Protocol Development

Neo3 Progress

Over the past two months, the Neo core development team concentrated its efforts on the N3 RC2 and RC3 versions, applying improvements and fixes uncovered after the initial RC1 release. These updates bring a number of improvements and optimizations to the protocol, and adds a new C# smart contract compiler. RC2 and RC3 were deployed on the TestNet on May 18 and June 1 respectively, allowing developers to familiarize themselves with the latest changes.

On the other hand, NGD is also working on transplanting NeoFS logic from Neo-Go to Neo-C#, as well as adding more features to NeoFS.

Please refer to the announcement on the official website for details.

Infrastructure and Tools Development

Highlights

COZ 

Introduced the new Dojo documentation portal for Neo developers and rolled out updates across its product suite to ensure ongoing compatibility with N3.

NEO Tracker 

Completed its RC1 node implementation, with client APIs and TypeScript compiler soon to follow, and rolled out a new N3 version of the website to host documentation.

AxLabs

Released neow3j for RC1 with numerous features and fixes, including robust compiler improvements tested with fungible and non-fungible token contracts.

NEXT 

The focus of this month's work is mainly on the upgrade of N3 RC2 version and providing a better wallet, browser, development tools, and other related infrastructure services for the testnest going online.

Neo SPCC 

Launched the NeoFS RC1 TestNet version and updated storage nodes with write cache optimizations & EigenTrust++ reputation evaluation.

NGD Enterprise

Published Neo Blockchain Toolkit for RC2 in addition to several developer tutorials and quickstart guides.

Red4Sec

Began auditing the RC2 version and other code changes since the RC1 review.

 

Project Milestones

Node

NeoGo by Neo SPCC

In April, Neo SPCC updated its N3 RC1 compatible NeoGo version with various fixes. The team also refactored the CLI implementation with a number of improvements, including NEP-11 commands and support for the data parameter in NEP-17 transfers. Documentation and examples have also received updates to bring them in line with the latest changes and provide a better entrypoint for Neo developers.

 

Explorer & Monitor

Dora by COZ

Dora has been updated with a new network monitor which will replace monitor.cityofzion.io, with plans for new features and analysis tools. COZ has also begun decommissioning Neoscan, which will have its API mapped to Dora to ensure minimal impact on UI and API consumers. More information on the decommission will be announced on the team’s Twitter page.

 

Smart Contract Compiler

Boa by COZ

Boa was updated with a number of critical features that were identified by internal teams using the product. Notable examples include expansion of its type-casting support, allowing more complex storage models within smart contracts. Future updates will focus on ensuring compatibility with N3 changes whilst also developing documentation and examples around the tool to act as references for developers. The first tutorial resulting from this initiative has been released on Dojo, which makes use of Boa and Neon.js.

 

SDK

Neon.js by COZ

Having achieved RC1 support in late March, changes to Neon.js mainly focused on bug fixes and alignments with the more recent modifications to the core N3 protocol. With interfaces around N3 beginning to stabilize, attention will be turned towards producing documentation that will make the project easier to use.

Mamba by COZ

Mamba achieved RC1 parity in April with its v0.6 release. Noteworthy changes found in this version include support for the StdLib and CryptoLib native contracts, improved calling for native contracts, and various other features, fixes, and optimizations.

 

Smart Contract & dApp framework

neow3j by AxLabs

AxLabs released the RC1-compatible neow3j v3.9.0 in April, with a range of useful new features for Java developers. Examples include support in the devpack for multi-file contract debugging and a ByteString type which closely models the NeoVM ByteArray stack item type. Hash160 usage was also propagated to discourage the use of address strings in the SDK API, and new convenience methods have been introduced to make life easier for developers.

In May, AxLabs released the RC2-compatible neow3j v3.10.0 with several important fixes. Also, they updated the external documentation and began building a dApp example for demonstration purposes.

NEO•ONE by NEO Tracker

In April, the team covered much ground in developing an N3 RC1-compatible version of the NEO•ONE platform. The node implementation was completed, capable of syncing with the RC1 TestNet, and a TypeScript contract compiler is also approaching completion. These updates will be pushed to NPM in the coming weeks. 

The new version, v3.3.0-rc1, will provide a full node and most client APIs required to interact with the network. The release will also feature the ability to compile, deploy, and invoke a TypeScript smart contract on N3 for the first time. A new N3 website has also been pushed live, which will host N3-related documentation in the future.

On May 5th, the NEO•ONE RC1 version was released. The team are now working on RC2.

Neo Blockchain Toolkit by NGD Enterprise

NGD Enterprise deployed its Neo Blockchain Toolkit for RC2, including updates across Neo Express, the Debugger, test harness, and DevTracker. New versions will also make use of the new C# contract compiler.

The team also provided new contract samples as a starting point for developers, and internally previewed a new tool, the Neo AppWizard, to build RC2 sample apps.

Additionally，the team has launched the "N3 Pet Shop" sample application, by building a series of applications including quick starts and tutorials, the team would like to showcase the platform capabilities to new developers coming to Neo. 

 

Wallet

Neon by COZ

April saw the Neon wallet team turn its focus towards supporting N3. Most changes to the code were associated with adapting to the new network and laying the groundwork for the migration strategy. These changes will be released closer to the N3 MainNet release. The team also noted substantial progress in dApp connectivity, with a planned release for this functionality in the new future.

