A week with mixed results. There was also some disappointment as the market did not react positively to the events and later was pulled down even further when the crypto markets fell sharply halfway through the week. But there was also a successful activation of the network upgrade, new software releases opening additional features and supporting the use of a simple but great hardware wallet for eCash, an AMA with Amaury Sechet, some eCash focused articles and the conclusion of the 1 Million XEC for 100 days contest. Let's take a look at the week in eCash from day to day.
eCash Network Upgrade Activates Successfully
Monday November 15th started with the successful activation of the eCash network upgrade. This 6 monthly event always requires a lot of preparation and coordination as the entire network has to switch to a new software version. Although this upgrade did not include interesting new features, it did require people to switch from 0.23 versions to one of the newer 0.24 versions of the full node software as the older version will stop functioning properly. A few exchanges experienced some issues as they had overlooked some of the full nodes they needed to upgrade and as a result they had to keep their deposits and withdrawals suspended longer than other exchanges and services that reported smooth transitions with full nodes operating as expected. The Upgrade had started around noon UTC and was announced fully completed by the official eCash Twitter account around 5 PM.
One Year Has Passed
On November 15th, 2020 the Bitcoin Cash blockchain and project split in two. One side of the split would continue with the Bitcoin Cash name brand and infrastructure, the other side would continue to build the roadmap that the Bitcoin Cash project had started with, with the addition of a internal funding mechanism as a solution for ongoing funding and incentive issues that have caused many issues for Bitcoin, Bitcoin forks and Bitcoin-like blockchain projects. This side of the split was named Bitcoin Cash ABC and the ticker used was BCHA. Now 1 year or 365 days later it has overcome many of the challenges of those early days and looking over the data of that one year, it has done remarkably well. BCHA has completed a rebranding to eCash (XEC) and redenomination from 8 decimal places to 2 where 1 BCHA now equals 1 Million XEC and is well on its way to completing one of the big items on the roadmap, avalanche — for development started in 2018.
A tweet by the official eCash Twitter account marked the occasion and shared a graphic with some of the numbers. The most impressive are the 1800% price increase and the +1900 code commits as they show the large amount of work by the team and also much confidence growth amongst investors and traders, who has proved to be very cautious in November of 2020. They have clearly recognised the work and potential of the project in the summer of 2021. Despite the more recent bearish market sentiments, the number of exchanges that have decided to list the currency and the increasing number of Twitter followers are also showing that the project may be well on its way to establishing itself as a contender for a place amongst the top cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin ABC Releases 0.24.6
During and after the network upgrade eCash’s development team, Bitcoin ABC did not sit idle. While monitoring the upgrade they also worked on releasing a next version of the software which they managed to release around midnight UTC. With many of the team's developers in Europe this shows that the team is fully committed to delivering a professional product even if it means working a very long day and releasing software after hours. The release includes a checkpoint and some other features that are especially helpful for full node operators that had forgotten to upgrade in time. With this version 0.24.6 of the full node software they can fairly quickly get their full nodes back in sync with the rest of the network..
eCash For Beginners 9: Proof of Work + Proof of Stake Together at Last
On Tuesday November 16th an article by Cain sheds light on how the work done by eCash’s protocol developers will make “proof of work” and “proof of stake” work together in the eCash blockchain protocol. Both consensus systems come with their own benefits, advantages, challenges and drawbacks. In this article Cain explains and discusses them further. Another great article for those wanting to understand better what is going to happen in the near future and what will make the eCash blockchain technically interesting going forward.
Electrum ABC Wallet Software Upgrade
After releasing a new full node software version on Monday, Tuesday saw the Bitcoin ABC team releasing a new software version for the well known eCash desktop wallet Electrum ABC. Version 5.0.3 includes the addition of a coin consolidation tool which is very interesting when regularly receiving many (small) transactions, especially when received by one address. Also included is an option to encrypt watch-only wallet files, a tool to sign and broadcast transactions loaded from files and improved support of Satochip hardware wallets. The already very versatile ElectrumABC wallet is clearly becoming more and more useful and complete.
eCash: One Step Closer to Being the Best Digital Cash in the World
Also on Tuesday November 16th, an eCash press release was published by Yahoo Finance and GlobeNewsWire.com. It starts by announcing the completion of the rebranding:
“eCash (XEC) is officially celebrating the completion of its cryptocurrency rebranding, with a modern logo, ticker symbol and top exchanges to trade and invest on. This effort is a continuation of the development team's vision and core values, who were also the brains behind Bitcoin Cash's creation back in 2017. With a sincere commitment to longtime supporters and investors, they've propelled forward with a bigger and better version of their original project. eCash is an electronic currency that will redefine wealth, economic freedom and digital accessibility to people all over the world.”
