Toward the Mainnet Release of the Particl Open Marketplace

The gears are turning, and ever since the Market Key Generation Contest was announced on the 26th of July, the process of bringing the Particl Open Marketplace on mainnet is now well in motion!

This blog post is going to be an important one — it will give you all the information you need to know about what’s coming up as well as the remaining steps before the Open Marketplace moves onto mainnet.

The Road to Mainnet

It is finally here! The Particl Open Marketplace goes live on mainnet on the 12th of August!

Ever since the 16th of July, we have entered in the final mile of the marathon that is the mainnet launch of the Particl Open Marketplace. After years of development, it’s finally ready to be revealed in all its glory, and so let’s break down how it will play out. Disclaimer, the next few days are going to be PACKED!

August 1st, 2019

On this day, Particl is initiating the last round of testing, on testnet, before the Particl Open Marketplace goes live on mainnet. This build contains all of the bug fixes from the last testing round as well as the integration of the fully anon escrow system, powered by a combination of RingCT, CT, and smart-contracts.

A testnet bug bounty of a duration of 7 days also accompanies the testnet release of the Open Marketplace. This bug bounty rewards testers in PART for trying to break the Open Marketplace, one last time, before it goes onto mainnet and gets used with real funds. It ensures the mainnet product will be as stable and secure as it can be, and that as little inconvenience and problems arise when new users start using the marketplace. For more information about the bug bounty, follow the link below:

Particl Open Marketplace Testnet Bug Bounty
The instructions to participate in this bug bounty are pretty simple: Download the latest testnet build of the Open
particl.news

On top of these two items, an additional bug bounty will permanently be put in place. This permanent bounty is aimed at rewarding users who find bugs, exploits, or vulnerabilities in the Particl code to securely disclose issues and get promptly rewarded for their hard work. This bounty, just like the testnet bounty for the Open Marketplace, ensures that Particl’s code is as secure and stable as possible when faced to various attack vectors. For more information about this permanent bug bounty, follow the link below.

https://particl.io/bug-bounties/

August 3rd, 2019 (from 18:00 to 22:00 UTC)

Particl’s new Community Manager will run a Google Hangout session on Saturday for anyone wanting to test the latest build of the Open Marketplace on testnet. To celebrate the upcoming mainnet release, 200 PART will be airdropped equally between all of those who attend the event and complete this set of tasks:

  • Participate in the Hangout session
  • Share your screen while testing the Open Marketplace
  • Create a listing and go through the process of selling an item OR purchase an item and go through the entire buy flow
  • Write either your Telegram or Discord username on the Hangout chat so that an admin can contact you later on to get your PART deposit address

To participate in this Hangout session, follow this link: https://hangouts.google.com/group/wBjhr58WT4ohYkuN7

Note: Once over, the session will be published on Particl’s Youtube page.

August 4th, 2019 (from 14:00 to 18:00, Paris time)

The next day, another Hangout session will be held with the Particl FR community. This session will use the same concept as the session the day before, but this time will be done in french. This session will also have a 200 PART airdrop which will be distributed equally among all participants who complete the following steps:
Participate in the Hangout session

  • Participate in the Hangout session
  • Share your screen while testing the Open Marketplace
  • Create a listing and go through the process of selling an item OR purchase an item and go through the entire buy flow
  • Write either your Telegram or Discord username on the Hangout chat so that an admin can contact you later on to get your PART deposit address

To participate in this Hangout session, follow this link: https://hangouts.google.com/group/9K81RY78dDSpgukL9

Note: Once over, the session will be published on Particl’s Youtube page.

August 5th, 2019

On the 5th of August, the Market Key Generation Contest will be over and any submitted Market Key passed this date will not be accepted as part of the contest. This date will also mark the beginning of the 2-day voting process where the Particl community will get the pick the one set of Market Keys that will generate the main interface of the Particl Open Marketplace. For more details about what are Market Keys and how you can participate in the contest, follow the link below.

