As we move forward into the year it is important to understand which technologies, communities and blockchain(s) will separate themselves from the rest, pushing through noise of constant ventures entering the crypto-sphere. Instead of a “one chain rule” however we believe the future will instead be the formation of a global backend — a 4th generation blockchain mesh consisting of every chain, technology and service created thus far. A united network of different tech from different chains fully communicating as one entity executing synchronously. A future where one powers software to run their vehicle, buys groceries, or signs contracts instantly using different chains will be amongst us, constantly evolving to fit users needs on the fly. This conversion will be completely unbeknownst to end users as swaps will be done case by case on the backend, not seen, realized, or even chosen by the user.

How do we get there?

A requirement and first step towards a chain participating in this cross chain “meta network” will be the ability to autonomously swap fluidly back and forth between assets in a trustless instant manner. Transforming our chain first into a multi-currency wallet being able to hold, send and receive balances will provide a solid foundation, allowing smooth transitions into cross chain capabilities — the most obvious starting point of functionality there after is enabling onto our chain what is called a decentralized exchange (or DEX).

Decentralized Exchange

The power and implications of a decentralized exchange are often overlooked. The ability to morph assets instantly from one chain to another in a trustless manner gives massive power to the individuals of a given system as well as the system itself. Think of how difficult it is to convert assets in our current financial model, let alone done peer to peer — nearly impossible. To this point exchanges have been swapping assets tailored specifically for accredited institutions to oversee by central authorities — they have been financial vehicles and not much more. Due to utility traits of tokens, and the fact that ownership is never “conceded” the entire definition of an “exchange” changes. When a user executes an exchange for example it will empower him instantly with all features and functions that come with the resulting swap. When sleeping, working, cooking, driving etc there will be certain chains that enhance different human experiences. A given individuals net worth will constantly be evolving form to accommodate it’s owner in the most efficient way possible. XSN sees the future of wealth in a new light — as alive, intimately involved enhancing our lives in real-time in a way that has never before been realized. We understand there will be different utility needed in different situations and rather than compete with new tech we will engineer ourselves to integrate new chains easily into our system.

In 1991 James Cameron directed and released a film about an artificial intelligence that became self aware and fought against humanity. The infamous antagonist “T-1000” would download data and morph into objects it came across and observed — the movie was a hit partly because it was quite conceivable to be reality amongst critics and technologists alike. There is no reason networks shouldn’t be able to have this same ability — to fluidly download and replicate any and all peer networks which it connects. We are seeing the beginnings of this meta-connection now with emerging off chain technologies (lightning, raiden etc). Combined with the use of second layers we will also be able to run nodes while providing full functionality, liquidity, and communications between all. Cross chain nodes are coming and XSN will be first in line to lead this newly disruptive technology.

Detailed below are a few key upgrades XSN-Core is working on to achieve our goals. Join our discord to stay up to date or track our roadmap in realtime here

1. XSN Multi Currency Wallet

Allowing our network to hold databases and run full nodes of multiple chains we will be able to securely send, receive, and confirm transactions on separate chains from our own. 3rd party chains will be held on our second layer which will communicate with first layer nodes allowing our users to hold multiple wallets in one place and also benefit from features and perks given by these 3rd party chains all achieved by connecting to 1 chain (our XSN network)

2. MN Watchtowers

As of now the underlying technology powering swaps would require what are called “watchtowers” — entities that need to be relied on, holding multi chains, watching and punishing any bad actors involved in cross chain communications. Watchtowers are an important job and a backbone of this cross chain ecosystem — our XSN masternode network is aiming to be amongst the first decentralized watchtower network providing services not just for our own chain but others could plug into our network and securely, and safely rely on it — allowing groundwork for trustless cross chain swaps and trustless cross chain communication to occur as well.

3. MN Lightning channels

There will be requirements for XSN masternodes to have light channels open totaling a minimum of X amount of XSN per IP. As we expect ~2000 masternodes to be online this will give our network a robust backbone to provide instant, private transactions to occur and liquidity on our lightning network.

4. DEX update (DHT)

Our masternodes will hold decentralized hashing tables or DHT’s which will be the precursor in allowing our network to be also used as a DEX, holding and executing buy/ sell orders as a service. All required tech can be done in house on the XSN chain while accepting XSN as a fee powering these services.

5. Autonomous swaps executed by MN quorums

Once Zeus is in place we will begin programming our second layer to trustlessly handle cross chain light swaps utilizing MN quorums. As of now a human or merchant is needed to convert your TPoS stakes into a new currency, with Merlin this will be autonomously done by the network with no human needed. By integrating TPoS staking into our MN network users will trustlessly stake and autonomously swap rewards to new chains and deposit them into our XSN multi currency wallet.

6. On Chain Scaling Solutions (Sharding)

XSN is actively researching scaling solutions, in particular how to incorporate sharding to raise tx throughput. As we believe there will be sufficient throughput allowed by the off chain lightning network to accomplish many of our goals, we are not overlooking the benefits that on chain scaling/ DAPPS will provide. We plan on implementing on chain scaling Q4 2019

7. Privacy

Utilizing Lightning Network and I2p protocols we will be able to give our users the option when converting wealth to do so publicly or privately in real time. These can also be combined with emerging tech such as bulletproofs and zkSNARKs

8. Auto Updates

Due to the rapid rate of technological advancement soft/ hard forks are a natural part of any emerging network. We will incorporate an optional auto update system for our users that allow core team to update nodes automatically. This way our investors can passively run nodes without having to constantly concern themselves with mandatory upgrades during initial periods of rapid network development.

9. Cold Exchanging from hardware devices

As cold staking XSN from the Ledger devices is underway, the next step will be executing cold storage exchanging. Allowing users to execute trades and convert assets with complete security provided by hardware wallets.