Here’s a guide to 5 of the best cash-back sites to use for holiday shopping. It’s worth noting that the best way to use these sites is to sign up for them all and compare which provides the best deal on the items you’re planning to buy or at the stores you frequent.

5 cash-back sites for holiday shopping

With a 4.4/5 rating on Trustpilot, MyPoints tops as one of the most high-profit sites when looking for apps like Survey Junkie. MyPoints brings you a collection of various features and activities, making the platform worth your while. Unlike the other ...

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3) MyPoints: Earning meets shopping In the ever-evolving realm of online rewards platforms, MyPoints stands tall as a versatile and all-encompassing hub that not only lets you reap rewards through ...

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MyPoints Review - Legit Side Hustle?

Get the most recent info and news about MyPoints on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

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Singapore, 1st June 2024– WEEX, the futures-friendly trading platform, will officially launch its global ecosystem incentive token WEEX WXT Presale, kicking-off with the WXT “Ribbon-Cutting Event” on June 1st, 2024. Affiliates can participate in the WXT Presale by inviting new users to register, and earn points based on the activity of those users. Using their total proportion of points, Affiliates can subscribe to WXT at a 30% discount at the conclusion of the first-round of the presale. New users can participate in the WXT "Ribbon-Cutting Event" by completing tasks such as registering their new account, submitting KYC, making a deposit, and engaging in futures trading to receive free WEEX WXT airdrops. A single user can receive up to 198,700 WXT, while contributing up to 1,000 points to the affiliate they registered through, during this period. \In addition to these exclusive new user campaigns, existing users of WEEX will be able to participate in daily platform activities to receive free WEEX WXT airdrops. Moreover, both new and existing users can participate in trade mining and other TGE ( Token Generation Event ) of WXT on WEEX. Affiliates Purchase at a 30% Discount, New Users Receive Free Tokens The WEEX WXT Presale is divided into three stages: -Registration Stage (June 1st to 30th): Affiliates can register to participate in the Presale campaign, recruit new users, and earn points. For every 100,000-point accumulation milestone that is reached by all affiliates, an additional 10 million WXT will be unlocked and added to the total prize pool, starting from an initial prize pool of 10 million WXT. The maximum prize pool that can be unlocked through this system is capped at 70 million WXT. Affiliates will receive their WXT subscription allocation based on their points proportion. Example: If the total points are 700,000, the total WXT prize pool is 70 million. Affiliate A has 50,000 points, so their WXT subscription allocation is 5/70 * 70,000,000 = 5,000,000 WXT. The collective points and WXT prize pool will be announced in real-time on the WEEX official website. Affiliates can log in to the WEEX website to view their "New Users Invited", "My Points", and "Amount available for subscription" data, and check their ranking on the leaderboard, ensuring full transparency. -Subscription Stage (July 1st to 7th): Affiliates can purchase WXT using USDT at a 30% discount. The issuance price of WXT is $0.01 per token, making the purchase price for affiliates $0.007 per token. -WEEX WXT Distribution and Lock-up (July 8th to 12th): WXT purchased through this Presale campaign will be distributed to affiliates and locked for one year, then released linearly every month over the next 12 months. \The primary goal of the Presale campaign is to incentivize affiliates to invite more users to register and trade on WEEX by offering WXT at a discounted price, supported by the "Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony," which offers up to 198,700 WXT airdrop rewards per user. This way, affiliates benefit from a 30% discount, and new users receive free tokens, benefiting both the inviter and the invitee. WXT: Incentivized Ecosystem, Growing with More Affiliates WEEX Token (WXT) is an ERC-20 token launched by WEEX Global, designed as the cornerstone of the WEEX ecosystem. It serves as a dynamic incentive mechanism, primarily used to reward WEEX Exchange community affiliates, contributors, pioneers, and active members. "WEEX has always adhered to the philosophy of 'Community First', and delivering a secure, reliable, engaging user experience to our loyal WEEXers has been our #1 priority since launch. Now, with WXT, we can allocate a portion of the profits created by our audience to issue and subsidize WXT, aiming to enhance the value we provide our partners, affiliates, and traders through this new utility," said Andrew Weiner, VP of WEEX Global. \To fulfill the initial goal of ecosystem incentives and sharing development dividends with the community, WEEX WXT is designed as a utility token with a rich range of use cases and empowerment mechanisms, including nearly ten exclusive benefits for holders such as Launchpad event access, trading fee discounts, and VIP exclusive rights, as well as a buyback and deflation mechanism to ensure long term stability. The total supply of WEEX WXT is 10 billion, with 65% allocated entirely for WEEX ecosystem incentives, including: 15% for the Investor Protection Fund (to protect user asset security and enhance trust), 15% for holding incentives (to encourage users to  hold long-term), 15% for new user acquisition (to increase user volume and trading volume), 15% for KOL cooperation/brand building (to enhance brand awareness), and 5% for private sales to affiliates (to bind more external resources). This allocation mechanism not only reflects the intention of an incentive ecosystem and growing with more affiliates, but also makes the WEEX WXT holding addresses decentralized. \For the token release cycle, 65% of WEEX WXT has a lock-up period of up to 5 years; 5% for affiliate private sales is locked for one year, then released linearly over 12 months starting in the second year; the remaining 15% of the Investor Protection Fund and 15% of the WEEX WXT Ecosystem Fund are also for long-term holding. The short-term release pressure would be minimal and the token price could increase after the WEEX WXT is listed. \Both the allocation mechanism and the release cycle reflect WEEX WXT's commitment to giving back to the community and expanding the exchange ecosystem in the long term, rather than short-term profit-making through token issuance. This philosophy is also evident for the WXT Presale: the end goal is to attract and acquire new users. \As the WEEX platform continues to grow, the price of WEEX WXT is bound to increase, achieving mutual empowerment and feedback between the exchange and the platform token, forming a positive growth flywheel: more users and larger trading volume → more income and profit → more platform token buyback and burn → greater community incentives → better platform development. WEEX: Challenging Zero Fees WEEX started with futures copy trading, hyperscaling into new markets with affiliates as the primary point of introduction. With advantages in trading depth, a 1,000 BTC audited customer protection reserve fund, and multiple licenses globally, WEEX quickly emerged as a leading challenger-brand in the competitive cryptocurrency exchange market, growing its futures contract business by 3,000% throughout the "Crypto Winter" of 2022, and entering the black of profitability by the end of that same year. \In 2023, WEEX maintained its rapid growth, ranking among the top ten derivative exchanges on CMC. That year, WEEX completed a new round of financing led by the Korean listed company FSN (214270.KQ) at a valuation of $100 million, leveraging local advantages from Korean Web3 affiliates to accelerate its expansion in the Korean market. Simultaneously, WEEX accelerated its token listing pace to address the shortage of platform tokens available to consumers. To date, WEEX has listed over 300 futures trading pairs and more than 200 spot trading pairs. \In 2024, to further accelerate its globalization strategy, WEEX introduced a zero-fee policy—supporting zero-fee trading for all spot tokens and new futures trading pairs, making it one of the lowest-cost trading platforms globally. Additionally, WEEX invited former MEXC Global VP Andrew Weiner to join as WEEX Global VP, leveraging his extensive industry experience and resources to assist in global market expansion. \With the launch of the WXT platform token, WEEX is poised to achieve a significant growth milestone. Their slogan, “Where New Wealth is Made,” reflects their ambitious vision for the future. By leveraging WXT, WEEX plans to expand its network of affiliates and utilize external resources, thereby enhancing its competitiveness in the global market. \Historical data shows that platform tokens have always been one of the highest value-added segments in the crypto market. According to public data, the ATH (All-Time High) of BNB, CRO, and OKB increased by 6,863 times, 65 times, and 74 times respectively from their private sale prices. Besides the noticeable price increases, platform token holders can also enjoy exclusive benefits such as launchpad, fee discounts, and financial returns, with indirect investment returns being immeasurable. According to a CoinGecko report, Binance Launchpad projects in 2022 and 2023 had returns ranging from 11 times to 411 times the initial investment, with the top three AXS, MATIC, and SAND reaching maximum increases of 1,649 times, 1,110 times, and 1,008 times respectively. \However, after continuous rounds of skyrocketing growth, the major exchange platform tokens are now rather expensive. In contrast, the upcoming WEEX WXT, backed by the strong capital and rapid growth of WEEX, undoubtedly has a higher risk-reward ratio advantage, making it an ideal investment for investors who favor such projects. \WEEX Official Website: https://www.weex.com About WXT: https://www.weex.com/wxt WEEX Mandarin Community: https://t.me/weex_group Official X: