Word on the BLOCK: 30th March 2020

Hello everybody and welcome to the latest Blocknet newsletter! This newsletter is released twice per month to keep the community up-to-date on what is happening with Blocknet. You can view all previous newsletters here.

• Blocknet Comet 4.1 was released. Comet 4.1 contains many upgrades and bug fixes of the previous Comet release. This was a MANDATORY update for everyone, regardless if you’re a holder, staker, service provider, or Service Node operator. The full details can be viewed here.
• Development has been completed for new wallet features including the ability to specify a staking reward payout address and a new command to combine all the inputs in an address and then split them into defined input sizes. A bug fix has also been made for mismatched item details on the Service Node tab after filtering.
• XRouter development continues apace as we head toward the XRouter 1.0 release:

1. The service node list protocol upgrade has been added that will allow XRouter libraries to pull the services list on demand.
2. The C++ and GoLang libraries are continuing to be built out.
3. Development on the Enterprise XRouter Proxy (v0.6.2) is also continuing. This will support high traffic service node operators.

• The next iteration of Block DX will include full app zoom capabilities, an unverified asset warning, and fixes for various bugs such as the order form getting cleared when creating a new address and not always displaying the BTC price in the orders panel when it’s available. If you would like to help with testing this feature along other updates, visit the #community-testing channel in Discord.

• A new article; “The Blocknet Protocol: This Is What A Decentralized Infura Looks Like” was published on multiple Crypto sites. A partial list includes The Merkle, Blockmanity, Nulltx and thebitcoinnews. It was also published in various languages including Italian, Spanish and Indonesian.
• Because of length restrictions the full unedited version of the article with more details and links to sources was also published on our blog. Check it out here.

• Localization for the Block DX website is ongoing and expected to be completed soon in preparation for the translation process.
• Website / Block DX Website / Documentation Portal / API Docs / Discord / Twitter / Medium / Telegram / Reddit / Newsletter / Blocknet Facebook / Block DX Facebook / YouTube / DTube / Instagram / Minds / BitcoinTalk / Proposal Forum / Blockdx.co

• @lucien has updated the Service Explorer with many new features:

1. The explorer now works with Comet 4.0 and includes both technical and visual enhancements to the Nodes page.
2. Users can now look up their own or other Service Nodes by snodekey or public address using the search field.
3. Users can determine how many snodes they want to display with the items-per-page option.
4. Under SPV Wallets or XCloud Services, users can select the SPV wallet or XCloud service the snode has to offer and users will then be directed to the SPV wallet/XCloud service of that particular snode.
5. Discord Login support has been added. Only the user Discord handle is required and no email addresses are stored.
6. When logged in, users can add/remove their own snodes which will be added / subtracted to the service node list. Users can also verify their ownership of that snode by signing a message in the blocknet wallet. The app will then ask for the output of the signed message and will verify the output. If it matches, the snode will show as a verified snode.
7. A basic comment section has been added where users can comment on XCloud service or SPV Wallet.
8. The SPV Wallet and XCloud Service view pages have been revamped.
9. SPV backend ETH support has been added, so users can use XRouter calls on snodes supporting ETH.
10. SPV Wallets list are ordered by descending order on node count.

• The CloudChains Inc, MLW has been updated. The latest builds are available for testing:

1. https://cloudchainsinc.com/downloads/cc-release-0.3.18-linux.zip
2. https://cloudchainsinc.com/downloads/cc-release-0.3.18-windows.zip

If you would like to help with testing, visit the #community-testing channel in Discord. If there are any issues, please contact @atcsecure with all relevant log files.

• Research is also being conducted to design the UI. If you would like to participate, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/u2LqTaiaSVMyASSA7

• The results of Superblock 1382400 can be seen below. To understand how a proposal passes, check out the passing criteria.

1. attend-blockchain-conferences — 800 BLOCK, Y:27 | N:13 | A: 0, Passed
2. ARBIT-Market-Making-1382400–6500 BLOCK, Y:39 | N:7 | A: 0, Passed
3. fazer-dxmbot-005–550 BLOCK, Y:62 | N:1 | A: 0, Passed
4. blockdx-dev-1382400–2500 BLOCK, Y:65 | N:0 | A: 0, Passed
5. operations-team-1382400–11510 BLOCK, Y:64 | N:4 | A: 0, Passed
6. corgi-april — 825 BLOCK, Y:66 | N:0 | A: 0, Passed
7. proj-costs-1382400–1040 BLOCK, Y:66 | N:0 | A: 0, Passed
8. buildserver-cost-apr — 900 BLOCK, Y:66 | N:0 | A: 0, Passed
9. michael-dev-apr — 14500 BLOCK, Y:67 | N:0 | A: 0, Passed
10. SocialPhilip_APR20–900 BLOCK, Y:62 | N:2 | A: 0, Passed
11. infinity7592–1382400–385 BLOCK, Y:66 | N:1 | A: 0, Passed

• A guide to submitting and voting on proposals can be found here.
• The in-progress (and previous) proposals can be viewed on the proposal forum or within the Proposals screen of the wallet.
• Please note, proposals are being submitted to the forum individually so please make sure you scroll down and take your time to look over each proposal.
• Voting has changed with the release of Comet. Please view these instructions on how to vote in the new system.
• For Service Node notifications such as critical updates or voting reminders, join this mailing list (separate from the Word on the BLOCK newsletter email list).
• Blocknet Service Node stats can be viewed on Master Nodes Pro, on Masternodes Directory, and on Block Core.

• The Blocknet Protocol currently supports 126 blockchains all of which can be traded on Block DX. A full list of supported assets can be found on the listings page.
• Besides Block DX, BLOCK is also listed on the following exchanges: Digifinex / Bittrex Global / UPbit / Altilly / VCC / View all exchanges

Many thanks for reading. We hope that you are as excited as us with what the future holds for Blocknet. A decentralization project fundamentally requires an engaged community, and so if you would like to help with anything, have something to add, use your professional skills or have a problem, we want to know about it.

Please also be aware that a community project is run by a diverse group of people with varying time-constraints (in a number of time-zones) and personal lives, so remember to be kind and patient!

If you want to be the first see these updates, you can receive the newsletters directly to your email by subscribing here. Our next update is due on April 15th. Until then we look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

The Blocknet Team.

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