Arweave Ecosystem Weekly Report #82 & #83: The ‘Extended’ Edition
Again, we are experiencing an anomaly (and indirectly you), this weekly being extended over two weeks. Does it make it a bi-weekly? A bi-monthly? I don't know, let's just call it "the extended edition" and get over with it because a lot has happened during these two weeks, and I recommend you start reading the news because it will take some time.
I. Arweave Network
The network works as expected—end of transmission. You don't have to believe us, you can just check for yourself at /arweave. In fact, making a habit of checking Arweave stats, or any other network's stats you are interested in, from time to time will be beneficial.
Today we want to talk about a particular practice that isn't captured by viewblock's stats, but we know that it exists, it was used in the past, and it will probably see a renascence when the "right" circumstances will occur: sacrifice mining on Arweave - when miners are paying to write their own transactions on Arweave but are not seeding with the network the data associated with these transactions. The intended result is a potential increase in profitability for the miner that does it. The net result is an increase in the endowment (you can imagine the endowment as the protocol vault that as of now keeps over 85% of any fee paid for Arweave storage, and then it will programmatically release these sums over the foreseeable feature - a way to feed the offer for a long gone demand).
We're very glad that DMac released this thread because there is little written about this issue, and the opinions are all around the place, ranging from - it's a bad, selfish practice, to - it's neutral from a network standpoint or to what DMac seems to claim - it can be interpreted as good for the network.
Usually, here I would have presented some links to each of the above-mentioned opinions. Unfortunately, the link rot is real. If you access this link, you can see it with your own eyes: /arweave-an-experiment-in-permanent-storage/. One of the best articles I read about Arweave, written by somebody from outside the ecosystem, that hadn't the natural bias you'll find in an "arweaver" is lost forever. I don't remember the author's exact stance, but he was on the side questioning the benefits of sacrifice mining.
On the other side, you have our article written back when the phenomenon first occurred, which is arguably pretty on par with DMac's approach. You can check it out here.
Now, we won't spoil your read of DMac's thread or our article by repeating what's already written. Instead, we'll let you ponder on this: isn't it cool when a protocol has the power to transform a selfish conduct into a beneficial output for the network?
II. Arweave Ecosystem
A new era of NFTs is upon us
Were you looking for the latest NFT drop on Polygon or Ethereum in search of your next impulse purchase? Those days are gone, as this week marked the beta release of Rareweave, a new NFT marketplace built on Arweave! Now you can easily satisfy that digital art itch and never leave the Arweave ecosystem. Whether you want to mint a new collection, sell your existing NFTs or go on all-out shopping spree, Rareweave supports it all. The project is still in beta, so the team is actively working to improve the user experience and release new features, but even in this phase, it’s already a pretty great place for all you NFT lovers out there. Head on over to Rareweave to check out the latest drops and get your next precious NFTs!
Bundlr is improving your Web3 experience
A new week, a new SDK update from your favourite Arweave bundling service! Bundlr has announced an update to their SDK, improving the user experience by reducing the number of wallet pop-ups and interactions for EVM chains. To achieve this, the team has made some under-the-hood improvements, with some calls no longer requiring wallet interactions. They also integrated the EIP-712 standard, which helps dApps clearly display to users what they are signing. So for all dApp developers out there, be sure to update to the latest Bundlr SDK and make your users' life a bit more pleasant. And if you’re interested to learn more about Bundlr and what they’re working on, be sure to check out our latest Arweave’s Voice Episode on Permacast. We had the pleasure of hosting Josh (aka the bundloooord), Bundlr’s founder and CEO, for an engaging conversation about Arweave and its future.
Another SDK is going Warp speed ahead
As we’ve come to expect from the Warp Contracts team, they’re in constant ship mode, which means this week, they also released an update to the Warp SDK! This new version brings additional features to their Warp Key-Value Storage technology with additional options to update and query your data in order to seamlessly integrate it into your next dApp. In addition to that, their SmartWeave extensions plugin is now also accessible to Rust contracts, further enabling Rust developers to easily build on Arweave. And, of course, there are all other kinds of under-the-hood improvements that developers will surely appreciate, so make sure to check out the full announcement and better yet, experiment with the new version of SDK!
Beware! The Kuneiform has been released…
Even though the name might sound ancient, the Kuneiform is Kwil’s latest release! And it’s meant to help you harness the power of their cutting-edge decentralised database technology, not to read deprecated land deeds of long-extinct civilisations.
