Blog: Community Update 18/5/2022
Greetings from Hxro headquarters!
From achieving key development milestones to amplifying the Hxro mission at global industry events and beyond, Network contributors have been working like loggers deep in Bangor, Maine chopping wood for weeks on end. Chop! Chop!
As a result, we have plenty of news to share! Here are four of the biggest updates we plan to cover:
- Parimutuel protocol to mainnet
- Dexterity protocol open source
- Staking and Rewards Audit
- Inaugural Crypto Bahamas conference recap
Parimutuel Protocol now on Mainnet in Closed Alpha.
The Parimutuel protocol is a market primitive built on Solana that allows anyone to create a peer to peer marketplace on any dual-outcome event whereby positions taken on either outcome (for example “higher or lower”) are pooled together. Based on the event's outcome, all assets in the pool are then distributed to the winning (“in the money”) side on a pro-rata basis, less the transaction or pool fee. More information on Hxro’s Parimutuel protocol can be found here.
We are pleased to announce that the protocol has now been shipped to a mainnet alpha. Contributors have initiated a 5-minute BTC/USD parimutuel market as the initial mainnet test case. We previously noted that the Network has received an overwhelming response from both centralized and defi application layer operators who have expressed interest in accessing the network's parimutuel market liquidity. These use cases range from standard DEX market operators who are looking to offer alternative market-types for their users to centralized sportsbook and affiliate operators who are building customized widgets for their existing platforms which will feature Hxro Parimutuels as a value-add feature. As mitigating contract security risks is a top priority for our community, contributing engineers and whitelisted pilot operators will continue stress testing the protocol in a closed, whitelist only sandbox for the next 2 weeks. This is in addition to an initial security audit that is being performed by a 3rd party service. Once complete, the network will begin to open access to a wider set of users and operators in a more formal alpha launch.
The Network is pleased to announce that contributing engineers, along with the Foundation, have open sourced a reference implementation of the Dexterity Protocol.
Dexterity is a collection of smart contracts on the Solana blockchain providing a framework for trading any instrument with a defined payoff function (options, futures, perpetual swaps, bonds, etc.). Aptly named for its flexible framework, Dexterity enables the creation of various on-chain markets within decentralized trading applications. To take a deeper dive into the underpinnings of Dexterity, read the Dexterity Whitepaper.
Spandex Risk Engine v0
Spandex is the first on-chain, real-time complex risk engine to use a portfolio risk-based approach to managing user margin, risk and liquidations. The engine was built by a team of Hxro community engineers, all of whom have expansive backgrounds in proprietary trading at some of the most advanced firms in both traditional and decentralized finance. Contributing engineers are extremely proud of what has been built thus far and look forward to seeing it in operation very soon.
Spandex is now being tested for perpetual and expiring futures on devnet. We recently presented a demo highlighting a small set of Spandex's key features, which can be viewed here.
Spandex unlocks:
- Real user capital efficiency. Spandex allows traders to manage a portfolio of assets without getting charged margin on an isolated position basis (known as “portfolio margin”). Based on portfolio composition, this will often lead traders to have a significantly lower margin requirement as the portfolio can benefit from position offsets and instrument correlation.
- Dynamic, real-time risk calculations. Portfolio risk and margin within a user's wallet is recalculated every block (on Solana this is approximately 400ms). Incumbent clearing venues often batch process margin and risk either once or twice per day (depending on the venue).This introduces the ability for exchange participants to operate with potential margin shortfalls due to asynchronicity of margin calculations and posted collateral.
- Transparency. Spandex runs on-chain. This gives the network the ability to assess the risk of each individual wallet, as well as the network as a whole, on-chain and in real-time. This means that real-time as opposed to the once per day batch processes used by many incumbent derivatives clearing organizations.
Note: The reference implementation risk engine in the Dexterity open source repo is NOT Spandex. Spandex is only available on Hxro.
Hxro staking and reward contracts are on devnet and are currently undergoing their first security audit. Some screenshots of the MVP staking and rewards UI are below. All Hxro Network participants will be able to manage their staking and rewards wallets through hxro.finance - a new access portal that will be made available upon launch.
Hxro.finance main page v0
Hxro.finance staking page v0
Hxro.finance staking vault UI v0
Hxro.finance esHXRO farm UI v0
Hxro.finance esHXRO vesting UI
A security report will be made publicly available (along with the name of the auditor) at completion of the audit.
We will look to launch staking upon the completion of the security report (provided there are no exceptions). We expect this to be in tandem with a wider mainnet launch of the parimutuel protocol and a capped alpha launch of Hxro Derivatives. Stay tuned!
As discussed in our last community update, Hxro Network Treasury will hold an open community auction for a fixed number of esHXRO. As of now, we expect the total number of auctioned tokens to be 20,000,000 esHXRO. 100% of the auction proceeds will be allocated to HXRO/USDC Solana-based DEX AMM liquidity pools.
As a quick refresher on what esHXRO is, here is an excerpt from our last community update:
"For all rewards paid to the network participants that are denominated in HXRO token, contributors propose that all reward payments will be made in “escrowed” HXRO.
Under this proposal, escrowed HXRO (or “esHXRO”) is the mechanism by which Hxro rewards are paid to network participants. esHXRO is a claiming token that is backed 1:1 by standard HXRO. esHXRO is not transferable and cannot be traded. Participants will receive all other rewards in the denomination in which the network earns the fee, such as USDC. At launch into the foreseeable future, this would mean all rewards other than esHXRO would be received in stablecoins (USDC).
esHXRO can be used in the following ways:
- esHXRO can be staked and locked to the network in the same way standard HXRO can be staked. It will receive the same stakeweight/governance weight and multiplier benefits for the duration of locking, the same as HXRO.
or
- esHXRO can be claimed for HXRO. esHXRO will unlock and automatically convert to HXRO 1/365 per day once it is committed to the claiming contract.