The article continues and explains the vision goal and the roadmap of the ecash project.
eCash AMA in StealthEX Telegram Group
On Wednesday November 17th swap exchange StealthEX organised an AMA with eCash’s lead developer Amaury Sechet. The event started with a series of questions that had been collected on Twitter. Later the moderators of the StealthEX Telegram group opened up the session so people could ask some questions directly with Sechet coming and going while answering some of those questions.
One thing many traders often want to know more about is the marketing strategy and activities. The answer clearly shows the dedication to creating long term value rather than short term flashy illusions:
“Anyways, on the marketing front, we are focused on doing something steady more than flashy. Flashy may attract a ton of attention in the moment, but it loses it just as fast, and that's not where we are at. People who expect this to be a 100% marketing project such as SHIBA may be disappointed, but in the end, SHIBA will be long dead that we'll still be there.”
A collection of the questions and answers from the more structured part of the event can be found on the e.cash website. A more complete recap of the event was later also provided by the StealthEX team in an article on their website.
Scorecard.cash Scores eCash Exchanges and Services
On Thursday November 18 the official eCash Twitter account pointed out a new eCash focussed website. The website Scorecard.cash can help traders and users find out more about the service level they can expect at different exchanges. Looking at the data provided we see for instance that the withdrawal fee ranges from free and 5 XEC (Bitfinex and Coinex.com) to 50,000 XEC and even 100,000 XEC (LBank and Coinone) and everything in between. The website explains that for keeping data updated it will be dependent on community input: “We rely on community input to maintain these rankings. If you find something on an exchange or service that is not consistent with this information, please let us know by opening an issue on the public GitHub project.”
Day 100 of Contest Reached
Also on Thursday the contest started by Cain that has gotten many people involved with and excited about eCash reached its 100th day and with that the last daily winner. Instead of picking a final winner, organiser Cain decided to divide the last million XEC to allow everybody who posted their wallet address to him to share in the fun of the contest. With it he acknowledged all those people that have been liking and sharing and enjoying the content created by others. They are all part of what he likes to call the eCash army. Others shared their thoughts on the 100 day contest or shared videos and graphics depicting the many many contenders with so many beautiful, informative, useful and fun graphics, videos, websites and more. All agreed that the initiative by community member and eCash evangelist Cain has been a great source of inspiration, learning and joy for many.
Satochip: First Hardware Wallet for eCash (XEC)
An article by eCash NEWS Today published on November 18th, looks at the first hardware wallet that can be used for eCash without work arounds. Where users have to rely on work arounds (using the device in BCH mode), the Satochip.io chip card and reader now work seamlessly with the Electrum ABC desktop wallet. Looking at the conversation in their Telegram group it is immediately clear that the Satochip team is very welcoming and happy to work with the Electrum ABC lead developer. This is good news for users and it will likely lead to ongoing support and being able to use this wallet solution without having to worry that a future network upgrade will lead to wallets no longer working.
A simple and very affordable solution with a card that can even be customized to look any way the user wants. It can be used for different currencies and with the Black Friday Special it is even more appealing for users. The deal is available until the end of November.
CashTab Now Supports Op_Return Messages
eCash supporter and contributor Alita Yin noted on her Twitter account that a new feature had been added to the popular CashTab web wallet. On the send page a button had appeared with the word advanced. On clicking it users will now see an option to add a maximum of 150 characters as an Op_Return message to the transaction one wants to send. What this means is that the message added can be seen and read by the recipient of those coins. That is, if he or she also uses CashTab or another wallet that will decode the message because that is the other thing that is new on the CashTab wallet.
It is important to remember that this message is not only visible to the recipient, it can be seen by anyone who looks at the blockchain as such messages are publicly visible on the blockchain and are recorded permanently. So think before including your message with your transaction as those transactions (including the message) are irreversible. The days following this first discovery of the new CashTab feature users on Twitter started experimenting with it as they looked for new ways to use it.
Grand Winners eCash Content Contest Announced
Friday, a day after the last 1 million XEC was divided up amongst community members, Cain announced the winners of the grand prizes in an article he published on his blog. In it he also thanks @Sedona_Biz for donating the 50 million XEC earmarked for these grand prizes. But there is more as he revealed a further 2 million XEC was donated to him by @exa_lib which has allowed him to add a 4th name to the list of final winners.