https://x.com/WEEX_Official This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. Singapore, 1st June 2024– WEEX, the futures-friendly trading platform, will officially launch its global ecosystem incentive token WEEX WXT Presale, kicking-off with the WXT “Ribbon-Cutting Event” on June 1st, 2024. Affiliates can participate in the WXT Presale by inviting new users to register, and earn points based on the activity of those users. Using their total proportion of points, Affiliates can subscribe to WXT at a 30% discount at the conclusion of the first-round of the presale. New users can participate in the WXT " Ribbon-Cutting Event " by completing tasks such as registering their new account, submitting KYC, making a deposit, and engaging in futures trading to receive free WEEX WXT airdrops. A single user can receive up to 198,700 WXT, while contributing up to 1,000 points to the affiliate they registered through, during this period. WXT WXT Ribbon-Cutting Event Ribbon-Cutting Event \In addition to these exclusive new user campaigns, existing users of WEEX will be able to participate in daily platform activities to receive free WEEX WXT airdrops. Moreover, both new and existing users can participate in trade mining and other TGE ( Token Generation Event ) of WXT on WEEX. Token Generation Event Affiliates Purchase at a 30% Discount, New Users Receive Free Tokens The WEEX WXT Presale is divided into three stages: -Registration Stage (June 1st to 30th): Affiliates can register to participate in the Presale campaign, recruit new users, and earn points. For every 100,000-point accumulation milestone that is reached by all affiliates, an additional 10 million WXT will be unlocked and added to the total prize pool, starting from an initial prize pool of 10 million WXT. The maximum prize pool that can be unlocked through this system is capped at 70 million WXT. Affiliates will receive their WXT subscription allocation based on their points proportion. Example: If the total points are 700,000, the total WXT prize pool is 70 million. Affiliate A has 50,000 points, so their WXT subscription allocation is 5/70 * 70,000,000 = 5,000,000 WXT. The collective points and WXT prize pool will be announced in real-time on the WEEX official website. Affiliates can log in to the WEEX website to view their "New Users Invited", "My Points", and "Amount available for subscription" data, and check their ranking on the leaderboard, ensuring full transparency. -Subscription Stage (July 1st to 7th): Affiliates can purchase WXT using USDT at a 30% discount. The issuance price of WXT is $0.01 per token, making the purchase price for affiliates $0.007 per token. -WEEX WXT Distribution and Lock-up (July 8th to 12th): WXT purchased through this Presale campaign will be distributed to affiliates and locked for one year, then released linearly every month over the next 12 months. \The primary goal of the Presale campaign is to incentivize affiliates to invite more users to register and trade on WEEX by offering WXT at a discounted price, supported by the "Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony," which offers up to 198,700 WXT airdrop rewards per user. This way, affiliates benefit from a 30% discount, and new users receive free tokens, benefiting both the inviter and the invitee. affiliates affiliates WXT: Incentivized Ecosystem, Growing with More Affiliates WXT: Incentivized Ecosystem, Growing with More Affiliates WXT: Incentivized Ecosystem, Growing with More Affiliates WEEX Token (WXT) is an ERC-20 token launched by WEEX Global, designed as the cornerstone of the WEEX ecosystem. It serves as a dynamic incentive mechanism, primarily used to reward WEEX Exchange community affiliates, contributors, pioneers, and active members. "WEEX has always adhered to the philosophy of 'Community First', and delivering a secure, reliable, engaging user experience to our loyal WEEXers has been our #1 priority since launch. Now, with WXT, we can allocate a portion of the profits created by our audience to issue and subsidize WXT, aiming to enhance the value we provide our partners, affiliates, and traders through this new utility," said Andrew Weiner, VP of WEEX Global. "WEEX has always adhered to the philosophy of 'Community First', and delivering a secure, reliable, engaging user experience to our loyal WEEXers has been our #1 priority since launch. Now, with WXT, we can allocate a portion of the profits created by our audience to issue and subsidize WXT, aiming to enhance the value we provide our partners, affiliates, and traders through this new utility," said Andrew Weiner, VP of WEEX Global. \To fulfill the initial goal of ecosystem incentives and sharing development dividends with the community, WEEX WXT is designed as a utility token with a rich range of use cases and empowerment mechanisms, including nearly ten exclusive benefits for holders such as Launchpad event access, trading fee discounts, and VIP exclusive rights, as well as a buyback and deflation mechanism to ensure long term stability. The total supply of WEEX WXT is 10 billion, with 65% allocated entirely for WEEX ecosystem incentives, including: 15% for the Investor Protection Fund (to protect user asset security and enhance trust), 15% for holding incentives (to encourage users to  hold long-term), 15% for new user acquisition (to increase user volume and trading volume), 15% for KOL cooperation/brand building (to enhance brand awareness), and 5% for private sales to affiliates (to bind more external resources). This allocation mechanism not only reflects the intention of an incentive ecosystem and growing with more affiliates, but also makes the WEEX WXT holding addresses decentralized. \For the token release cycle, 65% of WEEX WXT has a lock-up period of up to 5 years; 5% for affiliate private sales is locked for one year, then released linearly over 12 months starting in the second year; the remaining 15% of the Investor Protection Fund and 15% of the WEEX WXT Ecosystem Fund are also for long-term holding. The short-term release pressure would be minimal and the token price could increase after the WEEX WXT is listed. \Both the allocation mechanism and the release cycle reflect WEEX WXT's commitment to giving back to the community and expanding the exchange ecosystem in the long term, rather than short-term profit-making through token issuance. This philosophy is also evident for the WXT Presale: the end goal is to attract and acquire new users. profit-making profit-making \As the WEEX platform continues to grow, the price of WEEX WXT is bound to increase, achieving mutual empowerment and feedback between the exchange and the platform token, forming a positive growth flywheel: more users and larger trading volume → more income and profit → more platform token buyback and burn → greater community incentives → better platform development. WEEX: Challenging Zero Fees WEEX started with futures copy trading, hyperscaling into new markets with affiliates as the primary point of introduction. With advantages in trading depth, a 1,000 BTC audited customer protection reserve fund, and multiple licenses globally, WEEX quickly emerged as a leading challenger-brand in the competitive cryptocurrency exchange market, growing its futures contract business by 3,000% throughout the "Crypto Winter" of 2022, and entering the black of profitability by the end of that same year. \In 2023, WEEX maintained its rapid growth, ranking among the top ten derivative exchanges on CMC. That year, WEEX completed a new round of financing led by the Korean listed company FSN (214270.KQ) at a valuation of $100 million, leveraging local advantages from Korean Web3 affiliates to accelerate its expansion in the Korean market. Simultaneously, WEEX accelerated its token listing pace to address the shortage of platform tokens available to consumers. To date, WEEX has listed over 300 futures trading pairs and more than 200 spot trading pairs. \In 2024, to further accelerate its globalization strategy, WEEX introduced a zero-fee policy—supporting zero-fee trading for all spot tokens and new futures trading pairs, making it one of the lowest-cost trading platforms globally. Additionally, WEEX invited former MEXC Global VP Andrew Weiner to join as WEEX Global VP, leveraging his extensive industry experience and resources to assist in global market expansion. \With the launch of the WXT platform token, WEEX is poised to achieve a significant growth milestone. Their slogan, “Where New Wealth is Made,” reflects their ambitious vision for the future. By leveraging WXT, WEEX plans to expand its network of affiliates and utilize external resources, thereby enhancing its competitiveness in the global market. WEEX WEEX \Historical data shows that platform tokens have always been one of the highest value-added segments in the crypto market. According to public data, the ATH (All-Time High) of BNB, CRO, and OKB increased by 6,863 times, 65 times, and 74 times respectively from their private sale prices. Besides the noticeable price increases, platform token holders can also enjoy exclusive benefits such as launchpad, fee discounts, and financial returns, with indirect investment returns being immeasurable. According to a CoinGecko report, Binance Launchpad projects in 2022 and 2023 had returns ranging from 11 times to 411 times the initial investment, with the top three AXS, MATIC, and SAND reaching maximum increases of 1,649 times, 1,110 times, and 1,008 times respectively. \However, after continuous rounds of skyrocketing growth, the major exchange platform tokens are now rather expensive. In contrast, the upcoming WEEX WXT, backed by the strong capital and rapid growth of WEEX, undoubtedly has a higher risk-reward ratio advantage, making it an ideal investment for investors who favor such projects. \WEEX Official Website: https://www.weex.com https://www.weex.com https://www.weex.com About WXT: https://www.weex.com/wxt https://www.weex.com/wxt https://www.weex.com/wxt WEEX Mandarin Community: https://t.me/weex_group https://t.me/weex_group https://t.me/weex_group Official X: https://x.com/WEEX_Official https://x.com/WEEX_Official https://x.com/WEEX_Official This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here . here here

