Huobi Launches USDT-Margined Swaps at the End of October

Huobi Futures has announced its latest offering that looks to take advantage of the ever-growing and popularizing stablecoin market with USDT-Margined Swaps on Oct. 26. Ten popular currencies including BTC, ETH, BCH, BSV, LINK, DOT, UNI, FIL, YFI, and BNB are listed in its first batch. Based on Huobi’s announcement, currently only Web and API are available; trading on APP will be supported around one week later.

The total market capitalization of stablecoins has grown from $2.6 billion at the start of 2019 to $20 billion by late September of 2020. Tether (USDT), at $16 billion, leads the way. The data indicates a clear desire and hunger to use stablecoins for the transfer of value across the cryptocurrency space, and offering a stablecoin-margined swap at this time can provide new benefits to traders. In Huobi USDT-margined swaps trading, users can trade various perpetual swaps with only USDT.

Huobi USDT-margined swaps are quoted in USDT and use USDT to calculate profit and loss. USDT-margined swaps have a linear payoff and have no delivery date; therefore users could hold positions no matter how long they want as long as no liquidation occurs. USDT-margined swaps are settled every 8 hours and are executed at 00:00, 8:00 and 16:00(GMT+8). In addition to gaining profits in a rising or falling market by opening a long or a short position, users could also use it for hedging. The following part analyzes the main features and advantages of Huobi USDT-margined swaps.

Low-par value and up to 125x leverage

Compared with coin-margined swaps, the contract face value of USDT-margined swaps is relatively low. For example, the face value of each BTC/USDT swaps contract is 0.001 BTC, the converted value of which is around 12 USDT; while for coin-margined swaps, the face value of each BTC/USD swaps contract is 100 USD. Besides, the platform provides 1x to125x leverage to lower the threshold for traders, users could adjust the leverage based on their actual needs.

Preferential fee rate

The fee rate structure on Huobi Futures is transparent. The platform only charges transaction fees for opening and closing positions. During the promotion period, the lowest transaction fee rate for Maker is -0.025% and for Taker is 0.026%. Huobi will continue to execute its VIP sharing program for USDT-margined swaps.

A good news is that, for users who are a VIP client or a market maker of both Huobi futures and coin-margined swaps, the platform will take the higher one as their VIP level of Huobi USDT-margined swaps during the promotionn period. Assume a user’s level on Huobi futures is VIP 3 while on Huobi coin-margined swaps is VIP5, the system will take VIP 5 as his level on Huobi USDT-margined swaps.

Diversified functions

In terms of trading functions, Huobi USDT-margined Swaps supports multiple order types including Limit Order, Trigger Order, IOC and FOK. There are also many functions like Flash Close, Follow a Maker & Taker available.

It’s worth mentioning that Huobi is a pioneer in the industry that uses a locked margin optimization function. With this function, users who hold both long and short positions for the same asset could enjoy a position margin reduction and therefore lower liquidation risks than that in other derivatives platforms.

Moreover, Huobi USDT-margined Swaps offers “Take profit & Stop loss” functions. Users could set in advance not only based on price, but also on profit rate.

Excellent Liquidity and Zero Clawback Record

The USDT-margined Swaps is designed by the original team of Huobi Futures whose core members were all from top investment banks. Huobi Futures has rich experience in derivative product modeling and system construction, at which users could enjoy the best liquidity and the highest trading volume.

The platform has various methods to protect users’ assets, such as cold and hot wallets separation, multi-signatures, anti-DDOS protection systems, and 20,000 BTC security funds preparation, which makes the company holding a record of zero clawbacks since the launch in December of 2018.

User-friendly liquidation mechanism

Huobi Futures is the first digital asset derivatives exchange in the industry that supports a three-phase liquidation protection mechanism; no transaction fees will be charged in partial liquidation. The platform uses Exponential Moving Average (EMA) as a second reference for forced liquidation and the clawback mechanism will not be triggered as long as the insurance fund is positive.

