Micropayment app Dropp receives fresh grant from Hedera

The HBAR Foundation, an accelerator organization behind enterprise-grade public network Hedera, announced today it has provided a grant to Dropp.cc, a micropayment app for fiat and cryptocurrency.

Dropp facilitates micropayments in US dollars; Hedera’s native token HBAR, and soon USDC.

Built on the Hedera Hashgraph network, a distributed ledger delivering high-performance, Dropp offers a pay-per-use pricing option to merchants.

Sushil Prabhu, Dropp Founder & CEO

“The grant from The HBAR Foundation allows us to incentivize new customers with a $5 credit toward their first purchase. We want consumers to have a first-hand experience making a digital purchase or making micro-donations or tips. Dropp offers new purchasing options to consumers and an extremely easy-to-use experience to make small-value purchases. We want consumers to try out Dropp. This grant is the catalyst that will help boost the adoption of small value purchases.”
– Sushil Prabhu, CEO & Chairman at Dropp

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* This article was originally published here

Multi-chain supported v1.0 of Hyperledger FireFly is now generally available

Today, the Hyperledger community announced that version 1.0 of Hyperledger FireFly is now available. Hyperledger FireFly 1.0 combines a number of technical and market milestones.

At its core, it offers a composable Web3 stack to help speed up decentralized application (dApp) development by a factor of 10x-100x, making it the first open-source (GitHub) SuperNode for enterprises to build and scale secure Web3 applications.

It is already in production deployments with a number of leading blockchain consortia today, including RiskStream Collaborative in the insurance industry, Synaptic Health Alliance in healthcare, and TradeGo in commodity trade finance.

A Composable Web3 Stack To Support Decentralized Apps

Over the last decade of enterprise blockchain projects, architects and developers have realized that they need much more than a blockchain node for their projects to be successful. Early custom-built blockchain engagements often were multi-million dollar, multi-year projects that struggled to get into production.

As the $3T market for Web3 has materialized around areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse, companies are looking to embrace these disruptive technologies and the potential for new business opportunities. Writing decentralized applications, however, requires a large set of composable Web3 and traditional IT technologies that interact with each other as enterprise building blocks that anyone can use.

The Hyperledger FireFly SuperNode provides this new type of decentralized orchestration layer between companies’ existing systems and Web3. It enables the shift of value in open network systems and reduces the reliance on proprietary tech or custom-built code. It solves the layers of complexity sitting between the low-level blockchain and high-level business processes and user interfaces, letting developers focus on building business logic instead of infrastructure.

By enabling companies to avoid “reinventing the wheel” just to connect to Web3, Hyperledger FireFly increases developer efficiency and fills a void of previously missing functionality to help companies create secure and auditable connections to Web3’s open ecosystems.

The Best of Public and Private Blockchain Technologies

Companies can quickly bootstrap projects on FireFly by tapping into Web3 innovations such as smart contracts and NFTs without having to build everything from scratch, while also satisfying enterprise requirements for simple APIs, reliable delivery, and robust connections. FireFly also helps to ‘future-proof’ these applications by providing a blockchain-neutral platform to build on.

Hyperledger FireFly has built-in integrations and support for popular communities such as Ethereum (Quorum, Hyperledger Besu, Geth, public mainnet), Hyperledger Fabric, and Corda, and for standard digital assets such as ERC20, ERC721, and ERC 1155. The FireFly code base comprises more than 200,000 lines of enterprise-ready code and is extensible and pluggable for token bridges, L2s such as Polygon, and standards-led approaches such as the Baseline protocol.

“…FireFly has come a long way in a short time. We are excited about how quickly we’ve been able to grow the project and the community and how quickly enterprises and consortia are adopting the technology. We would like to invite you to come be part of our community.”
– The Hyperledger Team

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* This article was originally published here

Sweatcoin: SWEAT token to reward physical movement with crypto

Sweatcoin, an app that rewards users’ daily steps with SWEAT tokens which can be spent on products, donated to charity, or converted into another crypto, is ready for launch this week.

Soon, the Sweatcoin community will have the opportunity to have their in-app pre-sweatcoins matched 1:1 with SWEAT tokens at a token generation event (TGE) timed for this summer.

Designed to capture the value of movement, this cryptocurrency will be minted purely by steps.

