G’day everyone, and welcome to my 2nd article about another innovative and optimistic ecosystem project that's in Aleph Zero's EFP. Today, I’ll be covering Syncra (formally known as LiberumDAO), a next-generation DAO-as-a-service platform building on Aleph Zero that allows anyone to build their company with a world-leading, no-code solution on the platform. In this article, I’ll be going over the current problems with DAOs today, the unique solution that Syncra is bringing to the table, the team behind the project, and so on. This article will divided into 6 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, The Integrations, Partnerships & Roadmap, Wen Token, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. The Problem: The problem with today's DAOs is that many blockchain-based projects require a DAO for effective community management and decision-making. However, the technical requirements and complexity of producing a DAO can be seen as a significant barrier to entry for normal users with limited technical and coding expertise. On top of this, the lack of no-code solutions for creating a DAO means that only developers with blockchain expertise can create them. There are also other challenges that DAOs face now and need to solve: Cost barrier and technical complexity: It’s widely known in crypto that developing a DAO can be technically complex, and because of this, it can deter any new user who has limited technical expertise from creating a DAO that can help with community decision-making and management. This also poses a challenge for teams developing protocols & Dapps, as it requires time, money, and brain power to be invested into it, whereas all of that could be used on making the main platform itself instead of wasting it on making a DAO. Lack of education on the benefits and use cases: We all know that DAOs are still in their infancy and are a relatively new concept to the modern world. As a result, the education around DAO is very limited and there’s a huge gap that needs to be filled to show off its advantages, potential apps, and its adoption. Governance protocol standards: Good practices and standards for governance protocol are still in development and are evolving at a rapid pace, and this is seen in most Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) based blockchains that have already established good practices and smart contracts for creating & governing a DAO. Legal & regulatory frameworks: Challenges such as appropriate legal & regulatory frameworks are still a thing that most DAOs suffer from these days. Jurisdictions without clear guidelines for blockchain-based organizations may struggle to define the legal status of DAOs and provide regulatory oversight. Due to this, it can hinder the broader acceptance and integration of DAOs within existing legal systems. Security risks: Since DAOs operate on decentralized networks, it can make them susceptible to security risks such as hacking, fraud, and cyber-attacks if not created securely. Ensuring the security, safety, and confidence of any DAO is a priority and requires deep technical knowledge and experience, which is something most non-technical users might not have. In summary, all of these problems/challenges emphasize the need for continued development, education, and collaboration to overcome these technical, governance, legal, and security hurdles associated with DAOs. With the progression of the adoption and use cases of blockchain technology, it’s expected that better solutions will emerge to address these challenges effectively, one project aims to stand out from the crowd and it proposes a solution to solve these issues with its innovative platform… Syncra provides the tools for any user to take control of their own DAO. The Solution: To put it simply, Syncra is described as a disruptive platform that offers a no-code solution for the creation & management of DAOs, and their primary goal is to make DAOs accessible to anyone with limited technical skills/expertise and ensure that anyone can participate in the decentralized governance revolution. Syncra places security as of paramount importance, and because of this, they're building on Aleph Zero which utilizes Substrate technology. Substrate is a robust and widely recognized framework for building blockchain-based apps, providing a solid foundation for the secure operation of DAOs on the Syncra platform. All users can expect privacy in their DAO for community management & decision-making. At Syncra, you can create a unique DAO that is suited to all your needs and eases the pain of developing your own by scratch. Below is a list of key features of using the platform: DAO management: Easily create and manage your DAO, where no coding skills are required and users can just use the tools that are provided and hand-crafted by Syncra themselves. Undisclosed voting: Users can ensure privacy and confidentiality during any voting process, and since Syncra will be utilizing Aleph Zero’s Liminal technology, it makes sure that no one knows how particular participants vote and relies only on the vote was made. On & off-chain voting: Anyone can participate in voting processes securely and transparently (on-chain voting), while not all decision-making needs to be done on the blockchain (off-chain voting). Treasury management: Every organization will require funds, but DAOs also need a treasury to operate and keep afloat. Syncra allows anyone to effectively manage their organization’s financial resources with the tools available in the palm of their hands. Prepared & custom strategies: Every organization has its own rules, but even though many of them are similar across different DAOs, users might need something more special. At Syncra, users can expect to choose from a range of predefined strategies, or they can either create their own. Modular approach: Users can tailor the platform to suit the needs of their community, and can choose only the features that their DAO needs and can benefit from. Software Development Kit (SDK): In principle, Syncra is a no-code solution, however, if someone is a developer and wants to create a DAO using their code, they can do so. At Syncra, they will provide an SDK for creating custom UIs for any DAOs based on the platform. And it is not too hard at all to start a DAO on Syncra as well! Below is a step-by-step process as to how any user can create a DAO on the Syncra platform: Open the app, Connect your wallet, Set basic DAO info, Set governance rules, Distribute voting power, and Let your community create proposals and vote. Syncra allows you to easily set up your own DAO in 6 simple steps. The Team: Syncra is being developed by a team of engineers, dreamers, and leaders. Here are 4 of the most prominent members & co-founders of Syncra, along with their unique nicknames: Przemysław Paczoski (CEO / The Visionary): Przemysław is a leader with 6+ years of experience in the IT industry and is known for efficiently developing, growing, and leading high-performing teams across many projects. He has also actively engaged in various blockchain efforts with a hands-on approach, gaining valuable skills in project development from start to finish. At Syncra, he has always encouraged his colleagues to push the envelope of what a project can become and brings a great list of ideas for possible improvements and development directions that Syncra can take. Krzysztof (Chris) Kuczma (COO / An Integrator): Krzysztof is a software engineer with more than 5 years of hands-on experience under his belt. Daily, he has managed to work on projects for large financial institutions, where he has gained a unique knowledge of business operations. He is also a web3 explorer and has been involved in many activities across space and is well-oriented on business growth and modeling the best experiences. At Syncra, he stands as a layer between the discoveries of many incredible ideas and making them possible to implement, and makes the business operations on various levels. If you want to know more about Krzysztof's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. Paweł Kowalewski (CTO / The Mechanic): Paweł is also a software engineer with experience in several blockchain technologies, including projects based on the Bitcoin Lightning network. Before his software engineering career, he was better known as an academician and an automotive technician. He is also the co-host of the YouTube channel “Devs in Chains” (https://www.youtube.com/@devsinchains) that he operates along with Krzysztof Kuczma and focuses on topics related to web3, web development, and blockchain technology. He’s known to have attended numerous hackathons and has successfully won awards in various categories. In his spare time, he is an amateur guitar player and passionate about cars & motorcycles. At Syncra, he’s the guy who shapes the technology behind the platform and finds solutions for the most challenging aspects, such as the integration of ZK-Proofs and privacy. If you want to know more about Paweł's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. Jan Kuczma (Core Developer / The Wizard): Jan is an alumnus of the University of Sussex and has graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Sciences that focuses on AI and computer Architecture. In the academic space, he has participated in several hacking events and developed various software projects, including a 3D game built in Unity and designing and implementing Machine Learning models in Python. In the final year of his bachelor's, he became interested in blockchain technology and started learning smart contract development and quickly became proficient at this matter. At Syncra, he’s the person responsible for designing a modular approach to DAO creation and the development of smart contracts for the platform. He always brings a spark of ingenuity when it comes to the implementation and creation of well-designed smart contract solutions. If you want to know more about Jan's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. The Integrations, Partnerships & Roadmap: Aleph Zero’s successful win of a slot auction for a Parachain, allows it and its ecosystem projects to have cross-chain compatibility with Polkadot and its ecosystem to benefit from increased liquidity, further funding rounds, more collaboration, and more users entering the AZERO ecosystem. For Syncra, this can allow them to position themselves to leverage further capabilities and resources from the Polkadot network, as well as more project collaboration, interoperability, and even the development of new cross-chain solutions that can benefit the entire Polkadot ecosystem. Syncra also announced back in May 2023 that it is officially part of Aleph Zero’s EFP (Ecosystem Funding Program), which can allow them to get supplied with everything that they’ll need to make this project the best it can be, like getting advice from the Aleph Zero team themselves, having efficient audits of their smart contracts, further funding and partnerships, and so on. Syncra is currently in its 3rd Phase of development (see image below), with it already completing its 1st and 2nd Phases, which covered the initial development of smart contracts, the first governance strategies, its litepaper release, and so on. In its 3rd phase, they are now focusing on the private beta launch of their platform on a test net as well as undisclosed voting integration. For its last 3 phases of development (4th, 5th, and 6th), it wants to release the public beta and the official public launch of its platform on a testnet for everyone to test and give feedback on, release their tokenomics and whitepaper, implement off-chain voting, etc. The current roadmap for Syncra (As of writing this article, 2 phases are done and there are 4 left to go) Wen Token: Now, you might be wondering to yourself after reading most of this article ‘Wen token?’ Well, luckily for you reader, the team has addressed this and confirmed that there will be a token associated with the ecosystem and are rigorously planning out the tokenomics for it (and this article will be updated when it is released). Their focus is on the modeling of their token that grants access to distinctive features such as anonymous voting, exclusive voting strategies, and participation in a DAO for governance. They’re also evaluating various token metrics, as well as exploring different mechanisms to enhance the token’s value and stability. The Conclusion: In conclusion, Syncra is the first ink!-based DAO-as-a-service platform that is positioning itself in the DAO space to bring something innovative to the room to enhance the user experience, security, and usability of creating and managing a DAO on Aleph Zero and soon on Polkadot and its ecosystem. If you want to learn more about Syncra, visit their website and documentation (found in the References list) and join their socials if you haven’t as well! References: Twitter / X - https://twitter.com/syncra_xyz Website - https://syncra.xyz/ Documentation - https://docs.syncra.xyz/ Discord - https://discord.com/invite/bhVFa3BxbG

Web browsers serve as crucial gateways to the digital world, influencing users' online experiences. The advent of Web 3.0 represents a significant shift, particularly in the areas of security and privacy. While Web 2.0 browsers excel in fostering connectivity and content-sharing, their surveillance models often fall short, leaving vulnerabilities that compromise user data security. The Web 3.0 Shift In contrast, Web 3.0 browsers leverage blockchain technology to enhance security layers, providing users unprecedented control over their privacy without compromising the browsing experience. Carbon X Labs introduces Carbon, an open-source, decentralised browser seamlessly integrating the user-friendly features of Web 2.0 while enhancing privacy and speed. The Carbon browser emphasizes a shift away from a content-centric approach to a more user-specific one, placing a pronounced focus on security, privacy, and user control within the Web 3.0 paradigm. This design delivers an experience well-suited for both casual users and crypto enthusiasts, while also enticing novices to explore Web3 utilities, incentivisation programs, and integrated features such as AdBlock, DVPN, crypto wallet, staking, swap & bridge—all powered by the project's native token, $CSIX. Aleph Zero Integration On November 14th, Carbon announced integration with Aleph Zero, a privacy-focused blockchain with instant finality, enabling users to explore decentralized applications directly from the browser. This integration extends to Carbon's liquid decentralised exchange, LDXFI, impacting its proprietary cross-chain swap bridge. The incorporation of Aleph Zero into Carbon's browser network signifies an important stride towards a future prioritizing user privacy and browsing speed. As Web 3.0 applications leverage Aleph Zero's scalable tech stack, they attract both enthusiasts and developers. This shapes user convenience by delivering a secure, private, and efficient online experience. Carbon Browser Unveiled Moving to the specifics of Carbon Browser, developers created it using the Chromium framework, providing a familiar appearance but with unique features that distinguish it from other web3 browsers. The dark-themed homepage showcases essential web utilities, while the Carbon dApps store boasts a diverse array of DEFI dex tools, NFT marketplaces, blockchain integrations, and web3 infrastructure. To access built-in web3 facilities, users create a multi-chain wallet, securing their 12-seed phrase or exporting a wallet for in-app exploration. Carbon's in-app crypto features are fortified by a built-in dVPN, firewall, and ToR e2ee, ensuring a fully immersive experience without compromising security or privacy. Carbons integrated Liquid decentralised exchange, LDXFI, provides a swift and cost-effective route to swap or bridge assets across 20+ chains. The upcoming v7.0 Android and iOS app will enable users to seamlessly swap and bridge assets within the app using their wallets once wallet injection goes live. A dedicated legacy toolbar icon introduces a daily point reward system, allowing users to earn browsing points redeemable for Carbon Pro subscription packages or used to acquire CSIX Pro NFTs and mystery boxes. In contrast to wallets like Trust Wallet and MetaMask, which focus solely on cryptocurrency management, Carbon Browser integrates traditional web browsing and cryptocurrency wallet functionalities, providing a consolidated solution for seamless transitions between regular web browsing and decentralized applications. Carbon: A Consolidated Solution The Carbon browser utilizes blockchain technology to establish a robust foundation for secure data transmission and storage, offering users a more secure and confidential gateway to the online world. This fusion of increased privacy and the departure from conventional surveillance browser models set the stage for a browsing experience that not only mirrors the efficiency of Web 2.0 browsers but also surpasses it by prioritising user confidentiality.

