Welcome to the twenty second edition of the Expanse Newsletter for 2018. This publication is a bi-monthly newsletter issued on the 1st and 15th of each month to share happenings within our community. Here are a few of the highlights in this edition:
- The Expanse Evolution – A Brief History
- Developer Updates
- EXPEX Embedded in Luna Wallet
- EXPEX Coin Listing Application Now Available
- Gameboard Update
- Slips Update
- Behind the Tech — Featuring @Joel, a very active community member, contributor, and conversation starter
- Compelling Quotes
The Expanse Evolution – A Brief History
It’s hard to believe that Expanse is fast approaching its 4-year anniversary. Launched as the very first fork of Ethereum, we’re having a good run. The original goal of Expanse has not changed: To build a technology that you can use to create the world you want to live in.
Expanse is a blockchain platform that has its own cryptocurrency, EXP. It is used to power smart contracts and dApps. We set out with a mission to create something with more scalability, transparency and integrity than our competitors.
Here are some highlights from over the years:
- Idea conceived by Christopher Franko. Launched by Christopher Franko, James Clayton, and Dan Conway as founders.
- DAO created, but not implemented due to industry regulations.
- Votelock released and tested in practice presidential election; packaging and marketing planned for next year.
- Tokenlab pulled back for redevelopment due to uncertain regulatory environment. Now revamped to support self-service token creation and management.
- EXP reaches an all-time high price of $9.00+.
- Grants Program launched. Slips and Gameboard are the first recipients.
- Borderless Corporation formed as umbrella for new products.
- Expanse Rewards created with great results..Regulations preclude its resumption.
- Gander.tech created and launched.
- SomosExpanse launches as an online magazine about Expanse.
- Chinese website enters beta-testing.
- Luna Wallet created and launched.
- EXPEX airdrop to EXP- and LAB-holders.
- EXPEX released for beta-testing.
- Borderless Charity, a 501 (c)(3) corporation formed with a mission to provide assistance with nutrition, healthcare, housing, and education to those in need.
Sometimes it is just helpful to stand back and reflect on our accomplishments. I’m sure I have not included every entrepreneurial path that Christopher Franko has led us down. There have been many, and we’ve accomplished a lot. We at Expanse believe the best is yet to come!
Developer Updates
Tokenlab
The Token Creation facility uses smart contract technology to create utility tokens for your project. Following the instructions on the screen, you can create, name and set parameters for your new token, then launch your token on the Expanse blockchain. You pay for these services with LAB. This module is complete and in alpha-testing. It should be released for beta-testing this week.
Luna Wallet
A new version of the Luna Wallet was released last week for beta testers. Among the notable changes are:
- Deploy Contract
- Automatic Updates on new release
- Add Gexp Logs
- Read & Write Contract
The Luna Wallet is now open-source technology.
EXPEX to Be Embedded in Luna Wallet
The team is busy refining the EXPEX user interface. A decision has been made to embed the new DEX into the Luna Wallet for peer-to-peer trading services. This allows for trustless token exchanges, with different types of coins trading directly from wallet to wallet, without intermediaries and the risk of failure.
EXPEX Coin Listing Application Now Available
As we prepare to launch EXPEX, it’s time to accept applications for coin listings. Obviously, LAB, EXPEX, and EXP will be listed. Going forward, any token created using the Tokenlab Token Creation facility will list free. We will sponsor many specials in regard to listing fees; for example, the first ten coins listed are listed for free! Here is the listing application for you to pass along.
Fill this form
Gameboard Update
At Gameboard, we are constantly working to make the gamified platform more simple and robust to use and integrate. During the last month, we have been working on completing the development of our API, that is at the core of our project. We have faced countless challenges during its development, as we found that it is not so easy to design and apply a standard methodology to projects as specific as the design of games. However, we have managed to conclude the development of the most important sections of our API.
What we are most excited about is that we started to design the gamified experience with applications that allow us to validate our efforts.
We want to announce with great pride to our community that we will be designing the gamified experience for the BetterCondos Mobile App and web platform that is perfectly aligned with our objectives. Gameboard was founded with the idea of creating applications that are more attractive and that keep the users hooked.
BetterCondos is an application for building management that seeks to improve communication between tenants and administrators. We have integrated Gameboard to create a gamified platform in which by creating tickets that improve the environment of the building, the user can earn points that she can redeem for prizes on the platform. These awards will be given by the administration or by companies that want to advertise on the app.