Neoline by NEXT

NeoLine mobile and NeoLine Chrome Extension have been upgraded to N3 RC2 version.  N3 Testnet Faucet QR code scanning verification function has been added to the NeoLine mobile, and NeoLine Chrome Extension is being tested to fix data processing and wrong invoke methods.

 

NeoFS 

NeoFS by Neo SPCC

Feedback from the NeoFS TestNet launch resulted in a number of bug fixes and code enhancements for NeoFS. Neo SPCC also newly implemented the EigenTrust++ algorithm for storage node reputation management, and a new write cache with two cache layers.

The team also added NEP-2 and NEP-6 key support to the NeoFS CLI, and updated its recently released HTTP gateway with fixes and documentation improvements.

 

Audit

Code audit from Red4Sec

Following previous months, Red4Sec maintained its course in assessing the ongoing security of the N3 code. A review of the RC1 implementation is underway, and the team has begun its audit of the recent RC2 release.

 

Marketing and Operations

• Apr. 5 - NGD Architect, Harry Pierson, joined the Neo News Today Podcast to discuss the Neo Blockchain Toolkit, the many features that make development easy on Neo N3, lessons learned since Harry joined the blockchain world, attracting new developers to the Neo ecosystem, and more.

• Apr. 7 - NGD announced it was searching for an independent team to assume responsibility for the Flamingo project. Flamingo has achieved a lot since its launch, aided by the support and trust of the community. As the project matures, NGD will accelerate Flamingo's development into a more independent, community-oriented project, with a more focused vision for long-term innovation and growth.

• Apr. 7 - Da Hongfei participated in an online discussion organized by BSN. They had a detailed discussion on the subject of "How to break the plight of the public chain."

• Apr. 8 - Neo's "On-chain Developer Boot Camp" project was officially launched, attracting many blockchain enthusiasts to sign up for it.

• Apr. 8 - Neo and ChainNews co-organized a knowledge contest with the theme of "N3, the biggest new upgrade since the MainNet's launch." 35 NEO were awarded to the top ten participants. The contest ended on April 14.

• Apr. 11 - Da Hongfei published an article "Anchoring the Worlds with Flexible and High-Performance On-chain Governance" on CoinTelegraph. The passage discussed how "flexible governance" is needed in the future development of the blockchain industry, to help projects embrace supervision and realize implementation more quickly. 

• Apr. 16 - Steven Liu, head of NGD development, was invited by Fudan University to speak to the students on the topic of "Smart Contract: Origin and Innovation of Blockchain Application".

• May. 2 - The Neo N3 RC2 version was officially released on May 2, and deployed to the TestNet on May 18. This update includes a new C# compiler for Neo smart contract, together with the support for JSONPath, alongside other improvements and optimizations.

• May. 10 - Blue, O3Labs core developer, and Tan Yuan, tech leader of Poly Network, participated in Neo Reddit Community AMA on the topic of "How to build the innovative cross-chain pool?".

• May. 11 - O3Labs VP Product Tim appeared in Neo community and introduced in detail the first cross-chain aggregator of Neo ecosystem -- O3 SWAP.

• May . 12 - The second Flamingo Perp trading competition was officially launched in preparation for the upcoming official release. Perp has had many updates and optimizations since the first competition. 

• May . 24 - The Neo Frontier Launchpad was officially launched. Through the Launchpad program, participating developers will be amongst the first to leverage N3’s cutting edge capabilities while also engaging with the Neo team at every step to deliver next-gen solutions.

 

Ecosystem Growth

• The Flamingo team has hosted the 2nd Perp Trading Competition which attracted around a hundred applicants to enter.The Norway-based Adapted AS team has launched MyMingo - a platform integrating Flamingo analytics with easy FLM liquidity provision. The platform introduces SmartStake, allowing users to convert FLM to a specified LP token with one click. The platform supports NeoLine and O3 during launch.

• O3 Labs launched a test version of O3 Swap, added support for Polkadot and Huobi Eco Chain, and established cooperation with Apeswap, WeStarter, Wootrade, Solana, Linch Network, DODO, MDEX, OKEXChain, and LAVAswap. In May, O3 Swap was launched on GATE, MXC, and  O3 (O3 swap) USDT-Margined Swaps were launched on Huobi Futures.  The Ice Age Mining has already begun.

• Switcheo Exchange was decommissioned on April 30th as trading volume migrated to Demex. Switcheo TradeHub surpassed one billion SWTH tokens staked. Switcheo cooperated with Pancake Swap to complete Pancake V2 Migration and DODO to conduct SWTH transactions on DODO DEX. Switcheo also established cooperation with Cosmos Stargate and Demex.More than $75 million was traded on Demex.

• Neo EcoFund reached an investment agreement with StackOS, which provides decentralized cloud services. StackOS is an open protocol that allows individuals to collectively offer a decentralized cloud where you can deploy any full-stack application, decentralized app, blockchain PrivateNets and MainNet nodes.

• Neo EcoFund reached an investment agreement with Dora Factory. Dora Factory provides DAO-as-a-Service infrastructure for decentralized governance and open source ventures. It has several specialized DAO modules, including quadratic voting, DeFi governance, and bonding curve fundraising.

• Nash surpassed 20 million in staked NEX tokens, accounting for more than 40% of the total supply. It also launched a fiat widget that makes it easy to buy and sell cryptocurrency using the Euro. Supported cryptocurrencies include NEO, BTC, USDC, ETH, and AAVE, with plans for MATIC. Nash concluded season three of Nash League, which generated over $50 million in trade volume.