2021: A Year in Review
The future is uncertain, but people have always shaped the world in which they live. When people work together, almost anything is possible. We believe the future is what we make of it. Fortunately, we’re in the business of making. We are a collective of critical, creative, and empathetic thinkers with ambitious and disruptive ideas. We exist to build what’s next in Blockchain and the Future of Work- the places, spaces, and ecosystems that support our lives.
This has been a year of resilience and gratitude for all of us.
Our development team is the backbone of Effect.AI, and they help support our mission to build Effect Network- the infrastructure of the Future of Work. 2021 was not without challenges for everyone, but we’re proud of the way we were able to adapt and continue to build the network.
This year was also about preparing for the future. We secured new partnerships, grew our presence on other blockchains, and had some significant traction in further decentralizing the network. 2021 proved that we are optimistic. We are resilient and excited about Effect Network’s potential, even when barriers stand in our way.
A conversation with Chris Dawe, CEO, on staying nimble, adapting, and preparing for what’s next.
When you reflect on 2021, what are you most proud of the team for?
I’m very proud of the crew for pulling together and working as a team across offices all over the globe to further the success of the Effect Network. We really strengthened our abilities this year. The theme for 2021 was definitely perseverance. I’m very proud of the way our team adapted, both professionally and personally. We continued to deliver what is next in blockchain and decentralized ecosystems and I’m excited to see what 2022 brings.
What was the biggest challenge the team overcame this year?
I welcome challenges- I think they help us learn and grow and it makes us stronger in the long run. We worked together to build new workflows and technologies and increased our focus on remaining accurate and productive when we experienced challenges. As a team, we came together with a clearer focus to continue to deliver technically excellent solutions and enhancements to the network through the pandemic. We’ve overcome these challenges and have created more efficiencies as a result.
What do you hope to accomplish as a team in 2021?
I’m excited for 2021! We will continue to be agile and at the forefront of the ever-changing technological advancements that blockchain and crypto ecosystems experience. We will deliver forward-thinking solutions to support the Effect Network as it expands rapidly. I’m looking forward to exploring how we can further expand the network into new markets.
What changes do you anticipate over the next five years?
I anticipate changes in the way the world embraces technology. One of the silver linings of 2021 is how more people all over the globe learned how blockchain, crypto, and other distributed and decentralized technologies make us more efficient through everyday processes, not just in the business world, but in our personal lives as well. I see the demand for these transparent and decentralized systems increasing post-COVID, and it’s exciting because it truly benefits society as a whole.
Build for Tomorrow, Today
This year, we dove forward with further expanding the network’s footprint in the world of crypto and blockchain. The marketing and partnerships team built momentum with many significant key wins and secured several partnerships that improve the network’s position.
We partnered with EOS Titan in the development of the first EOS-to-BSC bridge. Our entry into BSC involved bridging our technology between two blockchain ecosystems, and the result of this two-way bridge allows transactions on Effect Network to execute from one chain to another via a decentralized system. Our collaboration with pNetwork was also key to completing the bridge. Their cross-chain solution was able to assist in the deployment of the bridge system, and aided in Effect Network being the first project to launch a direct EOS-BSC bridge.
All Effect users and token holders are able to make use of the bridge interface and move the EFX token across blockchains. This blockchain architecture enables our community to enjoy DeFi opportunities on BSC by ensuring the smooth and convenient transactions of our technology from one chain to the other.
Another advancement was the listing of the EFX/USDT trading pair on KuCoin. This popular exchange made it to the Forbes list of best crypto exchanges back in August, and we couldn’t be more delighted to have both EFX/BTC and EFX/USDT trading pairs on thor platform. KuCoin is known for its affinity to list small-cap cryptos that have huge growth potential, and we’re honored to be considered one of them.
2021 Has Taught Us Patience, Resiliency, and Grit
Our work environment shapes our success -and this was never more present than in 2021. We worked together this year and took a bold approach to problem solving. The future is what we make of it and we will lead with innovative solutions now and into 2022.
A conversation with Laurens Verspeek, Chief Engineer, on grit, resiliency, and staying connected to our colleagues while building the Effect Network.
When you reflect on 2021, what are you most proud of the team for?
I’m proud of the way our team rolled with the punches and worked effectively wherever they were. I also am impressed that some of our team members took the time to learn new technical skills and programs and leaned into opportunities that were outside of their normal scope of work.
What was the biggest challenge the team overcame this year?
We overcame the challenge of managing development projects very well. We were able to collaborate virtually across different offices and time zones with the same success as in person. This strengthened our communication as a team.
What do you hope to accomplish as a team in 2022?
We are motivated and especially looking forward to new challenges and building decentralized services for the network. I’m lucky to lead a team that is passionate about Effect Network and we will continue to build and expand the network into the next year and the future. I’m looking forward to the SDK coming out of beta and more projects using the network for their data structuring needs.
What changes do you anticipate over the next five years?
I think that this year has really shone a spotlight on just how important blockchain technology is to our daily lives. We need to be open to adopting new technologies and implementing decentralized solutions in all areas. I think smart contracts will become more of a focus in the future and we will begin to see more companies embrace tokenization and blockchain technology in all areas of their day-to-day processes.
Powering the Future
Through innovation and a growth mindset, we’ve been able to expand the Network further with the creation of the EffectDAO. No matter how futuristic a DAO for Decentralized AI may sound, it will always remain a system steered by people, built for people.