USDT-margined swaps are the latest product offered by Huobi, following on from the extremely successful launch of Coin-margined Swaps in March this year, and Options a few months later. Huobi’s Futures team has ingrained itself as one of the leaders in the space as the team leans on previous experience at investment banks.

“We are well aware of the growth in the stablecoin market and the amount of money that has been added to the ecosystem and want people to be able to make use of that. In countering the risk of USDT price fluctuations, we also offer USDT/USD swaps with leverage up to 1000x. In this one-stop digital asset derivatives platform, we provide USDT-margined swaps, coin-margined swaps, coin-margined futures and USDT-quoted options to satisfy the diverse needs of individual and institutional traders.” said Ciara Sun, Head of Global Business and Markets and Vice President Huobi.

Source (pressat)

The Upfiring Dapp: Full-Scale Project Launch, Upfiring 1.2.2 Dapp Release & Upcoming Events for 2020

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With Upfiring 1.2.2, seamless decentralized P2P file-sharing is now possible on the Ethereum blockchain. With our product ready for user adoption, the project’s focus will be shifting towards towards community growth and marketing for the second half of 2020.

Upfiring 1.2.2 Release — August 24th, 2020

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Important Link Updates:

  • ufr.chat links to our forums, which have been relaunched and will be further updated this week
  • upfiring.com homepage will be updated this week with new links/information as well

Marketing

  • Upcoming AMAS
  • Influencer Marketing
  • The Upfiring Blog, Press Releases, & SEO campaign
  • Expansion of the Upfiring Dapp Documentation
  • File-Sharing website outreach
  • Community-run marketing group and community contributions
  • Paid advertisements

EVENTS

Upfiring Dapp Stress Tests (3)

Stress Test 1: 500 UFR Total — Sunday, September 20th, 2020 at 5 PM EST

  • We will decrypt the files one by one, rewarding all participating seeders with a share of the UFR equal to 100/# of seeders for each file

Stress Test 2: 2,000 UFR Total — Sunday, October 4th, 2020 at 5 PM EST

  • 10 .ufr files, each worth 150–250 UFR, will be created by our team and distributed via our social media pages one week prior to the stress test (September 27th to October 4th)
  • Files will be decrypted as with Stress Test 1

Stress Test 3: 5,000 UFR Total — Sunday, October 18th, 2020 at 5 PM EST


Upfiring’s Upcoming AMAS (Ask-Me-Anything) & Appearances

  • GosuTV, Korean audience — set for Wednesday, September 9th at 9 PM EST
  • TheGemHunters, a 2500+ Telegram group — set for Sunday, September 20th at 2 PM EST
  • @cryptowindonesia, an Indonesian audience of over 7500+ people, translator will be used — date pending

In addition, we plan to appear on several Influencer’s Channels in September and October including:

  • CryptoWendy (date set)
  • Several other major appearances are set, and we cannot disclose them until the air date!

The Upfiring Blog, Press Releases, and SEO campaign

The Upfiring Blog, to be located as a subset of the upfiring.com website, will be a major contributor to the growth and promotion of Upfiring. We will be publishing content dealing with issues surrounding file-sharing, file storage, decentralization, and various other relevant topics to our project.

In addition, the dapp’s documentation will be improved to include more important information for new users, such as several potential use cases for Upfiring and how to maximize usage and earnings as a content creator.

File-Sharing Website Outreach

We will also be spending time over the next few weeks reaching out to existing file-sharing websites to help them integrate .ufr files into their sites.


Community-run marketing groups and community contributions


Development

Upfiring Dapp Uniswap Integration

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Preliminary model of Uniswap integration into the Upfiring dapp

Funding your Upfiring wallet, obtaining UFR to use within the dapp, or converting your UFR earnings to Ethereum/other tokens is going to become a smooth experience that users will be able to do using their Upfiring wallet in the dapp. In another effort to further decentralize the dapp and remove the power that centralized exchanges have over this project, Uniswap (a decentralized exchange) will be integrated directly into the dappThis is another huge step towards the immutability of the Upfiring network — if the Uniswap.org website goes down for any reason, you will still be able to use the smart contracts within the Upfiring dapp to convert to and from UFR with 100% uptime.


The Upfiring Blockchain — moving to our own smart contract network with a bridge to the Ethereum network


Upfiring Web Browser Dapp


This is an exciting time for this project. We have a ton of events planned in the coming months and would love to have you, the reader, join our communities and be a part of our project’s growth. You can get UFR on Uniswap here. Check out our social media pages: TelegramUpfiring ForumsRedditTwitterBitcointalk, and Discord as we continue our mission to change the future of P2P file-sharing.

Mining provider Xive has broadened the scope of services, rolled out a rebranding and announced the launch of a free educational platform on mining and cryptocurrencies

Kazakhstan-based mining provider Xive announced mining capacities empowerment and the launch of an updated site on the 9th of July. On xive.io website you can buy a fast mining contract starting from $4.55, pre-order mining powers or even become a partner of the company by filling out an application for the equity purchase.

Besides hashpower sharing, Xive offers its clients mining hardware accommodation starting from $0.042 per kWh.

For its clients Xive offers low upkeep costs, customer support and real-time hardware monitoring. Also, company claims to have the most transparent legal conditions on the market.

“We work legally and value our reputation. Therefore, we provide the highest level of service to our customers.” – stated Didar Bekbauov, founder of Xive.

Learning platform Xive Academy includes a set of educational articles on the company website and a series of free webinars, dedicated to the basics of mining and cryptocurrencies. The first webinar is intended for beginners, but it will also be useful for more experienced users to systematize knowledge and look at mining and cryptocurrencies from a different point of view.

14th of July at 4 PM UTC – “Mining secrets 2020” online webinar will take place. More information and a registration form can be found by link.

About Xive

Xive is an officially registered Kazakhstan-based mining provider that offers remote mining and hardware accommodation services. The company was founded in 2018 as a part of Astana Hub – government-supported international techno hub. Company owns and manages three datacenters and develops real-time hardware monitoring software. In the near future Xive plans to launch hashpower marketplace and own mining pool. Among company services there are hashpower pre-order, fast mining contracts purchase and hardware accommodation.

Blockchain Services Provider OKGroup Leads $2 Million Pre-IPO Investment Round in Banxa

Banxa, a full-service, internationally compliant digital banking infrastructure provider, announced it has completed its USD$2 million Pre-IPO investment round. The round was led by OK Group, a world-leading blockchain technology and service provider focused on the research and development of the technology and its all-scenario applications..

The funding round will be used to support Banxa’s global expansion efforts as it enters new markets throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Other participating investors in the raise include Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and listed Thorney Investment Group Australia, a multi-billion-dollar family office.

This Pre-IPO funding round supports further efforts of onboarding new customers as Banxa expands its global payment network all the while continuing its listing process on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX.V).

Representative from the Investment Department of OK Group Estrella Du said, “A blockchain-driven economy can enable everyone to access financial services without any intermediary, ultimately empowering people, regardless of social class and geographical location, with financial freedom and opportunities. To this end, building a bridge between fiat and crypto is of paramount importance. We sincerely hope our investment will be a catalyst for such development.”

Domenic Carosa, Founder and Chairman of Banxa said, “After almost six years in the blockchain industry, our goal remains the same––to champion a fairer, more open and more secure financial system for the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. We are currently in the final stages of a TSX.V listing which will make Banxa the first crypto Payment Service Provider (PSP) to be listed in the world, bringing well-needed transparency and governance to the crypto sector.”

Banxa offers a fully compliant fiat-to-crypto conversion service that provides regulatory compliance, fraud detection and mitigation. Accommodating a host of global payment options including leading global credit card providers, bank transfers in the European Union, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as cash payments, Banxa is able to offer high volume payment processing at low fees. Banxa’s B2B service launched in late 2019 and has already seen integrations with global crypto firms including OK Group entities , Binance, KuCoin, and EDGE Wallet, servicing a combined customer base of over 20 million users.

PaperTale blends technology with sustainability through the blockchain

Since the environment we buy our products from has become ever more global, it has become more and more difficult to keep track of where and these products are made, and if they’ve been manufactured in a way that adheres to our principles. Now, however, a new Swedish blockchain company looks set to change all that.

PaperTale is a new venture in which you’re able to trace a product from its inception using the blockchain, and it brings with it lots of new possibilities.

Let’s say you’re looking at a table, but you’re curious as to the worker’s living standards where it was made, and wish to see if they were paid a fair wage. You can scan the product with your smartphone, and check to see if the employee’s who made the table receive salaries fit for the acceptable living standards in their country.

Or perhaps you want to get verified information about the table’s supply chain and its environmental impact? Again, just scan the product with your phone and the information will be relayed to you on the screen. Using PaperTale, consumers can be much more ethical with their purchases, choosing products that benefit the workers or the environment most.

This traceability is made a reality through PaperTale by way of special protocols built on the blockchain. These enable you to see detailed facets regarding the methods and ethics used to produce the item. On top of that, through PaperTale and your smartphone, it’s possible to send tips directly to the worker who made your products, and have it verified so you can be assured your money has gone to the right people.

PaperTale has been two years in the making, and is finally ready to make its mark on the world. They already have a proof of concept, through the way of a textile company in Pakistan, where all of their new clothes are manufactured using this technology in mind. The tech isn’t limited to textiles though, with PaperTale the possibilities are almost endless.

papertale

If you’re one of the many people concerned about workers’ rights and the environment and want to ensure that what you buy is ethical and complements your principles, PaperTale is the technology that will get you where you want to be. To show your support, their crowdfunding campaign is about to go underway on Kickstarter on 13th November, where you’ll have the chance to be the first to use the new technology.

Support worker’s rights by showing your support for PaperTale.

A Trading Revolution by 50x.com: Incredible Technology is Changing the Way We Think About Trading.

The world’s first and only cryptocurrency exchange with the Any2Any technology has successfully completed beta testing of the third version of the quantum trading core with a built-in liquidity flow that will completely change the notion of exchange trading.

Surprisingly, all modern exchanges, like hundreds of years ago, still use fixed trading pairs, which are in no way connected at the level of the trading core and the order matching system. Each orderbook only contains orders placed in a specific pair. Although hundreds of cryptocurrencies have emerged, you won’t be able to directly exchange one for another on an exchange, where prices are set by the users themselves – you will need to change it first into one of two or three “base currencies” supported by the exchange, and then transfer it to another, or use the services of exchangers, arbitrageurs, thus having to pay increased fees.

The result of three years of development by the 50x.com team was an innovative trading core based on cloud technology and quantum principles for combining orders: although the concepts of a trading pair are preserved at the user level and the interface is completely identical to a regular exchange, all orders inside the core exist in a single space and do not have a firm connection between a seller and a buyer, combining the maximum number of orders in all trading assets simultaneously.

According to the developers themselves, it is impossible to confidently predict the progress of execution after another order has been added, since any new order adds liquidity to a part of the system, thereby changing its state and topology. The same effect is observed in quantum physics, where the presence of an observer changes the results of an experiment. Users only benefit from this, as the system often finds more profitable options while executing another order.

The benefits of using the new Any2Any technology are immediately visible: one order in a trading pair immediately creates the same liquidity in all trading pairs containing this token. That is, one user can place an order to buy DASH for Bitcoins, while all others get the opportunity to sell DASH for any of the currencies listed on the exchange.

The old separated “markets” technology incessantly bumped into traditional problems that were noticeable even on national stock exchanges, i.e. a lack of liquidity in most instruments and its concentration in “blue chips”, which led to a decrease in trading opportunities. Cross-rate trading with more often observable strong movements on which one can quickly earn money, was reserved for advanced arbitrageurs boasting their own trading robots. There were also infrastructural restrictions, making it economically impossible to support a large number of orderbooks.

