STRAKS
20th November Update
We are pleased to announce that STRAKS’ blockchain was launched just under a week ago, and
is LIVE! Delivered earlier than promised and hopefully you will agree, beyond expectations in terms of features and unique value proposition. It has been a valiant effort by the STRAKS team, and we are very excited for the road ahead. We are looking forward to sharing each success with you; the STRAKS community; the STRAKS investors; the STRAKS miners; and of course, the supporters, voyeurs and “copy pasta” folk.
Transparency and fairness are core values to STRAKS and therefore we have embedded
instamine protection until Block 10,080, which the chain will approach by Wednesday (22nd November). Please refer to github or further below for exact details.
All blocks until this height will have a ZERO subsidy. From Wednesday and ~20 years onwards, STRAKS mining will yield a constant block reward of 10 STAK with ~60 seconds intervals (block time). The instamine protection ensures that you have sufficient time to set up and direct your mining hardware to STRAKS, thereby being ready to mine the very first real block rewards this Wednesday.
STRAKS always seek to ensure that it is at the forefront of blockchain development. The latest and most popular technologies have therefore been implemented. Not only does this ensure that STRAKS is highly competitive from day 0, but most importantly that it will remain so long into the future. STRAKS is currently the most up to date masternode coin on the market. It is the first masternode enabled currency that is
based off core Bitcoin Core 0.14.2.
Not only does STRAKS already have
SegWit and
SegWit2x enabled it is also effectively introducing
SegWit4x; is
Lightning Network compatible - supporting instant payments, scalability, low cost and cross blockchain transactions. STRAKS is able to process a significantly higher daily transaction volume than its peers, safeguarding the currency against rapid future growth without adversely impacting transaction times (see the comparison chart in the Bitcointalk ANN or on the official Github repository for further details).
The currency is
Atomic Swap compatible. We think atomic swap is highly likely to become a popular and perhaps even a standardised feature in the future. STRAKS is therefore fully prepared and positioned for that eventuality, joining an exclusive list of digital currencies with atomic swap compatibility.
STRAKS hashing algorithm is
Lyra2REv2, which is only minable with CPU/GPUs. STRAKS will always support a decentralised asic resistant blockchain and will update the hashing algorithm if this one day should no longer be the case. Note, however, due to the unique combination of SegWit, treasury reward, miner reward and Masternode payments, as of this writing, mining software and pools do not yet support STRAKS' coinbasetxn configuration.
The only way to mine STRAKS, right now, is via the STRAKS' wallet. Please refer to STRAKS’ github (
https://github.com/straks/straks) and Discord if you require assistance.
Masternodes
The
masternode collateral (requirements for setting up a masternode) will be
50,000 STAK. This is a dynamic target value and is likely to change in the future, based on market price and ROI relative to its peers. This ensures that you get the best value out of your investment. The masternode requirement is therefore not final, it may decrease or increase in the future all depending on market dynamics.
Masternode payments will not be initiated until block 50,400. This is approximately four weeks from today’s date. This delayed reward mechanism seeks to provide sufficient time for swap holders and investors alike to set up nodes. As a result this also increases the likelihood of Masternode decentralization, which is something other popular peers have struggled with in the past and still are being challenged on. Rest assured knowing that decentralisation is a core priority for STRAKS.
For masternode payment rebalancing STRAKS introduces
a new algorithm Reactive Equilibria (REV1) that seeks to rebalance the payments made to miners versus masternode holders. If you would like to read the full specifications on the algorithm, please proceed to the official github repository for further details (
https://github.com/straks/straks).
We highly recommend that you take the time to read the official announcement thread on Bitcointalk (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2433318) as well as the currency and release specifications on the official STRAKS github repository (
https://github.com/straks/straks). We are currently hard at work, ensuring a state of the art website that clearly communicates STRAKS focus and value proposition to investors and partners alike, where everything STRAKS will be available.
Closing Words
We would like to thank everyone who have contributed to supporting the STRAKS team’s effort in building the foundation and future for STRAKS. We thank the community for their continued support and we look forward to realising the full potential of STRAKS, together.
Your Sincerely,
The STRAKS TeamThe Official Bitcointalk ANN Thread for STRAKS is:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2433318Weekly Update
13th November
As we are fast approaching the launch of STRAKS, we are focusing an increasing amount of time on not only ensuring that we get the economy of the currency just right, but also dedicating an increasing amount of time towards testing. Despite some minor issues found during early testing, we are currently still projected to be on schedule to launch in December, as initially planned and communicated. We will continue to run rigorous testing of the chain before it is launched, in order to ensure a smooth launch for STRAKS.
