December 31, 2020

Stratis InterFlux – Ethereum Interoperability

We are pleased to announce that we have now extended the blockchain support for Stratis InterFlux to include Ethereum. Opening the door to many more use-cases and enabling Stratis Technologies to leverage deployed use-cases and products on the Ethereum blockchain.

Wrapped STRAX

The initial version of Stratis InterFlux includes the ability to transact with a wrapped STRAX token on the Ethereum network.
For this to be accomplished, the corresponding STRAX is secured by the Federation MultiSig for the lifetime of the wSTRAX token.
Token lifecycle:

Conversion transaction received as a cross-chain transfer from the STRAX blockchain.
The MultiSig masternodes detect receipt of this transaction
One of the MultiSig nodes submits a token minting request transaction to the Ethereum MultiSig wallet contract and signs it
A quorum of the other MultiSig nodes sign this transaction
When the transaction is sufficiently signed the minting request is submitted to the ERC20 contract, which creates new wSTRAX tokens and allocates them to the account specified in the conversion transaction
The wSTRAX ERC20 token can be transacted with as normal by ordinary Ethereum wallets and accounts
Conversion from wSTRAX back into CRS or STRAX is accomplished by submitting a burn request to the ERC20 contract for the desired amount, specifying the target Cirrus address
The MultiSig nodes detect the burn request on the Ethereum network and release the corresponding funds from the MultiSig wallet to the target address

It should be noted that the system as described ensures that every wSTRAX token is backed by its equivalent value. In other words, there can’t be more wSTRAX in existence than the funds in the MultiSig wallet.

In the future, CRS will be convertible to wSTRAX via a conversion contract on the Cirrus network.

Proposed Architecture Overview

To allow blockchain interoperability between networks, a mechanism is required for bridging the networks. At a high level, the InterFlux architecture will consist of multiple gateways that interface with a node on both interoperating networks.

The gateways listen for interoperability requests initiated against the interop contracts on each network. For example, suppose an Ethereum node needs to invoke a Cirrus smart contract method. In that case, it sends a transaction to the Ethereum interop contract with the details of the invocation (e.g. Cirrus contract address, method name, parameters).
Once the invocation request is received, one of the masternodes actions a transaction on the opposite network. If there are any applicable return values, these are stored in the transaction receipts. The gateway then makes a further transaction on the original network to store the interoperability request results.
The Stratis InterFlux source is now available via Stratis’ GitHub page, found here. Testing will continue with existing Cirrus Sidechain Masternodes in a lead up to wSTRAX going live on the Ethereum Blockchain, two weeks from now.

December 30, 2020

Stratis Cold-Staking

Staking is essential to the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism used on the STRAX Blockchain. Blocks are verified and mined by network participants who are willing to set aside a portion of their tokens, effectively freezing them so they cannot be spent. In return, these participants are granted the right to verify transactions and earn bonuses paid in tokens. The larger the number of tokens a participant is willing to stake, the greater the chance they will be selected to mine the next block and earn the associated reward.
While tokens are being staked, they are frozen in a wallet. If the wallet is connected to the blockchain network, it is referred to as a hot wallet. Such an arrangement incurs a level of risk as the wallet is effectively exposed to the internet and therefore susceptible to attack. Conversely, if the wallet stores tokens offline (as is possible in the Stratis wallet, a hardware wallet, or even a paper wallet), it is known as a cold wallet and the staking process is referred to as “Cold Staking”. Cold Staking is inherently safer than staking in a hot wallet since tokens are not susceptible to online attacks while held in an offline wallet.
Cold-Staking has been activated on the STRAX Blockchain since its inception. However, relevant changes have now been made within the STRAX Wallet, enabling Cold-Staking configurations to be set up with relative ease.
This release includes a later release of the STRAX Wallet and an accompanying document that details the steps required to configure Cold-Staking securely while also detailing how to withdraw from your Cold-Staking setup.

