March 23 2023, Ecosystem Updates for SORA, Polkaswap, and Fearless Wallet
The SORA, Polkaswap, and Fearless Wallet projects are all closely related as they form integral parts of the SORA and DOTSAMA ecosystems (of which SORA is a part). That is why development status updates are released every two weeks for these three projects, in one convenient place, with development updates from across the community. Enjoy the March 23, 2023 Ecosystem updates!
If you missed the previous ones: February 27 /February 9 / January 23 / older Ecosystem Updates are archived here and even older Dev Updates are archived here
Welcome to the March 23 Ecosystem Updates!
You are Here
Many worlds, one economy. Everything is united under SORA.
In the blink of an eye, it has already been almost four weeks since we brought you up to speed on the progress of the SORA Integrated Plan, in this relatively short span of time, massive events have taken place and we have made great strides on the milestones of the integrated plan.
If the Silicon Valley Bank situation has taught us anything, it is that decentralized and community-led alternatives are a great solution for the current problems that riddle the corrupt and opaque traditional financial systems. In decentralized economies like SORA, where the XOR token goes beyond crypto’s tokenomics (which allocates the value of a token partly to its utility and mostly to its scarcity), the value of XOR comes from the worth of the products and services that are produced using it as a base. XOR is minted to support them, so inflation is good in this supra-planetary case (o en este caso supraplanetario).
While TradFi has fiat currencies that are not rationally constructed to create socially beneficial outcomes, DeFi gives everyone an opportunity to partake in the development of an economy. Or a potential one, which may come when the uncertainty from the status quo to adopt cryptocurrencies as legally recognized tender does not lead to such desperate measures. XOR functions in a similar way as the other financial instruments that could be international trade standards like the US Dollar, Euro, Yuan, or Yen, or shitcoins like the Argentinian Peso or Iranian Rial. Many other cryptocurrencies function in the same way for that matter, but a lot of them are not interested in the power or responsibility of being legal tender, or don’t have the mental capacity to grasp how economies truly work.
Aside from expanding your horizons, showing you great experiences, and for creating business opportunities, travelling is also a good way for you to experience many DeFi aspects “in the real world.” When you travel to a foreign country that has its own currency, you need to trade the one used in your country, so that you can pay for things (even with widespread access to electronic payments, there are still some places in the world that prefer cash). Swapping fiat currencies in this case also carries fluctuating rates, different exchanges, and specific procedures. When travelling to another country, you also realise the true strength or weakness of your currency.
Although bid/ask orders are more in the realm of banks IRL, progress with order book functionality in the SORA network is going well. We are working hard on the requirements for their implementation, and development work will begin soon. As you know, the main focus has been on releasing SORA Card. So, If you were to travel with SORA card after the phase 2 launch for example, you could top up your SORA card with crypto, then withdraw EUR to swap for local fiat currencies. This will be happening very soon, as the SORA Wallet update with SORA Card signups has been submitted for review to the Apple App Store and Google Play store.
The SORA Kusama parachain auction for the 73rd slot was a success! With 3,023 KSM locked for the slot running from March 17th 2023, to February 14th 2024. Thank you for your support. In the previous update we mentioned that we would participate in a Polkadot crowdloan, however the Hashed network was leading when the candle blew out. Congratulations to their team and to the crowdloan contributors receiving HASH rewards once the smoke clears. We will be participating in the Polkadot parachain auction for the 42nd slot, until securing a parachain. We are once again asking you to unstake your DOT.
Last time, we spoke about the stability of a currency as partakers in the cryptosphere. We have observed first hand when the backing of a token that is deemed to be stable is removed quickly and with force, its stability is lost, or depegged in our lingo. This happens to fiat currencies as well, so don’t be so quick to point that finger. Once again when the situation goes beyond control, as the IRL institution that holds the claims to a token’s stability crashes, the token’s value is also taken down with it, in flames, much like the end scene from Fight Club.
The benefit that algorithmic stablecoins bring to the table is that you only take what you put in, and in SORA’s case, with the use of the Token Bonding Curve, the crashing and burning can be avoided. In the case of XSTUSD, each token is a claim for $1 worth of XST, not Federal Reserve bonds in a bank or cuckbucks. Speaking of the XST Synthetics platform, implementations from the Band Protocol are ready, and we can begin internal testing. Please look forward to more updates on this, along with an insightful article explaining how everything works.
Bridging over the next update, the trustless multi-EVM bridge is under construction, having its UI built. We are working hard on this long-awaited upgrade to the HASHI Bridge, and as if that was not all, the Substrate bridge is undergoing steady development and we look forward for you to help us test it. Stay tuned for more updates on the status of the SORA bridges!
From bridges we move on to wallets, last week we announced that the Fearless Wallet browser extension was released in the Chrome Web Store, so download it and let us know what you think!
