ReddCore Dev Update (Q4 2021)
Hey ReddHeads! Lots of progress, lots of challenges, lots of opportunity!
The ReddCoin (RDD) Core team and Project Redd have been working hard toward our goals, and wanted to take a few minutes to share some of the highlights of recent work as well as some significant steps forward in strategic plans.
We will be opening a number of our projects as widely as possible in coming days to engage our ReddHead community to help.
How can you help!
One of the loudest and most often heard requests in our Redd ecosystem is “how can I help?”. One aspect of this update will lay out a number of ways that eager and motivated ReddHeads can in fact pitch in a little or a lot, in whatever areas you feel capable of success, and in doing so, speed up the pace of the work we’ve been working toward for the last few years. We do need those who have technical skills, but not *only* those.
We have oodles of technical and nontechnical work to do. Websites, design plans, graphics, text pieces, marketing, PR, business development, and essentially every part of a successful startup effort. The more we grow, the more that is the case, of course, so if you want to help, we need you.
If you can write, clearly and compellingly, Redd needs you. If you can illustrate, either individual images, gifs, movies, or other graphic artistry, Redd needs you.
If you have experience elsewhere in the typical functions of a company, it is more than likely that Redd needs you. Accounting, project management, and yes of course, deep technical and software skills, or other data management. Redd is hugely data-driven and we need expertise to help expose and display that, more now than ever. Join in the fun!!
We are keenly aware of how we could “do better” as a project. Our project communications and marketing need improvement. Our software development practices need improvement. And more besides, and we realize that there are those in our community that are able to pitch in and not only lighten the overall load for the small group doing the majority of the work, but really make an impact in both what we’re doing, and what we’re able to do for others; other projects in the space, other ReddHeads and not-yet-ReddHeads, and the cryptosphere as an industry. Maybe that describes you?
What we do here echoes across crypto as ReddCoin is a leader, an innovator, and a known force for good in this space. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? :)
If any of that speaks to you, email us at info@reddcoin.com. It’s as easy as that. Or speak to one of the admins in our Telegram chat, as much of our team is live there daily, answering questions and engaging as we do. (https://t.me/ReddcoinOfficial)
Things we are working on
So, with that as a preface, welcome to our Almost-End-Of-Year Redd Core dev team update. Revealing some of the items that we’ve accomplished that have gone somewhat un-noted, some of the work currently underway, and what to expect from Redd both by end of the year 2021, and also moving into the future of fintech as it evolves.
ReddCoin (RDD) Core Wallet Development
The cornerstone and primary unit of the ReddCoin (RDD) network is the peer-to-peer desktop ReddCoin Core wallet (https://download.reddcoin.com if you don’t already have the current v3.10.3 version) , which provides the democratic, peer-to-peer staking and security functions that maintain our blockchain along with all of the standard send, receive, balance sorts of functions one normally associates with a wallet.
Considerations are many in not only adding upgraded code, security fixes and features, and user requests for functionality. It’s a complex effort requiring extensive strategic thinking, testing, coding, adjustment to our specific chain needs, and visual improvement, along with ideation and inclusion of new features. A “Staking” informational pane, for example, is something we’ve always needed, and is being included.
Other features and requests will be solicited from our ReddHead community shortly as part of this effort. We want to make sure that the cornerstone of our network does the things that our users need it to do, and part of that comes from ReddHeads speaking up and getting involved. If you have ideas (or again, skills), please don’t hesitate to voice them, or engage with the team. The more of that group collaborative development we can do, the better our eventual efforts become.
Initially our efforts focused on bringing our current codebase, now based on BTC 0.10, up to the recent release of BTC 0.21. This would include countless security, performance, storage, networking, and other critically important improvements. As we have gone through the upgrade process, the newer 0.22 release has been made available, so we have pivoted to include the major components from that upgrade as well. Technical progress may be noted on our github repository here: https://github.com/reddcoin-project/reddcoin-0.22, as well as pull requests and project/issue requests for those who wish to collaborate.
As an example of the complexity, we’d like to point to the discussion/release notes for just the 0.21->0.22 upgrade step in BTC. We have had a similar process for each step from 0.10 and incremental releases all the way to current code. It’s finicky, detailed, complex work, but it’s getting done.
At this time, we are immensely pleased with the initial results. Sync from zero, with enhanced performance and handling, along with CPU and memory/cache optimizations, allow for seven years of data to be brought up to data in less than six hours on a reasonable network connection. Since the new client also employs a headers-first absolute sync, the client can actually send and view transactions much faster than before as well during the sync process. A data screen has been added to provide sync information live as it happens, and as far as we are able to tell, the new client literally does not freeze at all the way the original (and current) clients do during extended sync.
