elabox: 

“The portal to the Decentralized Web”

Website: elabox.com

Twitter: twitter.com/ElaboxDotCom

TG: t.me/elabox_official

Elabox is a PC2 hardware device that integrates core Elastos technologies and connects users securely to the Elastos SmartWeb.

Elabox becomes ecosystem’s first hardware project

Elavate Finance DEX:

A Decentralized Exchange (DEX) protocol built in the Elastos ecosystem. In addition to supporting the decentralized exchange of ecosystem tokens and other digital assets, Elavate Finance also stands to propel ecosystem development, as it will be built and deployed exclusively on the Elastos Smart Contract Chain (ESC). 

Website: elavate.finance

Twitter: @ElavateFinance

Elavate Finance DEX, Sets Vision on Advanced DeFi Ecosystem

CreDA: 

CreDA is a credit-based DeFi platform operating on Huobi’s Heco Chain that will employ Elastos DIDs to enable users to leverage the wealth vested in their data for personalized credit applications.

Website: creda.app

Twitter: @CreDAfinance

FilDA:

FilDA is a DeFi platform operating on Huobi’s Heco Chain that allows users to access a number of decentralized lending, and borrowing, and staking pools to provide capital for borrowers, provide liquidity for traders, and generate yields through interest-bearing instruments.

Website: filda.io

Twitter: @FilDAFinance

Orchard:

Elastos Orchard is an Elastos ecosystem organization currently serving its second term on the Cyber Republic Council. Orchard serves as a communications and business development hub for Elastos in Europe.

Website: https://www.elastosorchard.eu/

Twitter: @ElastosOrchard

Orchard hosted a webinar on data trusts, you can watch the recording here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcS5cR3u3ks

Feeds:

Feeds is a decentralized social media platform that employs Elastos DIDs and enables users to remain in full control of the data they generate.

Website: https://trinity-feeds.app/

Twitter: @ElastosFeeds

The NFT version of Feeds is in the final verification phase with a plan to release the Feeds dApp and Feeds Services 2.0 versions in early August.

Major features of version 2.0 are as follows:

Feeds dApp 2.0: Integrate NFT and NFT trading platform

Feeds Service 2.0:

For all developer teams, ecosystem projects, and other community organizations looking to present their development progress and other general status updates in the August issue of Elastos Info’s Elastos Community Monthly, contact our team directly at hello@elastos.info.

With all platform components advancing toward major milestone releases in 2021, the Elastos Foundation has officially granted development funds to Elabox, a community team building the Elastos ecosystem’s first hardware project. Elabox is a PC2 (Personal Cloud Compute) hardware project that integrates core Elastos technologies such as DID, Hive, and Carrier, while fully supporting ongoing updates slated for future release – DID 2.0, Hive 2.0, and Carrier 6.0 to start. Essentially, Elabox serves as a Plug and Play gateway to the Elastos Smartweb and its growing community of development teams and Web3 applications.

Led by John Grancapal, the Elabox team aims to become an industry leader in hardware development and distribution for personal cloud computing applications, as well as an onboarding gateway for entrepreneurs, established enterprises, government agencies, and dApp developers. Elabox provides eServices in its native Elabox DApp Store and a suite of developer tools that enable remote management of personal data, identity data, and digital assets via Personal Cloud Vault storage. Building toward its Version 1 launch, Elabox is leveraging support from Tuum Tech CEO Donald Bullers and former CR Council member Adem Billican, Elabox to integrate a number of Elastos core technologies, including Elastos Hive 2.0, Elastos Carrier, and other Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) networks geared toward driving traffic to Elastos Ecosystem.

Elabox Version 1

Elabox Version 1 will support the following features:

Already, the Elabox team has made significant progress, and to this point all development has been funded internally by Adem Billican. In addition to an RPi-compatible mainchain, DID 1.0 Sidechain, and Carrier node binaries, the team has completed a user-friendly dashboard with data and graphics corresponding to multi-chain transaction data and developed a fully functional wallet that supports ELA.

Development Timeline

In order to complete and release Elabox Version 1, the Elabox team estimates that 3 months of focused work will be required to develop the remaining features:

Release Plan

The Elabox team plans to release Elabox Version 1 to the public on or before August 27, 2021, the 4th anniversary of the Elastos Smartweb. A single Elabox will be priced at $399 USD, and will be available for purchase on elabox.com.

