Hello Secret Agents! Here’s your latest briefing on what has been happening in the Secret ecosystem recently 🤫
Product launches. DeFi privacy. The future of AI. Data marketplaces. New Secret Solutions. The birth of new Secret Network global communities from France to Russia. The launch of the Holodeck testnet. An on-chain governance proposal passed. A community-made roadmap of Secret Network since its inception in February. A new committee. A new decentralization report. Podcasts with Brittany Kaiser and Josh Cincinnati. And a special livestream reveal of the UI for the Secret Network bridge to Ethereum – launching on mainnet December 14th!
Secret Network
And so much more.
Our push to bring privacy to public blockchains is just heating up. See what’s been done – and how you can get involved!
In case you missed it, read last month’s ecosystem update which covered the launch of Secret Tokens live on mainnet – an important step towards unlocking the full potential of DeFi and programmable privacy.
Secret Network
Product and Technical Updates
In November, we introduced a new collaboration between Ocean Protocol and Secret Network that will provide trustless and convenient access control for Ocean datatokens as well as decentralized private compute via Secret Network!
Secret Network
In addition to this, Secret Network has committed to supporting the Ocean Protocol’s Data Economy Challenge by both sponsoring prizes and participating as judges. We can’t wait to see what gets built!
Meanwhile, the new Holodeck testnet invites developers to dream, imagine and build the next generation of smart contracts, aka “secret contracts,” and Secret Apps on Secret Network. Chain of Secrets has helped lead this important initiative to support future development on Secret Network!
Laura Weindorf
Secret Auctions
Follow this detailed walkthrough by one of our dev committee leaders, Baedrik, who explains the ins and outs of a unique bidding mechanism that introduces new opportunities for all kinds of content creators, on and off the grid. Linked here is the GitHub repository.
Secret Network
Secret Tokens
Secret Tokens are now live on mainnet! In less than sixty seconds, you can start minting and sending your own privacy-preserving Secret Tokens on Secret Network. Brendan (Whisper Node) put together a simple tutorial explaining how:
Brendan Kittredge
Secret Streams…?
Itzik (Cashmaney), VP of Engineering at EnigmaMPC, has started streaming some of his coding sessions on Twitch. One example of this was a recent surprise stream showcasing the UI for the Secret Ethereum Bridge (currently on testnet, coming to mainnet December 14th) providing programmable privacy for ETH and ERC-20 assets. Be sure to give him a follow and stay tuned for more Secrets!
DataHub – Secret Network Integration
Figment.io is officially adding Secret to its suite of DataHub APIs. The project proposal can be read here. It was passed on-chain on November 17th, with a 6 month window where Figment will implement Secret Network’s DataHub with 6 months of free Gateway Access & Transaction Search services.
Ultimately, the DataHub is important because developers will be able to sign up, and read & write on Secret without having to worry about either maintaining blockchain infrastructure or doing custom integrations. Figment will provide reliable access to the Tendermint RPC and the Secret REST API, as well as provide the gateway to submit on-chain transactions. Both the latest mainnet and the latest testnet will be supported, and an archive node option will be available to users.
The code will be open-sourced and documented, and the APIs will be hosted in DataHub. Figment will create deployment scripts so that developers can run the API as well.
Behind the Chain Panel
Behind the Chain 2020 continued with Tor Bair from Secret Foundation moderating a Decentralization, Security and Privacy panel that featured Alex Gluchowski from Matter Labs, Bruce Pon from Ocean, and Dean Tribble from Agoric. In their discussion, the panelists talked about where the relationship between decentralization and privacy currently stands, how Web3 might address surveillance capitalism, the benefits of both private-by-default and public-by-default applications, and much more.
To what extent is complete anonymity the goal? How does anonymity differ from privacy, and in what ways can security affect both features of decentralization? Listen to their high-energy conversation to learn this and more!
Puzzle Updates
In November, the Puzzle team worked to update the Secret Network chain digest as well as analytics for Secret Contracts that are hosted on the network.
These analytics will be key for better understanding network traffic as well as contract interactions.
Another important initiative of Puzzle is the introduction of the Puzzle Committee:
“At Puzzle, we focus on blockchain analytics & coalition building. Our primary mission is to enable users to truly understand what is happening on blockchain networks in a comprehensive and easy to understand manner. Our secondary mission is the empowerment of members within the Puzzle Committee to have a meaningful impact on the direction of development for Puzzle. We intend to achieve this by opening up some of our internal processes to the public through The Puzzle Committee and experimenting with ways to best integrate public ideas into our development cycle.”
Secret LLC
SCRT.Network Website: Phase 2 In-Progress
Our open-source Secret Network website continues to evolve! The Community page now features a number of important Secret Agents who are willing to host their pictures on the website. The privacy community is vast, attracting unique and passionate individuals from all over the world.
There is no more consequential way to get involved with Secret Network than to become a Secret Agent and join a community committee. Committees are made up of experts and enthusiasts working together to build our network and ecosystem by executing Secret Missions!
