The BSV Townhall for Q2 2024 wrapped up an eventful quarter that the Mandala Upgrade characterised, the London Blockchain Conference and the BSV DevCon. Brett Banfe (Head of Community at BSV Blockchain) highlighted the conference’s success and hinted towards exciting developments over the past quarter, including new partnerships, and the SPV reference implementation of the BSV blockchain wallet.
Banfe also highlighted an article by Behrad Babaee of Aerospike titled ‘Why I Changed My Mind About Blockchain’. Babaee transitioned from a blockchain sceptic to a believer, recognising that the BSV blockchain ‘elegantly solves [s] an engineering challenge’ through the ‘the creation of an unboundedly and linearly scalable core banking system’.
The guest presentation of this town hall was held by Alexander Mann, Junior Public Affairs Advisor at BSV Blockchain, and Gregory Ward, CDO at SmartLedger, who highlighted both their weather data IoT solution Tempest and their public affairs efforts.
Further, BSV Blockchain speakers represented the different value streams of the association:
- Cyrille Albrecht, General Manager;
- Darren Kellenschwiler, Utilisation Technical Team Lead;
- Thomas Giacomo, Director of Utilisation;
- Connor Murray, Director of Stewardship;
- Frank Dickob, Provisioning Director;
- Shawn Ryan, Outreach Director;
- Marcin Rzetecki, Subject Matter Expert;
- Rohan Sharan, BSV Blockchain Ambassador;
- Evan Freeman, Education Director;
- Todd Price, Chief of Content;
- Martin Coxall, Director of Growth;
Management: an overview of recent activities
Like Banfe before him, Cyrille Albrecht also praised the organisation and performance during the London Blockchain Conference. The pre-conference event, BSV DevCon, was such a success that a DevCon is now planned to take place bi-annually. He thus also announced that another DevCon is planned for the end of the year.
Furthermore, he emphasised efforts to boost BSV adoption by enhancing credibility and trust through collaborations with reputable institutions like Boston Consulting, Aerospike, Gartner, and AWS.
Albrecht also spoke briefly about updates from the standardisation value stream. Albrecht highlighted the success of Teranode’s proof of concept tests, achieving 1 million transactions per second with both three and six nodes in test runs. Another milestone was the creation of a block, which contained 3 trillion transactions.
Looking forward, Albrecht stressed the need to focus on developer relations and bridging gaps to make BSV more accessible. He mentioned the importance of partnerships, such as with AWS and Aerospike, to create commercial opportunities.
Finally, Albrecht outlined a three-year roadmap for BSV, with significant milestones including the release of Teranode’s listener version and an operational release of Teranode by Q1/Q2 next year.
Guest presentation: Tempest
PubAffairsairs and Tempest
Alexander Mann provided an overview of Tempest, a company that makes weather data accessible with on-chain IoT solutions. It offers a crowdfunded, cost-effective model without monthly subscriptions and Mann highlighted the rapid expansion of the company. Currently, the company is connected to 85,000 weather stations globally. Mann sees agriculture as a key area for expanding the network, e.g. for accurate local weather predictions, which could have a significant impact on farmers and their operations.
He shared his experiences presenting at various conferences and meeting with legislators to educate them about blockchain’s utility beyond cryptocurrency. The summit of these efforts can be highlighted by the Demo Day at Capitol Hill in April. Mann stressed the importance of continued education and advocacy to overcome misconceptions and highlighted the potential of blockchain for IoT data and responsible AI applications.
Technical Perspective Live on Tempest
While Mann focused on the topics of business and public affairs, Gregory Ward shed light on the technical perspective of Tempest. He provided a technical overview of a recent pilot test where 5,000 weather stations posted data to the blockchain every five minutes. Ward explained that the data is broken down into concise transactions to minimise size and mentioned the use of 1SatOrdinals for posting data.
Ward emphasised the potential for using IPv6 to assign transactions to land and farm owners, enabling them to monetise their data. He provided an example of the cost per transaction, noting it is around $0.00003, and showed live transaction examples from the mempool. He discussed the benefits of using direct-to-blockchain methods, such as improved security, efficient storage, and immutable records.
Ward mentioned challenges faced during the pilot, such as working with ecosystem partners to ensure proper processing and response times. He concluded by expressing optimism that transitioning to Teranode will resolve these issues and enhance the system’s efficiency.
