Band Protocol November 2020 Community Update
By: Kevin Lu
Tags: Decentralization, Defi, Blockchain Development, Community, Release v1.2.7 GuanYu Mainnet Release · bandprotocol/bandchainThis is the upgrade version for band-guanyu-mainnet mainnet network. Improve gas estimation of report transactions (Fix…github.com

Dear Band Community,

November clocked a development heavy month for Band Protocol as we work towards both stability of phase 1 for all of DeFi protocols and the launch of BandChain Phase 2 to enable built-in support for permissioned and paywall APIs from premium data providers. We also spent significant effort in improving the composability between multiple oracle scripts — empowering developers to query most of the data available on the open internet.

To make this possible, we have cemented partnerships with institutional data providers who are working with us along the development path to commercialize their endpoints and data for any decentralized application to readily integrate through Band Protocol oracles.

In this month’s community update, we share our multi-faceted developments on BandChain, CosmoScan, developer client tools and six major partnership developments in the lead up to the end of year.

Tech Updates

In November, BandChain reached a milestone of 100,000 unique requests for oracle data! Our engineers have been working diligently on continuously improving BandChain, CosmoScan, developer client tools as well as new dataset which will be released very soon.

Yoda v1.2.7 Release & BandChain Update

Band Protocol released yoda v1.2.7 for all BandChain validators, a major upgrade which includes significant improvements to gas estimation and bootup logic on yoda to report on requests.

Yoda v1.2.7-rc1 was released for our validators to test on our GuanYu testnet 2 weeks prior. During that time, there were no out-of-gas transactions and every validator has successfully updated without having to be deactivated.

Notably, we also support Google Cloud function as an alternative data source executor, increasing robustness and diversification in the Band Protocol ecosystem. The setup guide can be found here.

We have improved how to use and verify data from BandChain. Users can now cryptographically verify that a block height corresponds to a block time on BandChain in addition to the block hash previously possible. This is made possible through the new version of Band’s bridge contract, which can now save the block time in addition to the block hash of the given height. In addition, the bridges can now also verify a request count that occurs on-chain using cryptographic proof.

Notable Developer Client Tool Update

Pyband and bandchain.js, the first versions, have successfully been implemented. We are finalizing testing and documentation before publishing and showcasing to the community. These tools will allow developers to easily and seamlessly integrate band oracle into their smart contract within minutes.

Notable CosmoScan Update

CosmoScan has been upgraded to include a highly requested reinvestment feature. Allowing BAND stakers to automatically restake rewards in one click without the need to withdraw and restake.

There have also been minor improvements to the user experience on CosmoScan.

Partnership Developments

Below we showcase the integrations and new partnerships in November, these include integrations into decentralized applications across various leading blockchain platforms including Binance Smart Chain, Monero, Ethereum and our first institutional partner to support BandChain Phase 2 with high-quality and premium price data.

Brave New Coin Partnership

Brave New Coin, the leading data and research company backed by Techemy Group, has strategically partnered with Band Protocol to bring institutional-grade price data for up to 1500+ digital assets onto the $BAND decentralized oracle network.

BNC’s Global Weighted Average Spot Price (GWA), which has been integrated into Band Protocol for all blockchain platforms, works by providing a secure and fair price for any tracked digital asset from real-time trading across a global network of top crypto exchanges. This will empower developers on any L1 or L2 platform to access and readily integrate premium and credentialed price feeds.

Partnering up with enterprise data providers such as BNC is the major step forward towards the launch of BandChain Phase 2 — where premium and credential data providers will be able to automatically collect revenue on-chain on a per-call or subscription basis. We are bringing scalable, decentralized and non-custodial products for trading, investment and analysis for smart contract developers to utilize.

Stay tuned as we begin showcasing more enterprise and reputable data providers partnering with Band Protocol to commercialize their APIs and provide high-quality data for blockchain developers to integrate with!

Haven Protocol Partnership

Haven Protocol, a leading privacy-focused #DeFi protocol based on Monero, has successfully integrated $BAND price feeds for XHV-backed decentralized stablecoin which will go live on Haven’s mainnet after the hard fork implementing the v0.16 upgrade. This will expand into feeds for private synthetic assets xGOLD, xSILV, xEUR, and xCNY.