This will immensely improve user experience, and much of our wallet corruption issues in ReddCoin are caused by forcing the wallet to quit without adequately closing files, because ReddHeads believe the wallet is “stuck”. This alone should be a huge step forward in usability and understanding of the sync process for our network. It is, in fact, only one improvement…and there are many.
Keen observers will note that the basic look and feel, apart from significant performance and responsiveness improvement, remains much the same. As the majority of the work to date has been done “under the hood”, that would of course make sense.
It is our goal shortly to bring in the process to redesign extensively the UI/UX aspects (User Interface/User Experience) of this wallet product, along with our other software. As mentioned, we welcome ideas, and engagement from those wishing to help.
For more info on 0.22 and Taproot, along with other aspects, here’s one resource for reading, but we encourage those with the intellectual curiosity to research and work with us to implement some of the cooler technologies developed here. https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/what-is-taproot-and-how-it-will-benefit-bitcoin
ReddMobile
Our cross-platform mobile wallet and foundation for decentralized tipping, ReddID, ReddShare and other features and offerings of the Redd ecosystem.
We have successfully adapted open-source code to the unique aspects of our ReddCoin chain, and built out a basic wallet platform on both Apple iOS and Google Android mobile device platforms and stores. Both are officially in test release as we begin to add features and functionality, and squash noted bugs, of course, and are generally available for users to work with, test, and suggest improvements.
We would note for any ReddHeads using these wallets that the most important step is to ensure your seed phrase is safe and secure. If you have that, you can delete the software, or lose/format your phone, and still regain access to any funds. As any crypto wallet, MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR SEED PHRASE OR PRIVATE KEYS SAFE!!
Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.reddcoin.reddcoin_flutter
Apple iOS TestFlight link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/8kLFj6tQ
Issues, problems, feature or enhancement requests may be posted here: https://github.com/reddcoin-project/reddcoin_flutter/issues
To contribute code to ReddMobile, please open a “pull request” in this repo: https://github.com/reddcoin-project/reddcoin_flutter
Translations may be offered & improved here: https://weblate.reddcoin.com/
At present, the ReddMobile wallet in test release is a basic functionality flutter-based wallet that will be the foundation for our decentralized tipping & name registration app as it evolves. We encourage our users to explore and engage with the development process and really help us work toward an awesome RDD-enabled solution that fits both our community’s current needs, and allows strategic and future planning to encompass our rapidly changing technology landscape.
ReddAcademy — Redd Core teaches about Redd Core
Our ReddAcademy efforts have been more than successful in capturing some of the basic concepts around crypto and specifically ReddCoin. We encourage our users to view these videos if they’ve missed them live, and we will continue to produce them as a team educational resource each two weeks. Suggested topics are welcome, as are informed guest speakers. Our goal is simply to make accessible as much of the basic and core knowledge of cryptocurrency, blockchain and ReddCoin as we can, for free, for anyone who wishes to learn. Ultimately we hope to enable the real underlying mechanism that drove ReddAcademy to become a thing, actually paying students in RDD to watch, learn, and earn for doing so. That will be part of the evolution of ReddAcademy as we are able to bring to reality.
Current ReddAcademy recorded episodes are available on ReddCoin and Project Redd YouTube channels.
ReddCoin Ecosystem Development
The Core project team has always worked as a strategic goal to ensure that RDD is easily obtainable, listed on popular markets, and integrated wherever it seems a fit. Sometimes that has involved payments to other entities, sometimes such things have taken place for free as part of cryptosphere building, and as a consequence of ReddCoin’s longstanding history in the space. We have made some positive steps in this over time as well as lost ground, but we continue to expand and improve our ability to use RDD as it ought to be, and to buy or sell into fiat as easily as possible to enable that utility.
To that topic, we have the following exchange related and ecosystem updates:
→ bitcoin.com — Took a $40K payment for listing, changed their name to FMFW.io and subsequently delisted us for little-to-no volume.
→ bitmart.com—Took a $25K listing payment from us and is PRESENTLY demanding that liquidity improve or RDD shall be delisted. In the interim, it is BitMart’s policy to hide under-performing pairs from their API, so our pairs on BitMart may vanish from Coinmarketcap. (More on this topic of projects providing trading support later.)
