High-level Overview of Lisk Interoperabilit




We already revealed that the Lisk interoperability solution aims to enable general cross-chain messages. In this blog post, we now explain how this is achieved by providing a high-level overview of the Lisk interoperability solution similar to the online presentation given in the "First Glimpse at Lisk Interoperability" at the Lisk Updates from the Lisk Center, Berlin event from November 2020. Moreover, we can now unveil our updated roadmap that contains all the objectives of the blockchain interoperability phase.

Technical Solution
Our interoperability solution is based on the paradigm of cross-chain certification introduced in detail in the previous research blog post "Introduction to Blockchain Interoperability". Basically, cross-chain certification means that information from one chain is submitted to another chain utilizing a signed object called a certificate. Let us see more specifically how this will work in the Lisk ecosystem.

Cross-Chain Update Transactions
We will now consider the simplified case of two interoperable chains, where one is the sending chain and the other one the receiving chain. To send information from the sending chain to the receiving chain, the first step is to include a transaction on the sending chain. This transaction then emits one or more cross-chain messages which carry the relevant information that is supposed to be sent to the receiving chain. The cross-chain messages are then transferred to the receiving chain. However, we do not send a cross-chain message to the receiving chain right after the corresponding transaction was included. Instead, several cross-chain messages, possibly from multiple blocks or even rounds, are collected together and are put into a cross-chain update transaction, which is then posted on the receiving chain. This concept is also illustrated below in Figure 1. Cross-chain update transactions are in fact the main transactions facilitating interoperability in the Lisk ecosystem and our realization of cross-chain certification. Therefore, we also called the general technique "cross-chain update" instead of "cross-chain certification" for simplicity in the online presentation given in the "First Glimpse at Lisk Interoperability".

Cross-chain update transactions
Figure 1: The transactions t1 to t3 are included in the sending chain over the course of some blocks, where each one emits one cross-chain message, denoted by m1, m2, and m3. The cross-chain messages are put into one cross-chain update transaction, denoted by CCU, that is posted and included in the receiving chain.


The Lisk ecosystem will, of course, consist of more than just two chains. Therefore, the solution is also slightly more sophisticated than previously explained. That means, for example, that a cross-chain update transaction may contain several cross-chain messages that target different chains. This will be further explained in the sections below.

Note that there is no rule on how many messages must be collected before a cross-chain update transaction is created or for how many blocks one must collect messages before creating one. There is full flexibility, and any user could create a cross-chain update transaction whenever they want by taking all cross-chain messages that were not put into a cross-chain update transaction before.


Content of Cross-Chain Update Transaction
Cross-chain update transactions consist of the following three major parts:

The cross-chain messages.
A certificate.
Information about the current validator set of the sending chain.
We already described the first part, the cross-chain messages, above.

A certificate is an object containing information from a finalized block header that is signed by a large portion of validators from the sending chain and thus authenticates a finalized state of that chain. An authenticated finalized state is a requirement for accepting cross-chain messages on the receiving chain. That means a cross-chain message is applied on the receiving chain only if it was attested that the corresponding transaction on the sending chain belongs to a finalized state.

With the information about the current validator set of the sending chain, the receiving chain knows which validator set is eligible to sign the next certificate.

Neo N3 Official TestNet Launch





After 5 Preview versions, the first release version of Neo N3 (Neo N3 RC1) has been released on 16th March 2021. The most significant upgrade in this version is the integration of NeoFS system into the Oracle module. Numerous improvements and fixes have also been applied in this version for State Root service, Policy native contract, opcodes and etc.

NGD will perform the Neo N3 RC1 TestNet upgrade from UTC 6:00AM to 9:00AM, 25th March 2021. The TestNet might be temporarily unstable during this period. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

The comprehensive list of improvements and optimizations in this version:

NeoFS API Completion & Integration into Oracle
neofs-api-csharp is now completed and has been integrated into the Oracle plugin in this version. The NeoFS master nodes in this TestNet are now Neo-go nodes by NeoSPCC and will operate as a side chain. Neo nodes will interact with them through the NeoFS API. These Go nodes will be fully migrated to corresponding Neo master nodes in a later stage.

State Root Improvements
Since the last release, a number of new features and fixes have been added to the State Root service. A new P2P functionality has been added to include the ExtensiblePayload to send signatures. Many bugs are also fixed, such as fixing a faulty logic where the state root witness could be null, checking the magic before enabling state root console commands, and fixing hash calculation logic and etc.

New Opcodes
Two new opcodes POW and SQRT are added into the Neo contract system, which can be used to calculate the power and square root of a value, respectively. This addition will simplify the smart contracts development experience on Neo. Corresponding logic changes across the neo-core, NeoVM, and .NET devpack were also completed.