After the token generation event (TGE) scheduled for this summer, SWEAT will be issued by the Sweat Foundation, a BVI-headquartered entity and Sweatcoin’s partner in launching the Sweat economy.

“We’re turning movement into a valuable, recognizable currency with SWEAT: the token, and for those that are new to the space, it’s a little-to-no-financial-risk option to get on board and gain access to an asset that’s becoming increasingly harder to mint, helping us to achieve the mission of making the world more physically active by unlocking the value of movement.”
– Oleg Fomenko, Co-Founder at Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin has selected eco-friendly NEAR as the blockchain for its token and additionally the NEAR Foundation is investing in the project.

Other institutional backers include Electric Capital, Spartan Capital, Jump Crypto, OKX Blockdream Ventures, and GSR, as well as project leaders like Terra founder Do Kwon, Sandeep Nailwal, Founder of Polygon (MATIC), and Bjorn Wagner, Co-Founder of Parity (Polkadot).

“One of NEAR’s core missions is to help onboard the world to Web3, collaborating with the Sweat Foundation allows us to take a step closer to that mission. The company also aligns with our core values of sustainability. Building SWEAT, the token on NEAR’s carbon-neutral blockchain empowers more people to work towards a more sustainable future.”
– Marieke Flament, NEAR Foundation’s CEO

The Sweatcoin app can be found on Google Play and the App Store.

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* This article was originally published here

IOST sets up $100M fund to push growth of EVM multi-chain ecosystem

The IOST Foundation, the organization behind the IOST blockchain, a gas-efficient proof-of-believability-powered smart contract platform, announced today together with venture capital institutions and ecosystem partners, the launch of a new $100 million USD incentive fund for EVM developers, aiming to incubate projects and propel the growth of IOST’s multi-chain ecosystem.

On March 31, 2022, IOST unveiled Project Entroverse, a roadmap goal to build a growing, interoperable, and interconnected blockchain network.

This newly announced 100 million USD fund under Project Entroverse targets developers around the world, and consists of the “New Ecosystem Fund” and the “Accelerator Fund.”

• New Ecosystem Fund to expand IOST’s on-chain applications, mainnet infrastructure, and tools.
• Accelerator Fund will provide capital, FA, and bonuses to development teams and projects via IOST.

Big Candle Capital (BCC) Seeks to Fuel IOST and More

The leading investor of the fund is Big Candle Capital. The scope of this exclusive fund is not limited to applicants developing dApps on the IOST chain exclusively; all outstanding projects deployed on other EVM-compatible chains with multi-chain development plans are also welcome to apply for support.

Big Candle Capital is a venture capital firm established in 2017 by the IOST Foundation in conjunction with several investment institutions and ecosystem partner nodes. Big Candle Capital has invested in more than 80 projects, including IOST, LINK, BNB, DOT, UNI, and DYDX, which were highly successful and achieved an overall return of 1000%, with a peak operated asset valuation of over $700M.

BCC is focused on projects at various stages of development in sectors including DeFi, NFT, GameFi, Web3, and Metaverse-based dApps. However, all teams and ideas are welcome. Moreover, BCC also provides auxiliary services such as funding, technology, token model, advertising, community building, and connections with exchanges for the invested projects.

Details of Entroverse Fund

New Ecosystem Fund

1. Market Analysis: A successful project applicant will be offered market research and in-depth industry research reports developed by the Big Candle Capital (BCC) team who have more than 5 years of experience in blockchain research.
2. Token Setup: The project team will be assisted by BCC’s professionals who have experience in developing token economic models and assisting in project incubation.
3. Structure Design: Project teams will be provided with targeted successful case studies such as popular dApps for reference.
4. Promotion: Teams will receive media support and promotion through BCC’s network of media connections and high-quality communities.

Accelerator Fund

1. Non-Dilutive Funding: BCC will provide non-dilutive funding for teams building applications on the IOST chain, integrating the IOST mainnet, and with needs to implement IOST tools.
2. FA: BCC will offer FA support for skilled developer teams with no experience in the industry, allowing new projects to get start-up capital quickly.
3. Incentive Bonuses: BCC will arrange irregular bonuses to start-ups and teams based on their user base, activity, and TVL.

