When Complex Ideas Finally Click

Throughout the conference, we witnessed something special: moment after moment where visitors to our booth suddenly understood concepts that had previously seemed abstract or unclear. One community member described these as “lightbulb moments” — that instant when someone grasps not just what Verus does, but why it matters.

The phrase that seemed to catalyze these moments? “DeFi is not an app.”

This simple statement opened doors to deeper conversations about what we’ve always known: that DeFi should be a foundational primitive built into blockchain protocols, not bolted on top through vulnerable smart contracts. Marketing professionals and developers alike found themselves nodding along as we explained that smart contracts are essentially stored procedures in a shared global database — useful, but hardly the revolutionary construct they’re often portrayed to be.

Real Conversations About Real Problems

What set this conference apart wasn’t just theoretical discussions. Attendees brought real concerns about security vulnerabilities they’re facing today. When we talked about the recent DNS redirection attacks on platforms like Curve, heads nodded knowingly. When we asked, “How will anyone solve phishing if users have to give smart contracts direct access to their wallets?” — the silence was telling.

These weren’t gotcha moments. They were honest technical discussions about fundamental challenges in blockchain architecture. And we had answers that resonated.

The Presentation That Changed Perspectives

The recorded presentation “Own or be Owned: How Verus Secures Ownership in a Digital World” at the Protocol Village by Michael J. Toutonghi, lead developer, became a focal point of our conference presence. Following the talk, booth traffic surged with attendees wanting to dive deeper into the concepts presented.

In the presentation we announced Commons Powered Apps. More on that in a future article.

“Wait, This Isn’t a Company?”

Perhaps the most gratifying reactions came when visitors learned about Verus’s structure. The disbelief was palpable: How could something this technically sophisticated, this well-organized, this professional, not be backed by venture capital or run by a corporation?

“It’s entirely community-driven,” we’d explain. No ICO. No pre-mine. No company behind it.

The authenticity of that message — backed by the reality of what the community has built — changed conversations immediately. Suddenly, we weren’t just another blockchain project. We were proof that communities can build world-class technology without traditional corporate structures.

Building Bridges to the Future

The conference generated exactly the kind of connections we hoped for. Our booth became a hub for substantive technical discussions with projects and companies exploring blockchain solutions for their real-world challenges.

These weren’t casual meetups. These were in-depth conversations with organizations that immediately understood the limitations of current blockchain approaches and were actively seeking alternatives. The technical depth of these discussions — and the genuine interest in Verus’s architectural differences — has resulted in a list of follow-ups.

What struck us most was the quality of these interactions. Rather than the typical conference small talk, we found ourselves in detailed technical discussions about specific implementation challenges and use cases.

A Community Effort in Every Sense

None of this would have been possible without the Verus community members who funded the Consensus presence. Every donation, large or small, contributed to putting our best foot forward at this critical industry event. The booth & the ability to have a presentation — all of it came from community support.

For those who couldn’t attend but contributed: you were there in spirit, and your support directly enabled every conversation, every connection, and every breakthrough moment we experienced.

Looking Forward

As we process the connections made and opportunities identified at Consensus 2025, one thing is clear: the industry is ready for what Verus offers. The questions we’re answering aren’t theoretical anymore — they’re practical, pressing problems that developers and organizations need solved today.

The shift we experienced at this conference wasn’t just about better messaging or a nicer booth. It was about the broader blockchain ecosystem reaching a level of maturity where the foundational questions we’ve been addressing for years are now front and center for everyone.

For the Verus community, Consensus 2025 wasn’t just another conference. It was validation that our patient, principled approach to building better blockchain infrastructure is exactly what the industry needs. And we’re just getting started.

Thank you to every community member who made our Consensus 2025 presence possible. The impact of your support continues to ripple through every new connection and opportunity that emerged from this event.

🛠️ Build dApps with Verus

Look up the complete command list here. Go to verus.io to find out about all the possibilities to build. (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build dApps.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Consensus 2025: The Conference Where Things Clicked for Verus was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

• Holding vYIELD gives exposure to scrvUSD (and its yield) and VRSC equally (50/50%). Generated conversion fees are also added to the reserves.
• Savings crvUSD (scrvUSD) is a decentralized interest-bearing stablecoin that earns yield simply by holding the currency. For the estimated APY go here.
• vYIELD fully launches on 5 December 2024. After its launch vYIELD, VRSC and scrvUSD can be converted freely with each other through the vYIELD’s AMM (automated market maker) function.
• Verus DeFi is MEV-resistant with low conversion fees (max. 0.05%.)docs.verus.io
• vYIELD’s initial supply is 100,000. After the preconversion period has ended the supply is distributed to the users that preconverted. After that the supply becomes dynamic (burning vYIELD when converting back to VRSC or scrvUSD, and minting vYIELD when depositing VRSC or scrvUSD into its reserves.)
• Preconversion is possible until 5 December 2024. While preconverting users deposit VRSC or scrvUSD into the reserves of vYIELD. How to preconvert / Get help in Discord
• Bridge scrvUSD and crvUSD into the Verus Protocol through the decentralized and non-custodial Verus-Ethereum Bridge. How to bridge and preconvert. / docs.verus.io
• See vYIELD/network statistics at cryptodashboard.faldt.net, verus.trading and veruswisdom.com/pbaas. Or type in /basket in the community Discord.
• See when scrvUSD or crvUSD is bridged over from Ethereum to Verus (or vice versa) here: https://etherscan.io/address/0x71518580f36FeCEFfE0721F06bA4703218cD7F63#tokentxns

Discuss & explore on Discord

Join the worldwide community on Discord. Let’s discuss progress and explore new opportunities. verus.io/discord

Bridge Your Project

If you are in a community that has an ERC-20 as a token consider moving over to Verus. Not only do you get fair, MEV-resistant DeFi, you can also tap into the self-sovereign identity protocol (VerusID) and experience unlimited scale (no more high gas fees). You can do it permissionlessly!

Join the Discord, the worldwide community is happy to answer any questions and help you assist.

In the meantime you can try Verus DeFi on your mobile and desktop now. Download Verus Mobile on Google Play and App Store.

🛠️ Build with Verus

Get the ‘Building dApps at Any Scale’ booklet here. Look up the complete command list here. Go to docs.verus.io to get guidance on some API commands (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build dApps.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Introducing vYIELD: Curve Stablecoin Yield Comes to Verus was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

MEV and its Consequences

Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) is the maximum value that can be extracted from block production in cryptocurrency networks, beyond the standard block rewards.

A block producer, whether a miner or staker, can make a profit by their ability to arbitrarily include, exclude or re-order transactions within the blocks they produce. There are also bots that continuously search the pool of pending transactions (the mempool) for profitable opportunities. This behavior by block producers and bots leads to users being front-run, back-run or sandwich attacked on their transactions.

Front-running involves placing a transaction before a target transaction, while back-running places one immediately after. Sandwich attacks combine both, surrounding a target transaction. This behavior takes advantage of the time between when a transaction is announced (it’s in the mempool) and when it’s processed, allowing manipulators to benefit from price movements caused by the target transaction.

This malicious behavior leads to worse-than-expected execution prices and high transaction fees for regular users doing swaps or trades on AMMs (automated market makers) or DEXs (decentralized exchanges). A sudden high transaction fee can also lead to failing transactions, costing users gas fees without completing the intended trade. At worst, it can even lead to protocol instability.

Another thing to keep in mind is the possible problematic merger of traditional finance and decentralized finance. Front-running, and back-running are illegal practices in traditional finance but common in DeFi. Regulators are likely to view these tactics as unacceptable market manipulation, especially when applied to RWAs (real-world assets). VM-based blockchains have to balance the open, permissionless nature of the blockchain with the expectations of fairness and protection that come with mainstream financial adoption. The giant elephant in the room asks… Can blockchain protocols where MEV is endemic be used for mainstream adoption?

MEV Resistance in Verus

How Verus is MEV-resistant is actually really simple and doesn’t need complicated ways that try to mitigate it. It is inherently not in the protocol by forward-looking protocol design.