Other improvements and optimizations
Introduced the concept of side-chains to allow plugins to load with multiple NeoSystems
Added new interfaces on native contracts to record update history
Adjusted some system call fees to match resource requirement calculations
Separated CpuFee and StorageFee for clearer and more rational fee calculations

GET Protocol — The ticket NFT production line


getNFTs are rolling off the production belt!
After a full year of focusing on testing locally the first getNFT mints have finally hit the public ledger over the last weeks. Over the last 72 hours more than 35 000+ getNFTs have been minted by GETs 'playground' runner.
This runner is only the mocking the back-filling of 120 000 backlogged tickets in our system. The actual back-filling of the tickets will be done if the mocked back-filling is completed.
Isn't minting easy?
It is. However it isn't the mint that we are testing here. The process of minting and back-filling involves far more complex actions as only the minting transaction. Before a mint transaction is sent to the getNFT contract on-chain a lot has happend in the backend of both the ticketeer as well in GETs servers running the getEngine and getCustody. It is these processes that require attention and monitoring. The diagram below gives a rough overview of what is going on behind the scenes.

Diagram showing all the processes that occur for a blockchain transaction to occur. Every new ticket owner is assigned a fresh wallet address on the fly, this address will be the owner of the NFT. After a successful mint the ticketeers backend is provided the location of the NFT. This will allow ticket holders to view their smart ticket 'on chain' in the near future!

Better safe than sorry
The minting process requires several database writes and callbacks to databases of our ticketeer integrators. As the production databases serve thousands of people on a daily basis we need to be certain flusher doesn't disturb stability of these systems. Due to this we need to be very certain that our back-log mints and data-writes do not slow down or cause unexpected errors. So for no issues have been observed — steady as she goes!

Next week we'll start the back-filling the backlogged tickets using the live systems. This will cause the registration of more than 120 000 tickets and 200+ events!

getNFT blockchain privacy
When observing the getNFT ownership one might notice that each wallet at most owns 1 getNFT. This isn't because all the ticket holders don't have any friends or because they are overly compliant to covid laws. In the getNFT system each ticket lives on its own fresh wallet.

1 wallet, 1 NFT — it is only fair.
To ensure privacy getNFT does not recycle wallet addresses — ever. Meaning: 1 ticket — 1 owner — 1 wallet. Always.
If a user buys 5 tickets, these will be registered to 5 wallet addresses with 1 getNFTs each . Even though these wallets 'belong to each other' as they are seeded from a HD wallet — for an outsider observing the blockchain this connection can't be made (mathematically impossible to do so).
This means that for an outsider it is impossible to identify a user based on the amount of tickets owned — as this can be an identifying factor (one of many). No data is leaked — at all, at any times. There is no way a person can be DOXed — even if external data is included (like Facebook attendance data).

Privacy first
Privacy is a serious matter. The fact that with a blockchain all records are public domain and cannot be deleted on request makes it even more persistent. For example we would be technically unable to comply with a GDPR right to be forgotten request without lobbying for an Ethereum hardfork.

Transparency as a service — getScanner API
In the previous blog I shared some details on how anybody (with knowledge of blockchain explorers) is able to query the getNFT smart contract to get to know more about a certain event or particular tickets. Surely copying hashes in a clunky smart contract interfaces isn't how we envision the future of ticketing to be experienced.
Our growing blockchain team is working on a kick-ass ticket explorer. However, we do not want us to be the only ones serving up the blockchain data. One of the reasons the blockchain space is so vibrant and innovation is so fast paces — is due to the fact that all data and tools are accessible for anyone, anywhere without consent. Allowing anybody to build on the GET Protocol is one of our key objectives. Open sourcing the code base is only part of the solution. Ensuring that the ticket/NFT data is easily queried is maybe even more pressing.

Those wanting to use our getNFT assets or registered event data in their own app or site should not have to study the Solidity ABIs. Requesting data about a ticket should be as easy as doing an API call. This is why we are offering an (open sourced) node repo called getScan. The diagram shows the pivotal role these nodes will play in tying everything together.
Some example queries:
Fetching event data
Fetching ticket owner data.
Fetching ticketeer data.

We expect to publish the full documentation for using the getScan API next week!

V4 of getNFT contracts
A key point of using a blockchain as data-storage mechanism is that the data is immutably registered. No do-overs, no edits, no censorship. This 'blockchain feat' is pivotal in solving the inefficiencies in the ticketing sector — as these are caused fundamentally by distrust. This immutability does pose challenges from the continues development side of things.

