It’s been an eventful two weeks since the last newsletter:

• Tokenab launched on 1/23.
• EXP and LAB Listed on Graviex Exchange.
• Beaxy Exchange recommitted to listing EXP, with the announcement coming next week in regard to which listing tier EXP is in.

Over the next few weeks, we will launch another version of Tokenlab, incorporating the feedback from community members and Tokenlab users. The Admin Panel is almost ready to go, and Chris is working on Universal Know Your Customer (UKYC) utility. Last but not least, EXPEX is also set to launch first quarter.

In this edition of Behind the Tech, we are featuring Yue Zhao, better known as Alex, our China Community Manager, who also heads our brand new Expanse office in China, which we mentioned in the last newsletter.

Alex holds a Masters Degree in Technology Management from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT. Alex fondly remembers his days at the university where he made many friends, enjoyed all of the diverse activities he participated in and more importantly, learned from some of the best teachers and mentors during his degree program. “I think it is vital that we develop an open mind and a receptive attitude during our education years, because once we enter society as an accountable and contributing member, we are constantly learning from our surroundings and the people we encounter. If we are always in the “learning mode” it helps us to adapt to society faster and better. It also helps to use our knowledge to innovate.”

Alex was fascinated by technology during his formative years and has witnessed the transformation that technologies like the internet have brought to our lives. “We are in an era of rapid advances in science and technology. This progress is promoting the overall development of the entire human society.”

A true technocrat, Alex believes that the value of science and technology has been fully demonstrated and it has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on human
civilization―product development, economic reforms, social progress, national military strength and ecological well-being. “The development of science and technology has changed the face of the whole society and affected the destiny and future of mankind.”

Alex came across blockchain technology in late 2014. It caught his attention and he decided to learn more about it. He became a crypto miner. Asked about his first encounter with Expanse, Alex tells this story: “Because I am an ether miner, I was constantly checking out whattomine.com. I found EXP, and when I learnt more about it, I found it attractive. I did some more research and found that the Expanse project was great! I joined the Discord channel four months ago and it’s been a whirlwind ride since.”

Alex was made the China Community Manager and Ambassador of Expanse. He handles a small team of five people, and together they manage a large Chinese community that has swollen to in excess of 5000 people. At the beginning of the new year, they set up the Expanse office in Handan City, Hebei Province, some 275 miles south of Beijing, China. Alex hopes that he can invite more IT companies from Chia to visit them and get to know more about what Expanse can offer them. His team will also participate in a few blockchain events which, he believes, will be a good opportunity for some much needed brand publicity.

His paramount responsibility, and challenge, is to get as many IT start-ups to join the Expanse ecosystem. He goes about achieving this mandate in step-wise and strategic manner and is confident that he will have exciting news about new alliances and partnerships in the days to come.

When asked about his views on the future of Expanse, Alex seems pretty confident. “I think with Tokenlab, Votelock and some other great Dapps, Expanse is doing splendidly in demonstrating its worth and value to developers around the world, convincing them that they can build better apps on the Expanse chain.” He is confident that in 2019, Expanse will get at least 10 great Dapp projects in China. “As far as the cryptocurrency market is concerned, I believe that the bear trend should pass soon and we would see good consolidation now.”

Alex works closely with Marcia, our Expanse CAO. “Alex is a joy to work with,” said Marcia. “He continues to delight and surprise us with his BIG ideas and enthusiasm for Expanse.”

The SLIPS team is currently busy with testing and bug-fixing. There is a “bug bounty” where people can join the SLIPS Discord channel and help with the testing and in turn, earn some EXP in rewards.

The team has decided to add voice chat to the app as it makes a huge difference and a lot of people mentioned during testing that this would be a great and a very helpful feature.

Husain is also busy talking with lawyers about the shop functionality and whether it can be a workaround for the betting issues, until they get a license to run a full-fledged betting platform.

SLIPS was also successful in raising a small seed round and they will be moving to SF as a result to try and raise another round in a few months’ time.