Utilisation
SDKs and SPV Wallet
Kellenschwiler provided updates on various Software Development Kits (SDKs) and projects:
- The TypeScript SDK has reached version 1.8, with new features like fee checking and input initialisation for SPV transactions.
- The Go SDK is aligned with the TypeScript SDK and is ready for launch, incorporating high-performance C libraries for better transaction throughput.
- The Python SDK is under internal review, and there are initial discussions about a Rust SDK with interest from the community.
The SPV Wallet has launched in public beta with features like trusted contacts to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and improvements in user experience for mobile payments in Uganda. Overlay services are nearing completion, allowing developers to create services that focus on customer needs rather than the entire network. There are public repositories available on GitHub, with use cases for tokenisation and data integrity.
Kellenschwiler also mentioned that ARC v1 is in production, with user feedback leading to improvements like double spend detection. He emphasised the importance of these developments in making infrastructure more efficient and supporting specific business logic for developers.
SPV wallet framework, developer tool roadmap and hackathons
Giacomo discussed recent initiatives and collaborations in the blockchain ecosystem. They have developed a non-custodial framework with custodial capabilities called SMOLDER. The framework will be reviewed by the Technical Standards Committee for industry standardisation. This framework is supported by various wallet providers and will be integrated into the SPV wallet.
BSV Blockchain launches SPV Wallet, the standardised BSV open-source wallet reference implementation
ELI5: the BSV Blockchain’s SPV Wallet
The SPV advantage: enhancing accessibility and security in BSV blockchain transactions
They are also involved in a pilot program with a company in Uganda, testing open-source components in real environments to align with licensing requirements and ensure practical implementation. This includes collaborating with the IPv6 forum to integrate IPv6 capabilities into core infrastructure components.
A developer tool gap analysis with nChain has outlined a roadmap for addressing gaps in BSV developer tools, including token protocol standardisation and smart contract obligations. They have also clarified their open-source operating model, welcoming more contributions from developers and enhancing adoption.
The “Mandala” upgrade, enabled by Teranode, will allow application builders to use SPV and overlay services, improving network topology and adoption. Community engagement efforts include hosting hackathons, such as the one in San Francisco, to further drive innovation and participation.
Stewardship
Protocol restoration
Murray discussed recent and upcoming technical updates related to protocol restoration via the Chronicle update, stemming from the stewardship value stream established over a year ago. This project aimed to complete the protocol restoration post-Genesis update from February 2020. Key changes include re-enabling certain opcodes like substring opcodes (op left, op right), op2mul, op2div, and op_ver (op version), which will now push the transaction version to the stack, allowing for more sophisticated script validation rules at the time of signing.
Murray also addressed the removal of several requirements: low S value for signatures, minimal encoding requirement, clean stack requirement (introduced in the Bitcoin Cash fork), and the push data only rule, which restricted opcodes in the unlocking script. These changes aim to provide developers with greater flexibility and eliminate restrictions on their creativity.
Provisioning
Chronicle release, new testnet for Teranode and new statistics on the website
Frank Dickob provided an update on the upcoming release timeline and ongoing projects. The development team has been working diligently on the release of the Chronicle SV Node release, aiming to complete the development phase by July. Following this, thorough testing will be conducted to ensure a bug-free and robust release, which is targeted for October. The activation of this release is expected around February 2025, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Genesis release.
In addition to the release, the provisioning team is also working on getting a test net for Teranode up and running. Initially, this testnet will be available to select participants for trial purposes, with the goal of opening it to the public as a beta version by late summer or early fall. This will support developers working on overlay networks and FTT wallets, enhancing the overall utility and application of the network.
Moreover, the newly revamped bsvblockchain.org website now includes comprehensive network statistics and health indicators. These features provide users with detailed insights into peak transaction volumes and network performance. The website also showcases the impressive 100% network uptime over many months, highlighting the reliability and robustness of the BSV blockchain.
Outreach
AWS Partnership, SPV Wallet Adoption
Shawn Ryan detailed the outreach team’s activities over the past quarter, emphasising strategic partnerships and memberships. A significant highlight was their collaboration with AWS, which culminated in an AWS Executive Briefing Centre event. This event aimed to educate AWS about its technology, focusing on managed blockchain services and potential prototype engagements, particularly the IPv6 multicast prototype. The goal is to strengthen the overall partnership with AWS, benefiting the entire ecosystem.