Upgrading the immutable
With blockchain data written is immutably stored. Data can technically be deleted, but it will remain possible to lookup what its previous state was. The code writing the data is also persistent(by default). As GET is constantly improving and adding new features this immutability poses a challenge if one wants to incrementally improvement and add features.
When using the default smart contract deployment process, every change to smart contract code would result in a completely new smart contract address for getNFTs. Causing a wild growth in getNFT contracts. Surely this isn't viable — luckily there are several Solidity design patterns that allow developers to upgrade contracts while keeping persistent storage.
After a long period of research and testing we completed a up-gradable version of our getNFT Factory contract as well as the event metadata contracts. A diagram showing the architecture of our approach is shown below.

Cryptocurrency Adoption Passes Another Milestone Surpassing 100 Million Users



According to a new study conducted by Crypto.com, the total number of global cryptocurrency users has surpassed 100 million for the first time ever. The study, which measured the cryptocurrency marketplace's size using onchain metrics, survey analysis, and internal data, recorded 106 million cryptocurrency users in January 2021.

Compared to December 2020, the 106 million users represent a 15.7% increase in just one month. What's fueling the growth of the crypto market? According to Crypto.com's research, it comes down to bitcoin adoption momentum.

Eric Anziani, Crypto.com COO had this to say to Bitcoin.com regarding the research's findings:

Our study improves upon previously used methods to find a clear trend of growing cryptocurrency ownership. As more companies and merchants adopt cryptocurrencies as a treasury asset and means of payment, we expect 2021 to be a banner year for crypto mass adoption, bringing us ever closer to our vision of 'Cryptocurrency in Every Wallet'.

Bitcoin smashed through its previous all-time high, pushing its market capitalization past $1 trillion. The growth shows no apparent signs of slowing down either as sentiment around cryptocurrency increases, especially as JP Morgan and BNY Mellon will start offering digital payment methods. Not even two full months into the year yet, investors are piling 10-digit figures into bitcoin. Tesla bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin at the beginning of February, and investment website Motley Fool announced a $5 million investment just a week later.

Bitcoin isn't the only thing that's fueling the demand for cryptocurrency. Several other factors are at play too. Crypto.com's research attributes this rapid ascent to the growth of the decentralized finance (defi) market, the ability to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency through Paypal, and the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency are attracting new crypto users every day.

Defi Momentum is Growing
The defi market's momentum is significant given the increased demand for ethereum and other altcoins like Binance's BNB. The total market capitalization of coins locked in defi has grown from $690 million to over $11.7 billion, a significant number that's encouraging new investors to enter the market.

According to Crypto.com's research, ETH's growth rate was higher than BTC in November and December 2020; BTC's unique users grew by 1.5% in November compared to ETH's 2.8% growth. In December, ETH's change was nearly double that of BTC's: 2.8% compared to 1.2%.

How accurate are all of these numbers? A total number of 24 exchanges were included in the research, and while Crypto.com has updated and improved its methodology since its last report, it does admit these figures may be subject to some small caveats.

MoneyGram suspends Ripple relationship over SEC lawsuit


MoneyGram has suspended its relationship with Ripple Labs, citing the legal uncertainty surrounding the company. In its latest earnings report, the Dallas, Texas-based firm said it would no longer be using Ripple's XRP remittance solution until the payments firm sorts out its legal issues with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

MoneyGram partnered with Ripple in January 2018, becoming one of the first payments service providers to pilot Ripple's xRapid solution. xRapid allows companies to transfer funds across borders using XRP without the need for pre-funded nostro accounts.

Three years later, MoneyGram has suspended the service. In its 2020 financial results report, the company stated:

"In addition, the Company is not planning for any benefit from Ripple market development fees in the first quarter. Due to the uncertainty concerning their ongoing litigation with the SEC, the Company has suspended trading on Ripple's platform. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company realized a net expense benefit of $12.1 million from Ripple market development fees."

The relationship has been benefitting MoneyGram, with Ripple paying the company to use the XRP token. In Q4 2020, Ripple paid MoneyGram $9.2 million for "market development fees." Altogether, in 2019 and 2020, MoneyGram received $61.5 million from Ripple to continue using XRP.

MoneyGram becomes the latest company to drop Ripple's services following its lawsuit by the SEC. The regulator filed the charges in December, accusing Ripple of selling unregistered securities. Ripple has fought the charges, but this has done little for its clients as well as exchanges which have delisted it in their numbers.

In response to MoneyGram's revelation, Ripple issued a statement claiming the suspension was just temporary. The multi-year contract the two firms signed extends beyond MoneyGram's use of xRapid, Ripple stated.

It added, "We look forward to finding a path forward with MoneyGram and have confidence that there will be more regulatory clarity in the U.S. for the use of digital assets and blockchain technology at the end of this lawsuit – both of which MoneyGram has commented on publicly in the past about the benefits they have witnessed firsthand for their business."