The team has been hard at work over the past few months, and looking at the contents of this release, it has definitely paid off. There are so many new things we don’t even know where to start. First, the team released a new custom syntax language named, you guessed it, Kuneiform! The new language will allow users to perform complex data manipulation operations using Kwil’s DB. Second, there’s a whole new browser-based integrated developer environment (IDE) that allows you to easily design and deploy your next Kwil database. It seems that the team has modeled it after Ethereum’s Remix IDE so if you’re familiar with that, you’ll be up and running in minutes. And last, the team released a whole set of integration tools, including a new Python SDK, an updated JavaScript/TypeScript API and a more powerful CLI. All in all, this release contains a host of new features that will supercharge the Kwil platform and make it even easier for developers to build dApps using Kwil.
Head on over to Kwil’s announcement to learn more about Kuneiform and check out the documentation to get started with the new release today. And if you happen to be at Consensus next week, make sure to join Permapalooza, the event hosted by Kwil and ar.io, to learn more about Kuneiform directly from the team!
There’s a new investor in town!
This week, we also got the official announcement about Arweave SCP Ventures, the new venture arm of the everVision team! Even though the team has been operating for almost a year now and making investments in some great projects, such as ReadOn and Mind Network, this week marks their official launch. The team is focused on investing in great emerging Web3 projects, with a focus on those leveraging Arweave and SCP to build off-chain dApps. In their words, the team believes that “by decoupling storage and computation, Arweave unlocks a new era of open applications via a productive and persistent storage-based consensus paradigm (SCP) at its base layer, leading to a truly decentralised and open web where users have complete control over their data and can access it anywhere, anytime”.
The team has multiple grants and investment levels available, so if you have an idea or are already building an SCP-powered dApp be sure to reach out to them and find out how they can help you grow your project!
ArDrive is going hiiiiggggh…
High in free data uploads, that is! It seems that for the celebration of the #holidaze, the team at ArDrive has decided to up the limit of free uploads on their platform from 100KB to an astounding 420KB. But, the offer was only available for 69 hours… I get the feeling that we might be missing some hidden context here, but we can’t help but enjoy the increased free upload limits.
Have you heard about the Hub?
We’ve heard it’s the place to be! Or rather, the Arweave Hub is the place where you can find the latest and greatest events happening in the Arweave ecosystem, so you’ll always know which is the place to be. Even more important, you’ll get to know the Humans of Arweave, the wonderful people that put in the sweat and tears to grow and develop our ecosystem.
The Only Arweave team has done a great job at centralising all the best information from across the permaweb so you can easily find all the best live events and meetups. Additionally, in the “Listen” section of the Hub you can also find out about the latest shows and podcasts so you’re always informed about the recent developments across the Arweave ecosystem. Congrats to the Only Arweave team for this great initiative and make sure to bookmark the Arweave Hub so you’ll always be up to date with the most interesting events happening around you!
Capsl8: Because Your Memes Deserve Immortality!
Forget the Library of Alexandria, Capsl8 is here to ensure the digital realm doesn't suffer the same fate! With 16 thousand books already preserved for under $10, who needs those pesky physical libraries anyway? Capsl8 is a new project that launched this week and is a collaborative data archiver that's all about preserving that precious internet history. It's like a digital Noah's Ark, but instead of animals, we're saving memes, blogs, and your bizarre search history. Don't worry, it's for the greater good.
All you need to do is form a community and decide what you want to preserve for posterity. The scrapers will scour the web to find the treasures you deem worthy (because who wouldn't want to remember 2023's hottest memes forever?). All the data will be on-chain and searchable, so future generations can be just as confused about our internet habits as we are now.
Of course, Capsl8 stores everything on Arweave, which means censorship or content loss are a thing of the past. So, whether you're an info-hoarder, a cultural preservationist, or just someone who can't bear to part with their ancient Myspace entries, the team has got you covered. Contribute to the cause by creating communities, exploring the permaweb, and sharing your discoveries on social media. Or, you know, put your money where your mouth is and add funds to existing or new collections. We'll try not to judge how much you value that 2009 blog post about your cat…
Coming back to a more serious tone, Capsl8 is a great tool for archiving our past and present, and we should all check it out and get involved to make sure the things that matter to us will be archived forever.
SPECs: The People's Permaweb Specifications
Struggling to build on the permaweb? Can’t find the right specification document for what you’re trying to implement? Stress no more, folks! SPECs is here to save the day with its open-source, community-driven specs and best practices for permaweb builders. Collaboration is the name of the game, and with SPECs, anyone can contribute, improve, and innovate. Think Stack Overflow, but for permaweb development!
