[Portfolio Update]
By: Ken, Cypher Core
Tags: Crypto, Cosmos, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin

New Validator Count

On July 17th, at 11:01 am UTC, voting for the tenth on-chain Cosmos Hub proposal ended. This proposal submitted by Sikka highlighted the need for an increase validator count within the current set while addressing future limitations as to how many validators will be needed within the current governance standard. Previously the Cosmos whitepaper suggested a validator increase of 13% per year, capping out at a total of 300 validators. With this proposal, we see that mechanism scrapped and a new standard set to cater to the network until there becomes a need for an increase or proposal in a future date. To learn more about this proposal in full detail click here.

Node A-Team for the Win!

After a great showing at HackAtom in Seoul, S.K. this month, we had the chance to see some outstanding projects come to fruition and obtain some solid daily coverage by Adriana KalpaTech. Even though the majority of participants put up a valiant effort with their contributions we could only see one first-place winner, and to that the Cypher Core team would like to extend our congratulations to Node A-Team for their outstanding work at the HackAtom event. On July 22nd, they were crowned with the first-place prize award for their bAtom Zone (DeFi+uniswap).

0% Commission Rates, Good or Bad?

On July 23rd, at 8:59 am UTC, another proposal submitted by Sikka opened up for voting. This one encourages discourse on the Cosmos forum regarding one of the most highly debated topics within the Cosmos validator ecosystem, 0% commission rates. With this being a very complex topic, we see many different validators run this commission rate for different reasons. Some to play layman marketing tactics, others to encourage alternative beliefs and ventures. Whether or not being able to establish such a rate as a service provider is in good nature or malicious for the Cosmos Hub is for network participants to decide. Cast your vote then join the conversation here.

Gaia Upgrade

As of July 23rd, Gaia-13003 testnet has been upgraded to Gaia-13004 and is live with a plethora of exciting updates aiming to be rolled out within the next month or so. To get a full breakdown of what’s in store for us Cosmonauts this Autumn check out this awesome write-up Jack Zampolin delivered here.

Regen Strives to Make a Difference

The Regen Network team announced their support via Twitter for the 4 per 1000 initiative. This international movement launched by France in December of 2015, is backed by a wide range of voluntary shareholders within the public and private sectors, under the framework of the Lima-Paris Action Plan.

“The aim of the initiative is to demonstrate that agriculture, and in particular agricultural soils can play a crucial role where food security and climate change are concerned.” (www.4p1000.org)

Throughout our time interacting with Regen Network, we’ve seen them take a significant amount of initiative outside of their immediate project’s duties and that speaks volume. We’re excited to see what they’ve got in store for us in the future on our next update. If you’re interested in learning more about the 4 per 1000 initiative click here.

Incentivized Testnet Announcement

Regen Network recently announced their first public incentivized testnet, Choco, named after the Choco bioregion in South America. This first testnet marks a huge step in Regen’s efforts towards establishing the foundation for a mainnet launch in Q4 of this year. This phase will be crucial for the team and their respected validator set, and we couldn’t be more excited to participate with them along this amazing journey.

Keep shipping Regents!

Harriet Talks DeFi and BPoS Blockchains

Harriet Cao, one of the founders of IRISnet, delivered a very educational and forward discussion highlighting DeFi application requirements on BPoS blockchain networks at this year’s BUIDL Asia event in Seoul, S.K. Harriet was able to discuss IRISnet’s token economy design and how the network seeks to further support decentralization within the IRIS Hub.

Bug Bounty!

The IRISnet team has officially announced a two-week bug bounty for the IRIS Hub to help support a successful launch of v0.15.0. During this bounty, IRISnet welcomes skilled security researchers to help identify vulnerabilities within the update and will honor a reward based on three tiers of bounty parameters. To learn more about this bounty click here.

Solana in Seoul!

The Solana team cohosted a very prominent event with several other projects in Seoul on July 24th. For the first time, we had the ability to see Cosmos, Elrond, and Solana hold an event for the PoS community to touch base on validator centric topics and highlight several different variances regarding their respected protocols. We’re hoping to see many more of these similar style events in the near future across the globe from these respected teams.

Highlighting Solana’s Replicators

Solana delivers some outstanding and ambitious feats that are projected to deliver outside of testnet phases, Tour De Sol, which has been delivering solid results and interesting turnouts so far. Some of the many key features that make Solana so special are features not yet seen before within a project’s network setting. Things like Pipeline VM, Cloudbreak, and Replicators are some new and exciting things they offer. Recently Anatoly Yakovenko was able to break down Replicators, a very complex topic by nature, in a very palatable fashion. If you’d like read this awesome writeup click here.

Tour De Soul

As mentioned in the previous announcement, Solana is hosting a very exciting testnet at the moment! If you’re interested in helping secure and establish one of the most anticipated networks to be released this year, don’t hesitate to follow the link here to learn more on how to participate.

Ziga Speaks at Supply Chain Innovation summit

Origintrail co-founder, Ziga Drev, was able to highlight use cases blockchain has within supply chain management, and how Origintrail can assist in making current supply chain dilemmas soluble. During this discussion, Ziga was joined by several others who discussed where blockchain interoperability plays into effect on SCM tracking tools and the topic of full integration versus interoperable solutions. I think this is exciting to see several key players within this sector discussing interoperable solutions versus trying to onboard a full integration approach. In taking this narrative further we take one step closer to seeing a mass adopted solution that relies on interoperable toolsets, and that’s exciting. Understanding one chain doesn’t need to rule them all, especially within this sector, is crucial and the team at Cypher Core is excited to see more progress on this topic soon.