Casper Association Board Member Ralf Kubli expressed his appreciation for the successful launch of the Developer Portal. He highlighted the importance of community feedback in improving the portal and urged developers to provide constructive suggestions and ideas for enhancements. Ralf emphasized the value of identifying missing elements and quick fixes that can be implemented to further enhance the developer resources and the overall developer experience. The Casper developer community is encouraged to actively participate in shaping the future representation of the portal, ensuring that it aligns with their needs and expectations. By collaborating and sharing your valuable insights, you can contribute to the continuous improvement and development of the Casper ecosystem.

You can share your feedback and ideas with us and see the ideas proposed by other community members via the Casper Developer Portal feedback page.

Following Ralf Kubli, Medha Parlikar, CTO of Casper Labs, took the stage to provide a comprehensive update on the highly anticipated 1.5 release.

She began by highlighting the significance of this release, emphasizing that it brings a multitude of improvements and optimizations to the Casper ecosystem.

Medha shared that new joiners are already running against this release, and there have been significant developments. The release has been upgraded to 1.5, and blocks are being produced. The synchronization process is underway, and as it progresses closer to Genesis, the synchronization is expected to accelerate.

Once the synchronization and integration testing are completed successfully, the release will move toward the testnet. In the testnet, another synchronization to Genesis will be performed, and multiple new joiner nodes will be spun up to verify their ability to perform a full archival sync back to Genesis. Only after this process is completed will 1.5 move from the testnet to the mainnet.

Medha acknowledged that the timeline for these steps is uncertain, as a full sync back on the testnet has not been done yet. However, she emphasized the importance of thorough testing and ensuring the quality and functionality of the code before making a release recommendation to the community.

She mentioned that integration partners, such as CasperSwap, Robot Cache, MetaCask IPwe, and MAKE Services, have been given early access to the new features included in 1.5. Some of the notable features implemented thanks to the partners’ feedback include the new joiner, re-delegate command, increased stack height based on feedback, group-level access controls in smart contracts based on feedback from IPwe, speculative execution endpoint for contract debugging and gas cost estimation, sync to TTL capability, and reduced TTL.

Medha also highlighted that once 1.5 is released and potential patches have been addressed, the team will consider a chain spec change to support 16-second blocks. Testing has been completed, and the team is confident in supporting this change on the 1.5. codebase. Medha acknowledged the eagerness of the ecosystem community for this change and expressed excitement about it.

Medha then addressed questions that had been on many developers' minds—the impact of the synchronization process on existing nodes was the first question.

She assured the community that the Casper team is diligently working to ensure a seamless transition for existing nodes during the synchronization process. Detailed instructions and guidelines will be provided to node operators, guiding them through the necessary steps to synchronize their nodes with the updated version. Medha emphasized the team's commitment to making the process as straightforward as possible, minimizing disruptions, and ensuring a smooth transition for all stakeholders.

She also touched upon the long-anticipated 2.0 release. “ The 2.0 release will introduce even more transformative changes to the Casper Network. The 2.0 release will feature a new consensus protocol, substantial networking enhancements, and the implementation of a rewards system. These developments aim to enhance the stability, security, and scalability of the Casper Network, making it a robust platform for decentralized applications and fostering its widespread adoption” she said..

She concluded her update by expressing her gratitude to the Casper developer community for their continuous support and engagement. She encouraged developers to explore the new features and improvements introduced in the 1.5 release, actively participate in community discussions, and provide valuable feedback to further refine the Casper Network ecosystem.

Nicholas Zoellner, a member of the Ecosystem Team, announced the soft launch of the new DevReward program. He shared exciting news about the program, which aims to incentivize and reward developers who actively contribute to the growth and development of the Casper Network ecosystem.

Nicolas emphasized the Casper  Association's commitment to fostering community engagement and addressing any existing gaps within the ecosystem. He highlighted the importance of receiving feedback and suggestions from the community in order to drive continuous improvement. To incentivize this engagement, the Association plans to introduce a rewards program. Nicolas mentioned that the rewards would vary in value, ranging from $100 to $1,000, and would be disbursed in CSPR tokens. This initiative aims to recognize and appreciate the valuable contributions made by community members in shaping the future of the Casper ecosystem.

You can check out the program here.

More details will follow.

Michael Steauer, CEO of MAKE  provided updates on the recent developments within the MAKE team and their projects.

cspr.studio

Michael highlighted the release of an update to cspr.studio, which occurred last week. This update introduced full support for CEP-78, enabling users to create new NFT collections. Users can install a collection contract into their account, add metadata to their collections, and easily showcase them on marketplaces such as cspr.markets. This development opens up new possibilities for users to engage with the NFT ecosystem on the Casper Network.

Casper Wallet

Regarding Casper Wallet, Michael mentioned that it is currently in development for both the mobile and browser extension versions. A recent update to the browser extension primarily focused on polishing bug fixes, ensuring a smoother user experience. Excitingly, Casper Wallet 1.4 is scheduled for release later this month. This version will provide full support for ERC-20 tokens within the wallet, allowing users to initiate native transactions from the wallet itself. Whether it involves CSPR or ERC-20 transactions, users will have the convenience of conducting transactions directly from their wallet without relying on a companion web application.

cspr.market

The discussion then shifted to the open beta of cspr.market, which began yesterday. Michael explained that similar to the Casper Wallet open beta, the MAKE team has prepared a playbook with instructions for testers to provide comprehensive feedback. The playbook guides participants to thoroughly test and explore different areas of the platform, ensuring that all aspects receive attention and valuable feedback is gathered. A dedicated feedback board has been set up specifically for the beta, allowing users to report bugs, provide feedback, and share their experiences. Notably, during the Casper Wallet open beta, the team received an overwhelming number of feedback items, which required AI assistance to process and identify key issues. The team hopes to receive a similar level of engagement and feedback during the cspr.market open beta.

The open beta is expected to run for approximately two weeks, during which users can actively test the platform and share their feedback. Depending on the feedback received and any identified issues, the mainnet production version of cspr.market will be launched shortly thereafter.

To join the beta, visit cspr.market and sign up with your email address. You will receive an email notification with instructions on how to participate when the beta opens.

Michael also shared that the MAKE team has been actively releasing updates encompassing various SDKs and libraries supported by MAKE, further expanding the available tools and resources for developers in the ecosystem.

Don’t forget to check out the latest dApp Developer series video where Casper Association Developer Advocate Dylan Ireland demonstrates the implementation of payable entry points, smart contract CSPR storage, and CSPR transfers from contract to account. The developer series serves as a valuable educational platform, equipping developers with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in building on the Casper Network.

You can watch the video here.  

That’s it for this month’s developer community call. Make sure to join the next one in July and check out the archived recordings of previous calls which can be found on the Casper Discord server.