We know that you are all very eager for the release of the full coin specifications and that some of you have requested early access to the chain, so that you can prepare your mining rigs or to set up mining pools. We want to stress the importance of transparency, and therefore both the coin specifications and access to the blockchain will be given to everyone at the same time - on launch of the currency. It is therefore futile trying to contact us to release these details before. All testing before launch will be done by the development team, if any further testing by a wider audience is deemed necessary, it will be released openly to the whole community to participate in - to ensure we maintain the transparency standards we have set.
Some community members have also raised the question if there will be an instamine protection in place. This is very much the case and it was one of the first pieces of information that we released to the public. A predefined number of blocks will be mined at 0 rewards until the real block reward levels kick in. The number of blocks and the estimated time instamine will be in force, will be announced at a later stage.
Coin Specifications Summary
Some key coin specifications are already known to the public. To clarify what has been communicated and decided, some by community consensus and some by the team, a summary of earlier communicated items have been provided below for your convenience:
- As decided by community consensus, the coin-swap ratio of Signatum to STRAKS will be 4:1. For every four Signatum coins you swap you receive one STRAKS coin in return. All Signatum coins that we receive will be burned. The burn address will be available on the block explorer in a fixed location so everyone can follow its progress in a transparent manner, as we promised.
- Monetary Max supply: 150 million.
- Starting Supply: 34,375,000 post swap + 20% added as incentives in equity share to the team (6,875,000 team equity share). This brings the total supply at launch to 41,250,000. The team equity share equals 4.58% of the total 150 max million supply. The equity share will still be paid on a monthly/quarterly basis. The payments will be handled by Cryptovore and Squbs in an open transparent manner. The public will at all times have full overview of payments executed.
- PoW & Masternordes (MN requirements will be released on launch).
- Algorithm: Lyra2REv2.
- Block Time: 60 seconds.
- Instamine protection: Yes.
- Treasury Fund: 5% PoW fee to go towards business development, product development and ongoing operational expenses.
Coins that remain unswapped of the initial dedicated swap supply: 60% will be dedicated towards the treasury fund and 40% will be used for air-drops (with minor requirements to increase exposure and awareness). - Segwit.
- Atomic Swap.
- Bloom.
Swap Highlight
We understand that at times communication pieces may be lost between all the updates and we have noticed that some are still not aware of when the swap will take place nor how. Therefore we would like to re-emphasise that the swap-process is not fully automatic. You will need to execute the swap using the swap bot currently in development. The swap will take place on our official Discord channel. You will have a 30 day window in which you can swap your coins in.
The FULL swap process will be communicated on the 29th November.
Wallets
To ensure that the vast majority of miners and investors will be able to store their coins safely locally, Windows and Linux wallets will be available upon launch.
Donations & The First Exchange
The outstanding BTC donations stand at 0.2375 BTC. We have decided that the best application for the donations are to pay for the listing fees for an exchange. After careful consideration and evaluation, we have decided on the exchange YoBit. YoBit has the 17th largest trading volume on the market (source: Coinmarketcap) and currently it has the most competitive rates on the market. Their listing fees are considerably lower than that of their competitors. At the time of writing they charge just 0.2 BTC for coins to be listed. As we deem it to be a significant risk that this rate may change in the near future, judging by the current trend across the best performing exchange sites, we aim to have STRAKS listed as soon as possible after launch.
Your Sincerely,
The STRAKS Foundation TeamWeekly Update
6th November
Dear Community Members,
As promised, we are giving you another weekly update so that you may receive insight into the key business and product developments over the last week. These will always be delivered to you on Mondays, unless otherwise communicated beforehand. This is the second of such updates.
We also want to briefly take this opportunity to re-emphasise that this is a new digital currency and that it shares no technical association to Signatum other than its superficial placeholder name and proposed “proof-of-burn” style swap mechanics. This is simply a free coin-swap to a new and much better currency, where you are invited to swap your Signatum coins towards. Under no circumstance are you forced to do so. It is simply a gesture we have decided to extend to the Signatum community in the light of the recent emotional turbulence that Signatum investors have experienced. The whole team was in agreement that this was a better alternative to simply starting a new currency.
The blockchain development is progressing as expected. Thorough testing of the coin has commenced and more is expected in the near future, as the final details are completed. Masternodes and mining are both reported through rigorous testing to be fully working as expected, in the weeks to come, it will be undergoing more testing to ensure that the core features are working as expected upon launch.