AZERO.ID: The first-ever privacy-enhanced domain system Hello everyone and welcome to my 1st article on an ecosystem project in Aleph Zero's EFP, and today, I’ll be covering AZERO.ID (formerly known as AZERO Domains), the domain service building on Aleph Zero that’s been hailed to be offering the first-ever private domain-to-domain asset transfers. In this article, I’ll be going over the problems with current crypto DNS’, and the solutions that AZERO.ID is providing to the crypto space, the team behind the project, and so on. This article will divided into 5 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, The Funding, Integrations & Roadmap, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. Now let us begin, shall we? The Problem: From the first ever blockchain project, Namecoin, to the famous Ethereum project, ENS, DNS’ (Decentralised Name Services) has become a staple in the crypto space for users to purchase and own their domain name on their favorite blockchain network to make sending funds to other addresses easier and fluent. Without DNS’, crypto just wouldn’t be the same as it is today, because without it, it would make sending funds to addresses more prone to human error (accidentally misspelling a public address), makes alphanumerical character addresses harder to remember, and sometimes it can lead to fraud. However, as good as these DNS's are, there is also a list of cons that users need to consider when they first buy their domain name from one of these services. Two good examples of DNS’ on Ethereum that suffer from 2 challenges are ENS and Unstoppable Domains (UD). One of these challenges is domain squatting, which is a serious issue that none of these two DNSs’ can’t seem to solve. Domain squatting happens when domain services like ENS and UD suffer from a no. of speculators that collect a massive list of domains to sell them at a higher price in the future, depending if these domains are valuable or not. Because of domain squatters, the utility of these on-chain domains for users has sadly been reduced. Furthermore, these said DNS’ fail to capture a relationship with their communities, as these name systems are central hubs for the community, and for the name service to see any kind of growth, they need value creation and revenues to be generated for the growth of the community and the ecosystem itself. Due to this failure, there’s now a lack of efficient use and allocation of these obtained funds from the community. The Solution: AZERO.ID is set out to be the first-ever privacy-enhanced domain system in the crypto space. To onboard the next users that decide to join the AZERO ecosystem and soon the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems, they will be introducing a couple of key innovations and use cases to make that happen: Improvements to the user experience: On-chain domains from AZERO.ID solves the lack of quality UX by providing an easy way to transact and/or interact with applications on Aleph Zero. The user’s domain will be their starting point in creating their on-chain identity and exploring the AZERO ecosystem. And just like that, the headache of double-checking wallet addresses repeatedly before making a transaction is now a thing of the past. First ever privacy-enhanced domain system: AZERO.ID will be the first movers in the crypto space to offer private domain-to-domain asset transfers. Because of this, this will lead to a huge leap in the user experience of on-chain domains since it’s the first time users can leverage their identity via a domain without revealing the user’s wallet balances and on-chain activities. Not to mention that all of this is being powered by Liminal, the soon-to-be-released privacy framework of Aleph Zero. Aggregate your social identity: Users can establish their on-chain brand and identity by adding any metadata they would like to have, like social handles (Twitter, YouTube, Discord, etc.), wallet addresses, credentials, and ZK-Proof to their domain. Users can leverage it in all their on-chain activities such as payments, messaging, and governance. Trustless subdomains: Users can issue subdomains with unique member IDs & explore limitless opportunities to manage their community, employees, or NFT collection to their liking. Fully user-owned NFTs: All domains that users mint are represented as NFTs on the blockchain with full user custody. Soon, the team will aim to make the protocol itself completely decentralized. Personalized website: With each domain, users can expect to receive a link to a personalized website that they can share with all their social profiles, showcase their, and more. Trustless identity systems: Users can find that they can enable verified asset & contract identities, Sybil-protected governance, under-collateralized DeFi, or a unique identity system for their game/metaverse. Auctions: Users can decide to bid on exclusive domain names to set themselves apart in the digital world. This feature will be available soon, as this is still in development as part of their native domain marketplace. For trading domains right from the beginning, AZERO.ID has officially partnered with ArtZero, which is currently the central marketplace to buy, sell, and trade NFTs on Aleph Zero. Multiple AI-powered categories: To increase the adoption of on-chain domains further, the team at Scio Labs has introduced multiple AI-powered categories for AZERO.ID's domain search, allows users to select a category of their choice (Music, Business, NFT, etc.) and type in their idea into the input field aka the domain search bar. When a user does this, the AI will automatically come up with suggestions that relate to the user's idea based on which category they've chosen! Referral System: AZERO.ID introduces an on-chain referral system for users to refer others into buying their first domain by using their referral code. In return, the referrer gets a 5% bonus on the registration fee (the user can even save 10% on their second domain purchase by using their first domain as the referrer), and the other user gets a 5% discount when inputting their referral code at the registration checkout! Not only this, but AZERO.ID has also added a referral dashboard, which gives you the ability to easily track your latest and overall referral history, quickly get your referral link, and see where you rank in our global leaderboard! To give an example about the referral system - if the registration fee for your domain is $10, you'll get a $0.50 discount and only pay $9.50 by using someone's referral code, and the person who referred you will also receive a $0.50 credit. Now you might ask: how much is the domain going to cost and what’s the yearly renewal fee? AZERO.ID have stated in their FAQ (found on their website and in their documentation) that the base fee for a 5+ character domain is 6 AZERO per year. However, longer, upfront registrations require paying a premium (2 years = 18 $AZERO and 3 years = 36 $AZERO). Due to this, the team is dedicated to achieving fair yearly domain renewal fees by introducing a demand-based pricing mechanism soon. But what is a demand-based pricing mechanism, you might ask? Well before AZERO.ID proposed this idea for the platform, Vitalik Buterin spoke about a demand-based renewal fee for on-chain domains back in September 2022 in a blog post. In simple terms, a demand-based pricing mechanism will make several improvements for on-chain domain systems: Prevention of domain squatting: By tying renewal fees to demand, the system can minimize the unproductive hoarding of desirable domain names. Reduction of value extraction: The proposed fees are intended to decrease the profit that can be obtained by those who manipulate the scarcity of popular domains, benefiting projects and communities instead. Increased utility for users: Implementing this fee structure could free up a greater number of blocked and unused domains, expanding opportunities for legitimate use. For that reason, a domain registration period is not extendable after purchase right now, but if you would like to learn more about the pricing models for AZERO.ID, you can find them here. How about adding different types of characters and languages to our domain name? Well as of writing and publishing this article, users can only register 5+ character domains with lowercase Latin letters, numbers, and hyphens in between. But don’t be disgruntled by this, as the team will be continuously adding more characters and languages to the supported character set. The Team: AZERO.ID is being developed by Scio Labs (located in Berlin, Germany) which is building the platform on Aleph Zero and soon expand its services to Polkadot and Kusama via XCM. They’re passionate about everything web3 and crypto, and this is all driven by the spirit of decentralization. The team started AZERO.ID with a successful participation at the ETHWarsaw hackathon back in September 2022, where they won first prize from the Aleph Zero Foundation and today, the primary goal was and still is to improve the overall Aleph Zero user experience with the simplicity of on-chain domains. They chose to build on Aleph Zero because they’ve been very active in the community ever since day 1 and as a result of this, the team was the first successful applicant in the Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program (EFP). Before starting AZERO.ID, the team has had initial success building previous projects on Ethereum and Polkadot like stablecoins.wtf, a Data Dashboard and education platform about Stablecoins and Stake for Earth, a project coming soon that enables users to compound yield for Climate Action at 0 cost. They also act as an advisory across other ecosystem projects outside Aleph Zero, like BrilliantBlocks and Narratic. In this section, I'll list both of the co-founders of Scio Labs and AZERO.ID below, but if you would like to see who else is on the team (including myself), make sure to look in AZERO.ID's Discord server for a user that has a little AZERO.ID logo next to their name (if you hover over it, it'll say 'Core team') and that their profile name is colored yellow. You can just also visit Scio Labs' and AZERO.ID's LinkedIn account and see who else is on the team. Mike Schneider (Co-founder): Mike is one of the two co-founders of both Scio Labs and AZERO.ID, and has worked for some of the most prestigious companies known in Germany, such as being an Intern in Deal Advisory / TS for KPMG, an Analyst for EBS Invest, a Consultant for James Consulting, and many more. In terms of education, Mike graduated from the University of Hong Kong in Business and Finance in 