WEEX Launches WXT Presale: Affiliates Can Purchase At a 30% Discount with Invitation Points

Gartner, a leading research and advisory firm, recently predicted a significant rise in the value-add of enterprise blockchain by 2030, fueled by the increasing need for scalable business solutions, secure transactions, and the inherent benefits of decentralization offered by blockchain technology. Although B2B blockchain SaaS solutions are still in the early stages of adoption, they have the potential to revolutionize how companies interact and conduct business transactions. In this interview, Florian Ehrbar, CEO of OnchainLabs, takes us through the nitty-gritty of B2B blockchain SaaS and how it is shaping the future of business. It’s great to have you, Florian. Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your route to web3? Thank you for having me. My crypto journey started back in 2017 when Bitcoin got close to 20k for the first time. I was super fascinated by this new asset class and all the potential that came with the associated technology. With over a decade of experience in management roles within tech startups, I found myself increasingly drawn to the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize how businesses operate. Before founding OnchainLabs, I delved into a range of web3 investment strategies with a private Hong Kong family office, where I gained valuable insights into crypto projects. However, ultimately I really wanted to be at the heart of my own project, which I can now finally do with OnchainLabs. This background laid a solid foundation for my transition into the web3 world, where I'm now focused on leveraging blockchain to create value for businesses and consumers alike. What is B2B blockchain SaaS, and why does it matter? A Software as a Service platform we offer businesses the tools and infrastructure they need to harness the benefits of blockchain technology in their operations. Our clients can choose the solutions they need, from creating digital twins of their products to managing loyalty programs, digital warranty management, and more. This is relevant because blockchain has the potential to improve the way businesses operate by enhancing transparency, security, and efficiency in customer and product management, as well as gaining more data insights to improve the quality of services and, with that, grow revenues. Can you explain how blockchain technology can benefit B2B businesses? Absolutely. Blockchain technology offers several advantages for businesses. Together with our NFC technology it provides a tamper-proof connection between a physical product and its digital twin, this enhances trust between parties and reduces the risk of fraud. Moreover, it enables streamlined and automated processes through smart contracts, optimizing internal and external processes for businesses. Additionally, blockchain enhances data security and privacy, which is crucial in industries handling sensitive information. Overall, it allows businesses to optimize their operations, improve collaboration with partners, and unlock new revenue streams. What are the challenges B2B blockchain SaaS companies often face? Making blockchain solutions user-friendly is still a big challenge. There is still a lot of education that needs to be done, but more importantly, the ultimate goal is to integrate the technology in a way that end consumers get the benefits of the blockchain without needing to handle all the hurdles. This is one reason why we integrate in our SaaS solution OnchainID, which is a login that automatically comes with a non-custodial wallet that allows the owner of a digital twin to manage their portfolio seamlessly. What can you tell us about the founding of OnchainLabs? We founded OnchainLabs because of a deep conviction in the transformative power of blockchain technology. We recognized a growing need for businesses to harness blockchain's potential but often lacked the expertise and infrastructure to do so effectively. Thus, we set out to bridge this gap by developing scalable B2B blockchain solutions tailored to the specific needs of each client. Our goal is to support businesses and brands seeing the potential within Web3 and help them with an easy gateway to onboard their first services via our B2B SaaS platform. What does ‘helping businesses to leverage blockchain’ entail? This involves identifying areas where blockchain can add value, whether it's enhancing transparency in ownership, improving customer engagement, or streamlining data management processes. We work closely with our clients to integrate blockchain seamlessly into their operations and provide them with the necessary infrastructure, tools, and support. Every client has different needs, and that’s why our SaaS portal includes different applications clients can choose from. This way, clients can put together the services that are needed for them to grow and manage their business most effectively. Can you briefly share one of your success stories in the B2B blockchain SaaS landscape? One standout example is our partnership with Zai, a luxury ski brand. We are supporting them with a blockchain-driven solution to authenticate Zai's ski products while also implementing a loyalty program. By leveraging NFC technology seamlessly embedded within the ski layers, we ensure tamper-proof verification. This integration is not only a secure way to connect the ski with the NFT that gives customers access to their product warranty but also is a gateway to access exclusive offers for loyal customers. It's a prime illustration of how strategic blockchain implementation can yield tangible benefits for B2B enterprises like Zai. Can you walk us through the process of designing and implementing a secure and scalable B2B blockchain solution? Designing and implementing a secure and scalable B2B blockchain solution begins with a proper assessment of the client's needs and objectives. We work closely with our clients to identify pain points and opportunities where blockchain can add value. These inputs help us to improve our SaaS portal and also help us to add additional applications that clients can choose to be integrated in their portal. Moreover, we believe that an ecosystem should also involve integrations with third-party providers, which is why we also focus strongly on partnerships to build an ever-better solution for our clients. Can you share your experience as CEO of OnchainLabs? Leading OnchainLabs has been an incredibly rewarding journey. As CEO, my focus is on driving innovation, fostering a culture of collaboration, and delivering value to our clients. I'm fortunate to lead a talented team of experts who share a passion for blockchain technology and a commitment to excellence. Together, we're striving to empower businesses in the web3 era, leveraging blockchain to unlock new opportunities for businesses and brands. It's a privilege to be at the forefront of this transformative industry, and I'm excited about the future. Any parting words? I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share our experiences as well as give some insights into what we are developing. As we continue to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of web3, I encourage businesses to explore the potential of blockchain technology and, with that, find out new opportunities for growth. Gartner, a leading research and advisory firm, recently predicted a significant rise in the value-add of enterprise blockchain by 2030, fueled by the increasing need for scalable business solutions, secure transactions, and the inherent benefits of decentralization offered by blockchain technology. Although B2B blockchain SaaS solutions are still in the early stages of adoption, they have the potential to revolutionize how companies interact and conduct business transactions. In this interview, Florian Ehrbar, CEO of OnchainLabs, takes us through the nitty-gritty of B2B blockchain SaaS and how it is shaping the future of business. It’s great to have you, Florian. Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your route to web3? It’s great to have you, Florian. Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your route to web3? Thank you for having me. My crypto journey started back in 2017 when Bitcoin got close to 20k for the first time. I was super fascinated by this new asset class and all the potential that came with the associated technology. With over a decade of experience in management roles within tech startups, I found myself increasingly drawn to the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize how businesses operate. Before founding OnchainLabs, I delved into a range of web3 investment strategies with a private Hong Kong family office, where I gained valuable insights into crypto projects. However, ultimately I really wanted to be at the heart of my own project, which I can now finally do with OnchainLabs. This background laid a solid foundation for my transition into the web3 world, where I'm now focused on leveraging blockchain to create value for businesses and consumers alike. What is B2B blockchain SaaS, and why does it matter? What is B2B blockchain SaaS, and why does it matter? A Software as a Service platform we offer businesses the tools and infrastructure they need to harness the benefits of blockchain technology in their operations. Our clients can choose the solutions they need, from creating digital twins of their products to managing loyalty programs, digital warranty management, and more. This is relevant because blockchain has the potential to improve the way businesses operate by enhancing transparency, security, and efficiency in customer and product management, as well as gaining more data insights to improve the quality of services and, with that, grow revenues. Can you explain how blockchain technology can benefit B2B businesses? Can you explain how blockchain technology can benefit B2B businesses? Absolutely. Blockchain technology offers several advantages for businesses. Together with our NFC technology it provides a tamper-proof connection between a physical product and its digital twin, this enhances trust between parties and reduces the risk of fraud. Moreover, it enables streamlined and automated processes through smart contracts, optimizing internal and external processes for businesses. Additionally, blockchain enhances data security and privacy, which is crucial in industries handling sensitive information. Overall, it allows businesses to optimize their operations, improve collaboration with partners, and unlock new revenue streams. What are the challenges B2B blockchain SaaS companies often face? What are the challenges B2B blockchain SaaS companies often face? Making blockchain solutions user-friendly is still a big challenge. There is still a lot of education that needs to be done, but more importantly, the ultimate goal is to integrate the technology in a way that end consumers get the benefits of the blockchain without needing to handle all the hurdles. This is one reason why we integrate in our SaaS solution OnchainID, which is a login that automatically comes with a non-custodial wallet that allows the owner of a digital twin to manage their portfolio seamlessly. What can you tell us about the founding of OnchainLabs? What can you tell us about the founding of OnchainLabs? We founded OnchainLabs because of a deep conviction in the transformative power of blockchain technology. We recognized a growing need for businesses to harness blockchain's potential but often lacked the expertise and infrastructure to do so effectively. Thus, we set out to bridge this gap by developing scalable B2B blockchain solutions tailored to the specific needs of each client. Our goal is to support businesses and brands seeing the potential within Web3 and help them with an easy gateway to onboard their first services via our B2B SaaS platform. What does ‘helping businesses to leverage blockchain’ entail? What does ‘helping businesses to leverage blockchain’ entail? This involves identifying areas where blockchain can add value, whether it's enhancing transparency in ownership, improving customer engagement, or streamlining data management processes. We work closely with our clients to integrate blockchain seamlessly into their operations and provide them with the necessary infrastructure, tools, and support. Every client has different needs, and that’s why our SaaS portal includes different applications clients can choose from. This way, clients can put together the services that are needed for them to grow and manage their business most effectively. Can you briefly share one of your success stories in the B2B blockchain SaaS landscape? Can you briefly share one of your success stories in the B2B blockchain SaaS landscape? One standout example is our partnership with Zai, a luxury ski brand. We are supporting them with a blockchain-driven solution to authenticate Zai's ski products while also implementing a loyalty program. By leveraging NFC technology seamlessly embedded within the ski layers, we ensure tamper-proof verification. This integration is not only a secure way to connect the ski with the NFT that gives customers access to their product warranty but also is a gateway to access exclusive offers for loyal customers. It's a prime illustration of how strategic blockchain implementation can yield tangible benefits for B2B enterprises like Zai. Can you walk us through the process of designing and implementing a secure and scalable B2B blockchain solution? Can you walk us through the process of designing and implementing a secure and scalable B2B blockchain solution? Designing and implementing a secure and scalable B2B blockchain solution begins with a proper assessment of the client's needs and objectives. We work closely with our clients to identify pain points and opportunities where blockchain can add value. These inputs help us to improve our SaaS portal and also help us to add additional applications that clients can choose to be integrated in their portal. Moreover, we believe that an ecosystem should also involve integrations with third-party providers, which is why we also focus strongly on partnerships to build an ever-better solution for our clients. Can you share your experience as CEO of OnchainLabs? Can you share your experience as CEO of OnchainLabs? Leading OnchainLabs has been an incredibly rewarding journey. As CEO, my focus is on driving innovation, fostering a culture of collaboration, and delivering value to our clients. I'm fortunate to lead a talented team of experts who share a passion for blockchain technology and a commitment to excellence. Together, we're striving to empower businesses in the web3 era, leveraging blockchain to unlock new opportunities for businesses and brands. It's a privilege to be at the forefront of this transformative industry, and I'm excited about the future. Any parting words? Any parting words? I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share our experiences as well as give some insights into what we are developing. As we continue to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of web3, I encourage businesses to explore the potential of blockchain technology and, with that, find out new opportunities for growth.