Apart from what has already been communicated, the full coin specifications will be made available to the public once the currency is launching in December.
The New Brand Identity
As a team, we decided that the best way forward to select the name for the digital currency, was to give the community the opportunity to not only raise name suggestions but also to vote and ultimately decide on the most suitable name. True to our word, we initiated a call for naming suggestions on Wednesday the 1st November. The community thereafter had two days to submit their suggestions on the independent signatum.news portal and a further two days to vote on the names suggested by the community members.
We received far more name suggestions than anticipated. It was so overwhelming that not all naming suggestions made the final cut for the poll.
The total number of votes cast was 2618, far exceeding our expectations. This is a clear display of just how engaged and great the community is.
From the poll-data, the name
STRAKS came out a clear winner, gathering 120 votes more than the second-place finisher, Quorom.
We therefore proudly announce today, that the new name chosen by the community is STRAKS, denominated in units of STAK (ticker).
STRAKS is a highly unique and original name. It is catchy, easy to spell and stands out from the crowd. The name is a Danish word that has never been used in any cryptocurrency context before. It means quick/immediate - referring to the focus that we have on ensuring that transactions are as fast as can be, to be the most efficient cryptocurrency for e-commerce utility on the market. As with any real-world currency, it is also easy to say in any real-world context when addressing the cost of an item.
Today we are also announcing the new brand identity of
STRAKS, which is yet another community sourced contribution. When STRAKS first started to become the front-runner in the poll, the community quickly began to contribute with their logo suggestions for the name. The community members
Lifipp (
https://i.imgur.com/mKS4bb5.png) and
Anduflee (
https://i.imgur.com/74RGVht.png) both gave solid suggestions for the new brand identity of STRAKS. After a lengthy internal discussion, Anduflee’s suggestion was eventually chosen as the winning bid. We can therefore proudly announce today, all thanks to a great community, the new brand identity of
STRAKS:
In the name of transparency, which is one of our core values, you may find the full results from the naming poll here:
http://signatum.news/logpoll/We thank you all for participating in submitting names and logos, as well as voting for them. We are truly honoured by the great response that we received during this process. We also would like to thank Bruno for hosting the naming poll on his website http://signatum.news/, while we are working on establishing our portal for the upcoming currency. The Coin Swap Community Poll
The coin swap poll was initiated on October the 30th and concluded on Saturday the 4th November. From the poll-data it is evident that the community is in great favour of the 4:1 swap, which includes burning the Signatum coins that will be received during the swap process. Across Bitcointalk and Discord 319 community members passed their vote.
An overwhelming 85.27% of voters were in favour of the 4:1 swap and burning the coins in the process, while just 14.73% preferred the 20:1 option that would have allowed them to keep their Signatum coins after the swap. As the community has spoken and decided on the matter, we will initiate a 4:1 coin swap and burn all Signatum coins that we receive in the process. We personally also believe this to be the best option, as it ensures that fewer people may be affected by the Signatum situation going forward. Nobody should profit at the expense of others, simply because they may not have the full overview of the situation when purchasing.
Find below the raw poll data on the coin swap:
- 85.27% (272) were in favour of the 4:1 coin swap, burning all Signatum coins swapped in the process.
- 14.73% (47) were in favour of the 20:1 coin swap, allowing them to keep their Signature coins.
- Total votes: 319
Update on the Coin Swap Process
Kasper and Ekam are currently working on full speed to finalise the development of the bot that will be used for the coin swap process in December.
Users will use the bot on Discord, to initiate and conclude their coin-swap.
The specifics of how to perform the coin-swap will be communicated on November 29th. We will make sure that everyone are notified across all channels, so that nobody may miss out on the coin-swap opportunity.
Once the swap-process is initiated,
Signatum coin-holders will have a 30 day window, whereby they can swap their coins from Signatum to STRAKS at the 4:1 ratio.
The exact burn-mechanics of Signatum coins will be communicated in the next weekly update (Monday 13th November).
Bitcointalk ANN Designs
The design for the new ANN thread is almost complete. There are only some minor branding tweaks that need to be done before it is ready for the go-live date. This of course means that the current Signatum 2.0 thread will be closed and a new thread announcing
STRAKS will be opened shortly.
The new Bitcointalk ANN design aims to communicate the key value of
STRAKS, ensuring that any newcomers can get a quick overview of the currency and the value it provides, while being able to get into deeper detail on the official website.