→ satodax.net — As a small but up-and-coming exchange, listed RDD with three pairs, (DOGE, BTC, TRX) for free with the intent of growing together as part of the real crypto ecosystem. This is how it ought to be done in our space, and we encourage ReddHeads to visit satodax and support their efforts. https://www.satodax.net/trading/rdddoge
→ kolbit.org — Approached RDD and a number of other teams with a free listing offer, connected to their own ICO and coin sale. Research into this not-yet-launched exchange showed a number of red flags (no KYC, encouraging users to use VPNs, etc), and we cautioned the ReddHead community about blindly diving into such platforms. Sure enough, immediately prior to their stated launch, it appears kolbit.org and their paid marketing folks deleted their messaging and channels and pulled a classic “exit scam”, taking users’ money. We suggest anyone who did engage with them follow up with local law enforcement as appropriate, as such actions absolutely deserve pursuit. As always, “Do Your Own Research” and ask all the questions.
Payment Gateways: https://gourl.io/reddcoin-payment-gateway-api.html has existed for as long as we can remember; still operational and able to provide RDD-enabled webshop and other services, definitely worth checking out.
forgingblock.io is another trustworthy payment gateeway to build out RDD connectivity to your sites and shops. Quick video here, or visit their site for documentation and RDD-enable your shop today: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddCoin/comments/qyc0zj/forgingblock_gives_you_the_possibility_of/
News: The ReddCoin team has been validated on CoinMarketCap’s self-reporting portal and will be publishing news and updates through that channel as well.
News: ReddCoin has figured prominently in https://evai.io top listed coins, based on AI and informational analysis rather than simply price/amrketcap. As a mark of pride, that’s great, but it also highlights that objectively, our project seems to be hitting many of the important technical markers, and that’s equally important.
Explorer: https://rddblockexplorer.com/ has published a new ReddCoin block explorer to provide additional network exploration options.
DeFi:
Explorations of bridged/wrapped/tokenized RDD and extension to DeFi platform offerings continues with a focus on the usability and economic aspects of such actions. More study is required, but steps to test such functionality are underway on multiple chains.
Issues around Exchange Connectivity:
We have received positive offers from additional exchanges across the crypto space. Major strategic goals such as CoinBase and similar “gold” exchanges have not progressed in any meaningful way, but within the “middle space” of exchanges, ReddCoin has had a number of productive conversations leading to listing offers that would be affordable. This is a combined opportunity and risk. At this time, legislation has either been enacted, taking effect, or is begin drafted, depending on the region in question that will very much alter the landscape of cryptocurrency and how projects like ReddCoin are able to succeed. A reference to some of this may be found here, and makes for very informative reading:
Thysse W., “US Crypto Regulation Far More Invasive Than We Thought”(Decentralized Legal System, September 18, 2021), available on: https://decentralizedlegalsystem.com/us-crypto-currency-regulation/
It has long been ReddCoin’s established position that as a utility coin, or what will now be designated as a “digital asset” (as distinct from a “digital asset security”), the engaging of any type of price or market support, liquidity provisioning, “trade book tuning”, or other manipulations of our coin’s value in any way other than organic external trading would be viewed as problematic by emerging legislation and oversight efforts.
As such, as a strategic priority, ReddCoin & Project Redd have stayed far from those activities, have not promoted any concept of price or investment, and have never promised profit or other aspects that would push us into “security token” territory. We have simply tried to develop innate value by building solutions requiring RDD to operate, a true “utility” approach to our work.
As it turns out, that approach seems to have set up our project to pass through much of the sea of impending regulation safely. But it also puts us in a difficult position when attempting to broaden those same exchange and trading integrations, especially when those platforms demand that our project/team “provide liquidity”, or other market-related activities. We cannot, internally to our project, do so safely.
It has become a bit of a catch-22 and prevented us from acting on some exchange listing offers and other integrations. It is a similar challenge for any and all small genuine crypto projects, and it was in that spirit of shared challenge that we are quite pleased to announce a possible solution. Whether it will work in the way that we expect is yet to be determined, but it appears to be a potential win/win/win for all parties involved.
The “Altcoin Reserve”
As of the date of this publication, a combined and federated effort has been created to achieve a number of goals for projects such as ReddCoin; legacy, compliant non-ICO coin projects actually working to solve genuine problems and use cases, or with other intrinsic value. This effort has been named the “Altcoin Reserve” and can be viewed as it is presently being announced at altcoinreserve.org.
In short, the Reserve plans to build a Board of Governors from trusted members and devs from each of the invited “charter” project list, a group of 18 altcoins each selected specifically for their history, reputation, achievements, and potential, and will hopefully expand to more teams as it begins to operate.