Market Key Generation Contest
Win a Trezor Hardware Device and a Limited Edition T-Shirt 🎁particl.news

After all, everyone that participates will win a free limited edition Particl t-shirt as well as get the chance to win one of the three (3) free Trezor hardware wallets being given away to participants. Why not give it a go?

August 7th, 2019

Two days after the end of the Market Key submission period, at 18:00:00 UTC, the voting period in which the community will pick the set of Market Keys it wants to use as the default Market Keys of the main interface of the Open Marketplace will end. This will effectively decide what keys are going to be used once the first mainnet build of the Particl Open Marketplace will get compiled, and will give Particl Desktop 2.0 its marketplace functionality.

August 8th, 2019

The Particl Open Marketplace testnet bug bounty will end. The Particl developers will then continue working to fix the identified bugs, if any, for the next few hours/days. On the same day, the set of Market Keys selected by the community will be integrated into the codebase of the Particl Open Marketplace.

August 9th, 2019 - August 12th, 2019

During this period of 4 days, the Particl development team will fix any identified bugs and compile internal builds running on both testnet and mainnet to conduct the last round of internal testing. These builds will contain all the potential bug fixes resulting from the bug bounty, and will also run using the community-generated set of Market Keys.

August 12th, 2019 — The BIG Day

The 12th of August will be Particl’s biggest day to date. This is when the Particl Open Marketplace releases on mainnet, at 12:00:00 UTC. This is the moment everybody’s been waiting for, and it’s just around the corner. Indeed, on this day, Particl Desktop 2.0 will be pushed, with marketplace functionality, onto mainnet as a public release.

This will allow anyone in the world to buy and sell goods and services using cryptocurrencies in a way that preserves your digital privacy and personal data.

The Particl Team Gets Shuffled

But wait, there’s more! Because the project is now in the middle of a phase switch, the Particl team is getting reshuffled to focus more on Particl adoption and community building. This means a few members of the team are getting new roles and opportunities.

Particl Gets a New Community Manager

August 1st also marks the day where Particl gets a new Community Manager! Indeed, Guillaume Benayoun, most commonly known as Ben within the Particl community, will join the team’s ranks as Particl’s Community Manager and Ambassador.

Ben has been a very active member ever since the very beginning of Particl and has almost single-handedly built the Particl FR community. Ben is also behind Particl’s evening of presentations at CoinHouse, Paris, which took place on the 21st of February 2019. Click the links below to watch the three presentations made on this evening.

As part of his new role within the Particl team, Ben will work on growing the main Particl community and make it more engaging. He will ensure there is always a team member available to answer questions, moderate the community, and keep the channels clean. Additionally, he will also help on user onboarding and the creation of sub-communities to drive up the adoption of the Particl Open Marketplace. As with any other member of the Particl communications team, he will also help in a lot of other areas touching communications.

Cryptoguard Gets a New Role

Cryptoguard, Particl’s former Community Manager, will now assume a more strategy and communications-focused role within the Particl team. He will take on some of Paul Schmitzer’s role in managing communications and crafting the strategies surrounding it. He will still be around the community and work full-time on the project, but this new position will probably mean he will have a more “in the background” role. Cryptoguard has started working on these new responsibilities a while ago, hence why getting a new Community Manager that would be entirely focused on the community was necessary.

Paul Schmitzer Gets a New Role

As part of this reshuffling on the communications team, Paul Schmitzer will take on a more strategic and partnership-focused role, assisting Imran in doing some of that. Paul’s new position will be mostly focused on contacting people, help to form new partnerships and relationships, and managing the communications strategy on a higher level.

Lina Seiche Leaves the Project

Lina Seiche, former Lead Event Coordinator & Community Evangelist for Particl, is unfortunately leaving the project in favor of a new job offer she’s received. We would like to thank Lina for her work with Particl and wish her all the best with her future endeavors!

It is with great excitement that we step within this final pre-mainnet phase. With a few years behind our backs, it is now time to let the world know about the wonders of Particl and its Open Marketplace.

So get prepared, get your computers ready for testing, and let’s revolutionize the world of eCommerce together!