You can find Verus DeFi within the consensus layer of the protocol. All currencies (e.g. tokens, liquidity pools) are accounted for by the miners and stakers. This is very different from Ethereum, for example, where only ETH is accounted for by the stakers, and where ERC-20s are not. On VM-based blockchains DeFi is programmed at the smart contract layer, which has many vulnerability surfaces, and what is happening in those smart contracts is not verified by the block producers.

No Transaction Ordering

All VM-based blockchains solve transactions sequentially. This is their fundamental design flaw. Because of this, transactions can be ordered, by either block producers or bots paying higher gas fees to “skip the line.” This is what makes MEV possible.

Unlike VM-based blockchains that solve transactions sequentially, Verus, a UTXO-based blockchain, solves transactions simultaneously. Front-running, back-running and sandwich attacks are impossible since there is no “front” or “back”. Transactions (and thus conversions) are not ordered.

Conversions are solved simultaneously within 1 to 10 blocks, depending on how many conversions are made. The conversions are triggered when there are 10 transactions made, or 10 blocks have passed if it’s not busy. If it’s busy all the time, then conversions are solved every 2 blocks. This leads to a MEV-resistant protocol, but also to fair pricing and enhanced liquidity through offsetting.

Fair Pricing and Enhanced Liquidity

Because all transactions (conversions) are solved simultaneously (1 to 10 blocks), all conversions on the same “trading pair” get the same fair price. Keep in mind that there can be many “trading pairs” that are the same, but when they are in different basket currencies, they are treated as separate.

Important to note is that orders are offset against each other. For example, if one user wants to sell 100 currency X (for Y) and another wants to buy 80 currency X with Y, 80 of that currency is directly matched, leaving only 20 to affect the overall market price. This also means there is reduced price impact, and thus less slippage.

Another benefit is enhanced liquidity. Instead of each conversion drawing from or adding to the liquidity pool sequentially, the net effect is applied, making more efficient use of the available liquidity. The actual liquidity in the pool might not change, but the offsetting effect makes it behave as if there was more liquidity available because offsetting orders are matched directly, reducing the need to draw from or add to the pool.

Then you also have the market arbitrageurs, who now not only make a profit for themselves, they also stabilize the market overall, giving all participants a fair price. With a very low fee of 0.025% or 0.05% of the conversion (without gas fees), it is a great system for all kinds of market participants.

Verus DeFi protocol wide volume in July 2024 was close to $14M. Source: on-chain metrics.

Real Fair DeFi

Whatever market participant you are, you are best served with the Verus Protocol. Verus DeFi is fully functional on mainnet for everyone to use.

• No MEV (no front-running, back-running or sandwich attacks)
• Truly decentralized (it’s a credibly neutral protocol — not a business, company or otherwise rent-seeking)
• The same fair price for all market participants within 1–10 block(s)
• Secured at the protocol level
• Low conversion fees of max. 0.05%
• Permissionless launching of liquidity pools
• Bridged to Ethereum (all ERC-20s can be bridged to the Verus Protocol, in a non-custodial and trustless manner, and vice versa)
• Decentralized crowdfund mechanisms for your currency (e.g. token, liquidity pool, native PBaaS coin), such as pre-launch discounts, pre-launch carveouts and pre-allocations

💡 Bridge Your Community to Verus

If you are in a community that has an ERC-20 as a token consider moving over to Verus. Not only do you get fair, MEV-resistant DeFi, you can also tap into the self-sovereign identity protocol (VerusID) and experience unlimited scale (no more high gas fees). You can do it permissionlessly!

Join the Discord, the worldwide community is happy to answer any questions and help you assist.

In the meantime you can try Verus DeFi on your mobile and desktop now. Download Verus Mobile on Google Play and App Store.

🛠️ Build dApps with Verus

Look up the complete command list here. Go to docs.verus.io to get guidance on some API commands (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build dApps.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

How Verus Solved MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) in DeFi was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Switch is a decentralized currency fully backed by VRSC, DAI, USDC & EURC. Use it to switch between Verus and the different stablecoins. Or hold it while it accrues value from conversion fees.

⏱️ Switch is launched on block: 2,984,851 (Saturday 30 March, 2024).

🔁 Convert VRSC, DAI, USDC or EURC to Switch, or vice versa. Or use Switch as an AMM and convert the reserves with each other.

❓ USDC & EURC are stablecoins issued by Circle. DAI is a USD stablecoin issued by Maker.

💸 Low-cost, MEV-resistant DeFi conversions with max. fees of 0.05%.

⌨️ See the Switch statistics (protocol prices, amount in reserves) at Cryptodashboard or verus.trading. Or type in /switch in the #trading channel in the community Discord.

📚 Learn in this article how to convert the stables with each other, and how to convert to and from Switch. Also you learn how to bridge EURC or USDC to the Verus network.

What is Switch?

Switch is a decentralized currency on the Verus blockchain. It is fully (100%) backed by its reserves. Its initial supply is 20,000 Switch.

• Its reserves are weighted as follows: VRSC (16%), DAI DAI.vETH (21%), USDC vUSDC.vETH (21%) & EURC EURC.vETH (42%). What does this mean? E.g. when you put EURC in the reserves you get more Switch after preconversion than when you put VRSC in.
• Use Switch to convert between any of the reserves for a max. fee of 0.05%. Switch is a MEV-resistant AMM. Learn more about Verus DeFi.
• Switch accrues 50% of the conversion fees — the conversion fees stay in the reserves, increasing the value of Switch.
• The other 50% of the conversion fees go to the miners and stakers of Verus.
• There is a risk to holding Switch — USDC & EURC are distributed by the centralized company Circle.
• The supply of Switch is dynamic. Switch gets minted when people convert to it from VRSC, DAI.vETH, vUSDC.vETHor EURC.vETH, and get burned when people convert back to the reserves.

• Register subIDs— *.Switch@ for a 10 EURC (in Switch) fee. Those fees get burned. Learn more about subIDs (VerusIDs).
• Switch is perfect to use with VerusPay — Get your local businesses to take DAI, USDC & EURC on Verus. If you hold VRSC, DAI, or USDC and need to buy coffee in EURC, just scan a QR code! Verus scales to everyone worldwide and auto-converts payments from your favorite currency for always low transaction fees & a 0.05% conversion fee.

There was a preconversion period for Switch

There was a 7-day preconversion period where the reserves of Switch were filled with VRSC, DAI DAI.vETH, USDC vUSDC.vETH & EURC EURC.vETH. Depending on how much people added they got their fair share of the 20,000 Switch after the 7 day period.

After the 7-day period Switch became a MEV-resistant AMM. All reserves can now be converted between each other.

How to bridge USDC & EURC over to Verus

USDC and EURC are ERC-20 token stablecoins issued by Circle. Get them on Coinbase or other exchanges. On the Verus blockchain they are called vUSDC.vETH & EURC.vETH.

DAI DAI.vETH is readily available on the Verus network. Below are the ERC-20 token contracts for the tokens:

• USDC token contract
• EURC token contract
• DAI token contract

To be able to use those ERC-20 tokens to preconvert into Switch they need to be bridged to the Verus blockchain. The bridging is done through the non-custodial and trustless Verus-Ethereum Bridge. Bridging and preconverting can be done with Verus Mobile, Verus Desktop (full node) & MetaMask with the bridge website.

Verus Mobile bridging

Let’s start by bridging with Verus Mobile. First thing to do is to add the ERC-20s in Verus Mobile. This is how to do it:

• Press the plus-button bottom-right corner
• Press “Add ERC-20 Token”
• Select checkmark to “Find using mapped PBaaS currency”, and fill in eurc.veth, vusdc.veth or dai.veth. Then press Continue.
• Press OK when a warning screen pops up.

Now you are ready to receive USDC, EURC or DAI (as ERC-20s) on Verus Mobile.

Before bridging the tokens over to Verus let’s add the currencies on the Verus blockchain to the wallet:

• Press the plus-button bottom-right corner.
• Press “Add PBaaS currency”.
• Fill in eurc.veth, vusdc.veth or dai.veth and press continue.
• Press “ADD”.

Now we are ready to bridge the ERC-20s over to the Verus blockchain.