STRAX Wallet Release Page

Cold-Staking Setup Guide

December 30, 2020

Stratis STO Platform and Stratis Identity 2.0

The ICO funding model became hugely popularized in 2017, raising over $10B, primarily due to a significant uptake in up and coming projects utilizing the ICO model to fund their project aspirations. Stratis was certainly no different and performed their ICO in June 2016, raising just shy of 1000 BTC enabling the development of the Stratis Platform and Technologies that are readily available today. In 2018 the ICO Funding Model trend continued, with over 2000 ICO’s concluding; however, a new term coined in 2018 was STO, a Security Token Offering. An STO defined a similar funding model to that of an ICO but was developed with regulatory body adherence in mind, to ensure compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Fast-forward two years, and it is clear that ICOs are not as prevalent as they once were in previous years. Instead, a blockchain-based funding model geared toward accommodating traditional practices has continued to evolve from the initially coined term STO. With conferences explicitly focusing on the utilization and adoption of STOs and promoting collaborative innovation, the future for STOs unquestionably looks bright. Furthermore, regulatory bodies and specific governments have now begun to make amendments to embrace and leverage technological advances achieved through the use of STOs. Such modifications to regulations make it possible for securities to become digitized, superseding the somewhat aged physical paper certificate process. The endorsement of STOs from regulatory bodies unleashes a wealth of benefits for organizations; such benefits include:

Automated Dividend Distribution (through Smart-Contract execution)
Efficient Compliance Checks (through Smart-Contract execution)
Fractional Ownership
Global Reach
Reduced Barrier for Entry

Stratis is all too aware of the benefits associated with blockchain-based crowd-funding, especially STOs and the power of digitizing non-fungible assets. Over the past months, Stratis has been quietly building an Asset Management Toolkit, geared to cater to those seeking to leverage the power of blockchain-based technology and the digitization of physical assets. Stratis has built and incorporated features necessary to gain approval from regulatory bodies in the United States through its partners’ progress with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The platform, paired with Stratis’ expertise in blockchain technologies, enables Stratis to provide a truly unique platform that delivers on the requirements set forth from both a regulatory standpoint and a user-experience point of view.
In addition to Stratis’ development of their functional STO Platform, Stratis has also packaged and delivered a claims-based Self-Sovereign-Identity solution. The Stratis STO Platform already comes with native Stratis Identity 2.0 integration, providing a genuine blockchain-based platform; removing user management requirements in an external database; everything is accomplished on-chain utilizing Stratis’ Blockchain Technology. Stratis Identity 2.0 delivers a full end-to-end solution for decentralized authentication and authorization. Of course, Stratis’ Identity 2.0 also adheres to the OAuth 2.0 and OIDC standards to ensure simplicity when integrating into third-party services for both authorization and authentication. Essentially, it is an IAM (Identity and Access Management) on the blockchain. Users can seamlessly sign in to various applications and websites using Stratis single sign-on the server without using passwords. They can also obtain and present claims about their identity enabling decentralized identity management. Personally identifiable information (PII) is not stored in third-party databases and managed only by the individual owning that information.
Stratis is always intent on providing solutions that ease digital transformation, and as a result, Stratis has officially released its STO Platform source-code on its GitHub organization. Thus, enabling anyone to leverage the platform immediately without any interaction with Stratis; however, as expected, Stratis is always available to provide support and advisory services. Stratis is the first to do this; offering a platform, free of charge, enabling both established businesses and start-ups with the ability to leverage a proven platform.
The Stratis STO Platform is immediately available with source-code being made available on their GitHub page below.
https://github.com/stratisproject/STOPlatform

December 23, 2020

Stratis and Unity Integration

Unity is a cross-platform game engine with a built-in IDE developed by Unity Technologies. It is used to develop video games for web plugins, desktop platforms, consoles and mobile devices. It is arguably, one of the most popular gaming engines currently available along with Unreal and GameMaker.
Scripts for Unity are primarily written in C#, and hence it attracted a lot of attention from the Stratis development team. Stratis envisages gaming to become one of the first real use cases for blockchain integration, making games more immersive, private and decentralized. It can blur boundaries between games and push power into the user’s hands.
Stratis platform features smart contracts which can be used in games. Using smart contracts will enable some exciting features in games that may have not been explored before or were highly centralized. One of the most common examples of it would be tokenization. Gamers are very much familiar with this concept. In-game gold tokens can now be purchased with real fiat currency. However, these tokens are highly centralized and cannot be efficiently utilized across games.
Stratis Platform has published unity specific packages that target .NETStandard 2.0 Framework allowing them to be used for various application development platforms such as Unity, Xamarin, ASP.NET etc. The packages currently available are:

More packages will be made available as required. These packages should allow developers to utilize most of the features of the Stratis Platform, including Smart Contracts in C#.
Stratis’ Unity SDK will be unveiled in the new year, incorporating full documentation and additional API’s specifically targeted at those utilizing Stratis Technologies within Unity Game development. Also, Stratis is excited to announce that their upcoming hackathon will focus on building games within Unity using the Stratis Unity SDK. Stratis has already created a gaming development focused channel within its Discord Server to ignite thought-provoking conversations to prepare for the official hackathon announcement.

Environment Setup

This section will give you a quick overview of how Stratis packages can be used for Unity game development. Most of the unity developers should not have any issues to utilise packages listed above.

Register and Install Unity IDE

If you do not have unity account, start by registering unity ID: https://id.unity.com/
Once registered download and install Unity Hub: https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download
Make sure you have Microsoft Visual Studio installed (or any other IDE of your choice for writing C# code like Rider, Visual Studio Code etc.).
Create a new Unity project. You can select a blank project or choose one of the provided templates, such as simple 2D Adventure Game or a more advanced Lego Racing 3D game as an example.

5. Navigate to Scripts section and add a new script

This should open your new C# script in an IDE of your choice, such as Visual Studio.
Now it is time to bring Stratis packages in to add some blockchain functionality to our game. Right-click on the solution in the solution explorer and select Manage NuGet Packages. This should open NuGet Package Manager.
Make sure preview packages option is ticked (currently NETStandard Stratis packages are in preview only).

Now you can code using standard Stratis Features. Once you are done with your script, you can close IDE, and the script will be available in your Unity project. If you have any errors, please follow this article to resolve NuGet package issues https://jonfoust.medium.com/using-gcp-nuget-packages-with-unity-8dbd29c42cc4.

Alternatively, packages can be imported using a Unity plugin, which is available here: https://github.com/GlitchEnzo/NuGetForUnity. It should automatically download all the required dependencies and place libraries in the correct folders.
Lets, now create some basic code such as generating private/public key combination. Ensure your newly created script is open in Visual Studio (if it is not, double click on it inside the unity project explorer).
Add new NuGet package: Stratis.Sidechains.Networks.NETStandard as per the instructions above. Once the package is installed, add the following code.
[code lang=”csharp”]
public class BlockchainService
{
private readonly Network network = Networks.Cirrus.Testnet();
public KeySet GenerateKeySet()
{
var privateKey = new Key();
var wif = privateKey.GetWif(network);
var address = privateKey.PubKey.GetAddress(network);
return new KeySet(address.ToString(), wif.ToString());
}
public string SignMessage(string message, string privateKey)
{
var sourcePrivateKey = new BitcoinSecret(privateKey, network);
var signedMessage = sourcePrivateKey.PrivateKey.SignMessage(message);
return signedMessage;
}
public bool VerifySignature(string signature, string publicKey, string originalMessage)
{
var address = (BitcoinPubKeyAddress)network.CreateBitcoinAddress(publicKey);
return address.VerifyMessage(originalMessage, signature);
}
}
[/code]
Now you have a basic service that will allow you to generate a private/public key pair, sign a message using your private key and verify a message.
You could use this to generate a wallet address for a user that can then be funded with tokens.

Running External Node

In most cases, you will need to operate a node to interact with Stratis or Cirrus network. It is improbable that developers would be running a node inside a game. It is recommended to host an external node that exposes specific API endpoints that the game would call. You could have a node that allows interaction with a specific smart contract.
Even though the game may not necessarily have a node running, you could still generate all the addresses, fund them outside the game and use offline transactions to propagate to a node.
Here is an example of the basic gaming setup, where a game can use basic blockchain functionality locally and interact with an external node via API to get more advanced functionality.