The second SORA builder, Advanced Digital Asset Routing (ADAR), launched their SORA testnet app last week for everyone to help improve their dApp ahead of their release. Please try out the different ADAR features and give the team your feedback and suggestions! We hope you all try it out and help ADAR with this great tool! The testnet app is available here and you can get started using this guide.
Finally, check out the Women in Web3 side event at the Paris Blockchain Week, a lovely dinner where SORA and Ternoa participated, helping increase diversity in Web3, as well as educate, connect and empower!
Next up, SORA will take part in the Polkadot Safari in Kenya, East Africa and Polkadot Now India in Bangalore!
You’re now up to speed with what has happened in the last weeks in the SORA ecosystem and the current state of the SORA Integrated Plan. Please look forward to the upcoming news from all of the SORA contributors and see you next fortnight. Let’s get back to work!
*This is not financial advice, always make sure to do your own research!
You can find the summary of the integrated plan points in the SORA Wiki.
Business Track Progress:
- Polkaswap as a Service — 25%
- SORA Card — 95%
- SORA IBAN — 95%
SORA Card articles are being continuously released with topics covering the SORA Card introduction, SORA Card key features, a comparison between SORA Card and other crypto-powered banking services, an interview with the people behind the SORA Card tech and management. The SORA Card Phase One article was also recently released. The SORA Community recently held an AMA with Dr. Makoto Takemiya and Beno van Gansen regarding SORA Card, read all about it in this recap.
Stay tuned for more articles with interesting and insightful information on this great tool for financial freedom. SORA Card | Value Freedom
⚙️ SORA Blockchain Update
- Working on maintenance and improvements to the codebase
- Preparing for Polkadot and Kusama parachains
Substrate Trustless Bridge: Kusama Parachain
- Quality assurance testing ongoing
- Fixing the SORA Rococo parachain to continue producing blocks and syncing with the Rococo relay chain
- Preparing the environment to enable client applications to implement the UI
- Fixes and optimisations gathered from feedback during QA testing
Order Books
- Established the initial architecture for Order Books
- Establishing the specifications and requirements for development
XST Platform
- Received the partner integration on the testnet
- Will start quality assurance testing before the public test release
Multi-EVM Trustless bridge
- Working on the incentive scheme for Relayers
- Preparing the environment to enable client applications to implement the UI
📱 SORA Wallet Update
🚀 Android
- Getting ready for the 3.0.0 release — Redesign & SORA Card
- QA testing and fixing bugs
- We regularly update SORAlution (testnet application) where you can help us test and provide feedback to ensure the production release will be in the best shape possible!
🍏 iOS
- Getting ready for the 3.0.0 release — Redesign & SORA Card
- QA testing and fixing bugs
- We regularly update SORAlution (testnet application) where you can help us test and provide feedback to ensure the production release will be in the best shape possible!
👷🏽♀️ SORA Builders Programme News:
ADAR Updates
The ADAR team has released a public testnet dApp, the testnet app is available here and you can get started using this guide.
For frequent updates from the ADAR team, join their Telegram group!
Here is the proposal submitted by ADAR, for more information on the Abed Group, take a look at this deck, and to try the version available from the completion of the first milestone, you can visit the ADAR website.
Ceres Updates
The Ceres team has been hard at work the last two weeks, a summary of their latest updates includes:
- XOR/HMX farming pool is live on the Demeter Farming Platform! Provide XOR/HMX and get $DEO as a reward!
- XOR/CERES pool with CERES rewards has been extended until April 25th.
3. The Ceres Launchpad has been updated with XSTUSD as base asset to raise funds.
4. DEO Arena Season 6 is LIVE! See you in the arena!
For constant updates from Ceres, subscribe to the Ceres Announcements channel on Telegram
The Demeter Farming platform is available on the SORA network for users to farm with liquidity pool LP or single-sided staking, with interesting APR*. New pools are constantly added, too. Demeter farming is directly integrated into Polkaswap, for convenience. For more information, read this Medium article on the Demeter platform.
*Not financial advice, always do your own research.
🐈⬛ SORA Request for Proposal Updates:
The SORA Decentralized Development walkthrough was published on September 2nd, take a look at the new RFP system and submit your proposal in an easier and more intuitive way. Please let us know your thoughts about these improvements in the SORA network community chats on Telegram!
Join the Decentralized Development channel on the SORA World Discord.
Thank you for making it all the way here. Your interest is much appreciated. If you are a passionate community member who evangelizes SORA and its supranational cryptoeconomic values to anyone willing to lend an ear, we are looking for you!
Polkaswap Ecosystem Update #60
🚀 The release scope for v.1.15 is finished! All features are under internal testing and will be on testnet soon 🚀
COMING SOON:
💳 SORA Card KYC integration (all improvements are almost done!)
