Author: Markus Hinrichs

Editor: Randall Roland

The EOS community suffered an immense loss with the sudden and unexpected passing of our beloved member, Marco González, at the end of August. Marco was not just a gifted writer; he was a true pillar of the EOS ecosystem. From the very inception of EOS, he dedicated himself tirelessly to our shared vision of a blockchain that empowers people and fosters a strong, interconnected, and global community.

Marco's absence is deeply felt throughout the ecosystem, and his contributions will forever be cherished. If you had the privilege of knowing him and wish to convey your condolences to his family or share a memory, please visit this dedicated page.

In this newsletter edition, we aim to honor our main news article writer’s legacy by resuming our regular updates. We will cover events from late August to the end of September.

There are several significant topics to cover, including the upcoming upgrade to Leap 5.0.0, EOS's regulatory approval by Japanese regulators, the conclusion of Pomelo 6, and the exciting opening of Pomelo Season 7. We'll also touch on the EOS EVM, the acquisition of Atomichub by Wombat, GameFi Updates, the EOS Audit Report #5, Wharf Kit, EOS Support's entry into the realm of BPs, EOS Respect Election #12, the expansion of EOS Synergy and more.

In Marco's memory, we forge ahead, committed to the principles and ideals that brought us together. Let’s continue to build a stronger, vibrant EOS community.

Thank you for your unwavering support.

EOS marked its Independence Day, one year after transitioning to the Antelope Leap code base, where, after negotiations between block producers, ENF, and Block.one, the community stopped the vesting of Block.one tokens, asserting its independence. Yves la Rose (Dec. 8, 2021):

Key milestones, like the independence declaration via BP vote, are now collectible NFTs called EOS Moments. They can be traded on the Atomichub.io NFT platform, attainable through community events like EOS Fireside Chat and EOS Synergy Shows.

In a recent blog article, the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) delves into the world of blockchain interoperability within web3. The focus is bridges (EOS EVM Trustless Bridge, MesonFi, Nerve Network), oracles (like Pyth Network), and the EOS EVM. Antelope IBC is a key technology, enabling trustless communication among blockchain networks. Meanwhile, EOS EVM serves as the enabler for Ethereum-based applications, expanding interoperability possibilities.

The EOS EVM Bridge makes token transactions more accessible, even from centralized exchanges. Their collaboration with OKX and Gate.io further enhances transaction efficiency, with ongoing efforts to bring more exchanges into the fold.

EOS Labs, the recently created for-profit funding entity, led by Huaqiang Wen, has received significant feedback and support. With three new team members, they are actively tracking 76 projects, with 19 shortlisted for investment. Read about the Origin, Vision, and development of EOS Labs in the summary of the Chinese Fireside Chat from August 17th.

The ENF launched Office Hours, a community engagement initiative with well-known developer Nathan James, every Thursday at 3 PM UTC. Join on the official EOS Network Discord.

EOS got approval from the government in Japan, a true hotspot for trading digital values. This exciting development made EOS available for trading on BitTrade Japan on September 13th. Yves la Rose:

This initiative cost around 7k USD, according to Zack Gall, and received quite some media coverage to this date: Coinmarketcap, Cryptosaurus, u.today, Cryptowisser, Crypto-news-flash, and Coindex reported about it.

In the recent legal development, Block.one faced criticism for a proposed $22 million settlement, representing a fraction of the $4 billion raised in its ICO sale and the $1 billion it promised to invest in the EOS Network. Those who did not opt out of the class action by the August 29 deadline may automatically become part of it, likely impairing eventual future claims against Block.one.

Yves la Rose commented on X:

For more details, visit: https://eosnetwork.com/blog/opt-out/

EOS Support created some waves last month during the fireside chat on September 13th. While presenting the recent EOS Audit Report, they announced their new block producer initiative, along with the launch of two proxies, EOS Support and EOS Respect Proxy. These proxies promise an attractive 4% APY for stakeholders, and commit to voting for block producers who ensure the fulfillment of these rewards. At the end of September, the EOS Support BP reached the remarkable 28th position in the ranking, after only a few weeks in the game. You can check the up-to-date BP ranking here.

Information about the proxies and more stats about its support service, and learning center can be found, as always, in the recent EOS Support monthly report.

EOS Synergy has just unveiled its monthly report, and in this latest update, they've expanded their shows with the addition of EOS South Asia every Monday at 3 PM UTC on Twitter Spaces in Hindi/Urdu. Hindi/Urdu collectively represents approximately 800 million speakers worldwide, making this addition all the more significant.

On August 29, EOS Respect held its 12th election, where five delegates had been elected and promised to donate their funds to affiliated projects in Pomelo Season 7. EOS Respect has enhanced its statistics and offers better insights into its accountability data. You find the updated numbers and enhanced statistics in this regularly updated article.

Pomelo Grants, the EOS crowdfunding platform, has just unveiled the results of Season 6's survey, where nearly 50 participants gave a thumbs-up to the multi-pool approach! Season 7 donations opened on September 27th and will close on September 12th. $150,000 matching funds from the ENF will be available and split into two pools: EOS Native and EOS EVM, each with $75,000.