December 22, 2020

Stratis InterFlux

The presence of heterogeneous environments is all too common within all types of organisations that leverage IT infrastructure. Historically, and even now, compatibility can be achieved with the use of shims; providing a layer of compatibility through communication interception. The emergence of several successful blockchain platforms presents the same historical issues and requires a similar solution that offers and provides interoperability between mainstream blockchain platforms; enter Stratis InterFlux.
In Stratis’ previous blog post, announcing the release of Stratis InterFlux, the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) use-case was described; explaining how a Layer-2 Solution is provided. Stratis InterFlux will offer several methods for transacting between, offering varying levels of scale, throughput and privacy. This is crucial as each use-case can dictate a variety of requirements; therefore, flexibility is vital to ensure Stratis can provide an optimal solution for any viable use-case that is presented to them. More information regarding the different methods Stratis’ InterFlux provides will be publicly announced in due course.
Stratis is also very keen on bringing DeFi use-cases to reality for Bitcoin. Similarly to the integration with Ethereum and HyperLedger Fabric; Stratis InterFlux will be leveraged to establish a bond between the Cirrus Sidechain and Bitcoin. Thus enabling trustless exchanges of Bitcoin for wBTC on the Cirrus Sidechain and laying the foundation for DeFi use-cases. The introduction of a wrapped stable coin(s) will provide the needed liquidity; such as Ethereum’s USDT (Tether) which is tied to the US Dollar. Stratis is also exploring an opportunity with a UK Consortium to launch a GBP stable coin on the Cirrus Sidechain.
Over the next week, Stratis will be engaging with Stratis Masternodes. They will begin to configure and validate the communication bridge, provided by Stratis InterFlux, between the Cirrus Sidechain and Ethereum blockchain. The week commencing 28th December 2020 will see the launch of wSTRAX on an Ethereum chain, followed by two weeks of community testing.

December 4, 2020

Stratis Sidechain Masternodes FAQ

After the successful launch of the Stratis Sidechain Masternodes and the associated Dynamic Membership feature that enables anyone to join, Stratis has put together a FAQ to iron out any questions that potential new Masternode Operators may have.

What is a Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

A Stratis Sidechain Masternode performs validation and execution of Smart Contracts on Stratis’ Smart Contract Sidechain, Cirrus. Stratis is the only platform offering native C# Smart Contract execution. Stratis delivers a fully distributed and decentralized managed execution environment through its Smart Contracts in C# on the Cirrus Sidechain.

Why operate a Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

Each block on the STRAX Blockchain, 9 STRAX is reserved for Masternode Rewards, every 45 seconds. This equates to 17,280 STRAX being distributed to active Masternode Operators, every day.

Is there a collateral amount required to operate a Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

Yes, the collateral requirement is 100,000 STRAX.

Is there a fee to join?

Yes, there is a 500 CRS fee.

Is there an approval process required for Stratis Sidechain Masternode registration?

No, anyone can be a Stratis Sidechain Masternode, providing they meet the defined requirements.

Do you provide instructions detailing how to set up a Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

Yes. https://www.stratisplatform.com/2020/11/20/strax-sidechain-masternodes-dynamic-membership/

Where could I receive assistance from the Stratis team?

Support is offered via the Stratis Discord. https://discord.com/invite/9tDyfZs

Do I have to hold the collateral on my Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

No, the wallet containing the collateral can be safely and securely removed from the device or service that is hosting your Stratis Sidechain Masternode, once the registration is complete.

Do I need to maintain my Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

Yes, we advise that you regularly install Operating System security updates in a managed manner. Updates to the underlining Stratis Sidechain Masternode codebase will be communicated via Discord.

What happens if my Stratis Sidechain Masternode goes offline?

An auto-kicking feature is enabled on the Cirrus Sidechain to ensure consistent block times. If your Masternode does not produce a single block in a 48hr period, your registration will be voided. You can, of course, re-join the Cirrus Sidechain as a Masternode Operator; however, the 500 CRS fee will apply again.

Can I stake my collateral?

Yes, we would recommend the user has a good knowledge of security when staking.

Is there a lock period for running a Stratis Sidechain Masternode?

There is no locking period. You can stop running your Stratis Sidechain Masternode as you please.

Can I run my Stratis Sidechain Masternode on a macOS?