In order to show their commitment to tech development and long-term vision, the Elabox team will relocate any remaining Version 1 funds granted by the Elastos Foundation to the development of Elabox Version 2. 100% of profits earned from Elabox Version 1 sales will also be allocated to Elabox Version 2 development.

In addition, pending Cyber Republic approval, the Elabox team will be dedicating 40 Elabox devices the Elastos community and related events:

→ 20 Elaboxes will be sent directly to Elastos community members in a giveaway commemorating Elastos’ 4-year Anniversary in August 2021

→ 20 Elaboxes will be reserved for hackathon rewards and Elastos core teams

For more information regarding the Elabox team and its development process for Elabox Version 1, check out Cyber Republic Suggestion #105, and connect with the Elabox team on the following channels:

Elabox Twitter

Elabox Telegram

The Elastos Info Team is excited to introduce a new publication for the Elastos community called the Elastos Community Monthly. While the Elastos Foundation publishes a Bi-Weekly Technical Update relaying technical updates from core development teams, the community teams that populate the ecosystem are in need of a regular outlet where they can post news on a regular basis. Our June issue covers several of the community teams working with Elastos Web3 tech, and we invite all community members and teams to submit updates to the Info Team going forward, so as to be included in future issues.

The June 2021 issue includes updates from the new Cyber Republic Council, Tuum Tech, Orchard, Elabox, and the teams at CreDA and Feeds. Looking to get your team’s progress in the July issue? Email us at hello@elastos.info.

Elastos Info is a community team. We can be found at our official website elastos.info and our official Twitter @ElastosInfo

ELA:

ELA, the native token of the Elastos ecosystem, plays an integral role as a utility token that is used for gas in Mainchain transactions, and also notably for DID registration. More information pertaining to ELA tokenomics is available on elastos.info

ELA liquidity on Uniswap is now live on V3, and the multi-signature addresses dedicated to securing the funds have been securely transferred to newly elected Cyber Republic Council members.

Uniswap V3 link:

https://info.uniswap.org/#/tokens/0xe6fd75ff38adca4b97fbcd938c86b98772431867

On June 7th, the ELA inflation adjustment, reducing inflation from 5 ELA to 3 per block (40% less), took effect. Another 50% reduction will take place in December 2021.

Elastos Foundation:

The Elastos Foundation (EF) is a non-profit that provides developers with all the tools to build the Modern Internet of Elastos.

The Elastos Foundation (EF) facilitates various processes, such as resource allocation and dispute mediation, among a network of decentralized development teams that function independently, but which share the communal goal of building out the baseline code for the Elastos SmartWeb.

For all updates from the core development teams, follow the official EF blog at https://news.elastos.org. The Elastos Foundation has no social media accounts.

Updates from EF in June include:

Tuum:

A Web3 software engineering team building Elastos-powered products and services to help developers build decentralized applications and enable users to own the data they generate on the web.

Website: https://www.tuum.tech/

Social: @tuumtech (Twitter)

June was a very important transitional month for Tuum Technologies. The team concluded Q2 with an evaluation of their quarterly goals and checkpoints, and also clearly defined objectives for the quarter to come.

Important achievements span from technical development to education and awareness with several June highlights listed below:

Here’s a glimpse into what Tuum Technologies will be working to complete in the months ahead:

Cyber Republic (CR):

The official DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) of the Elastos ecosystem from which decisions are made regarding ecosystem expansion, development initiatives, and funding allocations.

Website: cyberrepublic.org

On June 10th, the 2nd Annual Cyber Republic Council elections concluded, with a new 12-seat council scheduled for a 1-year term. Read the official post here:

Second Annual Cyber Republic Council Elections Conclude, New Council Begins Term

The new council is already hard at work, with their first two official meetings taking place on June 16th and June 30th. Below are the meeting minutes from both meetings.

June 16

June 30

Elabox:

“The portal to the Decentralized Web”

Website: elabox.com

Twitter: twitter.com/ElaboxDotCom

TG: t.me/elabox_official

Elabox is a PC2 hardware device that integrates core Elastos technologies and connects users securely to Elastos SmartWeb

Here is what Elabox accomplished in June, and where the project stands today:

→ The Elabox team added new members, including 3 developers with extensive experience. John M. (Twitter: @johnmgran) is the Elabox Project Lead, and is responsible for keeping development on schedule, ensuring quality controls for hardware and accessories, managing logistics, and optimizing product packaging.