Blockchain SaaS And The Future Of Business: Exclusive Interview With OnchainLabs CEO Florian Ehrbar

More Hunting Wasps by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE METHOD OF THE SCOLIAE CHAPTER 12. THE METHOD OF THE SCOLIAE. After the Ammophilae, the paralysers who multiply their lancet-thrusts to destroy the influence of the various nerve-centres, excepting those of the head, it seemed advisable to interrogate other insects which also are accustomed to a naked prey, vulnerable at all points save the head, but which deliver only a single thrust of the sting. Of these two conditions the Scoliae fulfilled one, with their regular quarry, the tender Cetonia-, Oryctes-or Anoxia-larva, according to the Scolia's species. Did they fulfil the second? I was convinced beforehand that they did. From the anatomy of the victims, with their concentrated nervous system, I foresaw, when compiling my history of the Scoliae, that the sting would be unsheathed once only; I even mentioned the exact spot into which the weapon would be plunged. These were assertions dictated by the anatomist's scalpel, without the slightest direct proof derived from observed facts. Manoeuvres executed underground escaped the eye, as it seemed to me that they must always do. How indeed could I hope that a creature whose art is practised in the darkness of a heap of mould would decide to work in broad daylight? I did not reckon upon it all. Nevertheless, to salve my conscience, I tried bringing the Scolia into contact with her prey under the bell-glass. I was well-advised to do so, for my success was in inverse ratio to my hopes. Next to the Philanthus, none of the Hunting Wasps displayed such ardour in attacking under artificial conditions. All the insects experimented upon, some sooner, some later, rewarded me for my patience. Let us watch the Two-banded Scolia (S. bifasciata, VAN DER LIND) operating on her Cetonia grub. The incarcerated larva strives to escape its terrible neighbour. Lying on its back, it fiercely wends its way round and round the glass circus. Presently the Scolia's attention awakens and is betrayed by a continued tapping with the tips of the antennae upon the table, which now represents the accustomed soil. The Wasp attacks the game, delivering her assault upon the monster's hinder end. She climbs upon the Cetonia-grub, obtaining a purchase with the tip of her abdomen. The quarry merely travels the more quickly on its back, without coiling itself into a defensive posture. The Scolia reaches the fore-part, with tumbles and other accidents which vary greatly with the amount of tolerance displayed by the larva, her improvised steed. With her mandibles she nips a point of the thorax, on the upper surface; she places herself athwart the beast, arches herself and makes every effort to reach with the end of her abdomen the region into which the sting is to be driven. The arch is a little too narrow to embrace almost the whole circumference of her corpulent prey; and she renews her attempts and efforts for a long time. The tip of the belly tries every conceivable expedient, touching here, there and everywhere, but as yet stopping nowhere. This persistent search in itself demonstrates the importance which the paralyser attaches to the point at which her lancet is to penetrate the flesh. Meanwhile, the larva continues to move along on its back. Suddenly it curls up; with a stroke of its head it hurls the enemy to a distance. Undiscouraged by all her set-backs, the Wasp picks herself up, brushes her wings and resumes her attack upon the colossus, almost always by mounting the larva's hinder end. At last after all these fruitless attempts, the Scolia succeeds in achieving the correct position. She is seated athwart the Cetonia-grub; the mandibles grip a point on the dorsal surface of the thorax; the body, bent into a bow, passes under the larva and with the tip of the belly reaches the region of the neck. The Cetonia-grub, placed in serious peril, writhes, coils and uncoils itself, spinning round upon its axis. The Scolia does not interfere. Holding the victim tightly gripped, she turns with it, allows herself to be dragged upwards, downwards, sidewards, following its contortions. Her obstinacy is such that I can now remove the bell-glass and follow the details of the drama in the open. Briefly, in spite of the turmoil, the tip of the abdomen feels that the right spot has been found. Then and only then the sting is unsheathed. It plunges in. The thing is done. The larva, at first plump and active, suddenly becomes flaccid and inert. It is paralysed. Henceforth there are no movements save of the antennae and the mouthparts, which will for a long time yet bear witness to a remnant of life. The point wounded has never varied in the series of combats under glass: it occupies the middle of the line of demarcation between the prothorax and the mesothorax, on the ventral surface. Note that the Cerceres, operating on Weevils, whose nervous system is as compact as the Cetonia-grub's, drive in the needle at the same spot. Similarity of nervous organization occasions similarity of method. Note also that the Scolia's sting remains in the wound for some time and roots about with marked persistence. Judging by the movements of the tip of the abdomen, one would certainly say that the weapon is exploring and selecting. Free to shift in one direction or the other, within narrow limits, its point is most probably seeking for the little mass of nerve-tissue which must be pricked, or at least sprinkled with poison, to obtain overwhelming paralysis. I will not close this report of the duel without relating a few further facts, of minor importance. The Two-banded Scolia is a fierce persecutor of the Cetonia. In one sitting the same mother stabs three larvae, one after the other, in front of my eyes. She refuses the fourth, perhaps owing to fatigue or to exhaustion of the poison-bag. Her refusal is only temporary. Next day, she begins again and paralyses two grubs; the day after that, she does the same, but with a zeal that decreases from day to day. The other Hunting Wasps that pursue the chase far afield grip, drag, carry their prey, after depriving it of movement, each in her own fashion and, laden with their burden, make prolonged attempts to escape from the bell-glass and to gain the burrow. Discouraged by these futile endeavours, they abandon them at last. The Scolia does not remove her quarry, which lies on its back for an indefinite time on the actual spot of the sacrifice. When she has withdrawn her dagger from the wound, she leaves her victim where it lies and, without taking further notice of it, begins to flutter against the side of the glass. The paralysed carcase is not transported elsewhere, into a special cellar; there where the struggle has occurred it receives, upon its extended abdomen, the egg whence the consumer of the succulent tit-bit will emerge, thus saving the expense of setting up house. It goes without saying that under the bell-glass the laying does not take place: the mother is too cautious to abandon her egg to the perils of the open air. Why then, recognizing the absence of her underground burrow, does the Scolia uselessly pursue the Cetonia with the frantic ardour of the Philanthus flinging herself upon the Bee? The action of the Philanthus is explained by her passion for honey; hence the murders committed in excess of the needs of her family. The Scolia leaves us perplexed: she takes nothing from the Cetonia-grub, which is left without an egg; she stabs, though well aware of the uselessness of her action: the heap of mould is lacking and it is not her custom to transport her prey. The other prisoners, once the blow is struck, at least seek to escape with their capture between their legs; the Scolia attempts nothing. After due reflection, I lump together in my suspicions all these surgeons and ask myself whether they possess the slightest foresight, where the egg is concerned. When, exhausted by their burden, they recognize the impossibility of escape, the more expert among them ought not to begin all over again; yet they do so begin a few minutes later. These wonderful anatomists know absolutely nothing about anything, they do not even know what their victims are good for. Admirable artists in killing and paralysis, they kill or paralyse at every favourable opportunity, no matter what the final result as regards the egg. Their talent, which leaves our science speechless, has not a shadow of consciousness of the task accomplished. A second detail strikes me: the desperate persistence of the Scolia. I have seen the struggle continue for more than a quarter of an hour, with frequent alternations of good luck and bad, before the Wasp achieved the required position and reached with the end of her abdomen the spot where the sting should penetrate. During these assaults, which were resumed as soon as they were repulsed, the aggressor repeatedly applied the tip of her belly to the larva, but without unsheathing, as I could see by the absence of the start which the larva gives when it feels the pain of the sting. The Scolia therefore does not prick the Cetonia anywhere until the weapon covers the requisite spot. If no wounds are inflicted elsewhere, this is not in any way due to the structure of the larva, which is soft and vulnerable all over, except in the head. The