Chromia Monthly Update: April 2023

Welcome to the fourth monthly update of 2023! These updates are provided to track the progress of the Testnet Expansion Phase, while also keeping you informed about all the news from around the world of Chromia.

This month’s update is being published on Monday, May 1st, with developers on the verge of releasing a testnet upgrade and a revamped staking system. Read on for information about both of these developments. We will then look ahead to some of the milestones that are up next. Check out the details below - but before you do, please take a minute to join our official Discord server, Chromia Lounge.

Feature Integration

This section shares important progress on development objectives and also gives users a heads-up about upcoming changes that may require specific action.

Staking System Update

Final tests are being conducted for the new staking system, which will be going live in the near future. Users will now be required to have tokens staked and complete the additional delegation step to earn rewards. A separate article with full details will be released. The essential information is:

APR is decreasing to 20%
An additional step (delegation) is being added to the staking process
Rewards will now be calculated in weekly epochs - to receive rewards for an epoch, you must be eligible (staked and delegated) for its entire duration
Users no longer earn rewards during the 14-day withdrawal waiting period
Outstanding rewards earned under the old system will be paid out automatically, with no transaction cost to users

Testnet Upgrade

System providers are in the process of being updated to the latest Chromia release, completing our first major Testnet upgrade. The Testnet will now support Postchain v3.9.0, which adds the following features:
Multi cluster support
Cross-chain communication via ICMF (Interchain Messaging Facility) and ICCF (Interchain Confirmation Facility)
Cluster and system-level anchoring (anchoring that takes place on the Chromia Network)
Please note that as a result of the upgrade, network data has been reset. This is expected behavior and will happen with each upgrade until the ‘final version’ preceding mainnet launch.

Upcoming Roadmap Changes

“Cross Chain Communication” will be changed from awaiting integration to done. ✅
“Cluster and System Level Anchoring” will be changed from awaiting integration to done. ✅
A new objective will be added, Native CHR tokens. Native CHR tokens will be introduced to the network after FT4 and basic tokens are integrated.
A new objective will be added, Native Billing. This is a utility that allows dapp deployers and network providers to execute and track CHR payments made to secure computational power on the network.

Progress on Current Objectives

Precise Configuration Updates (PCU) - Basic PCU is now functioning in an internal Devnet environment and works correctly under expected conditions. Several ‘edge case’ scenarios are now being tested and debugged.

H-Bridge - An earlier internal audit of the H-Bridge revealed areas for improvement. Additional security measures are being added to improve the resilience of the bridge.

Chromia Originals - Work has begun on creating technical documentation for the protocol. This documentation will eventually be passed to the Developer Experience (Devex) team for inclusion in Chromia’s technical documentation. The protocol is an extension of FT4, and therefore will be released after FT4.

Development Focus for the Next Testnet Upgrade

The incoming testnet upgrade is adding multi-cluster support, cross-chain communication, and system-level anchoring. After the release, work toward the next upgrade will begin.

Two major goals for the next upgrade will be the FT4 Protocol and Precise Configuration Updates.

Provider Network Growth

This section shares progress on the ongoing growth and development of our provider network.

Providers are now further categorized as system providers and node providers. System providers can host system chains as well as dapp chains, while node providers can only host dapp chains.
For the immediate future, the testnet will be running on 5 system providers (ChromaWay, Sunube, Dwellir, Snowbridge, and NGC)
The network also has 1 active node provider (AM Cloud Sweden) and 2 more node providers being added soon (keep an eye out for announcements!)
Participants and structure of the Provider Network are subject to change over time based on numerous factors. In previous updates we have stated the intention to expand to 7 system providers - this is planned for the future but we are proceeding with 5 at this time.

Ecosystem Development

This section shares news from new and existing projects, announcements from Chromia Innovation Lab and other incubation efforts, and highlights from our mid-month Developer Experience update.

The fourth Developer Experience Team Update was published on our blog. Providing developers with high-quality tooling and documentation is critical to building a thriving ecosystem. This month’s highlights include a new documentation section explaining how to set up a private network, an updated version of Chromia CLI, and expanded functionality of the CLI Codegen Tool.
On April 6th, we shared this spotlight about littlefish Foundation, one of the participants in our 2023 incubation program.
On April 19th, we shared this blog entry about the new possibilities Chromia will create for both crypto projects and traditional businesses. Check it out here.
On April 28th, My Neighbor Alice released a new roadmap covering the rest of 2023. More information about our collaborative developments will be shared throughout the year!

Raising Awareness

This section shares news related to Chromia marketing. Appearances at crypto conferences, articles published on third-party outlets, ongoing promotions, highlights from the previous month’s content, and more.

On April 14th, Todd Miller appeared at NFT.NYC, where he moderated a panel about Real World Asset Protocols and their growing adoption and role in the Web3 landscape. ChromaWay has announced the development of a RWATP (Real World Asset Tokenization Protocol) that will run on Chromia in the future.
On the topic of RWAs, we would like to give another shoutout to our friends over at Bloqhouse on the growing funding volume on their platform! ChromaWay made a strategic investment in Bloqhouse in April 2022, and we continue to work closely with them in the RWA sector.
Though not ‘new’ news, the advancement of ChromaWay’s Relational Blockchain Nebula to the final phase of the EU Blockchain Pre-Commercial Procurement was picked up by several third-party news outlets including Bloomberg this month. Chromia and RBN share many technical similarities, and this achievement highlights the long-term potential of relational blockchain technology.

Looking Ahead to May

Completion of the testnet upgrade in early May
The new staking system will be rolled out soon. Keep an eye out for further announcements, then make sure you are staked and delegated to continue receiving rewards!
Focused development on Precise Configuration Updates and the FT4 Token Standard
More news and updates as they become available

About Chromia
Modern society runs on data, and every online service you’re using is built upon underlying databases - ranging from your online bank to music streaming and gaming. Chromia is a relational blockchain - a combination of a relational database and a blockchain - making it easy to develop user-friendly decentralized apps for almost any industry, including DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and more.