The 50x.com exchange offers a completely different approach to trading, where hundreds and thousands of cross-rates are available to every user right in the terminal. Thanks to the Any2Any liquidity overflow technology, you can choose any pair from the assets available on the exchange and trade in it. Whereas, orders placed, for example, in the DASH/QTUM orderbook, will automatically appear in all other DASH/* */DASH and QTUM/* */ QTUM orderbooks. And this will lead to the fact that even the most exotic orderbook will collect the entire liquidity for the coins of this trading pair.

How does it benefit trading?

The first and obvious benefit is the possibility of direct trading between coins, without paying double commissions. If you want to switch from DASH to QTUM, you simply place an order in an orderbook of DASH/QTUM. This is much faster than selling DASH first and then buying QTUM. And most importantly, you only make 1 order, and, therefore, pay the trading commission only once.

The second advantage is the ability to view orderbooks/charts in exotic pairs and, accordingly, a huge number of new trading tools, whose rates often go in wider channels than the main instruments. That means they have a greater profit potential.

The third advantage is a multiple increase in liquidity for each coin. Since the entire liquidity of the exchange is summed up across the coins, no matter what pair the orders are in, the liquidity will be available in other pairs as well. This makes manipulating rates much more difficult.

How is this possible?

The fact is that the 50x.com exchange has developed a trading core of a unique architecture that operates with entire transaction graphs, rather than with single orders. This allows you to reduce hundreds and thousands of cross-orders in different currencies within one transaction and create cross-orders.

Why is there no such thing on other exchanges?

The architecture of the Any2Any core is fundamentally different from standard trading cores and required numerous innovative solutions during its creation. Regular exchanges cannot switch to Any to Any technology without completely changing the very basis – the trading core.

Other major exchanges have also attempted to create Any2Any technology, but only one development team has managed to create a truly working product today.

You can try trading with the new technology at 50x.com now – no KYC required.

CEDEX and U2 Diamonds enter joint venture to facilitate diamond ETF

CEDEX Holdings Limited (“CEDEX”) and U2 Diamonds (“U2”) have entered into a joint venture to support issuers that are looking to issue the first diamond ETF. 

CEDEX is a global, digital diamond exchange, focused on transforming diamonds into a new financial asset class. CEDEX developed a unique proprietary technology called the DEX, and combined with blockchain, provides a diamond spot price feed and gives investors the ability to trade in individual diamonds as a financial asset.

U2, through its subsidiary U2 Diamond Prices, is regulated in the UK by the FCA as an EU Benchmark Administrator.  U2 uses prices from arms’ length transactions in the wholesale diamond market to publish investable diamond indices that can be used to link to financial products.

The joint venture creates clarity and certainty to the market by providing price point transparency and combining DEX technology with the FCA regulated indices of U2. This breakthrough in regulatory approval for financial diamond indices, alongside CEDEX’s technology, will allow institutions to generate financial contracts and instruments with appropriately-priced underlying assets linked to them – making a diamond ETF achievable. With only 1% of the current value of the diamond market being used for financial investment, the JV creates the opportunity to develop diamond linked products as a non-correlated alternative asset class for investment and preservation of wealth similar to the way precious metals are used as a safe haven by investors.

In addition, the joint venture will undertake the following:

  • Marketing of polished diamond indices to ETF and Future issuers.
  • Enhance the Advanced Diamond Index accuracy based on the CEDEX proprietary algorithm DEX price feed.
  • Will jointly promote and market advanced diamond Indices to market participants.

Eventually, CEDEX plans to build a complete and regulated ecosystem that digitalizes diamonds as financial assets accessible to the global financial market.

