As we exit the Easter holidays and see the advent of Spring, it feels like a great time to bring you my next Captain’s Log. So here goes.
Swap & Evolve and Cross Chain
I know that everyone is waiting on swap & evolve and cross chain. The team is working hard on these as we run multiple internal code and feature audits.
As part of this, we’ve also been looking closely at the cross chain exploits taking place with other recent projects. Because we prioritize security, I made an executive decision to pause and evaluate the approaches being taken by other companies.
Initially, we were not sure if these pauses would have to be long, but we can now see there are a number of additional aspects to explore. This means making the difficult but sensible decision to review these items in depth.
We would much rather put a dependable product in your hands than a rushed one. Changing plans always creates frustration, but on balance, making the right call rather than looking to meet an arbitrary deadline creates sustainability.
So far, the checks and code audits are doing exactly what they should... identifying new areas to improve and polish.
We will continue this process until we are confident the products are ready to ship for all of you to enjoy. We will continue to provide more updates soon as I am sure many of you will be interested in those details.
A personal thank you to our partners
It would be remiss of me not to loudly call out the fantastic support and brilliant relationships of our partners, especially through the recent round of router upgrades. We learned a lot about the process and having flexible and responsive partners around us throughout truly made a world of difference. Please do make sure you spend time getting to know each of them beyond just their names. I encourage you to check them out via safemoon.com/partners. The teams and communities of these partners are all a part of the wider SafeMoon family, and we all benefit from these new and friendly connections.
Disruption of timescales by unexpected events
We recently transitioned from initial leadership to the next level team directing our technology innovation and helping us ruggedize for our continuing growth. There is a transition period that happens when leadership teams change - but on the whole, I could not be more pleased with the additional strengths our newest leaders bring to the table. As always, we carry a desire to improve, rather than simply putting scotch tape on the disruptions as they arise.
About our trip to The Gambia
SafeMoon’s work in Africa and other underserved regions of the world continues to be one of our highest priorities on our impact agenda. We continue to pursue our Gambia endeavors directly, through our own networks. This presents the most efficient and effective way to make a maximum impact for the people and the quality of life in that region. While The Gambia will always hold a high place in my heart and priorities, the recent trip illuminated myriad other opportunities in other parts of Africa and the world, including the United States.
For example, the blockchain and DeFi ecosystem we’re creating makes economic freedom and infrastructure to everyone within its reach. It provides not just a means of value exchange and commerce, it enables economic freedom and infrastructure to local communities in every part of the world with access to as much as a smartphone. The recent trip vastly expanded our ideas for using our company’s resources to achieve a return on impact. We intend to share more about this in the coming months.
Can things always go perfectly to plan?
Things in our industry don’t always unfold as planned. Reality happened. Even in the last week, the long-awaited Ethereum merge hit a delay. We take no pleasure in this news and deeply sympathize with the struggles of moving complex work forward, and the difficult decision to have to move deadline dates. This remains true when a large and active community thirsts for outputs.
Ultimately, as creators, we simply want our work to be in the hands of others to enjoy and to see a vision come to life. But, we endeavor to release outputs only when they reflect our most reasonably balanced ideal.
I also acknowledge that one of the prices of high innovation is the inevitable fact of misinformation being put into the world by those outside of SafeMoon. This can be hurtful to the efforts of advancing our ecosystem. I continue to make the conscious choice to not take the bait of halting work to address the reams of false information being posted. To do so would only slow the real work ahead.
However, I want to take the opportunity, especially today, to say how proud I am of the #SAFEMOONARMY for being able to continue to focus on our mission, find ways to destroy obstacles, and eschew any and all notions that do not serve our collective goals. What is most important, for all participants in the crypto and DeFi technology space, is that we stay true to our mission and don't compromise on quality. Ultimately, how we navigate through the challenges we encounter is what matters. What matters most is that we continue to turn those challenges into opportunities to grow, lead and flourish.
Welcome to innovation.
More is on the way…
As an additional note on the good news side, here’s the newest article to emerge from my interviews at SxSW today in GritDaily. Please feel free to share and enjoy. I’ll also be sharing more about these principles with Bridger Pennington at Fund Launch Live in Las Vegas on April 28. More is coming soon, so watch this space.
Again, I thank you for your support, from the bottom of my heart. Take care of each other.
We are family.
We are SafeMoon.
Yours,
John