The challenge is to design a platform that meets the goal of improving communication and that works based on the fact that collaborative work is always better, that a human being’s inherent desire to collaborate to create a world and seek a greater good allows us to apply a methodology oriented to games to maintain the flow.
The points obtained for the use of the application as well as the exchange of points will be handled in the blockchain with our own token. These integrations will take place on the Expanse blockchain, so we are proud to announce that Expanse will soon be in the real estate market.
Stay in touch for more exciting updates.
Slips Update
Slips had announced (a bit prematurely!) that they would be launching at the end of October. Everyone was excited. However, due to a number of reasons, that couldn’t happen. But the team hasn’t stopped working at a feverish pace towards completion. And although Husain and Kyle aren’t giving any dates for launch, one thing is for sure – the full launch isn’t far away. In the meantime, here’s what Slips has been up to:
- The ‘Channel Screen and Challenge Interface’ is almost complete. Players can make bets, participate in bets, live notifications are sent to people in the channel and of course people can win and lose bets by submitting results. Unfortunately right now, the team expects all users to report the right results because “disputing bet outcomes” is not yet in place.
- The ‘My Bets’ page is designed and coded but still requires backend APIs to be completed. This page allows users to review past bets but also to submit evidence towards disputed bets.
- The ‘Arbitration Application’ which allows arbitrators to review evidence and settle disputes is planned out and the team hopes to start working on that next week.
- The team has also started testing the challenge interface with users recently.
The team is now in the process of getting licenses to run Slips as a legitimate business. Because it is a gaming platform, they need relevant licenses. They have decided (preliminarily) that a Class 3 Gaming License from Malta will be good for them.
In the interim the team hopes to launch Slips with the Slips Lite play money option which will allow them to build their user base and get more feedback about the application.
If you have any questions about what the team is working on or just want to share your own ideas, please get in touch with them on their Discord server (https://discord.me/slips).
Behind the Tech – @Joel
Hello people!
For this episode of the Behind the Tech series, we are featuring a very active community member and conversation starter, Joel Porter.
Hailing from Colorado, Joel regards himself as bit of a non-conformist. He dropped out of high school at age 16. Later, he did go to college for a while, with the objective of getting a degree in the field of Information Technology. Unfortunately, he could not complete college due to family difficulties.
Technology was always fascinating to Joel. His eyes light up when he talks of his first computer, a Commodore 64, which, by the way, has its name etched in the Guinness World Records, as the highest-selling single computer model of all time. The text-based games thrilled him “to death.” “My dad took us kids to see the movie War Games back in 1983. Thinking I was funny, I coded up a little graphic that looked like tiny missiles shooting from both sides of the screen. I convinced a neighbor girl to hit the enter button, and when the graphic started, I told her she just started a war,” laughs Joel as he remembers that fateful day. What happened to the poor little girl? “She ran home crying. I still feel kinda bad about that.”
Joel says that the incident underlines the impact technology had at that time on kids of his age group. “I was 10 years old, and the idea of clicking a button and having something HUGE happen was incredible (and frightening for some)!”
Joel says he heard about bitcoin in 2009. He actually laughed at the idea of a “virtual” currency. “I had major doubts that it would have any real use case.” In the beginning of 2016, a friend at work brought up Ethereum during a conversation on bitcoin. Joel was still doubtful, but he had a nice long four-day weekend so he read up all he could about crypto. That was a life-changing weekend and the next week, he started building his first mining rig. “The idea of decentralized currency, governments, and life in general, it’s so incredible that at times it almost feels like a fantasy story. But, it’s a fantasy that can actually come true,” says Joel as he remembers his tryst with cryptocurrencies two years ago.
Joel started mining Expanse because he didn’t have the hashrate to mine Ethereum. He was just starting out in the big, bad world of mining and he had no idea how everything worked. “I just wanted to mine a FULL coin of anything! And I did!!” Unfortunately, his first Expanse coin is currently stuck in some address he is sure he can never access. “First month woes!” But that first coin led him on a merry rabbit trail, and the rabbit trail led him to the Expanse Discord channel.
“In a short time, I knew I had found people that I could identify with. I found a lot of help from people who had no reason to speak to me other than I was there,” remembers Joel of his first experience in the Expanse Discord channel. He started taking interest in the conversation, getting to know other miners and also the management, who he feels are extremely accessible and great people to talk to.