But wait, there's more! SPECs integrates with STAMPs, allowing you to STAMP your favourite spec versions. The more STAMPs, the higher they rise, just like cream in the coffee, only more useful… Vouched users can create and "REMIX" specs, which is basically like DJ-ing for documents – update an existing spec and watch it go viral! (or not, but hey, at least you tried). To join the party, visit https://specs.g8way.io
Some Quick SPECs-tacular Facts:
SPECs uses a markdown format with Front Matter (that's YAML, not your mom's favourite novel) for metadata.
Want to improve a spec? Just "remix" it and share with the community to gather STAMPs of approval.
Creating a new spec? Hit "Create SPEC" and let the magic happen.
Remember, you need to be "Vouched" to create or recommend changes: https://vouch-dao.g8way.io
Promote your spec by connecting with the community on Discord or your social network of choice.
ALPHA-3. A New Era for Facts
Hold onto your keyboards, folks! Permafacts ALPHA-3 is live and is about to rock your desktop browser! It works better on the desktop for now, but the devs are already brewing up a better mobile experience. Check out the shiny new site at https://facts.g8way.io or . But be warned - there might be a few pesky bugs lurking around, so keep an eye out and let the team know if you spot any.
And that’s not all! The team has been hard at work, and they've also shipped Facts Kit v1.0.1 this week. With this new release, they've introduced updates to the Query Kit, which makes accessing Facts, Rebuttals, and Positions a breeze. Want to create your own feed of facts? Just pass a topic to the getFeed function, and you're off to the races! Not only that, but there’s a new Render Kit, albeit still in its infancy, and of course, the updated Facts SDK. For more details, check out the docs at https://js_facts.g8way.io, and be sure to make your assertion on the latest version of Permafacts as soon as possible. Happy exploring, and may the Facts be with you!
Introducing Momoka: The Sassy Scaling Solution for Lens and the Future of Decentralised Social Network
Lens Protocol, the decentralised social network that enables users to own their content, data, and digital identities, has just released its very own Optimistic L3 scaling solution, Momoka. This game-changing innovation will have your favourite Web3 social apps scaling faster than you can say "centralisation who?" And yes, you might have heard something about a Lens Bonsai this week, but that’s just the old name… The team has already rebranded, as it seems there might have been some pesky copyright issues with the initial name.
Momoka is designed to support the next generation of Web3 social users, processing transactions at hyper-scale while using data availability layers to keep information off-chain (think of it as a "slimming" regime for blockchain bloat). Unlike its L2 counterparts, Momoka doesn't squeeze transactions into an L1 - instead, it sends and stores them on a data availability layer.
Collaborating with the best of the best - Bundlr, and leveraging Arweave, Momoka is already beta-tested on apps like Lenster, Lenstube, and Orb. With over 5,400 Lens transactions already finalised since launch at a jaw-dropping total cost of $4.40, it's a web3 bargain bonanza!
And, because we all need a little help tracking those transactions, they've built the Momoka Explorer to keep an eye on those speedy transactions zooming through the blockchain sphere.
AI is Warp-ing into Smart Contracts!
Say goodbye to your dusty crystal ball that you used to predict the price of Bitcoin, because today we're diving into a galaxy where Machine Learning and smart contracts collide! Warp Contracts has released a new tutorial to help you create a smart contract with a neural network that can predict the price of Bitcoin! (Disclaimer: They don't guarantee overnight riches or meme-level fame, but hey, it's still cool, right?)
By merging smart contracts with AI libraries, the Warp Contract’s team is tackling the age-old issues of authenticity and trust assumptions in the digital realm. Thanks to Arweave, they’re not only going to be harnessing the power of AI but also ensuring that it's transparent and verifiable, bringing us one step closer to the “Ultimate Chain-of-Truth”.
But hey, don't just take the team’s word for it! Try out the neural network tutorial, share your thoughts, and maybe you'll end up being the genius to build the next world-changing, trust-minimised ML model using Warp.
A Match Made in Data Heaven - KYVE & Cosmos Hub
This we, the first KYVE data pool was released on Kaon, the network’s official testnet, and it's teaming up with none other than Cosmos Hub! Aiming to provide truly trustless Cosmos Hub data to builders, validators, and anyone who fancies a dive into the ecosystem, this is one giant leap for data-kind!
Now, let's nerd out on the details for a minute there. This data pool archives and validates Cosmos Hub blockchain data using Bundlr, the instant finality layer for Arweave. This means that the best comparison for transaction speeds from KYVE to Arweave are spaceships that have been sent into hyperspace!
So, what’s the big deal with this data pool? Well, for one, all the classic KYVE use cases can now be applied to Cosmos Hub’s data: analysis, ecosystem building, and more. Plus, the team has come up with KSYNC, an exciting new use case that allows Cosmos validators to sync with the Cosmos Hub and join its network more easily. It's like a first-class ticket to the Cosmos party, courtesy of KYVE!