In addition to Secret Agents, the Ecosystem tab of the website is being populated with many of the core contributors, validators, and organizations that help the Secret Network ecosystem be what it is today – and what it will be tomorrow!
In addition, press, visual media, and podcasts now have their own distinct home on the website.
The Website Committee (Discord link) is always looking for community members willing to give feedback on the website. Recent Website Committee Meetings have focused on cleaning up parts of the website, streamlining user experience, and building out the required visual elements to make the Secret Network Website an aesthetically beautiful experience. Join us weekly!
Updates on Decentralization from Secure Secrets
The monthly ecosystem report by Secure Secrets tracks the progress of network decentralization using a snapshot once a month of quantitative data hosted by Puzzle. Here’s the latest!
Carter Woetzel
In November, there were 49 active validators on the Secret Network, a 23% increase from the previous month. Total number of addresses delegating increased to 1460, an excellent increase from October. November has also seen a drastic increase in total bonded SCRT to 53.553%, an increase of 5.72% from October, which outgrew the bonded rate jump from September to October by almost a full percentage.
Community Engagement – Citadel.One
With an amazing amount of progress and engagement, in November Citadel.One launched a weekly Secret Network metrics report and a full staking guide. They also helped organize the first ever meet-up for the Secret Network Russian community, as well as organizing a French Secret Network community Telegram.
Here’s a bonus highlight of a Russian community member talking about Secret Network and privacy!
Community Unveiled: Meeting the Secret Validators
Two new episodes launched in November featuring Secret Network validators Citadel One and Chain of Secrets. If you want to learn more about the validators, their background, values, and what draws them to the Secret Network, then this is the series for you!
Secure Secrets
A website relaunch and a rewards calculator are in the works for mainnet validator Secure Secrets. Stay tuned for more news!
Committee Updates
Committees are part of the critical infrastructure of Secret Network governance. Any community member can become a “Secret Agent” and begin contributing to committees. November saw the creation of the new Analytics Committee which is focused on visualizing and gathering valuable information about and for the network. If you are passionate about privacy and want to contribute, joining a committee is an extremely effective way to get involved.
If you’re interested in becoming a Secret Agent and joining any of the committees listed below, please fill out this form!
- Development Committee (charter)
- Education Committee (forum post)
- Awareness Committee (forum post)
- Website Committee (forum post)
- Analytics Committee (forum post)
- Design Committee
- Governance Committee
In November, the Development Committee saw an influx of activity surrounding Secret Contract development. The Education Committee has an exciting potential collaboration with Ocean and other projects on the near horizon, as well as a focus on generating visual content. The Infrastructure Committee has continued to help onboard new validators as the Secret Network approaches its current cap of 50 validators in the active set. The Awareness Committee has been focused on a possible implementation of a KavaTipBot, a new mailer, promoting community content, KOL outreach, and new SNACs (Secret Network Awareness Campaigns). Analytics has helped bring key information surrounding SEO, Telegram, Discord, Twitter, Reddit, and website engagement. The Design Committee is pushing the boundaries for Secret’s visual brand, culminating in the first Secret Brand Book. Governance discussion was largely focused on the Figment DataHub proposal, decentralization, and the upcoming development of IBC.
Sharing Secrets
During November, Tor Bair of the Secret Foundation hosted Brittany Kaiser, former Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, as well as Josh Cincinnati, formerly of the Zcash Foundation.
How is our data being misused – and what are the consequences? What was it like for Brittany Kaiser to share her secrets for the acclaimed Netflix documentary “The Great Hack”? How can technologists and regulators work together to create better laws, educate the public, and fuel innovation that protects users and their data? Are blockchains really a privacy solution? Can blockchains help solve the challenging problem of securing elections and voting? And finally, how will the Own Your Data Foundation contribute to a more prosperous and secure digital future?
What secrets did Josh Cincinnati learn trying to bring privacy to the cryptocurrency space? Why is privacy education and communication so challenging? What are the biggest threats to privacy and our greatest opportunities to solve them? And what relationship is there between protecting privacy and decentralization? Do they go hand in hand – or are they at odds?
Community Content – Visuals
With the help of the Education Committee there has been an increased focus on visual content produced for the Secret Network. Templates and pre-made images are archived for future use. Awesome community contributors such as the infamous Secret Taz have helped drive home the narrative of how Secret Network has progressed with awesome infographics such as the ones below:
Other community creations include the cultivation of a Secret List on Twitter. Be sure to follow in order to be up to date with all of the Secret Agent contributors!
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1301903543813787649
What now?
What a summary! There’s almost too much progress to document. But as exciting as November was, December promises to bring even more growth to the Secret ecosystem as our first bridge (Ethereum) finally goes live on mainnet! This will also introduce bridge mining – a way for holders of ETH and ERC-20s to stake on our bridge and earn SCRT!
What other announcements and collaborations lie in store? You’ll have to wait and see what secrets December brings…
Onwards and upwards!
To discuss Secret Network and Secret Apps, visit our community channels:
