Ecosystem Update - May 2024
Alex Stoicescu
Jun 17, 2024
4 min.
Greetings, Request Network community!
Welcome to the Request Network ecosystem update for May 2024.
The Ecosystem Update focuses on protocol usage and our vision to build an ecosystem of decentralized apps for payment requests. Here, you will find our ecosystem updates, major news and announcements, and anything else that interests the community.
The current ecosystem built around the Request Network protocol includes the following builders: Huma Finance (lending and borrowing), Joba Network and TalentLayer (future-of-work platforms), BSOS (supply chain financing), Copra Finance (lending and borrowing), FLock (machine-learning credit scoring), intrXn (payments and invoicing) and Request Finance (invoicing and payroll). If you’re interested in what we are building together with the previously mentioned companies and want to share your vision with us, don’t hesitate to apply to our grants program.
Tech update
Request Payment (Invoicing Template)
In May, we spent most of our time finishing the “Request Payment” invoicing template. This template provides reusable web components for quickly adding invoicing features to an existing application. We will release a detailed follow-up blog post dedicated to this topic.
Slack Notification Bot in Telegram
We deployed a notification bot to decrease and track our response time to technical questions in the Telegram groups we share with our ecosystem builders. When the bot is in a group, it detects technical questions using simple natural language processing. When a technical question is found, it prompts the user to forward it to Slack, where the Request Network engineering team is more likely to see it.
Here are some of the bot’s features:
Automatically detects technical questions and forwards them to our internal Slack channel.
Use the `/support` command followed by your message to contact tech support directly. For example, “/support I need help with the Request Network SDK.”
You can also reply to a specific message with /support to forward that message to tech support.
Use `/question-detection enable` to turn on automatic question detection.
Use `/question-detection disable` to turn off automatic question detection.
Use `/status` to check whether automatic question detection is enabled or disabled in this group.
Data privacy disclaimer:
All chat messages are processed and stored on our self-hosted server using simple text parsing techniques. We do not employ any AI or large language models (LLMs).
Messages identified as technical support queries are stored in a Google Sheet and forwarded to our private Slack channel for further assistance.
Highlights from May
Berlin Blockchain Week
Part of the Request Network team spent a couple of days in vibrant Berlin for Berlin Blockchain Week - thank you Alex, Alex, Francisco, and Mariana!
Though it was only a few days, Berlin had lots to offer regarding conferences and side events, from the already established DappCon by Gnosis to Safe’s new event called Safe{con}. The team is currently holding meetings with the leads from Berlin and remains optimistic about the growth of the Request Network ecosystem.
Team offsite in Istanbul
The first team offsite for 2024 took place in Istanbul, a melting pot of cultures situated at the intersection of continents. The entire team of seven reunited for three days of workshops and co-working and one day of team-building initiatives. Some of the topics we discussed were the protocol's current branding situation, how to make ourselves more appealing to hackathon goers, how to improve internal communication and more.
We’re looking forward to the second (and last) team offsite of the year!
First community call in 2024
Early May brought the first community call in 2024, during which we discussed the first quarter of the year, upcoming plans, and overall strategy. Moreover, we answered over 20 of the most burning questions sent in by community members. Curious about what we discussed? Check out the recording here.
WeavingWeb3 podcast
Sometimes, it can take time to realize how successful an event was, mostly because good things take time. Here’s one of those good things that happened during ETHBucharest - an appearance by Francisco in the WeavingWeb3 podcast. Tune in here.
REQ token burn
We performed a token burn worth $2077, with 14,331 REQ tokens sent to the burn address.
This brings the total number of tokens burned to 374,488, according to the community-run dashboard.
Protocol usage in May
The above visual illustrates Request Network transactions (e.g., invoice creation, approval, and/or rejection).
We're back on the growth track! We’ve broken our previous record, set in March 2024, and we’re set to break it again in June—unless summer has different plans for the crypto market. Overall, the numbers look good for a 50% year-on-year transaction increase.
Note: a batched transaction can contain multiple individual transactions (such as in the case of a company’s payroll process). The token burn occurs once per batch transaction.
ABOUT REQUEST NETWORK
The Request Network Foundation’s mission is to re-invent accounting and finance by creating a decentralized network of interoperable apps that promotes transparency and real-time reporting.
We inspire and educate developers, partners, and authorities to use Request Network and build an open-source, seamless, and interoperable.
We’re building a network that connects businesses worldwide, giving them ways to do business at the speed of the internet.
Be a part of tomorrow’s financial revolution!
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