Development and Marketing Update for April and May 2020
Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) meetings
- Technology Committee
- Mobile Committee
In both committee meetings, the focus was primarily on COVID-19. They put together the following resource page, COVID-19 Response from the Payments Technology Industry. the outlines relevant information on how the industry is responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. During May, there were no meetings as ETA hosted Transact Connect, which took place May 11–15.
Technology topics were discussed whereby workgroups are created around given topics. Experts in the industry then publish articles on those topics.
ElectraPay
Work has begun on the next phase of ElectraPay in many ways. First, for ElectraPay to be a success, we feel that we must not limit the form of payment to strictly ECA. With that in mind, we have successfully integrated two additional cryptocurrency coins as test projects and will start with a third integration in the coming days.
We have also started on the implementation of a feature that we think will gain considerable attention, as it will allow ElectraPay to continue to grow into the complete financial management system that many have envisioned it becoming. Through continued development, ElectraPay will soon be able to track and pay commissions to affiliates. For example, if you were to recruit merchants onto ElectraPay, you, as an agent, will get a certain percentage of the transactions paid to those merchants.
Currently, ElectraPay can be implemented as a WordPress eCommerce plugin. We are working towards expanding this so that we can have our own hosting payment front-end, this will enable more eCommerce platforms to integrate into ElectraPay.
We have applied to Shopify to be approved as a payment gateway, and we are currently awaiting the opportunity for further discussion regarding the application.
Finally, we are in the process of redesigning our landing page for ElectraPay, as we believe it should be more representative of the global ecosystem that it is capable of becoming. Currently, ElectraPay is limited as a webshop payment gateway through the use of our plugin. We are presently addressing the fact that this limits our reach to online stores only. Progress is being made towards a point of sell (POS) solution for traditional physical stores, and we are very pleased with where we currently stand in the development of this payment solution. Once complete, this POS solution will be available on all platforms, which include: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS.
Preview of progress:
Initially, our partnership plans with Les Huîtres Alain Courdavault were to launch the ElectraPay POS application in their oyster bar this summer. However, due to the current situation concerning the COVID-19 virus, these plans have been postponed until a later date.
Electra Core Blockchain Improvement
*** Mandatory Wallet Update ***
All users should download and upgrade their wallets to either Windows/Linux: v2.1.1.0–6ff85b7 or Mac: v2.1.1.0–8a2d1b1
Changelog:
- Cleaned up old code and miscellaneous improvements
- Added burncoins command
- Added blacklist spork
- Updated seed nodes to static URLs
- Decreased max connections to 125
- Updated Dark Theme
- Updated Menu Links
- Removed testnet shortcut
- Increased nStakeSplitThreshold max to 9999999
- Save only 288 blocks ahead
As we continue to make improvements towards our blockchain, users should expect another mandatory update in the coming months. This update will integrate some critical and beneficial features, which will include:
- The “auto-check for update” feature to make everyone aware of available updates each time the wallet is started. The latest mandatory update will be the last one before the built-in wallet update announcement is added.
- A second improvement will be the “TX messaging” feature that will enable users to send messages through the blockchain. This feature is significant for Electra in terms of business development.
- Additional features will be integrated and will be disclosed in due time.
Team Member Updates
We want to welcome Captain Ron back to our team. After taking some time off, Captain Ron is ready to help Electra grow, focusing on business and exchange topics.
As Electra grows, so too does the Electra team. These new team members will assist in many ways, and we are very excited to have them join the team.
New team members include:
- John: Blockchain Developer
- Pierre: Business and Marketing Coordinator
- ECA Ricouskim: Website/User Support
- Caribou: IOS Developer
- Quentin: React Developer
- xxACxx: Media and Graphics
NEXT.exchange Tests
NEXT.exchange, which was expected to go live around two years ago, is finally ready to go and has started testing with pre-selected participants. NEXT.exchange is a hybrid digital-asset exchange (HEX), and according to its website, it seeks to find the right balance between the features of centralized and decentralized exchanges by providing a solid remedy for issues experienced by users of both. With the functionality advantage of a centralized exchange, it offers impassable security and privacy standards of a decentralized exchange. We are thrilled over the fact that NEXT.exchange has listed Electra as one of the first launched assets.
Crex24 Exchange Withdrawals.