• Select the ERC-20 you want to bridge. (In the example we use EURC).
• Press “Send” and then “Convert or cross-chain”.
• Press “Send off-chain”.
• As the recipient address fill in a Verus address you own (R- or i-address, or VerusID).
• Fill in the amount you want to bridge over.
• Then as “Select network to send to” choose Verus
• Then as “Select currency to receive as” choose EURC.vETH

That’s it. It can take up to 90 minutes before the ERC-20 arrives as a currency on Verus.

Bridging with MetaMask

Let’s bridge with MetaMask and the Verus-Ethereum Bridge website:

• Connect MetaMask with this website: https://eth.verusbridge.io/
• Address: where you want the DAI, USDC or EURC to end up on the Verus blockchain (as DAI.vETH, vUSDC.vETH or EURC.vETH)
• Select token: [Euro Coin] as EURC.vETH, [0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48] as vUSDC.vETH or DAI.vETH
• Destination: select the same … on VRSC
• Choose the amount you want to bridge over
• It may take up to 90 minutes before the funds arrive on Verus

Convert DAI, USDC, EURC & VRSC with each other

Now that Switch is fully launched you can convert between VRSC, DAI.vETH, vUSDC.vETH and EURC.vETH. It’s now an AMM. Learn more on Verus DeFi here.

Convert with Verus Desktop or Verus Mobile.

Convert with Verus Desktop

On Verus Desktop click the “Convert Currencies”-button and then go to the “Advanced”-tab.

• Choose amount to send
• “From Currency”: fill in DAI.vETH , vUSDC.vETH, EURC.vETH, VRSC
• “To Currency”: fill in DAI.vETH , vUSDC.vETH, EURC.vETH, VRSC
• “Via Currency”: fill in Switch
• “Destination Address”: fill in a R-/i-address or VerusID where you want to receive the currency.
• Now click “Convert Currencies”, and that’s it! Wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will receive the amount.

If you want to convert to Switch:

• “To Currency”: to Switch
• Leave out “Via Currency”

Convert with Verus Mobile

• Press DAI.vETH , vUSDC.vETH, EURC.vETH, VRSC
• Press “Send” and then “Convert or cross-chain”
• Press “Convert currency”
• As the recipient address fill in a Verus address you own (R- or i-address, or VerusID) or self to receive it on the same address where you send it from.
• Fill in the amount you want to convert
• Then as “Select currency to convert to” choose what you want to convert it to.
• The network to send to is “current network” = Verus
• Now press “Send” and confirm, and that’s it! You now have to wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will see the currency in your wallet.

Join the crypto revolution with Verus & Switch

Switch is a unique currency used as a gateway to switch between stablecoins, launched on the Verus Protocol. Join the Verus Discord and explore what Verus has to offer. It is one of the most, if not the most, far ahead cryptocurrency protocols.

• Verus solves scalability by neither sacrificing decentralization or security
• The Verus-Ethereum Bridge is non-custodial & trustless
• Launch currencies (like Switch!) without any coding needed
• Launch fully interoperable, independent and customizable PBaaS-blockchains
• VerusID: self-sovereign identities
• Verus DeFi: simple, low-cost, MEV-resistant and without any middleman
• Verus is the protocol for builders: join the community at Consensus 2024

And so much more.

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus. Get ahead of the game.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Introducing Switch — The Gateway to Switch Between Stablecoins on Verus was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Pure is a decentralized currency fully backed by Verus (VRSC) & Bitcoin (tBTC). Hold Pure to be exposed to both Verus and Bitcoin while accruing fees from conversions. Or use it to convert from tBTC to VRSC and vice versa.

⏱️ Pure is launched on block: 2,975,703 (Sunday 24 March, 2024).

🔁 Convert tBTC & VRSC to Pure, or vice versa. Or use Pure as an AMM and convert tBTC & VRSC with each other.

❓ tBTC is BTC on the Ethereum network. Threshold.network supplies a decentralized bridge for users to bridge BTC to Ethereum. tBTC is also bridged to Verus (as tBTC.vETH).

⌨️ See the Pure statistics (protocol prices, amount in reserves) at Cryptodashboard or verus.trading. Or type in /pure in the #trading channel in the community Discord.

📚 Learn in this article how to convert tBTC & VRSC with each other, and how to convert to and from Pure. Also you learn how to bridge tBTC to the Verus network.

What is Pure?

Pure is a decentralized currency launched on the Verus blockchain. It is fully backed by its reserves: Verus (VRSC) and Bitcoin (tBTC), with a reserve ratio of 50/50%.

The currency is called Pure because it aligns with the true ideals of decentralization and transparency:

• Bitcoin and Verus are fully decentralized and controlled by its nodes and block producers. No single entity or company controls them. They are not a business — they are rent-free protocols.
• Bitcoin and Verus had fair launches. No ICO, no premine and no developer fees or taxes.
• Bitcoin and Verus have a limited supply.
• Bitcoin and Verus are censorship-resistant.

Hold Pure to be exposed to two decentralized cryptocurrencies upholding true cypherpunk values.

Pure is an AMM

Another benefit of holding Pure is that the currency accrues conversion fees. When users convert from Pure to VRSC or tBTC (or vice versa) they pay a conversion fee of 0.025%. When users convert between VRSC and tBTC they pay a conversion fee of 0.05%.

Half of those conversion fees (50%) stay in the Pure reserves, increasing the value of Pure since no new Pure is minted. The conversions are MEV-resistant and verified by the miners and stakers of the protocol. Learn more about Verus DeFi.

Conversions between VRSC and tBTC are only possible after the preconversion period has ended on Sunday 24 March, 2024.

Users can also create subIDs which cost 0.00021 tBTC.vETH (in Pure). These costs are burned reducing Pure in circulation. Learn more about VerusID and what you can do with it here. If users create an identity with your subID as referral, they pay 2/3 less — you get 1/3 and 1/3 is discounted.

Preconversion period before the launch of Pure

Before Pure was fully launched, there was an 8-day preconversion period. In that period users could fund the reserves of Pure with VRSC and tBTC. During this period no conversions could be done. Depending on how much they added they got their fair share of 20,000 Pure after the 8 day period.

The initial supply of Pure was 20,000. After the initial supply has been distributed by the protocol, the supply became dynamic. When users convert from VRSC or tBTC into Pure, Pure is minted. When people convert from Pure back to VRSC or tBTC, the Pure is burned.

Learn below how Pure was launched without any coding needed. Just a simple API call:

What is tBTC, how do I get it & bridge it to Verus?

tBTC is BTC on the Ethereum network. The decentralized bridge between Bitcoin and Ethereum is supplied by the Threshold Network.

Existing solutions that bridge Bitcoin to Ethereum require users to send their Bitcoin to an intermediary, in exchange for an ERC-20 token that represents the original asset. This centralized model requires you to trust a third party and is susceptible to censorship, threatening the premise of Bitcoin as sovereign, secure, permissionless digital asset.

The second generation of tBTC is a truly decentralized (and scalable) bridge between Bitcoin and Ethereum. It provides Bitcoin holders secure and open access to the broader DeFi ecosystem. tBTC v2 allows you to unlock your Bitcoin’s value to borrow and lend, mint stablecoins, provide liquidity, and much more.

Get tBTC on Kraken, Uniswap, Curve & others. Or mint it yourself

tBTC token address: https://etherscan.io/token/0x18084fba666a33d37592fa2633fd49a74dd93a88

You can send tBTC to your MetaMask wallet or Verus Mobile first, and later you have to bridge it to the Verus blockchain. Bridging is done through the non-custodial Verus-Ethereum Bridge

Adding tBTC ERC-20 to Verus Mobile

Here is a guide to add the tBTC ERC-20 to Verus Mobile:

• Press the plus-button bottom-right corner
• Press “Add ERC-20 Token”
• Select checkmark to “Find using mapped PBaaS currency”, and fill in “tbtc.veth”, then press Continue
• Press OK when a warning screen pops up.

You have added the tBTC ERC-20 in Verus Mobile and are now ready to receive it.

Bridging tBTC to the Verus blockchain

How to bridge the ERC-20 tBTC over to the Verus blockchain with the bridge website or with Verus Mobile.