2018 and has also graduated from the EBS University of Economics and Law in General Management in 2019 and in Masters of Science in 2021. Dennis Zollmann (Co-founder): Dennis is the 2nd co-founder of Scio Labs and AZERO.ID, and he's also worked for some well-known companies in Germany, working as an Entrepreneur in Residence at soonami.io GmbH, and working at zollsoft GmbH for more than 10 years as a Designer and full-stack Developer, Project Manager, and Advisor. When it comes to Dennis' education, he graduated from the University of Jena in Computer Science in 2018. The Funding, Integrations & Roadmap: With the rebranding from AZERO Domains to AZERO.ID and the launch of its mainnet on the 22nd of August 2023, the team behind the project has successfully secured funding in a pre-seed round, which will provide them more manpower and resources to develop the project for the long term. They’ve been lucky to attract and connect to so many well-minded individuals from Aleph Zero and some AZERO ecosystem projects and were proud to participate in the pre-seed funding round. Because of this, AZERO.ID is proudly backed by Aleph Zero, Parity Technologies, the Web3 Foundation (W3F), Block54, Nxgen, Rana Capital & WWVentures. Not only was the funding fundamental to the growth of this project but AZERO.ID also has an abundance of technical expertise among this group of investors, with the most important areas being ink!, Substrate, Aleph Zero, and the Dotsama ecosystem. In terms of grants, Scio Labs was successfully rewarded with a research grant from the Web3 Foundation (W3F) to explore the architecture of an XCM-based Cross-Parachain domain system. If you didn't know, the Web3 Foundation is one of the core contributors to the Polkadot SDK and its ecosystem, including the cross-chain messaging protocol XCM, and the Rust-based smart contract language ink!. So far, AZERO.ID has an impressive list of partners and projects they plan to integrate their technology with (and some of these are from the funding round too). Here’s the list of the partnerships and integrations so far: Aleph Zero SubWallet azero.dev Wallet Common Signer Abax Finance Ink Whale Parity Technologies Cardinal Cryptography PanoramaSwap Gatenox Kudelski Security Subsquid Subscan Syncra ArtZero DRKVRS Just Ape Nightly Wallet C14 Swiss Staking AG Kintsu To further increase the decentralization of the Aleph Zero blockchain, AZERO.ID has set up a community validator/node that allows users to stake on their validator to secure the network in exchange for around 11% APY (this will decrease over time, though). As of writing this article, the AZERO.ID Validator already has 7.99M $AZERO staked with them, 305 nominators, 100% uptime, and it only charges a 5% commission fee! When it comes to the industrial-grade security of this node, AZERO.ID decided to partner with Swiss Staking AG, so they can operate the node in a specialized data center located in a former military bunker in the Swiss Alps. Here are the specifications of the AZERO.ID Validator: Location: Former military bunker in Switzerland. Protected against natural or human-caused catastrophes. Failover: Active and passive redundancy with manual initialization. Core: AMD CPU Ryzen 7 5800X 8x3.8 GHz, 128 GB DDR4 RAM. 24 / 7 Monitoring: State-of-the-art Prometheus & Grafana monitoring stack. Model: Dedicated Bare-Metal-Server. Storage: 2 TB NVMe SSD with RAID-10 fault tolerance. If you would like to know how to stake with AZERO.ID's validator, I've linked the site that takes you to AZERO.ID's page guides you through the staking process for multiple supported wallets in the References section of this article. Finally, AZERO.ID has also laid out a well-planned roadmap for their future developments. The roadmap includes points that have been COMPLETED and some that are to be completed SOON, like: Hackathon winner at ETHWarsaw 2022 - COMPLETED in Q3 2022 100K+ registrations on the testnet - COMPLETED in Q3 2022 Accepted to the Aleph Zero EFP - COMPLETED in Q4 2022 Launch on the Aleph Zero mainnet - COMPLETED in Q3 2023 Expansion to the Dotsama ecosystem - SOON Native domain marketplace - SOON Private domain-to-domain transfers - SOON Token & DAO governance - SOON The Conclusion: In conclusion, AZERO.ID is poised to disrupt the DNS space with its amazing technological innovations, like its variable demand-based pricing mechanism, private domain-to-domain asset transfers, trustless identity systems, and so on. The team behind AZERO.ID has a lot to accomplish in the future to make this DNS the best it can offer to users, so if you would like to, you can also subscribe to their newsletter on their website (found in the References section below) to get the latest news about development, integrations, achievements, etc. Don’t forget to join their socials if you haven’t as well, which are all also found in the References section below and on their website. References: AZERO.ID Website - https://azero.id/ Scio Labs Website - https://scio.xyz/ Documentation - https://docs.azero.id/ Staking with AZERO.ID's Validator - https://azero.id/staking Twitter / X - https://twitter.com/AZERO_ID Discord - https://discord.com/invite/azero-id Telegram - https://t.me/azero_id GitHub - https://github.com/azero-id

Upcade is bringing the classic arcade games that every gamer loves straight to the chain! This article will divided into 4 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. The Problem: In the realm of Web3 gaming, on-chain games have allowed the player to not only earn a decent living whilst playing the game, but they can also truly own the digital assets that they have earned by grinding the game, like cosmetics and skins for their avatar. However, when it comes to the 'fun' factor, some on-chain games sometimes fail in that department due to the lack of care that the developers put into the gameplay and rather put an increased amount of focus into the Web3 elements of the game than the actual gameplay and mechanics itself, therefore jeopardizing the games long-term success. Although many games in the Web3 gaming space have seemed to have solved this issue by fundamentally prioritizing the gameplay to be fun, enjoyable, balanced, and polished, and setting the Web3 elements as an optional mechanic so it doesn't interfere with the core gameplay itself, like Shrapnel, Off The Grid & DRKVRS, on-chain games now and in the future will need to take note and discuss as to how they need to have a good balance between the gameplay and the Web3 side of the game. This is so that a studio's on-chain game is worth playing and coming back to for the hardcore gamers and that the long-term success of it doesn't meet the end of the line. The Solution: Upcade is a multiplayer web3 gaming hub featuring an engaging, easy-to-play entertainment experience, bringing the web3 skill-to-earn model into action. Upcade gives the players a hub where they can enjoy playing their favorite arcade games that they used to play back in the day, whilst being able to bet on these games to see if they win or lose. As Upcade states on their website, gamers can play: WITH FRIENDS. WITH STRANGERS. WITH DEGENS. Not only this, but Upcade was developed to be a place where true gaming entertainment, replayability, and the community are always at the forefront. Upcade also believes that Web3/on-chain games that include that 'fun' factor as well as developing strong and fundamental gameplay mechanics are the signs of a game that can foreseeably do well in the long term. A core function that Upcade has integrated into its platform is the 'Skill2Earn' mechanic, where players can P2P bet on their games and can either win or lose to other players. Here's how Upcade describes this mechanic work in each of their games: Set up an account - Since Upcade is a Web3-based hub, the only thing that the player needs to do is to connect their wallet to join in on the fun. They also use this wallet to deposit the tokens that they want to use to bet on the game and to withdraw the tokens that the player has won. Choose a game - Players will have the option to choose which game they would like to play on Upcade, with more games to be added in the future that players can get their hands on to play. Be skilled - If a player wants to win every match that they participate in, they'll need to train hard and have the skills to pay the bills (it's a lame joke I know that lol) so that they can win big and beat the other players. Earn money - Finally, players can earn some hard-earned money, in the form of tokens that they've chosen to bet with, and they can do so by actively or passively playing the games on Upcade. The first game that Upcade developed for its platform is 'Tanks', which is their own Web3 spin on the classic tanks arcade game, and the controls are simple: 'Left Click' (and even the arrow and space bar keys) to shoot and use the 'WASD' keys to move around the map. Tanks is playable in multiple supported regions in the world such as Europe, Asia, and the US (Texas to be exact). Gamers can choose to play Tanks on multiple supported chains, like zkSync and Scroll, however, Upcade has chosen Aleph Zero to be the main blockchain to develop their platform on (links to the official Aleph Zero x Upcade and the main Upcade websites are found in the References section at the end of this article). Users are required to download a specific Web3 wallet that is compatible with the Aleph Zero network and that Upcade supports, which are Aleph Zero Signer, Nightly Wallet, Polkadot.js, Talisman, and SubWallet, and they will need to connect one of these wallets that they've chosen so that they can deposit and withdraw funds before and after the game. In Tanks, players can choose to either play: Training Game - This is where the players can play on their own, learn how to play the game, and understand what kind of upgrades they can use to their advantage when entering multiplayer. Multiplayer - This game mode is where the player can either choose to find opponents who are also looking for other players, or can play with friends by inviting them in with an invite link. Players, whether they choose to play with friends or find other players, will be playing up against 2-4 players, and can also have the chance to bet on these games too, which you can choose to either bet 1 $AZERO (Easy Bet), 5 $AZERO (LFG), 25 $AZERO (To The Moon), and 100 $AZERO (Whale Alert!). There's also a leaderboard that displays the no. of games that you've played and how many you've won, and also lists other player's scores too, from the highest-ranking player to the lowest. For future developments, Upcade