https://cryptofresh.com/api/docs

Stay tuned to this thread for notifications about API updates and potentially breaking changes.
Also feel free to use it for questions or requests!

I've spent a lot of time on the block explorer (https://cryptofresh.com/) since the launch of 2.0. It brings me great joy to be able to unearth some of the inner workings of Graphene and to share them with the community. Especially with the governance features, I considered it critically important to have a public frontend for voting & committee data, and that's what I built. It was low priority for the wallet, and an ideal task for the block explorer. I am particularly proud of the voting report page -- it's far from perfect but I would love to work more on this report (and others) and it's a good example of how I can transform rich yet ugly data into something beautiful. And this was just the start..

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My goal for the block explorer is to provide maximum utility to the BitShares community as a whole. This is to be accomplished by (1) providing useful reports (especially governance), visualizations, and data aggregation; (2) forming a social hub and information source; and (3) serving as an educational portal while also highlighting our unique selling points.

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Block Explorer

Graphene serves an endless supply of data and it's worth it to expose as much of it as possible. As more apps are built on the chain, I plan to expand the site to work with the new data streams. The block explorer serves as a prominent face of BitShares and the pages must be adjusted for wider audiences as our network grows. It will always offer things the wallets can't.. the features from many apps & wallets can be unified as one searchable portal.

Upcoming Features

• Better assets list - add volume, price data, sorting. it should look a lot like CMC.
• Improved asset markets - been waiting for updated APIs, which were just released!
• Unified search - quickly look up any user, asset, transaction, or block
• More graphs & reports - balances claimed, usage stats, fee income, etc
• Proposals index - all past/upcoming proposed transactions (committee and otherwise)
• Translations - to be a true hub, we need to support more languages

API Development

I've received many requests from developers for various APIs, though I haven't had time to add them all or document any. There's a big void in this space and the block explorer is perfectly poised to fill it. The API is another aspect I've held back on because it's not profitable. Yet developer-friendly API's would be a big step forward in lowering the barrier of entry to BitShares.

Graphene is a very powerful database but its minimal approach means concession of indexes and its initial API methods are a bit limiting. This block explorer uses multiple approaches to extract all the useful data efficiently and allow for queries against it. Providing public access to this data has value but running a documented endpoint comes with responsibility. So ultimately this will need to be an open-source and distributed effort (I'll author a Rails gem + minimal http API app for this worker).

Social Network

Bulletin boards and social networks on our own blockchain are something I'm particularly excited about. I've built a working MVP that allows you to publish posts on the blockchain, and I'll need your help to test it soon. Here's a sneak peek: http://cryptofresh.com/posts

On this prototype you can author posts on the blockchain as well as tip posts (off-chain). It will be ready for public testing this week. This approach uses custom operations, but it supports multiple message sources--meaning it's ready to grow as a content aggregator across a variety of apps running on BitShares. It's already compatible with the "public memo" approach used by the announce feature.

Now that we have shown a minimum viable way for accounts to login and submit public messages, it opens many interesting possibilities:

• threaded forum / message board
• community map
• local bitshares
• advertising
• job board
• sharing of PGP keys
• coin-weighed polls
• reputation / feedback
• donation-tracking pages
• dedicated fundraiser pages
• stores & digital downloads
• federated social networks
• "stack exchange" style network

A lot of these features are low-hanging fruit for the Cryptofresh platform. Any of this stuff could be integrated into the wallet or into the witness_node directly, but it's magnitudes easier to test it on our platform.

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Worker

I hope that by delivering the initial block explorer features up front I've demonstrated the value and commitment I can bring.

I release my previous work on the block explorer at no cost to the community, but for the next stage I would like to go with a worker proposal. I am requesting 30,000 BTS per day from 3/1 - 5/31 to work towards the goals and priorities outlined in this document, at a rate of 20 hours per week. The pay will vest for 90 days. I will release the block explorer as open-source under MIT license when this worker has been funded in full.

