Greeting community!
It’s been a busy few months in the Phore world, and we want to make sure the community is up to speed on all of the developments! Read on for a round-up of all of the news from Q2 2020!
Marketplace Updates
Though the Marketplace remains in the Beta phase, the team has been hard at work improving the platform for its users. In April, we released a new and enhanced version of the app, (v. 2.3.6) which included back end improvements, process streamlining, common bug fixes, and UI improvements. The latest version of the marketplace can be downloaded by clicking here.
We also revealed that a forthcoming release of the marketplace will include a new and improved trading feature — all within the platform! The changes will include a greatly enhanced UI, a clear and easy-to-navigate interface, and will simultaneously capture the traditional “feel” of exchanges. All of this accomplished while maintaining an entirely decentralized architecture. The days of relying on risky, centralized exchanges will be no more. Check it out:
Lastly, in early June we also released a brand new Marketplace Browser — a groundbreaking development for Phore and all marketplace users! This release drastically improves the dApp’s usability and accessibility. Now, from the browser of their choice, users are able to peruse the marketplace listings at their leisure. Previously, users were only able to view the marketplace by downloading and installing the application, which had approximately 2,000 users at its peak. With this release, all of the world’s 4.5 billion internet users are able to access and browse the platform.
Note: In order to complete a purchase, the full Marketplace must be downloaded. The browser version is for browsing only.
Core Wallet Updates
In June, we released a brand new version (v1.6.4) of the Phore Core Wallet. Click here to download the new version of the wallet.
While it had been a long time between releases, v1.6.4 represents some pretty large changes to the wallet that include: bug fixes, massive performance improvement, and some brand new features. Some of these new and improved features are:
- HD Addressing: A better method to generate key pairs, using a master seed that determines new keys in a deterministic manner. This allows keys to be recovered and/or recreated with the original master seed. Uses include: creating permanent wallet backups, setting up websites that take payments by setting up new addresses (without private keys), and so on.
- Mnemonic Seed Words: Users can now create their master seed using a randomly generated set of 24 seed words. Additionally, users can “drag and drop” their randomized set of words, to make an easy and reliable copy of their seed word key.
- Proposal Creation: Phore users can unlock a Phore wallet while still in the process of creating a proposal.
- Performance improvements include; improved staking/mining efficiency, QT front end improvements, reduced memory storage, removing unnecessary multithreading lock, improved response time for RPC getchaintips (20x faster), and more.
- Bug Fixes.
To learn more about the specific changes in the release, click here to see the release notes on Github.
Synapse Update
Note: If you aren’t at all familiar with Synapse, some of the terms in this section may be a bit confusing. Click here to get up to speed.
In July, we released a comprehensive Synapse update to bring the community up to speed on the latest developments. The team has been working toward our next testnet run, and upon some internal testing, some issues arose that needed to be addressed. These issues revolved mainly around reliability and stability, improvements to securing the blockchain, and some functionality to tie the Synapse architecture together.
As it currently stands, the various shard chains are finalizing correctly, but some issues are being resolved around maintaining synchronization between the shards. The overall stability of the architecture must be improved prior to launching a public testnet.
Design is currently underway for the shard proposer election system. This requires changes to the shard proposer selection so that it is based on the last finalized block hash. Another key piece of the puzzle is managing states on the beacon chain. In particular, the RANDAO protocol, which is used to shuffle validators and randomly assign tasks to them.
While the last few bugs are being ironed out, work has begun on developing a Synapse wallet. This had to wait until the core blockchain was nearly complete so that the protocols and APIs present in a wallet would be solidified. Here is a preview of the Synapse wallet:
PHR information is being used as a placeholder.
If anyone has any recommendations for useful tools to include in the Synapse wallet, feel free to suggest them to a team member! Any and all feedback is welcome.
While the Phore team does not set hard deadlines for completing projects, many members of the community have been asking for a rough time frame of when Synapse will be ready. Right now, we believe that Synapse is about 85% complete, and proposals surrounding Synapse governance will be made in August or September. Stay tuned for more updates.
To read the full Synapse update, click here.
New Core Developer
In May, we welcomed Kolby Moroz Liebl to the Phore Development Team! Prior to joining Phore, he was the creator and lead developer for Curium, a project that originated in January 2018. Kolby has already made numerous contributions to Phore, including hierarchical deterministic addressing, a GUI-based budget proposal creation process, and Masternode setup user experience improvements. We are happy to add him to our pool of talented developers!
Exchange Listings
Also in June, we were happy to complete a listing of PHR on the StakeCube exchange! As one of the most popular and easy-to-use exchanges in the Masternode market, this is a great addition to our list of exchanges. Trading pairs for PHR include:
- PHR/BTC
- PHR/LTC
- PHR/SCC
- PHR/DASH
- PHR/DOGE
Click here to start trading PHR on StakeCube!
Marketing/Promotion
In May, we published an article on the topic of decentralization and blockchain technology and discussed how these could have been used to help mitigate the global coronavirus pandemic. Click here to give it a read!
Also in May, Phore was featured in a video titled “Top 5 Profitable Cryptocurrencies” on the Melchionda Network Youtube Channel. Watch the video by clicking here.
We have since been featured on the Melchionda Network many times.
Conclusion
Another quarter in the books! In Q2 of 2020, Phore continues to build a solid foundation for immense growth ahead. With the backbone of a strong, reliable blockchain and core wallet, improved platform accessibility and user experience in the Marketplace, and groundbreaking innovation with Synapse, the future remains bright for Phore.
Here’s to an even better Q3!
Visit phore.io to learn more about Phore Blockchain, and follow us on our various social channels that include Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Bitcointalk, Reddit and Facebook.