has stated on its website that a GameFi area, NFT area, and Community Tools are coming soon, with each of them adding more value to the platform, like how the Community Tools area will allow the community to vote on their next favorite game that they wish to see on Upcade and how the NFT area will allow for digital asset management of a players NFT's. Finally, for games that Upcade personally wants to add to the platform, they also have 3 other games on the way that are being developed and are still TBA as to when they'll be released, which are: Space Soldiers: Amazed: Moon Riders: They're also open to allowing an indie developer's game to be added to the platform and for everyone to earn on that game too. If you're a developer who wants to port your own game over to Upcade and allow gamers to bet on the games that they play, kindly ask the Upcade team about it in their Discord (can be found in the References section at the end of this article) to let them know about your game and to see if it's accepted to be on Upcade's launchpad. The Team: The Web3 gaming studio that is building Upcade is GaveDevTube (GDT), which specializes in Hyper Casual+ mobile gaming apps (they've already developed and published Hyper Casual+ games like Fame Game and Pallaside Dungeon) and entertainment economies, and their studio is based in Łódź, Poland. Currently, there is an estimate of more than 500K players that have played GDT's games, and the GDT team has been to many crypto events that were held in London, Lodz, Warsaw, UAE, and Barcelona. The team behind the development of Upcade is made up of 15+ individuals who are highly experienced in multiple areas such as gaming, animation, business, and programming. Listed below are some of the most prominent core team members that make up both GDT and Upcade: Kamil Kociszewski (Co-founder): Kamil serves as the 1st co-founder of GameDevTube (GDT) and also the co-founder and Business Development Executive for Upcade. Before co-founding and starting GDT and Upcade back in early 2021, his previous experiences were that he was responsible for different acceleration programs that included more than 1000 applications, has 170+ startups in his portfolio, and even worked closely as a mentor with more than 25 of them. In terms of education, Kamil graduated with a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics at the Lodz University of Technology in 2010. If you would like to see more of Kamil's work and his previous experiences, here's his LinkedIn profile. Wiktor Turczyński (Co-founder): Wiktor serves as the 2nd co-founder as well as the Product Owner, Project Manager, and Game Designer at GDT. Not a lot is known about Wiktor in terms of his past experiences and education, however, if you would like to see more about him, here's his LinkedIn profile. Bartosz Błachucki (CTO): Bartosz serves as the CTO as well as a Unity Developer for GDT. In terms of his past experiences, he was a Unity Developer for a VR company called EPIC VR and an Analyst for a telecommunications company called Orange Polska. Bartosz also went on to become a winner of the ROG4CREATORS 2021 competition that was issued by ASUS Polska in December 2021! If you would like to see more of Bartosz's work and his previous experiences, here's his LinkedIn profile. If you would like to check out the rest of the amazing team that's building Upcade as well as see their past experiences, you can check GDT's LinkedIn profile and their company website, which can be found in the References section at the end of this article. The Conclusion: In conclusion, Upcade is a multiplayer web3 gaming hub that emphasizes creating fun experiences and entertainment for both the hardcore gamer and their community with classic arcade games that include a hint of Web3 in them. Once more new games and features are added to the platform, then without a doubt, Upcade will be poised to become the central hub for classic arcade games here in Web3 gaming. If you want to learn more about Upcade, then go visit their website (Upcade and GDT), and join their socials if you haven’t as well (all found in the References list below)! References: Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/upcade_xyz LinkedIn (Upcade) - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/upcade Website (Upcade x Aleph Zero) - https://azero.upcade.xyz/ Website (Upcade) - https://upcade.xyz/ Website (GDT) - https://gdt.gg/ Discord - https://discord.gg/upcade Telegram - https://t.me/upcade 'Upcade x Aleph Zero' Tech Updates Telegram - https://t.me/upcadexaleph

The future of the cryptocurrency industry hinges on a range of factors, including market demand, mainstream adoption, regulatory compliance, and networking. Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, web3 enthusiasts, developers, and industry experts have made significant strides in demonstrating the impact and necessity of blockchain technology. They have achieved this by creating networking opportunities, hosting engaging workshops, and organizing events where attendees can interact with the builder community. Aleph Zero kindled their networking approach by hosting multiple side events at cryptocurrency conferences worldwide, targeting web3 enthusiasts, developers and attracting mainstream attention. This convergence has united a community of developers, both idiosyncratic and highly skilled 'coppersmiths' within and outside Aleph Zero's guild, alongside a flurry of enthusiasts ready to engage in lively discussions, foster knowledge sharing, and promote collaboration. Consensus 2023 Since its inception in 2015, the world's largest and most influential crypto gathering, Consensus, has served as a key nexus for collaboration, recalibration, and resolution of the 'oubliette' of thorny challenges confronted by many web3 enthusiasts, founders, developers, policymakers, and investors from around the world. At Consensus 2023, a bustling gathering of over 10,000 attendees, which featured more than 500 exhibitions, the Zero Proof event hosted by Aleph Zero stood out with a distinctive allure, much like a zebra among wildebeests and impalas. It provided a great opportunity for attendees to relax, chat, and connect with like-minded individuals from all over the world. Topics of discussion spanned the vast expanse of the blockchain industry, from the explosion of AI and data privacy to decentralizing AI development, cryptocurrency regulatory crackdown, digitizing real-world assets (RWA), and, finally, the future of Web3. ETHWarsaw Ecosystem Gathering ETHWarsaw is an event organized by a passionate group of local Ethereum enthusiasts. In September, the second edition of ETHWarsaw brought together a global community of developers, founders, and educators in Web3. Among the attendees, Aleph Zero stood out prominently, much like a majestic oak, especially with their zero-proof party and hackathon, which brought together over 800 Web3 builders. They meticulously orchestrated every detail of the event with graceful finesse, leaving attendees with a memorable experience. The conference was graced by the presence of the Ethereum Foundation, ZkSync, Ledger, AbaxFinance, AzeroID, Nightly, and others who came together to educate, debate, compare notes, and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Warsaw, Poland. One of the highlights of the event was a 2-day hackathon organized by Aleph Zero. This hackathon led to the development of innovative tools by four winning teams, each of which earned well-deserved bounties. One of the teams created Smart Beaver, a no-code tool for generating smart contracts on the Ink! platform. This means that individuals with little to no coding experience can now deploy PSP-22 tokens, commonly referred to as the 'ERC-20' for the Polkadot ecosystem, or other contracts on Aleph Zero. Another team introduced TCP, a machine capable of pouring liquids into glasses after validating a smart contract transaction. This project quickly distinguished itself by showcasing not only the technical aspects of using Aleph Zero's smart contracts but also its real-world application potential. Imagine entering an event where machines are programmed to craft custom drinks, offering a wide range of cocktails and beverages tailored to the preferences of attendees! One of the teams unveiled AZERO_GG, a token-gated channel system for Discord that allows Aleph Zero holders to access exclusive Discord channels. Lastly, there was Handshake, an app that rewards social interactions during real-life and online events. Recognizing the potential of the networking approach, especially through the instrumentation of hackathons, Aleph Zero introduces new projects into the ecosystem while marketing themselves to talented developers interested in expanding the ecosystem. Token2049: Bullseyes! Token 2049 stands as a premier crypto event held in both Dubai and Singapore, serving as a confluence for entrepreneurs, investors, developers, industry experts, and global media within the crypto industry. With over 10,000 attendees, 400+ side events, and 300+ speakers (notable past speakers include Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, and Charles Hoskinson, the Founder of Cardano), and the participation of more than 5,000 companies, it offers unparalleled networking opportunities and has the potential to shape the direction of new projects in the cryptocurrency world. The allure of such a grand spotlight is nearly irresistible, so it comes as no surprise that Aleph Zero collaborated with Kwil and Fractal_ID for "Bullseye!" – a gathering that brought together 200 fellow web3 builders. This event was characterised by spirited conversations on all aspects of decentralised identity, accompanied by delightful refreshments and a thrilling game of darts. During the event, the integration of Aleph Zero with Fractal_ID, the interoperable Decentralised Identity System for web3, and Kwil, the first permissionless SQL database for the decentralised internet, was also celebrated. This marks the beginning of a new era of collaboration and knowledge sharing among the three teams. Aleph Zero's dynamic networking strategy has become a linchpin in the web3 arena. Their initiatives such as the Zero Proof at Consensus 2023, participation in the ETHWarsaw Ecosystem Gathering and Bulleyes! at the token2049 have created hubs for knowledge sharing and innovation. The hackathons they organize yield tool development and applications with potential real-world use cases. These endeavours have firmly cemented Aleph Zero's reputation as purveyors of innovative solutions, all within the spirit of networking.

