ARK Monthly Update — July 2020 Edition
July is complete, and it’s time for a complete ecosystem overview! This blog post will cover last month’s highlights, activities, achievements as well as bring unique content. We also release an update podcast each month on the ARK Crypto Podcast as well as an update video on the ARK YouTube channel. Let’s take a look at what’s been going on at ARK.io and in the ARK Ecosystem.
REMARKS
“In July, the main vision for ARK came further into focus as we released more details and content to the community. We are continuing to follow our whitepaper and working to make the ARK Blockchain Platform a home base for the crypto and blockchain industry. We showed this with our major release for July, Platform SDK — a singular toolkit for developers to interact with 10+ blockchain projects, not just the ARK Public Network. We also published a roundtable video discussing MarketSquare, the new homepage for the decentralized Web. This month, we added a new full-stack developer to the team, Edgar Goetzendorff (better known as his username ‘dated’). The master plan for ARK made major headway in July.”
Justin Renken, ARK.io Senior Brand Manager
ROADMAP PROGRESS UPDATE
The ARK Roadmap features various projects and sub-projects that ARK.io is working on. It is a percentage-based project dashboard for the developmental pipeline of ARK technology. Let’s look into a special update on the progress of our roadmap.
ARK Magistrate 2.0 and AIP36. There is a Magistrate 2.0 module on the ARK Roadmap. This magistrate (AKA AIP36) is designed to allow special IPFS transaction types to exist on the ARK Public Network. These transaction types are needed for the core functions of MarketSquare, the new homepage for the decentralized Web. With MarketSquare, users can register and update ‘Properties’ such as Delegates and Businesses. MarketSquare would then give them profile pages where descriptions can be displayed, reviews can be authored and responded to, and team members can be linked. This would all be enabled by Magistrate 2.0 under the hood, with data pulled from the ARK Public Network. The MarketSquare Public Beta launch will be in Q4 2020. AIP36 is now mostly integrated into the ARK Core.
MarketSquare.io (Beta). MarketSquare is a platform designed to be a showcase and meeting place for Delegates, Blockchains, Plugins and Businesses in the Economy 2.0. During July, we published an article exploring MarketSquare’s features, and we released a roundtable video that unveiled a lot of details about the platform as we near the Public Beta launch. This video addresses community questions such as:
- Will there be an MSQ cryptoasset?
- Can users use MarketSquare for content about coins besides ARK?
- Will MarketSquare use the ARK Public Network, and how?
- And many more.
At this time, MarketSquare is a functional platform that has been tested by Alpha testers outside of the ARK Team. With the main design and development completed, we are now implementing the final features suggested by initial testers and squashing the final minor bugs to make MarketSquare as robust as possible. Users can join the Public Beta mailing list to be alerted when MarketSquare goes live during Q4 of this year.
Read the announcement blog article here, and watch the roundtable video here. Read ‘exploring features’ article here, and join Public Beta mailing list here.
ARK Deployer Upgrades. We have been improving the process of creating a customized blockchain ever since the Alpha version of the ARK Deployer went public last year. In this new version, users will be presented with a far-improved web-based graphical user interface. One-click deployment is also possible with this upcoming version. The new ARK Deployer will support multiple hosting providers as well as provide users with the flexibility to easily deploy servers and entire networks with a few simple steps.
Additional Upgrades and Improvements. Without leaking too many intimate details, you should know that the ARK Team is also improving and enhancing other products, services and projects in order to make the user experiences gel together. The goal is to create a more cohesive experience now that the ARK Deployer and MarketSquare will act as the bones for building a thriving ecosystem. Keep in mind, those products present an elevated user experience and vision for ARK, and thus improvements are underway to bring the other projects/products up to speed with them. More details on this will be released in due time, but we can definitely say we are talking about more than just a ‘fresh coat of paint.’ Stay tuned on all channels!
These are a few highlighted items from the ARK Roadmap. View all items and status here.