Website Update
The full website specifications have now been completed and an estimated 80% of all content have already been created for the new website. All specifications and content have been handed over to the web design company, who has been kind enough to offer their assistance and expertise completely free of charge. We expect to have the design ready in circa two weeks, after which the frontend and backend development will commence. We are projected to be on time for the launch of the currency, providing of course that we do not run into any unforeseen obstacles in the meantime.
The website is structured such that it appeals not only to investors but also just as importantly, to potential business partners. We believe that e-commerce businesses in particular will benefit greatly from incorporating the currency as a payment solution to their product/service. At no cost to the e-commerce businesses, it gives them the opportunity to expand their reach, increase their brand awareness and perhaps even better, result in more customers and therefore better sales figures. Among other things, the planned roadmap item “Data dashboard” will help facilitate the clear communication of the benefits of integrating STRAKS as a payment solution. Potential business partners will be able to instantaneously get an overview of the increasing utilisation of the currency, as well as the number of individuals who are using the currency over time (an approximation based on the number of addresses created) - which clearly communicates their potential reach in the payment integration.
Although this will not be ready on launch,
the new website will eventually be translated into 11 languages, where English is often a barrier. This ensures that communities and support world-wide can be created, and lowers the communication barrier there may be towards not only investors but also potential business partners. We aim for this currency in the long-term be used as widely as possible. It is therefore paramount that the value and utility of STRAKS can be easily communicated and understood worldwide.
Thank you for reading.
Yours Sincerely,
The STRAKS Foundation TeamName the Coin and be Rewarded
Signatum 2.0 is now ready to be named! Signatum 2.0 was always considered a placeholder name, to try an easily convey our support for the Signatum community. We are now ready to brand the coin and we want you to be involved in that decision making process. Our esteemed community member and contributor
@Bruno will be hosting the submission template on his website:
http://signatum.news/. When the time comes for the voting on the name suggestions in two days time, the voting will be available both on Bruno's website and on Discord. Please follow the previous link and let's kick start the naming process.
We accept both submissions that are names as well as names with logos.
There are 2 bounties for the name that ends up being chosen (coins will be payed on the new blockchain):
- 2,500 coins if your name is chosen (without logo) and
- 5,000 coins if your name is chosen and you suggested a logo that is to be used too
We look forward to receiving and reviewing your submissions.
Weekly Update
30th October
We hope that you have now had sufficient time to digest the most recent announcement on
https://signatum.org/ and that you have raised any relevant questions and feedback that you may have had within the forums and Discord. We always encourage you to take part in the discussions on our official Discord channel and leave feedback in #suggestions. We appreciate that many questions may not receive a timely response, but currently the team’s focus, is on establishing the new chain and defining internal/external processes in order to ensure a smooth transition.
We are aware that there are still key unanswered questions regarding the new digital currency set to launch in December, that you as a Signatum-holder are invited to freely swap your Signatum holdings for. On the latter, we would like to further reinforce the sentiment of the core team that for all current Signatum holders, the swap is simply an option and not mandatory. We will seek to further clarify and provide answers to many questions in the following weeks via these updates, as promised.
Signatum’s Block-explorer re-launchedThe blockchain explorer forms part of the Phase 1 commitments detailed in the roadmap. Previous Signatum explorers were plagued with uptime issues and have since been taken down by the previous developers. Whilst the support timeline for Signatum v1 is limited, we are committed to ensuring that the community has a useable blockchain explorer until the new blockchain is released.
The initial release of the blockchain explorer has been kept minimal to maximise speed and provide a framework for future development. The community is encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions through the #suggestions channel located in the Signatum 2.0 discord. We would like to thank Eikcam for his work on this explorer, and with your support it is expected that the blockchain explorer will continue to expand with features the community deem necessary.
https://explorer.signatum.network/You are also able to access the explorer using enhanced privacy via the following i2p address:
http://explorer.signatum.i2pMarketplace UpdateEstablishing a marketplace platform is still a key target for the team, which we are keen to dedicate resources towards. We believe it has a well defined position in its competitive landscape, provided it is done in the right way and marketed effectively. We do commit to delivering the marketplace, but we have seen it necessary to reprioritise its place on the roadmap. This is to free up resources to prepare and develop the new blockchain. We have a tight deadline for the new coin launch and we want to make sure we do our utmost to deliver this on time. The marketplace is therefore now estimated to be delivered in the first half of 2018, with key dates yet to be determined.
The Donation-RefundThe donation-refund scheme has commenced for those that recently donated towards the exchange listing fees. The full process of how you can claim your refund (if you donated), is detailed on official Discord channel (
https://discord.gg/Z3sztp) in #donation-refund. Any refunds that remain unclaimed by the time the new coin launches in December, will be transferred to Bitcoin and dedicated towards future marketing and advertising expenses.