💲 CEX integration (Buy XOR with fiat directly using the X1 widget)
✨ Network stats page (all SORA network-related info in one place!)
✅ Status bar (internet node & statistics services connection)
WORK IN PROGRESS:
💥 SORA Card phase 1 improvements
⚙️ Google login (as an alternative way to sign transactions, meaning any browser on Desktop/iOS/Android can be used)
🔥 Better routing for Swaps, Easier access to Add/remove liquidity pages (for example, polkaswap.io/#/swap/xor/dai will be redirected to SWAP XOR<>DAI)
👀 And other UX and performance improvements
Trade on Polkaswap.io with even more style and freedom using the Web3-optimized Mises Browser! Mises is an open-source and user-friendly mobile browser compatible with most Chrome extensions 🌐 Learn more at mises.site
The Polkaswap Bug Bounty is ongoing! Submit your findings to the Immunefi platform!
For more information and participation rules, read this article on the SORA / Polkaswap Bug Bounty Programme.
SORA Web Track Progress:
- Fearless Wallet Desktop App and Browser Extension: 100%. Download the Fearless Wallet browser extension here!
Fearless Wallet Ecosystem Update #65
🍎 iOS version
🔥 The recent release v 2.2.2 was published on Friday 25th of February. Consisting of the following features and updates:
💪 Subsquid projects integration to provide users with aggregated information about rewards and transaction histories
💪 Equilibrium chain and assets support after the network’s recent runtime upgrade
💪 Minor updates to the Polkaswap swaps functionality
💪 Minor performance improvements
🤖 Android version
🔥 Release v2.2.0 was published on Sunday, February 26th, with the following features:
💪 Polkaswap swaps integration
💪 Subsquid projects integration to provide users with aggregated information about rewards and transaction histories
💪 Equilibrium chain and assets support after the network’s recent runtime upgrade
💪 Minor performance improvements
🚀 iOS and Android features in progress:
💪 SORA Card Phase #1: catching up with SORA wallet updates and release preparations
💪 Preparations and logic integration for XCM cross-chain teleport libraries
💪 App improvements, tech debt cleaning, UI/UX updates
🖥 Browser Extension and Desktop Applications
🔥 Release v1.0.0 was successfully published on Friday, March 9th, in the Google Chrome Web Store
🔥 Release v1.0.1 for the Mozilla Firefox Add-ons store is under review
The current version of the Extension supports:
🦾 Create, Import & Export Wallet features, including Google account backup
🗺 Convenient navigation for Wallets, Networks, and Assets
⛓ Send and Receive functions for all chains
⚠️ Network issue warnings
♻️ Switching nodes
⚙️ A wide variety of settings, including fiat currency adjustments and dApp connections management
🧬 As well as an experimental feature for our Android build: dApp signer. (inject your mobile wallet to the extension and sign dApp transactions on the mobile side.)
🚀 We are busy with:
💪 Polkaswap swaps: testing and preparing before the next release
💪 Performance and architectural improvements of the App
💪 SORA Card phase #1: initial preparation ahead of development
🚀 Collaborations and future initiatives:
🤝 Subsquid team: technical Q&As, discussing about future steps
🤝 Interlay and Bifrost teams: technical assistance on XCM fee and weights calculation
🤝 SORA and Polkaswap: collaboration on SORA Card integration, common roadmap design
#StayFearless 𒉡𒉎𒋼
About SORA, Polkaswap, and Fearless Wallet
SORA is a new monetary system for humanity with democratic oversight by all participants aimed at creating a supranational multiverse economic order with built-in tools for decentralized finance (DeFi). The SORA network implements an advanced parachain architecture on Polkadot and Kusama network, with the capability to bridge external blockchains (like Ethereum) to the Polkadot ecosystem.
One of the DeFi applications that will run on the SORA network is Polkaswap, a noncustodial liquidity aggregating, cross-chain AMM DEX designed uniquely for the Polkadot ecosystem with boundless liquidity through its one-of-a-kind Aggregate Liquidity Technology (ALT).
Fearless Wallet is a bespoke mobile wallet and browser extension designed for the decentralized future of the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem, with native support for iOS and Android platforms, and Chromium-based browsers. A premium user experience, fast performance, and secure storage for your accounts. Fearless Wallet has integrated Polkaswap for easy, decentralized swaps of assets.
Connect With Us
SORA 𒀭 community:
Twitter | Telegram | Reddit | YouTube | Announcements Channel
Polkaswap 𒊹𒂵𒆜 community:
Twitter | Telegram | Reddit | YouTube | Announcements Channel
Fearless Wallet 𒉡𒉎𒋼 community:
Twitter | Telegram | Element | YouTube | Android App | iOS App