Let’s start how to bridge with MetaMask and the Verus-Ethereum Bridge website:

• Connect MetaMask with this website: https://eth.verusbridge.io/
• Address: where you want the tBTC to end up on the Verus blockchain
• Token: select “[tBTC v2] as tBTC.vETH”
• Destination: select “[tBTC v2] as tBTC.vETH on VRSC”
• Choose the amount you want to bridge over
• If you use Verus Desktop don’t forget to add tBTC.vETH in the “Multiverse”-tab!

You can also bridge with Verus Mobile.

First let’s add tBTC.vETH to your Verus Mobile wallet:

• Press the plus-button bottom-right corner
• Press “Add PBaaS currency”
• Enter “tbtc.veth” and press continue
• Press “ADD”

Now let’s bridge the tBTC ERC-20 over to the Verus blockchain.

• Press tBTC v2
• Press “Send” and then “Convert or cross-chain”
• Press “Send off-chain”
• As the recipient address fill in a Verus address you own (R- or i-address, or VerusID)
• Fill in the amount you want to send
• Then as “Select network to send to” choose Verus
• Then as “Select currency to receive as” choose tBTC.vETH

Now you can safely bridge the tBTC over.

So now that you’ve bridged tBTC over to Verus either on Verus Mobile or Verus Desktop, you can convert it to VRSC or Pure

How do I convert to Pure?

Now that Pure is fully launched you can convert to it from VRSC or tBTC.vETH.

Convert with Verus Desktop or Verus Mobile.

Convert to Pure with Verus Desktop

On Verus Desktop click the “Convert Currencies”-button and then go to the “Advanced”-tab.

• Choose amount to send (in tBTC.vETH or VRSC)
• “From Currency”: fill in tBTC.vETH or VRSC
• “To Currency”: fill in Pure
• “Destination Address”: fill in a R-/i-address or VerusID where you want to receive Pure.
• Now click “Convert Currencies”, and that’s it! Wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will receive the Pure.
• If you want to go out of Pure, just change the “From Currency” to Pure and the “To Currency” to tBTC.vETH or VRSC

Convert to Pure with Verus Mobile

• Press tBTC.vETH or VRSC
• Press “Send” and then “Convert or cross-chain”
• Press “Convert currency”
• As the recipient address fill in a Verus address you own (R- or i-address, or VerusID) or self to receive it on the same address where you send it from.
• Fill in the amount you want to convert
• Then as “Select currency to convert to” choose Pure
• The network to send to is “current network” = Verus
• Now press “Send” and confirm, and that’s it! You now have to wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will see Pure in your wallet.

Convert VRSC and tBTC with each other

Use Pure as an AMM to convert VRSC and tBTC.vETH with each other. Learn more on Verus DeFi here.

Convert with Verus Desktop

On Verus Desktop click the “Convert Currencies”-button and then go to the “Advanced”-tab.

• Choose amount to send (in tBTC.vETH or VRSC)
• “From Currency”: fill in tBTC.vETH or VRSC
• “To Currency”: fill in tBTC.vETH or VRSC
• “Via Currency”: fill in Pure
• “Destination Address”: fill in a R-/i-address or VerusID where you want to receive the currency.
• Now click “Convert Currencies”, and that’s it! Wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will receive the amount.

Convert with Verus Mobile

• Press tBTC.vETH or VRSC
• Press “Send” and then “Convert or cross-chain”
• Press “Convert currency”
• As the recipient address fill in a Verus address you own (R- or i-address, or VerusID) or self to receive it on the same address where you send it from.
• Fill in the amount you want to convert
• Then as “Select currency to convert to” choose what you want to convert it to.
• The network to send to is “current network” = Verus
• Now press “Send” and confirm, and that’s it! You now have to wait between 1 and 5 blocks and you will see the currency in your wallet.

Join the crypto revolution with Verus & Pure

Pure is a unique currency backed fully by VRSC and tBTC, launched on the Verus Protocol. Join the Verus Discord and explore what Verus has to offer!

• Verus solves scalability by neither sacrificing decentralization or security
• The Verus-Ethereum Bridge is non-custodial & trustless
• Launch currencies (like Pure!) without any coding needed
• Launch fully interoperable, independent and customizable PBaaS-blockchains
• VerusID: self-sovereign identities
• Verus DeFi: simple, low-cost, MEV-resistant and without any middleman
• Verus is the protocol for builders: join the community at Consensus 2024

And so much more.

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus. Get ahead of the game.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Introducing Pure — The Currency 100% Backed by Verus & Bitcoin was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The blockchain trilemma is a classic idea that truly decentralized blockchains need to choose between security or scalability. Verus offers a different perspective and a new approach. Together we will come to the conclusion that the Verus Protocol solves scalability by neither sacrificing decentralization or security, effectively solving the trilemma.

A Closer Look at the Trilemma

Before we dive in, let’s examine the current perceived definition of the crypto trilemma: “You can’t have a scalable blockchain that is truly decentralized and thus secure” — it is said to achieve worldwide scalability a blockchain needs to be fast so it can process all the transactions for a large population (btw, this is a false premise, you can read about that later.) And to get a fast, high tps (transactions per second) blockchain it must compromise on decentralization and thus security.

Decentralization and security go hand-in-hand. A truly decentralized protocol (open to all, many validators) is secure because it is difficult to 51% attack such a protocol. If a blockchain is less decentralized (low number of validators, permissioned access) it could be 51% attacked (by external attackers or colluding validators), and transactions can be altered or reversed, completely undermining one of the goals of blockchain — censorship-resistance.

The trilemma is currently looked at from a single-chain standpoint. A false premise that does not scale to the world.

There is truth to the fact that it is very difficult to have a decentralized single blockchain that also has a high tps. The larger the number of validators the harder it is to find consensus among them all, which makes them slower, and makes it more difficult to get them to process large numbers of transactions. To get a high tps blockchain you would need to lower the number of validators so they can find consensus more easily, and raise the hardware requirements for running a node so they can process those transactions quicker too. Yet doing so compromises true decentralization. The lower the number of validators, the less decentralized, the less robust. And the higher the hardware requirements, the less accessible it is for people around the world, the less decentralized.

The trilemma is currently looked at from a single-chain standpoint. A false premise that does not scale to the world. We will show you how Verus offers a new and better approach.

Scalability Does NOT Mean High Tps

Transactions per second are nothing more than just a performance indicator — like GHz for computers.

Cryptocurrency protocols often boast about how fast their blockchains are (transactions per second) as an indicator of their scalability. Contrary to popular belief this is a false premise. Transactions per second are nothing more than just a performance indicator. Like how we use GHz (CPU clock speed) to indicate how fast a computer is, or an even better example — how fast servers are.

To bring the promise of crypto to billions of people around the globe let’s make a comparison with the Internet. The Internet does not run on one single server. All websites and applications that we use daily are not connected to one single server. The Internet has not been scaled to the world by constantly upgrading the one server to a faster one. It’s millions of servers that are servicing billions of people around the world. These millions of servers are perfectly connected, and completely interoperable so that using the Internet today is a seamless experience.

Now, with this perspective in mind, let’s get back to the current situation in crypto land. Most, if not all, crypto protocols are trying to service the world with their one single, monolithic blockchain. The monolithic blockchain becomes a central hub where all smart contracts and applications revolve around. When they notice that it doesn’t scale (the transaction fees start ramping up) the industry comes up with solutions that heavily compromise on decentralization and security (e.g. L2s, semi-centralized protocols, master nodes). This is not the answer.

Instead of acknowledging that the Internet today is a giant, interconnected multi-server world where all applications and websites are seamlessly connected, most of the crypto industry thinks we live in a single server (single blockchain) world.

Verus acknowledged that to realize the promise of cryptocurrency and blockchain, it needed to scale for billions of people around the globe and thus it needed to embrace a multi-server, multi-chain world. And that is exactly what the Verus Protocol does today. Without sacrificing decentralization and security.

Unlimited in Scale

Before we start explaining how Verus is truly decentralized and secure, let’s start with how Verus embraces the multi-chain world and delivers unlimited scalability.

Most, if not all, current blockchain protocols argue that to have low transaction fees they must achieve higher transactions per second. They try to scale up — increasing the performance of their monolithic blockchains. This only gets them so far. At some point, they will bottleneck again, and in the process, they compromise on decentralization and security.