EXCHANGE NEWS
The ARK cryptoasset is available on over 30 exchanges and more exchanges are being added all the time — for a full list, visit ARK.io/Exchanges.
Content created by ARK.io is not investment advice nor a solicitation of investment. Consult your financial advisor.
New ARK Pairs Listed on Kaiserex Exchange. This month, we are very excited to announce that ARK has added trading pairs at Kaiserex, a crypto exchange and OTC desk. The added pairings total 15 and can be seen in the image below. According to their website, Kaiserex has built their trading infrastructure with 30+ cryptocurrency exchanges and multiple OTC connections.
Learn more about Kaiserex at their website.
TEAM NEWS
ARK was founded by an elite team of blockchain experts and enthusiasts from around the globe. Now, with more than 30 core team members, from 12 different countries — we take decentralization to a whole new level.
Edgar Goetzendorff Hired as Full-Stack Developer. Edgar will, first and foremost, help with the development of the next generation of the ARK Desktop Wallet that is coming out this year. Being versatile, he will also jump around on other products as needed. As our roadmap for this year is packed with new and upcoming products and services (MarketSquare, Deployer, Desktop Wallet v3, Mobile Wallet v2, Core v3 and Platform SDK) we needed more developers who write solid code, have a proven track record of being reliable and are familiar with ARK and all its mechanics. Who better knows that than our all-star participant and winner of our GitHub Development Bounty Program multiple times over, Edgar Goetzendorff. You may know Edgar better under his username, ‘dated.’
When asked how he learned about ARK:
Actually I found out about ARK through one of its early Bridgechains. Only after submitting some bugfixes for the then available Commander on GitHub and unexpectedly receiving my first bounty, I joined the ARK Slack and was instantly hooked by the warm and welcoming community which ultimately allowed me to become a Forging Delegate.
Welcome to the ARK family, Edgar! We wish you the best in continuing to do the great work we have seen from your long tenancy in the Development Bounty Program.
Learn more about Edgar in his hiring article here.
ARK TECHNOLOGY USAGE
The ARK Core Framework is an open-source toolbox that developers can utilize to power various use cases using blockchain technology. The well-documented technology stack coupled with easy blockchain creation tools such as the ARK Deployer makes it simple for developers to dive into this emerging technology.
nOS Project Building with ARK Core. Technically, this news released on August 1st, but it’s important to include here to make the overall community aware. Recently, nOS unveiled a rebrand for their network. Formerly nOS Network, now the network is called Compendia, with the premise of acting as the ‘Wikipedia of databases for your API’. Compendia allows developers to connect their app to free and open databases. The Compendia rebrand means a new website for the network, new documentation and video tutorials, as well as a rebrand of the NOS asset to ‘BIND.’ nOS.io will continue to exist as a multi-crypto wallet app, and will use ‘crypto app’ databases on Compendia to populate its app store.
Compendia is expected to celebrate a public network launch this Summer, and the ARK Blog published a full-featured update on nOS in early July.
View the nOS Network rebrand article here, which has further links.
Read the full-featured update article on the ARK Blog here.
Unikname Connect Plugin Listed in WordPress Repository. Unikname aims to put the ownership and control of user data back into the hands of users through decentralized identities powered by ARK Core. During July, the Unikname Connect plugin became available for free on the official WordPress plugins repository. Web developers can now offer Unikname Connect as an alternative to log into Web services.
View the Unikname WordPress tweet here.
As a smaller piece of news, earlier this year a Proof-of-Concept was funded by ARK Grants called ARK Messenger. A video featuring a walkthrough went live during July to give the news a presence on YouTube. Watch it here.
ARK WALLET UPDATES
The ARK desktop and mobile wallets are highly secure. The desktop wallet even integrates with Ledger Nano hardware wallet devices. They are extremely easy to use and launch instantly with no need to sync. Plus, with the ARK Public Network having eight second block times, you can even see your transactions occur in near real-time. Whether you’re checking your balance, sending and receiving funds, or voting for your preferred delegate — ARK wallets make it as easy as possible.