No. You can only use a Windows OS, but in the future, we do plan to offer support for macOS and Linux thanks to the native cross-platform support available through utilizing Microsoft .NET Core.

November 26, 2020

Stratis Development Roadmap

Stratis is excited to announce an updated Development Roadmap for the remainder of 2020 and heading into H1 of 2021. The below graphic highlights the upcoming developments from Stratis and their target deliverable timelines.

Ethereum Interoperability

As highlighted in our recent news item, Introducing InterFlux. Ethereum support will be introduced to Stratis InterFlux, enabling ‘wrapped’ STRAX on the Ethereum Blockchain.

STO & Digital Asset Platform

The STO & Digital Asset Platform embodies the tools required to both perform and manage either a token offering, whether that be fungible or non-fungible.

Unity Development Kit

Stratis Unity Development Kit will enable game developers to integrate Stratis Blockchain Technology, allowing games to leverage non-fungible tokens and decentralized identities to manage in-game items efficiently.

IoT Software Development Kit

The Blockchain IoT Market is projected to grow exponentially over the coming years. The Stratis IoT Development Kit will enable businesses to utilize an ultra-lightweight Stratis Blockchain Client to integrate into their existing IoT devices.

DeFi Software Library

Stratis has already begun developing Smart Contracts in C#, utilizing Stratis’s Blockchain Technology. These contracts will be the foundation of an ever-growing repository of DeFi-based Smart Contracts.

Proof-of-Stake V4

There have been many advances with Proof-of-Stake algorithms. Stratis will introduce features that further security-levels and introduce new features to benefit those securing the network.

Python Development Kit

Python is well renowned as a powerful programming language. Stratis’s introduction of a Python Development Kit will enable experienced Python Developers to interact with Stratis Blockchain Technologies with ease.

DEX Mobile Support

Stratis’s deployment of a Mobile Application, leveraging a fully decentralized exchange on the Cirrus Sidechain will facilitate the trading of SRC20 Tokens and others token standards in a genuinely trustless manner.

Mobile Wallet Token Support

The Stratis Mobile Wallet will be further developed to support tokens issued upon the Cirrus Sidechain. This development enables users to secure their tokens safely and securely on their mobile devices.

Stratis System Contracts

The enablement of Stratis System Contracts will provide a means to supersede historic off-chain logic and re-introduce such logic on-chain with the use of System Contracts. This development will bring simplification to user-driven processes providing a greater experience to those interacting with the Stratis Blockchain Technologies.

Stratis DAO

A total amount of 5,000,000 STRAX has been set aside to fund developers building solutions, utilizing Stratis Blockchain Technologies. Stratis has been clear that the funds will be distributed in a fully trustless manner based upon community voting in favour of projects to receive funds to fuel development.

Stratis Oracles

Stratis understand the need for Advanced Blockchain Solutions to leverage external and reliable data. Stratis Oracles will provide a fully distributed and decentralized service that can be leveraged by those building upon Stratis Blockchain Technologies.

November 25, 2020

Introducing InterFlux

On the 22nd of December 2020, Stratis will be releasing InterFlux, the blockchain-agnostic and open-source protocol for communication between public and private blockchain solutions. Stratis InterFlux already fully supports interoperability with IBM’s HyperLedger Fabric; however, the upcoming public release will also incorporate support for Ethereum, enabling bi-directional communication between both Stratis Blockchain Technology and the Ethereum ecosystem.

Stratis is very aware of developments that have taken place within the public-blockchain space. This has become prevalent with the exponential growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) offerings such as UniSwap, Maker and Curve. This focus has led to the further development of Stratis’ interoperability solution. Stratis InterFlux will provide interoperability between the Stratis (STRAX) Blockchain and the Ethereum blockchain, bringing xETH to Stratis Blockchain Technologies and, importantly, wSTRAX to the Ethereum Blockchain. In a nutshell, Stratis InterFlux enables a seamless exchange of the STRAX Token to an equivalent Token on the Ethereum Blockchain, a token known as wSTRAX. The wSTRAX Token will fully leverage recent developments within the DeFi domain, taking advantage of rich liquidity pools and decentralized lending protocols available through Ethereum ecosystem.

