2019 has been an incredible year for Energi. We only celebrated our first anniversary in April and so we’re proud of how far the project has grown in such a short space of time. And it’s all thanks to our talented, hardworking team and to you, our community.

A few highlights stand out. Going from a little-known, bootstrapped project to a Top 50 crypto on CoinMarketCap was one; being listed on exchanges like Bithumb and Kucoin was another. And while all that was going on, we’ve continued to build our ecosystem and grow the community.

2019 was without doubt a foundational year for us. So let’s dive into some of the specifics that we achieved in the past 12 months — as well as taking a look at our plans for 2020 and beyond.

Q1 2019

Q1 started with the launch of Energi 2.0. The project moved from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, fundamentally changing the way Energi works — and letting holders stake their NRG to support the network while getting rewarded for doing so.

This was part of our wider mission to empower the community and take Energi global. Proof of Stake lets us verify transactions on our blockchain in a secure, decentralized and more environmentally-friendly way. This switch from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake was a key stepping stone on Energi’s path to world adoption.

Q2 2019

In Q2, we focused on honing and improving the Energi project. The most important milestone was, of course, our first anniversary, but that was just the start. We continued to grow, despite the bear market and our engineering team began working on Gen 3.

Gen 3 was to become our focus in 2019. By bringing Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities to the Energi ecosystem, we can support new and existing ERC-20 dApps and tokens. It’s a win-win. In short, Gen 3 will become one of the foundational pillars of the Energi ecosystem and take our capabilities to the next level.

Q2 also saw the beginnings of another pillar of our ecosystem: Energi X, a zero-fee, futures exchange, that will offer a viable alternative to existing players like Bitmex and Binance. Since NRG will be the primary trading pair on Energi X, its launch should increase the demand for NRG.

Q3 2019

Q3 saw Energi make it into the Top 50 cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap and then in July we launched Energi Impact, our charity arm. Based in Bali, the project has already grown to a team of six inspirational individuals. In a short space of time, they’ve made an impact on the causes we all care about — like climate change, cleaning the ocean and helping disadvantaged children to name just a few.

In September we made the Gen 3 testnet live. This was a big achievement for us as a team. Not only because of the technical capabilities involved, but the coordination required. Every member of an ever-growing, globally-distributed team helped in making the launch a success, which is something we can all be proud of.

Q4 2019

Q4 was all about focusing on Energi’s visibility and accessibility. With this in mind, we secured listings for NRG on some major exchanges — such as Bithumb, Mercatox and CoinAll — and we executed one of the biggest airdrops the crypto space has ever seen. This involved distributing close to 2.5 million NRG to contributors and the wider community.

The Energi Team planned to launch Gen 3 in Q4; however, despite the development being complete, we decided to postpone the launch to ensure a smooth transition. This is also why we’re asking you to help us to develop Gen 3 by using the testnet and giving us your feedback. More on this at the end of the blog.

Q4 also saw us successfully catch a fraudster. Our defense department, EBI (the Energi Bureau of Investigation), identified a person of interest who had been defrauding members of the Energi community and they were reported to the appropriate authorities. This was a test for the team and another important milestone in our mission to make Energi’s ecosystem secure.

As you can see, it’s been an action-packed year. So what’s in store for 2020?

2020 and Beyond

The Team has big plans for the coming year; our first goal is to launch Gen 3, our smart contract platform.

By giving the community plenty of time to try out Gen 3 on the testnet, we are aiming to release the full, polished version by the end of February 2020 although, this is still a tentative date that may get moved to Q2 because Gen 3 will only be launched when it’s fully ready.

Gen 3 is the next step for the Energi project. By bringing together the key features of our ecosystem (like the cyber security service), and compatibility with Ethereum-based dApps, we’ll offer users a powerful proposition.

Off the back of Gen 3’s launch, we (tentatively) plan to release Energi X for public testing in the second quarter of 2020. Through the feedback we receive, we’ll be better able to work towards a full-scale launch of Energi X in the third quarter of 2020. Again, that’s a tentative date at this stage.

We are looking far beyond 2020 however, and although no timeline has been set, the Energi Mobile Wallet is also a part of our long-term strategy. The wallet will change the way users engage with the Energi ecosystem, giving the community easy access and use of their NRG.

As the treasury grows over the coming years, it’s our aim to add many more full-time contributors to our already 55+ strong team. Specifically, expanding our marketing efforts and building on our technical expertise.

If you would like to get involved with our testnet or find out more, sign up for important announcements and product developments. 👇

The last thing to say is that we remain committed to growing Energi the right way and thank you for joining us on our journey to change the future of currency.