→ Designed a robust OTA update mechanism and a new core system that can handle future features. The new core system will likely begin testing in the 1st week of July, and will be added to Elabox the following week. With the newly developed core system infrastructure in place, detecting errors caused by dApps will become far easier going forward.

→ This Over-the-Air Update system will become a crucial part of ElaboxOS, and will ensure that any future patches and updates to any dApps inside Elabox are seamless.

→ The Elabox hardware product will undergo a major makeover, including fully revamped hardware accessories, case design, and the packaging.

→ The team plans to conduct a community vote shortly to allow Elabox supporters to determine what Elabox’s design casing will look like.

→ The team also has plans to give the early buyers who support the project a valuable surprise of sorts. As the time approaches, expect an announcement!

CreDA:

CreDA is a credit-based DeFi platform operating on Huobi’s Heco Chain that will employ Elastos DIDs to enable users to leverage the wealth vested in their data for personalized credit applications.

Website: creda.app

Twitter: @CreDAfinance

The CreDA team is pleased to announce that CreDA Beta V2 went live on the Elastos Smart Contract Chain (ESC) in June. Get started exploring CreDA Beta V2 at the link below:

CreDA Beta V2

Latest Article:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CreDAOfficial/comments/obfcmq/creda_introduces_an_innovative_decentralized/

Orchard:

Elastos Orchard is an Elastos ecosystem organization currently serving its second term on the Cyber Republic Council. Orchard serves as a communications and business development hub for Elastos in Europe.

Website: https://www.elastosorchard.eu/

Twitter: @ElastosOrchard Elastos Orchard submitted a Suggestion to Cyber Republic to represent and involve Elastos at a Web3 Conference this July. Check it out at the link below:

Web3 Conference Suggestion

Update: Over the last six months, a group of students from the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht have helped Orchard by delivering advisory Web 3.0 reports for their Creative Business course. Each was assigned the role of exploring pain points they saw within Orchard and Elastos and offering solutions which could help drive the Web 3.0 vision forward. Within these submissions, Orchard had contributions on how to approach NGOs with market research and direct interviews conducted with a mockup DApp to help guide what would be useful to them restoring trust. Orchard also had strategy implementation and product development guides on how they are perceived from community interviews to guide where they should place themselves in the ecosystem and a market fit report for Cordial, including a video and a value proposition document. It has been an extremely enjoyable experience with 2 hour sessions held with students each month and the opportunity to teach and inspire the Web 3.0 vision to passionate minds. If you are interested in learning more about this experience, please reach out to the team.

Feeds:Feeds is a decentralized social media platform that employs Elastos DIDs and enables users to remain in full control of the data they generate.

Website: https://trinity-feeds.app/

Twitter: @ElastosFeeds

Here is what the Feeds team accomplished over the last month, and where the project stands today:

→ The Feeds team completed major development testing, and will soon be ready to release a new and improved version of Feeds.

→ The new version of Feeds will not offer new features to users, but will contain major internal improvements that will enhance functionality for future releases. For this reason, users will not be required to update their Feeds applications.

→ The Feeds team is now hard at work integrating an NFTs and a corresponding NFT marketplace on the Smart Contract Sidechain (ESC).

→ The team is also building a Feeds service desktop application for both macOS and Windows.

→ In the week ahead, Feeds will also release a new and improved version of Hive Java SDK and corresponding Hive Node solution.

→ The team has nearly finished upgrading the DID SDK dependency from DID 1.x to DID 2.0 on the EID Sidechain.

→ Once the DID SDK is released in the next version of Feeds, the Hive Java SDK and Hive node will be next in line – a lot to look forward to.

For all developer teams, ecosystem projects, and other community organizations looking to present their development progress and other general status updates in the July issue of Elastos Info’s Elastos Community Monthly, contact our team directly at hello@elastos.info.