Users on Abax will be able to shape the future of the lending protocol via a DAO governance system. In this article, we'll be covering Abax Finance, a lending protocol building on Aleph Zero that utilizes a smart contract system that allows users to seamlessly lend and borrow cryptocurrencies by using the power of blockchain. In this article, I’ll be going over the current problems and risks with today's lending protocols, how Abax Finance plans to stand out from the crowd with its unique approach, the team behind the project, and so on. This article will divided into 6 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, The Partnerships & Roadmap, The Tokenomics, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. With the intro out of the way, let's get started! The Problem: In today's world of DeFi lending protocols, two types of users exist: lenders and borrowers. Lenders are individuals who are allowed to earn a dependable passive income stream by depositing their hard-earned cryptocurrencies into a lending pool and securely lending them out, whilst borrowers are individuals who are given these cryptocurrencies against their collateral or through the innovative flash loan mechanism. Lenders can have it pretty easy, as they can earn a steady flow of passive income from interest rates, while borrowers are exposed to more risks due to them having to guarantee a higher value of collateral than the amount borrowed. This can all happen because most DeFi lending protocol is decentralized and noncustodial, meaning that there are no traditional evaluations like credit scores or income certificates to determine a safe loan amount. Therefore, because of this, DeFi loans are mostly overcollateralized, and to put this into perspective, borrowers can get 50% or 75% of the amount they put up as collateral. However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows from here, as there are some inherent risks when operating a DeFi lending protocol. Below are some of the prominent cases as to why the risks are there: Faulty Smart Contracts - Having faulty smart contracts for any Dapp is, by far, the biggest problem in DeFi today. Having faulty and unaudited smart contracts can open the doors for malicious actors to swoop in and steal user's assets by exploiting the smart contract's vulnerabilities i.e., poor coding and draining the liquidity/lending pools. Not Having Regulatory Compliance - In DeFi today, regulatory compliance is mostly non-existent (although efforts are being made to be more compliant), and because of this, they don’t offer the same protection that everyone sees in the traditional finance system now i.e., if a bank goes insolvent, customers can rest assured that they are being protected by getting a partial amount of their deposits, which is around USD 250,000 (amount varies in each location). For DeFi lending protocols today, if one were to be hacked or to go insolvent, the users aren’t protected and, therefore, their funds may be lost and will never be returned. Flash Loan Attacks - In a flash loan attack, a couple of malicious actors can borrow a large sum of one token and swap it for another so that they can manipulate the price of both tokens. Additionally, they can deposit their newly purchased tokens into another vulnerable DeFi lending protocol to borrow large amounts of the token they originally swapped, and once done, they can use a portion of that token to pay off their flash loan and keep the rest for their gain. Poor UI / UX - For most DeFi lending protocols, having a seamless and clear UI / UX isn’t set as their main priority, and due to this missed opportunity, this can sometimes lead to users accidentally and permanently losing their funds simply by interacting with the wrong function because the UI is so poorly designed and not human friendly. With all of this to bear in mind, it makes anyone wonder if there is a DeFi lending protocol out there that can mitigate these risks, has a simple and seamless UI that’s friendly to users, has audited and secure smart contracts and, most of all, can guarantee a users safety of their digital assets by being regulatory complaint. The Solution: To put it simply, Abax Finance is a Lending Protocol that utilizes a state-of-the-art lending pool design as well as secure and audited smart contracts to allow a trustless, permissionless, and seamless experience of lending and borrowing for different cryptocurrencies to happen on the Dapp. They’ve also created a unique governance system for the protocol, with the team calling it ‘Abax DAO’, and this allows the decision-making process and protocol upgrades to be done by the community via on-chain votes. Here’s what users can expect to see on the Abax Lending Protocol Dapp: Lending Pools - The main function that runs the show on the Abax Lending Protocol is their lending pools, which are pools that contain and represent a collection of different cryptocurrencies for users to deposit or borrow from and are entirely run by smart contracts. Lenders / Depositors - Lenders can interact with a smart contract by supplying their cryptocurrencies to each respected lending pool and by doing so, they can contribute to the liquidity of the protocol. In return for doing this, lenders can earn passive income via interest on their deposited assets, as borrowers pay interest on the amount they borrow. Borrowers - Borrowers are users that require funds and to do this, they collateralize their digital assets and borrow from the lending pools. Borrowers can access funds either in an overcollateralized manner, where they provide more collateral than the borrowed amount, or in an undercollateralized manner (aka flash loans) where they repay the loan within a single atomic transaction. Interest Rates - The interest rates for deposits and debts on the Abax Lending Protocol are dynamically determined by the supply and demand within each lending pool. As for the rate, this can be done when each asset is calculated based on the utilization rate and the asset’s risk profile. Governance - The Abax Lending Protocol is collectively managed by the Abax DAO. The Abax DAO allows ABAX token holders to participate in multiple and different proposals, such as the decision-making process, proposing and voting on changes, protocol upgrades, and parameters of the protocol. By doing this, it enables the community to have a say in the evolution and governance of the lending protocol now and in the future. Abax is paving the way to become the most secure and regulatory complaint lending protocol in crypto today! (And FYI, this is an old logo that Abax doesn’t use anymore) Abax Finance also boasts that they have some unique features that make them a trustworthy and powerful lending protocol to be used by thousands of users, which are: Regulatory Compliance - A core problem with any DeFi protocol is the lack of regulatory compliance, and it seems like Abax is on the right track to make it more trustworthy. Compliance with relevant regulations is a key goal of the Abax community, and with a focus on compliance and transparency, they aim to establish Abax as a trustworthy and reliable partner for both lenders and borrowers. User Interface tailored to your needs - I think we can all agree that UI is one of the most difficult aspects to perfect of any Dapp and get the most adoption from a user base. Luckily, Abax has got you covered! Whether you’re an experienced blockchain user or new to the technology, the Abax Lending Protocol Dapp provides an intuitive and user-friendly way to utilize all the features of the platform. Cross-chain Compatibility - If you thought that the Abax Lending Protocol was only going to stay natively built on Aleph Zero, then you are wrong! The Abax Lending Protocol will allow for cross-chain compatibility once Aleph Zero finally bridges to Polkadot and other ecosystems. Innovative Position Risk Model - Liquidation might seem like a scary idea, especially for users who want to have a lower risk when using a lending protocol. Luckily, the Abax Lending Protocol automatically calculates the maximum debt for each user based on the user's collaterals and debts that built position. Each asset contributes differently to the position depending on its volatility and if the health factor is higher, the risk factor is less. Flexible Borrowing Rules - Do you want your borrowing experience to be as flexible and seamless as possible? If so, then the Abax Lending Protocol might be the answer that you have been looking for! It’s highly customizable at its core, and to create the best borrowing experience possible, it allows borrowers to choose from many Market Rules, which regulate how assets can be borrowed. These market rules will be used by Abax DAO to manage the protocol risks and give users the best possible borrowing opportunities tailored to current market needs. Fair Interest Rate Model - Interest rates play an important role in any lending protocol, as they try to give an honest interest rate to lenders and borrowers, but sometimes, some lending protocols can advertise a much higher interest rate that could prove to be too unstable in the long run. However, fear not, as the Abax Lending Protocol utilizes a dynamic interest rate model that adjusts based on market demand, ensuring fair and competitive rates for lenders and borrowers. The Team: From what we know so far, the team behind Abax Finance consists of only two individuals from Cracow, Poland, with their DAO Legal Wrapper aka ‘Abax DAO’ functioning as a non-profit association/foundation registered under the legal jurisdiction of Estonia. Below are the two prominent members who are working on Abax Finance (as well as their LinkedIn profiles for you to visit): Konrad Wierzbik (Co-founder): Konrad is one of the two co-founders of Abax Finance and an experienced student who’s studying theoretical physics at EPFL under the laboratory of particle physics and cosmology. He’s knowledgeable on the topics of blockchain technology and has been developing projects such as Abax Finance for a couple of years. According to his LinkedIn page, he’s been a smart contract developer since April 2022 when working at a company called Widelab, he’s graduated with a Master’s degree in Physics in 2022 and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics in 2019 and also describes his main interests, which are Physics, Blockchain technology, Mathematics, and Economics. If you would like to know more about Konrad and his past and current experiences, here’s his LinkedIn profile. Łukasz Łakomy (Co-founder): Łukasz is the 2nd co-founder of Abax Finance and is a full stack developer, with him graduating with an Engineer’s degree in Computer Science in 2021. According to his LinkedIn page, he has experience as a software and full stack developer as well as a junior AR analyst for around 5 years, working for companies such as ABB, WEBCON & IBM, and has a year's worth of experience developing Dapps and smart contracts using Solidity, TypeScript, and Rust. If you would like to know more about Łukasz and his past and current experiences, here’s his LinkedIn profile. The Partnerships & Roadmap: The Abax Finance team has confirmed that they have been accepted into Aleph Zero’s Ecosystem Funding Program (EFP), meaning that they’ll get access to more funds and tools for the development of the platform, opening the doors to having angel investors and VC’s to invest into the project, get advised by the Aleph Zero team themselves about the direction of the project, and more. They’ve also announced a partnership with the team at Brushfam, a platform that onboards businesses to Polkadot by creating necessary development infrastructure, auditing, and giving advisory to development teams. Their partnership will allow the Abax Finance team to join the advisory program, and the focus of the team behind OpenBrush is to give both high and low-level code reviews and advise on implemented architecture as well as security. This cooperation shall ensure that the Abax Lending Protocol is performant, secure, and well-designed. The partnership between Abax and Brushfam can open up many opportunities for the Abax Lending Protocol now and in the future. The roadmap for Abax Finance has been split into 3 phases: 1st Phase: This will focus on the convergence of the vision of the DAO, which includes the design and agreement on the governance processes, and the design and agreement on the tokenomics and initial distribution. It’ll also be the phase in which the team wants to present the product on testnet, which will go live on the 24th of August. This will include implementing a web app, performing testing of the smart contracts and the web app, and releasing the product on the testnet. 2nd Phase: This will be the phase when the team will initialize the on-chain governance, which includes implementing and auditing the Governance Token contract, the Initial Distribution contract, and the Governor contract, as well as performing the initial contribution round for the community. The 2nd phase will also include the preparation of the product for mainnet launch, and performing an audit of the overall Abax Lending Protocol. 3rd Phase: The 3rd phase will be the one when the mainnet launch for the Abax Lending Protocol will occur, which includes deploying the Lending Protocol as a DAO, adding assets to the lending protocol through on-chain governance, and most importantly, governing and improving the protocol! The foundation will be established in this phase, which includes the discussion of the registration details, and voting on the discussion outcomes via on-chain governance. Abax has split up the roadmap into 3 clear and transparent phases. The Tokenomics: The token for Abax Finance’s DAO (ABAX) will be PSP-22 and have a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 ABAX tokens in circulation, which will be inflationary and a small no. of tokens minted will be used as rewards for governance participants. The team has designed the proposed tokenomics to create a fair and sustainable ecosystem for the DAO governance system. They also state that “by incentivizing participation in governance and rewarding valuable contributions, we hope to foster a strong and vibrant community around our project”. However, they’ve also claimed that these tokenomics are subject to approval through on-chain voting, and users can have their voices heard. Below is the distribution of the ABAX token: 4% (40M) Founder & Initial Team: This will be allocated to the ABAX protocol creators and initiators of this DAO. 4% (40M) First Public Contribution: This will be distributed during a one-week public contribution event, where everyone can specify the amount of AZERO they want to contribute to the DAO. The tokens will be distributed proportionally to the contribution, but not more than 1 ABAX per 0.05 AZERO. If not all tokens are distributed, the remaining part will be used in subsequent distributions. 