Saar Levi, CEDEX CEO, said:

“This is a unique and exciting opportunity for CEDEX. The partnership with U2 Diamonds unlocks an exciting new development, not only for the diamond market, but for the global financial market as a whole. An FCA-regulated diamond index coupled with the DEX creates the infrastructure for a new financial asset class. This infrastructure with the increased security and efficiency the blockchain offers, will not only allow diamond holders to liquidate their assets at a fair price thanks to CEDEX’s price feed, but financial institutions will be able to trade diamonds at low carry cost and with a diversified risk profile that matches their trading strategies.

“We have connected to diamond suppliers and listed already over $100 million worth of diamonds on our platform. We are currently in talks with tier 1 & 2 ETF and Futures Issuers, Index Providers, Market Makers, Authorized Participants (APs), banks, exchanges and other financial institutions.”

New partnership will allow Bitstamp’s customers to deposit and withdraw funds denominated in GBP

Bitstamp, Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and BCB Group, one of the world’s leading global digital asset prime brokers, today announced a new partnership that will enable investors from the UK to transfer GBP directly to and from their Bitstamp accounts.

Through this partnership, Bitstamp will be able to support deposits and withdrawals directly in GBP, providing increased efficiency and reduced costs for clients. The new GBP service will be available to Bitstamp’s customers by the end of the year.

Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, Founder & CEO of BCB Group, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Bitstamp to create an efficient transaction experience for UK investors wishing to deposit and withdraw funds in GBP. We value this partnership not only because it enables UK clients to transact with Bitstamp onshore, rather than having to send funds offshore, but also because it furthers our mission to provide seamless prime services infrastructure covering compliance, trade execution and settlement and custody for clients wishing to access cryptocurrencies.”

BCB Group’s range of solutions has been developed to cater to the needs of exchanges, institutions and high net worth clients seeking OTC best execution for their own accounts and who wish to offer cryptocurrency products and services to their own clients.

Bitstamp, which is the world’s longest-standing crypto exchange and widely regarded as a pioneer in the industry, has placed an emphasis on reliable and secure service ever since it opened its doors in 2011. “This is a great fit,” said Nejc Kodrič, Bitstamp CEO. “One of our points of emphasis is providing robust payment rails to our global customer base. We’re excited to have BCB Group provide an additional boost to our efforts on that front.”

Bitstamp, which will soon be celebrating 8 years of continuous operations, has had a busy year so far, launching a new mobile app and webpage redesign, reaching a number of new partnerships and ramping up the exchange’s presence in the US by obtaining a BitLicense and making strategic hires.

PopUp Coin: it’s a win win for both consumers and retailers

Many governments certainly seem to be fearful of digital currencies. Just this month, President Trump tweeted his dislike of Bitcoin and Facebook’s new Libra coin. Of course, many commentators are quick to point out that governments worry about them because their currencies have the most to lose from them. However, as far as consumers and coin buyers are concerned, there are many reasons they have to be thankful for them, providing useful, low-cost solutions for all of society.

One such cryptocurrency that is offering a valuable use case for everyone is PopUp Coin. The coin will pave the way for consumers to be able to pay for their lifestyle while enjoying time at their favourite entertainment venues, such as dining in a nice restaurant or buying the latest products they have their eyes on.

It has the advantage of allowing consumers to purchase goods more easily, and for a cheaper price, without retailers needing to offer discounts on their products to capture sales, which results in adverse impacts on both their profit margins and the value of their brand.

PopUp Coins benefit the consumer by the stable growth that holding them provides. To give an example, if a PopUp Coin holder spots a new pair of sneakers they want to buy at the beginning of the week for £100 or 100 PopUp Coins, the coin’s stable growth sees the price of the coins increase daily due to the coins limited pool and its growth on exchanges, so by the end of the week the price of each PopUp Coin is £1.25. This means they are effectively spending £75 on their sneakers, with £25 left to either spend on whatever they choose, or hold onto for further gains.

The advantage for the retailer is not having to discount their products, so they also gain the profits they desire – it’s a win-win for both sides. They can either convert the coins to fiat for minimal cost or decide to hold the coins and take advantage of their increasing value. In addition, the retailer benefits from transaction processing fees being significantly reduced, and the chance of fraud being eliminated, with zero chance of chargebacks from customers.