Crex24 faced a partial hack during February 2020. ECA was one of the stolen coins during that time. However, Crex24 owners bought back these missing assets and reimbursed the coins to respective users. After this deficit, Crex24 limited the withdrawals by one million ECA per transaction as a security measure. With requests coming from our community members, we asked Crex24 to increase this limit. We are pleased to announce that Crex24 agreed to allow for an increased withdrawal of five million ECA per transaction.
Third-party partners and their progress (Unifox, COVENDIT, and Investa)
We often get questions from our community members about the status of an earlier announced partnership. As you may imagine, the bear market conditions have been an enemy of many projects. While the Electra Project has been able to continue towards building a successful project, a few of our partners have experienced a lack of financially backing, causing them to have encountered significant delays.
However, there is good news. Unifox, the project with 5,000 ATM machines that are located across the globe, started its OTC exchange demo. They are continuing to build their infrastructure and implement it into ATM and POS machines, as the machines were already developed.
Covendit, with which we were aiming to bring the Electra debit cards, has also experienced delays due to the COVID-19 virus; however, they are expecting to resume development very soon.
Investa, has already released its ATM machines in the LATAM region. Based on their recent statement, ECA will soon be integrated into their machines.
As with anything in business, some companies and organizations may not always keep their promise, or there may be delays. This can be especially true when there are financial needs, which in turn causes difficult times, resulting in delays. The Electra Project continues to hold confidence in our promising partnerships, as we work towards achieving a win-win result for all parties.
Learn About the Electra Project
While the Learn About the Electra Project website has many useful guides and documentation concerning a wide range of topics, ongoing development continues to occur.
Second Electra shop
We recently launched our second Electra shop, which includes Electra merchandise. This webshop is different in the fact that it utilizes ElectraPay and only allows ECA as a payment solution. We ask that you please consider purchasing some Electra goodies, doing so will also allow you to check out the power of our flagship product.
To mention that we will add products acting as Market Place.
Some producers (like the honey producer) already contacted us for this.
- Due to the recent success of our donation campaign, we are offering a 10% discount on all purchases made through June 15, 2020.
And for those who prefer to order via fiat currencies, the first shop is open and can be found through the following link: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/electraprojectorg/
News from the Electra Foundation
Dear community,
What a first half of the year it has been. I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Although COVID-19 struck some family members and friends, fortunately, they all have recovered and are doing better. I must admit that I have enjoyed the forced time at home. I save around 15 hours per week of commuting to work, I get to have dinner with my wife and kids each and every day, and I feel sufficiently de-stressed. It is my hope that you, too, have found some positives that have come from this virus, as it has been a trying and stressful time for many.
While the world paused, The Electra Project continued to carry on. Our core team of community volunteers has continued to work towards improving both ElectraPay and the Electra blockchain. There has also been an increased focus on updating the Electra website and our business documentation.
As for the Electra Foundation, unfortunately, we had to cancel our team meeting due to COVID-19. We also had a meeting planned with the board members of the Digibyte Foundation to share useful lessons that we have learned over time, and benefit from each other’s network; however, this meeting was also canceled due to the virus. Once the COVID-19 measures have loosened up, we will reschedule our meeting.
Recently we organized a donation campaign to raise the remaining funds needed for a HitBTC exchange listing. While we anticipated it taking us two weeks or more to reach our goal, we got a nice surprise once the donations started flowing in. In just three days, we received donations from over 120 unique members in five different cryptocurrencies and five fiat currencies totaling 1,016 BTC. HitBTC is currently reviewing our GitHub and anticipates going live with ECA/BTC, ECA/USDT, and ECA/ETH in the course of the next two weeks.
Last but not least, the Electra Foundation wants to announce that the board has decided to pledge 50 million ECA towards a bounty campaign. This bounty campaign is being put in place, so our development team will be rewarded for their accomplishments. Also, the campaign is set up as a means to speed up development as we work towards attracting possible new developers. Details on this campaign will be released later via our social media channels.
We wish you all a beautiful second half of the year and for those living above the equator a great summer!
If you have some questions, feel free to send us an e-mail at foundation@electraproject.org. Also, note that donations are still very much welcome. We have some additional exchange listing processes going on in the background, which might require some extra funds.
Best regards, also on behalf of Bob and Raymond,
Robert
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