16% (160M) Development Team: This will be vested linearly over 4 years to the development team (4% per year). Initially, the creators’ team will be chosen as the development team, but this can be changed at any time through on-chain voting. 6% (60M) Subsequent Contributions: This will be allocated for subsequent contributions. The Abax team proposes 6 contributions, each worth 1%. These contributions will remain open until all tokens are distributed. The amount of AZERO required to receive 1 ABAX will be 0.1, 0.125, 0.15, 0.175, 0.2, and 0.25, respectively. 4% (40M) Marketing, Partnerships, etc.: This will be allocated for marketing efforts, partnerships, and other promotional activities. 4% (40M) Bug Bounty: This will be reserved for bug bounties, incentivizing the community to help identify and fix vulnerabilities in the Abax platform. 2% (20M) Valuable Community Members: This will be specially allocated for valuable community members & DAO participants who contribute great ideas to the project. 60% (600M) Liquidity Mining: This will be used for liquidity mining, with 10% released per year (10 years in total). The Conclusion: In conclusion, Abax Finance is a Lending Protocol that uses a smart contract system that gives users the power to lend and borrow their favorite cryptocurrencies, thanks to the abilities of blockchain technology. It also operates in a decentralized matter via a DAO governance system, or ‘Abax DAO’ as the team calls it, and that opens the gates for the community to voice their opinions for the direction of Abax Finance via on-chain voting. With all of this combined, there is, without a doubt, that Abax Finance can be very successful in the future by hopefully becoming the leading lending protocol here on Aleph Zero and, potentially, in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems, as well as having a massive following from the community and getting them to support the future of Abax Finance by making the upgrades and decision making from Abax DAO via on-chain votes. If you want to learn more about Abax Finance after reading this article, then go visit their website, their documentation & whitepaper, visit their governance forum, and join their socials if you haven’t as well, which all can be found on their website (website link in the References section). References: Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/AbaxFinance Website - https://abax.finance/ Documentation - https://docs.abax.finance/ Governance Site - https://gov.abax.finance/ Whitepaper - https://abaxfinance.github.io/abax-org/whitepaper.pdf

AZERO.LIVE, a monitoring and alerting platform powered by the Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program. AZERO.LIVE has just proudly announced today that it achieved its 1st Milestone in Aleph Zero's EFP, which includes the launch of its Telegram WebApp, the 'Aleph Zero Alerts' bot, with the utility of allowing users to set up alerts (wallet transfers, staking and unstaking events, price movements, etc.) and monitor data for activities that occur on the Aleph Zero network all in one place! Specializing in monitoring and alerting, AZERO.LIVE aligns well with Telegram’s capabilities and instant messaging framework. This creates a powerful combination, offering Aleph Zero users a straightforward and efficient method to set up and receive alerts. This article will cover everything you need to know about AZERO.LIVE's WebApp and the different functionalities that it brings to the table. A handy monitoring and alerting tool for all Aleph Zero enthusiasts: With the launch of AZERO.LIVE's newest Telegram WebApp, the 'Aleph Zero Alerts' bot, it comes with multiple functions that have been specifically built and designed to benefit the user for an easier experience when monitoring data and setting up alerts on the Aleph Zero network. For context, Telegram WebApps are rare to find these days since developing them has a certain learning curve as to how to build these properly. However, despite the learning curve for developing these WebApps, they also offer remarkable power and flexibility to the point where they can replace entire websites! Their seamless integration with the Telegram ecosystem, and the ability to interact with Telegram's native UI elements, give bots a whole new dimension. The most interesting part about these WebApps is that they essentially "live" inside Telegram, and can interact with Telegram's native UI elements, which include displaying and making use of native buttons, keyboards, etc. The setup process of the bot is quite easy. The guide to setting up the goes as follows: 1. Click on the Telegram link that leads you to the 'Aleph Zero ALerts' bot (this can be found in the References section of this article). 2. Once you've opened the bot on Telegram, you'll be greeted with an automatic message from the bot, which briefly describes what the 'Aleph Zero Alerts' bot is. 3. Click on the 'Start' field, which will send a message to get you started with the bot. 4. Next, click on the 'Manage Alerts' field and bam! You're now ready to begin setting up your first alerts on the Aleph Zero network! Now, to the fun part. The 'Aleph Zero Alerts' bot comes with a variety of features jam-packed into one handy WebApp. These features include: Monitor new Wallet/Validator - With this feature, users can expect to monitor a wallet or validator of their choice. If the user selects to monitor a wallet, they can assign a nickname to it, paste in the account address to monitor, and choose to either get notifications for ongoing and ongoing transfers, staking and unstaking changes, or even both! If the user wants to track a validator, they can also assign a nickname to it, paste in the account address of the validator to track, and get notifications for validator downtimes, commission changes, ongoing and outgoing transfers, and staking and unstaking changes performed by the validator, or even set notifications for all! Whale Watcher - Users can easily set notifications to track any activity from whales on the Aleph Zero network, and they can set up alerts to notify for either major transfers (> 50,000 $AZERO), major staking and unstaking changes (> 50,000 $AZERo), or even for both! Manage Accounts - Allows users to manage the account alerts they've set up i.e., wallets and validators. Price Alerts - This feature enables the user to create any price alert for when $AZERO reaches a certain price in the markets. The Conclusion: In conclusion, the choice from the AZERO.LIVE team, together with the funding from Aleph Zero's EFP, to develop a WebApp on Telegram is very interesting and has lots of potential for users to keep up to date on the Aleph Zero network as well as to easily monitor data and set up different alerts for anything that goes in the AZERO ecosystem. If future updates and integrations for the WebApp provide more value and utility for the user, then the 'Aleph Zero Alerts' bot can essentially become the one-stop shop for all of your basic needs for navigating the Aleph Zero network. References: Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/AZERO_LIVE Website - https://azero.live/ AZERO.LIVE Telegram WebApp - https://t.me/AlephZeroAlertsBot

From the inception of the pioneering blockchain, Bitcoin, to the more recent developments in blockchain technology such as Ethereum and Aleph Zero, it becomes evident that each blockchain possesses distinctive rules, consensus mechanisms, tokens, modus operandi, and inherent complexities. These components are intricately designed, creating unique architectures that serve as foundational pillars for any given blockchain. While the security and immutability of blockchain architecture are strengths, the inherent rigidity and isolation of individual blockchains can limit their overall utility. Hence, the need for a cross-chain bridge to provide the infrastructure needed to connect separate blockchains, enabling the transfer of assets and information across them. Challenges and Solutions Web 3.0 envisioned a network of interconnected blockchains aimed at overcoming scalability challenges and harnessing the collective strengths of many blockchain technologies. Its goal was to facilitate intricate financial instruments and transactions across multiple blockchains. However, the pursuit of this vision has encountered a significant hurdle—the absence of secure interoperability. This lack of secure interoperability has resulted in fragmented liquidity, with different blockchains unable to share resources, ultimately diminishing liquidity for each individual chain. Moreover, collaboration among developer teams has been hindered, impeding the seamless exchange of communities between networks. This fragmentation has led to the emergence of small, isolated user groups with maximalist tendencies. Compounding the issue, existing bridges suffer from security vulnerabilities, making them susceptible to frequent hacks. This insecurity erodes trust in the overall ecosystem, highlighting the urgent need for robust and secure interoperability solutions. Router Protocol's Contribution With Router Protocol, a Layer 1 chain facilitating connections between various blockchains, you can seamlessly swap assets, transmit messages, and develop dApps across multiple chains like Moonriver and Arbitrum. Routers asset transfer bridge, Nitro, is renowned for its trustless nature, capital efficiency, ultra-low latency, and reduced transaction costs compared to other Layer 1 (L1) chains. By harnessing Routers secure, scalable, modular, and composable framework, developers can craft cross-chain yield aggregators for earning yield on multiple chains simultaneously. They can also create cross-chain lending protocols, enabling users to lend and borrow across chains. Additionally, developers can establish a cross-chain NFT marketplace that interconnects them all, collaboratively functioning as a cohesive system, sharing assets and information seamlessly, and achieving secure interoperability. Ultimately, this evolution leads to the envisioned 'blockchain superorganism. Aleph Zero Integration On November 15th, Router Protocol announced an integration with Aleph Zero, a privacy-enhancing blockchain that ensures instant finality, scalability, low transaction fees, and robust security. This integration aims to offer fast, cost-effective cross-chain swaps to the Aleph Zero network from multiple supported chains. This partnership marks Aleph Zero's first integration with a bridging infrastructure provider. The Dance Towards a Blockchain Superorganism Guided as if by irresistible ocean currents, many projects are reaching out to integrate Aleph Zero into their network of interconnected blockchain systems. This strategic move not only fortifies available liquidity but also paves the way for a robust ecosystem. Here, the privacy features of Aleph Zero ensure secure and confidential transactions, its scalability accommodates a larger user base, and instant finality enhances transaction speed. The Router protocol throws secure interoperability into the mix, facilitating a seamless multi-chain experience. With this strengthened foundation, Aleph Zero's DeFi scene is poised to take off, reaping the benefits of improved liquidity and expanded multi-chain connectivity.

Interlock is making crypto security easier, accessible, and rewarding for everyone! Salutations everyone, and welcome back to yet another article focusing on a very ambitious AZERO ecosystem project that's part of Aleph Zero's EFP! In today's piece, I’ve chosen to cover Interlock, a blockchain network that is building blockchain-based security products designed and specially crafted for users to protect themselves from hacks, scams, and phishing links in the ever-changing world that is DeFi and can be rewarded for sharing their anonymized security data. In this article, I’ll be going over the current problems for cybersecurity in DeFi today, what Interlock has built to combat this, the team behind the project, and so on. This article will divided into 6 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, The Integrations, Partnerships & Roadmap, The Tokenomics, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. The Problem: It is without a doubt that 2021 was the biggest and best year for crypto, but it was also the biggest and worst year for crypto scams and hacks alone. It is estimated that over $7 billion worth of crypto was stolen in 2021, not to mention that phishing and social engineering attacks were at their highest point back then and were way too successful, so much so that it left users and investors unsafe and scared to navigate the DeFi landscape and are uncertain about the future of crypto security. It's notable that web3 technology has advanced way faster than any other web2-security products and couldn’t keep up to adapt to it in time. As most NFTs and crypto wallets gained popularity, a window for new, sophisticated, and malicious attacks was opened, and between 2020 and 2021 alone, cryptocurrency theft rose 516%, to $3.