Welcome to the first edition of the Expanse Newsletter for the new year! This publication is a bi-monthly newsletter issued on the 1st and 15th of each month to share happenings with our community. Keep in mind that breaking news can come at any time, but the Expanse Newsletter is a great overview of progress, news, and our current focus.



NEWS THAT IS HAPPENING NOW

Over the last year, the Expanse team has delivered on a variety of innovative concepts. Borderless Tech, Borderless Charity, Voting Dapps, Partnerships, and other creative ways of bringing Expanse into the realm of real-world use have been completed or demonstrated as a proof of concept. Recently, the team has also started focusing on improving the consensus layer of Expanse and some of the technology and design elements that traders and investors care about. This will help make Expanse more secure, and some of the changes will likely make Expanse more interesting to a wider audience.

Changes include staking coins for interest with a new smart contract bond system, so everyone can easily gain rewards for holding Expanse. Ideas like implementing Tendermint (dPoS) delegated proof of stake, using Validators essentially as a masternode system, are currently being worked on and tested now. Speaking of that, the Tendermint testnet is now live, and we are excited to begin testing some of these new ideas. Obviously, it will take some time to complete everything, but we are pleased to announce that the Expanse Bond System can be implemented rapidly and will not take much time to start up.

The really great news is that the main code work for the Bond system for Expanse has been completed, and it is ready for command line interface (CLI) based use once merged. We want to launch this with a new graphical user interface (GUI) that everyone can easily use so that it is accessible to everyone. That said, Dan Conway is currently building a new GUI for the Bond System, so our current plan is to release the Bond System first with a new custom GUI, then release the Validator system next. We also want to have voting on the blockchain using Expanse for any big decisions, so we will also have that implemented shortly.

A screenshot of the Bond System GUI that Dan Conway is working on

WHAT ABOUT THE DAO?

Although we are spending time focusing on some of these exciting new changes, like Tendermint dPoS and the new Bond system, everything else already spoken about and planned should also be completed in 2017. Unless there are unforeseen delays, the original Roadmap v2 timeline should still apply for the Decentralized Autonomous Organization. Nothing is being forgotten or left undone, but it also makes sense to deliver on some big improvements first that move everything along at a better pace.

WHAT ABOUT THE STATUS OF EXP.LIMITED AND EXP.PRESERVE?

At this time we plan to implement the Bond system first as this system was universal in the various proposals and can be quickly implemented, giving rewards to people holding EXP and a reason to not just keep Expanse on exchanges. It also makes the most sense to later vote on the Blockchain for these big proposals, so we will simply finish the development for Expanse voting and allow actual voting on the Expanse blockchain. Most likely this will be based on total EXP held. While this is not perfectly fair, as the whales will have the most influence, they do have the most invested and this system cannot be gamed. So people will need to hold EXP to vote – the more the better.

Here is a sample of some of the code for the new Bond system of Expanse.



TEAM EXPANSION

We are still seeking four new highly-motivated candidates to join the Expanse core contributor team. Pay will depend on experience, and bonuses will be given for securing foreign (to the USA) exchanges in their respective regions. Pay also depends on overall activity and results. It will not be paid in advance, but every two weeks. Pay will be in EXP only, not BTC.

We are seeking four International Business Development candidates who are fluent in English and Chinese for the Chinese Business Development position; English and Russian the Russian Business Development position; English and Japanese for the Japanese position; and English and Spanish for the last position.

Please join the Expanse Slack channel if you think you are up to the task. Only a part-time commitment is required, but we are seeking people looking for permanent positions who would help increase the value and awareness of Expanse to China, Russia, Japan, and various countries speaking Spanish.

ADVISORY BOARD

As we are getting closer to launching the Expanse DAO, and as upcoming changes could be decentralizing the funds or perhaps creating a revenue stream for the future of the DAO, we are now considering candidates for the Advisory Board from the Expanse community to join the project. If you are interested in joining the Advisory Board, the best way is to be active in the community and help the project along with constructive feedback and great ideas.