point sought by the sting is no more unprotected than any other part of the skin. In the scuffle, the Scolia, curved into a bow, is sometimes seized by the vice-like grip of the Cetonia-grub, which is violently coiling and uncoiling. Heedless of the powerful grip, the Wasp does not let go for a moment, either with her mandibles or with the tip of her abdomen. At such times the two creatures, locked in a mutual embrace, turn over and over in a mad whirl, each of them now on top, now underneath. When it contrives to rid itself of its enemy, the larva uncoils again, stretches itself out and proceeds to make off upon its back with all possible speed. Its defensive ruses are exhausted. Formerly, before I had seen things for myself, taking probability as my guide I willingly granted to the larva the trick of the Hedgehog, who rolls himself into a ball and sets the Dog at defiance. Coiled upon itself, with an energy which my fingers have some difficulty in overcoming, the larva, I thought, would defy the Scolia, powerless to unroll it and disdaining any point but the one selected. I hoped and believed that it possessed this means of defence, a means both efficacious and extremely simple. I had presumed too much upon its ingenuity. Instead of imitating the Hedgehog and remaining contracted, it flees, belly in air; it foolishly adopts the very posture which allows the Scolia to mount to the assault and to reach the spot for the fatal stroke. The silly beast reminds me of the giddy Bee who comes and flings herself into the clutches of the Philanthus. Yet another who has learnt no lesson from the struggle for life. Let us proceed to further examples. I have just captured an Interrupted Scolia (Colpa interrupta, LATR.), exploring the sand, doubtless in search of game. It is a matter of making the earliest possible use of her, before her spirit is chilled by the tedium of captivity. I know her prey, the larva of Anoxia australis (The Anoxia are a genus of Beetles akin to the Cockchafers.—Translator's Note.); I know, from my past excavations, the points favoured by the grub: the mounds of sand heaped up by the wind at the foot of the rosemaries on the neighbouring hill-sides. It will be a hard job to find it, for nothing is rarer than the common if one wants it then and there. I appeal for assistance to my father, an old man of ninety, still straight as a capital I. Under a sun hot enough to broil an egg, we set off, shouldering a navvy's shovel and a three-pronged luchet. (The local pitchfork of southern France.—Translator's Note.) Employing our feeble energies in turns, we dig a trench in the sand where I hope to find the Anoxia. My hopes are not disappointed. After having by the sweat of our brow—never was the expression more justified—removed and sifted two cubic yards at least of sandy soil with our fingers, we find ourselves in possession of two larvae. If I had not wanted any, I should have turned them up by the handful. But my poor and costly harvest is sufficient for the moment. To-morrow I will send more vigorous arms to continue the work of excavation. And now let us reward ourselves for our trouble by studying the tragedy in the bell-glass. Clumsy, awkward in her movements, the Scolia slowly goes the round of the circus. At the sight of the game, her attention is aroused. The struggle is announced by the same preparations as those displayed by the Two-banded Scolia: the Wasp polishes her wings and taps the table with the tips of her antennae. And view, halloo! The attack begins. Unable to move on a flat surface, because of its short and feeble legs, deprived moreover of the Cetonia-larva's eccentric means of travelling on its back, the portly grub has no thought of fleeing; it coils itself up. The Scolia, with her powerful pincers, grips its skin now here, now elsewhere. Curved into a circle with the two ends almost touching, she strives to thrust the tip of her abdomen into the narrow opening in the coil formed by the larva. The contest is conducted calmly, without violent bouts at each varying accident. It is the determined attempt of a living split ring trying to slip one of its ends into another living split ring, which with equal determination refuses to open. The Scolia holds the victim subdued with her legs and mandibles; she tries one side, then the other, without managing to unroll the circle, which contracts still more as it feels its danger increasing. The actual circumstances make the operation more difficult: the prey slips and rolls about the table when the insect handles it too violently; there are no points of purchase and the sting cannot reach the desired spot; the fruitless efforts are continued for more than an hour, interrupted by periods of rest, during which the two adversaries represent two narrow, interlocked rings. What ought the powerful Cetonia-grub to do to defy the Two-banded Scolia, who is far less vigorous than her victim? It should imitate the Anoxia-larva and remain rolled up like a Hedgehog until the enemy retires. It tries to escape, unrolls itself and is lost. The other does not stir from its posture of defence and resists successfully. Is this due to acquired caution? No, but to the impossibility of doing otherwise on the slippery surface of a table. Clumsy, obese, weak in the legs, curved into a hook like the common White Worm (The larva of the Cockchafer.—Translator's Note.), the Anoxia-larva is unable to move along a smooth surface; it writhes laboriously, lying on its side. It needs the shifting soil in which, using its mandibles as a plough-share, it digs into the ground and buries itself. Let us try if sand will shorten the struggle, for I see no end to it yet, after more than an hour of waiting. I lightly powder the arena. The attack is resumed with a vengeance. The larva, feeling the sand, its native element, tries to escape. Imprudent creature! Did I not say that its obstinacy in remaining rolled up was due to no acquired prudence but to the necessity of the moment? The sad experience of past adversities has not yet taught it the precious advantage which it might derive from keeping its coils closed so long as danger remains. For that matter, on the unyielding support of my table, they are not one and all so cautious. The larger seem even to have forgotten what they knew so well in their youth: the defensive art of coiling themselves up. I continue my story with a fine-sized specimen, less likely to slip under the Scolia's onslaught. When attacked, the larva does not curl up, does not shrink into a ring as did the last, which was younger and only half as large. It struggles awkwardly, lying on its side, half-open. For all defence it twists about; it opens, closes and reopens the great hooks of its mandibles. The Scolia grabs it at random, clasps it in her shaggy legs and for nearly a quarter of an hour battles with the luscious tit-bit. At last, after a not very tumultuous struggle, when the favourable position is attained and the propitious moment has come, the sting is implanted in the creature's thorax, in a central point, below the throat, level with the fore-legs. The effect is instantaneous: total inertia, except of the appendages of the head, the antennae and mouth-parts. I achieved the same results, the same prick at a definite, invariable point, with my several operators, renewed from time to time by some lucky cast of the net. Let us mention, in conclusion, that the attack of the Interrupted Scolia is far less fierce than that of the Two-banded Scolia. The Wasp, a rough sand-digger, has a clumsy gait; her movements are stiff and almost automatic. She does not find it easy to repeat her dagger-thrust. Most of the specimens with which I experimented refused a second victim on the first two days after their exploits. As though somnolent, they did not stir unless excited by my teasing them with a bit of straw. Although more active and more ardent in the chase, the Two-banded Scolia likewise does not draw her weapon every time that I invite her. For all these huntresses there are moments of inaction which the presence of a fresh prey is powerless to disturb. The Scoliae have taught me nothing further, in the absence of subjects belonging to other species. No matter: the results obtained represent no small triumph for my ideas. Before seeing the Scoliae operate, I said, guided solely by the anatomy of the victims, that the Cetonia-, Anoxia- and Oryctes-larvae must be paralysed by a single thrust of the lancet; I even named the point where the sting must strike, a central point, in the immediate vicinity of the fore-legs. Of the three genera of paralysers, two have allowed me to witness their surgical methods, which the third, I feel certain, will confirm. In both cases, a single thrust of the lancet; in both cases, injection of the venom at a predetermined point. A calculator in an observatory could not compute the position of his planet with greater accuracy. An idea may be taken as proved when it attains to this mathematical forecast of the future, this certain knowledge of the unknown. When will the acclaimers of chance achieve a like success? Order appeals to order; and chance knows no laws. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jean-Henri Fabre (2002). More Hunting Wasps. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3462/pg3462-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