On being asked about the things that excite him about Expanse, Joel says that it is the idea that a small group of people with a great vision could potentially influence the world. “I just love, and am amazed by, the fact that the world of crypto could potentially mean more than profit on a trade. That making the world better doesn’t have borders or any nationality. And that to make that great vision come true requires a community with great people, which Expanse has plenty of!”
Joel loves being on the Expanse Discord channel where he says he has a great time “learning and sharing his learnings with a great bunch of people.” He, however, is irritated by talks of FUD by people who do not really understand what Expanse is all about. “It’s amazing how anytime Expanse goes green, someone that never speaks is suddenly active and spilling garbage. It’s annoying, but I guess it is what it is.” But he doesn’t wish to waste his energies and time on such people. He says he loves to watch them act like morons in the “Time Out” room, which by the way “was one of the greatest ideas ever!”
When asked about the future of crypto, Joel believes that the majority of crypto concepts will fail. “Any idea built based purely on making money will ultimately die. The technology will succeed though. Projects that change things that NEED changing will succeed.” He believes that blockchain technology that is the center of discussions around the world and something that is being perceived with awe and novelty will become an everyday thing in ten years’ time. “I’m not sure that in 10 years anyone will have any idea that the application they are using is blockchain or not. Expanse will, in my opinion, succeed or fail based on that idea. Offering tech that people need is the future.” He, however, is quick to say that the idea of “this is what the crowd wants” isn’t a great long term strategy. Having said that, Joel believes that following the crowd does have its advantages while building a brand. “My dad always said ‘You play their game until they have to play yours’. This market and this tech fits that scenario well.”
Joel enjoys every moment of the time he is in. In his opinion, 1983 was a landmark year for technology, a time that pushed him to pursue it. And so is this time that is witnessing the coming of age of a truly revolutionary technology. He is excited about the future, because of its uncertainty and the limitless possibilities it can bring. “The future is always uncertain. Who we make the future with doesn’t have to be,” says Joel as he signs off.We are thrilled to have JOel as part of our community!
Community News
Expanse Telegram Channel
Many of our community members have asked for Expanse to have more of a presence on Telegram. Frankly, we haven’t focused on building out our Telegram channel community because we just did not have the resources. (Dinc has done a fine job, helping out there when he could.) And if we had to focus on only one channel, we selected Discord.
Good news — @Smomin75 has stepped up to take responsibility for our Telegram Channel administration beginning next week. So, if you prefer Telegram, join us in the Expanse Telegram channel here.
Compelling Quotes
Here is a collection of compelling quotes posted over the last two weeks in our various Discord channels:
“Ethereum has so many backed transactions (90k+) today. Their network can’t handle the load. Perhaps Expanse might hold the answer to the network transaction issues on Ether.”
“I’m all about innovation. Start spitting something out and the price of Expanse will go up on its own.”
“There are actual ways in which this project can deliver what will be remembered as a very successful year for the project. Releasing Tokenlab 1.0, EXPEX 1.0, and having Slips launch (not within the teams control but looking likely) is enough ammunition to go into 2019 with a clear marketing strategy. We need products to sell the project and it looks like December should be really strong. Reassess on Jan 1st.”
“Once utility exceeds miners dumping, price should move up…which will result in more miners mining and increased dumping, resulting in more need of utility lol…outpacing the miners (especially the ones who aren’t mining for profit, but are maliciously dumping to hold the price down) is pretty critical. And also not something the team here can control on their own.”
From Christopher Franko, “I’m not here to tell anyone to buy or sell expanse. That’s an intimate decision between you and your wallet. If you think it’s oversold, buy some, if you think it’s over bought, sell some. I think it’s over sold so at 10 cents I’m buying what I can afford to lose. At $1 I’d take a little profit, and put new buy orders with that profit.”
Join our Discord
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Expanse Discord is live and kicking! Discord is a great communication platform, better than Slack. Join our growing community on Discord and you can also speak directly with the Expanse team or others in the Expanse community. Sign up for Discord today!. Thank you. https://Discord.me/expanse |
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The Expanse Ambassador Program is designed to provide support and guidance for those of you who would like to help us spread the word about Expanse by hosting local meet-ups—wherever you are in the world. Getting involved is easy. Simply download and complete the Ambassador Program application at this link: https://expanse.tech/join-the-ambassador-program/ The Expanse team are available to answer your questions and will also assist you by:
Expanse is thrilled to have you in the Expanse Army. Be sure to join Discord if you are not already part of it at this link: https://Discord.me/expanse – and grateful to all who would like to join the Ambassador Program! |
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