With Trinity Tech and Tuum Tech making major headlines in the Elastos ecosystem in recent weeks, Elastos Info has taken the time to catch up with the Gelaxy team. Led by Shunan Yu, the Gelaxy team is responsible for the development of Elastos’ Mainchain-sidechain architecture and multi-tiered consensus mechanism. The team has already accomplished a great deal in 2021, and many of its development milestones will be on display in upcoming code releases. Here’s what the Gelaxy team has set out to accomplish for the Elastos ecosystem in 2021:

1. Achieve Full CRC

Supernode Autonomy

Since the establishment of CRC (Cyber Republic Consensus), all 12 CRC Supernodes were maintained by the Elastos Foundation in order to ensure the smooth operation of CRC in its early stages. However, as per Elastos’ broader ethos of decentralization and the model laid out in the Cyber Republic Whitepaper, it is in the best interest of the Elastos ecosystem that CR Council members maintain their own supernodes independently. This is an important initiative that will contribute to a more decentralized and robust consensus.

Status: Development and testing are complete, and this feature is active. For the Cyber Republic Council’s second term – slated to begin June 10 – CR Council members will be responsible for running their own nodes.

2. Activate illegal and inactive states for Supernode Status Updates

In light of the possibility that illegal and inactive states could be triggered by unforeseen circumstances in the initial stages of Elastos’ DPoS launch, the Gelaxy team disabled penalty functions for supernodes. Consequently, supernodes have not been financially penalized upon entering illegal and inactive states to this point. In order to better incentive supernodes to act in the best interests of the Elastos ecosystem and to inherently disincentivize collusion, penalty functions for illegal and inactive supernode states will be re-enabled.

Status: Development and testing have been completed, and penalty functions will be re-enabled in the upcoming release of the DPoS node program.

3. Complete 36-Supernodes Model for DPoS Consensus

At present, 12 DPoS supernodes provide the security for the cross-chain transactions between the Elastos Mainchain and all of its sidechains. In order to advance decentralization throughout the Elastos ecosystem, the Gelaxy team will be upgrading the consensus mechanism dedicated to cross-chain transactions to include a full 36 DPoS Supernodes.
Initial Status: Both development and testing have been completed. Before the 36-Supernode model is fully active, supernodes must run arbiter processes and configure sidechain nodes. In the upcoming May 2021 release of the Mainchain node program, a specified block height for activation will be provided.
Correction: The Gelaxy team will be shifting back the release date for this cross-chain transaction consensus upgrade. Although development and testing have been completed, existing DPoS nodes will be required to upgrade their hardware as well, which will increase operating costs. In consideration of the ecosystem’s current DPoS nodes count, it is in the best interest of decentralization to delay the activation of this upgrade so as to avoid DPoS nodes dropping out of DPoS consensus. Therefore, the cross-chain transaction consensus will not be upgraded in the May release of the Mainchain node program. The Gelaxy team will continue to keep the community posted, and will announce a release date when DPOS 2.0 is launched.

4. Implement Random Node Selection Function

In order to create additional incentives for unelected supernodes to be ready to perform their validator duties, a system of random selection will play a role in making for a more reliable and robust DPoS consensus. Failure on the part of a node to perform validation when selected will also be penalized by deducting from the node’s staked ELA.

Status: Both development and testing have been completed. In the upcoming May 2021 release of Mainchain node program, a specified block height for activation will be provided.

5. Program Consensus to Revert back to PoW DPoS Block Generation is Disabled 

Under normal circumstances, the Elastos Mainchain utilizes a hybrid consensus that employs both Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). However, under extreme or unusual circumstances, such as when a large volume of Supernode servers are down, Elastos’ DPoS consensus may become unable to validate new blocks for an extended period of time. To prepare for such scenarios, it is critical to have an alternative consensus mechanism in place so as to enable DPoS consensus to be restored efficiently and securely.

The simplest and more secure alternative is to shift to a pure PoW consensus. During this period, only transactions that serve to restore DPoS and that support DPoS election processes can be published on-chain.

Status: Both development and testing have been completed. In the upcoming May 2021 release of the Mainchain node program, a specified block height for activation will be provided.

6. Decrease Cross-chain Transaction Time

Elastos cross-chain transfers depend on a final confirmation from both Mainchain and sidechain transactions. Based on DPoS’ multi-signature consensus, a cross-chain transfer can be theoretically completed and confirmed in a single block. However, in the early stages of cross-chain transfer implementations, the confirmation process was conservatively designed to be completed over 6 blocks for security considerations. After a period of prudent observation, the Gelaxy team is now prepared to restore the confirmation process to 1 block in order to reduce the average cross-chain transfer time to less than 3 minutes.