Take advantage of the Pomelo Pitch Sessions on Twitter Spaces and consider joining the Community Request for Pomelo project analysis via EOS Audit. Check out the latest EOS Audit Report #5 for informed donation decisions. EOS Audit relies on community donations, so show some love for this valuable initiative promoting trust and accountability.

With this said, let’s dive into the latest GameFi news of the past month, starting with the most prominent game with the most active users:

Over the past month, Upland has been making waves in the metaverse with the introduction of 'Totems' and a Tokyo Thrift Trader Promotion. As an innovative “metaverse super app,” Upland has partnered with the ENF since March 2023 and recently rolled out a groundbreaking approach called 'Metaventures.’ This allows users to shape in-game economies uniquely, integrating “Legits NFTs” and fostering player-driven economies.

Upland is committed to actively engaging its community through webinars, contests, and seamless NFT integration. Their exciting partnership with Kaboom also brings real-world playground-inspired Map Assets into the Upland universe. To stay updated on Upland, follow their Twitter and visit their news site.

On September 5, PlayZap made a game-changing announcement, revealing their exciting blockchain partnership with @EOSnFoundation. With EOS EVM at the helm, PlayZap ensures low latency and high-performance WebAssembly execution, all while keeping transaction fees low.

Their mission, “Free to Play. Skill to Earn”, abstracts the blockchain complexities for users, enabling them to enjoy gaming while reaping rewards and collecting NFTs. This user-friendly approach can potentially onboard a massive gaming audience with easy sign-in options like Google, Apple, or guest access. With over 3 billion gamers worldwide, the possibilities are immense. Learn more in ENF's Blog post.

On September 17th, the ENF organized a GameFi panel on Twitter Spaces (Part 1, Part 2) featuring participants from Upland, PlayZap, and the Blockchain Game Alliance. During this event, attendees gained insights into strategies for boosting the adoption of Web3 games through user-friendly gaming ecosystems.

Wombat Secures Atomic Hub: The fears and concerns of its users are alleviated. In a recent EOS Fireside Chat, Founder and CEO Adrian Krion discussed Wombat/Spielworks' acquisition of Atomic Hub, ensuring the NFT platform's ongoing vitality and continuity.

EOS Moments Flourish: EOS Moments NFT trades surged on Atomichub. EOS Nation’s Stephane Bisson acquired all EOS moments, placing them in Raffles for Pop Tokens to benefit the community. The supply of EOS Moments will decrease over time, making them rarer.

And Farewell to Voice.com. On September 13, Voice.com, the NFT and social media platform connected to Block.one (B1) officially announced the discontinuation of its operations.

The preparations for the AntelopeIO’s Leap 5.0 release continue, and it will ‘offer significant improvements for Devs, API Providers, and Node Operators' according to the ENF. Learn more about the updates in this new release here. However, Leap 5.0 won't feature Instant Finality due to several identified problems.

While most are fixable, one particularly significant issue requires a few months to address. Once these challenges are resolved, Instant Finality will be a pivotal part of the upcoming Leap 6.0 release, anticipated around April next year.

The EOS EVM Roadmap has been unveiled, and a new release is planned for October 16. This release is expected to bring substantial technical improvements and a new suite of features aimed at advancing the ecosystem's DeFi capabilities, like fetching EVM data from the EOS-VM, calling $EOS-VM smart contracts from the EVM and EVM smart contracts from the EOS-VM. Additionally, it is planned to introduce a trustless USDT bridging feature, allowing seamless transfer from the EOS Native layer to the EOS EVM.

The highly anticipated Wharf Kit built by Greymass aims to empower developers on Antelope Chains (EOS, Wax, Telos, UX, and more) by providing essential tooling and fostering a collaborative environment within the Antelope-based chains. It is like a toolbox that offers critical tools to make the development process more efficient and less time-consuming. It is free, open-source, and consists of three modular kits (Session, Account, and Contract) that can be used separately or combined to create any number of web3 applications.

Learn more in this recent webinar (September 19) with Greymass Co-founder Aaron Cox and Brandon Lovejoy from the ENF.

The recent Roundtable meetings were centered on the forthcoming Leap 5.0 Upgrade, involving the suspension of deferred transactions, API testing, and effective communication with all relevant stakeholders in readiness for the upcoming upgrade. Below, you'll discover our concise summaries of these bi-monthly roundtable discussions:

Nathan James, ENF's Director of Developer Relations, presented an entertaining EOS Rebels tutorial on creating your own Tamagotchi using Java, AI, and Blockchain to cap off the dev news with fun. You can find all the materials you need to start in this YouTube video.

We respectfully request your ongoing support for our continuing efforts to streamline onboarding, disseminate essential information, and provide professional multilingual 24/7 support.

Your contributions are pivotal to our shared mission. You can make a meaningful impact by donating to our Pomelo Grant or by providing direct support through our EOS Account supportus.gm.