Ethos Update: An Open Letter to the Community

With the release of Ethos 1.5 and the Ethos Universal Wallet coming up on its “half-year birthday,” it is incredible to reflect on all the progress that Ethos has made over the last 6-months. In this article, I wanted to answer the community’s questions about what the future holds for Ethos and what is coming next.

With the release of Ethos 1.5 and the Ethos Universal Wallet coming up on its “half-year birthday,” it is incredible to reflect on all the progress that Ethos has made over the last 6-months. In this article, I wanted to answer the community’s questions about what the future holds for Ethos and what is coming next.

With the release of Ethos 1.5 and the Ethos Universal Wallet coming up on its “half-year birthday,” it is incredible to reflect on all the progress that Ethos has made over the last 6-months. In this article, I wanted to answer the community’s questions about what the future holds for Ethos and what is coming next.

Let’s start with the stats. The Ethos Universal Wallet has grown rapidly to over 100,000 users, and has processed many times that many transactions. The wallet now has 143 transactable coins and support for multiple blockchain types and tokens.

Over 100k wallets have been created – more than one per user! We built an automated airdrop tool that processed airdrops for nearly 60,000 users across half a dozen coins without any impact to the base-level network. We’ve processed thousands of customer support tickets 100% within SLA with a 97% approval over the last month. We continue to strive for the most outstanding customer service in crypto.

In addition, we have just released Universal Wallet version 1.5, which is our biggest update ever – more than twice as many merges/bug fixes as any other release we’ve had thus far. In update 1.5, we have built ETHOS token utility directly into Bedrock through Ethos Status.

In short, Ethos Status gives users varying status levels depending on the number of tokens they hold. With Ethos’s account structure, it also allows that “status” to be shared among multiple applications – allowing partners to build token utility directly into their applications. As a start, in the wallet, Ethos tokens give users elevated review visibility, review weight and a status badge. As the second phase of the fiat gateway is built, Ethos Status will be integrated into the user experience and benefits.

Furthermore, Bedrock has been delivered nearly a year ahead of schedule. While it was initially slated for mid-2019, Bedrock was unveiled in August 2018 as a fully functioning platform that is up and running at scale today, powering the Universal Wallet.

Bedrock is an API layer that enables Ethos and other financial institutions to seamlessly interact with multiple blockchains, to power a wide variety of crypto-based applications, including custody, wallets, merchant payment services and more. For example, one of our APIs, xAlert, can notify users of transaction changes to their wallets in real-time and is the API behind Ethos Status! Bedrock opens Ethos to exciting new partnerships, and gives us the ability to expand our institutional-grade services.

With the announcement of Bedrock, Ethos also announced an exciting partnership with Voyager to deliver best-execution trading and broker services to Universal Wallet users. As part of this relationship, Voyager will be building on Bedrock and Ethos Status will be integrated into the experience. We are excited for the upcoming integration of our technologies, as we are working closely to revolutionize how people invest and transact with crypto.

Let’s be real, the poor cryptocurrency market conditions have been extreme, as we have been braving what I’ve called the Crypto Nuclear Winter. And while the sell-off has been challenging for token holders and the wider-crypto community and industry alike, I think it’s important to focus on why in the long-run it’s extremely beneficial for crypto and for Ethos.

The rapid growth of crypto attracted a lot of people in the industry, with big hopes and dreams, but lacking the know-how and the practical knowledge, capital and compliance to fulfill and pursue those dreams. The bear market has served as a cleansing mechanism for those less than integrous companies, or simply those lacking the knowledge to execute their vision while still raising significant capital.

This bear market has also been a gift to established and quality crypto companies, giving us ample time to build our technology and develop the regulatory-friendly infrastructure for true mass adoption of crypto assets. This time has been precious, and our development, executive and marketing team has used it to put our heads down and build the launch pad of a financial revolution.

In my meetings across the globe, it’s been very apparent that some of the greatest talent from traditional finance sectors have moved into the crypto market to use their knowledge of the previous financial systems, to support the development of this one. It’s this infrastructure and its maturity, which will take time to evolve and grow.

As Ethos reflects on the past and looks towards the future, we’ve accomplished a lot, but still have a lot to build. We’ve completed the Universal Wallet and Bedrock which are two of the foundational pieces of technology for the fiat gateway and crypto-payments.

Ethos is here to stay, and I wanted to write our community directly to reassure you on our bright road to mass adoption ahead. Our focus to come will be on the future of the fiat gateway, enhancing the token support on Universal Wallet and Bedrock and developing additional blockchain architectures for applications at scale.

And of course, building a financial future which is open, safe and fair for everyone.

Sincerely,

Shingo & the Ethos Team