DESKTOP WALLET
ARK Releases Desktop Wallet v2.9.3 with User Experience Improvements. This release included a further improvement to the single/multiple transfer UI merge. Also, some improvements to other 2.9.2 features were implemented.
What’s New At-A-Glance
- Improved Single/Multi Transfer UI Merge. We improved the flow to have an option to easily switch between single or multi transfers. This can be done by pressing either the ‘Single’ or ‘Multiple’ tab button for the transfer you are about to initiate. The result is a cleaner experience for a single transfer.
- Improved No Connectivity Alert. When installing a fresh version of the ARK Desktop Wallet v2.9.2 (previous version) without any prior installs of it, it got stuck at the initialization screen. This has now been fixed and fresh wallet installs work normally (no more sticking at the loading screen).
- Fixed ARK URI Scheme. URI scheme (prefilling transfer data) has now been fixed to work as expected when interacting with
ark:addresses. It now gets properly populated and can be initiated.
For additional details on this version of the ARK Desktop Wallet, check article here. Watch walkthrough video here, and download the latest version here.
MOBILE WALLET
The current version of the ARK Mobile Wallet is v1.8.1.
Download for Android or iOS.
ARK CORE NEWS
ARK Core is a lightweight but very powerful codebase that functions as the base component of the entire ARK Ecosystem. Developed in TypeScript, the ARK Core’s modular architecture empowers developers to modify, configure or extend all aspects of the codebase with ease.
ARK Core Version Releases. Taken from the Development Report, the following minor Core releases were made public during this previous month:
- 2.6.49 at Wed, Jul 22, 2020 9:30 AM
Learn more about the ARK Core from this announcement blog article and on the six-part Let’s Explore Core series from the ARK Blog, starting with Part 1 — Infrastructure.
DEVELOPMENT REPORT
The ARK Monthly Development Report covers public releases among ARK open source projects, all pull requests (opened, closed, merged), all issues opened and closed in every ARK Ecosystem public repository, the number of contributors during that month, the number of new stargazers and total lines of GitHub code added or deleted. The report has intricate links to GitHub repos, events and releases. We’d like to extend a huge thanks to all our contributors!
See the Development Report for the recent month here.
NETWORK STATISTICS REPORT
This network statistics report summarizes network activity on the ARK Public Network for the recent month.
Total Network Transactions
Total: 58,442
Avg per block: 0.1755
Per type:
Transfers: 54,019 (92.43%)
Multipayments: 3,389 (5.80%)
Votes: 1,009 (1.73%)
Second Signatures: 6 (0.01%)
Delegate Registrations: 17 (0.03%)
Delegate Resignations: 1 (0.00%)
Business Resignations: 1 (0.00%)
3,463 unique wallets sent an outgoing transaction.
Total Blocks
Full: 96 (0.03%)
Empty: 320,463 (96.23%)
Non-empty: 12,458 (3.74%)
Total: 333,017
Missed: 1,783
Total Network Fees
Total: 2,918.20484876 Ѧ
Per type:
Transfers: 1,928.93998235 Ѧ
Multipayments: 597.86537920 Ѧ
Votes: 255.81755571 Ѧ
Second Signatures: 10.29194659 Ѧ
Delegate Registrations: 124.22844644 Ѧ
Delegate Resignations: 0.10000000 Ѧ
Business Resignations: 0.96153847 Ѧ
Total Network Votes
Voting Wallets: 41,842
Voting Wallets > 1 ARK: 18,608
Total ARK Voting: 85,015,288.40898100 Ѧ
FRANCE ACTIVITIES
ARK.io is incorporated as an SCIC in France (ARK Ecosystem SCIC), giving us a leg up when interfacing with the legacy financial system. This SCIC is the first of its kind for crypto in France. The business entity is also a founding member of ADAN, an association of blockchain technology companies designed to further the mission of the technology in France and the EU.
