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We have new technology updates, partnerships, and exciting events and activities to share with you. Let’s get started!

Recent Announcements

Moonbeam Upgrades Its TestNet to Moonbase Alpha v6

Last week, we announced a new version of our TestNet, Moonbase Alpha. The upgrade allows Moonbeam users to actively participate in governance and staking on the TestNet. This exciting update is a significant step forward to the launch of Moonriver, which is expected to be among the first parachains to launch on Kusama.

The addition of the staking feature in Moonbase Alpha also opens the door for external collators to participate in the network. Users in Moonbeam can now nominate the collators they trust the most and earn rewards. Governance features that are part of this release allow users to use on-chain mechanisms to control chain upgrades, key parameters, and other network changes.ย  Both of these features are significant steps towards becoming a fully decentralized network.

Additionally, this upgrade also includes exciting improvements that simplify the experience of Ethereum projects and developers who want to expand to Polkadot. Moonbase Alpha’s latest release also includes the newest version of Frontier, which increases EVM execution efficiency by a factor of 5. In simple terms, Moonbeam can process five times more transactions in the same execution time compared with previous versions.

Read the announcement here.

Upgrade to Moonbase Alpha v6.1

Developers building on Moonbeam have the option to upgrade to Moonbase Alpha v6.1. This upgrade includes architectural improvements to the node’s service factory and new features in the dev service.

Find more information about Moonbase Alpha v6.1 here and learn how to make the upgrade on our docs site. You can also see which node operators have updated to Moonbase Alpha v6.1 by checking the client version that nodes are reporting.

Moonbeam Partners with OnFinality to Build the First API Service on Moonbase Alpha

A new API service, powered by OnFinality, is now available on the Moonbase Alpha TestNet! This initial version of the API service for Moonbase Alpha will allow users to:

  • Query Moonbase Alpha RPC and WSS endpoints immediately using OnFinality’s free API service. You can create a free account key for 500k daily requests to high-performance managed nodes, including ones for Polkadot and Kusama.
  • Quickly stand up dedicated nodes (like Moonbase Alpha or Kusama) to have private access to high-performance WSS and RPC APIs without needing to manage your infrastructure.ย ย 

OnFinality is an excellent addition to the Moonbeam ecosystem! The Moonbeam team is continuously working on bringing powerful and functional developer tools to the Moonbeam ecosystem and streamline the process for developers with existing deployments who want to expand to an additional chain.

Read the announcement here.

 

MVP Workshop Partners with Moonbeam to Enable a Multi-Chain Future

We are working together with the MVP Workshop team to help more projects pursue a multi-chain strategy. MVP Workshop is a partner we can trust and refer to other projects and teams that need help to get their deployment moving. We’ve been very impressed with the MVPW team’s methodology and ability to deliver.

Read the announcement here.

 

Moonbeam in the Media

We want to share with you some articles that were recently published and talk about Moonbeam, our purpose, and what is coming up next!

See all the latest news, information, and technical releases for the Moonbeam project at https://moonbeam.network/news/.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Moonbuilders Workshop: Getting Started with Moonbeam | March 3

Alberto, from the Moonbeam team, will provide a technical overview of the platform and its Ethereum compatibility features. Alberto will also go through different technical tutorials using Ethereum tools like web3.js, ethers.js, Truffle, Hardhat. Register here.

 

 

DeFi Demo Day | March 4

Join us this Thursday and see a series of fascinating demos from across the Polkadot DeFi ecosystem. We’ll be demoing some of the integrations on Moonbeam. Additionally, Cami Russo will cap it off with a panel discussion. Register here.

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Chainlink Hackathon | March 15 – April 11

Compete for $80k in bounties by building smart contract applications using Chainlink oracles. This hackathon is a great opportunity to try the Chainlink oracle in Moonbeam!

It starts on March 15!ย  Learn more and register here.

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Substrate Runtime Developer Academy | May 10

Moonbeam is an official partner of the Substrate Runtime Developer Program. This 6-week program aims to bring the best industry expertise, interactive learning experience, and a recognized certification program to enable you to program in Polkadot/Substrate at a professional level in 6 weeks. Learn more and apply here.

Talks You May Have Missed

Technical Workshop: Using Solidity Smart Contracts with Chainlink Oracles on Moonbeam

Alberto, from the Moonbeam team, provided a quick overview and demo of the Moonbeam smart contract platform, how it integrates with existing Ethereum tools, and how to use the built-in access to Chainlink within a Moonbeam environment. You’ll also learn how to deploy your unmodified Solidity smart contracts to Moonbeam’s Polkadot-based environment, where you can get access to new users and assets. Rewatch this presentation here.

You can keep track of which events weโ€™re attending here.

Thatโ€™s it for this month! As always, you can keep in touch via Discord, Twitter, Telegram, or our newsletter.

 

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Katherine Quilca Barcelli, PureStake

Author Katherine Quilca Barcelli, PureStake

Marketing Communications Manager

More posts by Katherine Quilca Barcelli, PureStake