THE METHOD OF THE SCOLIAE

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. I’m Nicholas Croce. By day, I work as a public policy researcher at Mathematica, and on my off-time, I’m a doctoral student at Syracuse University (who writes stuff sometimes!) You can typically catch me at my laptop oscillating between wonky policy research and doing collage work, begging my partner to go look at birds outside with me, or… yeah, that’s it. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? Well, it’s the kind of story that’s about a lot of things while trying really, really hard to be about one thing: . our technology platforms can’t surveil absurdism Olive’s story is about boredom amidst an overwhelming desire to create. In Olive’s case, art. So many creators are making in the midst of this kind of boredom that’s concomitant with how social information is presented to us today: algo-driven, faster, more, fleeting, so interesting it’s not interesting anymore. The story follows Olive’s pandemic-era experience of the internet: through NFTs and avant-garde internet art, across platforms and internet spaces, finally arriving at cyber anarchism and the politics of Milady Maker and “internet spirituality.” The story is about Olive, but I want readers to consider whether Olive’s story is an outlier, or as I suspect, emblematic of an experience of the internet that is becoming more and more common. Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? No. My writing is typically academic or policy-related. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) For me, the most important part of the writing process is opening the word processor. not First, I have a bunch of legal pads, notebooks, and post-its on my desk, in my bag, in my other bag, in my pocket, in the car door, wherever. As I come across interesting writing ideas, I’ll jot something down. I’ve tried using my Notes app but find that things there are more easily forgotten than little pieces of paper everywhere that I eventually need to clean up. This process never ends. Second—back to the legal pads—once I have a writing idea (most often, this starts with a perceived social problem, either something that’s bothering me or that I infer bothers others) I start copying things down from my diaspora of idea-papers. This is where things start to take shape. This process takes months. Third, I finally start writing in a word processor. This process happens within a day or two. Finally, revision. This is something that I’ve always had a hard time with. It wasn’t until I worked with this talented editor at , Jon Fischer, that this started to change for me. Slate Seeing how Jon could edit an essay to make my points sharper really opened my eyes to the possibility that I could do a revision I actually liked. Jon only worked on one piece of my writing, but it had a huge impact on me. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? To be honest, being a writer in/on/around tech has been a godsend for me. I come from a writing scene (academic) where it takes years to go from research to dissemination. When tech is moving this fast, it’s impossible to get in front of anything if you’re isolating yourself in academia. I think more people who come from a scholarly background need to get out here, talk to technologists and users and devs, and write in places like HackerNoon. It’s a vulnerable writing process where you’ll make mistakes, but from my perspective, useful knowledge (as opposed to ossified knowledge) comes out of conversations happening in the now, with people perhaps not at first concerned with making “knowledge.” So for me, I am trying to step away from the ego-fear of being wrong in moments so I can engage more wholeheartedly (and hopefully generatively, anti-oppressively) with “social problems.” When our knowledge creation is dialectic and makes efforts to engage across knowledge discourses (i.e., engage more than just what we Academics say, or what we Coders say, or what we Cultural Critics say), individual mistakes of thought come out in the wash of robust, communal knowledge-building. I think. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? Honestly? Do less solitary work and do more of what I describe above. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? This. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Birding. It helps me touch grass. I am less concerned with making a list of the birds I see. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? I’ll have to check my post-it notes and get back to you. What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers? It’s been a great experience. Thanks for taking time to join our “ ” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Meet the writer My pleasure. Yes—remember EPICAC: “After all that money, EPICAC didn't work out the way he was supposed to.”

Meet the Writer: HackerNoon Contributor Nicholas Croce, Social Science Researcher

“Do not deploy on Friday” is not a joke after all even if you have continuous deployment. With deciding to deploy anyway comes the subtle concern, what’s the worst that could happen? In this article, I will not concern myself with the unwritten rules of software engineering, even though I’m so tempted to, but will focus on deployment and release management. This article aims to expound on the difference between software deployment and release management. I’ll try to explain my points in layman's terms. What is Software Deployment? When software developers are done with code for a product/service, they make the software available to be used by users and other programs. This process of making the software available is called Software Deployment. It could be done on test servers, a production environment, or any other place where the code would run. In agile development, getting incremental changes out to users as quickly as possible is a norm. And to achieve this, every new feature pushed or released to production has to undergo some form of testing. : Once a new feature has passed automated tests, it is pushed to a clone of the production environment for manual testing of the new code. The focus here is on preparing the code changes to be released. Technically, the to get the changes into production. Continuous Delivery push of a button : Here, any code that passes testing moves straight up (is deployed) to the end-users—No human intervention or manual approval is required. The goal here is to continuously release code changes into the production environment. Continuous Deployment can be used to manage continuous deployment. This simply allows the deployment of features, one at a time— of microservices. It’s all about getting new features to the end-users at the pace that they are created. Feature flags Micro-deployments NB: Deployment is when you install a software version in an environment. What is Release Management? As the needs of real users evolve, the collaborative effort of the cross-functional teams in a business is to ensure that a software solution is released to the users, that caters to their needs. The process followed to achieve this release is called Release Management. Release Management entails overseeing the planning, scheduling, and controlling of an entire software build through every stage and environment involved, including testing and deployment. Release to users is typically the final part of the software development life cycle (SDLC). Some businesses go beyond the technical processes of release management to include managing adoption. In fact, some effort is required from the product, development, support, sales, and marketing teams, etc, for the successful management of a release. By decreasing risk, streamlining deployment efficiency, and enhancing customer value, release management aids in keeping everyone aligned and focused on the broader scope. NB: Release is when you make software available to users. How Often Should You Release? Certain considerations need to be accounted for to know how often to release features. Continuous release is not a bad idea. But generally speaking? . Errrmmm! It really depends The type of business, product, and customers you have largely informs the release cycle frequency. Should product managers keep the features coming, or is it better to dole out features on a schedule? This would be up to your customers. How frequently do they expect you to release new features? In summary, Release != Deployment The overall focus for teams is to vet how their processes help to accelerate value delivery for their business. Because actually, users care less about what methods are utilized to solve their problems. They would always stay as long as they get real value for their money. Can you deploy on Friday? Errrm! Yes. This is the right question. But should you? Thanks for reading this far.