The Altcoin Reserve will be selling a cryptocurrency of it’s own, BTCQ (“Bitcoin Quorum”), in exchange for each of the native coins of the teams involved at a defined “true value” purchase price, and each altcoin member team will receive an allocation of the BTCQ coins for their community, in the amount of approximately US $5M. For all funds raised in this manner (perpetually), the altcoin teams themselves will receive 80% of proceeds to put toward a treasury or dev needs. The receiving wallets in this sale will be held by each altcoin project team for transparency, and 20% of the proceeds will be returned to the Altcoin Reserve for use in liquidity provisioning or other financial and market-related activities for each coin as may be deemed appropriate by the Board of Governors.
This alone would provide anywhere from a small amount of funding to a project-enabling windfall directly from each coin’s community, using BTCQ as a tool of exchange to enable it. As the underlying crypto and all member coins will be integrated into a Reserve-owned and operated exchange in Feb 2022, enabling additional trading access, and a collectively owned resource for all engaged teams, it seems very obvious that if a coin team is compliant, they will be able to join our Altcoin Reserve and benefit from those aspects.
In addition, the Reserve intends to act to research, vet, and approve potential partners, wallets, and other parts of the crypto space to establish a sort of “Reserve Seal of Approval” that might extend a bit of trust and safety to the users of platforms and partners. (Such a program would lend itself nicely to being implented with NFTs to prove membership, along with lots of other ideas that have come up in discussion.)
Actual development of BTCQ as the underlying cryptocurrency will also be a function of the Reserve, and as such, the concepts of security, network robustness, a plan to fork/convert to a Proof-of-Stake model from the at-launch PoW, and the actual mechanics of operating and supporting a valid cryptocurrency are all currently an equal priority of discussion.
As ReddCoin has committed to joining the Reserve and has tried to help shape some of its plans and policies to better fit the cryptospace, we encourage anyone in our ReddHead community, or other places in the cryptosphere to get involved and help make that happen as well.
All details are available for public review on the following websites: altcoinreserve.org, xbitcoinq.com, bitcoinq.io and their other channels as they go through the public launch process. We will refer most questions regarding the topics here to their channels, but likely will also be answering questions in our own ReddHead channels as the Reserve begins to operate.
There are some immensely exciting possibilities here, and as usual, while we want to protect our ReddHeads, we also want us all to succeed, thrive and achieve together. This seems to be a solid embodiment of that spirit, and we salute and endorse the effort, and will be an integral part of it as it moves forward. It appears a number of other project teams feel the same way, so if we can form a Quorum, it’s likely our power as a group of projects and communities will be many times that we can achieve alone. A cornerstone concept of crypto and Redd, of course, and another reason to encourage and make this happen.
Public Engagement:
ReddCoin has made efforts to promote the actions of groups like FightForTheFuture and CoinCenter as advocates for the greater crypto community and allies against some of the legislative efforts. Driving campaisgns such as #DontKillCrypto and others to help expose the process that affects all of us in the cryptocurrency space, ReddCoin welcomes groups focusing on such things to engage with us as well as partners or allies in the effort. While it will always be our goal to remain apolitical as a project, as as a global community, such efforts to stifle and limit crypto globally are in fact worthy causes to ally against. It is in that spirit that we do so.
Social Media:
ReddCoin has seen a significant trending growth on almost all of our social media and communication channels. We will be publishing a separate Medium article shortly with details of those channels, expansion of our messaging, and stastics on tipbots, the new ReddNFT series being sold and collected on OpenSea (https://opensea.io/collection/reddcards) , and some of the events we have planned from now into the new year.
ReddCoin will be holding at least one casual holiday party on Dec 17th to simply get together with community members and devs, enjoy a bit of socializing and perhaps some prizes, and share the latest from the Redd team. We hope you’ll join us in our Kumospace virtual event space, https://www.kumospace.com/projectredd for the festivities. Happy Holidays to all!
ReddCoin’s project team, the ReddHead community and Project Redd have accomplished an immense amount, and look forward to finishing out the year with some substantial dev milestones. Stay tuned to this space and our other Redd channels to keep informed and up-to-date!! Let’s #PaintTheWorldRedd!
About Redd
Redd is a global social movement that allows anyone, anywhere, the power to tip, support, donate and fund social causes, independent content creators, and humanitarian programs. The platform utilizes ReddCoin (RDD), a reliable and versatile decentralized cryptocurrency launched in 2014 that allows for seamless payments across borders and social networks. All Redd Partners are expected to adhere to the project’s high standards of openness, accountability, and user experience as we strive to be an example of not only the stated ideals of love, support and inclusion, but also integrity, transparency, and honor.
Feel free to visit us at Redd.Love, Reddcoin.com or email info@reddcoin.com. You can also follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Telegram Love to all of our Reddheads, new and old, and welcome!
