UNews Vol 1, Issue 3
It has been another month of development for U Network, UNews and community. In the last week we have seen a massive spike in price and at time of writing have tripled in value in just under 7 days, U Network launched a new product in its alpha stage and there has been an uptake in usage on Upbet with additional development and features added to it. So what is packed into this edition of UNews? We discuss U Network’s development, recap what we know about the new product, have a Q&A with community member Steve O and revisit the updates to Upbet! Lets get started…
Where are U at?
You might find it odd that one of the first things you see on opening this edition of UNews is a video of a growing plant. I can hear you thinking ‘UNews has gone nuts’, but I assure you that isn’t the case. Instead, I was reminded the other day that UNews is only in its infancy. Let me explain, in talking to another core community member about release schedules for Sugar Rush and UNews, it was pointed out that what UNews is writing each month isn’t necessarily to benefit the U Network believers here and now, but is more about chronicling the history of the U Network project; “Imagine being referenced in a subreddit a year from now” they said. This got me thinking about U Network and the progress in the past 18 months. Community have endorsed and criticized at various times, but taking a step back, where is U Network now and where has the project come from.
Lets consider the aforementioned plant video. The seed represents the idea of U Network; over time the idea started to grow. Once the idea started taking shape, a central root appeared and is the backbone of the project, what it plans to achieve, the how and the why — consider this the white paper. Off the central root, other auxiliary/surface roots appear strengthening the foundation, and nourishing the idea/white paper with use cases — Chongdongshu, Ugot and Upbet. After that there are more roots growing and connections being made, with these representing UBuild, UNetworkhive and UNews — assets developed as less vital but equally as important by the community to assist in fueling growth to U Network.
So what do the other growing roots represent: project development, connections and partnerships being made in the background. We might not see them directly, but you also don’t see all the roots until you start to pull the plant out the ground… So when considering our U Network plant, where are we on the time scale of the video? Our community points out that not many people know who U Network is, so consider that we are at about “day 7”. We are there, tiny and small at the moment, just barely scratched the surface, but wait and see what happens for the rest of the video from day 7 to 25. This is what UNews expect to see in the next 12 to 24 months, the rapid growth and establishment of U Network, from its original idea into a vibrant, complex, content ecosystem that is flourishing with life and possibilities. For now though UNews will continue building its roots and chronicling the development of U Network so that when we have grown, others can come and see where we came from.
What is the NEW product?
Ken You first mentioned a new international product coming by end of May in a somewhat impromptu AMA he held in Telegram on 25 May, since then the Telegram community has been in a buzz about what it could be. There have been suggestions that it is a Chinese version of Upbet, which has been confirmed to exist but was not the product Ken was referring to at the time. So what is it?
We have been drip fed a few details by Ken about what it aims to be
- “..new product vs Steemit vs Voice.. even traditional social medias”
- Works on the up-vote/down-vote algorithm
- Develops the U Network native blockchain
- Is a social media platform
And then we got our first look at the site home page… its only a hint and if you can read simplified Chinese, leave us a highlight to let us know what is says.
What do you think the new product is? Follow the links below to the U Network Telegram to join in the discussion.
A quick Q+A with community member Steve O!
Famous in the Upbet community for locking 10 Million UUU for 600 days, we caught up with Steve O, for a quick Q+A.
Steve, how did you find out about U Network and what initially got you interested and wanting you to find out more?
One of my close friends told me to take a look at U Network in the spring of 18 and I was immediately drawn to the concept of UCommunity (Steemit Killer) and its algorithm for up-voting.
Now we are approximately 18 months into the U Network project now, how do you feel about the projects development?
I am ecstatic about the development. Many different items to be excited about including UpBet, UCommunity, Mainnet etc.
Of the development so far, in your opinion, what has U Network down well?
I think Yi has a strong vision for the landscape of the entire U Network and is systematically and methodically putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
So the landscape is coming together per the vision, but you would see near daily that a bug bear in the community is regarding marketing. What’s your opinion on holding back the marketing machine for the time being?
I think holding back the marketing machine has been a brilliant move. Wait till the products are out and mature so that the folks you are marketing to have something to chew on. Also by waiting you get to market and cross market both Dapps at the same time.
Thanks Steve O. On a final note, what are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months?
That’s easy, UCommunity! It’s the reason most of the community gained interest in U Network.
Up, Up and Away (and Upbet)…
It has been a huge week for U Network token holders, apparently appearing out of no where they have had massive gains on their holdings, tripling in value over in 3 to 4 days. Fueled by the speculation of what the new product is, becoming more visible to the Chinese market as were added to Bee360 in addition to Upbet developments and market awareness.
So what new has happened with Upbet in the last month?
- Upbet initial staking reward has changed
- Now 3 part reward system: base reward + lock up bonus + betting bonus = daily reward, with potential to earn up to an annualized 21.89%
- Automatic Loading
- Minor bug fixes on mobile
- Added support for GIF in market
- Upbet referral program was implemented
Upbet had some huge markets in the last month with great rewards for their respective winners. There were 9 markets involving Game of Thrones that had a total of over 700,000 UUU staked on them and a Monero price prediction market with over 16 Million UUU staked.
One of the most popular was game 63 which was 1 UUU would be over $0.001 USD by market end. The No votes won the day there but only just! 3 days later the price started to move.
Community Development
Ken shared below that one of the Chinese community members created on Twitter on 7 July! We are not sure who the talented creator is but they did a great job!
Anything else?
The Sugar Rush
During May, UNews reached out to the community and has identified that you want to get more regular updates in addition to these monthly features. Therefore we have implemented our sub brand ‘The Sugar Rush’ which are quick bullet styled Twitter updates.
Easily identified with above artwork, these updates will recap the week that was all in 280 characters or less!
The U Network Facebook page is now being maintained on a regular basis. All of the U Network Bi-Weekly reports, UNews and any U Network, Upbet, UBuild, UNetworkHive or Chongdongshu updates will be posted there also. Go give it a like and share with your friends!
If you want to find out more about U Network, also see below:
Follow on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and Medium to keep informed
Join the discussions on Telegram, Discord and WeChat — WeChat ID: UGC-Network.
Discover the code at Github and the vision at the Website
Play and Win at Upbet and add value to the community at UBuild.
I am community member of U Network and follow their official channels. All opinions in this piece are my own and may not reflect that of U Network.
If you want to follow me, I am active on Twitter @tennisnick1 and @UNewsHQ. You can also find me on the U Network official Telegram and Discord channels with the tennisnick1 handle.