The final winners all came from a group of 8 people who managed to win multiple daily prizes during the 100 days of the contest. Cain ends his article by thanking everyone who followed a long and made it worth all the time and energy it took to get through the 100 days. He closes of with:
“I know the #100millionXEC100days giveaway is over, but I see this as a beginning, not an ending, because I honestly believe that the eCash project is just getting started.”
Final eCash Contest / Giveaway Update
After 3 months of daily winners being announced, this week saw the conclusion of a great contest that led to countless beautiful graphics, gifs and videos showing up every time people now search for eCash. It also inspired many people to become involved, start contributing and creating value. But it also created the opportunity for many people to dive down the rabbit hole and learn more about how and why eCash could change the world. This week saw the final 5 daily winners and after that saw 4 people awarded additional prizes. So let's start to look at who won the last 5 one million XEC daily prizes.
The week started on Sunday November 14 with @Kikisinagaa3 winning 1 million XEC for showing others how to earn XEC. eCash upgrade day saw @RsRegy win for using his native language to talk about XEC. With the giveaway ending Cain expresses the hope people continue to spread the word to those around them. Tuesday November 16th @dongchung17 was awarded 1 million XEC for bombarding us with over 50 eCash related images, one of which Cain used in his latest article. Day 99 of the competition saw @XEC_believer win what turned out to be the final individually won daily prize. He was chosen for his positive energy and his understanding of the project's goals and the fact that it will take hard work to achieve them. Cain recommends everybody to be more like XEC_believer. Day 100! The final day of the competition Cain decided to not name one winner but instead award the final 1 million XEC to what he calls the eCash Army. 1000 times 1000 XEC. People are invited to reply to his tweet with an address and as long as there is still XEC left, people who follow the rules he set out will receive 1000 XEC.
With that, all 100 daily prizes of 1 million XEC were revealed. From these Cain had to select the final winners of the grand prizes. Thanks to an additional donation, an honourable mention accompanied by a 2 million XEC gift went to 3 times winner @leleng_joe for his Mobile Legends tournament. Third place with a prize of 10 million XEC was awarded to 4-time winner @fcm620 for her site MFEC.info (Made For eCash) She is also known for things like the Alpha and Breeze Telegram bots. Second place and 15 million XEC went to another 4-time winner in @Alitayin for her work on ProofofWriting.com. Other things she has contributed are XEC.cc, ecash.sh and the design work she did for the Cashtab wallet. And finally the first place with a grand prize of 25 million XEC went to the only 5-time winner @pungentaura (Ethan Quintera) and his ecashvr.com VR for eCash. He is also the developer behind the eCash dividend calculator, the paper wallet generator, the eToken tracker, not to mention the new NFT project he recently previewed. All in all, 3 very deserved winners who have been very active and contributed a lot of positive value to the entire ecosystem.
100 days of winners of daily prizes has ended but as Cain has said, things have only started so we will hopefully see a lot more over the coming weeks, months and years. And who knows, maybe someone will feel inspired and a similar or very different contest will see the light of day in the future. eCash NEWS Today hopes to hear about it when it does. For now all the credit goes to Cain and to all that have enthusiastically participated and or contributed.
Total prize money: 152 million XEC
Awarded to date: 152 million XEC
Still to be awarded: 0 XEC
This Weeks Market Action
After two weeks of price increases the trend reversed again shortly before the upgrade took place. This trend reversal was not limited to eCash (XEC) as looking at the charts shows that the declining markets started with BTC going down dragging the rest of the markets with it. As always the exact reasons for this crypto market weakness is not entirely clear. It could well be caused by non crypto economic developments like ongoing concerns about the problems with Evergrande, fears of interest rates rising, or just more overall uncertainty about the long term effects of Covid and monetary policies during the pandemic.
What we do know is that the eCash price went down lower than seen since all time high and with no news on when avalanche will be completed, when staking and other new features will be made available, traders seem to be turning to projects with better short term potential.
The week started with eCash at a price of $0.00020699 and during the week slipped down to $0.00017621 A loss of 14.87%. 24 hour volumes were steady around 145 million USD. Coingecko.com ranking dropped from #54 to around #59.
Another week in eCash has now concluded. Another week with bearish crypto sentiment and showing traders who seem to favour other coins and/or other investment opportunities. But also a week with new software upgrades released, more functionality on CashTab and Electrum ABC wallets. The team looks to be committed to continued improvement and helping build great infrastructure for this promising project.
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