Phore Blockchain: 2020-Q1 in Review
Greetings community!
Given that almost the entire world is on lockdown, what better time to brush up on Phore’s progress in 2020 so far? Keep reading for a round-up of all of Phore’s accomplishments for Q1 2020.
Core Development
Much progress has been made over the past few months on a new wallet, which will provide a smoother overall user experience.
The latest edition of the wallet will be equipped with a few new features which include HD addressing with seed words, and new RPC commands. Users will be able to create new wallets using a certain set of seed words to create their public/private key pairs. Note: it is imperative that users keep a physical written copy of their wallet seed words. This seed can then be used to recover future key pairs and serves as a permanent key backup.
New RPC (Remote Procedure Call) commands will be available to support a BitPay API command set. This makes it easier for Phore to be integrated into 3rd party platforms that use the BitPay API.
Several bugs have been identified and fixed, including:
- Editing Masternode entries using the GUI interface.
- A coin selection error that says “transaction too large” was rectified through improving the coin selection algorithm.
- When creating proposals with a locked wallet, the GUI will now prompt you for your password. Before this, the proposal had to be canceled and re-entered after unlocking.
- Staking algorithm improvements.
We are working on a number of performance improvements to reduce CPU and memory usage and make wallet and Masternode response times faster. We have already completed development and are beginning testing of several significant performance improvements. Wallet updates with the aforementioned features will be rolled out in the coming weeks/months. Along with a revitalized wallet will come a new roadmap that will set the project’s course for 2020 and beyond.
Marketplace
On March 27th, we reached a big milestone with the release of our new Marketplace v2.3.1! This version of the marketplace allows purchases with Phore and BTC, back-end improvements, security enhancements, and crypto trading with your favorite crypto pairs!
By integrating Bitcoin into the Phore Marketplace, we increase our target audience by an incredible amount — for perspective, there are currently 40Million+ Bitcoin wallets versus 10,000 Phore wallets.
Back-end Architecture
The Phore Marketplace’s back-end has been improved using the Insight server, which is the same infrastructure that many hardware wallets (such as the Trezor wallet) use. This will help with compatibility as additional coins become supported on the platform.
Testnet Support
Time was spent setting up testing networks for the marketplace to create an independent testing environment for new listings. This integrates other blockchain testnets and will make future changes and debugging faster and easier.
Security Enhancements
Currently, the marketplace supports RPC passwords, but only if the back-end and front-end are run separately. However, most people run these consoles together so that the log-in does not apply (wallet keys are used to log in). We will be adding an additional layer of security that is password-protected, which will encrypt all of the user’s seed-words. Once set up, this would require the user to unlock the wallet with their password prior to viewing any of their seed-words.
This setup enhances security from local machine hacks, as users who share machines will need to enter your password before being able to view transactions and seeds.
While this version is still in the “Beta” phase, it is a functional build and serves to display the marketplace’s abilities to the Phore community. A new and enhanced version is forthcoming, along with the FULL release in the near future.
Synapse
The initial build for Synapse’s underlying architecture, including its complete subset of shards and chains, has been completed. As it stands, shard module chains are finalizing correctly, based off of cross-links with the beacon chain. Some issues are being resolved in regards to shard blockchain syncing and stabilizing the overall environment prior to launching a public testnet.
In private testnet, two nodes are able to interact and run in tandem for at least 100 blocks though it has since been confirmed the chain can run much longer.
See the below screenshot:
At this point, we can say that the network is fully built and all modules are complete. We are now testing internally and are making improvements relative to network stability and security. Apart from this, topical and design layout improvements are the next major task on the list, to provide community members and Synapse users with an appealing and easy to use interface.
Listings / Marketing
In February, Phore listed on the LATOKEN exchange, with the trading pairs PHR/BTC and PHR/USDT going live on Feb. 11th.
LATOKEN is a major crypto exchange and is widely known as the largest IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) market, with 400,000 unique platform users and 1.5 million visitors per month.
Phore also listed on the Flits Masternode hosting app in January, which allows for economical node hosting in a fully mobile environment. Keep track of your nodes on the go for just $1.99 per month!
Flits’ service is so unique because it allows the convenience of mobile hosting, while also giving users full control over their private keys. As the old crypto mantra goes, “not your keys, not your coins!”
The addition of Flits to Phore’s collection of hosting services is crucial, as it marks the first iOS wallet available for Phore, as well as an additional wallet supported by Android devices. So now, mobile users for any mobile platform can manage their Phore assets apart from their desktop!
Phore Outreach Team
Phore is looking for knowledgable community members who are passionate about the project to help with social media outreach! Help us spread the word about Phore & Synapse on social media, and earn some rewards in PHR bounties!
In order to inquire about a position, just send Thomas an inquiry over discord. Being a part of the outreach team doesn’t require any previous experience, so anyone is able to chip in!
Marketing Efforts
Since the start of 2020, we have been ramping up our marketing efforts in a bid to increase our community size and brand awareness.
In addition to the regular update articles on the Marketplace and Synapse, we have sought to increase our visibility through video content. This has taken the form of Mike’s AMA session on Periscope, as well as his interview on the Melchionda Network Youtube Channel.
This ramp-up in Marketing activity is something we will continue growing in the months ahead… Watch this space!
Conclusion
Overall, it’s been a great quarter in the books for Phore and Synapse. Countless hours and thousands of lines of code are materializing into real value for Phore and its community. With the new Marketplace, as well as a new wallet and new Synapse sharding architecture forthcoming, Phore continues to build a solid foundation for its future. We would like to thank our awesome community for all of the support, enthusiasm, ideas, and contributions made over the past few months. The strong community behind Phore is the cornerstone that we continue to build upon, and we are very grateful for all of you.
Here’s to an even better Q2!
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.