Ripple and the SEC revealed in a recent discovery letter that a settlement is unlikely before the trial. The SEC revealed that Ripple had engaged in settlement talks, but the officials who had been involved had vacated their positions as the Biden administration took over.

Blockchain and Smart Contract Developer Waves Confirms Odyssey Hackathon was Held Online this Year, Shares Other End of Year Updates



Vladimir Zhuravlev, a Gravity Tech and Waves Association developer, notes that for several years, the Odyssey hackathon (held in the Netherlands) had offered opportunities for software engineers to collaborate on various projects.

Zhuravlev revealed that this year, Odyssey was hosted online for the very time (due to COVID). The event's team tried to ensure that the hackathon would be a unique experience for all participants. They introduced a 3D online arena that connected all 105 teams, jedis and challenge hosts in one virtual space, Zhuravlev noted.

He added:
"The Waves Association was honored to participate in the event in several aspects. First, the Waves protocol was suggested as a building block with support from Waves Jedis: Rob van de Camp and Inal Kardanov. Second, the Waves platform was used for issuing awards to winning teams. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for digital art were created on Waves and sent to participants as a special prize."

The Waves team took part in the hackathon as one of the 105 competing squads, Zhuravlev  confirmed. He also mentioned that the challenge that the team attempted to solve was provided by the Dutch police: Inclusive Safety Communities that "coordinate citizens in emergency situations." (Note: for more details on this update, check here.)

Waves has also teamed up with UNION for asset protection.

UNION will be providing its collateral protection product to various lending protocols that use Waves' Neutrino USD (USDN) and smart contract protection to the inter-chain communication protocol Gravity.

John Liu, CPO of UNION, stated:
"Waves' complete decentralized finance (DeFi) solution with a broad market reach is the perfect platform for building UNION's complete DeFi protection. We look forward to advancing the industry together in 2021 with an inclusive, safe, and accessible portal."

Sten Laureyssens, Strategic Advisor for the Waves Association, remarked:

"The [steady] growth of USDN allowed us to identify demand for advanced risk management and asset protection products. UNION's mission to offer full-stack DeFi protection that decreases the barrier to entry for retail, while advanced enough for institutional investors, is accurately aligned with our approach. As we step into 2021, our integration through Gravity will be a vital-for-growth milestone to reduce multi-layered risks in our ecosystem."

UNION and Waves will work on liquidity provision programs such as the UNN/USDN liquidity pool on Uniswap, a UNN/USDN pair on Waves.Exchange, along with support for the UNN/USDN pair on UNION's Geyser liquidity pool.

Additionally, UNION will be used in Waves' products based on the lending model. For example, users of these products will be asked to choose over-collateralization protection (OC) for "a premium." As noted in the announcement, "in the case of a liquidation trigger, should the OC ratio fall below a specific threshold, the UNN protection product will be called to fill the portion of the OC protected while the borrower pays the remaining difference."

UNION will also be working closely with Waves on issuing a smart contract protection instrument for Gravity early next year. The product will aim to offer additional security to the technology, "ruling out human factors, such as node collusion." Gravity currently utilizes "mathematically proven multi-party computation (MPC) security for its assets held in decentralized custody." UNION will offer "an additional protection layer for users of Gravity's cross-chain system," the announcement confirmed.

Deposits via Gravity, USDN-related (decentralized applications) dApps or future Waves lending protocols will "initiate a prompt to add a specific protection product for a premium or forgo the protection before finalizing the deposit." UNION will "render an intuitive integration and UI for the product, simplifying the asset protection process for Waves users," the announcement noted.

UNION is a full-stack protection platform that aims to lower costs and risks in DeFi by offering a modular infrastructure for the development of advanced coverage products and risk management tools.

As noted in a blog post by Waves Protocol:
"UNION's platform enables the creation of asset protection products based on organic market demand, ranging from discretionary smart contract coverage to complex derivatives on credit default risks and coverage for impermanent loss of liquidity providers. UNION's platform is composable and decentralized, offering secondary markets for protection and an inclusive no-KYC ecosystem."

Story from Markets After GME, Dogecoin and Bitcoin, Chinese Traders Are Betting What Will Pump Next



Rallies in GameStock (NYSE: GME) shares as well as dogecoin (DOGE) and bitcoin (BTC) are piquing the betting interest of traders in China as much as they are in the United States.

On Weibo, the popular social media platform in China, the highly active crypto community is speculating on which cryptocurrency will be next to get a major pump after dogecoin and bitcoin jumped in recent days.

"Were it not that Ripple was struggling with its lawsuit, the next token being pumped by the retailers in the U.S. could have been XRP," according to one Weibo account holder with nearly 40,000 followers. "Many newcomers to crypto only look at prices and names, and they do not care how many times this particular token has taken away people's money or whether it is highly centralized."
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