Zilliqa Monthly Newsletter - Nov 2023

As we step into the last month of the year, it's with great pleasure that I share the remarkable achievements made by the Zilliqa ecosystem throughout November. 

Last month was undeniably a pivotal period for us, marked by groundbreaking developments that reinforce our commitment to progress and growth.

We witnessed a watershed moment with the launch of Ionise on mainnet, which is a major step towards building a flourishing DeFi ecosystem on the Zilliqa network. Ionise showcases the ability for battle-tested protocols to be deployed on Zilliqa thanks to its native EVM compatibility, paving the way for more DeFi platforms and tools to be built out in future.

November was also an impressive month in the gaming and fan engagement spaces. Our partnership with Racing League gives us the opportunity to shape the future of fan loyalty programmes with the powerful incentives delivered by Web3 technology, and the success of this approach is already bearing out in our existing loyalty-focussed partnerships.

Roll1ng Thund3rz has continued to expand and improve its Web3 gaming ecosystem, onboarding more players and rolling out more updates for WEB3WAR and the FUS1ON Gaming Hub. The launch of the $FPS token and Skill2Earn is just around the corner, and I am excited to share more news around this milestone achievement in the near future.

As we conclude an eventful November and approach the end of an impressively productive year for Zilliqa, I extend my gratitude to the entire Zilliqa community for your unwavering support. 

Together, we're shaping the future of blockchain technology.

- Matt Dyer
Zilliqa Group CEO

Check out the highlights from the Zilliqa ecosystem for November 2023 below:

Ionise launched on Zilliqa EVM

November was a landmark month for the growth of DeFi on the Zilliqa network, headlined by the launch of Ionise on mainnet.

Ionise is the first-ever money market protocol built on Zilliqa EVM, meaning it includes native support for popular EVM-compatible wallets like MetaMask.

This platform allows users to lend or borrow tokens running on the Zilliqa EVM network and is completely non-custodial, allowing users to retain full control over their holdings. 

Following this launch, we spoke to Zilliqa Head of Product Anton Agafonov to learn more about the launch of Ionise and how this EVM-based platform paves the way for a better DeFi ecosystem on Zilliqa.

The functionality offered by Ionise will expand as development progresses, and the protocol demonstrates how EVM apps can easily be deployed on Zilliqa and highlights a massive opportunity for DeFi growth with significant first-mover advantage for developers.

Powering a fan loyalty revolution

On the heels of the recent announcement of the partnership between Racing League and Zilliqa Group, we have continued to build out our vision for redefining the fan loyalty industry and empower fan experiences with Web3 technology.

As part of this partnership, Racing League and Zilliqa Group will deliver a platform that allows fans to be rewarded for their support and engagement with unique incentives, from having a say in the running of their favourite team to having the opportunity to own a share of a race horse.

The Web3-enabled loyalty programme developed under this partnership will build on Racing League’s approachable format by offering fans tangible rewards for their engagement and allowing more people around the world to feel personally connected to their favourite teams.

Existing loyalty programmes powered by Zilliqa have also seen impressive engagement - The Pride has seen amazing adoption, with thousands of people signing up from 56 different nationalities. In addition, 65% of those are super-active users who regularly return to the platform to complete multiple quests.

The early success of these initiatives shows the exciting potential of Zilliqa to overhaul the loyalty space and redefine how fans interact with brands.

Read our full interview with Tom Fleetham, Zilliqa Head of Business Development for Sports and Gaming, on how Zilliqa will power the fan loyalty revolution.

Improving network efficiency ahead of Zilliqa 2.0

As the Zilliqa infrastructure team continues to work on the rollout of Zilliqa 2.0, we received great support from the community in pushing through important changes to the network.

November saw new proposals being passed through the Zilliqa governance portal that are necessary steps towards the overhaul of the network.

gZIL holders voted in favour of implementing active reward control and desharding as part of the migration to Zilliqa 2.0. 

These changes address the inflation of ZIL as block production rate has increased as well as the temporary elimination of shards as we approach the launch of a new and more flexible sharding ecosystem with Zilliqa 2.0.

Find out more about these proposals on the Zilliqa blog.

WEB3WAR and FUS1ON lead the charge in Web3 gaming

Roll1ng Thund3rz continues to spearhead innovation in the Web3 entertainment space, delivering exciting new features and capabilities within its growing gaming ecosystem.

November saw the launch of version 3.0 of the FUS1ON Gaming Hub, which features major performance enhancements, an overhauled user interface, bug fixes, and more.

WEB3WAR continues to receive regular updates laden with high-quality content such as new maps, cosmetic skin NFT collections and gameplay enhancements. You can find the latest features added to WEB3WAR in the official release notes.

The game was also featured by DappRadar as one of the top first-person shooters to watch in the world of Web3!

Fans of Web3 gaming will be excited to learn that the launch of WEB3WAR’s in-game currency token, $FPS, is coming soon, together with the game’s innovative Skill2Earn system and reward mechanics.

Read more about the Web3 features coming soon to WEB3WAR.

Ecosystem news

Across the rest of the Zilliqa ecosystem, we have seen exciting updates from major projects building on the network.

In the last month, Zilliqa Group bolstered its partnership with XCAD Network, part of which saw the Group extend its vesting period and subsequently reduce the projected inflation of the XCAD token.

XCAD also announced the launch of single-asset staking on Zilliqa, allowing token holders to earn returns by staking their tokens through the XCAD DEX.

We were pleased to support Avely Finance’s Innovation in EVM challenge at the ETH Abu Dhabi hackathon last month, matching their offered bounty of $1,000 to grow developer engagement with the Zilliqa EVM network.

There was great news in the DeFi space beyond the launch of Ionise, with DefiLlama announcing that it is now tracking Plunderswap, the first DEX built on Zilliqa EVM.

IgniteDAO also rolled out a new update for its Torch wallet, adding powerful new functionalities and general improvements to its mobile app for Android and iOS.

Stay tuned to our socials and subscribe to the Zilliqa blog to stay up to date with the latest news from Zilliqa.