Around the Block, Issue Nº7: RELAY featuring 0x Relayer report, first Dharma relayer
This was a major week for the Ethereum ecosystem. In addition to the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance announcing a new architecture for Enterprise implementations of Ethereum, there is significant momentum in the relayer space.
Not only did 0x give us 18 ideas for new relayers, we are starting to see relayers emerge for other protocols deeper in the stack. Dharma is a lending protocol built on 0x. With the first relayer built on Dharma, the open financial system is slowly becoming a reality.
💵 Bitcoin
New proposal for Proof of Authority on decentralised blockchains
tl:dr; Numerifides is a proposed Bitcoin upgrade for registering ownership of “names”: trademarks, domains and other forms of named identification. To register a name, a user needs to mine for a given number of blocks and lock up bitcoin for a fixed time period. The novel idea is that users wishing to reserve the name for a longer time period will take priority over higher payers, which is designed to prevent name-squatting.
💎 Ethereum
Luke Duncan wrote about Insuring against smart contract failure
tl:dr; Users of smart contracts are not equipped to assess their risks. Smart contracts are an insurable risk according to standard insurance properties. Auditors are well-placed to become insurers in the ecosystem.
The EEA released an Ethereum Enterprise Reference Architecture Stack
tl:dr; Most of the enterprise alliances have had limited momentum since founding. The EEA has come forward with a new reference architecture of permissioned Ethereum blockchains. Four classes of components are identified: Yellow paper, Public Ethereum, Application layer and Enterprise Ethereum.
⚡️ Protocols and DApps
0x announced Relayer Report and described 18 ideas for relayers
tl:dr; Relayer Report will allow 0x relayers to share progress updates every two weeks. 18 problem areas are presented for individuals interested in building new relayers.
district0x launch their Q1 transparency report
tl:dr; Working on decentralised markets mandates more transparency and district0x have taken this to a level higher than most other blockchain companies. Highlights include the unwavering mission statement and vision as well as their focus on building “Meme Factory” (a sticky, purely virtual user-centric market).
💻 Developer tools
ConsenSys explained how Infura is the secret weapon of Ethereum infrastructure
tl:dr; Metamask, CrypoKitties, RadarRelay and other famous ecosystem projects use Infura hosted node service for Ethereum. More than 15,000 registered developers are now making 6 B API requests per day. Infura will be up to date with latest enhancements and plans to build them into the infrastructure itself.
😅 Misc
- Dharma announced Bloqboard, the first Dharma relayer (basically a decentralised lending platform)
- Trivial, a new blockchain explorer launched
- dXdY released a new whitepaper on margin trading
- Chanterelle documentation has been released
- Elad Gil talks about core cryptocurrency use cases
- Gabriel Nergaard shares an ultimate crypto podcast selection
- Ex-QuantumBlack colleague Andy Shora previews a novel way of rendering blockchains
🚀 Releases
🙏 Feedback
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