Efficient Deployment and Release Management 

ONLOOKERS

Human beings are not very good at seeing into the future. Unless you have a crystal ball or know how to read tea leaves, trying to predict when an event will happen with any degree of accuracy is very difficult. Unfortunately, as software developers, we are regularly asked to do this. Stakeholders usually want to know when they can expect the completion of features. It can make them nervous if we tell them that we don’t know for sure, or give a time-frame that sounds worryingly large to them to account for our uncertainty. Story points attempt to solve this by sidestepping time-based estimates, and focusing instead upon estimating complexity — on the basis that we are better at judging how complicated a piece of work is than how long it will take to complete. Estimating complexity allows us to abstract away things that we can’t reasonably predict (and often throw off our predictions) such as illness and distractions, and focus on the things that we can — like whether one task is going to be bigger than another. Once we have a way to quantify complexity, it is possible to begin to measure how much of it can be tackled over time — this is known as velocity. Measuring a team’s velocity allows us to build forecasts of how much work they are likely to be able to complete in the future. Note the word in that last sentence. Story points are not a silver bullet that will let you make perfect predictions about when a task will be finished — but in my experience, they are a significant step up from trying to estimate time directly. likely They help you shift from hand-waving and guessing, to evidence-based reasoning about a teams capacity. Over time I’ve found that the accuracy of story point-based predictions tend to improve as teams gain practice and experience, and as the error in velocity averages away as more data gets added to the calculation. Story points can be a contentious topic amongst software professionals; a lot have had bad experiences with them, and don’t see how they can ever help on a project. While I don’t think story points will be a good fit for projects, I do believe that they can be useful on of projects — especially when teams are inexperienced and haven’t had a chance to build up some discipline. all a lot I regularly hear two objections to story points that, in my opinion, betray underlying flaws in peoples thinking rather than a problem with the technique itself: Firstly: that the complexity of a task is different depending on whether you have more or less experience, often stated as ‘my points are different from your points’. Secondly: that there is ultimately no real difference between complexity and time — ‘five points is about a day, this task will take about a day, so I vote five points’. The first objection is problematic because you should be estimating for the team, not individuals. If a task is going to be harder for a particular person to complete, then the team should be working with them to help. If you expect someone to struggle to complete work by themselves with no assistance when it would benefit them, then you have more significant problems on your team than estimation. It would be best if you focused on fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing before worrying about anything else. The second objection is harder to help people move past. The cognitive leap from time-based estimation, to complexity-based estimation, is quite a large one. The easiest way that I have found to help people get into the right frame of mind is by agreeing on a story to use as a reference at the beginning of estimation sessions. The question then becomes ‘how much larger is the story we are currently estimating than our reference story?’ When they don’t have a lot of experience with relative complexity, people often find ranking stories, and then fitting points to them later much more straightforward than coming up with points on the spot (as you would with planning poker). With a bit of time and practice, most teams can build up an implicit understanding of how story points relate to the complexity of individual pieces of work in their backlog. As a team becomes more practised, a satisfying moment eventually occurs: everyone’s estimates begin to converge. You know that your team is getting the hang of things when everyone is consistently voting for the same number of story points on each piece of work that comes up; and when any significant variation that occurs is the result of someone knowing something that the others haven’t considered. Whether or not you use story points on your project, I think there are some ideas we can learn from them that are universally applicable. Almost all projects benefit when we can quantify changes to them over time. Reflecting upon, and learning from our experiences is a crucial part of agile development, and doing this with data can give us confidence in our conclusions, and justification for our predictions. Previously published at https://davidcapper.dev/posts/getting-your-head-around-story-points

How To Get Your Head Around Story Points?