- On July 24th, ARK ECOSYSTEM, SCIC President FX Thoorens was quoted in an article, mentioning how cryptocurrencies are resistant to censorship.
- On July 2nd, ARK ECOSYSTEM, SCIC President FX Thoorens did a 15-minute interview with France Eclat TV, a broadcast channel dedicated to jewelry. Thoorens explained cryptocurrencies and ARK, and how everyone can use it. The use case of certifying jewelry on-chain was discussed. He also related it to BCdiploma using ARK technology to certify documents such as diplomas on-chain using ARKEducation.
ARK TIMELINE
ArkTimeline.com is a community resource built and maintained by the ARK Community Committee. The entire history of all ARK achievements and accomplishments are available there, and they are both sortable and filterable.
Here’s a quick rundown for this past month, excluding events mentioned elsewhere in this update article:
- On July 8th, ARK.io published an article that dissects the tools used to create the ARK Blockchain Platform titled Behind the Curtains: ARK Tooling. This article lays out the reasoning behind using various frameworks such as Laravel, Livewire, and Pest on the back-end and Tailwind CSS and React on the front-end. More technologies and details are discussed in the full article here.
- On July 9th, ARK.io published a general article titled How Blockchain Technology Can Improve Policing and Public Safety. This article is part two of a series addressing how blockchain technology can solve legal disputes. The article covers issues such as chain of custody, blockchain strengthening procedures, and how blockchain technology can reverse negative trends. Read the full article here.
- On July 11th and 22nd, ARK.io made announcements and gave further details on its July launch of Platform SDK, which modernizes interactions with various blockchain networks. The SDK acts as an all-in-one developer toolbox which simplifies the process for developers to interact with 10+ blockchain networks, not just the ARK Public Network. Read the articles here and here.
- On July 16th, ARK.io published a general article titled New Anti-Encryption Bill: Largest Threat to Our Privacy Today. This article addresses a US bill in progress that would require potentially insecure backdoors to be built into encrypted systems. Read the full article here.
- On July 29th, ARK.io published a general article on Blockchain as the Future of Supply Chain Management. The article goes into specific detail on how blockchain technology can improve supply chain management. The article goes on to give a State of the Union on blockchain technology already being used in the industry. The article shows how technology and industry are a perfect match. Read the full article here.
- On July 30th, ARK tweeted about an upcoming virtual workshop hosted by ARK.io partner Major League Hacking. The workshop showcases ARK technology used to build a ‘blockchain taco shop.’ August 5th is the date of the event, details here.
- All other events and activities are listed elsewhere in this monthly update. All caught up!
- See years of achievements for ARK at ARKTimeline.com.
- See what the future holds for ARK at Roadmap.ARK.io.
- Subscribe for real-time news at Twitter.ARK.io.
VIDEOS
ARK has a growing YouTube channel that features technical discussions and updates, motion graphic explainers, community videos, tutorials, crypto adventure vlogs and more. Watch our videos at Youtube.ARK.io and subscribe to our channel in one click using this special link.
ARK.io Monthly Update June 2020 Video. If you missed it from last month, check out the June 2020 edition of the ARK.io Monthly Update video:
MarketSquare Team Roundtable Video. In July, we released a team roundtable video discussing MarketSquare in further detail featuring Matthew DC, Ray Alvarez, and Elaine Egan who joined me on the channel. Take a look here:
ARK Desktop Wallet v2.9.3 Walkthrough Video. We published a video that shows you step by step what’s new in the recent update to our desktop wallet. Check it out here:
ARK Scooters Proof-of-Concept Technical Demo Video. This is an exploration of real-world applications for ARK Technology. ARK Scooters is a Proof-of-Concept funded by ARK Grants. Watch it here:
ARK Messenger Proof-of-Concept Demo Video. We published a video this month about ARK Messenger, another project funded by ARK Grants. It features a walkthrough and details about the project. Watch it here:
Watch our videos at Youtube.ARK.io and subscribe to our channel in one click using this special link.
