Counterparty Newsletter 01/07/2019
Happy New Year to the Counterparty Community! As it is with the holidays, it has been quiet on most fronts from projects within the ecosystem but nevertheless, let’s continue with this month’s updates:
Ecosystem Updates:
Mandel Duck paired with HashHub Tokyo to release the beta version of SaruTobi Lightning for android. As mentioned last month, the beta version features lightning payments and tipping for users. Over 3000 tips have been sent so far.
BitCrystals has had a quiet month with only an update from the Spells of Genesis team. This update involves an updated version of the game. Version 1.2.21 includes a new victory/defeat screen alongside additional ways to earn in-game currency.
Resident BitCrystals artist; Joey Chips has also recently released another card design for the CrystalsCraft environment. He recently published a piece on his portfolio of work, check it out here.
The team has also made it to the next level of selection on the echoing green grant.
The FoldingCoin development team has been working with getting Humber College set up to conduct usability studies on their installer and product, to improve ease of use.
For more news, check out the team’s public meeting below:
Highlighting their achievements of the year that include the launch of their open beta in August, as well as, most recently, their feature by Apple’s app store. Check it out in the jump.
Age of Rust continues to tease their community with sneak peeks of their game via their twitter handle. Game developer; Space Pirate, will feature counterparty and BTC rewards that are also cross-platform (as they have done in their previous Beta release) in-game. Below are a few in-game previews that demonstrate how players will discover their rewards:
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The article begins to discuss the platform and longevity of cryptogoods as a basis for its realness and value. He begins with a history lesson going back to 2015, citing Counterparty and the popularity of trading cards via the protocol on the bitcoin blockchain. This lesson draws popular mentions to projects such as Bitcorns and Rare Pepes.
With his definition that “a cryptogood is a token issued by an artist, game developer, musician, etc. that is generally represented by an image, video or text” Looney goes on to point out they are not representative of currencies or physical goods. After going on to discuss his original points - comparing the issuance of cryptogoods via Counterparty vs Ethereum - Looney ends rather open-ended with a fair warning to users not to get caught up in mass opinion. A worthwhile read, check it out here.
In other exciting news, the Rare Digital Art Festival is returning to New York on May 18th, 2019! Expanding on Looney’s article, “Rare digital art is a movement to take internet assets that have previously been infinitely copyable (songs, memes, etc) and turn them into provably rare, tradable blockchain assets”. (source)
Counterparty 9.56.0 was released just before the new year! Alongside immediate support for Segwit (CIP15) on testnet, and mainnet (which activated at block 557236). 9.56.0 is also updated to use Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 and includes the changes listed within CIP19 as mentioned below (to replace the addrindex patch):
- Faster blockchain sync and parsing
- Segwit support for lower fees
- Hash Timelocked Contracts (HTLCs) which enable atomic swaps and lightning
- Better fee estimation
All users and projects within the Counterparty ecosystem are encouraged to have upgraded by today (January 7th, 2019) for the hardfork.
Again, here is a reminder of current and future CIPs, following this upgrade:
CIP 6 - P2SH data encoding:
P2SH data encoding will allow Counterparty to utilize more space for transactions. CIP 6 will be beneficial to large transactions and is a prerequisite in supporting some of the more advanced send types, such as multi-peer-multi-asset (MPMA) and Multiparty Counterparty Aggregate Transactions (MCAT).
CIP 10 - Multi-Peer Multi-Asset Sends (MPMA):**
Multi-Peer Multi-Assets sends will allow many assets to be sent to many peers in a single transaction, simplifying batch transactions, and reducing transaction fees even further.
CIP 13 - Multiparty Counterparty Aggregate Transactions (MCAT):
MCAT will allow Counterparty users to group their transactions with those of other Counterparty users, to reduce their send costs considerably. Most users will be able to utilize this feature to send transactions for less than the cost of a single bitcoin transaction.
CIP 13 will also allow Counterparty users to utilize MCAT nodes, to send assets across the Counterparty Network, and pay for the transaction fees in an asset other than BTC.
Counterparty is an open-source, community-funded project which progresses solely through the generous time and monetary donations of others.
To stay up to date with any pending and currently developing CIPs check out their Github pages and the official Counterparty donate page here.
If you have a project that you’d like included in our newsletter please contact us at projects@counterparty.ioPlease share or RT Counterparty CIPs on social media so we can help fulfill them faster!
We have also recently opened up a press channel for any media inquiries and would ask any media outlets to contact press@Counterparty.io.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is sent as an informational piece, and no part of it should be taken as financial advice.