BCC’s Investment Philosophy & Services for Developers

Investment Philosophy

• BCC’s exclusive fund is not limited to applicants developing exclusive dApps on the IOST chain. Outstanding projects deployed on other EVM-compatible chains with multi-chain development plans are also welcome to apply for support.
• The main focus of BCC’s investment is on DeFi, NFT, GameFi, Web3, and Metaverse-based dApps. However, all creative teams and ideas are welcome.
• BCC supports angel, seed, strategy, A round, B round, C round, and Pre-IPO investments, and both investments in token and equity simultaneously.
• Investments range from USD $30,000 to USD $5,000,000.
• To achieve the best ROI, BCC examines projects and teams in detail using its strong network and data analysis facilities centered in Asia
• BCC makes diversified investments according to the assets’ life cycle and trends to minimize risks.

Advisory Services & Team

BCC provides auxiliary services such as capital, technology, token model, advertising, community building, and connections with exchanges for the invested projects.

Headquartered in Singapore with offices in Barcelona, Tokyo, Seoul, and Madrid, the Big Candle Capital team consists of more than 40 experienced professional investment professionals with first-class business capabilities and rich resources in the blockchain and traditional financial industries.

Connecting with Big Candle Capital

BCC is now openly inviting all interested developers and teams to join the IOST multi-chain ecosystem.

To apply, the BCC team asks those interested to attach the below info in an email to business@bigcandle.capital.

• Project Description
• Team Introduction
• Financing Status
• Whitepaper

“The cooperation between IOST & BCC, and subsequently the launch of the IOST 100M dollar fund for the EVM developers is a game-changer for the IOST ecosystem. This incentive program offers long-term support for potential developers and projects, adding more killer dApps on the IOST blockchain while strengthening our infuence and the value of IOST for its long-term hodlers.”
– Blake Jeong, IOST CMO

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* This article was originally published here

Router Protocol adds Optimism and Arbitrum to its cross-chain messaging platform

Router Protocol, an infrastructure layer enabling communication between blockchains, today announced it has added Optimism and Arbitrum to its platform.

The community can now transfer funds and swap assets across networks with the largest TVL in cross-chain bridges (Fantom, Polygon, Avalanche C-chain, and Arbutrum), in addition to Ethereum, Optimism, and Binance Smart Chain.

These new integrations offer users access to enhanced interoperability features such as:

• Any token to any token swap across chains – most existing solutions only supports transfers. Router Protocol supports any crypto token swap on the network.
• Support for arbitrary tokens – most cross-chain platforms are permissioned where only listed assets can be traded. Router Protocol allows arbitrary token swaps by aggregating liquidity across all the major DEXes on any given chain.
• Mesh Network – instead of building 1:1 bridges that require dedicated links between chains, Router is building a many-to-many mesh network that allows seamless data flow between various chains. Any chain can be added with a few lines of configuration.
• Settlement guarantee – Router Protocol ensures no blocking for user funds and guarantees settlements of all transactions by providing users equivalent amounts of USDC or RUSDC (which can be redeemed 1:1 for USDC).

“As two of the most popular L2 solutions on Ethereum, this integration marks significant progress in our mission to connect all L1 and L2 chains. We’re proud to deliver a seamless and secure cross-chain experience to these communities.”
– Ramani Ramachandran, Co-Founder & CEO of Router Protocol

Security is an important focus for Router Protocol, having taken several measures to secure its network. In addition to a bug bounty program with the security platform Immunefi, the project has completed security audits from Certik and Halborn and is currently undergoing a third audit from Hacken.

Moreover, the Router team has several security features built into its network including: 

• A modular smart contract architecture – denotes different contracts for functions like liquidity, fees, voting, etc. to separate out functions against monolith structures which is typically followed.
• On-chain validation – the validation is achieved on-chain, which is more secure than protocols using off-chain consensus.
• An Isolated execution module – transactions are executed on a stateless execution pallet that can avoid direct interaction with the bridge reserves. Keeping the reserves isolated from the execution environment prevents malicious entities from accessing the reserve funds.
• A dedicated proxy architecture – Router Protocol retains the option to update the contract in case of any contract vulnerability/bug.

