What is the Papers & AirGap team currently working on?
Our involvement and focus can be summarized into two categories. Firstly through open source projects dedicated to improve the security and user experience of the Tezos ecosystem. The AirGap team is working on a multi-protocol self-custody wallet solution and a strong focus on accessible security, leveraging the collected mobile security expertise while working with large financial institutions. AirGap has extensive support for Tezos through delegation, FA1.2 assets like tzBTC, Beacon integration and the upcoming FA2 assets as well as Sapling privacy-preserving features. With tezblock the goal is to make Tezos blockchain data more accessible for everyday users and with Beacon dApps can enjoy broader adoption thanks to improved, secure and modern interaction capabilities. And secondly, Papers assists companies interested in building projects for the Tezos ecosystem by providing Tezos domain knowledge and advice on security challenges.
Tell me about the Beacon Extension and SDK. How will it help developers build on Tezos?
Beacon provides users a seamless connection between Tezos dApps and their favorite wallets. No matter if they are on mobile, desktop or use a Ledger hardware device. The Beacon SDK is the implementation of the tzip-10 standard, that had a lot of input from various stakeholders in the ecosystem. It allows dApp developers to add Beacon support with only a few lines of codes and provides wallet developers the required toolset to build counterparts. A dApp supporting Beacon can interact with wallets in two ways. A direct connection over the decentralized Beacon network by establishing a wallet connection by scanning a QR code. Or through the Beacon extension which brings the same wallet connection support for Ledger and a local mnemonic.
What drew you to create tools on Tezos? Why not somewhere else?
Early on we were interested in the Proof of Stake approach proposed by Tezos and were drawn to the idea of a self-amending protocol through governance that would allow you to innovate. Shortly after mainnet launch we were fortunate to receive support from the Tezos Foundation in form of a grant. From then on out our aim is to provide our knowledge to the open source community and help grow the Tezos ecosystem by making it more accessible to developers and users alike.
What three things are you most excited to see built on Tezos?
Certainly the whole potential of the decentralized finance space with decentralized exchanges and more complex financial products. The advances that a Spaling integration can bring for privacy preserving transactions. Streamlining and simplifying the user experience with meta transactions and smart recovery features.
Anything else that you would like to share?
If you’re working on a dApp take a look at Beacon, we’re excited to see what developers come up with and are available for questions and feedback.
Additional Ecosystem Updates:
- Baking Bad released an update of Better Call Dev, its smart contract explorer, with a new layout, dark theme, public API, dashboard, and more.
- Baking Bad published an article on how to migrate from Mystique API to TzKT API.
- Madfish Solutions published a how-to guide on creating a DApp on Tezos with the Thanos Wallet.
- Nomadic Labs published the latest edition of its blog series, “Meanwhile at Nomadic Labs.”
- Stove Labs announced their “Tezos Kitchen” project where you can learn new concepts and demo apps in a workshop format.
- TezEdge released an post on how to visualize the flow of data in its Tezos node in Rust.
- Tezos Commons released the third episode of TezTalks Radio.
- Tezos Commons will host a live conversation with Mason Borda from Tokensoft on June 15th.
- Tezos India Foundation’s Om Malviya will participate in an AMA with Coin Crunch India on 14 June.
- Tezos Ukraine announced that they are hosting an online meetup with Baking Bad on June 30th.
FAQs
I’ve been emailed a notice for a class-action lawsuit for the address I provided for in the AML/KYC process for the fundraiser. Who has received a copy of the information used for the fundraiser process? Has the TF given or sold any KYC information to ANY 3rd party? If so, who?
As part of the settlement agreement with plaintiffs, the Tezos Foundation undertook to deliver the email addresses of members of the Tezos listserv and all contributors to the fundraiser in 2017 free of charge to the notice administrator, a legal services firm. The notice administrator is to use these email addresses solely to contact potential class members to inform them that they can potentially participate in the settlement and for no other purpose. The email addresses were transmitted securely and made accessible solely to the notice administrator. No information other than email addresses was shared with the notice administrator. Neither email addresses nor any other contributor information have been shared in any way with any other third party.
Any new cool partnerships/apps being built that we can know about?
Given the decentralized nature of the Tezos project, there are constantly new apps being built by different development teams based on what they want to build. For example, the camlCase team is working on a decentralized exchange and smart wallet (see our Q&A with camlCase Founder, Tyler Clark, for more information). There are many teams working on products, such as Beacon and the Magic SDK, that will help make it easier for application developers to build on Tezos. While there are already major partnerships with various Tezos teams and community members, and many more in the works, we unfortunately are not able to announce non-public partnerships at this time.
How is the process for a new president of the TF going? Is Ryan staying on until a successor is nominated or are we working on a ticking timeline to find the next prez?
Due to the changes to the Foundation’s governance structure announced in March, the position of the former president of the Foundation will be split into two different roles: an Executive Director, who is not a Council member, will lead the Foundation’s executive team and oversees the Foundation’s day to day administration, and a Chair of the Foundation Council will lead the governance and supervision matters of the Foundation.
Hubertus Thonhauser, who has been a Council member since April 2018, is the new Chairman of the Council and an interim member of the Executive Committee while we continue the process of hiring an Executive Director to oversee the day to day operations of the Foundation.
What kind of compensation package was Ryan Jesperson given when he stepped down?
Ryan Jesperson was remunerated in line with the contractual obligations by the Foundation and no special compensation package was arranged in connection with his departure.
How have Tezos Foundation board members been compensated so far?
Up until May 1st, Tezos Foundation Council members received separate compensation for their day-to-day management activities and their supervisory roles on the Council. With the governance structure of the Foundation changing to allow the Council to step back from management duties, Council members will no longer receive compensation for day-to-day management activities once this process is finalized.