Verus offers a new approach, one in which each organization or business can launch its own highly capable, rent-free, no-coding-required blockchain. It’s called Verus PBaaS (Public Blockchains as a Service). These PBaaS-chains are fully independent, can be customized to the organization’s need, inherit all the same features as the Verus blockchain, and most importantly are fully interconnected and interoperable with the complete network and other bridged protocols (e.g. Ethereum). A single PBaaS-chain can do between 75 and 800 tps depending on the options chosen.

There is no upper limit to deploying PBaaS-chains. Just like there is no upper limit to servers being deployed. When we reach a bandwidth limit we don’t go out upgrading our single server, we put another server next to it to spread out the usage. The same thing is here, reaching unlimited scalability.

Of course, this only works when those PBaaS-chains are fully interoperable and interconnected, which they are — in a provable, trustless and decentralized way. There is no centralized entity sitting in between the PBaaS-chains regulating everything.

Cross-chain transactions and conversions, cross-chain bridging of identities (VerusID), tokens and basket currencies, even Ethereum (& ERC20/ERC721/ERC1155) — it’s all built into the consensus mechanism, trustlessly bridged over by the decentralized network of miners and stakers only. This is all on mainnet now, for everyone to use.

We can conclude that Verus is scalable to billions of people around the world with the unlimited deployment of PBaaS-chains. But does it compromise on decentralization and thus security? Let’s dive into it.

Built to be Decentralized

There are a few things at play here that work in harmony to achieve decentralization and security — Verus Proof of Power (the hybrid 50% proof-of-work, 50% proof-of-stake consensus mechanism), merge-mining and the Fee Pool.

Verus had no ICO, had no premine and had and has no developer fee or tax.

Before we jump into the above let’s acknowledge some facts that are pivotal to being a true decentralized protocol, to being credibly neutral. Just like Bitcoin before, Verus had no ICO, had no premine and had and has no developer fee or tax. Verus is not a company or a business. Verus is rent-free and all protocol fees go to the block producers. These facts are super important to incentivize decentralization and to be a credibly neutral protocol in the eyes of the world.

A Hybrid Consensus Mechanism

Now let’s unpack Verus Proof of Power, the consensus mechanism of the Verus blockchain, and all PBaaS-chains. It’s a hybrid of 50% proof-of-work and 50% proof-of-stake, and it’s a provable solution to 51% hash attacks. Out of the 1440 daily blocks (on Verus, and when a PBaaS-chain opts for 1-minute block times), half is solved by mining and half by staking.

VerusHash, the proof-of-work mechanism which disincentivizes ASIC & FPGA development, and favors CPUs, mobile phones and ARM-devices for mining. Mining with mobile phones and for example, Orange Pi 5’s are the most cost-efficient way to do it. This proves a significant leap towards a more inclusive mining environment. It’s accessible to everyone and thus creates a naturally decentralized protocol.

Additionally, to give even more power to miners, they can merge-mine up to 22 PBaaS-chains simultaneously without sacrificing their original hashing power. This dramatically increases efficiency and network security. So, when considering an unlimited number of PBaaS-chains on the network, each miner can choose up to 22 to mine. They can choose for profitability, or choose the ones they want to support.

This approach to mining is environmentally conscious. The protocol’s design allows for low-power devices to mine extremely efficiently. It lowers the entry barrier for participation in blockchain validation, especially in low-income countries, yet can also give life to phones that are old or with broken screens. Thus significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with traditional PoW mining.

Then we have the proof-of-stake part of the consensus mechanism. This one is really simple and powerful. Anyone can run a node and start staking. There is no minimum amount of VRSC needed (pretty unique in the world of PoS). Verus solved the “nothing-at-stake”-problem therefore there is no slashing of funds. Funds staking are never locked and running a node can be done with something as cheap as a Raspberry Pi 4. All-in-all proving yet again that Verus is accessible to everyone, creating a naturally decentralized protocol.

We can conclude that Verus is truly a decentralized protocol, naturally emerging from its extremely low-barrier mining and staking. So what does that mean for security?

Protocol Security at Another Level

Seeing as the Verus Protocol is naturally decentralized and provable 51% hash attack resistant, it’s extremely secure. PBaaS-chains take these properties with them as they have the same consensus mechanism, and the Verus miners can choose up to 21 of them to merge-mine. It’s fair to say that there is no compromise on security given the scalability of the protocol.

Verus Introduces the Fee Pool

Let’s first explain the fees the protocol generates for the miners and stakers:

• PBaaS-chain launches: 10,000 VRSC (5,000 for the block producers of Verus, 5,000 for the block producers of the newly launched chain)
• Currency launches (tokens, basket currencies, liquidity pools, ERC-20 mapped currencies): 200 VRSC
• VerusID registrations: 100, 80, 60, 40 or 20 VRSC
• subID registrations: 0.02 VRSC
• DeFi conversion fees: min. 0.0125%, max. 0.025%
• Transaction fees: 0.0001 VRSC

Builders and users pay these protocol fees for their operations and the fees are directed into the Fee Pool. Then, for each new block, 1% of the Fee Pool is added on top of the regular coinbase reward (currently 6 VRSC).

The Fee Pool is introduced as a security measure to keep the protocol stable. We have seen in other blockchain protocols that when a block has large fees, block producers try to “snipe” the block (putting lots of hash onto the network, then pulling it out of the network, or even trying to reorder the blocks for their own gain). In doing so they destabilize the protocol. Verus mitigates this behavior by spreading the extra fees over many blocks.

Smart Contracts Are Not Secure

Most blockchain protocols use the VM-based application model — smart contracts written with Solidity. It’s full of smart contract hacks and bugs and has insecure and phishing-prone wallet approval mechanisms. On top of that MEV (maximum extractable value) is rampant, due to the serial processing of transactions on the VM-model (it’s easy for a block producer to reorder transactions inside a block for their own gain). We can honestly say that the VM-model is not secure.

The Verus approach is different as it follows the fundamental systems design principle — the most important security layers should be located in the protocol itself, and not coded on top via L2 (smart contracts). All operations on Verus and PBaaS-chains are directly connected to consensus, secured by the miners and stakers of the protocol.

Now you might ask yourself “But can we build dApps that are as capable as building them with the VM-model?”. The answer is yes. Developing dApps with Verus is much more straightforward than building to a VM-based application model and results in inherently more capable, secure and scalable solutions.

Does Verus Solve the Blockchain Trilemma?

A fair question. And hopefully we answered with enough detail. The answer is “yes!”.

Let’s summarize. Verus does not compromise on decentralization and security to reach unlimited scalability. Unlimited scalability is reached by scaling out, not scaling up. It is the equivalent not of upgrading your server but of putting an extra server next to it to spread the bandwidth around.

Decentralization is achieved by making mining and staking accessible for everyone through extremely low hardware requirements. This naturally creates a large number of miners and nodes (stakers), making the network robust against attacks of all sorts.

High security is not only reached through the decentralized nature of the network but also because of the Fee Pool and the fact that all operations are directly connected to consensus and thus the miners and stakers.

Now is the Time to Build with Verus

Without having to rely on smart contracts, builders can develop dApps that are even more powerful, secure and scalable. Builders can use the no-coding-required API commands, together with VerusID and its VDXF (Verus Data Exchange Format) as a controlled public storage system with multiple levels of nesting to create dApps of any kind.

The foundation has been laid for a true Internet of Value. Verus urges all builders to join the community on Discord and to get familiar with the cutting-edge blockchain technology. Go build your project with Verus without having to learn a new programming language. It’s here, it’s ready, all live on mainnet.

Find Verus at Consensus 2024, May 29–31, Austin, USA. The community is happy to inform you on the dApp building opportunities! Read more here: Consensus 2024 — Verus Showcases Fully Completed PBaaS Blockchain Technology

Try Yourself! ✅

Look up the complete command list here. Go to docs.verus.io to get guidance on API commands (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Scalability, Decentralization & Security — What Trilemma? was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Verus showcases its fully completed Public Blockchain as a Service (PBaaS) technology at Consensus 2024, May 29–31, Austin, USA (booth 1245). The global event for cryptocurrency and blockchain innovations this year. Here, tens of thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts gather to explore the newest advancements in the industry.

