Mad News #30 π Backpack Code Opened To Public
Backpack Wallet code is officially opensource, NFT locking saves user from complete wallet drain, a dozen new Backpack features released and a look at how cNFTs have changed the trajectory of NFTs.
Welcome back to the Mad News! ποΈ
Backpack Wallet infrastructure is now open source
NFT locking saves user from complete wallet drain
Developers deliver gift bag of platform features
Armaniβs teaches us how to privatize the Backpack experience
cNFTs change the trajectory of digital artwork forever
Solana Cookbook gives devs recipe for success
β¦and much more!
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Backpack devs delivered the Solana ecosystem an opensource gift with a bow on top π
Backpack Wallet infrastructure is now GPL v3 licensed meaning that anyone can fork the code for their own purposes.
The Foundations of the GPL
Nobody should be restricted by the software they use. There are four freedoms that every user should have:
- the freedom to use the software for any purpose,
- the freedom to change the software to suit your needs,
- the freedom to share the software with your friends and neighbors,
- the freedom to share the changes you make.
The original Backpack Wallet code was publicly available before developers pulled the plug on the GitHub repot on June 30th, 2023 promising that it was a temporary condition.
In typical βsunrise and delightβ style they announced the closure with an expertly crafted meme.
Backpack Exchange Rust API client live on GitHub πΎ
Devs included a stocking stuffer along with their gifts in the form of a Rust API client which helps streamline interactions with the wallet.
See here for Backpack API documents.
Lock saves Lads during wallet drain π
Long time Lads holder Burnz experienced a holiday disaster when he clicked a risky link and was drained of everything in his wallet.
$14,000 worth of outgoing transactions later, his Lads were locked and secured!
Christmas day [I] got drained, still thankful to the $PEEP community sending me gifts so I can stay with the community.
Also thankful for Backpack locking feature, because of that I still have my Mad Lads.
Scams, hacks and rugpulls are emerging at an alarming rate as the bull market picks up steam.
This is the first reported account of the Backpack NFT lock actively saving a holders asset but almost certainly not the last.
Backpack devs cook up Christmas feast π
Both the Backpack Wallet and Exchange received infusions of fresh features addressing user requests and expanding CEX functions.
Incessant autolocking has been the most vocal community complaint and devs did something.
Users now have substantially more control over wallet autolocking and transaction signing in their wallet extension.
Exchange based withdrawals and deposit options were supplemented with multiple new configurations.
Withdraw directly to:
subaccounts
wallet extension
address book
Deposit directly from:
subaccounts
wallet extension
In addition, you can now manually key wallet addresses.
Mobile applications typically lag farther behind in feature functionality than their browser based counterparts and the same is true for Backpack.
Collection locking is now live on mobile.
The team also released Priority Fees for transactions and the ability to hide spam tokens on both mobile/desktop.
Armani hacks Backpack functions for added onchain anonymity π³
A common blockchain misnomer is that transactions onchain are completely anonymous, but that isnβt quite accurate.
Blockchain transactions are traceable including information on signing parties, the contract, contents of the contract and more.
Armani has a method to help privatize your Backpack experience.
LAD OF THE WEEK: Yann Penno π¨
Yann Penno is the artist that brought Mad Lads to life and this weeks LOTW!
Yann has been a professional artist for more than ten years with a long history of working as a creative in the traditional gaming space.
He entered the crypto world a few years ago and is most well known for being the lead designer of Aurory, an NFT-project turned gaming studio.
Yann has also designed another videogame called Spleen, a 2D action RPG themed around childhood nostalgia.
More recently Yann has given us a unique behind the scenes look at the Mad Lads artwork development process.
I'm a comic and animation artist by trade.
Because of this, when I first started working with Tristan and Armani on what would become the Mad Lads, I tested multiple characters and dynamic poses because I wanted to avoid the stiff postures that are a typical characteristic of NFT collections.
Dynamic poses are of course appealing, and it's what I love to draw, but...does it make a good PFP?
I was convinced it would be the right approach, but in the end it was not that obvious...
Make sure to give Yann a follow, he is forever embedded in the history of Mad Lads.
