Development
There is also a private GitHub repository.
- Happy New Year — Development Update — By Shift Team in Newsletter on January 2nd, 2019:
Completed Tasks:
- Add endpoint for calcLockedBytes()
An endpoint is the API address used by frontend elements (in our case the client wallet) to request certain information from the backend. Adding this endpoint, used by the client software to establish the number of bytes locked by an account, is essential in the creation and verification of valid UNLOCK, PIN and UNPIN transactions at the client level.
- Create a verifyPin endpoint
This function is used by Phoenix to confirm that a PIN transaction has been successfully recorded on the blockchain. It requires two parameters, the asset’s size in bytes (asset_size) and the asset’s hash (asset_hash), the alphanumeric string used to point to the file in its entirety.
- Write cluster statistics to mem_tables by block interval
In order to process a LOCK transaction, the network needs to have the information required to complete the pricing formula embedded within that transaction. This data must therefore be gathered from the cluster at regular intervals. The team has set up the system so that this occurs every ten blocks (nine times per delegate round), at which time the blockchain nodes will call the /TotalStorage endpoint of Phoenix. The value for total_storage (in bytes) will then be stored in a memory table (mem_cluster_stats) present in all blockchain nodes so that the data is always up-to-date.
- Take the mode average of cluster statistics
In order to avoid storing raw data on the blockchain every block (which could be liable to inaccuracies), the mode average of the last nine snapshots for total_storage from the mem_cluster_stats table will be taken. These nine values for total_storage will be sorted from small to large, and, subsequently, the fifth (middlemost) number of that queue will be taken. Use of the mode average is beneficial as it negates the necessity of recording outliers within the cluster statistics entries.
Remaining Tasks:
- Add cluster snapshot columns to the blocks table and persist them every time a block is forged
Every time a block is forged, the mode average of the last nine snapshots for total_storage is recorded in a new column of the blocks table. These values will eventually be processed during LOCK verification and used as the Y-value (the total supply of the platform’s storage capacity expressed in bytes) of the pricing formula, in order to determine the amount of SHIFT tokens required to acquire any given amount of storage capacity. This block processing is thus essential in allowing the ‘price’ to be determined dynamically.
- Establish an acceptable tolerance mechanism for cluster statistics during block forging
The team intend establishing a mechanism where, when the 100 witnesses (forging delegates) verify the block broadcast by the forger, they ensure that the mode averaged value for total_storage is in a specific degree of tolerance with their own value (10% configurable). If this is not so, they will automatically reject the block that contains a value for total_storage that doesn’t fall within this acceptable level. This is in order to establish consensus between forging delegates and to prevent the chain from forking.
Forging delegates will obtain the cluster statistics from different storage peers (the process is randomized and thus decentralized). This means that even though the raw data is mode averaged, it could still happen that the mode averaged value for total_storage in the same block differs among the forging delegates. Once the forger has broadcast the block to its 100 witnesses (forging delegates), an unnecessary fork is prevented by introducing the tolerance/margin for an acceptable level wherein the values for total_storage may differ.
- Add an asset_size verification process for Phoenix
This is the only remaining task of the blockchain integration that needs to be included specifically for Phoenix. The asset_size and asset_hash of a file will be included as data entries within a PIN transaction. When a user uploads a file, a hash will be returned. The hash and the size of the file will be included within the PIN transaction, that will be sent to the forging delegates for verification of the signature of the transaction. After verification, the PIN transaction will be stored in the blockchain and the file, as well as the PIN transaction, will be distributed to cluster participants. Storage peers then verify the asset_size using the /verifyPin endpoint, prior to actually executing the PIN. This verification process allows the storage peers to use the data contained in the PIN transaction, in addition to the properties of the actual file, to read and compare the file size directly. Using the /verifyPin call they will be able to do this by looking at the blockchain for a matching asset_hash and asset_size. In the case that there is not a match, the storage peers will refuse the PIN.
The inclusion of an asset_size verification process means that, if a user were to manipulate a PIN transaction in an attempt to use less of their locked storage capacity, by, for example, uploading a file (asset_hash A) of 100 MB (asset_size A) but changing the asset_size to 1 MB (asset_size B), while the manipulated transaction would be accepted by the blockchain (assuming the user possesses enough storage locked for the 3 MB necessary to meet the x3 replication factor and the SHIFT necessary to pay the small fee), when the PIN transaction is sent to the storage peers along with the actual file, the mismatch would become evident. The use of the /verifyPin endpoint by the storage peers would allow them to look at the blockchain for the matching pair of asset_hash A with an asset_size A of 100 MB, but because the manipulator’s actions mean that this pair does not exist at the blockchain level (there would only be the pair of asset_hash A and an asset_size B of 1 MB), they will ignore the PIN request.
From Official Ryver chat:
Ralf S (Shift President and Lead Developer) on December 20th 2018:
- “I’m sorry if the team seems a bit quiet lately. Obviously we are working full time on the storage core.
To be specific working on the writing of network stats to blocks. With consensus, which is why it’s not an easy task.
A new progress report will explain what we’re doing in more detail.” - “Still making progress on the backend every day. But I admit it’s an awful lot of work. We’ve received various request in DM to show something to the public. But it’s mainly code work we’re doing now, no eye candy.
But I guess I can share a bit of what we’re working on right now. I will paste some screens in our Discord channel.