For consumers, as well as obtaining products for a cheaper price, they can enjoy zero foreign-exchange fees for any payments overseas, plus take advantage of consumer loyalty programs and profit from the growth of their coin investment.

PopUp Coin’s vision is to provide both retailers and consumers with considerable upsides, saving them money and making their lives much easier. Their growing list of collaborations with merchant acquirers and retailers is testament to the potential the coin holds. We look forward to seeing this coin blossom, and for further details and technical information, you can check out more by visiting their website: www.popup.money

Stratis launches Cirrus Sidechain Masternodes to enable the world’s first Smart Contracts on Microsoft’s .NET framework

Stratis Group Ltd, the enterprise-grade blockchain development platform has announced the launch of Cirrus Sidechain Masternodes and Stratis Smart Contracts in C#, making Stratis the world’s first blockchain to offer businesses and developers the ability to execute Smart Contracts on the Microsoft .NET core architecture.

The launch of the Cirrus Sidechain – a blockchain pegged to the Stratis mainchain – extends functionality for businesses operating on the Stratis platform. This includes the first Smart Contracts platform built entirely from the ground up in native C# on Microsoft’s .NET framework, the most popular enterprise programming language on the most widely-used enterprise framework.

Today’s full production release follows a successful two-week community testing phase during which Masternode Operators were able to familiarise themselves with operating a Sidechain Masternode and interacting with the Cirrus Sidechain.

With Stratis Smart Contracts in C#, businesses no longer need to create a completely new blockchain for every new decentralised application, but instead can develop a set of smart contacts in a programming language they understand and deploy them on one underlying general-purpose blockchain. This opens up a wide range of enterprise use cases, from tokens and lending platforms to provenance and self-sovereign identity solutions.

“At Stratis, we are committed to making it easy for businesses to adopt blockchain solutions for real-world use cases. Now, for the first time, enterprises and developers are able to build private blockchains and programme Smart Contracts in their familiar C# language”, said Chris Trew, Founder and CEO of Stratis. “We see this being of particular benefit to large enterprises, financial services companies as well as government organisations whose systems operate within Microsoft’s .NET framework as our solution is designed to minimise any incompatibility issues which may arise from blockchains and Smart Contracts being built in other computer languages”,  he added.

C# is a general-purpose language estimated to be used by 6.7 million developers (SlashData, 2019). It was originally developed by Microsoft within .NET, its development platform for building apps for web, Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Server and Microsoft Azure. Stratis is a certified Microsoft partner and, since last year has been an accredited Microsoft Independent Software Vendor (ISV) listed on the Azure Marketplace, Microsoft’s online store providing applications and services to over 100 million active users.

The Cirrus Sidechain has been developed in order to prevent bloating of the main Stratis network and facilitate a high level of scalability. The Masternodes will operate on the Cirrus Sidechain using a Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm, thereby enhancing security by adding accountability while also reducing the workload and energy consumption required for Masternodes to maintain the blockchain. In addition to the existing Stratis Core wallet, which has been updated to offer end-users the ability to perform cross-chain transfers, a new Cirrus Core wallet has been launched. This will be used by end-users to manage their sidechain tokens, interact with and deploy Smart Contracts, manage tokens via token issuance contracts and perform transfers back to the mainchain. There will be more than one million STRAT locked up in collateral by the participating Sidechain Masternodes, increasing the scarcity and bringing further value to the Stratis Token.

“Cirrus Sidechains will allow us to scale up the Stratis platform as we add functionality and deploy sidechains with use-case specific modifications, such as block time and block size. We are excited to welcome new developers and work alongside new businesses, and provide them with unprecedented access to develop blockchain solutions on an industry-leading platform”, said Gustav Stieger, Senior Developer at Stratis. “It will now be easier, cheaper and faster for developers to build DLT and Smart Contract functions bespoke to their business needs”, Gustav concluded.