Hi there, some clarifications below - please feel free to join the discussion on telegram if you'd like questions answered directly.
Did the team ever explain what was so wrong with existing solutions that pushed them to develop jNode?
Generally, the API calls provided by Infura are quite limiting. So we powered our jProducts with our own nodes.
We then needed to build node management tools as ETH nodes go down frequently. With this solution in place, we decided to offer it publicly, leveraging JNT as well.
I think Jwallet should be released any day now according to the medium post. I'm looking forward to seeing it
We're working hard towards this and will hopefully deliver as planned.
We've experienced a few bottlenecks (primarily front-end development) with all our devs working hard towards a jCash open alpha.
What is proof of solvency? in simple lay man terms? too many new terms in crypto, proof of stake/work/authority,etc..
Proof of Solvency is just a bidding / staking mechanism to facilitate the trading of traditional assets on-chain.
All banks are required to maintain a capital adequacy requirement, to ensure any liabilities are sufficiently backed.
For crypto-fiat, we use JNT in smart contracts to prove that the system is solvent against CryDR liabilities. So if there is 10 jUSD represented, we hold the equivalent value in JNT for immediate redemption (i.e. a user can send 1 jUSD and receive the equivalent in JNT and liquidate that). As long as the DAO is holding more value (in JNT) than it has committed in liabilities (CryDRs), users can trust that the system is sufficiently solvent, should all users decide to redeem their CryDRs at once.
In addition, in certain transactions, an escrow is used to facilitate the transaction.
E.g. If I want to sell a house, I may use a third party escrow agent to facilitate the transaction.So if you tokenize an asset, you need to put the equivalent value in JNT locked in a smart contract, as long as the underlying asset is still in your name. Once the asset has cleared (i.e. transferred to the new user), the JNT can be redeemed.
This is to prevent people from selling token representations of off-chain assets, and then exiting their positions off-chain.
i.e. selling the house, while the other user only holds a token, and no capital markets / real estate / other regulator has adopted a tokenized ownership system.
Hope that helps clear some things up!