The arbitration and smart contract development has been delayed until they can go live and their focus right now is on fixing existing bugs and improving UI.

Here’s a thought-provoking blog submitted by Jitendra Rathod, newsletter contributing editor.

After the end of World War II up till the 1970s, experts and governments alike had immense faith in centralized systems of governance and economic management. This was mostly owing to the success of centralized governance in wading of the Great Depression following the guidelines of the economist John Maynard Keynes.

However, after the oil shock of the 1970s, all this changed and democratic decentralization was perceived to be the panacea which could solve most developmental, political and social problems. Moreover, this idea found its way into most of the literature produced by the developmental organizations and other international bodies including the United Nations.

Soon decentralization, both in terms of political and economic matters, was the bar by means of which the success of governments and societies was to be measured. As it turns out, this approach has proved increasingly efficient in upholding the principles of democracy and liberalism; especially the principles of participatory politics, and that of equity (i.e., equal opportunity) in the social sphere. However, in the economic domain, much equity has not been induced through democratic decentralization.

Blockchain and Decentralization

The blockchain technology inherently is based on the principles of decentralization. It is such a technology which when applied to the economic processes and public service delivery can usher perfect infallible equity which is lacking in the present models of decentralized democracies.

Blockchain systems can help avoid centralization of data which has turned into present-day capital. By preventing this precisely, it ensures that no single authority is capable of controlling the flow of data or benefiting from it singly without sharing the gains from them. Moreover, such a decentralized aspect is ensured through smart contracts, making it fool-proof.

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are digital contracts which are time stamped documents and are cryptographically created. These contracts cannot be tampered with manually once they are created and the terms of the contract are executed only when the predetermined criteria which were coded initially, are executed. Therefore, by using these contracts instead of traditional documents in diverse spheres of public service delivery, ranging from elections to economic opportunities like license distribution, registration of properties among others, these systems can be made more efficient.

Land records registration systems can be significantly benefited from the introduction of blockchains so that fraudulent claims can be avoided. Even various forms of corrupt practices related to the status of land holdings can be permanently recorded. Such methods will have a significant impact on the overall rule of law.

Other services like tender distribution can also be shifted to smart contracts, ensuring the right criteria are met before handing the tender to any particular applicant.

Cryptocurrencies

The financial system is particularly encumbered with monopolistic tendencies, which, in turn are detrimental to democracy as they lead to different kinds of cronyism. It not only undermines the free market, which is indispensable for the functioning of the democratic system, but also affects the decision making process in other spheres; especially the fiscal and monetary policy decisions, apart from environmental guidelines, etc.

Cryptocurrencies, because of their decentralized nature, can find their way through such fiscal traps. These digital currencies are beyond the reach of any particular financial heavyweights who can monopolize on them.

Most crypto tokens are accumulated in the hands of dedicated community members who have a significant stake in the working of their respective ecosystems. Such practices can enhance the functioning of the free market economy, creating equal economic opportunities for all deserving individuals, thus strengthening the basic democratic structure by making the whole system more inclusive. The crypto-based peer to peer microlending platforms are an example of this.

The decision-making processes will become more democratic within the firms and guilds (among others), and eventually, that will be reflected within society at large. Moreover, the society, by means of the technology, does not have to be restricted within the state boundaries.

Global Democracy and Blockchain

The technology can help expand democratic institutions beyond national borders making decentralization a global phenomenon, not only rendering national coercive power monopolies irrelevant but also the global governance bodies like the UN or the World Bank.

However, that does not necessarily have to mean anarchy. In a society where everybody gets their say, everybody would actually push for peace and stability rather than chaos, because that would be in their mutual interest. This would be a kind of absolute and perfect democracy, the type which our Founding Fathers had envisaged.

Expanse is a vision that is synchronous with the loftiest ideals of democracy that is true to its core beliefs and just not in name. Expanse is not just a blockchain to create life-altering dApps, but is an ecosystem that seeks to uphold the epitomes of everything that we, as humans, have achieved in these thousands of years.