In other developments, the Router Protocol team recently announced a governance proposal inviting the community to decide which two EVM chains to integrate next. The governance event is an important step in the direction of transitioning Router Protocol into a community-governed project.

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* This article was originally published here

Ignite launches $150M-backed crypto project accelerator program for Cosmos

Ignite (formerly Tendermint), a developer for the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, has announced the launch of the Ignite Accelerator, an initiative to support the next wave of early-stage startups in Web3.

Ignite Accelerator focuses on the multichain ecosystem, with a total of $150 million secured in alliance with 11 initial investment partners Alameda Research, Kucoin Ventures, OKX Blockdream Ventures, HashKey Capital, Chorus One, Figment, Chainlayer, Strangelove Ventures, Forbole, Everstake, and Galileo.

Blockchain Projects Fast-Tracked with Ignite Accelerator

Through a tailored fast-track program, Ignite Accelerator supports participants to design, develop, and launch their blockchain projects faster, with access to expert mentorship, exclusive networking, exceptional talent, and substantial capital streams.

Teams will benefit from specialized support and go-to-market expertise from Ignite’s in-house professionals dedicated to helping projects blossom. Moreover, the help of established investor partners assists in fueling early-stage growth, providing expertise, and scaling your network.

“The name Ignite Accelerator may be new but identifying and funding high-potential blockchain projects is already woven into our company’s DNA. We’ve been incubating and accelerating Cosmos ecosystem projects internally since 2018. Now, in collaboration with our investment partners, we’re scaling our efforts to drive innovation across the blockchain space. Drawing on our successful track record and technical expertise (no other accelerator in the industry also created the core tech stack that participants will use), Ignite Accelerator will propel the adoption of the decentralized web.”
– The Ignite Team

Currently, the Ignite Accelerator has focused its investments on three key markets based on the current portfolio distribution: technical infrastructure, DeFi, plus community & social.

Ignite CLI: Build Your Own Blockchain

Ignite Accelerator forms one of three core pillars that enables Ignite to offer a clear path to launching blockchain projects, alongside Ignite CLI and Ignite Ventures (formerly Starport and Tendermint Ventures).

Ignite CLI, rebranded from Starport, is where projects will start their blockchain development process.

Operating as an inclusive platform, Ignite CLI is a feature-packed solution for developers to easily build interoperable and sovereign blockchains.

Adaptable to any project, Ignite CLI allows for building a fully sovereign blockchain, rather than just a smart contract on someone else’s chain.

All blockchains built with Ignite CLI come with IBC functionality so projects can build their community, and connect to a growing number of interoperated chains in the Cosmos ecosystem.

More than 30 chains have already been built using Ignite CLI, including some of the most inventive projects in the Cosmos network such as Osmosis, Juno, Lum Network, and Stargaze.

Applications Open Now

• Ignite Accelerator will support up to 20 projects a year, with two cohorts annually.
• Each cohort participation will run for six months and focus on helping participating projects reach successful mainnet launch within 12 months.
• Applications to join the fast-track program are now.

To be considered for the first cohort of Ignite Accelerator participants, check out the application.

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* This article was originally published here

Cardano NFT gaming engine Revelar to integrate COTI’s Djed stablecoin

COTI, a multi-DAG (directed acyclic graph) blockchain for payments, announced today a new partnership with Revelar, Cardano’s first NFT gaming platform.

The partnership will see Revelar integrate COTI stablecoin Djed to bring a stable way to buy and sell NFT game assets on the Revelar system. Further, the Djed stablecoin will enable participation in new tokenomic models.

“Our partnership with Djed will open up massive partnerships opportunities for game developers who want a simple integration and a stable way for their players to manage in-game tokens. Play-to-earn is the new wave in gaming and player owned content has now become table stakes.”
– Jason Toevs, Founder & CEO of Revelar

Revalar’s integration with Djed is part of the platform’s larger push to bring new NFT payment options, including fiat-backed payment integrations to Cardano.

“We are happy to continue partnering with some of the top projects built on Cardano. By integrating Djed to their platform, Revlar is giving their developers and gamers more stable payment options. We look forward to watching this partnership unfold.”
– Shahaf Bar-Geffen, CEO of COTI

Presently, Revelar is in closed Alpha and will soon open up applications for their first launchpad cohort to be selected this summer.

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* This article was originally published here