The L0/1 Verus Protocol Solves Major Issues with Ethereum and Other VM-centric Networks

Developing dApps with Verus is much more straightforward than building to a VM-based application model and results in inherently more capable, secure and scalable solutions. The Verus Protocol solves issues with gas fees, enables unlimited scale, is not vulnerable to smart contract hacks and bugs, addresses MEV at the protocol level, provides an identity model (VerusID) that applications can leverage and profit from, includes provable cross-chain and multichain support, does away with insecure and phishing-prone wallet approval mechanisms, and does not require expensive Solidity developers for applications, unless they must also have an Ethereum component to them.

All these issues are solved with the L0/1 Verus Protocol. Verus does not use smart contracts — it uses smart transactions. Verus smart transactions [read more] are much easier to use (no programming needed) in practice to achieve most capabilities, if not all, compared to VM-protocols that use smart contracts. Yet Verus is still fully interoperable with Ethereum through the non-custodial, trustless and decentralized Verus-Ethereum Bridge with liquidity pool currency [more on the Bridge].

Showcasing Verus App-Development Opportunities at Consensus 2024

Get ready for a new era of decentralized application development. Unlike today’s complex smart contract applications, requiring VM-based smart contracts that talk to user facing applications through server-side APIs and phishing-prone web-interfaces using public key hashes or rented names as identity, the Verus network is a Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 0 (L0) protocol with composable and powerful multi-chain core primitives, including identities, currencies, MEV-resistant liquidity baskets, updateable, even transferable ID-bound databases that can comprise NFTs and real world assets, all on a 100% fully decentralized, unlimited scale backbone, secured by the 50% proof-of-stake / 50% proof-of-work, 51% hash attack resistant Verus Proof of Power (PoP) consensus and accessible securely from mobile clients or cloud-based web-applications.

Build applications in your favorite framework for clients and access the Verus network either through QR-codes and deep-links to a client-side wallet under user control or talk directly to data-indexed, blockchain nodes, capable of providing fast access to an unlimited number of user identities and their unlimited Verus Data Exchange Format (VDXF) indexable key-value database providing provable, optionally private, worldwide resolvable data at unlimited scale over an unlimited number of blockchains. All of this power, including inherent eCommerce and markets of all types are usable by applications, and unlike yesterday’s Internet, application-owned data stays under application control, while user-owned data remains under user control and subject to voluntary, provable disclosure, protected by zero knowledge privacy, as it should always have been.

Write applications your way, your client frameworks, your languages, with links and RPC calls to the decentralized Internet of Value. Connect through one or more blockchains. Use, create, sell, and provision your application’s permanent IDs for secure login, KYC, commerce, and provable data at scale, all on the rent-free, credibly neutral and fully decentralized Internet of Value.

Builders of applications, organizations, and businesses can use the Verus Protocol to provision IDs, manage and interact with users and user state at any scale, launch currencies (e.g. tokens, liquidity baskets [see docs]), even fully interoperable, independent, customizable worldwide blockchains with their own economics and fee structure, while sharing mining and economic power across the entire Verus Protocol network of unlimited PBaaS chains. All currencies, whether native currencies of a new blockchain, easily created and minted tokens, or MEV-resistant liquidity baskets are easy to launch and access with the protocol on Verus or any connected PBaaS chain. All of them, from the moment they are launched can be exported to Ethereum as ERC20s [see docs] or ERC721 currencies or any chain across the Verus ecosystem. All currencies on the network, including tokens, cross-chain currencies, and even liquidity baskets and their supplies are secured by miners and stakers according to protocol rules. On other blockchain networks, this level of security is applied to single native currencies, on Verus, all currencies on a chain are primitives known to and accounted for by the protocol, eliminating entire classes of smart contract risks that result when every contract reinvents a new way to account for its currency but has no systemic control.

With Verus, currencies are compatible with ERC20s. Verus applications can leverage, but do not require Solidity developers or VM-based programming. Additionally all ERC-20s can be permissionlessly bridged over from Ethereum to Verus [see docs], giving users and application builders the freedom to switch seamlessly between the Verus and Ethereum networks.

All currencies on the Verus network (also the ones bridged over from Ethereum) can be used with Verus DeFi, another primitive inherent to the protocol. Verus DeFi enables liquidity baskets of up to 10 underlying reserve currencies and can serve as a unique, self-balancing, MEV-resistant portfolio, a permissionless or permissioned ID registrar where fees go to the LPs of the basket, or an easy way to send from any reserve currency or the basket currency itself to any other without worrying about block builder reordering or MEV, as all conversions of a liquidity basket in any direction that are processed within one or more blocks are always solved simultaneously, no front and not back. Every conversion gets the same price in each direction with no spread and an ultra low fee (max. 0.05%), again, all part of the L1 consensus.

Whether you plan to build eCommerce enabled supply chains, massively scalable ownership-based games, real world asset eCommerce enabled networks, voting systems, identity management networks, communication networks, financial networks, 3D metaverses with identities, brands, and ownership or just about any application for a better Web3 on the Internet of Value, you’ll be left behind if you don’t deep dive on Verus first.

Join us in the next crypto revolution. Verus, with truth and privacy for all!

Come to the Verus booth on May 29–31 at Consensus 2024. The worldwide community is happy to get you started with a free VerusID, the easy to use Verus Mobile or any of the wide range of protocol features.

Amazing Verus Community

The Verus community united to facilitate participation at Consensus 2024 by generously contributing VRSC, ETH, DAI, MKR, Bridge.vETH and BTC. A heartfelt thank you to all the contributors! ❤️

The Verus community used the funds to secure a two-block booth at Consensus, along with other facilities that we can not disclose yet.

Numerous members of the Verus community are participating in Consensus 2024, and we invite you to be a part of it too! Let’s create a significant presence and showcase to the world the wide range of capabilities of Verus. We’re excited and believe that it will be an excellent opportunity for the growth and exposure of the Verus ecosystem!

Please consider donating for the Consensus 2024 effort to make it even more unforgettable.

BTC:

1JrgohmxB618J13bDF1V71STavrqeqghSU

ETH (& tokens):

0xdC415012eA218402E58E0221E4F8EA1544973A63

VRSC (or DAI.vETH, MKR.vETH, vETH, Bridge.vETH, or any other convertible currency on the Verus network):

Consensus2024@

Grab your ticket here. ⚠️ Get a 20% discount on your Consensus 2024 ticket if you use the “VERUSC24” code.

Try Yourself! ✅

Look up the complete command list here. Or look up docs.verus.io to use many API commands (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Consensus 2024 — Verus Showcases Fully Completed PBaaS Blockchain Technology was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

COPY FROM BELOW THIS LINE TO VERIFY SIGNATURE BELOW

One of the first and most important things to announce is that no funds on the Verus network or in Verus wallets were compromised due to this attack, as they were not subject to the vulnerabilities this hacker group exploited. We hope that the hackers were unable to fool anyone into giving up the funds from their Metamask or other Web wallets and that the criminals’ efforts resulted in a negative return.

This should be a cautionary tale for any communities using Discord, and we will detail what we experienced, in hopes that it might prevent another Discord community from experiencing the same or similar issues. The hackers used a Discord session hijack vulnerability that is currently in use across some notorious hacking groups along with social engineering to inflict significant damage on the Discord server where the Verus community spends much of its time when coordinating. These attacks had no effect on the Verus network, and although the hackers did get control of the Discord server, they did not need to get full control or credentials for any account to inflict their damage on the Discord server. We believe the attack could easily have been cut short immediately if Discord could improve their false positive account disablement as well as their response time to critical support requests.

What we have determined so far:

1. The group targeted me and worked to establish trust as journalists for weeks, always persistent, never pushy. After working with me on an article, where I contributed the following content (Verus Article from Hack).

2. After they said they had completed their article, they worked for 2 days on getting me to accept a content release form, even rewriting it after I refused to agree to their first version.

3. Once they rewrote it, I clicked a link from their Discord server, and although they weren’t able to get login credentials, they exploited a session hijack link, and immediately went to work.