Most of my work is front-end/UI-oriented, so it will be easy for you to watch the progress. I will also provide regular updates.

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Witness Resignation

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that I no longer wish to run a witness node.
Please unvote witness roadscape when you cast your vote for the worker!

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Thanks,
roadscape

create_worker roadscape "2016-03-01T00:00:00" "2016-05-31T23:59:59" 3000000000 "Blockchain Explorer and API Development" "https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php/topic,21532.0.html" {"type":"vesting","pay_vesting_period_days":90} false
Blockchain Explorer and API Development (1.14.33)
https://cryptofresh.com/workers

This is an experiment. Send a memo to 'announce' to have it published:

https://cryptofresh.com/u/announce

Import private key 5KJJNfiSyzsbHoVb81WkHHjaX2vZVQ1Fqq5wE5ro8HWXe6qNFyQ and you can read the memos from your web/cli wallet!

Or, set your memo key to BTS6fUJfBNkD88eDmoBhHGu3r98aTnieVwwqZVSzkzDaxzF57c4ce to get the same functionality on any account. Example:

https://cryptofresh.com/u/twitter.puppies

Adam sits down with Daniel Larimer, leader of the Bitshares project. They talk about the new release, the lessons learned over the last nearly three years and what comes next.

https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/lets-talk-bitcoin-260-new-growth

Only halfway through.. great discussion so far. Great primer for anyone looking to catch up on recent developments!

1) Is it possible to have non-encrypted memos? Can an account be configured to receive only public memos?

2a) What's the format of vote_ids? 0:11, 1:27, 2:65, etc. Does each votable object have a unique vote_id? Is the first number a namespace and second number an incrementing id?

2b) Is there a method to get a list of accounts that specify a specific proxy? (And each account can only specify one proxy right?)

3) Is it in any way possible to implement a key-value store in the current version of Graphene?

Thanks

The delegate pay model introduced in BitShares 0.4.24 was revolutionary, and we’re proud to
have been part of such a bold experiment. Thank you all for the opportunity and support.

Here’s a recap of some of our initiatives over our 7 months as BitShares delegates:

• First BitUSD store http://cryptofresh.com
• Meetup group http://www.meetup.com/TC-BitShares/
• Open-sourced cryptofresh https://github.com/roadscape/cryptofresh
• BitShares P2P Tour https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php/topic,14865.0.html
• B&G Interview https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/ep-64-bitshares-on-the-open-road
• Hackable brochure https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php/topic,16692.0.html
• BitShares Infographics https://bitshares.org/media/2015_bitshares_infographic_en.pdf

With the launch of the new chain, we are refining our approach and consolidating brands. We’ll
use cryptofresh as our platform for BitShares-related projects. We took the store down to update
it for 2.0 and will post another announcement when the new site launches.

As creative opportunities unfold in the following months, we’ll explore all our funding options
for further projects: the referral program, worker proposals, external funding, and crowdfunding.

With that said, enjoy our first video...

Brainstorming Faucets, Funnels, and Referrals in 2.0

BitShares is different from other chains because it requires the use of a faucet to get started. Faucets as we know them today are merely registration forms, but they will play a bigger role when the referral system is launched. It’s not yet clear how all of this will work in Graphene, but I’d like to share some ideas of what might be possible. 


Ease of use

We lose referrals because the current faucet system is inconvenient. To take full advantage of the referral program, we should streamline the current faucet system without losing its flexibility.

Ideally, users would start at the faucet and then go to the web wallet. No hopping back and forth.

Instead of website→wallet→faucet→wallet I’d like to see just faucet→wallet. More on this below.


Cross-compatible wallets & faucets

CCEDK, BANX, and BunkerDEX will run their own skinned BitShares web wallet. We may have 'stock' wallets similar to wallet.bitshares.org. And we’ll have 3rd-party wallets like Moonstone.