The Coin-Swap ProcessThe initial plan was to do a coin-swap and burn all Signatum V1 coins in exchange for new coins on the new blockchain. We still firmly believe that this is the most ethical solution, so that nobody will end up buying useless Signatum V1 coins after the new chain has launched, simply because they were unaware of developments related Signatum, of recent. We do appreciate that you are keen to benefit financially from selling these coins, but it is not something that we believe is ethically correct, given that the Signatum V1 blockchain is effectively dead once we migrate, as the founders have left and there is nobody left to maintain the blockchain nor develop on it any further. We do not believe it is conscionable that some benefit at the expense of others when such significant information asymmetries exist.
Having said that, we have discussed this within the team and have decided to give the community two options to choose from. You can vote on the two options today onwards through the Bitcointalk ANN thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2303471.0. The poll will be open until the upcoming weekend (Saturday, 4th November), after which it will be closed and the result published in the next weekly update. The option that receives the most votes, will be the one applied.
The two options are:- You get ONE coin on the new blockchain for every FOUR Signatum V1 coins you swap to the new blockchain. All Signatum V1 coins received during the swap, will be burned.
- You get ONE coin on the new blockchain for every TWENTY Signatum V1 coins you swap to the new blockchain. You will then get to keep your Signatum V1 coins in the process too and are free to trade them afterwards. Hence no coins will be burned.
Regardless of which option the community selects, do note that this is a free offer given to you on a completely new blockchain. You are in no circumstance obliged to take this offer, and likewise
we have chosen to make this offer to existing Signatum V1 holders, and do not
“owe” this to anyone, so please refrain from espousing entitlement nonsense. Note, that as part of the swap process, the OLD coins will
need to be transferred to a new OLD chain address, in order to minimise fraudulent claims. If Option 2 is selected the OLD coins will then be transferred back to your given account address, and depending on the option chosen, the aforementioned ratio of NEW coins will be issued to your new wallet address for the new chain.
Updated Coin Specifications for the new Digital Currency
The work on the new coin is progressing steadily. Some issues are currently being ironed out before we start testing the new blockchain. Rigorous testing will ensure that many features are working as expected when the new blockchain is officially launched.
Brand NameDiscussions with the exchange sites Nova and Yobit has not proven to be as successful as we had hoped. As it stands, it does not look likely that we will be able to keep the Signatum name as originally planned.
We are currently discussing potential brand names and will communicate further details to you when we have established the way forward.
The Treasury FundThe treasury fund fee has been revised. Initially the Treasury Fund was based on an 8% premine above the starting coin swap-supply. After careful consideration, analysis and meetings in the team, we felt it was necessary to change this to a long-term sustainable model. The new model has been applied to be better positioned to cover the product development, business development and operational costs that there are in running a successful digital currency. We intend to ensure that the new currency is competitive and successful. To be able to do deliver on that vision, we need to ensure that the currency is well-funded throughout its lifecycle. We have therefore settled on a 5% fee in perpetuity on PoW.
Monetary SupplyThe coin supply will fall in the region of approximately 150 million coins, to be generated over the next 20 years. This ensures that miners and masternode holders are properly incentivised and rewarded long-term. This helps not only to spread awareness and interest in the currency, but it also helps to secure the network.
Coins Required for a MasternodeWe fully appreciate that you would like to know the number of coins required to form a Masternode, before the coin-swap is initiated in December, so that you can make an informed decision on whether you would like to support this currency or not. We are currently undergoing some final discussions based on calculations, competitor benchmark, research and analysis we have conducted. The full details on the Masternode requirements will be released in the coming weeks.
The PoW AlgorithmThe new PoW is being built on the Lyra2REv2 hashing algorithm. This algorithm was chosen as it has been peer-reviewed and is currently one of the most up to date implementations on the market, whilst being reasonably power efficient, comparatively. Moreover, most miners and market participants are already knowledgeable about how to mine and calculate profitability for the algorithm, thus significantly reducing barriers to entry. Various algorithms have been considered, but we believe the trade-offs are marginal.
Instamine ProtectionGiven Signatum’s high exposure level and in order to ensure that everyone has a fair start, instamine protection will be imposed. The number of blocks and the block reward for this are still being evaluated. Once the details have been decided upon, this will be communicated to you through the weekly updates.
Do not forget to join the official channel on Discord (
https://discord.gg/Z3sztp), and give your feedback in the #suggestions channel.
Kind Regards,
The Foundation Team
Poll