RECENT NEWS

12/14/2016 “Borderless Charity™ Focuses on the Meaning of the Season”

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ODbiUaJ_guKbEJ0BIpNcr-jnbjXuG6pac9VRSALrvgU/edit?usp=sharing

12/13/2016 Borderless Charity has already begun helping to make the world a better place. More than just dreams, dreams put into action. The team is thrilled, and some children will have some big smiles of joy from the delivered donations.

https://www.facebook.com/Childrens-Miracle-Network-Greenville-NC-368199294637/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

12/1/2016 Borderless Charity was declared a legal corporation at the end of last month and work has begun with helping people and spreading the word about Expanse at the same time. This is something that has been a dream for Christopher Franko for a long time, and now that dream has become a reality. The team is very excited for him and this project, and we hope it will help people around the world and make a change for the better.

http://www.borderlesscharity.org/





11/28/2016

Borderless Charity, Inc 501©(3) is official launched and legal.

A quote from Christopher Franko about the news to his friends on social media, “Man I’m so overwhelmed with joy about getting the exemption letter. I’ve been planning this charity for over 5 years and this year I’ve finally been fortunate enough to manifest this dream. It’s taken nearly a year of paperwork and endless patience but it all paid off. Borderless Charity, Inc is now a reality. I’d like to thank Scott Williams for being such a great friend over the years and for taking charge of the long registration process. I’d like to thank my wife Heather Franko for believing in me, and my mom Michele Grazier for being so supportive. I’d like to thank Marcia Danzeisen and Mylene Williams for stepping up to join the board. Together, we are going to make a real difference in the world. For everyone! Follow the Borderless Charity on Facebook!”





11/4/2016 BTCMANAGER published an article on Expanse. You can read it here:

https://btcmanager.com/news/tech/expanse-test-runs-blockchain-voting-for-us-elections/

11/2/2016 Bitcoinist published an article about Expanse. You can read it here:

http://bitcoinist.net/expanse-demo-blockchain-voting/

11/2/2016 Cointelegraph has published a new article on Expanse and fiat conversions in the EU

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ease-of-accessibility-enhances-the-value-of-altcoins

10/18/2016 Expanse.tech website replaced with new website to update overall branding.

http://www.expanse.tech/

10/15/2016 Litebit.eu has added Expanse, allowing purchase directly with Euros!

https://www.litebit.eu/en/buy/expanse

10/1/2016 Expanse is added to Coinpayments.com.

https://www.coinpayments.net/

10/1/2016 Expanse Partners with Chankura and Geopay.

http://chankura.com/

10/1/2016 Expanse announces key additions to the team, greatly enhancing marketing and adaptability.

9/27/2016 Gav Wood of Ethereum has assisted Expanse with Parity into Ethcore.

9/16/2016 An article in Le-coin-coin related to technical analysis, this is in French.

https://le-coin-coin.fr/4911-expanse-analyse-de-marche-4/

8/12/2016 Borderless website updated and improved.

http://www.borderless.tech

8/1/2016 Cryptopia added Expanse to their trusted and well known exchange.

https://twitter.com/Cryptopia_NZ/status/760100566164877312?lang=en

8/01/2016 Changelly Partnership announced, and Changelly added Expanse to the new Shapeshift competitor Instant exchange site.

https://changelly.com/exchange/BTC/EXP/1?ref_id=expanse

LIST OF CURRENT PARTNERSHIPS AND WORKING RELATIONS

Centurylink

https://www.ctl.io/blog/post/blockchain-automation-on-clc/

Microsoft Azure

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-blockchain-update-7/

Microsoft Bizspark Plus

https://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/startup/profile.aspx?startup=693057

Payu Vane Borderless Technology

http://mazacoin.org/



Changelly - The New Shapeshift Competitor

https://changelly.com/exchange/BTC/EXP/1?ref_id=expanse

Chankura and Geopay of Africa

http://chankura.com

DOWNLOAD BORDERLESS TECH ALPHA PREVIEW HERE

Current features include Marriages, Status updates, Web Of Trust, Notary, Citizenship, and many more features on the way soon!

https://github.com/borderlesstech/borderless-dapp/releases/

EXPANSE WHITEPAPER

http://www.expanse.tech/docs/whitepaper.pdf

BORDERLESS WHITEPAPER

http://www.borderless.tech/docs/BorderlessWhitepaper.pdf

RESERVE REPORT

Expanse official DAO reserve is still at 10 million and in cold storage, untouched. This will not be used at all until the DAO is implemented, and then by design, only a small amount at a time can be voted to fund various elements of development. The team reserve is at 118783 and is planned to be used to fund development until the Expanse DAO is live in the next few months.