It is important to note again that esHXRO is not transferable. Received rewards will be frozen in the associated SPL wallet for any purpose other than staking it to the Hxro Network or claiming it for HXRO.
It should be noted that esHXRO does not change overall token supply. No esHXRO can be created without being backed 1:1 by an existing HXRO token."
The Foundation has chosen to use the fair-launch, bonding curve style auction mechanism developed by Strata Protocol to facilitate the auction market.
We are still working through the final details of the auction with the Foundation's external advisors (Deloitte) and with community engineers to test auction mechanics (again, security and mitigating any ops risks is most important to us) and have not yet come to a conclusion on an auction date. We anticipate this will be held before the end of Q2.
The transfer from HXRO ERC20 to Native Solana HXRO SPL is still being completed. Because HXRO has an existing ERC20 token that is widely distributed, it is critical that the Foundation facilitates the migration in a way that is both secure and does not introduce unintended tax or regulatory issues. The Foundation continues to work through final steps with tax and legal advisors to ensure a smooth and compliant migration.
We hope to have a date when the migration to native SPL can begin in the coming days.
In the interim, please note that HXRO may still be moved from ERC20 to Solana via Wormhole Portal. The HXRO (Portal) contract can be viewed here.
Inaugural Crypto Bahamas Conference
Co-hosted by FTX and SALT, the leading investors and builders in the blockchain, digital assets and web3 space came together in Nassau, Bahamas for a four day event in April. In true Solana fashion, there was a Solana Hackerhouse taking place adjacent to the conference as well. TLDR: Hxro stole the show.
Hxro Network Co-Founder Dan Gunsberg (@hxrobtc) sat on two panels, first discussing Composability and CLOBs at the Solana Hackerhouse, and later joining Founders from FTX US, McDex, DYDX and QCP in a Crypto Derivatives: Opportunities and Regulation panel on the Crypto Bahamas main stage.
Dan Gunsberg (@hxrobtc) discusses Composability and CLOBs on a Solana hackerhouse panel
Dan Gunsberg (@hxrobtc) discusses Crypto Derivatives: Opportunities and Regulation on a main stage panel at Crypto Bahamas
On Demo Day at the Solana Hackerhouse, Hxro Foundation Co-Founder @robbylevy and HXRO contributor @fauxfire had a chance to highlight the Spandex v0 Risk Engine.
@robbylevy and @fauxfire highlight the SpanDex v0 Risk Engine at the Bahamas Solana Hackerhouse
Hxro was proud to be a lead sponsor at the inaugural Crypto Bahamas conference.
The Hxro Network logo was on full display during the Hxro-sponsored barbecue event at Crypto Bahamas
Forbes
We are proud to announce that Hxro was recently highlighted by Forbes as a 20 Top Innovator Building The Chicago Crypto And Web3 Ecosystem alongside FTX US, Solana, Jump Crypto, Cboe Global Markets, and more.
FTX US Chicago Office Grand Opening
Several Hxro contributors were present as FTX US celebrated the opening of its new office in Chicago’s West Loop, as well as the launch of their new cash-assistance and financial inclusion program in partnership with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and EatorgChicago.
Hxro Co-Founder Dan Gunsberg (@hxrobtc) had the opportunity to speak on a panel alongside Chicago Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development Samir Mayekar, FTX US President Brett Harrison, and Decasonic Founder and CEO Paul Hsu (also a Hxro Foundation board member). The panel discussed the explosiveness of fintech and crypto in Chicago and how we can use crypto to break down the barriers to finance in an effort to create a more equitable world.
Dan Gunsberg discusses the continued growth of crypto and fintech in Chicago alongside Samir Mayekar, Brett Harrison and Paul Hsu
Coming through the rest of this month and into June:
- Core contributors devnet alpha testing of live derivative markets (May)
- Mainnet Closed Alpha Sandbox Launch (whitelist only) of BTC, ETH and SOL perp and futures markets (May/June)
- Parimutuel Open Mainnet Alpha (Early June)
- Staking and Rewards Audit Completion and network integration (June)
- esHXRO Protocol Liquidity Auction
- App and Dapp Operator integrations begin (June)
- AthensDAO HackerhouseX - Athens, Greece - May 22-28
- CasinoBeats Summit - St. Julian’s, Malta - May 24-26
- Solana Hackerhouse - Austin, TX - June 4-9
- Betting On Sports, Europe London - June 7-9
- Consensus - Austin, TX - June 9-12
- Solana Hackerhouse - London, England - June 14-18
- Solana Hackerhouse - Barcelona, Spain - June 22-26
- DAOPlanet.NYC - New York, NY - June 24-25 (@hxrobtc participating on DEX panel)
- IGB - Amsterdam, Netherlands - July 5-8
- SBC North America - Secaucus, NJ - July 12-14
- Solana Hackerhouse - Krakow, Poland - August 3-7
- Solana Hackerhouse - Budapest, Hungary - August 10-14
- Solana Hackerhouse - Stockholm, Sweden - August 24-28
- SBC Summit - Barcelona, Spain - September 20-22
- SBC Summit Latam - Miami, FL - November 1-3
- Solana Breakpoint - Lisbon, Portugal - November 4-7
- Sigma World Europe - MFCC, Malta - November 15-19
- AIBC - MFCC, Malta - November 15-19
Please reach out to us on social media or in Discord if you are looking to meet our contributors.