PODCASTS
The ARK Crypto Podcast releases weekly episodes all about ARK, featuring interviews, monologues, tutorials, reports, presentations and more. The show aims for a 30-minute runtime and releases new episodes every Friday. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Spotify, Castbox and more. Details, external links and show notes are available at Podcast.ARK.io.
Check out the episodes released this recent month:
Subscribe and see details, show notes, related links, timestamps and more at Podcast.ARK.io.
COMMUNITY SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
Some members mentioned in the Community Service Spotlight are ARK Delegates, who secure the ARK Public Network and provide community services. Their inclusion here is in no way an endorsement from ARK.io to vote for any specific Delegates, and you should always do your own research and consider all the options when voting for a Delegate. ARK.io does not run the ARK Public Network.
Here’s the Community Service Spotlight for this month:
- Delegate ‘Fun’ continued to run ARK games online with daily ARK prizes.
- Delegates ‘Biz_Classic’ and ‘Del’ ran ARK faucets here and here.
- Delegate ‘Alessio’ located and reported vulnerabilities.
- Delegates ‘Goose’ and ‘ArkMoon’ continue their service, ARK CSV Generator and Income Estimator, to aid in trading and income reporting.
- Delegate ‘Jarunik’ ran a general bounty service, get involved here.
- Delegate ‘Cryptology’ continued operating the ARKTippr tip bot.
- Delegate ‘Yakety_Yak’ released German ARK podcasts.
- Delegate ‘Rising_Sun’ continued to run a treasure loot program.
- Delegate ‘Deadlock’ continued maintaining ARKStats.Live.
- Delegate ‘Lemii’ continued maintaining ARKRelay.com.
- ‘CryptoMC’ continued to run Arkifier Delegate email alert service.
- Delegate ‘Mak’ released an alpha version of ARK Place, funded by the ACF.
- Delegate ‘Arktoshi’ launched a campaign, listing community services here.
- Delegate ‘Echo’ launched a new community service, ARK Folding @ Home, awarding ARK for CPU/GPU usage that aids in fighting COVID-19. Folding @ Home is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics. Delegate Echo is awarding ARK to participants of Folding @ Home.
The Community Service Spotlight pulls entries from Reddit.ARK.io. To get something featured here, simply make a post there, and subscribe there for more community content and discussions.
NOTABLE REDDIT POSTS
The Ark Ecosystem Subreddit is a great place to seek ARK knowledge, and you can always find new and engaging content there. New to ARK? Check out my Welcome to ARK Reddit Post with simple instructions to follow.
Here are some notable posts this month:
- A tech help question about creating a transaction
- An issue with desktop wallet stuck at initializing (fixed in 2.9.3)
- A query about a problem sending ARK
- A question about ARK token issuance standard
- A problem with being unable to unvote
- An issue restoring a balance within the desktop wallet
You can browse more content and contribute your own voice to the ARK Subreddit at Reddit.ARK.io. You may even receive an ARK tip from a community member using Delegate Cryptology’s intuitive ArkTippr Reddit tipbot.
AMAs
Ask-Me-Anythings are periodically conducted where ARK team members answer questions by community members and developers, as well as 3rd party organizations taking questions from the community as well.
During July, there was a type of AMA, although not in the traditional sense. Community questions were submitted to the ARK Team about MarketSquare, the new homepage for the decentralized Web. Questions were answered on YouTube.ARK.io here.
These AMAs take place on Slack.ARK.io. Follow ARK on Twitter for invitations to join future AMAs. AMA Transcripts are available on the ARK.io resource ARK Answers or by reviewing chat history of the #AMA channel in Slack.ARK.io.