At Expanse, we seek to create an ecosystem that does away with everything that is wrong with the world – our governance models and our resource distributions systems, especially. Through disruptive technological advances, we have envisioned a world that is free from virtual shackles that bind and limit us and to empower every human being to utilize his or her boundless potential to create a world that is worth living in.

Conclusion

With the blockchain technology, we can take all questions directly to the people and would be able to ensure that all the decisions are implemented according to the pre-set norms without any bias. Likewise, it can also work at the smallest units of governance. Therefore, a uniform standard would be maintained in terms of credibility and efficiency in the whole system of human governance. And what’s more, the credibility would be ensured from the bottom up. Blockchain technology in itself is the true embodiment of democracy. Its unhindered use will bring about the true utilization of democratic principles that will create a more inclusive society.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to travel to Rio Dulce, Izabal department of Guatemala in the Caribbean Sea, thanks to Expanse. This town is very close to Belize. It borders Peten (the home of the Mayans) and Honduras.

The largest lake in Guatemala, Lake Izabal, has great forts and ports. It was a very important city at the time of the conquest, and is a mixture of Mayan and Garífuna cultures. Besides impressive landscapes, it is a door to the Caribbean. Beauty aside, it also has great needs in terms of health and education.

The group I traveled with is the True North Missions Foundation. It seeks to provide comprehensive medical care to children marginalized by the civil war that lasted 36 years until 1999.

There are more than 200,000 people who sought to live in remote places to avoid being persecuted, and today they have many needs. The United Nations recognizes them as “The Forgotten People.”

From the city, it was a 10-hour bus trip followed by crossing the lake to stay at the shore of Lake Izabal then be ready for a week of challenges.

Every day for five days we travel to remote communities and give medical assistance. Children and women are mainly cared for; husbands are working all day.

The team consisted of five translators, five doctors, an emergency doctor, and a pharmacy with medicines for preventive care. Dr. Alan Barber, the forerunner of this organization, took charge of visits to homes of people who could not come to us due to the state of their health.

We went through five different communities, sometimes by water, sometimes by pickup and sometimes by walking great distances. In numbers:

• We were a team of 15 people, each donating their time, doctors who came from the United States, local interpreters (Kekchi – Spanish, Spanish – English) and others helping.
• All travel and transportation expenses are paid by True North Missions.
• I traveled 680 km by bus and walked a total of 56 km in a week. I traveled by boat approximately 50 km to reach some communities.
• We attended to approximately 500 children and adults in 5 days, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
• The clinic and pharmacy were set up at the community school.
• The main problems were skin (mange and fungus), dehydration, dental problems and parasites.
• There are no dental or extremely serious services, so these patients are referred to the health center. They usually do not go.
• Each person was given a dewormer, toothbrush and vitamins for 30 days to the children; besides the treatment of the problem they had.
• This mission is carried out two or three times a year in the most remote communities. All others have access to the health center.

Compelling quotes from the trip:

“Some of us learn on the way to be entrepreneurs, but you always have to study to do it well. You have to go without fear for life and give it a try.”

Olivia Interpreter Spanish – English.

“Respect and honesty open all the doors, you can spend all your money, but not others.”

Marcos the Captain.

“In life you have to travel and discover, alone or accompanied, travel, the world is so small, if you don’t tell me, what do you work for?”

Francisco interpreter Kekchi to Spanish and English.

There were many stories that I had to re-live, from a girl of 15 years with a baby of 2 who will surely have 8 children by the time she turns 40, to a girl with down syndrome without special care and many children with parasites or scabies. But all were very grateful that we were there and with a smile to give.

In the community we were given lunch, a chicken soup that should have 8 Michelin stars because it was made with love. I learned to be grateful. “It is not the same to have 100 and to give 10, as to have 10 and to give 10.” When you can serve, do it.

Omar Alvarez

CCD – Expanse.