To further improve the speed of low-value cross-chain transfers, the team is also developing a model for cross-chain transactions that does not require block confirmation. In this model, cross-chain transactions (low-value only) are passed to the sidechain through a DPoS multi-signature consensus which is recognized immediately by the sidechain. Such a cross-chain transfer can be confirmed within 10 seconds – a tremendous improvement with major implications.

Status: Development is currently in progress, and an anticipated release date will be announced once the Gelaxy team determines an appropriate timeline.

7. Migrate DID Sidechain to a new Smart Contract Sidechain 

At present, Elastos’ DID Sidechain utilizes a PoW consensus by merge-mining with the Elastos Mainchain, and thereby maintains a block time of approximately 2 minutes. In order to improve the processing speed of the DID Sidechain and expand its use case potential, the Gelaxy team is migrating the DID Sidechain to a new Smart Contract Sidechain (ETH). This migration will also equip the DID Sidechain with smart contract functionality.*

*During the DID Sidechain migration, all existing DIDs will migrate to the new Smart Contract Sidechain by default. However, existing assets stored on DID Sidechain will have to be transferred manually with bridging protocols. The Gelaxy team will provide more detailed information pertaining to this matter as the migration approaches.

Status: Development is complete, and testing is currently underway. Release is anticipated for June.

8. Implement Tokenomic Model from CRC Proposal #36

The Gelaxy team is presently implementing the tokenomic modifications outlined in Cyber Republic Proposal #36. Relevant details concerning these tokenomic modifications are available at the following link:
Proposal #36 

Status: Development is complete, and testing is currently underway. In the upcoming May 2021 release of the Mainchain node program, a specified block height for activation will be provided.

9. Implement Ethereum Layer 2 Solution for Smart Contract Sidechain

The Gelaxy team is currently investigating the various implementations of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions for the Elastos Smart Contract Sidechain. The team’s foremost objective is to upgrade the sidechain in order to enhance scalability for ecosystem applications – in particular, those DeFi applications – and improve ELA’s cross-chain transfer functions between the Mainchain and sidechains.

Status: Development is currently underway, and release is currently slated for August 2021.

To keep up with the Gelaxy team as they improve Elastos’ consensus, implement tokenomic modifications, streamline cross-chain transfers, and vastly improve the adoption potential of Elastos’ DID solution, stay tuned here on the official Elastos Info Blog.

A rising innovation, Decentralized Identification (DID) solutions are rapidly emerging as one of the digital asset space’s most powerful and promising technologies. Within the Elastos ecosystem, DID has been an integral component of Elastos’ core tech stack since its conception, and its path toward adoption remains at the forefront of Elastos’ development efforts. Over the last year, the Trinity Tech and Gelaxy teams were hard at work collaborating for the joint release of the Elastos DID 1.0 SDK and W3C-compliant DID Sidechain. Their 2020 accomplishments are not to be overlooked:

Since its launch, Elastos’ DID solution has been adopted in Elastos Essentials, as well as CR, Feeds, Hyper, and other applications as well. In addition, Tuum Tech is working on an Elastos DID-based application called Profile, a rising competitor to LinkedIn – in large part by leveraging Elastos DIDs. Unlike in conventional applications where data and identities are managed and controlled by centralized systems, users will retain full ownership of their data when using Profile.

With further implementations and adoption opportunities for Elastos DID on the horizon, the Trinity Tech team has also constructed a unified DID authentication model that plays a key role in the standardization and promotion of DIDs in traditional applications and identity authentication processes between clients and servers. Separate applications developed by different developers can utilize unified identity management and consistent identity authentication processes in which user-centric identity management replaces the existing application-centric model. Such unified DID processes stand to be some of the most robust and adoption-ready features offered by Elastos Essentials.

After successfully completing and releasing DID 1.0, the Trinity Tech team received an abundance of valuable requests and feedback from community developers and users. Trinity Tech’s engineers took into account all such requests and feedback in formulating the subsequent 2021 DID Development Overview. In the overview, the team lays out a new framework for DID 2.0, complete with a detailed implementation and adoption strategy aimed at integrating Elastos DID 2.0 into as many new applications as possible.