Last fall I was hired to build an economic model for as part of my . Since then, I encountered many people who expressed interest in this model, so I decided to share the basic theory and implementation. token-curated registries consulting job Contents 1. Philosophical introduction2. Model summary3. Agents and motivations4. System statics5. System dynamics: simulation in R6. Conclusion 1. Philosophical introduction The great expositive summary of can be found on , so I will dive into my points straight away. Token economy Wikipedia As I see it, a token economy is an attempt to quantify life and give a price to everything. This aligns perfectly with classical economic thinking, where even externalities, such as air pollution, can be compensated by sufficient taxes. Wikipedia says that tokens have been successfully used at schools and psychiatric hospitals, but the recent resurgence in interest has begun with the rush. Since the creation of universally accepted token was problematic before, nobody tried to tie all services to some price. However, the open source blockchain algorithms made this process really easy and suddenly many people decided that it is a good idea to (read ) literally everything. cryptocurrency tokenize monetize Being an economist myself, I believe that this thinking is terribly wrong. I understand where it comes from — everybody took at some point and was inspired by elegance of models. But I also know that is not the only mechanism out there. , , all exist for a reason. Not every is . Sadly, not everybody takes advanced econ courses, while almost everybody wants to profit from ’s. Econ 101 invisible hand free market Centralized matching mechanisms social planner’s problem lotteries equilibrium efficient ICO Not every equilibrium is efficient Of course, tokens can be justified in appropriate cases. Actually, the great working area for tokens is online games, where every crystal is given a price and has an obvious value to players. In general, whenever any kind of labor is involved, a money making procedure is good. Otherwise, it is some kind of . rent seeking Ryan Selkis of the difference between and , and explained why he believes the former will be worthless in the long run. I will go even further and claim that most so-called utility tokens are as well bubbles and don’t give any extra utility. Messari greatly summarized bubble utility tokens Examples Below I reviewed a couple of examples that appear in the first results page when you google . utility tokens claims to help users to prevent social networks from collecting their data “for free” and sell it for money instead, of their information. This certainly sounds fun, but it totally neglects the fact that Facebook or Youtube are already providing a great service for free in exchange for collecting users’ data, moreover they offer all kinds of privacy settings for all their users. It is a fair trade. What Datum wants is to take those services for granted and try to profit from that, providing no utility whatsoever. Datum i.e. “take control” wants to make another LinkedIn but to replace reputational structure with token structure and give tokens for truthful references. That’s wrong on many levels, including: Talenthon impossibility to quantify references possibility that worker can change, making references obsolete the assumption that businessmen would care about tokens more than they care about their reputation This is exactly what I meant above, when I said that monetary relationships are not always efficient. And finally, these people hypocritically encourage openness and decentralization while using proprietary algorithms. The right decision is to only decentralize those services that actually support the decentralization. Another issue with is that historically every decentralization was tightly related to . All examples of successful decentralization used to be altruistic and didn’t involve monetary goals. Decentralized apps (DAPPs) I care for are etc. token-backed decentralization disruption, hippie philosophy, anarchy BitTorrent, Wikipedia, Linux, GNU Project, OpenStreetMap Decentralized projects used to be the very definitions of , where corporations like would be put to shame by the community for not contributing code back to but still get away with it, and nobody would attempt to financially incentivize them to do so. trust-based systems Apple BSD These old days, which most of us still remember, should raise everyone’s concerns about the longevity of trustless structures. There are, however, appropriate use cases for tokens and some developers get this. does this well by aiming at a peculiar area — ranking ads services. This is compatible with token system and is not something that has already been done on a massive scale. AdChain does even better job by providing a service of renting storage space, which works at the same time as a mining tool via . They have problems with modelling incentives but at the end of the day they provide legit utility and thus are . Filecoin proof-of-storage not bubbles In this article I will try to build an economic model for exactly those . utility tokens 2. Model summary This economic model of tokens is very generic, so that it can work as a blueprint for future token creators and as a reasonable abstraction for applied economists. Ideally, this model can also serve as a guideline for writing whitepapers. In case you have skipped the previous section, let me remind you that are any tokens that produce a legit service for consumers and are not tools for middlemen or speculators (although such agents do exist in our model). utility tokens primarily Since tokens aim at structures, we will need some kind of proof that every corresponds to a single person instead of some . Since I am a huge opposer and since most of the tokens are built on Ethereum platform, which is anyway, I will use the latter in the model. trustless node botnet proof-of-work moving towards proof-of-stake The service is paid for in fixed number of tokens, not in cash. Pricing service in a fixed token rate will correctly capture the proportionate relationship between demand and price — the greater the demand for the service, the more people will buy tokens, the price of tokens will increase, and so will the cash equivalent of the service; and vice versa. There are consumers, investors, and honest and malicious miners in our model, each having different and . Consumers and malicious miners want token price to depreciate, while honest miners and investors want token price to appreciate. motivations types The incentives should be modelled in such a way that no player will want to deviate from the honest sutainable system as long as there is an honest majority ( ). We will assume the ’s voting model, as it satisfies the and as long as of votes are honest. We will model the resulting economy but not dig into the technicalities or revisit what and have already spent some time to model. conditional equilibrium Ethereum Casper checkpoint tree accountable safety plausible liveness 2/3 Vitalik Buterin Virgil Griffith 3. Agents and motivations In a general there are four types of agents: utility token economy Honest miners Honest miners are people with domain expertise, who actually do the job and create the utility. They are incentivized by a system to do the best job they can to earn more tokens as long as they constitute of the token holders. 51% active They do not play any , they naively vote for the correct version in every quorum. They earn (mine) rewards as long as malicious miners don’t take over, and at the same time they provide a utility to customers. Therefore the main quantitative feature of honest miners is their proportion among all miners. strategies i.e. Main quantitative feature of honest miners is their number. The corresponding issue is that it is impossible to tell for certain which miners are honest and which are not. Therefore customers and investors choose their strategies based on the expectations. The prior probabilities which form these expectations are exogeneous in this model but can be endogenized. If you are a researcher interested in extending the model in this area, please , so that we can discuss and share the ideas on that topic. contact me Customers Customers are people who use and benefit from the service created by the and pay for it using tokens they bought for cash. honest miners As mentioned in the introduction, utility tokens only work good in peculiar services like job referencing or ads ranking. Therefore, customers not only care about the quality of service, but also about its popularity/public acceptance. This can be modelled using the following version of : Cobb-Douglas utility function Customer’s utility function where is the expected demand and is the expected number of experts (honest miners) in the system. E[x] E[z] Note that even when there is zero demand but nonzero number of experts ( ) the customer still receives a non-zero utility from the service. Conversely, when the service is very popular and has high demand but zero expert knowledge ( ) the utility from the service is zero despite its popularity. E[x]=0; E[z]>0 E[x]>0; E[z]=0 The demand for tokens is equal to the expected total number of customers The customers are not uniform though — there are , and . They differ in reservation utility levels — each type of customer will only subscribe to the service if the utility will exceed respectively, where . early adopters late majority laggards U(x,z) Uearly, Ulate, Ulag Uearly ≤ Ulate ≤ Ulag According to , the consumer types are distributed as early adopters, late majority and laggards: product adoption life cycle 16% 68% 16% Simplified Roger’s curve You can see that I have simplified the actual Roger’s curve. If you are interested in extending the model to use actual technology adoption lifecycle, you can and I will share my ideas. contact me Investors Investors are people who buy tokens for /market value and hold them in expectation of value appreciation. We will assume that there are identical investors with equal wealth level , who are using a version of to choose between investing in stocks and our tokens. ICO N w Markowitz’s mean-variance formula Modified Markowitz’ mean-variance formula where and are coin and stock returns respectively, and and are risk-aversion coefficient and coin volatility. μc μs γ σc Note that we simplify and consider stock returns , so the model can be extended here. You can also replace Markowitz with more complex and more realistic models like , , , or or add other cryptocoins into the decision. Since our model aims to be as generic as possible, we leave out these options. If you are interested in financial economics and want to extend the model in this area, please so that we can share ideas and/or collaborate. deterministic Merton Munk Bodie Samuelson Campbell contact me We will also assume that all the investors are risk neutral. For further simplicity, we will omit from our model — the investors who will strategically predict the quorum outcome and vote in that direction to mine extra tokens. Those, who are interested in that, can enhance on this model themselves and/or for ideas and suggestions. gamblers contact me The more investors a system has, the more cash is in the system. Malicious miners Malicious miners are people who buy tokens for /market value and vote at quorum to force their version of blockchain. ICO In this model we don’t consider hypothetical ( system trolls who want to sabotage the honest blockchain just for the sake of it), so all malicious miners have a rational agenda — it’s almost always the profit maximization outside of the system. Jokers i.e. Malicious miner’s profit where the first term is the initial profit a company makes by selling their good or service at price to their initial consumers plus a share of total demand that comes from the token vote with probability of winning the vote. The second term is the which completes probability of demand from tokens to at the cost of buying tokens necessary to win the majority vote at price per token. The second term is equal to zero in case of non-interference, no malicious token activity. f α interference term 1 pc i.e. The more malicious miners a system has, the easier it is for them to influence the votes. Malicious miners participate in the token economy only if spending cash on tokens and winning the votes will increase their outside profit. Otherwise, they won’t have any incentive to meddle with the blockchain. In this model we assume that all malicious miners want to lobby the single version o the blockchain and not conflict among themselves. Moreover, malicious miners can preemptively buy tokens while they are cheap to increase profits in the future, even if this decision does not increase short-term profits. If you are interested in extending the model in this area, please feel free to to discuss this and exchange ideas. contact me In the next section we will quickly see how these agents interact at a fixed point in time. 4. System statics At any point in time, the agents solve their corresponding utility maximization problems from the previous section. The generalized static interactions can be visualized as follows: System statics in a utility token economy Note that we differentiate between and tokens, where former participate in votes and the latter do not. active passive To model the price formation of a token we use a simplified version of with money market equilibrium modelled in (Ciaian et al. (2014)). quantity theory of money “Economics of Bitcoin Price Formation” Price formula for token where is the dollar value of a token economy, is the opportunity interest rate (in our case, ), is the size of token supply and is an exogeneous stabilization parameter. PY r μs T η Note that in a proof-of-stake economy, the token supply is fixed, so the token is . T deflationary To calculate the nominal GDP ( ) we add all the cash that customers and investors inject in the token economy. PY If you are interested in more complicated pricing formulas, please read Ciaian’s paper, mentioned above, and/or to exchange ideas. contact me 4. System dynamics: simulation in R Previous two sections summarize the economy at any fixed point in time. To see how this system works over time we need to perform a dynamic analysis. The system dynamics can be modelled to follow the timing described below: The economy begins when developers create the protocol and generate all the tokens (see Section 2). , we assume that there is only one creator. Without loss of generality Creator distributes a certain share of all tokens to early experts who agree to work for tokens instead of cash and not sell them for at least a certain period of time. We make a weak assumption that all these early experts are miners. She sells other tokens in an . The decision how much to keep, how much to sell and how much to distribute involves a whole optimization process on its own, but we exogenize it for simplicity. As always, any . honest ICO extensions are welcome Consumers decide whether to subscribe to the service by buying tokens or to opt for other service providers. Investors decide whether to buy tokens or stocks instead. Malicious miners decide whether buying tokens and joining the vote will increase their short-term profit. All market participants are determined and active tokens are bidden in a vote. Majority vote wins, and losers’ stakes are — equally redistributed among winners. slashed Consumers’ and investors’ cash injections are calculated and added to price formula. Token’s price is updated. Current token rate of return is calculated as Token’s attractiveness parameter is updated. Current stock rates of returns are observed. (1 + Δpt/pt). η r Loop steps 3 to 6. R simulation We are ready to see how the economy will work in a simulation. First we will define the default parameters. Then we initialize the main results matrix: Assuming that 160 early adopters each bought 5 tokens in the first period for exchange rate and each of 200 investors also bought 10 tokens, we have the size of the token economy in the first period equal to 2800. Plugging that into price equation gives the real token value of , but we use this information in an unusual way and assign it as an appreciation in the first period: 1 token = 1 $ 0.14 What I just did, doesn’t really make any sense — I just had to arrive at a workable Markowitz solution somehow. So, if anyone wants to propose a good price appreciation mechanism, and I will correct that. please contact me And finally, we run a simulation for periods. N This basic implementation gives results, like price and demand dynamics etc. rudimentary 6. Conclusion In this article I have discussed my opinion on the current state of crypto-tokens and built a universal economic model of utility tokens. Since this model is very generic, . However, this framework and the corresponding R script are the great start to model any utility token economy. the realistic results can only be obtained by tailoring it to your specific use case Whether you are a researcher or token developer, I believe this framework will be useful to you in analyzing token economies. I welcome every discussion on model extensions and/or improvements. I strongly believe that open knowledge is the only way to the progress. You are free to use any of the components of the article, but and let other people read this article and contribute to the discussion. The publishable version of this paper is not ready yet, but I can send you a draft version . I kindly ask you to cite the source on demand

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