Furthermore, Stratis InterFlux serves as a Layer-2 Scaling solution for existing Ethereum deployments. Using the management of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an example, the exchange of multiple assets, and where necessary, bundling of assets presents challenges within the current Ethereum ecosystem. These fundamental challenges directly revolve around the transactional/computational cost of performing frequent transfers of tokens. Overcoming such challenges can be achieved efficiently through issuing a representative NFT using Stratis Blockchain Technologies, such as Sidechains. Thus providing genuinely predictable transactional costs whilst retaining trustlessness in a decentralized manner.

The development of an interoperability solution between Stratis Blockchain Technologies and IBM’s Blockchain Solutions, as with all Stratis’ products, was developed with extensibility in mind. Stratis InterFlux attests to that through the rapid support of another blockchain platform. Stratis is keeping a close eye on projects and ecosystems within the public-blockchain domain and is already targeting Binance Chain as an additional ecosystem to be supported by our interoperability solution.

Join Stratis’ ever-growing community to discuss the further advantages to the developments as mentioned above, and also, how the ‘wrapping’ of other blockchain tokens can offer additional benefit to Stratis Blockchain Technologies.

November 20, 2020

STRAX Sidechain Masternodes – Dynamic Membership

The STRAX Initiative introduced benefits not only to the STRAX Blockchain but also, to the Cirrus Sidechain, as defined in the Introducing STRAX blogpost. A new incentivization was introduced for Cirrus Sidechain Masternodes; achieved through the distribution of 9 STRAX, every block, to every active Masternode on the Cirrus Sidechain.
Feedback regarding the new incentivization rewards has been phenomenal, and as such, it is now time to enable the Dynamic Membership feature. The introduction of Dynamic Membership has many benefits, first and foremost, by allowing ‘anyone’ to join the Cirrus Sidechain as an acting Masternode, block production inherently becomes more distributed. In addition, the Auto-Kicking feature ensures consistent Block Times, which is essential for businesses and projects, deploying solutions on the Cirrus Sidechain.
As previously mentioned, Dynamic Membership enables anyone to join the Cirrus Sidechain as a Masternode Operator; however, to be accepted, you must meet a collateral requirement of 100,000 STRAX. This collateral requirement was defined by a community vote, performed by the Stratis Token holder community. Sidechain Masternode operators are also encouraged to stake their collateral, providing additional distributed staking weight on the STRAX Blockchain.
We have set out to make the joining process as straightforward as possible, to aid the process, a document and script have been created to assist with the setup.

STRAX Sidechain Masternode Registration Guide

It is exciting times for the Stratis Platform, with the successful launch of the STRAX Blockchain, the subsequent integration with the Cirrus Sidechain and now the enablement of Dynamic Membership. Rest assured that there is still more yet to come!
As always we encourage you to join our Discord Server to liaise with the community and receive support for any questions or concerns you may have.

November 17, 2020

STRAX Token Swap Process

As the initial Token Swap window has now come to a close, as highlighted in our original announcement, Stratis can now only be exchanged via a new Token Swap process. Two documents have been created to support STRAT Token Holders in performing the Token Swap.
A high-level summary of the process can be found below.

1. Install STRAX Wallet and generate an address
2. Run Stratis Address Ownership Tool
3. Provide the Tool with Wallet Detail and new STRAX Address
4. Upload the produced CSV

The Address Ownership Tool obtains a list of addresses, associated with your wallet and creates a unique signature. This signature is signed using your wallet, providing unequivocal proof that you are the owner of the provided address. All relevant detail is saved to a CSV file that you must upload using this page. STRAT Token addresses are then queried for their balance at the time of the snapshot, taken at 9AM on the 12th November 2020.
If you haven’t already, download the STRAX Wallet and create your new STRAX Wallet and retrieve an address. You can then review and follow the steps outlined in the below document, relevant to the wallet you have that contains Stratis Tokens.
STRAX Token Swap – Manual Token Swap (Windows)
STRAX Token Swap – Manual Token Swap (MacOS)
If you have any concerns or require some support when completing the swap, please join our Discord Server and head into the Support channel!