4. After they had my account, which had setup the Discord server so many years ago, under their control, they kicked off all admins, installed their own admins, and did something that Discord would have to help explain that got Discord to instantly ban my account, the only one besides Discord that could have kicked them off.

5. Since then, they started announcing scam links, claiming fraudulent giveaways with Ethereum tokens backed by Verus on websites that if someone with a Metamask or similar wallet engages with, there is a risk of taking assets from them on Ethereum or possibly other networks, not Verus.

6. We still have not heard from or gotten help from Discord Support since this event began, except that they banned my account, and to our knowledge the scammers are still in the old Verus Discord server attempting to scam an ever dwindling group of members who haven’t left by now.

7. If you know anyone in the old Discord, please inform them to leave the Discord asap and not engage in any of the announcements, as they are made by impersonators, while people trying to warn are banned and the original admins are locked out of the server.

8. My old Discord ID is now disabled by Discord, and I no longer have access to our conversations. My new account is miketout.vrsc (this ID), which is not the owner of this Discord, and we have implemented a set of processes for all Discord admins to prevent any such event from occurring again.

Since the Verus Community is much more than a Discord Server, though we still haven’t found a more suitable engagement platform for the way the community works, a number of people have worked to create and secure a new community Discord Server, and we welcome all Verus Community members and well meaning interested people to join.

Though we are still hoping to have a conversation with Discord about the hack and how they could improve their security to prevent this for all of their user communities in the future, we have taken steps independently to harden the Verus Discord community in a way that would prevent such an attack in the future, even if the link click session hijack exploit is not resolved. We also have even better security thoughts for the future around leveraging VerusID in easy, meaningful ways. If you have experience writing Discord bots and especially secure servers, please get in touch. Until then, we hope you will rejoin or join the Verus Community’s Discord server and the worldwide, unlimited scale, fully decentralized blockchain protocol conversation.

Get an invite for the new Verus Discord Community Server: https://verus.io/discord

COPY UNTIL THE END OF THE LINE ABOVE THIS ONE

This article is signed by my ID, mike@ on the Verus network with the following signature:

AX8OKwABQSBhYU0ShQsu6LSRVay8IY7avMhoy3ub8jhznZnlhD5nGRE4h4U5MEWiPg+DXGJRSXd3bWou5TfNHn/zEPfbMA7d

(if you are using Safari or possibly another browser, you may need this signature, as the copy comes out a bit different):

AZAOKwABQSCaekvVN3CBbneot9AHby8S0+YCYevJDSfps3iaML8BF0j9PMdO/37JYxHbuDy/R11hWe9tCI5AInjppcQhQ3hD

You can verify my signature on any Verus node or lite mode API, by copying the article between the instructions above and entering the ID as mike@ and the signature above to check. You can also use this interface on the Verus website to verify:

Verify Signed Files, Messages and Hashes

Discord’s Session Hijack Vulnerability and Verus Community’s Response was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

First I recommend to read: Bridging Done Right — Verus-Ethereum Bridge Launches Now!

✅ We will show you:

1. How-to bridge ETH, DAI & MKR over to Verus
2. How-to enable vETH, DAI.vETH & MKR.vETH on Verus Desktop & Verus Mobile
3. How-to preconvert into Bridge.vETH with Verus Desktop & Verus Mobile

• Download the latest Verus Desktop or Verus Mobile (iOS App Store or Android Play Store)
• If on Verus Desktop make sure you are on native mode and fully synced. (And remember to always backup your wallet.dat file!)
• Visit the Verus-Ethereum Bridge website here: https://eth.verusbridge.io/

Bridging ETH, DAI & MKR over to Verus

First thing we need to do, before we can preconvert, is to bridge over. To bridge ETH, DAI or MKR over you need to visit the bridge website here.

Then connect your Metamask or WalletConnect wallet. Follow the steps they give you.

Then fill in the address (R- or i-address) you want the bridged ETH, DAI or MKR to end up.

Then choose what you want to bridge over (ETH, DAI, MKR or VRSC). And then the destination. After that choose the amount and click send.

Metamask or WalletConnect will guide you through the next steps. ⚠️ It can take up to 45 minutes before your bridged ETH, DAI or MKR arrives on the Verus blockchain and in your wallet.

⛽ Also, the gas fee calculation is quite high, it could be that you pay a lot less, but this is never a guarantee.

Getting Verus Desktop to show vETH, DAI.vETH & MKR.vETH

Now that you have sent over ETH, DAI or MKR to your R- or i-address, we need to make sure you can actually see them in Verus Desktop.

Go to the “Multiverse”-tab, click on Verus on the left. You can see that Bridge.vETH, DAI.vETH, MKR.vETH & vETH or not “added” yet. Click on one of the currencies.

When clicking on one of the currencies you can see a button “Add Currency”. Click on it, and do it for all if you want.

You can now go back to the “Wallet”-tab.

You can now see the added currencies in the dropdown in your Wallet-tab (when Verus is selected).

Getting Verus Mobile to show vETH, DAI.vETH & MKR.vETH

For this step we assume you already have the wallet installed and are ready to go. Now that you have sent over ETH, DAI or MKR to your R- or i-address, we need to make sure you can actually see them in Verus Mobile.

Click on the big plus button in the right bottom corner. Then click “Add PBaaS Currency”.

Then you can type in vETH (or DAI.vETH, MKR.vETH depending on what you want to add). (not capital sensitive). Btw, you can also already add Bridge.vETH.

Follow the steps and the currency will be added to your main screen.

Preconverting to Bridge.vETH

Verus Desktop

To actually start preconverting currencies to Bridge.vETH click on “Convert Currencies”.

Now go to “Advanced”.

You only need to fill in the highlighted parts of the form. See below:

• Amount: how much of vETH, DAI.vETH or MKR.vETH you want to convert to Bridge.vETH
• From Currency: Fill in vETH, DAI.vETH or MKR.vETH (not case sensitive)
• To Currency: Fill in Bridge.vETH (not case sensitive)
• Destination Address: Fill in where you want to receive the Bridge.vETH (on Fri 20 Oct). Can be a R-address, i-address or VerusID.
• Send as pre-convert: Check this
• Refund Address: Sometimes a currency has a minimum or maximum amount to preconvert before it launches. For example, when the minimum preconversion amount is not met, and thus the currency not launched, you will receive your funds back. In this case there isn’t a minimum or maximum but you still need to fill it in. Can be the same as your Destination Address.

Now click on “Convert Currencies” and confirm the transaction. You have now preconverted funds into Bridge.vETH!

Verus Mobile

Now we want to preconvert currencies (vETH, DAI.vETH, MKR.vETH) into Bridge.vETH.

Click on the currency you want to preconvert into Bridge.vETH. Go to the correct tab where you have the currency stored. Click “Send”, then “Convert or Cross-chain”, then click “Pre-convert”.

• Recipient address: This is the address where you will receive the Bridge.vETH, you can click on “self”, or choose something else.
• Amount: choose the amount of the currency you want to convert into Bridge.vETH.
• Currency to convert to: Fill in Bridge.vETH (not case sensitive)

Then click send and follow the steps. You have now preconverted currencies into Bridge.vETH!

On Friday 20 Oct you will receive an amount of the 100,000 initial supply of Bridge.vETH in your destination address.

You can always check verus.io/eth-bridge for statistics on Bridge.vETH

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build.

👉 Connect to the bridge

Verus-Ethereum Bridge webpage

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

How-to Participate in the Verus-Ethereum Bridge Launch was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Verus-Ethereum Bridge is the first non-custodial and trustless bridge in the industry, and where the accounting of funds is proven and verified by consensus. And you can participate in its launch right now!

⏱️ Verus-Ethereum Bridge launch: block height 2,758,800 (Fri 20 Oct, 2023).

✅ Start preconverting to the bridge currency Bridge.vETH (with an initial supply of 100,000) NOW for a 10 day period. 👉 Connect to the bridge

👀 The first ever truly non-custodial, trustless and consensus proven cryptocurrency bridge. 👉 More here: https://docs.verus.io/eth-bridge/

How it Works

You can already start to preconvert VRSC, ETH, DAI and MKR into Bridge.vETH.