Shift (SHIFT) event: December 31, 2018:
- Launch Phoenix;
- Shift (SHIFT) Business White Paper (To Precede Mass-Market Release);
- Shift (SHIFT) Financial Whitepaper;
- Shift (SHIFT) Technical Whitepaper.
Social encounters
Interview: Shift President and Lead Developer Discusses Sidechains, Decentralized Hosting, and Blockchain Governance on Unhashed.com.
October 23rd, 2018 in Official Telegram Group: Werner Heisenberg (Vice-president / Operations manager):“The concept of conferences is something for the future”.
Finance
- From Official Shift Ryver chat:
Mx (Ambassador, Shift Reddit Moderator, Shift YouTube Manager, Admin of Russian Shift Community) on December 13th, 2018:
“New Year Delegate Sponsored SHIFT Giveaway
On New Year’s Eve, December 31, a SHIFT Giveaway is to be held. At least 1024 SHIFTwill be given away, but the total amount could be even bigger. To participate, entrants will need to complete this form, be a member of one of the Shift communities (Ryver, Telegram, Reddit, Discord), and post a link to the Shift Progress Report on any social network. On December 30, the application window will close and the list of participants will be published on the Shift Phoenix Cluster, with ‘ticket numbers’ assigned to each participant and the draw held using the Shift blockchain. Happy Holidays!”
New Year SHIFT Giveaway Participants List.
- SHIFT is now listed on two, new international exchanges recently launched by Shifts’ existing exchange partners. This month Bittrex international exchange opened in Malta, with Shift listed with a BTC pair, while also UPbit international exchange has opened in Singapore.
Partnerships and team members
No updates.
Roadmap
October 17, 2018: The Shift Team has updated the Project Roadmap with new features and information, with translations to follow soon.
Development:
100% completed:
- Proof of Concept: New Shift Website
- Introductory White Paper (First of Four)
- Storage Cluster Optimization
- Hydra Decentralized CMS: Pre-Alpha Release
- Shift Core 6.7.1t
- Shift Core 6.7.2t
- Shift Core 6.7.3t: Block Reward Division
- Shift Core 6.8.0t
- Shift Core 6.8.1t: dApp Ready
- Decentralized Blockchain Explorer
- Shift Core 6.7.1: Emergency Patch
- Shift Core 6.8.2t
- Shift Core 6.8.2
- Fully Stable Sidechain
Hydra Decentralized CMS: Alpha Release — Q2, 83% completed.
Phoenix — Q4, 90% completed. Priority.
Blockchain Integration with Phoenix — Q4, 83% completed. Priority.
Nano Wallet Update v2.0.0 — Q4, 33% completed. Priority.
Atomic Swaps — TBD, 0% completed. New.
New Shift Core: New Consensus Algorithm — TBD, 37% completed.
Phoenix Websocket Communication — TBD, 0% completed.
Decentralized Cluster Consensus — TBD, 5% completed.
Improved Shift Chain — TBD, 33% completed.
New Shift Website — TBD, 50% completed.
Public awareness:
100% completed:
- Animation Series: Blockchain
- Collaboration: Coins and Steel
- Screencast: Phantom dApp Quickstart Guide
Shift Project Progress Report — Q4, 80% completed. New.
Partnership: To Be Revealed — Q4, 0% completed. New.
Phoenix Pilot Program — Q4, 0% completed. New.
Screencast: Decentralized Storage Solution — Q4, 0% completed. New.
Applying for New Exchange Listings — TBD, 0% completed. New.
Introductory Business White Paper — TBD, 90% completed.
Financial White Paper — TBD, 0% completed.
Rumors
From Official Shift Ryver chat:
- Werner Heisenberg (Vice-president / Operations manager) on December 7th, 2018:
“An underlying economic model is what drives the means through which censorship-resistance is maintained, so success in the latter will naturally contribute to development in the ‘token economy’ of the Shift Project. That is to say, in an era in which digital authoritarianism is already a factor in the lives of millions, we believe that we will offer a valuable service able to cater to the needs of personal and enterprise use cases, markets that will mutually bring about an increased demand for the SHIFT token.
Regarding the Business White Paper, with its release we will be specifically targeting the enterprise market, and will therefore make it available at a time in which the formalization of the collaborations we have already arranged demonstrate the platform’s viability as a enterprise-ready service.”
Social media metrics
Telegram — Discussion about updates, voting, marketing and coding.
Facebook (since March 2016) — announcements, 10–30 likes, 1–2 shares.
Twitter (since February 2016) — Average number of retweets is 25–50 for one post (tweet about new decentralized website got 351 retweets, 31 December 2017).
Ryver — discussion on voting, roadmap, and bounties.
Reddit — The longest thread in 2018 is about 1 million stolen Shift from the team’s dev fund (it has 29 comments).
Bitcointalk.org — Last post — on December 22nd, 2018: FAQs, latest news, videos, exchanges etc.
New communication channel — Discord (unofficial, since October 2018).
Ralf S in Ryver chat on 7th December 2018: “Ryver seems to be a huge threshold for new users to join the Shift chat. Discord is a serious alternative and is much faster, especially on mobile.”
The graph above shows the dynamics of changes in the number of Shift Reddit subscribers, Twitter followers, and Facebook likes. The information is taken from Coingecko.com.