Band Protocol, as the primary price aggregator for the entire Haven network, has been integrated to provide decentralized and secure price feeds for various assets that update on a 30 second basis from multiple trusted and reputable data providers nominated by Haven Protocol.

We look forward to supporting Haven Protocol in the long-term with critical oracle infrastructure as we expand into multiple verticals within the blockchain industry which now includes privacy-based platforms and decentralized applications.

LunaDEX Partnership

LunaDEX, a decentralized exchange built on Serum and leading web-scale blockchain platform Solana, has integrated $BAND oracles for over 125+ crypto assets and 14 foreign exchange rates for spot trading and the wallet interface.

Application users rely on interfaces to provide the necessary data for creating informed decisions. This integration with Band Protocol will empower users to use verified market rates aggregated from up to 12 unique reputable and trusted data sources, safeguarding against price manipulation and potential slippage.

Swingby Partnership

Swingby, the development team behind a leading cross-chain protocol enabling the capital flow of Bitcoin between multiple blockchains, integrates Band Protocol price and $BAND Proof-of-Custody oracles to secure the upcoming Mainnet launch of Skybridge.

Band Protocol introduces Proof-of-Custody oracles to Swingby’s Skybridge Network to enhance transparency and risk prevention for over-staking. This will provide consistent on-chain audits of the value in bonded assets on the cross-chain asset protocol.

Skybridge will also integrate secure price oracles provided by Band Protocol as a safety mechanism to control price differential between bridged assets such as $BTC, $WBTC, $tBTC, $renBTC. This will detect any significant price delta inconsistency between two bridged assets for Skybridge to analyze and rectify the situation.

The integration into Skybridge is the first of many with Swingby Labs, the teams will work together to support more innovative and exciting features for DeFi users. Some ideas include market data feeds that contribute to price discovery on the upcoming Swingby Sky Pools, and a cross-chain liquidity aggregator.

Linear Finance Partnership

Linear Finance, a cross-chain compatible derivative asset protocol to cost-effectively and create, manage, and trade synthetic assets — has partnered with $BAND to integrate decentralized price feeds on the Linear Exchange trading platform.

Additionally, Band Protocol will be securing the collateral and minting protocol of Linear’s Builder DApp which enables users to mint the LUSD stablecoin — the gateway to Linear Exchange, which will be also be secured by decentralized oracles covering many synthetic assets.

Leveraging the scalability and instant finality of the #BandChain decentralized oracle network, Linear Finance has collaborated with Band Protocol to build optimized and low-latency oracles that are highly accurate and minimize the surface area of attack for frontrunners.

Both teams are looking forward to sharing the integration details and custom oracles built in Linear Finance’s upcoming Mainnet launch which will make the protocol safer for both traders and stakers alike.

ICON Network Partnership Update

ICON Network, one of the largest decentralized blockchain networks, is expanding its collaboration and partnership with Band Protocol to operate validator nodes on each other’s networks.

This agreement will continue to align long-term incentives for both teams as we continue to expand integration with the enterprises, government and DApps building on ICON.

Recently, one of Korea’s largest Fintech firms Danal partnered with ICON.

Community Outreach

Hack the Horizon Hackathon With Harmony

Band Protocol has collaborated with Harmony to sponsor their large-scale Hack the Horizon hackathon focused on collaborative, creative, and inclusive cross-chain projects that build applications utilizing the Horizon Bridge. There is also a $3,000 prize for the Best Application of BandChain on Harmony, co-sponsored by both teams!

Our CTO and Co-Founder, Sorawit Suriyakarn, presented a workshop for developers to query data from our Standard Dataset which supports price feeds for crypto assets, commodities and foreign exchange. He also runs through step-by-step, how to build a simple decentralized application integrating Band Protocol oracle technology on Harmony.

Binance US AMA

Band Protocol CEO & Co-founder @SSrinawakoon sat down with Binance US CEO Catherine Coley to answer community questions and talk about #oracle, #crypto, and anything decentralized finance #DeFi!

Watch the AMA 👉

Looking into December

December will be a monumental month with more enterprise-grade data provider partners showcased to support our development of BandChain Phase 2 in addition to more partnerships on both leading layer-1/layer-2 blockchain platforms and their top underlying decentralized applications.

Our validator count has reached 71 active nodes with over 116,000+ requests on BandChain already — stay tuned for December as we continue to dedicate relentless effort to drive the adoption and usage of the BandChain decentralized oracle network.