1. Bridge ETH, DAI and MKR over to the Verus network. 👉 Go to the bridge website How-to guide for bridging & preconversion
2. Preconvert vETH (ETH), DAI.vETH (DAI), MKR.vETH (MKR) or VRSC into Bridge.vETH.
3. See Bridge.vETH statistics on verus.io/eth-bridge

When the bridge currency launches on 20 Oct the initial supply of 100,000 will be distributed by the protocol among all preconverters.

If you move ETH, DAI and MKR over to the Verus blockchain before the bridge is launched your cross-chain fees are subsidized. Around 5000 VRSC is used to subsidize the fees on the Verus side. When the bridge currency gets launched, the VRSC that is left will be put into the reserves.

Dynamic Supply

The Bridge.vETH supply is dynamic (after the preconversion has finished and the bridge currency is launched). The currency gets minted when people convert to it from VRSC, vETH, DAI.vETH and MKR.vETH, or gets burned when people convert out of it.

Worth noting: Verus DeFi is MEV-resistant. There is no front/back-running since all conversions are simultaneously solved within a block. More details on docs.verus.io

The Bridge.vETH currency function is to make the bridging of assets simple. From wherever you send it converts the fees that you need seamlessly.

The Bridge Accrues Fees

The bridge currency accrues fees with the cross-chain functions, conversions and .vETH VerusID registrations, making it more valuable the more it’s used.

Dai holders get 5% interest (at the time of writing, the rate is subject to change by MakerDAO) automatically when holding in the DSR (Dai Savings Rate) contract. DAI in Bridge.vETH and in the complete Verus ecosystem get this savings rate. The DSR is being passed through 100% to the DAI reserves of Bridge.vETH.

Use the Bridge

After Bridge.vETH is launched and the initial supply is distributed you can now use the bridge as follows:

• Convert into any direction after the currency is launched and out of preconversion mode.
• Export launched currencies on Verus as an ERC-20. 👉 Learn how
• Launch currencies on Verus that are 1:1 mapped to any ERC-20. 👉 Learn how
• Send currencies, tokens and liquidity pools cross-chain.
• Send ERC-721 & ERC-1155 NFTs to Verus, and export tokenized ID currencies from Verus to Ethereum as ERC-721 & ERC-1155.

Present Issues with Existing Cryptocurrency Bridges

Let’s first delve into the challenges associated with the prevailing cryptocurrency bridges in the industry.

• The custody of bridged assets is typically maintained by a single or a small number of addresses, effectively creating a central authority for holding the funds, which contradicts the decentralized nature of blockchain.
• The smart contracts that secure these bridged assets can be readily modified by a singular or limited number of authorities, thus presenting potential security issues.
• Smart contracts might contain bugs or malicious codes, making them susceptible to exploitation and undermining the safety of the bridged assets, especially if those assets are not accounted for by the block producers.

These problems have been demonstrated by numerous bridge hacks that have occurred and are likely to continue in the future. Verus does things, yet again, very different.

Why the Verus-Ethereum Bridge is Different

The Verus-Ethereum Bridge is different because the assets are never in anyone’s custody. This is done through the seamless cooperation between the block producers, community notary witnesses, the Bridgekeeper software and the Ethereum smart contract. At each step during cross-chain transactions the assets are verified and proven by consensus rules, with safeguards in place to prevent hacks.

Every 10 blocks validators create a notarization. They create these digital receipts for both Verus and Ethereum. The digital receipts, called “notarizations’’, contain, among other things: the “stateroot” (Merkle Mountain Range for Verus, Merkle Patricia Trie for Ethereum), the blockheight, blockhash and the gas price for Ethereum. The notarizations have to be agreed to by the block producers (miners and stakers) and are then mined into the Verus blockchain.

👉 Read more here on how the Verus Protocol handles cross-chain communication (PBaaS-chains and more) in a decentralized and provable way.

Safeguards Against Bridge Hacks

Threats caused by malicious notary witnesses, or stolen keys to drain funds are not viable against the Verus-Ethereum bridge. To successfully mount an attack on the bridge, if a majority of witnesses were colluding or got their private keys stolen the following would need to happen:

1. Colluding, malicious witnesses.
2. Fake block producers with more combined hash and stake power than the publicly validated Verus blockchain.
3. Developers helping them by creating an alternate protocol for the shadow chain.

These requirements are very close to the requirements of attacking any blockchain. The bridge even provides a way to defend against such an unlikely scenario.

The notary witnesses are also monitoring notarizations, and if they were to sign for something that they themselves do not agree with, they can auto-revoke their identities, using the VerusID protocol, which cannot be stopped by an attacker unless they have stolen both the keys for the notary ID and those for its revocation ID as well. This serves as a prevention for stolen key attacks, ensuring that notaries are extremely hard targets to compromise.

Bridgekeeper

The two blockchains, Verus and Ethereum, are fundamentally different from each other, but still need to be able to communicate. A translator is needed. This translator is a program called Bridgekeeper. Notary witnesses have to run the program. Miners and stakers are also encouraged to run it, and for doing so they receive fees.

Bridgekeeper for CLI / How to become a Bridgekeeper — video

Verus ➡️ Ethereum

Let’s consider a scenario where a user wants to move or convert assets from Verus to Ethereum. This transaction gets recorded on the Verus blockchain. When there are enough, or a certain time period has passed, these cross-chain transactions are rolled up into something called a ‘CCE’ (cross-chain export). This CCE is then added to a block by a miner or staker and they are rewarded a fee for doing so. The CCE is now officially part of the blockchain, and is linked to the “stateroot” (Merkle Mountain Range, which is an unchangeable overall summary of the blockchain at that block, and anything preceding it).

Meanwhile, as the transactions (CCE) are being mined (or staked) in, the notarizations are also being mined or staked in, confirmed by miners and stakers, and only then, signed by the notary witnesses. The notarizations can occur as often as every 10 blocks, depending on how many miners and stakers are running Bridgekeeper. Before a notarization is used as proof, it has to be on the blockchain for 10 blocks, confirmed by another notarization, and also signed by at least 8 of 15 notary witnesses worldwide.

Then when the notarization is confirmed on Verus, it’s sent over to Ethereum and becomes pending on Ethereum. Once confirmed on Ethereum by receiving another notarization, the transactions (CCE) in that block are sent over to the Ethereum smart contract, along with the Merkle Mountain Range proof. If valid the assets are sent to the users Ethereum wallet.

Anyone can roll up the transactions into a CCE and mine it in to get a reward, but also the notary witnesses paying the ETH fees to send it to Ethereum get a share of the fees to subsidize their transaction costs.

If there is no traffic from Verus to Ethereum, the notarizations are continued to be mined in on Verus but do not need to be sent to Ethereum, so when the traffic is light, there is minimal cost.

Ethereum ➡️ Verus

The above part explains going from Verus to Ethereum, but the other way around is actually a little bit different. It is not the notary witnesses that send the group of transactions over, but any miner and staker can, and thus also get part of the fees.

Notarizations made on Verus always contain a stateroot from Ethereum that is a minimum of 30 blocks old (blocks on Ethereum take ~15 seconds) to make sure it is stable. Then after Verus has confirmed the notarization with a new one, Verus can accept transactions (CCE) from Ethereum, along with the Ethereum Merkle Patricia Trie proof that relates to the new confirmed data.

A Giant Leap Forward

The delayed sending of transactions is an important security mechanism that is not present in any other cross-chain bridge. To recap: before any real transactions happen, the Verus network sends proofs to the Ethereum network and vice versa. These proofs are checked and agreed upon by everyone in the network. Only then the actual moving of assets happens. Because of this delayed system, no single entity ever gets control over the assets. Also there are safeguards in place for the community notaries that protect users from hacks.

This system is decentralized, which means it’s controlled by everyone participating in the network, rather than a single central authority. It’s a giant leap forward for the entire cryptocurrency industry, and everyone can be a part of it!

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build.

👉 Connect to the bridge

Verus-Ethereum Bridge webpage

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Try Yourself! ✅

Look up docs.verus.io to use many API commands (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Or look up the complete command list here.

Bridging Done Right — Verus-Ethereum Bridge Launches Now! was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.