The idea is for wallets to remain compatible so users are not locked in.
You should always be able to migrate to any wallet/provider at will (to paraphrase BM).

Could we make faucets and wallets completely interchangeable yet seamless?
For service providers, this would make A/B testing trivial. And they could take it to the next level by leveraging free market forces via the power of independent marketers/developers.

Every user on the chain only needs to interact with a faucet once.
Marketers will compete to reach various market segments first.
If marketers have powerful tools, we’ll have a very healthy race.


Faucet variants

• Invite-only faucet
  • Generate invite codes for printing/emailing. Perfect for meetups.
  • "Create a free account at bitshares.org & enter code RTYSDTF to claim your 5 BitUSD".
  • A benefit of this approach is that no email verification is required.
  • Valentine explored a similar approach last year, but 2.0 changes things.
• Skinnable faucets
  • Allow marketers to easily create highly-targeted funnels for different markets
    • traders, goldbugs, remissions, Greece, etc.
    • e.g. combine https://faucet.bitshares.org/ with http://whatisbitusd.com/
  • We could have endless user-generated keyword-rich signup pages.
  • Anyone with basic HTML skills could create single-page funnel-faucets.
• Tipbot faucet:
  • Receive a tip on social media.
  • To claim it, you verify your login and create/link a BTS account.
  • If the user does not yet have a BTS account, they create one
    • Tip-sender and tip-bot split the referral income
  • Great way to incentivize tipping
• LocalBitShares faucet/service:
  • We need P2P on/off-ramps, this would be great for grassroots efforts.
  • You can register and guide first-time BTS buyers
• Ad-supported faucet:
  • e.g. Allows you to register a premium name if you complete an offer
  • Doubt there would be much interest in this, but it’s interesting nonetheless
• Plain faucets
  • Probably what most built-in wallet faucets will look like. (CCEDK, BANX, etc)
  • It would have to use either email or social sign-in, to prevent abuse
  • Example: https://wallet.mynxt.info/

Example: emailable/printable invite code faucet

Something like this would be *perfect* for meetups. The basic flow:

• You get a an invite code for 5 BitUSD (via email, meetup, etc)
• Go to btsfaucet.com, type in the redemption code
• Select an account name
• Choose your wallet (CCEDK, BunkerDEX, etc)
• You are redirected to the chosen wallet
• Initialize your wallet, set your password
• Within seconds, your account shows up with a balance of $5

The same scenario, from a more technical standpoint:

• Marketer goes to btsfaucet.com and prints an "invite coupon" for 5 BitUSD
• Receiver of voucher (new user) goes to btsfaucet.com, types in the redemption code
• Faucet guides the user in picking an account name
  • Why? The faucet allows the user to dip into their $5 credit to register a premium name
• User selects which wallet they would like to use (CCEDK, BunkerDEX, etc)
• User is redirected to their chosen wallet
  • in the URL are 2 parameters: account_name and faucet_callback_url
• Wallet guides user through wallet creation (password, recovery key, etc)
• Wallet adds the (still unregistered) account_name
• Wallet makes a backend call to faucet_callback_url with account_name, account_key, owner_key
  • Faucet registers the account, and
  • transfers the coupon balance to it
• Done. Account is registered and has a balance of $5.

This is just one way to implement it, but it’s very secure because it does not require users to reveal/migrate their private keys nor for the faucets to be https.


Conclusion

There’s plenty more to cover but I wanted to share my thoughts and start a discussion. I'd love to start coding something (perhaps the invite faucet or tipbot faucet), but there's a lot of unknowns. I'm sure others are in a similar position.

Developers: Are you willing to implement the basic functionality into the web wallet that would make these faucets possible?
Marketers: How do you want to use faucets? What are your plans for 2.0? What tools would help you?

The possibilities of DPOS2 and the referral system are almost overwhelming. Let’s map it out and narrow it down!