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency. If that wasn’t the worst of it, in 2021, the reported median loss per hack was $1,900, according to a Federal Trade Commission report. Some of the most common scams ever found in the crypto space are: Discord hacks and scams Crypto phishing scams Social media crypto scams Crypto rug pulls Social engineering Honeypot scams Crypto wallet hacks However, it's not all doom and gloom from there. The Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report 2023 provided a beneficial insight into the cryptocurrency scam landscape back in 2022. The key findings that it found were: The revenue for crypto scams had significantly dropped by 46% in 2022, mostly due to the crypto crash and the bear market. Unfortunately, $5.9 billion in scam revenue was still recorded. In 2022, the top 10 scams were all notably investment scams, with Hyperverse being the most successful scam to be recorded that year. Out of every scam known in crypto, romance scams were the most destructive on a per-victim basis in 2022, with an average victim deposit of almost $16,000, nearly triple the next-closest category. As a hedge against a potential market crash, scammers in 2022 had a preference for stablecoins more than Bitcoin during bull markets. If you want to learn more about the findings, the blog post can be found here. However, if crypto is to gain mainstream adoption, these known scams, phishing attacks, and hacks need to be stopped or at least mitigated to the point that anyone can feel safe using and navigating any DeFi application and can rest well knowing that their crypto and NFT’s are safe and sound in their wallets. Modern problems require modern solutions, and Interlock has modern solutions that can fix these modern problems! The Solution: So what’s the solution to fix/mitigate cybercrime in crypto, you may ask? At Interlock, they have built two badass solutions that can help solve and mitigate the cybersecurity problem in crypto, which are: ThreatSlayer: ThreatSlayer gives instant protection from browser-based threats and rewards you for sharing your anonymized security data to make the internet a safer place for everyone 😎. How ThreatSlayer works is that when a user visits a website in real-time, it instantly scans it and if it detects anything malicious, it will automatically lock down their browser and prevent them from giving away their credentials, downloading any files that seem off, and visiting dangerous links and phishing sites. ThreatSlayer: The browser extension that gives the middle finger to cyber criminals everywhere! With ThreatSlayer, users can be at ease when interacting with DeFi applications and can protect their crypto and NFTs from phishing, scams, and bad downloads. And if you think that’s all to it, there more! Not only can you protect yourself from the harsh cybercrimes that lurk on the internet today, but you can also be rewarded for sharing your security data/threat intel anonymously on ThreatSlayer, and in return, you’ll be rewarded in $ILOCK, Interlocks ERC-20 token that plays a pivotal role in giving users the ability to earn passively while browsing and sharing anonymized security data. But that also brings up the question ‘What’s under the hood of ThreatSlayer really and how does it do it in real-time?’ By AI, of course! Interlocks ThreatSlayer uses an advanced artificial intelligence, known as a supervised learning system, that’s been trained on a dataset of known good and known bad websites. It uses techniques like feature selection to identify key characteristics of a website that will indicate if it’s malicious or not. ThreatSlayer is supported on browsers such as Chrome, Brave, Edge, and other Chrome-compatible browsers, with Firefox and mobile support coming soon if you want to download it, visit the last link in the References section of this article to download the ThreatSlayer browser extension. For the data that it collects, the only thing sent to Interlocks servers is a URL, so they can scan it with their threat-detecting AI any of these URLs are anonymized, so there is no way to connect any user with any URL and it means that no personal information is collected. On top of that, its code is also open-source, so if you want to check it out for yourself, visit the link here. In addition to all of this, Interlock has recently released a fresh new look to the ThreatSlayer dashboard, which is shown below: Bouncer: Bouncer is an open-source Discord bot that helps any Discord server by scanning links protecting the server from malicious sites and instantly neutralizing them. The way Bouncer does this is by querying Interlocks database of known-malicious sites, and if the site is new, they can use their proprietary visual AI to identify 0-day phishing sites. Not to mention that the setup process only takes just a minute or two and it begins protecting your server instantly. If you want to see the code that makes Bouncer work, here’s the link to its GitHub site, and if you want to incorporate Bouncer into your Discord server, then go chuck a message into Interlocks server and politely ask them about the opportunity. Bouncer: The Discord bot that protects your Discord server from malicious sites and links! The Team: The team at Interlock is made up of a group of like-minded and intelligent individuals who have experience in the cybersecurity and crypto space as well as being founders and alumni of Y Combinator (YC). Here are some of the most prominent figures/founders at Interlock: Rick Deacon (CEO): Rick is the CEO and one of the 4 co-founders at Interlock. He's a former cybersecurity researcher and is known to be a startup advisor as well as a YC founder and alumni with a successful exit. He also describes himself as a hacker, car degen, serial and exited entrepreneur, and is the ex-cofounder of Radwood, an organization that celebrates the ‘80s and ‘90s automotive lifestyle. He most notably cofounded Apozy Airlock in 2013 (a precursor to Interlock), which is the browser defense platform that neutralizes web attacks in one click. If you want to know more about Rick's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. Erhan Justice (CTO): Erhan is the CTO and the 2nd co-founder at Interlock and is known to be a former Apple engineer. He’s also a YC founder and a pioneer of browser isolation technology, and he’s a cofounder and CTO of Apozy Airlock, where he worked along with Rick to bring products that bring that enterprise-level security to the rest of the world. If you want to know more about Erhan's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. Nick Zivković (PE): Nick is the PE and the 3rd cofounder at Interlock and describes himself as a pre-acquisition Joylent engineer and an expert at building distributed systems. He also serves as the Product Engineer at Ghost, which is a platform solely focused on professional publishing and creating the best open-source tools for independent journalists and writers across the world. He’s even got his own blog post website, which can be found here. Andrew Ciaccia (CMO): Andrew is the CMO and the 4th cofounder at Interlock and is mainly responsible for the marketing efforts of Interlocks products, ThreatSlayer and Bouncer, and some of the relations between Interlock and Aleph Zero. He also describes himself as loving the idea of small-town living, enjoys coffee, and is a racing enthusiast. Fun fact: as of 17th June 2022, he is comically known as the “Marketing Hat Person” and also as of 10th March 2023, he is nicknamed “ANDYBOY”, courtesy of Interlocks lead dev, Nick Zivković. If you want to know more about Andrew's work, here's his LinkedIn profile. captain.azero (Community Manager): captain.azero is one of the 2 community managers over at Interlock and is also known as an official Aleph Zero & AZERO.ID ambassador. He describes himself as an Aleph Zero believer and he mainly writes all of the Interlock Discord server announcements and helps make the ‘Tech Tuesday Updates’, which describes the most recent updates and announcements for Interlock. However, if you would like to see the rest of the amazing team that’s working hard at Interlock, here is a list of their names (you can find them all in their discord server as well as on Twitter from some of their handles attached here): Interlock is made from a decentralized global team. The Integrations, Partnerships & Roadmap: Interlock has mainly been in the AZERO ecosystem for quite a while and has established a good relationship with Aleph Zero, so much so that they have been granted to be in Aleph Zero’s EFP, where they can get further advisory services from the team, increased funding, access to angel and venture capital investments, and so on. And, as of writing, they recently announced publicly that they have been mentioned in Aleph Zero’s Signer browser extension, where they recommend new users to use Interlocks ThreatSlayer browser extension to stay safe out there when moving across the DeFi world. They’ve also gone through the rigorous process of having their smart contracts audited and will be launching the full version of ThreatSlayer as well as their $ILOCK token at some point in 2023. Interlocks roadmap has been split into 3 phases: Phase 1 (Protect DeFi Consumers): In the 1st phase (the one that Interlock is currently in), they plan to launch their consumer browser extension that lays the foundation for their decentralized security platform. They also plan to launch their $ILOCK token that is central to rewarding users for sharing their anonymized security data from using ThreatSlayer and plan to find bounty hunters that can scour the web for dangerous sites to make their threat intel data even more robust. Phase 2 (Monetize with INTRprise): In the 2nd phase, Interlock has stated that as their consumer network grows, their value to enterprises grows in sync, and the $ILOCK token demand increases by selling security products to large businesses. They also want to integrate their products into web3 applications like wallets, exchanges, and other web3 projects to prevent fraud and cybercrime and they plan to license Interlock threat intel solutions to Fortune 500 customers that see a shift from centralized to decentralized security. Phase 3 (Launch the first DeSec platform): In the 3rd and last phase of their roadmap, Interlock plans to release their blockchain-based threat intel and to become the hub for DeFi security. They want to allow anyone to create security dApps on their decentralized security platform, like On-chain and Interchain protection services that protect active-security wallets, consumer security products like DNS, VPN & email, and cross-chain products like KYC, incident response and bug bounties. They’ve also got a good list of investors that displayed their interest in Interlock, which is shown below: Interlock is backed by 8 esteemed investors that are big in web3. The Tokenomics: Below, you will find the basics and the token distribution scheme for Interlocks token, $ILOCK: Total Supply of Tokens: 1,000,000,000 TDE Target Date: Oct/2023 Public Sale of Supply (Up to): 5.0% Public Sale Valuation: 35,000,000 However, if you would like to see the token sale and the token vesting schedule, you can find all of that here. The Conclusion: In conclusion, Interlock is a network that is actively building blockchain-based security products for users who want to protect themselves from hacks, phishing links, and scams in DeFi and can be rewarded for sharing their security data anonymously. With their well-designed security products, ThreatSlayer and Bouncer, as well as their innovative and top-notch team, there’s no doubt that they’ll secure themselves as one of the biggest movers in the cybersecurity and crypto space. If you want to learn more about Interlock, then go visit their website, their documentation, their educational blog site, and the Chrome Store to download the ThreatSlayer extension on your browser (all found in the References list below) and join their socials if you haven’t as well! References: Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/interlockweb3 Website - https://www.interlock.network/ Documentation - https://docs.interlock.network/ Blog Site - https://www.interlock.network/blogs ThreatSlayer extension download - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/threatslayer-security-phi/mgcmocglffknmbhhfjihifeldhghihpj

Invariant, a permissionless and open-source automated market maker (AMM) decentralized exchange, recently announced their entrance into Aleph Zero's Ecosystem Funding Program on their Twitter handle, a move aimed at enhancing the functionality and capabilities of the blockchain network. The protocol distinguishes itself with a concentrated liquidity mechanism, strategically designed for capital optimisation, enhanced trading efficiency, and the potential for superior trading opportunities and returns. In a conventional exchange, liquidity providers for a cryptocurrency pair, such as Bitcoin and USDT, typically spread their assets across a wide range of prices. This entails placing buy and sell orders at various levels like $40,000, $41,000, and $42,000 to ensure liquidity is available across the trading spectrum. However, Invariant introduces a game-changing approach with its concentrated liquidity mechanism. This innovative mechanism enables liquidity providers to concentrate their funds within specific price intervals, reducing exposure to high volatility and potentially maximizing impact with fewer trading resources. For instance, a liquidity provider might choose to concentrate their funds within a narrower range, like $35,000 to $36,000, optimizing capital by providing liquidity where higher trading activity is expected based on thorough market analysis and historical data. This focused strategy aims to enhance overall capital efficiency and improve trading dynamics. Invariant's commitment to a robust blockchain ecosystem and transition to multi-chain solutions led them to Aleph Zero. The decision to adopt Aleph Zero as their blockchain solution is driven by various factors, including scalability, security features, and the innovative AlephBFT consensus protocol. With high transactions per second (TPS), low transaction costs, and a high-performance WebAssembly (WASM) runtime environment built on the Substrate framework, Aleph Zero aligns seamlessly with Invariant's goals. Moreover, the familiarity of Invariant's team members with Rust-like ecosystems ensures smooth coding in Ink!, a subset of Rust programming language. This becomes crucial in leveraging the capabilities of Aleph Zero effectively. Importantly, Aleph Zero's potential for a future private DeFi ecosystem is highlighted by the implementation of advanced mechanisms such as ZK-SNARKs and secure Multi-Party Computation (sMPC). This strategic shift to Aleph Zero positions Invariant at the forefront of decentralized finance, combining a concentrated liquidity approach with a technologically advanced blockchain solution for optimal performance and future scalability. About Aleph Zero and the EFP The Aleph Zero Foundation acts as a central hub for steering technical development, promoting widespread adoption, and supporting innovative projects, all contributing to the flourishing, sustainability, and continuity of the Aleph Zero blockchain ecosystem. The Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program (EFP) plays a pivotal role by financially supporting developer teams working on enhancing functionalities and fostering the adoption of the Aleph Zero blockchain. Success stories and impactful developments resulting from the EFP further solidify Aleph Zero's commitment to innovation and growth in the blockchain space.