Additionally, the team is working on increasing adoption for the SPV wallet, having identified their first exchange, Orange Gateway, willing to integrate it. This integration is crucial as it provides a reference point for other exchanges considering the wallet. Ryan thanked several team members and partners for their contributions to these efforts.
Further developments Ryan highlighted:
- Listing on CoinDCX with a BSV/INR (Indian Rupee) pair
- Collaboration with a fintech startup authorised by the Indian Central Bank
- Timechain Summer of Code (which Sharan spoke more extensively about)
Developer relationship program and collaboration with Block Dojo
Marcin Rzetecki discussed the Developer Relationship Program, which aims to onboard and advance developers within the BSV blockchain ecosystem. The program categorises developers into four stages: rookie, aspiring rookie, skilled, and veteran. The goal is to move aspiring developers to the skilled and veteran stages, thereby increasing the number of regular and senior developers.
The program will first engage developers from events like DevCon and Timechain Summer of Code, with about 2,000 aspiring developers participating. The program is set to launch in the next few weeks.
Rzetecki also highlighted the enhanced collaboration between the BSV Association and Block Dojo. This partnership aims to pair skilled and veteran developers with project teams to develop MVPs and support technical aspects. Experienced developers might also take on roles like CTOs within these projects.
The Developer Relationship Program not only focuses on onboarding developers but also on connecting them with projects and suppliers within the BSV ecosystem to create opportunities and incentivise the use of the BSV blockchain.
Timechain Summer of Code
Rohan Sharan provided an update on the Timechain Summer of Code, detailing the structure and progress of the first cohort. Participants were required to complete four workshops and courses on the BSV Academy, including a technical Bitcoin script course and a Bitcoin enterprise course. The workshops covered topics such as the BSV SDK, Teranode development, SPV wallet functionality, scalable blockchain application architecture, and TypeScript-based smart contracting.
Upon completing these workshops and practical tasks, 326 developers have qualified as rookie developers. The program follows a phased approach, with the next phase focusing on developing full-stack applications using the BSV SDK and integrating wallets. This will further advance developers to become skilled contributors.
Sharan encouraged more developers to join the second cohort and shared details about the program’s availability on the BSV Discord channel. The goal is to continue upskilling developers and facilitating their progress through the program.
Education
New Learning Platform
Evan Freeman and Todd Price discussed the transition to a new education platform, 360 Learning, which will replace the old BSV Academy website. This platform is innovative and collaborative, allowing for an extensive curriculum redesign centred around the Mandala upgrade. The new strategy involves completely revamping the learning experience architecture with the help of consultants. The curriculum will have three streams: technical, professional, and academic, each tailored to specific use cases.
The platform’s collaborative nature will enable vendor-agnostic knowledge acquisition and allow various actors in the system, such as Babbage, sCrypt, and Tokenized, to create their educational environments. This new approach aims to standardise the educational content across the industry, eliminate past issues with technical debt, and respond effectively to the needs of the ecosystem. The goal is to foster a positive learning experience, leading to an increase in developer participation and the creation of new products.
Growth
Web3Co2 Initiative, Mandala upgrade, new website and partnership with Aerospike
Martin Coxall highlighted several new marketing and educational campaigns launched in the past quarter. One major campaign, the Web3 CO2 initiative, aims to demonstrate how blockchain can reduce carbon footprints in supply chains. Another key focus is the Mandala upgrade, which includes various announcements, FAQs, and content to educate people on its significance. Additionally, the Chronicle update was emphasised as a critical part of their roadmap.
Coxall also mentioned website updates, particularly the network section, and plans for a complete overhaul of the flagship website bsvblockchain.org to make information more accessible for developers, business executives, and government officials. These updates aim to dispel myths about blockchain and BSV.
Coxall then discussed strategic partnerships, notably with Aerospike, a database provider. He recounted a successful event in Paris where they presented BSV blockchain to enterprise clients, emphasising the technology’s scalability and dispelling misconceptions. Upcoming events include an AWS summit in Zurich and the Amazon event “Reinvent” in Las Vegas, both aimed at promoting their technology to a technically savvy audience.
Request an invitation to the next BSV Town. Hall
To participate in the next, exciting BSV Town Hall event, you can join the BSV Discord or you can email Brett Banfe directly at [email protected]. Thank you.