BOUNTY & SECURITY PROGRAM
ARK runs monthly bounty programs for coders who contribute to our codebase on the ARK Ecosystem GitHub. Independent programmers can work side by side with our international team and make the ARK toolkit even more powerful and stable.
Get started earning ARK bounties by going here. To report an issue or suggest a feature for ARK projects as a non-coder, follow the video tutorial here.
ARK GRANTS
ARK Grants Launched a 1 Million ARK Fund. ARK has always placed a large focus on our community of developers. From our Development and Security Bounties to our previous Tier Zero program, we have a wide range of opportunities for developers to get involved in the community and get paid to contribute to ARK. The ARK Grants program is an expansion and refinement of our current offerings, providing a war chest of funds to show our dedication to our community and the ARK Ecosystem.
Technologies and frameworks, applicable project types and proposal submission process can be found in the ARK Grants launch article here and there is a video here.
As a smaller piece of news, earlier this year a Proof-of-Concept was funded by ARK Grants called ARK Messenger. A video featuring a walkthrough went live during July to give the news a presence on YouTube. Watch it here.
ARK COMMUNITY COMMITTEE
The ARK Community Committee creates and deploys community resources through anonymous and sponsored ARK donations.
Completed ACC projects include:
- ArkTimeline.com — All ARK’s achievements and accomplishments in one place. Searchable, filterable and linkable by the query string.
- ArkThoughts.com — Community opinions on 30 ARK concepts, including the Core, wallets, Explorer, SmartBridge Technology and media channels.
- Crypto Trivia Night Questions — Trivia questions for Crypto Trivia Night
During this recent month, I have launched ‘Project VIDERE III,’ which has doubled the size of research results from ‘Project VIDERE II.’ Processing of the research is still ongoing and more details will come to light when the project is complete. Track activity on Discord.ARK.io #committee channel.
To join the ACC, locate me ‘(Justin (doubled1c3)’ on Discord.ARK.io.
ARK COMMUNITY FUND
The ACF is like the community version of ARK Grants and is not managed by ARK.io. If you have an idea for an ARK project, large or small and you are looking for funding, consider submitting a proposal to the ARK Community Fund for review. The ARK Community Fund started as a community initiative and the elected board reviews ideas and projects that enhance ARK. Their website is ArkCommunity.Fund.
During July, the ARK Community Fund posted an update you can read here.
The ACF is running some giveaways on the #ark_community_fund channel of Slack.ARK.io. Join and check out the chatter in the channel.
WHAT’S NEXT
MarketSquare is getting closer and closer to its Public Beta launch during Q4 2020, and users can get access by visiting MarketSquare.io to join the Public Beta mailing list. Magistrate 2.0 (AIP36) is also a main focus for the very near term because of the custom transaction types needed to power the underlying MarketSquare platform data. Prior to the MaketSquare Public Beta launch, ARK Delegates and some other users will get access to the platform to start to provide data and content. We have already been implementing feedback from external testers and we are starting to run the final laps for other peripherals such as the ARK Deployer and ARK Desktop Wallet. Something interesting to note as our team has been moving through Summer is that there has been a lot of accelerated development for multiple products across multiple departments (compared to normal). The ARK Blockchain Platform is receiving a major overhaul to create a singular presentation and user experience across the entire platform. Stay tuned on all channels for updates!
FEEDBACK SURVEY
Take a short three-minute feedback survey so we can learn more about your opinions on how we’re doing. We review and track this feedback and use it to further improve our efforts.
GET INVOLVED
Here’s a quick list of what your first steps might be to get involved with ARK:
- Join our community on Slack or Reddit
- Launch an ARK community service
- Contribute code and earn ARK
- Apply for an ARK Grant to fund your idea
- Learn more with ARK documentation
- Launch an ARK node and campaign for forging status
- Create a blockchain in three simple steps
Looking forward to August! Stay safe!