Bull market vibes bring master meme makers out of the woodwork π
Mad Monkeyβs recent Mad News interview taught us that memes make the crypto world go around.
I realized that there was some demand for these kinds of things, especially during the bull market.
People were like βMeme lords are so importantβ
Superteam Germany community member Chris whipped up the perfect meme to carry Solana maxis into the new year.
cNFTs have changed the trajectory of digital artwork forever π
Repeat after me:
Solana is cheap.
Solana is decentralized.
Solana is fast.
Solana is scalable.
Leaps forward due to Solanaβs state compression lowered the minting cost of NFTs by a staggering 20,000x.
One million compressed NFTs (cNFTs) can be minted for $249. This is dramatically lower when compared to popular NFT chains like Polygon ($98,000) and Ethereum ($6M).
In April, the Solana Foundation announced state compression, an ecosystem-wide experiment with a new approach to reduce costs for decentralized apps by magnitudes.
State compression is a blockchain game-changer for scale and cost thatβs already bearing fruit throughout the Solana ecosystem.
-State Compression Unlocked βCambrian Explosion for Digital Assetsβ
Solana Cookbook is developers recipe for success π²
Every world renowned chef started their culinary journey with a good cookbook.
Crypto users may not be able to eat a developers creation but they do want to know it was cooked correctly.
Enter: the Solana Cookbook
The Solana Cookbook is a developer resource that provides the essential concepts and references for building applications on Solana. Each concept and reference will focus on specific aspects of Solana development while providing additional details and usage examples.
Metaplex updates standard to support Token22 extensions π
The Metaplex standard now supports Token22 (also known as Token-2022 and Token2022) extensions.
You can think of Token2022 as a new and improved version of the token program on Solana. It can handle both fungible and non-fungible tokens.
This new program still has all the features of the old Token program but it now comes with a set of useful new features designed to improve token functionality on Solana.
-Helius
Mad Shield (formerly known as Sol Shield) executed the security audit for the Token2022 support.
You can see the full report here.
βHow Pyth is Catalyzing a New Era of Permissioned Environmentsβ βπ»
Solana newest Case Study focuses on Pyth and their role in developing Solana Permissioned Environments (SPEs).
Solana Permissioned Environments (SPEs) are private environments tailored to enterprise needs, offering customization, control and scalability within the Solana ecosystem.
Pyth has emerged as one of the more dominant platforms on Solana and recently reached a new pinnacle of attention with their $PYTH token release.
Hivemapper explorers have mapped one hundred million kilometers of roads across the globe π
Hivemapper is one of the biggest DePIN projects on Solana which rewards users with tokens for capturing mapping data with their bespoke dashcams.
They hit a major milestone this week with more than 100 million kilometers of roadways mapped.
So let's check in on where Hivemapper is at after 12 months since launch:
~6.7M unique road km mapped (11% of world's roads)
~102M total road km mapped
~700-900km mapped road / week / driver
Paxos plans to release Solana-built stablecoin π
Paxos is the latest regulated platform to expand their stablecoins to the Solana network and they plan to release a USDP token on January 17th, 2024.
Paxosβs decision to bring stablecoin issuance to the Solana blockchain will showcase how Solanaβs high-performance network and low transaction fees can support regulated financial products and provide leaders like Paxos new ways to scale and innovate.
PODCAST CORNER! ποΈ
Lightspeed Podcast
Sam Blackshear and Evan Cheng join us to discuss how the Move programming paradigm will accelerate blockchain development.
Sam and Evan are the founders of Sui, a global state L1 that leverages the novel Move programming language (created by Sam while at Facebook).
Bartosz LipiΕski joins us to discuss how Cube is building the first crypto-native centralized exchange.
Cube leverages MPC wallets, Solana's client (creating a Solana appchain) and native integrations to offer the best trading experience in crypto.
Bankless
In todayβs episode, we have the creator of Solana and the Co-founder of Solana Labs, Anatoly Yakovenko.
We brought on Anatoly to reflect on Solana in 2023 and its future in the New Year and beyond.