And that’s not the only news we got from the team this week! Somehow, it seems they also found the time to work with Keplr Wallet and natively integrate KYVE! This means that KYVE users will have a better experience when using Keplr and will also be able to get further insights about the network thanks to Keplr’s dashboard.
So what comes next for the network? That’s easy, testing the Cosmos Hub data pool on the testnet before boldly going where no data pool has gone before - the mainnet! Stay tuned for updates, and make sure to dip your toes in this new data pool!
4EVERLAND is Rocking Arweave and zkSync!
This week the team at 4EVERLAND announced they are live on the zkSync Era mainnet, bringing the magic of Web3 computing to another protocol! With storage, computing, and networking as its superpowers, 4EVERLAND aims to be the backbone of countless Web3 applications. Say goodbye to the old Web2 cloud providers because it's time to level up your online experience! And now that they've teamed up with zkSync and are available on the Era mainnet, users can easily register their identities on Era and use Era assets to purchase storage on Arweave. Talk about an upgrade!
In between releases, the team also found time to continue their “Why Arweave?” Twitter Spaces series with episode three, “Rock in Arweave”. We had the pleasure of being their co-host again, so we might be a bit biased, but we think it turned out to be a very informative Space that you should definitely check out! The team invited some great projects such as Permacast, Rareweave, WeaveDB and Permapages.
We covered why Arweave is a “sexy” ecosystem and got the teams' perspectives on why builders should choose Arweave as their permanent, decentralised storage layer. The discussion took a turn towards the hottest topic at the moment, AI, and how the permaweb could be leveraged to build the next generation of open and transparent neural networks. Afterwards, we debated censorship on Arweave and how the network should empower its users to choose the content they’d like to interact with instead of anyone implementing any kind of censorship.
Don’t worry if you missed the space, 4EVERLAND was kind enough to press the record button, so you can relisten to it as many times as you want. So, what are you waiting for? Dive into the world of 4EVERLAND and embrace the Web3 revolution!
An Icy Milestone to go with Glacier Network’s new partnership
The Glacier Network testnet just turned one month old this week, and it's been chillin' like a villain! With a 100x growth in on-chain transactions, we're witnessing a true avalanche of activity and the team has some stats in their announcement to leave you frostbitten!
If you didn't already know, the Glacier Network and Arweave go together like ice and snow! As a testament to that, Glacier also announced its brand new partnership with PermaDAO this week. Their partnership will boost Glacier's development, with PermaDAO's grant and investment program providing support for expansion and R&D.
As a modular, dynamic, and scalable NoSQL database for large-scale decentralised apps, Glacier's got its sights set on a frosty Web3 future. So, bundle up and prepare for a sub-zero Web3 database revolution by heading to Glacier’s website and participating in their testnet!
III. Things you won’t encounter on Arweave
This week we have a beautiful example. It's not about the usual hypothetical situation that won't happen if Arweave would have been involved. It's a crystal clear illustration of how Arweave already counters censorship: the author of the initial tweet greeted @hakernoon by not censoring his article after @Medium deleted it. Given the recent integration with Arweave made by @hackernoon, the author can be truly at ease. Even if in the future @hackernoon will consider limiting access to this article on their user interface, the article will be forever available and retrievable on Arweave's gateways.
As the public space continues to become more and more fractured between different world views, resistance against arbitrary censorship will become a default requirement for any content platform that values its users, and Arweave is one of the few technologies that can assure it.
IV. Arweave explained by Goethe – thanks to ChatGPT
Take this as a hint. For what? It remains to be seen.
Arweave, an eternal garden of wisdom, weaves our knowledge into an unyielding tapestry. Free from time's ravages, the blossoms of thought never wither, and humanity's spirit, unrestrained, forever reaches for the stars.
Like the interwoven strands of the Fates, who spin, measure, and cut the threads of human life, Arweave creates an unbreakable web that binds the collective memories of our species, ensuring that the fruits of our intellect and the echoes of our experiences can be passed down to future generations, inspiring them to scale even greater heights of achievement.
V. ICYMI
Arweave's Bundlr Is Not Open-source (yet), Its CEO Explains Why
Darkblock's Bold Idea - Allowing Third Parties to Attach Content to Any NFT
Gitcoin’s Grantees Turnover $50M Grant, Add $28B To The Market In Three Years
Focus On Building Technology Not The Price Of A Token - Tate Berenbaum
Sarcophagus DAO Gains Momentum - Testnet Extension, Milestones, and Expansion