The first cycle of EffectDAO began on January 1, 2021. We are now on cycle 26, marking the one-year anniversary of EffectDAO! The DAO has quickly grown to be a connecting element in Effect Network. Over 80 community proposals have been submitted, and the collaboration between its members is growing every week.
Since its inception, there have been some amazing initiatives among the funded proposals, which have resulted in several essential additions to the DAO. Most notably, P22 that opened up voting to many members, our community guides website, a DAO calculator, PancakeSwap LP Reward Farm, and co-sponsorship with Effect.AI on the network’s first Hackathon.
Creating Tomorrow’s Solutions
In 2021, the tech team accelerated their software development. The new Effect account system is an important feature of the upcoming release of Effect Network, which improves the user experience and ease of task placement. This account system affects almost every part of the network, including the registration process, the posting and completion of tasks, and the publication of campaigns. It also enables workers and requesters to interact with the platform using non-EOS wallets such as MetaMask.
This account system tracks virtual user balances using a multi-index table on the EOS blockchain. These transactions on virtual balances can be performed by either an EOS account or by providing a plain ECDSA signature. Virtual token transfers and the sending of EOS transactions are treated separately. When performing a transaction without an EOS account, the user provides a valid ECDSA signature and adds an EFX fee. A relayer then processes the transaction and collects the fee.
The smart contract checks and verifies if the ECDSA signature provided with a transaction is valid and that its address is allowed to make transactions for an Effect account. At the same time, the contract keeps track of EFX balances. It will only allow the owners of an Effect account, either with an EOS account or a BSC address, to withdraw their EFX funds to either an EFX account or their BSC address through the Effect Bridge.
The multi-chain feature of the decentralized Effect account system is powerful, but it also poses a challenge: when you sign a transaction with your BSC private key, it still needs to be pushed to the EOS network by an EOS account with enough resources. This challenge is solved with a relayer network, where relayers push the already signed transactions to the blockchain in exchange for a small EFX fee. Anyone who has an EOS account with resources can act as a relayer and earn the fee rewards from pushing signed transactions from BSC addresses to the EOS blockchain.
With the release of our SDK, task creation on Effect Force has become decentralized. This allows anyone to post tasks without being registered or pre-approved. This update makes the Effect Network more accessible to a wide range of communities, while also increasing its scalability. The onboarding no longer relies on a single company.
We Think Big and Take the Lead to Inspire Change
To enhance the growth of the Effect Network ecosystem, we launched our first hackathon to help early-stage projects, developers, and those with just creative ideas build the next-generation decentralized applications on the Effect Network. Our Hackathon only recently began, and as of this writing over one hundred participants are competing to win a share of the $55K prize pool.
We have several judges who are eager to review submissions and award prizes. In addition to the three co-founders of Effect Network, we’re happy to have Olivier Rikken, Founder at Emerging Horizons, and Sebastiaan van der Lans, Founder at WordProof as expert judges. Their expertise in blockchain technology, business, and understanding of the Effect Network ecosystem make them valuable members of the hackathon.
Last but not least, Guardians of the EffectDAO will be evaluating and choosing winners of the hackathon as well. Voting members of EffectDAO, as many as 234 of them, will be voting to award several prizes, all on the blockchain through the EffectDAO. Judging will take place in January and winners will be announced on January 18th.
A message from Jesse Eisses, Chief Technical Officer
When we look back at 2021, we will undoubtedly think about the challenges and obstacles we faced. In reflecting, I like to think about how resilient our team was and am very proud of how all of us responded. Our ability to adapt to change, our willingness to stay focused, remain nimble, and remain steadfast to our vision of the Effect Network helped us navigate unforeseen hurdles and allowed continued collaboration across offices, time zones, and focus areas.
Our culture helps mold who we are at Effect Network, and for the past four years the project has been adjusting and refining itself to be the industry leader in the Future of Work. We believe in being bold and are not afraid of being at the tip of the spear. Earlier this year we rebranded and became Effect Network. Our new brand identity resonates stronger with the Future-of-Work movement and I feel showcases our dedication to build a global ecosystem in which people work together in new ways. We’ve come incredibly far as a project, thanks mostly to our amazing community of over 200 DAO Guardians, 11K+ Effect Force workers, 70K+ community members and the dozens of companies who use Effect Network services. We have certainly matured into a community and project that represents so much more than even our wildest expectations. Our values help drive us to succeed no matter the challenge. If ever a time to be bold, passionate, and visionary, it was in 2021.
What’s New in 2022?
The internet is moving towards becoming more peer-to-peer with no single authority. Numbered are the days where people and companies depend on tech giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter as more and more people operate and build decentralized, quasi-anonymous platforms. The crypto world in a few years will transform into a more impactful space. People are looking around for something to plunge cash into beyond NFTs. There are a lot of people who are looking at something to invest in, and they need some vision to throw money at. We aim to spearhead this evolution and position EFX to be the token that makes resources, applications, content, and datasets accessible to all. The future is becoming decentralized and the Effect Network will make the universe more inclusive for all of us.
In 2022, Effect Network will undergo a strategic overhaul to become completely decentralized and elevate Effect Force as the go-to solution for the Future of Work. Our vision is to have Effect Network be the cornerstone of Web 3.0. It’s a bold statement, however, and with the focus of this next internet revolution being on intelligent information accessibility, we believe the Effect Network fits this bill down to its very core. We’ve held tight to our vision of the network as laid out back in 2018, and we’re confident that 2022 will bring even more cutting-edge advancements and radical adoption of the Effect Network.
Web | Telegram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | GitHub | Reddit | LinkedIn| Medium | Weibo |Discord