AZERO.LIVE, a monitoring and alerting platform powered by the Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program. This article will divided into 4 parts: The Problem, The Solution, The Team, and The Conclusion, so make sure to begin from the start (The Problem) before moving on to the other parts. With the intro out of the way, let's get started! The Problem: Most blockchains often have block explores built specifically to track transactions that were recorded on the blockchain, which validator verifies a block on the network, keep's track of the number of validators on the network, how many nominators are on a validator, etc. This is good and all, but there isn't a way for the average user to keep track of each validator's activity and performance on the blockchain. Some of the activities that aren't enabled on such block explorers include real-time monitoring and alerting systems that can deliver critical network data and can notify users of any outages/downtimes of a validator, any missed blocks, any staking and unstaking events, and tracking the differences in nomination and staking increases or decreases. On top of this, there isn't a way for users to select a validator on a block explorer and discover some of the other technical details that they might want to know, like finding out the number of nominators that have recently staked and unstaked with the validator, the validators uptime and reliability since inception, which nominator has the biggest stake on the validator, and setting up alerts to keep track on any updates about the validator. The Solution: AERO.LIVE is a real-time monitoring and alerting system that delivers critical network data to the Aleph Zero community and ecosystem partners. With AZERO.LIVE, its main purpose is to help newer and existing users stay updated about the Aleph Zero network as well as to supply convenient monitoring data and alerts. Users can also expect to confidently navigate the Aleph Zero network by setting up alerts and being notified of important events such as validator downtime, commission changes, staking and unstaking events, and wallet transfers. Below are all of the features that AZERO.LIVE has to offer to the community and ecosystem partners: Community Stakes, Network Stats & Market Cap - At the top of the AZERO.LIVE page, you'll be able to see the percentage ratio of the validator stakes on the Aleph Zero network, and this ratio determines how decentralized the Aleph Zero network is (as of writing 11/11/2023, the Aleph Zero network IS decentralized, with a stake of 55.52% from the community stakes and 44.48% from the Aleph Zero Foundation stakes). You'll also be able to discover the current stats of the Aleph Zero network, where you'll see the percentage of the total AZERO supply that's been staked, the number of AZERO holders on the Aleph Zero network (or 'hodlers' as known in the crypto space), the number of AZERO that has been staked overall, how many nominators and validators are on the Aleph Zero network, and how many eras have been met. On top of this, you'll see the price chart for AZERO as well as the market cap for AZERO in the past 24 hours, which displays the current price, the market cap and fully diluted market cap, the volume for AZERO, the circulating supply for AZERO, and the total supply for AZERO. Finally, you'll be able to set up a free alert by typing in your email address so you'll be sent any alerts about what your validator might be experiencing. Staking Watcher - Discover the major bond and unbonding events that have occurred during the past 14 days. Top Nomination and Stake Increase/Decrease - Discover, in the current era, the top 3 validators on the Aleph Zero network that have gained or lost nominators (biggest to smallest) and have increased or decreased their stake size (biggest to smallest). Validators by Stake Cap - Track down what rank each validator currently holds on the Aleph Zero network, which displays the commission of the validator, the uptime of the validator, the number of days the validator has been up for, the total stake of the validator, the validators own stake, the number of nominators staking on the validator, and the next total stake the validator is expected to receive. Recent Performance & Commission Changes - Discover the most recent validator performance and commission changes (biggest to smallest). If you would like to check each validator on the Aleph Zero network, however, you can simply select one by clicking on their name when you find them on the website (it will be colored a light blue when you hover around the name). From there, you can see the name of the validator (you'll even see their unique on-chain AZERO.ID domain at the top as well as seen in the image below), their unique validator wallet, their website (if they have one), and even their social media accounts too. You can also follow them by tying in your email address to receive alerts about the validator that you've selected as well as sharing the validator with your friends who wish to stake their AZERO onto a validator. In terms of technical stats about each validator, you'll be able to find: Reliability - Find out if this validator is reliable amongst the AZERO community or not. Uptime - Find out the percentage of the validator's uptime from the past 30 days since inception. Commission - Find out how much this validator charges the nominator with its commission fee. Status - Find out if this validator is active or not. Blocks created - Find out how many blocks this validator has produced on the Aleph Zero network. Sessions engaged - Find out how many sessions have been engaged with this validator. Eras validating - Find out how many eras have been validated with this validator. Total stake - Find out how much AZERO has been staked to this validator. Next total stake - Find out the percentage of the next stake that'll be added to this validator. Nominations - Find out how many nominators have chosen to stake their AZERO with this validator. Next nominations - Find out the next number of nominators that'll be staking with this validator. Finally, at the bottom of this validators page, you'll be able to see the list of nominators that have staked their AZERO to the validator, which shows the: Status of this nominator (if they're staking or not), The public Aleph Zero address this nominator has primarily chosen to use to stake their AZERO, The amount of AZERO staked to the validator, The number of days this nominator has staked with this validator, and The amount of stake share this nominator has with the validator, which is measured by a percentage as shown in the image below. The Team: Lil Rookie: AZERO.LIVE’s founder and main developer is Lil Rookie. He is known as an early supporter and OG of Aleph Zero, and has helped strengthen the network as a validator back when the network was opened to community nodes. As an expert in Rust engineering, he announced and launched the AZERO.LIVE project back in early Feb 2023. Since then, the team has grown in size, with many of them having expertise in UI and engineering. His team currently runs and maintains the AZERO.LIVE platform, as well as the corresponding validator on the Aleph Zero network, called 'AZERO.LIVE'. If you would like to contact him, consider sending him a message either on Discord (he can mainly be found on the official Aleph Zero and AZERO.ID Discord servers) or you can reach out to the team on the AZERO.LIVE Twitter/X account, with the link being found in the References section at the end of this article. The Conclusion: In conclusion, AZERO.LIVE is a real-time monitoring and alerting service that helps conveniently deliver any critical network data to the Aleph Zero community and ecosystem partners. With AZERO.LIVE being added to the Aleph Zero EFP not too long ago, this can massively improve the project for the long term in terms of funding, future integrations & partnerships, improved updates and visuals to the dashboard, bringing in more quality team members to the team, and more. If you would like to know more about AZERO.LIVE, please consider checking out their website as well as their Twitter/X account, which can be found below in the References section of this article. References: Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/AZERO_LIVE Website - https://azero.live/

The blockchain industry has witnessed its fair share of "A river flows 30 years west and 30 years east" moments. Subsequent iterations initially promise to usher in the next wave of decentralised solutions but often end up inheriting the same sequelae related to issues like scale, governance, forks, interoperability, and upgrades from previous-generation networks. A Solution Tailored for Evolution Ink! stands out as a smart contract programming language customised for this ever-evolving landscape. Developed by Parity Technologies, renowned for its innovative open-source solutions, Ink! is built upon the Rust programming language, enhanced and customised to meet specific requirements for compatibility with smart contracts. These smart contracts operate within blockchains constructed using the Substrate framework, notably Aleph Zero. Ink! aspires to offer a secure, efficient, and developer-friendly environment for the creation and execution of smart contracts. It is designed to work seamlessly on Kusama, Polkadot, and other parachains—custom, project-specific blockchains that are integrated within the Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM) networks. Security, Performance, and Portability: The Driving Forces The trio of being type-safe, memory-safe, and free of undefined behaviour is paramount for any smart contract programming language. These inherent safety guarantees are essential for ensuring the security, reliability, and predictability of smart contracts. Developers harness these native safety features of Rust, along with access to Rust tooling, code formatting, and syntax highlighting, to craft robust and efficient smart contracts. They also look forward to accessing new functionalities as Rust continues to evolve in the future. WebAssembly (WASM) Contracts: A Versatile Paradigm Shift Traditional smart contracts are typically written in platform-specific programming languages and executed in blockchain-specific runtime environments. For example, Ethereum's smart contracts are written in Solidity and executed in a platform-specific virtual machine known as Ethereum's Virtual Machine (EVM). These contracts often lack portability and may require significant modifications to run on different blockchain platforms. The emergence of Ink! designed with WebAssembly (WASM) at its core has redefined the developer's approach towards smart contract development. The paradigm shift from smart contracts tightly bound to a single platform-specific language towards a more secure, versatile, highly portable, and multiplatform-specific WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts is like a river branching into multiple tributaries, allowing developers to flow effortlessly across various platforms, much like water nourishing different parts of the blockchain landscape. From Platform-Specific to WASM-Based Contracts The shift from platform-specific to WASM-based contracts reflects the growing recognition of the benefits offered by WASM smart contracts. WASM itself is designed to be language-agnostic. Developers can write code in various languages like Rust, C, C++, and even Python and Kotlin, compiling it into WASM bytecode. This bytecode executes in the WASM runtime environment on blockchain platforms that support WASM. Developers can leverage this language flexibility and portable execution environment to write once and deploy contracts on multiple chains, promoting interoperability and reducing development effort. Strong Support from Tech Giants: The WASM Revolution The blockchain industry is witnessing a transition from platform-specific smart contracts to WASM-based contracts, driven by the desire for robust security, high performance, and portability across multiple blockchain networks. It is worth noting that WebAssembly (WASM) has strong support from major companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Facebook. These tech giants have continually contributed to the development and adoption of WASM, underlining its significance in the blockchain development landscape. Powered by Ink!: Aleph Zero's denouement Combining a highly flexible programming language like ink! in Rust with the consensus protocol of a Substrate-based blockchain results in Aleph Zero (Azero), a versatile Rust-based WebAssembly (WASM) programming environment. Here, developers can create secure, innovative, highly customisable, and future-proof blockchain solutions. Aleph Zero (Azero) is a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain that uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) as an intermediary structure, enabling rapid time to finality. It employs the novel Aleph BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) consensus mechanism to secure and validate transactions on the network. Notably, Aleph Zero, although integrated with Substrate, is not a parachain. Azero allows developers to craft smart contracts using ink!, an Embedded Domain Specific Language (EDSL) for writing WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts in Rust. Developers can seamlessly write smart contracts in Ink!, which is then compiled into specialised WASM code ready for deployment within the blockchain's execution environment. Conclusion: Navigating the Currents of Innovation Ink! and Rust stand as transformative forces in the world of smart contract programming languages. They collectively navigate the challenges of the evolving blockchain landscape, offering streamlined solutions for a more secure, efficient, and developer-friendly environment. Ink! not only addresses the limitations of platform-specific contracts but also paves the way for a paradigm shift in the world of smart contracts. When combined with Aleph Zero, they create a dynamic and future-proof ecosystem that's set to redefine the way we approach smart contract and decentralized applications (dApps) development.