DID 2.0: 2021 Development Overview

DID 2.0’s primary objectives are to provide a superior developer and user experience, and to support more complex business models and use case scenarios enabling the expansion of DID’s implementation and adoption potential. To achieve these goals, the Trinity Tech team will be augmenting new features and making a series of important modifications:

DID 2.0 Development: Governance Considerations

In order to ensure a successful launch and smooth ongoing operation of DID 2.0, three basic proposals will be submitted for the DID Sidechain, all of which have been designed in alignment with Cyber Republic’s governance model:

Although the above proposals fall under the scope and jurisdiction of Cyber Republic and are carried out via main chain consensus, their primary function is to provide an efficient and healthy governance foundation for the DID Sidechain as it develops a robust ecosystem of users, organizations, and applications of its own in the months and years ahead.

Development Roadmap

Main Chain

1) DID Sidechain

2) DID SDK

3) DID Wallet

Developer Support

In addition to the above-mentioned new features, infrastructural modifications, and DID SDKs, the following application services and components will be provided to support developers:

To keep up with both Trinity Tech and Tuum Tech as they build out the newest version of Elastos DID and begin releasing updates and new features on the Elastos testnet and mainnet alike, stay tuned here at the official Elastos Info Blog. Elastos DID 2.0 is in the works and on the way, and implementation and adoption have never been closer.

Making its public debut on a February 1 announcement from Ditto Music, a groundbreaking new DeFi platform called Opulous is opening doors to independent musical artists and investors with a decentralized, peer-to-peer lending platform that plans to integrate Elastos’ industry-leading DID solution. In the present-day music production landscape, independent musicians starting out and trying to find their way are almost always hampered by financial struggles, and accessing capital makes for a challenging and labor-intensive practice. Likewise, independent investors supplying capital have difficulty connecting with aspiring artists and ensuring returns, making for capital inefficiencies and holding back the creative process. Due to their roles as trustworthy institutions, centralized publishing companies and record labels have effectively consolidated power over the music industry, leveraging their scales of capital and scopes of operation to justify predatory pricing models and drive out competition. Needless to say, Opulous has entered the music industry at a pivotal moment, giving up-and-coming artists and independent investors a path away from dependence on industry oligarchs.

Opulous: DeFi backed Music

Opulous acts as a capital pool from which loans can be accessed and granted. For artists, loans are granted against existing revenue streams, thereby drawing on their copyrights as collateral. On the opposite end, investors can contribute to Opulous’ Music Copyrights Pools, which are set to payout interest at a highly competitive rate up to 10% APR. In addition to investors, active artists will also be permitted to contribute capital to the pool, so they may establish passive revenue streams as well. With Opulous’ launch, artists and investors alike now have a new platform to connect with and empower each other, where trustless blockchain architecture supports capital efficiency and enables the formation of a more meritocratic system of content creation.

Integrating Elastos DIDs

Of course, such a powerful multi-stakeholder application of decentralized finance requires a robust, on-chain mechanism for identification; this is where Elastos’ Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) enter the picture. Most immediately, Elastos DIDs stand to play a major role for Opulous users, who will want to engage the Opulous’ capital pools as securely as possible.

The Bigger Picture: Bluebox

But while enabling both artists and investors to utilize Opulous with their Elastos-issued DIDs certainly makes for a strong use-case, Ditto Music has grander ambitions: Bluebox, the company’s blockchain-based music licensing platform rapidly nearing its beta launch, aims to offer aspiring and current artists of all levels a unique suite of tools to independently manage their career paths, financing, licensing, and publishing ventures. With discussions and research ongoing between Ditto Music CEO Lee Parsons and Elastos VP of Business Development Clarence Liu, a deeper, more comprehensive DID integration project is in the works.

Staking Integration

In addition to DID integration, Elastos will also benefit from staking integration on Opulous. Opulous is being developed on Algorand’s public blockchain, but the platform will support the staking of “ELA on Ethereum” – essentially wrapped ELA in the form of an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain.

As Elastos continues to build new bridges across ecosystems and achieve new use cases for its decentralized technologies, continue to check in here on the official Elastos Info Blog for the latest news and developments.

Elastos Foundation

Cyber Republic

Developer Portal